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A new proposed "casebook" on psychologist ethics in national security settings, written by the Ethics Committee of the American Psychological Association (APA), tells psychologists that when assessing whether an interrogation technique is abusive or not, they should consider, among other factors, whether there are "data to support that the technique is effective in gathering accurate information." This determination, which places the needs of the military or intelligence gathering entity above that of the person the psychologist is examining, demonstrates how blatantly unethical it is for psychologists to participate in these interrogations.
While it's shocking that APA would call upon psychologists to weigh an interrogation technique's "effectiveness" with other ethical standards, it's even crazier when one considers it took them six years to write this up, having been originally tasked with writing an "ethics casebook" for interrogations back in 2005.
The vignettes that would compose the "casebook" were apparently posted (PDF) by APA for public comments last June, but APA failed to notify their membership, or really anyone. The earliest comment posted was on August 18. In a comment posted by Nina Thomas, a psychologist who was one of the few non-military, non-intelligence-linked members on the 2005 Psychological Ethics and National Security (PENS) panel hastily assembled to formulate APA policy on psychologists and interrogations, Thomas decried the lack of notification of the membership.
"A barely three month period for responses does not seem adequate when we have not previously known anything about the progress on this work," Thomas wrote. She also indicated that progress on the casebook's development had not been regularly reported to APA's Council of Representatives. (The mandate to produce such a "casebook" goes back to 2005.) Thomas had other criticisms as well, writing, "It is my hope and aim that the Ethics Committee will seriously rethink its charge and return to Council with a request for a revised mandate."
The petition resolution affirmed by the membership of APA [in 2008] makes perfectly clear that psychologists are prohibited from working in settings in which people are held outside of or in violation of either international law or the U.S. Constitution. The only exceptions to this prohibition are in cases in which a psychologist is working directly for the person being detained, for an independent third party working to protect human rights or providing treatment to military personnel. These major and ultimately most important points do not have sufficient presence in this casebook as currently devised.
Over and over the APA "casebook" advises members to seek "consultation" about any difficult ethical situation, while advising psychologists to rely on a host of human rights documents, APA resolutions, and the APA ethics code to "guide" them. But psychologists shouldn't even be in these torture settings to begin with!
The petition resolution referenced by Thomas was a member-initiated petition that was passed in a referendum vote in 2008 by a membership unhappy with APA's policy on interrogations, and implemented by APA's Council in 2009. The resolution states that "psychologists may not work in settings where persons are held outside of, or in violation of, either International Law (e.g., the UN Convention Against Torture and the Geneva Conventions) or the US Constitution (where appropriate), unless they are working directly for the persons being detained or for an independent third party working to protect human rights."
But APA has adamantly refused to set up a process that would actually determine when such a detention setting is in violation of the law, even while sententiously expressing "grave concern" over reports of torture and abuse at U.S. military and CIA interrogation and detention centers. According to one "casebook" instruction, "the psychologist … would need to determine whether the site is a lawful or unlawful detention setting." If APA can't or won't make such a determination, how can they expect an individual psychologist to do this, and feel they will be backed up by their organization for doing so?
APA has refused to follow the policy of the American Medical Association and the American Psychiatric Association in instructing their membership not to participate in interrogations. Indeed, it was the contention of the 2005 APA PENS panel that "it is consistent with the APA Ethics Code for psychologists to serve in consultative roles to interrogation and information-gathering processes for national security-related purposes, as psychologists have a long-standing tradition of doing in other law enforcement contexts."
Nothing in the new "casebook" is really any different than the position APA derived in the 2005 PENS report (PDF). The psychologist is supposed to walk an ethical tightrope while serving as "consultant" to interrogations, admonished to report torture or other cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment (as defined by law), and to engage in research beneficial to national security aims. All the while, APA's seemingly benign admonishments cover a policy of support to detention and interrogation policies that amount to torture, using various legalistic loopholes built into a 2002 rewrite of the Ethics Code to allow the unethical use of psychologist expertise to brain-trust the torture.
APA concludes that psychologists should report torture to the "appropriate authorities." Furthermore, "If the psychologist was not satisfied with the result of reporting such concerns, the psychologist would consider other reporting avenues such as the judge advocate and/or the inspector general." It all sounds good, until you realize that such reporting rarely goes anywhere, and it beggars all knowledge of social psychology to believe that one individual will buck an entire system and put their careers on the line to protest. This is even more true when one considers that previous investigations of detainee torture have either minimized or covered up significant aspects of the torture.
The one case that APA often cites where a psychologist protested torture concerns NCIS psychologist Michael Gelles, who protested the torture protocol for Mohamed Al Qahtani. Two salient points are connected with that case. One is that it didn't stop the torture, both of Al Qahtani, nor the spread of the torture program throughout the Department of Defense. Two, Gelles was not just protesting a torture protocol, he was proposing a different program of psychological torture based primarily on the application of extreme isolation of the prisoner, who was reportedly already manifesting psychotic behavior.
Another example of the impotency of the policy of protest concerns the CIA torture of Abu Zubaydah. Planned by two former SERE psychologists, James Mitchell and Bruce Jessen, the "enhanced interrogation techniques" applied to Zubaydah, which included stress positions, placing him into a closed box with insects, waterboarding, sleep deprivation and more, led then chief operational psychologist for the C.I.A.'s counterterrorism center, R. Scott Shumate to leave the interrogation "in disgust, leaving before the most dire tactics had commenced," according to a 2007 article by Katherine Eban in Vanity Fair.
There is no evidence that Shumate protested the torture up the chain of command. Indeed, the torture continued, and was extended to others. Shumate, whatever he did, was rewarded by being put on the APA PENS panel.
APA cannot help but confuse the "casebook" instructions by mixing use of the ethics code as a guideline with advice laid down by DoD in the Army Field Manual for interrogations: "'If the proposed approach technique were used by the enemy against one of your fellow soldiers, would you believe the soldier had been abused?'…. if the answer to this question is yes, 'the contemplated action should not be conducted.'" The problem is, as has been amply documented, it is the military and/or CIA psychologists who are proposing the "techniques" to begin with, or following orders from those higher in the chain of command (see here, and here, and here, for instance).
Psychologists Speak Out
Dan Aalbers, one of the authors of the APA petition resolution told The Dissenter, "I didn't understand until fairly recently how few obligations remain in the APA's ethics code: if you use these quite useful pdfs [comparing the 1992 and 2002 ethical codes] and search for words and phrases that denote obligation — 'must' 'should', 'do not' and 'obligation' itself — you will quickly find that most of these phrases appear in the 1992 revision of the ethics code and, more often than not, the 2002 code saddles psychologists with no obligation greater than due consideration. Psychologists 'must' consider the consequences their actions — but they are not prevented from doing much…. The 2002 ethics code should be thrown out and the 1992 code — with its strictures on informed consent, on clarification of role, and obligations to avoid multiple relationships — reinstated."
One good example of what Aalbers is talking about is Section 3.04 of the Ethics Code, to which the "casebook" authors often refer. It states, "Psychologists take reasonable steps to avoid harming their clients/patients…" Not "Do Not Harm," but the taking of "reasonable steps." Indeed, until the membership and some of the human rights community raised a hullaballoo, and even then only after eight years of stalling, did APA change its code last year regarding ethical conflicts with organizational authorities. Before this change, since 2002 the APA has instructed its membership that resolution of such conflicts could be resolved by simply following the authority in question (like the military) and not the ethical standard, should they be in conflict. Critics called this the Nuremberg Defense, referencing many a Nazi's defense against war crimes with the refrain that he was "only following orders."
Another psychologist who has been active in opposing APA's policies on interrogation, former president of Psychologists for Social Responsibility Stephen Soldz, also told The Dissenter that he was worried about aspects of the Ethics Code that relate to research. "Remember," Soldz said, "that [Ethics Codes] 8.05 ['Dispensing with Informed Consent'] and 8.07 ['Deception in Research'] still remain. 8.05 removes the requirement for informed consent for institutional research. And 8.07 raises the bar for psychological distress to rule out research deception, using language similar to the Convention Against Torture's definition of psychological torture. Meanwhile, the High Value Detainee Interrogation Group currently has former APA fellow Susan Brandon as Research Director. The HIG may have conducted and is apparently intending to conduct research on detainees. There are persistent rumors that research on detainees occurred as recent as last year (I'm not saying it ended, just have no current sources) in both Iraq and Afghanistan. While we don't know the nature of this research, there are some indications in the press that raise alarm.
"All this is simply to say that the interrogation issue is not a matter of the Bush administration and the past. Rather, it is still alive. And we should remember that research may have played a larger role in the need for psychologists than many of us originally realized."
Martha Davis, a forensic psychologist who has just completed a documentary about psychologists, interrogations and torture, "Doctors of the Dark Side," in a statement to The Dissenter cautioned that no fine tuning of the "casebook" would make things better (for the record, I was interviewed by Davis as part of the documentary):
I worry that IF the Ethics Committee were ever to do the right thing, extend the deadline, open the discussion up, and somehow put together another, much better Casebook that incorporated these suggestions and other good ones, then in effect, the casebook process would reinforce and "legitimize" the practice of having psychologists directly involved in interrogations. Every significant health and human rights organization has condemn this practice except the APA. The simple versions of "no direct involvement in interrogations" adopted by the AMA and ApA are understandable to everyone and the only way to guarantee that doctors "keep in their lane" etc., etc. We know so much more now than we did in 2005 — so much of it ominous and disturbing. The practice is spreading beyond "national security" interrogations to US law enforcement settings. BSCT psychologists violate at least 10 parts of the APA Ethics Code (and that's without torture), and the role is incompatible with the new Specialty Guidelines of Forensic Psychology.
Len Rubenstein, Senior Scholar, Center for Human Rights and Public Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, wrote an op-ed at Huffington Post last week, indicating he believed that a recent rewrite by APA of its forensic psychology guidelines should apply to psychologists and interrogations. Rubenstein, calling the PENS ethical guidelines "ethically untenable, little more than a shabby rationalization for severe ethical violations," noted that APA's new Specialty Guidelines for Forensic Psychologists call for complete transparency with the client, and eschews use of deception, both the opposite of military/CIA practice.
The guidelines also render intolerable the conflict of interest at the heart of the psychologists' role — at once to advance intelligence gathering and to act as a "safety officer." The conflict, moreover, is likely to be resolved in favor of pressing for information, since the psychologists involved are classified as combatants, not clinicians (though they must be licensed to practice), and assigned to an intelligence chain of command. Whereas PENS sought to fudge the conflict by urging a "delicate balance of ethical considerations" the Specialty Guidelines insist on adherence to core obligations of integrity and fairness and avoidance of involvement in roles with conflicts of interest.
But according to forensic psychologist Karen Franklin, "These guidelines are not enforceable. And, like all such professional guidelines, they will be subject to diverse interpretations."
And it is in such a forest of conflicting interpretations, vague instructions, unenforceable prohibitions against torture, and the like, that APA hides complicity in the U.S. torture program, having determined that "national security psychology" is the wave of the future. The lack of accountability for psychologist collaboration with torture is the background for the entire discussion. It is more incumbent than ever that psychologists and other mental health professionals speak out against this amalgam of psychological science and practice with the art of coercive interrogation and persuasion, of the marriage of psychology with torture.


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Facebook will team up with online music services Spotify and Rdio so users can stream music.
Facebook will announce the music feature at its Sept. 22 developers conference in San Francisco, Bloomberg reported. The article said it had three different anonymous sources confirming the report. This isn't the first time Facebook has entered the media business. It began renting movies online earlier this year -- but streaming music seems to be a hot topic.
"Many of the most popular music services around the world are integrated with Facebook and we're constantly talking to our partners about ways to improve these integrations," said Jonathan Thaw, a spokesman for Facebook.
U.S. & World
News from around the country and around the globe
Facebook already has some dealings with Spotify and Rdio, recently letting the two companies publish user activity on the social network, according to the Wall Street Journal. Perhaps that was only the beginning of their beautiful friendship?

subset: commoncrawl


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I have a confession to make.
A few months ago, I wrote about the Boulder Open Coffee Club and how awesome it was.
However, my only experience with the biweekly meeting at Atlas Purveyors was through years of stalking the hashtag, #BOCC.
You see, BOCC meets at eight in the morning.
Eight in the morning. That is rulllll early for me to drag my ass outta bed, so I would always just backread the hashtag during my 9:30 class on Tuesdays (sorry, Dr. N.).
And even though the godawful early time was a convenient excuse, it wasn't my only reason for waiting: I was nervous. I didn't know if I'd be doing it right. I wanted my first time to be special.
Well, yesterday I finally decided I was ready and jumped into BOCC.
After all of my research, I knew that it was important to get there early so as not to be shoved up against the door. I chose a spot in the back and found a cozy spot next to a few more newcomers.
This week's meeting was somewhat different than I expected, as a local company called Atoms launched right at the meeting. You'll definitely be hearing more about them in the next couple of weeks, as they're doing pretty cool stuff for kids (and kids at heart) using nerdy stuff.
After a brief demo, the group of around 40 people bounced from subject to subject, taking five or so minutes to share ideas and opinions.
What I found great about the experience was that even though it's an event focused on tech and startups, BOCC has something for everyone. Even my friend Ashley, an international affairs major with more interest in DC than SV, was able to find elements of the conversation that piqued her interest. From patent laws to taxi drivers, the techy subjects of the day still had real-world applications outside our nerdy bubble.
BOCC is also a great way to whip your networking skills into shape. The people who attend the meeting come from all over the place and love to talk about anything and everything.
And like the Boulder startup community as a whole, the BOCC group really supports each other and wants to ensure that everyone is taken care of. At the beginning of the meeting, people had the opportunity to announce and solicit job openings, events, and services. While it can be scary and awkward to straight up ask people for a job or internship, I talked to two or three people yesterday who are currently working for startups and made their way into the business from the connections they made at BOCC.
Losing my Boulder Open Coffee Club virginity was definitely a special experience, and I can't wait to do it again.
Jessica Ryan is a senior media studies major at CU-Boulder. She writes about nerdy things once a week for the Colorado Daily. On Twitter: @JessicaLRyan


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Support For Candidate Noonan
To the Editor:
My husband and I have attended many Supervisor meetings in the last two years due to the flooding problems we have had. Keith Wirtz, Ed Noonan and Jerry Hofstad have been very helpful to us. They have shown much concern and willingness to help us and have attended extra meetings also. Our Supervisor is Leo Goeders, so our point is please vote for Ed Noonan on Nov. 6.
Thank you,
(signed) Jim and JoAnn Coakley
Emmetsburg, IA


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3D Imaging and Inspection in Demand as Country Focuses on Increasing and Optimizing its Manufacturing Economy
MORRISVILLE, N.C., July 19, 2012 Geomagic®, a global company providing 3D technology for digital reality, today announced its expansion into India to support the growing needs of the country's expanding design and manufacturing industries.
Geomagic's local presence will enable Indian engineering and manufacturing operations to more easily buy and learn Geomagic 3D scanning and imaging, 3D inspection and touch-enabled modeling solutions, to build more productivity and efficiency into their operations, as well as create digital workflows that reduce waste.
"There is a strong demand for Geomagic solutions in this region, with manufacturers seeking to utilize digital technology to build greater efficiencies into their manufacturing operations," said Tom Kurke, president and chief operating officer, Geomagic. "Local representation remains a highly important component of Geomagic's growth strategy, by building relationships with its partners and customers."
Geomagic's software and hardware tools enable ease-of-operaton in 3D lean manufacturing operations, allowing significant productivity improvements through using real world 3D data, interactive and organic design, and accurate measurement of manufactured parts. This works within the scope and aim of India's Twelfth Five-Year Plan draft, for 2012 – 2017, prepared by the Government of India Planning Commission, which addresses the need to innovate and produce products more efficiently. "…India needs more "frugal, distributed, affordable innovation" that produces more "frugal cost" products and services that are affordable by people at low levels of incomes without compromising the safety, efficiency, and utility of the products..."
Geomagic teams in India can now deliver hands-on demonstrations of Geomagic Studio,® Geomagic Qualify™ and its other 3D imaging and metrology tools, as well as provide local support to partners, resellers and customers. These software solutions deliver 3D scans into MCAD formats, including Autodesk Inventor®, CATIA®, SolidWorks® and Creo® (formerly Pro/ENGINEER.) The products also support all standard industry 3D formats for neutral file interoperability, and the latest 2012 releases deliver improved probing, PMI and GD&T tools in inspection and metrology, and improved handling of medium-range data in the 3D imaging field.
Geomagic's newly acquired Sensable product lines, which include Freeform 3D Modeling and Claytools, as well as the Phantom Haptic device product lines are available for demonstration and purchase through the Geomagic Sensable Group and VCreate Logic Private Limited, located in Bangalore.
Geomagic in India can be reached using email at Email Contact and additional contact information is located at: http://geomagic.com/en/how-to-buy/geomagic-offices/
About Geomagic
Geomagic ( www.geomagic.com) is a global company dedicated to advancing and applying 3D technology for the benefit of humanity. Different from CAD, Geomagic offers specific products to create 3D content from imaging the real world and real people, verify dimensional quality by comparing a master design to as-built products, and simulate touch sensations in digital environments.
Geomagic customers are the most innovative companies in industries ranging from aerospace, automotive, toys, mold, medical device, surgical simulation, consumer products, arts, heritage, research and education. Some of the leading companies around the globe using Geomagic products include Ford, BMW, Boeing, Harley Davidson, Timberland, Fisher Price, Lego, Pratt & Whitney, NASA, Schneider Electronic, 3M, Danaher and Invisalign. Geomagic is based in Research Triangle Park, NC, USA, with an office in Boston and subsidiaries in Europe and Asia, and partner channels worldwide.
Geomagic, Geomagic Studio, Geomagic Qualify, Geomagic Qualify Probe, Wrap, Geomagic Wrap, Phantom, OpenHaptics, Omni, Freeform, Claytools, Sensable and Sensable Technologies are trademarks or registered trademarks of Geomagic Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Media Contact:
Rachael Dalton-Taggart
Director of Marketing Communications
E: Email Contact


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California Vehicle Accident Lawsuits | Lawyer, Attorneys: California Cable Car Accidents: Cable Car Injury, Cable Car Injuries, California Cable Car Accident Death | California Cable Car Accident Injury Claims
Each year in the U. S. there are more than 3 million injuries and 33,000 deaths from Vehicle accidents
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A vehicle accident can be a traumatic event particularly when someone else is to blame. Not only do you have the shock of the accident itself, but you may also be left with serious injuries and a damaged or destroyed vehicle. An auto accident lawyer can help you deal with the accident's aftermath and get you the fair and just compensation that you deserve.
We are currently evaluating Cable Car accident injury claims throughout California. Victims of Cable Car accidents and personal injury have the right to seek compensation for their injuries, medical expenses and wrongful death. Our Cable Car accident lawyers handle all types of Cable Car accident claims. We also handle every type of Cable Car accident claim and car accident compensation cases.
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From Voxxi, an independent hispanic news outlet.
Searching For NYC's First Latino Mayor:
It might baffle outsiders that New York City has yet to elect a Latino Mayor, but some New Yorkers would argue it's less about symbolism and more about results.
The reasons are numerous. Analysts say the city's political power structure hasn't lend itself to cater a Latino candidate and many are also questioning the viability of any promising contender.
Others contest that it's part of a national dilemma because political parties have not invested time in grooming Latinos to run on the local and city level. In fact, there are only a few recognizable Latino Mayors who include Antonio Villaraigosa of Los Angeles and Julian Castro of San Antonio.
"We're talking about Latino politics in New York City. We're talking about a lot of people – more than 2.3 million people – one of the most diverse Latino cities in the world," said Angelo Falcon, president and founder of the National Institute of Latino Policy (NILP), while referring to the case in New York City. "Each neighborhood is like its own city."
For Full Article: http://www.voxxi.com/searching-new-york-city-latino-mayor/#ixzz2FLbpYGvx


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Ed Trager maintains the Unifont.org web site which provides information about Unicode fonts, Unicode-enabled software, internationalization, and Unicode usability issues on free/libre/open source (FLOSS) operating systems.
One of the better-known resources available on Unifont.org is the Unicode Font Guide For Free/Libre Open Source Operating Systems which strives to be a comprehensive and frequently-updated guide to Open Source and liberally-licensed Unicode fonts suitable for use on FLOSS operating systems.
Ed has had an interest in human languages and writing systems since his childhood. His interest in the internationalization and the globalization of FLOSS operating systems began when he started using Linux some years ago. He has presented at various conferences, including the 27th Internationalization and Unicode Conference in Berlin in April 2005 where he presented a talk entitled The Penguin and Unicode: The State of Unicode and Internationalization in Linux.


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Climbing Blind: Conquering More Than Mountains
Erik Weihenmayer is a 31-year-old daredevil who seems to have been born for adventure. One of the country's best professional rock climbers, he is challenging his limits, a feat made more extraordinary by the fact that he is blind.
Why Seeing Isn't Everything
Weihenmayer was born with retinoschisis , a rare eye disease that can destroy the retina. By age 13, he was completely blind but refused to let that handicap him.
"I didn't see it as something sad," he says. "I looked at it in terms of what I'd be missing and what it would keep me from doing.? Which wasn't—and hasn't been—much. In fact, you could argue that Weihenmayer has lived a fuller life than most who can see.
At 16, Weihenmayer enrolled in an outdoor recreational program for blind kids and along with tandem biking and ]]>hiking]]> , he learned to rock climb. He was hooked. The sport allowed him to be athletic. He liked the technical nature of rock climbing, and as he says, "It's a great way to experience freedom of movement that you don't have when you're blind."
Initially, Weihenmayer wasn't thinking about making tough climbs. His first goal was to get better and stop relying on people to guide him. For awhile, climbing partners told him where he could find the next hold. Eventually, he asked them not to tell him. "I wanted to be good enough so that when somebody went out with me," says Weihenmayer, who also wrestled competitively in high school and college, "I wasn't a blind climber but an equal."
Whereas other climbers use their eyes to scan for holds, Weihenmayer learned to scan with his hands, and he became efficient. He picked up technical tips. And yes, he fell. But he was always connected to a top rope so he would just dangle.
At 20, Weihenmayer headed to New Hampshire where he made his first big climb. His sense of adventure has since propelled him to bigger challenges. Already, he's climbed the face of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. He also climbed Africa's highest peak, Mount Kilamanjaro (13,000 feet), to get married. Two years later, he spent 19 days climbing before reaching Alaska's Mount McKinley (20,320 feet), North America's highest peak.
In 1999 he climbed South America's highest mountain, Aconcagua (22,850 feet). His accomplishments haven't just occurred on the mountain, though. He hiked the Inca Trail in Peru and rode a tandem bike with his father 1,250 miles across Vietnam.
In 1998, Weihenmayer turned pro, quitting his middle school teaching job. And he admits that being blind has its advantages. "You're like a Jamaican bobsledder," he says.
Training for Adventure
Injuries have forced Weihenmayer to train smarter. Stress fractures in his tibia from running too much, for example, have begun to plague him; they kept him from running a 100-mile race in India. To prevent injury, he varies his workouts and focuses on low-impact activities.
His least favorite workouts are in the health club where he rotates between the elliptical trainer , ]]>Stairmaster]]> , and stationary bike .
"A great workout is when you're on an adventure," he says. "It doesn't even feel like training."
So he goes cross-country skiing or snowshoeing. He might run one day, tying a bungee cord between him and a friend or hooking himself to the back of his wife's bike. He will often take a 75-pound pack and hike to the top of a mountain.
Or in Denver where he lives, he'll head to a 51-floor building where he runs up and down the stairs five times. "Now that's a killer workout," he says. At times, he has strapped a pack to his back and plodded up those 51 floors. He also added weight training to his routine.
On Top of the World
"I always feel fragile on the mountain," Weihenmayer admits. Butterflies float nervously in his stomach. But he quells them with ]]>mental strength]]> . "You have to surround yourself with confidence and not question anything," he says.
His time on the rock is like meditation . He is concentrating so hard that an hour will often pass without him knowing. Every now and then, though, he takes a second to absorb the sensation. "I just can't believe where I am," he says.
Those times, though, are rare, for more often than not, Weihenmayer is racing against the elements of nature. In Colorado, for example, climbers can expect either snow or lightning every day so the challenge is to ascend and descend before a storm hammers.
"There's always some sense of nervousness," he says, recalling his climb to South America's highest peak. He was at high camp at 21,000 feet when a storm blew in and forced his group to descend. Failure, he says, goes with the territory.
"A friend told me that when you try big things, you have to expect to fail a lot," he says. "Mountains humble you, and that's a good thing because we take so much for granted."
When Weihenmayer climbs, he draws much of his strength from a man named Terry Fox who became his hero when he was 10. Fox ran the entire length of Canada on one leg. He had lost the other leg to cancer. He was attempting to run across the United States when he contracted cancer in his other leg and passed away. Weihenmayer has never forgotten Fox's courage. "Your external frame can be fragile and flawed," he says, "but it's what inside of you that enables you to succeed."
Weihenmayer believes, however, that ]]>fear]]> stops most people from accomplishing. "People have the potential to do great things if only they could get over their fears," he says.
Going Up!
So where does he go from here? Up, of course. Weihenmayer has plans to climb the highest peak on every continent. He encourages people not to let fear or other people's expectations hold them back.
"If I'd listened to everybody, I'd just be sitting on my butt now," he says. Although he climbs because he loves it, he admits that part of him likes doing things nobody thought he could do. "Other people's expectations can limit you, so you have to set your own limits."
National Federation of the Blind
Last reviewed September 2005 by ]]>Steven Bratman, MD]]>
Please be aware that this information is provided to supplement the care provided by your physician. It is neither intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice. CALL YOUR HEALTHCARE PROVIDER IMMEDIATELY IF YOU THINK YOU MAY HAVE A MEDICAL EMERGENCY. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider prior to starting any new treatment or with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.
Copyright © 2007 EBSCO Publishing All rights reserved.


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Check back regularly here for Pvc Decking and home improvement tips and tricks to make sure you get the most out of your next Pvc Decking!
How to avoid surprises
On the subject of Pvc Decking in East Chicago, IN, you'll need to be kept informed to make the best decisions. We will not inspire you to put together imprudent choices, as we understand what we'll be undertaking, and we make sure you know what to look forward to from the venture. You're not going to deal with any unexpected surprises if you hire Swift PVC Decking. Begin by talking over the project with our client service staff once you call 888-738-5932. We'll explore your questions once you contact us and help you get arranged with an appointment. We always show up at the scheduled time, ready to work with you.
To get the best Pvc Decking in East Chicago, Wyoming, hire Swift PVC Decking
Lots of reasons can be found to pick Swift PVC Decking when it comes to Pvc Decking in East Chicago, IN. We're the best option when you really need the best money saving options, the best quality supplies, and the greatest rank of customer service. We're there to serve you with the most competence and practical experience in the industry. If you need Pvc Decking in East Chicago, call Swift PVC Decking by dialing 888-738-5932, and we're going to be glad to help.


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- Top-quality Services
- We take care of the customer
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We will be sure that you know what to anticipate
You will need to be well informed concerning Bee Hive Removal in Still Pond, MD. We be sure you understand what to expect. You're not going to encounter any sort of surprises if you hire Bee Hive Removal Guys. The first step is to give us a call by dialing 888-216-8164 to begin your work. We're going to discuss your questions as soon as you call and get you set up with a meeting. We consistently appear at the appointed time, ready to work with you.
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If you are considering a project for Bee Hive Removal in Still Pond, MD, there are several good reasons to prefer Bee Hive Removal Guys. We are the first choice when you really need the best cash saving options, the best equipment, and the highest rank of customer care. We will be ready to assist you with the greatest expertise and practical experience around. If you want Bee Hive Removal in Still Pond, contact Bee Hive Removal Guys by dialing 888-216-8164, and we'll be glad to help.


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– Former WWE star MVP will be wrestling at a live taping of Booker T's Reality of Wrestling promotion on July 13th in Houston, Texas at the Clear Lake City Recreation Center.
– Former WWE Diva Eve Torres will be on The Hallmark Channel's Home and Family this morning at 10am to talk about women's self defense.
– Vickie Guerrero and Titus O'Neil will be hosting Academy Prep's A Night of Fashion this Thursday night at 7pm from Revealing Truth Ministries in Tampa, Florida. All proceeds go to benefit the student scholarship fund and Embracing Legacy's youth programs. Titus is a mentor and volunteer instructor at Academy Prep. Other WWE stars appearing include Darren Young, AJ Lee, Aksana, Antonio Cesaro, Wade Barrett, Justin Gabriel, Alicia Fox, Drew McIntyre, Naomi, Natalya, Sheamus, Jimmy Uso, Summer Rae and Paige.
Big Change for WWE's Tag Team Division, Possible Spoiler on Punk-Heyman, More…


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The fatal shooting of Alejandro Nieto, a man who possessed a Taser that was mistaken for a firearm who was killed in Bernal Heights Park, produced a backlash of community anger toward the San Francisco Police Department. It was the first thing Sup. John Avalos mentioned when he called for a hearing on equipping officers with body-mounted video cameras at the April 8 Board of Supervisors meeting.
Avalos knew Nieto, and the incident struck close to home. He mentioned another recent incident of police violence at City College of San Francisco in which officers targeted student protesters; video footage from a bystander shows an officer releasing his nightstick, making a fist, and throwing a punch at someone already being restrained.
"These incidents show that there's a great deal of work we need to do … to build trust between members of the community and the police department," Avalos said. "These incidents involved people I knew and it almost makes me feel how widespread the problem can be."
Police body-mounted cameras have been tried in New York, Los Angeles, New Orleans and other places as a way to shore up police accountability and provide a record of officer interactions with targeted suspects, Avalos said, and there is support for the technology both among law enforcement communities and civil liberties watchdog organizations.
"Many police support these cameras because they can help protect police officers against false accusations," Avalos noted. "Watchdog groups support police body-mounted cameras because they can help reduce incidents of police misconduct. The [American Civil Liberties Union] supports the cameras because they allow the public to monitor the government, instead of the other way around."
Avalos' request called for a review of the feasibility of equipping police officers with body cams, taking concerns about cost and privacy into consideration, plus a cost-benefit analysis to show how the cost of the cameras would compare with potential savings from reductions in citizen complaints and use-of-force lawsuits.
SFPD spokesperson Sgt. Danielle Newman noted that the SFPD is already in contract negotiations for a pilot program that would equip 50 plainclothes sergeants with body-mounted cameras. The program would be funded through a federal grant, Newman said, and the department has not yet received the cameras or hashed out policies spelling out how long data would be stored, how often they would be used, or whether officers would be able to switch them on and off at will.
Newman said the pilot program grew out of allegations that undercover officers had stolen property and violated the civil rights of SRO residents during searches of their units, incidents that were initially brought to light by the San Francisco Public Defender and more recently became the subject of a federal indictment.
"When Chief Suhr took over, he was looking at ways to ensure that those things don't happen again," Newman explained. The department was under the leadership of former Police Chief George Gascon when the officers now facing charges were caught on film by SRO surveillance cameras.
Despite the planned pilot, Newman said Suhr was less certain about the idea of equipping 1,500 to 2,000 officers with body cameras, as Avalos' request is geared toward.
"The concern with the chief is that with San Francisco, we haven't been able to get crime cams put up," she said, let alone having all officers record all police contact with the public. "That's something that would need to be ironed out."
Newman added that there were cost and logistical concerns associated with storage of bulk data generated by the cameras.
Rachel Lederman, an attorney with the National Lawyers Guild who represented Occupy protester Scott Olsen in a police misconduct case that left Olsen with lasting brain injuries and resulted in a $4.5 million settlement, said she was skeptical of body cams as a "quick fix" for police violence.
Oakland police officers are equipped with personal digital recording devices, she noted, but in the incident the left Olsen permanently injured, "there were 11 police officers with less-lethal weapons who were supposed to have PDRDs on – but didn't."
Lederman said that based on her experience, the footage that is captured on body cams is kept under lock and key by police, and remains hidden to all but doggedly persistent criminal attorneys. In practice, "journalists and affected people can't get it without a lawyer," she said, because police departments tend to withhold the footage with the excuse that it pertains to ongoing investigations.
In order to serve as an effective tool for holding law enforcement accountable, Lederman said, body-cam videos "have to be produced under the Public Records Act."
Lederman added that the video quality tends to be low, officers can turn them on and off at will, and "they try to use them as evidence against people they are arresting."
Still, a study in Rialto, California that was undertaken by a group of Cambridge University researchers determined that police use-of-force and complaints against police officers declined dramatically after officers were outfitted with the recording devices.
"The findings suggest more than a 50 percent reduction in the total number of incidents of use-of-force compared to control-conditions, and nearly ten times more citizens' complaints in the 12-months prior to the experiment," the authors concluded.
Lederman believes those findings are somewhat misleading, however. "Rialto has 66 police officers," she pointed out. "It's not really comparable to San Francisco or Oakland."


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Wenger Almer 30L (WG42007)
Almer 30L
Weight: 1.6 kg
Dimensions: 24" x 12" x 10"
Capacity: 1950 cu. in
Hit the trail expertly equipped, without sacrificing comfort. This thirty-liter pack boasts a wealth of features that make wilderness adventure comfortable and efficient. Lightweight aluminum frame and airy mesh back panel suspension system is engineered for comfort and stability, and advanced features such as ice axe loops and an integrated rain cover assure the versatility of this pack.
Hydration compatible
Side-entry access
Top loading
Zippered security pocket under top lidru
Stretch-mesh front pocket
Front pocket with organizer panel
Media pocket
Stretch-mesh side pockets
Side compression straps
Load compression strap
Spindrift collar
Integrated knife pocket
Integrated rain cover in dedicated pocket
Bottom sleeping pad straps
Ice-axe & gear loops
Key fob
Carry handle
Aluminum frame and air mesh back panel
Ergonomic shoulder straps and waist belt
Ventilated back panel
Dual-density foam waist belt with air channels
Removable waist belt
Load-lifter/stabilizer straps
Sternum strap
Hipbelt stabilizers
Forward-pull waist adjustment


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Oprah Winfrey will help Weight Watchers pick a new leader after the company announced Monday that its CEO will step down at the end of the month.
James Chambers, who has led Weight Watchers since 2013, will resign as the weight-loss program operator struggles to build on the momentum it garnered from an alliance with Winfrey. He will also leave the company's board of directors.
The board has established a committee that includes Winfrey to search for a permanent CEO.
U.S. & World
Chambers, 58, didn't give a specific reason for his resignation but touted accomplishments including a return to growth, the launch of the Beyond the Scale holistic program and a five-year partnership with Winfrey.
The news of Winfrey's involvement in the company more than doubled the value of Weight Watchers' shares when it was announced last October, but the stock has since retreated. Winfrey, who announced earlier this year she lost 26 pounds (12 kilos) on the plan, bought a 10 percent stake in Weight Watchers for $43.2 million and joined the company's board.
But the company is facing stiff competition, particularly among younger people, as consumers seeking to trim pounds turn to popular step-counting fitness gadgets like Fitbit and free weight-loss apps.
Hotchkin noted that Weight Watchers expects to post earnings and revenue growth this year, with the current period forecast to show the fourth straight quarter of member-recruitment growth.
For its second quarter ended July 2, the company reported flat revenue of $309.8 million, which fell short of the average analyst estimate of $318.5 million, according to FactSet. Earnings rose 9.4 percent year over year, but earnings per share declined as the company had more shares outstanding. For the full year, Weight Watchers raised the lower end of its range of expected profit, to between 90 cents and $1.05 per share.
Weight Watchers' shares fell 3.4 percent in after-hours trading. The stock has lost more than half its value this year.
Weight Watchers International Inc. said it has created an interim office of the chief executive officer, which will include Chief Financial Officer Nicholas Hotchkin, and director Christopher Sobecki and Thilo Semmelbauer, the company's former chief operating officer and a new director.


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It remains to be seen whether the relative underperformance of developed international stocks versus U.S. stocks escalates into something worse. But AdvisorShares isn't waiting.
The company rolled out its second bear market themed ETF, the AdvisorShares Athena International Bear ETF (HDGI).
HDGI shorts international stocks and follows the successful launch of the AdvisorShares Ranger Equity Bear ETF (HDGE).
Although both funds employ the general goal, how they execute is quite different.
HDGE uses a bottom-up, research-driven security selection method to choose U.S. companies with low earnings quality or aggressive accounting that might be good short candidates, whereas HDGI incorporates behavioral finance to locate international stocks to short.
The fund's subadvisor is AthenaInvest Advisors, and its founder C. Thomas Howard believes behavioral indicators can foretell performance and result in a persistent spread between high rated and low rated stocks. As part of its strategy, the firm uses both equity manager behavior and investor behavior factors to find investments poised for a fall.
HDGI charges 1.50% annually and assesses another 0.50% in short interest expenses and miscellaneous fees.


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It came about two weeks later than expected, but Major League Baseball has finally given Josh Hamilton permission to play baseball. Earlier this month Hamilton was given permission to participate in extended spring training. The next obvious step was to reinstate Hamilton and allow him to report to one of the low-level minor league teams. The wording of this reinstatement sounds like the league hasn't fully reinstated Hamilton. He will be allowed to participate in minor league games. If and when Josh is ever ready to play for the Devil Rays may still require the permission of Major League Baseball. That may even include any participation with the big league club in Spring Training next season. At 25, Josh is four seasons removed from his last official baseball game and has only played 23 games above single-A. Needless to say we are skeptical, at best, of ever seeing Hamilton play for the Devil Rays in the Trop, but we wouldn't put it past a kid who many have labeled as the best prospect they ever saw. To date, there have been two overall #1 picks that never made the major leagues (Brien Taylor, 1991 by the Yankees and Steve Chilcutt, 1966 by the Mets). Josh Hamilton (and to a lesser extent Matt Bush, 2004 by the Padres) is in real danger of joining that infamous list. If he is going to avoid that dubious distinction, he needs to come out swinging and show everybody why the Devil Rays gave him a $4 million bonus out of high school and why the team continues to stick by their former phenom. And he needs to do it soon, real soon.
Hamilton will begin his comeback with the short-season single-A Husdon Valley Renegades on Monday night against the Brooklyn Cyclones.
So what is the final chapter in the Josh Hamilton story going to look like? Will it look like Brien Taylor? Or will it look like Roy Hobbs? Here is hoping that reality can be stranger than fiction.
Hamilton reinstated by MLB [tbo.com]
Josh Hamilton coming to the Hudson Valley Renegades [Hudson Valley Renegades]


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Travel Consultant – Luxury Tour Operator
- Recruiter
- Red Planet Recruitment
- Location
- Croydon, South London, London
- Salary
- up to £24,000 per annum + comm + benefits OTE £50k+
- Posted
- 16 May 2019
- Closes
- 30 May 2019
- Ref
- Sector
- Tour Operator
- Job function
- Sales
- Hours
- Full Time
- Contract Type
- Permanent
Travel Consultant – Luxury Tour Operator. Offering an average of 6 Fam Trips per year, this well know travel brand has built exclusive relationship with Airlines and Luxury Hotel to popular faraway destinations, and they are able to offer their customers unique luxury deals that others cannot match. This role will focus on bespoke high-end holidays, tailor-making itineraries to exclusive destinations, secluded private beaches & resorts, long-haul city breaks, add on private tours etc.
As part of their on-going growth, an exciting opportunity has arisen for experienced Travel Consultants to join their specialist Luxury Travel Team at their Croydon offices. Their ideal candidate is a travel consultant who can show exemplary standards of customer service, aligned with the ability to sell and to build long term relationships with their clients.
The Worldwide Luxury Sales Role:
- Delivering an outstanding mixture of service & sales skills
- Creating bespoke itineraries to exclusive destinations, secluded private beaches & resorts, long-haul city breaks, add on private tours, helicopter transfers etc.
- You will be trained on the company's exclusive products and destinations
- Advise clientele on all their luxury holiday options, costs and availability for their choice of departure dates etc.
- Ability to work well as part of a team- to exhibit objectivity and be open-minded towards the ideas and views of others as well as welcoming feedback, contributing to building team spirit, and be proud of the service you provide
- Ability to comprehend, capture, as well as interpret customer information, ensuring you take ownership of the full customer journey experience by following through with all commitments
Now Let's Talk About You:
- Travel Consultant who is super keen to focus on bespoke high-end travel, tailor-making itineraries to exclusive destinations, secluded private beaches and resorts, long-haul city breaks, add on private tours etc.
- Love Fam trips, possess real passion for travel, be pro-active, self-motivated & enthusiastic and possess good all-round destination product knowledge
- Excellent communication skills with good clear telephone manner is essential
- Passion for sales, achieving targets and love making commission
- GDS is preferable but not essential
Last but not least, this luxury travel brand employs some of the nicest, brightest and most interesting people in the travel industry. Because they only employ the best people, they offer a very competitive basic salary, as well as the travel perks you should expect working for a leading travel company.
The Package:
Our client's working environment is development lead, where staffs are encouraged to progress & develop themselves to their full potential.
- Up to 6 Fam Trips per year
- Basic salary is £20,000 - £24,000 per annum, dependent on experience
- Commission of up to 20% on profits, with OTE of £50k+ plus benefits
- Working a 5-day week and the successful candidate will have to work some weekend days
Sounds Like You?
If so, we'd love to hear from you!
Important, Please Note: It is unlawful to employ a person in a UK-based role who does not have permission to live and work in the UK. You should make yourself aware of how immigration laws apply to your situation prior to applying.


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By Michael Kitchen, MarketWatch
LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) — Strong gains surfaced in the few Asian stock markets open Tuesday for Christmas, with Tokyo jumping on a weakened yen, and Shanghai rallying on a sharp advance for realtors and banks.
Reuters Enlarge Image
Japan's Nikkei Stock Average (NIKKEI:JP:NIK) climbed 1.4% as investors returned from a three-day weekend for the Emperor's Birthday, while Taiwan's Taiex advanced 1.3%.
The Shanghai Composite Index (SHE:CN:000001) opened lower but quickly shot upward to end the day with a 2.5% gain, returning to positive territory for the year for the first time since mid summer.
Most other major Asian markets were shut for the holiday, including those in Australia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and South Korea. The majority were due to reopen Wednesday, while Sydney and Hong Kong were slated to close until Thursday.
Japan's sharp rally came as investors celebrated the yen's move to a 20-month low against the dollar by snapping up exporter shares.
Amid vows from Japan's new government to push its currency lower, the U.S. dollar (XTUP:USDJPY) rose to just shy of 85 yen ahead of the open, its highest level since April 2011.
Outlook 2013: Euro-zone crisis
A default by Greece remains a risk while Italy and Spain could pose problems. But will life in the euro zone will be calmer in 2013, and what difference will elections in Germany and Italy make?
Over the past couple of months, the dollar has moved off recent late-summer lows in the upper ¥70s but remains weak historically.
Before the 2008 financial crisis, for instance, the U.S. currency rarely traded below ¥100. And earlier times saw a significantly weaker yen, with the dollar trading above ¥200 until the mid 1980s.
The recent losses for the yen come as Shinzo Abe — the former Japanese prime minister who is returning to power after a win for his party in this month's general election — has demanded central-bank action to weaken the currency and protect the nation's exporters.
On Sunday, Abe called on the Bank of Japan to resist what he said were attempts by the U.S. and Europe to cheapen their currencies, according to a Wall Street Journal report. Read: Dollar up vs. Japan's yen after Abe comments
While the dollar had moved off its intraday high against the yen by the end of Tokyo's Tuesday session, trading at ¥84.78, many Japanese exporters nonetheless rallied.
Nikon Corp. (TKS:JP:7731) (OTC:NINOF) rose 2.3%, Olympus Corp. (TKS:JP:7733) (OTC:OCPNF) jumped 3.7%, Advantest Corp. (TKS:JP:6857) (OTC:ADTTF) added 3.6%, Subaru maker Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. (TKS:JP:7270) (OTC:FUJHF) soared 4.5%, and industrial major Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd. (TKS:JP:7012) (OTC:KWHIY) gained 2.4%.
Interest in Japanese stocks was strong among offshore buyers, according to a Dow Jones Newswires report.
The report quoted Monex market analyst Toshiyuki Kanayama as saying that "despite the Christmas holiday season, volume figures indicate that foreign investors remain in the hunt for Japan shares."
Kanayama cited Nomura Holdings Inc. (TKS:JP:8604) (NYS:NMR) — which closed 6.3% higher Tuesday — as among the names attracting foreign buying.
Also in Tokyo, shares of Kobe Steel Ltd. (TKS:JP:5406) underperformed to end flat as a Nikkei news report said it was ditching plans to build an aluminum plant in China's Inner Mongolia region due to concerns about the Chinese market.
Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Corp. (TKS:JP:4188) (OTC:MTLHY) rose 1.7% after a separate Nikkei report said the company plans to buy pharmaceutical-capsule maker Qualicaps Co. from U.S. investment fund Carlyle Group.
On the downside, shares of Sharp Corp. (TKS:JP:6753) (OTC:SHCAF) tumbled 7.5%, extending their decline in recent sessions.
Real estate boosts Shanghai
Over in China, stocks came off their opening losses, with the Shanghai Composite lifting back above the psychologically important 2,200 level, where it had begun the year.
Property shares helped lead Shanghai's bull run after Chinese real-estate website Soufun reported Monday a 27% jump in new home sales in Shanghai over the course of the previous week, though the average price slipped 1.9%.
A report in People's Daily Online cited Soufun Shanghai analyst Tang Zhengwei as saying residential sales this month would likely set the 2012 record.
Among China's top property firms, Gemdale Corp. (SHG:CN:600383) surged 5.6%, and Poly Real Estate Group Co. Ltd. (SHG:CN:600048) jumped 4.7%, while on the Shenzhen bourse, China Vanke Co. closed with a 6% gain after opening lower.
Banks also enjoyed heavy gains for their shares, as China Construction Bank Corp. (SHG:CN:601939) (OTC:CICHF) rose 3.6%, China Merchants Bank Co. (SHG:CN:600036) (OTC:CIHHF) improved by 4.2%, and China Minsheng Banking Corp. (SHG:CN:600016) (OTC:CMAKY) rocketed up 4.7%, with market reports from the region attributing the advance to growing optimism over the Chinese economy.


text: The E- Coupon offers discounts and value-added benefits to attractions, F&B outlets and other tourism-related products and services. Visitors will have the ease of selecting the e-coupon of their choice through our website, or mobile app whenever and wherever they are. Keep an eye out for new discounts as vendors and promotions are constantly being updated.


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Dr. Solo-Gabriele
Dr. Solo-Gabriele (http://www.cae.miami.edu/~hmsolo/) is an environmental engineer with over 16 years of research experience as a faculty member in water quality assessments and contaminant fate and transport. She earned her B.S. and her M.S. in civil engineering at the University of Miami and her Ph.D. in civil and environmental engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Her research has focused on evaluating the environmental and human health impacts of contaminants. As co-PI for the University of Miami Oceans and Human Health (OHH) Center she has been responsible for leading the "Recreational Microbes" research group with focus on evaluating the relationship between the human health and the physical and microbiological characteristics of the coastal environment. She has published in PNAS-USA, Applied and Environmental Microbiology, the Pan American Journal of Public Health and authored scientific reports for the US Geological Survey. She has organized several studies focused on identifying the sources, fate, and transport of microbes in the environment and she has worked extensively on epidemiologic studies focusing on linking microbial measurements with illness. Dr. Solo-Gabriele also serves as the Associate Dean for Research within the University of Miami College of Engineering where she has managed the research submission process on behalf of the college and facilitates activities that promote collaboration among faculty members


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Grosshadern Campus, Munich University Hospital
Specialist field: Urology
Prof. Dr. med. Christian G. Stief
Marchioninistraße 15
81377 München
+49 (0) 89 4400 72971
Professor Christian Stief
Director of the Urological Clinic and Department, Grosshadern Campus, Munich University Hospital
In cases of prostate cancer, the use of active surveillance (or 'watchful waiting') can delay or prevent entirely the need for a radical operation that – despite improved surgical techniques – can cause incontinence and impotence. It should not be underestimated, however, how stressful it can be knowing you have cancer but not actively doing anything about it.
The newly developed procedure of focal therapy for prostate carcinoma offers a third way: targeted elimination of the primary cancer in a way that leaves the organ intact and retains its function.
What type of patients are suitable for focal therapy as a non-aggressive means of treating prostate cancer?
Professor Stief: The same criteria apply as for the clinical trial on active surveillance: the PSA level should be no higher than 10 ng/ml; the Gleason score (a histological grading system indicating the stage of prostate cancer) should be no higher than six; a maximum of only three biopsies should return positive results; the prostate may only be of a certain size and no preliminary treatment of urethral stricture should have taken place – all these criteria indicate the presence of a localised and slow-growing prostate tumour. An MRI scan is also carried out to determine the precise size and location of the tumour. The data for all European hospitals participating in the study is evaluated centrally by a team of highly regarded experts. If the patient proves suitable for focal therapy, the tumour is identified and can then be removed with pinpoint precision.
How is the therapy performed?
Professor Stief: The actual therapy is performed on an inpatient basis involving a single overnight hospital stay. On the day before the operation, the patient is seen by the anaesthetist; on the day of treatment itself, the approx. 90 minute operation is carried out under general anaesthetic. During the operation, a substance is delivered to the tumour that can be activated by a laser, completely destroying the blood vessels that supply nutrients to the tumour. This causes a circumscribed tissue defect that will ideally encompass the entire primary cancer. The patient is then able to leave the hospital the same day after only a short stay in the recovery room.
What are the side effects of the therapy?
Professor Stief: Patients usually report only minor or moderate complaints such as a burning sensation while urinating and/or a more frequent need to urinate for a few days after the operation. In exceptional cases, patients have difficulty urinating and have to be temporarily fitted with a catheter. Continence and potency are unimpaired and the patient can return to work just one day after treatment.
How is the success rate of the treatment monitored?
Professor Stief: The patient must be continually monitored as part of the treatment and should return to us for a check-up every three months for a period of two years. Monitoring PSA levels after the operation tells us less because the bulk of the PSA-producing prostate tissue is preserved. Cross-sectional imaging is the most important tool for evaluating the post-operative situation (MRI: after a week, after 12 and 24 months). A punch biopsy is carried out after one year and again after two. The data gathered in the phase II clinical trial (40 patients) is extremely encouraging: in all cases in which at least 80 per cent of the target volume that was treated is shown to have declined in the post-operative crosssectional imaging, there have been no cases of remaining tumour tissue. Continence and potency are also completely preserved. Should there be evidence of remaining tumour tissue, options include further focal therapy, traditional radiotherapy and radical surgery.
Kaksi hyödyllistä näppäinyhdistelmää selaimen tekstikoon muuttamiseksi:
Suurenna: +
Pienennä: +
Lisäohjeita saat selaimen valmistajalta napsauttamalla kuvaketta:


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You've probably noticed phrases like "All Rights Reserved" or "Copyright 2009," or perhaps the copyright symbol and a date at the bottom of a website. But what do these words really mean on a website? Do you need to copyright your website? Here's the inside scoop on what a copyright is and when you need register your website with the US Copyright Office.
What is a Copyright?
Copyright falls under the auspices of intellectual property law and protects the rights of creators of original works of authorship whether the work in question is published or not. Original works of authorship include literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works such as poetry, novels, movies, songs, computer software, and photography. By law, when something is written, drawn, photographed, etc., its copyright is automatically owned by the author. In other words, a copyright exists at the moment the work is created.
Registering a copyright with the US Copyright Office is voluntary. Copyright protection exists without registration; however, your work must be registered before you can file a copyright infringement case in a US court. In addition, registration of copyright makes it easier to prove ownership of your work in the event of an infringement and allows you to collect more in damages from the infringer.
While the concept of copyright is fairly clear-cut when it comes to literary works like books, it's less clear in regard to websites and the information contained therein. See also: "Copyright Basics"
Why Should I Worry About Registering a Copyright?
In the past, the only people who had to worry about copyrights were writers, artists, musicians, and others in related professions. Today, with the onset of digital media, it's a different story. Many people who wouldn't call themselves writers or artists have personal or business-related websites that contain written material, photographs, or graphics that are original works and therefore eligible for copyright registration. The code and design elements of websites can also be copyrighted by their owners.
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text: Make your next project a standout, on budget and worry-free with Wausau Made. Wausau Made site furnishings have been designed and made in the USA by the industry's finest craftsmen for more than 65 years, featuring impeccable quality at an unbeatable price. Our vast selection of benches, chairs, tables, bollards, planters, waste and recycling containers, and other furnishings guarantee durability, functionality and affordability. Explore our diverse offerings, which are built to weather the rigors of any environment and stand the test of time.


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79th Texas Legislature, Regular Session, House Bills 2463, Chapter 1367
Description: Bill introduced by the Texas House of Representatives relating to the creation of a Medicaid health literacy pilot program and health care funding districts in certain counties and authorizing the districts to impose taxes on certain institutional health care providers located in the districts.
Date: June 18, 2005
Creator: Texas. Legislature. House of Representatives.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department


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A collection of scholarly works about individual liberty and free markets. A project of Liberty Fund, Inc.
1757 - 1820
Historical Period:
The 18th Century
Volney was associated with liberal groups such as the Girondins and the Ideologues during the French Revoltuon and the Napoleonic Empire. He studied medicine before travelling widely in the Middle East and learning Arabic. He wrote on history and geography.


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The Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration shall prescribe regulations requiring procedures to improve safety of aircraft operations during winter conditions. In deciding on the procedures to be required, the Administrator shall consider at least aircraft and air traffic control modifications, the availability of different types of deicing fluids (considering their efficacy and environmental limitations), the types of deicing equipment available, and the feasibility and desirability of establishing timeframes within which deicing must occur under certain types of inclement weather.
(Pub. L. 103–272, §1(e), July 5, 1994, 108 Stat. 1202.)
|Source (U.S. Code)
|Source (Statutes at Large)
|49:1421 (note).
|Oct. 31, 1992, Pub. L. 102–581, §124, 106 Stat. 4885.
The words "Before November 1, 1992" are omitted as obsolete. The words "prescribe regulations requiring" are substituted for "require, by regulation", and the words "other factors the Administrator considers appropriate" are substituted for "among other things", for consistency in the revised title.


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On the road, again and again
Last weekend my husband and I drove 300 miles, round-trip, to watch two of our young granddaughters compete in a giant slalom event at the nearest ski area.
It was a typical trip. We arose at 5:30 a.m. in order to arrive in time to watch the girls carve down the intimidating run in 49 seconds each, give or take a hundredth of a second or so. It was over in the blink of an eye.
As we headed home to feed the mules before dark, glissading through drifting snow on the narrow highway, I pondered the dedication of hundreds of parents and grandparents who follow their youngsters from event to event across the state.
What leads these normally sane people to risk life and limb on treacherous roads? The answer: in the Rocky Mountain West, high school sports are the elixir that makes the long, dark winter bearable in small towns scattered across vast spaces.
First come football and girls' volleyball; then, as temperatures drop and the wind chill plummets to sub-zero, basketball (for both sexes) and wrestling give the cheering crowds a chance to thaw out their hands and feet in sweaty gymnasiums. The hard benches might cause another part of the anatomy to solidify, but that's a small price to pay for the excitement of watching the epic battles on the court or the mats. Each spectator willingly donates toward the payment of the heat and light bills. It's incredibly cheap entertainment, at least if you ignore the fuel it takes to travel to an "away" game.
Communities large enough to boast a high school are few and far between here, so athletes spend many hours on buses in the rare good weather and the much more frequent bad weather. Our local team, the Roundup Panthers, makes trips each winter to Forsyth (102 miles away), Harlowton (68 miles), Harlem (158 miles), Red Lodge (111 miles), Hardin (96 miles), Big Timber (113 miles), and Plentywood, a whopping 329 miles away, to name just a few.
The kids leave in the afternoon in steamy-windowed, drafty buses guided by intrepid drivers who hold the lives of their young passengers in their hands. Accidents are rare and usually benign, involving maybe a slide-off into a ditch in a blizzard. Parents, grandparents, siblings, and friends trail along later, even if the forecast is "near white-out conditions due to blowing and drifting snow; travel not recommended."
At game's end, the crowd pours out of the gymnasium. Breath freezes in midair, scrapers chisel ice from windshields, snow squeaks underfoot, engines reluctantly cough to life, and the exodus begins. Home may be more than four hours away through darkness broken only by an occasional ranch yard light.
We've learned to travel prepared for emergencies. We carry blankets, thermoses full of coffee, high-energy snacks, shovels for digging our way out of drifts, Sorel boots, mufflers, hats, down coats, and anything else we can think of that might help us survive a catastrophe. The gas tank is topped off to the brim at every gas station along the way. Each driver learns how to keep a vehicle between the mostly invisible fog lines on roads that are elusive during a sideways Alberta Clipper snowstorm. It's a matter of feeling your way along. If your pickup truck begins bucking like a bronco, you may very well have wandered off the road into a wheat field. Somehow we almost always arrive intact, and the adrenaline gradually subsides as we join the community of kids and their supporters.
Once in awhile, a stay-at-home parent's worst nightmare becomes a reality. Not long ago, district championship games for both boys and girls' basketball were being played around the state. A carload of boys' basketball players from Superior was heading home on icy roads after rooting for the girls team in Hamilton, 103 miles away. The driver of an oncoming pickup truck lost control of her vehicle, crashed into the boys' SUV, and after the bumper-car melee ended, ambulances shuttled everyone involved to the nearest hospital. Fortunately, there were no serious injuries, but no doubt the parents suffered more than a few hours' anxiety after receiving phone calls from the highway patrol.
Our teams played their championship games in Red Lodge. Had they won there, the boys would have headed for Laurel, a mere 50 miles away, and the girls for Manhattan, a much longer 196 miles off. Snow and falling temperatures were forecast for the next seven days, with wind chills estimated in the minus-25 degree range. No problem; we'd have gone, no matter what. But sometimes, I confess, we are tempted to cheer for our opponents and an early end to the season.
Wendy Beye is a contributor to Writers on the Range, a service of High Country News (hcn.org). She writes in Roundup, Montana.


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Nigeria's second-largest city was on alert Sunday as the death toll continued to climb from a series of coordinated bombings and shootings in Kano Friday night.
A spokesman for a militant Islamist group known as Boko Haram claimed responsibility for what was one of the most violent attacks attributed to the group yet. A doctor in Kano's main hospital said the number of dead had reached 178 and could go higher, reports Reuters. The group is stepping up its attacks, and the Nigerian government appears unable to put an end to the violence.
Nigeria's president declared a state of emergency in four states on Dec. 31, after Boko Haram bombed churches on Christmas day, killing 44 people. The group also carried out an attack on the United Nations headquarters in in Nigeria August that killed 24 people. Most of its attacks have taken place in Nigeria's northeast. Kano is a northern city.
The country, which is the most populous nation in Africa, is predominantly Muslim in the north, where poverty is more widespread, and mostly Christian in the south. The geographic split by religion has been a point of tension in the past, something Boko Haram appears bent on exploiting in its bid to undermine the government.
The group was founded in 2002 by Islamic preacher Mohammed Yusuf. As the Monitor reported, it is focused on resistance to the Nigerian government, and "what many northern Nigerians see as the dominant role that Christian Nigerians play in Nigerian politics." Boko Haram, which means "Western education is sin," is an unofficial name for the group referring to its belief that Western influences corrupt traditional Islamic societies. The group's official name is Jama'atul Ahlu Sunna Lidda'Awati wal Jihad, or the People Committed to the Prophet's Teachings for Propagation and Jihad.
Security forces manned roadblocks around Kano Sunday, reports The Associated Press. A 24-hour curfew was reduced to night-time hours but streets were deserted as Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan was expected to visit the city in the wake of the deadly attacks.
The violence began Friday evening, when at least 20 explosions targeted eight buildings, including a police headquarters, immigration offices, state security headquarters, and a passport office. CNN reports that militants entered a police station and freed detainees before bombing it. After the bombings, attackers drove through the city in a car and on motorcycles, shooting.
The Wall Street Journal reports that a spokesman for the group said it had freed some of its members who had been held without trial. A spokesman for the group told Nigerian newspaper the Daily Trust that the attacks were in response to "the refusal of the Kano state government to release some of their members who had been arrested in the state."
Last week, the group's alleged mastermind of a deadly Christmas day bombing targeting a church escaped police custody during a prison transfer.
Meanwhile, nine people from a Christian ethnic group were also killed early Sunday morning in the town of Tafawa Balewa in apparent religious violence, reports The Daily Telegraph. A traditional elder of a Christian ethnic group told the paper that witnesses blamed the attack on a Muslim ethnic group.


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Six years after the sale of the first iPhone and 14 years after the first BlackBerry email pager was unveiled, smartphone shipments have outnumbered sales of other types of mobile phones, IDC reported late Thursday.
IDC said 216.2 million smartphones were shipped globally in the first quarter of 2013. The smartphone total accounted for 51.6% of all mobile phones shipped.
Shipments of other mobile phones, which IDC calls feature phones, totaled 202.4 million in the quarter. Total shipments of all mobile phones was 418.6 million, IDC said.
"The balance of smartphone power has shifted," said IDC analyst Kevin Restivo in a statement. "Phone users want computers in their pockets. The days when phones were used primarily to make phone calls and send text messages are quickly fading away."
IDC also noted the emergence of China-based companies, including Huawei, ZTE, Coolpad and Lenovo, among the leading smartphone vendors, .
Those newcomers and others have displaced longtime mobile phone leaders Nokia from Finland, BlackBerry from Canada, and HTC from Taiwan, in the list of top five smartphone makers, IDC said.
BlackBerry was producing what was essentially a smartphone before Apple introduced the iPhone in June 2007.
The first BlackBerry device was an email pager, introduced in 1999. Those devices were subsequently combined with voice calling.
Nokia has long been a top producer of mobile phones, though it slipped off the top five list for the first quarter.
A year ago, it was common to see previous market leaders Nokia, BlackBerry and HTC among the top five, said Ramon Llamas, an analyst at IDC.
IDC ranked the top five smartphone vendors in the first quarter as: Samsung (70.7%); Apple (37.4); LG (10.3%); Huawei (9.9%); ZTE (9.1%). The rest made up 36.4% of the market.
IDC ranked the top five vendors of feature phones and smartphones combined as: Samsung (27.5%); Nokia (14.8%); Apple (8.9%); LG (3.7%) and ZTE (3.2%). All others combined to hold 41.9% of the market.
LG showed a dramatic 110% year-over-year climb in smartphone shipments, while Huawei's grew by 94% and Samsung's by 61%. ZTE's smartphone shipments grew by 49% and Apple's by just 6.6%.
The last time Apple posted just a single digit year-over-year growth rate was in the third quarter of 2009. Apple has been in the second spot in smartphone rankings in each of the last five quarters, IDC noted.
Samsung, meanwhile, shipped more smartphones in the first quarter than the next four vendors combined, making it the "undisputed leader" in the worldwide smartphone market, IDC said.
Samsung's next generation Galaxy S4 smartphone is about to go on sale, while Samsung is also building a new OS, called Tizen, that will run new smartphones later this year.
Matt Hamblen covers mobile and wireless, smartphones and other handhelds, and wireless networking for Computerworld. Follow Matt on Twitter at @matthamblen, or subscribe to Matt's RSS feed . His e-mail address is firstname.lastname@example.com.


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VANCOUVER, BC - Vancouver Whitecaps U-23 (5W-4L-1D) continue their four match home-stand Friday night versus provincial rivals Victoria Highlanders FC (7W-1L-1D). The winner of Friday's match will lift the Juan de Fuca Plate, a supporters created trophy awarded to the top United Soccer Leagues (USL) Premier Development League (PDL) team in British Columbia.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. PT at Thunderbird Stadium and admission is free to the public. Updates will be available on Twitter at twitter.com/whitecapsmatch.
The Blue and White are riding the high of an important 4-2 victory over Seattle Sounders FC U-23 last Friday. In the first hour of the match, Vancouver took the lead twice before allowing Seattle to equalize both times. The 'Caps finally gained full control of the match on 65 minutes when they scored twice in three minutes to secure the three points.
Midfielder Bobby Jhutty put on a majestic performance to lead the side to victory, recording three goals and assisting on the fourth.
The result propelled Vancouver past Seattle into third place of the Northwest Division with four games left in the PDL season.
The 'Caps now turn their attention to Highlanders FC in another crucial encounter, both in the Northwest Division standings and in terms of the chance to capture the Juan de Fuca Plate.
Head of high performance Stuart Neely believes his team is aware of the significance of the match.
"The players know what's at stake for the handful of games remaining. It's going to be a big challenge for the boys. The Juan De Fuca is riding on the line, which is important," said Neely. "More importantly, it's a match that could seal our fate moving forward in respect to the playoffs. We have to treat it as a very important game for us."
Led by former Whitecaps FC women's team assistant coach Steve Simonson, Victoria currently sit at the top of the Northwest Division with 22 points.
The 'Caps are responsible for the only loss of Victoria's season thus far, an exciting 5-3 win back on May 31 at Royal Athletic Park.
Two players to watch out for on the Highlanders are leading scorers Jordie Hughes and Brett Levis, who have eight and seven goals on the year respectively.
The 'Caps have an all-time record of 6W-3L-3D against Victoria Highlanders FC since they joined the PDL in 2009.
The two teams have both beaten each other once this year. Victoria edged Vancouver 3-2 in the second game of the season at Thunderbird Stadium, before the 'Caps returned the favour in defeating the Highlanders 5-3 in front of their home fans in Victoria.
The rubber match between the two teams will decide the Juan De Fuca plate, a supporter-sponsored competition crowning the best PDL team from British Columbia. When the plate was created last year, it was contested between Fraser Valley Mariners, Vancouver Whitecaps FC, and Victoria Highlanders FC. Vancouver won the inaugural title in 2012.
Since the Mariners no longer compete in the PDL this year, the plate is now contested between Vancouver and Victoria and is based on their three-game head-to-head series.
The winner of Friday night's match will therefore be awarded the Juan De Fuca plate. In the case of a draw, goal differential in games between the two teams will decide the plate; if that still doesn't decide the champion then goals for will decide, followed by away goals are the next determining factors.
Neely is looking forward to the prospect of his team earning a piece of silverware by defeating the top team in the division.
"Victoria's been a shining example of success. Literally, they're sitting at the top of the table," said Neely. "They've won one and we've won one. It's bragging rights on the Canadian side of things. It's something that the boys would certainly be proud of."
After taking on Victoria on Friday, Whitecaps FC U-23 next look forward to hosting Portland Timbers U-23 on July 12. That match is scheduled for a 7 p.m. PT kickoff at UBC's Thunderbird Stadium.


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It's enough to make any Certified Divorce Financial Analyst salivate, or any jilted spouse, for that matter.
Society pages are burning up over the ongoing details of the split between oil billionaires Harold and Sue Ann Hamm. Sue Ann accuses Harold of infidelity, and if no prenuptial agreement exists, as Reuters speculates in a comprehensive piece on the breakup, the latter could not only lose $5 billion, but also control of Continental Resources, the company he founded in 1967.
On Forbes' 2013 World's Billionaires list, Harold is worth $11.3 billion, "the vast majority held in shares of his oil giant Continental Resources, the biggest player in the booming Bakken shale region of North Dakota," the magazine reports. No billionaire divorce settlement Forbes has uncovered over its years of tracking the super-wealthy comes close to that sum, it adds. It would easily top the list of AdvisorOne's 5 Super Costly Divorces of the Rich and Famous.
Forget the children—think of the shareholders. Since news of the Hamm divorce broke, analysts have puzzled over the long-term implications for Continental's stock, according to Forbes. The following statement appeared on Continental's website on Thursday:
"Today, Harold Hamm has announced that a petition for divorce is pending in the District Court of Oklahoma County. This private matter has not and is not anticipated to have any impact or effect on the Company's business or operations."
Sue Ann Hamm is a former executive of Continental.
Reuters compares the Hamm case to that of the media tycoon Rupert Murdoch, who reportedly paid $1.7 billion to his ex-wife Anna Murdoch in 1999.
Court records show that Sue Ann Hamm petitioned for divorce in May, but Reuters provides an earlier timeline that details a rocky marriage for well over a decade.
- The news service notes that in 1998, Harold Hamm filed for divorce and demanded that Sue Ann undergo a psychological evaluation. He later withdrew the divorce petition and the case file was ordered destroyed this year, on Feb. 13, according to Oklahoma court records. What prompted the destruction of the file is unclear. In 2005, Sue Ann Hamm subsequently filed for divorce; that case also was dropped.
- Reuters adds that her 2005 divorce filing is now a key issue in the Hamms' divorce battle, according to a court document reviewed by Reuters. Indeed, it could play a pivotal role in determining how property—including interest in Continental—will be divided, legal analysts said.
- According to Harold, the couple "actually separated in the fall of 2005 and have lived separate lives ever since," Reuters says, citing court documents.
- But Sue Ann Hamm's attorneys counter that the Hamms "continued to reside together (although they do own four homes), travel together, attend public functions together, raise their children together, file joint tax returns and work together."
Check out 5 Super Costly Divorces of the Rich and Famous at AdvisorOne.


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You are invited on Tuesday 15 May to a special gala concert featuring reggae, jazz, hip-hop, percussion and other musical styles will be held in the historic General Assembly Hall at United Nations Headquarters.
In addition to raising awareness of the transatlantic slave trade and the continuing fight against the lingering consequences of bigotry, racism and prejudice, the concert will help raise funds to erect a permanent memorial at UNHQ.
If you're not able to attend in person you can register and watch online worldwide.
Permanent Memorial at the United Nations in honour of the victime of slavery and the transatlantic slave trade
Over four centuries, more than 18 million people were forcefully removed from Africa to the Americas (including the Caribbean) and Europe.
For those who survived the horrific middle passage, thousands of them would later perish as a result of the cruel and inhuane treatment meted out to them and from the appauling conditions in which they had to exist on the plantations.
The Permanent Memorial will serve as a reminder of the legacy of the slave trade. It will provide future generations an understanding of the history and consequences of slavery and serves as an educational tool to raise awareness about the current dangers of racism, prejudice and the lingering consequences that continue to impact the descendants of the victims today.
|Visit the website
The Brussels based United Nations Regional Information Centre for Western Europe - UNRIC provides information on UN activities to the countries of the region. It also provides liaison with institutions of the European Union in the field of information. Its outreach activities extend to all segments of society and joint campaigns, projects and events are organized with partners including the EU, governments, the media, NGOs, schools and local authorities.
United Nations Regional Information Centre for Western Europe (UNRIC Brussels)
Residence Palace, Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat 155, Block C2,7th and 8th floor, Brussels 1040, Belgium
Tel.: +32 2 788 8484 / Fax: 32 2 788 8485