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nuclear-news
The News That Matters about the Nuclear Industry Fukushima Chernobyl Mayak Three Mile Island Atomic Testing Radiation Isotope
1.This Month
PAGES on NUCLEAR ISSUES
Nuclear industry desperately lobbying for financial help. to be counted as "clean"
It's all about money.
The "new nuclear" lobby is working hard, to get the tax and other advantages that the industry could get, if it could get nuclear power formally accepted as a clean method of reducing global warming. In the past, the nuclear industry used to deny global warming. But now they see it as a lifeline for their otherwise doomed industry.
Now the modern gurus of "New Nuclear" have written an open letter to the UN, in Trump-like manner, bewailing "UN discrimination" against them.
Their letter does us all a bit of a favour, clearly listing the current most prominent nuclear lobbyists and "environmental" front groups
The letter, to Erik Solheim Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programming, accuses United Nations Environment Program ( UNEP) of "an act of discrimination" against the nuclear industry .
It goes on to the importance of climate change, – claiming that action against it will fail without nuclear power. They quote "Environmental Progress:" – "intense investment in renewable technology has resulted in virtually no decarbonisation of global energy" They claim that nuclear power is essential to reduce carbon emissions. They claim that "evidence is undeniable "that nuclear power can achieve rapid decarbonisation. They attack UNEP as"discarding the scientific process in favour of ideology". Colourful condemnation of this United Nations body goes on – we must "unshackle from the suspicions and hostility of an obsolete era of environmentalism".
The letter is signed by:
Ben Heard, – Executive Director, Bright New World
Eric Meyer- Co-Founder and Director Generation Atomic
Heather Matteson – Co-Founder, Mothers for Nuclear
Kirsty Gogan, – Co-Founder and Director, Energy for Humanity
Kristin Zaitz – Co-Founder, Mothers for Nuclear
Michael Shellenberger – Founder, Environmental ProgressPhil Ord,- President, Americans for Nuclear Energy
Phumzile J. Oliphant,Chairperson -Thyspunt Nuclear Development Forum, South Africa
Rauli Partanen- Independent Author and Founder,Finnish Ecomodernist Society
Taylor Stevenson- Co-Founder and Director, Generation Atomic
Followerd by endorsement from a whole heap of nuclear industry supporters
January 3, 2018 Posted by Christina MacPherson | 2 WORLD, spinbuster	| 2 Comments
Population Oscillations OR Collapsing Ecosystem
From Majia's Blog :
The ongoing collapse of King Salmon in Alaska is once again in the news:
Nathaniel Herz (2017, Dec 29). Southeast Alaska's king salmon are disappearing, and fishermen are grappling with the consequences. Anchorage Daily News. Available https://www.adn.com/business-economy/2017/12/28/southeast-alaskas-king-salmon-are-disappearing-and-fishermen-are-grappling-with-the-consequences/
…There's some sense that climate change could be causing a "regime shift" and a long-term change in ecosystems, said Peter Hagen, deputy director of a federal fisheries laboratory in Auke Bay, near Juneau.
"There's a whole question: Is this a new normal? And I don't think we've determined that yet," Hagen said.
But Hagen and Adkison, the fisheries professor, both pointed out that salmon have proven to be resilient. Fossil records show that big population changes are typical, Adkison said.
"In the salmon business, we're used to these dramatic fluctuations in productivity," he said. "If I had to bet, I would favor the short-term fluctuation and I would expect them to eventually rebound. But the current numbers are really low."
I've been following the (reported) acceleration of excess mortality events among animal populations. Here is my 2012 post on the King Salmon that "went missing" that year:
King Salmon Missing http://majiasblog.blogspot.com/2012/08/wsj-alaska-missing-its-king-salmon.html
In 2013 I created a compilation of news headlines and links addressing what I called "anomal anomalies," as documented here in this 2013 post:
http://majiasblog.blogspot.com/2013/10/animal-anomalies-is-fukushima-daiichi.html
Polar bears, walruses, salmon, sardines, starfish, etc. These and so many other marine and land animal populations experienced precipitous declines due to "inexplicable" wasting syndromes and odd infections that began being reported in great number in 2012.
[when I checked on bee and bat declines I discovered that the Wikipedia article attributes the rapid decline in bats from white fungal disease to 2012 here. In contrast, bee "colony collapse disorder" was named in 2006]
Every animal population imperiled has no doubt suffered in complex ways from human engineering and thoughtlessness, including experiences of habitat loss and rapid deterioration of remaining habitats due to the synergistic effects of countless environmental assaults.
Still, I find it more than coincidental that the acceleration of mass mortality events became markedly evident in 2012.
Fukushima's ongoing and UNPRECEDENTED RADIOACTIVE CONTAMINATION of the ocean and the general dispersal of industrial pollutants by the Japan's terrible 2011 tsunami ARE STRANGELY ABSENT from most all news coverage of marine welfare.
Yet, ALL THE SCIENTIFIC DATA available, including data generated by the US Geological Survey and the CTBTO, documented widespread fallout contamination in North America.
Scientific models on ocean dispersion predicted a plume of radioactive contamination would reach North America and add to the coastal fallout from precipitation by 2013. This prediction was tested and found to be true in San Diego, CA.
Fukushima's ongoing dissemination of radioactive contamination has lessened since 2012 but it has not ceased.
I'm sure that Fukushima isn't the only source of radioactive contamination from artificially engineered radio-isotopes such as Cesium-137 and Strontium-89 but it is the largest known.
Might it represent a tipping point in ocean life? That question will probably never be answerable empirically because not enough research is investigating impacts.
What is clear however is that the accelerated decimation of animal life on earth will not occur without grave human losses as well. It is my belief that when we destroy the eco-system upon which we depend, we are destroying ourselves.
Unfortunately, our capacity to grapple with the spectre of our destruction is impeded by our capacity to rationalize.
The idea of "population oscillations" is the rationalization deployed most often to account for the dislocations in ecological life observed by scientists and everyday people in touch with their environments.
Populations don't simply oscillate by chance. Numbers drop and decline in relation to the contingencies of system-environment interactions. Precipitous declines typically result from amplifying feedback loops, often resulting from either over-population or some dramatic change in the environment, such as a sudden and unprecedented onslaught of marine contamination.
Pacific Ocean tipping points http://majiasblog.blogspot.com/2014/11/pacific-ocean-tipping-points.html
Bioaccumulation: Cesium is One Among the 1000 Radionuclides Unleashed by Fukushima Bioaccumulation: http://majiasblog.blogspot.com/2014/11/bioaccumulation-cesium-is-one-among.html
Contaminated Water at Fukushima Daiichi Majia's Blog: http://majiasblog.blogspot.com/2014/02/contaminated-water-at-fukushima-daiichi.html
Will Fukushima Daiichi Kill Vast Swathes of Ocean life Majia's Blog: http://majiasblog.blogspot.com/2014/01/will-fukushima-daiichi-kill-vast.html
Endless Atmospheric and Ocean Emissions Majia's Blog: http://majiasblog.blogspot.com/2014/08/endless-atmospheric-and-ocean-emissions.html
How much Fukushima Fuel is in the Ocean http://majiasblog.blogspot.com/2012/09/how-much-fukushima-fuel-is-in-ocean.html
Ocean Releases Majia's Blog: http://majiasblog.blogspot.com/2012/10/ocean-releases.html
Humanity's End Foretold in Destruction of Oceans: Majia's Blog: Humanity's End Foretold in Destruction of Oceans
Compromised Oceans mean Compromised People: Majia's Blog: http://majiasblog.blogspot.com/2012/10/humanitys-end-foretold-in-destruction.html
Radiation plumes headed to N. America Majia's Blog: http://majiasblog.blogspot.com/2013/01/fukushima-radiation-plumes-in-ocean.html
Majia's Blog: The Art of Deception http://majiasblog.blogspot.com/2014/05/the-art-of-deception.html
http://majiasblog.blogspot.fr/2017/12/population-oscillations-or-collapsing.html
January 3, 2018 Posted by dunrenard | Fukushima 2018	| Collapsing Ecosystem, Contamination, Fukushima Radiation, Pacific Ocean, Population Oscillations | 1 Comment
Exclusive and rare interview with Christina Mac Phearson owner of nuclear-news.net
One of Christina's many memes 🙂
For all our followers here on nuclear-news.net, I would like to present you with two interviews from our authors.
Firstly, here is a recent and rare audio podcast with Christina MacPhearson (AKA Noel Wauchomp), our blog founder. In the podcast she mentions how she started her activism and progressed onto blogging nuclear information. She also discusses the situation in her home Australia, Fukushima as well as a range of other topics.
Lonnie Clark interiew with Christina Mac Phearson 2 Jan 2017
While I am doing this post i thought to add an interview with 2 co authors of the blog for any new subs. Herve Courtois who has been covering much of the Fukushima news here on nuclear-news.net. I (Shaun McGee aka arclight2011) will add an information packed podcast interview that I did with Herve here;
Published on 2 Aug 2015
In the second part of the show we discuss with Herve Courtois (French activist, blogger and researcher) the issues with Fukushima evacuees, The PR companies methods to smooth over the bad news, The connection between health studies done after Hiroshima and Nagasaki and how health studies are being equaly fudged by the nuclear corporations and Health physicists, How the Japanese government is forcing evacuees back into contaminated areas against their will, How the Japanese blocked the UN petition to evacuate at least the children from more contaminated areas, We discuss also how the nuclear industry world wide is going into overdrive to promote the safety of nuclear energy around the anniversary of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the timing of the first Japanese nuclear reactor to be brought back online. This is a fascinating interview packed with information that the main stream media can not report on. We discuss Wikileaks and the report concerning the spying on Japan by the NSA in recent years and the connection to the Okinawa protest.
If you wish to make a small donation to either myself or Herve towards our running costs for the year, please feel free to send a paypal payment via these emails
To make a donation to Herve Courtois (aka Dun Renard) send your payment here; herve.courtois@yahoo.com
To make a donation to Shaun McGee )aka arclight2011) send you payment here;
arclight2011@riseup.net
Many thanks! And we all wish you a productive and peaceful new year! Namaste!
January 3, 2018 Posted by arclight2011part2 | Uncategorized	| 2 Comments
Governments can use social media to target activists – UK and the Iran protests
Could GCHQ influence Iran protests? They've done it before, claims researcher https://www.rt.com/uk/414831-gchq-influence-hack-protest/#.WkwCv_uo99Q.facebook 2 Jan, 2018 The UK government uses fake content & sockpuppet accounts on social media to infiltrate activist groups & "destroy" enemies, former hacktivist Mustafa Al-Bassam claims. A shadowy unit is known to target the Middle East, he says.
Al-Bassam, who uses the alias TFlow, was a black hat hacker and one of the six core members of hacktivist group LulzSec. He is now a researcher and Computer Science PhD student at University College London, and says social media sites such as Twitter, BlogSpot and YouTube are being used by British intelligence agencies to pursue geopolitical goals.
He says through its social media manipulation operations, spy agency Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) tried to influence online activists during the 2009 Iranian presidential election protests, and the 2011 uprisings widely known as the Arab Spring.
Al-Bassam told the Chaos Communication Congress in Germany last week that the Joint Threat Research Intelligence Group (JTRIG) – a unit in GCHQ – uses "dirty tricks" to target activists.
He says JTRIG has been tasked by the British government to "[use] online techniques to make something happen in the real or cyber world." To fulfil this aim, a wide but basic array of technological tools and software are used, including 'DEADPOOL,' which is described as a "URL shortening service," and 'HUSK,' a "secure one-to-one web based dead-drop messaging platform."
He told the conference: "It's basically a fancy name for sitting on Twitter and Facebook all day and trolling online. What they do, is they conduct what they call 'human intelligence' – which is like the act of interacting with humans online to try and make something happen in the real world.
"In their own words one of the things they do is to use 'dirty tricks' to 'destroy, deny, degrade [and] disrupt' enemies by 'discrediting' them."
JTRIG has been involved in infiltrating hacktivist groups Anonymous and LulzSec, and protesters in Iran, Syria and Bahrain, he says.
As a "honey pot" to attract activists, GCHQ set up free URL shortening service lurl.me, which was used on Twitter and other social media platforms to spread revolutionary messages in the Middle East. These messages would attract people protesting against the government there, and British intelligence would collect information on them.
Al-Bassam said he discovered this information among the documents leaked by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden. "In 2011, I was unknowingly messaged… by a covert agent from [GCHQ], who was investigating the hacktivist groups of Anonymous and Lulzsec. Later that year, I was arrested and banned from the internet for my involvement in Lulzsec.
Then, in 2014, I discovered through a new Snowden leak that GCHQ had targeted Anonymous and Lulzsec, and that the person that messaged me was a covert employee, pretending to be a hacktivist."
He added: "Because I was myself targeted in the past, I was aware of a key detail – a honeypot URL shortening service set up by GCHQ, that was actually redacted in the Snowden documents published in 2014. This URL shortening service enabled GCHQ to deanonymize another hacktivist and discover his real name and Facebook account, according to the leaked document.
"Using this key detail, I was able to discover a network of sockpuppet Twitter accounts and websites set up by GCHQ, pretending to be activists during the Arab spring of 2011," he said.
January 3, 2018 Posted by Christina MacPherson | Iran, media, secrets,lies and civil liberties, UK	| Leave a comment
Britain's Hinkley nuclear project rife with scandalous conflicts of interest
Times 1st Jan 2018,Consultancy firms working for the government on the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station were advising the project's Chinese investor and its French builder at the same time, an investigation by The Times has revealed.
KPMG, the professional services group, was paid £4.4 million between 2012 and 2017 as a financial adviser to the energy and business departments, despite telling officials that it was also acting for China General Nuclear Power
Corp on the project.
The apparent conflict of interest has been revealed after the Information Commissioner's Office intervened to press for
disclosure from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. Previously, officials had redacted the information, claiming that it was commercially sensitive.
In a second potential conflict, Lazard, the financial advisory firm, was paid £2.6 million between 2012 and 2015 to
advise the business department on Hinkley Point. Details of its previously redacted tender documents reveal that it was an adviser to EDF, the French developer that is investing in Hinkley Point alongside the Chinese. A source said that Lazard's advice to EDF was not related to the Somerset project.
Meg Hillier, chairwoman of the Commons public accounts committee, said that Hinkley Point was crucial public infrastructure and therefore it was "vital that auditors get full sight" of the potential conflicts. It "looks cosy", she said, adding that it was "not really appropriate" for firms to be advising both sides.
The details have been released more than a year and half after The Times complained to the Information Commissioner's Office, which informally advised the business department to reconsider its position. The department previously had handed over heavily redacted documents in response to a Freedom of Information request.
The Information Commissioner's Office said that there was a "significant and important public interest", something that had been strengthened by a report from the National Audit Office in June, which found that the government's deal had "locked consumers into a risky and expensive project with uncertain strategic and economic benefits". The project has been riddled with delays and controversy over its spiralling costs.
The National Audit Office also criticised the business department for insufficiently managing the potential conflict of Leigh Fisher, another government adviser. The Times reported in November 2016 that Leigh Fisher, the management consultant, had been awarded contracts worth a combined £1.2 million despite telling officials that the British division of Jacobs Engineering Group, an American firm that owns Leigh Fisher, was working for EDF on Hinkley Point.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/business/advisers-on-hinkley-point-c-nuclear-power-station-had-cosy-ties-to-both-sides-xftxcl9sz
January 3, 2018 Posted by Christina MacPherson | secrets,lies and civil liberties, UK	| Leave a comment
GE and its 2017 annus horribilis.
GE sued for $700M over 401(k) management
https://dailygazette.com/article/2017/09/29/ge-sued-for-700m-over-401-k-management
Shareholder sues GE after 'unacceptable' results hurt stock
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ge-lawsuit/shareholder-sues-ge-after-unacceptable-results-hurt-stock-idUSKBN1D22CK
General Electric plans to lay off 12,000 people from its GE Power business unit as part of a broad effort to cut $3.5 billion in costs by the end of 2018
http://fortune.com/2017/12/07/ge-layoff-power-business/
GE faces $500M federal lawsuit over Fukushima nuclear disaster –
https://www.bizjournals.com/boston/news/2017/11/17/ge-faces-federal-lawsuit-over-fukushima-nuclear.html
January 3, 2018 Posted by arclight2011part2 | Uncategorized	| Leave a comment
The Brexit effect UK and Euratom. Some good nuclear PR
Mark Payne Published: 06:00 Wednesday 03 January 2018
The boss of Hartlepool Power Station says he is confident a replacement to Europe's nuclear regulator will be secured after Brexit.
The UK is currently part of the European Atomic Energy Community, also known as Euratom, which allows the free movement of nuclear workers and materials between European Union member states.
Minister at the Department for Exiting the European Union, Steve Baker (left) with Craig Dohring station director at Hartlepool Power Station, during the minister's visit in September Minister at the Department for Exiting the European Union, Steve Baker with Craig Dohring station director at Hartlepool Power Station, during the minister's visit in September Britain is due to leave Euratom as part of the Brexit process as it comes under the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice which Prime Minister Theresa May has committed to removing the United Kingdom from.
Last May, the Commons Energy Committee urged the UK to delay leaving Europe's nuclear regulator warning power supplies could be threatened if a new regulator was not in place. But Craig Dohring, station manager of Hartlepool's EDF nuclear power station, is more optimistic. He told the Mail:
"It is clear there is a few things we need to have a replacement for including Euratom. "We need something to essentially cover us to a similar level of our Euratom agreement which allows us access into Europe and third part countries to support the power station around some nuclear specific equipment and fuel. "
I'm confident we will get that. There is a positive feeling around the Government trying to cover that.
"I think our role is to help the Government and provide information and advice, and the Government have certainly been open to that."
The power station spoke about the issue with MP Steve Baker, one of four Brexit ministers, when he visited Hartlepool in September then said the Government had "some work to do" and its job was to get new legislation through to ensure the success of nuclear power stations across the country.
Read more at: https://www.hartlepoolmail.co.uk/news/hartlepool-power-station-boss-confident-despite-brexit-nuclear-treaty-withdrawal-1-8936828
For more recent resources on Euratom and Brexit;
https://nuclear-news.net/2017/12/16/british-parliamentarians-worried-that-the-uk-nuclear-industry-will-suffer-as-britain-leaves-euratom-in-brexit-move/
https://nuclear-news.net/2017/12/14/more-on-the-uk-euratom-boondogle-brexit-woes/
https://nuclear-news.net/2017/11/03/britains-brexit-nuclear-headache-leaving-euratom-will-have-to-get-its-own-nuclear-inspectors/
https://nuclear-news.net/2017/10/14/britains-nuclear-industry-in-a-panic-over-brexit-and-departure-from-european-regulator-euratom/
https://nuclear-news.net/2017/08/16/wuth-nuclear-power-fading-in-europe-is-it-time-to-dissolve-euratom/
https://nuclear-news.net/2017/07/28/euratom-uk-is-just-not-ready-to-set-up-its-own-nuclear-safeguarding-arrangements/
https://nuclear-news.net/2017/07/15/uk-governments-issues-paper-on-its-position-regarding-euratom/
Another blow further delays China's nuclear energy programme
CGN Power's latest project delay deals another blow to China's nuclear energy ambition http://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2126529/cgn-powers-latest-project-delay-deals-another-blow-chinas-nuclear, China's largest nuclear reactor and builder delays commissioning of the first unit to later this year, Eric Ng, eric.mpng@scmp.com http://twitter.com/EricNgSCMP– Tuesday, 02 January, 2018, The latest commissioning delay at CGN Power's nuclear project in Taishan, in Guangdong province – the third in two years – will lead to a further deferral of 5 billion yuan (US$770 million) in annual revenues and potentially more cost overruns, according to ratings agency Moody's.
The delay is another setback for China's ambitious development programme, which aims to raise its installed nuclear power capacity to 58 gigawatts by the end of 2020 from 34.73GW last year, and the world's hopes for a successful launch of third-generation nuclear reactors.
They are touted by their designers to be safer and more efficient than second-generation ones, a key selling point after the global nuclear industry was dealt a blow by Japan's Fukushima disaster in 2011.
"The delays reflect our concerns over the high execution risk for CGN in rolling out its aggressive expansion target and its adoption of a new generation of nuclear technology," Ada Li, senior analyst at Moody's, wrote in a note on Tuesday.
"The delays also imply the deferral of cash flows from the two nuclear units and potential additional capital expenditure, which would further pressure CGN's financial metrics."
She estimated the two reactors to initially make 5 billion yuan in annual revenues, amounting to 7 per cent of the firm's 2016 revenues, adding its repeated delays are "credit negative".
CGN said on Friday the first two generating reactors of the plant in Taishan – 136 kilometres west of Hong Kong – has been delayed to 2018 and 2019, from the second half of 2017 and the first half of 2018 respectively.
"As no nuclear power generating unit with the EPR [Evolutionary Power Reactor] technology has been put into commercial operation across the world … Taishan Nuclear has to conduct more experimental verifications in respect of design and equipment," it added.
The firm in early 2015 cited a "comprehensive evaluation" of the construction plan and risks for its first delay. In the second delay early last year, it said it the needed to conduct "more experimental verifications in respect of its design and equipment".
The project was originally expected to come on line in 2015.
Moody's said the latest postponement will not affect its A3 issuer credit rating on CGN, which has already incorporated a six to 12-month delay.
Dennis Ip, head of Hong Kong and China utilities equities research at Daiwa Capital Markets, believes CGN will have difficulty meeting the revised target, saying in a note that he expects the first unit to start up in the first half of 2019.
Ip a year ago projected the Taishan plant's investment cost to rise to between 22 and 23 yuan per watt from his previous forecast of 21 yuan. The company, meanwhile, had budgeted it at 14 yuan. Each unit has 1.75 billion watt of capacity.
January 3, 2018 Posted by Christina MacPherson | business and costs, China, politics	| Leave a comment
Improvement of inter-Korean relations
North and South Korean ties linked to resolving nuclear issue: Moon Jae-in, SBS News 2 Jan 18, South Korean President Moon Jae-in says the improvement of inter-Korean relations is linked to resolving North Korea's nuclear programme, a day after the North offered talks with Seoul but was steadfast on its nuclear ambitions.
"The improvement of relations between North and South Korea cannot go separately with resolving North Korea's nuclear programme, so the foreign ministry should coordinate closely with allies and the international community regarding this," Moon said in opening remarks at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
Moon's comments contrasted with those of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who said on Monday that Seoul should stop asking foreign countries for help in improving ties between the two Koreas.
"This shows the Moon administration is looking at the situation from a very realistic, rational point of view," said Jeong Yeung-tae, head of the Institute of North Korea Studies in Seoul.
"It also shows resolving North Korea's nuclear issue has a bigger priority (than improving inter-Korean relations)."RELATED
'The nuclear button is always on my table': North Korea leader Kim Jong-un's warning
Moon's comments came after a New Year's Day speech by Kim who said he was "open to dialogue" with Seoul, and for North Korean athletes to possibly take part in the Winter Games, but steadfastly declared North Korea a nuclear power.
he South Korean president requested the ministries of unification and sports to swiftly create measures to help North Korea participate in the upcoming Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.
As for talks between the two Koreas, Defence Ministry spokeswoman Choi Hyun-soo says Seoul is awaiting a more detailed reply from Pyongyang to already-existing offers for dialogue made back in July last year by Seoul…..https://www.sbs.com.au/news/north-and-south-korean-ties-linked-to-resolving-nuclear-issue-moon-jae-in
January 3, 2018 Posted by Christina MacPherson | North Korea, politics international, South Korea	| Leave a comment
Stop nuclear power expansion – says Former Chairman of India's Atomic Energy Regulatory Board
World is Abandoning Nuclear Power
with the whole world receding from setting up nuclear plants, by the time this "major powerhouse" is established in 4-6 years, where are the foreign orders for nuclear plant components going to come from? Or, are we planning to use tax-payers' money to continually prop up the ailing big manufacturing industries in India by giving them nuclear power orders, whether we want nuclear power or not?
India Should Halt Further Expansion of its Nuclear Power Program The Citizen, –-A. GOPALAKRISHNAN [Dr A.Gopalakrishnan is former Chairman, Atomic Energy Regulatory Board,Governmentof India. He welcomes discussions and comments from readers. They can contact him at his e-mail: agk37@hotmail.com]13 NOVEMBER, 2017
Nuclear safety is in jeopardy An overall evaluation of the status of the Indian civilian nuclear power sector, and the government's uncertain future plans, do cause a great deal of concern for the welfare of the country and the safety of our people. Therefore, it is best to freeze all plans for the further expansion of this sector until Parliament and the public are provided full details of the government's intentions and rationale and a national consensus is reached.
Background: The Indian civilian nuclear power program is ultimately administered by the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) which reports to the Prime Minister.
The detailed policies, programs, and projects of both the civilian and military aspects of atomic energy are overseen and approved by a supra-powerful body called the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC).
…… Once this group approves a program or gives a decision, no other entity like the Comptroller & Auditor General (CAG), who should be overseeing financial propriety in the Central Government expenditure or the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) which is responsible for project & public safety, will usually dare to question the AEC decision. This top-heavy administration of the nuclear program and the fear that it exudes is at the heart of most of the ailments of the nuclear sector.
Civilian Nuclear Program: In the almost 70 years since the constitution of our AEC in 1948, the total installed capacity of nuclear power in India has reached only 6,780 MWe, comprising 22 nuclear reactors. With a total installed electricity capacity of 315,426 MWe in the country, the nuclear share is thus a minuscule 2.15 % of it.
…….Of the operating reactors, some are very old and partially disabled and others are of dangerously outdated design which DAE is continuing to operate, though recommended by the original supplier to be permanently closed down.
We are still waiting for the very first1000 MWe AP-1000 reactor of Westinghouse and the very first 1650 MWe European Pressurized Reactor (EPR) of Areva to be commissioned anywhere in the world.In the meantime, the Westinghouse Co. has filed for bankruptcy in the US and Areva is in the middle of serious technical &financial difficulties, because of which the company has been sold to the French national electricity utility EDF.However, even before the Indo-US nuclear deal was signed, we had started building two VVER-1000 reactors with Russian collaboration, which have since been commissioned at Kudankulam in South India. The initial performance of the first of these two reactors is still not satisfactory, and the BJP had then agreed that apprehensions of the local population about the plant were genuine and the Centre should address the public's issues. Notwithstandingthis, thegovernment had entered into an agreement to purchase four (4) more VVER reactors to be set up in the same site at Kudankulam…..
…….As part of the Indo-US nuclear Deal, India agreed in writing to purchase about 10,000 MWe of US power reactors and a similar package of French reactors, in return for the support of US & France at the Nuclear Suppliers' Group (NSG). The NSG ultimately permitted India to retain part of its military nuclear facilities outside of IAEA safeguards, while being allowed to place the rest under safeguards and regular international inspection
……..Preliminary agreements were discussed with Westinghouse Corporation and the General Electric Co. of the US, as well as with Areva of France as early as in 2009-2010, for purchasing their large light-water reactors (LWRs) which were then under development.
We are still waiting for the very first1000 MWe AP-1000 reactor of Westinghouse and the very first 1650 MWe European Pressurized Reactor (EPR) of Areva to be commissioned anywhere in the world.In the meantime, the Westinghouse Co. has filed for bankruptcy in the US and Areva is in the middle of serious technical &financial difficulties, because of which the company has been sold to the French national electricity utility EDF.
However, even before the Indo-US nuclear deal was signed, we had started building two VVER-1000 reactors with Russian collaboration, which have since been commissioned at Kudankulam in South India. The initial performance of the first of these two reactors is still not satisfactory, and the BJP had then agreed that apprehensions of the local population about the plant were genuine and the Centre should address the public's issues. Notwithstandingthis, thegovernment had entered into an agreement to purchase four (4) more VVER reactors to be set up in the same site at Kudankulam…..
…..Post-Fukushima accident, such realities gave a spurt to shunning nuclear power generation and motivated several countries to seriously consider setting up renewable electricity systems in their countries. At last year's UN Climate Change Conference in Paris, Indian PM Modi also pledged that by 2022, India would set up 175 GW of renewable electric systems – 100 GW Solar, 60 MW Wind, 10 GW from Biomass and 5 GW from Small Hydro.
It should be noted that the delivered unit costs of electricity from solar, wind and other modes of renewable power generation have been falling rapidly in recent years and the PM's decision could be timely for India. In India, as on March 31, 2017, the total installed solar electric power is 12,288 MW and the total installed wind power capacity is 32,280 MW. As of today, we seem to be on track to achieve PM Modi's challenging target of 175 GW renewable powers by 2022. [Note that these MW numbers have to be associated with respective system load factors of — roughly 16-19% for solar, 20-23 % for on-shore wind and 30-41 % for off-shore wind, to obtain real-term busbar electricity one gets].
World is Abandoning Nuclear Power: Some of the countries, presently relying partly on nuclear power, are in the process of lowering or shedding the nuclear power component from their current portfolios.In France, for example, a law enacted in 2015 requires that the country should reduce nuclear power generation from the current figure of 75 % to 50% of the aggregate by 2025. This will mean shutting down 17 of the 58 nuclear reactors which their major utility EDF is presently operating.
It is, however, not finally confirmed that France will adhere to the 2025 deadline.Taiwan, on the other hand, is definite that all nuclear power in that country will be phased out by 2025. Japan has 54 nuclear reactors of which only 4 are operational now after the Fukushima accident. In view of the serious opposition by local governments and the nearby population, and in view of the tightened safety regulations, not more than 8 more reactors are likely to be re-started. In Russia, Rosatom's Deputy General Director said in June 2017, that the world market for new nuclear plants is shrinking and possibilities for building new large reactors abroad are almost exhausted.
As against the above world trend, India appears to be blindly proceeding in the opposite direction. On May 17 2017, India's Union Cabinet approved the construction of 10 more 700 MWe PHWRs, in addition to four of the same kind which are presently approved for construction. The government press release says, "…With likely manufacturing orders of close to Rs. 70,000 crores to the domestic industry…it will be a major step toward strengthening India's credentials as a major nuclear manufacturing powerhouse".
But, with the whole world receding from setting up nuclear plants, by the time this "major powerhouse" is established in 4-6 years, where are the foreign orders for nuclear plant components going to come from? Or, are we planning to use tax-payers' money to continually prop up the ailing big manufacturing industries in India by giving them nuclear power orders, whether we want nuclear power or not?
Won't Dump Westinghouse and Areva Reactors? The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL), DAE and the government appear to be still entertaining periodic proposals and discussions regarding the purchase of the AP-1000 and the EPR reactors. No reactor of either kind has been started anywhere in the world. Today, China is regretting their foray into setting up two French EPRs and four AP-1000 reactors.
………Similarly, a senior representative told NPCIL and DAE that Westinghouse's plans to set up six AP-1000 reactors in India are contingent on a change in the Nuclear Liability Law. He also said that Westinghouse will no longer take up the risk of building new nuclear plants and instead specialise in supplying parts and reactor engineering. Dr. Sekhar Basu, Secretary DAE, said last month that the Kovaada project in Andhra can still go ahead with Westinghouse supplying the reactor design and a different company taking up the construction. Everyone in the Indian nuclear establishment brims with confidence that India is capable of executing the detailed engineering, construction and commissioning of the complicated AP-1000 reactors in India without any assistance from abroad!……..
The state of nuclear reactor safety in India today is suboptimal to say the least. The agency which should be overseeing nuclear safety in India, the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB), has no standing as an independent entity, no direct access to the AEC or to any of the Parliamentary committees. The Chairman of the AERB reports to the AEC Chairman, whose instructions finally dictate the AERB's actions. In contrast, the French nuclear regulatory body (the ASN) is created under a separate Act of the French Parliament and is answerable only to their Parliament. http://www.thecitizen.in/index.php/en/NewsDetail/index/2/12239/India-Should-Halt-Further-Expansion-of-its-Nuclear-Power-Program
January 3, 2018 Posted by Christina MacPherson | India, opposition to nuclear	| Leave a comment
It makes no sense to scrap the Iran nuclear pact: better to improve it
Moderation on Iran: Better to improve than scrap nuclear pact http://www.post-gazette.com/opinion/editorials/2018/01/02/Moderation-on-Iran-Better-to-improve-than-scrap-nuclear-pact/stories/201712300018 THE EDITORIAL BOARD, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette It shouldn't seem necessary to make an argument to the American people that the United States should not go to war with a nation of 80 million, located far from our shores, with which America once had a fruitful commercial and political relationship and with which, like other parts of the world, it has entered into a nuclear weapons control agreement.
But here we are, and it is useful to suggest that it would be unwise for America to go to war with Iran, whose regime in recent days has been beset by popular political demonstrations.
The Trump administration has criticized the Iran nuclear agreement repeatedly and could scrap it. However, as far as the agreement having shortcomings, wouldn't it make more sense to take the agreement — signed not only by Iran and the United States, but also by China, France, Germany, Russia and the United Kingdom — as the basis for negotiating changes, as opposed to threatening to pull out of it and, perhaps, to attack Iran?
The first problem with the current U.S. posture is that the other signatories like the agreement. China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom and the rest of the world have taken it as a green light to improve trade, including major sales, to Iran. America-based companies have considered the continued U.S. sanctions against Iran, and, particularly the continued political objections to it in the United States, including from Israel and American Christian fundamentalists, as a reason not to put the pedal to the metal in terms of pursuing trade and investment opportunities in Iran.
The second major problem in any thought that the United States might attack Iran militarily is that the results would be catastrophic. Of course, the United States would probably win an all-out war against Iran in the long haul — that is, assuming the American people would be prepared to support such a war. That's a real question, because it would be hard to persuade them that there was any reason for such a war, and it would cost the Earth.
In the short run, a quick glance at the map is worth the trouble in assessing U.S. vulnerabilities in such a conflict. Iran lies just across the Persian Gulf from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Oman, in all of which the U.S. has important military installations, including the headquarters of the U.S. 5th Fleet and the regional headquarters of the U.S. Central Command, a short rocket distance away. Iran also borders on Afghanistan and Iraq, where the U.S. maintains a vulnerable presence as well as long-term investment.
It would be dreamy to imagine that Iran's first response to a U.S. attack wouldn't be retaliation against some or all of these key U.S. targets surrounding it. The usual arguments for improving relations with Iran, not worsening them, are otherwise foregone commercial opportunities, the concerns of some of our allies, and regional and world peace in general. Given that President Donald J. Trump's principal national security affairs advisers are current or retired military officers, it is also worth looking at the military aspects of U.S. relations with Iran with a cold eye, then determining future U.S. policy, in 2018 and beyond.
January 3, 2018 Posted by Christina MacPherson | Iran, politics international, USA	| Leave a comment
Pakistan and India exchange information on their nuclear installations and facilities.
Uneasy neighbors share information on nuclear facilities, http://www.mywabashvalley.com/news/uneasy-neighbors-share-information-on-nuclear-facilities/896851253, 2 Jan 18, ISLAMABAD (AP) — Uneasy neighbors Pakistan and India, who regularly trade gunfire in the disputed Kashmir region, are sticking to a 20-year-old agreement to exchange information on their nuclear installations and facilities.
In a statement Tuesday, Pakistan's foreign ministry said the 1988 agreement requires each country to hand over the list on Jan. 1 each year, which the representatives of the two countries did on Monday. It has been adhered to every year since 1992, the statement said.
Although neither country is signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), they both became declared nuclear powers after India conducted an underground nuclear weapons test in 1998 and Pakistan followed suit a few weeks later.
Pakistan and India have fought three wars since the 1947 creation of Pakistan from a larger India.
January 3, 2018 Posted by Christina MacPherson | India, Pakistan, politics international	| Leave a comment
Anxiety over safety of Holtec canisters in San Onofre's stranded nuclear wastes
The dry-storage plan OK'ed by the Coastal Commission is the Holtec system: cheaper canisters with 1/2 to 5/8-inch thick stainless steel walls, wildly short of the 10 to 20-inch thick-walled ones used in other countries.
At the controversy's core is the susceptibility of Holtec canisters to cracking, which could leak radiation into the environment.
Holtec canisters have no seismic rating, are not proven safe for transport, and there is no means to even inspect them for cracks or for existing cracks to be repaired in a safe manner. A crack can't even be detected until after a radiation leak has occurred.
A highly disturbing report from Sandia National Laboratories states that a crack in a hot canister can penetrate the wall in under 5 years.
Mosko: Ticking Time Bomb at San Onofre Nuclear Plant, https://voiceofoc.org/2018/01/mosko-ticking-time-bomb-at-san-onofre-nuclear-plant/ By SARAH "STEVE" MOSKO The seaside nuclear reactors at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station in San Clemente were permanently shut down in 2013 following steam generator malfunction. What to do with the 3.6 million pounds of highly radioactive waste remains an epic problem, however, pitting concerned citizens against Southern California Edison, the California Coastal Commission and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). Edison operates San Onofre, the Coastal Commission is charged with protecting the coastline, and the NRC is responsible for long-term storage of spent nuclear fuel and protecting the public.The Problem
A reactor's spent nuclear fuel must be stored safely for 250,000 years to allow the radioactivity to dissipate. San Onofre's nuclear waste has been stored in containers 20 feet under water in cooling pools for at least five years, the standard procedure for on-site temporary storage. Long-term storage necessitates transfer to fortified dry-storage canisters for eventual transportation to a permanent national storage site which, under the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, the federal government is under obligation to construct.
However, the plan to build an underground repository at Yucca Mountain in the Nevadan desert was ditched in 2011 out of concern that deep groundwater could destabilize the canisters, leaving the United States with literally no plan on the horizon for permanent storage of nuclear waste from San Onofre or any other of the country's nuclear power plants. In fact, under the NRC's newest plan – the so-called Generic Environmental Impact Statement – nuclear power plant waste might be stored on-site forever.
Given this, informed southern Californians are up in arms about the 2015 permit by the Coastal Commission allowing Edison to build a dry-storage bunker right at San Onofre – near major metropolitan areas and within a few hundred feet of both the I-5 Freeway and the shoreline in a known earthquake zone – using thin-wall canisters never proven safe for storage or transport (Coastal Development Permit No. 9-15-0228). Most other countries, including Germany, France, Japan, Russia and Australia, utilize thick-wall canisters with time proven safety technology.
The Current Plan
The dry-storage plan OK'ed by the Coastal Commission is the Holtec system: cheaper canisters with 1/2 to 5/8-inch thick stainless steel walls, wildly short of the 10 to 20-inch thick-walled ones used in other countries. Each of 72 remaining canisters slated to be converted from wet to dry storage will contain about 50,000 pounds of nuclear waste and as much radiation as was released from Chernobyl.
At the controversy's core is the susceptibility of Holtec canisters to cracking, which could leak radiation into the environment, both land and sea. Seawater seepage into canisters can produce explosive substances.
The Coastal Commission acknowledges these issues but is allowing Edison 20 years to hopefully come up with a solution.
In the meanwhile, loading into dry-canisters already began in December, 2017 and is scheduled to be completed by 2019. Furthermore, Edison plans to empty the cooling pools once the dry transfer is completed, eliminating the only approved method to replace a defective canister.
A highly disturbing report from Sandia National Laboratories states that a crack in a hot canister can penetrate the wall in under 5 years. Notwithstanding, Holtec's 25-year warranty of their canisters is an absurdity given that nuclear waste radiation takes thousands of years to reach safe levels.
There is also no community evacuation plan in place in the event of radiation leakage at San Onofre. The fear is that failure of even one canister could leave Orange and San Diego counties an uninhabitable wasteland for eons, with exposed humans suffering permanent genetic damage. And, home and business insurance doesn't cover losses due to radiation contamination.
The very real specter of radiation havoc from a terrorist bomb attack launched from an offshore boat or a truck on the I-5 Freeway looms as well.
In the minds of many, the reckless plan allowed by the NRC and endorsed by the Coastal Commission and Edison creates imminent risk of a "Fukushima" in South Orange County.
A lawsuit filed by the San Diego watchdog organization Citizens Oversight in 2015 asserted that the Coastal Commission failed to adequately consider both the special risks of on-site storage in an earthquake zone next to the ocean and the shortcomings of the Holtec system. In a court settlementjust reached on Aug. 25, 2017, Edison agreed to hire a team of experts in hopes of locating an alternative temporary storage site. Edison also agreed to develop a plan for dealing with cracked canisters, though there is no assurance that such a plan is feasible for Holtec canisters.
Though the settlement plan appears a first step toward a saner solution to San Onofre's nuclear waste problem, the obligations in the plan are far too vague to assuage the concerns of local residents. Their main points are threefold: There are other safer temporary storage sites inland that can be considered; maintaining the cooling pools is imperative until all nuclear waste has been moved off-site; and Holtec canisters should be abandoned in favor of thick-wall options that already have a 40-year track record of safety during both transport and storage in countries across the globe.
Case in point, the thick-wall canisters in place at Fukushima survived both the earthquake and the tsunami.
Take action to protect yourself and your family by signing on to a petition from PublicWatchdogs.orgto revoke the Coastal Commission's permit to turn San Onofre into a nuclear waste dump.
Sarah "Steve" Mosko is a long-time resident of Orange County and writer focused on the science behind environmental issues and solutions.
January 3, 2018 Posted by Christina MacPherson | safety, USA, wastes	| Leave a comment
New Jersey's flawed legislation – a gift to the nuclear lobby, and its fan Governor Christie
Will NJ Lawmakers Give Governor Christie a Nuclear Goodbye Gift? NRDC, January 02, 2018 Dale Bryk The state's electric customers may be forced to pay a bigger utility bill to keep something they already have. The New Jersey legislature is expected to begin voting this week to give Chris Christie—the governor with the nation's lowest approval rating—and his buddies at the state's largest utility a $300 million annual gift: support for two thriving nuclear plants, piled on the backs of all New Jersey taxpayers.
Sound ridiculous? Of course. But by all accounts, the bill flying through Trenton in the waning days of the Christie administration and the lame-duck legislature almost certainly will become law before the new governor, Phil Murphy, takes office on January 16.
Does this make sense anywhere but in the New Jersey legislature?
It's true that the electricity produced at the Salem and Hope Creek Nuclear Generating Stations in Salem County can't compete with cheaper options like natural gas and pollution-free alternatives like wind and solar power. Aging nuclear plants are expensive to run everywhere these days. But even the president of the company that owns the plants, PSEG, admits the plants along the Delaware River in the southwestern part of the state aren't in financial distress—and won't be for at least two years.
That gives New Jersey plenty of time to decide whether to prop up the plants, and if so, to narrowly tailor such support to a limited time period. The flawed legislation under consideration establishes subsidies for at least three years, with no mechanism to prevent them from continuing forever. What's more, the plants would qualify for a bailout based on projected—not actual—costs, and if they make money, there's no requirement to return the profits to customers. There is no need to rush an overly generous bill through to earn Christie's signature, especially when the incoming governor says he's going to look closely at the plants as part of his clean energy plan……https://www.nrdc.org/experts/dale-bryk/will-nj-lawmakers-give-governor-christie-nuclear-goodbye-gift
January 3, 2018 Posted by Christina MacPherson | general	| Leave a comment
Radioactive debris at Fukushima – a huge challenge to Japanese govt and TEPCO
Challenges ahead for debris removal at Fukushima https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20180102_05/ This year will mark the 7th anniversary of the nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi plant that occurred in March, 2011. The plant's operator is hoping to eventually remove fuel debris from the damaged reactors.
Fuel debris is a mixture of melted nuclear fuel and broken reactor parts. Removing the debris is considered to be the biggest hurdle to the decommissioning of the reactors.
Last year, Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO, investigated the inside of the containment vessels of 3 reactors and confirmed, for the first time, the existence of lumps that are believed to be fuel debris in the No.3 reactor.
TEPCO plans to conduct a fresh probe of the No.2 reactor this month to confirm whether a mass on the floor under the reactor, observed last year, is actually fuel debris.
The government and TEPCO aim to begin removing debris in 2021. They are planning to determine which reactor to start with, and how to conduct the procedure, during fiscal 2019.
Workers will try this year to figure out which details need to be considered in order to make the decision.
Removing the debris requires thorough safety measures. For example, radioactive materials must be prevented from spreading and workers must be protected from exposure to radiation.
This autumn, the operator also plans to start removing spent nuclear fuel rods from the storage pool of the No.3 reactor building.
January 3, 2018 Posted by Christina MacPherson | Fukushima continuing	| Leave a comment
United Nations: demasking the Torture of Julian Assange. Rico Brouwer and Nils Melzer
Three Mile Island (& Fukushima) Lies & Cover-Ups w/ Gundersen & Wasserman
Energy efficiency – theme for July 2019
Energy efficiency represents the single largest potential contributor to global emissions reduction, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA 2017). It should be a key part of the global energy strategy, for several reasons:
It could reduce global electric demand by more than 20 per cent, based on current rates in the U.S. power sector, while maintaining high levels of services such as heating and lighting.
It avoids the need for increased energy, capacity and grid services, making it the least expensive way to decarbonise at scale.
It can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by billions of tonnes.
A dramatic example of the power of energy efficiency is lighting. In 2017 the United States passed the milestone of 1 billion LED and CFL lights installed, avoiding 142 million tonnes a year of carbon dioxide emissions, at a cost of about $7 per ton of avoided carbon dioxide. In contrast, the cumulative installed capacity of rooftop solar reached 8,000 MW in 2017, saving 8 million tonnes a year of carbon dioxide, at a cost of $360 per ton. Lighting efficiency thus yielded almost 18 times the avoided carbon dioxide, at about 2 per cent the cost per ton of rooftop solar.
Google provides another example of the power of energy efficiency. Its data centers now use 50 per cent less energy than the average data center, according to the company. Google also developed an improved chip, the TPU, which performs 83 times better than standard CPUs. The new chip allowed Google to reduce power consumption at its data centers by a factor of 30—far exceeding the effect on Google's carbon footprint of all of the company's renewable energy purchases. " – John Woolard, Eco Business, 10 June 2019
Arclight's Vision
1 NUCLEAR ISSUES
business and costs
psychology – mental health
social effects
deaths by radiation
marketing of nuclear
opposition to nuclear
psychology and culture
Trump – personality
USA elections 2016
politics international
secrets,lies and civil liberties
spinbuster
reprocessing
Small Modular Nuclear Reactors
– plutonium
decommission reactor
weapons and war
2 WORLD
– Fukushima 2011
Fukushima 2012
Fukushima continuing
election USA 2020
Christina's notes
Christina's themes
Humour (God we need it)
RARE EARTHS
resources – print
Resources -audiovicual
World Nuclear
audio-visual news
Anti Nuclear, Clean Energy Movement
Anti Nuclear movement – a success story
– 2013 – the struggle for a nuclear-free, liveable world
– 2013: the battle to expose nuclear lies about ionising radiation
Speakers at Fukushima Symposium March 2013
Symposium 2013 Ian Fairlie
– Civil liberties – China and USA
– Marketing nuclear power
– Marketing Nuclear Power Internationally
nuclear 'renaissance'?
Nuclear energy – the sick man of the corporate world
– Solar energy
– Nuclear Power and the Tragedy of the Commons
Birth Defects in the Chernobyl Radiation Affected Region
Nuclear History – the forgotten disasters
Ionising radiation
– Ionising radiation – medical
Fukushima FACT SHEET
Nuclear Power and Media 2012
Nuclear Power and the Consumer Society – theme for December 2012
Peace and nuclear disarmament
Peace on a Nuclear Free Earth
– Politics USA
-Ethics of nuclear power
– NUCLEAR LIES – theme for January 2012
– Nuclear Secrets and Lies
2013 nuclear spin – all about FEAR -theme for June
Spinbuster 1
TECHNOLOGY Challenges
NUCLEAR WASTES – theme for October 2012
Antinuclear
Beyond nuclear
Exposing the truth about thorium nuclear propaganda
Mining Awareness Plus
Nuclear Information and Resource Service
NUCLEAR NFORMATION


color especially on the wing -- all characteristics of the tundra subpsecies.
get a good look at their belly and there was a very good amount of black.
breast), but maybe they are intermediate between the two races.
and lots of the usual shorebirds found in the winter.


text:
Marco Guidarini
Born in Genoa (Italy), Marco Guidarini studied cello at his hometown's conservatory, which he then perfected with André Navarra in Vienna. Here, he started to learn orchestra conduction at the Hochschule für Musik with Mario Gusella, and also took orchestra conducting master classes with Franco Ferrara. He became assistant to Sir John Elliot Gardiner at the Lyon Opera making his operatic debut there with Falstaff and Le Comte Ory. Since then he has conducted at many prestigious opera houses in New York (Metropolitan Opera and New York City Opera), Los Angeles, Dallas, Minneapolis, Toronto, Vancouver, Sydney, Santiago de Chile, Milan (La Scala), Nice, Marseille, Montpellier, Barcelona, Seville, Bologna, Naples, Berlin (Deutsche Oper), Munich (Bavarian State Opera), Dresden, Leipzig, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Oslo, Rome, Cardiff (Welsh National Opera), Glasgow (Scottish Opera), London (English National Opera) and others and at many festivals. In the concert hall, he has conducted the Orchestre National de France, Melbourne Symphony, SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Japan Virtuoso Symphony Orchestra, Leipzig Gewandhaus, among others. Between 2001 and 2009 Marco Guidarini was chief conductor of the Opera and Orchestre Philharmonique de Nice. In February 2002, he debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in New York (Rigoletto), in October 2009, he made his debut at the Milan's Teatro alla Scala (Le convenienze e inconvenienze teatrali), and in the autumn of 2010, he debuted at the Teatro Colón, Buenos Aires (Falstaff). Between 2009 and 2012 he was artistic director of the Rencontres Musicales de Puteaux, a festival around Vincenzo Bellini who died in that town just outside Paris in 1835. His recordings with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Nice include the complete Piano Concertos of John Field (Brilliant Classics label) and symphonic works of French composers (Massenet, Charpentier, Massenet, Lalo; Talent label). His operas CD recordings have included Alfano's Cyrano de Bergerac with Roberto Alagna (Deutsche Grammophon), Donizzeti's Lucrezia Borgia (Bongiovanni), Massenet's Roma (Dynamic), Mozart's Idomeneo (Naxos), Puiccini's Le Villi (Radio France), Verdi's Macbeth (version 1843) and Le Trouvère (French version, both Dynamic), Verdi's Simon Boccanegra (Trust Records) and others. His opera DVD recordings have included, among others, Alfano's Cyrano de Bergerac with Roberto Alagna (Deutsche Grammophon), Cherubini's Médée (Pan Dreams), Donizetti's Le convenienze e inconvenienze teatrali (Bel Air), and Mozart's Idomeneo (Dynamic). In January 2014 he made his debut at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow conducting Turandot, and he returns there in July 2014 (againTurandot). His numerous distinctions include the title of Cavaliere della Repubblica italiana for cultural achievements (2006) and Knight of the order of the Arts and Letters (2008) from the French Government.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Most often users come with infected PC's with no (or outdated AV-software) to computer repair stores. The used methodology considers this situation: an already infected system that needs to be cleaned.
The test was performed in autumn 2011 under Microsoft Windows XP Professional SP3.
This test focuses only on the malware removal/cleaning capabilities, therefore all selected/used samples were samples that the tested Anti-Virus products were able to detect. It has nothing to do with detection rates or protection capabilities. Of course, if an Anti-Virus is not able to detect the malware, it is also not able to remove it. The main question was if the products are able to successfully remove malware from an already infected/compromised system. The test report is aimed to normal/typical home users and not Administrators or advanced users that may have the knowledge for advanced/manual malware removal/repair procedures.
The sample must have been prevalent (according to metadata on exact hashes) in the order of at least thousands (and at least hundreds of thousands for their malware family / behavior they represent) of instances AND seen in the field on at least two PC's of our local customers in 2011.
The malware must be non-destructive (in other words, it should be possible for an Anti-Virus product to "repair/clean" the system without the need of replacing windows system files etc.) and show common malware behaviors (in order to represent also behaviors observed by many other malware samples). Due to that, the selected malware is representative of a very large amount of other samples which show similar behavior and system changes.
To avoid providing information to malware authors who could be potentially useful for them to improve their creations, this public report contains only general information about the malware/leftovers, without any technical instructions/details.
Sophos is a corporate product. Due to that, it may not restore e.g. some registry entries by design, as in a managed environment, some of these settings may be enforced centrally by system administrators. In case of home user products, such settings should be fixed as part of the malware removal process (or at least the possibility to fix them should be given in the products).


text:
La cicasina es una fitotoxina encontrada en las familias Cycadaceae (por ejemplo Cycas revoluta) y Zamiaceae  (por ejemplo Zamia pumila). Ambas plantas se utilizan para obtener Sagú (fécula).

Es hepatotóxica y produce gravísimas intoxicaciones nerviosas al ganado que mordisquea los frutos o las hojas. Las semillas de Cycas revoluta contienen el mayor nivel de esta toxina.

La enzima metil-ONN-azoximetanol beta-D-glucosiltransferasa utiliza como sustratos la UDP-glucosa y el metil-ONN-azoximetanol para producir difosfato de uridina y cicasina.

La mariposa Eumaeus atala, en estado larvario, se alimenta de Zamia pumila, y por lo tanto contiene al compuesto.

Referencias

Alcaloides

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
package com.outbrain.aletheia.datum.serialization.avro;

import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonProperty;
import com.outbrain.aletheia.datum.serialization.DatumSerDe;
import com.outbrain.aletheia.datum.serialization.DatumTypeVersion;
import com.outbrain.aletheia.datum.serialization.SerializedDatum;
import com.outbrain.aletheia.datum.serialization.avro.schema.DatumSchemaRepository;
import org.apache.avro.Schema;
import org.apache.avro.io.*;
import org.apache.avro.specific.SpecificDatumReader;
import org.apache.avro.specific.SpecificDatumWriter;
import org.apache.avro.specific.SpecificRecord;
import org.apache.avro.util.ByteBufferInputStream;

import java.io.ByteArrayOutputStream;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.io.InputStream;
import java.nio.ByteBuffer;
import java.util.Collections;

/**
 * A default implementation for an Avro based datum serialization.
 *
 * @param <TDomainClass> The type of the datum to be serialized.
 */
public class AvroDatumSerDe<TDomainClass> implements DatumSerDe<TDomainClass> {

  private DatumSchemaRepository datumSchemaRepository;
  private String datumTypeId;
  protected final AvroRoundTripProjector<TDomainClass> avroRoundTripProjector;

  public AvroDatumSerDe(@JsonProperty("datum.type.id") final String datumTypeId,
                        @JsonProperty("projector") final AvroRoundTripProjector<TDomainClass> avroRoundTripProjector,
                        @JsonProperty("schema.repository") final DatumSchemaRepository datumSchemaRepository) {
    this.datumTypeId = datumTypeId;
    this.avroRoundTripProjector = avroRoundTripProjector;
    this.datumSchemaRepository = datumSchemaRepository;
  }

  public SerializedDatum serializeDatum(final TDomainClass domainObject) {

    try {
      final SpecificRecord record = avroRoundTripProjector.toAvro(domainObject);
      final Schema schema = record.getSchema();
      final SpecificDatumWriter bodyWriter = new SpecificDatumWriter(schema);

      final ByteArrayOutputStream bodyByteStream = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
      final BinaryEncoder binaryEncoder = EncoderFactory.get().directBinaryEncoder(bodyByteStream, null);

      bodyWriter.write(record, binaryEncoder);
      binaryEncoder.flush();
      bodyByteStream.flush();

      final ByteBuffer datumBody = ByteBuffer.wrap(bodyByteStream.toByteArray());

      bodyByteStream.close();

      final int datumSchemaVersion = datumSchemaRepository.getDatumTypeVersion(schema).getVersion();

      return new SerializedDatum(datumBody, new DatumTypeVersion(datumTypeId, datumSchemaVersion));

    } catch (final Exception e) {
      throw new RuntimeException("Could not create datum body", e);
    }
  }

  public TDomainClass deserializeDatum(final SerializedDatum serializedDatum) {

    try {

      final DatumTypeVersion datumTypeVersion = serializedDatum.getDatumTypeVersion();

      final Schema datumWriterSchema = datumSchemaRepository.getSchema(datumTypeVersion);

      final Schema datumReaderSchema = datumSchemaRepository.getLatestSchema(datumTypeVersion.getDatumTypeId());

      final DatumReader<? extends SpecificRecord> datumReader = new SpecificDatumReader<>(datumWriterSchema,
                                                                                datumReaderSchema);
      final InputStream byteBufferInputStream =
              new ByteBufferInputStream(Collections.singletonList(serializedDatum.getPayload()));

      final BinaryDecoder decoder = DecoderFactory.get().directBinaryDecoder(byteBufferInputStream, null);

      final SpecificRecord record = datumReader.read(null, decoder);
      byteBufferInputStream.close();
      return avroRoundTripProjector.fromAvro(record);
    } catch (final IOException e) {
      throw new RuntimeException("Could not deserialize versioned payload to domain object", e);
    }
  }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


A popular question that gets asked is "should I drink Limu?" The answer is really simple in that it depends on what you're looking for. The following are some of the reasons that people drink Limu. You just might find that one or several of these reasons work for you too!
You may have seen pictures of this bottle all over the place. It is probably the most popular product sold by The Limu Company. Limu Original is usually mixed in with water and taken periodically by people who are interested in preserving their health or even enhancing it. It is rich in something called "fucoidan" which has been speculated to have many amazing benefits. Without getting into too much technical stuff, fucoidan is something you get from seaweed and it is sought out by people all around the world because of the supposed health benefits that it might have.
In addition to health, Limu Original has a really great taste! You'll probably notice the organic papaya or even the mango taste. It's really amazing! It's made with natural flavors and it's vegan, kosher and gluten free too. These are just some of the great benefits of Limu original. You can check out the products page for more info!
As the name implies, Limu Lean is a product that people from all over are taking to lose weight. At the time that this is being written, it is the only weight loss and meal replacement system that also has fucoidan. It's endorsed by Olympic gold medalist, Rowdy Gaines too!
Unfortunately there isn't a huge variety of flavors available for Limu Lean at this time. But if you're interested in losing weight, this might be a good product for you to try out. The entire package is extremely convenient in that you can also have Limu Burn which is sort of like a "shake on the go". It's packaged and ready for you to consume right away in case you happen to be in a rush.
So if you're overweight and asking yourself "should I drink limu?" the answer is might just be yes. Just make sure to take a look at the product for yourself and make that decision on your own.
Are you already drinking energy drinks? Monster and Red Bull are terrible for you! Even the stuff from Starbucks is pretty bad. However Blu Frog is an energy drink that is made with some Limu Original. In my opinion it's way better than anything else you can get on the market. It always leaves me feeling great after I drink it and I don't crash after having one.
I would have to say that Blu Frog is probably my favorite limu product. It's also gluten free and vegan! Check out the Blu Frog page for more info on the benefits, reviews and ingredients.
In the end you're just going to have to come up with your own conclusion based on the facts, reviews and information that you've acquired through our site and the many websites out there. I drink limu because it makes me feel great, it's clean, it tastes awesome, and it seems to be so much better than any other products available.
If you're still not sure about limu and you need more information, you can find out what limu is here. This is an article written to help people who are unfamiliar with limu get a basic understanding.
Thanks for checking in to our blog and be sure to share!
http://www.limujuice.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/logo_flat_portfolio.png 300 300 admin http://www.limujuice.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/logo_flat_portfolio.png admin2016-08-13 05:27:372016-08-13 05:27:37Why Drink Limu?
Everywhere you look, some new "health company" is spending big on advertising in an attempt to cash in on the world's most profitable industry.
It might be an exercise program, dieting plan, or a miracle supplement. It's almost as if the industry wants us to believe the nutritional community is making a groundbreaking discovery every month or two. All too often, these are the same diet trends and programs that are being rebranded in more up-to-date packages.
Worse yet, some of these trendy new diets have no basis in science and can be potentially harmful. Afterall, most of these products are sold as "revolutionary".
So if you're wondering if Limu juice is another one of these, I don't blame you.
However, I'm here to tell you that Limu juice and limu moui are NOT some new dieting trend.
In fact, Limu has been a staple in the diets of Polynesian natives throughout the islands for hundreds of years.
To these peoples, the word limu has several related meanings, spanning from moss and lichen to seaweed and algae. Various polynesian groups have incorporated limu into their diets generation after generation, providing them with a rich profile of nutrients.
Specifically, Tongan Limu Moui is a type of brown seaweed that is found around the shores of the Tonga Islands. It is extremely nutritious and is used as a dietary supplement with various benefits.
Limu Moui is a superfood with a ton of nutritional benefits. Limu Juice is a fruit drink containing limu moui extract.
Today, you can find limu supplements, limu facial creams, and other limu-based products. Not surprisingly, the undisputed leader in the limu product industry is called The Limu Company. Their Limu Original Juice is easily the most recognizable limu superfood product in the world today.
Still, there are concrete questions that still need to be answered.
What is Limu Juice Made Of?
Limu Juice is not simply pressed seaweed; it's much more than that.
It contains a compound of particular interest called fucoidan.
The fucoidan is concentrated using The Limu Company's proprietary extraction process. It has been shown to provide some amazing benefits when consumed on a regular basis. It is what separates limu from regular seaweed and comparable plants and algae.
The Limu Company blends this fucoidan extract with real mango, apple, pear, and papaya to provide an extra pop of antioxidants as well as a great taste.
What Does Limu Juice Do?
Fucoidan is a compound that is found exclusively in brown seaweed and brown algae, in species such as kombu, wakame, mozuku, hijiki, and bladderwrack, to name a few. It is classified as a sulfated polysaccharide which provides a number of benefits for the body.
Limu and other marine vegetables containing sulfated polysaccharides have been used in herbal Chinese medicine for thousands of years. But over the last ten, increased scholarly interest has resulted in several different studies revealing promising benefits.
Although the research has been very promising, it's unlikely the FDA would ever allow limu supplement companies to make medical claims.
The FDA draws a real line between nutritional products and medical products, so the The Limu Company's hands are somewhat tied when it comes to what benefits they can claim. Although the major benefits of fucoidan are well-known in the medical community, there is only so much nutrition-focused companies can say about their products.
You'll notice a major difference between what the studies say and what limu supplement companies are allowed to say about their products. As great as "increased sleep" is, "antitumor" is a lot more compelling.
I have joined the thousands of people that are experiencing the benefits that Limu Juice is able to provide. After drinking Limu Juice regularly for the past few months, I can tell you first hand that the claims that you read online about this drink are real.
I have never felt better before in my life. After the first month of trying it, I lost 4 pounds, my pants are too big for me, and I have more energy now than ever before. If you are looking for a diet that actually works, I could not recommend Limu Juice highly enough.
http://www.limujuice.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/logo_flat_portfolio.png 300 300 admin http://www.limujuice.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/logo_flat_portfolio.png admin2016-07-22 04:50:552016-07-22 04:50:55What is Limu Juice?
http://www.limujuice.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/logo_flat_portfolio.png 300 300 admin http://www.limujuice.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/logo_flat_portfolio.png admin2016-07-12 04:24:552016-07-12 04:24:55Does Limu Juice Work?


RAJKOT: Three persons of the same family were killed when the car they were travelling in turned turtle in Kukavav of Amreli district on Sunday night. The deceased were identified as Bharti Jotania (29), her mother-in-law Geeta (52) and her five-month-old nephew Het.
According to police, the Jotania family, which lives in Sitaram Society on Kotharia Road in Rajkot, had gone to Chalala village of Amreli taluka to participate in a religious ritual. They were returning home on Sunday. "The car was being driven by Sanjay Jotania, husband of Bharti. The real cause of the accident is yet to be known as Sanjay is not in condition to speak," said an official from Kukavav police station.


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Wholesale banking Wealth management
Securities Service Network deploys FolioDynamix wealth management platform
Source: FolioDynamix
FolioDynamix, a leading provider of web-based technology, content and services for managing the full investment and wealth advisory lifecycle, today announced that Securities Service Network (SSN), a leading independent broker dealer, has deployed the FolioDynamix wealth management technology platform for its rep-directed investment programs.
SSN has branded the platform Encompass, and it is now available to SSN's network of independent financial advisors nationwide.
"We are excited to begin the roll out of this next generation technology platform to our independent advisor network," stated Wade Wilkinson, president and CEO of Securities Service Network. "The new technology was well received by advisors at our recent annual conference. Since a large majority of our reps act as portfolio managers, they will now have a streamlined system to manage all of their accounts from a single web interface with improved visibility, more timely information and greater portfolio management flexibility. FolioDynamix proved to be a great partner during the implementation, and we were pleased with the flexibility we had in tailoring the platform to fit our unique needs."
"We are happy to have Securities Service Network up and running on our platform," said Joseph Mrak, chairman and CEO of FolioDynamix. "By providing SSN with innovative technology and managed solutions, we look forward to helping the company accelerate the growth of its business and continue to deliver exceptional service to its nationwide network of investment advisors."
In the future, SSN advisors will also have access to turnkey unified managed account (UMA), mutual fund wrap (MFW) and exchange traded fund (ETF) products with full-service overlay management and advisory research.
Sponsored: [New Report] The Future of Core Banking 2020
[Webinar] The Trends Driving Digitalisation in Corporate Banking


Chuck Olmsted recognizes that individual needs vary from one person to the next. We enjoy helping those just getting started. Many of our clients have excellent credit scores, while others need help in that area. Some work for major corporations, while some are self-employed; some have sizeable down payment funds, while others need seller paid closing costs. The upcoming purchase may be a primary residence, a second home, or an investment property. It might be a single family residence, a condominium, or up to 4 units.
Chuck Olmsted excels at jumbo and super jumbo mortgages. I have experience with high net worth buyers who want solutions for purchasing a variety of residences, from estate homes to luxury oceanfront condominiums, and second homes. Throughout the loan process, I focus on leveraging your assets, preserving cash if needed, and maximizing cash flow.
Chuck Olmsted works for you, searching for the ideal loan product with the best interest rate and term. I provide solid advice, including the pros and cons of individual loan scenarios. My automated underwriting systems can pre-qualify you quickly. I will prepare a pre-qualification letter to show the seller and Realtor how much home you can afford and that your offer is serious. I am ready to help you buy your primary home, second home, or investment property. I cover special niches like jumbo; self-employed; first time home buyers.
If you are tired of paying rent, find out if you can qualify for a first time home buyer's program. These programs allow a monetary gift from a relative to be used; and the seller can contribute towards your closing costs and prepaid items. Great programs are available to choose from through FHA and FNMA. There are many good reasons to buy a home, including building equity in real estate; tax deductibility of mortgage interest and taxes, and pride of home ownership. If you or someone you know is renting, contact me and ask for the first-time home buyer's loan example that compares rent versus buy.
Not everyone has perfect credit in the 700-800 FICO range. We often consult with individuals with lower credit scores or who have a recent bankruptcy. We try to make home ownership possible for almost everyone. We can recommend helpful tips and resources for improving your credit. Help: AnnualCreditReport.com is the official site to help consumers to obtain their free credit report. This central site allows you to request a free credit file disclosure, once every 12 months from each of the nationwide consumer credit reporting companies. If you believe your credit reporting is inaccurate, you can dispute online by contacting: Equifax , Experian and TransUnion.


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Randy Orton's Battle with Development
Sticking with part of yesterday's topic, when is someone going to get around to freshening up Randy Orton's act. He's had the same dreary entrance music since 2008. The last time he changed up his look was in 2011 (and that was just the addition of a closely trimmed beard, hardly revolutionary stuff). I can't remember the last time he debuted a new move or participated in a non-pay-per-view match where he came across as motivated to have a great match.
These are all things that would be easy to fix. Jim Johston, WWE's resident musical composer not-so-extraordinaire, could be prodded into producing something new for 'The Viper' or outsourcing it to one of those generic bands he likes. Orton could grow out his hair or shave his head completely. The latter is something he flirts with on occasion but never goes all the way with, always retaining the closest of buzzcuts.
Some different coloured trunks could be ordered. Orty likes a primary coloured squiggle on black a lot of the time and that's served him and many other wrestlers well. But it's dull and contributes to the overall dullness of Orton's character. Even something as simple as switching to white trunks could help give Orton an air of freshness.
Blandy Borton.
He could work on his promos, debuting a catchphrase or altering his cadence. He could implement a new move, either a transitional piece or a submission finisher. The dragon sleeper's free and I feel that, accompanied by a body scissors, would fit well with Orton's character. In longer, more important matches he could even target his opponent's neck, softening them up for the dragon sleeper and the RKO.
Imagine how much good it would do Orton to take a month or so off TV and return with a new haircut, a new submission move, new entrance music, and a lively, spirited promo style. He would seem like a new man, which may encourage people to show some interest in him. That in turn may encourage Orton to start tying a little harder.
It's notable that John Cena, a man who's been around as long as Orton and enjoys the same level of status within the company, continues to switch up his move set and makes a point of introducing new merchandise every few months. Yeah, the T-shirts are there to keep the money coming in more than anything else, but it helps Cena's look to constantly change. It's something Orton really needs to work on but he won't. Because of complacency.
Yeah, complacency will stop any of my suggestions from coming to pass. Orton knows he's guaranteed a certain status within WWE no matter. He has no reason to try and impress anyone because he has nothing to gain from it beyond the respect of people he very likely doesn't care about ("internet smarks"). Orton and his bosses are happy with how he looks, acts and wrestles. Therefore we're stuck with the same routine we've had for years.
Labels: gimmick idea, John Cena, Randy Orton, WWE
NXT Takeover: Brooklyn review
Rock Versus Triple H: 2015 Edition
WWE SummerSlam 2015 preview
The Retirement of 'The Animal'
Double the Butterfly, Double the Fun
The Look Versus Charisma
Total Non-Stop Networking
Eva Marie for Champ
Another Level
NJPW Dominion 2015 review


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Arizona State, Texas A&M to Play in 2015 AdvoCare Texas Kickoff
By Kevin Kelley - November 22, 2013
Arizona State and Texas A&M will meet in the 3rd Texas Kickoff. (Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports)
The Arizona State Sun Devils and the Texas A&M Aggies will meet in the 2015 AdvoCare Texas Kickoff, ESPN and the schools officially announced this afternoon.
The game will be played at Reliant Stadium in Houston on Saturday, Sept. 5, 2015 and an ESPN network will televise the game to a national audience. Arizona State and Texas A&M have never met on the gridiron.
"Playing Arizona State is a wonderful opportunity to compete against one of the best teams in the Pac 12," said Eric Hyman, Texas A&M Athletics Director. "We are excited about the matchup in Houston and especially playing in Reliant Stadium with such a large number of our former students in the area."
"We are excited to participate in this unique college football event in the state of Texas against an SEC opponent in Texas A&M," said Steve Patterson, Arizona State Athletics Director. "Our fans and alumni experienced a fabulous time in Dallas with the Notre Dame game at AT&T Stadium earlier this year and we are excited to provide another similar opportunity for our fans, alumni and student-athletes. Todd Graham and his coaching staff recruit the state of Texas and this can only serve to enhance that effort."
In order to play in the game, Arizona State changed the dates of their other two non-conference games in 2015. The Sun Devils were previously set to open the season vs. New Mexico on Sept. 5, but will now play them on Sept. 19.
ASU also changed the date of their game against Cal Poly. The Mustangs will now visit Sun Devil Stadium on Sept. 12 instead of Sept. 19. Arizona State's 2015 non-conference schedule is now complete with today's addition of Texas A&M.
In the inaugural AdvoCare Texas Kickoff in August, Oklahoma State defeated Mississippi State 21-3. The 2014 contest will feature LSU vs. Wisconsin.
Football Schedules
Arizona State Future Football Schedules
Texas A&M Future Football Schedules
PNB says:
nice matchup
Bill M says:
Solid early season matchup that should be interesting. GO DEVILS!
thelaughingwiseman says:
That's a home game for $&@?! sake… Go Sun Devils!


When I say pod you say day! POD! DAY!
Every single Wednesday at K-2 Kampers have the opportunity to switch up their normal schedules and try something new! We call these days Pod Days!
"AIN'T NO PARTY LIKE A K-LIFE PARTY 'CAUSE A K-LIFE PARTY DON'T STOP" You can almost hear this being chanted all around Lampe, Missouri on K-LIFE nights!
Term 2 is flying by, but that hasn't stopped us from getting in the party spirit! The Kampers and Kounselors went all out Tuesday night for our Flannels and Flapjacks party!
One of our favorite and most special nights here at K-2 is called Cross Talk. We get to share stories and present a real life picture of the gospel as we reenact the crucifixion scene.


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Villa Flandria offers 2 modern apartments with all the necessary comfort and a private pool and small gym. There is possibility of breakfast and in the evening we are able to provide a Croatian specialty, cooked by the host or hostess.
For those arriving by car, there a private parking provided. For those who come by plane, there is the possibility of renting a car or motorbike. Villa Flandria also features a specific Dalmatian motorboat which can be rented by the day with the host as captain. One can make trips to wonderful bays and with a bit of luck spot dolphins. To explore the island, we can take you on a trip with a 4 x 4 to get a different view on the beautiful island of Hvar.
From 2016 we also offer a new accommodation. This is a luxury apartment suitable for 4 persons. The property is situated in the picturesque fishing village Vrboska, on the sunniest side of the bay and sea. Via the private path, you are only 30 meters from the sea.
The centre of the sunniest Croatian island of the same name - Hvar is a unique blend of luxurious Mediterranean natural surroundings, layer upon layer of a rich cultural and historical heritage and sophisticated tourism. Located in picturesque natural surroundings on the south side of the island, surrounded by mighty medieval walls, magical fields and the scent of lavender, Hvar is a never-ending treasure of monumental heritage, culture and atmospheres. Its name originates from the word PHAROS - the Greek name for the island of Hvar and the town which was formerly in the place of the present Stari Grad (the Old Town) from which it took over the title as island centre in the 13th century.
From its castle Španjol, high above the town, majestic views open up over the green Pakleni otoci (the Hell Islands) (ACI Marina Palmižana) and the open sea. The main city square in front of the cathedral by the Arsenal and the oldest European theatre from the 17th century are a favourite gathering place for tourists. Many museums hide valuable works of art (The Last Supper from the 15th century in the dining room of the Franciscan Monastery) and the Benedictine Monastery, famous for its lace making from agave fibres, is often visited.


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AIM Analytics: U-M Community Presentations
04dec12:00 pm1:30 pmAIM Analytics: U-M Community Presentations12:00 pm - 1:30 pm
Join us on Monday, December 4 from 12:00 to 1:30 p.m. in the Hatcher Gallery of the Hatcher Graduate Library (913 S. University Ave.)
Join us on Monday, December 4 from 12:00 to 1:30 p.m. in the Hatcher Gallery of the Hatcher Graduate Library (913 S. University Ave.) for AIM Analytics.
AIM Analytics was created to bridge the gaps in the support of UM learning analytics researchers with respect to the building of technical skills, sharing knowledge of educational datasets, and facilitating collaborative investigations.
For this event, we welcome members of the U-M community to share "late breaking work" within their departments.
Presentations will include:
Measuring the Pros and Cons of a Blended Course by Perry Samson, Arthur F Thurnau Professor, Professor of Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering, College of Engineering and Professor of Information, School of Information
Sentiment Analysis of Student Evaluations, and (separately) the Impact of Peer Feedback/Grades on TA Feedback/Grades by Heather Newman, Director of Marketing and Communications, School of Information
The U-M Learning Analytics Architecture (LARC) Dataset: What is it, How to Access it, and How it Enables LA Research by Steve Lonn, Director of Enrollment Research and Data Management
Predicting Short- and Long-Term Vocabulary Learning via Semantic Features of Partial Word Knowledge by SungJin Nam, Graduate Student Research Assistant, School of Information
Social Comparison Theory as Applied to MOOC Student Writing: Constructs for Opinion and Ability by Heeryung Choi, Graduate Student Research Assistant, School of Information
For a description of each of the presentations, please click here.
To register for this event, please RSVP below.
[wpgform id='12475′]
(Monday) 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm


Justin and I took a super quick trip to the Keys since I had never been. We left at 4am and were in Marathon by 8am. We did a fun 3 hour paddle through these gorgeous (and creepy) mangroves. I saw baby sharks, a sting ray, and this HUGE spider that was surely going to kill me. I screamed and demanded we go back immediately. Then I found out that it was just a mangrove tree crab… Nice. After our paddle, we had some delish seafood and drinks at Sunset Grille before heading to the cable park so Justin could wakeboard. The entire time he was wakeboarding, the pups were swimming toward him. They cannot be away from him. It was pretty funny, but probably dangerous. Later, we drove across the super long bridge to Key West since I absolutely had to have a touristy picture by that thing that says you're at the southernmost point of the country. I really hope to go back to Key West to stay in a cute bed and breakfast sometime. We had key lime pie on a stick and walked around a bit before heading back home. I had so much fun seeing where my love used to live.


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Sanford Health planning to open health services in Harrisburg
Katie Nelson
Sioux Falls Argus Leader
Sanford Health is planning to offer health services in the city of Harrisburg, a representative for the health care system confirmed Friday.
"We have been watching Harrisburg's growth and now is the appropriate time to invest further in the health and well-being of the community," Sanford Health President Paul Hanson said in an emailed statement. "We are working to finalize plans to add health services in Harrisburg and are excited to provide those details in the coming weeks."
The healthcare system filed site plans to develop a parcel along Cliff Avenue just north of town but later withdrew the plans for revision. Those early plans included a Sanford clinic and a Lewis drug store, Harrisburg planning and zoning administrator Michael McMahon said.
Harrisburg has had an Avera Health clinic since 2005, but this would be its first Sanford facility.


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by Dokken
Album: Tooth and Nail (1984)
This power ballad was written by singer Don Dokken and bassist Jeff Pilson. It was the first of three Dokken singles to reach the Hot 100.
Don Dokken originally wrote the song in the 1970s when he was 25. He recalled during an interview with the Sioux Falls, South Dakota radio station, KBAD 94.5 FM, "I wrote it on a little 4-track recorder, put it on a cassette and it ended up in a box for, like, eight years. And the record company, on Tooth And Nail, our second album, they said ballads are the thing. Journey had a big hit with 'Lights' and Night Ranger... Everybody had ballads, and we didn't have any ballads."
"So I dug out a bunch of times, and [I went], 'What's this? 'Alone Again' I don't even remember it.' So I listened to it, and Jeff Pilson, the [Dokken] bassist, listened to it, and he said, 'That's a cool chorus. Maybe we [can] revamp it.' So we recorded 'Alone Again.'"
Don Dokken sings about a man feeling lonely and depressed after a breakup. He said: "This is a thing I wrote when I was very young, very naïve. Everybody says, 'Who'd you write about?' 'I don't know.' 'What was the girl's name?' 'I don't know.' I must have been in love - it's a very sad song - but I don't remember who I wrote it about. I don't know. It was just a song that came out, I always say, from here [points up above his head] - whatever that higher power is."
More songs from Dokken
More songs about loneliness or isolation
More songs about a breakup
Lyrics to Alone Again
Ralph Casale - Session ProSongwriter Interviews
A top New York studio musician, Ralph played guitar on many '60s hits, including "Lightnin' Strikes," "A Lover's Concerto" and "I Am A Rock."
Taylor DayneSongwriter Interviews
Taylor talks about "The Machine" - the hits, the videos and Clive Davis.
Jules Shear - "All Through The Night"They're Playing My Song
Shears does very little promotion, which has kept him secluded from the spotlight. What changed when Cyndi Lauper had a hit with his song? Not much, really.
Ben Kowalewicz of Billy TalentSongwriter Interviews
The frontman for one of Canada's most well-known punk rock bands talks about his Eddie Vedder encounter, Billy Talent's new album, and the importance of rock and roll.
Michael FrantiSongwriter Interviews
Franti tells the story behind his hit "Say Hey (I Love You)" and explains why yoga is an integral part of his lifestyle and his Soulshine tour.


2009 looks to be a great year in IT Support as we have already had many calls from clients since being back at work after Christmas. The calls that we are mainly getting are about viruses or out of date virus protection. Please remember to update your virus protections software and always have up to date virus definitions. As a small computer support company we find that prevention is always the best method. If you are not sure of the status of your virus protection please call us immediately for a free IT support call over the phone. Adware is another major factor for computer problems and can again be easily fixed with the correct procedures.
What if your computer network suddenly went down and all your staff were unable to work? What would it cost your company in lost productivity, sales and reputation?
Sphere Computer Group provides small businesses with a high quality and professional IT service, at prices which are affordable and represent great value. We let you focus on running your business, while we take care of your IT.
Sphere takes pride in its strong commitment to each individual client's requirements. We are intent on delivering outcomes that fit both the needs and budgets of our clients.
"YOUR BEST DEFENSE IS A GOOD OFFENCE!"
Using casual onsite support or through a regular support plan, Sphere helps your business gain the most out of its IT systems.
Sick of changing your email address?
Web Hosting and Email is more affordable than ever!
© 2005 Sphere Computer Group. All rights reserved.
Level 3, 3 Bowen Crescent, Melbourne, Vic, 3004.


- Back by popular demand are the Rated Rookie cards that consists of a 50-card rookie checklist!
- Rookie Dominators Signatures is a 30-card set of the top rookies of the 2017 NBA Draft Class.
- Look for some of the best to ever dominate the floor with Dominators Signatures! Look for names like Kyrie Irving, Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal and Larry Bird.
- Rookie Materials Signatures includes both a memorabilia swatch and an autograph from one of the top members of the 2017 NBA Draft Class.
Thirty of this year's top rookies are looking to dominate the new autograph market!
When each player arrives at the Rookie Photo Shoot, he has his photo taken, card files are sent to the printer, returned to the Rookie Photo Shoot overnight, and signed - all within 24 hours!
Get one of the most collectible rookie cards of the year with the Rated Rookies set, featuring 50 rookies from the 2017 Draft Class.
Look for both the base version (#'d/75) and the prime memorabilia version (#'d/10).