Statement by Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Afghan Elections
"I want to commend the millions of Afghans who went to the polls today to vote for their next president. The open and responsible debate among the candidates over the past two months, and the turnout for these elections, demonstrates to the world that the Afghan people want to determine their own future. The Afghan National Security Forces should be commended for providing the security which enabled these elections to take place. I thank U.S. forces and ISAF personnel for supporting the ANSF, and greatly appreciate General Dunford's steady leadership throughout this process.
"As Afghanistan begins a peaceful transfer of power, and we look ahead to the end of our combat mission later this year, we should not lose sight of how much we have accomplished. The progress we have seen in Afghanistan is a testament to the tireless efforts and sacrifices of American, ISAF, and Afghan personnel. But above all, it shows the strength and resilience of the Afghan people, and of the partnership the United States has built with them. It is a partnership that will endure."


Working with INGOs as an Academic: The Pros and Cons
September 29, 2016 September 29, 2016 / Charles Martin-Shields
While scanning Twitter this morning I came across a post from Duncan Greene that caught my eye:
Why is it so hard for academics and NGOs to work together? Today's @fp2p https://t.co/aQDkJvcOcR pic.twitter.com/BbvpB5Hbdu
— Duncan Green (@fp2p) September 29, 2016
The blogpost he was linking to raises some excellent questions about the benefits of closer relations between academics and practitioners in the development space, and how to increase the overlapping parts of the academic/practice Venn Diagram. It resonated with me because if I hadn't had a close relationship with institutions like the World Bank, TechChange Inc, UNDP, the U.S. Institute of Peace and many smaller NGOs during my PhD studies, I wouldn't have been able to develop my dissertation topic, gather my dissertation data, or have a policy audience that would find my dissertation results useful. Greene proposes some good points about how to create these linkages that I completely agree with, and as an academic that has spent time as a practitioner in INGOs and IOs I felt motivated to chime in.
So why is it so hard to get academics to work with international organizations, NGOs and policy bodies? Greene's post makes two major points about larger mandates (knowledge for the sake of knowledge versus knowledge to make evidence-based decisions) and time scale (academic research isn't responsive to what's happening in real time) that I think will forever dog the ability for practitioners and academics to work together. While there are more academic departments that are recognizing the value of research that feeds into policy development, for the most part academics receive little to no benefit (and indeed sometimes incur a negative cost) for engaging with government/international agencies and INGOs. This doesn't mean there's no space to collaborate, but it's an issue that I think will always be there.
This gets at a major point that is critical for folks at INGOs and IOs to recognize. Academia is quite stringent about what counts toward advancement. With some rare exceptions, there's little if any institutional reward for working on policy issues. Even if a department is supportive of it, tenure and rank decisions are made at the university level, so any policy work has to be on top of the expected publications and research funding that count in the eyes of the wider university. I'd argue the way to work around this as an INGO is to focus on relationships with PhD students and senior faculty. PhD students benefit from being 'out there' and having their research be seen more broadly – it's been a huge help in my academic experience to have a wide range of contacts in INGOs and IOs who know my work. For senior (tenured) faculty the advantage is building relationships that can be useful to their students (many of whom won't go into academia, but would love to work at Oxfam!), as well as having access to things like public service sabbaticals which makes it easier for them to take time off the research production line.
Indeed, Greene mentions having a PhD student who was doing his topic in coordination with with an Oxfam thematic policy. This is a fantastic way to bring academia and practice closer together, and it's what I did a lot of during my PhD. It was great: I got the occasional nice consultant's payday, got interesting feedback from non-academics, helped with policy issues, and still did work that is academically relevant. The main issue I found though was that this was not systematic at all – every INGO, IO, or agency I worked with was based on specific personal relationships. As long as the colleague was in that agency, I had a good relationship with that agency. When they left, the relationship with the agency ended (or more accurately, followed that colleague to their new agency). There are some good systemic efforts in the U.S. Government to bring academics into the policy fold, such as the AAAS fellowships which place social and natural science PhDs in government agencies for 1-2 years. To bring academics and policy people closer, there need to be more of these kind of system-level programs in place that cover the costs of having researchers working in organizations that are funded primarily to respond to current events.
It's not impossible to work with junior faculty, but this is where understanding the idiosyncrasies of academia is crucial. One example is the idea of 50/50 action/research funding; it's a good idea, but it's hard to pull off in a way that mutually benefits the academic party. If an academic puts in many hours drafting a proposal and the only money they see is through a consulting arrangement, then it doesn't count as grant money for them departmentally. If the research that then comes out of that money isn't peer-review grade then they've potentially spent months of time working on a proposal and project that won't move them toward tenure or their next academic rank. Most academic departments won't count consulting work, even if it's in-field, toward a junior faculty member's tenure file. The way to solve this is for the INGO and an academic department to be co-applicants, so that the research side of the funding goes straight to the academic department with the academic's name on it as a principal investigator. This allows the academic, at the very least, to count it on their CV as research money that was brought into the university even if the research outputs never see peer review.
The discussion about how to find new, better ways to bring academia and practice into a mutually beneficial relationship is important – a lot of public money goes into research, and the results should have public as well as theoretical value. While many departments are recognizing the importance of professors being involved in real-world work, it's also important that INGOs and NGOs recognize that academia places very specific, often idiosyncratic, demands on researchers. By understanding those demands and working with academics to shape projects that meet those demands, I think there will be many more opportunities for academia and the practice community to create an increasingly overlapped venn diagram.
academia, Development, Public Policy, Research
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From The Parallax Review Vaults: The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (2009)
June 6, 2013 · by Matt Wedge
The following review originally was written for The Parallax Review, a film review site of which I was the co-founder and managing editor. I have decided to collect the writings I did for The Parallax Review and preserve them here. I will be posting a few of these older pieces every week. My review of The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest was for the "In Theatres" section of The Parallax Review.
It's easy to spot what went wrong with The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, the third film in the Millennium trilogy. To put it quite simply, it's not a complete film. It is merely a continuation of the second film in the series and, as such, it feels disjointed and perfunctory — as though everyone involved has the attitude that they need to serve up an ending, so let's just get this over with. By the end of the film, I felt the same way.
For those of you who haven't seen the first two films, there's no point in reading any further. The plot I am going to describe will make no sense and will contain spoilers concerning the first two films in the series.
As Lisbeth (Noomi Rapace) recovers in the hospital from the injuries she received at the end of The Girl Who Played With Fire, a shadowy government organization is putting the pieces in place to frame her for the attempted murder of Zalachenko (Georgi Staykov), her despicable father. At the same time, Mikael (Michael Nyqvist) is hurriedly preparing a special issue of Millennium magazine that will expose the treacherous figures in Lisbeth's past that have led to her emotional damage and forced her into a corner. While all of this supposed intrigue is happening, Niedermann (Mikael Spreitz), Lisbeth's murderous half-brother, is still skulking around the edges of the film, waiting for his opportunity to finally kill Lisbeth.
The reason that The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo worked so well is that it was a self-contained film. There were some peripheral characters of some importance to the plot, but for the most part, it focused on a missing person's case that Mikael and Lisbeth were investigating. At the same time, it delved into the fragile psyches of both of its main characters. Once the central mystery was solved and the villain punished, the film ended. But with Fire and now with Hornet's Nest, the writers and producers forgot much of what made Tattoo such a satisfying film.
As the conspiracy at the heart of Hornet's Nest takes shape, dozens of characters are introduced. After an hour, I felt that I needed a flow chart to keep track of who each of them was and how they plugged into the increasingly convoluted story. Even worse, Lisbeth, easily the most compelling character in the film, is kept on the sidelines for much of the running time. The performance by Rapace suffers with the lack of interesting notes to play. She goes between looking sullen and confused, depending on the scene and who she is paired with. And unfortunately, she's barely paired with Nyqvist at all. Their off-kilter chemistry went a long way to making Tattoo as good as it was, but apart, their performances and their characters are far less interesting as they just become chess pieces to be moved around the board.
By the time the third act takes on that laziest of old clichés — a trial — I had quit caring, which was a surprising thing for me to discover. The end of Fire had given me just enough new wrinkles in Lisbeth's character to look forward to this film. But after two plus hours of the leaden conspiracy plot, I no longer cared what happened to Lisbeth. This is the greatest failing of the film and makes it one of the most disappointing endings to a film trilogy since The Matrix Revolutions.
This entry was posted in From The Parallax Review Vaults and tagged From The Parallax Review Vaults, Georgi Staykov, Michael Nyqvist, Mikael Spreitz, Millennium Trilogy, Noomi Rapace, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, The Girl Who Played with Fire, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Matrix Revolutions, The Parallax Review. Bookmark the permalink.
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Abdullah bin Zayed stresses boosting relations with Philippine
WAM ABU DHABI, 10th September, 2013, (WAM) — H.H. Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Foreign Minister today received Albert F. Del Rosario, Philippine Foreign Minister at the court of the Ministry.
During the meeting, the two parties discussed bilateral relations and ways to enhance cooperation between the two countries, especially in the economic and investment sectors for the benefit of both countries and their peoples.
They also discussed a number of issues of mutual interest on the regional and international arenas.
Sheikh Abdullah welcomed the Philippines Minister, noting that his visit to the United Arab Emirates will contribute to the development and strengthening of relations of friendship and cooperation to serve the common interests of the two countries.
He expressed his appreciation for the active role of the Philippine labour in the country and their contributions in various existing developmental projects, stressing the importance of exchanging visits between businessmen and investors in both countries to open new horizons for cooperation between them.
For his part, Mr. Albert emphasised his country's keenness to strengthen its relations with the UAE, which attaches special attention, praising the comprehensive progress achieved by the UAE, thanks to the wise leadership President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
He also expressed his appreciation for UAE's care and attention received by Philippine community and labour.
At he end of the meeting, Sheikh Abdullah and Mr. Albert signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on political consultations between the two countries.
The meeting was attended by Grace R. Princesa, , Ambassador of the Republic of the Philippines to the UAE.
WAM/HM/MN
Mohammed bin Rashid chairs brainstorming session on development
Abdullah bin Zayed meets AU delegation –


July 12, 2008 • 4:08 pm 0
Brain Cells Related To Fear Identified, Paving The Way For More Effective Treatment Of Post-Traumatic Stress And Other Anxiety Disorders
ScienceDaily (July 11, 2008)— The National Institute of Mental Health estimates that in any given year, about 40 million adults (18 or older) will suffer from some form of anxiety disorder, including debilitating conditions such as phobias, panic disorders and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
It is estimated that nearly 15 percent of U.S. soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan develop PTSD, underscoring the urgency to develop better treatment strategies for anxiety disorders. These disorders can lead to myriad problems that hinder daily life – or ruin it altogether – such as drug abuse, alcoholism, marital problems, unemployment and suicide.
Functional imaging studies in combat veterans have revealed that the amygdala, a cerebral structure of the temporal lobe known to play a key role in fear and anxiety, is hyperactive in PTSD subjects. Potentially paving the way for more effective treatments of anxiety disorders, a recent Nature report by Denis Paré, professor at the Center for Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience at Rutgers University in Newark, has identified a critical component of the amygdala's neural network normally involved in the extinction, or elimination, of fear memories. Paré's laboratory studies the amygdala and how its activity impacts behavior. His research was published online by Nature on July 9, 2008 and is scheduled to appear in the print edition later in July.
Earlier research has revealed that in animals and humans, the amygdala is involved in the expression of innate fear responses, such as the fear of snakes, along with the formation of new fear memories as a result of experience, such as learning to fear the sound of a siren that predicts an air raid.
In the laboratory, the circuits underlying learned fear are typically studied using an experimental paradigm called Pavlovian fear conditioning. In this research model on rats, a neutral stimulus such as the sound of a tone elicited a fear response in the rats after they heard it paired with an noxious or unpleasant stimulus, such as a shock to the feet. However, this conditioned fear response was diminished with repetition of the neutral stimulus in the absence of the noxious stimulus. This phenomenon is known as extinction. This approach is similar to that used to treat human phobias, where the subject is presented with the feared object in the absence of danger.
Behavioral studies have demonstrated, however, that extinction training does not completely abolish the initial fear memory, but rather leads to the formation of a new memory that inhibits conditioned fear responses at the level of the amygdala. As such, fear responses can be expressed again when the conditioned stimulus is presented in a context other than the one where extinction training took place.
For example, suppose a rat is trained for extinction in a grey box smelling of roses, and later hears the tone again in a different box, with a different smell and appearance. The rat will show no evidence of having been trained for extinction. The tone will evoke as much fear as if the rat had not been trained for extinction.
"Extinction memory will only be expressed if tested in the same environment where the extinction training occurred, implying that extinction does not erase the initial fear memory but only suppresses it in a context-specific manner," notes Paré.
Importantly, it has been found that people with anxiety disorders exhibit an "extinction deficit," or a failure to "forget." However, until recently, the mechanisms of extinction have remained unknown.
As reported by Nature, Paré has found that clusters of amygdala cells, known as the intercalated (ITC) neurons, play a key role in extinction. His findings indicate that ITC cells inhibit amygdala outputs to the brain stem structures that generate fear responses. Indeed, Paré and his collaborators have shown that when ITC cells are destroyed with a targeted toxin in rats, extinction memory is impeded, mimicking the behavior seen in PTSD.
The significance of this finding derives from earlier results suggesting that PTSD reflects an extinction deficit and that the amygdala is hyperactive in this disorder. As a result, it might be possible to compensate for this abnormality and facilitate extinction with pharmacological interventions that enhance the excitability of ITC cells to inhibit amygdala outputs.
Paré's research is supported by a $1,487,897 grant from the National Institute of Mental Health. The research project was carried out in collaboration with Rutgers graduate students Ekaterina Likhtik and John Apergis-Scoute, post-doctoral student Daniela Popa, and research assistant G. Anthony Fidacaro.
Adapted from materials provided by Rutgers University.
Filed under: Suicide, trauma, Violence, amygdala, anxiety, Brain, fear, PTSD, Suicide, trauma


GLAAD Report: Evangelicals Overused on LGBT Issues
The folks at GLAAD have commissioned a report, conducted by the University of Missouri Center on Religion & the Professions, to examine the kinds of media messages on LGBT issues, especially when it comes to religious voices.
The report finds that when religious voices are used in discussing LGBT issues, they are mostly voices opposed to LGBT rights. In addition, the study finds that the media turns to Evangelical and Catholic voices in disproportionate numbers.
the overwhelming majority of sources with some religious identification were communicated by people affiliated with faith groups that have formal church policy, religious decrees or traditions opposing the rights of LGBT people. That's true for most Evangelicals, such as Southern Baptists and Roman Catholics. It's also true of Orthodox Christians, many historically Black denominations, and Muslims. Although exceptions can be found in these faith traditions and in fact pro-LGBT religious ministries exist within, for example, the Roman Catholic Church, the preponderance of sources affiliated with religious groups that oppose LGBT equality total three-quarters of all religious-affiliated messages.
The report finds that almost 34 percent of all religiously-identified speakers were Evangelicals and 29 percent were Catholics, even though Evangelicals are only 26 percent of the population and Catholics are only 26 percent. The data also finds that Mainline Protestants were slightly underrepresented, but members of traditionally Black churches were also overrepresented.
Other details of the report, according to GLAAD, include:
– half of all religiously-identified organizations quoted on LGBT issues were Evangelical, with a heavy reliance on the National Organization for Marriage and Focus on the Family.
– Evangelicals and Catholics were quoted opposing LGBT issues, while Mainline Protestants and members of Black churches were more likely to be positive. Despite polling that Catholics have strong support of LGBT equality issues, Catholics who were quoted in the press were more likely to be opposed to those rights.
– Religious voices dominated the quotes that were opposed to LGBT rights while supporters of LGBT rights and LGBT people were rarely identified as religious.
The report (and GLAAD) makes two major recommendations for journalists:
Mainstream media must make more consistent use of LGBT-affirming religious sources, instead of turning to more negative or non-affirming religious voices. By overlooking LGBT-affirming sources, journalists can contribute to – and even perpetuate – the idea that those who are religious are, by definition, opposed to LGBT equality. In looking specifically at the organizations represented among religious commentators, we find a common profile: culturally conservative entities seeking to influence the political debate, with overt reference to "Christian" or "biblical" values, and often with the explicit endorsement of currently serving political figures.
The media must be fair and accurate in how religious voices are represented. Disproportionately favoring the voices of Evangelical Christians and Roman Catholics – who are more likely to present negative messages about LGBT people – is neither fair, nor accurate, nor balanced coverage. The mainstream media must pull apart the assumptions about values, religiosity, sexuality, and the intersection of church and state underlying these voices and their influential presence in the news. Despite their under representation, there are LGBT-affirming religious voices cited in the mainstream media, some of whom even identify as LGBT themselves. Many of these voices come from affirming religious groups with a significant presence in the United States.
You should definitely check out the report and GLAAD's analysis. I found a few things rather confusing about how the coding took place, but it's an interesting report. We've talked before about the need for more diverse voices when talking about LGBT issues, and this is especially true of religious voices. The over-reliance on Evangelicals and Catholics is a problem because they distort the religious debate. Evangelicals, especially, have become adept at using the media in their efforts on LGBT issues and the Catholic hierarchy is always quick with a press response.
But journalists can't just rely on people with good media machines and outreach. That's why it is important to reach voices, especially religious ones, who don't churn out press statements and make their spokespeople available at the drop of a hat.


A direct contact with students at Ritsumeikan Moriyama Junior High School, Moriyama, Japan was successful Sun 2013-12-29. Nineteen students were able to ask questions and receive answers from astronaut Koichi Wakata, KC5ZTA during the contact.
To a view a recording of the conversation conducted in Japanese, click here.
Direct contact with Scouting Burgemeester Welschen Meerhove, Eindhoven, The Netherlands, via OR4ISS
was successful on Sat 2013-12-28 13:08:43 UTC 83 deg.
Scouting Meerhoven has been set up in 2003. Our first official turnout was 10 years ago during the Jamboree on the Air (JOTA), Jamboree on the Internet (JOTI). During the last 10 years we have had several activities which were connected with transmitting (each year during the JOTA JOTI) and also with technology, air and space travel, as our scouts cabin is near Eindhoven airport.
Now, 10 years on, we celebrate our Jubilee. One of our Lustrum activities is the JOTA JOTI, by which we use FM frequency. For a whole weekend the scouting room has been transformed to a real radio station. The broadcasts are made by our youth and staff members.
In the framework of the Jubilee we have made a request to NASA, because as a scouting group, we really like to have radio contact with one of the astronauts from the ISS. We are very supportive of space travel and during the coming period we have a couple of activities to prepare us for a possible contact with ISS.
The Friday evening group (cubs and scouts) will visit a observatory, they will make rockets from lemonade bottles and fire them off. The room of the beavers will be transformed to a cosmos with rockets and planets. The kids will make these themselves. The Saturday group (cubs and scouts) will rebuild a ISS station. During the coming weeks our activities will all be in the light of space travel. Our aim is that the children will make their acquaintance with the JOTA JOTI (transmission) as well as space travel.
For a local news story and video about the event: http://jeugdjournaal.nl/item/591441-bellen-met-ruimtestation-iss.html
Contact with Istituto Tecnico Industriale "Galileo Ferraris", San Giovanni Valdarno, Italy, scheduled for Mon 2013-12-16 16:28:20 UTC 39 deg was cancelled due to EVA repair mission.
Direct contact with Tochigi Science Lion Project, Utsunomiya, Japan, via 8N1ISS was successful: Sat 2013-12-14 07:00:34 UTC 72 deg.
Read an advance news story about student amateur radio activities at Dorothy Grant Elementary School in Fontana, CA, USA.
Students will be participating in a scheduled contact with the ISS in 2014.
Direct contact with Rakuyo Technical High School, Kyoto, Japan, direct via 8N3LR was successful: Thu 2013-12-12 08:36:53 UTC 37 deg.


North Toronto »
THEY'RE BACK: Dogs and their owners have returned to canine spa on Eglinton Avenue West.
North Toronto Daily Updates: November–December 2020
A quick look at news, views and things to do locally
December 31, 2020 March 11, 2021 Streeter staff arrest, assault, Barry Sherman, break-ins, CampTO, Christmas trees, COVID-19, crane, dog care, Dogstar Boutique and Spa, fire, Ghost Kitchens, Glencairn Station, gunshots, Halloween, hit and run, Honey Sherman, Jaye Robinson, Lawyer, Little Jamaica, Metro, murder, parking, Pine Ink Tattoos, robberies, shooting, suspicious incident, SUV thefts, washrooms, Yonge Street
See recent updates
More COVID cases found at midtown Metro stores
The Metro grocery store at Yonge Street and Eglinton Avenue has reported several cases of coronavirus among employees over the past two weeks.
Positive COVID-19 tests were reported at the 2300 Yonge St. store on Dec. 23, 29 and 31. The affected employees' last days at work were recorded as respectively Dec. 17, 27 and 28.
The Metro store at 3142 Yonge St., at Lawrence Avenue, also reported a case on Dec. 23 with a last day on the job of Dec. 13.
60 charges in month after two stores robbed
Two stores on opposite sides of town were hit by an alleged group of robbers and three men were arrested on Nov. 21 and 22, followed a month later by the arrest of two boys, police reported today.
The stores were described by police as being in the Dufferin Street and Eglinton Avenue West area and in the Victoria Park Avenue and St. Clair Avenue area.
Together the five males arrested face 60 charges. See the full story.
Arrest for alleged murder of lawyer
A 62-year-old woman has been charged with first-degree murder after the death of a Toronto lawyer on Eglinton Avenue East.
The arrest came five days after a man identified as Scott Andrew Rosen, 52, was allegedly run down by a vehicle while walking in or near a garage on Eglinton, west of Mt. Pleasant Road, on Dec. 18.
Read the story in Streeter news.
Police treat death of lawyer on Eglinton as murder
A lawyer was reportedly walking in or near a garage on Eglinton Avenue East late yesterday afternoon when he was struck by a vehicle — in what police are investigating as a murder.
Officers found a man with no vital signs. Identified as lawyer Scott Andrew Rosen, 52, he was pronounced dead on the scene.
Witnesses said he has been stuck down by U-Haul van or pickup, which fled the scene eastbound on Eglinton. Here's what we know so far.
CampTO and winter instruction programs cancelled
City-run holiday camps and skiing or skating lessons have been shut down by Toronto's rising COVID-19 numbers.
The cancellations were announced today, following recommendations from Toronto Public Health and the city's medical health officer, Dr. Eileen de Villa.
Story continues after ad
Midtown break-ins lead to 56 charges
Two people were arrested on a total of 56 charges and property was recovered in an investigation of a string of break-ins in 13 and 53 divisions. One man is still sought by police.
Homes were broken into at night-time while, in some cases, residents slept and were unaware of being robbed until morning, police said. See the whole story.
Help sought to save Little Jamaica
Two businesspeople from Little Jamaica appeared with MPP Jill Andrew at a press conference Monday to call on the provincial government for money and other support to keep the community alive.
The commercial strip on Eglinton Avenue West has been hit hard by both COVID and the pandemic shutdown and it faces extinction, they say. Get the full story.
Arrest in subway robbery investigations
After an investigation of gaming console robberies at Glencairn Station, police have arrested a 22-year-old man.
Investigators from 13 Division identified a suspect for two robberies on Nov. 16 and, with the Emergency Task Force, executed a search warrant on Nov. 29, police reported yesterday.
Shevaun Lashorn Darby of Toronto, faces three charges including robbery with a firearm. He is to appear in court next on Jan. 21.
Sewer collapse restricts stretch of Yonge Street
Workers are repairing a collapsed sewer main that is causing traffic slowdowns on Yonge Street, between Ivor Road and Mill Street, in the Hoggs Hollow/Cricket Club area.
The work is expected to take place daily from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. starting today until Dec. 17, the city advises.
Two-alarm fire hits house under construction
A neighbour smelled smoke and called in the alarm for a fire that engulfed the basement of a partly constructed house on Glengrove Avenue West yesterday evening.
The cause of the two-alarm fire is unknown but is being investigated, fire officials say. Here's what we know so far.
Hit-and-run driver sought after elderly woman struck
Investigators are trying to identify the driver of an SUV they say struck a 76-year-old woman before fleeing the scene on Oct. 8.
The woman was reported to be crossing the intersection of Bathurst Street and Lawrence Avenue West on a green light at about 2 p.m. when she was hit.
See the story and vehicle.
Arrests for gathering at alleged gaming club
Police raided a social club near Lawrence Avenue West and Marlee Avenue at 8:45 p.m. yesterday and charged 10 people for contravening the Reopening Ontario Act, which prohibits such gatherings during the current lockdown.
Also, the owner of the establishment was arrested for keeping a common gaming or betting house, and faces four other charges.
Officers executing a search warrant at the address seized 11 illegal gaming machines, police say.
Antonio Mazzei, 59, of Toronto, is to appear in court on Jan. 29.
Woman arrested but her alleged partner in store robbery still at large
A 35-year-old woman faces a charge of robbery with an offensive weapon more than four months after a store was robbed in the St. Clair Avenue West and Avenue Road area. A man, 38, is still being sought by the police holdup squad.
The identity of the man, who allegedly pulled a knife during the incident, is known, police say. His images have been released. See the story.
Night parking banned on North York streets to allow snow clearing
The North York Winter Maintenance by-law has been put into effect again, prohibiting street parking to let snow-clearing and emergency vehicles through.
The by-law prohibits parking between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. until the end of March, on streets in the old municipality of North York, excluding the following in this area:
Woburn Avenue — first block west of Avenue Road (#431–488)
Brookdale Avenue — north side from Avenue Road going east to the North York municipal boundary (#368–390 approximately)
Parking enforcement is to begin Dec. 4 at 2 a.m., according to police.
Double shooting in Glen Park investigated as homicide
A man is dead and a woman seriously injured after a shooting in a parking lot on Glen Park Avenue near Dufferin Street yesterday. Police have identified the deceased today.
The couple were said to be sitting a vehicle in the lot in mid-afternoon when another car approached and opened fire. Here's what we know.
SEE DAILY UPDATES FOR OTHER COMMUNITIES:
• Beaches-Leslieville • Central Toronto • Forest Hill • Don Valley • Leaside • Riverdale-East York
Scouts' Christmas Tree lot open
If you're near the Davisville area, it's time to buy your Christmas tree from the 58th Toronto Scouts, Cubs and Beavers.
The Christmas tree lot is open as usual this year, with safe shopping protocols in place, although the troop is also offering contactless pickup or delivery this year, if desired.
Check the details in the Things To Do listing.
Police not confirming suspect in Sherman murders
Toronto police are neither confirming nor disconfirming they have a suspect in the alleged murders of billionaire couple Barry and Honey Sherman nearly three years ago.
A "clarification" has been released by the homicide squad after media reports that police had a "person of interest." See Nov. 26 item below and see the new story in Streeter news.
Subway down on weekend
Subway service is suspended on the Yonge Street line between Lawrence and St. Clair stations on Nov. 28 and 29 for work on the Eglinton Crosstown LTR, the TTC advises. Shuttle buses will operate and stations are to remain open for the sale of PRESTO fares and for connection to surface routes.
Break in Sherman double-murder case?
Nearly three years after the deaths of Barry and Honey Sherman in York Mills, police have a "person of interest" in the case, they have confirmed to several media.
This is not quite the same thing as having made an arrest or having a suspect in the alleged double homicide, but it may indicate police are chasing down new leads.
The bodies of the billionaire couple were found at their home on Old Colony Road on Dec. 15, two days after their estimated deaths.
Crane crashes across site for Mount Pleasant LRT station
Crews are trying today to lift a crane that toppled yesterday evening. The mobile crane fell across the construction site where a secondary entrance for the planned Mount Pleasant Station is being built on the Eglinton Crosstown LRT line.
One man suffered minor injuries and Eglinton Avenue East has been blocked to traffic ever since. See the whole story.
'Suspicious incident' investigated in Ledbury Park
At about 8 a.m. today, police were notified of a "suspicious incident" near Clyde and Bannockburn avenues. A commotion was reported involving a man and woman in a vehicle with the front passenger door open. A concerned citizen approached the vehicle and noticed a man who was driving and a woman who was the passenger were arguing. The vehicle left the area with both still inside.
Police would like to speak to anyone who was in the area at the time and are asking local residents, businesses, and drivers with security or dash camera footage of the area or incident to contact them.
The vehicle is believed to be a white Nissan Rogue with licence plate BVPA549. Security camera images have been released.
Where to go when you have to go
If you're a person who plans your outings around available washrooms, here's welcome news for you. The city is refitting and reopening washrooms in parks — like at June Rowlands Park or Sunnybrook — this winter.
It's also adding portable toilets to new locations, along with keeping washrooms going in the usual places like libraries and recreation centres.
Get the full story here.
Glencairn robberies show danger of selling your game console online
Game consoles have sold out in retail outlets, driving transactions for the units online. But recent alleged robberies have led police to issue an alert about meeting buyers or sellers found on internet marketplaces.
Two such robberies were reported to have occurred near Glencairn subway station on Monday. See the full story and tips to protect yourself.
Year-old tattoo studio surviving
In its first year, Pine Ink Tattoos has faced and survived a pandemic shutdown and continual construction in the Yonge and Eglinton area. But owner Damon Han is confident Pine Ink Tattoos, with its novel, Asian-inspired designs, will make it in this youthful neighbourhood.
Read — and see — all about it.
Jaye Robinson returns to public meeting
Don Valley West councillor and TTC chair Jaye Robinson attended a virtual meeting of the TTC board today — her first such public appearance since her cancer diagnosis more than a year ago.
"It's been a long and tough road," Robinson told the meeting. "While I'm not quite at the end, I'm very close and I feel very fortunate to be here."
Videos released in gunshots investigation
Police have released two videos in their investigation of gunshots in the Neptune Drive and Baycrest Avenue area on Friday. No injuries were reported but police are looking for two men.
One man is described as having a slim build and wearing a dark hoodie, black baseball cap with a white logo on the front, face mask, white gloves, dark pants and dark shoes. He was shown holding a dark handgun. The other man is described as having a slim build and was wearing a dark hoodie and face mask. He was holding a dark-coloured handgun.
The videos can be seen here and here.
Former customers and new pups returning to dog spa
Dogstar Boutique and Spa on Eglinton Avenue West, near Avenue Road, is back in the grooming business after the shutdown, the owners say.
Former customers, as well as puppies acquired during the pandemic, are keeping the place busy, while Dogstar takes all the anti-COVID precautions possible. Read all about it.
Assault causing bodily harm investigated
Toronto police have released an image of a running man in an investigation of an alleged assault causing bodily harm near Ridelle Avenue and Newgate Road yesterday.
A man was reported to have approached and assaulted a woman in the area of Ridelle Avenue and Newgate Road, before fleeing southward. See the story.
Employees at two Metro stores test positive
Metro stores announced today employees at two North Toronto locations — 2300 Yonge St., and 291 York Mills Rd. — have tested positive for COVID-19. The employee's last day of work at Yonge and Eglinton was Nov. 7 and the last day at York Mills and Bayview was Oct. 31, the company says.
Eat restaurant foods without fear from Ghost Kitchens
A newly opened food service in midtown offers branded restaurant foods for pickup or through delivery services.
Ghost Kitchens opened last month at Oriole Parkway and Eglinton Avenue West in the midst of a pandemic, exactly when their service is badly needed, the owners say. Read all about it.
New locations for photo radar units
After three months of issuing tickets, the city's photo radar units are being moved. All 50 automated speed enforcement (ASE) devices are to be moved to new locations starting this week "to address a greater number of areas with safety concerns and to encourage a wide-ranging deterrent effect," the city said in a news release today.
In Don Valley West ward, the two new ASE sites are on Erskine Avenue, west of Redpath Avenue, and on Thorncliffe Park Drive, near 79 Thorncliffe Park Dr. Both are close to elementary schools.
In Toronto-St. Paul's, the new sites are on Ava Road, east of Westover Hill Road near a community school, and on Tweedsmuir Avenue, south of Heath Street West near a long-term care home.
In Eglinton-Lawrence, new locations are Avenue Road, near Castlefield Avenue, and Bedford Park Avenue, west of Yonge Street, both near early years learning centres.
The city reports 47,195 speeders were caught by ASE devices in the old locations, but the number of tickets dropped in the second and third months.
"The Automated Speed Enforcement program is working," Mayor John Tory said. "Each month, fewer drivers were caught speeding in school and community safety zones where they've been placed, and they are helping to keep vulnerable people, especially school children, in these communities safer."
North Toronto homes evacuated after gas line hit
Fifteen homes on Snowdon Avenue near Mt. Pleasant Road were evacuated this morning after a construction crew hit a gas line. A significant leak from a large line necessitated the evacuation of the west side of the street and the closing of the eastbound lane, Toronto police reported at 10:53 a.m.
Toronto Fire Services and Enbridge Gas were also on the scene. The damaged gas line was repaired and the roads re-opened by about noon hour, according to police.
ID SOUGHT: Image released by police.
Man sought for midtown assault and theft
Security camera images have been released to help identify a man wanted in the investigation of assault and theft at Yonge Street and Glebe Road.
Police say on Oct. 31 a man allegedly attended a spa in the area and assaulted two employees before stealing property from the spa.
He reportedly left and headed east on Glebe.
He is described as 20–23 years old, 5-foot-8, having a slim build and dark brown hair, and wearing a white or brown shirt.
Instead of trick-or-treating…
Costumed kids joined witches, wood fairies and spiders in Oriole Park on Oct. 31. They enjoyed interactive adventures in the magical forest at Creative Kids Halloween Quest, put on by a local dance troupe.
See the story and pictures of what transpired.
SUV thefts thought to be aided by electronic devices
Police in 53 Division are warning of an increase in SUV thefts, which may be carried out by thieves using electronic devices to compromise the vehicles' security systems.
The thefts appear to be targeting SUVs, namely Land Rovers, parked in the driveways in the area of Lawrence Avenue West and Bathurst Street.
Investigators have notices an increase in car thefts in the area since Jan. 1. They urge the public to be vigilant with locking their vehicles, even in in their driveways and recommend using a locked garage or anti-theft device.
Residents should also take care to store vehicle keys in a secure location away from their front doors, police said in a news release today.
See earlier updates
By: Streeter staff
Posted: Dec 31 2020 11:49 pm
Filed in: DAILY UPDATES
Neighbourhood: Bedford Park • Bridle Path • Caribou Park • Chaplin Estates • Cricket Club • Davisville • Deer Park • Glen Park • Hoggs Hollow • Lawrence Heights • Lawrence Manor • Lawrence Park • Ledbury Park • Lytton Park • Moore Park • Mount Pleasant • Sunnybrook • Teddington Park • Wanless Park • Windfields • Yonge-Eglinton • York Mills • Yorkdale
Tagged: arrest • assault • Barry Sherman • break-ins • CampTO • Christmas trees • COVID-19 • crane • dog care • Dogstar Boutique and Spa • fire • Ghost Kitchens • Glencairn Station • gunshots • Halloween • hit and run • Honey Sherman • Jaye Robinson • Lawyer • Little Jamaica • Metro • murder • parking • Pine Ink Tattoos • robberies • shooting • suspicious incident • SUV thefts • washrooms • Yonge Street
← Central Toronto Daily Updates: November–December 2020
Riverdale-East York Daily Updates: November–December 2020 →
Life in jail for crossbow killer
September 24, 2012 Town Crier staff Comments Off on Life in jail for crossbow killer
Two children in car shot up in Bridle Path neighbourhood
February 23, 2020 Eric McMillan Comments Off on Two children in car shot up in Bridle Path neighbourhood
Stage 2 at last! Wide reopening to start this week
June 22, 2020 Eric McMillan Comments Off on Stage 2 at last! Wide reopening to start this week


Kean University officials to discuss president's resume controversy tonight
Nic Corbett/The Star-Ledger
Daniel Hedden/For The Star-LedgerKean University's governing board plans to meet in closed session tonight to discuss the allegations of false claims on the president Dawood Farahi past résumés.
UNION — Kean University's governing board plans to meet in closed session tonight to discuss the allegations of false claims on the president's past résumés.
Dawood Farahi, who has been president of the Union Township school for about nine years, said mistakes were made by Kean staff when they condensed three of his résumés -- which he refers to as "data sheets."
"I did not create the data sheet," Farahi said in an interview last month with The Star-Ledger. "I did not see the data sheet. Had I seen it, I would've corrected those errors. And as you can see, the errors are multiplying over time."
James Castiglione, the head of the faculty union Kean Federation of Teachers, brought the issue to the board of trustees.
The board's executive committee retained independent counsel, McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney & Carpenter, to investigate the allegations.
The résumés in question were submitted in 1994, 2001 and 2008 for routine accreditation reviews of the university's public administration program.
Farahi said he has never claimed to have been acting academic dean at Avila College in Missouri. Nor has he boasted of publishing "over 50 technical articles in major publications," as the résumés state.
The president and the union have long feuded over his efforts to reform the 16,000-student public university. Farahi, who earns a base salary of $293,550 annually and will be eligible for a $200,000 bonus next year, said the union is trying to discredit him by combing his past résumés for possible inaccuracies.
Related coverage:
• Kean president says resume errors were made by university staff


Proposed Wastewater Treatment Plant Upgrades
The City is in the process of completing environmental review for proposed upgrades to the Wastewater Treatment Plant.
A Planning Commission public hearing is scheduled for February 19, 2015, to obtain public input and consider adoption of a Mitigated Negative Declaration for the proposed project.
Additional Information can be viewed here:
Initial Environmental Study and Technical Appendices
The City of Shasta Lake's wastewater treatment plant is designed to treat a dry weather flow of 1.3-MGD (million gallons per day). Wastewater is pumped to the plant from pump stations located throughout the city's sewer collection system. The plant utilizes an Activated Sludge form of treatment and consist of several treatment processes and structures which include:
The headworks is the location where all wastewater enters the plant. Influent into the plant is measured and the water travels through the headwork structure in one of two channels. One channel is equipped with a mechanical bar screen which removes large solids such as rocks, plastics, paper and other material. This material is placed by the mechanical device in to a Dumpster for landfill disposal. The other channel is equipped with stationary screens that must be cleaned by plant personnel. This channel is used only when the mechanical screen is out of service. From the headworks flow can be sent to two locations. The oxidation ditch is the normal destination for water leaving the headworks, but the oxidation ditch can be by-passed if necessary sending water to the ERB (emergency retention basin).
Oxidation Ditch
The oxidation ditch follows the headworks and is the heart of the plant's Activated Sludge process. In this process wastewater is mixed with biological organisms. A population of these organisms is maintained and controlled to provide the best removal possible of suspended and dissolved solids in the wastewater. These organisms consume or attach to the suspended or dissolved solid particles in the wastewater. These solids would be very hard to remove without the aid of the organisms since they would not settle out on their own. Mixing of the wastewater and the organisms is accomplished by four surface aeration brushes located around the ditch. The brushes also provide oxygen for the organisms to live. Once the organisms have consumed or have attached themselves to the particles they come together to form a flock called Activated Sludge. The sludge is made up of Mixed Liquor Suspended Solids or MLSS. This solution then leaves the oxidation ditch and is elevated by way of three Mixed Liquor pumps so that it can gravity flow to the next stage in the process which is the secondary clarifiers.
Secondary Clarifiers
The plant's two secondary clarifiers receive flow from the oxidation ditch by way of three mixed liquor pumps. The clarifiers are circular basins in which no mixing or oxygen is provided. In this environment the activated sludge which is now heavy with suspended particles settle to the bottom of the clarifiers. As the sludge settles, clean water remains and flows out of the clarifier over a weir at the edge of the clarifier. This water travels on to filtration. Eight 4" draft tubes that circulate slowly at the bottom of the clarifier remove the sludge, once settled. The sludge flows from the clarifier to the RAS/WAS structure where it can go to one of three locations.
RAS/WAS
The RAS/WAS structure acts as a transfer station for sludge leaving the secondary clarifier. Sludge leaving the RAS/WAS structure can go to three locations. It can gravity flow to the Headworks where it is blended with in-coming sewage before flowing to the oxidation ditch. Sludge can also be returned directly to the oxidation ditch from the RAS/WAS structure. Sludge returned to the oxidation ditch directly or via the Headworks is called RAS (return activated sludge). The whole process of sludge flowing to the clarifiers and being returned to the oxidation ditch again is called the Secondary Loop System. However, in order to maintain control of the organism population in the oxidation ditch, removal of sludge from the system may be required. At this time, one of two pumps can be used to pump sludge from RAS/WAS structure to the Aerobic Digester. Sludge pumped to the digester is called WAS (waste activated sludge).
Aerobic Digester
The plant's digester works similar to both an oxidation ditch and a clarifier combined. Activated sludge is mixed and aerated in a circular basin much like it is the oxidation ditch. The difference is that sewage is not added. Besides oxygen, only scum and sludge from the clarifiers is added. In this environment, the lack of sewage (food for the organisms) causes the organisms to reduce their volume by consumption of their own mass. As the mass of the sludge decreases, water is left behind. Occasionally the aerator/mixer is turned off and the sludge then settles to the bottom of the digester. The water that remains at the top of the digester is decanted out of the digester through a floating drainpipe. This water is returned directly to the oxidation ditch for further treatment. As more sludge is added to the digester from the RAS/WAS structure, there will be less room for the sludge to settle. At some point sludge must be removed from the digester and sent to the Sludge basins.
Sludge Basins
The sludge basins are the last process stage for activated sludge that has been removed from the secondary loop system. Sludge arrives at the basins from the aerobic digester. The sludge is aerated and will continue the process of digestion started in the digester. Once there is a large amount of sludge in these basins, all water is decanted off and the sludge is dried and removed. The most likely destination for the sludge is a landfill. However, the sludge is usually of good enough quality that it could be used as a fertilizer for landscaping or other plants.
Water leaving the secondary clarifiers travels on to filtration. The plant has two traveling bridge filters. Each filter has a compartmented filter bed, which contain a sand media used to filter out solids. Water from the clarifiers enters from a central channel between the filters, flows down through the filters and exits to channels on the outer edge of the filters. As solids build up in the sand media it becomes harder for the water to pass through the filter. This causes the water level on the filter to rise. When the water level reaches a preset point, a backwash or cleaning of the filter begins. The bridge located on top of the filter begins to move from one end of the filter to the other. As it travels on special tracks located on each side of the filter, filtered water is pumped back through the bottom of the filter one compartment at a time. This allows the other compartments of the filter to remain in service. As the water and dirt is pushed up through the filter, it is pumped out through a hood. This hood is connected to the bridge and stretches the length of the filter compartment. Water and dirt removed from the filter is then pumped back to the oxidation ditch for treatment. The bridge will continue moving from one compartment to the next until it reaches the opposite end of the filter. Then if the water level has dropped to the correct level the backwash will stop until levels again reach the high set point. Filtered water leaves the filters and move on to the contact basin for chlorination.
Chlorination and Dechlorination
Chlorine gas is used to disinfect the water leaving the filters. Disinfecting kills any remaining disease causing bacteria or organisms left over from treatment. Chlorine gas is injected into a treated water supply. This chlorine/water solution is then piped to a contact basin and added to water coming from the filters. A contact basin is used to give the chlorine enough contact time with the water for disinfecting to take place. Water enters at one end of the basin and must travel through a series of channels before it reaches the other end of the basin. After disinfection, treated water can be discharged to several locations. During winter months water is discharged to Churn Creek if water levels in the creek are high enough. A dilution of 10:1 is required for discharge to the creek. Water going to Churn Creek must be de-chlorinated by the use of SO2 gas. The gas is added in the same way that chlorine is added. The SO2 solution is added just before the water leaves the plant and removes the chlorine. The SO2 is also used up in this process. During the summer months water goes to different locations. Most water goes to a 410 acre-foot reservoir where it is stored for later use. Water from the reservoir is used by the city to irrigate 60 acres of pastureland surrounding the treatment plant. At this time water is also supplied to a local fast food restaurant for landscape irrigation. Treated water is also pumped from the treatment plant to a nearby logging mill where it is used to spray log decks. In the future, it is hoped that the water will be used for other irrigation purposes such as golf courses and roadside landscape.
Tom Chism
Wastewater Treatment Superintendent
Email Tom Chism
3700 Tibbits Road
Wastewater Treatment Facility Upgrade Project
2012 Waste Discharge Report
2016-2026 Wastewater Master Plan (PDF)


Artists Share Tweet
Christina West
Born: United States
Christina West is a sculptor and educator based in Atlanta, where she is an Assistant Professor of Ceramics at Georgia State University. She earned her BFA at Siena Heights University (MI) in 2003, and her MFA at Alfred University (NY) in 2006.
West has exhibited in group and solo shows across the country in such venues as Hallwalls Contemporary Art Center (Buffalo, NY), the Bellevue Arts Museum (Bellevue, WA), the Bemis Center for Contemporary Art (Omaha, NE), and the Arizona State University Art Museum Ceramic Research Center (Tempe, AZ). Her work has been supported by grants and fellowships from the New York Foundation for the Arts, the Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts, the George Sugarman Foundation, and the Southeastern College Art Conference.
In an artist statement she writes:
"Insistently figurative and tightly rendered, [the] objects and installations [I make] result from merging notions of the private with the public and overlaying the serious with the playful. These figures, with their strange scale, unnatural colors, and bodies frozen mid-gesture, offer a space to play with assumptions and projections we place on other people and their bodies. This work begins with questions about the relationship of the exterior to the interior, the limits of what we can know about other people given that we never have direct access to their interiority, and how our physical encounters with spaces and with representations of bodies can affect perceptions of our own bodies."
http://cwestsculpture.com/
The Museum For Western New York Arts
In 1966, Charles Burchfield himself cut the ribbon to open the Burchfield Art Center, located inside Rockwell Hall at Buffalo State College. Today, the Burchfield Penney Art Center (renamed to honor donations from Charles Rand Penney) is the gateway to the campus.


China planning to draft regulation for e-commerce platforms: Report
Beijing Published: Mar 16, 2021, 09:48 AM(IST)
his file photo taken on October 30, 2020, shows the logo of the Alibaba Group outside the offices of the Ant Group, the financial arm of the Chinese e-commerce giant, in Hong Kong. Photograph:( AFP )
Chinese regulators had fined 12 tech firms including Tencent, Baidu and ByteDance for allegedly flouting monopoly rules.
According to China's state-run news agency Xinhua, regulators are planning to draft new rules for the country's e-commerce platforms.
Xinhua, quoting market regulators, said that the regulators will "adopt more powerful regulatory measures this year with a series of actions" to "standardise online deals, maintain fair competition and protect consumer rights".
The move comes as authorities reportedly took down nearly 234,000 examples of improper online sales information between October and December last year.
Chinese authorities recently cracked down on Alibaba even as its legendry founder Jack Ma had disappeared from public view for a few months until mid-January.
According to state broadcaster CCTV, President Xi Jinping chaired a meeting of the Communist party's top financial and coordination committee, ordering regulators to step up oversight of internet companies.
The financial regulators had earlier disallowed the $35 billion Hong Kong-Shanghai IPO of Alibaba's online payment subsidiary Ant Group. The Chinese officials had launched an investigation into Alibaba's business practices which it deemed as anti-competitive.
The Chinese market regulator reportedly denied they were planning to fine the company almost $1 billion for anti-competitive behaviour.
The country's regulators fined 12 tech firms including Tencent, Baidu and ByteDance for allegedly flouting monopoly rules.
Tencent was fined $77,000 for its 2018 investment in online education app Yuanfudao without reportedly seeking prior government approval.
Chinese premier Li Keqiang had said that the government would "strengthen anti-monopoly laws" and "prevent the disorderly expansion of capital".
The country had earlier announced plans to boost supervision of its lucrative fintech sector. Keqiang had asserted that there was a need to "manage financial risks and ensure that no systemic risks arise".
At least 17 killed, more than 50 injured by explosion in western Ghana


sports-car
Porsche 911 (992) Cabrio: Open 911 opens faster
Porsche 911 Cabrio (992)
Six weeks after the debut of the new Porsche 911 Coupé of type 992, the sports car manufacturer is now adding its convertible version. The Porsche 911 Cabrio, which is offered as Carrera S and Carrera 4S, naturally takes over the technology of the 9 11 coupés and the design language remains the same the open 911 very close to the closed brother.
A fully automatic fabric hood that is fitted with a fixed glass rear window as standard makes the 911 a convertible. Flat magnesium elements, so-called flat bows, are integrated into the top structure, which are intended to prevent the roof from inflating at high speeds. The convertible top can be opened or closed up to a speed of 50 km /h.
Thanks to the new hydraulics, the convertible top opens even faster.
The new roof hydraulics shorten the opening time to around twelve seconds, an electrically extendable wind deflector takes the storm off the neck. Newly positioned engine mounts are designed to provide more torsional rigidity. The overall line of the 911 Cabrio follows that of the 911 Coupé with the wider front section and the now always wide rear. The mixed tires with 20-inch rims at the front and 21-inch rims at the rear have also been adopted from the coupé.
Porsche 911 Cabrio with 450 hp
When it comes to the engine, Porsche also uses the current convertible 3.0 liter turbo boxer. For the time being, only the 450 hp and 530 Nm version will be used in the open 911. Power is transmitted by an eight-speed dual clutch transmission. In the Carrera S this ties in with rear-wheel drive, in the Carrera 4Sa four-wheel drive. The Carrera S accelerates from standstill to 100 km /h in 3.9 seconds (with the optional Sport Chrono Package: 3.7 s) and speeds up to 306 km /h. The Carrera 4S reaches a top speed of 304 km /h and accelerates to 100 km /h in 3.8 seconds (with the optional Sport Chrono Package: 3.6 s).
This is the first time on offer for the 911 Cabrio the sports suspension called Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM). In this case, the springs are harder and shorter, the anti-roll bars on the front and rear axles are stiffer, and the chassis has been lowered by ten millimeters.
911 Cabrio starts at 134,405 euros
In the Interior follows the cabriolet of course also the coupé specifications . The dashboard runs across the entire width between two horizontal wing levels. In addition to the centrally positioned rev counter, two thin, frameless free-form displays inform the driver. The central screen of Porsche Communication Management now measures 10.9 inches diagonally. The assistance system familiar from the coupé is also available for the convertible. A parking assistant with a reversing camera is standard equipment.
The new Porsche 911 convertible models can be ordered now. The 911 Carrera S Cabriolet costs from 134,405 euros, the 911 Carrera 4S Cabriolet is available from 142,259 euros. The convertible surcharge compared to the coupé is at least 14,000 euros.
Mercedes G 400d: more powerful diesel version comes in 2019
tech-future
Interview with Audi boss Bram Schot
commercial-vehicles
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Extend cell phone ban to tablets as well
ADAC test emergency brake assist: BMW and Volvo have problems


July 19, 2018 Kyiv
On Bald mountain in Kiev, found the grenade of times of the Second world
RGD-33 © Wikipedia
Since the beginning of the year in Kiev, found more than 800 such items.
On the territory of the tract Bald mountain in Kiev employees of gschs found explosive subject of times of the Second world war.
This was reported in the press center of the state service for emergency situations.
The staff of the First special center of rapid response and humanitarian mine action carry out routine inspection of Bald mountain in the Goloseevsky district, during which stumbled on a hand grenade RGD-33, which was used during the Second world war.
Ukraine for the first time started the serial production of ammunition for grenade launchers to NATO standards
The group of pyrotechnic works seized a grenade and destroyed at the landfill.
In SSES note that since the beginning of the year only the capital was found, removed and destroyed 856 units of various sizes of explosive devices that were used in combat during the Second world war.
We will remind, on Tuesday, July 17, at 08.00, in the village of Neresnytsya in Tyachiv district of Transcarpathia , law enforcement officers found a grenade launcher.
SSES
deployed
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"Obsval him and me": mother of Baloha told about the jailer, because of which her son had extended »


Laws About Slaves
21 "Now these are the (A)rules that you shall set before them. 2 (B)When you buy a Hebrew slave,[a] he shall serve six years, and in the seventh he shall go out free, for nothing. 3 If he comes in single, he shall go out single; if he comes in married, then his wife shall go out with him. 4 If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master's, and he shall go out alone. 5 But (C)if the slave plainly says, 'I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,' 6 then his master shall bring him to (D)God, and he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost. And his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall be his slave forever.
7 "When a man (E)sells his daughter as a slave, she shall not go out as the male slaves do. 8 If she does not please her master, who has designated her[b] for himself, then he shall let her be redeemed. He shall have no right to sell her to a foreign people, since he has broken faith with her. 9 If he designates her for his son, he shall deal with her as with a daughter. 10 If he takes another wife to himself, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, or (F)her marital rights. 11 And if he does not do these three things for her, she shall go out for nothing, without payment of money.
12 (G)"Whoever strikes a man so that he dies shall be put to death. 13 (H)But if he did not lie in wait for him, but God let him fall into his hand, then (I)I will appoint for you a place to which he may flee. 14 But if a man willfully attacks another to kill him by cunning, (J)you shall take him from my altar, that he may die.
15 "Whoever strikes his father or his mother shall be put to death.
16 (K)"Whoever steals a man and sells him, and anyone found (L)in possession of him, shall be put to death.
17 (M)"Whoever curses[c] his father or his mother shall be put to death.
18 "When men quarrel and one strikes the other with a stone or with his fist and the man does not die but takes to his bed, 19 then if the man rises again and walks outdoors with his staff, he who struck him shall be clear; only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall have him thoroughly healed.
20 "When a man strikes his slave, male or female, with a rod and the slave dies under his hand, he shall be avenged. 21 But if the slave survives a day or two, he is not to be avenged, for the (N)slave is his money.
22 "When men strive together and hit a pregnant woman, so that her children come out, but there is no harm, the one who hit her shall surely be fined, as the woman's husband shall impose on him, and (O)he shall pay as the (P)judges determine. 23 But if there is harm,[d] then you shall pay (Q)life for life, 24 (R)eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.
26 "When a man strikes the eye of his slave, male or female, and destroys it, he shall let the slave go free because of his eye. 27 If he knocks out the tooth of his slave, male or female, he shall let the slave go free because of his tooth.
28 "When an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the (S)ox shall be stoned, and its flesh shall not be eaten, but the owner of the ox shall not be liable. 29 But if the ox has been accustomed to gore in the past, and its owner has been warned but has not kept it in, and it kills a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned, and its owner also shall be put to death. 30 If (T)a ransom is imposed on him, then (U)he shall give for the redemption of his life whatever is imposed on him. 31 If it gores a man's son or daughter, he shall be dealt with according to this same rule. 32 If the ox gores a slave, male or female, the owner shall give to their master (V)thirty shekels[e] of silver, and (W)the ox shall be stoned.
Laws About Restitution
33 "When a man opens a pit, or when a man digs a pit and does not cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls into it, 34 the owner of the pit shall make restoration. He shall give money to its owner, and the dead beast shall be his.
35 "When one man's ox butts another's, so that it dies, then they shall sell the live ox and share its price, and the dead beast also they shall share. 36 Or if it is known that the ox has been accustomed to gore in the past, and its owner has not kept it in, he shall repay ox for ox, and the dead beast shall be his.
Exodus 21:2 Or servant; the Hebrew term 'ebed designates a range of social and economic roles; also verses 5, 6, 7, 20, 21, 26, 27, 32 (see Preface)
Exodus 21:8 Or so that he has not designated her
Exodus 21:17 Or dishonors; Septuagint reviles
Exodus 21:23 Or so that her children come out and it is clear who was to blame, he shall be fined as the woman's husband shall impose on him, and he alone shall pay. 23If it is unclear who was to blame…
Exodus 21:32 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams
Exodus 21:1 : ch. 24:3; Deut. 4:14; 6:1
Exodus 21:2 : Deut. 15:12; Jer. 34:14; See Lev. 25:39-41
Exodus 21:5 : Deut. 15:16, 17
Exodus 21:6 : [Ps. 82:6; John 10:34, 35]
Exodus 21:7 : Neh. 5:5
Exodus 21:10 : 1 Cor. 7:5
Exodus 21:12 : Gen. 9:6; Lev. 24:17; Num. 35:30, 31; [Matt. 26:52]
Exodus 21:13 : Deut. 19:4, 5; See Num. 35:22-25
Exodus 21:13 : Num. 35:11; Deut. 4:41-43; 19:2, 3; See Josh. 20:2-9
Exodus 21:14 : See 1 Kgs. 2:28-34
Exodus 21:16 : Deut. 24:7; 1 Tim. 1:10
Exodus 21:16 : ch. 22:4
Exodus 21:17 : Lev. 20:9; Deut. 27:16; Cited Matt. 15:4; Mark 7:10; [Prov. 20:20; 30:11]
Exodus 21:21 : [Lev. 25:45, 46]
Exodus 21:22 : [Deut. 22:18, 19]
Exodus 21:22 : [Job 31:11]
Exodus 21:23 : Deut. 19:21
Exodus 21:24 : Lev. 24:20; Deut. 19:21; Cited Matt. 5:38
Exodus 21:28 : Gen. 9:5
Exodus 21:30 : ch. 30:12; Num. 35:31, 32
Exodus 21:30 : [See ver. 22 above]; [Deut. 22:18, 19]
Exodus 21:32 : [Zech. 11:12, 13; Matt. 26:15]
Exodus 21:32 : [See ver. 28 above]; Gen. 9:5
ESV Value Compact Bible--soft leather-look, turquoise
ESV Journaling Bible, Interleaved Edition--Imitation leather with summer garden design


Hadley leads Dustin Johnson at Palmetto Championship
Photo by tyler hendy from Pexels
Chesson Hadley moved to the front of the pack with a five-under-par 66 on Friday, and a double bogey on No 18 prevented Dustin Johnson from sharing the lead with Hadley at midway point of the Palmetto Championship at Congaree.
Hadley sits at 11-under 131 through two rounds at Congaree Golf Club in Ridgeland, S.C., and Johnson in second at nine-under following a 68. Tain Lee is alone in third at seven-under in his third career PGA Tour start.
Johnson opted to tee off on the last hole with his three-iron, but the club slipped against his glove during his swing and his shot landed in a native area. He took an unplayable lie, and his next shot sailed over the green, bouncing off the base of the grandstand. He soon two-putted for the double.
Before that mishap, Johnson had carded six birdies and just one bogey. The World No 1 hails from South Carolina and is trying to nab his first PGA Tour win in his home state, where the tour is staging a one-year replacement event for the canceled Canadian Open.
"I'm pleased with the way I played," Johnson said. "Obviously, it's an unfortunate finish, just club slip. It happens. Again, got a little unlucky there not to at least have a swing at it.
"I'm still in a really good position leading into the weekend and still a lot of golf to play, but I feel like I'm playing really well. So got a lot of confidence in what I'm doing."
Hadley came out of his front nine 2 under par and added birdies on Nos 11, 15 and 18 to secure the 36-hole lead. It hasn't been Hadley's year: The 33-year-old North Carolina native has missed the cut at 12 of 18 events and has yet to see a top-10 finish.
"I didn't feel like I played great on Monday for the US Open qualifier, but even between now and then, I changed a few things," Hadley said. "So it's nice to hit some good shots, and the putter's hot. So if I can just keep riding the putter, she's a sweet girl."
Lee, ranked No 1 882 in the world, qualified for the tournament on Monday. He played just two other tour events this year, squeaking by to make the cut at the Farmers Insurance Open and the Valero Texas Open but never shooting a sub-70 round.
Lee piled up eight birdies, yet he was more concerned with how close he was to making cut than the leader.
"Today I was looking at the cut line all day," Lee said. "I was like, whenever the leaderboard popped up, I was looking at the cut line. I was trying to get as far away from that as possible. Whenever I looked over, the first page wasn't up, so I didn't know what was going on."
Lee wasn't the only unheralded golfer to make waves on the first two days. South Africa's Wilco Nienaber, a 21-year-old making his first PGA Tour start, shot consecutive rounds of 68 to join a six-way tie for fourth at six-under. A birdie-birdie-eagle stretch in the middle of his round shot him up to seven-under, briefly putting him in solo third.
Nienaber is leading the field in average driving distance at 361.1 yards.
Tied with Nienaber are fellow South African Erik van Rooyen, Ireland's Seamus Power, Harris English, Chez Reavie and Pat Perez.
First-round leader Wes Roach followed up his Thursday 64 with a dismal six-over 77 with zero birdies, plummeting 28 spots down the leaderboard.
Tags: chesson hadley golf
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Westneat
Ishisaka
McCleary roundup: What's up as lawmakers enter final four weeks of session
Originally published March 31, 2017 at 5:00 am Updated April 4, 2017 at 10:48 am
Pedestrians walk near the Legislative Building, Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2017, at the Capitol in Olympia. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
House Democrats unveil their proposed 2017-19 state budget, setting the stage for a McCleary debate that could last well into summer.
Neal Morton
As the Zags (finally) make their way to the Final Four, the Washington Legislature enters the final four weeks of its regular session, with many predicting at least one overtime period.
That means House and Senate budget writers will be working hard to find common ground in their tax-and-spending plans to finally resolve the landmark McCleary school-funding case.
But with the release of the Democrat-controlled House budget proposal this week, it's clear the two sides remain far apart.
Here's a roundup of the McCleary action over the past week:
Which spending plan do you think most adequately addresses Washington's school funding needs? Reply for "other." #waedu #waleg
— Education Lab (@educationlab) March 29, 2017
On Sunday, dozens of students pulled out their umbrellas as they marched under rainy skies in Olympia to demand lawmakers fully fund public schools.
With picket signs reading "Dollars = Scholars" and "Legislators: Do your job!" the students aimed to give themselves a voice, as the people most affected by the Legislature's failure to pay for an equitable public-school system.
"We shouldn't have to be advocates for education, but here we are," Olympia High School student Rachel Hodes told The Olympian.
we marched with SIGNS ! it was wild pic.twitter.com/Yp73tZuitX
— gracie (@poetinmyheart7) March 26, 2017
Their activism was followed Monday by House Democrats unveiling their proposed $44.6 billion operating budget for 2017-19.
The proposal includes $3 billion in new taxes on the wealthy and businesses, including a 7 percent tax on capital-gains earnings. Total spending on public education would top $7 billion over four years, with increased funding for early-learning programs and higher teacher salaries.
House Democrats rejected the Senate GOP's proposal to shift the burden of local school levies to a new statewide property tax. The GOP's proposal would lower tax rates for a majority of taxpayers but also lead to tax increases in high-cost areas, like Seattle and other parts of the Puget Sound.
Proposed 2017-19 WA state budgets:
– @GovInslee: $46.7B
– House Dems: $44.6B
– Senate GOP: $43B
Current two-year spending: $38.4B#waleg
— Joseph O'Sullivan (@OlympiaJoe) March 27, 2017
Gov. Jay Inslee, a Democrat, praised the House budget.
But Republicans almost immediately predicted budget debates would spill into a special session, especially after Democratic leaders said they won't pass their tax package until both sides reach agreement on a final budget.
"You can have no real negotiations until they show everything they want to do is more than just a spending list," Sen. John Braun, R-Centralia, told The Associated Press.
A hearing on the Democratic proposal is expected Friday on the House floor.
#waleg Day 80: drafting floor amendments for the House budget debate pic.twitter.com/u2JJ4nT88N
— Drew Stokesbary (@stokesbary) March 29, 2017
On Tuesday, the Washington Research Council released a comparison of the competing House and Senate budget proposals. And the council earlier in the week featured the "Little Legislation That Could," a House bill nearing passage in the Senate to offer school districts some relief in building new schools.
Also Tuesday, Chris Reykdal, state superintendent of public instruction, weighed in on the budget debate and urged lawmakers to think of the process as "much more than solving a court case."
The News Tribune, meanwhile, highlighted a notably missing piece in both the House and Senate's budget proposals: "a tax on carbon emissions championed by Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee."
Monday's news: House Dems unveil budget plan. @GovInslee's people: Why aren't u writing about our 4 month old proposal. #waleg pic.twitter.com/3g2JZjJKY6
— Melissa Santos (@MelissaSantos1) March 28, 2017
Neal Morton: nmorton@seattletimes.com or 206-464-3145. On Twitter @nealtmorton


Posted: May 3, 2012 - 1:00 am
(12:07 p.m.)An 18-year-old man faces weapon charges as a result of a search last night in Dartmouth by the HRP/RCMP Guns and Gangs Team. At approximately 10:50 p.m., officers assigned to the Guns and Gangs Team executed a search warrant at a residence on John Street. The search resulted in a sawed off shotgun and ammunition being seized. Tevin Pond was taken into custody without incident and is scheduled to appear in Dartmouth Provincial Court today on a series of weapons related charges including: Section 86(2) CCC - Unsafe Storage of a Firearm Section 88(1) CCC - Possession of a Weapon for a Dangerous Purpose Section 92(1) CCC - Unauthorized Possession of a Firearm Section 95 CCC - Possession of a Prohibited Firearm with Ammunition Section 108(1)(a) CCC - Tampering with a Serial Number on a Firearm He also faces an additional charge of breaching a court order.
© 2019 Halifax Regional Municipality. Content last modified May 3 2012.


Quirky gifts for past presidents
The president of Argentina gave George W. Bush 300 pounds of lamb meat
JFK received a carved peach pit in his likeness
A bowling alley was installed in the White House as a birthday gift to Truman
Next Article in Living »
By Scott Allen
(Mental Floss) -- President Barack Obama turns 48 on Tuesday. While the first family encourages you to send contributions to your favorite charity in lieu of the White House, if you insist on doing some last-minute birthday shopping for 44, you might consider a pair of jeans or a case of Bud Light. For some historical precedent, here's a look back at some of the more interesting presidential gifts.
Future president Barack Obama and his family blow out the candles on his birthday cake in 2004.
George W. Bush: Raw lamb
President Bush and his family received about 1,000 gifts per month during his two terms in office. Bush's haul included an iPod from U2 lead singer, Bono, "The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook" and vocabulary-building game from the Sultan of Brunei, and an electric harp with a speakerphone from Vietnam.
The most unusual gift Bush received may have been the 300 pounds of raw lamb meat from the president of Argentina in 2003. The lamb, like all gifts from overseas, was accepted by the Office of the President on behalf of the nation, and passed along to the General Services Administration. Most non-perishable gifts of state end up in presidential libraries or the National Archives.
Bill Clinton: Portraits -- on a carpet
We'll say this for President Heydar Aliyev's gift to President Clinton: It was unique. The president of Azerbaijan wanted his gift to be representative of Azerbaijani craftsmanship, so he called upon Kamil Aliyev, a renowned carpet portrait artist. Kamil Aliyev's design featured the first couple inside a heart-shaped medallion, the first double portrait he ever attempted.
"I wanted to convey their lives as one beating heart," he said. While Aliyev designed the carpet and dyed the yarn, 12 young women were employed to help complete the portrait in 10 weeks. Heydar Aliyev presented the carpet to the Clintons in August 1997.
George H.W. Bush: Komodo dragon
In 1990, the president of Indonesia presented a Komodo dragon to President Bush. Perhaps worried that the venomous, flesh-eating lizard wouldn't play nice with Millie, the first dog, Bush donated the dragon, named Naga, to the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden. Naga, who sired 32 offspring, died of an abdominal infection at the age of 24 in 2007. During his stay in Cincinnati, Naga was a star attraction, drawing about one million visits each year. Mental Floss: The bizarre history of White House pets
Ronald Reagan: Embroidered saddle
President Reagan, who was gifted 372 belt buckles while in office, also received enough tacking equipment during his time in Washington to outfit an entire stable.
Mental Floss: A brief history of presidential vacations
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Jimmy Carter: Metamorphic portrait
Mexican President Jose Lopez Portillo commissioned Octavio Ocampo to paint a portrait of President Carter in Ocampo's trademark metamorphic style, which juxtaposes various images within a larger image to create an optical illusion.
Carter's image in the portrait is created out of national symbols, including buildings, flags, sailing ships, and truck convoys. Portillo presented the portrait to Carter in 1979.
Richard Nixon: Edible portraits
A Pakistani man's gift to President Nixon required an unusual accessory to fully appreciate. S. Nabi Ahmed Rizvi provided a magnifying glass inside a plush blue velvet box, along with two snapshots of himself and two grains of rice. One grain of rice featured a portrait of Nixon as president; the other featured a portrait of a young Nixon in the Navy. The gift was displayed as part of the National Portrait Gallery's "To the President: Folk Portraits by the People" exhibit.
John F. Kennedy: Carved peach pit
What better way to show your president you admire him than by carving his likeness into a peach pit? R.J. McErlean's remarkable ode to JFK features a portrait of Kennedy and the inscription "President John F. Kennedy of the United States." An eagle on a shield is carved on the left side of the pit, above a depiction of Saint Christopher.
Harry S. Truman: Bowling alley
A two-lane bowling alley was installed in the White House in 1947 as a birthday gift to President Truman. No matter that he hadn't bowled since he was 19, Truman knocked down seven pins on the first roll at the alley, which was paid for by donors from Truman's home state of Missouri and moved to the Old Executive Office Building in 1955.
Truman didn't use the alley much himself - he was more of a poker player -- but the addition was a big hit with Truman's staff, some of whom formed a bowling league. Mental Floss: The White House lanes and other famous bowling alleys
Franklin D. Roosevelt: A giant cake
The birthday cake presented to FDR on the occasion of his 59th birthday was 5 feet high and weighed 300 pounds. The cake was a gift of the Bakery and Confectionary Workers International Union of America. Along with the cake, the union donated $500 to FDR's "Fight Infantile-Paralysis" campaign.
Rutherford B. Hayes: Carved lemon
When life gives you lemons, make pigs. A lemon carved to look like a pig was presented to President Hayes and later featured in an exhibit at the Herbert Hoover presidential library titled, "Weird and Wonderful: Gifts Fit For a President." Museum director Richard N. Smith said at the time, "It looks a little like you'd expect a 110-year-old lemon to look." While she may or may not have been the inspiration for the bizarre gift, Hayes' wife, Lucy, was nicknamed "Lemonade Lucy" because she banned alcoholic beverages at state functions.
Abraham Lincoln: Clothes
While he donated most of the wine and liquor he received to military hospitals, President Lincoln made good use of many of the other gifts showered upon him throughout his presidency. He was inaugurated in a suit donated by Titsworth and Brothers of Chicago, and, according to Lincoln scholar Harold Holzer, is reported to have told his wife, "There is one thing to come out of this scrape anyhow. We are going to have some new clothes!"
Thomas Jefferson: Cheese
One of the earliest recorded gifts of state was the mammoth cheese presented to President Jefferson by the Republican Baptists in Cheshire, Massachusetts, in 1802. To celebrate Jefferson's election, town elder John Leland inspired his Baptist congregation to manufacture a 1,235-pound cheese to give to the president.
When it was finished, the cheese was filled with milk from the town's cows, save for those owned by the hated Federalists. The cheese was inscribed with the phrase "Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God" and presented to Jefferson after a month-long journey to Washington on New Year's Day 1802. Jefferson, who had a policy not to accept free gifts, insisted that he pay $200 for the cheese. Mental Floss: The maggot cheese of the Mediterranean
George Washington: A federal holiday
In 1880, Congress created "Washington's Birthday," the first federal holiday to honor an American-born citizen. The holiday was celebrated on February 22 until 1968, when Congress moved it from its fixed day to the third Monday in February as part of the Uniform Monday Holidays Act.
For more mental_floss articles, visit mentalfloss.com
Entire contents of this article copyright, Mental Floss LLC. All rights reserved.
Senators 'troubled' after Rice meeting Bergen: Senseless Benghazi obsession


B&Q urgently recall remote control plug set due to fire risk
Customers have been told to stop using the product immediately
Sarah Curran
Updated 14:09, 18 DEC 2017
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Retail store B&Q are urgently recalling best selling plug socket sets because of a serious fire risk.
Customers who bought twin or triple remote control on/off sets have been urged to stop using them immediately and take them back to the store for a refund.
The sets are extremely popular at Christmas time when many people use them for Christmas trees and lights.
Harrowing new details emerge as inquest into Hawe family murders commences
The recall notice states:
"B&Q has identified a potential fire risk with REMOTE CONTROL ON/OFF SETS , which have shown excessive heat build-up in the plug of some units. B&Q have taken the decision to recall the products as in some circumstances, items in contact with the product could ignite.
"If you have purchased these products please stop using it immediately. The products were on sale between September 2014 and November 2017."
Limerick family with three young kids facing Christmas in a tent
The products being recalled were on sale between September 2014 and November 2017.
Remote control on/off set twin - barcode 5052931395033
Remote control on/off set triple - barcode 4895130705675
If you have purchased this product please switch off at the wall and return it any B&Q store where a refund to the value of your purchase will be given.
For any queries, please contact the B&Q helpline on 1800 946 327
Monday to Friday 8.30am to 8.00pm, Saturday 9.00am to 5.00pm and Sunday 10.00am to 4.00pm
Social welfare Ireland: Thousands of people are eligible for a monthly cash boost towards bills
In the midst of the ongoing cost of living crisis, many households are struggling with the expense of electricity and gas bills - but luckily there is help out there
Social welfare Ireland: Certain workers could claim extra cash boost of up to €308 a week
Many people may not be aware that they could be eligible to claim Jobseeker's Benefit on top of their wages if their working week has been reduced by their employer


Kaskade Files Lawsuit Against Palms Casino Over Canceled KAOS Concerts
12/10/2019 by Chris Eggertsen
Mark Owens
The DJ is accusing FP Holdings of failing to pay out the remainder of his contract following the club's closure.
Kaskade wants Las Vegas' Palms Resort Casino to pay up.
In a breach of contract suit filed Dec. 4 in U.S. District Court in Nevada, the globally-renowned DJ (aka Ryan Raddon) and Big City Dynasty accuse F.P. Holdings, a limited partnership connected to Palm's parent company Red Rocks Resorts Inc., of failing to pay out the remainder of his contract after closing down its KAOS nightclub last month. He had been scheduled to perform at the venue through the end of 2020.
"It is almost hard to imagine a more straightforward breach of contract claim than this one," wrote attorney Alex Fugazzi with firm Snell and Wilmer LLP in the opening of the the civil complaint. It goes on to note that FP's contractual obligations to pay Raddon for the remainder of his performances are "clear and unambiguous."
The contract, which was signed in January 2018 by Big City and FP, provided that Raddon perform a total of 30 shows at the Palms in 2019 and an additional 30 in 2020. A 31st show for 2019 was negotiated later.
The complaint states that Raddon performed all of his scheduled performances during the first nine months of 2019 and received full payment for them. But in August, FP canceled all three of Raddon's performances in October 2019, claiming KAOS would be undergoing renovations.
FP ultimately paid Raddon for the October performances, after which he suggested several alternative dates. Not only did FP not respond to those suggestions, the suit alleges, but since announcing KAOS' "indefinite" closure it has failed to pay him for the remainder of his performances, including a total of seven in 2019 (including shows scheduled for Nov. 8, 16 and 23) and another 30 in 2020. The complaint notes that FP's failure to provide a "suitable" alternative venue to host the remaining shows means the company now owes him full payment for the remainder of his contract (the actual amount of which has been redacted in the version of the suit obtained by Billboard).
Raddon gave written notice to FP that it had breached their agreement in a letter dated Nov. 13, though the complaint alleges the company has not yet acknowledged the notice or taken steps to rectify it. Raddon effectively terminated the agreement on Dec. 3, which he claims he is entitled to do under terms that allow the non-breaching party to immediately terminate the agreement if a "substantial breach of material conditions" is not rectified within five business days of receiving written notification of the breach, or before the next performance.
The plaintiffs are asking for compensatory damages for the remaining performances plus pre- and post-judgment interest, along with attorneys' fees and other costs and expenses incurred in the suit.
In a statement emailed to Billlboard, a representative for FP Holdings owner Red Rock Resorts wrote, "As a standard practice, Red Rock Resorts, Inc. does not comment on pending litigation."
This is the second lawsuit brought against a Palms-affiliated company in as many months. A day after KAOS' closure was announced, a class-action suit was filed by cocktail waitress Alyssa Faulstick against Palms owners Station Casinos and Red Rock Resorts, alleging the club failed to give she and other KAOS staff members at least 60 days' notice of their termination, which is a violation of federal labor law.
Kaskade isn't the only DJ affected by the closure. In September, both Marshmello and Skrillex abruptly ended their KAOS residencies. The former had signed a reported $60 million, two-year contract with the club back in March.
The Palms has also seen several top executives depart over the last few months. These include vp and GM Jon Gray; vp creative strategy Ronn Nicolli; senior vp nightlife, daylife and events Ryan Craig; and co-managing directors of social experience Cy and Jesse Waits.
KAOS opened for business in April as part of a $690 million Palms redevelopment project. In a statement announcing the club's closing, Michael Britt, senior vp government relations and corporate communications for Red Rock Resorts Inc., released a statement noting that the "entertainment and fixed cost structure associated with Kaos" had proven to be a challenge for the hotel-casino.


Grafik-Atelier Baumeister / Gütersloh
Musik für Millionen. Irving Berlin. Ein musikalisches Portrait zum 100. Geburtstag des amerikanischen Komponisten
Club Edition
Pop/ Rock, Jazz
There's No Business Like Showbusiness. From The Musical Production "Annie Get Your Gun".
Bing Crosby / The Andrew Sisters & Dick Haymes
Berlin, Irving
Let's Face The Music And Dance. From The RKO-Movie "Follow The Fleet".
Puttin' On The Ritz. From The Movie "Puttin On The Ritz".
Cheek To Cheek. From The RKO-Movie "Top Hat".
Astaire, Fred
A Pretty Girl Is Like A Melody. From The Revue "The Ziegfield Follies Of 1919".
Martin, Tony
Guy Lombardo And His Royal Canadians
Alexander's Ragtime Band
Al Jolson & Bing Crosby
Orch./Choir/Ensemble
Morris Stoloff's Orchestra
How Deep Is The Ocean
The Girl That I Marry. From The Musical "Annie Get Your Gun".
Haymes, Dick
Play A Simple Melody. From The Revue "Watch Your Step".
Bing & Gary Crosby
Matty Matlock's Orchestra
Russian Lullaby. From The Movie "Blue Skies", 1946.
Armstrong, Louis
Blue Skies. From The Musical "Betsy", 1926.
Easter Parade. From The Revue "As Thousands Cheer".
Marie. From The Movie "The Awakening".
The Song Is Ended (But The Melody Lingers On)
Louis Armstrong & The Mills Brothers
White Christmas. From The Movie "Holiday Inn".
Bing Crosby / The Ken Darby Singers


Save Time Crossing The Border!
See Current Wait Times
As a binational and multi-cultural exchange center, the Paso Del Norte region experiences significant influx of pedestrians, personal and commercial vehicles at the El Paso, Tornillo and Santa Teresa Ports of Entry. In 2018, northbound border crossings at Bridge of the Americas, Paso Del Norte and Ysleta-Zaragoza saw a daily average of 35,819 passenger vehicles (13.074 million annual), 19,787 pedestrians (7.222 million annual) and 2,594 commercial vehicles (811,868 annual).
To help commuters and commercial drivers manage travel routes and departure times, the International Bridges Steering Committee developed this website to provide real-time data and video of the six border crossings in the Paso del Norte region. If you have a bridge status update that isn't listed on the website, please submit it via the submission box, and if approved, the update will be shared through the PDN Uno Facebook and Twitter accounts.
Want updates while on the run? Users can also opt-in for text message updates on border crossing status. Standard text message rates apply.
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El Paso Ports of Entry Northbound Daily Averages (2018)