text:
Department Press Briefing - April 10, 2018
Index for Today's Briefing:
MS NAUERT: Hi. Good afternoon.
QUESTION: Hello.
MS NAUERT: It's nice to see you all.
QUESTION: Welcome back.
MS NAUERT: Do you notice anything different? No? No? Look at this little book. I went on vacation, and the book went on a diet. I thought you all would enjoy that. So we'll see how this works today.
QUESTION: So quality has replaced quantity?
MS NAUERT: I don't know about that. It's kind of like when my kids go to school and I use that opportunity to clean their rooms, and they don't notice. (Laughter.) That's exactly what went on the past week.
QUESTION: The optimism.
MS NAUERT: Yeah, yeah. So great to see you all again. Hope you're having a terrific day. A couple announcements to bring you. First, as many of you know, the Qatari emir is in Washington today. We warmly welcome him, His Highness Qatari Emir Al-Thani, to the United States. The President met with the emir a short while ago, and Acting Secretary Sullivan will meet with him this afternoon.
Qatar is a highly valued strategic partner to the United States and also a friend. You may recall that we held the inaugural U.S.-Qatar Strategic Dialogue here at the State Department on January the 30th, during which we collaborated on defense, counterterrorism, human rights, trade, aviation, and also investment. We're building upon that dialogue and look forward to discussing these and other important issues of bilateral cooperation during the emir's visit. Since the dialogue and building on our July 2017 counterterrorism MOU, Qatar has continued to advance its counterterrorism and counterterror financing efforts.
In addition to that, I'd like to announce that Acting Secretary of State John Sullivan will travel to Lima, Peru tomorrow, from April 11th to the 14th, to accompany the Vice President at the Eighth Summit of the Americas. We strongly support Peru's ambitious summit agenda, focusing on democratic government – governance against corruption. During the summit, the United States will promote priorities of mutual interest to the region, including supporting democracy, addressing political and humanitarian crises, and restoring democracy in Venezuela. Also, they'll discuss stemming corruption and transnational crime, promoting economic prosperity, and also women's empowerment.
While in Lima, the acting secretary will meet separately with leaders from Peru, Brazil, Haiti, and Mexico. He also will meet with the heads of delegation of the governments of the Bahamas, Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, and Saint Lucia, as well with leaders from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. As you may know, civil society will have a vital role in ensuring summit priorities reflect the practical needs of the citizens and businesses of the Americas. The acting secretary will engage with members of the Cuban and Venezuelan independent civil society groups to underscore some of those priorities. So we look forward to providing readouts and information from the acting secretary's trip as it goes forward.
Lastly, we have some students in the back, I understand, from Georgetown. Welcome. We're always happy to have students join us here. And that kind of gets into my last announcement. This week, the State Department is proud to announce the inaugural list of U.S. higher education institutions that sent the most students overseas on Benjamin Gilman International Scholarship Program in the academic year 2016 to 2017. Were any of you Gilman scholars by any chance? No. Well, we're happy to have you here anyway.
The Gilman Program broadens U.S. student population that studies and interns abroad by providing scholarships to outstanding undergraduate students who, due to financial constraints, might not otherwise be able to participate. Since the program's establishment in 2001, more than 1,300 U.S. institutions have sent more than 25,000 Gilman scholars to 145 countries around the globe. We especially want to congratulate the University of California Berkeley, Georgetown, Spelman College, Portland Community College, and San Antonio College for heading up the top of their respective categories. Congratulations.
The State Department is committed to helping the next generation of diverse American leaders foster mutual understanding and develop important skills in support of our national security and economic prosperity. Congratulations to all the Gilman Program students and institutions. The full list and additional information about these scholarships is available at gilmanscholarship.org. So I would encourage you to take a look.
And finally, as many of you know --
QUESTION: Wait a second. You said that was the last one.
MS NAUERT: No, this is more of a personal note.
QUESTION: Oh.
MS NAUERT: And you will be all happy to hear about this. For the past year, I've been doing this job with the assistance of our fantastic press team and with Robert as – you all know Robert very well. But I am more than thrilled to announce that we have an acting deputy spokesperson now, and that is my colleague Elizabeth Fitzsimmons. Many of you will get the chance to meet her in the coming days, but this has been a long work in progress. Elizabeth, would you please stand up?
For those of you who have not met Elizabeth – and many of my colleagues around the world will know Elizabeth – she is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service. That's significant here at the State Department. She served as deputy executive secretary to Secretaries Kerry and also to Secretary Tillerson, and she served as a deputy assistant secretary in the Bureau of South and Central Asia. She's served overseas in Taiwan, Hong Kong, India, and also Bulgaria. She, by the way, is married to a DS officer, and she is a mother of five children, and she's also – doesn't look it – she's a grandmother. (Laughter.)
So we're thrilled to have Elizabeth joining us and look forward to having her take your calls, too.
And with that, I'd be happy to take your questions.
QUESTION: All right.
MS NAUERT: Or I could just hand them over to Elizabeth. (Laughter.)
QUESTION: Thanks, Heather. Welcome back.
MS NAUERT: Thank you.
QUESTION: And Hoya Saxa to our guests in the back.
MS NAUERT: Did you hear that?
QUESTION: Yes.
QUESTION: Let's start with Syria.
MS NAUERT: Okay.
QUESTION: Oh, actually, just on Acting Secretary Sullivan's trip.
MS NAUERT: Yes.
QUESTION: You mentioned that he was going to meet with Cuban and Venezuelan civil society.
MS NAUERT: Yes.
QUESTION: I notice that you guys put out a statement critical of the Cubans --
MS NAUERT: Mm-hmm.
QUESTION: -- for blocking or frustrating or interfering somehow with civil society getting there. Are there any plans to meet with actual members of those delegations, if they're going to be there?
MS NAUERT: I believe that some may be headed to Peru for those meetings, but not all. Let me double-check on that and get back with you.
QUESTION: Okay. But are there – are there going to be Cuban and Venezuelan officials at the summit that he might meet with, or no?
MS NAUERT: That I am not sure of. Hold on, let me check his schedule right here and see if I have anything for you on that.
QUESTION: Is he going to meet with anybody from the Cuban official delegation?
MS NAUERT: Let me check and see what I have for you on that schedule, which has still been coming together.
QUESTION: It can wait. It's not a – it's not an urgent question. It's just --
MS NAUERT: Okay. You know what I'm going to do? I'm going to hand his schedule off to my colleagues. They can take a look at it and we can come back to this.
QUESTION: All right.
MS NAUERT: Okay.
QUESTION: Let's start with – on Syria. What can you tell us regarding the – any latest contact between the acting secretary and foreign officials? Has there been any on a possible response?
MS NAUERT: Yes. So this is obviously an interagency process. The United States, through the White House, through the State Department, and others of well – as well, have been having conversations with our allies and partners overseas. Deputy Secretary – pardon me. Acting Secretary John Sullivan spoke on two occasions with Foreign Minister[1] Boris Johnson of the UK yesterday. I believe a readout was provided of that call.
We are looking for a coordinated response, whatever that response might be, to the situation in Syria.
QUESTION: Has he spoken to anyone other than Foreign Secretary Johnson?
MS NAUERT: Not to my awareness. I have spoken with him on two occasions today. I don't have any additional --
QUESTION: Okay.
MS NAUERT: -- calls to read out for you.
QUESTION: Okay. Well, do you expect him to? Because, I mean, the President has spoken now twice to President Macron and at least once to Prime Minister May.
MS NAUERT: Yes. So the President spoke with Prime Minister Theresa May. The President also spoke with Macron. I'm not sure if Acting Secretary Sullivan was on that call or not, but we are closely linked up with the White House, with the NSC, and other partners and departments on this.
QUESTION: (Off-mike.)
QUESTION: Do you believe that – so a lot of the European officials believe that you can't really do anything at against the Syrians and the Russians until you've got some kind of evidence. What is the U.S. point of view as far as collecting that evidence, and do you believe that evidence would be – we had Russians in at the site yesterday. Do you believe that that is enough evidence to make a move either through the UN or directly?
MS NAUERT: Well, the OPCW, I believe it was just yesterday or earlier today, announced that it would be on the ground gathering evidence. We see the OCPW[2] as the impartial body to be able to collect this kind of evidence. Let me remind you how difficult it is to get. To get to these – first of all, you're in a war zone. This is a very dangerous environment for anyone to go into. So for these people to be able to go into these environments to collect samples, perhaps through partner organizations that they work with and also themselves – I understand they have their own inspectors who go about doing this – collecting that information and then analyzing that information.
So that's an important role. They're the gold standard in collecting this type of information, and we would certainly rely upon them, as we have in other instances, to take a look at that.
QUESTION: So you're first waiting for the OPCW to come back with something before you can make any kind of --
MS NAUERT: Look, I'm not saying that. The United States Government has its own mechanisms to be able to look into things. Some of these would be intelligence matters that I'm not going to get into. You know full well why. The United States has been sharing information with its allies and partners, as have our allies been sharing information with us. But the OPCW we recognize and are pleased to see that they are able to get to the area or eventually be able to get to the area, we hope as soon as possible, to be able to collect samples.
We have talked about before the Joint Investigative Mechanism that Russia thwarted, and the United Nations today is looking at a vote to come up with a new form of a Joint Investigative Mechanism. And that is something that we would strongly support, because not only do you need that body to investigate what exactly was used, but you need a body to be able to determine who was responsible for it, and that's exactly what the Joint Investigative Mechanism did.
Now, we do know that some sort of a substance was used, a chemical was used. We're just not sure at this point today exactly what was used. Okay?
Andrea, go ahead.
QUESTION: Following up on the forensics of this, you know something was used. You don't know exactly what or by whom. But absent hard evidence, which may take a long time, if ever, is it possible that there would not be some kind of response? Is there a threshold for taking action if it's clear that some kind of chemical was used, and that there are only certain players who have access to such chemicals?
MS NAUERT: Well, look, we know that only certain players, to use your word, have access to these kinds of chemical weapons. We know that it requires certain kinds of delivery mechanisms to use those types of weapons. Not everyone out there has access to those delivery mechanisms. So we have that information; we're familiar with it. I'm not going to get ahead of the President and the White House and what the interagency determines is the best route going forward, but I can tell you that we are in close coordination with our allies and partners on this.
QUESTION: Can I just follow up on that?
MS NAUERT: Yeah.
QUESTION: But given the pace of phone calls and our own reporting in different capitals, it does seem likely that this will be a multilateral response; if there is a response that it will be different from what happened on April 6, 2017.
MS NAUERT: I can just say –
QUESTION: Is that a fair conclusion?
MS NAUERT: I'm not going to confirm that for you. I think our calls are certainly obvious, that we stand strongly with our allies. We've had calls with the French and with the British. We've had information sharing and also are in conversations with people, as you would expect.
QUESTION: And could I ask if you could take a question? NBC News reported today – one of my colleagues, Courtney Kube – that the Russians have been jamming the GPS of our drones, which may or may not be one reason why it's been difficult to collect photographic evidence, and that this has been going on for several weeks.
MS NAUERT: I'm not aware of that, Andrea. I'll see if I can get something for you. Some of that may fall under intelligence, and we may not be able to answer that. But I can't even confirm the premise of your question. This is the first I'm hearing of it.
QUESTION: Heather, can I just ask very quickly --
MS NAUERT: Yeah.
QUESTION: Are you saying, in response to both Lesley and Andrea, that even absent a determination from the OC – OP – OPCW or this JIM, the joint investigative message that is likely to be --
MS NAUERT: Yeah. The new type of JIM, yeah.
QUESTION: -- vetoed today – even without any conclusion from them, the administration believes it has the – it can act?
MS NAUERT: I'm not going to get ahead of anything that the White House may announce. That's not my roll to do that. I can just say it's very clear that some sort of chemical weapon was used, and that is a tremendous concern to the United States.
QUESTION: That's a certainty, right?
MS NAUERT: Hi. Go ahead.
QUESTION: Hi, Heather.
MS NAUERT: Hi.
QUESTION: As the United States is coordinating with allies on this, there's a move in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to write a new authorization for the use of military force. What kind of input has the State Department had, as this sort of come up as the Secretary had left – Secretary Tillerson has left? Where's the administration on an AUMF? It could be moved in the committee as early as next week or so.
MS NAUERT: Yeah. So we haven't changed our position. Our position remains exactly what it was. Director Pompeo and I have not had a chance – perhaps he's discussed this with other colleagues here at the State Department to review his opinion and how he envisions it. Also our lawyers obviously would play a strong role in that, so we just have not had those conversations yet. But as it stands right now, our policy remains exactly the same.
QUESTION: So as the U.S. considers a response, it believes it has the authority to act as it can and should?
MS NAUERT: I would defer to the White House on that, but yes.
Okay. Go ahead.
QUESTION: While you coordinate with the U.S. allies, do you also have – or do you plan to have contact with the Russian officials, government to avoid any escalation if there is to be a response by the Western countries?
MS NAUERT: I don't have any calls or meetings to read out on the Russians at this point. Okay.
QUESTION: Can I move on?
MS NAERT: Hi, Said.
QUESTION: Could I –
MS NAUERT: Oh, wait. Hold on.
QUESTION: (Off-mike.)
MS NAUERT: Michel.
QUESTION: (Off-mike.)
MS NAUERT: Okay. And we'll come back to you.
QUESTION: Sure.
MS NAUERT: Hi, Michel.
QUESTION: Hi. How are you?
MS NAUERT: Nice to see you.
QUESTION: Nice to see you, too. Will the U.S. be waiting for the OPCW investigators to come back from Syria to react, or you have enough proofs or – to react?
MS NAUERT: I think I answered that question. That is something we believe we know, that some form of a chemical weapon was used in that attack in Syria that has killed at least 85 people that we are aware of so far. So the United States is convinced and knows that some sort of a chemical weapon was used. We also recognize the importance of the OPCW, and we don't know their timeline for being able to get in, collect information. We have our intelligence and then they have their information from the ground, so we have different kinds of information.
QUESTION: The President, though, was pretty clear that there was going to be a price to pay. I mean, he literally said that. Why – since April 6th of last year, when he – when they ordered the missile strikes in Syria, and now – or until this last incident – there have been numerous uses of chemical weapons that have been alleged in Syria. What makes this one hit that threshold that a price has to be paid?
MS NAUERT: I think, Matt, to answer that question, we have to look at the number of attacks that have taken place, the pace, how quickly these attacks are now taking place. This will be the ninth attack using some sort of chemical substance this year alone. It used to be that when attacks would take place the world would stand up and take attention and it has become, in the view of the U.S. Government and many others as well, far too common. So I think it's taken the world to stand up and say this is unacceptable; this is horrific, and we can't stand for this anymore.
QUESTION: But why if those – if that figure is correct, if this is the ninth this year alone, since – what makes this different than the sixth or the fifth, that you would now say there has to be a price to be paid and you didn't before?
MS NAUERT: Matt, I would just say that a lot of this has been based on conversations with our allies and partners overseas. And beyond that, I'm not going to be able to get into it.
QUESTION: Can I move on?
QUESTION: Another part of Syria?
MS NAUERT: Hi, Said. Okay. Then I'll go to Said. Laurie.
QUESTION: Okay. This has to do with Iran. And Israel struck Iranian targets at Syria's T-4 Airbase on Sunday, which is the second time in as many months. Do you share Israel's concern about Iran's presence in Syria?
MS NAUERT: We have talked about this a lot, that Iran supports Hizballah. Iran has sent not only fighters but also equipment into Syria. Iran has been a bad actor in Syria and other parts around the world. They have further destabilized the country of Syria. They have also bolstered the regime of Bashar al-Assad, enabling the regime to be able to commit attacks against innocent civilians, not just in Eastern Ghouta and elsewhere, but around the country as well. Of course we're absolutely concerned about Iran's presence or meddling, whether it be through proxies, in the country of Syria.
QUESTION: So it's possible, when President Trump talks about everyone will pay a price involved in this, that the United States could also strike Iranian targets in Syria as a response?
MS NAUERT: I'm not aware of what – if we were to take any kind of action, I'm not sure what our targets would be.
Okay. Said, go ahead. Yeah.
QUESTION: Can I move on to Gaza?
MS NAUERT: Yeah.
QUESTION: Last Friday, the Israelis killed a Palestinian journalist. He was – he had a vest that was clearly marked press. I wanted your reaction and comment on that, if you have one.
MS NAUERT: Yeah. I can say we're certainly aware of reports that a journalist operating in Gaza was killed in the clashes in Gaza. I don't have the specifics on his particular case, but I can tell you we're looking into it.
QUESTION: So you're not sure that he was targeted and that the marking was clear, that he was wearing a vest that said --
MS NAUERT: I'm just saying I don't have the specifics on this case.
QUESTION: Do you have --
MS NAUERT: But I can assure you, we are looking into that.
QUESTION: Do you have any comment on the fact that the Israelis are targeting the press?
MS NAUERT: Look, I can say that we would call for renewed emphasis on having peaceful dialogue, trying to get two parties back to talk about the future of peace for the Israelis and Palestinians. And certainly the events of the past week and a half or so have been very troubling.
QUESTION: Okay. But you know, you have not even --
QUESTION: (Off-mike.)
MS NAUERT: One at a time.
QUESTION: You have not issued a statement and so on. I remember, I raised on the 29th of last month that there was going to be such a thing the following day --
MS NAUERT: I know you – you did say that. And I said, "Said, I hope you are wrong."
QUESTION: -- and I – well, I hope I am, but my hope just withered away.
MS NAUERT: Yeah.
QUESTION: So – but they did use excessive force. Do you think that the Israelis are using excessive force to close these demonstrations that are really far? I mean, the reports show that Mr. Jason Greenblatt suggested that they keep away 500 feet. This journalist, Yasser Murtaja, was hit at like 350 meters, which is almost 1,000 feet. So they are demonstrating in their own enclave basically. You are not calling on the Israelis to stop targeting civilians?
MS NAUERT: What – Israel, from my understanding, has just announced that it will conduct an internal investigation into the use of force, and so we will stand by and we will watch what comes out of that, okay?
QUESTION: Heather, I'm sorry. You said you were aware of reports that a journalist was killed.
MS NAUERT: Yes.
QUESTION: You haven't been able to confirm? The guy was buried over the weekend at a funeral that was quite – it was attended by a lot of people.
MS NAUERT: Yeah. And I'm aware of that, yes.
QUESTION: But not just of reports. I mean, you know that this guy was killed.
MS NAUERT: That is correct. Yes.
QUESTION: And I think you might know a little bit more – maybe, maybe not – but because this – the company that he worked for, that he cofounded and co-owned had last month gotten – been vetted and was approved for a grant from USAID. Now – okay, well first of all, can you say that that is true, that that is correct?
MS NAUERT: My understanding is that he was vetted according to U.S. Government guidelines, but I don't have anything more for you on that.
QUESTION: Okay. So would – the U.S. Government guidelines would allow for a member of Hamas to get funding – funding from USAID?
MS NAUERT: Matt, I don't know the specifics of the case. I've not been involved in any of that, but --
QUESTION: Okay. Well, if you could --
MS NAUERT: -- if I get anything for you on that, I'll be happy to bring it to you.
QUESTION: The Israeli defense minister has said that although he was wearing a journalist's bulletproof vest with the word "press" clearly emblazoned on it, he was a member of Hamas, a member of Hamas's armed wing, and with the equivalent rank of captain, and that he was disguising himself as a journalist. And I want to know – I mean, if he was in fact vetted and approved for USAID for a U.S. taxpayer grant, either the USAID vetting process is not very good or it allows for a potential – possible Hamas militant to get U.S. funding, or the Israeli defense minister is wrong or worse.
MS NAUERT: All I can say is that we're looking into that, okay? We're looking at all of this.
QUESTION: Let me ask just one last --
QUESTION: (Off-mike.)
MS NAUERT: Go ahead.
QUESTION: Allow me just one – one last –
QUESTION: Heather.
QUESTION: One last question.
MS NAUERT: Yes, go ahead.
QUESTION: Please. Today, the Israeli minister of defense, Lieberman, said – told The Jerusalem Post, an Israeli newspaper, that there are no civilians in Gaza. Do you have any comment on that?
MS NAUERT: I do not. I do not.
QUESTION: Would you look into that, please?
MS NAUERT: If I have an answer, I will give it to you, certainly.
Okay. Okay.
QUESTION: Heather. Heather.
MS NAUERT: Leslie, did you have something else?
QUESTION: Because you keep saying you're looking into it, I'm trying to figure out, is that – are you talking to the Israelis about their – the way this happened, or – I mean, what kind – are you doing an independent --
MS NAUERT: That's typically what we do. We talk to other governments, we talk with officials and sources on the ground from different sides, and gather information and facts.
QUESTION: Heather.
MS NAUERT: Okay, that's all I have. Hi, Janne.
QUESTION: Thank you, Heather. When the United States and North Korea summit talks on May or June, will the North Korea human right issue be raised at the talks?
MS NAUERT: Yeah, typically when we have the opportunity and talk with countries where we have tremendous differences, that is something that does come up. I imagine that that would come up as well. However, denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, which is something that Kim Jong-un said that he is willing to abide by and willing to work toward – I think that is obviously the top conversation. Other things may come up as well.
QUESTION: Thanks.
QUESTION: On the same topic?
MS NAUERT: Yeah. Go right ahead.
QUESTION: So Kim Jong-un has said he's willing to work towards denuclearization, but is the U.S. Government confident that both your definition and his definition match up? Like, does he agree to complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearization, or does he have a different definition in mind?
MS NAUERT: I can't speak for him; I can't speak for his government. I can --
QUESTION: But can you speak to does the U.S. feel confident that you both mean the same thing when you're talking about that?
MS NAUERT: And that is something that the President has determined, that – and I can't speak for the President, but I can say that when they say they are ready to denuclearize and we will have conversations about that, we go into those meetings in good faith, hoping for the very best, and so we look forward to having those conversations.
Okay, Josh. Hi.
QUESTION: (Off-mike.)
QUESTION: Thanks, Heather. The – on Qatar, the --
QUESTION: (Off-mike.)
MS NAUERT: I'll come back to you, Abbie. Okay.
QUESTION: In the Oval Office this morning, the President had a very different assessment of Qatar's status on terror funding than he did a year ago. Ironically, his – today seemed to line up more with the secretary of state that he recently fired, and I'm wondering if it's accurate to say that at this point Qatar has resolved U.S. concerns as expressed by the President last year about funding for terrorism.
MS NAUERT: Yeah. So I think a lot of this is a work in progress. They have made some progress, certainly. On March 21st, less than a month ago, they publicly announced designations of 20 terrorist financers and six entities under its new domestic designations authority, so that's certainly a step in the right direction. We continue to call on all sides of this GCC dispute to come together, to refrain from the type of rhetoric that would make it difficult for them to come together. We have long talked about how this can affect our overall war on terror and efforts in the Middle East, and some of those countries have had to pay a price as a result of their eye being taken off the ball. So we continue to have those conversations with the Qatari Government.
QUESTION: As far as resolving that dispute, basically all sides of this dispute say we're dug in, there's been essentially no progress, this isn't going anywhere. But the President put it very differently today. He said, "We're working on unity in that part of the Middle East and I think it's working out very well. There are a lot of good things happening."
MS NAUERT: Okay.
QUESTION: Are there any examples of good things that are happening as far as resolving the Gulf crisis that you can point to?
MS NAUERT: I wasn't in those meetings, so I don't have a full readout of exactly what took place. I can tell you that our Acting Secretary John Sullivan will be meeting with the Qataris later this afternoon in a meeting here at the State Department, so we'll see what comes out of that. I hope that we'll be able to provide you a readout.
QUESTION: But the rhetoric has been elevated between Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Both of them are your allies, now they are talking about building a canal that will turn Qatar into an island and so on.
MS NAUERT: I think the rhetoric, if you all remember, is better now than it was last summer. Not where it needs to be, but we're certainly – I think we're in a better spot.
QUESTION: I don't know. I mean, if I look at – look at the Arab press, I think it's heightening.
MS NAUERT: Yeah.
QUESTION: I'm saying some of the projects would be a canal that would cut off Qatar, turn it into an island. I don't know if you saw this.
MS NAUERT: I've certainly seen that – yes, I have – and that would --
QUESTION: So is that something that you would --
MS NAUERT: That would be something that we don't think benefits the dispute. That only exacerbates the dispute.
QUESTION: (Off-mike.)
MS NAUERT: So talk like that, suggestions like that only serves as a setback, and I think we've been clear with those countries about that kind of rhetoric. (Inaudible.)
QUESTION: In what way have we been clear with the Saudis that we think the embargo should be lifted? Has that – where – when and where has that taken place?
MS NAUERT: I don't have readouts of any of those meetings right now, but I know that we've made those – made that clear.
QUESTION: But we're confident enough that the Qataris have done enough that I believe the State Department, yesterday or last night, announced an intention to sell advanced weapons --
MS NAUERT: I don't have anything --
QUESTION: -- to Qatar?
MS NAUERT: -- for you on that.
QUESTION: Three hundred million dollars in --
MS NAUERT: Okay. I'll take a look into that. Sorry.
QUESTION: India.
MS NAUERT: Okay. Yeah.
QUESTION: Can we stay in Asia?
MS NAUERT: Yeah. Hi.
QUESTION: Hi, a quick question on China and Taiwan. Do you have any information and the timing of the second U.S.-China Diplomatic and Security Dialogue? Separately, are the tensions between --
MS NAUERT: Okay. Let me answer your first one first, and I think you're referring to the dialogue that we had last year, the four-part dialogue with President Xi and other members of his government. I don't have any meetings, any plans to be able to provide you today about that, so I'll let you know when we have something to announce.
Okay. Your second part is?
QUESTION: Are the trade tensions between Washington and Beijing have any repercussion on the four annual high-level dialogue between U.S. and China?
MS NAUERT: I don't think so, and I think the President spoke about this yesterday and then just a short while ago today, talking about how we will continue to have conversations with the Chinese Government, in particular with President Xi. The President not long ago said, "[I'm] very thankful for President Xi of China's kind words on tariffs and automobile barriers…also, his enlightenment on intellectual property and technology transfers. We will make great progress together."
So I think what we may be seeing is China coming to terms with some of our concerns about unfair trade practices and the United States saying, "We stand by to engage with you, the Government of China and President Xi, on that matter."
QUESTION: Do you know what --
QUESTION: India?
QUESTION: On Taiwan, today is --
QUESTION: -- the President meant by "enlightenment"?
MS NAUERT: My best estimation of that – and I have not spoken with the President today – but my best estimation of that is basically what came out of President Xi's speech. And in President Xi's speech that he gave at the – at a forum recently, he spoke about economic reform, he spoke about market opening. Those are the types of suggestions that China has made for some time, but if they are willing to make progress on that and step in the right direction, we certainly remain open to engaging them.
QUESTION: So – but he believes that President Xi has been enlightened?
MS NAUERT: Possibly.
QUESTION: Yeah.
MS NAUERT: He used that word, so – okay.
QUESTION: India?
MS NAUERT: Go right ahead.
QUESTION: Taiwan, what – today --
MS NAUERT: Nike, let me go on to somebody else. Hi.
QUESTION: Just – the same topic. So do you see the risk of the trade war between United States and China has been reduced, if not diminished?
MS NAUERT: I think we're at a good point where we're having conversations. We've been clear with the Chinese Government areas that are of concern to U.S. workers, U.S. companies, and the overall trade balance. We have had those conversations with them, so I think we're looking like we're in a better place.
QUESTION: But the Chinese Government officials actually saying there's no negotiation going on right now. So I wonder – I'm wondering if you could confirm if there are talks between the two sides about trade issue right now.
MS NAUERT: We have had conversations government to government. As you all know, our Ambassador Branstad was meeting with Chinese officials just about a week or so ago, so those conversations and talks continue.
QUESTION: Thank you, Heather.
MS NAUERT: Yeah.
QUESTION: There have been reports that a team at the CIA has been in communication with North Korea regarding the upcoming summit. My question is what the role of the State Department is in these preparations.
MS NAUERT: I can only confirm that the U.S. Government is engaged in talks with North Korea about our upcoming meeting. I can't get into the specifics in terms of who is doing that, but this is a broad interagency process.
QUESTION: And then also yesterday, the President extended the timeline to May and early June. Why was the timeline extended?
MS NAUERT: I'd have to refer you to the White House for an answer on that.
QUESTION: (Off-mike.)
QUESTION: Madam --
QUESTION: (Inaudible) North Korea?
QUESTION: -- India?
MS NAUERT: Okay. Okay. Hi. Cuba.
QUESTION: Thank you. Can you tell us, in this meeting in Peru, when it is that the U.S. delegation would be meeting with the exile community or the representatives of the exile and civil society from Cuba? Do you have a date?
MS NAUERT: My colleagues over here have my schedule right now, and so I will defer to them. When is Acting Secretary Sullivan set to meet?
MR GREENAN: On Thursday.
MS NAUERT: On Thursday with Venezuelan --
MR GREENAN: With opposition and Cuban NGOs.
MS NAUERT: Thank you, with Cuban NGOs and opposition leaders.
QUESTION: What about Raul Castro?
MS NAUERT: Pardon me?
QUESTION: What about any meetings scheduled with Raul Castro or anybody in the --
MS NAUERT: Robert, is there anything on the schedule regarding that?
MR GREENAN: No other officials planned.
MS NAUERT: No, okay.
QUESTION: India?
QUESTION: (Off-mike.)
MS NAUERT: Okay. And we're going to have to wrap it up soon. Hi, Lalit.
QUESTION: India --
QUESTION: Hi.
QUESTION: Syria?
QUESTION: Thank you. I have one question about a news report appearing in the Pakistani press --
MS NAUERT: Okay.
QUESTION: -- which says that the U.S. has imposed travel restrictions on Pakistani diplomats based in Washington, D.C. Is that the case?
MS NAUERT: I don't have anything for you on that.
QUESTION: Thank you.
MS NAUERT: Okay. All right.
QUESTION: Madam --
QUESTION: Syria?
QUESTION: Syria?
MS NAUERT: Yeah. Hi, sir.
QUESTION: Hi, thanks a lot.
MS NAUERT: I'm sorry, tell me your name again.
QUESTION: Sure, Matthew Lee, Inner City Press. I wanted to ask you about Syria.
MS NAUERT: Matt Lee, the other Matt Lee?
QUESTION: Yeah, I know, the other Matt Lee. Matthew Russell Lee.
MS NAUERT: Okay.
QUESTION: Yeah. So I wanted --
MS NAUERT: Nice to meet you.
QUESTION: All right. I'm glad to be here. I wanted to ask you, this is maybe – I don't know if it's in your binder or not, if – two things I wanted to ask. One has to do with Syria's set to the president of the Conference on Disarmament of the UN.
MS NAUERT: Mm-hmm, I saw that.
QUESTION: And Robert Wood, your – yeah, your ambassador said --
MS NAUERT: Ironic, right?
QUESTION: Yeah, highly ironic that they're un – not qualified. I wanted to know: Do you have any ideas yet what that will mean? Will the U.S. walk out? Will they not participate? And I have one other question for you.
MS NAUERT: Okay. I'm certainly aware of that story and that story taking place. That would be an outrage if Syria were to take control of that. We have seen these types of things happen at the United Nations before where suspicious countries, which countries that run against everything that an individual committee should stand for, will then head up that committee. I haven't spoken to Ambassador Haley about that and what she may or may not do, so I don't want to get ahead of any decisions she might make.
QUESTION: Sure. And I just – it's something that I haven't seen the department comment on. Maybe you'll have – maybe it's in your binder, or maybe it isn't. But there's been 47 Cameroonians were in Nigeria and they were picked up and sort of illegally returned, or refouled, back to Cameroon. And it's been – it's been months that people haven't seen them. And I'm wondering: Is the U.S. aware of this? Are they aware of this conflict, the conflict or tensions in the Anglophone zones of Cameroon, and what do they intend to do about it?
MS NAUERT: I'll have to take your question on that and get back with you. And there are things that are not contained in the binder that we are aware of as well. Okay? Okay.
QUESTION: Madam, India, please? India?
MS NAUERT: All right, last question then. India.
QUESTION: Thank you very much, madam. Two questions, please. One, as far as U.S.-India relations are concerned on social and cultural affairs, there are thousands of cases in India at the external affairs ministry and home ministry as far as filed by the battered women by NRIs or non-resident Indians who go from here to marry them and ask for large amount of sum of amount and what they call dowry. And then they promise them to bring them to the U.S., but they abandon them there, and then after that they asking more dowry, then they file for divorce. This is recently one case from New York Supreme Court.
Not – the Indian Government is not doing enough than these women, what they said international woman rights, and also they said that we talk about trafficking or human rights for women, and many of these women did knock the doors of U.S. embassy in Delhi and consulates in India, but they don't get any response or justice because they have letters in their hand signed by the magistrates and their lawyers, but the U.S. consulates or – what can you do for them? Because somebody should do something for those battered women.
MS NAUERT: I am not familiar with this story. This is the first I'm hearing of it, so let me look into it, find out what the process is. What you're describing sounds like a terrible situation for those women, but I don't have the facts on that, so let me see what I can find out for you. Okay?
QUESTION: And these people are U.S. Indian Americans, U.S. citizens or Indian citizens? My --
MS NAUERT: I'll see --
QUESTION: My second question, please.
MS NAUERT: I will see what I can find out for you on that.
QUESTION: My second question, quickly.
QUESTION: (Off-mike.)
QUESTION: What they call honest dialogue between U.S. and India --
MS NAUERT: Hey, you all ask multiple questions, too. So give him a break.
QUESTION: Honest dialogue between U.S. and India took place recently, but it was all secret. Anything you can talk about? What is the – what is the future of U.S.-India relations?
MS NAUERT: Well, we have a strong relationship with the Government of India. I think you know that very well. A lot of issues that we have in front of us that we talk about consistently, including Indo-Pacific, free trade, all of that. So I don't have any specifics for you on anything coming out of meetings, but when I do I'll let you know. Okay?
QUESTION: Madam, thank you very much.
MS NAUERT: Thank you.
(The briefing was concluded at 3:38 p.m.)
[1] Secretary


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subset: commoncrawl


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Gianluigi Buffon. One of Italy's most famous names in football. The veteran goalkeeper celebrated his 1000th career performance tonight in front of the Italian faithful in a world cup qualifier against Albania. Playing in the Stadio Renzo Barbera, home to Italian club Palermo who currently sit in 18th in the relegation zone in Serie A.
Buffon has had a glittering career which has included honours such as; a World Cup, a runner up medal at the 2012 European championships, 7 Serie A titles, 3 Coppa Italia trophies and many more and that's not even to mention the dozens of personal awards he's achieved. Tonight, he broke another record as he made his 1000th career appearance in football and it was topped off with a typical Buffon performance as he kept a clean sheet against the Albanians.
Buffon had a fairly comfortable game in which he didn't stand out too much but did make the occasional save to see out Albania. Odise Roshi had a right footed shot saved by the Italian keeper after 20 minutes comfortably. Other than the mentioned above, the Italian superhero, as they like to call him in Italy, had a fairly easy game and will be remembered more for his landmark appearance than his performance.
The 39-year-old may not be retiring just yet but as he comes to the end of his amazing career, it's hard for anyone to really be certain of what more Buffon can achieve in the wonderful game. The Italian legend has played a total of 39,681 minutes for Juventus, the club in which he has spent most of his career and is the third all-time appearance maker in Serie A with 614.
The 2006 Ballon d'or runner up has won Serie A goalkeeper of the year 11 times, UEFA club goalkeeper of the year once and has been involved in the UEFA team of the year 4 times in his career. Some of his additional individual records are that he has conceded the fewest goals in a world cup campaign (2), 5 clean sheets in one World Cup, competed in 5 different World Cups, and has once gone 974 minutes without conceding, the longest run in his career (11 games).
The most expensive goalkeeper in history says he wants to try and win one more major honour with Italy in 2018 before he considers retirement but it may still be a few years before he finally hangs up the gloves for Juventus. In the meantime, he'll most likely continue to add to his outstanding appearance record and add to his 280 Serie A clean sheets. What is certain is that we should make most of Buffon as the legendary keeper won't be around forever.
Watch some of Buffon's best saves. credits to CaptainBlack.


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this is the water gym lake water. the outside is a normal gym but wean you go in you will se some waterfalls and a lot of lakes.you haft to find the bridge that gose up the water fall.there are a lot of briges to go on but only one is the right one.wean you find the right one you go up the aterfall and see me.that's wean you battle me.if you win a bridge comes up and you walk down that bridge to the exit to the gym. if you lose same thing happens.
badge:lake badgeEdit
if you beat me you win the lake badge.the lake badge is blue. it has waves from a lake on it.if you lose you will not get the badge.


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[EN] I'd wanted to create butterfly wings design for a long time. In this pattern, I love the way how aggression and femininity go together. Painting this ornament turned out to be easier than I'd expected.
[RU] Лаки и материалы
[EN] Nail polish and tools
China Glaze - Moulin Rouge
Sinful Colors - 103 Black on black
Pink up - 116
Dotting tool/Дотс
Nail art brush/Кисть для нейл-арта


text: That's it. The third time. My work has been rejected again by Bead & Button's "Bead Dreams" contest. Okay. I give up! I am lying on the railroad tracks. I dare someone else to run me down. To take some of the pain of this rejection was the big (for bead sales) check from the Coast Highway Art Collective. The $50 rental fee for the month was much cheaper than the 1/3 cut other places take as commission. So my gamble to go with this new venture, is, at the present, paying off and in a very complimentary way! Fie on contests! I'll take the vote by the $$ and the many (nearly 100) views on my Etsy site. No sales there but I only had to pay $.40 for the month!


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Flashlight is the perfect instant ON utility light!
The new flash on the iPhone 4 is incredibly bright, way better than a white out screen. Don't be fooled this is a real tool, no silly strobe that can be accidentally activate. No clap-off that turns off the light whenever there's a loud noise.
Read our review of Flashlight


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By Chris Shaddock Sports Editor The summer is a great time for people to do many outdoor activities such as camping or hiking. But somedays all a person really wants to do is just stay in a nice air conditioned house and relax with an enjoyable videogame. And with a game like "Overwatch," people are going to be doing a whole lot more of that. The game was developed … [Read more...]
Six Ways to Lead a Healthier Lifestyle This Summer
By Jeana Teddick Staff Writer Memorial Day weekend will kick off the season of hot, humid days filled with greasy burgers and gooey s'mores. For those of us stressing over the muffin tops rolling out of our bikinis, the thought of this makes us want to hide under the nearest table. The truth is that there is no uniform way to lose weight because each of our bodies responds … [Read more...]
Congratulations to the '16-'17 Minstrel Editors
The Minstrel is excited to see many strong returning editors for their '16-'17 academic year including Kellie Dietrich, Will Edwards, Lauren Trumbull and Jaci Wendel. There are also three new editors, Alex Lingle, Kimmie Semiday and Chris Shaddock, who have all attained their positions through great writing skills and dedication to The Minstrel. Editor-in-Chief | Kellie … [Read more...]
McFadden Chat: Lawler and Loughlin Receive MAC Athletes of the Year Honors
https://youtu.be/mcDsW6cGszw By Hutton Jackson A&E and Online Editor Last week MBA student Ryan Loughlin and senior Rob Lawler won MAC Freedom Offensive Player of the Year and MAC Field Athlete of the Year respectively. The two towering New Jersey natives, both who attended St. Joseph High School in Metuchen, N.J. with Loughlin graduating in 2011 and Lawler … [Read more...]
All-Semester Athletic Team: Spring 2016
By Will Edwards Sports Editor This article was originally published in Issue 14, Fiftieth Year of The Minstrel (April 28, 2016). Click here to view the entire issue. As DeSales' spring sports teams finish up their seasons, our editorial staff has looked back at some of the driving forces that have gotten them to this point. Here are the results of that process: … [Read more...]


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At only one hour driving from Geneva, the ''Manoir de la Tour'', is a large historical house in a land of about 14 000m2 composed of woods, but also a wonderful garden with a swimming pool with an amazing view on the Lake du Bourget. You will also find in the garden the vestiges of the tower of the former castle of Gresy sur Aix. If you go on the top of the Tower you will have an overview of the region, lake and mountains.
The comprises on the ground floor: living room, several rest room, kitchen, large dining room, and also an independant bedroom. On the first floor, 5 large bedrooms fully renovated, with their private bath/shower room, as well as two attics which can be transformed / renovated.
You have also a large old cellar in the basement, an independant small appartement which can be used for a gardener, or a keeper for the house, and of course a very large garage.
This Manoir is full of charm and offers a lot of possibilities: either family house, or to develop a bed and breakfast, or a place to organize weddings, seminars, etc.
A wonderful property to be visited!


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Woburn Safari Park
Holiday Inn Express Bedford is a popular choice for guests looking for a hotel near Woburn Safari Park as it is located just 11.3 miles away. Guests can travel between our hotel and Woburn Safari Park in as little as 20 minutes so you won't have 'Are we there yet?' ringing in your ears when you get there!
Woburn is, rightly, a hugely popular attraction for visitors of all ages and a great day out for the whole family. The Safari Park includes a Road Safari and a Foot Safari and the knowledgeable keepers are on hand to give demonstrations and insights throughout the day.
Woburn's Road Safari gets visitors up-close to Asian elephants, lions, tigers, Bactrian Camels, zebra, giraffe and more while the Foot Safari includes meandering through the Land of the Lemurs, Penguin World and the Australian Walkabout.
Choose to enjoy a break at Woburn Safari Park and an overnight stay at nearby Holiday Inn Express Bedford for a fantastic family getaway. And remember that our family guestrooms can accommodate up to 2 adults and 2 children and breakfast is free for the whole family!


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Information taken from Wikipedia.
The Proctor was developed from the Percival Vega Gull in response to List of Air Ministry Specifications" Specification 20/38 for a radio trainer and communications aircraft. To meet the requirement, the aircraft based on the Vega Gull had larger rear cabin windows and the fuselage was six inches longer. Modifications were made to the seats to enable the crew to wear parachutes, and other changes to enable a military radio and other equipment to be fitted. In early 1939 an order was placed for 247 aircraft to meet operational requirement OR.65.
The prototype aircraft, serial number P5998, first flew on 8 October 1939 from Luton Airport. and the type was put into production for the RAF and Fleet Air Arm. The prototype was tested as an emergency bomber during 1940 but this idea was abandoned as the invasion threat receded. Although the first 222 aircraft were built by Percival at Luton, most of the remaining aircraft were built by F. Hills & Sons of Trafford Park near Manchester. They built 812 Proctors of several marks between 1941 and 1945, assembling most of the aircraft at Barton Aerodrome.
Whilst the very early Proctors (Mks I to III.) followed very closely the last incarnation of the Vega Gull, and consequently retained most of its performance, later versions became much heavier and less aerodynamic, with inevitable detrimental effects upon their performance. The later marks of Proctor, whilst looking broadly similar, were in fact a complete redesign of the aircraft and were much enlarged, heavier and even less efficient. Flight performance was poor. There were later plans to fit them with the 250 hp Queen 30 and larger airscrew, but only one trial aircraft was so fitted as the all-metal Prentice was being developed to replace the Proctor, utilising the Queen 30 etc. Interestingly, the Prentice itself proved to be a very poor aircraft (Even worse than the late Proctors.) and served in the RAF for only a handful of years before withdrawal as it was deemed unsatisfactory. The remaining Proctors in use soldiered-on after Service use in private hands until the 1960s. At this point, owing to concerns about the degradation of glued joints in their wooden airframes, they were all grounded. Several surviving Proctors have been rebuilt with modern adhesives and should be returned to the air shortly. Early Proctors still make good light aircraft, as they combine the Vega's attributes of Long-range, speed and load-carrying ability. Notably, all Proctors inherited the Vega Gull's feature of wing-folding.


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Somebody's Hirin'!!
With "Clown Prince" obama doing everything in his power--as your exalted ruler--to destroy the jobs markets in the United States, Canadian companies are taking an active role in counteracting his plans. obama has made a big deal in promoting various pipeline segments within the United States; segments that have already been approved; segments he has no power to stop!!
The Canadian oil companies intend to sell their oil to someone and deliver it somewhere. To that end--with obama's Keystone XL Pipeline delays--a pipeline is being built from the Fort McMurray area of the Province of Alberta to a terminis on Canada's west coast, rather than wait until the communists are forced out of American governance. Canada doesn't have the vast population in the hinterlands that the U.S. has.
The 'powers that be' in Canadian capitalism have partnered with the American Veterans of Foreign Wars in providing the human capital that obama refuses to put to work in more than 'make-work' government jobs. The Edmonton Economic Development Corporation--in the aforementioned partnership--is providing an ongoing, daily listing of 55,000 jobs to the VFW jobs website. Does "Clown Prince" obama need any more evidence that--at least in Canada--the private sector is the far better provider of jobs than is the government?!?
Where is Governor Romney on this obama-forced OUTSOURCING of American jobs?!?
'Splain to me again why YOU elected this Verdammte Arschloch!?!
Til Nex'Time....
Monday, July 9, 2012
This'n'That; July Ninth #1; Veteran's Jobs
Posted by Justin Case at 6:15 AM
Labels: "Clown Prince", Edmonton Economic Development Corporation, jobs, Keystone XL, mitt romney, obama, pipeline, tar sands, Vet Jobs, Veterans, VFW
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Improving Australian homes and offices for over 30 years!
Image Blinds is a proud Queensland Company founded by Joe Turner in 1986. Joe began the company with three staff members and now has a team of more than 50 experienced and highly-trained employees. He believes the continued success of Image Blinds is certainly due to the skilled staff, but most of all, our decision to manufacture all our products here in our factory at Aspley. It was in August 2011 that Image Blinds opened our brand-new factory and showroom to showcase our full range of made-to-measure items for all internal and external products.You, our valued customer, are one of the key ingredients to Image Blinds' strong growth and placing in the door and window furnishings market. It is hoped that our honest approach and experienced staff comes first, both before and after the sale.Why not 'take a look', we're confident that you will like what you see. We offer you the very best in quality manufacturing here in our factory at Aspley, not to mention our after sales service which we believe is second to none. Our fabulous showroom is open Monday to Friday, 8.30 – 5pm, and 9am – 1pm on Saturdays, so drop in and meet our friendly staff at 605 Zillmere Road, Aspley, or call us for a free measure and quote on 1300 657 100.
Image Blinds services areas from the North Coast to the Gold Coast, along with Ipswich and the surrounding areas. Thanks for choosing Image Blinds,
Joe Turner
Founding Director
Image Blinds has been decorating South East Queensland homes with high quality blinds, awnings and shutters now for over 28 years.
We manufacture an extensive range of products that are custom made to your windows and can be designed to your specifications. More importantly, we know what it means to deliver fabulous, old fashioned, customer service.
Our blinds, awnings and aluminium shutters are proudly Australian made and are assembled locally. We are committed to providing excellent products at an affordable price.
Image Blinds are a proud member of the Blind Manufacturers' Association of Australia (BMAA).
Image Blinds and their experienced team offer a Free Measure and Quote service with areas from the Tweed Coast to Noosa, including Brisbane, Gold Coast, Ipswich, Caboolture, Bribie Island and the Sunshine Coast.
Call Image Blinds today.
Free Measure and Quote
We offer all of our clients a free measure and quote service. To arrange a free consultation please contact us. We also offer a comprehensive colour and decorating service as well as full installation and after sales service.
Your satisfaction is always guaranteed with Image Blinds!


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|Message view
|« Date » · « Thread »
|« Date » · « Thread »
|Garrett Rooney <roo...@electricjellyfish.net>
|Re: RTC killed the open source project
|Tue, 09 Aug 2005 16:35:15 GMT
Brad Nicholes wrote: > But on the other hand, there shouldn't be a reason why apr-util can't be > released at anytime regardless of why. If there is a linkage between > apr 1.2.0 and apr-util 1.2.0 that just means that they happen to be > released at the same time. There is nothing sacred about what the > version numbers happen to be or if they happen to be the same. If > apr-dbd isn't ready to be released yet but apr-util is, then where is > the real hold up? apr-dbd is part of apr-util, it isn't its own separate library, it has to be released as part of apr-util. -garrett
|View raw message


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Now this is a question that we get asked a lot. It is also a question for which there are no easy answers! There are pros and cons for each side, and the debate can be had for a long time. For now, I want to address some of the environmental impacts of both plastic and paper bags.
Environmentalists will often answer the question "Which is better, paper carry bags or plastic bags" with "neither".
But I believe that most research indicates that plastic bags have lesser impact on environment than its paper counter parts.
Here is one reason why:
Issue 1: Energy and natural resources used to manufacture plastic bags Vs paper bags. It takes more than four times as much energy to manufacture a paper bag as it does to manufacture a plastic bag.
(BTUs British Thermal Units)
Safeway Plastic Bags: 594 BTUs
Safeway Paper Bags: 2511 BTUs
(Source: 1989 Plastic Recycling Directory, Society of Plastics Industry.)
What does this mean? It means that Plastic bags take less energy to create, which is significant because so much of our energy comes from dirty sources like coal and petroleum.
Of course, most paper comes from tree pulp, so the impact of paper bag production on forests is enormous.
In 1999, 14 million trees were cut to produce the 10 billion paper grocery bags used by Americans that year alone.
Paper bag production delivers a global warming double-whammy.
Forests, which are major absorbers of greenhouse gases - have to be cut down. And then there is the subsequent manufacturing process of bags produces greenhouse gases.
Issue 2: Pollution
The majority of kraft paper is made by heating wood chips under pressure at high temperatures in a chemical solution. As evidenced by the unmistakable stench commonly associated with paper mills, the use of these toxic chemicals contributes to both air pollution, such as acid rain, and water pollution. Millions of gallons of these chemicals pour into our waterways each year; the toxicity of the chemicals is long-term and settles into the sediments, working its way through the food chain.
Paper sacks generate 70% more air and 50 times more water pollutants than plastic bags.
Source: "Comparison of the Effects on the Environment of Polyethylene and Paper Carrier Bags," Federal Office of the Environment, August 1988
According to a life cycle analysis by Franklin Associates Ltd, plastic bags create fewer airborne emissions and require less energy during the life cycle of both types of bags per 10,000 equivalent uses -- plastic creates 9.1 cubic pounds of solid waste vs. 45.8 cubic pounds for paper; plastic creates 17.9 pounds of atmospheric emissions vs. 64.2 pounds for paper; plastic creates 1.8 pounds of waterborne waste vs. 31.2 pounds for paper.
Issue 3: Recycling
It takes 91% less energy to recycle a pound of plastic than it takes to recycle a pound of paper. But recycling rates of either type of disposable bag are extremely low, with only 10 to 15% of paper bags and 1 to 3% of plastic bags being recycled, according to the Wall Street Journal.
ENERGY TO RECYCLE PACKAGE ONCE (BTUs)
Safeway Plastic Bags: 17 BTUs
Safeway Paper Bags: 1444 BTUs
Source: 1989 Plastic Recycling Directory, Society of Plastics Industry.
Although paper bags have a higher recycling rate than plastic, each new paper grocery bag you use is made from mostly virgin pulp for better strength and elasticity.
Issue 4: Transportation
Paper is an extremely dense material that is much heavier than plastic, and hence requires higher transport costs to move around.
Maxpak supply similar sizes of string handle paper bags, and plain plastic singlet bags.
An 11 kg carton holds 2000 plastic bags. A similar weight carton holds only 250 paper bags(this carton is double the volume) Our truck has a 10 tonne carrying capacity. This means it can carry around 900 cartons which is 1.8 million plastic bags or 225,000 paper bag. For every 1 truck load of plastic bags, you would need 8 truck loads to carry the same amount of paper bags! That is 8 times the amount of energy, fuel and carbon emmisions just for local transportation.
The most negative environmental impact that plastic bags represent is their persistence in the environment as litter. Emotive images of animals in distress and litter in our streets, parks and waterways deeply affect the public consciousness. This is a human behaviour issue I believe. They look terrible as litter - but bag's don't litter themselves - humans do. Paper bags are just as likely to become litter as plastic.
I really encourage you to do some research of your own - to verify my commentary, as well as to find a variety of views. You'll find a robust debate all over the internet. A google query "are paper bags better than plastic?" will reveal a plethora of information. I'll put a few links below for you to check out if you have time.
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply.
Packaging BLOG
Packaging, Environment and Legislation Observations from Maxpak
Environmental Packaging, Plastic Bags, Paper Bags, Shopping Bags, Cleaning Wipes & Products, Garbage Bags & Liners, Packaging & Cleaning Products


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Corner Shelf India
Nearly 30% of all appurtenances in Hypercity accept been sourced from China, as accept 20% anniversary in Magnet and Big Bazaar. In fact, experts account that Chinese appurtenances will be a huge basic of non-food items in hypermarkets, activity up to 50% of all goods.
To adverse lower margins on aliment and grocery, hypermarkets beyond the country accept looked at all-embracing sourcing from China for appurtenances as assorted as toys, appliances, electronics, ceramics and footwear.
Clearly, the amount cogwheel is too acceptable to abide for hypermarkets active huge clandestine characterization programs. Citing an instance, Andrew Levermore, CEO, Hypercity, says, "Electronic appurtenances sourced from China could be up to 30% cheaper than branded cyberbanking goods."
The sourcing activities could booty as abundant as 60 days, including 30 canicule aloof for aircraft and community clearence. Locally, it takes aloof seven canicule for hypermarkets to antecedent appurtenances from manufacturers. Yet, the prices of Chinese appurtenances are low abundant to absolve this added busline cost.
Adds Ashok Maheshwari, managing director, HomeCare Solutions Pvt Ltd, which has the Magnet hypermarket beneath its fold, "Not alone are Chinese appurtenances abundant cheaper, they're additionally far advanced of bounded appurtenances in architecture and innovation." Back of the envelope calculations advance that alike afterwards appraisement clandestine characterization appurtenances 15-25% lower than branded goods, retailers could still get 10-15% college margins.
Recognising the appulse that Chinese appurtenances could accept on their bottomline, hypermarkets accept been putting a abundant accord of accomplishment in their sourcing operations.
There are acrimonious affection processes that hypermarkets accept put in place. For instance, Big Bazaar, with its advantages of scale, has absolute agencies testing articles that are sourced from China.
At Hypercity, best affairs teams accept one affiliate who is a abstruse able and would adjudge artefact specifications. Mr. Levemore adds, "For accoutrement and linen we commonly won't charge area experts, we go added by the attending and feel of the material."
A abundance like Magnet uses European and US benchmarks for cyberbanking appurtenances and alms items, which best Chinese manufacturers attach to. Virtually all hypermarkets accelerate teams over to China to appear barter fairs and indentify.
Yet, no Indian hypermarket alternation can await on absolute sourcing from manufacturers, back nobody, barring conceivably Big Bazaar, has the calibration that ability absorption high-volume manufacturers in China. Hence, all of them assignment with consolidators based out of either India, Hong Kong or China.
These consolidators buy appurtenances in aggregate and address it over to the bounded hypermarkts, while additionally allowance with acumen and community clearance. Says Rajan Malhotra, head, Big Bazaar, "Consolidators allows us adaptability to adjudge how abundant account we appetite to hold, which would be beneath than what a architect would appetite to supply."
Big Bazaar reckons that they could end up sourcing amid Rs. 5000 - 10,000 crores account of commodity from China annually in the abutting 5 years. Says Mr. Malhotra, "We will set up a sourcing appointment in China anon to accumulate our sourcing activities."
For this sourcing bold to work, about a actual able backend and after-sales basement is mandatory. Big Bazaar currently has the calibration to handle after-sales queries, which it has done in-house.
Recognising this need, Hypercity and Magnet, currently distinct abundance entities, are attractive at tie-ups with assertive vendors that will booty affliction of after-sales service, but Spencers hasn't towed the line. Citing an affair of scale, Jitu Mehta, President, Spencers, says, "We're currently not sourcing any items that crave after-sales service."
Yet, the Chinese aggression doesn't spell the death-knell for bounded manufacturers. Hypermarkets affirm that Indian manufacturers still exhausted China on quality, abnormally in accoutrement and linen. Mr. Levemore says, "The alone aberration amid Indian and Chinese appurtenances are the margins." Once there's acceptable calibration congenital up locally, Hypercity affairs to accommodated all of its sourcing requirements from India.
(This commodity was originally appear in The Times of India)


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Well being the odd child that Chad can be, I asked him what the protocol was on parents buying [his] a girlfriend a Christmas present. I have to check with him first although it would seem a bit odd if we didn't buy her a present when she is at our house every day, eats dinner with us every night and I sometimes send food home in a Tupperware if she leaves before we eat. Buying a present would be a normal thing to do, but there is nothing normal about us I guess. The biggest problem is that I have no idea what to buy her. What do you buy a 16-year-old girl, who you don't know that well even though she is at your house every single day! Well, that was until Saturday - she has gone to stay at her bestie for a few days, who lives far from here.
Buying for a teenage girl should be so easy, except she is not a girly-girl at all. On first impressions, she looks like a real little Madame and very very girly-girl, but she is actually a tomboy, but puts in an effort, because she feels she should try to be girly sometimes. I guess her mom or stepmom or some other girl has told her that. She is a really pretty little thing, but would rather be jumping on the trampoline with our dogs on a Friday night or shooting Chad's pellet gun than being out at a club or painting her nails. She is naturally pretty and doesn't need makeup. I am not posting pictures of her on my blog because I don't think it is right. She knows I blog because Chad told her, but won't give her my blog name and I told her I am not a blogger as such, I just have an online journal and nothing exciting to read. I told Chad, in front of her, he shouldn't have told her about my blog. I still don't think it is right to post pictures of her unless I have her permission.
I am really struggling to think of what to buy her and went shopping on Sunday with Mark which was a nightmare, so I am attempting to go again tomorrow. She desperately wants a kitten, but her father hates cats and she thought (so did Chad) that she could keep it here as we seem to be the adopter of many animals and we love cats. One problem Garfield hates cats. I asked her the other day if she knew how old Garfield is and she said no, I told her that she is 17, her eyes grew bigger than the day we discussed Chad's present opening habit. Garfield is older than her which is mind boggling. She is a lifetime, not a Christmas present. What happens if they break up ( I am not allowed to say that). What happens if our dogs don't like the kitten and what happens if Garfield in her old age stresses and runs away or dies. I know Garfield won't live forever, but I don't want her to stress in her old age. Garfield also has a litter tray now and it is just one litter tray too many - she has had it for about two years. As much as I would love a little kitten it is just not practical. I told Chad and JD when Chad moves out one day (never) they can get a kitten.
|Clinty & Garfield
I am probably the worst boyfriend's mother right now, but I just can't have another animal attaching itself to me. To distract her from wanting a kitten we went to the Bush Babies Monkey Sanctuary on Saturday, now Chad wants a monkey - haha not a chance!!!
Will it be a slap in the face if I bought her a toy kitten?? I have no idea of where to even start looking for teenage girl presents. She may be a girl after my own heart because I am certainly not a girly-girl but I just don't know what to get her.
Thanks for reading...


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Just when you thought you had a handle on budgeting for your household, you get thrown a curve ball.
The cost of living in the Cayman Islands is out of control.
And now it's gotten higher.
Government has raised the cost of banking, which means that every time you take money out of your bank account you'll pay more.
The increase is tied to the hike in the price of postage stamps earlier this year and it hits every chequing and savings account.
Banks already charge fees for certain transactions.
Now there is an extra tax on top of those fees.
And who says we don't pay taxes in the Cayman Islands?
On the surface 25-cents per debit transaction doesn't seem like a lot.
And it's not if you only withdraw money occasionally.
But those who pay their bills online will be hit every time they make a transaction.
Each time you write a cheque you'll pay the fee you've been paying to use the service, plus the extra fee.
That means that when you buy groceries you're not only paying more for them, but you'll be paying the extra bank fee to feed your family.
When you use your debit card to buy expensive gasoline, you'll pay more to the bank.
The banks didn't ask for the fee.
It was put on them by Government, which will collect the extra fees for the country's coffers.
Our leaders in Government keep telling us they are aware that the cost of living is too high here.
And now they've made it even costlier.
Something has to be done.
We honestly don't know how pensioners and others on fixed incomes can afford to continue to live in the Cayman Islands.
Those who do live by household budgets will have to go back and re-jig them to account for the higher cost of using the money they work so hard to earn.
Government must get a control on how much it costs to live here.
If prices keep rising we won't have to have a rollover policy. The cost of living is becoming so high that it makes the Cayman Islands an unattractive place to want to move to.
We're already hearing rumblings from tourists through Letters to the Editor.
Many writers say they're going to find somewhere else to spend their disposable incomes for holidays; that it just costs too much to come to Cayman.
We live in a beautiful paradise.
It will be unfortunate if prices continue to increase at this unchecked pace and drive away tourists and residents.
We implore Government to come up with some sort of solution.
Maybe some of the fat needs to be trimmed from Government.
Prices have to come down.
We've got to be able to afford to live in this place we call paradise.


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Forecasts for a segment of the Polish construction materials market
PMR Research was commissioned by a leading global manufacturer of construction materials to conduct a research project on one of the segments of the Polish market of building materials.
The aims of the project included:
- Describing the current situation of the market and in several of its segments, including estimating the size of the market.
- Preparation of an extensive database of potential sales leads.
- Preparation of forecasts for the market as a whole and its particular segments until 2010.
PMR Research is a full service agency providing services at all stages of research projects; from questionnaire design through fieldwork to data analysis. We can be a single point of contact for multinational projects saving your time and guaranteeing the same high quality and consistency of deliverables. We are fluent in the following areas of research in Central and Eastern Europe:
- international research,
- B2B and consumer surveys,
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- healthcare research using proprietary physicians' and pharmacists' PMR Medical Panel,
- brand awareness studies using our PMR Brand Image methodology,
- name, package and product testing,
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- comprehensive industry analyses using PMR Market Insight methodology.
e-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com
tel. (+48 12) 201 34 60
- The Polish construction sector is recovering from a crisis – PMR Construction Climate Indicator
- Protective coatings market in Poland
- Next edition of the study on construction sector in Poland


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7 Day Archaeology Tour in Uzbekistanoffered by supplier M20364 (read about supplier)
Key Information:
Tour Duration: 5 - 15 day(s)
Group Size: 1 - 30 people
Destination(s): Uzbekistan
Specialty Categories: Archeology/History Cultural Journey
Season: January - December
Airfare Included: No
Tour Customizable: Yes
Minimum Per Person Price: 700 US Dollar (USD)
Maximum Per Person Price: 1200 US Dollar (USD)
Less agreeable images are also induced: of Ghengis Khan and Timur (Tamerlane), the most far-reaching conquerors in history; of the tyranny and cruelty of the khans, perpetuating the last redoubts of mediaeval misrule; of the Great Game, the nineteenth-century Cold War between Britain and Russia; of terrain as hostile as the tribesmen and petty tyrants who inhabited its desert and mountain fastnesses; and of a post-Soviet penumbra of Stans of suspect politics and allegiances.
The four cities of the subtitle lie now in Uzbekistan, independent since 1991 but an entity which has its origins in late nineteenth-century Russian imperialism, which agglomerated a number of independent khanates, and whose borders were settled in the 1920s. It lies at the very centre of Central Asia. One of only two double land-locked nations in the world, it has a capital which is a thousand miles north of the Indian Ocean (Afghanistan and Pakistan intervene), 1,400 miles east of the Black Sea and 400 miles from Xinjiang, China's largely Islamic western province. This is as the crow flies; extremes of topography and climate as well as banditry slowed or terminated the progress of many travellers.
A slave-trading oasis khanate, Khiva was, and remains, the smallest of the three cities. It is perhaps the most intact and homogenous urban ensemble in the Islamic world, with biscuit-coloured brick and blue and turquoise maiolica. In Bukhara, gorgeously adorned architecture spanning a thousand years still rises above a streetscape of indeterminate age. Samarkand has the largest and most resplendently caparisoned historic buildings of all. There are also visits to Shakhrisabz, which has breathtaking remains of Timur's palace, and to Tashkent, the spacious modern capital with good museums and galleries.
Space is not at a premium in this part of the world. Broad tree-lined boulevards encircle the historic town centres and no expanding girdle of high-rise apartments disfigures the approach. Modernity has made relatively unobtrusive inroads: in one of the few nations on earth which has escaped the countryside scourge of ferroconcrete and breeze block, the whitewashed villages and farmsteads with their awnings of vines would hold few surprises for Tolstoy. Nearly all the women are to some extent in traditional dress, brightly coloured ankle-length dresses, and so are some of the older men. In the wake of economic liberalisation since independence, streets and courtyards are draped with the dazzling hues of carpets and textiles; the glories of the Silk Road in its heyday are not hard to imagine.
Arrive to Uzbekistan and spend the next day exploring the sprawling city of Tashkent, Uzbekistan's 2,000-year-old capital.
Our next stage is Samarkand, which survived the arrival of Islam, the havoc of the Mongolian hordes and then flowered under the rule of Tamerlane. You will get there from Tashkent by Afrosiyob speed train with the journey taking only 2,5 hours. You will spend 2 days exploring Uzbekistan's most glorious city. Its long history is most famously linked to the legacy of the great 14th century ruler Tamerlane whose aim was to create the richest city on earth.
The journey then moves to Bukhara. It was the beauty of the Kalyan minaret that saved it from being destroyed by Ghengis Khan in 1220 when the rest of the city was razed to the ground. The magical city of Bukhara is over 2,000 years old and is the most complete example of a medieval city in Central Asia. Touring here includes the important religious attractions of the city including the Bolo Hauz Mosque and Ismail Samani mausoleum which dates from the 10th century, Kalyan Square and the summer palace of the Emir.
Our last leg of the journey is to visit the evocative city of Khiva, one of the most complete and best-preserved cities on the ancient Silk Road. This time you will be transferred by vehicle through the famed Kyzyl Kum Desert. The Great Silk Road once routed through Bukhara and Khiva ran through the Kyzyl Kum Desert, as the present road does nowadays. Stop en-route to enjoy views of the desert and Amu Darya River. Enjoy breathtaking panoramic views of Old Khiva in Kunya-Ark. Try yourself at climbing Islam-Khoja minaret, the highest minaret in Uzbekistan. In the evening you will be transferred to Urgench airport for flight to Tashkent (1 h. 40 min.).
We are pretty sure to say that this trip and all those impressions you will get will stay with you for a long. All those impressive mosques, mausoleums and madrassas, a feast for the eyes. Uzbekistan takes you on an amazing journey to the past with its rich architectural heritage and it never fails to impress any visitor. Whether it's Samarkand with remarkable Registan and Shah-i-Zinda, the old towns of Khiva and Bukhara, or Sovjet-style Tashkent, you will love this impressive country that has so much to offer.
Airfare is not included in the tour price.
Click here to email this vacation offer to a friend.
Joined InfoHub: Jun 2010
Tashkent based travel agency specializing on incoming tourism to Uzbekistan & Central Asia. Our main clientele is foreign tourists. We offer various tours across Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan, provide visa support services, hotel bookings, guides, etc. Officially licensed by...


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10 Most Messed Up Toys For Kids
Sometimes, toys for kids can get just a little bit weird. We all know that Japanese toys like God Jesus Toy Robot are a bit out there, but wait until you see Baby's First Baby, The Sixfinger Toy, a Rainbow Pooping Unicorn, Cyclops Stroller, and several other toys for kids you probably played with as a child!
God Jesus Toy Robot is one of those toys with a very unfortunate name. Created by Japanese toy makers, this toy answers all your life's questions, and also, for some reason, holds a cross while doing it.
The Sixfinger Toy was popular in 1960 and it allowed you to add an extra finger to your hand. This popular gadget actually looked like a real finger, but once you pressed the button, it became so much more!
And then there's Baby's First Baby, a toy designed by an artist that was trying to make a statement about teenage pregnancies. Although the toy is just an artistic design, it's one of the most messed up toys for kids we've seen!
Let's not forget about the Cyclops Stroller. This kids' vehicle resembles a monster with a bulging eye, and scary-looking teeth. But that's not all that's scary about this vehicle! The child gets to sit in the monster's brain!
Wait until you see the Rainbow Pooping Unicorn! Which one of these toys for kids sounds the most messed up? Is it God Jesus Toy Robot, Baby's First Baby, The Sixfinger Toy, or the Cyclops Stroller? Make sure you check out our video to find even more messed up toys for kids!


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Sign up for the Arts Night Plus Newsletter for monthly updates! Each first Thursday of every month, from 5-8pm, participating venues host gallery openings, concerts, lectures, and other creative events. Get the details in your inbox every month!
Town Council Candidate Survey on the Arts
Arts Night Plus sent a 3-question survey to the 26 Town Council candidates to obtain for voters their views on how arts and culture can benefit our downtown. Twenty-one candidates chose to reply. Click here to read their responses, beginning with At Large followed by Districts in numerical order.
Do you want to be part of a growing, innovative group of creative people in Amherst? Joining Amherst Arts Night Plus will allow you to make connections with local business owners and artists, strengthening the arts community in the Amherst area. Become a participating venue!


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Evgeniy Gorkov
Roman Simonov
Peter Kochevrin
Dmitry Piskulov
Yuri Mashintsev
Vitaly Spassky
Alexander Lupachev
Stanislav Mitrofanov
Daniel Radchenko
Alla Pianova
Alexey Priyatkin
Sergey Kozhukhar
Nikita Grigoryev
Alexey Goroshko
Pavel Savelyev
Anna Aleinik
Jane Gvozdeva
Yana Shirokikh
Yuri Mashintsev joined Russia Partners as a Director in March 2008. Mr. Mashintsev has over 20 years of financial, consulting and operational experience. Before joining Russia Partners, he was the Director responsible for private equity investments in Russia, the CIS and Eastern Europe at Templeton Asset Management. Prior to that, he led and managed private equity projects in Russia and other countries for Emporiki Venture Capital and AIG-Brunswick Capital Management. Mr. Mashintsev also worked as a consultant at Bain & Co.'s Moscow office and, prior to that, gained operational and corporate finance experience working for various telecommunications and technology companies.
Mr. Mashintsev holds a University Diploma from Moscow State University and an M.B.A. from Vanderbilt University.