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A series of Apple patent filings published this week reveal a version of the Apple TV media device capable of browsing and recording live television programming in addition to serving up pre-aired content from the company's iTunes Store.Originally filed back in October of 2006, the filings clearly show considerable work on the part of the electronics maker to create an alternative to products like the TiVo digital video recorder (DVR), complete with a searchable on-screen guide and configurable touch-based remote control device that would serve as a portable program guide.
The remote, similar in appearance to second-generation iPod nano, would include an LCD display, storage component, and touch-based navigation pad that would allow users to download several weeks of programming information from the Apple TV media device onto the remote interface for later interaction.
"For example, program data for upcoming programs, e.g., for the next month, can be downloaded and stored on the remote control device," Apple said. "Thereafter, a user of the remote control device can search programs that are to be broadcast and determine which programs to record. The recording settings can be programmed onto the remote control device, and then be provided to the video device when a data communication is established between the remote control device and the video device."
(Note: it would seem logical that this functionality could also be integrated directly into the iPhone or iPod touch.)
In real world instances, this would allow users to pre-load the remote with the following month's scheduled television programming, pack the remote with their belongings, and then while on "a commute on a train," for instance, use the remote to determine what programs to record.
"Thus, when the user arrives home, the user can place the remote control device within the vicinity of the video device or within the docking port, and the recording data is downloaded into the video device," the company explained. "Thereafter the specified programs are recorded."
Although shown in Apple's filings as comprising a circular navigation surface below the LCD screen, another implementation of the advanced remote could include a "rectangular surface, a square surface, or some other shaped surface," Apple said. "Other surface geometries that accommodate pressure sensitive areas and that can sense touch actuations may also be used, e.g., an oblong area, an octagon area, etc."
Meanwhile, the Apple TV device itself would feature a more advanced form of an on-screen programming guide akin to those found on today's digital cable boxes or TiVO DVR records. In addition to a standard guide that takes up the entire screen, Apple illustrates several "overlay" interfaces that consume less real estate, such as a horizontal "recording navigation menu" that could float atop of ongoing video content, offering a list of recorded content and allowing the user to preview those recordings in a small widget dialog while live programming transmissions are ongoing.
Several other overlay interface components are also apparent from the filings, including a Mac OS Dock-like interface that would rise from the bottom of the screen and include icons for recording shows, searching programming, and so forth.
"In one implementation, the icons include a home icon, a recordings navigation icon, a channels navigation icon, a browse navigation icon, and a search navigation icon," Apple said. "Additionally, one or more context-dependent icons may also be generated within the menu overlay. For example, a record icon can be generated in the received context to allow a user to record video data that is presently being received. In one implementation, the menu overlay may also delimit context-dependent icons. For example, a bar delimits the record icon from the navigation icons."
Such as the case with Mac OS Dock, highlighting an icon would be indicated by enlarging the size of the icon and generating a textual description atop the enlarged icon. By using the navigational component of the advanced Apple remote, a user could select the delete icon to delete from memory the recorded program currently being displayed in the video environment. Users could also shrink, zoom or resize video being displayed in the video environment. In instances of shrunken content, a "reflection of the video environment may be shown in the space" also occupied by the Dock-like control interface.
Selecting the "channel" icon from the Dock would produce a narrow, vertical overlay that lists all pre-recorded content or live content, within which the user could preview clips of those while live broadcasts or pre-recorded content while video continues to run in the full-screen environment.
"In one implementation, the video preview is generated after the channel menu item remains highlighted for a period of time, e.g., several seconds. In another implementation, the video preview is generated after the channel menu item 918 is highlighted and at the cessation of a touch actuation (e.g., the lifting of a finger off the rotational input device of the remote control device)," Apple said. "The video preview can be generated, for example, by expanding the channel menu item vertically. In the received/broadcast context, the video preview can include the video data of the program currently being broadcast on the channel corresponding to the highlighted channel menu item."
Additional interface overlay menus described in the filings include a vertical browsing menu and "action menu," the latter of which would include icons for playback, recording, deletion, and accessing "related programming." Options would exist to record just one episode of a show or "all instances" of a series. A search overly component is also detailed, similar to the version already included in the current version of Apple TV, only suited to search the live programming guide. It could function both as part of both the full-screen guide, or via the narrow vertical overlay guide.
As part of its filings, Apple also included about a dozen tables showing the how the various inputs on the touch-based Apple remote would function differently depending on what content or navigational interface was displayed on the screen. For example, while browsing the on-screen guide, the left side of the circular touch surface would rotate the listing to the left, while that same function during video playback would rewind the video by 10 seconds.
Also of interest from the filings is a hybrid search function that would simultaneously search the live program guide and the iTunes Store for a certain criteria, combining the results in a single results window that would indicate which content was freely available as part of current or future television broadcasts, and which was available solely for purchase from the iTunes Store as previously-aired programming.


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Succot is a very unique holiday with a special significance for Jews in Israel today.
The original succot were the clouds of glory that protected our ancestors from the harsh climate in the wilderness. It is impossible for us to duplicate such a Heavenly shield, so the Torah commands us to build succot from earthly material in order to recall that miracle.
As Israel faces the threat of a nuclear Iran and incessant terrorist activity, living and eating in our succot reminds us that we were once privileged to enjoy the protection of those Heavenly succot. When a Jew enters his man-made succah he must feel as though he is entering the best shelter available. By fulfilling this mitzvah and putting our faith in G-d we can hope that we will be worthy of the Heavenly protection which will shelter Israel forever.

subset: commoncrawl


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Louisville Real Estate Answers
Here's our radio show on 840 WHAS on February 11, 2018.
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NE 5. Excavations Between Abu Simbel and the Sudan Frontier, Part 5: C-Group, Pan Grave, and Kerma Remains at Adindan Cemeteries T, K, U, and J. B. B. Williams
Purchase Download Terms of Use
Although C-Group sites in the area had been thought to be poor or plundered, Cemeteries T, K, and U yielded large amounts of undisturbed material that provided a valuable opportunity to check the chronology of C-Group by plotting the occurrence of various objects and practices in the cemetery. Some objects, for example, sandals, provide new evidence for the development of crafts in Nubia. The depictions of cattle on two incised bowls are the finest of their kind and offer valuable insight in the relationship of C-Group people and their cattle, a special relationship that is widespread in Sudan.
- Nubian Expedition 5
- Chicago: The Oriental Institute: 1983
- Pp. xxvi + 235; 48 figures, 131 plates, 50 tables
- Clothbound 9 x 11.75 in / 23 x 30 cm
- $60.00


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Greenwald writes: "The refusal to use the word occupation without scare quotes is one of the most cowardly editorial decisions the New York Times has made since refusing to use the word 'torture' because the Bush administration denied its validity."
Hillary Clinton and Benjamin Netanyahu. (photo: Alex Brandon/AP)
The New York Times's (and Clinton Campaign's) Abject Cowardice on Israel
30 May 16
n January, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon delivered a speech to the Security Council about, as he put it, violence "in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory," noting that "Palestinian frustration is growing under the weight of a half century of occupation" and that "it is human nature to react to occupation." His use of the word "occupation" was not remotely controversial because multiple U.N. Security Resolutions, such as 446 (adopted unanimously in 1979 with 3 abstentions), have long declared Israel the illegal "occupying power" in the West Bank and Gaza. Unsurprisingly, newspapers around the world – such as the Wall Street Journal, the Guardian, the BBC, the LA Times – routinely and flatly describe Israeli control of the West Bank and Gaza in their news articles as what it is: an occupation.
In fact, essentially the entire world recognizes the reality of Israeli occupation with the exception of a tiny sliver of extremists in Israel and the U.S. That's why Chris Christie had to grovel in apology to GOP billionaire and Israel-devoted fanatic Sheldon Adelson when the New Jersey Governor neutrally described having seen the "occupied territories" during a trip he took to Israel. But other than among those zealots, the word is simply a fact, used without controversy under the mandates of international law, the institutions that apply it, and governments on every continent on the planet.
But not the New York Times. They are afraid to use the word. In a NYT article today by Jason Horowitz and Maggie Haberman on the imminent conflict over Israel and Palestine between Sanders-appointed and Clinton-appointed members of the Democratic Party Platform Committee, this grotesque use of scare quotes appears:
A bitter divide over the Middle East could threaten Democratic Party unity as representatives of Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont vowed to upend what they see as the party's lopsided support of Israel.
Two of the senator's appointees to the party's platform drafting committee, Cornel West and James Zogby, on Wednesday denounced Israel's "occupation" of the West Bank and Gaza and said they believed that rank-and-file Democrats no longer hewed to the party's staunch support of the Israeli government. They said they would try to get their views incorporated into the platform, the party's statement of core beliefs, at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia in July.
The refusal to use the word occupation without scare quotes is one of the most cowardly editorial decisions the New York Times has made since refusing to use the word "torture" because the Bush administration denied its validity (a decision they reversed only when President Obama in 2014 gave them permission to do so by using the word himself). This is journalistic malfeasance at its worst: refusing to describe the world truthfully out of fear of the negative reaction by influential factions (making today's article even stranger is that a NYT article from February on settlers' use of Airbnb referred to "illegal settler outpost deep in the occupied West Bank"). And the NYT's editorial decision raises this question, posed this morning by one man in the West Bank:
cc: @maggieNYT https://t.co/IrfJUwVJVM
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) May 26, 2016
The cowardice of the NYT regarding Israel is matched only by the Clinton campaign's. Clinton has repeatedly vowed to move the U.S. closer not only to Israel but also to its Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. Pandering to Israel – vowing blind support for its government – is a vile centerpiece of her campaign.
The changes to the Democratic Party platform proposed by Bernie Sanders' appointees such as Cornel West, Keith Ellison and James Zogby – which Israel-supporting Clinton appointees such as Neera Tanden and Wendy Sherman are certain to oppose – are incredibly mild, including echoing the international consensus in condemning the Israeli occupation. As the Israeli writer Noam Sheizaf put it this morning, the NYT's use of scare quotes is "just as pathetic as the Democratic fear that their platform would actually say Palestinians deserve civil rights."
This craven posture is particularly appalling as Israel just this week has taken an even harder turn toward extremism, prompting its former Prime Minister, Ehud Barak, to warn that Israel has been "infected by the seeds of fascism." While the former Israeli Prime Minister issues warnings that grave, establishment Democrats are petrified of even the most tepid stances.
But Democratic Party cowardice on Israel is nothing new. In 2003, the pre-lobbyist-money-infected Howard Dean was publicly mauled by top Democrats – led by Nancy Pelosi – for the crime of saying the U.S. should be "even-handed" in its attempts to forge a peace agreement between the Israelis and Palestinians.
Even worse was the disgraceful scene from their 2012 Convention: the Platform Committee had omitted any reference to "God" and, worse, had decide not to say that Jerusalem is the eternal capital of Israel. Obama campaign officials were eager to rectify this blasphemy, so arranged for an "amendment" to the Platform to be introduced to the full Convention, which required 2/3 approval from the delegates. When Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa came to the podium to ask delegates to vote, it was obvious that the majority was opposed. Confused and bewildered at the refusal of delegates to obey the script of party leaders, he asked for a vote three separate times, and on the third time, even when it was clear that they did not have the votes, he simply lied and proclaimed the pro-Israel and pro-God amendment passed with 2/3 approval:
That is the level of Orwellian distortion needed to maintain the blatantly false narratives about Israel that have prevailed for so long as bipartisan U.S. orthodoxy. As today's article demonstrates, the New York Times not only submits to that propagandistic orthodoxy but plays a leading role in sustaining it.
* * * * *
For anyone who wants to claim that Israel only occupies the West Bank but not Gaza (a point irrelevant to the critique in this article), see this outstanding two-minute video.
UPDATE: After publication of this article, the NYT edited their own to remove the scare quotes around "occupation," though did so quietly, with no editorial explanation or note. The original version, however, appeared on A1 of this morning's print edition.
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text: «Only yesterday the stone was lying on the ground, trampled by everyone. But tomorrow crowds of people will be admiring and kneeling before it» – these words of a French sculptor David d'Angers describe the essence of the art of sculpture very subtly. And when asked about the process of work the great Michelangelo used to say:"Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it''. Modern sculptures are seen not only as a means of adorning urban landscapes that are supposed to become tourist attractions – but as something that can be used inside of an apartment or house to make the interior more individual and expressive. In addition to it,a Russian sculpture just like any other piece of art can be a good object for investment. Among the people that we work with there are honored painters of Russia, members of the Russian Academy of Arts, whose paintings are stored in the State Tretyakov Gallery, the State Russian Museum and other Russian and foreign museums. The main genres that we display are portrait, animalism, nudes all together with landscapes and still-life. But we probably consider the portrayal of a person in different forms (head, bust, statue, sculptural groups) to be the most interesting subject-matter for a sculpture. As for the materials – we have original sculptures for sale made of bronze, wood, marble and metal. And our main rule is to select thoroughly only the most interesting and unusual sculptures to sell excluding replicated nameless pieces. Buy apeculiar sculpture created by a distinctive Russian master right now!


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Cubeb, the tailed-pepper is an exceptional fertility aid for both the Kings and Queens out there, with its significant aphrodisiac properties. "It stimulates the parathyroid, and so it would be an excellent addition to menopausal formulas, helping with problems of osteoporosis", says Jenny Rose in her Aromatherapy Book.
Cubeb essential oil is extracted from the dried Cubeb berries through steam distillation method. This plant is botanically called as Piper cubeba and is a limb of the pepper family Piperaceae.
Cubeb was recommended by Charaka and Sushruta, the legendary Ayurvedic philosophers for treating halitosis, cough, loss of voice, fever, gonorrhea and certain other oral problems. Cubeb is known in Sanskrit as kankol and in Hindi as kabab chini and is a part of the Ayurvedic family Pippali kul. It is also used in Ayurvedic formulations for treating impotence, tastelessness, asthma, inflammation, piles, indigestion and menstrual problems.
Purchase Cubeb Oil – 4oz – CLICK HERE
Historical uses and importance of Cubeb:
Native to the Java and Sumatra islands of Indonesia, Cubeb is often called as Java pepper and is also grown widely in India and Malaysia. It's taste is often compared to allspice or pepper like. Cubeb is said to have reached the European subcontinent through the ancient trades by the Arabs through India and Arabians call it as Kababa and is also talked about in the writings of Alchemy.
The use of Cubeb dates back to 4th century BC in various parts of the world. It was brought to China during the Tang dynasty and was called by the Sanskrit names vidanga and vilenga.
The most interesting uses of Cubeb by the Tang physicians are to darken hair, treat demon vapors, loss of appetite and as a natural perfume for the body. Cubeb was also used in the Tibetan Medicine for treating problems associated with the spleen.
Hildegard of Bingen prescribed the use of Cubeb as an antiseptic and as a good tonic for the nervous system. The London Dispensatorie written by Nicholas Culpeper in 1654 says "Cubebs were hot and dry in the third degree… (snip) they cleanse the head of flegm and strengthen the brain, they heat the stomach and provoke lust". Theophrastus has stated the use of Cubeb as an important ingredient in making sweet-smelling confections along with cassia and cinnamon.
Chemical constituents and therapeutic properties of Cubeb oil:
The chemical constituents of Cubeb essential oil are sesquiterpenes (namely α- and β-cubebene, caryophyllene, germacrene, δ-cadinene and copaene) and monoterpenes (including carene, 50% sabinene and α-thujene) along with camphor, pinene, azulene, lineal, alcohol cubebol and other oxides like 1,4- and 1,8-cineole.
The remedial attributes of Cubeb essential oil are carminative, diuretic, antiseptic, aphrodisiac, expectorant, antioxidant, antimicrobial, antipyretic, hepatoprotective, analgesic, disinfectant, astringent, gastro-protective and stimulant.
Ayurvedic health benefits of Cubeb essential oil:
Ayurveda implanted strong roots of health through prevention of illnesses, disciplined lifestyle and absolute balance with nature leading to aging in the pink and extended life-span even beyond a hundred years. This 5,000 years old ancient healing methodology strongly insists to be on par with nature for leading a hale and harmonious living.
According to Ayurveda, everything on Earth is a combination of the 5 vital elements of nature and they are earth, fire, water, air and space.
It says that the only difference between a living thing and a non-living thing is the element of space that rests within living organisms as the soul. Bones and muscles represent earth, fire stands for the metabolic processes and body temperature, blood is a symbol of water, air assists in breathing and space is the soul, which indicates that we are alive.
Ayurvedic philosophy states that each human being is created with a unique individual constitution that comprises of three bio-energies known as doshas, namely vata, kapha and pitta types. Vata is a combination of air and space, pitta stands for fire and water and kapha represents water and earth.
Ayurveda denotes that every individual has a predominance of any one these doshas and that determines their physical set up, mental makeup and their personality. Balance between these doshas is a symbol of good health and imbalances of these biological energies due to food and lifestyle changes causes illnesses.
Treatments in Ayurveda vary from person to person even if it is for the same illness because this common sense science examines the individual constitution, patient history and the root cause of an illness before prescribing the suitable medication.
The most prevalent Ayurvedic remedies are herbs, plant essential oils, Abhyanga (the art of Ayurvedic massaging), yoga, Ayurvedic routine, prayer, simple physical exercises and mediation depending upon the unique individual constitution for correcting the doshic imbalances.
Cubeb oil is an effective Ayurvedic remedy for treating excess of kapha and vata energies and regularizing the pitta deficit.
The Ayurvedic health benefits of Cubeb essential oil are:
1. Natural aid to fertility problems:
Cubeb essential oil has natural aphrodisiac properties for which it was used by ancient Arabians and in the Unani medicinal system in the treatment of fertility problems like infertility, loss of sexual interest, impotence, erectile dysfunction, all stages of gonorrhea and other STD (Sexually Transmitted Diseases).
In Ayurvedic terms, Cubeb oil contains Ushan as its Virya means hotness as its main potency. Warmth and increased body temperature influence better intimacy in a sexual relationship. Excess of vata dosha can also be a reason for lack of sexual interest and impotency. Cubeb essential oil is known for reducing increased vata dosha and helps treat various sexual problems.
Unani medicinal system suggests the use of Cubeb corns for increased sexual contentment and is it because of this attribute Cubebs were initially called in Arabic language as 'Habb-ul-Uruus. It has also been noted in the book 'One Thousand and One Nights' as a key ingredient in the preparation of an aphrodisiac cure for infertility.
Cubeb oil has a warm, pungent and slightly camphoraceous fragrance with a feel of Nutmeg aroma. Add 3 drops of Cubeb oil in 3 ml of olive oil and massage your body for arousing intimate sexual feelings naturally. You can also add 2 drops of this oil in warm bathing water before going to bed and add 1 drop of Cubeb oil along with 1 drop of Lavender or Ylang Ylang oil in your diffuser to set the right mood perfectly.
2. Alleviates dental and oral infections:
Cubeb gets a special mention in both the highly-held Ayurvedic encyclopedias, the Charaka Samhita and the Sushruta Samhita as an oral cleanser and as an aid for treating dental problems.
The essential oil of Cubeb has natural antiseptic, antimicrobial and astringent properties that assist in killing the harmful organisms in the mouth causing halitosis or bad breath, bleeding gums, plaque and cavities. Mix 1 drop of Cubeb oil in a cup of warm water and use it as a gargle for relieving all kinds of dental and oral infections.
3. Relieves congestion and other respiratory illnesses:
Vitiated kapha dosha is responsible for water retention, excess deposits of phlegm and mucous, thus leading to respiratory problems like nasal congestion, chest congestion, cold and other pulmonary infections including bronchitis. The ability to reduce increased kapha energy is the major reason for Cubeb oil being used as a promising remedy in treating respiratory illnesses.
Many popular Physicians and Herbalists like Nicholas Culpeper have said that Cubeb is an excellent remedy for clearing phlegm deposits, strengthening the brain, alleviating bronchitis; asthma, relieving congestion and treating cough and throat infections. Add 2 to 3 drops of Cubeb oil in steam inhalation or to your vaporub and massage it gently on your throat, back and chest to experience quick relief from respiratory infections with its expectorant and antimicrobial properties.
4. Discards toxic substances in the body:
Cubeb essential oil has diuretic properties that help in discharging the toxic substances in the body known as ama, which is nothing but the remains of improper digestion which slowly turns toxic. These toxic remains along with salt deposits, uric acid, cholesterol and fat can lead to numerous medical conditions including kidney problems and heart diseases.
Light Miller and Bryan Miller in their book 'Ayurveda and Aromatherapy' say about Cubeb as "This herb has a light peppery smell. On occasion, when substituted into a formula for weight loss instead of black pepper, patients reported greater effectiveness ."
Cubeb oil acts as a stimulant in the body and promotes the proper functioning of the system. Its diuretic properties increase the quantity and frequency of urination and helps in cleansing the system.
Adding 2 drops of Cubeb oil in warm bathing water or in an Ayurvedic massage blend with 2 drops of peppermint oil, 2 drops of Cubeb oil along with 5 ml sesame oil assists in excreting toxic substances in the body, thus treating urinary infections, obesity, inflammatory conditions and other genito-urinary problems.
5. Assists in proper digestion and bowel movements:
Just like Pepper, Cubeb also has hot, spicy and pungent flavor. It's potent to increase pitta energy is of great value in dealing with digestive problems like tastelessness, loss of appetite, indigestion, constipation, flatulence, intestinal worms etc., where Pitta dosha represents fire and water and is in charge of the metabolic functions. Massage your abdomen with 2 drops of Cubeb oil mixed with 2 ml of coconut oil for effective relief from digestive disorders.
A 2012 study on 'In vitro efficacy of the essential oil of Piper cubeba L. (Piperaceae) against Schistosoma mansoni by Universidade de Franca published in Pubmed' suggests that, "Piper cubeba essential oil possesses an effect against cercariae, schistosomula, and adult worms of the S. mansoni." Schistosoma mansoni are adult worms that cause intestinal schistosomiasis (combined name for parasitic diseases).
Other uses:
Cubeb oil is also used as an important ingredient in lozenges, spirits, chewing gum, oral cleansers, toothpastes, cough drops, cigarettes for hay fever, asthma and chronic pharyngitis. It is also used in Ayurvedic healing for treating joint and bone problems.
This article is meant only for the purpose of education and information. Using it as a substitute for prescribed medicines or professional medical advice is not recommended. Always use essential oils for topical application in a diluted form only as organic essential oils are highly concentrated liquids and can cause allergic reactions.
Cubeb oil is a possible skin irritant and it is good to be avoided during pregnancy and nursing. Always consult your Ayurvedic expert before making the right choice of essential oils that suit your medical condition and unique individual constitution.
Thought for the day:
In wilderness I sense the miracle of life, and behind it our scientific accomplishments fade to trivia. -Charles Lindbergh
Suggested Reading:
- ISO 3756:1976, Oil of Cubeb by ISO TC 54
- The Master Book of Herbalism by Paul Beyerl
- Ayurveda & Aromatherapy: The Earth Essential Guide to Ancient Wisdom and Modern Healing by Dr. Light Miller, Dr. Bryan Miller
- All About Spices: Pepper, Cubebs, Nutmegs, Cloves, Ginger, Vanilla, Pimento, Cinnamon (1889) by Alastair Mackenzie Ferguson, John Ferguson
- The Encyclopedia of Essential Oils: The Complete Guide to the Use of Aromatic Oils In Aromatherapy, Herbalism, Health, and Well Being by Julia Lawless
Reference Links:
- Cubeb by Wikipedia
- Piper cubeba by Ayushveda
- Cubeb published in Aromatherapy Bible by Daniele Ryman
- Essential Oil Constituents of Piper cubeba L. fils. From Indonesia by Rein Bos, Herman J. Woerdenbag, Oliver Kayser, Wim J. Quax, Komar Ruslan & Elfami
- In vitro efficacy of the essential oil of Piper cubeba L. (Piperaceae) against Schistosoma mansoni by Universidade de Franca published in Pubmed


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Water damage repair Scottsdale, AZ is necessary to ensure that your house's structural foundation is protected and safeguarded from deterioration. As you may already know, water damage is bad news for homeowners. It is a loss that results from water intrusion across a specific area or on an entire level of your home. Water damage can be minor but progressive and it can also be catastrophic along with instant results. Flooding, stagnant water, and rainfall are just some of the factors that can weaken the soil foundation of your property and cause damage to your home's interiors and electrical devices. Any homeowner should minimize the risk by hiring On Call Restoration for a Scottsdale, AZ water damage repair service. It is critical that you maintain a safe home for your family to live in.
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2.75 Inch Fine Glitter Ivy Bows on Lined Clips Design - Razzle DazzleSize - 2.75 InchThey are attached to lined alligator clips with optional non slip grips. All ends of all of my handmade items have the ends heat sealed for a professional finish.These clips are perfect worn on a pony tail or pig tails and are also stunning attached to a woven or wrapped headband and hats for a different look to be able to mix a match your hair accessories. These bows look stunning for on stage as well as for photo props, weddings, christenings, birthdays, special occasions and every day wear.


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Telemarketing Fraud
Many legitimate companies and charities solicit consumers by phone. Unfortunately, con artists use the phone, too. They rob people every day, with phones as their weapons.
To recognize and avoid telemarketing fraud, the FTC recommends consumers ask:
- Who's calling - and why? Telemarketers must tell you it's a sales call, the name of the seller, and what they're selling before they make their pitch. If they don't give you the required information, say "no thanks," and get off the phone.
- What's their hurry? Fast talkers who use high pressure tactics could be hiding something. Take your time. Most legitimate businesses will give you time and written information about an offer before asking you to commit to a purchase.
- If it's free, why are they asking me to pay? Question charges you need to pay to redeem a prize or gift. Free is free. If you have to pay, it's a purchase – not a prize or a gift.
- Why am I "confirming" my account information – or giving it out at all? Some callers have your billing information before they call you. They're trying to get you to say "okay" so they can claim you approved the charge. Or, they're trying to learn your account number. Don't give it out unless you know who you are talking to and what you are buying.
- What time is it? The law allows telemarketers to call only between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. A seller calling earlier or later is flouting the law.
- Isn't there a National Do Not Call Registry? Yes, and putting your number on the Registry will stop most telemarketing calls – but not all. You still will get calls from companies with whom you have an established business relationship, charities and political organizations, unless you tell them to stop calling you, too. But calls from sales people from unfamiliar businesses may be the sign of a scam. To add your name to the Do Not Call Registry, visit www.donotcall.gov or call 888-382-1222 (TTY 866-290-4326).
Phone fraud and DNC violations can be reported Online at FTC.gov or by phone at 1-877-FTC-HELP. DNC violations can be reported at DoNotCall.gov or by phone at 1-888-382-1222. For a DNC report, you'll need the phone number or name of the company that called, and the date of the call.
Additional precautions about telemarketing calls:
- Fraudulent telemarketers understand human nature and prey on our vulnerability. We all want to believe that it's our lucky day, that we can get a great deal, or that there is an easy way to solve our problems.
- Older people are disproportionately targeted by fraudulent telemarketers. That's because they're home to get the calls, they have money saved that can be robbed, and they're too polite to hang up.
- It's important to know whom you're dealing with. If a company or charity is unfamiliar, check it out with the Better Business Bureau. Fraudulent operators open and close quickly, so the fact that no one has made a complaint yet doesn't guarantee the company or charity is legitimate.
- Some telemarketing pitches are blatantly fraudulent, and you should know the signs. It's illegal for telemarketers to ask for a fee up front if they offer you a credit card, a loan, or "repair" of your credit. It's also illegal for any company to ask you to pay or buy something to win a prize, or to claim that paying will increase your chances of winning. And it's illegal to buy and sell tickets to foreign lotteries by phone or mail.
- Other danger signs of fraud may be harder to recognize. They include:
- Pressure to act immediately;
- Use of scare tactics;
- Refusing to send you written information;
- Demanding that you send payment by wire or courier;
- Demanding payment of taxes or customs fees to claim a prize;
- Requesting your financial account numbers, even though you're not paying for something with them;
- Promising to recover money you've lost in other scams, for a fee;
- Claiming that you can make lots of money working from home; and
- Refusing to stop calling when you say you're not interested.
- How you pay matters. If you pay for a transaction with cash, a check or a money order, your money is gone before you realize there is a problem. Paying by credit card is safest, because you can dispute the charges if you don't get what you were promised. You don't have the same dispute rights when you pay with debit cards or give your bank account number. Bank debits have become fraudulent telemarketers' preferred form of payment.
- Where telemarketers are located matters, too. Some fraudulent telemarketers are deliberately located in other countries, because it's more difficult for U.S. law enforcement agencies to pursue them. It may be hard to tell where they are; they may have mail forwarded from the U.S. and use telephone numbers that look like domestic long-distance. Be very cautious when dealing with unknown companies from other countries.
You can help cut down on fraud by reporting other kinds of telemarketing concerns to the FTC, the FCC (Form 475) and the NFIC, using their convenient online consumer complaint forms.


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Danny, a CEDR Director for 11 years and is dually qualified as a lawyer both in Australia and the UK. He has been involved in negotiation, conflict resolution training, mediation and international business for over 20 years. After completing his Masters in Commercial Law he specialized in dispute resolution and international trade.
Danny speaks Mandarin Chinese fluently and mediates regularly in Hong Kong and China using both English and Mandarin. He has worked with people of all nationalities and has a clear understanding of the dynamics of mediating and arbitrating across national boundaries. Based in Hong Kong he mediates regularly in the commercial, employment, construction, succession and trusts, banking, insurance, and property sectors with a particular expertise in cross-cultural and multinational disputes. He is also an expert trainer and facilitator providing training in conflict management, negotiation, change management, unconscious bias and mediation to organisations such as the IFC, UN, ADB, IHG, World Bank and MTR.
In 2009 he was appointed Director of Mediation at the United Nations in New York, mediating cases and this followed on from 2008, when he joined the United Nations Ombudsman's New York Office in as an expert adviser on the establishment of a new Mediation Division. His Report formed part of the terms of reference for mediation in the new internal UN Justice System.
Danny has worked as a trainer and consultant in many countries including Azerbaijan, China, Cameroon, Guyana, Hong Kong, Ireland, Mongolia, Singapore, Sweden, the UK and the USA. He is a visiting Professor at Kobe University Japan teaching International Dispute Resolution. He has provided consultancy to the legislatures of Hong Kong, China and Vietnam.
Danny is a member of the Hong Kong Government's Steering Committee on Mediation, Vice Chair of the Hong Kong Mediation Accreditation Association Limited (HKMAAL), International Ombudsman Association, Law Society of England and Wales, Civil Mediation Council, International Bar Association, World Jurist Association, American Bar Association and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. He is currently serving on Mediator Panels: CAO, UN Mediation Division New York, IMI, SIMC, THAC, CEDR Solve, World Bank Group and CCPIT Mediation Centre Beijing.
Recent publications include:
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text:
It is often said that 'Time and tide wait for no one.' Therefore, to achieve success in life, one needs to develop a deep appreciation for time.
Anyone can benefit from time management — whether in school, in the office or with life in general. You can realise your career goals, boost productivity, reduce stress, and experience better work-life balance by knowing how to manage your time.
In this post, we'll talk about effective time management. We'll discuss the importance of time management and the many benefits it provides.
Meaning of time management
Time management refers to the practice of organising and planning how you can split your time between specific tasks and objectives. Effective time management ensures you devote the appropriate amount of time to certain activities to achieve your goals for the day, week, month or year.
Individuals applying time management typically assign specific time slots to activities based on their importance or relevance. And since time is finite, the goal of time management is to make the most of one's available time.
Importance and benefits of time management
To realise the value or importance of time management, one must be aware of the consequences of failing to use time effectively.
- Low quality work
- Mistakes or errors
- Missed deadlines
- Poor workflow
- Career stagnation
- High levels of stress
When we understand the value of time management and plan to apply it, we become more effective at work and in life. We can even transform our lives and the world around us by working toward developing effective time management skills.
Below are other benefits of time management:
- Increase in productivity
- Stress reduction
- Adequate rest and sleep
- More time and energy for leisure
- Improved focus
- High-quality work
- Good reputation in the workplace
- Finish more projects and fulfil everyday goals
- Better decision-making skills
- Increase in confidence and self-worth
Strategies to manage time effectively
If you want to know how to improve time management and implement it right away, here are some effective techniques, so you can start experiencing the benefits of using your 24 hours a day wisely.
- Set objectives that are achievable and measurable.
- Prioritise tasks based on their urgency and importance.
- Learn to delegate tasks whenever possible.
- Set time limits for task completion.
- Take breaks in between task performance.
- Plan and organise your schedule.
- Eliminate non-essential, time-wasting activities.
These strategies do not require special tools or devices to implement.
What you need is the commitment and discipline to make better use of your time, so you can stress less, achieve more, and live a full, well-balanced life.
If this article has inspired you to think about your own unique situation and, more importantly, what you and your family are going through right now, please contact your advice professional.
(Feedsy Exclusive)


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July 29th, 2017 at 5:19 am UTC · 2 min read
Exchange Union aims to bridge digital currency exchanges via XUC, aninter-exchange token that allows secure cross-platform trading.
Exchange Union has appeal for blockchain technology companies, particularly those specialized in use cases and infrastructure. AlphaPoint is one such company that provides asset digitization through its distributed ledger platform. With a growing following of clients from around the world, AlphaPoint president and COO Igor Telatnikovwas clear on the benefits that Exchange Union can bring;
Exchange Union will bridge digital currency exchanges by breaking the barriers of separation among them, thus raising the liquidity of digital asset markets. This will be of great benefit to the industry. We believe Exchange Union will lead the trend for settlement on blockchain.
Exchange Union has also been favoured by RSK Labs. As a distributed platform of smart contracts on Bitcoin Blockchain, RSK Labs has developed an extensive fan-based Bitcoin and blockchain community and is widely regarded as one of the best solutions to the Bitcoin scale debate. Gabriel Kurman is co-founder of RSK Labs and sees value in Exchange Union commenting,
Exchange Union can play a key role connecting exchanges across the world and enabling the full potential of the internet of value. RSK technologies, such as the Lumino network, will allow Exchange Union members to trade up to 20,000 transactions per second of any kind of digital asset. We will pay close attention to this promising project and support its development.
Exchange Union has also caught the attention of Bloq that is widely recognised in the industry as a leading provider of enterprise level blockchain technology offering software solutions, business consultation and blockchain application support. Jeff Garzik is the co-founder of Bloq, a member of Bitcoin Core, a very experienced developer and also a "Linux lieutenant" maintainer working directly under Linus Torvalds, creator of Linux, for over 10 years.
Garzik recognizes the Exchange Union project objectives such as its ability to bridge global digital currency exchanges and the benefit of fast, secure and convenient transactions on the Exchange Union Chain, and added that he will support the development of the project.
Exchange Union token sale will go live at 09:00 EST on August 7th 2017. The token sale is being held via the largest token sale platform Token Market.
contact name: Lynna Lang
contact e-mail: [email protected]


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A new study suggests uric acid may play a role in causing metabolic syndrome, a cluster of risk factors that increases the risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
Uric acid is a normal waste product removed from the body by the kidneys and intestines and released in urine and stool. Elevated levels of uric acid are known to cause gout, an accumulation of the acid in the joints. High levels also are associated with the markers of metabolic syndrome, which is characterized by obesity, high blood pressure, elevated blood sugar and high cholesterol. But it has been unclear whether uric acid itself is causing damage or is simply a byproduct of other processes that lead to dysfunctional metabolism.
Published Aug. 7 in Nature Communications, the new research atWashington University School of Medicine in St. Louis suggests excess uric acid in the blood is no innocent bystander. Rather, it appears to be a culprit in disrupting normal metabolism.
"Uric acid may play a direct, causative role in the development of metabolic syndrome," said first author Brian J. DeBosch, MD, PhD, an instructor in pediatrics. "Our work showed that the gut is an important clearance mechanism for uric acid, opening the door to new potential therapies for preventing or treating type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome."
Recent research by the paper's senior author, Kelle H. Moley, MD, the James P. Crane Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and her collaborators has shown that a protein called GLUT9 is an important transporter of uric acid.
DeBosch, a pediatric gastroenterologist who treats patients at St. Louis Children's Hospital, studied mice to learn what happens when GLUT9 stops working in the gut, essentially blocking the body's ability to remove uric acid from the intestine. In this study, the kidney's ability to remove uric acid remained normal.
Eating regular chow, mice missing GLUT9 only in the gut quickly developed elevated uric acid in the blood and urine compared with control mice. And at only 6-8 weeks of age, they developed hallmarks of metabolic syndrome: high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol, high blood insulin and fatty liver deposits, among other symptoms.
The researchers also found that the drug allopurinol, which reduces uric acid production in the body and has long been used to treat gout, improved some, but not all, of the measures of metabolic health. Treatment with the drug lowered blood pressure and total cholesterol levels.
Exposure to uric acid is impossible to avoid because it is a normal byproduct of cell turnover in the body. But there is evidence that diet may contribute to uric acid levels. Many foods contain compounds called purines that break down into uric acid. And adding to growing concerns about fructose in the diet, evidence suggests that fructose metabolism in the liver also drives uric acid production.
"Switching so heavily to fructose in foods over the past 30 years has been devastating," Moley said. "There's a growing feeling that uric acid is a cause, not a consequence, of metabolic syndrome. And now we know fructose directly makes uric acid in the liver. With that in mind, we are doing further research to study what happens to these mice on a high-fructose diet."


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Federal Judge John F. Grady in Illinois has granted Craigslist's motion for a judgment on the pleadings in a suit over the website's "erotic services" internet classified listings.
Thomas Dart, the sheriff of Cook County, Illinois, alleged that Craigslist facilitated prostitution and constituted a public nuisance. The Sheriff claimed that Craigslist knowingly arranges meetings for the purpose of prostitution and directs people to places of prostitution. Dart asked for an injunction prohibiting Craigslist from publishing erotic services listings, and sought to recover the money that his office spent investigating prostitution on the site. The Sheriff claims to have arrested over 200 people through Craigslist since January of 2007.
The court held that Craigslist was shielded from liability by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.
U.S. to Extradite Polanksi
The United States has formally requested that Switzerland extradite film director Roman Polanski, 76, who fled California in 1977 before sentencing for sexually assaulted a 13-year-old girl.
Swiss authorities said that director Roman Polanski could spend up to two years in prison if he was extradited back to the United States for sentencing in a sexual assault case. Los Angeles County prosecutors have declined to reveal what kind of sentence they would seek if he is returned to Los Angeles.
The extradition process is complex and could delay Polanski's return if he challenges the request. A Swiss court recently rejected a bid by Polanski for release on bail, saying the risk that he would flee was too great.
Production Incentive Update
According to Entertainment Partners http://www.productionincentives.com/ Iowa has suspended its incentive program and Connecticut recently passed budget bill changes the existing motion picture and digital animation production and infrastructure project expense tax credits, applicable for income years commencing on or after January 1, 2010.
Changes to the motion picture and digital animation tax credits include: (1) a minimum spend of $100,000 for a 10% credit, a minimum spend of $501,000 for a 15% credit, and a minimum spend in excess of $1,000,000 for a 30% credit; (2) a minimum local principal photography requirement of 50% for the film credit; (3) an aggregate project cap on star talent compensation subject to local income tax of $20,000,000 (in addition to the per person cap of $15,000,000); (4) exclusion of costs for the independent certification; (5) exclusion of all costs incurred outside the state, but used within; (6) infomercials have been excluded from eligible formats; and (7) the independent audit must be completed by an approved firm.
The digital media and motion picture infrastructure project credit has also been changed to require a minimum qualifying spend of $3,000,000 to be eligible for a 20% credit.


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GROUP(5) NetBSD File Formats Manual GROUP(5)Powered by man-cgi (2024-03-20). Maintained for NetBSD by Kimmo Suominen. Based on man-cgi by Panagiotis Christias.
group -- format of the group permissions file
The group file /etc/group is the local source of group information. It can be used in conjunction with the Hesiod domain `group', and the NIS maps `group.byname' and `group.bygid', as controlled by nsswitch.conf(5). The group file consists of newline separated ASCII records, usually one per group, containing four colon `:' separated fields. Each line has the form: group:passwd:gid:[member[,member]...] These fields are as follows: group Name of the group. passwd Group's encrypted password. gid The group's decimal ID. member Group members. The group field is the group name used for granting file access to users who are members of the group. The gid field is the number associated with the group name. They should both be unique across the system (and often across a group of systems) since they control file access. The passwd field is an optional encrypted password. This field is rarely used and an asterisk is normally placed in it rather than leaving it blank. The member field contains the names of users granted the privileges of group. The member names are separated by commas without spaces or new- lines. A user is automatically in a group if that group was specified in their /etc/passwd entry and does not need to be added to that group in the /etc/group file. Very large groups can be accommodated over multiple lines by specifying the same group name in all of them; other than this, each line has an identical format to that described above. This can be necessary to avoid the record's length limit, which is currently set to 1024 characters. Note that the limit can be queried through sysconf(3) by using the _SC_GETGR_R_SIZE_MAX parameter. For example: biggrp:*:1000:user001,user002,user003,...,user099,user100 biggrp:*:1000:user101,user102,user103,... The group with the name ``wheel'' has a special meaning to the su(1) com- mand: if it exists and has any members, only users listed in that group are allowed to su to ``root''.
If `dns' is specified for the `group' database in nsswitch.conf(5), then group lookups occur from the `group' Hesiod domain.
If `nis' is specified for the `group' database in nsswitch.conf(5), then group lookups occur from the `group.byname' and `group.bygid' NIS map.
If `compat' is specified for the `group' database, and either `dns' or `nis' is specified for the `group_compat' database in nsswitch.conf(5), then the group file may also contain lines of the format +name:*:: which causes the specified group to be included from the `group' Hesiod domain or the `group.byname' NIS map (respectively). If no group name is specified, or the plus sign (``+'') appears alone on line, all groups are included from the Hesiod domain or the NIS map. Hesiod or NIS compat references may appear anywhere in the file, but the single plus sign (``+'') form should be on the last line, for historical reasons. Only the first group with a specific name encountered, whether in the group file itself, or included via Hesiod or NIS, will be used.
newgrp(1), passwd(1), su(1), setgroups(2), crypt(3), initgroups(3), nsswitch.conf(5), passwd(5), yp(8)
A group file format appeared in Version 6 AT&T UNIX. The NIS file format first appeared in SunOS. The Hesiod support first appeared in NetBSD 1.4.
The passwd(1) command does not change the group passwords. NetBSD 10.0 June 21, 2007 NetBSD 10.0


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How the brain controls our habits
McGovern neuroscientists identify a brain region that can switch between new and old habits.
Habits are behaviors wired so deeply in our brains that we perform them automatically. This allows you to follow the same route to work every day without thinking about it, liberating your brain to ponder other things, such as what to make for dinner.
However, the brain's executive command center does not completely relinquish control of habitual behavior. A new study from MIT neuroscientists has found that a small region of the brain's prefrontal cortex, where most thought and planning occurs, is responsible for moment-by-moment control of which habits are switched on at a given time.
"We've always thought – and I still do – that the value of a habit is you don't have to think about it. It frees up your brain to do other things," says Institute Professor Ann Graybiel, a member of the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT. "However, it doesn't free up all of it. There's some piece of your cortex that are still devoted to that control."
The new study offers hope for those trying to kick bad habits, says Graybiel, senior author of the new study, which appears this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. It shows that though habits may be deeply ingrained, the brain's planning centers can shut them off. It also raises the possibility of intervening in that brain region to treat people who suffer from disorders involving overly habitual behavior, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Lead author of the paper is Kyle Smith, a McGovern Institute research scientist. Other authors are recent MIT graduate Arti Virkud and Karl Deisseroth, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University.
Old habits die hard
Habits often become so ingrained that we keep doing them even though we're no longer benefiting from them. The MIT team experimentally simulated this situation with rats trained to run a T-shaped maze. As the rats approached the decision point, they heard a tone indicating whether they should turn left or right. When they chose correctly, they received a reward – chocolate milk (for turning left) or sugar water (for turning right).
To show that the behavior was habitual, the researchers eventually stopped giving the trained rats any rewards, and found that they continued running the maze correctly. The researchers then went a step further, offering the rats chocolate milk in their cages but mixing it with lithium chloride, which causes light nausea. The rats still continued to run left when cued to do so, although they stopped drinking the chocolate milk.
Once they had shown that the habit was fully ingrained, the researchers wanted to see if they could break it by interfering with a part of the prefrontal cortex known as the infralimbic (IL) cortex. Although the neural pathways that encode habitual behavior appear to be located in deep brain structures known as the basal ganglia, it has been shown that the IL cortex is also necessary for such behaviors to develop.
Using optogenetics, a technique that allows researchers to inhibit specific cells with light, the researchers turned off IL cortex activity for several seconds as the rats approached the point in the maze where they had to decide which way to turn.
Almost instantly, the rats dropped the habit of running to the left (the side with the now-distasteful reward). This suggests that turning off the IL cortex switches the rats' brains from an "automatic, reflexive mode to a mode that's more cognitive or engaged in the goal of processing what exactly it is that they're running for," Smith says.
Once broken of the habit of running left, the rats soon formed a new habit, running to the right side every time, even when cued to run left. The researchers showed that they could break this new habit by once again inhibiting the IL cortex with light. To their surprise, they found that these rats immediately regained their original habit of running left when cued to do so.
"This habit was never really forgotten," Smith says. "It's lurking there somewhere, and we've unmasked it by turning off the new one that had been overwritten."
Online control
The findings suggest that the IL cortex is responsible for determining, moment-by-moment, which habitual behaviors will be expressed. "To us, what's really stunning is that habit representation still must be totally intact and retrievable in an instant, and there's an online monitoring system controlling that," Graybiel says.
The study also raises interesting ideas concerning how automatic habitual behaviors really are, says Jane Taylor, a professor of psychiatry and psychology at Yale University. "We've always thought of habits as being inflexible, but this suggests you can have flexible habits, in some sense," says Taylor, who was not part of the research team.
It also appears that the IL cortex favors new habits over old ones, consistent with previous studies showing that when habits are broken they are not forgotten, but replaced with new ones.
Although it would be too invasive to use optogenetic interventions to break habits in humans, Graybiel says it is possible the technology will evolve to the point where it might be a feasible option for treating disorders involving overly repetitive or addictive behavior.
In follow-up studies, the researchers are trying to pinpoint exactly when during a maze run the IL cortex selects the appropriate habit. They are also planning to specifically inhibit different cell types within the IL cortex, to see which ones are most involved in habit control.
The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Stanley H. and Sheila G. Sydney Fund, R. Pourian and Julia Madadi, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and the Gatsby Foundation.


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The Era 1947-1957 by Roger Kahn
The Era 1947-1957
When the Yankees, the Giants and the Dodgers Ruled the World By Roger Kahn.
If you were living in New York and old enough to be a baseball fan during the time period 1947-1957, which this book covers, you will especially enjoy this book. Kahn who is a prolific sportswriter, best known for his classic Boys of Summer (1972) which was about the Brooklyn Dodgers, has been writing books for over 60 years. Can you imagine being a kid in a city where there are three major league baseball teams and frequently at least one and sometimes two will play in the World Series? When you are living through it, you take it for granted. But when you can look back on it, you realize what a unique experience it had been. Kahn, not only had the writing skills to take us back to that special era, but he has knowledge of the behind-the-scenes events, interactions and personalities of the people who starred in this era.
Before I go further, I must acknowledge that there was only one team that really mattered to me, and that was the Brooklyn Dodgers. My favorite players were Pee Wee Reese, the Dodgers' shortstop and Jackie Robinson. It was only years later as I grew up, did I fully appreciate the significance of Branch Rickey bringing Robinson to Brooklyn as the first black major league baseball player. But all the behind-the-scenes details are here and a lot more about the personalities and the events of the golden era of baseball.
To me the book was very personal as I imagined that it will be to the older readers who were drawn to this book. One of the most traumatic moments of my life, certainly of my youth, occurred on October 3, 1951, when Bobby Thompson of the New York Giants hit a homerun off a pitch thrown by Ralph Branca in the 9th inning of the decisive third game of a three-game playoff for the pennant that defeated the Brooklyn Dodgers and put the Giants in the World Series against the New York Yankees.It was known then and now as "The Shot Heard Round The world." I remember exactly where I was and all the details of that "at bat."
It happened that my best friend's father got two tickets to the subsequent 1951 World Series that would now take place between the Giants and the Yankees (a famed Subway Series) and I was invited to go to the game with my friend. We took a subway to Coogan's Bluff where the Yankees played the Giants. I distinctly remember when a Yankee by the named Gil McDougal hit a grand slam homerun and neither my friend nor I were moved since we were shameless Dodger fans.
This is the type of book that will ignite memories in anyone who lived through this era. It will bring alive many events and personalities such as Willie Mays and his famous outfield "catch". Other persons that come to mind are "Joltin'" Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams, Leo Durocher, Charlie Dressen, Casey Stengal, Yogi Berra, Duke Snider, Carl Furillo, Phil Rizzuto, Mickey Mantle, Allie Reynolds, Joe Black, Roy Campanella, Walter O'Malley and many others.
This book was written in 1993 with an after foreword provided by the author in 2001, but it is a timeless book. It provides an account of the personalities and events of our national pastime "when the Yankees, the Giants and the Dodgers ruled the world".
Please leave any comments below
To purchase this book or other books by Roger Kahn, please click here


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I am quoted in an editorial of The Washington Times for Wednesday, June 24 (Sotomayor's Ethical Oversight). The editorial deals with Sotomayor's former firm Sotomayor & Associates, when there don't appear to have been any associates. My original post can be referenced here: Did Sotomayor Violate NY Ethics Rules in Private Solo Practice with "& Associates" Name?
The first half of the editorial comes pretty much straight from my posting. From there the Times goes off on a tangent trying to find greater significance.
I will leave it to others to comment on whether the Washington Times took a long stretch in the significance of the violation. (For the last two weeks I've been too busy with work to put together much new content on this blog.)
In the meantime, if you are a new reader, here is a "greatest hits" for this blog, so that you can consider subscribing or adding this site to your RSS feed. But remember, do it today because the price will double next week.


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William Kray
Senior Manager, Product Delivery Integration
Rackspace Technology
William Kray has helped businesses reinvent themselves using Cloud and DevOps principles for 8 years. Coming to Rackspace Technology through the acquisition of Onica, William is passionate about libre and open source software and using the right tool for every job. When not at his computer, he can probably be found spending time with his wife Rachel or working on his 1966 Austin Mini Cooper S.


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£162.00 Original price was: £162.00.£129.60Current price is: £129.60.
This luxurious cushion is perfect for the instantly freshening up any room.
In stock
Our Milano linen black oxford cushion will instantly transform a room. Add to lounge furniture or a bed to create a luxury, cosy touch.
Material: Linen, Duck Feather
Care: Dry clean only
Note: Indoor use only
Free Delivery Over £200
Delivery to UK Mainland is free on orders over £200 from Worzals at Home. To take advantage of this offer, simply checkout with an item/s over £200 and it will automatically deduct the delivery charge at the checkout. If you are purchasing an item from Worzals at Home that is under £20, there is a delivery charge of £5.95
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All orders will go out under our Standard Delivery unless otherwise stated in the product description. All Standard Deliveries will be received within 3-5 working days of leaving our warehouse*. Please allow up to 10 working days to receive your order during or after busy periods (sales, events, public holidays). *Standard Delivery excludes 'made to order' or 'direct dispatch' items.
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Our 'Direct Dispatch' items will be delivered to you directly from our approved manufacturers, not by our own courier. Direct Dispatch items are clearly indicated under the product description tab as a 'Direct Dispatch item'. Delivery lead times for these items vary and can take anywhere from 3-28 working days.
For more information please see our delivery page. If you have any further queries at all, please don't hesitate to contact us and we will be more than happy to assist you.


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Exclusive: Lost in the celebration over the Nobel Peace Prize to the UN agency eliminating the Syrian government's chemical weapons is the question of who was really behind the Aug. 21 poison-gas attack near Damascus. Relevant to that mystery is the recent U.S. pressure to control key UN agencies including the prize recipient, reports Robert Parry.
By Robert Parry
For at least the past dozen years, the U.S. government has aggressively sought to gain control of the leadership of key United Nations agencies, including the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) which is central to the dispute over the Syrian government's alleged use of Sarin gas on Aug. 21.
Yet, despite evidence that this U.S. manipulation can twist the findings of these UN groups in ways favored by Official Washington, the mainstream American press usually leaves out this context and treats UN findings — or at least those that side with the U.S. government — as independent and beyond reproach, including the OPCW's recent reporting on the Syrian dispute.
For instance, the background of the current OPCW director-general, Ahmet Uzumcu, is rarely if ever mentioned in American news articles about the OPCW's work in Syria. Yet, his biography raises questions about whether he and thus his organization can be truly objective about the Syrian civil war.
Uzumcu, who was chosen to take over the top OPCW job in 2010, is a career Turkish diplomat who previously served as Turkey's consul in Aleppo, Syria, now a rebel stronghold in the war to oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad; as Turkey's ambassador to Israel, which has publicly come out in favor of the rebels ; and as Turkey's permanent representative to NATO, which is dominated by the United States and other Western powers hostile to Assad. Uzumcu's home country of Turkey also has been a principal backer of the rebel cause.
While Uzumcu's history does not necessarily mean he would pressure his staff to slant the OPCW's findings against the Syrian government, his objectivity surely could be put in question given his past diplomatic postings and the interests of his home government. Plus, even if Uzumcu were inclined to defy Turkey and its NATO allies and insist on being evenhanded in his approach toward Syria he surely would remember what happened to one of his predecessors who got on the wrong side of U.S. geopolitical interests.
That history about how the world's only superpower can influence purportedly honest-broker UN outfits was recalled on Monday in an article by Marlise Simons of the New York Times, describing how George W. Bush's administration ousted OPCW's director-general Jose Mauricio Bustani in 2002 because he was seen as an obstacle to invading Iraq.
Bustani, who had been reelected unanimously to the post less than a year earlier, described in an interview with the Times how Bush's emissary, Under-Secretary of State John Bolton, marched into Bustani's office and announced that he (Bustani) would be fired.
"The story behind [Bustani's] ouster has been the subject of interpretation and speculation for years, and Mr. Bustani, a Brazilian diplomat, has kept a low profile since then," wrote Simons. "But with the agency thrust into the spotlight with news of the Nobel [Peace] Prize last week, Mr. Bustani agreed to discuss what he said was the real reason: the Bush administration's fear that chemical weapons inspections in Iraq would conflict with Washington's rationale for invading it. Several officials involved in the events, some speaking publicly about them for the first time, confirmed his account."
Bolton, a blunt-speaking neocon who later became Bush's Ambassador to the United Nations, continued to insist in a recent interview with the New York Times that Bustani was ousted for incompetence. But Bustani and other diplomats close to the case reported that Bustani's real offense was drawing Iraq into acceptance of the OPCW's conventions for eliminating chemical weapons, just as the Bush administration was planning to pin its propaganda campaign for invading Iraq on the country's alleged secret stockpile of WMD.
Bustani's ouster gave President Bush a clearer path to the invasion by letting him frighten the American people about the prospects of Iraq sharing its chemical weapons and possibly a nuclear bomb with al-Qaeda terrorists.
Brushing aside Iraq's insistence that it had destroyed its chemical weapons and didn't have a nuclear weapons project, Bush launched the invasion in March 2003, only for the world to discover later that the Iraqi government was telling the truth. As a result of the Iraq War, hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have died, along with nearly 4,500 American soldiers, with the estimated costs to the U.S. taxpayers running into the trillions of dollars.
Bush's Bullying
But U.S. bullying of UN agencies did not start or stop with replacing the OPCW's Bustani. Prior to Bustani's ouster, the Bush administration employed similar bare-knuckled tactics against UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary C. Robinson, who had dared criticize human rights abuses committed by Israel and Bush's "war on terror." The Bush administration lobbied hard against her reappointment. Officially, she announced she was retiring on her own accord.
The Bush administration also forced out Robert Watson, the chairman of the U.N.-sponsored Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [IPCC]. Under his leadership, the panel had reached a consensus that human activities, such as burning fossil fuels, contributed to global warming. ExxonMobil sent a memo to Bush's White House asking, "Can Watson be replaced now at the request of the U.S.?"
The ExxonMobil memo, obtained by the Natural Resources Defense Council through the Freedom of Information Act, urged the White House to "restructure U.S. attendance at the IPCC meetings to assure no Clinton/Gore proponents are involved in decisional activities." On April 19, 2002, the Bush administration succeeded in replacing Watson with Rajendra Pachauri, an Indian economist.
Commenting on his removal, Watson said, "U.S. support was, of course, an important factor. They [the IPCC] came under a lot of pressure from ExxonMobil who asked the White House to try and remove me." [For details, see Consortiumnews.com's "Bush's Grim Vision."]
This pattern of pressure continued into the Obama administration which used its own diplomatic and economic muscle to insert a malleable Japanese diplomat, Yukiya Amano, into the leadership of the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency [IAEA], which was playing a key role in the dispute over Iran's nuclear program.
Before his appointment, Amano had portrayed himself as an independent-minded fellow who was resisting U.S.-Israeli propaganda about the Iranian nuclear program. Yet behind the scenes, he was meeting with U.S. and Israeli officials to coordinate on how to serve their interests. His professed doubts about an Iranian nuclear-bomb project was only a theatrical device to intensify the later impact if he declared that Iran indeed was building a nuke.
But this ploy was spoiled by Pvt. Bradley Manning's leaking of hundreds of thousands of pages of U.S. diplomatic cables. Among them were reports on Amano's secret collaboration with U.S. and Israeli officials.
The U.S. embassy cables revealing the truth about Amano were published by the U.K. Guardian in 2011 (although ignored by the New York Times, the Washington Post and other mainstream U.S. news outlets). Despite the silence of the major U.S. news media, Internet outlets, such as Consortiumnews.com, highlighted the Amano cables, meaning that enough Americans knew the facts not to be fooled again. [For details, see Consortiumnews.com's "Did Manning Help Avert War with Iran?"]
The Syrian Dossiers
This history is relevant now because the credibility of the UN's chemical weapons office has been central to conclusions drawn by the mainstream U.S. news media that the OPCW's report on the alleged chemical weapons attack outside Damascus on Aug. 21 pointed to the Syrian government as the responsible party.
Though the OPCW report did not formally assess blame for the attack, which purportedly killed hundreds of Syrian civilians, the report included details that the U.S. press and some non-governmental organizations, such as Human Rights Watch, used to extrapolate the guilt of Assad's government.
Yet, elements of the OPCW's official report appeared stretched to create the public impression that the Syrian government carried out the attack despite apparent doubts by OPCW field investigators whose concerns were played down or buried in tables and footnotes.
For instance, the UN inspectors found surprisingly little evidence of Sarin gas at the first neighborhood that they visited on Aug. 26, Moadamiyah, south of Damascus. Of the 13 environmental samples collected that day, none tested positive for Sarin or other chemical-warfare agents. The two laboratories used by the inspectors also had conflicting results regarding trace amounts of chemical residue that can be left behind by Sarin after being degraded by intense heat.
By contrast, tests for Sarin were more clearly positive from samples taken two and three days later on Aug. 28-29 in the eastern suburban area of Zamalka/Ein Tarma. There, Lab One found Sarin in 11 of 17 samples and Lab Two found Sarin in all 17 samples.
Though the UN report concludes that Sarin was present in Moadamiyah despite the failure to identify actual chemical-warfare agents the report does not explain why the Aug. 26 samples in Moadamiyah would test so negatively when the Aug. 28-29 samples in Zamalka/Ein Tarma would test much more positively.
One would have thought that the earlier samples would test more strongly than later samples after two or three more days of exposure to sun and other elements. An obvious explanation would be that the release of Sarin was concentrated in the eastern suburb and that the spotty residue detected in the south came from other factors, such as false positives for secondary chemicals especially from Lab Two.
If the Aug. 21 attack centered on Zamalka/Ein Tarma as the UN results suggest, that would indicate a much less expansive use of chemical weapons than a U.S. government white paper claimed. The alleged breadth of the attack served as a primary argument for blaming the Syrian government given its greater military capabilities than the rebels.
Obama's Claims
That point was driven home by President Barack Obama in his nationally televised address on Sept. 10 when he asserted that 11 neighborhoods had come under chemical bombardment on Aug. 21. [See Consortiumnews.com's "Obama Still Withholds Syria Evidence."]
However, even the U.S. "Government Assessment" on the attack, issued on Aug. 30 explicitly blaming the Syrian government, suggested that the initial reports of about a dozen targets around Damascus may have been exaggerated. A footnote contained in a White House-released map of the supposed locations of the attack read:
"Reports of chemical attacks originating from some locations may reflect the movement of patients exposed in one neighborhood to field hospitals and medical facilities in the surrounding area. They may also reflect confusion and panic triggered by the ongoing artillery and rocket barrage, and reports of chemical use in other neighborhoods."
In other words, victims from one location could have rushed to clinics in other neighborhoods, creating the impression of a more widespread attack than actually occurred. That possibility would seem to be underscored by the divergent findings of the UN inspectors when they took soil and other environmental samples from the southern and eastern areas and got strikingly different results.
The UN inspectors also revealed how dependent they were on Syrian rebels for access to the areas of the alleged chemical attacks and to witnesses, with one rebel commander even asked to take "custody" of the UN inspection.
At the suspected attack sites, the inspectors also detected signs that evidence had been "moved" and "possibly manipulated." Regarding the Moadamiyah area, the UN report noted, "Fragments [of rockets] and other possible evidence have clearly been handled/moved prior to the arrival of the investigative team."
In the Zamalka/Ein Tarma neighborhood, where a crudely made missile apparently delivered the poison gas, the inspectors stated that "the locations have been well traveled by other individuals prior to the arrival of the Mission. During the time spent at these locations, individuals arrived carrying other suspected munitions indicating that such potential evidence is being moved and possibly manipulated."
Media's Conventional Wisdom
The UN inspectors did not draw any specific conclusion from their research as to whether Syrian government forces or the rebels were responsible for the hundreds of civilian deaths that resulted from the apparent use of Sarin gas. However, major U.S. news outlets, including the New York Times and the Washington Post, concluded that the findings implicated the Syrian government.
Those accounts cited weapons "experts" as asserting that the type of missiles used and the supposed sophistication of the Sarin were beyond the known capabilities of the rebels. The articles also said the rough calculations by the UN inspectors of the likely missile trajectories suggested that the launches occurred in government-controlled areas with the missiles landing in areas where the rebels dominate.
These mainstream U.S. news reports did not cite the cautionary comments contained in the UN report about possible tampering with evidence, nor did they take into account the conflicting lab results in Moadamiyah compared with Zamalka/Ein Tarma, nor the fact that the OPCW's director-general is a career Turkish diplomat. [For more on rebel capabilities, see Consortiumnews.com's "Do Syrian Rebels Have Sarin?"]
Reinforcing the Assad-did-it conventional wisdom, Secretary of State John Kerry and President Obama moved to assign any remaining doubters to the loony bin of conspiracy theorists. "We really don't have time today to pretend that anyone can have their own set of facts," Kerry sniffed in response to continuing Russian government's doubts.
President Obama drove home the same point in his annual address to the UN General Assembly: "It's an insult to human reason and to the legitimacy of this institution to suggest that anyone other than the regime carried out this attack."
Yet, the doubters reportedly include U.S. intelligence analysts, who I'm told have briefed Obama personally about the uncertainty of the evidence. Clearly, if the Obama administration had the entire intelligence community onboard, there would have been no need for such a dodgy dossier as the "Government Assessment" posted by the White House press office on Aug. 30, rather than a National Intelligence Estimate that would have reflected the views of the 16 intelligence agencies and been released by the Director of National Intelligence.
Doubts in the Field
And, Robert Fisk, a veteran reporter for London's Independent newspaper, found a lack of consensus among UN officials and other international observers in Damascus despite the career risks that they faced by deviating from the conventional wisdom on Assad's guilt.
"In a country indeed a world where propaganda is more influential than truth, discovering the origin of the chemicals that suffocated so many Syrians a month ago is an investigation fraught with journalistic perils," Fisk wrote. "Nevertheless, it also has to be said that grave doubts are being expressed by the UN and other international organisations in Damascus that the sarin gas missiles were fired by Assad's army.
"While these international employees cannot be identified, some of them were in Damascus on 21 August and asked a series of questions to which no one has yet supplied an answer. Why, for example, would Syria wait until the UN inspectors were ensconced in Damascus on 18 August before using sarin gas little more than two days later and only four miles from the hotel in which the UN had just checked in?
"Having thus presented the UN with evidence of the use of sarin which the inspectors quickly acquired at the scene the Assad regime, if guilty, would surely have realised that a military attack would be staged by Western nations.
"As it is, Syria is now due to lose its entire strategic long-term chemical defences against a nuclear-armed Israel because, if Western leaders are to be believed, it wanted to fire just seven missiles almost a half century old at a rebel suburb in which only 300 of the 1,400 victims (if the rebels themselves are to be believed) were fighters.
"As one Western NGO put it 'if Assad really wanted to use sarin gas, why for God's sake, did he wait for two years and then when the UN was actually on the ground to investigate?'"
Further adding to these doubts about the Official Story of the Aug. 21 poison-gas attack is the 11-year-old story about how the U.S. government engineered a change in the leadership of the UN's OPCW because the director-general committed the unpardonable sin of getting in the way of a U.S. geopolitical/propaganda priority — and the question about the impartiality of the Turkish diplomat now running the agency.
Investigative reporter Robert Parry broke many of the Iran-Contra stories for The Associated Press and Newsweek in the 1980s. You can buy his new book, America's Stolen Narrative, either in print here or as an e-book (from Amazon and barnesandnoble.com). For a limited time, you also can order Robert Parry's trilogy on the Bush Family and its connections to various right-wing operatives for only $34. The trilogy includes America's Stolen Narrative. For details on this offer, click here.