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By: David Edwards
In two alerts on May 31 and June 13, we noted how the UK corporate media system instantly found, not just the Syrian government, but its leader Bashar Assad, responsible for the May 25 massacre of 108 people, including 49 children, in Houla, Syria.
Numerous cartoons depicted Assad smeared with blood or bathing in blood. Just two days after the massacre, the Independent on Sunday's front cover wanted to know what its readers were going to do about it:
'There is, of course, supposed to be a ceasefire, which the brutal Assad regime simply ignores. And the international community? It just averts its gaze. Will you do the same? Or will the sickening fate of these innocent children make you very, very angry?' (Independent on Sunday, May 27, 2012)
Quite what readers were supposed to do, other than gaze, was unclear. After all, one of the great triumphs of modern politics is the near-complete insulation of US-UK foreign policy against democratic pressures.
Inside the paper, David Randall wrote these bitter words:
'He is the President; she is the First Lady; they are dead children. He governs but doesn't protect; she shops and doesn't care… And one hopes that those on the United Nations Security Council, when it reconvenes, will look into the staring eyes of these dead children and remember the hollow words of Assad's wife when she simpered that she "comforts the families" of her country's victims.'
This was standard for political commentary and media coverage right across politics and media. Houla was not reported as just one more ugly event in world news. It was sold to the British public as an historic 'something must be done' tipping point on a par with the contestedRacak and hypothetical Benghazi massacres used to justify the West's attacks on Serbia in 1999 and Libya in 2011, respectively.
US and UK politicians were clearly desperate to use Houla to stoke their regime-change agenda. Rehearsing the crude tactics of the Bush-Blair era, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and UK Foreign Secretary William Hague endlessly repeated their damning judgements: facts were irrelevant, propaganda stunts everything. No holds were barred. The media, as ever, were happy to go along for the ride.
If the US-UK alliance was to succeed in justifying externally-imposed regime change, then the Assad government had to be declared responsible – certainly, solely, unforgivably. And that indeed was the message supplied by the media.
However, as we explained in our June 13 alert, cracks in the story quickly began to emerge. It turned out that women and children had not had their throats cut, as had been universally asserted. Moreover, the BBC's World News editor Jon Williams commented:
'In Houla, and now in Qubair, the finger has been pointed at the shabiha, pro-government militia. But tragic death toll aside, the facts are few: it's not clear who ordered the killings – or why.'
But these and a handful of other comments – and the sources informing them – were kept low-profile and did not become part of the media discussion. Inexplicably, the implications for earlier media claims went unexamined, undiscussed.
The UN – 'Unable To Determine The Identity Of The Perpetrators At This Time'
Last week, on June 27, a UN Commission of Inquiry delivered its report on the massacre. In considering those responsible, the UN described the three most likely possibilities:
'First, that the perpetrators were Shabbiha or other local militia from neighbouring villages, possibly operating together with, or with the acquiescence of, the Government security forces; second, that the perpetrators were anti-Government forces seeking to escalate the conflict while punishing those that failed to support – or who actively opposed – the rebellion; or third, foreign groups with unknown affiliation.'
The report's assessment:
'With the available evidence, the CoI [Commission of Inquiry] could not rule out any of these possibilities.'
The UN summarised:
'The CoI is unable to determine the identity of the perpetrators at this time; nevertheless the CoI considers that forces loyal to the Government may have been responsible for many of the deaths. The investigation will continue until the end of the CoI mandate.'
A remarkably cautious conclusion, given that it was produced in the face of intense Western political and media pressure (no doubt also behind the scenes) to blame the Syrian government.
So how did the media react to this high-profile report starkly contradicting its consensus on Houla? An honest media would have headlined the UN's doubt, alerting readers to the earlier baseless assertions and misreporting.
Instead, the LexisNexis media database search engine finds (July 5) just six articles mentioning the report in UK national newspapers and their websites, with only five of these mentioning Houla. An astonishingly low level of coverage given the massive media attention that preceded it. LexisNexis records 1,017 print and online articles mentioning Houla in all UK newspapers since the massacre on May 25.
The Independent, which, as discussed, initially led the field in Houla hype, described the UN findings thus:
'Gunmen raided the headquarters of a pro-government Syrian TV station yesterday, killing seven employees, kidnapping others and demolishing buildings. The government described the killings as a "massacre," just as the UN was blaming state forces for the Houla massacre.'
If this was a gross misrepresentation of the UN's findings, it was rendered absurd by clicking an online link to 'More', which took readers to these words from Patrick Cockburn:
'The UN report on last month's massacre at Houla, near the northern city of Homs, does not name those responsible, saying only that forces loyal to the government "may have been responsible" for many of the deaths.
'It does not name the Alawite militia – the Shabiha – as being responsible, as has been widely reported, but said they had easiest access to Houla.'
That indeed was the news – the UN report had starkly contradicted the 'widely reported' but false certainty.
In similar vein, a Guardian piece was titled: 'Syrian government loyalists "may be responsible" for massacre – UN report.'
A separate Guardian headline bullet point read: 'Assad forces may be to blame for many Houla deaths – UN.'
By contrast, more accurately, Alex Thomson of Channel 4 News tweeted:
'UN Syria report: says al-Houla massacre of 108 could have been done by either pro or anti Assad militias'
We wrote to Thomson: 'Interesting, the Guardian is reporting it thus: 'Syrian government loyalists "may be responsible"' UN report.'
Thomson replied: 'true but UN equally saying anti-govt militia could have done it. And I speak as someone interviewed by UN on this.'
The former Guardian and Observer journalist, Jonathan Cook, emailed us:
'Yes, in fact, the Guardian's headline stating that Syrian government loyalists "may have been responsible" for the Houla massacre is simply preposterous. The narrative already promoted by the Guardian (and everyone else) is that they *were* responsible. So it should be blindingly obvious to the editors that the only *news* in this UN report is that the government loyalists may *not* have been responsible. Jonathan' (Email to Media Lens, June 27, 2012)
Just three days after the UN report was published, Martin Chulov wrote in the Guardian:
'In the Syrian village of Qatma, not far from the Turkish border, a family from the town of Houla, where a massacre widely blamed on regime backers took place in late May, has taken refuge.'
In the article, which focused solely on the perspective of Syria's armed opposition, Chulov made no mention of the UN report or the fact that it had challenged the 'widely' circulated claims. Instead, he concluded:
'Where the UN and the international community may have been seen as ponderous in the Balkans, they are viewed in a worse light through a Syrian opposition lens – impotent.
'"What they are talking about [in Geneva] is meaningless," said Idris [a Syrian exile]. "It won't change things."'
Seen as 'ponderous' by whom? Presumably not the current Syrian opposition. And presumably not by those of us appalled by the mendacious propaganda used to justify Nato's war on Serbia in 1999. Chulov meant, of course, right-thinking people. The comment recalled Chulov's earlier response on Twitter:
'Took a v long time to muster support for a response in Bosnia and Kosovo. Syria will be even more difficult.'
Even The Times did better than the Guardian:
'The [UN] authors said that they were unable to determine who carried out a massacre of more than 100 people in Houla last month but added that forces loyal to Mr Assad may have been responsible for many of the killings.' (Janine di Giovanni, 'Assad and rebels think they have more to gain from violence, UN general says,' The Times, June 28, 2012)
The BBC website initially commented:
'UN investigator and author of the report Karen Abuzayd told the BBC that "there is the possibility of three different groups who may have done this".
'She said that government forces were responsible for the initial shelling in which some people died. But what she called the "massacre" afterwards in people's homes was done either by militiamen from Alawite villages – known as shabiha – or possibly by armed opposition groups.'
As the News Sniffer website recorded, these words were quickly edited out. Similar comments were later restored.
Media response to the UN report on Houla is a striking example of how the corporate system has evolved to channel and boost government propaganda claims on demand. As ever, counter-evidence, even from highly-respected sources, struggles to make any headway against this 'babbling brook of bullshit'.
One might think that the primary concern of editors and journalists would be to provide media consumers with accurate, comprehensible information, not least by correcting earlier high-profile errors. But not a single editorial or comment piece examining the implications of the UN report on Houla has sought to do this. Most readers and viewers will continue to believe that women and children had their throat cuts, certainly on the orders of the Syrian government. Others will be simply bewildered by an overwhelming consensus punctuated by odd, apparently credible, but unexplored contradictions.
The goal of Media Lens is to promote rationality, compassion and respect for others. If you do write to journalists, we strongly urge you to maintain a polite, non-aggressive and non-abusive tone. Please write to:
John Mullin, editor of the Independent on Sunday
Email: [email protected]
David Randall at the Independent
Email: [email protected]
Martin Chulov at the Guardian
Via Twitter: @martinchulov
Alan Rusbridger, Guardian editor
Email: [email protected]
Via twitter: @arusbridger
Steve Herrmann, BBC News online editor
Email: [email protected]


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This is a review of the Monteverde Monza Jolly Green Special Edition Fountain Pen. Last year, I had the opportunity to review the Monteverde Monza in Honey Amber.
Overall, this lightweight demonstrator fountain pen really impresses me. Recently, YAFA introduced their new OmniFlex nib into their Conklin lines of pens. Seeing the demand for an affordable flex pen, they launched a new version of the Monza equipped with the OmniFlex nib. The review today is of the Monteverde Monza Jolly Green fountain pen.
This was graciously sent to me for review by my friends at Bertram's Inkwell. If you are interested in getting this pen for yourself, check out their store in Rockville, MD. It's also on their website at Bertramsinkwell.com. Or, if you would like to win this one, please leave a comment on this post with which "flex" pen is your favorite. Be sure to click to receive follow-up emails so you can be notified if you are the winner.
The contest will be open through October 31st, 2018. A winner will be randomly selected on or about November 1st, 2018. There will be free shipping within the U.S.; if international, the first $8 of shipping is included and the winner is responsible for the remainder.
Packaging: The pen comes in a green frosted plastic box with the Monteverde logo on the bottom right hand corner. A green outer band wraps around the middle of the box. It says "Monteverde USA Monza Flex Special Edition Fountain Pen with OmniFlex Nib" on the front. On the back of the band, there is information about the Monza flex and the OmniFlex nib and the company contact information.
Printed inside the band are filling instructions and an explanation of the Monza design and name: "The pen was named after the Italian city of Monza, known for its brilliant architecture, ever-green wineries, and its famous racetrack." It is held in place in a foam insert which also holds two ink cartridges and a converter. As a nice bonus, the box is also usable as a pen case, which is a nice bonus and good thinking on Monteverde's part.
First Thoughts: I really like the color on this demonstrator pen. So many demonstrators are just clear, but the green tint makes the pen pop.
Design: The pen has a classic cigar shape, tapering from the finials to a wide steel cap band in the middle with "Monteverde USA Monza" engraved around it. The clip is tight, but easily slides onto fabric to hold the pen securely in place. The cap screws on and has an inner cap which seals off the nib to prevent it from drying out when not in use. The threads for the cap are on the body above the grip section and are almost unnoticeable and smooth even if your grip is higher on the pen body.
The grip section is smooth and has a small flare at the end to act as a finger stop. The feed is clear like the other Monzas, so it picks up a tint from the color of the ink you are using. The threads on the body are plastic and there is a small O-ring, which allows the pen to be eyedroppered. If you would like to do that, I just suggest adding a bit of silicon grease to ensure a good seal.
Nib Performance: The OmniFlex nib impressed me on the Monteverde Monza Jolly Green. With no pressure, the nib lays down a consistent extra-fine/fine line, depending on ink and paper. With pressure, it flexes out to a medium/broad line, again depending on the ink and paper. Therefore the feed keeps up well even with faster writing. I only had a few railroads, but I think that was due to user error and not the pen. They made the nib in a way that allows a bit of flex even with causal writing. This gives your handwriting a bit of a pop and makes it look better than it really is.
Filling System: This pen includes a converter and two ink cartridges. The seal on the converter is tight so you have to apply a bit of pressure when you first insert it into the pen. Since the pen has a plastic body and plastic threads, you can convert it to an eyedropper it as well.
Value: The retail price for this model is $20 and Bertram's Inkwell has it on sale currently for $17.95, which I think is a great price for a solid entry-level pen with a wonderful flex nib that writes beautifully right out of the box. Many entry-level brands sell the converter separately, which can be an inconvenience, but Monteverde includes the converter and two cartridges so you can start writing as soon as you open the box. The dual-purpose box/pen case is a great idea since people normally just throw pen packaging away.
Overall: Most importantly, I was impressed with this pen from the previous review, but the OmniFlex nib addition took this pen to a whole new level. I have used several flex nibs in steel, gold, and titanium, and this nib's performance is right on par with flex pens 10 times the price. Monteverde (YAFA) did a wonderful job introducing a great flex nib at an affordable cost. I think that this will open the flex nib world up to a lot of pen users.
Name: Monteverde Monza Jolly Green Flex
Design: Green tinted demonstrator
Length: 5.3 inches (134.8mm)
Posted: 5.7 inches (144.6mm)
Diameter: .5 inches (15mm)
Weight: 19 grams
Nib: Flex Steel
Filling System: C/C
Pros: Great package for the price, flex nib, nice color, light body, writes beautifully out of the box.
Cons: Light materials may be prone to cracking.
In the same price range:
Kaweco Sport
Noodler's Ahab flex
Platinum Plaisir
"Make your mark"
Eric Aycock (Pengeek13)

subset: commoncrawl


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Wordless Wednesday Show us Your Pets
We would LOVE more pictures posted to the community to give us lots to choose from for Wordless Wednesday. We hear from everyone who has been chosen that they love waking up to the Wednesday morning surprise of having their baby front and center for everyone to look at!
Love Wordless Wednesday because you get to post pictures of your pets? Well it is now 100 times better! Each week BlogPaws is going to create a link up for the community for you to add a link directly to your Wordless Wednesday Post. That way we can all share and enjoy each others pets. The rules are super simple: Show us your pets! Leave a link directly to your Wordless Wednesday Post Visit other blogs and say hello (don't forget! This is the part that is the most fun!)
Remember to leave a comment to let everyone know you stopped by for a visit. Share the link up with your readers so they can join the community and link up as well. You can grab the code and place it on your blog or you can refer your readers right back to the Wordless Wednesday post of the week.
If you would like your pet's picture featured as our Wordless Wednesday picture of the week, please join the BlogPaws Community Center. Pictures you post there have a chance of making it to our Wordless Wednesday. You can post as many pictures as you want in our community – we encourage it! We never get tired of looking at all your pet pictures!
PS. Please make sure to upload full size pictures that are good quality so they can be used for the Wordless Wednesday post.


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Reposted from Alternet
For someone who can write with such incisive lucidity and elegance as Barbara Ehrenreich, it must be hard not to find exactly the right way to express what feels inexpressible. This is the challenge she sets herself in recounting her "quest" — an apt choice of word — to make sense of the world and the strange encounters that she has had throughout her life.
There is no other memoir of childhood and youth quite like this one. The closing chapters briefly take the story into later life, but the body of the book is about a teenager with a form of "dissociative disorder" — if "disorder" it is. Ehrenreich found that episodes of dissociation were triggered in her by bright light, exhaustion, or low blood sugar, and their effect was to drain significance away from ordinary things to reveal a remarkably different reality beyond. She uses passages from her youthful journal to retell the story.
Ehrenreich rediscovered the journal while preparing her papers for archiving in a university library, and found in it the story of how her quest began. Two events — recovering from a major cancer treatment and preparing the records of her life for embalming in an archive — prompted her to link quotations from the journal with an account of her parents and her vividly solipsistic inner life as a child. Her solipsism persisted up until, as a graduate student, she was at last fully woken by the Vietnam War to the realities of other people and of the outside world. She campaigned against the war, in the process becoming radicalized into her well-known stances as a feminist and socialist.
The memoir depicts a hyperintelligent, lonely eldest child in a dysfunctional family, struggling to understand the apparently senseless circumstances in which she found herself. She describes the quest outlined in her journal as a desire to answer the question "Why do we die and what is the purpose of life?" but a good deal of her sense of the mystery in things arose from the fact that she was an atheist both by parental influence and by her own considered convictions. It was, then, not just the incoherence and irrationality of the adult world around her that she found hard to understand, but even more so the occasional irruptions of a seeming-transcendent or noumenal Otherness into her experience.As a fiercely clever little girl, Ehrenreich, independently and in succession, arrived at a number of philosophical positions associated with such thinkers as Descartes, Spinoza, Schopenhauer, and Nietzsche, long before she had read any of them. The quotations from her journal show her stating often quite sophisticated versions of these philosophers' views. She began by concluding that the only things she knew were: "I exist. And I know nothing." She here obviously combines Descartes and Socrates. Soon, however, she felt compelled to acknowledge that what she perceived was as much entitled to exist as she herself, so her new conclusion was: "Anything which perceives or is perceived exists and qualifies as Something." She restates here Bishop Berkeley's esse est percipi aut percipere (to be is to be perceived, or to perceive).
Next she realizes that her burning need to understand suggests a new fact about what exists. "It seems to me that the principal psychological factor in living things is desire," she says, thus identifying what Spinoza, Schopenhauer, and before them the Buddha variously regarded as the underlying nature of reality. All this in the mind of a 12-year-old girl is impressive. It is no surprise that she alarmed her mother and made her father ambitious for her future success as a scientist and thinker.
The relationship between her mother and father made the young Ehrenreich think that the normal tie between married couples was anger. Her mother, who eventually committed suicide, often disparaged her and as often used her as the listening-board for her woes and resentments. Her father, whom she loved much more, but who eventually disappointed her, faded away into Alzheimer 's disease after years of adultery and drunkenness. If these bare remarks make it seem that Ehrenreich's book is yet another victim memoir, that would be misleading. There are plenty of unhappy marriages, and plenty of children of such marriages who, like Ehrenreich, escape into an inner world of contemplation to survive them. Indeed, what is special about Ehrenreich's memoir is the depiction it gives of the intensely intelligent inner life that she used as her place of resort.
Ehrenreich's chief experience of a transcendent Otherness, an experience which has had a large impact on her life, occurred when she was eighteen. Returning from a skiing trip, hungry and tired after a sleepless night in the car, following a long day of exercise on the slopes, she was wandering in the dawn's rising sunlight along the main street of a town called Lone Pine when suddenly everything around her seemed to catch fire, to burst out into an effulgence of radiance: "the world flamed into life … Something poured into me and I poured into it … It was a furious encounter with a living substance that was coming at me through all the things at once." Every mundane object in the street and the shop windows around her gave off a blinding glow. She had no sense of being different from the effulgence — she was it and it was she. The "only condition was overflow. 'Ecstasy' would be the word for this, but only if you are willing to acknowledge that ecstasy does not occupy the same spectrum as happiness or euphoria."
The experience was an especially intense version of the dissociative states she had often experienced before. These states were largely to cease after she would leave the brilliant light — a trigger for these episodes — of California's sunny days (and not insignificantly, the family home) for college life in the muted light of the Northwest and then the East Coast.
Throughout most of her accounts of these experiences, Ehrenreich takes a consciously rationalistic view. She was educated as a scientist up to a PhD level. She was an atheist, had read psychological and psychiatric analyses, and knew what people said about the effects of LSD and mescaline. Besides, she fully recognized the force of the view that epilepsy, forms of psychosis, temporary alterations of consciousness effected by many foodstuffs or environmental factors, make compelling sense in explaining experiences of ecstasy.
It is well known and richly recorded that such episodes can be induced by dancing or repetitive whirling, as with the Sufi Dervishes; by starvation, fever, alcohol, hallucinogenic mushrooms, sexual activity, and much besides. Religious people, of course, attribute them to encounters with the divine, and it may well be that experiences caused in these ways lie at the root of humankind's impulse to create religion. But the fact that empirical science today so well explains the causes and nature of these disturbances of normal neurological function is reason to guard against the supernaturalistic attempts at explanation, which were once the only resource our forebears had.
But alas, as her book approaches its end, Ehrenreich departs from rational ways of understanding her own experiences, and begins to sketch a view to the effect that there is indeed Something — she calls it the Other. She says that this is what she had encountered in her dissociative experiences. Ehrenreich disavows thinking of it as a personal deity or as anything monotheistic. Instead, she describes it in pantheistic or animistic terms, like a Life Force or something such. She is retrospectively even inclined to attribute anomalous results in the experiments she performed for her undergraduate science thesis to the presence of "something else" in her lab.
Ehrenreich is well known for her atheism as well as her other publicly-avowed stances. As a highly talented writer and a powerful advocate for social justice causes, she has a standing in American life that will make this spiritual — or quasi-religious — turn a subject for debate. The explanation she gives of what she means by her "animism" is only sketchily offered, for the reason mentioned: the difficulty of expressing the inexpressible. All those who report having the kind of experiences she has had have had to resort to poetry, allusion, hand-waving, or metaphor to convey what these experiences are like.
No doubt having such experiences powerfully inclines one to project their cause to something outside the mind. We do not tolerate anomaly very well and need to give it a name and an explanation in order to cope. But the merest respect for economy of explanation should be a bulwark against externalizing the source of anomalous experiences before all the more likely explanations are exhausted. We should always remember that the mind is a great player of tricks: one can induce Ehrenreich-type experiences in the lab, or by popping certain kinds of pills, no Other and no Mystery required. It is accordingly a surprise and — let it be confessed — a disappointment to find so doughty a heroine of her causes sliding away from Athens to — well, if not to Jerusalem than to some other Eastern locus of the ineffable, the unnamable, and the smoky.
I repeat: it is a disappointment when a rational person's thinking about the unusual, the unexpected, the extraordinary, the amazing experiences of transcendence and unity that many of us have at heightened moments of life, suffers a declension into quasi-religious or supernaturalistic vagueness. The human brain is complicated enough to produce all these experiences from its own resources; we need no fairies in the garden to explain how roses bloom.
Indeed, the fact that it is the brain, and nothing mysterious outside it, that produces these experiences, is to me far more interesting and spectacular than the invocation of some vaguely hinted meaningful mist sneaking around reality's backyard.
That disappointment registered, my admiration for Barbara Ehrenreich the author and campaigner remains, as it does for the book itself: it is so beautifully written, so full of pungent insights on matters other than a putative Other, and so fascinating as a portrait of an intense and hypersensitive mind, especially in its youth, that it must surely count as one of the best reads of the year.
[1] http://lareviewofbooks.org/
[2] http://www.alternet.org/authors/ac-grayling
[3] http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/barbara-ehrenreich/living-with-a-wild-god/9781455501762/
[4] mailto:email@example.com?Subject=Typo on Barbra Ehrenreich on Why We Die and the Purpose of Life
[5] http://www.alternet.org/tags/barbara-ehrenreich-religion
[6] http://www.alternet.org/tags/memoir
[7] http://www.alternet.org/%2Bnew_src%2B


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– Available with logo, colored front fork and fully customized frame
– Assembling service
– Accesories to fit the Sandwichbike
Shipment around the world. Free within Europe.
Custom or import duties
If your delivery country charges customs or import duties – these will be charged once the package reaches the destination country.You will have to pay these charges. Unfortunately we have no control over the charges and cannot inform you what they will be.


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Scientologists celebrate several major holidays annually. These include the birthday of L. Ron Hubbard (March 13); the date marking the initial publication of Dianetics (May 9); the anniversary of the maiden voyage of the Freewinds and what that vessel represents in the development of advanced spiritual levels of enlightenment in Scientology (June 6); Auditor's Day, in honor of all auditors (second Sunday in September); the anniversary of the founding of the International Association of Scientologists, which unites, supports and protects the Scientology religion and Scientologists throughout the world (October 7); and New Year's Eve (December 31).
To commemorate each of these occasions, the Church produces large international celebrations that are attended by thousands of parishioners and replayed to hundreds of thousands more in Churches, missions and groups all over the world. These celebrations are the primary means by which the Church's leadership informs the worldwide congregation of the progress of the Scientology religion into society and plans for the future.
Additionally, Scientologists in particular geographic areas may observe their own significant dates, such as the founding of the Church in their country or city.
Scientologists also observe traditional national holidays and are additionally respectful of the religious holidays of all other religions.


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No group immediately claimed responsibility for any of the attacks, but Afghan President Hamid Karzai blamed the bombings on the Taliban. The militants have escalated their activity as US-led foreign forces reduce their presence in the country and are in the final phase of handing over responsibility for security to Afghan troops.
Karzai said the militants should stop taking orders from foreigners—a veiled reference to Pakistan, whose intelligence services are alleged to be in league with the Afghan Taliban. The president said the security transition is nearly complete and the militants were desperate to derail it.
"Taliban leaders and commanders must understand that with such crimes they will achieve nothing, but only be hated and disgust the people and God," Karzai said in a statement. "They must be accountable for the Muslim nation of Afghanistan."
Javed Faisal, a spokesman for the provincial governor, initially said the suicide bomber was in a car that was being searched by police, but later said new information indicated the bomber had been on foot. Along with the branch building of the New Kabul Bank, several small shops and vehicles were damaged.
Witness Shah Wali had just stepped out of a taxi to go to the bank when the attacker struck. "I saw a man and a vehicle on the road, and while I was fixing my shoelaces I heard a loud explosion. I don't know if it was the vehicle which exploded or the man standing there," Wali said.
Faisal said at least six people died—four of them civilians, one police officer and one private security guard. Another 24 people were wounded, most of them civilians.
Taliban spokesmen did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The militant group is especially strong in southern Afghanistan, which is dominated by the ethnic Pashtun community whose members form the bulk of the insurgency in the country.
Another 12 people were killed in an ambush involving a roadside bomb in Sangin district in Helmand province, also in the south, on Friday evening, said Omer Zwak, a spokesman for the provincial governor. Sangin is the scene of an ongoing operation by Afghan forces against the Taliban.
Zwak said 11 men and one woman died in the attack, and that the vehicle also was hit by several rounds of gunfire. Such attacks typically target security forces, but, in this case, "the victims are all civilians and had no link with the government," Zwak said.
Afghan and coalition officials have warned that the Taliban would intensify the tempo of their attacks following the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, as they try to take advantage of the two or three months left of good weather before the harsh Afghan winter sets in. The traditional fighting period lasts from March until the end of October.
The NATO service member died in "a direct fire attack by enemy forces in eastern Afghanistan" on Saturday, according to a statement from the military alliance. The statement did not give any further details on the person killed. Mostly U.S. troops operate in eastern Afghanistan.
There are currently about 100,000 troops from 48 countries in Afghanistan with the US-led International Security Assistance Force, 60,000 of them American. By the end of this year, the NATO force will be halved, and all foreign combat troops are expected to be gone by the end of next year.
Because of the drawdown, much is riding on the abilities of the fledgling Afghan security forces, which now number about 352,000.


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Error Violence is a malicious server-side ransomware application written in PHP. Once the malicious PHP file is uploaded to a web server, it can be accessed and interacted with. By interacting with the web shell, the malicious user is able to cause it to encrypt files on the filesystem within the web server data directory. Currently, other than paying the ransom, there is no known way to decrypt files encrypted by the server-side ransomware.
- The malicious user exploits an attack vector such as outdated software or a misconfigured server to install the web shell.
- The malicious user interacts with the web shell and allows the attacker to use web shell functions on the compromised webserver.
- A status is returned from the web shell indicating that its usage has been successful.
The attacker must be able to send crafted packets to the target system.
Alert Logic Coverage
Alert Logic® has evaluated its customer base for exposure to the exploit and has developed signatures for mitigating the threat depending on the security service in place.
The Network-Based Intrusion Detection System (IDS) has been updated with the new signatures for this exploit when detected via Alert Logic Threat Manager™. If this signature is detected, an incident is generated in the Alert Logic console.
Recommendations for Mitigation
The attacker must have exploited some other entry vector to allow the malicious files to become resident on the victim machine. Ensure that all software has up to date security patches applied to reduce the attack space for this vector.


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A 30-year-old Nollywood actor, Temitayo Ogunbusola, has allegedly stabbed his neighbour, Oladotun Osho, to death following a disagreement over the payment of electricity bill.
The incident happened on Sunday at No. 4 Sebil Kazeem Street in the Ikotun area of Lagos State.
Temitayo was said to have been beaten to a pulp by a mob before the intervention of policemen from the Ikotun Police Station.
The remains of the victim were deposited in a morgue for autopsy.
PUNCH Metro gathered that trouble started when a resident of the house, one Banjo, demanded the payment of the electricity bill from the other occupants.
However, Temitayo was alleged to have refused to pay his share of the bill, which led to an argument between him and Banjo.
The suspect was said to have in a fit of anger taken a dagger with which he threatened to stab Banjo.
It was gathered that Oladotun, who was coming into the compound with his brother and friend, saw Temitayo, who was searching for Banjo to stab him.
When Temitayo could not find his target, he reportedly directed his aggression at Oladotun and stabbed him in the chest.
Oladotun's sister, Ronke Akindipe, who spoke with PUNCH Metro, alleged that the Investigating Police Officer in charge of the case tried to cover it up by not informing the Divisional Police Officer in charge of the Ikotun Police Station, because the suspect was a known face at the station.
She said, "The landlord does not stay in the house, so the person in charge of the electricity bill in the house went to the tenants on Sunday to tell them to settle the bill, but when he got to Temitayo's apartment to ask for his share of the bill, an argument ensued between them and Temitayo threatened to break the man's head.
"Banjo ran out of the compound and brought his brother, who is a soldier, and his colleagues and when they came, he was taken to the Ikotun Police Station to write an undertaken that he would not touch Banjo and others in the compound.
"When Temitayo got home, he started threatening to break Banjo's head for daring to report him at the police station and when Banjo came back, other neighbours told him to run away and Temitayo started pursuing him in the compound.
"Oladotun and one of our brothers and his friend did not have a clue as to what was going on in the compound and they entered, because it did not cross my brother's mind that he was going to stab him, because the disagreement was between Banjo and Temitayo.
"When Temitayo could not find Banjo, he stabbed my brother in the chest and my brother started shouting for help. When my other brother bent down to carry Oladotun, Temitayo attempted to stab him in the back, but for the intervention of their friend, who used his hand to block the assailant. My brother was rushed to hospital but he was pronounced dead on arrival.
"After the incident, people went after Temitayo and almost beat him to a pulp, but the police came to rescue him and took him away to the station. The IPO in charge of the case tried to change the narrative at the station by asking my dad if my brother had an underlying disease for him to have died from stabbing.
"We later learnt that the IPO did not inform the DPO about the matter until we saw the DPO and explained everything to him, and when he called the IPO, he started giving excuses on why he did not report the matter. The suspect was not feeling remorseful for what he did when the case was still with the IPO, but when the DPO intervened, he started feeling remorseful.
"We want justice; we don't want them to release a criminal to start walking freely on the street, because if not for the DPO, the IPO would have released him as he was bringing up excuses for the suspect."
The state Police Public Relations Officer, Bala Elkana, who confirmed the arrest of the suspect to our correspondent, stated that Temitayo was beaten by a mob and he needed to be fit for trial before he could be charged.
He said, "The report we got was that there was a misunderstanding between two neighbours and one stabbed the other and the suspect narrowly escaped mob action because of the timely intervention of the police.
"He is in our custody. The DPO reported the matter to the command headquarters, but the suspect was battered by the mob and we cannot detain him like that; so, he has to be treated under guard. He cannot stand trial the way he is. As soon as he is fit to stand trial, he will be in court."


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Quite a while ago, I raised a question about the practical implications of the "rapture" doctrine, held by large numbers of evangelicals.
Do they install automatic watering systems for their gardens and arrange for unsaved neighbours to feed the cat? Or do they just pay into their IRAs as if they expect the world to last forever?
Now it appears, some enterprising atheists have set up a service addressing one of the problems I raised. In the event of rapture, they guarantee that , assured of being left behind, they will look after the pets of those who are taken up. (video here)


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Groundskeepers and landscapers hate them, but there is no fighting them. Called desire paths, social trails or goat tracks, they are the unofficial shortcuts people create between two locations when the purpose-built path doesn't take them where they want to go.
There's a similar concept in classical physics called the "path of least action." If you throw a softball to a friend, the ball traces a parabola through space. It doesn't follow a serpentine path or loop the loop because those paths have higher "actions" than the true path.
But what paths do quantum particles, such as atoms or photons, follow? For these particles, the laws of classical physics cease to apply, and quantum physics and its counterintuitive effects takes over.
Quantum particles can exist in a superposition of states, yet as soon as quantum particles are "touched" by the outside world, they lose this quantum strangeness and collapse to a classically permitted state. Because of this evasiveness, it wasn't possible until recently to observe them in their quantum state.
But in the past 20 years, physicists have devised devices that isolate quantum systems from the environment and allow them to be probed so gently that they don't immediately collapse. With these devices, scientists can at long last follow quantum systems into quantum territory, or state space.
Kater Murch, PhD, an assistant professor of physics at Washington University in St. Louis, and collaborators Steven Weber and Irfan Siddiqui of the Quantum Nanoelectronics Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley, have used a superconducting quantum device to continuously record the tremulous paths a quantum system took between a superposition of states to one of two classically permitted states.
Because even gentle probing makes each quantum trajectory noisy, Murch's team repeated the experiment a million times and examined which paths were most common. The quantum equivalent of the classical "least action" path — or the quantum device's path of desire — emerged from the resulting cobweb of many paths, just as pedestrian desire paths gradually emerge after new sod is laid.
The experiments, the first continuous measurements of the trajectories of a quantum system between two points, are described in the cover article of the July 31 issue of Nature.
"We are working with the simplest possible quantum system," Murch said. "But the understanding of quantum interactions we are gaining might eventually be useful for the quantum control of biological and chemical systems.
"Chemistry at its most basic level is described by quantum mechanics," he said. "In the past 20 years, chemists have developed a technique called quantum control, where shaped laser pulses are used to drive chemical reactions — that is, to drive them between two quantum states. The chemists control the quantum field from the laser, and that field controls the dynamics of a reaction," he said.
"Eventually, we'll be able to control the dynamics of chemical reactions with lasers instead of just mixing reactant 1 with reactant 2 and letting the reaction evolve on its own," he said.
An artificial atom The device Murch uses to explore quantum space is a simple superconducting circuit. Because it has quantized energy levels, or states, like an atom, it is sometimes called an artificial atom. Murch's team uses the bottom two energy levels, the ground state and an excited state, as their model quantum system.
Between these two states, there are an infinite number of quantum states that are superpositions, or combinations, of the ground and excited states. In the past, these states would have been invisible to physicists because attempts to measure them would have caused the system to immediately collapse.
But Murch's device allows the system's state to be probed many times before it becomes an effectively classical system. The quantum state of the circuit is detected by putting it inside a microwave box. A very small number of microwave photons are sent into the box where their quantum fields interact with the superconducting circuit.
The microwaves are so far off resonance with the circuit that they cannot drive it between its ground and its excited state. So instead of being absorbed, they leave the box bearing information about the quantum system in the form of a phase shift (the position of the troughs and peaks of the photons' wavefunctions).
Although there is information about the quantum system in the exiting microwaves, it is only a small amount of information.
"Every time we nudge the system, something different happens," Murch said. "That's because the photons we use to measure the quantum system are quantum mechanical as well and exhibit quantum fluctuations. So it takes many of these measurements to distinguish the system's signal from the quantum fluctuations of the photons probing it." Or, as physicists put it, these are weak measurements.
Murch compares these experiments to soccer matches, which are ultimately experiments to determine which team is better. But because so few goals are scored in soccer, and these are often lucky shots, the less skilled team has a good chance of winning. Or as Murch might put it, one soccer match is such a weak measurement of a team's skill that it can't be used to draw a statistically reliable conclusion about which team is more skilled.
Each time a team scores a goal, it becomes somewhat more likely that that team is the better team, but the teams would have to play many games or play for a very long time to know for sure. These fluctuations are what make soccer matches so exciting.
Murch is in essence able to observe millions of these matches, and from all the matches where team B wins, he can determine the most likely way a game that ends with a victory for team B will develop.
A line of desire
So what is the most likely path for a quantum system slowly collapsing from a superposition of states to one of two final states?
"Before we started this experiment," Murch said, " I asked everybody in the lab what they thought the most likely path between quantum states would be. I drew a couple of options on the board: a straight line, a convex curve, a concave curve, a squiggly line . . . I took a poll, and we all guessed different options. Here we were, a bunch of quantum experts, and we had absolutely no intuition about the most likely path."
Andrew N. Jordan of the University of Rochester and his students Areeya Chantasri and Justin Dressel inspired the study by devising a theory to predict the likely path. Their theory predicted that a convex curve Murch had drawn on the white board would be the correct path.
"When we looked at the data, we saw that the theorists were right. Our very clever collaborators had devised a 'principle of least action' that works in the quantum case," Murch said.
They had found the quantum system's line of desire mathematically and by calculation before many microwave photons trampled out the path in Murch's lab.
But as the famous physicist Richard Feynman once said, "It doesn't matter how beautiful your theory is, it doesn't matter how smart you are. If it doesn't agree with experiment, it's wrong." And he was a theoretician.


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E- Newsletter Campaign Dave and Busters opened in Woburn MA! Just a short ride outside of Boston and not too far from the NH border nestled right off of 128 North a new Dave and Busters has opened! The invite only grand opening party was promoted by Media Crush. Media Crush sent out an email newsletter blast to it's targeted opt in database and the results were outstanding! Media Crush was able to deliver over 600 bodies through the door to participate in an amazing welcoming … [Read more...]
Dave & Buster's Grand Opening-
June 19, 2015 by admin
Filed Under: Crushing On..., Dave and Busters, Events, Featured Tagged With: DAVE AND BUSTERS, E-NEWSLETTERS, GRAND OPENING, Media Crush, WOBURN


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Kate Grey has been bought up in a Quaker family, but it is fair to say that hers wasn't a typical upbringing. Her father was a former soldier who converted to the faith for his wife and who has seen fit to ensure that his daughter is educated and has been freely allowed to share her opinions on many subjects that are not normally seen as womanly.When her father decides to join Washington to fight against the British, Kate is left to manage the household alone. Their home is on a major through road between New York and Philadelphia and it doesn't take long for some British troops to requisition the house. The leader, Major Lord Peter Tremayne, is carrying important plans regarding the invasion of Philadelphia. Kate feels an instant attraction to the man, and while at first he doesn't notice the Quaker miss, she is soon debating him on the finer points of military strategy and he is definitely paying attention, to the point where he plans to seduce the young lady. Unfortunately, while he is distracted by Kate, a rebel spy who happened to be staying there steals the papers, thereby implicating Kate in high treason and putting Peter in military disgrace, to the point where he could have been hanged.
Kate and the spy flee their home, never imagining that Kate won't be able to sit out the conflict in a safe home with her friends. Instead, she is drawn into the world of espionage and is recruited to gain entry into the inner circle of the British command. She soon finds herself caught up in the inner circle, including an engagement with an unsuitable man, but one who gives her unparalleled access to the military secrets that she then can pass on to her mentor and to the rebels.
However, it is when Peter Tremayne returns to the scene that the trouble starts. He believes that Kate was part of the plot to steal the papers, which nearly ended in him losing his life. He has been charged with the task of finding the women who caused his disgrace and bringing them to justice. Peter is not the only person on Kate's trail though. With their feelings for each other growing stronger, an engagement to another man who happens to be closely linked to Peter, and the dangerous situation that Kate has put herself in, there is no guarantee that they will both make it to the end of the war, let alone that they will make it to the end together. And, if they do, how can they possible make a life together when everything in their lives puts them on opposite sides of the political fence.
The author of this book has a background in screen writing and there are times you can tell, with some of the dramatic plot twists and turns. Sometimes that can be a bad thing because there is all plot and not enough focus on characters or the history, but in this case I think Thorland got the balance pretty much right, although there was a touch of melodrama. For example, you do have to suspend disbelief a little as you see Kate transform from a Quaker lass to a woman who would give away her virginity so easily, to a beautiful and worldly spy. This screen writing and involvement in TV and movies also meant that the author was able to bring those skills to making the book trailer below.
For a while there I was wondering if this book could have been classified more as a historical romance rather than historical fiction with romantic elements, but then some things happened that you would just never see happen in a straight romance novel!
On her website, the author has the tagline 'Sex, Violence and History' and I think that is perfectly apt for this book. While there aren't too many sex scenes, the ones that are there are quite revealing. There is also no backing away from the fact that the American Revolution was a violent time to be living in places like Philadelphia where the war came virtually to the door of the cities and where the people suffered due to blockades and the like, and it was doubly dangerous to be a 'rebel' against the British rule. The history seems to be strong, although I must confess that I don't know much more than the basics about this period in time but there were some familiar names coming to life on the page.There were some characters that I was surprised to see were actual historical figures given their actions!
This book is apparently the first in the Renegades of the Revolution series, and I can't wait to see where the author takes us next!
Rating 4/5
They are lovers on opposite sides of a brutal war, with everything at stake and no possibility of retreat. They can trust no one—especially not each other.
Major Lord Peter Tremayne is the last man rebel bluestocking Kate Grey should fall in love with, but when the handsome British viscount commandeers her home, Kate throws caution to the wind and responds to his seduction. She is on the verge of surrender when a spy in her own household seizes the opportunity to steal the military dispatches Tremayne carries, ensuring his disgrace—and implicating Kate in high treason. Painfully awakened to the risks of war, Kate determines to put duty ahead of desire, and offers General Washington her services as an undercover agent in the City of Brotherly Love.
Months later, having narrowly escaped court martial and hanging, Tremayne returns to decadent, British-occupied Philadelphia with no stomach for his current assignment—to capture the woman he believes betrayed him. Nor does he relish the glittering entertainments being held for General Howe's idle officers. Worse, the glamorous woman in the midst of this social whirl, the fiancée of his own dissolute cousin, is none other than Kate Grey herself. And so begins their dangerous dance, between passion and patriotism, between certain death and the promise of a brave new future together.


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Yeast cooler
The Alfa Laval Yeast Cooler is a pre-assembled module that offers breweries a compact, easily retrofittable unit that provides the gentle and rapid cooling that is essential to making top quality beers. The yeast cooling system is fully compliant with food industry regulations. This means that all components of the system in contact with process liquids are made of stainless steel with heat resistant seals.
Reliable yeast cooling in compact format
- Compact and sanitary design keeps footprint to a minimum
- Quick and easy to maintain thanks to the yeast cooling system's plate heat exchanger with easy-service Clip-On gaskets
- A sanitary flow switch stops the cooling process immediately if the yeast flow stops to prevent freezing and prolong uptime
- Comes pre-assembled on a skid and is factory tested before delivery
- Designed for CIP and sterilization for easy and seamless operation and reduced downtime
How it works
Yeast cooling process
The yeast is cooled in counter-current by a circulating coolant. An internal coolant recirculation pump is included when required by the application. This helps ensure the smallest possible temperature difference between coolant and yeast at all times.
Any stoppage in the yeast flow is detected by a sanitary flow switch, and the cooling is stopped immediately.
Control System
The Yeast Cooler is supplied with a PID controller to control the cooling operation. As an option, it can be supplied with a PLC. Relevant process data displayed includes yeast temperature and yeast flow (when a flow transmitter has been included in the scope of supply).


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If your nonprofit organization is planning a fundraising campaign, you may be considering hiring a professional to do the work. Professional fundraisers conduct campaigns for a fee; often, it's a percentage of the money they collect.
Because the fundraiser will be representing your organization to potential donors, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the nation's consumer protection agency, says it's important to investigate every firm you're considering hiring. Inappropriate behavior by a fundraiser can result in negative publicity for your organization, fewer or smaller donations, and possible legal action involving you and the firm in the case of legal violations.
Choosing a Fundraiser
A little research could help ensure that you're working with a reputable fundraiser. Contact other nonprofit groups in your area for information and referrals — especially colleges, hospitals, and cultural organizations. You also may want to contact your local community fund or association of professional fundraisers.
Once you've compiled a list of potential fundraisers, call them for background information. Get written information about each, including a blank contract. Then, schedule interviews and ask how they would conduct your campaign:
- Would they solicit by phone, mail, e-mail, door-to-door, or by several approaches?
- Would they solicit money only — or would they sell products or tickets to events?
- What portion of the donation would come to your organization — and what portion will the fundraiser take? Stay away from companies that promise something for nothing or "easy money" for your organization.
- Would subcontractors be used for any part of the campaign?
- How would the fundraiser make sure its telephone solicitors follow approved scripts? Would it record calls? Would monitors listen in on calls?
When you're interviewing, be clear that while the fundraiser would conduct the campaign, you would maintain overall control and expect the company to provide periodic financial reports. Ask to see financial data from other campaigns to get a picture of their successes.
Ask what procedures are in place to make sure that the company complies with the FTC's Telemarketing Sales Rule. The Rule applies to telemarketers hired to conduct inter-state solicitations of charitable contributions by phone. Fundraisers and any subcontractors must comply with the following requirements:
- telemarketing must be done between the hours of 8 a.m. and 9 p.m.;
- telemarketers must promptly identify the charitable organization they represent and disclose that the purpose of their call is to ask for a contribution;
- telemarketers must not make misleading statements during their pitch to induce a donation; and
- if a person asks to be placed on a "do not call" list, the telemarketer must honor the request. Any further calls to that person may subject the telemarketer to a fine of up to $51,744.
Many states also have regulations regarding charitable solicitations. Ask whether the telemarketer understands these requirements and how they plan to follow them. Include a statement about adhering to state regulations and federal law in your written contract. In addition, make sure that the materials used by the fundraiser comply with any state "do not call" laws. Some states require paid fundraisers to identify themselves as such and to name the charity for which they are soliciting. Ask whether the company is registered and bonded — a requirement in many states. You can learn more about your state laws by contacting the state's charity regulator. For a list of state offices, visit the National Association of State Charity Officials at www.nasconet.org/agencies.
Ask for references and contact them about their experiences with the company, and whether they have suggestions based on their experience. Check out the company with your state Attorney General (www.naag.org), local consumer protection agency (www.consumeraction.gov), or the Better Business Bureau (BBB) (www.bbb.org). These organizations can tell you whether they have received consumer complaints about the company. The absence of complaints doesn't necessarily mean the company is legitimate. Unscrupulous companies may settle complaints, change their names, or move to avoid detection.
Finally, get bids. Some state laws require nonprofit managers to get competitive bids.
A reasonable bid is determined by many factors: the time and type of labor involved, the nature and duration of the relationship between fund-raiser and client, and the ability and experience of the fundraising firm, to name a few.
The Fundraising Contract
Once you've selected a professional fundraiser, describe the details of the campaign in the written contract to protect yourself as well as the fundraiser. Keep in mind that donors ordinarily expect that most of their contribution will go toward programs and services. The contract should:
- explain the services to be provided and the financial responsibilities of each party;
- authorize or prohibit the use of subcontractors;
- identify the compensation to be paid — a flat fee and/or a percentage of the money collected. Remember that some watchdog organizations have standards that limit overall fundraising costs;
- require that the fundraiser use only material reviewed and approved by your organization when contacting the public, especially telemarketing scripts and printed materials mailed to donors. Descriptions of your organization and representations about the tax benefits of a donation must be accurate: make sure any description of how the money will be used is consistent with the organization's current plans and objectives;
- specify the contract period, including the closing and settlement dates;
- require the fundraiser to agree to comply with the FTC's Telemarketing Sales Rule and applicable state laws;
- outline cancellation criteria for both parties;
- require the fundraiser to provide detailed reporting of results throughout the campaign and at its end. All donor checks should be made out to your organization, not the solicitor. Do not allow the solicitor to endorse checks. Review sales and other financial records on a regular basis, perhaps weekly; and
- specify ownership of donor lists. Typically, lists belong to the nonprofit. If you retain ownership and decide to offer your lists for rental or exchange, consider the privacy of your donors. You may want to offer donors the opportunity to opt out of lists you furnish to outside mailers and phone solicitors. If the telemarketer owns the lists, you may wish to retain the right to obtain certain data to provide tax information to donors and reports to regulators.
The Campaign
Even though you've hired a professional fundraiser to conduct a campaign, you're responsible for the actions taken on your behalf. Maintaining regular contact with the firm throughout the campaign is a must. Here are some additional tips for quality control:
- If you're conducting a telemarketing campaign, insist that the fundraiser institute a system for training and monitoring its operators to make sure they're following the authorized script. One method is to call back donors at random to verify the conversation. Provide the telemarketer with answers for commonly asked questions.
- Make sure that the fundraiser has a system in place to honor "do not call" requests.
- Closely track complaints from the public. If a pattern develops, review the area that's causing confusion or concern and discuss ways to resolve the issue with the fund-raiser.
- Keep tabs on the flow of money during the campaign. Make sure you get copies of original invoices as received, paid receipts as paid, bank statements, checks, and deposit slips. Monitor all expenses to be sure they are reasonable and ordinary. Immediately question any expenses that appear excessive or lack documentation.
For More Information and to Report Fraud
Several private nonprofit organizations promote standards in philanthropy to evaluate the performance of public service groups. These standards include guides about the use of professional fundraisers. For more information,contact:
BBB Wise Giving Alliance
4200 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 800
Arlington, VA 22203
(703) 276-0100
American Institute of Philanthropy
3450 Lake Shore Drive, Suite 2802 E
Chicago, IL 60657
(773) 529-2300
www.charitywatch.orgCharity Navigator
1200 MacArthur Boulevard
Mahwah, NJ 07430
(201) 818-1288
1828 L Street, N.W., Suite 900
Washington, DC 20036
If you believe an organization may not be operating for charitable purposes, is making misleading solicitations, or is ignoring requests to be placed on a "do not call" list, contact your state Attorney General (www.naag.org) or your local consumer protection agency (www.consumeraction.gov). You can get the phone numbers for these organizations in your phone book, through directory assistance, or through Web directories. You also may file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission.
The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint or to get free information on consumer issues, visit ftc.gov or call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357); TTY: 1-866-653-4261. The FTC enters consumer complaints into the Consumer Sentinel Network, a secure online database and investigative tool used by hundreds of civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad.
[Note: Edited January 2024 to reflect Inflation-Adjusted Civil Penalty Maximums.]


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Via dell'Artigianato 23/25
Limbiate (MI)
Limbiate (MI)
Contattaci al numero
02 97104853
02 97104853
Telefonia Civile e Residenziale
Indoor and Outdoor Lighting
Effective communication is the key to success for any business. From our office staff, to our field technicians, it is vital to us to always keep our clients up-to-date with the status of their project. Our policy at Live Wire is we handle every client with care, quality and trust. It is our goal to establish relationships with every client no matter how large or small a project is.
We understand fully that your time is of extreme value. We are committed to meeting deadlines and married to punctuality. You will never have to worry about waiting around for our trained technicians. Time is money, and we promise to never waste a drop of yours.
Electrical Services With Safety In Mind
Most of our services are classified, or rather structured depending on the nature of the construction-whether it's new construction, or you're already using the building. Even though some of the electrical services might overlap in both scenarios, it's important that you consult Windfall Electrical when commencing a new construction so that they can lay the electrical foundation and safety features right from the ground.
Remodeling Electrical Systems
A professional electrician from Windfall will mean the difference in achieving your goals in cost-efficient and timely way.
Recessed Lighting
Recessed lighting entails placing decorative fixtures directly into the ceiling, fitting flush with the ceiling. Although it can be done on a completed house, it's best done during construction. A professional electrician from Windfall will mean the difference in achieving your goals in cost-efficient and timely way. The electrician will protect the existing system while adding a touch of glamour to the new system. Also, remodeling will ensure the safety, and efficiency of the entire household.
We are here to provide all of your electrical solutions.
Our values come first and we ensure that they are reflected in the work we do and how we operate as a company.
- Burn rate user experience handshake investor churn.
- Low hanging fruit direct mailing channel.
- Shift angel investor churn rate ccelerator business
Our culture is the foundation upon which we build strong relationships with customers, employees, and our community. SME Inc of Seattle is honored to have received several notable recognitions that embody our company culture and we strive to continue our commitment to excellence in these areas. We set ourselves aside from alternative electrical companies due to our commitment to building strong business and propelling our relationships with our clients. These relationships are built on reliability, trust, safe work ethics and quality workmanship.


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ASP.NET View State Overview
View state is the method that the ASP.NET page framework uses to preserve page and control values between round trips. When the HTML markup for the page is rendered, the current state of the page and values that must be retained during postback are serialized into base64-encoded strings. This information is then put into the view state hidden field or fields.
This topic contains the following sections:
Class Reference
View state is used automatically by the ASP.NET page framework to persist information that must be preserved between postbacks. This information includes any non-default values of controls.
You can also use view state to store application data that is specific to a page.
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View state is a repository in an ASP.NET page that can store values that have to be retained during postback. The page framework uses view state to persist control settings between postbacks.
You can use view state in your own applications to do the following:
Keep values between postbacks without storing them in session state or in a user profile.
Store the values of page or control properties that you define.
Create a custom view state provider that lets you store view state information in a SQL Server database or in another data store.
For example, you can store information in view state that your code can access during the page load event the next time that the page is sent to the server. For usage recommendations, see ASP.NET State Management Recommendations.
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A Web application is stateless. A new instance of the Web page class is created every time that the page is requested from the server. This would ordinarily mean that all information in the page and in its controls would be lost with each round trip. For example, by default if a user enters information into a text box on an HTML Web page, that information is sent to the server. However, it is not returned to the browser in the response.
To overcome this intrinsic limitation of Web programming, the ASP.NET page framework includes several state-management features to preserve page and control values between round trips to the Web server. One of these features is view stateASP.NET State Management Overview.
By default, the ASP.NET page framework uses view state to preserve page and control values between round trips. When the HTML for the page is rendered, the current state of the page and values that must be retained during postback are serialized into base64-encoded strings. They are then put into a hidden field or fields in the page.
You can access view state in your code by using the page's ViewState property. The ViewState property is a dictionary that contains key/value pairs that contain the view state data.
Security Note: |
It is easy for a malicious user to see and modify the contents of a hidden field. For more information about how to secure view state data, see Securing View State later in this topic. |
For recommendations about when you should store information in view state, see ASP.NET State Management Recommendations.
You can change the default behavior and store view state in another location such as a SQL Server database by implementing a custom PageStatePersister class to store page data. For an example of how to store page state in a stream instead of in a hidden field, see the example for the PageStatePersister class.
Considerations for Using View State
View state provides state information for a specific ASP.NET page. If you need to use information on more than one page, or if you need the information to persist across visits to the Web site, you must use another method for maintaining state. You can use application state, session state, or profile properties.
View state information is serialized into XML and then encoded by using base-64 encoding, which can generate large amounts of data. When the page is posted to the server, the contents of view state are sent as part of the page postback information. If view state contains a large amount of information, it can affect performance of the page. Test the performance of your pages by using typical data for your application to determine whether the size of view state is causing performance problems. For alternatives to using view state, see ASP.NET State Management Recommendations.
If you do not have to store control information for individual controls, you can disable view state for a control. If a control on a page is refreshed from the data store on each postback, you can turn view state off for that control in order to reduce the size of view state. For example, you might turn view state off for a control such as the GridView control.
Even when you explicitly turn view state off, a hidden field is still sent to the browser to indicate that postback is occurring for the page.
Another consideration is that if the amount of data in a hidden field becomes large, some proxies and firewalls will prevent access to the page that contains them. Because the maximum allowed amount can vary with different firewall and proxy implementations, large hidden fields can cause intermittent problems. If the amount of data that is stored in the ViewState property exceeds the value specified in the page's MaxPageStateFieldLength property, the page splits view state into multiple hidden fields. This reduces the size of individual hidden fields below the size that firewalls reject.
Some mobile devices do not allow hidden fields at all. Therefore, view state will not work for those devices. For more information and alternatives, see ASP.NET Mobile Web Development Overview.
Control State
In addition to view state, ASP.NET supports control state. The page uses control state to persist control information that must be retained between postbacks, even if view state is disabled for the page or for a control. Like view state, control state is stored in one or more hidden fields.
Saving Values in View State
You can access view state information by using the page's ViewState property, which exposes a dictionary object. You can use this dictionary to store custom values. A typical use is to store the value of custom properties that you define in the page.
Because view state is sent as a hidden field, you can make changes to view state until the page's PreRenderComplete event. After the page is rendered to the browser, changes to view state will not be saved.
The information in the hidden view state field can be seen by users if they view the source of the Web page and can decode base-64 encoded strings. This creates a potential security issue. For more information about security issues with view state, see Securing View State later in this topic.
To use the ViewState property, the ASP.NET Web page must have a form element that has the attribute runat="server".
To save a value to view state, create a new item that contains the value to save and add the item to the view state dictionary. The following example shows an ASP.NET Web page with code that saves a string and an integer value in view state.
<%@ Page Language="VB" %>
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<script runat="server">
' Sample ArrayList for the page.
Dim PageArrayList As ArrayList
Function CreateArray() As ArrayList
' Create a sample ArrayList.
Dim result As ArrayList
result = New ArrayList(4)
result.Add("item 1")
result.Add("item 2")
result.Add("item 3")
result.Add("item 4")
Return result
End Function
Sub Page_Load(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs)
If (Me.ViewState("arrayListInViewState") IsNot Nothing) Then
PageArrayList = CType(Me.ViewState("arrayListInViewState"), ArrayList)
' ArrayList isn't in view state, so it must be created and populated.
PageArrayList = CreateArray()
End If
' Code that uses PageArrayList.
End Sub
Sub Page_PreRender(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs)
' Save PageArrayList before the page is rendered.
Me.ViewState.Add("arrayListInViewState", PageArrayList)
End Sub
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" >
<head runat="server">
<title>View state sample</title>
<form id="form1" runat="server">
<%@ Page Language="C#" %>
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<script runat="server">
// Sample ArrayList for the page.
ArrayList PageArrayList;
ArrayList CreateArray()
// Create a sample ArrayList.
ArrayList result = new ArrayList(4);
result.Add("item 1");
result.Add("item 2");
result.Add("item 3");
result.Add("item 4");
return result;
void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
if (ViewState["arrayListInViewState"] != null)
PageArrayList = (ArrayList)ViewState["arrayListInViewState"];
// ArrayList isn't in view state, so it must be created and populated.
PageArrayList = CreateArray();
// Code that uses PageArrayList.
void Page_PreRender(object sender, EventArgs e)
// Save PageArrayList before the page is rendered.
ViewState.Add("arrayListInViewState", PageArrayList);
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" >
<head runat="server">
<title>View state sample</title>
<form id="form1" runat="server">
Data Types You Can Store in View State
You can store objects of the following types in view state:
Boolean values
Array objects
ArrayList objects
Hash tables
Custom type converters (see the TypeConverter class for more information)
You can store other types of data also, but the class must be compiled with the Serializable attribute so that its values can be serialized for view state.
Reading Values from View State
To read a value from view state, you get the ViewState property of page and then read the value from the view state dictionary.
The following example shows how you can get an ArrayList object named arrayListInViewState from view state and then bind a GridView control to the object as a data source.
Dim arrayList As ArrayList
arrayList = CType(ViewState("arrayListInViewState"), ArrayList)
Me.GridView1.DataSource = arrayList
arrayList = new ArrayList();
arrayList = (ArrayList)ViewState["arrayListInViewState"];
this.GridView1.DataSource = arrayList;
Values in view state are typed as String. In Visual Basic, if you set Option Strict On, you must cast view state values to the appropriate type before you use them, as shown in the previous example. In C#, you must always cast to the appropriate type when you read view state values.
If you try to get a value out of view state that does not exist, no exception is thrown. To make sure that a value is in view state, check first whether the object exists. The following example shows how to check for a view state entry.
If ViewState("color") Is Nothing Then
' No such value in view state, take appropriate action.
End If
if (ViewState["color"] == null)
// No such value in view state, take appropriate action.
If you try to use a nonexistent view state entry in some other way (for example, to examine its type), a NullReferenceException exception is thrown.
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Securing View State
By default, view state data is stored in the page in a hidden field and is encoded using base64 encoding. In addition, a hash of the view state data is created from the data by using a machine authentication code (MAC) key. The hash value is added to the encoded view state data and the resulting string is stored in the page. When the page is posted back to the server, the ASP.NET page framework re-computes the hash value and compares it with the value stored in view state. If the hash values do not match, an exception is raised that indicates that view state data might be invalid.
By creating a hash value, the ASP.NET page framework can test whether the view state data has been corrupted or tampered with. However, even if it is not tampered with, view state data can still be intercepted and read by malicious users.
Usign the MAC for Computing the View-State Hash Value
The MAC key that is used to compute the view state hash value is either auto-generated or specified in the Machine.config file. If the key is auto-generated, it is created based on the MAC address of the computer, which is the unique GUID value of the network adapter in that computer.
It can be difficult for malicious users to reverse-engineer the MAC key based on the hash value in view state. Thus, MAC encoding is a reasonably reliable way to determine whether view state data has been changed.
In general, the larger the MAC key that is used to generate the hash, the less likely it is that the hash value for different strings will be the same. When the key is auto-generated, ASP.NET uses SHA-1 encoding to create a large key. However, in a Web-farm environment, the key must be the same across all the servers. If the key is not the same, and the page is posted back to a different server than the one that created the page, the ASP.NET page framework will raise an exception. Therefore, in a Web farm environment, you should specify a key in the Machine.config file instead of letting ASP.NET auto-generate one. In that case, make sure that you create a key that is long enough to offer sufficient security for the hashed value. However, the longer the key is, the more time it takes to create a hash. Therefore, you must weigh security needs versus performance needs.
Encrypting View State
Although MAC encoding helps prevent tampering with view state data, it does not prevent users from viewing the data. You can prevent people from viewing this data in two ways: by transmitting the page over SSL, and by encrypting the view state data. Requiring the page to be sent over SSL can help prevent data-packet sniffing and unauthorized data access by people who are not the intended recipients of the page.
However, the user who requested the page can still view the view state data because SSL decrypts the page to display it in the browser. This is fine if you are not concerned about authorized users having access to view-state data. However, in some cases, controls might use view state to store information that no users should have access to. For example, the page might contain a data-bound control that stores item identifiers (data keys) in view state. If those identifiers contain sensitive data, such as customer IDs, you should encrypt the view state data in addition to or instead of sending the page over SSL.
To encrypt the data, set the page's ViewStateEncryptionMode property to true. If you store information in view state, you can use regular read and write techniques; the page handles all encryption and decryption for you. Encrypting view state data can affect the performance of your application. Therefore, do not use encryption unless you need it.
Control State Encryption
Controls that use control state can require that view state be encrypted by calling the RegisterRequiresViewStateEncryption method. If any control in the page requires that view state be encrypted, all view state in the page will be encrypted.
Per-user View-State Encoding
If a Web site authenticates users, you can set the ViewStateUserKey property in the Page_Init event handler to associate the page's view state with a specific user. This helps prevent one-click attacks, in which a malicious user creates a valid, pre-filled Web page with view state from a previously created page. The attacker then lures a victim into clicking a link that sends the page to the server by using the victim's identity.
When the ViewStateUserKey property is set, the attacker's identity is used to create the hash of the view state of the original page. When the victim is lured into resending the page, the hash values will be different because the user keys are different. The page will fail verification and an exception will be thrown.
You must associate the ViewStateUserKey property with a unique value for each user, such as the user name or identifier.
Securing Configuration in Shared Hosting Environment
In a shared hosting environment, malicious users can potentially modify state-management properties that might affect other applications on the computer. This can be done through direct modification of the Machine.config file, modification by way of the configuration classes, and other administration and configuration tools. You can help prevent modification to your application configuration by encrypting sections of configuration files. For more information, see Encrypting Configuration Information Using Protected Configuration
Class Reference
Provides a dictionary object for retaining values between requests for the same page. |
Provides a means to define a custom mechanism for storing view state information, such as in a SQL Server database. |
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See Also
ASP.NET State Management Overview
ASP.NET State Management Recommendations
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Change History
Date |
History |
Reason |
July 2009 |
Converted occurrences of "view-state" to "view state" (no dash). Separated Visual Basic and C# examples. |
Customer feedback. |


text:
HARTFORD, Conn. -- Floyd Welch, who was credited with saving the lives of fellow sailors during the attack on Pearl Harbor, has died in Connecticut. He was 99.
Welch died peacefully at his home in East Lyme on Monday, his family said.
Welch, who was born in February 1921 in Burlington, Connecticut, was serving aboard the USS Maryland on Dec. 7, 1941, when the U.S. fleet at Pearl Harbor came under attack by Japan.
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SEE ALSO: Pearl Harbor survivor always hoped memory of attack would outlive him
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After leaving the Navy in January 1946, Welch worked as an alarm installer, a farmer and a milkman, before opening a construction company, Welch & Son, which built road infrastructures, foundations, and drainage systems throughout the Northeast.
Welch, who served for a time as an officer in the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association, was a guest of honor in 2016 at the 75th Pearl Harbor Survivors Memorial Ceremony in Hawaii.
He is survived by his wife, Marjorie, six children, 13 grandchildren and 10 great grandchildren.
The family said a private graveside funeral service is planned.
RELATED: Remains of sailor who died during Pearl Harbor returned to League City
The Associated Press contributed to this report.


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