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The spokesperson of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate, Father Dositheos Anağnostopulos, has said Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan saved the future of the patriarchate by offering Turkish citizenship to a number of archbishops in 2009.
In an interview with the Star daily, Anağnos-topulos said there were 12 archbishops on the patriarchate's Spiritual Board at the time. "Most of [those archbishops] are very old. In order to become a member of this board, one has to be a Turkish citizen. If the patriarch dies one day, it seemed unlikely that a new patriarch would be elected from the board [due to the members' age]. This danger has now passed. The prime minister attended a luncheon on Büyükada in August 2009 … and said the problem with the Spiritual Board will be overcome if archbishops applied to become Turkish citizens. He assured us that applicants would be granted citizenship," the spokesperson stated.
Anağnostopulos defined the prime minister's remarks as the "most positive moment in his lifetime." "After the prime minister's call, 27 of 35 archbishops abroad submitted applications to become Turkish citizens. Thirteen of them have already been granted citizenship," he added. In 2010, CNN International ran a story on the Greek Orthodox Patriarch in which it suggested that Patriarch Bartholomew could ultimately be the last patriarch if Turkish laws, demographics and attitudes do not change. According to Anağnostopulos, however, this is no longer the case, thanks to Erdoğan.
The spokesperson also said Erdoğan and Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç were the first state authorities to express their wish to re-open a closed Greek Orthodox seminary on Heybeliada, off the coast of İstanbul. The Halki Seminary was closed in 1971 in accordance with a law that put religious and military training under state control.
In addition, Anağnostopulos said the Halki Seminary is of high importance for the Greek Orthodox population as it was once a base where clerics were trained for the religious community.
"An argument has been put forward by some people in Turkey. They say the Greek Orthodox population comprises only 2,500 people, and we needn't train clerics for so few people. They say we may 'import' clerics from abroad. However, they should know that the Greek Orthodox patriarch is the most senior among Orthodox churches in the world. This is why he was granted the ecumenical title. We also have followers outside of İstanbul, including in North and South America and some parts of Europe, Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand. Their priests and archbishops are appointed by our patriarch. And for their appointment, it is a must for candidates to have graduated from a seminary," he stated.
Anağnostopulos also said the re-opening of the Halki Seminary would not run contrary to the Treaty of Lausanne. He also ruled out fears that the "Byzantine spirit" would be revived if the seminary is re-opened.
"Some fear that it will go against the principles of the Republic of Turkey if the patriarchate is a very strong institution. This is wrong. The Republic of Turkey has a secular character. Every religious group has the right to continue its activities provided they are not engaged in politics. It is now a fact that the closing down of the Halki Seminary was not legal. I personally believe that the seminary was used as a trump card in the Cyprus issue and was eventually shut down," he noted.


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Jonathan Hoffman, chief experience officer, Starcom
Jonathan Hoffman has joined media agency Starcom USA as chief experience officer, a new position focusing on idea generation and experience platform development. Hoffman will leverage creativity and ideas to boost the emotional relevance and effectiveness of Starcom's media-led plans. Hoffman also will be a member of the agency's managing board and of Starcom MediaVest Group's Global Product Committee. He also will be a liaison to the creative and digital resources at VivaKi and across Publicis Groupe. Before joining Starcom, where he spent six months as a consultant, Hoffman was president/chief creative officer at Campbell Mithun in Minneapolis. He is credited with winning accounts including National City Bank, Famous Footwear, Syngenta, Fiserv, SuperValu, Siku Vodka and The Unconvention. He also spent eight years at Starcom sister agency Leo Burnett in Chicago and Warsaw, Poland.
Copyright © 2018, Orlando Sentinel

subset: commoncrawl


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Fleetmac Wood, Futureboogie, Sancho Panza, Wolf Music and More...
Over 40 DJ performances
Mill Hill Field, Abbots Ripton, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, England, UK
The Pagoda Stage has prided the lakeside soundtrack for many a festival goer as they set adrift on memory bliss. This year the Secret Garden Party line-uppays homage to resident DJ's from across the UK with nights such as Tief, Below, Circus, Rooty (RIP), Simple, Fleetmac Wood and Werk:It propping up the schedule.
As well as the Top Secret special guests, The Pagoda also welcomes a sprinkling of headline talent along the course of the weekend for your listening pleasure.
Secret Garden Party have already revealed a packed line-up including:
Aartekt - Adam Shelton - Aerial - Bill Brewster - Cat Lovers - Citizen - Clancy - Denney - Dia - Dom Chung - Emerson Twin - Em Williams - Fleetmac Wood - Frank Tope - Futureboogie - Head Gardener - Hilit Kolet - Huxley - James Vorres - Jay Karim - Johan Ten Houten - Lewis Boardman - Maribou State - Michael Palmer - Midland - Motty - No Artificial Colours - Richy Ahmed - Robert James - Sancho Panza - Shivas Regal & Mcculo - Sisterhood - Six Axle - Son Of Sun - Sophie Lloyd - Steve Huerta - T. Williams - Tayo - Urulu - Waze & Odyssey - Wild Fantasy - Wolf Music
With choice selections played out by the likes of Annie Mac & Toddla T, Matthew Johnson, Kim Ann Foxman, Eats Everything and Skream B2B with Zed Bias in recent years, the hardest working stage at Secret Garden Party will be aiming to give the other 13 stages a run for standout session.
More Information: Secret Garden Party


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Altberg Boot Care Kit - Leder Gris - Black
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Free Delivery on UK & BFPO orders over £50
All domestic orders over the value of £50 (after discounts if applicable) are eligible for free delivery. We aim to deliver all Standard Deliveries within 2-4 working days and orders are sent via either Signed For or Tracked methods depending on its size and value
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Pocket Knives
Antonini SOS Knives
A quality pocket knife is essential for every man and woman to carry. A small knife that folds into itself is easy to carry and small enough to tuck into a purse or pocket. Whether you carry one for a bit of protection or to cut loose strings and to open packages we have a pocket knife to suit your need.


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Antimenes Painter
Parts of Herakles' story are probably based on the life of a historical figure, while other parts seem to be taken from the myths
of other eastern Mediterranean countries. In Greek mythology, the hero Herakles personified physical strength and courage. His repeated
triumphs over evil, particularly his successful completion of the 12 labors, earned him god status. Throughout the ancient Greek world,
Herakles was worshiped as a protector.1
Another example of a Greek hydria vase.
Black-Figure Hydria (Water Jar) with scenes of Herakles Painted in the manner of the Antimenes Painter
Greek, Attic, late Archaic Period, ca. 520-510 B.C.
Carlos Collection of Ancient Greek Art. 1984.8
Detail of incised lines from the Hydria
In his efforts to gain control of Athens, a 6th-century tyrant named Peisistratus (pie-sis-trot-us) took advantage of the well-known
relationship between Athena and Herakles. He wanted people to think of him as a modern Herakles-strong, unbeatable, and heroic, so he
staged a chariot procession to the Acropolis (a-CROP-a-lus), pretending to be Herakles. Seated beside him was a woman dressed up as
Athena. This event inspired many vase paintings of Herakles' journey with Athena to Olympus, including scenes of Athena with her
Antimenes Painter
The Antimenes (an-TIM-en-eez) painter painted many images of Herakles and Athena together, responding to public demand. Although
many Athenian vase painters did not sign their work, art historians can identify them by certain traits that recur in their paintings.
This vases's theme, extensive use of white, and composition helped art historians to identify the artist as the Antimenes painter. He
signed the name Antimenes painter to only a few of the 150 vases attributed to him.
This vase, called a hydria, was used for carrying and pouring water. The two handles on the sides were used for carrying, and the
third one, on the back, was used for pouring.
The painting style of this vase is called black-figure because the figures are rendered in black against the natural red color
of the clay. The artist drew the figures on the surface of the vase with a clay and water solution called
(ON-gobe), which turned black during the firing process.2 White and dark red accents were added with separate solutions. The artist
details into the engobe before firing. For example, the lines that show details in faces and clothing in this vase painting are all
If can't see the Hydria's diagram of process, please upgrade or obtain the newest
Macromedia Flash player.
You can download and install the latest version of the Flash player for free. It just takes a few minutes.
This hydria exemplifies the qualities of harmony and symmetry, highly prized by the Greeks. The orderly designs conform to the different
parts of the vase and accentuate its well-balanced, harmonious proportions. A circle of tongue
(moe-TEEFS) decorate the base of the vase and emphasize its function as the support of the whole vessel. A circle of rays rises out
of the base and draws the viewer's attention to the paintings on the main body.
Roll over the image to see qualities of harmony and symmetry from the Hydria
The main scene on the body of the hydria shows Athena in her chariot, presumably having just arrived from Mount Olympus to take
Herakles to live with the gods. Because the Greeks thought of gods as humans, it is almost impossible to tell the difference between
the two in this scene. However, Greeks familiar with their stories could readily identify the most popular figures by their
Athena wears armor, which identifies her as the warrior goddess and the protector of heros. She fought not for the sake of destruction but
for just causes. The cloak she wears is made of serpents, a reference to the serpent-haired head of Medusa (meh-DOO-sa) given to her
by Perseus (PURR-see-us) after she helped him to kill the evil gorgon. Her skin is white because vase painters typically colored all
women's skin white and men's skin black.
Line Art Illustration of the Hydria
Full page printable version
Herakles is shown in profile facing Athena in the middle of the scene and is easily identifiable because he has the short spiky hair of an
athlete and a short beard. The figure to the left of Herakles is Hermes (HER-meez), the messenger god, who guided Herakles on his many
journeys. Hermes is identified by his pointed traveling hat and his long red beard. He is also carrying a traveling staff in his left
hand. The other figures are grooms who assist Athena in harnessing the four horses to the chariot she and Herakles will soon be riding
to Mount Olympus. Athena taught the mortal king of Athens, Erichtonius (Ay-rick-toh-nee-us) how to harness the first war chariots.
In fact, the harnessing of the chariot horses on this vase accurately reflects the equipment and methods used in 6th century
A band of lions and wild boars surrounds the bottom of the vase. They represent the Nemean lion and the wild boar of Erymanthus that Herakles
had conquered as 2 of his 12 labors.3
1 The foundation of the Olympic games was attributed to Herakles in his role of athlete-hero. The
Greek lyric poet Pindar (518-438 B.C.), who wrote a set of poems about the games, says that Herakles arranged all the rules and
details. [New Larrousse Enclycopedia, 169] The first official Olympic games were held in 776 BC, about 130-150 years before this
vase was made. Return to Text
2 The process by which the figures become black is called an oxidation and reduction firing.
During the first stage of firing, when oxygen is let into the kiln, the body of the vase turns red. During the second stage the oxygen
supply is cut off, causing the whole vase to turn black. During the last stage the oxygen is let back into the kiln and the clay, but
not the engobe, returns to its original red color. Return to Text
3 See Story section of Door Knocker in the Form of Medusa Return to Text
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Dresden Files Actual Play Session 1Posted in Dresden Files RPG, Play Sessions, RPG Only on September 4th, 2010 by Kevin Weiser
After a month and a half of cons, vacations, natural disasters and technical difficulties, we finally get a chance to sit down and play us some Dresden Files RPG by Evil Hat. This first session is our second try at city creation. The first time we decided on Anchorage, AK, and this time around we go a very different direction with Washington, D.C. A few changes have happened since our last run though a game. We got Jen back on the show as a regular, we lost Dan due to Real Life (aka. work schedule conflicts, but he'll still be doing the Comics Cast) and for this game we've got the return of Troll, whom you may remember from our Dread Halloween Special.
Relevant Links
- Dresden Files RPG
- Evil Hat
- Dr. Demento D&D skit
- Dresden Files TV Show
- Dresden Files Books, comic, and audiobooks, and short stories
- Jim Butcher's Home Page
- Fables
- Dexter
- Burn Notice
- Miami Vice
- A-Team
- Deadlands
- Nightwatch
- Deadwood
- Spoine
- Yakov Smirnoff
- I Shot a Man in Reno
- H.P. Lovecraft
- Freakanomics
- Roe vs. Wade lowering crime
- ThreeDog
- The Library of Alexandria
- The Amazing Screw-on Head
- The Centurion (Dr. Who)
- Gilgamesh
- Dolley Madison
- Indiana Jones
- Emeritus
- Ley Lines
- George Washington (7 Feet Tall…)
- Rifts
- Pierre Charles L'Enfant
- Chowda!
- Cheney and Google Maps
- Roanoke
- Sir Richard Grenville
- Hopping Vampires
- Legion of Superheroes
Crunchy Bits
- Dresden Files RPG Session 1: City Creation: 1 hour, 30 minutes
- Intro music from "The Wizard" by Chris Remo of Idle Thumbs
- Outro Music "The Man With the Hex" by The Atomic Fireballs
Podcast: Play in new window | Download


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HOUSTON – An 84th-minute goal from left back Scott Palguta snapped the Colorado Rapids' four-game winless streak as the 2010 MLS Cup champs left Robertson Stadium with a 2-1 win over the Houston Dynamo on Wednesday night.
It was the second home loss for the Dynamo on the season and the second road win of the season for Colorado.
After a choppy, largely uneventful first half, the game opened up in the second 45 with both teams pressuring and looking to go at goal.
Houston drew first blood through Colin Clark. The former Rapids midfielder opened the scoring in the 71st minute, tallying his first goal in Dynamo orange after a quick move to create space and a shot that caught Rapids 'keeper Matt Pickens cheating off his near post. The left footed Clark cut in after a nice pass from Je-Vaughn Watson - who got his first Dynamo assist - and blasted the Dynamo to a 1-0 lead.
It was short-lived. Just three minutes later, Jaime Smith scored on a 40-yard free kick after Houston 'keeper Tally Hall misjudged the flight of the ball. Hall came off his line and could only flap at Smith's cross, which bounced once and rolled into the net.
That set up Palguta's heroics.
After a Marvell Wynne throw-in, Houston struggled to clear the ball, which eventually rolled to Palguta at the top of the box. The veteran - making his first start of the year - made no mistake from 18 yards, placing a well-struck left-footed shot just inside Hall's post and giving Colorado a lead they held to the final whistle.
The late winner stunned Dynamo in front of a midweek crowd in a match they had taken control after a tough first 45 minutes that saw more physical play than soccer. The only shot on goal in the first half - there were only three shots total - came in the 21st minute on a long-distance left-footed shot from central midfielder Lovel Palmer that was handled easily by Pickens.
Both teams paid for the early physical play with the Dynamo's Cam Weaver earning a yellow card for an elbow to Drew Moor in the 34th minute. Brad Davis, who was quiet after a scintillating April, joined Weaver in referee Terry Vaughn's book just six minutes later for a collision with Colorado's Kosuke Kimura.
While Houston got the yellow cards, the physical play cost Colorado their most dangerous weapon just before the half. Omar Cummings left the game in the 45th minute after a heel clip from Palmer caused the Rapids forward to come up lame.
The away win puts Colorado at 13 points ahead of a Saturday game against New England. Houston had their six-game unbeaten streak snapped with the home loss, keeping the team on 12 points heading into an away game at Toronto this weekend.
Scoring Summary:
HOU - Colin Clark 1 (Je-Vaughn Watson 1) 71
COL - Jamie Smith 3 (unassisted) 73
COL - Scott Palguta 1 (Caleb Folan 1) 84
Colorado Rapids: Matt Pickens, Kosuke Kimura, Tyrone Marshall, Drew Moor, Scott Palguta, Wells Thompson (Marvell Wynne 80), Jeff Larentowicz, Pablo Mastroeni, Jamie Smith, Andre Akpan (Quincy Amarikwa 68), Omar Cummings (Caleb Folan 45).
Substitutes not used: Joseph Nane, Ross LaBauex, Anthony Wallace, Steward Ceus.
Houston Dynamo: Tally Hall, Hunter Freeman (Alex Dixon 85), Bobby Boswell, Andre Hainault, Corey Ashe, Colin Clark, Lovel Palmer, Je-Vaughn Watson, Brad Davis, Cam Weaver (Brian Ching 62), Will Bruin (Koke 77).
Substitutes not used: Mike Chabala, Eddie Robinson, Kofi Sarkodie, Tyler Deric.
Misconduct Summary:
HOU - Cam Weaver (caution; Reckless Foul) 34
HOU - Brad Davis (caution; Reckless Foul) 40
Referee: Terry Vaughn
Referee's Assistants: Sean Hurd; Peter Balciunas
4th Official: Mark Declouet
Weather: Partly Cloudy and 75 degrees
Attendance: 13,206


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Let Them Know They Need to Respect the Federal Voting Rights Act and Avoid a Potentially EXPENSIVE Lawsuit the County is Guaranteed to Lose.
LOS ANGELES, CA - On July 13, 2011, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Advisory Commission recommended a map to the five Board members that fails to create a second Latino-majority supervisorial district as required by the federal Voting Rights Act.
Between 2000 and 2010, the Latino population in Los Angeles County grew by nearly half a million residents, while the non-Latino population lost nearly 150,000 people. Latinos now make up almost half the county's population.
Yet, the majority of the County Supervisors -- specifically Supervisors Mike Antonovich, Don Knabe, and Zev Yaroslavsky -- apparently OPPOSE creating a second Latino supervisorial district. They are more interested in preserving their comfortable, current district lines.
This is not the first time Los Angeles County has put incumbents' comfort ahead of voting rights. The first Latino member of the Board of Supervisors, Gloria Molina, was elected only twenty years ago after the County lost a Voting Rights Act lawsuit that proved the supervisors had INTENTIONALLY sought to prevent the creation of a Latino district.
Now, the Supervisors are on the verge of again adopting a map that DISRESPECTS the Latino community and its population growth. Moreover, they are on the verge of VIOLATING the Voting Rights Act, by failing to create a new Latino district when they know that one is warranted. The Advisory Commission was presented with several proposed maps creating a second Latino-majority district, but the representatives appointed by Supervisors Antonovich, Knabe, and Yaroslavsky rejected each of those proposals.
On August 9, 2011, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors will be taking up the Commission's redistricting proposals, and they need to hear from you! They need to hear:
- It's just, and it's the law. Support the creation of a second Latino district because it better respects Los Angeles County's population and the Federal Voting Rights Act.
- Latino voters have a long memory. The Latino community will interpret self-interested votes to deny a second Latino district as hostile actions against the Latino community. Remind them that the Latino community has a long memory should these Supervisors ever want to run for future offices.
- Don't waste taxpayer money. Los Angeles County lost a costly lawsuit the last time it tried to ignore the Federal Voting Rights Act. Don't waste taxpayer money by triggering another successful lawsuit!
Please email and/or call ALL County Supervisors NOW!
Gloria Molina - 1st District
or call (213) 974-4111
Mark Ridley-Thomas - 2nd District
or call (213) 974-2222
Zev Yaroslavsky - 3rd District
or call (213) 974-3333
Don Knabe - 4th District
or call (213) 974-4444
Michael D. Antonovich - 5th District
or call (213) 974-5555
Founded in 1968, MALDEF is the nation's leading Latino legal civil rights organization. Often described as the "law firm of the Latino community," MALDEF promotes social change through advocacy, communications, community education, and litigation in the areas of education, employment, immigrant rights, and political access. For more information on MALDEF, please visit: www.maldef.org.


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Grass-roots conservative activists with the so-called Tea Party movement are on their way to Washington in a national bus tour. Tea Party supporters launched their tour with a series of rallies in Nevada and Arizona. VOA attended some of the recent rallies and has more on what the Tea Party activists want and what their impact might be in U.S. congressional midterm elections in November.
Tea Party supporters tend to be conservative. They are largely white, middle-aged or older, and have a deep suspicion of government.
They also tend to be very critical of President Barack Obama and the Democrats in Congress.
"Socialism and tyranny, despotism, communism, and a closet Muslim," Rusty Green stated. He travels the country attending Tea Party rallies and selling anti-Obama bumper stickers and t-shirts.
"I believe in maximum freedom, minimum government. The government should be controlled by the people, not the people controlled by the government. That is what the Tea Party is about in my mind," he added.
Green was among thousands of people who attended a recent Tea Party rally in Searchlight, Nevada. Searchlight is the home of Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid, and Tea Party activists used the rally to call for his defeat in the congressional elections coming up in November.
The Tea Party movement takes its name and inspiration from anti-tax protests of the past, especially the Boston Tea Party in 1773 when American colonists threw tea into Boston Harbor as a protest against taxes imposed by Britain.
Tea Party activists do not like taxes, government spending or the Obama health-care plan.
But they do like former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. "And we are not going to sit down and shut up, and thank you for standing up!" she said.
Many in the crowd at the rally in Searchlight held signs urging Palin to run for president in 2012.
But most of the local Republican politicians who attended the rally were hoping to draw Tea Party activists into their campaigns.
Sharron Angle is a Republican running for the Senate in Nevada. "The Tea Party movement is like me. They are just sick and tired of the way that the government has taken their Constitution and dragged it through the mud," she said.
But some of the Tea Party supporters are critical of the Republican Party for not doing more to control government spending when it held the majority in Congress.
Harris Holler came to the Tea Party rally from California. "I believe that the Tea Party movement is more aligned with the Republican Party, but I also believe that a lot of us people who are Tea Party-goers are not necessarily saying we are going to vote for the Republicans automatically. It is just not there," Holler said.
Nevada Democrats are closely watching the Tea Party movement, trying to gauge its impact on this year's congressional elections.
Democrat Paul Schmier does not like what he sees. "I feel their violent attitude is not healthy for anybody, Republican or Democrat," Schmier said.
Political analysts are divided about whether the Tea Party movement will become a political party to compete with the Democrats and Republicans.
"They have kind of realized that the third party route is not a winner. So I think you have seen this more or less agreement among the different groups here that we are going to try to remake the Republican Party, starting at the grass roots," David Damore explained. He is a political scientist at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas.
Experts say Tea Party activists could complicate the November congressional elections if they run their own candidates to compete with Republican and Democratic candidates. Analysts say that would likely take votes away from Republicans and help Democrats.
"If they were to operate outside the framework of the Republican Party and run their own candidates, then that would be a problem for the Republicans," Peter Brown, Quinnipiac University pollster stated. "If they participate in Republican primaries, then that necessarily could be a help to the Republican Party."
In the meantime, conservative Republican candidates across the country are eagerly trying to embrace the Tea Party movement and tap into its energy, hopeful that enthusiasm will bring them victory on Election Day in November.
Related Report by VOA's Kane Farabaugh


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"Homeland" comes back to Showtime in just over six weeks, and so far, the wait for season two has been excruciating.
Showtime has released the first trailer for the new season that includes new footage (previous teasers re-cut material from season one).
Hints from the new video include Carrie (Claire Danes) in disguise with dyed-brown hair and dark contacts, Brody (Damien Lewis) wearing a Congressional pin, and the appearance a memory card (possibly containing Brody's taped confession from last season). Oh, and Carrie shows up at what looks like Brody's hotel room, smiling, which is definitely a shift from how those characters left things at the end of season one.
Is it September 30th yet??
Finally, who else is finding the Scala choir cover of the Police's "Every Breath You Take" completely terrifying?


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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) - A public memorial service is planned Monday for the director of the Colorado Department of Corrections, who was fatally shot when he answered his front door.
The service for 58-year-old Tom Clements is set for New Life Church in Colorado Springs. A private funeral was held for him Sunday.
Colorado's top prisons official was killed at his home Tuesday night in Monument, north of Colorado Springs. He is survived by a wife and two daughters.
Evan Spencer Ebel, killed in a gunfight with Texas authorities Thursday, is a suspect and had been a member of the 211s, a white supremacist prison gang in Colorado. The El Paso County Sheriff's Office says the results of ballistics tests are expected this week.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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Difference between revisions of "Shirdi"
Revision as of 10:13, 23 February 2013
Shirdi is a town in the Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra in India. It is located 185 km east of the Arabian Sea shoreline. Shirdi was where the great saint Sai Baba lived till his samadhi in 1918. Today, it is a pilgrimage center and millions of his devotees from all over the world come each year to pay their respects.
The best time of the year to visit Shirdi is January through March. April to June is summer, followed by the monsoon. Pilgrim arrival peaks between September and November when many Hindu festivals occur. Baba's death anniversary is commemorated in the month of October, the exact date depending on the Hindu calendar.
Some of the most important festivals in Shirdi are Dussera, Guru Poornima and Baba's death anniversary. During this time lakhs of devotees come to Shirdi.
Get in
By Bus
There are many buses connecting Shirdi to cities such as Mumbai (250 Km), Hyderabad, Pune, Nasik (80 Km),Bangalore. There are abundant, very convenient bus packages from Hyderabad. The road connectivity between Mumbai and Shirdi is good, except in certain stretches. Convenient overnight buses also ply this route. It takes around 4 hours from Mumbai to Shirdi. It takes around 5 hours to travel from Pune to Shirdi through bus. It takes around 20 hours from Bangalore. There are many bus operators from Bangalore e.g. KSRTC[3] but it is advisable to travel by sleeper coaches instead of pushback.
By car
Online Car Rental Clear Car Rental
By train
Trains from all over India come in the vicinity of Shirdi. One can take trains till
Taxi from station till Shirdi
By air
Shirdi has no airport. The nearest airports are at Aurangabad, Nasik, Mumbai and Pune. From Pune Airport it will take 4-5 hrs approx if you rent a car . You can use the services of Vishal Travels Pune , 98600 20579 , they provide good service .
Get around
Shirdi is not a big town. As the town has grown around its main attraction - the Sai Baba temple - almost all major sights and sounds are all within walking distances from anywhere in Shirdi.
The main attractions are the Temple where Sai Baba's samadhi is located, the former dwelling place of Sai Baba called Dwarakamayi, and the place called Chavadi where Baba used to sleep every alternate day. These 3 are located close to each other.
After the Samadhi Darshan, one can visit the Gurusthan, the tree where Sai Baba was first spotted meditating by the people of Shirdi. After that, one can go to the Udhi counter to collect the Udhi. The temple premises also has the samadhis of some of Sai Baba's most prominent devotees.
It also has a book store where one can buy Sai Baba's books (Shri Sai Samartha Satcharitra, Aarti books etc.). One can also get clothes and Prasadam offered to Sai Baba. Mobile phones and cameras are prohibited within the temple premises.
Apart from visiting the temple and other places connected to Sai Baba, there is precious little to do in Shirdi.
There are a large number of shops that sell trinkets and souvenirs - statues, magnets, stickers, books, photos of Sai Baba. Prices are generally negotiable. It is advisable not to buy anything except flowers as offering to Saibaba as the priests usually return everything else but the shopkeepers may insists on buying lot more things. Prasad can be bought from prasad counter inside the temple premises.
Restaurants are liberally dotted over Shirdi. A variety of cuisines including Gujarati, Maharashtrian, South Indian, Continental are available. Most restaurants serve only vegetarian fare. Also you get fresh fruits Guava & Pomegranate The world's largest solar cooker cooks food for thousands of devotees everyday and one can eat this food for a nominal price of INR 10 per meal.
Cold drinks and bottled water are available in many local stores. Fresh coconut water is also available. However, liquor is not available in the town.
There is no dearth of accommodation in Shirdi. Hotels of all categories abound. It is advisable to check the facilities in the room before booking and paying. In peak season, it is advisable to have prior reservations, which can be made either over phone or through travel websites.
Some of the good hotels in Shirdi to stay are -
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Mass meeting to address tax scam victims
A scam targeting seniors and persons receiving disability benefits made its way through Jefferson County the past few months, with residents of Port Arthur impacted at a significant rate. Those perpetrating the scam duped victims by promising them access to a federal stimulus check, allegedly administered to all Social Security recipients, even though no such provision exists. Victims supplied the scammers with copies of their driver's license, Social Security number, and banking information.
In reality, the scammers were using the ill-gotten personal information to file bogus income tax returns in the victims' names, keeping half of the proceeds for a company that uses many monikers including Syam Tax Services.
The number of victims impacted by the scam has prompted local authorities to arrange a large meeting set for Sept. 10, 6 p.m., at the Bob Bowers Civic Center, 3401 Cultural Center Drive, in Port Arthur. Mayor Bobbie Prince called for the meeting, and the Better Business Bureau of Southeast Texas and the Port Arthur Police Department are assisting in the event.
According to Jay Sheppard of the local BBB, the event is an informal gathering that will address the needs of potential victims of the scam.
"It is just something we're doing to get those that may have been affected some help, so that they can get paperwork done that they need and to answer any questions they might have at this point," Sheppard said.
Officials will be available to provide important information on the steps to take for those who have been affected by this form of identity theft.
For more information, contact the Port Arthur Police Department at (409) 983-8600 or the BBB at (409) 835-5348.


text:
FMR stands for full mouth restoration, reconstruction, or even rehabilitation, depending on who you ask. Whatever you call it, FMR treatment has one ultimate goal: getting your mouth back to functioning in a healthy manner. Here are some situations in which you may need to have FMR. Cancer and Trauma Oral cancer comes in many […]
The post Why You Might Need an "FMR" appeared first on FindLocal-Dentists.com.
Having surgery on your gums may sound a little scary. But it won't be as bad as you're expecting! You may need gum surgery for any of several reasons: To graft new gum tissue in place Scaling and root planing for teeth affected by gum disease Make teeth look longer and more even Treatment for […]
The post What to Expect with Gum Surgery appeared first on FindLocal-Dentists.com.
It's a traumatic event for everyone involved – your kid is freaking out over the blood and you're horrified to realize a tooth is missing. What do you do? Locate the tooth. First of all, establish whether the tooth was an adult or baby tooth and try to find it. If it was a baby […]
The post What to Do When Your Child's Tooth Is Knocked Out appeared first on FindLocal-Dentists.com.
Wildomar Dentists
If you are looking for a Dentist or Dental Care office in Wildomar, you are in the right place. The FindLocal-Dentists Directory displays Wildomar, CA Dentists & Dental Care offices. We also display Dentists & Dental Care offices throughout the United States.
Quickly Locate Wildomar Dentsts & Dental Care Offices
Our goal is to provide a great experience for consumers looking for a Dentists or Dental Care offices in Wildomar, CA. We keep our directory free of clutter and unnecessary links and ads. Consumers can quickly locate Wildomar Dentists & Dental Care offices using the FindLocal-Dentists Directory.
Please use our zip code search function at the top of the page to search for Dentists & Dental Care offices in your area if Wildomar is not the city where you are trying to find a Dentist or Dental Care office.


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Apple Now Allows Downloading Previous Versions of iOS Apps
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Since the release of iOS 7 brings a whole new interface design for iPhone applications, developers might be forced to rework the user-interface of their iPhone apps as well, to match Apple's new Human Interface Guidelines. But even if operating system fragmentation is not too much of a problem in the iOS world, there will be users staying on previous versions of iOS. Regarding the Human Interface Guidelines, apps designed for iOS 7 would be inappropriate for those users.
Up to now, iOS users were only able to download the latest version of an application available in Apple's app store. If an application was updated for a newer version of iOS, and a user with an older version of iOS wanted to download the app, he was simply prompted to upgrade his operating system first. If there was no newer versions of iOS available for his device or the user didn't want to upgrade, there was no way to install the application.
Along with the release of iOS 7, Apple refreshed its iTunes Connect Developer Guide and announced, that it is now possible for users to download previous versions of applications:
Previous versions of your apps are now available for re-download by users who have already purchased them, allowing customers to use your apps with older devices which may no longer be supported by the current version of your app. If you do not wish to make these versions available, you can manage the availability of your apps' previous versions in the Rights and Pricing section of the Manage Your Apps module in iTunes Connect.
For developers, this brings a certain flexibility regarding application updates, supported operation system versions and devices. It's now possible to keep a service alive for devices like iPhone 3G or 3GS which won't get any major iOS updates anymore. At the same time, current versions of an app can make use of new features or user interface elements.
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Updates motivated by bugs?
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Budżet £20-250 GBP
I need a classic CMS website done preferably in wordpress. We have the content and want you to suggest and create a theme, create the necessary graphics, create pages, test and publish the website to our chosen hosting.
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All source with files to be included. Please do not bid more than £150.
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62 freelancerów złożyło ofertę na kwotę £159 do tego projektu
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|2012-11-29, 21:46
|Link #31261
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2010
BASICALLY, we have no consensus on the EP5 parlor scenes (there are two to consider - the one where Lambda's reds about numbers of people was made, and the later scene when Erika announced Natsuhi-culprit). No consensus, AT ALL. Everyone here seems to have settled on an answer that satisfies them.
I personally, very, VERY much doubt that Erika/Bern worked out Shkanon, for several reasons. However, you can also competently argue otherwise.
If Beatrice won, than it meant she had a human-culprit solution that fit all the reds, and successfully hid it with magic.
If Erika won, it would mean she had ... found a human-culprit solution that fit all the reds, and successfully destroyed Beato's magic hiding it.
|2012-11-30, 18:54
|Link #31262
Join Date: Oct 2012
Bernkastel probably figured it out some time in the 6th game though although she didn't inform Erika cause that would probably have been boring to her. If not during then soon after as she obviously knew the solution in the 7th game.
|2012-11-30, 22:29
|Link #31263
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Buffer overflow
Let's look at it this way, though. Most people are fairly sure that Yasu-culprit was Ryuukishi's intended answer. But the majority of people also seem less than satisfied with all the motives for Yasu that have been raised so far.
I've got a question then: why are we so sure that Yasu is the killer on the gameboard? I don't say that to imply that there's no good reason, but because I want to be specific. Is there anything that happens on the board that proves Yasu killed those people, or is our certainty only based on things that happened off the gameboard, in the Core Arcs, or in the Ryuukishi interviews?
|2012-11-30, 22:58
|Link #31264
Join Date: May 2009
|2012-12-01, 00:50
|Link #31265
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Buffer overflow
If Ryuukishi thinks his story satisfies the spirit of the Knox rules, no additional hints should be needed now that it's over. So, if we readers are using an interview to decide what we think "the answer" is, then we've either given up on solving his game and are looking for an easy way out, or we've decided that he failed to give us enough clues in the game. So, it makes sense for him to try and say things that will only make sense to someone who already knows the answer.
Outright lying is another matter though, since that doesn't gain him anything. Unless it was unintentional or trying to be too clever, I think anything he says in an interview is meant to be "true". Whether it's part of the final answer or not is a different matter though (Our Confessions implies that there might be two complete answers for the gameboard).
Question's still open though. If he's hinting to "Yasu=killer" in the interviews and through Will, exactly what sort of evidence did he show for it on the gameboard itself, in the first 4 games?
|2012-12-01, 02:41
|Link #31266
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2010
But as of the end of Alliance, I was fairly convinced the culprit was Shannon, with Kanon as some kind of wonky accomplice / manipulated fall guy. Had very briefly considered Shkanon in EP2, quickly dismissed it, and only noticed the "never in the same room" after reading it online after reading Alliance.
The clues were just strongest in Shannon's direction, even if the motive seems kind of incomprehensible, and were fairly weak in everyone else's direction. The only reason I really had to include Kanon at all is because of Lambda's reds at the very very end of EP4. I mean, Turn was actually extremely easy, and Battler only really failed to solve it because he INSISTED on 19th Person X at the time.
And about Will conveniently not really tackling Yasu's motives (I thought he gave some kind of hand-wave like "this should be enough to understand it. Yeah, I get it.") well, how ... very convenient for Ryukishi that the character Ryukishi wrote to be a competent detective doesn't mention any discrepancies in the motive of the culprit Ryukishi wrote. Love, or whatever.™ Or, I guess that sounds kinda dismissive - it's similar to how Kanon was just so glossed over in EP7, though.
Last edited by Kealym; 2012-12-01 at 03:04.
|2012-12-01, 04:40
|Link #31267
Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2011
@chronotrig: Doesn't the very fact that several people basically figured it out after EP4 prove that it was adequately hinted?
I mean, Shkanon and pony theory were both being discussed soon after EP4 was released. Put those together and you pretty much have the answer. If there are hints that Shannon and Kanon are the same person, and hints that Shannon is the culprit, it's certainly possible to come to the conclusion of Shkanontrice by EP4. And I don't think most people would dispute that plenty of hints to both of those things do exist in the question arcs.
|2012-12-01, 10:58
|Link #31268
Join Date: Oct 2012
I hate to admit it but I got into the series by watching the anime. At the end of the anime I was fairly certain Kanon was the culprit. When I went back through the novels I found some things that both supported Kanon but also rejected Kanon and after EP2 I did read some ideas from people who were discussing Shkanon after finishing EP2 and looked at the story that way and everything did seem to fit together nicely. Although after I read EP5 I just ignored that theory entirely and EP6-7 got me to think that it was Shannon and George with Kanon as somewhat of an accomplice.
However if Shkanon is false then looking back I could only accept Kanon as the culprit. If EP1 is done by anyone other than Kanon then it's a pretty cheap move on Ryukishi's part as that makes it so 6 people have an equal opportunity to be the culprit. Shannon would still be the best one of those 6 though as her body was never really seen.
One thing that people might consider to be a hint though. In EP3 when Battler starts theorizing about one of the servants is the culprit Beatrice acts really childish with her retaliations and Battler even mentions she looks like she's getting really worried. Later Shannon and Kanon both seem to revive with Beatrice's revival which is a bit symbolic. I also found Battler considering alternate personalities to be another hint. Or course these are all really meta hints. I've been meaning to look back through EP1 and EP2 looking for Shkanon hints I just haven't had the time.
In Short if it's not Shkanon then it has to be either Shannon or Kanon.
|2012-12-01, 11:19
|Link #31269
Join Date: Jan 2011
I figured that Ryukishi did not have Erika focus too much on the two as it would give away too much rather that Erika goes after a false culprit or rather after Battler. Besides it seemed more like Bernkastel just wanted to screw around rather than try to find out the truth, so I see little reason why Erika could act against Bernkastel's wishes.
I figured that Erika focused on everyone in the parlor hence why she wanted the red to confirm that everyone is there with the world "everyone".
Also Erika only focused on Natsuhi later on when she wanted to corner her.
In first four games, I figured that the motive of carrying out the epitaph to gain the prizes of the golden land was the motive that was consistently hinted at. Maria who was the closest to Beatrice also shared the belief that Beatrice was going to bring them all to the Golden Land. I do not think another motive has been hinted at that much. Besides in EP3 it is implied that Beatrice could so cruelly carry out the murders since they would revive anyway.
Sure it requires Shannon/Kannon to be incredibly delusional but at least I could understand why they could put on such a cruel murder plot against the people they love.
Last edited by goldendust; 2012-12-01 at 11:33.
|2012-12-01, 12:02
|Link #31270
Join Date: Oct 2012
So either that whole mechanism was absolutely pointless (in terms of dealing with red; of course it plays into the topic of "hidden/second personalities") or it served as a hint towards semantic cheating. Something that none of the other characters have, maybe aside Battler (from the perspective of EP4, since his identity had become somewhat questionable back then).
Basically, does Yasu turn into Beatrice whenever both of her "human" personas die (the famous "18<X<19") or is she literally "empty"? Doesn't really matter in terms of red, but it interests me concerning her portrayed personality. Personally I'd go for the former but maybe I've overlooked something.
a) EP1, Kanon's first appearance, at the end of his encounter with Battler. Something along the lines of 'he says something he couldn't hear himself' or 'wasn't directed at himself'. Of course this hint for Shkanon only makes sense once you consciously look for Shkanon, otherwise it's Kanon just having very faint feelings/emotions/thoughts.
b) EP2 prologue, the obvious choice.
c) the golden butterflies back in EP1 appeared after Shannon received the ring and at Kanon's 'rebellion' (and Shkanontrice's big entrance at the end of course); there are none for the other killings. Does it mean anything? Beats me, but Ryukishi could've easily shown them for the other killings as well, but then it wouldn't be possible for the reader to get the idea that maybe, possibly, Shkanon needs to be present for the 'magic' to happen; of course, towards the end of the game all bets are off anyway. My memory might lie to me though and the butterflies appeared even without Kanons and Shannons presence in EP1.
d) Shkanon having knowledge of previous Gameboards in both EP3 and EP4, and that they generally hold a special role (even in EP2, nobody interacts as much with Beatrice).
e) heck, once you start looking for them, even really small things come up... it's odd how only Shannon and Kanon are just quietly standing in the corner during Kinzo's Last Supper up until the end (and then there's Genji being himself... with the slight difference that he 'dies' in the scene anyway), especially considering Kanons rebellious nature... as if they were "puppets".
Overall I find it hard to differentiate when something becomes a hint or just fits post-hoc into our Shkanon solution. Aside the pony-promise there were few strong leads.
|2012-12-01, 12:12
|Link #31271
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Buffer overflow
The Shkanon theory explains several things, but since it started 3 years before and was supported by many servants and probably Kinzo, it must have some cause unrelated to the crime. By itself, it can't be used as direct evidence that Yasu killed anyone.
Parts of the pony theory explain Shannon's feelings for Battler and are almost undeniable in retrospect. But at this moment, we're having trouble truly understanding why those feelings would lead her to suddenly ritualistically murder most of the people she knows and loves. Even at its best, it does little to prove that Yasu killed anyone, but only raises the possibility.
What we need is more than a hint, but some actual events on the gameboard linking Yasu to the murders. As Battler said in EP2, just being suspicious doesn't make you guilty.
|2012-12-01, 12:23
|Link #31272
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2010
And again, if they had known about Shkanon in EP5, it would trivialized the wedding duel scene. All Erika would need to say is "Oh you just did that Shkanon thing in the closet didnt you? You are full of shit btw!" And Beatrice would have been blown to bits.
The topic was beaten to death before and yeah everyone has their own pet theory. In my opinion, Kanon exists in that game as a separate individual. You could probably say that he exists in all the other episodes up till ep6 as well, do to the quantum nature of the catbox. It wasnt till the end of EP6, where Battler and Beatrice force Kanon to be part of someone else.
You can explain the whole "number of people" in the island using ranges instead of a single number. The only problem with the interpretation is that its kinda unfair to force the number in EP5 to be 17 and then retroactively force every previous game to be 16. But thats probably part of the catbox's nature. It would kinda explain Erika's last reds as well.
|2012-12-01, 12:49
|Link #31273
Join Date: May 2009
For Beatrice, I look to Maria. Now, in Legend and Turn we never see Beatrice harm Maria (there's still the issue of the explosion, but let's overlook that for now). In Legend it does appear that she killed her mother, but let's assume she believed that to be justifiable due to the way Rosa was treating her (which we can reasonably assume she did know about from info in ep4). In Alliance, Maria seems to be given a mercy killing of sorts. Maybe, maybe if you stretch for the "insane, but in a way that makes sense to them" argument, you can say that with everyone else dead it was necessary to poison Maria to go to the Golden Land (why, exactly, I don't know, but let's pretend).
The problem the Shkanontrice culprit theory runs up against, assuming that like Will you seem to be trying to blame everything on a single culprit, is Banquet. Maria is killed early and in a brutal, primal manner, via strangulation. Why in the world is that happening? It doesn't fit at all. What would suddenly cause Beatrice to not only lay hands on Maria that early in her murder spree, but to kill her so brutally?
And similar arguments can be made for nearly every character. Might Kyrie kill someone? Possibly. Would Kyrie kill everyone? No. What about Eva, or Rosa, or George? Again, maybe someone, but certainly not everyone. It runs up against the notion that there were multiple killers... but once you start going down that rabbit hole, things get way too difficult to prove. Which kill was which? Was there a fake murder game going on? Who was the real killer? How'd they get away with it? We can't just accept an Erika-style "oh yeah nobody moved while I was subduing them and cutting their heads off" argument.
|2012-12-01, 13:04
|Link #31274
Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2011
|2012-12-01, 13:12
|Link #31275
Join Date: Oct 2012
Well doing a bit of logical thinking about the gameboards.
I'm going to try to ignore the red as much as possible and just look at physically possible. I'm also going to assume there was one murderer.
Episode 1:
The chain room could only have been done by 7 people. Rudolf, Kyrie, Krauss, Shannon, Gohda, Rosa and Kanon considering everyone else has an alibi for it.
Those 7 people are actually constant themes of being the only 7 that could really do any of the murders. Well actually using the KNM's explanation Battler didn't examine Gohda, Rosa or Shannon so let's say it's only possible for 4 people.
Episode 2:
Natsuhi's room could only have been done by 5 people. Shannon, George, Gohda, Rosa and Kanon. George couldn't have caused the murders in the first game so let's remove him. So now we are left with 4 people to be the culprits still.
Episode 3:
Dr. Nanjo's murder. All of the dead were witnessed by battler except for the 5 servants and Kinzo so logically speaking any one of them could have committed the crime.
That leaves 3 people left: Gohda, Kanon and Shannon.
Episode 4:
Gohda and Kumasawa's murder. From the position they were found in it would be extremely awkward for them to commit suicide.
Now we are left with 2 people: Shannon and Kanon
Then if you put red into play you suddenly wind up with only Kanon can do some things and only Shannon can do others and you are left with no one. Unless of course they happen to be the same person. I am of course ignoring all statements in red that say people are dead and I am only considering someone to be dead when Battler see's that they are dead.
Also I notice something Will says after Claire states that's what it means to abandon ones self to fate.
"......And that's the roulette you were talking about."
I'm surprised I missed that before. But basically the solution Will found is confirmed to involve Kanon as the culprit of the first game.
|2012-12-01, 13:42
|Link #31276
Join Date: Jan 2011
If topic was beaten to death before, I will digress but I thought it was an interesting observation and wondered if anyone else noticed.
|2012-12-01, 14:08
|Link #31277
Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2011
|2012-12-01, 14:54
|Link #31278
Join Date: Oct 2012
|2012-12-01, 15:09
|Link #31279
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2010
Its no really comparable either way. Had Bern/Erika known about Shkanon then they have would have probably acted differently. Would have taken precautions so that it was a non issue if it came up. I think Bern/Erika did figure it out eventually, as evidenced by Erika trying to force the number of people in the island to be 18 with her. It was just too late and Battler/Beatrice had wiped Kanon from existence by then.
|2012-12-01, 16:22
|Link #31280
Blick Winkel
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Gobbled up by Promathia
I agree that the motive for any character killing everybody is weak and that there is no evidence on the gameboards that Yasu actually committed the crimes. If there was as much as a single hint towards who did them, we would solve it too easily.
But that's not to say there aren't hints about WHO Beatrice is. I think that this was never meant to be solvable entirely by looking at the gameboards or the Red Truth. The hints towards Shkannontrice are very, very plentiful in the EP1-4 meta scenes. "Ignoring the heart" doesn't just mean ignoring the motive, but it also covers ignoring the stuff that doesn't directly pertain to the murders... the 'heart' of the story. You couldn't treat this like a normal mystery in order to arrive at the answer confidently. "Without love, it can't be seen" --- you had to study Beatrice's character and actions in the meta scenes to reach this answer confidently. EP2, while one of the more unexciting ones, held a lot of secrets. Especially considering Beatrice's reaction to Kanon's & Shannon's statements of love during their death scenes.
I know that doesn't help with the issue that Shkanon can't be directly tied into the murders on the gameboard but this is how I think we were supposed to study Umineko.
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Consensus Report
The Decline of the Steller Sea Lion in Alaskan Waters: Untangling Food Webs and Fishing Nets (2003)Ocean Studies Board
Each report is produced by a committee of experts selected by the Academy to address a particular statement of task and is subject to a rigorous, independent peer review; while the reports represent views of the committee, they also are endorsed by the Academy. Learn more on our expert consensus reports.
The Alaskan population of Steller sea lions has declined more than 80 percent in the last 30 years. Large-scale fishing effects on the food supply of Alaska's Steller sea lions do not appear to be the main reason for their current, continuing decline. This report concluded that a combination of other possible factors, including entanglement or injury by fishing gear, illegal shooting, predation by killer whales, subsistence harvesting, and disease, may be causing the decline. Establishing a series of carefully monitored open and closed fishing areas is the best way to measure fishing's impact on sea lion survival.
Key Messages
- Option No. 5. Micromonitor and manage localized interactions between sea lions and fisheries to reduce mortality where and when it occurs in the future. This option would require expansion of all basic monitoring activities (abundance, prey fields, mortality agent distribution) around key rookeries to pinpoint times and places of increased mortality so that appropriate management measures could be taken.
- Although no hypothesis can be excluded based on existing data, top-down sources of mortality appear to pose the greatest threat to the current population. Investigations of top-down sources of Steller sea lion mortality should be increased to evaluate the proportionate impact of these factors on the population decline.
- Existing data on the more recent period of decline (1990-present) with regard to the bottom-up and top-down hypotheses indicate that bottom-up hypotheses invoking nutritional stress are unlikely to represent the primary threat to recovery.
- In the existing body of information on Steller sea lions, there is no conclusive evidence supporting either the bottom-up or the top-down hypotheses.
- Multiple factors probably contributed to the widespread population decline in the 1980s, including incidental and deliberate mortality associated with fishing activities, but elucidation of the complete spectrum of causes and consequences is unlikely because of gaps in the available data.
- Option No. 1. Wait and see, maintaining current closures indefinitely. Recent management actions, including area closures, may be sufficient to reverse or reduce the rate of population decline.
- Option No. 2. Eliminate direct fishery impacts with greatly expanded closures. This would require closing the Atka mackerel fishery in the Aleutians and reducing the main pollock fishing areas in the southern half of the eastern Bering Sea.
- Option No. 3. Establish spatial management units consisting of two sets of closed and open areas where each treatment area is centered on a rookery. The western population would be divided into management regions with at least two closed and two open rookeries per region. The closed treatment units would be subject to fishery closures, and the open units would have sea lion-related fishery restrictions removed.
- Option No. 4. Implement a titration experiment where restrictions on fisheries (such as area closures) are increased progressively over time until a positive response is achieved. This option is a variation on the strategy used during the 1990s. Fishery regulations continue to become more restrictive as long as the sea lion population continues to decline.
- Resolution of this conflict requires management that not only improves chances for the recovery of Steller sea lions but also facilitates scientific study of the efficacy of these protective measures.
- Steller sea lions are found along the North Pacific rim from California to Japan with about 70% of the population living in Alaskan waters.
- The Alaskan population declined precipitously during the 1970s and 1980s and continued to decline at a slower rate during the 1990s.
- The committee has identified five general management options that might be taken to address the potential impacts of groundfish fisheries on sea lions and recommends monitoring priorities to assess the efficacy of each option.
- The first category, the bottom-up hypotheses, includes potential causes that would affect the physical condition of sea lions such as (1) large-scale fishery removals that reduce the availability or quality of prey species; (2) a climate/regime shift in the late 1970s that changed the abundance or distribution of prey species; (3) nonlethal disease that reduced the foraging efficiency of sea lions, and (4) pollutants concentrated through the food web that contaminated fish eaten by sea lions, possibly reducing their fecundity or increasing mortality.
- The hypotheses proposed to explain the decline of the western stock fall into two categories.
- The second category, the top-down hypotheses, encompasses factors that kill sea lions independently of the capacity of the environment to support the sea lion population. These include (1) predators such as killer whales (or possibly sharks) that switched their prey preference to sea lions; (2) incidental takes of sea lions through capture or entanglement in fishing gear; (3) takes of sea lions in the subsistence harvest that were higher than estimated; (4) shootings of sea lions that were underestimated in the past and present, and (5) pollution or disease that increased mortality independently of effects on nutrition.
- To resolve questions about the impact of the fisheries on Steller sea lion survival, the preferred option is No 3 because it is the only approach that directly tests the role of fishing in the decline.
- Under option No. 1, the most valuable monitoring information would be derived from annual reference rookery and haulout ounts and new demographic data from branded pups.
- Under option No. 2, monitoring of fish population dynamics, both locally and at the stock level, would be required to determine the effects of the fisheries on stock distribution and fish community composition.
- Under option No. 3, the most critical monitoring needs would be detailed local Steller sea lion censuses and spatial analyses of fish population changes for each experimental unit in the overall design.
- Option No. 4. This approach requires monitoring of sea lion population trends, but results could be confounded by the lack of baseline data and natural environmental variability.
- to fully exclude fisheries as a contributing factor to the continuing decline.


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With our 10-month-old son sitting on her lap, my wife Brandy fields a list of standard questions from our pediatrician. How is he eating? How is he sleeping? The bespectacled doctor listens, making notes on her clipboard. Does he respond to his own name? No, Brandy says. The doctor slowly looks up, eyebrows raised, obviously concerned. "Oh, but it's okay," Brandy says. "I think he just ignores me."
The stone-faced statues on Easter Island. The crop circles in rural Swiss wheat fields. Houdini escaping shackles in a water tank.
There are mysteries -- and then there is autism. How can something with such overwhelming public awareness be so inexplicable? You would be hard pressed to find an expectant mom or dad who hasn't heard the "A" word, yet the most well educated and experienced physicians, clinical psychologists and behavioral analysts in the field of autism will tell you they have no clear explanation for its cause. They don't know why boys are four times as likely as girls to be on the spectrum, or why prevalence of autism in children in Minnesota is three times higher than it is in Tennessee.
Perhaps we should start with what we do know: the incidence of autism is increasing dramatically. Approximately 1 in every 91 children ages 3 to 17 was on the autism spectrum in 2007, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. Five years earlier, that figure was 1 in 150. Four years before that, it was 1 in 1,000.
With these skyrocketing stats, and a dearth of answers from experts, autism has become a Gen Y boogie monster. As a result, parents are desperate for information, and there's plenty of it, both factual and bogus. Google "autism," and you'll get 18.5 million search results (that's about the same number of results as "premature birth" and "colic" combined). Search the topic in the books section on Amazon, and you'll find 5,700-plus titles including Jenny McCarthy's Louder Than Words: A Mother's Journey in Healing Autism. Among the book's customer reviews are countless armchair theories for autism's cause: genetics, vaccinations, pesticides, industrial contaminants, and America's increasing reliance on prescription drugs.
Since finding a cause has proved problematic, there is a growing emphasis on diagnosing and treating children as early as possible. James Coplan, M.D., is a physician who is board certified in both developmental-behavioral pediatrics and neurodevelopment disabilities. He is also the author of Making Sense of Autistic Spectrum Disorders, a guidebook aimed at making parents expert advocates for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD).
"I've seen videos of 3-month-olds who will turn into 2-year-olds with autism," says Dr. Coplan. "The mom is trying to elicit eye contact, and the child is staring off into space. Mom will tell me, 'I knew there was something wrong with him from the day he was born. I breastfed him and he never looked up at me.'"
Our understanding of autism remains in its infancy, as is the movement to diagnose and treat children in that same stage. These were things I was not really aware of, as an editor or a father.
the spectrum: what it is, and what to look for
I'm trying to hold him, but he's squirming. The airport lounge is packed with people, and I can feel all eyes on me: the dad who cannot appease his toddler. Brandy sees me struggling, and comes up with a quick fix. She flips over the stroller. She places Jackson next to it. He begins to spin one of the wheels with his hand. He keeps spinning it. Over and over and over. He's completely absorbed. I look at Brandy quizzically. She shrugs.
ASD are a group of neurodevelopmental disabilities that can cause a number of social, behavioral and communication challenges, ranging from mild to severe. In lieu of more clinical jargon, an analogy may be appropriate here: Imagine a highway, long and straight, that disappears into a horizon beset with storm clouds. The highway's earliest exit leads to something relatively mild, like sensory integration disorder (a child being overly sensitive to the texture of his clothes, or the sound of a dishwasher). Continue down the highway toward the storm, and the exits lead to more serious issues like Asperger's syndrome, where children have trouble with social interaction (ignoring everyone at a Mommy & Me class) and show intense fixations on repetitive patterns or behaviors (staring at a spinning wheel, or running laps around the coffee table). And lastly, the farthest exit underneath those dark clouds lead to a severe case of autism, such as a child who acts deaf and mute, but physically has the capability to hear and speak.
Considering our troubled history with understanding autism, it's amazing we know as much as we do. It wasn't until the enactment of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act in 1990 that autism was officially observed as its own impairment; previously, children, teenagers and adults with autism were labeled as emotionally disturbed or mentally retarded. Finding medical professionals to serve this demographic was equally problematic. For 18 years, Dr. Coplan was by his own account the only university-based neurodevelopmental pediatrician in central upstate New York, an area with a population of 2.5 million.
"The first thing to bear in mind is that the medical world didn't separate autism from childhood psychosis until the early 1980s," says Dr. Coplan. "During that time a lot of people with autism simply fell through the cracks of society. Many were unemployed, living in poverty or incarcerated."
In 2010, it's a different ballgame. Society's awareness of autism is at an all-time high, and autism experts are more and more capable of identifying problem behaviors early in a child's development. According to Dr. Coplan, the "big three" help him diagnose spectrum disorders in babies and toddlers.
The first is social engagibility. "By 3 months, the child should recognize mom and dad's faces. He should be making eye contact by 3 months, and engaging in patty-cake and peek-a-boo by 9 months." The second is social reciprocity, which should be present by the first birthday. "Can you have an interaction with your baby?" Dr. Coplan asks. "Can he copy and imitate you? There should be a back-and-forth sharing of smiles and sounds." Last is the use of language as a tool for social communication. "One of the things I hear a lot from parents is, 'My child talks but he doesn't communicate.'" A lack of babbling or cooing by 6 months can be an early sign of ASD, warns Dr. Coplan. A 1-year-old should be using words to get action: milk, ball, cookie. He adds that prosody, or the rhythm of speech, is a major indicator. The melody of a toddler's speech should be natural, not robotic or prone to loud-soft dynamics.
Autism expert William Frea, Ph.D., is co-CEO and chief clinical officer of Autism Spectrum Therapies (AST), a facility in Culver City, California that creates individually tailored treatment programs for children and families. AST offers in-home assessments of babies who may be at risk of ASD beginning at 6 months.
"Language, play and social behavior are critical at this early age," says Frea. "Parents should see their babies making intense eye contact, cuddling, reaching out with their arms, and pointing."
what causes ASD?
When we carried the first few boxes into our new house, the carnival-like fumigation tent had only been off for a couple days. We had termites, and tent fumigation -- which uses a concoction of lethal chemicals -- is standard procedure. Five years later, laying in bed in a different home, Brandy brings it up. "We got pregnant with Jackson right after we moved in," she says. "I've always wondered about that."
Getting to the root cause -- or causes -- of autism is an ongoing process, but little is known. One of the most promising areas of study is genetics. For example, siblings of a child with ASD face a 10 percent risk of having ASD themselves. Researchers have also found that if one member of a pair of identical twins has autism, the other twin has an 80 to 90 percent chance of being on the spectrum. In other words, a look at the family can be a useful bellwether. "I've gotten letters from mothers who say, 'After you gave my son a diagnosis, we looked really closely at our family, and discovered that we have an older relative who is on the spectrum,'" notes Dr. Coplan.
Of all the potential causes, none has been more controversial than vaccinations. While McCarthy's 2007 book gave the issue a celebrity spotlight, the theory actually dates back to a 1998 study published in the British journal The Lancet. Authored by Andrew Wakefield and 12 of his associates, the paper stated that, "12 children were referred to the pediatric gastroenterology unit with a history of normal development followed by a loss of acquired skills, including language, together with diarrhea and abdominal pain ... onset of behavioral symptoms was associated by the parents, with measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccinations in eight of the 12 children."
Six years later, 10 of Wakefield's co-authors offered a retraction. Then last August, Wakefield and the two remaining co-authors were charged by Great Britain's General Medical Council for conduct that was "dishonest and irresponsible." Apparently, five of Wakefield's 12 subjects were already suing the manufacturer of the MMR vaccine, and their attorney had retained Wakefield and provided him with financial support for his work.
Perhaps more important to settling the MMR vaccine-autism debate are the studies that have been conducted since Wakefield's paper was published. Says Frea: "Because of the controversy and level of fear, it has pushed science to have very strong research." Countries including the United States, England, Japan, Denmark, Canada and Finland have conducted studies with the participation of approximately 1.9 million children, and none have found a connection between autism and the MMR vaccine. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institutes of Health and the AAP all recommend vaccines as safe and effective.
"For parents of children with autism, until they've turned over every stone, they're going to look wherever they can," says Mary Anne Jackson, M.D., chief of the pediatric infectious diseases section at Children's Mercy Hospitals and Clinics in Kansas City, Missouri, and co-investigator for the Vaccine Education and Treatment Unit, which is sponsored by the National Institutes of Health. "Health care providers need to say they've looked at vaccines. We've turned over that stone, and there is no data to support the claim." But it seems the public either isn't aware of this information, or doesn't believe it. According to a recent survey in Pediatrics, the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, more than half of the parents expressed concerns that vaccines cause adverse effects.
While Frea doesn't believe vaccines are connected to autism, he worries about other possible triggers. "Right now, we've got a lot of speculation [about causes other than vaccines] without good research," he says. "To look at how the numbers have increased, it seems there's something in our environment that's causing it, and it appears to be getting worse."
early assessment and treatment
It's been 20 minutes since the behavioral psychologist asked to be alone with Jackson. Brandy and I hold hands, flip through magazines, hold hands again. The doctor invites us back into her office. She is very complimentary of Jackson, now 5 years old, but points out some concerns. The word "spectrum" comes up, but the doctor isn't comfortable with it. "Let's see where we are in six months," she says.
A baby that shows early signs of ASD doesn't necessarily mean a diagnosis is eminent. "I liken it to a tall ship coming around the curvature of the earth," Dr. Coplan explains. "Right now, I can see the mast, but I can't see the rest of the ship. Does it have cannons? Are they flying the Jolly Roger? In other words, let's take our time and assess. If I have concerns, it's better to err on the side of caution and meet periodically."
At Autism Spectrum Therapies, a baby or toddler showing early signs of ASD would warrant an in-home assessment, not a diagnosis. "We go into the home and observe. What drawer does the baby go into? What toys does he play with? What we often see early on is parents struggling to capture the child's attention. What we try to do is engage the child in a play-based environment, and reward that attention with things the child likes." At the outset of these evaluations, many of the parents share the same sentiment: my baby simply isn't interested in me, so I leave him alone. But treatment often means providing parents with the tools to create more beneficial interaction. "We create routines and roadmaps for each family," says Frea. "Nine times out of 10 things change drastically."
There is no question that Jackson at 3 showed more signs of ASD than Jackson today, at 6. And we're not alone. Another study highlighted in Pediatrics focused on 61 children aged 14 to 35 months who were on the spectrum. Two years after their initial diagnosis, 20 percent of those children no longer met the ASD criteria, which suggests that either the children are improving or were misdiagnosed from the start. So can a child "develop" out of the spectrum? "You've just asked the 64 thousand dollar question: How much of a child's improvement over time is due to the natural history of the condition, and how much is due to intervention?" Dr. Coplan says. "There are no decent studies to address this question." Unlike leukemia or cancer, "treatment for ASD is not based on the scientific method, so there is no data."
With so many answers left to discover, autism is in the midst of a tidal shift, and more research is under way. By the time you read this, a new study could shatter much of what we know about ASD. I, for one, am eager to learn more about this mystery. After all, I'm not just searching for answers for a story. I'm searching them out for my son.


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Ha'Mefalsim St 17 | P.O.B. 3517 | Petach Tikva 4951447 , Israel
As a leader in biopesticides innovation, STK Bio-ag Technologies (formerly Stockton) is pioneering a new generation of 'hybrid' products that combine the powers of biological agents and synthetic chemistries, and which may present a new era in pest control. With recent partnership agreements with industry giants such as BASF, Syngenta and Seipasa, this seemed like a great time for Chemicals Knowledge to catch up with STK's Chief Scientist, Professor Moshe Reuveni. STK seems to be in a great place right now! How have the values and mission of the company led you here? STK was founded and is headquartered in Israel, the 'innovation nation'! Innovation and sustainable agriculture are in our DNA, and we are committed to the values of sustainable agriculture – from field to fork. This stems from our main mission to provide premium, highly effective products, with low chemical residues and novel and unique mechanisms of action (MOA). We also aim to provide additional yield benefits, and to ensure that our products are flexible and easy to apply, and chemically compatible with many other active ingredients. What are the main benefits of biopesticides? There are many advantages. Biopesticides come from nature – they may be plant extracts, like Timorex Gold, which effectively ruptures pathogen cells (Figure 1), or bacteriological, like Aviv, a powerful Bacillus subtilis requiring less than half the dosage of other biopesticides. In any case, biopesticides contain no synthetic chemicals. They are produced from renewable sources, and they leave minimal crop residue, making crops treated with biopesticides much more competitive in domestic and international markets. Regulators, consumers and retail supermarkets all want to reduce the chemical residue on their produce. The selectivity of biopesticides, which target only their natural enemies, also helps to maintain beneficial insect and mite populations, ensure worker safety and promote environmental safety. Today's biopesticides are as effective – or even more effective – than synthetic chemical pesticides, in terms of crop protection and increasing yields. Furthermore, biopesticides are an important weapon in managing pesticide resistance. They can help reduce the selection pressure for the evolution of resistance to synthetic pesticides, and the risk of pests and pathogens developing resistance to biopesticides is low, especially as these agents often have multiple modes of action. Switzerland recently announced that it is considering a total ban of synthetic pesticides – do you think it is feasible to have a world free of synthetics? The world's population is expected to grow from the current 7 billion people to 9 billion people by 2050. In order to feed all of these people and avoid mass starvation, mankind will need to double crop yields globally. This is a tall order, and to achieve this, growers will need effective tools for combating diseases – we think this will need to include biopesticides and synthetic chemical pesticides; or hybrid technologies that combine the two. The use of biopesticides is forecast to grow by 15% to 20% annually for the foreseeable future, while synthetic chemical use is predicted to grow at a slower annual rate of 3%. If those growth rates are maintained, eventually we will be in a situation where more biopesticides than synthetic pesticides are being used. We think this will be a good situation to be in, for the many reasons discussed above, but we still see a continued need for good synthetic pesticides. Can you tell us more about 'hybrid' technologies and how they expect to encourage uptake of biological agents? STK has introduced the world's first 'hybrid' pesticide, Regev – the 'pre-mix' of a synthetic pesticide with a botanical-based biopesticide. Specifically, it combined a Tea Tree botanical extract and difenoconazole in an easy-to-use formulation. The combination of a natural product with broad-spectrum activity and a traditional site-specific synthetic provides growers with the different modes of action of a botanical-based active ingredient and an effective chemical pesticide. The hybrid combination results in a reduced synthetic chemical load on the environment, compared with other traditional mixtures based on two synthetic chemicals. Regev is an effective and unique tool for resistance management, and it is clearly suitable for Integrated Pest Management (IPM) programs. This product is also a bridge for growers who have never previously tried a biopesticide. These growers can use Regev in exactly the same way as their current chemical pesticide: no mixing, no rotating, easy-to-use… and with the benefits of lowering chemical residues, improved resistance management and yield growth. Regev will accelerate the uptake of biological products by making it easy. Historically, biopesticides have been used largely on high-value crops, such as fruits and vegetables, but hybrids like Regev are not only being used on fruits and vegetables, but have proven to be a cost-effective approach for row crops like soy beans, and field and broad acre crops like corn. Regev is already being used in 10 countries throughout Latin America, Israel, Serbia and the Philippines. Plans for 2019 call for the global rollout of REGEV. How are you working with global majors to encourage global distribution of these technologies? To accelerate the distribution of STK's biological technologies for sustainable agriculture, we have entered into partnerships with various companies . In Brazil, Timorex Gold botanical-based biofungicide is co-distributed by both STK and BASF, which is proving to be very effective in this very large country. In the US, Aviv, our low-dose Bacillus subtilis biofungicide, is distributed by Syngenta. Not all of our distributors are the global majors, and STK is always open to partnerships with companies large, medium and small. What's next for STK? Beyond the continuing geographic distribution of Timorex Gold, Regev and Aviv, STK has a powerful pipeline of new biological products to provide new tools to help growers reach the goal of doubling their yields by 2050. This pipeline includes new biopesticides based either on powerful natural plant molecules or plant extracts to be used as bio-fungicides or bio-insecticides. In addition, new hybrids combining natural active ingredients and reliable synthetic active chemicals, to be used on wide range of crops and pathogens, are under development. Interview with: Professor Moshe Reuveni, Chief Scientist at STK bio-ag technologies, Ha'Mefalsim St 17, POB 3517, Petach Tikva 4951447, Israel
Shay Shaanan, STK Bio-Ag Technologies This is according to Shay Shaanan, the company's Vice President of Research and Development. "In collaboration with the growers, we found a very effective solution for this disease, using Timorex Gold®." Timorex Gold® is a broad-spectrum, botanical-based fungicide that can be used for many different crops or diseases. "Here, we are talking about Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, and Peru. We are still in the process of registering this solution in Chile. It looks like avocado is becoming the next big crop for us. Avocado is the new banana", says Shay. "We are constantly developing new applications for the product because it has many modes of action." Shay explains why Timorex Gold® is so versatile. "It is made from the extract of the Australian tea tree. This extract contains various molecules. Each molecule has a different function. Basically, Timorex Gold® is a product that can be used in many different ways. It counters many different diseases and has different effects on different plants." Interesting finding in banana plants He goes on to say that they have learned from the banana growers in Brazil that Timorex Gold® affects their trees' roots when sprayed directly onto the tree's leaves. According to Shay, this combats Fusarium disease, which affects the roots of the banana tree. "This is very interesting." "We know that Timorex Gold® molecules penetrate the plant, but not moving systemically down to the roots . Spraying the tree's leaves with this product dramatically influences its roots and the entire plant. We are researching exactly how this happens, but we now know that Timorex Gold® has another good attribute." The benefit of using Timorex Gold® is also being recognised further down the food chain. One of the international supermarket chains in Brazil has introduced a high taste and quality category, requiring that produce have no chemical residue and pass labor and environmental audits. Bananas treated with Timorex Gold® have qualified for this program and have received the taste and quality label. The use of Timorex Gold® has been reauthorised in Chile until 2022 and has been expanded to include other fruits & vegetables. It has been approved in China, Brazil, and just about every US state. Expanding quickly Shay goes on to say that STK is growing very fast, with its technologies expanding geographically. "There have been so many new developments with Timorex Gold®, Aviv®, REGEV ™, and partnerships in the last six months or so". This company is one of a handful that focuses on developing botanically-based pesticide solutions. One of these partnership deals for Timorex Gold® is with BASF, the largest chemical producer in the world. "Our strategy is based on this kind of cooperation", says Shay. "We see the benefits of this from two angles. Firstly, these large companies have access to the big markets. They can usually offer our product better than us because of the army of salespeople that they have at their disposal." "The other angle is that we are developing new lines of biopesticides based on mixing biological and soft chemical solutions. In order to develop these new products, we need to cooperate with large multinational companies to get access to their data packages in various countries. This is the most costly part of trying to register new solutions on the market, especially in Europe and the US." Shay adds that Europe is a much a tougher market to penetrate than the United States. "It takes much longer, and the costs are much higher", he says. "European farmers will not use unregistered products. We are working hard to get Timorex Gold® onto the European market. We have submitted a registration, which should be completed in 2021. This is only in two years time, but in our industry two years is like tomorrow." AVIV 'Low Dose' Bacillus subtilis biofungicide Another well-known STK Bio-Ag Technologies product in the US is AVIV®. AVIV® is an advanced microbial solution, a low-dose fungicide that contains Bacillus subtilis", says Shay. "You only use a very small fraction compared to other well-known similar products. This is a big advantage." Shay continues, "The strain of Bacillus in AVIV® as is also much more efficient, so you need much less in order to get the same efficacy." "It is much easier for the farmer to use", says Shay. "The very friendly and clear formulation makes the difference. This product is selling well, especially in the USA." AVIV has recently been approved for use in California and 26 other American states. "Things are progressing ahead of schedule", says Shay. Hybrid Fungicide: REGEV® REGEV™ is STK Bio-Ag Technologies' first hybrid. "It is a completely new solution on the market", Shay says. "We call it a bridge. We believe that this is a nice link for us to reach conventional farmers. These farmers are feeling pressured into using more environmentally-friendly solutions. They are hesitant to go all out in using purely biological products. These are usually not as efficient as the chemical pesticides." "Once you tell them REGEV™is a mixture of a biological fungicide with a chemical they know," he continues to say, "it makes it much easier for them to use it. In many cases, this solution performs better than the chemical solutions they are familiar with. At the end of the day, they reduce the amount of chemical they use dramatically. It is also very versatile when it comes to which crops it can be used on. In each country, different crops respond well to this product." "REGEV™ solves a big problem", adds Shay. "The use of bio-pesticides is growing at an average of annual rate of something like 15 - 20 %. In contrast, synthetic pesticide usage is only increasing by three per cent year-on-year. Yet, most growers are still not using any biologicals. Why is this?" He says REGEV™ addresses this issue. "It is a premix, so the farmer does not have to mix anything, and they do not have to do rotations between bio-pesticides and conventional pesticides. So, the grower can use REGEV in exactly the same way he used his chemical pesticide. Only now, with REGEV™, the farmer gets to participate in this biological revolution and gets to have a more sustainable profile. He also has a new product with which manage crop disease resistance." Hybrid Technology at LATAM BioControl Conference Shay says the company has great faith in this product. "We can see how fast the farmers and industry are accepting this product. That is why there several new hybrid solutions in the pipeline. We have many interesting, attractive developments in the works." Jose Antonio Estevez, STK Bio-Ag Technologies'Colombia Country Manager, will be doing a presentation about its 'hybrid technology' at the upcoming LATAM BioControl Conference. This is the largest international event dedicated to biocontrol in Latin America. It is to be held on 14 November in Medellin, Colombia. Publication date : 9/6/2018 Author: © FreshPlaza.com