MAZ has recently completed a flying fox in the park. After some final adjustments we have a final Code of Compliance for our flying fox. It is proving to be a very popular addition to the park. Funding for this was raised from the For Everyone Charitable Trust and Foundation North.
This entry was posted on Sunday, July 31st, 2016 at 1:31 am.	It is filed under Park Progress. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.


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U.S. Water Fluoridation Needs to End
January 13, 2019 January 13, 2019 renegade 2 Comments
By The Children's Health Defense Team
The United States stands almost entirely alone among developed nations in adding industrial silicofluorides to its drinking water—imposing the community-wide measure without informed consent. Globally, roughly 5% of the population consumes chemically fluoridated water, but more people in the U.S. drink fluoride-adulterated water than in all other countries combined. Within the U.S., just under a third (30%) of local water supplies are not fluoridated; these municipalities have either held the practice at bay since fluoridation's inception or have won hard-fought battles to halt water fluoridation.
The fluoride chemicals added to drinking water are unprocessed toxic waste products—captured pollutants from Florida's phosphate fertilizer industry or unregulated chemical imports from China. The chemicals undergo no purification before being dumped into drinking water and often harbor significant levels of arsenic and other heavy metal contamination; one researcher describes this unavoidable contamination as a "regulatory blind spot that jeopardizes any safe use of fluoride additives."
Dozens of studies and reviews—including in top-tier journals such as The Lancet—have shown that fluoride is neurotoxic and lowers children's IQ. Fluoride is also associated with a variety of other health risks in both children and adults. However, U.S. officialdom persists in making hollow claims that water fluoridation is safe and beneficial, choosing to ignore even its own research! A multimillion-dollar longitudinal study published in Environmental Health Perspectives in September, 2017, for example, was largely funded by the National Institutes of Health and National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences—and the seminal study revealed a strong relationship between fluoride exposure in pregnant women and lowered cognitive function in offspring. Considered in the context of other research, the study's implications are, according to the nonprofit Fluoride Action Network, "enormous"—"a cannon shot across the bow of the 80 year old practice of artificial fluoridation."
According to declassified government documents summarized by Project Censored, Manhattan Project scientists discovered early on that fluoride was a leading health hazard to bomb program workers and surrounding communities.
During World War II, fluoride (a compound formed from the chemical element fluorine) came into large-scale production and use as part of the Manhattan Project. According to declassified government documents summarized by Project Censored, Manhattan Project scientists discovered early on that fluoride was a "leading health hazard to bomb program workers and surrounding communities." In order to stave off lawsuits, government scientists "embarked on a campaign to calm the social panic about fluoride…by promoting its usefulness in preventing tooth decay."
To prop up its "exaggerated claims of reduction in tooth decay," government researchers began carrying out a series of poorly designed and fatally flawed community trials of water fluoridation in a handful of U.S. cities in the mid-1940s. In a critique decades later, a University of California-Davis statistician characterized these early agenda-driven fluoridation trials as "especially rich in fallacies, improper design, invalid use of statistical methods, omissions of contrary data, and just plain muddleheadedness and hebetude." As one example, a 15-year trial launched in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1945 used a nearby city as a non-fluoridated control, but after the control city began fluoridating its own water supply five years into the study, the design switched from a comparison with the non-fluoridated community to a before-and-after assessment of Grand Rapids. Fluoridation's proponents admitted that this change substantially "compromised" the quality of the study.
In 1950, well before any of the community trials could reach any conclusions about the systemic health effects of long-term fluoride ingestion, the U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS) endorsed water fluoridation as official public health policy, strongly encouraging communities across the country to adopt the unproven measure for dental caries prevention. Describing this astonishingly non-evidence-based step as "the Great Fluoridation Gamble," the authors of the 2010 book, The Case Against Fluoride, argue that:
Not only was safety not demonstrated in anything approaching a comprehensive and scientific study, but also a large number of studies implicating fluoride's impact on both the bones and the thyroid gland were ignored or downplayed" (p. 86).
In 2015, Newsweek magazine not only agreed that the scientific rationale for putting fluoride in drinking water was not as "clear-cut" as once thought but also shared the "shocking" finding of a more recent Cochrane Collaboration review, namely, that there is no evidence to support the use of fluoride in drinking water.
Bad Science and Powerful Politics
The authors of The Case Against Fluoride persuasively argue that "bad science" and "powerful politics" are primary factors explaining why government agencies continue to defend the indefensible practice of water fluoridation, despite abundant evidence that it is unsafe both developmentally and after "a lifetime of exposure to uncontrolled doses." Comparable to Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.'s book, Thimerosal: Let the Science Speak, which summarizes studies that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and "credulous journalists swear don't exist," The Case Against Fluoride is an extensively referenced tour de force, pulling together hundreds of studies showing evidence of fluoride-related harm.
… death rates in the ten most fluoridated U.S. states are 5% to 26% higher than in the ten least fluoridated states, with triple the rate of Alzheimer's disease.
The research assembled by the book's authors includes studies on fluoride biochemistry; cancer; fluoride's effects on the brain, endocrine system and bones; and dental fluorosis. With regard to the latter, public health agencies like to define dental fluorosis as a purely cosmetic issue involving "changes in the appearance of tooth enamel," but the International Academy of Oral Medicine & Toxicology (IAOMT)—a global network of dentists, health professionals and scientists dedicated to science-based biological dentistry—describes the damaged enamel and mottled and brittle teeth that characterize dental fluorosis as "the first visible sign of fluoride toxicity."
The important 2017 study that showed decrements in IQ following fluoride exposure during pregnancy is far from the only research sounding the alarm about fluoride's adverse developmental effects. In his 2017 volume, Pregnancy and Fluoride Do Not Mix, John D. MacArthur pulls together hundreds of studies linking fluoride to premature birth and impaired neurological development (93 studies), preelampsia (77 studies) and autism (110 studies). The book points out that rates of premature birth are "unusually high" in the United States. At the other end of the lifespan, MacArthur observes that death rates in the ten most fluoridated U.S. states are 5% to 26% higher than in the ten least fluoridated states, with triple the rate of Alzheimer's disease. A 2006 report by the National Research Council warned that exposure to fluoride might increase the risk of developing Alzheimer's.
The Word is Out
Pregnancy and Fluoride Do Not Mix shows that the Institute of Medicine, National Research Council, Harvard's National Scientific Council on the Developing Child, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and National Toxicology Program all are well aware of the substantial evidence of fluoride's developmental neurotoxicity, yet no action has been taken to warn pregnant women. Instead, scientists with integrity, legal professionals and the public increasingly are taking matters into their own hands. A Citizens Petition submitted in 2016 to the EPA under the Toxic Substances Control Act requested that the EPA "exercise its authority to prohibit the purposeful addition of fluoridation chemicals to U.S. water supplies." This request—the focus of a lawsuit to be argued in court later in 2019—poses a landmark challenge to the dangerous practice of water fluoridation and has the potential to end one of the most significant chemical assaults on our children's developing bodies and brains.
This article originally appeared on The Children's Health Defense Team.
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Lotti Von Hesse
Agrred – I have been trying to get a report on my drinking water supply, but they tell you that the fluoride is minimal, and they will not tell me how much is in it, and why it is in there in the first place! To add injury to insult, I have to pay for that poisonous water! Most of our water is owned by (((corporations))) that have been poisoning our water supply since the 1950s! Sickening!
Ragnar Fan
Reverse osmosis filtration is the way to go to remove fluoride and other toxins. I have an RO system and hope this info helps anyone in regards to efficiency. Ro membranes are rated at different efficiencies, so start off with a low waste model. Mine is 1:1 (1 volume of drinking water:1 volume of waste) The major efficiency problem with RO systems is the storage tank, which is usually pressurized. The fuller the tank gets, the more pressure is required to fill it. I don't know the exact calculations but efficiency seems to decrease exponentially as the… Read more »
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Za druge 3. polke glej 3. polk.

3. pehotni polk (izvirno angleško 3d United States Infantry Regiment; kratica 3d INF) je pehotni polk Kopenske vojske, ki ga danes sestavljata dva bataljona.

Kljub temu, da sta oba bataljona sestavni del polka, je 1. bataljon bolj indentificiran z vzdevkom The Old Guard (Stara straža; kratica TOG).

3. pehotni polk je najstarejši aktivni pehotni polk KOV ZDA; sprva je bil leta 1784 ustanovljen kot 1. ameriški polk, toda pozneje preimenoval v današnji naziv.

Glej tudi

 seznam polkov Kopenske vojske ZDA

Pehotni polki Kopenske vojske ZDA
Polki vojne leta 1812
Polki ameriško-mehiške vojne
Polki ameriške državljanske vojne
Polki indijanskih vojn
Polki špansko-ameriške vojne
Polki filipinske vstaje
Polki druge svetovne vojne
Polki vietnamske vojne
Vojaške enote, ustanovljene leta 1784

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Leicestershire was a vital creative hub during the Industrial Revolution, but its factories were a major target for German air raids in WWII and most towns in the county still bear the scars of war-time bombing. Nevertheless, there are some impressive remains, from Elizabethan castles to Roman ruins. The busy, multicultural capital Leicester is enjoying fame arising from the 2012 discovery and 2015 reburial of King Richard III's remains.
Ready to go? Get to the heart of Leicestershire with one of Lonely Planet's in-depth, award-winning guidebooks.


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Archive for the 'Hamid Sirhan' Category.
3 ways Facebook 'Questions' feature can help your brand
Facebook has recently added "Questions" to its list of features.
Facebook Questions has the potential to be a valuable market research and engagement tool because:
The interface is nicer than the Facebook Polls application.
You can pay for Facebook advertising for your Questions (via the URL), which could provide a significant, targeted response for market research efforts.
It's easy to share the question with your friends and follow the question to keep a track of written responses. (Some respondents may find it helpful to look for people with similar mindsets, which you can do by clicking the  button. Others might find it invasive and shy away from engaging over privacy concerns).
The Tesco GB Facebook Page, which has just over 9,300 followers, received over 200 votes and 9 followers within the first hour of publishing its poll. Looking back through its wall feed, this is a much higher level of engagement than its other wall posts (except for the one which offered a £50 prize).
Even more Interestingly, in the half a day or so since the question has been up, it's had 436 responses, which means nearly 5% of all fans have so far interacted with the poll. This is an excellent response as usually anywhere between 0.5-1% would be considered a good response for most brands.
The question that Tesco asked through Facebook Questions was a simple poll with probably little inherent value:
'Has everyone adjusted with the clocks yet?'
However the response rate indicates the potential value Questions can have for brands.
So is Facebook Questions a survey-smasher? Not in its current form - its options are too simple. It is however a great polling system and may, with improvement, be among the best online-market research tools.
If Facebook can find the balance between the depth needed for market research; the targeting options it has for brand page posts; privacy, and the sharing options it currently features, it will be a winner.
Tags: Facebook Questions, Facebook questions brands, FreshNetworks, Tesco Facebook Questions | 3 Comments
Twitter and the power of celebrity - internships.com case study
I'm sure by now you've all seen plenty of memes and read various different articles, tweets and blog posts about actor Charlie Sheen. But do you know what he did for work experience website internships.com?
Charlie Sheen banked on his 'meltdown' by creating a record breaking Twitter account. How record breaking? Try 1 million followers in one day.
Five days later, on 7th March, he sent a tweet for internships.com using ad.ly (a Tweet ad specialist) which said:
"I'm looking to hire a #winning INTERN with #TigerBlood. Apply here – http://bit.ly/hykQQF #TigerBloodIntern #internship #ad".
Internships.com will have paid at least $100,000 for him to do this. So was it worth the payoff?
According to data published on Techcrunch, for the period March 7th - March 11th 2011 internships.com saw (with usual traffic etc removed):
1,035,021 unique visitors from 475,375 original link clicks
82,148 internship applications
From which 50 highly-qualified candidates were selected
These figures not only show the power of leveraging celebrity on Twitter but also the importance timing. Internships.com picked the perfect moment to benefit from Charlie Sheen's social media influence – the height of #tigerblood #winning hashtag spread– and they reaped the benefits. What ever you may think of Sheen's lifestyle, these numbers are another little bit of evidence which proves that value of Twitter as a marketing tool.
That's not to say that all brands should jump immediately jump on the celebrity endorsement bandwagon; you still have to be careful when leveraging celebrity.
During the Earthquake/Tsunami disaster in Japan, Hollywood actor Gilbert Gottfried (best know for his role as Iago the Parrot in Aladdin and for co-staring in the Problem Child movies) was fired by insurance company Aflac for some very insensitive tweets. Aflac, the top foreign insurance company in Japan, get 75% of its revenue from the Japanese market. With this in mind it would have been sensible for someone from their team them to contact Gottfried as soon as the earthquake occurred to ensure he put his 'humorous' quips on hold - particularly when he's known for making insensitive remarks during or shortly after disasters.
So it there are definitely pros and cons to using a celebrity to endorse you brand. Given the rate at which things can spread online these days, make sure you consider any and all outcomes before using the power of celebrity in social media. Remember these people could be viewed as a spokesperson for your brand so its important to consider whether the timing and their persona is appropriate for how you want to position yourself.
So what was the payoff? According to its own data (with usual traffic etc removed) internships.com saw:
1) 1,035,021 unique visitors from
2) 475,375 original link clicks from March 7th to March 11th
3) 82,148 internship applications
4) From which 50 highly-qualified candidates were selected
Having worked with companies who'd pay well over $100,000 for that sort of traffic, I'd say that's a resounding publicity success. This shows the power of leveraging not just celebrity but timing. They picked the perfect moment – the height of #tigerblood #winning – and reaped the benefits.
You still have to be careful when leveraging celebrity: during the Earthquake-Tsunami disaster that struck Japan Gilbert Gottfried – the perfectly annoying parrot, Iago, from everyone's favourite film, Aladdin – was fired by Aflac for some very insensitive tweets. Aflac, the top foreign insurance agency in Japan, which finds 75% of its revenue from the Japanese market, would have done better to make sure as soon as the earthquake occurred to immediately contact Gottfried and make sure he put his 'humorous' quips on hold particularly when he's known for making insensitive remarks during or shortly after disasters. (http://mashable.com/2011/03/15/gilbert-gottfried-japan-twitter/)
Tags: Charlie Sheen, FreshNetworks, internships.com, Twitter | 3 Comments
1,200 tweets per second (and other interesting Twitter stats)
Image by ntr23 via Flickr
Twitter is growing both in terms of users, the number of messages being created and the importance that people place on the service.
In a recent presentation from Raffi Krikorian, Twitter's lead on Application Services, we got an insight into how Twitter is being used and some current statistics. The most interesting of these are below, and the full presentation is at the end of this post.
There are currently 110 million tweets per day from the 200 million registeered users.
The current rate of tweeting is 1,200 Tweets per second (tps), but these increase during dramatically important events. The Superbowl at one stage saw 4,064 tps with the second highest peak during the superbowl was during the half-time ads rather than the game itself.
Twitter generates 10TB a day. That's ten times what the New York Stock Exchange produces. It's all generated from 140 character tweets which are individually 200 bytes per tweet. A phenomenal amount of text.
There are currently 200m registered users with a growth continuing at a higher pace than before.
Top three twitter-users by number of followers - @ladygaga (8.3m), @justinbieber (8.1m), @barakobama (7.0m)
This Twitter density map (below) shows that Twitter is most popular in Western Europe, Japan, the USA and parts of South America. What might be surprising is that it appears to be especially popular in Indonesia, with some good activity in theMalaysia-Singapore area. You'll notice that it doesn't seem too popular in Africa with a couple of exceptions on the West Coast and the city-centres of the Middle East (you can quite clearly see Cairo and what appear to be the Amman – Damascus – Tel Aviv trifecta).
Twitter by the Numbers (Columbia University)
View more presentations from Raffi Krikorian
Tags: Columbia University, FreshNetworks, Raffi Krikorian, Required reading, social media, Twitter, Twitter statistics | 16 Comments
'Geilivable' brands: engaging Chinese audiences online
Image courtesy of wangruwei
Social media competition in China is beginning to heat up. Facebook and Groupon are looking at engaging the Chinese market as soon as possible and it looks like 2011 will be the pivotal year for Chinese social media.
As Chinese networks emerge and develop, it's crucial to protect your brand and develop your presence among Chinese 'netizens'*:
1. Develop your brand strategy
Think about how you want your brand to be perceived online in China. It's possible that when you take your brand to China, or develop an extant brand image in that market space, you'll want to be perceived somewhat differently than in European or American markets.
Capitalise on your similarities, differences and novelties. Look at what other brands have been doing and are currently doing and see what lessons can be learned from successes and mistakes.
2. Start monitoring Chinese Internet trends
Baidu, which holds about 76% of the Chinese search market, looks set to aggressively expand its social services profile (and has made a start with its Baidu Beat English service).
ChinaSmack is great for monitoring Chinese Internet vocabulary, Internet memes and viral videos – one recent meme involves punning on the word 'GeiLi' ('Gives power'). Something that is 'Geilivable' is cool or great.
3. Protect your brand's trademarks
If somebody is posting as your brand on social networking sites, you want it to be you. Protect your trademarks by registering now on the most popular networks:
Tencent WeiBo - China's leading microblogging service with over 100 million registered members.
Sina WeiBo - China's second microblogging service with an official reach of over 50 million members.
Ren Ren - Positioning itself as China's answer to Facebook with over 22 million active users.
TuDou - China's leading video service ranked 11th in China's traffic rankings according to Alexa.
4. Create a brand persona to engage on Chinese forums and blogs
Like online communities in Europe and the US, Chinese 'netizens' love to engage. Find ways to make your brand fun and interesting. Create interesting pictures, videos and interactive content and present it to Chinese communities.
5. Assess the content you use to engage
Don't be afraid to engage. At the same time, be wary of the risks of some forms of content. Avoid politics, overt sexuality and extreme violence. These are themes that can put you on a wrong footing with the Chinese authorities and Chinese 'netizens'. Instead, look for ways to associate your brand with fun, happiness, good-living and either China or the West depending on the brand image you're aiming for.
6. Use the offline world to help engage online
Thousands of Internet-savvy Chinese students flock to the UK, the rest of Europe and the US each year. Find ways to engage with them offline and you'll reap the benefits online as they engage with online Chinese communities.
*A 'netizen' is a commonly used translation of '网民' (lit. 'Net People')
Tags: China, FreshNetworks, geilivable, hamid sirhan, netizens, social media | 1 Comment


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Dan Rodricks: Way past impatient for an answer to the violence in Baltimore? Yeah, I know the feeling. | COMMENTARY
University of Maryland doctors in Baltimore perform first successful transplant of pig heart into human
Eight Carroll County residents died of COVID-19 this week
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A spectacular weekend for Baltimore [Editorial]
After something of a rough week, the city showed off its best to a national audience with this weekend's Star Spangled Spectacular, packing downtown with residents and tourists alike to celebrate a singular moment in American history. The rain cleared in time for the Blue Angels, the Orioles took three out of four from the Yankees to inch closer to a division title, and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and its dynamic conductor, Marin Alsop, showed off for a national television audience.
How big a deal was it? Big enough that Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake showed up despite a case of bronchitis — and wound up having to spend the night in the hospital as a result. Big enough that Gov. Martin O'Malley blew off Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin's steak fry on Sunday to stick around town for all the events, ceding the stage in the first-in-the-nation caucus state to Hillary Clinton. This may have been just as well, as our governor with presidential dreams would also have been competing with Bill Clinton for media attention — never a smart bet. Instead, Mr. O'Malley looked good by comparison to the current president, who treated the national anthem's bicentennial as a pit stop on the way to an evening of high-dollar fund-raising in Baltimore County.
The weekend's festivities, which formally conclude with the departure of tall ships from the harbor tomorrow, are expected to pump scores of millions of dollars into the local economy. Hotels were sold out, restaurants were full and the foot traffic for downtown merchants was excellent. And unlike the ill-fated Baltimore Grand Prix, this event didn't require closing off streets and erecting barricades — or diverting millions in federal highway funds to spruce up a handful of roadways. Officials are betting its impact will exceed 2012's Sailabration, which generated $166 million in economic activity.
That leads to the question of whether and how Baltimore can replicate that sort of success before the Star Spangled Banner's tricentennial in 2114 — and ideally, every year. As welcome a shot in the arm as the weekend's festivities were for the local tourism industry, they don't amount to the same thing as sustainable economic development unless they can be repeated, and the efforts of Governor O'Malley and others notwithstanding, the War of 1812 simply lacks the cultural cachet of the Revolutionary or Civil wars. Not so many people are coming back for the 201st anniversary of the anthem's writing.
If there's a lesson to be learned here, it's that tourists respond to authentic expressions of Baltimore's history and culture. The unfortunate thing is that in many respects, we are inevitably overshadowed by Washington — and for that matter, Philadelphia, New York and Boston — when it comes to historical tourism. As rich a legacy as Baltimore has, its past serves more as an exemplar of American life — the rise of shipping, railroads and industry, for example — than as a seat of extraordinary events. The city has made efforts to play up its history, and certainly more can be done, but it's not likely to drive the tourism economy here in the same way that it does in some other East Coast cities.
What the Star Spangled Spectacular offered, like Sailabration before it, was a means to showcase the charm and beauty that Baltimore's waterfront has to offer. If city leaders are looking for ways to draw back some of the thousands of tourists who came here this weekend, it would do well to build support (and funding) for the Inner Harbor 2.0 plan being backed by the Greater Baltimore Committee, Downtown Partnership and others. Refreshing this defining feature of the city and better integrating it with the neighborhoods that surround it is perhaps the single most significant thing Baltimore could do to boost the tourism economy.
More broadly, though, the key to more bustling weekends like this one is for the city to adopt policies to grow Baltimore's population and economy more generally. The livelier Baltimore's streets are, the more shops and restaurants it boasts, the more people are going to want to be a part of it. We can't have the 200th anniversary of a major historical event here every year. But we can have a vibrant city every day.
Latest Editorial
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To respond to this editorial, send an email to talkback@baltimoresun.com. Please include your name and contact information.
Grand Prix of Baltimore
Downtown Partnership of Baltimore
Stephanie Rawlings-Blake
Inner Harbor


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Q: In the non-Newtonian flow, what's the difference between Carreau–Bird model and FENE-P model Can FENE-P model describe the shear-thinning or shear-thickening flow?

A: FENE models are a class of model to describe a viscoelastic fluid flow, . Although these flows exhibit shear-dependent flow rates, they are not equivalent to shear-thickening or shear-thinning flows.

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HomeNews2015 Traffic Fatalities in Tennessee Third Lowest since 1963
2015 Traffic Fatalities in Tennessee Third Lowest since 1963
By News Staff
Vehicle accident on Tiny Town Road.
Nashville, TN – The Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security announced the number of traffic fatalities in 2015 is the third lowest annual figure in Tennessee since 1963. The 2015 traffic fatality numbers are reported by all Tennessee law enforcement agencies to the Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP).
Preliminary figures indicate there were 965 vehicular deaths on Tennessee roadways in 2015. In 1963, there were 941 deaths. The 2015 fatality number includes 112 pedestrians and 10 pedal cyclists.
Tennessee Highway Patrol Releases State-Wide Traffic Fatality Figures
From 1964 to 2010, Tennessee averaged 1,234 deaths on roadways. Over the 46 year period, 1973 was the most tragic year, totaling 1,444 traffic deaths. From 2011 to 2015 under Governor Bill Haslam's administration, the five year annual traffic fatality average has been 971, with those five years making up five of the six lowest years since 1963.
Nationwide preliminary figures indicate an increase of about 15 percent in 2015 compared to 2014.
"We are making great strides in reducing traffic fatalities with our data driven enforcement initiatives, public awareness efforts, and special programs," Safety Commissioner Bill Gibbons said. "Our top goal continues to be the reduction of traffic fatalities. We are committed to enforcing our traffic laws and saving lives."
THP Colonel Tracy Trott said state troopers' commitment to enforcing DUI, seat belt, and distracted driving traffic laws is producing results. State troopers arrested 7,805 individuals on suspicion of DUI in 2015 and cited 114,047 individuals for not wearing their seat belts.
Subsequently, there was a 20.9 percent drop in alcohol-related traffic fatalities in 2015 in Tennessee and a 3 percent drop in the percent of fatalities involving unrestrained motorists compared to 2014.
"Our focus and commitment to traffic enforcement and citizens' safety are making a difference in Tennessee," Trott said. "We are making great progress in reducing fatal incidents on Tennessee roadways, but we know there is more work needing to be done, and we are even more committed to citizens' safety than ever before. We encourage Tennesseans to make safe choices. Buckle up, don't drive impaired and don't text while driving because we care."
About Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security
The Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security's (www.TN.Gov/safety) mission is to serve, secure, and protect the people of Tennessee.
Bill Gibbons
Bill Haslam
Tennessee Governor
Tracy Trott
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The Internet Archive has launched a beta version of a new search interface and results display scheme for the Wayback Machine.
The Wayback Machine beta version's Latest button shows only the most recent version of the searched-for URL from the Internet Archive's collection. The Show All button is the same as the classic Wayback Machine's Take Me Back button.
The two most noticeable differences are the way the pages (and their harvesting dates) are represented with a timeline and calendar, and the addition of a toolbar at the top of pages displayed from the collection.
Results of a URL search in the Wayback Machine's collection of archival Web pages now shows the harvesting dates of the pages distributed on a calendar.
The new toolbar at the top of the pages displayed from the Wayback Machine makes it easier to quickly see the date on which that particular page was collected.
According to the site's Frequently Asked Questions, the beta is also built to be faster than the "classic" Wayback Machine search.
The Internet Archive's Wayback Machine is a historical collection of Web pages (as they appeared at specific points in time). The Wayback Machine's collection dates back to 1996 (although not all sites in the collection are represented back that far). The public search interface was launched in 2001 with a collection of 10 billion pages. According to the Internet Archive, the Wayback Machine's collection now includes 150 billion pages.


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Council wins award for its work to protect FGM victims and domestic abuse survivors
Published: 2:00 PM March 21, 2019 Updated: 8:53 AM October 14, 2020
Tower Hamlets Council accepts LGC team of the year award. Pic: LBTH - Credit: Archant
Tower Hamlets Council has won an award for its efforts to stop hate and violence against females in the borough.
The local authority's violence against women and girls (VAWG), domestic abuse and hate crime team scooped the 'team of the year' category at the Local Government Chronicle's (LGC) Awards.
This is the second year in a row a team within the council's community safety area has won this award as its substance misuse team scooped the same accolade in 2018.
This year's winning team is focused on supporting and protecting victims, working with partner organisations and community champions to ensure enforcement action is taken against their attackers, and raising awareness and challenging discrimination.
This includes the launch of a female genital mutilation project to increase reporting, which received 90 referrals in its first year and bringing in a 'one stop shop' for victims of domestic abuse to minimise the number of times they have to repeat their ordeal to other agencies.
Councillor Asma Begum, deputy mayor and cabinet member for community safety and equality said: "It's great to see this wonderful team once again win the team of the year award. They work tirelessly to tackle all types of violence, abuse and hate. Their work is vitally important in tackling these issues and making sure Tower Hamlets is No Place for Hate."
To find out more about the council's No Place for Hate campaign visit www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/npfh.


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Q: Why do my profile picture alone blurred exactly in Leagues page while looking through Firefox 40.0.3? In the Stack Exchange Leagues Page of Webmasters, I have seen that my profile picture is blurred but I can see others picture are clear only. I checked my profile picture in my profile page and it's very clear. I have checked all the pages wherever my profile picture has been showing over the site and all looks good, then why do my profile picture alone blurred and exactly in Leagues page?
Leagues Page:

Profile Page:

If image size might be the reason means, in the above picture my profile picture size is very small but it is not blurred.
Important Note:
I checked the page through various browsers. Unfortunately the image is clear in Chrome as well as in IE but the problem exist in Firefox 40.0.3.


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Q: VAST 2 overlay --- play a video when the user clicks the overlay In OpenX when create video-banner user has option "When the user clicks the overlay --- Play a video "
For playing video when user clicks the overlay OpenX adds to vast the following node :
<Video>
    <MediaFiles>
       <MediaFile delivery="progressive" bitrate="400" width="640" height="480" type="video/x-flv">
           <URL><![CDATA[http://videoads.openx.org.edgesuite.net/openxvideos/openx-ad.flv]]></URL>
       </MediaFile>
    </MediaFiles>
</Video>

OpenX uses Vast 1 for creating video banners.
The question --- how to realize the same functionality using VAST 2 ?

A: Looks like that in VAST 2 problem can be solved ONLY on banner level using VPAID.
See http://www.iab.net/media/file/VPAIDFINAL51109.pdf --- 6.4 Overlay Banner with c lick-to-linear video ad


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Home Politics America Ohio House passes Revised State Budget: Removing all Language related to Vapor...
Ohio House passes Revised State Budget: Removing all Language related to Vapor Product Regulations
There is a sense of momentum and change in the U.S. vaporsphere that perhaps not all hope is lost just yet. After New York State was able to show everyone that they are ready to step up as a leader within the industry and represent a symbol of advocacy after getting all of the vapor language removed from their proposed state budget - we are now seeing other states accomplishing similarly impossible feats. Therefore, it seems Ohio is also one of the major U.S. advocacy fronts in favor of vapor.
Tony Ottomanelli II
Ohio's proposed budget by Governor Kasich was one of the harshest excessive taxation proposals on vapor products that we have seen since this started to become a trend. Indeed, the 95% wholesale tax in Minnesota is downright unacceptable and also reveals the scarcity in qualities of their government's character. Ohio's proposal calls for a 69% wholesale tax hike plus $1000 licensing fee annually for any business selling vapor products within the state even if you were a out-of-state business trying to operate in the state's industry
OHVTA is Grateful for All the Support
The OHVTA, President James Jarvis has just communicated to the Vaping Post with these comments:
"Ohio is extremely excited with the decision by the Ohio House to remove all Vapor language from the Governor's Budget Proposal. This would not have been possible without the tremendous effort from the OHVTA Board, The OHVTA Members, the Consumers, our Amazing lobbyist Charlotte Hickcox and the huge support of the VTA!"
"We are extremely lucky to have the people that we have communicated with, maintain their loyalty and support revealing to everyone just How committed they are to represent us in the Ohio House. These Representatives sacrifice so much and really do put Ohio first and it shows. We truly appreciate what they have done and the time and consideration they gave us. Having said that, I urge everyone who made those calls asking for their help to make another call and thank them for what they did for all of us."
The Ohio budget passing the House Legislature after all vapor language gets entirely removed is a commendable achievement. Proving that Ohio will become a major battleground state and top leader among many advocacy groups.
It seems several events that have taken place over the last couple weeks have proven to be highly significant victories for the vapor industry. Perhaps there has been a change of heart after the federal government failed to replace the healthcare initiative with anything that would've been equally viable and effective.
Victorious Indeed, but It's NOT quite Finalized
All in all, the OH budget must now be passed by the State Senate, so it's not over till it's over, as they say. Regardless, it is absolutely crucial for any advocate supporting this industry to follow this story topic closely as well as what has been happening within the state of New York.
New York was able to also get all of their regulatory language removed from their own state's proposed budget and then also have it passed. Yet, now their state is facing 24 standalone bills that deal with the regulation of vapor products.
Did all 24 of these bills come into play directly after the budget was passed without any regulation on the Vapor industry? Or were these 24 standalone bills already in place? Regardless, Vaping Post will be covering all these extremely relevant and critical topics throughout as the drama continues to unfold. We will be interviewing the New York State Vapor Association and some some other possible Industry Professionals.
These are the moments when people separate themselves from the herd – emerging as leaders, who do you want to emerge as? Whose side are you cheering for? Whatever the case, please understand every U.S. citizen has a stake in this fight – that is, if you care to preserve the democracy we so often take advantage of. Either way, one thing is certain: involvement is now voluntary and perhaps, advocating in general, is at the very least, a vaper's due diligence.
OHVTA
Previous articleU.S. Sees Positive Shift in American Policy on Vape Products (part 1)
Next articleNYSVA Advocates Warn New York Vape Community
Master's Degree in Sociology. I love anything and everything vape-related. All articles express my own opinion and do not necessarily reflect the Editor's view.


Coleen Rooney about to give birth?
Wayne Rooney was absent from training this morning amid growing speculation that wife Coleen is set to give birth to the couple's first child.
If that is the case, Rooney would almost certainly be excused from duty against CSKA Moscow at Old Trafford tomorrow, given Manchester United have a 100% record from their opening three matches in Group B and require just one more win to qualify for the knockout phase.
Rooney was not the only big name missing this morning, suggesting the Red Devils will be nowhere near full strength against the Russian champions.


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January 20, 2023 January 24, 2023 gbwpodcast Leave a comment
There is definitely nothing even close to a theme in the twenty films we're talking about this episode but there's some pleasant surprises, we still wonder who actually likes Count Yorga, and there is one moment of pure hatred.
Things are kicked off right with a DIE HARD clone that's pretty rad, we look at Steve McQueen's final film, Damien Chazelle brings the Hollywood excess in BABYLON, there's some giant animals on the loose, a Nazi zombie causes havoc, we look at how mental health was handled in the 1940's, another 70's TV movie doesn't live up to expectations, Maxwell Smart gets "nude", and so much more!
January 6, 2023 gbwpodcast Leave a comment
New year. Same us. Which isn't a bad thing as we offer up our takes on twenty-three films that cover almost every genre you can think of.
There's disaster in the air with an exploding volcano, Johnny Cash plays a hard-boiled criminal, mutated sheep go on the attack, we talk Spielberg's love letter to film THE FABELMANS, Lou Ferrigno returns as a Greek god, we get ridiculous with 2022's FALL, a guy has sex with a hot female alien, Josh continues his trek into film noir, John Waters serves up his biggest slice of depravity and so much more!
December 16, 2022 December 18, 2022 gbwpodcast Leave a comment
There's a whole lot of ass-kicking going down this episode in amongst some tender drama and bowling ball boners. Yes, it's the off-beat mixture of movies you've come to expect from GBW – and we have 22 of them for you.
We talk a handful of 2022 films (a couple which make our top tens), Charles Bronson and Nicolas Cage make an appearance, Michael Mann makes his directorial debut, Chris thinks calling Uwe Boll the "worst director ever" is not true, Josh polishes off the PSYCHO franchise, Joan Collins fights off rubbery ants, we get a cool mustached action hero nobody has heard of, and so much more!
November 25, 2022 December 18, 2022 gbwpodcast Leave a comment
When you've got it, you've got it, and in this episode we meet a handful of characters who do. It's an eccentric mix of twenty-one films making us this episode and it's sure to make you do the splits between two chairs!
Just some of the films covered include Josh embracing "Noir-vember", Chris getting DRESSED TO KILL, a mad bomber with a penchant for rollercoasters, Tori Spelling and her psycho boyfriend, us wondering just who thought Yorga was a good name, Nicolas Cage doing his version of TAKEN, a duo of religious themed horror movies, the MF'ing Kumite, and so much more!
WARNING: There are some spoilers during DRESSED TO KILL, so if you don't wish to hear them skip from about the 1hr55 mark to 2hr06 mark. Word to your mother.
November 17, 2022 gbwpodcast Leave a comment
There's not a lot that can send us into a ranting mess of rage but, this episode, we manage to get worked up twice!
This time out we cover 20 films including the much maligned HALLOWEEN ENDS, another film noir that delivers the goods, Clint Eastwood in full-on macho/sexist mode, some kids being shot into space, a bonafide John Carpenter classic, the return of Robert Ginty to GBW, us questioning how Bert Convy became famous, RIGHTING WRONGS kicking all sorts of ass, and so much more!
Episode 193: Beware! The Pod
It's October so that means this episode is definitely skewed towards a certain genre.
We cover 22 films including getting to see Peter Cushing like we've never seen him before, a duo of Blumhouse films that question our faith in them, a coven of 90's high school witches, a couple of lesser-known films from Fred Olen Ray and Wes Craven, Josh finishing off the Romero zombie series, an early 70's Japanese goth film, more Jess Franco, and so much more!
Episode 192: Just Hiss It
September 30, 2022 October 6, 2022 gbwpodcast Leave a comment
This episode of GBW we want you to get in touch with your reptile side and give off a good "sssssss" as we talk about nineteen films.
We both journey into the land of Roger Corman produced foreign-made 80's action, Chris gives his takes on BARBARIAN and PEARL, Josh tells us all about one of his favourite 70's drive-in flicks, we get down at the disco with Jeff Goldblum, Sho Kosugi uses his ninja skills yet again, we wonder why director Chuck Vincent's films aren't easier to come by, Jackie Chan meets a baby, and so much more!
Episode 191: Ridiculous!!
September 16, 2022 September 24, 2022 gbwpodcast Leave a comment
Amongst the sixteen films we cover this time there's a whole lot of ridiculousness on display. However, don't think we're saying that as a negative thing!
This time Leo Fong makes his second appearance in a row, Chris wishes that Ken Wahl could've become a big action star, there's a monster unleashed from a lamp, Michael Keaton brings the psycho, Josh doesn't really enjoy his SHOCKER revisit, David Mamet meets ultimate fighting, Christopher Walken is a malicious angel, we talk a duo of new horror films and so much more!
Episode 190: Run-on Nostalgia
August 29, 2022 September 12, 2022 gbwpodcast Leave a comment
Nostalgia weighs heavy a few times this episode as we talk about sixteen films.
We watched a duo of documentaries about one of our favourite things (physical media), Josh is introduced to the glory that is Leo Fong, a Satan possessed cobra makes life miserable for a small town, Burt Reynolds and friends once again go on a cross-country race, Dracula's dog bites a few necks, a noir "classic" doesn't quite live up to its hype, Jess Franco AND John Waters return to the show and so much more!
Episode 189: Thrown Into Space
August 14, 2022 August 19, 2022 gbwpodcast Leave a comment
What other podcast can you hear your hosts talk about threesomes, parents hiring a clown to terrify their children and things being haphazardly tossed into space?
This time out we bring you 20 films and, man, do they run the gamut. We get slightly disappointed by some documentaries, discuss a duo of slasher flicks (including a murderous football!), there's some insane "thirst" going on in a couple of the movies, 70's Martin Sheen proves he's the best Martin Sheen, Josh revisits one of his all-time favourites CLASS OF 1984, we get a liberal dose of 80's sleaze, and so much more!


The runaway success of Baba Ramdev's Patanjali brand has had a halo effect on the entire ayurvedic consumer products segment, helping it outpace the overall consumer products industry in growth, according to the latest data.
Ayurvedic products now reach 77% of Indian homes, up from 69% two years ago, even as top fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies, including Hindustan Unilever and Colgate-Palmolive, have been aggressively launching natural products and extending their reach to stop Patanjali and other ayurvedic product makers such as Dabur from eating into their market share.
In the quarter ended March, ayurvedic products grew 60% in volume from the year earlier while the overall FMCG segment grew 6%, according to data from Kantar Worldpanel, the consumer insights arm of WPP.
The overall FMCG segment added 2.8 million households during the quarter to reach about 275 million homes.
Ayurvedic brands had significantly higher addition of 23 million during the same period and increased penetration to 183 million households.
helped it grow into a Rs 10,000-crore company in less than a decade. This prompted established FMCG players to get into 'natural' segment.
L'Oreal, for example, has launched a hair care range under Garnier Ultra Blends made with "natural ingredients", while Colgate brought the Cibaca Vedshakti brand to the market.
The country's largest consumer products maker HUL, which launched the Lever Ayush brand last year, recently brought Citra, an organic skin care brand from Indonesia, to the country and has also rolled out a naturals variants under brands like Tresemme and Fair & Lovely.
Patanjali has also fuelled the expansion of the country's herbal products market and helped even its rivals in this space sell more home and personal care products, while grabbing share from multinationals.
For instance, Colgate's share in the toothpaste market fell the steepest in a decade by 180 basis points in FY17 to 55.6%, while ayurvedic toothpaste makers Dabur and Patanjali gained 300 basis points during the same period. A basis point is 0.01 percentage point.
KK Chutani, executive director for consumer care business at Dabur India, said the firm has launched a "future-ready" strategy to make ayurveda "more contemporary" and promote it among the new generation.
Under this strategy, the maker of Real juice and Vatika hair oil have rolled out an initiative to build advocacy for its portfolio of over-the-counter (OTC) and ethical products by engaging with more than 30,000 healthcare professionals.
"Modern day science is the greatest tool that not just helps validate the benefits of this age-old wisdom, but also helps the new generation embrace this traditional science with greater ease," Chutani said.
Within ayurvedic products, personal care brands have the highest penetration of 65% followed by 9% for household products, according to Kantar. The reach for ayurvedic food products, however, remains low at 1%, it said.


The Rural Domestic Preparedness Consortium (RDPC) is delivering the DHS approved training course, "Isolation and Quarantine Training"
A management-level, instructor-led course designed to provide small, rural, and remote communities with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to effectively plan for and respond to events that require isolation and/or quarantine of their populations in a variety of low- and high-impact situations.
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This course expands on concepts introduced in MGT 433, and consists of two customized training modules specifically tailored toward course participants in the public health and medical fields.
In this course, participants will become familiar with guidance that assists communities in planning for isolation and quarantine (I&Q), such as the National Response Plan and its implications in the healthcare community.
Successfully completing MGT 433: Isolation & Quarantine for Rural Communities is a prerequisite for attending PER 308.


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Has the NZDF gone Praetorian?
Posted on 11:03, June 8th, 2011 by Pablo
The hallmark of professional militaries is that they are non-partisan, subordinate themselves to elected civilian leadership in exchange for corporate autonomy and serve the nation as a commoweal organisation–that is, as an agent providing a universal public good (in this case national defense). The same is true for intelligence agencies, which are supposed to provide objective, factual and politically neutral analysis of threats, current trends and longer-term strategic developments. Conversely, praetorian militaries (named after the Roman praetorian guards that made and unmade emperors) are highly politicised, overtly partisan, permeated by sectarian or class interests and prone to manipulating threat assessments or broader strategic evaluations for corporate or political gain.
The reason I make these distinctions is because there appears to be a disturbing trend at play within the NZDF. Evident in the official misrepresentations and dissembling about the reasons for, and rules of engagement governing the SAS re-deployment to Afghanistan in 2009, the NZDF appears to be following the NZSIS approach to its charter. That is worrisome because the SIS has shown itself to be extremely politicised and prone to praetorian behaviour under the protection of national security legislation that prevents transparency in the reporting and investigation of its activities. The Zaoui case, the branding of Jane Kelsey as a security threat, the spying on peace and environmental activists engaged in  lawful dissent, the attempts to portray the Urewera 18 as something far more sinister than they are–all of this is symptomatic of the deep institutional malaise and anti-democratic propensities of the SIS. Hopes that the praetorian culture within the SIS would change with the appointment of Warren Tucker as director have been dashed as time goes by, and instead its powers of surveillance and scope of authority have been expanded under National-led reforms of the Terrorism Suppression Act and attendant security legislation.
That is why current developments within the NZDF are troubling. Unlike its intelligence counterpart, the NZDF has a reputation for professionalism and straight talk. That remains true for the bulk of the armed services, which for a small fighting force perform admirably within the budgetary and operational constraints incumbent upon them. But over the last decade or so the NZDF leadership–those of field and flag rank–have increasingly shown a propensity to dovetail their assessments with those of the government of the day. While consistency in approach between the military and civilian leadership is needed for security policy to be effective, this marrying of political interests has begun to look suspiciously like incipient "praetorianisation" of the NZDF. Rationales for foreign deployments, operational requirements, assessments of legal authority and liability, weapons procurement policy, justications for alliance commitments–in virtually every sphere of corporate interest the NZDF leadership appear to be taking their cue not from the objective requirements of the security environment in which NZ operates but from the political necessities of the government.
Although the Clark government manipulated the NZDF for its own purposes, this trend towards praetorianism has become amply evident with National in power, particularly in its reaffirming of security ties to the US (which is now confirmed by a "strategic partnership" codified in the Wellington Declaration of November 2010). This relationship certainly has benefits for the NZDF but it also has potential drawbacks in the measure that NZ is now tied to US (and Australian) strategic interests that are not necessarily those of NZ or which do not enjoy public support within it. There may be good reasons for this, but if so they have not been well enunciated and defended by the NZDF on autonomous grounds. Instead, without public consultation or debate, the government has agreed to the strategic partnership and the NZDF has followed the party line. The same is true for the Defence White Paper issued this past year, which rather than reflect a broad public consensus on the orientation and configuration of the NZDF given the security environment of the next decade, has arguably responded more to the internal logics of the defence establishment and the government (in other words, the public consultation process was ritualistic window-dressing on what amounted to the adoption of largely pre-determined decisions). None of this conforms to the military professional ideal in a democracy.
The politicisation of the NZDF leadership became acutely apparent in the response to Jon Stephenson's article on the SAS in Afghanistan. The commander of the NZDF, General Rhys-Jones, parroted John Key's slanderous denigration of the reporter and refused to consider the possibility that his predecessor, Sir Jerry Mateparae might have overlooked or whitewashed reports that the SAS were handing over prisoners to agencies involved in torture and violations of the Geneva Convention. There may be convincing reasons why this happened, but instead the NZDF closed ranks around Mateparae and Mr. Key, the former apparently out of corporate solidarity and the latter out of political obsequiousness. The trouble is that while the NZDF leadership and civilian policy-makers may find common defense in public stonewalling on matters of contentious security policy, it leaves troops in the field exposed to criminal accusations and undermines the professional ethics of the force as a whole.
That is not good. Although the NZDF is a long way off from being a coup-mongering praetorian military, the increased politicisation of its leadership is a troubling development. Obviously enough military leaders need to have good diplomatic skills and political sensitivities in order to ascend the ranks and interact with their civilian counterparts. There are certainly many–the majority–of NZDF officers who are full professionals. But for some in leadership roles to "spin" the military perspective to suit the political interests of the government of the day is a step too far, as it not only violates the responsibilities of the leadership to the troops that serve under them, but also the duty the military has to the nation as a whole as part of its commonweal orientation.
Perhaps the root of the problem of military politisation in NZ is more fundamental.  Because NZ does not have a constitution NZDF uniformed personnel do not swear an oath to a foundational charter. Instead, they swear a loyalty oath to the Government and the Crown ("Crown" presumably referring to the State but which could also be taken as reference to the Queen given NZ's ongoing allegiance to the monarchy). Little wonder, then, that the corporate logic of the NZDF parallels that of the SIS, because at the end of the day and regardless of the rhetorical commitment to the nation as a whole, its sworn loyalty is less than universal. In other words, rather than a commonweal organisation at the service of the State and Nation, it is merely a tool of government, with all of the partisan implications that entails.
Tags: Defence, NZDF, Security
Posted in governance, Intelligence and Security, NZ Security, NZDF, Politics, War | Print
17 Responses to "Has the NZDF gone Praetorian?"
Eddie C on June 8th, 2011 at 13:46
New Zealand certainly does have a constitution! Is it contained in a single document? No. Is some of it contained in unwritten common law norms? Yes. The UK's constitutional arrangements could be described the same way. For that matter, Canada has a patriated constitution, yet the military oath is made to the Queen. All 3 of those countries seem rather less that coup prone.
Pablo on June 8th, 2011 at 13:55
Eddie C:
Its news to me that NZ has a constitution, however piecemeal it may be. In fact, I have often heard people argue that NZ needs a written constitution as a foundational charter because the Treaty does not suffice, nor does mere common law and practice. Regardless of the merits, I shall leave that argument aside for the moment and focus on the other aspect of your critique.
I specifically stated that I do not see the NZDF as "coup prone" so am not sure why you made that comment. What I am pointing out is the slippery slope of NZDF leadership politisation along lines already well-traveled by the SIS. As for the matter of loyalty oaths, the Canadians swear an oath to defend the Canadian nation as well as the Queen. The UK Armed Forces swear loyalty to the Queen as representative of the British nation, and not to any government. Yet the NZDF explicitly swears allegiance to "The Government" as well as the Crown.
"The Goverment" can be interpreted to mean the ensemble of institutions and laws embodied by the State, which is the guarantor of the Nation, or it can be interpreted to mean the elected incumbents of decision-making positions at any given time. The former would be acceptable from a professional military standpoint but the latter is not. That is my point.
Hugh on June 8th, 2011 at 13:58
While I agree that the treatment of journalists and the whitewashing of prisoner abuse are worrying signs of praetorianism as you've defined it – not a term I'm familiar with – I don't think the Defense White Paper or the Strategic Partnership with the USA count. The NZDF didn't write the Defense White Paper, the MoD did. Whatever the Paper's flaws, the NZDF is not really responsible for them since it constitutionally cannot disagree.
Ditto the US-NZ Strategic Partnership. The initiative for this came from the government of the day, and if the government of the day's policy is that they want the NZDF to work with the US Military, the NZDF is required to go along with that. There's no evidence that the NZDF has done anything above and beyond its duty in pushing for or implementing this arrangement.
Of course it's possible they have done more in each case, but you didn't mention it, so for those of us who aren't super-informed about security issues, it seems your charges are not substantiated.
And I have to disagree that the lack of a constitution is the problem. The oath may have an emotional significance to NZDF staffers but I doubt it informs the way they do their duties. Its value is as a team-building exercise and to create professional pride, not to offer a guideline for responsibilities. And furthermore, the NZDF have always sworn the same oath – if you feel this is the cause, why have they only become "praetorian" in the last decade, when they've been swearing the same oath since WW2 (at least?)i
Hugh:
The point regarding the White Paper and the Strategic Partnership is that there is more than a hint that the NZDF supported both for political/partisan reasons rather than operational requirements or actual national defense concerns. Even if it had strong reasons for endorsing both, the NZDF was basically silent on what those reasons were. I take your point about the MoD and government leadership on both matters but am simply wondering whether the NZDF leadership have abdicated some of the corporate autonomy that is essential to the professional neutrality of the force as a commonweal organisation. Although I believe that the White Paper is less than it could have been and the process of producing was rigged from the onset, I tend to approve of the Partnership with some specific caveats as to the reasons for and ROEs under which NZDF troops will be deployed at the behest of the US and Australia. These were never enunciated.
My issue with the oath is that while it may have been traditionally interpreted along the first lines I have suggested to Eddie C in my previous reply (i.e. to the State as guarantor of the Nation), it strikes me that in recent times it has come to mean more and more loyalty to the government of the day. That is the basis for my concern.
bob on June 8th, 2011 at 18:17
If I recall correctly, our NZ constitution is mostly contained in the 1852 Constitution Act, plus sundry conventions and supplementary laws, as Eddie C said.
http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/timeline&new_date=17/01
Obviously the Parliamentary details have been tweaked since the 19C days of a male, property-owning voter base!
Thanks for the post – the creeping praetorianism of the NZDF is concerning. They must obey the government of the day, but surely the correct method of standing up would be for regular publicly available NZDF reports on any major government initiatives, critiquing them from a military and strategic perspective?
I believe the 1852 Constitution Act is blank – every clause has been superceded by later legislation.
The 1986 Constitution Act is more significant.
Phil Sage on June 8th, 2011 at 21:19
Pablo – Serious subject but it does tickle me that Wiki proves you wrong
Armed forces Oath
"I, [name], solemnly promise and swear that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to our Sovereign Lady the Queen, Her heirs and successors, and that I will faithfully serve in the New Zealand Naval Forces/the New Zealand Army/the Royal New Zealand Air Force [Delete the Services that are not appropriate], and that I will loyally observe and obey all orders of Her Majesty, Her heirs and successors, and of the officers set over me, until I shall be lawfully discharged. So help me God."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oath_of_Allegiance_(New_Zealand)
That is the oath I recall swearing when I joined the TF many years ago. I certainly do not recall swearing allegiance to the government.
Thanks Phil:
I deleted the "spam alert" comment once I found your initial comment in the filter. I am not sure why you keep getting flagged.
As for the Wiki (ugh) quote. I do not see how it contradicts what I have said, and in any event my quotation of the oath comes from the NZDF website, in its mission statement.
Pablo, I actually had a look around the NZDF website apropos of this article and couldn't find the text of the oath. Could you indulge my laziness and post a link?
Hugh.
I can see the the most important point of the post has been lost on this side-track. Oh well.
I did a very quick search and although I did not find the exact words to the oath here is the 1990 Defense Act No 28 (as of May 1, 2011) section 34 on the "Oath of allegiance" (section 34):
http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1990/0028/latest/DLM206043.html.
Note that the Act refers tot he oath being sworn to the "Sovereign," which as you will see in the wiki link posted below could well refer to the Governor-General or the Queen.
Here is another interpretation:
http://www.nzdf.mil.nz/public-downloads/public-consultation/veterans/results/submissions/guiding-principles.htm (look under the section titled "compulsion")
Since you are a civilian, you might find this interesting:
http://army.mil.nz/downloads/pdf/hr/nzdfcivilianfactsheet.pdf (check out page 2, section titled "Loyalty").
And just for laughs, the wiki entry:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarchy_of_New_Zealand#The_Crown_and_the_New_Zealand_Defence_Force
From the latter I would say that we are in bigger trouble than I had thought!
I don't think this is a sidetrack, Pablo. The crux of your argument seems to be that if the NZDF oath was different the problems you identify wouldn't be happening. So the actual substance of the oath seems quite germane.
Generally oaths to the "sovereign" are not interpreted to mean adherence to the government-of-the-day. You've claimed that 'the NZDF explicitly swears allegiance to "The Government" as well as the Crown'. Your use of the term explicitly and your use of quotations seems to imply quite strongly that the words "The Government" appear in the oath, but it seems that they don't.
PS: The "Guiding Principles" link doesn't work.
This is a friggin' side track since the post is about the politicisation of the NZDF leadership. My comment about the oath was to point to a possible fundamental–read: constitutional– issue. The bulk of the post is about recent developments.
I suggest that you re-read the third link in which under the section titled "Loyalty" the NZDF specifically states that allegiance is to the "Government and the Crown." Perhaps that means "Sovereign" to them.
Pablo – I meant to follow up yesterday but did not get the chance. Taking the oath is to the sovereign not the government. That does not rebut but it does reduce the strength of evidence for your main point.
I wanted to read the stephenson article but cannot find it online.if you have a scanned copy an email would be much appreciated. Having disclopsed my weakness of not having read the article I still disagree but from an entirely diffeerent premise. the sas are special forces. Their miSsion is not to take prisoners and they do not have the operational capacity
The whole premise of the legitimacy of the sas taking responsibility for prisoners is at the heart of the argument. You sEek to judge the afghans by our liberal peaceful standrards rather than the situation on the ground. Troops are in Afghanistan. The afghan army has primacyt in its own country. You judge them by liberal standards. That is simply wrong. We expect our own soldiers to behave in accordance with the geneva convention. Equally we trust they will do what they reasonably can to prevent abuse. But to suggest the whole mission is illegitimate and the troops should come home as is suggested elsewhere is infantile. War is violent. Our contribution to the wider objective of stabilising afghanistan is far more important than whining about prisoner abuse and retreating to the south pacific to bury our head in the sand and pretend we are perfect and abuse does not exist.
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So moving on from the perspective that the oath is to the soveriegn and nzdf are simply responding to a manufactured and political agenda motivated attack I struggle to see why there is a case to answer
To your more general point that defence chiefs are becoming more politicised. That is more a sign of increasing sophistication in following the lead of us and british military leadership.
I think you are expressing doubt about the wisdom of re-establishing defence ties with us and aust and suggest it was done on national whim. If so that is simply fatuous. Margaret wilson and david lange did more to sabotage our strategic defence than anyone in the history of new zealand. National have simply continued a bipartisan effort to get us back to where we were
It is a sign of Goff's weakness as a leader and politician that he is making political attacks in this area. He deserves some of the credit for re-establishing ties but is pissing away any respect he earned.
Pablo – Whomever wrote that civilian website is obviously suffering a delusion. It is an important point as you conclude the oath of allegiance may be part of the problem. To the extent that official website refers to the government that is prima facie evidence you are correct in asserting there is movement towards politicisation of the armed forces.
Without wishing to disrespect you I can understand how the clarity of the American armed forces swearing allegiance to the constitution makes you uncomfortable with the vagueness of my oath of allegiance to the Crown. The British Armed forces have a similar oath.
There is an interesting parallel with the arguments with Lew about what it means to be a New Zealander. I am reading Huntingtons book "Who are we" about the state of America.
He argues that multiculturalism is inherently destabilising. People look to their historic identity rather than identifying themselves as assimilated Americans.
That seems to me to be what Brash is arguing. I can see and agree with the point to an extent but celebrating our differences whilst recognising that together we are part of a greater whole seems to me a better balance.
The relevance to this thread is the underlying premise about what it means to be a New Zealander and whether NZDF staff behaviour and NZDF culture is consistent with that.
I think you correctly disparage NZSIS but believe your opinion of NZDF is wrong in its premise as well as being wrong on the evidence.
The point I should add to the above for clarity is the very important distinction between swearing allegiance to the now apolitical queen rather than to the government. Like American (or Honduran) soldiers I would not feel treasonous fighting against a government that went against the spirit of our constitution. Suspending our democracy on some spurious security basis is the only thing I can see where that would be justified.


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Hundreds of child abuse payments held up
Daniel McCulloch and Rebecca Gredley
Published: 18/02/2020 Updated: Tuesday, 18 February 2020 5:51 PM GMT+11
Organisations responsible for child abuse are urged to sign up to the redress scheme by June 30 . Credit: AAP
Institutions such as the Jehovah's Witnesses, the Presbyterian Church and the Disability Trust have not signed up to the national redress scheme, delaying compensation for child abuse survivors.
While some institutions, such as the Brisbane Boys' College and the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul, have flagged their intention to join the scheme, others have not.
The government has publicly named and shamed the groups singled out in the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse that have not signed up to the redress scheme.
There are expected to be more unnamed institutions where abuse occurred.
Ten per cent of applications lodged by survivors - about 700 - have been put on hold because the organisations responsible for their abuse have not joined.
"It is a lot but some of those are in the process of signing up," Social Services Minister Anne Ruston told ABC radio on Tuesday.
Institutions have until June 30 to join the redress scheme, which was launched two years ago.
While some organisations responsible for abuse no longer exist, others claim they do not have the financial capacity to compensate their victims.
The Australian Olympic Committee has warned the redress scheme could push sports bodies to financial ruin.
Football NSW, Swimming Australia and Tennis NSW were all named in the royal commission, but have not told the government they intend to join the scheme.
Senator Ruston will meet with the AOC next week.
She is considering stripping the charitable status and tax concessions given to organisations who refuse to join the scheme.
"We will be looking at every option that we have to make sure that an organisation that we believe should be signed up is signed up," she said.
"And if that means that we have to take a big stick approach to it, that's what we'll be doing."
Senator Ruston is also looking to speed up the assessment of compensation claims.
"Many of them are much more complex than we ever imagined."
Pressuring institutions to join the redress scheme is one of 29 recommendations made to the government by a parliamentary committee which looked at the progress of the response to the
The scheme has been tougher for the federal government to implement than expected, with the government's response to the committee's report flagging new laws.
"Remedying the disparities between the scheme and the recommendations to the royal commission will require substantive legislative change or changes to key policy," the response says.
The committee also wants to look at whether state and territory responses for abuse survivors are adequate. The government says it's a matter for parliament.
Due to the legislative changes required, the government also noted recommendations relating to allowing non-citizens access to redress, as well as those who are in jail.
The government has accepted a recommendation to publish average application processing times on the scheme's website.


Initially reluctant to issue a notice, a bench headed by Chief Justice JS Khehar asked attorney general Mukul Rohatgi to assist the court.
"If you do not want it (services), walk out of it. You cannot say that you want it and then also ask for privacy," the bench told senior counsel Harish Salve, who on behalf of the petitioners — two students — contended that Facebook and WhatsApp must be treated on par with telecom service providers.
"Their (telecom service providers) licence can be terminated if they snoop on users' personal data," Salve told the bench. However, the bench was of the view that WhatsApp was a private and free service that no one was forced to join.
The bench agreed to have a detailed hearing but only during the summer break in June. It also told Salve to be present to argue the case. The petition, filed by Karmanya Singh Sareen and Shreya Sethi, challenges the Delhi high court's 2016 decision that ordered WhatsApp to delete all data in its possession till September 25, 2016.
However, the court permitted the messaging service provider to share the data with Facebook if the users subscribed to its policy post the cut-off date. Subscribers were free to withdraw if they were not keen on sharing their data. The judgment also asked the Centre and TRAI to have a regulatory regime for message services.
The petition said the HC ruling "seriously impinged upon the privacy of users".
"There is nothing more private, personal and confidential for any person than the private conversations and messages exchanged with their family, friends or other acquaintances and people in general," the petitioners submitted.
The petition stated that besides Germany and UK, several European countries had taken proactive action restraining WhatsApp from sharing the data.


Caroline Corrigan joined the WJHL news team as a digital journalist in June 2017.
She is a graduate of Texas A&M University and has a B.A. in Communication and a minor in Journalism. Gig em' Aggies! She interned with KHOU in Houston, Texas as a production assistant for their daytime show, Great Day Houston. She had the opportunity to work with various guests on the show such as Dr. Jen Arnold, actor Lou Ferrigno, TV journalist Star Jones, and director Steven Spielberg.
In college, she interned for CBS affiliate KBTX in College Station. Caroline also had her own radio talk show where she discussed various entertainment topics and covered music festivals such as the Shakey Knees music festival in Atlanta, Georgia. She studied journalism in Prague, Czech Republic at Charles University. In Prague, she interviewed various officials on the struggle to rebuild the Jewish community and Islamophobia in the Czech Republic.
In her free time, she enjoys going to the beach, college football, and good tex-mex food. Caroline is excited to report in the Tri-Cities! She believes everyone has a story, so send it her way.


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PRODUCTION STARTS ON MARVEL'S CAPTAIN AMERICA CIVIL WAR
by Jason Mayhew
May 14, 2015 May 12, 2015 Filed under:
Marvel Studios has commenced principal photography at Pinewood Studios in Atlanta, Georgia on Captain America Civil War, the third installment of its Super Hero franchise. The production will shoot on location in Atlanta, Georgia, which serves as the base for the film's production, as well as locations in Germany, Puerto Rico and Iceland.
Set for release in the United States on May 6, 2016, Captain America Civil War is directed by Anthony and Joe Russo (Marvel's "Captain America: The Winter Soldier," "Community") from a screenplay by Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely ("Captain America: The Winter Solider," Marvel's"Captain America: The First Avenger"). The film returns Chris Evans ("Captain America: The Winter Soldier," Marvel's "Avengers: Age of Ultron") as the iconic Super Hero character Steve Rogers/Captain America along with Robert Downey Jr. ("Avengers: Age of Ultron," Marvel's "Iron Man 3") as Tony Stark/Iron Man, Scarlett Johansson ("Avengers: Age of Ultron," "Captain America: The Winter Soldier") as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow, Sebastian Stan ("Captain America: The Winter Soldier," "Captain America: The First Avenger") as Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier, Anthony Mackie ("Avengers: Age of Ultron," "Captain America: The Winter Soldier")as Sam Wilson/Falcon, Paul Bettany ("Avengers: Age of Ultron," "Iron Man 3") as The Vision, Jeremy Renner ("Avengers: Age of Ultron," Marvel's "The Avengers")as Clint Barton/Hawkeye, Don Cheadle ("Avengers: Age of Ultron," "Iron Man 3") as Jim Rhodes/War Machine and Elizabeth Olsen ("Avengers: Age of Ultron," "Godzilla") as Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch.
After his debut in Marvel's "Ant-Man" on July 17, 2015, Paul Rudd ("Ant-Man," "Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues") will make his first appearance alongside the Avengers as Scott Lang/Ant-Man in "Captain America: Civil War."
The film also includes outstanding additional cast, including Chadwick Boseman ("42," "Get on Up") as T'Challa/Black Panther, Emily VanCamp ("Captain America: The Winter Soldier," "Revenge") as Sharon Carter/Agent 13, Daniel Brühl ("Inglourious Basterds," "Bourne Ultimatum"), Frank Grillo ("Captain America: The Winter Soldier," "Warrior") as Brock Rumlow/Crossbones, William Hurt ("A History of Violence," Marvel's "The Incredible Hulk") as General Thaddeus"Thunderbolt" Ross and Martin Freeman ("The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey," "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies").
Captain America Civil War picks up where "Avengers: Age of Ultron" left off, as Steve Rogers leads the new team of Avengers in their continued efforts to safeguard humanity. After another international incident involving the Avengers results in collateral damage, political pressure mounts to install a system of accountability and a governing body to determine when to enlist the services of the team. The new status quo fractures the Avengers while they try to protect the world from a new and nefarious villain.
Marvel's Captain America Civil War is produced by Marvel Studios' president, Kevin Feige, with Louis D'Esposito, Alan Fine, Victoria Alonso, Patricia Whitcher, Nate Moore and Stan Lee serving as executive producers.
Directors Joe and Anthony Russo's creative team also includes director of photography Trent Opaloch ("Captain America: The Winter Soldier," "Elysium"), production designer Owen Paterson ("Godzilla," "Matrix"),and three time Oscar®-nominated costume designer Judianna Makovsky ("Captain America: The Winter Soldier," "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone").
Based on the Marvel comic character first published in 1941,Captain America Civil War continues the lineage of epic big-screen adventures chronicled in "Iron Man," "The Incredible Hulk," "Iron Man 2," "Thor," "Captain America: The First Avenger," "The Avengers," "Iron Man 3," "Thor: The Dark World," "Captain America: The Winter Soldier," "Guardians of the Galaxy," "Avengers: Age of Ultron" and the upcoming release schedule, which includes Marvel's "Ant-Man" on July 17, 2015, Marvel's "Doctor Strange," onNovember 4, 2016, Marvel's "Guardians of the Galaxy 2," on May 5, 2017, and Marvel's "Thor: Ragnarok," on November 3, 2017.
Marvel Studios most recently continued its unprecedented success with the release of "Avengers: Age of Ultron" on May 1, 2015. The film recorded the second biggest opening weekend of all time with a $191.3 million box office. It has also been the #1 release in every country where it has been released.
Jason Mayhew
My name is Jason Mayhew and I am the owner of OFF On The Go. When not working as a Paramedic, I spend my time traveling bringing you all the fun this country has to offer! I love traveling and seeing the amazing and unique sides of the world! I also love meeting and interacting with my readers! If you want to know more about me? Just ask!!!
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