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We cover a range of stories, events and issues from the Cooloola Coast in the north, to Bribie Island in the south and west to Kilkivan and Woodford.
Listen to what we do on 90.3FM or 95.3FM, on our stream, or on the ABC Listen app.
Bruce is an ABC News journalist based in Maroochydore, reporting for ABC Sunshine Coast. He's been with the ABC for 25 years, and has worked extensively throughout the state.
Kylie is the features reporter at ABC Sunshine Coast. She first started with the ABC as an online journalist in the old Toowong studios in 2001. Since then, she's worked in the organisation's Gladstone and the Sunshine Coast offices as a news reporter and producer.
Rob has worked for the ABC across Australia in a variety of roles, from producing to field reporting. He's covered many natural disasters including cyclone Larry and the Toowoomba floods. Rob is now ABC Sunshine Coast's breakfast presenter after a stint on the QLD drive program.
Bianca Clare is the Chief of Staff at ABC Sunshine Coast.
Bianca began her career as a newspaper reporter working for Australian Regional Media. She worked as a journalist in Sydney, Canberra, Coffs Harbour, Mackay and Maroochydore.
Jon Coghill is new to journalism after being a musician for 20 years. He played drums with Australian rock band Powderfinger, who he blames for his partial deafness.
Alex Easton has been a journalist for more than 20 years and now brings his experience to the Queensland Drive team, where he is the senior producer.
Annie's worked in the newsroom and has produced and presented just about every program at ABC Sunshine Coast since joining the team. Now in her 10th year as Morning's presenter, Annie's passion for the coast shines through as she continues to cover the stories that matter to local residents.
Owen Jacques is an ABC News journalist, working as a senior reporter on the Sunshine Coast. He began his career in 2007 in central Queensland. He has also worked throughout south-east Queensland as an investigative journalist, columnist and editor.
A born and bred local, Jen's family settled on the shores of the Maroochy River in the 1800s. Her extensive career includes 20 years at Channel 7 locally and interstate, until the lure of the coast drew her home. The rural reporter gig is her dream job and away from work she's indulging in photography, her dogs and the beach.
Dan Prosser is one of ABC Queensland's Drive radio producers, and still can't quite believe it himself.
John grew up in the bush in Central Queensland on a cattle property.
He was educated on the Gold Coast and Toowoomba and on leaving school he secured a radio cadetship in journalism in Brisbane, later working on-air at radio stations in Gympie and Toowoomba and as a reporter/newsreader in Brisbane.
Janel Shorthouse is an ABC Features Reporter based on the Sunshine Coast, with more than 15 years experience in the news industry. She works as a reporter for radio and digital news, and covers stories of national interest for the broadcaster.
For more than 20 years, Sheridan Stewart has been one of Australia's favourite FM music radio personalities and presenters.
Jacqui Street has reported for ABC News on radio, television and online for more than 10 years, covering politics, courts and general news.
Kathy Sundstrom is the producer for the ABC Sunshine Coast breakfast and mornings programs, working alongside Rob Blackmore and Annie Gaffney to come up with your interesting news, views, entertainment and whatever else they concoct behind the scenes.
Tim is the producer of the ABC Sunshine Coast Mornings program with Annie Gaffney.


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Oral health plays an important part in your overall health. Besides general oral care practices like brushing and flossing, you also need the services of a dentist. Unfortunately, most patients in dental clinic often start seeing their dentist when it is too late. If you also do not schedule regular visits with a dentist, maybe the following reasons should convince you to have a dentist take good care of your teeth.
If you experience toothaches or pains in your gums, you need to visit your dentist soon. As much as this might sound obvious, a good number of people often ignore these pains until they are too much to bear. If by any chance you experience some pain in your teeth or gums, the sooner you visit a better the better it. Dentists have what it take to make the pain go away.
Bleeding gum are often indicative of serious dental ailments. They are mostly associated with dental conditions like gingivitis and periodontal diseases. Unfortunately, most people notice this early but often ignore it especially when it is not painful. Bleeding gums can be painful and could potentially lead to tooth loss if they are not addressed on time. If you notice any signs of bleeding gums, visit a dentist ASAP and have the conditioned remedied.
Many things can cause tooth sensitivity. It could be because of poor brushing, sensitivity to chemicals in tooth whitening toothpaste or serious dental ailments. Sensitivity to either hot or cold foods is often an indicator of cracked teeth or a cavity. Visiting a dentist often helps in eradicating sensitivity by diagnosis and treating potential problems.
It is easy to forget that oral health has a connection with our overall well-being. Thus, if you have been diagnosed with a condition like diabetes, contact your dentist as soon as you can as poor oral health has been proven to exacerbate diabetes. Cancer patients and pregnant women are also advised to contact their dentist often especially when they experience severe changes in their health.
Well, you do not have noticeable symptoms of common dental ailments to visit your dentist. A dentist can help you detect unforeseen problems early enough. Besides having healthy teeth and gums, a dentist can also help you bring back that beautiful and fresh smile you once had.


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States framing own land acquisition laws is second-best solution
Getting the states to frame land acquisition laws fits in well with cooperative federalism.
editorials Updated: Jul 17, 2015 02:23 IST
Pricing and allocation of resources with finite supplies has been a core economic problem. The disputes surrounding the rules to buy land for building factories, roads and other infrastructure are emblematic of this. The arguments are strong and emotive from both sides of the fence.
At a meeting with the Centre on Wednesday, several chief ministers, mostly from BJP-ruled states, are believed to have made a strong pitch for easing conditions that are seen as restrictive by industry. Some states have argued in favour of a decentralised approach to allow the local governments to frame their own laws to suit region-specific parameters. In the absence of an environment of complete unanimity, this can be the second-best solution that the government can look to adopt.
Unlike mature economies, in India land is more than a resource and the average farm holding is about two acres. The willingness of the part of anyone to dispose of assets is guided by two foundational principles: one, the present value of the returns will outweigh the income earned from the asset, and two, the asset sale should trigger an upward mobility of sorts. Most of the fear about the land acquisition law appears to be driven by the perception that it could bring in 'land-grabbing', and farmers will get a raw deal. The central law, enacted in 2013, had made it compulsory for people buying agricultural land for non-farm purposes to secure the consent of 70% of the affected people in the case of PPP projects and from 80% of the landowners for private projects. It also made a 'social impact assessment' mandatory. Industry leaders have, however, argued that such constricting rules have delayed many projects that can create jobs.
States willing to walk the talk through their own land buying rules can be a good beginning to make. It will also fit perfectly into Prime Minister Narendra Modi's narrative on cooperative federalism, which advocates involving states in the Centre's decision-making. States' involvement is critical, particularly for a country like India, where some pockets compare with the world's richest nations, while many others can match up only to the poorest countries of sub-Saharan Africa. The involvement of states will help policymakers in New Delhi uncover geographic slivers of opportunity -- states, metropolitan cities and their hinterlands. Too much of political capital has already been expended on defining a watertight land policy. Allowing states to take the lead could be a gambit worth taking.
more from editorials

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Free software advocate and Linux developer Rusty Russell sat down for an interview with Google's Jeremy Allison when they were both in Japan for LinuxCon. They discuss Rusty's role maintaining the Linux kernel (0:15), why Australia has produced so many top notch open source developers (3:13), and suggestions for people starting out in their careers and looking to get into open source (9:13). Enjoy!
Thanks to Simon Horman for operating the camera.


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Ben Ryan
From Department of Justice
Published on 14 December 2021
Last updated on 14 December 2021
Image: Ben Ryan
Ben is Head of Policy for Criminal Justice. The Policy function is the think tank of the Department. It operates as a thought leader, developing long term, evidence-based policy through research and analysis of information and data from multiple sources. It takes a proactive and strategic view of Justice and Equality Policy formulation and review, and enables the Department to provide 'best-in-class' advice to the Minister and Government in the long-term interest of all citizens.
Head of Policy for Criminal Justice


N. B. One Half Century of Centralized Regulatory Review.
In that CRE is no longer working on the kratom issue please note that CRE will no longer be making posts on this website but is keeping it live for use by the kratom community.
Comments of Americans for Safe Access on the impact of CRE's intervention in the DEA regulatory proceeding for Kratom.
See nearly 1,000 comments sent to CRE from the public.
More specifically, the kratom community should present a Petition for Rulemaking to the FDA which would request that kratom be regulated as a dietary supplement. The resultant regulation would be subject to notice and comment and would address a range of topics, including dosage, adulteration, health claims, misuse, labeling and misbranding.
The kratom community must either make an explicit decision as to whether they will submit to federal regulation of dosage and purity or in the alternative take no position and hope for the best from federal regulators.
For additional details and support for the aforementioned proposal from some elements of the kratom community, see this post. CRE has laid the foundation for the professional associations dealing with kratom to carry the ball forward. The aforementioned petition should be filed immediately in order to exploit the current momentum behind kratom. In so doing, legal and scientific analyses are important but they must be first preceded by the development of a sound regulatory strategy.
In any event the moving party acting on behalf of the kratom community should have a proven track record comparable to that of CRE; meaning that a distinction must be made between activity and accomplishment—simply preparing scientific papers without any accomplishments directly related to their preparation is an irrelevant action.
Editor's Note: Comments by our readers which are posted on this Roundtable will be routinely read by regulators, the press and Congressional staff based upon prior CRE sponsorship of roundtables on public policy issues.
Nov. 18 Will a strategy devoid of regulation prevail?
With exactly two weeks to go before the December 1st end to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Agency (DEA) comment period on kratom, the American Kratom Association (AKA) is seeking today to rally the kratom community to double the number of comments on file from the current level of about 5400 to at least 10,000.
drawing pushback from some researchers and alternative-medicine advocates.
Kratomcomments.org Generates 1300 Comments In Boosting Public Feedback To DEA On Coffee-like Herb Kratom See post.
See USA Today on kratom.
CRE is often asked why we place an emphasis on recorded comments–particularly those which are expressed in complete sentences and have in excess of one hundred forty characters. Here is one example of their effectiveness.
Recently CRE was asked by a regulator why CRE would become involved in such an esoteric issue such as kratom when CRE generally deals with macro issues such as the governance of the regulatory state.
Gas station kratom and select energy shots are a substantial part of the problem. In both cases the product could be contaminated; in addition there is no indication of a safe dosage.
With the December 1 deadline looming our readers are encouraged to express their opinion here.
Oct. 20 This article deserves a hard look.
The kratom community should give a hard look at the New York Times article: Regulate Quality, Dosage and Purity of Kratom. We appreciate the difficulty in reaching consensus on a contentious issue which affects a wide and diverse group. Nonetheless the clock is clicking on the public comment period and honeymoons only last so long.
Is Kratom the Plant That Heals, or Kills?
It is difficult to be enthusiastic about the DEA punting this to the FDA, as the FDA has appeared to have kratom in its crosshairs for several years.
Please note that the FDA does not have unfettered discrestion in its conclusions because it must comply with the Data Quality Act. See the following statement from our Oct. 17 response.
It should be noted that the findings of both agencies (DEA and FDA) must comply with the Data Quality Act. Additional information on the Data Quality Act is here.
Oct. 18 Scientific American on Kratom.
Regarding the October 14th entry, why is the DEA pretending to withdraw the Notice of intent, but still intending to ultimately ban this tree? They are referring to the FDA/HHS now for nails in the coffin, and we all know they've been wanting to rid us of this tree for many years.
We have no information that would suggest the DEA is not extremely committed to an unbiased review of the issue. It should be noted that the findings of both agencies (DEA and FDA) must comply with the Data Quality Act. Additional information on the Data Quality Act is here.
DEA is run by a cadre of dedicated civil servants vested with an awesome responsibility. The bottom line is that DEA changed its course–that is what is important.
CRE appreciates all of your comments. CRE most certainly opened the door for a scientific debate but the real credit goes to DEA, an agency not wed to the past. The Guardian, an international publication, agrees with our assessment.
The kratom community should respond, during the public comment period, with an equally responsible action by delineating an acceptable regulatory regime.
The DEA seems to admit that an emergency scheduling was not necessary after all. This is important. In future discussions, I hope we all will continue to hear each other clearly. I think we all want responsible use of kratom, whereby nobody becomes "addicted". Maybe age restrictions will work with kratom. But, we have seen cases where age restrictions do not work well, aka alcohol. Age restrictions do not necessarily keep teens from drinking, unfortunately. Yet, we use age restrictions anyway. To me setting the legal age for kratom use to 18 would be excellent.
It is difficult to be enthusiastic about the DEA punting this to the FDA, as the FDA has appeared to have kratom in its crosshairs for several years. What is encouraging is that the grim descriptions of kratom that FDA continually cites in its import bans are the very same data DEA cited in their Aug. 30 emergency schedulihg announcement. Such data has been largely debunked as inaccurate, invalid, or otherwise compromised. to the point of now being toothless.
It's time to get the politics and ideologies and bureaucratic chest-thumping out of the process and allow real scientists to do their work. This is a rare opportunity for the DEA and FDA to show they are willing to listen to science., and not twist or spin fearful data to support conclusions they've already made. Such bureaucratic restraint is rare, but could usher in a new era where these two agencies start to shift public perception of them as brownshirts and Big Pharma shills to agencies that indeed try to protect the public they serve.
Protecting the public in this instance does not include scheduling a harmless supplement — thereby effectively stripping its availability from millions of Americans who use it responsibly — but offering ways to monitor it through the supply chain and ensure it arrives at consumers safely.
Thank you for the reminder that this unprecedented move by DEA to withdraw emergency scheduling is a huge positive. There is reason to have hope, but there is also reason to be cautious. Regarding the NYT's article "Regulate Quality, Dosage, and Purity of Kratom," I don't understand why kratom is any more likely to be contaminated than any other supplement or product. It seems that anything has the potential to be adulterated or contaminated. I remember reading about poisoned Tylenol years ago, which killed several people. Perhaps I am misunderstanding this particular point. Thank you so much, CRE, for the continued support and wealth of information.


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brunch snob
brunch snobbrunch snobbrunch snob
Cooking Up Your New Cravings
Cooking Up Your New CravingsCooking Up Your New CravingsCooking Up Your New Cravings
Serving Comfort Food With A Twist
We don't just serve your typical breakfast. To be honest, nothing we do is typical. We don't think we fit into any category, but "comfort food with a twist" is what feels right to us. We have that Southern style comfort food but with flavors that span the entire country. From California to Florida, Pacific Northwest to the Midwest, and spanning the entire South from east to west-- Brunch Snob brings something different to the table. We can't wait for you to join us.
When You're Here, You're Family
We can't stress this one enough. Brunch Snob is family-owned, family-operated and family-oriented. We want you to feel like you have pulled up a seat at a table at our home. When you walk through our doors, you become family.
We have one goal....
We want everyone who walks through our door to leave happy.
We look forward to being able to serve you!
Our Chef and Staff
With 30 years of experience working in restaurants spanning from fast casual to fine dining, Chef Keith is excited to present his vision to you and all our guests. He was taught to cook Southern style cuisine by his grandmother and that's where his passion took off. As he moved around the country, he began curating recipes utilizing the new styles he learned. Lots of these recipes have made their way on to the Brunch Snob menu. A pride of food also leads to a pride in service. Our caring and committed staff make sure you have a fantastic experience with us.
We have worked to package our meals in a way that lets you bring the quality of our meals into your home. We always love to see you in person, but even when we can't we ensure that your dining experience is top notch!
Seasonal and Local
We refuse to compromise on quality in our restaurant. That's why we source ingredients from local vendors and farmers markets when possible. We are always looking for new partnerships and love supporting our community.
We love growing our family. If you're interested in one of our open positions, start by applying here and attaching your resume.
Copyright © 2022 brunch snob - All Rights Reserved.
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The bigger scandal in Baltimore County.
Posted on November 15, 2017 November 21, 2017 by David A. Plymyer
There are two controversies brewing in Towson. One is at the headquarters of the Baltimore County Public Schools. The bigger one is up the road at the Old Courthouse.
Below is a copy of the complaint that I filed yesterday with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources alleging that Baltimore County violated State and County forest conservation laws when, on April 1, 2017, it precipitously cut down 30 trees on County property to prepare the site for a private development on the site known as Towson Station planned by Caves Valley Partners, the contract purchaser of the property.
The trees included six "specimen" trees that enjoy special protection under forest conservation law. Technical non-compliance with forest conservation law is, however, the least serious of the issues arising from this evolving scandal.
To summarize the controversy, County Administrative Officer Fred Homan ordered 30 trees cut down from the property while it remained order County ownership to thwart a condition placed by the County Council on the future development of the property by Caves Valley. The County Council had given preliminary approval to the development plan submitted by Caves Valley, but conditioned its approval on retention of the mature trees that rimmed the property and screened it from the street. It was a condition to which Caves Valley objected.
When Mr. Homan appeared before the County Council two days after the trees were cut down, he told the Council that the County administration technically was not bound by conditions placed by the Council on development by a prospective owner and developer of the property, because those conditions applied only after the property was sold to the developer. Mr. Homans also stated that he cut down the trees to accelerate the sale of the property because the County needed the money from the sale.
The County had no responsibility for site development under the contract of sale, which called for sale of the property "as is." Moreover, Mr. Homans used money to remove the trees that was appropriated for maintenance of County parks and other properties, not for preparing sites for development.
About three and ½ months after the trees were cut down, Mr. Homan signed a five-year extension of the closing date of the contract of sale from December 31, 2018 to December 31, 2023. The extension was secreted from both the County Council and the public until it was discovered in a file by Baltimore Post reporter Ann Constantino through a Public Information Act request.
In April, Mr. Homan was in such a hurry to sell the property that he ordered the trees cut down in defiance of the wishes of the County Council by using money appropriated for another purpose, but in July he signed a five-year extension of the closing date? I can't wait for Mr. Homan to try to explain the benefit to the County of agreeing to such a lengthy extension, especially considering that the extension provides no compensation to the County for the loss of the use of the revenue from the sale because of the delay.
All of the above occurred in the context of a history of large campaign contributions from Caves Valley Partners and affiliated persons and entities to Mr. Kamenetz described in a previous story by Ms. Constantino. It is little wonder that citizens are beginning to detect an unpleasant odor emerging from the Old Courthouse in Towson.
An interesting question is why this evolving scandal is not getting the same coverage from the local mainstream media as given to the alleged ethical lapses of the current interim superintendent and the former superintendent of the Baltimore County Public Schools. At least at this point, it seems to me that the much more serious concerns are not at school headquarters, but rather up the road at the Old Courthouse.
I have my thoughts on why the disparity in coverage, which I will share in future commentary. In the meantime, the formal complaint on the alleged violation of forest conservation laws:
Hon. Mark J. Belton, Secretary
Maryland Department of Natural Resources
Tawes State Office Building
580 Taylor Avenue
Annapolis, Maryland 21401-2397
RE: Complaint of violation of Maryland Forest Conservation Act by Baltimore County, Maryland
Dear Secretary Belton:
I am filing this complaint based on evidence that Baltimore County, Maryland violated State and Baltimore County forest conservation laws and regulations when it removed approximately 30 trees, including six specimen trees, on County-owned property consisting of approximately 5.8 acres located at 800 York Road in Towson, Maryland.
I request that the Department exercise its authority under §§ 5-1608 and 5-1612 of the Natural Resources Article of the State Code to investigate the complaint and, if appropriate, impose sanctions on the County. I also request, based on the evidence, that the Department perform a review under § 5-1603(e) to determine if Baltimore County's administration of its local forest conservation program is deficient and requires remedial action initiated by the Department.
Summary of allegations.
On or about April 1, 2017, a County contractor, Excel Tree Expert Co., Inc., acting at the direction of the County, removed approximately 30 trees and stumps from County-owned property at 800 York Road in Towson, Maryland. The trees removed included six specimen trees. The purpose of the tree removal was to prepare the site for a development now known as Towson Station by an entity identified as CVP-TF, LLC (herein referred to as "Caves Valley Partners").
At the time the trees were removed, Caves Valley was the contract purchaser of the property, and pursuing approval of a Forest Conservation Plan, which had not occurred. The County remained the owner. The County removed the trees without complying with its own or State forest conservation laws and regulations.
In 2013, the County and Caves Valley had entered into a contract of sale for the property, with the closing of the sale contingent upon approval by the County of a Planned Unit Development (PUD) that would allow a gas station to be built on the site; gas stations are not permitted uses under the zoning classification of the site.
In March 2016, Caves Valley, acting as contract purchaser, applied for approval of PUD No. 2016-00002.
On or about May 6, 2016, a consultant, Eco-Science Professionals, Inc., applied on behalf of Caves Valley for approval of a Forest Conservation Special Variance allowing removal of the six specimen trees that ultimately were removed by the County. The consultant claimed that retention of the six specimen trees was incompatible with the proposed design of the project. The application was withdrawn, apparently because of pressure from community groups that wanted the trees retained.
In December 2016, the PUD was given preliminary approval by the Baltimore County Council by the adoption of Council Resolution No. 113-16, as required by County law. As a condition of the Council's approval, Resolution No. 113-16 required that the design of the PUD ensure "that existing mature trees that surround the site are protected."
The requirement placed on development by Resolution No. 113-16 was legally separate from any condition that may ultimately have been placed on approval of the Forest Conservation Plan for the PUD by the County, although the Forest Conservation Plan certainly would have had to accommodate the requirement. The trees that were removed by the County on April 1, 2017 included the "existing mature trees that surround the site" that were subject to protection under Resolution No. 113-16.
On March 22, 2017, the County Department of Environmental Protection and Sustainability (DEPS), charged with the duty of administering the County's forest conservation program, disapproved the Simplified Forest Stand Delineation submitted by the consultant for Caves Valley. Although agreeing with the consultant that there was "no existing forest onsite," DEPS disagreed with the consultant's assessment of the condition of two of the specimen trees that ultimately were removed, and directed that the Simplified FSD be revised accordingly.
On April 1, 2017, a Saturday, without notice to the Baltimore County Council or the public, the County contractor removed the trees from the site. No permits, plans, or other forms of approval of the work have been located.
Additional facts.
1. The Contract of Sale between the County and Caves Valley calls for delivery of the property on the Closing Date in an "as is" condition. There was no duty imposed by the contract on the County to remove the trees. Although the closing of the sale is contingent on the approval by the County of a PUD approving the gas station, nothing in the contract can or does relieve the County from the duty to objectively review and approve the PUD in accordance with State and County law; that is not to say that the conflict between the County's financial interests and its regulatory duties is not problematic.
2. Subject to enumerated exceptions, an agency of Baltimore County is required by Title 6 (Forest Conservation) of Article 33 of the County Code to submit a "project plan" for "a construction, tree cutting, clearing, grubbing, grading, or erosion and sediment control activity on an area of 40,000 square feet or greater that is not subject to the review and approval process specified in a construction, tree cutting, clearing, grubbing, grading, or erosion and sediment control activity on an area of 40,000 square feet or greater for a project that is not subject to the review and approval process specified in Article 32, Title 4, Subtitle 2 of the Code." The review and approval process specified in Article 32, Title 4, Subtitle 2 of the Code applies to "development plans" for subdivisions, PUDs, and other development activities, such as the plans submitted by Caves Valley for its PUD.
3. None of the exceptions enumerated in Title 6 of the County Code appear to apply to the tree cutting activity that took place on April 1, 2017. Section 33-6-103(b)(22) of the County Code exempts County capital improvement projects that do "not result in the cumulative cutting, clearing, or grading of more than 40,000 square feet of forest." There was no capital improvement project for this property, and the funds used to cut down the trees were appropriated from the County's general fund to an item in the County's budget intended to pay for routine maintenance of County parks and other property.
4. Even if the tree cutting was within the scope of some exception as a "County" project, any attempt by the County to assert that exception would be a pretense that must be rejected: The trees were not cut in furtherance of any County project, but to relieve the prospective developer from having to preserve the trees under an approved Forest Conservation Plan. The site development/tree removal was not part of a County project; it was part of Caves Valley's project.
5. Section 33-6-105 of the County Code requires that a project plan submitted by a County agency be accompanied by a Forest Stand Delineation and a Forest Conservation Plan. The agency responsible for tree cutting activity, the Property Management Division of the County's Office of Budget and Finance, submitted no project plan, Forest Stand Delineation, or Forest Conservation Plan for the tree cutting activity.
6. According to the Baltimore Post, County Attorney Michael Fields told reporter Ann Constantino that it was County Administrative Fred Homan who ordered the trees cut down. [http://thebaltimorepost.com/homan-spends-county-cash-developer-caves-valley] At a meeting of the County Council on April 3, 2017, Mr. Homan was asked why the trees were cut down in defiance of the conditions placed on the PUD by the Council resolution. His response:
"That has nothing directly to do with the fact that the county owns the properties, Sir. That would be at the point that the property would transfer."
Mr. Homan was making the point that it was Caves Valley that would be bound by the conditions of the PUD once Caves Valley owned the property, and that conditions placed on the Towson Station PUD did not bind the County while it owned the property. Mr. Homan went on to explain:
"And quite frankly, the County is currently moving to accelerate the settlement on the property so the County can receive the 8 million dollars that it's currently had to forward finance through the sale of debt. That keeps the revenue as a receivable, which does not help. The County needs the cash from the sale of the property. So the County is trying to accelerate the close of the property. That's what going on at this point in time."
7. Mr. Homan's statement that the trees were cut down to "accelerate" the sale of the property because the County needed the "cash" was cast into doubt 3 ½ months later. On July 26, 2017, without notice to the County Council or the public, he approved a five-year extension of the Closing Date for the sale from December 31, 2018 to December 31, 2018. So, in April he was accelerating the sale, but in July he was decelerating it?
8. The tree cutting on April 1, 2017 was performed by Excel Tree Expert Co., Inc. Excel was retained on a contract administered by the Property Management Division of the County's Office of Budget and Finance as part of its Grounds Maintenance Program for County parks and other properties. Under the contract, the obligation to secure any necessary forest conservation program approvals remains with the County. As the contract administrator for the County, the Property Management Division was responsible for submitting a project plan for the tree cutting activity.
Baltimore County chose to enter into a contract of sale for surplus County property with terms and conditions placing the County's pecuniary and regulatory interests in conflict. Because the sale is contingent on its approval of a PUD, the County gave itself a financial incentive to approve the PUD, which is supposed to be reviewed and approved in an objective, arm's length manner that protects the rights of persons opposed to the PUD.
The only rational inference from the facts is that the County ordered the 30 trees, including six specimen trees, removed from the site to facilitate the design of the development proposed by the contract purchaser, Caves Valley. Eleven months before the trees were removed, Caves Valley applied for a Forest Conservation Special Variance to remove the six specimen trees as part of its PUD. Caves Valley withdrew the application, apparently because of public objection. What was not accomplished through the front door by Caves Valley, however, was accomplished through the back door when the County cut down the trees.
Having joined its interests with Caves Valley by the way it structured the contract of sale, the County in effect acted as an arm of the developer by removing the trees. Assuming the Forest Conservation Plan for the PUD is finally approved, it will have been shaped by the joint action of the County and Caves Valley, with the County removing trees on behalf of the developer that the developer did not wish to retain under a Forest Conservation Plan. That violates both the letter and the spirit of State and County forest conservation laws and regulations.
The removal of the trees served no other purpose for the County other than facilitating the development plan proposed by Caves Valley. Even if the tree cutting activity on April 1, 2017 is viewed as a standalone County project – which it clearly was not – the County violated its own law by failing to submit its own Forest Conservation Plan before removing the trees.
I believe that the removal of the trees on April 1, 2017 was a violation of State and County law that merits imposition of a penalty. In my opinion, the cynical way in which the violation took place also calls into question Baltimore County's stewardship of its local forest conservation program.
Some of the documents referenced above are attached; others were inspected but not copied. The originals of course are available from Baltimore County.
/s/
David A. Plymyer
← A begrudging step forward in Baltimore County?
The State Prosecutor must investigate the Towson Station scandal. →
One thought on "The bigger scandal in Baltimore County."
Ron Gallop says:
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
#7 above is a doozy….hard to argue that point!


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text:
FICTION (565) (565)
TRUE CRIME (16) (16)
Memorias y biografías (1) (1)
Novela negra y policiaca (241) (241)
Nicolas Freeling
Love in Amsterdam
'Freeling's Inspector Van der Valk is less rugged than Rebus, less parsonical than Dalgliesh, more Morse than Frost, and more Maigret than any of them. Marvellous' - Anita Brookner'Freeling is a joy to read' TLS'You're in for a treat' COSMOPOLITANA woman, Elsa, is...
Editeur : The Murder Room
Collection : Murder Room
Maurice Procter
The Chief Inspector's Statement
A small village is the scene of two brutal murders - and everyone is under suspicion.A classic of crime fictionThe village of Pennycross is the scene of two brutal child murders within a few months. The villagers' lives are monitored by a team of police, led by Chief...
Vera Caspary
The Gardenia and Out of the Blue
Agnes receives few compliments, and Henry Preble is not so bad-looking even if he does have a reputation for cornering girls at work. In the eyes of the world, knowing that you're on the shelf at twenty-four can do strange things to a girl. So strange that you might...
The Dying Alderman
At a meeting of Quenborough Borough Council, the Mayor, Sir John Assington, is accused by Alderman Trant of wasting money and turning a blind eye to speculators on the make.Then Trant is stabbed with his own knife, and while dying, manages to scratch the initials 'MA'...
Policeman's Lot
A baker's dozen of stories from the Golden Age master of the police procedural: seven from the casebook of Detective Inspector John Poole, whose brilliant work in the The Duke of York's Steps and No Friendly Drop will be remembered by readers of Wade novels; and six...
Too Soon to Die
Colonel Jerrod has just six months to live, but he needs a year if he is to save Brackton, the family estate, from crippling death duties. Then his ambitious son, Grant, has an idea, one that involvesColonel Jerrod's carefree brother, Philip, and which develops into a...
The Missing Partners
Cousins James and Charles Morden run a shipping company in Liverpool that is, in the wake of the Great War, struggling. It appears there have been financial irregularities, and then James Morden's body is washed up on a bank of the Mersey. Evidence points to Charles...
Collection : Inspector Poole Series
The Duke of York's Steps
A wealthy banker, Sir Garth Fratten, dies suddenly from an aneurysm on the Duke of York's Steps. His doctor is satisfied that a mild shock such as being jostled would be enough to cause Sir Garth's death. It all seems so straightforward, and there is no inquest.But...
No Friendly Drop
At first it seems that Lord Henry Grayle has taken an overdose of sleeping medicine, but the autopsy reveals a tiny amount of scopolamine along with the draught - harmless in itself, but fatal when mixed . . .A poisoner with apparently expert knowledge is at work in the...
Mist on the Saltings
Hilary and John Pansel have muddled along in their cottage in the small community of Bryde-by-the-Sea for ten years, hopeful that John's paintings will ignite a flame of interest in the art world.NowHilary is being pursued by a successful writer from London, Dallas...
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This quote by Andy Rooney is a little reminder that things can and will get messy on Christmas Day – but don't fret the mess. Enjoy the present (and presents!) and stay in the moment. You can always clean up the day after.


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Q: connexion with Oracle Visual Studio Community 2015 windowsForms I compiled my application as x64 bit and tried to run it on x64 , when, I add a new connexion Oracle , there was an Error :
Attempt to load Oracle client libraries threw BadImageFormatException. This problem will occur when running in 64 bit mode with the 32 bit Oracle client components installed.
I have searched to solve this issue  here , I does this change but, The issue persist again.
Can somebody have an idea ? Thanks in Advance.

A: Change the architecture to x86 as you gave the 32 bit drivers installed and 32 bit also will work on the 64bit architecture.  The other option is to find the 64 bit drivers amd then change the reference ot Oracle in the application to the 64 bit version

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


New Delhi, Feb 12 (IANS) A 45-year-old Assistant Commissioner of the Income Tax Department was among the 17 people who lost their lives in the fire in a hotel here.
Suresh Kumar, a resident of Panchkula in Haryana, died after he jumped off from the window of his fourth floor room at the Arpit Palace Hotel in central Delhi's Karol Bagh early on Tuesday morning.
Eyewitnesses said that Kumar fell headlong and badly injured his skull.
He was immediately taken to hospital, where he was declared brought dead by the doctors.
It took 25 fire tenders more than three hours to douse the early morning fire at Arpit Palace Hotel on Tuesday.


New Profit's annual Gathering of Leaders brings together visionary social entrepreneurs and their counterparts from other sectors for dialogue and collaboration on solving America's biggest challenges.
Jim Shelton, former Deputy Secretary of Education, and Alexandra Bernadotte, Founder and CEO, Beyond 12 (New Profit Accelerator Program grantee) lead a discussion on race and the social innovation field at the 2015 Gathering of Leaders.
After the 2014 Gathering, New Profit Managing Partner Kim Syman launched a Fast Company Co.Exist series entitled "Seven Reasons for Social Innovation Optimism" about transformative new approaches to scaling social innovation.
In 2014, we celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Gathering and introduced a new "Bets" framework that explores bold leaps people and organizations are making towards transformative social impact.
America Forward, New Profit's policy arm and the nation's only platform for social entrepreneurs, was formally launched at the 2007 Gathering.
Without the Gathering's generation of America Forward, it's highly unlikely that the Social Innovation Fund legislation and a number of other bipartisan efforts that direct hundreds of millions of dollars would have come to existence.
Over the last 10 years, the Gathering has not only helped drive a new agenda for the social innovation movement, but has also led to tangible action that has changed the face of philanthropy and social service.
The Gathering is the single biggest and highest quality set of individuals that one could interact with from an intellectual perspective, and from a partnership perspective. It's the cream of the crop of people in the social sector.
At the 2015 Gathering, participants boldly addressed race and diversity and how they play out in the social sector and in society more broadly, and other issues including technology, inclusiveness, and social change.
John Rice, Founder & CEO, MLT; Maria Teresa Kumar, President & CEO, Voto Latino; and Allen Blue, Co-founder, LinkedIn discuss what it means to be on a path to opportunity in America today at the 2015 Gathering of Leaders.
One of the issues highlighted in New Profit Managing Director Kim Syman's Fast Company series about transformative impact (see below) is the power of data, which is exemplified by Family Independence Initiative, whose founder, Mauricio Lim Miller, is pictured above.
When you join New Profit, you're now immersed in a community and surrounded by leaders who are constantly asking themselves what does it mean to lead and scale an organization and drive maximum impact? This is unique; there are very few networks that I've encountered 25 years in this work that bring that ability.
The launch of America Forward and the persistent incorporation of policy perspectives in the Gathering helped social entrepreneurs shift from being resistant to work with government.
The idea of America Forward was sparked by David Gergen's call to action at the first Gathering of Leaders.
2005: The inception of the Gathering of Leaders, introducing and connecting many of the foundational ideas and frameworks that have helped to shape our nation's social innovation agenda.


text:
The Moonlight Scribbler
The Moonlight Scribbler: Notes and Observations From the Little House in the Ghetto.
Showing The Drivers Some Love.
It's been about three weeks since the Port Authority put into motion the latest round of service cuts aimed at trying to rectify the long time budget deficits that have plagued the long suffering transit agency for the better part of a decade. Routes were cut, renamed, folded, spindled and mutilated, and the basic fare has gone up 3 times in the last five or so years. Many routes were shut down for weekends and holidays, and service on even the most popular routes has been cut back. It's not uncommon to wait up to almost a half-hour for a bus on Saturdays and up to an hour on Sundays, if the route has service at all.
Understandably, the hundreds of thousands of riders who depend on public transportation for work, school and recreation feel it more than anyone. Buses are much more crowded, riders have voiced their concerns in countless rallies, and there seems to be no real solution in sight
As someone who depends almost exclusively on Port Authority to get around, I have to plan my life around bus schedules. No big deal, I've been doing it since I was thirteen years old. I'm an old hand at riding the bus. Put me anywhere in Allegheny County, and I can get home as long as I can catch a bus. I can get from one end of the county to the other on two buses max, although these days, that takes a little more planning than in the past. But it's safe to say, that if there's a bus that will get me within walking distance of where I want to go, I can get there.
There are a bunch of reasons why the Port Authority is in the mess it's in. Lack of a stable source of state funding is one, and with Governor Tom "The Machete" Corbett presently in charge in Harrisburg, it's safe to say that he's not going to be PAT's savior. The Port Authority itself is not exactly a model of efficiency in terms of minding its business. There's any amount of cutting and streamlining that needs to be done there. The Authority is stuck with a high number of retiree's pensions that they are duty bound to honor, and there's not going to be any cuts that can be made there without causing no small amount of pain. I'll be the first to admit that I don't have the answers.
But I often hear from people, most of whom have never ridden a bus in their lives, that maybe they should cut drivers salaries to that which the 'free market' can bear. The average wage of a Port Authority driver is about $17.00/hour, not including overtime. There are those who believe that drivers wages should be cut as much as half of that number, about $9.00/hour. To those people, I say, 'you are idiots that have no clue of what you're talking about.'
I'm not the biggest pro-union guy on the planet. Unions have their place, and they perform an important service, although they have been known to shoot themselves in the foot as much as management does. But I will not begrudge a Port Authority driver the money he makes or the benefits he earns.
I don't want a $9.00/hour driver taking me to work, to church, to the Legion or anywhere else I have to go. I want someone who knows how to thread a 40 foot bus weighing 20 tons and loaded down with up to 60 passengers down streets that in most cases in Pittsburgh, haven't been widened since they were first laid down over 150 years ago. I want someone who knows how to deal with automobile drivers who act like they got their driver's licenses from the bottom of a box of Cracker Jacks and somehow think that said 40 ton bus can stop on a dime and give back nine cents change, when they cut in front of that bus while yakking on the cellphone that is surgically grafted to their ear.
I want someone who knows how to deal with passengers who act like they were raised by wolves and don't have the brains that God gave a coop full of chickens. Passengers who'll try every story in the book to beat the fare, even though they are wearing clothes that cost more than my paycheck. Passengers who ask whether the bus goes Downtown when the sign on the front of the bus says in 12 inch high letters that can be seen from halfway across town, that yes, this bus does go Downtown. Passengers who come on the bus in various stages of intoxication whether by alcohol, drugs, or by agents unknown and proceed to enlighten every other rider with whatever the voices in their heads are telling them whether said riders want to be enlightened or not. Passengers for whom soap and water is a foreign concept. Passengers under the age of adulthood who feel that cursing every third word from their sewer mouths makes them grown, and who can't talk on their cellphone at anything less than a tortured scream. Passengers who have no idea about the fare hike despite the fact that the local media has been talking about it for a month and a half prior to the raise going into effect. I want someone who can weave through the traffic on Fifth Avenue in Oakland at rush hour like a scat back carving up a defense. Or deal with the narrow streets of Downtown that haven't changed since the horse and buggy days. I want someone who can get me to point A to point B as quickly and safely as possible, and if, for some reason they can't because of breakdowns, altercations, the Steelers losing, or whatever, can get on the horn and get a mechanic or a replacement coach out ASAP.
And I want someone who can do all of that and still somehow keep a decent attitude. I see the abuse drivers take. I've seen them spat upon, struck, cussed out, flipped off, and the pros seem to let it wash over them like water off a ducks back. And when those drivers who have been victimized ask for witnesses to the incident, I have no problem filling out a form. Are there bad drivers that were born with a burr up their ass, and haven't smiled since the Pirates last had a winning season? Of course, there are. Unfortunately one of the disadvantages of being in a position where you have to help the public is that occasionally you have to deal with those who should have been placed in a burlap bag and drowned in the Mon at birth. And those drivers who abuse the public in that manner should be reprimanded, and if the abuse is severe enough, be fired. But I can also see how even some of the most hardened and seasoned drivers can lose their cool. And I'm more likely to side with the driver in a altercation with a passenger, because I've seen how bus riders can be.
And I don't believe that the Port Authority would be able to find people who can put up with the shit that drivers put up with for $9.00/hour. So if a competent driver who's courteous, professional, cool-headed, and above all safe, has to get $17.00/hour, I have no problem paying for it.
I don't personally know any Port Authority drivers. I'm not related to any, and I have no agenda. I just want show the drivers a little love and let them know that at least one rider appreciates all they have to put up with to get me where I need to go.
Posted by Pierre Wheaton at 5:37 PM
Who is This Loser???
Pierre Wheaton
The Moonlight Scribbler by Pierre R. Wheaton is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
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What are cannabinoids & how are they medicinal?
These days it seems that just about everyone is talking about cannabis. It's hard not to be intrigued…or at least a little curious to learn more. This article provides a brief introduction to the wonderful world of cannabinoids and gives us a peek into their potential medicinal value.
Terpenes, the essential oils of cannabis, are not only responsible for how a strain tastes & smells, but also play a huge role in how it makes you feel. Read this article and you'll know why we go above and beyond to add proprietary blends of terpenes to each of our formulas. We delight in terpene rich edibles, both for flavor & effect.


Rule – 6EA, Special provision regarding interest on bad and doubtful debts of financial institutions, banks, etc.
(b) loss asset, that is, a debt which has been identified as loss and considered as uncollectible but has not been written off in the accounts of the assessee.
Explanation.—For the purposes of this rule, an amount shall be deemed to be "past due" when it remains unpaid for thirty days beyond the due date.


Welcome to the student and chaperone volunteer page. Every student and chaperone volunteer their time to offset costs of the tour. Students are required to volunteer 8 hours total. At least 4 hours must be through a Progressive Fundraiser. Please view the calendar for a list of volunteer opportunities.
Students help bag groceries for patrons.


John Boehner wants to reopen a tax loophole "that actually rewarded corporations for shipping jobs and profits overseas."
By Angie Drobnic Holan on Monday, September 13th, 2010 at 2:10 p.m.
President Barack Obama has been in campaign mode this month, no doubt looking toward the elections less than two months away. In two speeches recently, he's said American companies shouldn't be rewarded for shipping jobs and profits overseas, but warned that Republicans don't agree.
Obama discussed aid the federal government sent to the states in August, part of a package to pay teacher salaries. The aid was offset by changes to the tax code that closed what Obama said were loopholes for corporations.
"By the way, this bill that we passed to save all those jobs, we made sure that bill wouldn't add to the deficit," Obama said in a speech on Labor Day. "You know how we paid for it? By closing one of these ridiculous tax loopholes that actually rewarded corporations for shipping jobs and profits overseas. I mean, this was one of those loopholes that allowed companies to write off taxes they pay to foreign governments –- even though they weren't paying taxes here in the United States."
"So middle-class families were footing tax breaks for companies creating jobs somewhere else," Obama added. "I mean, even a lot of America's biggest corporations agreed that this loophole didn't make sense, agreed that it needed to be closed, agreed that it wasn't fair -– but the man who thinks he's going to be speaker, he wants to reopen this loophole."
We wanted to know two things: Is the law Obama talks about really "one of these ridiculous tax loopholes that actually rewarded corporations for shipping jobs and profits overseas"? And does Ohio's John Boehner -- the current House Republican leader -- want to reverse the law?
Let's take these questions in order.
Obama signed the bill into law on Aug. 10. It sends $26.1 billion to states facing budget shortfalls, providing $10 billion for salaries and compensation for teachers and another $16.1 million to help states pay for Medicaid, the long-standing government insurance program for the poor and disabled. The law also includes "offsets," which is any kind of spending cut or tax increase that balances out the new spending so that it doesn't add to the deficit. This closed the "loopholes" that Obama mentions by taking away exemptions and credits that previously existed, which increases revenues by $9.8 billion over 10 years.
The summary of the law from the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service lists seven different credits or exemptions that the law changes.
The United States government taxes its companies on foreign profits, which not all countries do. But companies don't have to pay taxes on foreign earnings until they bring their profits back to this country. So companies tend to keep the money with their foreign subsidiaries as long as possible. But companies also get U.S. tax credits for taxes they pay to foreign governments. Some companies figured out how to game the system by keeping their profits overseas while still claiming a tax credit for taxes paid on the same income to foreign governments. That's the loophole the new law is trying to address. It says companies can't claim the foreign tax credit until they report their income.
Boehner's office sent us several letters from business groups who opposed the law. During the debate over the measure, companies said any increase in taxes would make American companies less competitive with their foreign rivals.
"The current U.S. system is inconsistent with the free flow of trade and investment, and it inhibits use of foreign earnings to invest in the U.S. economy. The provisions included in the House legislation to be considered today will only make matters worse," wrote Larry Burton, executive director of the Business Roundtable, in a letter to members of Congress. The Business Roundtable represents chief executive officers of major U.S. companies.
We queried several tax professors via e-mail to see what their take on the new law was. We got a range of responses, but they all agreed that companies with international operations can shield profits from being taxed, and these changes make that harder.
"The rules that were changed were necessary, if narrowly targeted, reforms of the foreign tax credit rules," said Robert Peroni of the University of Texas at Austin. "The old rules resulted in overstated foreign tax credits for some U.S. multinational corporations, resulting in those corporations paying lower U.S. income taxes than they should have paid under a properly designed U.S. international income tax system."
"It's hard to deny that there was a problem. There clearly was a problem," said David Rosenbloom of New York University. "But companies worried that any rules that the IRS adopts will be very hard to confine to only the abuse situations."
The tax experts also said it's difficult to prove whether American companies with business overseas employ fewer people in the United States because of the tax rules.
"The connection between the loophole and jobs being shipped overseas is tenuous at best," Rosenbloom said.
Finally, Lawrence Lokken of the University of Florida warned us that even experts disagree about the effects of some international tax rules. "Whether the current system encourages companies to move jobs offshore, and whether these fixes will discourage companies from doing so, are hotly debated issues. You can find entirely respectable opinion on each side of the issues," he said.
So does Boehner want to reverse the new rule? Yes, said his spokesman Michael Steel. Boehner "opposes the change the President mentioned but would strongly disagree with the way the President characterizes it," Steel said via e-mail.
We're fact-checking Obama's statement that John Boehner wants to reopen a "tax loopholes that actually rewarded corporations for shipping jobs and profits overseas." The tax experts we spoke with said the rules did attempt to close loopholes in the tax system. The loopholes had to do with companies keeping profits overseas. Boehner does oppose the measure. The point we question is whether re-opening the tax loophole will result in jobs being shipped overseas. We do not see a connection there, based on what the tax experts said. That's a pretty big caveat. So we rate Obama's statement Half True.
Published: Monday, September 13th, 2010 at 2:10 p.m.


Large database of live auctions. Auctioneers you may post your Auction listings FREE! Search by Area - Auctioneer - egory - Keyword. Site contains full listings, photos, Auctioneer links and information.
For sale a Antique Universal No. 24 Coffee Mill Grinder. Mr Dudley Coffee Grinder Antique Arcade Crystal Wall Mount Coffee Mill Grinder No. 3 Jars were Replaced.
Hand crank vintage Mr. Dudley International coffee grinder Coffee Grinders, Seller - Over 27 items sold. 3.6% negative feedback.


Trust our design and remodeling expertise with over 30 years of experience to provide you with the custom work, prompt service, total cleanup, and full service you need! We'll give you a personal tour of bathrooms and kitchens, consider ideas for your basement remodel or room addition, and discuss options that fit your budget. This 2,800 square foot single family home sits on a hill with views of the Pacific from the family and dining rooms – but the kitchen was choked off from this view.
When it comes to the countertop, granite and quartz have migrated from the kitchen into the bathroom, where they deliver the same durability and visual interest. We've been walking around our house wishing each other 'Blessings Yuletide' in perfect Yoda-like fashion!
No room in the house hosts more meaningful conversations or more moments of solitude. When choosing a home remodeling company, look no further than Lars Remodeling & Design. Planning your kitchen remodel should take more time than the actual construction. We hired 123 Remodeling to do a complete rehab of both bathrooms in our high rise condo.
Join Bruce as we discuss five challenges remodelers face in executing their ideas and tools to overcome those challenges. In 2005, hundreds of local companies participated in the Best Places to Work contest sponsored by the Wichita Business Journal, including Southwestern Remodeling.
Lowe's offers professional design and installation services to help you pull off your kitchen renovation , hassle-free. We've been focused on remodeling for over 38 years, so we have the expertise to advise you on the best way to approach your renovation.


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Next:CHAD: We Love War Criminals
Information Warfare: The War Moves To Smart Phones
August 6, 2010: Cyber War, at last the civilian version, is undergoing a major change. More Internet criminals are shifting their efforts to wireless (wi-fi) and cell phone targets. Smart Phones (like iPhone, Blackberry and Android) are getting a lot more attention. The hackers consider these targets as more lucrative (wealthier users in a more vulnerable environment.) Smart phone apps are considered particularly troublesome. Apple is very strict about which apps it allows to run on its devices, but other vendors are not as vigilant. These new vulnerability areas are worrisome to military network security experts, because more and more military equipment is networked, often with Internet access as well. At the same time, the military is also moving more to these same technologies, making the new threat a military one as well.
This is not all one sided. Crime, and warfare, over the Internet is getting more dangerous for the attackers as well. That's one reason many hackers are turning to wireless networks. Internet security experts are now doing to hackers what hackers have been doing for years; finding flaws in their software and exploiting it. This makes it possible to counterattack and, more importantly, identify, locate and arrest criminal hackers. For military ones, you could obtain GPS coordinates, enabling you to send a "cease and desist" message in the form of smart bombs. Or simply apply some more effective diplomatic pressure.
For years, security experts have been taking apart the hacker software secretly placed on PCs. Often, this is sloppy code, and over the past few years, the "white hat" (security company hackers) have been developing ways to exploit those flaws to more quickly shut down the bad guys, or even find them.
The most popular hacker tool; zombie computers and botnets, use special programs to infect computers, and enable the botnet owner to control these captured machines. The most visible use of a botnet is DDOS attacks. In plain English, that means buying access to hundreds, or thousands, of home and business PCs that have had special software secretly installed. This allows whoever installed the software that turned these PCs into zombies, to do whatever they want with these machines. The most common thing done is to have those PCs, when hooked up to the Internet, send as many emails, or other electronic messages, as they can, to specified websites or email addresses. When this is done to a single website, with lots of zombies (a botnet), the flood of messages becomes a DDOS (Distributed Denial of Service) attack that shuts the target down. This happens because so much junk is coming in from the botnet, that no one else can get in. But as flaws in the zombie and botnet control software are found, it is being exploited to shut down botnets and catch the guys running them. A lot more botnet creators, and users, are being caught, prosecuted and jailed these days.
But there are even more dangerous cyberwar weapons out there, which have also been found to have exploitable flaws. These are worm and virus programs modified to take advantage of largely unknown Internet vulnerabilities, that allow the user access to many business, government and military computers. This sort of thing is called, "using high value exploits" (flaws in code that are not yet widely known). These exploits are a lot more expensive, and require more skill to use. Currently, a major source of exploits are hackers for hire. These are skilled hackers, who know they are working on the wrong side of the law, and know how to do the job, take the money, and run. This situation has developed because organized crime has discovered the Internet, and the relatively easy money to be made via Internet extortion and theft. Some of these hackers also sell flaws in hacker software. No honor among thieves and all that.
SUBMARINES: Portugal Gets A Pair
CHAD: We Love War Criminals
Information Warfare: Current 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999


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Q: CSS Images in EmberJS addons I'd like to know the idiomatic way to reference css images (images linked in css through url(...) ) from within an Ember addon.
Ostensibly the addon public/ folder will get merged with dist/ in the final build and the css files will be merged with vendor.css
How can images therefore be linked i.e. if I have an image in /my-addon/public/images/icon.png how should I reference it in my CSS file? I've tried url(/my-addon/images/icon.png) and it doesn't respect the rootURL setting (only works if rootUrl = '/').
The only thing that seems to work is url(../my-addon/images/icon.png) but I've never heard mention that images should be linked with relative paths in this way.
Is there an established way to reference image assets from within addon css?
I've tried everything mentioned above but the only thing that works is relative paths. Am I correct to do so?


text:
Scott charges to Australian Open co-lead
Adam Scott hopes class and experience will prevail after snatching a share of the Australian Open halfway lead with a spectacular finish to his course-record-equalling second round.
Delighting the big gallery, Scott drained a long-range putt from off the green for eagle on the final hole to ice a flawless seven-under-par 63 at Victoria Golf Club on Friday.
The former world No.1 vaulted to eight under for the championship to be co-leader with Victorian David Micheluzzi.
A Melbourne sandbelt specialist and second on the Australasian Tour Order of Merit after winning last month's WA PGA, Micheluzzi will be no weekend pushover after backing up his Thursday 63 with a second-round one-under 71 at co-hosting Kingston Heath.
But making up six shots on the world No.556 was a brilliant bounce-back for Scott after his self-confessed "disgusting" first-round 70 at Kingston Heath featured four bogeys and a double.
Adam Scott celebrates his final putt on the 18th during Day 2 of the Australian Open. Photo by Mark Brake/Getty Images
"It was a good day – a lot of solid stuff and I just worked my way around the course," Scott said.
"There's a lot of trouble out here and I was aware of it every hole but I managed to stay out of it most of the day, whereas yesterday I was in it most of the day.
"So I turned things around and am in a good spot going into the weekend."
The 2009 Australian Open champion indeed looks a hot favourite to finally etch his name on the Stonehaven Cup for a second time.
He is the top-ranked player in the field and far and away the most accomplished name on the leaderboard.
Scott and Micheluzzi enjoy a three-shot buffer from their closest pursuers.
Unheralded compatriot Haydn Barron and New Zealander Josh Geary share third at five under with little-known American Gunner Wiebe.
Scott's US PGA Tour peer Cameron Percy, Belgian Velten Meyer, Frenchman Pierre Pineau and Denmark's Nicolai Hojgaard are all four back, with the Open to conclude at Victoria GC over the closing two rounds.
But having been here before and not quite finished the job and claimed an elusive second national championship, Scott isn't counting his chickens just yet.
"Hopefully I can kind of keep running in this direction tomorrow," he said.
"If I can play well tomorrow and anyone else can come with me, and it's only a few guys in it, that'd be a great position for Sunday.
"Then maybe I have some advantage from experience."
Only the top 30 players and ties will survive a second cut after Saturday's third round introduced to accommodate the women's event being staged simultaneously for the first time in Open history.
Cameron Smith will be among those trying to make up ground after miraculously avoiding the halfway chop.
The world No.3 only learnt six hours after posting a second successive one-over-par round that he'd made the cut on the number after a stack of Friday afternoon starters shot themselves out of the tournament.
But while Smith's season continues, his LIV Golf teammate Marc Leishman can put his clubs away for the year.
Leishman missed the cut by a shot following a second-round 73 at Kingston Heath.
Morikawa, Scott joining virtual TGL golf league
Steve Stricker wins by 6 shots in Hawaii and the rest of the Champions Tour should be very afraid


text:
Items Young lady's theatre jacket
Young lady's theatre jacket
Rigolet
Costume -- 1890s -- American
Additional title: Young lady's theater jacket.
Rigolet (Artist)
Shelf locator: PC COSTU-189-Am
Clothing & dress -- United States -- 1890-1899
Women -- Clothing & dress -- United States -- 1890-1899
Binoculars -- 1890-1899
Jackets -- United States -- 1890-1899
Content: Upper left corner cut off. Printed on border: "Fig. 2."
Source note: Harper's bazaar. (New York : Harper's Bazaar, 1868-).
Universal Unique Identifier (UUID): 39f01960-c546-012f-ed55-58d385a7bc34
The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Picture Collection, The New York Public Library. "Young lady's theatre jacket" The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1891. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e0-eaa1-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99
The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Picture Collection, The New York Public Library. "Young lady's theatre jacket" New York Public Library Digital Collections. Accessed January 30, 2023. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e0-eaa1-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99
The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Picture Collection, The New York Public Library. (1891). Young lady's theatre jacket Retrieved from https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e0-eaa1-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99
<ref name=NYPL>{{cite web | url=https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e0-eaa1-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99 | title= (still image) Young lady's theatre jacket, (1891) |author=Digital Collections, The New York Public Library |accessdate=January 30, 2023 |publisher=The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations}}</ref>


US Army Corps of Engineers Environmental Laboratory – The Environmental Laboratory is the problem solver for the Corps and the Nation in environmental science and engineering research and development in support of environmental systems. Cosmology from Ancient Greece to Today – Webcast – Michelle Thaller, astrobiologist and assistant director for science communication at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. One communications and media course (4 units) selected from: Education 130, 131, 104E, 125, 134, 151. These are important to the school reform model of education that is proposed in this article.
Yet, for instance, nowhere among the member information is there a cautionary note telling participants in the State Health Plan that its commercial workplace wellness program and online health risk assessment are not covered under federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) privacy protection.
Next page Next post: Which Console Offers The Most Learning Video Games For Kids?


text:
Q: SignaturePad Xamarin Forms PCL unable to capture Image I am using SignaturePad Nuget for PCL.
How do i convert this System.IO.Stream into an Image?
Any idea would be appreciated.. Thank you.

A: Here's what I found after 2 weeks of research about this.
This is the code in c# to save an signature to a png file on android phone.
 async void Enregistrer(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {

        // This is the code to get the image (as a stream)
        var img = padView.GetImage(Acr.XamForms.SignaturePad.ImageFormatType.Png); // This returns the Bitmap from SignaturePad.

        img.Seek(0,0); // This is to have the current position in the stream

        // create a new file stream for writing
        FileStream fs = new FileStream(Android.OS.Environment.ExternalStorageDirectory + "/imagefilename.png", FileMode.Create,FileAccess.Write); // create a new file stream for writing

        await img.CopyToAsync(fs); // have the image stream to disk

        fs.Close(); // close the filestream

        img.Dispose(); // clear the ressourse used by the stream

    }

have fun !


With the Klic App the user can easily view Klic's (drawings and attachments) in the field. In the drawings, the user sees his GPS position and can determine where the cables and pipes lies.
The user can available Klic's on the device also sort and select according to the distance from the current GPS position. When dimensioning on the drawings is missing can be done using the digital tape measure the probable location of the cables and pipes can be determined. The user can synchronize the Klic data at any time with the office, so that the field is always working with accurate data.
See http://www.klic-app.nl for detailed information on using the Klic App.


text:
Holloway and Hoelun.
August 2, 2021 by languagehat 24 Comments
Two items that have nothing to do with each other except the nicely chiming names:
1) I learn from Lev Oborin's roundup (in Russian) of literary news that Julia Bolton Holloway claims to have discovered a manuscript in Dante's hand. This seems like it would be big news, but Oborin links to a Daily Fail story that I didn't even bother to click on, and when I googled [holloway dante manuscript] I got only a few hits, all from almost a month ago and with almost no details — this LitHub piece shows an image of the MS but has only three paragraphs of text; it links to a Times (UK) story that I can only read a few paragraphs of, and none of it seems very substantive. Anybody know anything about this?
2) Oborin quotes some lines by the poet Irina Kotova that refer to "великая оэлун" [great Oelun] (the poem uses no capital letters). I looked up Оэлун and discovered she was the mother of Temujin (Genghis Khan); the Russian represents Mongolian Өэлүн. The thing is that in English, and in almost all other languages shown in the Wikipedia sidebar, the name starts with H: Hoelun, Hö'elün, Höelün, Höelin, etc. What's going on here?
Hoelun: I'm not sure. In Mongolian script it's ᠥᠭᠡᠯᠦᠨ (öhelün, I think). In Chinese it's 訶額侖 hē'élún. I believe that an initial aspirate, derived from an earlier /p/, is posited in earlier stages of the language for what are now vowel-initial words.
Stephen Goranson says
Here's the end of the Times July 7/8 report:
The handwriting is schoolboy-like in the early manuscripts but the writing is in excellent Tuscan, which later provided the blueprint for Italian," said Julia Bolton Holloway, 84, a British expert who has studied Latino — also known as Latini — for 50 years. "It covers the ideas of ethical government, which later showed up in the Comedy," she said. The scripts are believed to date from the 1280s and 1290s.
Studied by all Italian schoolchildren to this day, the Divine Comedy describes Dante's journey through Hell, purgatory, and paradise.
Less attention has been paid to Latino, who appears in the Divine Comedy in Hell in a section reserved for sodomites. "Dante reports that Latino was his former teacher, but he really tarred and feathered him in his work, and as a result he has been overlooked. Perhaps it took a woman to pay attention to him," Bolton Holloway said.
She said one set of manuscripts was very likely to be Dante's work. "They are the only ones written in the socalled 'Cancelleresca' script, which Dante was likely taught by his father," she said. "No copies of Dante's own, handwritten version of the Comedy have been found, but Leonardo Bruni, a later Renaissance scholar who saw Dante's handwriting described it as being similar to the manuscripts I have found," she said.
Bolton Holloway, whose findings appear in a book published by the regional authority of Tuscany, taught at Princeton University then became a nun and lived as a hermit in Tuscany before taking over Florence's so-called English cemetery.
I don't yet find the mentioned book on WorldCat. The Times does not quote a second supporting scholar; perhaps the book will.
Thanks to both of you! I guess the Dante will remain a mystery unless and until the book appears.
David L says
The handwriting is schoolboy-like…
"Mommy took me to an old house to look at some pictures hanging on the walls, they were all pictures of ladies with babies, totally boring. She wouldn't let me swim in the river because it was smelly. Then we went home and had spaghetti for dinner (again)."
Extract from "What I did on my summer vacation" by Dante Alighieri (age 8).
Here's a reference to the book, Il Tesoro di Brunetto Latino, maestro di Dante Alighieri, and here (about a third of the way down) is a fuzzy picture of the cover. From her academia.edu page it looks like Holloway has worked on Latino for quite a bit of her career. This is a summary of Latino's biography.
From her vita: "Languages (in descending order of competence): Italian, French, Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Spanish, Russian, Portuguese, German." Interesting.
Of course. But what the Supreme Poet fails to point out is whether it was "ai funghi or aglio olio that his family ate that day. His (half)-sister was named Tana < Gaetana.
Missing link.
Arrgh, trying again: … ai funghi or aglio olio …
Xerîb says
I hope LH readers can see this. There is more information on the Middle Mongol sound here in Juha Janhunen (2006) The Mongolic Languages, under (1) in the middle of the page 61. (SH is the Secret History of the Mongols, C is other Chinese sources, and A is sources in Arabic script, and K is the Mongolian vocabulary list in the Armenian history of Kirakos Gandzaketsi completed in 1265.)
Note also this on Khitan under (1) at the bottom of page 396.
Ah, so the written h represents /x/. Thanks!
Some notes on how Hülegü was rendered in different languages, from Paul Pelliot (1959-63) Notes on Marco Polo, II, p. 866f, no. 373 "Ulau":
http://dsr.nii.ac.jp/toyobunko/III-2-F-c-104/V-2/page-hr/0270.html.en
Interestingly, it was ه /h/ that was used in Persian and not خ /x/ in this instance.
Vanya says
Then we went home and had spaghetti for dinner (again)
Not bloody likely in 1273 in Florence. Maybe if they had taken a trip to Palermo…
(According to Wikipedia the first reference to "Spaghetti" as a type of pasta appears in 1824 in a book called li maccheroni di Napoli)
One niggling thing about Brunetto Latino: he was a famous teacher, of Dante, Cavalcanti, and others. Presumably his homosexuality was well-known, or at least an open secret. Why did Dante choose him as the object of the hellish torment reserved for "sodomites"? Did Dante turn rigidly intolerant in his later years? WP summarizes some thought about the subject, but it seems there is no satifsfactory conclusion. I imagine Holloway has some ideas about it.
Presumably his homosexuality was well-known, or at least an open secret. Why did Dante choose him as the object of the hellish torment reserved for "sodomites"?
Because his homosexuality was well-known? Seems an odd question. The fact that Dante liked and respected him (assuming he did) did not change Divine Law.
Why didn't he choose a less sympathetic homosexual as representative? I am speaking as one ignorant both of Dante's representation of complex personalities, and of how medieval morality judgments were dispensed.
From what I have read, it sounds like Dante did like and respect Latinus; and that homosexuality, like a number of other sexual behaviors, was commonplace, condemned, but readily forgiven.
homosexuality, like a number of other sexual behaviors, was commonplace, condemned, but readily forgiven.
Readily forgiven by whom? Not by God, and that's Dante's point. He wasn't some modern loosey-goosey relativist; he was saying "You may be a great guy everybody thinks well of, but if you violate God's law, you're going to hell and will suffer forever and bitterly repent your sins." They took religion seriously in the Middle Ages.
To have chosen "a less sympathetic homosexual" would be to implicitly say "God only punishes the nasty gay people, not the nice socially acceptable ones." Which was not what he wanted to say. Compare the reactions of progressives today who are told that some racist uncle is "a really great guy."
My impression was (and it's based on a vague memory of reading something) that because some sins were considered heinous but were commonplace, they could be easily repented of, through the mechanisms set by the Faith. In other words, the Church had given up on eradicating such behavior; you had to repent, however often, and you were taking the risk of dying unexpectedly in your sins. So if Latino had made arrangements between his last sin and his passing, he would be safe from eternal damnation, despite all he had done before.
As to the "less sympathetic" angle, of course, that is clear to us moderns with our ambiguous characters, flawed heroes and sympathetic villains. What I don't know is whether Dante and his readership were comfortable with that idea, and how they read such characters and their place in the world.
D.O. says
Obviously Dante might have planned his circles of Inferno with some sins in mind and then found most suitable characters for each sin, but he also could have wanted to write about certain people whether they were or not "representative" of some sin and put them wherever they in his opinion belonged.
David Eddyshaw says
Dante has some pretty sympathetic characters in Hell. The Christian doctrine of salvation is really not about whether you've been naughty or nice, and Dante did not believe that his friends would all go to heaven and his enemies all to Hell. Nor did he expect his readers to think any such thing.
Maestro, il senso lor m'è duro, says Dante to Virgil in the poem itself of the inscription over the gate of Hell. Never a truer word …
I read Dante when I was a teenager, and there was a lot I didn't understand then, even if now I might.
Giacomo Ponzetto says
@Y: the traditional puzzle about Brunetto Latini is that there's little outside evidence of his homosexuality, something that has led to pretty fanciful interpretations of the sin Dante may be attributing to him. However, as our gracious host and David Eddyshaw have both noted, there hardly seems to be a puzzle if you grant his sodomy.
In particular, if I understand correctly your suggestion that homosexuality would be no big deal because you could simply repent early and often, that's a line of reasoning whose pretty obvious flaws Dante himself skewers very memorably through Guido da Montefeltro in Inferno XXVII.
Stu Clayton says
Maestro, il senso lor m'è duro … Never a truer word …
The reply is not what I would call soothing:
# Und er zu mir, [wie man erlebt hat]:
"Hier muss jeder Verdacht aufgegeben werden,
alle Feigheit muss hier ausgestorben sein. #
I've bracketed a few words that make no sense here. It would be nice if translators simply skipped what they don't understand, instead of "making a stab" at it. I would rather pay for honesty than subsidize waffle. This is my extrapolation of the widow's mite story.


It's been a few weeks since New Year's. The holidays are far behind us, and the summer is far ahead. If you feel like you're in a "no-man's-land" of motivation, you're not alone.
Motivation to keep New Year's resolutions often wanes after two weeks, and only eight percent of people actually accomplish their goals for the year, according to statistics. But there's no reason you can't be among those eight percent!
Listed below, are five ways that you can get back on track.
You're probably tired of the phrase "you're the average of your five closest friends," but it bears repeating because it's so true. As science shows us, your friends have the largest impact on your actions, both negative and positive. Sometimes, they can impact your behavior more than your own spouse! We're not telling you that you need to get rid of your "unmotivated" friends. Instead, try and find a new crew. Join a running club. Start a workout group at the office. Instead of meeting a friend for coffee, try meeting a friend for a walk. As the science shows, it's much easier to make a positive change when everyone around you is doing the same thing. We all have at least one friend that is basically a "walking pep talk." Get to know him or her better today.
Have you ever tried to swear off "bad food" and quickly realized that chocolate, candy, chips and soda suddenly consumed your entire thought process? Or maybe, you threatened yourself with some type of punishment as a way to motivate yourself to workout ("If I don't go for a run, I'm going to pay my friend $5…") As it turns out, this doesn't motivate people at all. In fact, it's demotivating.
Miss a workout? Binge on chocolate cake? Skip an entire week of dieting and heading to the gym? Don't worry about it. The worst thing you can do is fret over the mistakes you've already made. Instead, focus on the chance to make today better than yesterday. Think about how much fun you'll have with your new running group. Think about how good you'll feel after taking that workout class. Or about how yummy those roasted vegetables are going to taste! Focusing on the positive results of your goals is always more motivating that worrying about avoiding the negative consequences.
If you're struggling with motivation, it may be because you haven't seen much progress toward your goals. That could be a sign that your goal is either too big, too vague, or too complicated. We're hardwired to avoid pain and uncertainty, so a vague goal is scary to our survival instincts.
Instead of focusing on trying to lose a large amount of weight or radically altering your diet, break it down. Write down every single step it will take to get to your goal, and complete one at a time. For example, if your goal is to "Start Running," write out a plan that starts includes walking 30 minutes a day during lunch, finding a running group, buying running shoes, finding a local race (like the Ninja Challenge!), forming a weekly workout plan, etc. Make the steps super specific and knock them out one by one! Don't worry about the end goal. Instead, focus on accomplishing each small step along the way.
4. Write everything down. Both before and after.
Many of us have our goals in mind, but few of us have them on a piece of paper. Believe it or not, putting your goals in ink is one of the fastest ways to boost motivation. But don't stop there. According to research, you also should track your progress.
If you wrote out your goals last month, that's great! You're a step ahead. Now, it's up to you to track your progress. You can do it daily, or even weekly, but you need to keep checking back to see how you did. Otherwise, you're left with a vague and uncertain task, which we've already said is actually demotivating.
5. Treat failure as part of the process toward success.
The science surrounding failure is a little bit new, but it's incredibly fascinating. Some of the most successful people in the world think about failure differently than most of us. In fact, instead of avoiding failure, they actually treat it as part of the process toward success. And science is finding that they are definitely onto something.
Successful businessmen -- ranging from Steve Jobs to Bill Gates -- have often bragged about having failed on their way to success. And as studies have shown, failure actually makes you more productive in the long run. It's little wonder, then, why you shouldn't fear failure. Instead, you should pursue it! Stop trying to have the perfect day, perfect workout, perfect diet, or perfect plan. Take joy in knowing that if you messed up, you're actually closer to your success than before.
If you're struggling with the motivation to keep your New Year's resolutions, we hope the tips above can help. There's nothing to be ashamed of if you fell off the wagon -- we all do sometimes.
To get back on track you should start small, write everything down, find some motivating friends, and expect to fail a few more times. This process repeats itself over and over, and before you know it, you're well on your way to success!
About the Ninja Challenge: The Ninja Challenge Obstacle 5K is designed to bring out your inner www.theninjachallenge.com.
ninja through obstacles that include climbing walls, throwing ninja stars, running on water, dodging ninjas, and more. This family-friendly event is held every year in Fuquay-Varina, and is locally-owned and supported. It's perfect for first-time racers of all age ranges, and we often have competitors ranging from 8 to 80 years old. A portion of all proceeds benefit the Triangle Aquatic Center and the Triangle Red Cross to help promote drowning prevention and safety. The 2016 Ninja Challenge Obstacle 5K will be held in Raleigh, NC on May 21, 2016. To register, please visit www.theninjachallenge.com.
Complete the raffle below for a chance to win a free race entry to the Ninja Challenge, The raffle ends on Feb. 24th and the winner will be announced on the blog on Feb 25th.


Palladin is a recently described phosphoprotein that plays an important role in cell adhesion and motility. Previous studies have shown that palladin overexpression results in profound changes in actin organization in cultured cells. Palladin binds to the actin-associated proteins alpha-actinin, vasodilator-stimulated phosphoprotein, profilin, Eps8, and ezrin, suggesting that it may affect actin organization indirectly. To determine its molecular function in generating actin arrays, we purified palladin and asked if it is also capable of binding to F-actin directly. In co-sedimentation and differential sedimentation assays, palladin was found to both bind and cross-link actin filaments. This bundling activity was confirmed by fluorescence and electron microscopy. Palladin fragments were then purified and used to determine the sequences necessary to bind and bundle F-actin. The Ig3 domain of palladin bound to F-actin, and a palladin fragment containing Ig3, Ig4, and the region linking these domains was identified as a fragment that was able to bundle F-actin. Because palladin has multiple Ig domains, and only one of them binds to F-actin, this suggests that different Ig domains may be specialized for distinct biological functions. In addition, our results suggest a potential role for palladin in generating specialized, actin-based cell morphologies via both direct actin cross-linking activity and indirect scaffolding activity.