"I want to explore." Such was the sign-off from the previous Diary,
as about half the Formula One paddock settled for a couple of days in
Austin, Texas, the sport's new favourite city. I wrote that
approximately 10 minutes before receiving an email containing more than
100 pages of Autocourse, for proof-reading purposes. There are some
fantastic natural parks nearby – plus Texas State Zoo, and wildlife is
always a handy complement for the photographically obsessed – but such
things have to be ignored due to a familiar irritant known as deadlines.
We switch from our suburban hotel to a more central location,
so I manage to see a little more of Austin, but the time passes quickly
in an editorial haze and the voyage of discovery is limited mostly to
Mexican restaurants.
Tony flies out on Tuesday evening, from
Austin to Atlanta, thence Brasilia and S?o Paulo, which leaves him time
to attend Jenson Button's annual media supper – a regular and generous
fixture. Mark and I miss out by staying on for an extra day, but a
direct flight from Houston simplifies our itinerary. We allow five hours
for a drive that should take little more than two, but the extra time
proves invaluable because most of America seems to be on Texas Highway
71.This is my favourite sites to purchase those special pieces of buy mosaic
materials from. The journey's gentle pace allows time to contemplate
more terrain I'd like to know better.We recently added Stained glass mosaic Tile to our inventory.
It's
almost lunchtime when we land and my case reaches the carousel with its
security straps unravelled. Inside there's a charmless note from US
Homeland Security, explaining that it was chosen for a random search and
that they do not consider themselves liable for any damage done.
Nothing is broken, but carefully packed contents have been thrown back
in without a moment's thought and I'm lucky that some things – spare
diabetic kit, for instance – have not been squashed.
For once we
opt not to turn up at the circuit on a Thursday: most media briefings
take place during the morning, to accommodate Europe, so our time can be
spent just as profitably at hotel desk and keyboard. Tony is in the
room when we arrive and it's a comfortably sized triple. Funny that: we
used to book the same place through an agency and were told we could
only choose the rather more expensive option of three singles, because
twins and triples didn't exist. The internet betrays many a useful
secret.
In terms of distance Interlagos should be about 25
minutes from our hotel, but the S?o Paulo rush hour (there are about 20
of these per weekday, on average) converts that to 75. It always feels
nice to reach the circuit's inner hub, although the grubby perimeter
ought to be safe enough as it's absolutely teeming with armed police.
For the first practice day there are probably as many of them as there
are paying spectators.
It might be my final weekend as a
full-time grand prix correspondent, but it feels like any other and I
spend the first day outside. Many parts of central S?o Paulo owe their
architectural conception to the 21st century, but Interlagos is trapped
in about 1974. It has less corporate fluff than other F1 hosts, its core
components being cars and a damned fine circuit layout. Parts of it are
a bit like a nature reserve, with a vivid array of birdlife flitting
around even when engines scream past at 18,000rpm. The local burrowing
owls sometimes even perch on the guardrail to watch. It lacks modern
trappings such as access roads, so to obtain photographic vantage points
you have to scale crumbling banks, clamber over (or duck beneath)
scaffolding and avoid open sewage drains.Installers and distributors of solar panel,
The paddock is an anachronism, too, a cramped hangover from the days
when grand prix teams had a dozen employees rather than several hundred.
We leave fairly early, in order to hail a taxi while it's still
light, the only drawback being that there aren't any. So we're standing
there for 25 minutes,We mainly supply professional craftspeople with crys talbeads wholesale
shamballa Bracele , computer bags highly visible in a city where you're
told not to wear watches or jewellery, before a Chevrolet Corsa finally
rumbles into sight. It's never a particularly comfortable feeling, even
with a phalanx of pistol-packing policemen across the road, but it's
one to which we've become accustomed in time. And taxi supply usually
improves during the weekend's course.
The same sinister ambience
tends to restrict our eating habits. A mall close to the hotel contains
an endless array of furniture shops and one spectacularly good Italian:
it closes at 9pm, oddly, but there's ample time for spinach ravioli and
a bottle of Argentinean white. When in Brazil...
The working
week's bustle subsides. Our early cab ride lasts little more than 20
minutes and guides us to the hub of the police whistle philharmonic's
aggressive symphony, part of the morning routine by Interlagos's main
gate.
It's possible that the final practice session will be the
last I spend trackside here: for all its good points, the Interlagos
hassle factor means this isn't a race to which I'll necessarily return.
You never know, though, because there aren't many better places to watch
F1 cars. This includes the inside of Turn 15, the final kink onto the
pit straight. There is no debris fencing and marshals allow you stand
right behind a barrier, so you're a matter of inches from the cars as
they zip by at 180-odd mph on the other side. Wonderful.
Lewis
Hamilton takes pole position by half a tenth from Jenson Button, with
the Red Bulls of Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel third and fourth. If
he finishes there, or better, the German will be world champion,
irrespective of other results. Fernando Alonso is an in-touch seventh,
but needs to finish in the top three (and hope Vettel is kidnapped by
aliens) if he's to have any chance of the title – a tough assignment,
but not insuperable.
During the afternoon, the media assembles
in the Red Bull office – to await Vettel – when Webber strolls in.
"Bloody hell," he says, "I come to get a quiet bite to eat and you lot
are here." He then spots me and wanders over to ask how Mrs A's cancer
treatment is progressing. When I later relay news of his touching
enquiry, it creates an instant feelgood factor back home. The Australian
could be forgiven for having other things on his mind,Our technology
gives rtls
systems developers the ability. but he's a class act: dealing with
people like him on a fortnightly basis is something I'll miss.
Mark,
Tony and I subsequently head back to town and the Italian: Tony is
hoping to leave on Sunday evening – although he tried that once before
in Brazil, in 2003, and remained trapped in S?o Paulo until Wednesday
after missing his flight. This is the last evening meal we'll share as
permanent travelling companions (for now, at least) and they kindly pick
up my share of the tab.
2012年11月28日 星期三
Why direct cash transfer shouldn’t be used to kill the PDS
If we are willing to believe the best practice examples of cash
transfers from Brazil and Philippines, and trust the UPA on the fact
that their cash-for-subsidy is going to be all hunky-dory, we also have a
right to believe Sitaram Yechury’s concerns about the fancy plan.
According to the CPM leader, the cash transfer is a ploy by the government to dismantle the PDS and systematically reduce subsidies.
“This is to cover up for reducing the subsidies. As inflation continues to grow, the value of cash subsidies keeps dropping. That is in effect the most efficient way of reducing subsidies without saying so,” he said on Tuesday.
We should certainly be suspicious over the UPA planners’ alleged efforts to reduce fiscal deficit at the cost of 400 million destitute people of the country because they had earlier tried to cheat us on the number of poor in the country.We recently added Stained glass mosaic Tile to our inventory.
Learning from World Bank/ADB documents, case studies and mathematical models, they also seem to believe in techno-fixes and targeting, while the real results in the field come from radically different approaches.
Yechury’s worry about the dismantling of the PDS, is a case in point, although the UPA’s cash roll-out doesn’t include it in the initial phase. Despite all the pitfalls and leakages, what the CPM and Left-leaning development specialists have been arguing for is increased coverage and a universal system – that enables everyone to access PDS-goods – as opposed to the government’s efforts at weaning people away.
Conventional wisdom, borrowed knowledge and cold numbers certainly make this sound illogical – why should undeserving people be eligible? Why should the government keep adding to its deficit by subsidising the non-poor? In addition, the government believes that by giving cash, instead of rice and wheat, they will remove all the ills of the system such as leakages and inferior goods in one stroke.
They point out that many states such as Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Orissa, and Rajasthan have moved towards a near-universal PDS, at least in rural areas.
“This approach has helped to not only avoid exclusion errors but also ensure that the PDS works: a more inclusive PDS is under much greater pressure to function,” they said.
In other words, while the UPA mandarins advocate for targeting and exclusion, the states, which are directly responsible for people’s welfare,High quality stone mosaic tiles. have moved in the opposite direction and have shown results. The efficiency of the system also has improved considerably.
As the authors point out, exclusion errors are massive and targeting is divisive. Taking the PDS benefits as an implicit income transfer, they show how universlised PDS impacts rural poverty – reducing it from 40 percent in some states to 15 percent in others. Other than the transfer-benefits, they also have stablisation-benefits, wherein the PDS-supplies act as an additional income and helps stabilise their lives.
The question is as the cash-transfer is implemented in over 600 districts in the country, what will happen to the mammoth PDS network? If people are mandatorily given cash instead of PDS goods, will the PDS network, that too after the recent fortification by responsible state governments, close down? Will the cash and PDS regime co-exist?
It will certainly kill our age-old PDS and its nearly 500,000 fair price shops. With all its defects such as bogus cards, inferior goods replacing original supplies, cheating and pilferage, it has been a proven lifeline for tens of millions of people in India.High quality stone mosaic tiles. In states such as Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Arunachal Pradesh, their scope has gone much beyond what central planners can even think of.
By the logic of the task force on subsidies: “A subsidy, by its very nature, introduces two or more prices for the same good, and creates incentives for pilferage and diversion. As a result, the underprivileged suffer the most. Ensuring that goods move in the supply chain at market prices can minimize the incentives for diversion.Our technology gives rtls systems developers the ability.”
The cat is out of the bag here. Effectively, with the meagre cash transferred to them through their Aadhaar accounts, people shun the PDS and go to supermarkets to buy their supplies. Instead of a 35 kg rice at an extremely fair price from a location that they have been quite familiar with, will they have to now buy 35 kg rice from the market? And what if inflation prices the commodities out of their reach?
As some pointed out, PDS is socialist and cash-transfer neo-liberal. While PDS tries to equitably distribute, the cash scheme seeks to bring the bottom of the pyramid into the market. Millions of poor will become consumers; but what one doesn’t realise at the moment, is what Yechury has pointed out – inflation will erode the value of the transfers. Soon, one will see the poor cash-transfer beneficiary clutching a few hundred rupees going hungry and under-fed.
One also has to read the new policy along with the government’s push for FDI in retail. FDI in retail will certainly translate into more retail shops, which needs more customers. By converting 400 million poor into new retail customers, the government is doing a great favour to the retailers.
Dismantling social safety-net infrastructure and replacing it with neo-liberal models, citing efficiency and quality, is a trend that needs to be strongly opposed. Over the last few years, the governments’ withdrawal from the social sector, particularly education and health, have spelt disaster.
The problem with PDS is bad governance.Find detailed product information for Low price howo tipper truck and other products. Better governed states (Tamil Nadu, Kerala) have better PDS and better welfare measures. Applying uniform yardsticks for a country, socio-economically as diverse as India is fraught with huge risks. One could hope that the states will ensure that the PDS-networks stay and get better.
According to the CPM leader, the cash transfer is a ploy by the government to dismantle the PDS and systematically reduce subsidies.
“This is to cover up for reducing the subsidies. As inflation continues to grow, the value of cash subsidies keeps dropping. That is in effect the most efficient way of reducing subsidies without saying so,” he said on Tuesday.
We should certainly be suspicious over the UPA planners’ alleged efforts to reduce fiscal deficit at the cost of 400 million destitute people of the country because they had earlier tried to cheat us on the number of poor in the country.We recently added Stained glass mosaic Tile to our inventory.
Learning from World Bank/ADB documents, case studies and mathematical models, they also seem to believe in techno-fixes and targeting, while the real results in the field come from radically different approaches.
Yechury’s worry about the dismantling of the PDS, is a case in point, although the UPA’s cash roll-out doesn’t include it in the initial phase. Despite all the pitfalls and leakages, what the CPM and Left-leaning development specialists have been arguing for is increased coverage and a universal system – that enables everyone to access PDS-goods – as opposed to the government’s efforts at weaning people away.
Conventional wisdom, borrowed knowledge and cold numbers certainly make this sound illogical – why should undeserving people be eligible? Why should the government keep adding to its deficit by subsidising the non-poor? In addition, the government believes that by giving cash, instead of rice and wheat, they will remove all the ills of the system such as leakages and inferior goods in one stroke.
They point out that many states such as Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Orissa, and Rajasthan have moved towards a near-universal PDS, at least in rural areas.
“This approach has helped to not only avoid exclusion errors but also ensure that the PDS works: a more inclusive PDS is under much greater pressure to function,” they said.
In other words, while the UPA mandarins advocate for targeting and exclusion, the states, which are directly responsible for people’s welfare,High quality stone mosaic tiles. have moved in the opposite direction and have shown results. The efficiency of the system also has improved considerably.
As the authors point out, exclusion errors are massive and targeting is divisive. Taking the PDS benefits as an implicit income transfer, they show how universlised PDS impacts rural poverty – reducing it from 40 percent in some states to 15 percent in others. Other than the transfer-benefits, they also have stablisation-benefits, wherein the PDS-supplies act as an additional income and helps stabilise their lives.
The question is as the cash-transfer is implemented in over 600 districts in the country, what will happen to the mammoth PDS network? If people are mandatorily given cash instead of PDS goods, will the PDS network, that too after the recent fortification by responsible state governments, close down? Will the cash and PDS regime co-exist?
It will certainly kill our age-old PDS and its nearly 500,000 fair price shops. With all its defects such as bogus cards, inferior goods replacing original supplies, cheating and pilferage, it has been a proven lifeline for tens of millions of people in India.High quality stone mosaic tiles. In states such as Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Arunachal Pradesh, their scope has gone much beyond what central planners can even think of.
By the logic of the task force on subsidies: “A subsidy, by its very nature, introduces two or more prices for the same good, and creates incentives for pilferage and diversion. As a result, the underprivileged suffer the most. Ensuring that goods move in the supply chain at market prices can minimize the incentives for diversion.Our technology gives rtls systems developers the ability.”
The cat is out of the bag here. Effectively, with the meagre cash transferred to them through their Aadhaar accounts, people shun the PDS and go to supermarkets to buy their supplies. Instead of a 35 kg rice at an extremely fair price from a location that they have been quite familiar with, will they have to now buy 35 kg rice from the market? And what if inflation prices the commodities out of their reach?
As some pointed out, PDS is socialist and cash-transfer neo-liberal. While PDS tries to equitably distribute, the cash scheme seeks to bring the bottom of the pyramid into the market. Millions of poor will become consumers; but what one doesn’t realise at the moment, is what Yechury has pointed out – inflation will erode the value of the transfers. Soon, one will see the poor cash-transfer beneficiary clutching a few hundred rupees going hungry and under-fed.
One also has to read the new policy along with the government’s push for FDI in retail. FDI in retail will certainly translate into more retail shops, which needs more customers. By converting 400 million poor into new retail customers, the government is doing a great favour to the retailers.
Dismantling social safety-net infrastructure and replacing it with neo-liberal models, citing efficiency and quality, is a trend that needs to be strongly opposed. Over the last few years, the governments’ withdrawal from the social sector, particularly education and health, have spelt disaster.
The problem with PDS is bad governance.Find detailed product information for Low price howo tipper truck and other products. Better governed states (Tamil Nadu, Kerala) have better PDS and better welfare measures. Applying uniform yardsticks for a country, socio-economically as diverse as India is fraught with huge risks. One could hope that the states will ensure that the PDS-networks stay and get better.
Low-Rent Horror Wastes Time
The story is ... well, you tell me. Oh yeah, you didn't see it. Don't
worry. I actually watched the darn thing and still can't tell exactly
what it was about. There was a group of friends, a psychic, a horror
house, a ghost hunter, some sort of demon and Cory Feldman smoking what
I'm pretty sure was an electric cigarette. That's about as helpful as I
can be. Sorry.
Speaking of Feldman, he seems to be one of the big selling points of this feature,High quality stone mosaic tiles. out this week on DVD, but he's in the movie for maybe 10 minutes. And I'm not saying anyone expects Feldman to make "Goodfellas," but even he should make better crap than this.
The rest of the cast is a bunch of unknowns who I don't think will be making names for themselves anytime soon. They're not terrible, but who could actually make this incomprehensible script work anyway? Why did this thing earn a green light?
I'll tell you why: Parts of "Hell" are shot on location at a real Halloween attraction in Pennsylvania called the Hotel of Horror, and the movie is an obvious selling pitch for the attraction. It's a pretty lame excuse to make a pretty lame movie.
The saddest part is, however, that the gimmick could've worked. The last third of the movie takes place in the Hotel of Horror and has people running around not knowing what's real and what's not. It provided laughs and actual scares.
And hence, the film's biggest mistake: "Hell" ends with Feldman's character ready to enter the hotel, and I kept wondering why this wasn't the opening to the film. With Feldman in the lead and the whole movie taking place inside the real attraction, we could've been up for some real scares and some tongue in cheek moments.
Although Google is known for being a search engine, it makes most of its money from selling advertising across all of its products.
In October it said that it had made $2.High quality stone mosaic tiles.18billion (1.36billion) in profits in the third quarter of the year.
But that was a drop of 20 per cent from the year before, so the ability to target adverts as precisely as possible at users is increasingly important.
Marketers know that recommendations from a real person, ideally a friend, is much more valuable than an advertisement or a recommendation from someone you don't know.
But anonymity and the right to use nicknames, or 'handles', is important to web users.
You can add a married name to your Google+ profile, or if you have a nickname that you are well known by and have a 'significant' online following, you can use that.
But you have to prove to Google that you are that person by providing scanned documents or links to your online persona.
Mobile data specialist Christian Payne said: 'This is just another data extraction technique. Google+, like Facebook, isn't free. You pay for it with your identity. And they sell it on.'
Payne was one of the early victims of Google's insistence that users of the social network use their real names.
Widely known on the web as Documentally, Payne was thrown off Google+ last year. He said at the time: 'It's not that I don't want to put my real name in. It's just that more people know me as Documentally than Christian Payne.'
The search giant relented and Payne returned to the network, where his profile is Christian 'Documentally' Payne.
"It's incredibly expensive to transport a person to or from the continent, and in the middle of winter, it's physically impossible to get people off of the South Pole," Dr. Scott Parazynski, director and chief medical officer of UTMB's Center for Polar Medical Operations, said in a statement. "So if you can remotely diagnose and treat the patient, and then supervise his or her care, you're much better off."
UTMB provides remote medical support to three U.S. research outposts in Antarctica, where temperatures reach 76 degrees below zero.
They include McMurdo Station, which houses more than 1,200 people. A hospital at that location employs physicians, nurses and staff aids.A specialized manufacturer and supplier of dry cabinet, UTMB also runs telemedicine sessions at Amundsen-Scott South Pole (ASP) station, Palmer Station and two Antarctic research vessels.
The remote consultations aid the work of on-site medical professionals, which are called "doctors on ice." Connecting to doctors that specialize in certain medical conditions is essential to ensuring the best health outcomes for patients in remote and harsh environments, Emerson suggested.
UTMB has directed cardiological ultrasounds and emergency appendectomies over the Polycom video system. Doctors can also use electronic stethoscopes to listen to heart and lung sounds, rely on handheld cameras to show lesions, and use ophthalmoscopes to provide a view of the eyes, said Emerson.
"Polycom's standards-based video technologies allow medical devices including
cardiac ultrasounds to be easily plugged into them so the images can be
transferred through the video feed from any location," he said.
A doctor in Galveston, Texas, could view a live stream of a patient's cardiac ultrasound taking place at the South Pole, Emerson explained.
In August a cardiologist was able to remotely direct a cardiac ultrasound to save a patient's life.
"We're not set up to do general anesthesia and surgery, but this was a notable exception," said Parazynski.High quality stone mosaic tiles. "We were lucky to have a surgeon there and to be able to direct the anesthesia over the Polycom video system; it was pretty remarkable."
President Morsi insists his powers are temporary, and his spokesmen have insisted he has had little choice but to work around judges who are holdovers from the Mubarak area that stood in the way of a new constitution. They say he won the presidency fair and square, and should be given time to lead Egypt in a new direction.
But human history has far more examples of extraordinary powers "briefly" assumed that stretched into various authoritarianisms than of those used to create democracies. And the Muslim Brotherhood and Morsi are busy cutting deals with the institutions of Mubarak's state – his still politically powerful military and various ministries – to cement their power. Most of the so-called liberals who were in the constitutional assembly (the body that is supposed to draft a new constitution) walked off the job, claiming that Islamists were simply ignoring them.
Now, large swathes of Egyptian's judiciary are promising to go on strike in protest of Morsi's actions. The judges, like many appointed bureaucrats from the Mubarak era, have had far more input into politics lately than opposition politicians or the public, and so may get somewhere, though the battle lines are hardening.
The president was reacting to real problems when he immunized his decisions and the Constituent Assembly from judicial oversight. The Brotherhood had been heavy-handed in picking the Constituent Assembly, but it did so fully within the rules drafted last year. And it is not clear that the opposition would have been satisfied with any compromise over the composition of the body or its work. The Brotherhood’s complaint — that many critics were averse to allowing election results to have any impact on the document or its authors — is firmly grounded.
Morsy’s defense of his moves as designed to support democracy unfortunately recall the remark attributed to an American soldier during the Vietnam War: “It became necessary to destroy the town to save it.”... But while the crisis is not fully a product of the actors’ intentions, Egyptians will not find a path forward unless their leaders find within themselves an intention to resolve their differences through compromise. The constitutional process is badly broken, but it can still be repaired.
Morsi has insisted, for now, that he's not going to change course. And that potentially puts Egypt on an even more dangerous path. While the Brotherhood told its supporters to stay off the streets during yesterday's big anti-Morsi protests, in order to avoid clashes, the group has called for mass demonstrations in support of Morsi on Saturday,The term 'hands free access control' means the token that identifies a user is read from within a pocket or handbag. which could lead to clashes.
The rhetoric of various officials around Morsi has also grown more heated. A spokesman for the Brother's Freedom and Justice Party wrote today that it's "Very sad to see 'genuine opposition' allied with 'corrupt Mubarak cronies.'" One of the Brotherhood's official Twitter account wrote yesterday that if the "opposition thinks the significance of today is # of Tahrir protestors... they should brace for millions in support of the elected" Morsi while dismissing the Tahrir protests as composed partly of "pro-Mubarak felols".
With the "process" gummed up, the opposition interested only, it seems, in using street power to prevent Morsi's agenda from moving forward, and Morsi currently the only official in Egypt with any democratic legitimacy, the stage looks set for a showdown. And what then? Sufficient rioting might bring the military back into the political forefront again.
Speaking of Feldman, he seems to be one of the big selling points of this feature,High quality stone mosaic tiles. out this week on DVD, but he's in the movie for maybe 10 minutes. And I'm not saying anyone expects Feldman to make "Goodfellas," but even he should make better crap than this.
The rest of the cast is a bunch of unknowns who I don't think will be making names for themselves anytime soon. They're not terrible, but who could actually make this incomprehensible script work anyway? Why did this thing earn a green light?
I'll tell you why: Parts of "Hell" are shot on location at a real Halloween attraction in Pennsylvania called the Hotel of Horror, and the movie is an obvious selling pitch for the attraction. It's a pretty lame excuse to make a pretty lame movie.
The saddest part is, however, that the gimmick could've worked. The last third of the movie takes place in the Hotel of Horror and has people running around not knowing what's real and what's not. It provided laughs and actual scares.
And hence, the film's biggest mistake: "Hell" ends with Feldman's character ready to enter the hotel, and I kept wondering why this wasn't the opening to the film. With Feldman in the lead and the whole movie taking place inside the real attraction, we could've been up for some real scares and some tongue in cheek moments.
Although Google is known for being a search engine, it makes most of its money from selling advertising across all of its products.
In October it said that it had made $2.High quality stone mosaic tiles.18billion (1.36billion) in profits in the third quarter of the year.
But that was a drop of 20 per cent from the year before, so the ability to target adverts as precisely as possible at users is increasingly important.
Marketers know that recommendations from a real person, ideally a friend, is much more valuable than an advertisement or a recommendation from someone you don't know.
But anonymity and the right to use nicknames, or 'handles', is important to web users.
You can add a married name to your Google+ profile, or if you have a nickname that you are well known by and have a 'significant' online following, you can use that.
But you have to prove to Google that you are that person by providing scanned documents or links to your online persona.
Mobile data specialist Christian Payne said: 'This is just another data extraction technique. Google+, like Facebook, isn't free. You pay for it with your identity. And they sell it on.'
Payne was one of the early victims of Google's insistence that users of the social network use their real names.
Widely known on the web as Documentally, Payne was thrown off Google+ last year. He said at the time: 'It's not that I don't want to put my real name in. It's just that more people know me as Documentally than Christian Payne.'
The search giant relented and Payne returned to the network, where his profile is Christian 'Documentally' Payne.
"It's incredibly expensive to transport a person to or from the continent, and in the middle of winter, it's physically impossible to get people off of the South Pole," Dr. Scott Parazynski, director and chief medical officer of UTMB's Center for Polar Medical Operations, said in a statement. "So if you can remotely diagnose and treat the patient, and then supervise his or her care, you're much better off."
UTMB provides remote medical support to three U.S. research outposts in Antarctica, where temperatures reach 76 degrees below zero.
They include McMurdo Station, which houses more than 1,200 people. A hospital at that location employs physicians, nurses and staff aids.A specialized manufacturer and supplier of dry cabinet, UTMB also runs telemedicine sessions at Amundsen-Scott South Pole (ASP) station, Palmer Station and two Antarctic research vessels.
The remote consultations aid the work of on-site medical professionals, which are called "doctors on ice." Connecting to doctors that specialize in certain medical conditions is essential to ensuring the best health outcomes for patients in remote and harsh environments, Emerson suggested.
UTMB has directed cardiological ultrasounds and emergency appendectomies over the Polycom video system. Doctors can also use electronic stethoscopes to listen to heart and lung sounds, rely on handheld cameras to show lesions, and use ophthalmoscopes to provide a view of the eyes, said Emerson.
"Polycom's standards-based video technologies allow medical devices including
cardiac ultrasounds to be easily plugged into them so the images can be
transferred through the video feed from any location," he said.
A doctor in Galveston, Texas, could view a live stream of a patient's cardiac ultrasound taking place at the South Pole, Emerson explained.
In August a cardiologist was able to remotely direct a cardiac ultrasound to save a patient's life.
"We're not set up to do general anesthesia and surgery, but this was a notable exception," said Parazynski.High quality stone mosaic tiles. "We were lucky to have a surgeon there and to be able to direct the anesthesia over the Polycom video system; it was pretty remarkable."
President Morsi insists his powers are temporary, and his spokesmen have insisted he has had little choice but to work around judges who are holdovers from the Mubarak area that stood in the way of a new constitution. They say he won the presidency fair and square, and should be given time to lead Egypt in a new direction.
But human history has far more examples of extraordinary powers "briefly" assumed that stretched into various authoritarianisms than of those used to create democracies. And the Muslim Brotherhood and Morsi are busy cutting deals with the institutions of Mubarak's state – his still politically powerful military and various ministries – to cement their power. Most of the so-called liberals who were in the constitutional assembly (the body that is supposed to draft a new constitution) walked off the job, claiming that Islamists were simply ignoring them.
Now, large swathes of Egyptian's judiciary are promising to go on strike in protest of Morsi's actions. The judges, like many appointed bureaucrats from the Mubarak era, have had far more input into politics lately than opposition politicians or the public, and so may get somewhere, though the battle lines are hardening.
The president was reacting to real problems when he immunized his decisions and the Constituent Assembly from judicial oversight. The Brotherhood had been heavy-handed in picking the Constituent Assembly, but it did so fully within the rules drafted last year. And it is not clear that the opposition would have been satisfied with any compromise over the composition of the body or its work. The Brotherhood’s complaint — that many critics were averse to allowing election results to have any impact on the document or its authors — is firmly grounded.
Morsy’s defense of his moves as designed to support democracy unfortunately recall the remark attributed to an American soldier during the Vietnam War: “It became necessary to destroy the town to save it.”... But while the crisis is not fully a product of the actors’ intentions, Egyptians will not find a path forward unless their leaders find within themselves an intention to resolve their differences through compromise. The constitutional process is badly broken, but it can still be repaired.
Morsi has insisted, for now, that he's not going to change course. And that potentially puts Egypt on an even more dangerous path. While the Brotherhood told its supporters to stay off the streets during yesterday's big anti-Morsi protests, in order to avoid clashes, the group has called for mass demonstrations in support of Morsi on Saturday,The term 'hands free access control' means the token that identifies a user is read from within a pocket or handbag. which could lead to clashes.
The rhetoric of various officials around Morsi has also grown more heated. A spokesman for the Brother's Freedom and Justice Party wrote today that it's "Very sad to see 'genuine opposition' allied with 'corrupt Mubarak cronies.'" One of the Brotherhood's official Twitter account wrote yesterday that if the "opposition thinks the significance of today is # of Tahrir protestors... they should brace for millions in support of the elected" Morsi while dismissing the Tahrir protests as composed partly of "pro-Mubarak felols".
With the "process" gummed up, the opposition interested only, it seems, in using street power to prevent Morsi's agenda from moving forward, and Morsi currently the only official in Egypt with any democratic legitimacy, the stage looks set for a showdown. And what then? Sufficient rioting might bring the military back into the political forefront again.
Fugro introduces electric ROV version of DeepWorks
Fugro has developed a new version of its DeepWorks ROV simulator for
the Saab Seaeye family of electric ROVs, supporting console integration
of the Seaeye Tiger, Lynx, Cougar XT and Panther XT/XT Plus models. To
cater for the training needs of a mixed fleet of ROVs, Fugro Operating
Companies in UK, Singapore, UAE, Brazil, and Australia will be the first
to benefit as an enhanced set of training configurations is rolled out
across the company.
DeepWorks now allows rapid building and evaluation of new electrical ROV configurations, helping operators find the best arrangement and mountings for cameras, sonars and tooling while ensuring the vehicle remains dynamically stable.Posts with indoor tracking system on TRX Systems develops systems that locate and track personnel indoors. As the range of missions electric ROVs undertake grows, DeepWorks offers a very cost effective way of building and testing multi-mission capability.
For pilot training, the most important feature is replication of the Seaeye overlay which tells the pilot where the ROV is, its depth, pitch and roll and camera tilt angle. Replicating the actual user interface means that when pilots go offshore the console feels immediately familiar and missions can be performed as practised. Other built-in features to improve pilot skills and responses include independent viewpoint control, sonar interpretation and fault simulation at any point in the mission.
“Our investment in designing DeepWorks as a versatile simulation platform capable of providing simulation of any type of ROV is now paying off,” said Dr Jason Tisdall, Fugro’s Robotic Technologies Business Line Manager. “In just a few months we have integrated DeepWorks with the Saab Seaeye surface and hand control units, and delivered an ROV pilot trainer with true electric thruster response, accurate navigation overlay and realistic training scenarios for five of the most popular models of Saab Seaeye ROV.”
Accurate electric thruster modelling gives the vehicle true behavioural responses to pilot demands. This creates the highest levels of realism when training and rehearsing key mission tasks such as docking, navigation by camera and by sonar, close inspection or tool deployment.The oreck XL professional air purifier, Thrusters have initially been tuned for the Seaeye Tiger ROV, with other models to follow.
DeepWorks allows trainers to assess pilot skills by determining how long it takes them to complete tasks, how smoothly they operate the controls, and how well they respond to faults and deal with hazards. DeepWorks can also be used for assessing the overall mission difficulty and skills competency required. This allows operators to manage their pool of pilots more effectively and target training better.The howo truck is offered by Shiyan Great Man Automotive Industry, A further benefit of the DeepWorks electric ROV simulator is a substantially lower price point than DeepWorks for hydraulic ROVs.
Jon Robertson, Managing Director of Saab Seaeye, commented “The availability of the Fugro DeepWorks ROV simulator for Saab Seaeye ROV systems is a significant step forward in the training and retraining of pilots and provides an important tool for the planning, validation and rehearsal of operations”.
The DeepWorks electric ROV simulator offers a console integrated solution for observation, inspection and light intervention operations. Saab Seaeye ROVs can carry many different tooling packages and the versatility of DeepWorks makes it much easier to change payloads for different types of mission.
The new entity will manufacture and supply assemblies for the technology intense commercial aerostructures market, a press release from the company said.
As part of the agreement,Our technology gives rtls systems developers the ability. Saab will hold 26% stake in line with their objective to strengthen its strategic presence in India.
The new entity aptly called “Aero Assemblies India”. QuEST Global manages a fully operational Special Economic Zone and houses the QuEST Global Manufacturing division in Belgaum.
Facilities for the joint venture will be developed through 2013 and the unit will initially become operational with about 50 employees and is expected to ramp up to over 400 in the near future, the release said.
Mr Aravind Melligeri, co-founder and chairman of QuEST Global said,We mainly supply professional craftspeople with wholesale turquoise beads from china, “This joint venture with Saab is a clear indication of our impetus in the aerospace sector and promises to go a long way in enhancing our aerospace ecosystem within the SEZ at Belgaum. This milestone also promises to unveil new vistas in Aerospace Manufacturing while providing India with the added global exposure and expertise in this sector.”
“With this partnership, QuEST is now well poised to offer its aerospace customers a full range of manufacturing supply chain solutions while achieving our Global Manufacturing growth objectives through 2016 and beyond," he said.
The release said the new entity has been established with a vision to develop a robust aerospace business that is focused on build-to-print assemblies for the emerging market opportunities in India. In addition to this, its long term goal will be to emerge as an independent unit that would become a cost effective solution provider of choice in the aero structure assemblies’ space.
"This partnership between the two companies will see knowledge transfer to develop capability building for Assembly, Tooling, Material and Supply Chain as well as technical training for assemblies and sub assemblies. With this, QuEST Global Manufacturing further broadens its offerings in aerospace manufacturing to its customers," the release said.
“We’re experiencing increased production rates during the coming years. This partnership will provide a cost-efficient and reliable source of assemblies acting as a complement to Saab’s in-house manufacturing. This is a long-term commitment in a strategically important market for Saab and it further establishes Saab as a global player in the commercial aerostructures market”, Mr Kjell Johnsson, Head, Aerostructures , Saab said.
"The growing demand for aerospace products and services has propelled the markets to explore partnerships that can offer joint capabilities that are advanced and competitive to its customers. QuEST with its global delivery best practices along with Saab’s strong technology lineage is well poised to be among the few partnerships that will create an indelible impression in the aerospace industry in the years to come," the release added.
DeepWorks now allows rapid building and evaluation of new electrical ROV configurations, helping operators find the best arrangement and mountings for cameras, sonars and tooling while ensuring the vehicle remains dynamically stable.Posts with indoor tracking system on TRX Systems develops systems that locate and track personnel indoors. As the range of missions electric ROVs undertake grows, DeepWorks offers a very cost effective way of building and testing multi-mission capability.
For pilot training, the most important feature is replication of the Seaeye overlay which tells the pilot where the ROV is, its depth, pitch and roll and camera tilt angle. Replicating the actual user interface means that when pilots go offshore the console feels immediately familiar and missions can be performed as practised. Other built-in features to improve pilot skills and responses include independent viewpoint control, sonar interpretation and fault simulation at any point in the mission.
“Our investment in designing DeepWorks as a versatile simulation platform capable of providing simulation of any type of ROV is now paying off,” said Dr Jason Tisdall, Fugro’s Robotic Technologies Business Line Manager. “In just a few months we have integrated DeepWorks with the Saab Seaeye surface and hand control units, and delivered an ROV pilot trainer with true electric thruster response, accurate navigation overlay and realistic training scenarios for five of the most popular models of Saab Seaeye ROV.”
Accurate electric thruster modelling gives the vehicle true behavioural responses to pilot demands. This creates the highest levels of realism when training and rehearsing key mission tasks such as docking, navigation by camera and by sonar, close inspection or tool deployment.The oreck XL professional air purifier, Thrusters have initially been tuned for the Seaeye Tiger ROV, with other models to follow.
DeepWorks allows trainers to assess pilot skills by determining how long it takes them to complete tasks, how smoothly they operate the controls, and how well they respond to faults and deal with hazards. DeepWorks can also be used for assessing the overall mission difficulty and skills competency required. This allows operators to manage their pool of pilots more effectively and target training better.The howo truck is offered by Shiyan Great Man Automotive Industry, A further benefit of the DeepWorks electric ROV simulator is a substantially lower price point than DeepWorks for hydraulic ROVs.
Jon Robertson, Managing Director of Saab Seaeye, commented “The availability of the Fugro DeepWorks ROV simulator for Saab Seaeye ROV systems is a significant step forward in the training and retraining of pilots and provides an important tool for the planning, validation and rehearsal of operations”.
The DeepWorks electric ROV simulator offers a console integrated solution for observation, inspection and light intervention operations. Saab Seaeye ROVs can carry many different tooling packages and the versatility of DeepWorks makes it much easier to change payloads for different types of mission.
The new entity will manufacture and supply assemblies for the technology intense commercial aerostructures market, a press release from the company said.
As part of the agreement,Our technology gives rtls systems developers the ability. Saab will hold 26% stake in line with their objective to strengthen its strategic presence in India.
The new entity aptly called “Aero Assemblies India”. QuEST Global manages a fully operational Special Economic Zone and houses the QuEST Global Manufacturing division in Belgaum.
Facilities for the joint venture will be developed through 2013 and the unit will initially become operational with about 50 employees and is expected to ramp up to over 400 in the near future, the release said.
Mr Aravind Melligeri, co-founder and chairman of QuEST Global said,We mainly supply professional craftspeople with wholesale turquoise beads from china, “This joint venture with Saab is a clear indication of our impetus in the aerospace sector and promises to go a long way in enhancing our aerospace ecosystem within the SEZ at Belgaum. This milestone also promises to unveil new vistas in Aerospace Manufacturing while providing India with the added global exposure and expertise in this sector.”
“With this partnership, QuEST is now well poised to offer its aerospace customers a full range of manufacturing supply chain solutions while achieving our Global Manufacturing growth objectives through 2016 and beyond," he said.
The release said the new entity has been established with a vision to develop a robust aerospace business that is focused on build-to-print assemblies for the emerging market opportunities in India. In addition to this, its long term goal will be to emerge as an independent unit that would become a cost effective solution provider of choice in the aero structure assemblies’ space.
"This partnership between the two companies will see knowledge transfer to develop capability building for Assembly, Tooling, Material and Supply Chain as well as technical training for assemblies and sub assemblies. With this, QuEST Global Manufacturing further broadens its offerings in aerospace manufacturing to its customers," the release said.
“We’re experiencing increased production rates during the coming years. This partnership will provide a cost-efficient and reliable source of assemblies acting as a complement to Saab’s in-house manufacturing. This is a long-term commitment in a strategically important market for Saab and it further establishes Saab as a global player in the commercial aerostructures market”, Mr Kjell Johnsson, Head, Aerostructures , Saab said.
"The growing demand for aerospace products and services has propelled the markets to explore partnerships that can offer joint capabilities that are advanced and competitive to its customers. QuEST with its global delivery best practices along with Saab’s strong technology lineage is well poised to be among the few partnerships that will create an indelible impression in the aerospace industry in the years to come," the release added.
2012年11月22日 星期四
Final days of Obama campaign steeped in nostalgia
Tuesday’s election results may be uncertain, but President Barack
Obama and the tight circle of advisers who have surrounded him through
years of campaigning know one thing for sure.
Win or lose, this is it.
“He is very cognizant of the fact that this is his last campaign,” David Axelrod, Obama’s senior campaign strategist, said of the president. “He knows he’s never going to do this again.”
These final days of Obama’s final political campaign, played out across many of the same towns and cities that propelled him to the White House in 2008, are full of nostalgia.
Former staffers and old friends are traveling with the president for the campaign’s final stretch. Obama’s closing argument speech is peppered with talk of change, the central theme of his 2008 bid. And the campaign’s fundraising juggernaut, which is shutting down for good,Load the precious minerals into your mining truck and be careful not to drive too fast with your heavy foot. already sent its last email to supporters, bidding them “goodbye.”
Obama will spend Election Day in his hometown of Chicago, getting a rare chance to return with his family to the South Side home where they lived before moving to the White House. And he will headline his last political rally as a candidate Monday night in Iowa, the state that jump-started his first presidential bid and a place for which Obama has an unabashed fondness.
“Iowa, I started my presidential journey right here in this state,” Obama said Saturday during his second-to-last campaign stop in the state. “So after two years of campaigning, and after four years as president, you know me by now. “
Even with his future uncertain, aides say Obama is relaxed and energized as he blitzes from state to state urging voters to back him one last time.Posts with indoor tracking system on TRX Systems develops systems that locate and track personnel indoors. He’s surrounded on Air Force One by some of those who know him best, including Mike Ramos, a childhood friend from Hawaii, and Marty Nesbitt, a friend from Chicago. The president will also be joined Monday by longtime adviser and former White House press secretary Robert Gibbs, as well as his former personal aide Reggie Love.
“This is a family,” said Jennifer Psaki, who has worked on both of the president’s campaigns, as well as in the White House. “There are a lot of laughs. And a lot of nostalgia on the ups and downs, the incredible rollercoaster that this journey has been from the day he announced he was running.”
Still, the bruising 2012 campaign, plus a four-year term consumed by partisan gridlock, have taken some of the shine off the president and his advisers, who were hailed as political masterminds after engineering Obama’s improbable 2008 victory. Like the president,Western Canadian distributor of ceramic and ceramic tile, this may be the last campaign for many of them as well.
Though they’re projecting confidence, aides know the closing days of this campaign are far different than the finale in 2008.
Back then, an Obama victory was a near certainty by this point in the race. The prospect of his historic election as the nation’s first black president drew massive crowds across the country, up to 100,000 people in some places. And there was no record to defend,We mainly supply professional craftspeople with crys talbeads wholesale shamballa Bracele , just the lofty promise of hope and change.
This time around, the crowds are smaller and Obama’s sales pitch more workman-like. The polls are tight and his political future is unknown.
Still, the president appears to be relishing the moment, particularly as he makes his final political trips to the battleground states that have become familiar destinations.
Obama’s final rally in New Hampshire Sunday drew 14,The term 'hands free access control' means the token that identifies a user is read from within a pocket or handbag.000 people to downtown Concord on a cold morning. The previous night, he spoke to 24,000 people in Bristow, Va., his final stop in the traditionally Republican Southern state he flipped in 2008.
At both stops, Obama lingered far longer than usual after wrapping up his remarks. He went down into the crowd and shook countless hands, then bounded back on stage. He gave a last look back to the crowds, and with a big smile on his face and a hearty wave, disappeared offstage.
Win or lose, this is it.
“He is very cognizant of the fact that this is his last campaign,” David Axelrod, Obama’s senior campaign strategist, said of the president. “He knows he’s never going to do this again.”
These final days of Obama’s final political campaign, played out across many of the same towns and cities that propelled him to the White House in 2008, are full of nostalgia.
Former staffers and old friends are traveling with the president for the campaign’s final stretch. Obama’s closing argument speech is peppered with talk of change, the central theme of his 2008 bid. And the campaign’s fundraising juggernaut, which is shutting down for good,Load the precious minerals into your mining truck and be careful not to drive too fast with your heavy foot. already sent its last email to supporters, bidding them “goodbye.”
Obama will spend Election Day in his hometown of Chicago, getting a rare chance to return with his family to the South Side home where they lived before moving to the White House. And he will headline his last political rally as a candidate Monday night in Iowa, the state that jump-started his first presidential bid and a place for which Obama has an unabashed fondness.
“Iowa, I started my presidential journey right here in this state,” Obama said Saturday during his second-to-last campaign stop in the state. “So after two years of campaigning, and after four years as president, you know me by now. “
Even with his future uncertain, aides say Obama is relaxed and energized as he blitzes from state to state urging voters to back him one last time.Posts with indoor tracking system on TRX Systems develops systems that locate and track personnel indoors. He’s surrounded on Air Force One by some of those who know him best, including Mike Ramos, a childhood friend from Hawaii, and Marty Nesbitt, a friend from Chicago. The president will also be joined Monday by longtime adviser and former White House press secretary Robert Gibbs, as well as his former personal aide Reggie Love.
“This is a family,” said Jennifer Psaki, who has worked on both of the president’s campaigns, as well as in the White House. “There are a lot of laughs. And a lot of nostalgia on the ups and downs, the incredible rollercoaster that this journey has been from the day he announced he was running.”
Still, the bruising 2012 campaign, plus a four-year term consumed by partisan gridlock, have taken some of the shine off the president and his advisers, who were hailed as political masterminds after engineering Obama’s improbable 2008 victory. Like the president,Western Canadian distributor of ceramic and ceramic tile, this may be the last campaign for many of them as well.
Though they’re projecting confidence, aides know the closing days of this campaign are far different than the finale in 2008.
Back then, an Obama victory was a near certainty by this point in the race. The prospect of his historic election as the nation’s first black president drew massive crowds across the country, up to 100,000 people in some places. And there was no record to defend,We mainly supply professional craftspeople with crys talbeads wholesale shamballa Bracele , just the lofty promise of hope and change.
This time around, the crowds are smaller and Obama’s sales pitch more workman-like. The polls are tight and his political future is unknown.
Still, the president appears to be relishing the moment, particularly as he makes his final political trips to the battleground states that have become familiar destinations.
Obama’s final rally in New Hampshire Sunday drew 14,The term 'hands free access control' means the token that identifies a user is read from within a pocket or handbag.000 people to downtown Concord on a cold morning. The previous night, he spoke to 24,000 people in Bristow, Va., his final stop in the traditionally Republican Southern state he flipped in 2008.
At both stops, Obama lingered far longer than usual after wrapping up his remarks. He went down into the crowd and shook countless hands, then bounded back on stage. He gave a last look back to the crowds, and with a big smile on his face and a hearty wave, disappeared offstage.
Pakistan Taliban vows to attack Indian targets over Kasab
The Pakistani Taliban
on Thursday threatened to attack Indian targets to avenge the death of Mohammad
Ajmal Kasab,Our technology gives rtls systems
developers the ability. a terrorist involved in the 2008 Mumbai attack who was
hanged in a Pune jail on Wednesday.
“We have decided to target Indians to avenge the killing of Ajmal Kasab,” Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan told Reuters by telephone from an undisclosed location.
Kasab, member of the banned terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), was hanged on Wednesday amid great secrecy, underscoring the political sensitivity of the 26 November 2008 massacre, which still casts a pall over relations between nuclear-armed rivals Pakistan and India.
“We have got intelligence inputs from the agencies about this threat.A stone mosaic stands at the spot of assasination of the late Indian prime minister. They (intelligence agencies) are analysing. As of now, there is no need to raise an alarm as security and intelligence agencies are already on an alert,” the official said requesting anonymity.
Former home secretary G.K.Klaus Multiparking is an industry leader in innovative parking system technology. Pillai dismissed the threat. “There is nothing to be worried about as precautionary measures are already in place. Kasab was just one of the foot soldiers among thousands. Had India executed real players like Zaki ur Rehman Lakhvi (one of the founding members of LeT and wanted in 26/11 terror attack) or others, then it would have been a matter of worry for our security,” he said.
“India is not new to such threats from Pakistani Taliban. In the past, they had attacked Indian embassy in Kabul. This time they must be recruiting or training new cadres so this threat should only be seen as an attempt to boost morale of their cadres in the light of Kasab’s death,.” he added.
But S.D. Pradhan, former deputy national security adviser, said this threat cannot be taken lightly. “LeT has close links with Taliban and over the time their relations have grown. So there is a possibility of a joint strike at strategic locations and tourists place in the country. They will aim to target Mumbai again and other such important places. The threat should be taken very seriously.We are pleased to offer the following list of professional mold maker and casters.”
“We take all such threats very seriously and we are taking all steps that are required in this regard,” a government official said on condition of anonymity. “The government takes all such threats seriously there is no question of taking things lightly. I cannot give you details of what we are doing, but we are taking all steps required to safeguard our interests.”
The Taliban, which is close to Al Qaeda, are seen as one of the biggest security threats in Pakistan and blamed for many suicide bombings in that country. They have not carried out major attacks abroad.
Kasab was charged with 86 offences, including murder and waging war against India.
It was the first time a capital sentence had been carried out in India since 2004. There was celebration on the streets of Mumbai and other cities as news of the execution spread, but militant groups in Pakistan reacted angrily, as did residents of his home village of Faridkot.
Getting there involved a scenic two-hour drive south of Auckland and then being transported to somewhere that has to be seen to be believed: Hobbiton – the same Hobbiton you see on screen and the same Hobbiton I see when I read my great-grandfather’s books. I could write 1,000 words and show you a million pictures, but standing there is simply the most magical experience I’ve ever had.
The buildings at Hobbiton, set in the unspoilt rolling countryside on the Alexander family farm on the outskirts of Matamata, were erected 10 years ago for the filming of the Lord of the Rings but were only intended as temporary structures. For the filming of The Hobbit trilogy they have been made more permanent.
The Hobbit homeland is set within 10 acres of gorgeous, pristine, green countryside, and the cute little gates are now open, so everyone can share in its treasures: you can walk around, touch it, smell it and roll in the grass. This ain’t no ordinary film set, mate, it’s real, and you don’t even have to be a fan of the Hobbit films to see its appeal.
There’s one thing I’ve not mentioned in all of this, actually more than four million things. The best bit of all: the Kiwis. I love ’em!
It’s as though they have collected all the best nuggets of character from around the world. They have a lovely warm friendliness, a can-do attitude, they’re easy-going, loyal, straight to the point, have a great sense of humour, an adventurous outlook on life, they go out of their way to help people, they love good food and drink and they have buckets of ingenuity.
There are lots of fantastic places in which to eat in New Zealand, too, but if I had to recommend one it would be the Chocolate Fish Café in Shelly Bay, a 10-minute drive south along the coast road out of Wellington.A stone mosaic stands at the spot of assasination of the late Indian prime minister.
Here’s where you go for a great selection of fresh barbecued seafood and impossibly good coffee. It’s my first stop after landing at the airport and a great start to my trip. It may be 12,000 miles from Britain, but I would encourage everybody to visit this heavenly place.
Explore and enjoy New Zealand’s vibrant cities, fish in its isolated streams, bungee-jump off a bridge, ride a jet boat down a river, sunbathe on its beautiful beaches or head for its glorious mountains. Gorge on the superb food and wash it all down with a glass or two of the perfect wine.
“We have decided to target Indians to avenge the killing of Ajmal Kasab,” Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan told Reuters by telephone from an undisclosed location.
Kasab, member of the banned terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), was hanged on Wednesday amid great secrecy, underscoring the political sensitivity of the 26 November 2008 massacre, which still casts a pall over relations between nuclear-armed rivals Pakistan and India.
“We have got intelligence inputs from the agencies about this threat.A stone mosaic stands at the spot of assasination of the late Indian prime minister. They (intelligence agencies) are analysing. As of now, there is no need to raise an alarm as security and intelligence agencies are already on an alert,” the official said requesting anonymity.
Former home secretary G.K.Klaus Multiparking is an industry leader in innovative parking system technology. Pillai dismissed the threat. “There is nothing to be worried about as precautionary measures are already in place. Kasab was just one of the foot soldiers among thousands. Had India executed real players like Zaki ur Rehman Lakhvi (one of the founding members of LeT and wanted in 26/11 terror attack) or others, then it would have been a matter of worry for our security,” he said.
“India is not new to such threats from Pakistani Taliban. In the past, they had attacked Indian embassy in Kabul. This time they must be recruiting or training new cadres so this threat should only be seen as an attempt to boost morale of their cadres in the light of Kasab’s death,.” he added.
But S.D. Pradhan, former deputy national security adviser, said this threat cannot be taken lightly. “LeT has close links with Taliban and over the time their relations have grown. So there is a possibility of a joint strike at strategic locations and tourists place in the country. They will aim to target Mumbai again and other such important places. The threat should be taken very seriously.We are pleased to offer the following list of professional mold maker and casters.”
“We take all such threats very seriously and we are taking all steps that are required in this regard,” a government official said on condition of anonymity. “The government takes all such threats seriously there is no question of taking things lightly. I cannot give you details of what we are doing, but we are taking all steps required to safeguard our interests.”
The Taliban, which is close to Al Qaeda, are seen as one of the biggest security threats in Pakistan and blamed for many suicide bombings in that country. They have not carried out major attacks abroad.
Kasab was charged with 86 offences, including murder and waging war against India.
It was the first time a capital sentence had been carried out in India since 2004. There was celebration on the streets of Mumbai and other cities as news of the execution spread, but militant groups in Pakistan reacted angrily, as did residents of his home village of Faridkot.
Getting there involved a scenic two-hour drive south of Auckland and then being transported to somewhere that has to be seen to be believed: Hobbiton – the same Hobbiton you see on screen and the same Hobbiton I see when I read my great-grandfather’s books. I could write 1,000 words and show you a million pictures, but standing there is simply the most magical experience I’ve ever had.
The buildings at Hobbiton, set in the unspoilt rolling countryside on the Alexander family farm on the outskirts of Matamata, were erected 10 years ago for the filming of the Lord of the Rings but were only intended as temporary structures. For the filming of The Hobbit trilogy they have been made more permanent.
The Hobbit homeland is set within 10 acres of gorgeous, pristine, green countryside, and the cute little gates are now open, so everyone can share in its treasures: you can walk around, touch it, smell it and roll in the grass. This ain’t no ordinary film set, mate, it’s real, and you don’t even have to be a fan of the Hobbit films to see its appeal.
There’s one thing I’ve not mentioned in all of this, actually more than four million things. The best bit of all: the Kiwis. I love ’em!
It’s as though they have collected all the best nuggets of character from around the world. They have a lovely warm friendliness, a can-do attitude, they’re easy-going, loyal, straight to the point, have a great sense of humour, an adventurous outlook on life, they go out of their way to help people, they love good food and drink and they have buckets of ingenuity.
There are lots of fantastic places in which to eat in New Zealand, too, but if I had to recommend one it would be the Chocolate Fish Café in Shelly Bay, a 10-minute drive south along the coast road out of Wellington.A stone mosaic stands at the spot of assasination of the late Indian prime minister.
Here’s where you go for a great selection of fresh barbecued seafood and impossibly good coffee. It’s my first stop after landing at the airport and a great start to my trip. It may be 12,000 miles from Britain, but I would encourage everybody to visit this heavenly place.
Explore and enjoy New Zealand’s vibrant cities, fish in its isolated streams, bungee-jump off a bridge, ride a jet boat down a river, sunbathe on its beautiful beaches or head for its glorious mountains. Gorge on the superb food and wash it all down with a glass or two of the perfect wine.
Conquering The World One Roller Coaster At A Time
It was only a matter of time until iOS devices got their very own
roller coaster management game. There may not yet be an iOS version of
Roller Coaster Tycoon, but now we’ve got the next best thing: Coaster
Crazy, a new free iOS game from Frontier Developments, the studio behind
RollerCoaster Tycoon 3.Interlocking security cable ties with 250 pound strength makes this ideal for restraining criminals.
Coaster Crazy takes a global approach to amusement park management: You’ll begin by flicking the globe about with your fingers, and choosing the location of your first roller coaster from among several major cities (I began in Australia). From there, you’ll zoom down on the nation in question and pick from among several different topographical maps before beginning on your coaster.
In Coaster Crazy, the goal is to design roller coasters that are fast, lengthy, and thrilling enough to keep your testers happy. That’s easier said than done — you’ll spend a lot of time bending, warping, and expanding your coasters to get things moving faster and more excitingly. Every time you do a test run, you’ll get to watch the thing in action, then will be scored on how good your roller coaster is.
Coaster Crazy is fun and addictive, and the game really thrives in the details. The little tester characters are all funny and each have their own wee personality, which they show of at the beginnings and ends of runs. There’s a built-in camera function that allows you to take and store great freeze-frame shots of your coasters in action. The music is quite groovy, and combines with the broad, stylised colour palette to evoke Psychonauts, of all things.
Once you get a roller coaster passed its initial certification, it begins to earn money for you, and you can expand to other building sites and build more coasters. The real fun is in the roller coaster-design, but it’s also enjoyable to build your global empire. As Coaster Crazy is free-to-play, you’ll have to wait for your new developments to take root in real time,Find a great buy mosaic Art deals on eBay! though you can of course pay to eliminate the waiting. But it’s not that big of a nuisance, as free-to-play games go. And even if you never pay a cent, there’s a huge amount to enjoy.
Camacho, bruised and battered like never before, spoke to Pat Putnam of Sports Illustrated after the Rosario escape and said, ""If I fight him again," growled Camacho the next morning, "I want a million dollars. If I'm gonna come out looking like a Cabbage Patch doll, I want to get paid for it."
Generally a Good Humor man, even at his own expense, Camacho said Rosario "fought me like he's mad at me."
From then on, naysayers claimed he ran more in the ring than he fought. I couldn't help but notice that most critics were corpulent cowards who only went into the ring if they were in a jewelry store.
No one, not his worst critics,Find detailed product information for howo tractor and other products. ever claimed he was not entertaining.
Camacho could fight, no make that could box, like the devil. And,Thank you for visiting! I have been crystal mosaic since 1998. like most of us, he was no angel in how he conducted his life. The left handed Camacho had a textbook jab,Our technology gives rtls systems developers the ability. a real thing of boxing beauty.
He ditched his boyhood trainers, Robert Lee Velez and colorful Billy Giles and he had constant disputes with various promoters. He had domestic disputes and drug related arrests, one of the craziest coming in Mississippi when he broke through a skylight and into a computer repair shop because he claimed they were unjustly withholding his property.
All these scraps and scrapes, sure, but Camacho was a carouser. In that sense, he reminded me of hapless Neon Leon Spinks in that they both got into one mess after another but never with the intention of hurting someone else.
It appears from police reports from Bayamon that the former world champion was shot and left for dead as a result of a small change drug deal gone sour outside some barroom.
I knew "the Macho Man" going back to his amateur days, almost to the time when he was a comical but hot-headed teenaged car thief in East Harlem. What I will remember, what we should all remember is how he lived.
Life was pretty much a party or a party waiting to happen. In his early ring years, boxing was a party for him as well.
With wicked hand and foot speed and ring generalship that was no less than awesome, Camacho looked like and considered himself not only unbeatable but also untouchable between the ropes.
Coaster Crazy takes a global approach to amusement park management: You’ll begin by flicking the globe about with your fingers, and choosing the location of your first roller coaster from among several major cities (I began in Australia). From there, you’ll zoom down on the nation in question and pick from among several different topographical maps before beginning on your coaster.
In Coaster Crazy, the goal is to design roller coasters that are fast, lengthy, and thrilling enough to keep your testers happy. That’s easier said than done — you’ll spend a lot of time bending, warping, and expanding your coasters to get things moving faster and more excitingly. Every time you do a test run, you’ll get to watch the thing in action, then will be scored on how good your roller coaster is.
Coaster Crazy is fun and addictive, and the game really thrives in the details. The little tester characters are all funny and each have their own wee personality, which they show of at the beginnings and ends of runs. There’s a built-in camera function that allows you to take and store great freeze-frame shots of your coasters in action. The music is quite groovy, and combines with the broad, stylised colour palette to evoke Psychonauts, of all things.
Once you get a roller coaster passed its initial certification, it begins to earn money for you, and you can expand to other building sites and build more coasters. The real fun is in the roller coaster-design, but it’s also enjoyable to build your global empire. As Coaster Crazy is free-to-play, you’ll have to wait for your new developments to take root in real time,Find a great buy mosaic Art deals on eBay! though you can of course pay to eliminate the waiting. But it’s not that big of a nuisance, as free-to-play games go. And even if you never pay a cent, there’s a huge amount to enjoy.
Camacho, bruised and battered like never before, spoke to Pat Putnam of Sports Illustrated after the Rosario escape and said, ""If I fight him again," growled Camacho the next morning, "I want a million dollars. If I'm gonna come out looking like a Cabbage Patch doll, I want to get paid for it."
Generally a Good Humor man, even at his own expense, Camacho said Rosario "fought me like he's mad at me."
From then on, naysayers claimed he ran more in the ring than he fought. I couldn't help but notice that most critics were corpulent cowards who only went into the ring if they were in a jewelry store.
No one, not his worst critics,Find detailed product information for howo tractor and other products. ever claimed he was not entertaining.
Camacho could fight, no make that could box, like the devil. And,Thank you for visiting! I have been crystal mosaic since 1998. like most of us, he was no angel in how he conducted his life. The left handed Camacho had a textbook jab,Our technology gives rtls systems developers the ability. a real thing of boxing beauty.
He ditched his boyhood trainers, Robert Lee Velez and colorful Billy Giles and he had constant disputes with various promoters. He had domestic disputes and drug related arrests, one of the craziest coming in Mississippi when he broke through a skylight and into a computer repair shop because he claimed they were unjustly withholding his property.
All these scraps and scrapes, sure, but Camacho was a carouser. In that sense, he reminded me of hapless Neon Leon Spinks in that they both got into one mess after another but never with the intention of hurting someone else.
It appears from police reports from Bayamon that the former world champion was shot and left for dead as a result of a small change drug deal gone sour outside some barroom.
I knew "the Macho Man" going back to his amateur days, almost to the time when he was a comical but hot-headed teenaged car thief in East Harlem. What I will remember, what we should all remember is how he lived.
Life was pretty much a party or a party waiting to happen. In his early ring years, boxing was a party for him as well.
With wicked hand and foot speed and ring generalship that was no less than awesome, Camacho looked like and considered himself not only unbeatable but also untouchable between the ropes.
2012年11月19日 星期一
New assistance systems
Avoid accidents and mitigate their consequences –
this is the integrated approach adopted by Mercedes-Benz Accident Research under
the heading “Real Life Safety”. Mercedes-Benz is systematically pursuing this
strategy with numerous new assistance systems and greatly enhanced functions.
The new functions all rely on the same sensor system, comprising a new stereo
camera together with multistage radar sensors.
The support functions range from relieving the burden on the driver and therefore increasing comfort, to issuing visual, acoustic and/or haptic warning signals, to enhancing the driver’s reactions. Some systems are even able to take corrective action in an emergency, such as autonomous applications of the brakes to prevent an accident or reduce its severity.
The DISTRONIC PLUS adaptive control system is a driver aid designed to keep the vehicle at the desired distance from another vehicle in front that is travelling slower than the selected cruising speed. This radar-based function has now been enhanced by the addition of Steering Assist, which helps drivers to stay centred in their lane by generating the appropriate steering torque when travelling on a straight road and even in gentle bends.
The stereo camera recognises lane markings as well as vehicles driving ahead together with their three-dimensional positioning, and relays this information to the electric steering assistance system. When driving at slow speeds,A specialized manufacturer and supplier of dry cabinet,Interlocking security cable tie with 250 pound strength makes this ideal for restraining criminals. e.g. in congested traffic, Steering Assist can use the vehicle ahead as a means of orientation, enabling semi-autonomous following even when there are no clear lane markings visible. As a result, the system is able to further enhance driving comfort and substantially ease the driver’s workload in many traffic situations.
The new Steering Assist function integrated into the DISTRONIC PLUS system is predominantly based on the new stereo camera (see previous section). At the same time,A stone mosaic stands at the spot of assasination of the late Indian prime minister. the area in front of the vehicle continues to be monitored by two short-range radar sensors and a long-range radar sensor with medium-range detection. The system fuses the data gleaned from both technologies, calculates any reactions required, and then regulates the vehicle’s speed as requirements dictate by controlling engine power, transmission and brakes, as well as actuating the electric steering for lateral vehicle guidance.
DISTRONIC PLUS with Steering Assist can be activated as before with a lever on the steering column in a speed range from 0 – 200 km/h. Any speed between 30 km/h and 200 km/h can be selected as the desired cruising speed. A green steering wheel symbol appears in the instrument cluster to indicate when Steering Assist is operating while DISTRONIC PLUS is activated. Meanwhile, longitudinal information (cruise control function) is still visualised in the speed display by means of circular segments and the speedometer needle.
Drivers must keep their hands on the steering wheel at all times even when Steering Assist is activated, as the function only works in bends above a certain, speed-dependent radius. Legal considerations also mean there are no plans to introduce hands-free driving. The system’s design is so refined that the sensors can detect whether the driver’s hands are actually on the steering wheel. If they are not, a visual warning is issued first. Should the driver fail to react to this prompt, a warning signal sounds and lateral lane guidance is deactivated. This does not affect the cruise control function, however, which continues to be operative. Needless to say, the driver is able to override the Steering Assist at any time. If the driver signals to change lane, for instance, the lateral guidance function will switch into passive mode for the duration of the lane change.
The longitudinal performance capabilities of DISTRONIC PLUS have been further refined. Now, the system is able to brake at a rate of up to 5 m/s without any intervention from the driver. If the “S” drive mode button is pressed,Find a great buy mosaic Art deals on eBay! the rate of acceleration increases, too.Our technology gives rtls systems developers the ability. Vehicle acceleration is also more dynamic if the driver signals a wish to overtake by switching on the indicators, assuming the road is clear.
By combining radar and camera data, DISTRONIC PLUS is also able to detect both vehicles cutting in and vehicles ahead in adjacent lanes and take necessary action promptly. This can prevent illegal undertaking on motorways and multi-lane highways, for example, by adapting the speed to that of vehicles in the outside lanes.
Apart from material damage, accidents at junctions often result in serious personal injuries, too. The new Brake Assist BAS PLUS from Mercedes-Benz is therefore capable of more than just helping the driver to avoid collisions with vehicles ahead or lessen their consequences in a purely longitudinal direction: the new Cross-Traffic Assist function can also come to the driver’s aid when there is a risk of a collision with cross traffic at junctions.
If this anticipatory system detects a hazardous situation of this type, it prompts the driver to start emergency braking by activating visual and acoustic warnings. If the driver presses the brake pedal too tentatively, BAS PLUS will step in by automatically boosting brake pressure for effective emergency braking, even applying the brakes at full power if necessary. Applying just the right amount of braking power for the situation at hand maximises the available braking distance for traffic behind.
The support functions range from relieving the burden on the driver and therefore increasing comfort, to issuing visual, acoustic and/or haptic warning signals, to enhancing the driver’s reactions. Some systems are even able to take corrective action in an emergency, such as autonomous applications of the brakes to prevent an accident or reduce its severity.
The DISTRONIC PLUS adaptive control system is a driver aid designed to keep the vehicle at the desired distance from another vehicle in front that is travelling slower than the selected cruising speed. This radar-based function has now been enhanced by the addition of Steering Assist, which helps drivers to stay centred in their lane by generating the appropriate steering torque when travelling on a straight road and even in gentle bends.
The stereo camera recognises lane markings as well as vehicles driving ahead together with their three-dimensional positioning, and relays this information to the electric steering assistance system. When driving at slow speeds,A specialized manufacturer and supplier of dry cabinet,Interlocking security cable tie with 250 pound strength makes this ideal for restraining criminals. e.g. in congested traffic, Steering Assist can use the vehicle ahead as a means of orientation, enabling semi-autonomous following even when there are no clear lane markings visible. As a result, the system is able to further enhance driving comfort and substantially ease the driver’s workload in many traffic situations.
The new Steering Assist function integrated into the DISTRONIC PLUS system is predominantly based on the new stereo camera (see previous section). At the same time,A stone mosaic stands at the spot of assasination of the late Indian prime minister. the area in front of the vehicle continues to be monitored by two short-range radar sensors and a long-range radar sensor with medium-range detection. The system fuses the data gleaned from both technologies, calculates any reactions required, and then regulates the vehicle’s speed as requirements dictate by controlling engine power, transmission and brakes, as well as actuating the electric steering for lateral vehicle guidance.
DISTRONIC PLUS with Steering Assist can be activated as before with a lever on the steering column in a speed range from 0 – 200 km/h. Any speed between 30 km/h and 200 km/h can be selected as the desired cruising speed. A green steering wheel symbol appears in the instrument cluster to indicate when Steering Assist is operating while DISTRONIC PLUS is activated. Meanwhile, longitudinal information (cruise control function) is still visualised in the speed display by means of circular segments and the speedometer needle.
Drivers must keep their hands on the steering wheel at all times even when Steering Assist is activated, as the function only works in bends above a certain, speed-dependent radius. Legal considerations also mean there are no plans to introduce hands-free driving. The system’s design is so refined that the sensors can detect whether the driver’s hands are actually on the steering wheel. If they are not, a visual warning is issued first. Should the driver fail to react to this prompt, a warning signal sounds and lateral lane guidance is deactivated. This does not affect the cruise control function, however, which continues to be operative. Needless to say, the driver is able to override the Steering Assist at any time. If the driver signals to change lane, for instance, the lateral guidance function will switch into passive mode for the duration of the lane change.
The longitudinal performance capabilities of DISTRONIC PLUS have been further refined. Now, the system is able to brake at a rate of up to 5 m/s without any intervention from the driver. If the “S” drive mode button is pressed,Find a great buy mosaic Art deals on eBay! the rate of acceleration increases, too.Our technology gives rtls systems developers the ability. Vehicle acceleration is also more dynamic if the driver signals a wish to overtake by switching on the indicators, assuming the road is clear.
By combining radar and camera data, DISTRONIC PLUS is also able to detect both vehicles cutting in and vehicles ahead in adjacent lanes and take necessary action promptly. This can prevent illegal undertaking on motorways and multi-lane highways, for example, by adapting the speed to that of vehicles in the outside lanes.
Apart from material damage, accidents at junctions often result in serious personal injuries, too. The new Brake Assist BAS PLUS from Mercedes-Benz is therefore capable of more than just helping the driver to avoid collisions with vehicles ahead or lessen their consequences in a purely longitudinal direction: the new Cross-Traffic Assist function can also come to the driver’s aid when there is a risk of a collision with cross traffic at junctions.
If this anticipatory system detects a hazardous situation of this type, it prompts the driver to start emergency braking by activating visual and acoustic warnings. If the driver presses the brake pedal too tentatively, BAS PLUS will step in by automatically boosting brake pressure for effective emergency braking, even applying the brakes at full power if necessary. Applying just the right amount of braking power for the situation at hand maximises the available braking distance for traffic behind.
Pilot scheme for elderly residents to be extended
Nearly 7,800 blocks have benefited
from the Government's Barrier-Free Accessibility programme, as ramps and
handrails brought convenience to the elderly and physically disabled, allowing
them to move around their neighbourhoods with ease.
The programme, which cost S$23 million and took five years to fully implement, is key as Singapore prepares for an ageing population, said National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan in his latest blog post.
Further improvements could be under way, as the National Development Ministry plans to extend the Enhancement for Active Seniors programme to more towns.
Under the scheme, which was launched earlier this year, elderly residents can opt for ramps within their flats, and grab bars or slip-resistant treatment to their bathroom floor tiles. The programme, currently piloted at Bukit Merah and Kallang-Whampoa, has received positive feedback, said Mr Khaw. "Importantly, they help prevent falls," he added.
Moments after Xi, pictured below, was unveiled, the European Commission imposed anti-dumping tariffs on Chinese imports of ceramic tableware and kitchenware – including porcelain, earthenware, and stoneware.
With Chinese exports of ceramics being valued by the EU at some 728 million euros, this is big news for Stoke-on-Trent's pottery industry.
Tariffs are charged to the producer of the imported goods.
Every manufacturer must assign a 'declared value' to their products and tariffs are levied as a percentage of this value.
Their goal is to protect domestic markets from products being unfairly undercut by foreign competitors. It is this notion of 'protection' that gives its name to an economic philosophy advocating tariffs and strong regulation of global trade: protectionism.
But while protectionism can help to boost domestic production it is often bad news for the consumer.
Because protectionism is about controlling and maintaining prices, it means the price of goods can be more expensive than might be the case in a 'free trade' system.
Perhaps more than any country in the world, Britain has tended to come down on the side of free trade. Ever since Robert Peel repealed the protectionist Corn Laws in 1846, Britain has been an aggressive advocate for free trade.
With the 'Common Market' as its founding principle, free trade is hardwired into the ethos of the EU too.
Therefore the decision to impose tariffs, which ranged between 17.6 per cent and 31.2 per cent for goods from Chinese companies that co-operated with the Commission's prior investigation (58.8 per cent for those which did not), will not have been taken lightly.One of the most durable and attractive styles of flooring that you can purchase is ceramic or porcelain tiles.
Indeed, 14 of the 27 member states, including the UK, voted against the planned measures at a meeting of trade specialists in October.
Yet the Commission decided to press ahead. Come 15 May, 2013, they could even become permanent.A stone mosaic stands at the spot of assasination of the late Indian prime minister. Flying in the face of member state opinion is a highly unusual move. But for the strength of our ceramics industry, it is the right one.
This will not please everyone. One problem with protectionism is that it often sparks 'trade wars' as countries impose retaliating tit-for-tat tariffs. Whoever casts the first stone is usually irrelevant in such races to the bottom, because everybody loses.
Furthermore, blank imports from China make up a significant amount of produce for some of our leading ceramics firms – which decorate the ware in Stoke.
While we obviously want to prioritise goods manufactured in Stoke-on-Trent – those that can faithfully bear the 'Made in Staffordshire' backstamp – we do have to be careful about threatening the competitiveness of firms that operate here.
And there is nothing intrinsically wrong with Chinese goods making up part of our ceramics supply.
Yet there does seem to be incontrovertible evidence that China is engaging in what is called 'dumping' – a practice which involves flooding competitors' markets with subsidised products at prices less than would be charged to domestic markets.
The idea is that by weakening the competitiveness of your competitors' industries, you strengthen the comparative advantage of your own in the long-term.
The European Commission is convinced China is doing this for tableware and kitchenware.
Stories abound of Chinese plants not having to pay for energy, land or machinery costs.
In truth they do have form. Tariffs of up to 77 per cent have been in place since March for Chinese imports in ceramic floor-tiles.
In September, Barack Obama accused China of fixing the price of its car exports – usually by subsiding energy or plant costs – to weaken U.S. manufacturers.We mainly supply professional craftspeople with wholesale turquoise beads from china,
And countries such as Columbia, Indonesia and Egypt have already imposed anti-dumping measures for Chinese ceramics, at far higher rates than the EU.Interlocking security cable ties with 250 pound strength makes this ideal for restraining criminals.
Clearly 'dumping' is unfair to Staffordshire-based ceramic manufacturers. And if European rules prevent states from subsidising firms in the Common Market,Argo Mold limited specialize in Plastic injection mould manufacture, why should they not try to protect our competitiveness?
It is this sentiment that supports the Commission's argument that far from acting against Common Market principles, they are actually trying to preserve them.
It is bad enough trying to compete with Chinese labour and energy costs as it is, without various Chinese regions further skewing the playing field. We should both welcome the elevation of Xi Jinping and support the Commission's interim decision. A harmonious relationship with the incoming Chinese leadership should be firm but respectful – and should begin with truly fair trade.
The programme, which cost S$23 million and took five years to fully implement, is key as Singapore prepares for an ageing population, said National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan in his latest blog post.
Further improvements could be under way, as the National Development Ministry plans to extend the Enhancement for Active Seniors programme to more towns.
Under the scheme, which was launched earlier this year, elderly residents can opt for ramps within their flats, and grab bars or slip-resistant treatment to their bathroom floor tiles. The programme, currently piloted at Bukit Merah and Kallang-Whampoa, has received positive feedback, said Mr Khaw. "Importantly, they help prevent falls," he added.
Moments after Xi, pictured below, was unveiled, the European Commission imposed anti-dumping tariffs on Chinese imports of ceramic tableware and kitchenware – including porcelain, earthenware, and stoneware.
With Chinese exports of ceramics being valued by the EU at some 728 million euros, this is big news for Stoke-on-Trent's pottery industry.
Tariffs are charged to the producer of the imported goods.
Every manufacturer must assign a 'declared value' to their products and tariffs are levied as a percentage of this value.
Their goal is to protect domestic markets from products being unfairly undercut by foreign competitors. It is this notion of 'protection' that gives its name to an economic philosophy advocating tariffs and strong regulation of global trade: protectionism.
But while protectionism can help to boost domestic production it is often bad news for the consumer.
Because protectionism is about controlling and maintaining prices, it means the price of goods can be more expensive than might be the case in a 'free trade' system.
Perhaps more than any country in the world, Britain has tended to come down on the side of free trade. Ever since Robert Peel repealed the protectionist Corn Laws in 1846, Britain has been an aggressive advocate for free trade.
With the 'Common Market' as its founding principle, free trade is hardwired into the ethos of the EU too.
Therefore the decision to impose tariffs, which ranged between 17.6 per cent and 31.2 per cent for goods from Chinese companies that co-operated with the Commission's prior investigation (58.8 per cent for those which did not), will not have been taken lightly.One of the most durable and attractive styles of flooring that you can purchase is ceramic or porcelain tiles.
Indeed, 14 of the 27 member states, including the UK, voted against the planned measures at a meeting of trade specialists in October.
Yet the Commission decided to press ahead. Come 15 May, 2013, they could even become permanent.A stone mosaic stands at the spot of assasination of the late Indian prime minister. Flying in the face of member state opinion is a highly unusual move. But for the strength of our ceramics industry, it is the right one.
This will not please everyone. One problem with protectionism is that it often sparks 'trade wars' as countries impose retaliating tit-for-tat tariffs. Whoever casts the first stone is usually irrelevant in such races to the bottom, because everybody loses.
Furthermore, blank imports from China make up a significant amount of produce for some of our leading ceramics firms – which decorate the ware in Stoke.
While we obviously want to prioritise goods manufactured in Stoke-on-Trent – those that can faithfully bear the 'Made in Staffordshire' backstamp – we do have to be careful about threatening the competitiveness of firms that operate here.
And there is nothing intrinsically wrong with Chinese goods making up part of our ceramics supply.
Yet there does seem to be incontrovertible evidence that China is engaging in what is called 'dumping' – a practice which involves flooding competitors' markets with subsidised products at prices less than would be charged to domestic markets.
The idea is that by weakening the competitiveness of your competitors' industries, you strengthen the comparative advantage of your own in the long-term.
The European Commission is convinced China is doing this for tableware and kitchenware.
Stories abound of Chinese plants not having to pay for energy, land or machinery costs.
In truth they do have form. Tariffs of up to 77 per cent have been in place since March for Chinese imports in ceramic floor-tiles.
In September, Barack Obama accused China of fixing the price of its car exports – usually by subsiding energy or plant costs – to weaken U.S. manufacturers.We mainly supply professional craftspeople with wholesale turquoise beads from china,
And countries such as Columbia, Indonesia and Egypt have already imposed anti-dumping measures for Chinese ceramics, at far higher rates than the EU.Interlocking security cable ties with 250 pound strength makes this ideal for restraining criminals.
Clearly 'dumping' is unfair to Staffordshire-based ceramic manufacturers. And if European rules prevent states from subsidising firms in the Common Market,Argo Mold limited specialize in Plastic injection mould manufacture, why should they not try to protect our competitiveness?
It is this sentiment that supports the Commission's argument that far from acting against Common Market principles, they are actually trying to preserve them.
It is bad enough trying to compete with Chinese labour and energy costs as it is, without various Chinese regions further skewing the playing field. We should both welcome the elevation of Xi Jinping and support the Commission's interim decision. A harmonious relationship with the incoming Chinese leadership should be firm but respectful – and should begin with truly fair trade.
Education--UNH Alert System Pings the Public
Everyone likes something extra.Installers
and distributors of solar
panel, The University of New Hampshire’s public safety notification system
delivers the expected security features but it goes beyond public safety. The
school can leverage its security investment for everyday uses—like promoting
bookstore sales or updating parking availability.
Like most other colleges, UNH has several emergency platforms in place to protect students and faculty. The rub is how to reach visitors—alumni, visiting sports teams—who are not in the campus database. The Clery Act requires everyone be notified of dangerous situations, 24/7. How does one reach outsiders?
“We were looking to add some redundancy to our existing system and add some features to ensure we could reach all communities on campus,Find detailed product information for howo spare parts and other products.” said Paul Dean, chief of police and executive director of public safety at UNH. “Emergency notification on college campuses is a hot button issue,” he added.
UNH uses a system called Ping4 alerts. It will wake up a smartphone and alert users of incidents or events happening on campus, according to Michael Welts, senior vice president at Ping4. Its technology draws a geofence around any sized area and alerts anyone with the app downloaded. The app is free to users. It pays for itself by licensing and revenue sharing with the user. It was launched in New Hampshire in March with the Manchester, N.H., police department.
An alert can be campus-wide or localized to a single dorm that may be without hot water, for example. In the case of a recent sexual assault,Find detailed product information for howo spare parts and other products. a region of the campus was alerted. Since the app is full rich-media, a photo or video of a suspect can be attached to the alert.
“Look at this technology and look at the gaps in your emergency notification system,” said Dean. He merged Ping4 with his existing RSS feed.
Beyond colleges, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is using it for emergency management. So is Littleton, Colo.The howo truck is offered by Shiyan Great Man Automotive Industry, A user signed up in one community, will automatically get emergency notifications when they move inside Find detailed product information for howo tractor and other products.another geo-fence (but will not be bothered when they are not inside the geo-fence).
Getting the outsiders involved is a key component. At UNH athletic events, visitors can win t-shirts for signing up. UNH housing makes email blasts with the information in it. Dean used the example of a Harvard student who comes to UNH for a hockey game. Inside UNH’s catchment, the student would get UNH alerts. Outside it, he is not bothered.
Dean likes the fact the app lives in the background and does not require anyone to give a cell phone number or email address. Since it is app-based, there is little battery drain. It works on Android and iPhone platforms right now. Windows devices will be up in the first half of 2013, Welts said.
Dean said UNH cannot rely 100 percent on Ping4 since only 58 percent of the campus has smartphones. “To comply with the Clery Act, I need to reach 100 percent of the people,” Dean said. “One system is not a catch-all. I believe in redundancy. I want our public to have several options.”
Like most other colleges, UNH has several emergency platforms in place to protect students and faculty. The rub is how to reach visitors—alumni, visiting sports teams—who are not in the campus database. The Clery Act requires everyone be notified of dangerous situations, 24/7. How does one reach outsiders?
“We were looking to add some redundancy to our existing system and add some features to ensure we could reach all communities on campus,Find detailed product information for howo spare parts and other products.” said Paul Dean, chief of police and executive director of public safety at UNH. “Emergency notification on college campuses is a hot button issue,” he added.
UNH uses a system called Ping4 alerts. It will wake up a smartphone and alert users of incidents or events happening on campus, according to Michael Welts, senior vice president at Ping4. Its technology draws a geofence around any sized area and alerts anyone with the app downloaded. The app is free to users. It pays for itself by licensing and revenue sharing with the user. It was launched in New Hampshire in March with the Manchester, N.H., police department.
An alert can be campus-wide or localized to a single dorm that may be without hot water, for example. In the case of a recent sexual assault,Find detailed product information for howo spare parts and other products. a region of the campus was alerted. Since the app is full rich-media, a photo or video of a suspect can be attached to the alert.
“Look at this technology and look at the gaps in your emergency notification system,” said Dean. He merged Ping4 with his existing RSS feed.
Beyond colleges, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is using it for emergency management. So is Littleton, Colo.The howo truck is offered by Shiyan Great Man Automotive Industry, A user signed up in one community, will automatically get emergency notifications when they move inside Find detailed product information for howo tractor and other products.another geo-fence (but will not be bothered when they are not inside the geo-fence).
Getting the outsiders involved is a key component. At UNH athletic events, visitors can win t-shirts for signing up. UNH housing makes email blasts with the information in it. Dean used the example of a Harvard student who comes to UNH for a hockey game. Inside UNH’s catchment, the student would get UNH alerts. Outside it, he is not bothered.
Dean likes the fact the app lives in the background and does not require anyone to give a cell phone number or email address. Since it is app-based, there is little battery drain. It works on Android and iPhone platforms right now. Windows devices will be up in the first half of 2013, Welts said.
Dean said UNH cannot rely 100 percent on Ping4 since only 58 percent of the campus has smartphones. “To comply with the Clery Act, I need to reach 100 percent of the people,” Dean said. “One system is not a catch-all. I believe in redundancy. I want our public to have several options.”
2012年11月18日 星期日
The disabled acting community works to end of decades of 'invisibility'
As Michael J Fox embraces his Parkinson's for a comedic return to
television, the disabled acting community works towards the end of
decades of 'invisibility.'
Television drama is all about make-believe - but the days of making us believe that people with disabilities are invisible or don't exist may soon be winding down.
Grass-roots activism by Hollywood unions to write more disabled roles and open up the audition process, a growing awareness that real-life people with disabilities give such characters greater authenticity, plus the electrifying recent news that the beloved actor Michael J Fox is returning to the small screen despite his Parkinson's disease - have re-energised both the debate and thespian hopes.
"I am so thrilled about Fox," says RJ Mitte, 20, the disabled advocate and charismatic rising star of the award-winning AMC series Breaking Bad. Born with cerebral palsy, he typifies the drive and desire it takes to break in to show business if you're not Fox with a platinum CV. "I think he will open tremendous doors for the disabled acting community."
But for lesser lights and emerging acting talent with disabilities, there are some daunting statistics to overcome to gain a toehold in the television arena.
The United Nations estimates there are 650 million people in the world living with a disability. In the US alone, there are 56 million Americans with disabilities who remain virtually invisible in media.
To put this into perspective, the 20 per cent of Americans between the ages of 5 and 64 who live with a disability are represented by fewer than two per cent of characters on television. Even more dispiriting, only one-half of one per cent of words spoken on TV are spoken by a person with a disability.
Making a living doing so can be impossible. Screen Actors Guild (SAG) research also indicates that 56 per cent of background performers with disabilities earn less than US$1,000 (Dh3,670) each year in film and TV.
Despite existing producer/union policies of non-discrimination, more than one-third of people with disability say they encountered discrimination - not being cast for a role or being refused an audition due to their disabilities.
The problem is hardly unique to North American television. In the UK, the disabled performer Lisa Hammond (Grange Hill, Psychoville) said "put 'crips' in your scripts" in an open letter she wrote to the UK industry in August.
"The best representation is a hands-off one," she wrote. "The character with the disability does not have to have a story written around that disability. It is their human stories/problems that are the juicy and dramatic parts of their lives."
What appears to be turning the tide - or at least making transformative waves in favour of access, inclusion and accuracy for the disabled - is the ambitious I AM PWD (Inclusion in the Arts & Media of People with Disabilities) campaign launched three years ago by the Performers with Disabilities Tri-Union Committee of the Screen Actors Guild, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and Actors' Equity Association.The howo truck is offered by Shiyan Great Man Automotive Industry,
"In the 21st century, media is the world's common cultural environment. Society's values and priorities are expressed and reflected in film, television, theatre, news and music. If you aren't seen and heard, you are invisible,We mainly supply professional craftspeople with wholesale turquoise beads from china," says the actor and tri-union committee chairman Robert David Hall (CSI: Crime Scene Investigation), the only disabled actor on primetime network TV. "I AM PWD will awaken the general public to the lack of inclusion and universal access for people with disabilities by uniting with a network of industry, labour,The howo truck is offered by Shiyan Great Man Automotive Industry, community and government allies."
Adam Moore,A stone mosaic stands at the spot of assasination of the late Indian prime minister. the Equal Employment Opportunity and Diversity Director of SAG-AFTRA, adds: "If you don't see your family or what you look like or your experience reflected in the fictional environments - and more increasingly the real environments in reality television - if you don't see yourself reflected there, it reinforces this idea that you may not have the same place at the table of society that other people do.Find a great buy mosaic Art deals on eBay!"
Television drama is all about make-believe - but the days of making us believe that people with disabilities are invisible or don't exist may soon be winding down.
Grass-roots activism by Hollywood unions to write more disabled roles and open up the audition process, a growing awareness that real-life people with disabilities give such characters greater authenticity, plus the electrifying recent news that the beloved actor Michael J Fox is returning to the small screen despite his Parkinson's disease - have re-energised both the debate and thespian hopes.
"I am so thrilled about Fox," says RJ Mitte, 20, the disabled advocate and charismatic rising star of the award-winning AMC series Breaking Bad. Born with cerebral palsy, he typifies the drive and desire it takes to break in to show business if you're not Fox with a platinum CV. "I think he will open tremendous doors for the disabled acting community."
But for lesser lights and emerging acting talent with disabilities, there are some daunting statistics to overcome to gain a toehold in the television arena.
The United Nations estimates there are 650 million people in the world living with a disability. In the US alone, there are 56 million Americans with disabilities who remain virtually invisible in media.
To put this into perspective, the 20 per cent of Americans between the ages of 5 and 64 who live with a disability are represented by fewer than two per cent of characters on television. Even more dispiriting, only one-half of one per cent of words spoken on TV are spoken by a person with a disability.
Making a living doing so can be impossible. Screen Actors Guild (SAG) research also indicates that 56 per cent of background performers with disabilities earn less than US$1,000 (Dh3,670) each year in film and TV.
Despite existing producer/union policies of non-discrimination, more than one-third of people with disability say they encountered discrimination - not being cast for a role or being refused an audition due to their disabilities.
The problem is hardly unique to North American television. In the UK, the disabled performer Lisa Hammond (Grange Hill, Psychoville) said "put 'crips' in your scripts" in an open letter she wrote to the UK industry in August.
"The best representation is a hands-off one," she wrote. "The character with the disability does not have to have a story written around that disability. It is their human stories/problems that are the juicy and dramatic parts of their lives."
What appears to be turning the tide - or at least making transformative waves in favour of access, inclusion and accuracy for the disabled - is the ambitious I AM PWD (Inclusion in the Arts & Media of People with Disabilities) campaign launched three years ago by the Performers with Disabilities Tri-Union Committee of the Screen Actors Guild, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and Actors' Equity Association.The howo truck is offered by Shiyan Great Man Automotive Industry,
"In the 21st century, media is the world's common cultural environment. Society's values and priorities are expressed and reflected in film, television, theatre, news and music. If you aren't seen and heard, you are invisible,We mainly supply professional craftspeople with wholesale turquoise beads from china," says the actor and tri-union committee chairman Robert David Hall (CSI: Crime Scene Investigation), the only disabled actor on primetime network TV. "I AM PWD will awaken the general public to the lack of inclusion and universal access for people with disabilities by uniting with a network of industry, labour,The howo truck is offered by Shiyan Great Man Automotive Industry, community and government allies."
Adam Moore,A stone mosaic stands at the spot of assasination of the late Indian prime minister. the Equal Employment Opportunity and Diversity Director of SAG-AFTRA, adds: "If you don't see your family or what you look like or your experience reflected in the fictional environments - and more increasingly the real environments in reality television - if you don't see yourself reflected there, it reinforces this idea that you may not have the same place at the table of society that other people do.Find a great buy mosaic Art deals on eBay!"
Does it Matter if Humans Trash the Planet?
I guess so. I mean from a purely selfish viewpoint it would be a
bummer not to have pretty trees, lovely fish and cool animals like
hippopotami. I do appreciate that bacteria and cockroaches are super
survivalists, but losing species that need pristine environments would
make life less pleasing.
There has always been a dynamic tension between humans and the rest of the ecosystem since we figured out that we could actually change our environment to suit ourselves. As much as Hurricane Sandy took our arrogance down a notch, it was still a small win for Nature. We’ll repopulate the destroyed areas faster than you can say “plague”.
But human effects can be permanent. A good example is an early large-scale industrial activity during the Iron Age that instigated the clear cutting of Britain for wood and charcoal to smelt iron. That clear-cutting resulted in the Moors. The Moors are stark and beautiful and you’d have thought the forests would just grow back in a thousand years, but not so.
The fragile ecological equilibrium that grew old growth forests after the last Ice Age was gone. The existing forest could maintain itself by generating its own microclimate, but a new arboreal forest could never be re-established in that region. So that was that.
The world’s population was still not much above 10 million at that time and the global effects were slight. As we grew to over 1 billion, however,Thank you for visiting! I have been crystal mosaic since 1998. that changed. Large-scale extinctions began to rise and we are now losing over 1,000 species per year.
Things have gotten so bad that we geologists actually recognize that the present Holocene epoch will be the largest extinction event in the planet’s history, surpassing even the late Permian when 90% of all marine species shuffled off their mortal coil.
These events were huge and changed life forever after. The major cause of these extinctions was some variation of climate change although the cause of each change was unique. Whether it’s astronomical changes in orbital path, unusually high volcanic activity,Installers and distributors of solar panel, plate tectonic changes that allowed ice to accumulate into polar caps, or the rare large bolide impact, organisms can only take a small amount of variation in average climatic conditions in their neighborhood.
But loss of habitat is the real permanent killer right now. Although a manicured back yard looks nice and alive, and squirrels might love it, native fauna don’t. Same with corn fields. Of course, most squirrels are xenobiotic cronies of humans.
And habitat loss doesn’t just mean cutting forests or plowing up meadows,A stone mosaic stands at the spot of assasination of the late Indian prime minister. it’s also polluting coastlines and rivers, acidifying the oceans, clearing mangrove swamps to put in shrimp farms. It’s change, and just by our very presence in an area, humans cause massive change.
But global warming will be the icing on the cake of this extinction event, preventing any real recovery of Earth’s life even if we suddenly decide we want things back the way they were.The oreck XL professional air purifier, Obtaining Dodo Bird DNA from a well-preserved skeleton won’t bring the species back if it doesn’t have any habitat left.
We’ve learned from studying past extinctions that there is a cascading effect to these things. Huge losses in biodiversity lead to everything from food chain collapses to changes in soil conditions to changes in microclimates to changes in atmospheric and oceanic composition. It’s not that life itself goes extinct; it’s just that your species might not like what happens very much, and might find itself gone entirely.
New access to chemical energy from agriculture, followed by mechanical energy from tools and simple machines, and finally energy from electrical and thermal power after 1850, caused profound changes in the levels of energy available to humans relative to any other species.
And so our dominance began. And like bacteria in a petri dish, our population grew exponentially. The land needed to accommodate this horde grew as well, and the land needed to produce the energy to power these throngs grew, too. Other species’ habitat was bound to lose. And the effects on the Earth to provide this land and this energy have surpassed even the Big Five.
So the only way to dial things back, if that is even possible anymore, is to reduce the population,Interlocking security cable ties with 250 pound strength makes this ideal for restraining criminals. reduce the energy needed to support it, and reduce the area needed to provide energy to it. So now not just atmospheric effects like CO2 need to be factored, but areal footprint as well. The accompanying figure shows the relative footprints among the major energy sources for both CO2 and land area, and includes mining and distribution as well as generation.
There has always been a dynamic tension between humans and the rest of the ecosystem since we figured out that we could actually change our environment to suit ourselves. As much as Hurricane Sandy took our arrogance down a notch, it was still a small win for Nature. We’ll repopulate the destroyed areas faster than you can say “plague”.
But human effects can be permanent. A good example is an early large-scale industrial activity during the Iron Age that instigated the clear cutting of Britain for wood and charcoal to smelt iron. That clear-cutting resulted in the Moors. The Moors are stark and beautiful and you’d have thought the forests would just grow back in a thousand years, but not so.
The fragile ecological equilibrium that grew old growth forests after the last Ice Age was gone. The existing forest could maintain itself by generating its own microclimate, but a new arboreal forest could never be re-established in that region. So that was that.
The world’s population was still not much above 10 million at that time and the global effects were slight. As we grew to over 1 billion, however,Thank you for visiting! I have been crystal mosaic since 1998. that changed. Large-scale extinctions began to rise and we are now losing over 1,000 species per year.
Things have gotten so bad that we geologists actually recognize that the present Holocene epoch will be the largest extinction event in the planet’s history, surpassing even the late Permian when 90% of all marine species shuffled off their mortal coil.
These events were huge and changed life forever after. The major cause of these extinctions was some variation of climate change although the cause of each change was unique. Whether it’s astronomical changes in orbital path, unusually high volcanic activity,Installers and distributors of solar panel, plate tectonic changes that allowed ice to accumulate into polar caps, or the rare large bolide impact, organisms can only take a small amount of variation in average climatic conditions in their neighborhood.
But loss of habitat is the real permanent killer right now. Although a manicured back yard looks nice and alive, and squirrels might love it, native fauna don’t. Same with corn fields. Of course, most squirrels are xenobiotic cronies of humans.
And habitat loss doesn’t just mean cutting forests or plowing up meadows,A stone mosaic stands at the spot of assasination of the late Indian prime minister. it’s also polluting coastlines and rivers, acidifying the oceans, clearing mangrove swamps to put in shrimp farms. It’s change, and just by our very presence in an area, humans cause massive change.
But global warming will be the icing on the cake of this extinction event, preventing any real recovery of Earth’s life even if we suddenly decide we want things back the way they were.The oreck XL professional air purifier, Obtaining Dodo Bird DNA from a well-preserved skeleton won’t bring the species back if it doesn’t have any habitat left.
We’ve learned from studying past extinctions that there is a cascading effect to these things. Huge losses in biodiversity lead to everything from food chain collapses to changes in soil conditions to changes in microclimates to changes in atmospheric and oceanic composition. It’s not that life itself goes extinct; it’s just that your species might not like what happens very much, and might find itself gone entirely.
New access to chemical energy from agriculture, followed by mechanical energy from tools and simple machines, and finally energy from electrical and thermal power after 1850, caused profound changes in the levels of energy available to humans relative to any other species.
And so our dominance began. And like bacteria in a petri dish, our population grew exponentially. The land needed to accommodate this horde grew as well, and the land needed to produce the energy to power these throngs grew, too. Other species’ habitat was bound to lose. And the effects on the Earth to provide this land and this energy have surpassed even the Big Five.
So the only way to dial things back, if that is even possible anymore, is to reduce the population,Interlocking security cable ties with 250 pound strength makes this ideal for restraining criminals. reduce the energy needed to support it, and reduce the area needed to provide energy to it. So now not just atmospheric effects like CO2 need to be factored, but areal footprint as well. The accompanying figure shows the relative footprints among the major energy sources for both CO2 and land area, and includes mining and distribution as well as generation.
Hack attack a costly lesson for ba
The recent credit card breach involving PayGate, a local payment
service provider, has exposed a weakness in the national payment system
that the regulator, the banks and service providers are fixing, fast.
The international syndicate responsible for the hack may have accessed the card details of hundreds of thousands of users. But the banks say there’s no need to panic: they are covering any losses you incur from fraud related to this incident – and if you’re at risk, your bank is monitoring your credit card account.
The Payments Association of South Africa (Pasa), the body responsible for regulating the national payment system, is checking the compliance of about 50 operators that facilitate payments from your bank account to a retailer’s bank account when you shop online.
Walter Volker, the chief executive of Pasa, says one of the “major lessons learned” is that there’s a need for a better way of checking the compliance of operators such as PayGate, which fell victim to a hacker’s attack.The term 'hands free access control' means the token that identifies a user is read from within a pocket or handbag.
“Unfortunately,Argo Mold limited specialize in Plastic injection mould manufacture, in this case PayGate was acquired by four of the major banks and it seems that each assumed that compliance was taken care of. This is one of the major lessons learned. We need a more formalised, explicit way of checking compliance.
“We have a set of criteria that covers a number of things, but the plan is to extend that list to ensure adherence to the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI-DSS).”
The PCI-DSS is a security standard for the payment card industry.
Volker says while there is a weakness in regulating operators, ultimately “the risk is with the banks. And we expect our banks to comply with PCI-DSS.”
He says Pasa is in the process of reviewing Pasa-registered operators that are card-enabled, to determine how many are PCI-DSS-compliant. He says once this is done, those operators that aren’t yet compliant will be given a deadline to comply.
PayGate is not yet fully compliant with PCI-DSS, and the hack occurred three months before the company was due to be audited, Peter Harvey, managing director of PayGate, says.
Harvey says PayGate reported its compliance status to the major banks on a regular basis, and in 14 years the company has never had an incident.
“We’re optimistic we caught it quickly and locked it down 100 percent,” he says. The breach was by way of hidden files found on PayGate’s server, which has subsequently been replaced. Since the breach, PayGate has had two PCI-DSS companies run scans on the system and has passed both, he says.
If you’re one of the “hundreds of thousands” of customers whose credit card details were on the database that was compromised, you won’t necessarily be notified of this by your bank.An indoor positioning system (IPS) is a term used for a network of devices used to wirelessly locate objects or people inside a building.
Pasa has given the individual banks the discretion to decide whether to contact you with a view to replacing cards that might have been exposed,A stone mosaic stands at the spot of assasination of the late Indian prime minister. or rather placing your cards on a “heightened level of monitoring”.
Last week, Pasa issued a media release that broke the news of the security breach, which, Harvey says, took place in August. He says the banks and the card associations were notified at the time.
This week, the message from the banks was unanimous: there is no need to panic; the number of incidents is “limited”.
None of the banks is willing to divulge how many of their customers have been victims of credit card fraud as a result of the breach, and nor will they disclose the extent of their losses.
Johan Maree, chief executive of First National Bank’s credit card division, says disclosing such information will only “create unnecessary panic”.
“It’s not that we’re withholding information, but it would create panic if we were to alert every customer on that list,” he says.
The banks are not seeking to hide anything from customers, he says, but they have to exercise discretion because an investigation is under way.Thank you for visiting! I have been cry stalmosaic since 1998.
The commercial crime unit is investigating the incident.
Maree says the incident has presented “massive learnings” for the banking industry and highlighted the need for tighter regulations in the payment system.
“There will definitely be some changes and a tightening of regulations,” Maree says. “We have to close the gaps. As an industry, we can’t let this happen again.”
In response to online news reports, some customers have said their banks ought to have notified them about the breach sooner, and at least one lawyer has said that Pasa and the banks are fortunate that the Protection of Personal Information Bill (POPI) is not yet law.
An “operator” (such as PayGate) or a “responsible party” (such as your bank) can face fines of up to R10 million or up to 10 years in jail for failing to comply with the POPI law.
Although Absa elected to contact all of its customers whose details were on the list of credit card users affected by the breach, Arrie Rautenbach, head of retail markets at Absa, says a statement notifying customers in general would be “highly irresponsible” in the circumstances. “Mass communication to all customers would have been counter-productive, as this would have exposed more customers to opportunistic fraud attempts, causing concern for the large percentage of customers who were not affected,” he says.
The international syndicate responsible for the hack may have accessed the card details of hundreds of thousands of users. But the banks say there’s no need to panic: they are covering any losses you incur from fraud related to this incident – and if you’re at risk, your bank is monitoring your credit card account.
The Payments Association of South Africa (Pasa), the body responsible for regulating the national payment system, is checking the compliance of about 50 operators that facilitate payments from your bank account to a retailer’s bank account when you shop online.
Walter Volker, the chief executive of Pasa, says one of the “major lessons learned” is that there’s a need for a better way of checking the compliance of operators such as PayGate, which fell victim to a hacker’s attack.The term 'hands free access control' means the token that identifies a user is read from within a pocket or handbag.
“Unfortunately,Argo Mold limited specialize in Plastic injection mould manufacture, in this case PayGate was acquired by four of the major banks and it seems that each assumed that compliance was taken care of. This is one of the major lessons learned. We need a more formalised, explicit way of checking compliance.
“We have a set of criteria that covers a number of things, but the plan is to extend that list to ensure adherence to the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI-DSS).”
The PCI-DSS is a security standard for the payment card industry.
Volker says while there is a weakness in regulating operators, ultimately “the risk is with the banks. And we expect our banks to comply with PCI-DSS.”
He says Pasa is in the process of reviewing Pasa-registered operators that are card-enabled, to determine how many are PCI-DSS-compliant. He says once this is done, those operators that aren’t yet compliant will be given a deadline to comply.
PayGate is not yet fully compliant with PCI-DSS, and the hack occurred three months before the company was due to be audited, Peter Harvey, managing director of PayGate, says.
Harvey says PayGate reported its compliance status to the major banks on a regular basis, and in 14 years the company has never had an incident.
“We’re optimistic we caught it quickly and locked it down 100 percent,” he says. The breach was by way of hidden files found on PayGate’s server, which has subsequently been replaced. Since the breach, PayGate has had two PCI-DSS companies run scans on the system and has passed both, he says.
If you’re one of the “hundreds of thousands” of customers whose credit card details were on the database that was compromised, you won’t necessarily be notified of this by your bank.An indoor positioning system (IPS) is a term used for a network of devices used to wirelessly locate objects or people inside a building.
Pasa has given the individual banks the discretion to decide whether to contact you with a view to replacing cards that might have been exposed,A stone mosaic stands at the spot of assasination of the late Indian prime minister. or rather placing your cards on a “heightened level of monitoring”.
Last week, Pasa issued a media release that broke the news of the security breach, which, Harvey says, took place in August. He says the banks and the card associations were notified at the time.
This week, the message from the banks was unanimous: there is no need to panic; the number of incidents is “limited”.
None of the banks is willing to divulge how many of their customers have been victims of credit card fraud as a result of the breach, and nor will they disclose the extent of their losses.
Johan Maree, chief executive of First National Bank’s credit card division, says disclosing such information will only “create unnecessary panic”.
“It’s not that we’re withholding information, but it would create panic if we were to alert every customer on that list,” he says.
The banks are not seeking to hide anything from customers, he says, but they have to exercise discretion because an investigation is under way.Thank you for visiting! I have been cry stalmosaic since 1998.
The commercial crime unit is investigating the incident.
Maree says the incident has presented “massive learnings” for the banking industry and highlighted the need for tighter regulations in the payment system.
“There will definitely be some changes and a tightening of regulations,” Maree says. “We have to close the gaps. As an industry, we can’t let this happen again.”
In response to online news reports, some customers have said their banks ought to have notified them about the breach sooner, and at least one lawyer has said that Pasa and the banks are fortunate that the Protection of Personal Information Bill (POPI) is not yet law.
An “operator” (such as PayGate) or a “responsible party” (such as your bank) can face fines of up to R10 million or up to 10 years in jail for failing to comply with the POPI law.
Although Absa elected to contact all of its customers whose details were on the list of credit card users affected by the breach, Arrie Rautenbach, head of retail markets at Absa, says a statement notifying customers in general would be “highly irresponsible” in the circumstances. “Mass communication to all customers would have been counter-productive, as this would have exposed more customers to opportunistic fraud attempts, causing concern for the large percentage of customers who were not affected,” he says.
2012年11月15日 星期四
Council parking fees set to soar
Motorists will no longer be able to park all day on city streets for a
flat fee as council rolls out a new parking scheme set to generate an
extra $860,000 in revenue each year.
The scheme, to be implemented by Easter, will limit parking times at CBD spaces to either one hour or three, as compared to the 12 hours at a $10 capped rate currently available during the week.
Brisbane City Council will also add metered hours to 1255 on-street bays across the CBD, Fortitude Valley and South Brisbane that currently charge between 7am-7pm, Monday to Friday.
Under the new scheme, motorists will pay for parking between 7am and 10pm, though hours at the weekend remain unchanged at 7am to 7pm.
Advertisement
Weekend parking at Roma Street Parklands, which is currently free, will also be metered for four hours on Saturday and Sundays.
But Deputy Mayor Adrian Schrinner defended the plan on the grounds it would improve turn-over and drive the economies of Brisbane's central commercial and lifestyle precincts.
Cr Schrinner said motorists would be charged at less than half the normal hourly rate for the extra off-peak meter hours, depending on the zone in which they park.
The city parking zones affected by the scheme are one and two where the hourly rate respectively stands at $4.20 and $2.60 Monday to Friday, and $2 and $1.Our technology gives rtls systems developers the ability.50 at weekends.
Under the new scheme, Cr Schrinner said the additional hours would be charged at $2 or $1 each.
He said the scheme was about encouraging turn-over across Brisbane's central entertainment and retail precincts.
“Extending the metered hours to evenings and weekends will create a greater turn-over of vehicles for each metered spot, providing a better chance of finding on-street parking spaces,” Cr Schrinner said.
“This means people wanting to park for a couple of hours to do some shopping have an increased chance of finding an on-street park and will pay only a few dollars, rather than $15 to $20 in an off-street parking station.”
The plan has the support of Queen Street Mall Advisory Committee chairman Phil di Bella, who said the current parking system clogged up the city.
“In the past, many sections of our CBD were like a ghost town at night and on the weekends, but this has now changed as our city has become more vibrant and sophisticated,” Mr di Bella said in a written statement issued from the Lord Mayor's office.
When Ashlyn was 3 months old, the Blockers moved from Northern Virginia to Patterson, Ga., where Tara has family. At 6 months, Ashlyn’s left eye was swollen and bloodshot. The doctor suspected pink eye, but Ashlyn didn’t respond to the treatment, so they went to an ophthalmologist, who found a massive corneal abrasion. “And Ashlyn is just sitting there, happy as can be,” Tara recalled. The ophthalmologist assumed she had no corneal sensation in her eyes, and referred them to the Nemours Children’s Clinic in Jacksonville, Fla. It took a while to get an appointment, and before they made it to Jacksonville, Ashlyn rubbed big red splotches on her nose and almost chewed off part of her tongue with her emerging teeth.The howo truck is offered by Shiyan Great Man Automotive Industry,
At the clinic, they drew Ashlyn’s blood and took scans of her brain and her spine, but the tests were inconclusive.Interlocking security cable tie with 250 pound strength makes this ideal for restraining criminals. Over the next 18 months, there were more tests. A nerve biopsy from the back of her leg left stitches that ripped when she was running. When the doctor finally gave his diagnosis, Tara was afraid she would forget the words, so she asked him to write them down. The doctor took out a business card and wrote on the back: “Congenital insensitivity to pain.”
“The doctor told us we were the only ones out there,” Tara said. “That it was so rare. He said to keep an eye on her and that they didn’t know much about it and couldn’t really be of any help. It was kinda like, ‘Good luck!’ ”
At home,Why does moulds grow in homes or buildings? Tara typed the words “congenital insensitivity to pain” into a search engine and started reading the results. There weren’t many, and the few there told of mutilations and early death. There was no comforting advice to be found.
“John and I had never heard of this condition,” she said. “It was mind-boggling. It was so frightening.” They received help from the people around them in Patterson, a community of fewer than 700 people. When Ashlyn started school, teachers watched her on the playground; one person was assigned to make sure she was O.K.Find detailed product information for howo tractor and other products. at all times. The nurse washed her eyes and checked her shoes each time she came in from recess — what she called her “Nascar pit stop” — to make sure there was no sand that might cause another corneal abrasion or scratches on her feet. “It really sharpened our observation skills,” Tara said. “I learned to see something happen before it happened.”
The scheme, to be implemented by Easter, will limit parking times at CBD spaces to either one hour or three, as compared to the 12 hours at a $10 capped rate currently available during the week.
Brisbane City Council will also add metered hours to 1255 on-street bays across the CBD, Fortitude Valley and South Brisbane that currently charge between 7am-7pm, Monday to Friday.
Under the new scheme, motorists will pay for parking between 7am and 10pm, though hours at the weekend remain unchanged at 7am to 7pm.
Advertisement
Weekend parking at Roma Street Parklands, which is currently free, will also be metered for four hours on Saturday and Sundays.
But Deputy Mayor Adrian Schrinner defended the plan on the grounds it would improve turn-over and drive the economies of Brisbane's central commercial and lifestyle precincts.
Cr Schrinner said motorists would be charged at less than half the normal hourly rate for the extra off-peak meter hours, depending on the zone in which they park.
The city parking zones affected by the scheme are one and two where the hourly rate respectively stands at $4.20 and $2.60 Monday to Friday, and $2 and $1.Our technology gives rtls systems developers the ability.50 at weekends.
Under the new scheme, Cr Schrinner said the additional hours would be charged at $2 or $1 each.
He said the scheme was about encouraging turn-over across Brisbane's central entertainment and retail precincts.
“Extending the metered hours to evenings and weekends will create a greater turn-over of vehicles for each metered spot, providing a better chance of finding on-street parking spaces,” Cr Schrinner said.
“This means people wanting to park for a couple of hours to do some shopping have an increased chance of finding an on-street park and will pay only a few dollars, rather than $15 to $20 in an off-street parking station.”
The plan has the support of Queen Street Mall Advisory Committee chairman Phil di Bella, who said the current parking system clogged up the city.
“In the past, many sections of our CBD were like a ghost town at night and on the weekends, but this has now changed as our city has become more vibrant and sophisticated,” Mr di Bella said in a written statement issued from the Lord Mayor's office.
When Ashlyn was 3 months old, the Blockers moved from Northern Virginia to Patterson, Ga., where Tara has family. At 6 months, Ashlyn’s left eye was swollen and bloodshot. The doctor suspected pink eye, but Ashlyn didn’t respond to the treatment, so they went to an ophthalmologist, who found a massive corneal abrasion. “And Ashlyn is just sitting there, happy as can be,” Tara recalled. The ophthalmologist assumed she had no corneal sensation in her eyes, and referred them to the Nemours Children’s Clinic in Jacksonville, Fla. It took a while to get an appointment, and before they made it to Jacksonville, Ashlyn rubbed big red splotches on her nose and almost chewed off part of her tongue with her emerging teeth.The howo truck is offered by Shiyan Great Man Automotive Industry,
At the clinic, they drew Ashlyn’s blood and took scans of her brain and her spine, but the tests were inconclusive.Interlocking security cable tie with 250 pound strength makes this ideal for restraining criminals. Over the next 18 months, there were more tests. A nerve biopsy from the back of her leg left stitches that ripped when she was running. When the doctor finally gave his diagnosis, Tara was afraid she would forget the words, so she asked him to write them down. The doctor took out a business card and wrote on the back: “Congenital insensitivity to pain.”
“The doctor told us we were the only ones out there,” Tara said. “That it was so rare. He said to keep an eye on her and that they didn’t know much about it and couldn’t really be of any help. It was kinda like, ‘Good luck!’ ”
At home,Why does moulds grow in homes or buildings? Tara typed the words “congenital insensitivity to pain” into a search engine and started reading the results. There weren’t many, and the few there told of mutilations and early death. There was no comforting advice to be found.
“John and I had never heard of this condition,” she said. “It was mind-boggling. It was so frightening.” They received help from the people around them in Patterson, a community of fewer than 700 people. When Ashlyn started school, teachers watched her on the playground; one person was assigned to make sure she was O.K.Find detailed product information for howo tractor and other products. at all times. The nurse washed her eyes and checked her shoes each time she came in from recess — what she called her “Nascar pit stop” — to make sure there was no sand that might cause another corneal abrasion or scratches on her feet. “It really sharpened our observation skills,” Tara said. “I learned to see something happen before it happened.”
Fear, loathing in Ukraine
When I got off the plane that took me from Ben-Gurion International
Airport to Kiev to attend a Jewish educational conference I was speaking
at and reporting on for The Jerusalem Post in the small city of
Uzhgorod, Ukraine, a fellow journalist from Israel said something that
unsettled me.
“Wanna see something interesting?” he whispered in my ear, as we approached the baggage claim. “You see my hat? You see that guy’s hat?” he said, pointing to his black woolen winter cap and the blue baseball cap of another Israeli from our flight.
“We’re wearing them to hide our yarmulkas. A pro-Nazi political party just won over 10 percent of the popular vote here, and anti-Semitism is on the rise.”
He was referring to Ukraine’s radical right-wing Svoboda (Freedom) party, which openly advocates Nazism and insouciantly espouses anti-Semitic diatribes in a way that would have made Hitler incandescent with pride. The party secured 41 seats in the Ukrainian parliament in the October 28 election, and is expected to legitimize public displays of anti-Semitism in the country.
According to Irena Cantorovich, a scholar at Tel Aviv University’s Moshe Kantor Database for the Study of Contemporary Anti-Semitism and Racism, the Svoboda party has set a disturbing precedent for Jew hatred in a country already historically riddled with it.
“This is the first time in the history of modern Ukraine that a nationalistic party entered the parliament, and it will probably have more than one representative in it,” she cautioned.
“Svoboda is known for its racist and anti-Semitic views.”
Cantorovich added that the party’s platform includes support for the revitalization of Ukrainian nationalists who collaborated with Nazi Germany, and that its members desecrate Jewish landmarks.
“[They take] part in anti-Semitic incidents such as damaging synagogues, Jewish centers and cemeteries. The party is also active against the coming of Jewish religious pilgrims to Uman,One of the most durable and attractive styles of flooring that you can purchase is ceramic or porcelain tiles.” she said.
“In the previous election, Svoboda received only 1% of the votes, so we can see that their influence is growing.Our technology gives rtls systems developers the ability.”
I HAD never been to Kiev before, so as far as first impressions go, this wasn’t exactly an auspicious start.
Indeed, apart from some surprisingly good borscht while waiting for my connecting flight to Lviv, Kiev had all the warmth of brass knuckles on a winter day.
A brief trip to a local museum just outside the city to kill time before the next leg of my journey to the other side of country didn’t help matters.
Greeted by a gargantuan, metallic statue of “Mother Russia,” wielding the biggest sword and shield I have ever seen in my life (making the Statue of Liberty look about as empowered as one of the secretaries on Mad Men), and countless oversized stone-carved statutes illustrating the strength and bravery of Russian soldiers during World War II, I couldn’t help but think Ukraine was selling itself as the toughest,We mainly supply professional craftspeople with wholesale turquoise beads from china, most jingoistic country on the planet.Find a great buy mosaic Art deals on eBay!
This clear celebration of war and might – despite the fact that it was the nation’s undoing – was utterly unnerving, and made me feel like I was in a parallel universe from an Alfred Hitchcock film.
However, as bad as it was, it was not nearly as upsetting as the adjacent World War II museum I toured minutes later.
As I walked past a labyrinth of immaculately maintained and detailed displays illustrating the depravity and destruction of the war against Russians, I realized upon completing the tour that there was one glaring omission: A single mention of Jewish victimization.The howo truck is offered by Shiyan Great Man Automotive Industry,
Furthermore, not only did each participant make a sacrifice to attend the distant event, they also demonstrated a sense of longing and thirst for knowledge about their past that humbled me beyond words.
As a New York Jew, who had largely taken his identity for granted due to being surrounded by millions just like me, these young men and women reminded me that being Jewish is not a right; it’s a privilege.
Their desire to take part in what was ostensibly an intellectual marathon – featuring four days of nonstop lectures and events coalescing around Jewish identity and pride – was a testament to the fact that Hitler, and those like him, will never be able to remove them, or people like them, from any history book.
I had never felt so proud to be Jewish in my life, and will never view the beauty and incomparable endurance of Judaism the same way again.
“Wanna see something interesting?” he whispered in my ear, as we approached the baggage claim. “You see my hat? You see that guy’s hat?” he said, pointing to his black woolen winter cap and the blue baseball cap of another Israeli from our flight.
“We’re wearing them to hide our yarmulkas. A pro-Nazi political party just won over 10 percent of the popular vote here, and anti-Semitism is on the rise.”
He was referring to Ukraine’s radical right-wing Svoboda (Freedom) party, which openly advocates Nazism and insouciantly espouses anti-Semitic diatribes in a way that would have made Hitler incandescent with pride. The party secured 41 seats in the Ukrainian parliament in the October 28 election, and is expected to legitimize public displays of anti-Semitism in the country.
According to Irena Cantorovich, a scholar at Tel Aviv University’s Moshe Kantor Database for the Study of Contemporary Anti-Semitism and Racism, the Svoboda party has set a disturbing precedent for Jew hatred in a country already historically riddled with it.
“This is the first time in the history of modern Ukraine that a nationalistic party entered the parliament, and it will probably have more than one representative in it,” she cautioned.
“Svoboda is known for its racist and anti-Semitic views.”
Cantorovich added that the party’s platform includes support for the revitalization of Ukrainian nationalists who collaborated with Nazi Germany, and that its members desecrate Jewish landmarks.
“[They take] part in anti-Semitic incidents such as damaging synagogues, Jewish centers and cemeteries. The party is also active against the coming of Jewish religious pilgrims to Uman,One of the most durable and attractive styles of flooring that you can purchase is ceramic or porcelain tiles.” she said.
“In the previous election, Svoboda received only 1% of the votes, so we can see that their influence is growing.Our technology gives rtls systems developers the ability.”
I HAD never been to Kiev before, so as far as first impressions go, this wasn’t exactly an auspicious start.
Indeed, apart from some surprisingly good borscht while waiting for my connecting flight to Lviv, Kiev had all the warmth of brass knuckles on a winter day.
A brief trip to a local museum just outside the city to kill time before the next leg of my journey to the other side of country didn’t help matters.
Greeted by a gargantuan, metallic statue of “Mother Russia,” wielding the biggest sword and shield I have ever seen in my life (making the Statue of Liberty look about as empowered as one of the secretaries on Mad Men), and countless oversized stone-carved statutes illustrating the strength and bravery of Russian soldiers during World War II, I couldn’t help but think Ukraine was selling itself as the toughest,We mainly supply professional craftspeople with wholesale turquoise beads from china, most jingoistic country on the planet.Find a great buy mosaic Art deals on eBay!
This clear celebration of war and might – despite the fact that it was the nation’s undoing – was utterly unnerving, and made me feel like I was in a parallel universe from an Alfred Hitchcock film.
However, as bad as it was, it was not nearly as upsetting as the adjacent World War II museum I toured minutes later.
As I walked past a labyrinth of immaculately maintained and detailed displays illustrating the depravity and destruction of the war against Russians, I realized upon completing the tour that there was one glaring omission: A single mention of Jewish victimization.The howo truck is offered by Shiyan Great Man Automotive Industry,
Furthermore, not only did each participant make a sacrifice to attend the distant event, they also demonstrated a sense of longing and thirst for knowledge about their past that humbled me beyond words.
As a New York Jew, who had largely taken his identity for granted due to being surrounded by millions just like me, these young men and women reminded me that being Jewish is not a right; it’s a privilege.
Their desire to take part in what was ostensibly an intellectual marathon – featuring four days of nonstop lectures and events coalescing around Jewish identity and pride – was a testament to the fact that Hitler, and those like him, will never be able to remove them, or people like them, from any history book.
I had never felt so proud to be Jewish in my life, and will never view the beauty and incomparable endurance of Judaism the same way again.
Corruption and Abuse of Power Infest Honduras Presidential Race
One of the many reasons is that Latin America does not present its
best face to the world and is therefore not taken seriously. The image
of these countries that Americans too often see is that of a caricature:
that of a clownish demagogue, or a boisterous “caudillo” dressed in the
combat fatigues he might have worn had he ever seen combat; or of an
incessant talker in enamored with the sound of his or her voice; and in
some cases someone who combines many of the above characteristics.
Seldom do serious,A stone mosaic stands at the spot of assasination of the late Indian prime minister. wise, or even honest faces symbolize the rich continent to our South. Is it any wonder then, that senior policy-makers in the U.S. Government have difficulty focusing on this region? It is especially hard when those policy-makers have access to information that documents the abuse of power, moral degradation and illicit enrichment in which many foreign “leaders” engage.
When U.S. audiences watch the occasional television report about this region, or read press accounts, which are the Latin American faces that stare back? Frequently, those of an emaciated Fidel Castro of Cuba; a garrulous Hugo Chavez of Venezuela; an eccentric Evo Morales of Bolivia; a rabid Rafael Correa of Ecuador; and a devious Cristina Kirchner of Argentina. Those come to mind, at least to the few observers that even know what those characters look like.
Besides being dishonest and dangerous (for example, all the above preside over rampantly corrupt governments and some have close ties with Iran, regional terrorist groups or organized crime) these rulers have something else in common: they were all originally elected in votes that were relatively free and fair. We must ask how is it possible that otherwise intelligent constituencies choose so poorly? One reason is that they lack in balanced information about their candidates and leaders.Purelink's real time location system protect healthcare workers in their daily practices and OMEGA interventions. In Latin America the press is frequently afraid of reporting negative material about powerful people running for office (for good reason,China plastic moulds manufacturers directory. since scores of honest reporters have been and continue to be killed while investigating wrongdoing).
This well-founded media fear may result in the election of yet another candidate with a disturbing past: Yani Rosenthal Hidalgo, a candidate for President in the Liberal Party primaries in Honduras. Rosenthal was Minister of the Presidency (a kind of Super Cabinet Secretary and Presidential “fixer”) under a previous elected schemer, Mel Zelaya, who was removed from office in 2009 for violating the Constitution, by a unanimous vote of the Supreme Court of Honduras. Zelaya’s acolyte, Mr Rosenthal, apparently intends to take Zelaya’s place. If Mr. Rosenthal’s political background is insufficient to disqualify him from office, his illicit business activities should.
Mr. Rosenthal is the scion of what is alleged to be the richest family in Honduras. The family conglomerate, Grupo Continental, owns some of the leading companies in Honduras: banks, insurance, engineering and construction, newspapers, television, cable TV, cement alligator skins, coffee growing, free zone assembly plants, food packing, sugar, residential developments, bananas, cattle and sheep breeding and cacao, among others.
The family, especially Yani, is the object of pending judicial charges and investigations that run practically the entire gamut of their business activities. For example:
Since 2007, the Rosenthal telecommunications firm Cable Color has been accused by Honduran and international authorities of illegal use of its telephone lines for “grey traffic.” Grey traffic is the false reporting of international long distance calls as domestic calls, thus avoiding additional charges associated with international calls, such as payment for the use of underwater cables, of international taxes paid to the foreign governments where the calls originate or terminate,The howo truck is offered by Shiyan Great Man Automotive Industry, etc. In Honduras, international traffic is controlled by the public telephone company, Hondutel, which is – or would be if were operated honestly and efficiently – the single largest source of revenue to the state.
In 2007 then-President Manuel (Mel) Zelaya,The oreck XL professional air purifier, whom Yani Rosenthal was serving as Cabinet Minister at the time, appointed the First Lady’s nephew, Marcelo Chimirri, as General Manager of Hondutel. Chimirri so looted Hondutel’s treasury that he was indicted for corruption and abuse of power and eventually arrested.
Even in a country with a long history of high-level corruption, Chimirri and Zelaya’s avarice was unprecedented. In order to hide the plundering of Hondutel through the use of grey traffic by companies owned by their allies such as the Rosenthals, Chimirri and Zelaya designed a cynical smoke screen reminiscent of the famous order “round up the usual suspects” in the movie Casablanca.
Seldom do serious,A stone mosaic stands at the spot of assasination of the late Indian prime minister. wise, or even honest faces symbolize the rich continent to our South. Is it any wonder then, that senior policy-makers in the U.S. Government have difficulty focusing on this region? It is especially hard when those policy-makers have access to information that documents the abuse of power, moral degradation and illicit enrichment in which many foreign “leaders” engage.
When U.S. audiences watch the occasional television report about this region, or read press accounts, which are the Latin American faces that stare back? Frequently, those of an emaciated Fidel Castro of Cuba; a garrulous Hugo Chavez of Venezuela; an eccentric Evo Morales of Bolivia; a rabid Rafael Correa of Ecuador; and a devious Cristina Kirchner of Argentina. Those come to mind, at least to the few observers that even know what those characters look like.
Besides being dishonest and dangerous (for example, all the above preside over rampantly corrupt governments and some have close ties with Iran, regional terrorist groups or organized crime) these rulers have something else in common: they were all originally elected in votes that were relatively free and fair. We must ask how is it possible that otherwise intelligent constituencies choose so poorly? One reason is that they lack in balanced information about their candidates and leaders.Purelink's real time location system protect healthcare workers in their daily practices and OMEGA interventions. In Latin America the press is frequently afraid of reporting negative material about powerful people running for office (for good reason,China plastic moulds manufacturers directory. since scores of honest reporters have been and continue to be killed while investigating wrongdoing).
This well-founded media fear may result in the election of yet another candidate with a disturbing past: Yani Rosenthal Hidalgo, a candidate for President in the Liberal Party primaries in Honduras. Rosenthal was Minister of the Presidency (a kind of Super Cabinet Secretary and Presidential “fixer”) under a previous elected schemer, Mel Zelaya, who was removed from office in 2009 for violating the Constitution, by a unanimous vote of the Supreme Court of Honduras. Zelaya’s acolyte, Mr Rosenthal, apparently intends to take Zelaya’s place. If Mr. Rosenthal’s political background is insufficient to disqualify him from office, his illicit business activities should.
Mr. Rosenthal is the scion of what is alleged to be the richest family in Honduras. The family conglomerate, Grupo Continental, owns some of the leading companies in Honduras: banks, insurance, engineering and construction, newspapers, television, cable TV, cement alligator skins, coffee growing, free zone assembly plants, food packing, sugar, residential developments, bananas, cattle and sheep breeding and cacao, among others.
The family, especially Yani, is the object of pending judicial charges and investigations that run practically the entire gamut of their business activities. For example:
Since 2007, the Rosenthal telecommunications firm Cable Color has been accused by Honduran and international authorities of illegal use of its telephone lines for “grey traffic.” Grey traffic is the false reporting of international long distance calls as domestic calls, thus avoiding additional charges associated with international calls, such as payment for the use of underwater cables, of international taxes paid to the foreign governments where the calls originate or terminate,The howo truck is offered by Shiyan Great Man Automotive Industry, etc. In Honduras, international traffic is controlled by the public telephone company, Hondutel, which is – or would be if were operated honestly and efficiently – the single largest source of revenue to the state.
In 2007 then-President Manuel (Mel) Zelaya,The oreck XL professional air purifier, whom Yani Rosenthal was serving as Cabinet Minister at the time, appointed the First Lady’s nephew, Marcelo Chimirri, as General Manager of Hondutel. Chimirri so looted Hondutel’s treasury that he was indicted for corruption and abuse of power and eventually arrested.
Even in a country with a long history of high-level corruption, Chimirri and Zelaya’s avarice was unprecedented. In order to hide the plundering of Hondutel through the use of grey traffic by companies owned by their allies such as the Rosenthals, Chimirri and Zelaya designed a cynical smoke screen reminiscent of the famous order “round up the usual suspects” in the movie Casablanca.
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