text:
World Refugee Survey 2009 - Lebanon
|United States Committee for Refugees and Immigrants
|Publication Date
|17 June 2009
|Cite as
|United States Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, World Refugee Survey 2009 - Lebanon, 17 June 2009, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/4a40d2ab53.html [accessed 21 January 2018]
|This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.
Lebanon hosted about 333,500 refugees and asylum seekers, including some 278,000 Palestinians, who arrived after the 1948 creation of Israel, and over 50,000 Iraqis. The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) had registered roughly 422,000 Palestinian refugees, but this figure included many who had acquired Lebanese citizenship or resided outside Lebanon. Most Palestinian refugees lived in 12 refugee camps and informal settlements throughout the country.
2008 Summary
During 2008, Lebanon deported at least 180 Iraqis to Iraq, always maintaining they returned voluntarily. Lebanon had detained them for several months in overcrowded prisons mixed with criminal detainees before they chose to return, opening the voluntary nature of their return to question.
At the beginning of the year, Lebanon was detaining more than 700 asylum seekers and refugees, including more than 320 Iraqis registered with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). By the end of the year, in part due to a limited amnesty program (see below), Lebanon held roughly 150, fewer than 100 of whom were arrested solely for immigration violations. Despite a reduction in arrests, refugees and asylum seekers continued to be arrested for illegal entry, and detention remained a major source of fear for refugees. Violence was common during arrests, interrogations, and in detention centers.
The Directorate General of the General Security (GSO) received 156 requests for circulation permits from refugees and asylum seekers, but only granted one during 2008.
Throughout the year, authorities required Palestinian refugees wishing to enter or leave Nahr al Bared camp to obtain permits from the Lebanese Armed Forces. Permits were available to those who lived or worked in the camp. The permit requirements made it difficult for refugees to visit relatives in other camps and caused some to miss funerals, although the Army grew more lenient in granting them during the year.
While roughly 40 percent of Iraqi children could not attend school because they were working or their families could not afford supplies and fees, around 1,100 enrolled in schools with UNHCR assistance during the 2007-08 school year. In 2008, the Government opened all schools to refugees with UNHCR certificates. Refugees had to pay fees, as did nationals, but UNHCR provided grants to cover the cost; 81 percent of children aged 4 to 17 enrolled (95 percent among those of primary school age). Additionally, UNRWA operated 83 primary, preparatory, and secondary schools for Palestinians, as well as 28 primary health care clinics.
In February, the Government opened a three-month (eventually extended to six) window for foreigners to regularize their status in the country. Foreigners first had to pay £L950,000 (about $634) to regularize their status for three months, during which time they had to legalize their status in the country. To legalize, Iraqis not enrolled in school or do not have a Lebanese spouse or parent have to find sponsors, obtain work authorizations, pay $300 residency fees, present proof that a sponsor has paid a $1,000 bank deposit on their behalf, and pay for medical tests and insurance. UNHCR paid the fee to secure the release of 230 refugees in detention. Former employers secured the release of some refugees, but others returned to Iraq. By May between 120 and 140 Iraqis remained in detention. Lebanon continued to arrest Iraqi refugees throughout the year, although less frequently than in 2007, detaining 25 between February and April. Many employers did not wish to sponsor refugees, preferring to hire them illegally, and many refugees did not wish to work formally because employers took the cost of the work permits out of their pay.
Clashes between Fatah and the fundamentalist, reportedly al Qaeda-inspired group Jund al-Sham in Ein al Hilweh camp killed several Palestinians. Fighting killed three a Jund al-Sham leader and two other Palestinians in July. Three died and three were wounded in a gun battle in mid-September, and about a week later an explosion killed one and wounded four.
In August, the Government began allowing Palestinians and their families who fled to Lebanon after 1948 to obtain identification cards. Around 2,500 Palestinians signed up for this program initially, although the Palestinian Consul to Lebanon suggested the number could ultimately double.
In October, a group of human rights organizations presented the Government with a list of 27 detainees who had died in Lebanese custody since January 2007, including several Palestinians, one Iraqi, and one Sudanese national. The groups reported that some of the deaths suggested abuse by guards, and others negligence and lack of medical care.
As of November, 27,000 Palestinians driven from Nahr al Bared camp by fighting in 2007 remained in temporary housing. Roughly 40 percent of those who had returned to the camp were unemployed, as were 26 percent of the displaced. Before the 2007 fighting, 88 percent had held jobs.
By year's end, roughly 4,000 Palestinians who had received Lebanese citizenship under a 1994 decree awaited a decision from the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) as to whether they would lose citizenship pursuant to the 2003 order of the State Consultative Council.
Law and Policy
Refoulement/Physical Protection
Authorities do not allow independent monitoring of returns and do not regularly inform UNHCR in advance.
Lebanon is not party to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, and does not have a functioning refugee law in accord with international standards. The 1962 Entry and Exit Law prohibits refoulement of "political refugees" and allows any foreigner, whose life or liberty is in danger for political reasons, to seek asylum. In theory, an inter-ministerial committee headed by the MOI handles political asylum cases, but few apply for asylum. The Government granted political asylum in only one known case in 2000 to a member of the Japanese Red Army. Lebanon's Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with UNHCR declares that "Lebanon does not consider itself an asylum country" and, under its mandate, UNHCR carries out all refugee status determinations.
The MOU covers only refugees who enter the country after it went into effect and precludes persons already in the country legally from applying. It also does not cover Iraqis under UNHCR's temporary protection regime. Lebanon permits asylum seekers and refugees to remain on the condition that UNHCR repatriate or resettle them. Of those who enter illegally, the MOU covers only those who apply for asylum with UNHCR within two months of entry. A 2006 Ministry of Justice advisory generally affirms that the Government should not return refugees recognized by UNHCR. UNHCR has three months to make status determinations and has to hand in the list of names of rejected applicants to the GSO. If UNHCR grants refugee status, the MOU gives UNHCR six months to find countries to accept the refugees for resettlement. During this time, the Government issues circulation permits, which it renews only once "for a final period of three months after which time the General Security would be entitled to take the appropriate legal measures." UNHCR rarely is able to complete registration, status determination, and resettlement within a year.
In February 2007, UNHCR began granting all Iraqis from central and southern Iraq prima facie recognition unless they fell under one of the 1951 Convention's exclusion clauses and did not register them under the MOU as it does for other refugees.
A 1962 decree recognizes most Palestinians as "foreigners without identity documents from their countries of origin residing in Lebanon on the basis of residence cards issued by the GSO or by the General Directorate of the Administration of Palestinian Refugee Affairs [renamed the Directorate of Political Affairs and Refugees in 2000 (DAPR)]."
Lebanon is party to the Convention Against Torture, and judges frequently block deportations of refugees and asylum seekers on the basis of its Article 3 protection against returning people to countries where they are in danger of torture.
Lebanese police typically do not enter Palestinian camps or provide security there.
Detention/Access to Courts
Lebanon's regulations state that prison authorities should refer foreign detainees who complete their sentence to the GSO, who would then decide to release or deport. In the case of refugees and asylum seekers, authorities give them the option of remaining in prison or returning to their countries of origin. There is no administrative mechanism to review these detentions. Authorities release refugees from detention when UNHCR intervenes if they have resettlement prospects.
UNHCR, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have access to detained refugees and asylum seekers. The 2003 MOU directs the GSO to notify UNHCR of asylum seekers detained "at its premises" and UNHCR can send "an explanatory letter with the proper documents" if it wishes to interview other detainees.
Based on the 2003 MOU, the GSO can issue circulation permits valid for six months and renewable for three months to refugees and asylum, allowing them to move freely in the country while UNHCR handles their cases.
Palestinian groups in the refugee camps operated their own system of justice outside Lebanon's control, resolving disputes in traditional, tribal fashion. They occasionally turned suspects in killings over to Lebanon's justice system, however.
The 1926 Constitution, amended in 1990, assures protection from arbitrary arrest, imprisonment, and custody to all persons. The 1962 Entry and Exit Law directs the GSO to issue special identity cards to political refugees.
Although refugees and asylum seekers technically have access to courts, those without legal status often avoid them for fear of arrest. In a 2008 child custody case involving a Sudanese refugee, a Lebanese court stressed the importance of allowing access to courts even for refugees without legal status in the country.
Lebanon grants immigration hearings to dozens at a time, during which the judge calls on them to respond to questions about the legality of their entry or stay by raising their hands or nodding. In criminal proceedings, Lebanon provides legal aid to foreigners whose home country provides the same to Lebanese nationals, which exclude all Palestinians. UNHCR does provide legal aid in some cases, however.
Freedom of Movement and Residence
Most non-Palestinian refugees cannot move freely within the country for fear of arrest. The Government restricts movement mostly at checkpoints, where many police and military officials do not respect UNHCR documents, especially after the conflict in Nahr al Bared.
Under the MOU, GSO can issue circulation permits to non-Palestinian refugees and asylum seekers who enter illegally pending UNHCR's determination of their status. The Government can also issue circulation permits pending resettlement, which it renews only once for a maximum of 12 months. UNHCR no longer requests circulation permits from the GSO for the Iraqis recognized prima facie. They are given certificates but they do not afford the same benefits and do not grant exemption from penalties for illegal presence.
The Government gives all UNRWA-registered Palestinian refugees and their descendents renewable five-year travel documents. Palestinian refugees registered with DAPR receive travel documents valid for one year. In 2006, GSO stated that refugees who obtain foreign passports can still keep their travel documents.
The Government does not issue international travel documents to non-Palestinian refugees except for resettlement.
The 12 refugee camps in Lebanon reportedly are not only overcrowded, but have open sewers, polluted drinking water, and poor electrical wiring. Lebanon does not allow camp boundaries to be expanded, and prohibits both new construction and repairs within the camps.
Lebanon requires that refugees residing in camps north of the Litani River to obtain written permission before being able to travel south.
Right to Earn a Livelihood
Under Lebanese law, courts can sentence anyone who enters the country and works illegally to at least one month in jail in addition to a fine.
In 2005, the Ministry of Labor (MOL) partially repealed restrictions prohibiting Palestinian refugees from working in 70 types of jobs. The edict covers about two-thirds of the occupations previously restricted, generally the low- to medium-skilled ones. To obtain a work permit, a Palestinian has to have been born in Lebanon, have registered with the MOI, and have a contract with a specific employer. Annual fees for work permits range from £L240,000 (about $160) for workers earning below the minimum wage of £L300,000 (about $200) per month, to £L960,000 (about $640) for workers earning twice the minimum. Consultants, experts, general directors, or heads of accounts must pay an annual fee of £L1,800,000 (about $1,200). Registered Palestinians have to pay only a fourth of those fees, but are ineligible for social security because of the requirement of foreigners' home states to give reciprocal benefits to Lebanese. Since the Palestinians have no home state, they are automatically ineligible but still have to contribute to it. The edict does not change a 1964 law which imposes another reciprocity condition on the membership in professional syndicates – a precondition for employment in professions such as law, medicine, engineering, and journalism. This also effectively excludes Palestinians.
Non-Palestinian refugees in the country legally have to apply to the MOL for work permits as foreigners. They have to be experts or professionals in a field where no Lebanese candidates are available, residents of Lebanon since 1954, or work for a company at least nine consecutive months during the year. Professions practiced through association, such as medicine, law, and accounting, are open only to Lebanese with few exceptions. Lebanon also offers work permits to foreigners married to Lebanese women for at least a year, who have Lebanese mothers, or are of Lebanese descent. The Government does not allow refugees and asylum seekers to hold both work permits and a legal refugee status. The Government requests refugees and asylum seekers who obtain work permits withdraw their refugee claims with UNHCR when they obtain work permits or apply for residence permits.
Most non-Palestinian refugees work in the informal sector in typically in unskilled positions, earning less than nationals and working longer hours,. Many families send their children to work, in hopes that they would be treated more leniently than adults if arrested.
The amended Constitution of 1926 promises protection of property rights to all people. Foreigners, including refugees, can own limited plots of land while fulfilling special legal requirements, including the approval of five different district offices. An amendment made in 2001 to the Property decree of 1969 allows foreigners to acquire property only if they come from countries who grant reciprocal rights to Lebanese. This excludes Palestinians from acquiring or bequeathing property to their heirs. Banks require nonresident foreigners to have a valid entry visa to open an account but refugees can register vehicles in their names at the MOI.
Public Relief and Education
Refugees are ineligible for public medical assistance. The 2003 MOU requires UNHCR to provide "the necessary assistance" to refugees holding circulation permits to avoid being "a burden on the Lebanese Government." Palestinian refugees are not eligible for Government health services or education but UNRWA provides health clinics.
A 1999 Ministry of Education decree grants all refugee children access to primary and secondary schools if space is available. The schools require all refugee children to have identification certificates issued by UNHCR. UNHCR and its partners provide educational grants to refugee families with primary school-aged children. UNHCR aids non-Palestinian refugee children in primary and secondary schools.
A 2002 decree reclassified Palestinians as "foreign student," subjecting them to increased tuition fees at universities. The fees made attainment of any education beyond secondary schooling, which is only achieved by few Palestinians, even more difficult.


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By Barbara Kessler
Green Right Now
Those of you who've been buying Fair Trade certified coffee for years now, have probably noticed that Starbucks has only tiptoed in that direction. Just 8.5 percent of its coffee is Fair Trade certified, according to critics.
The rest of Starbucks' coffees are "ethically sourced," according to the coffee king.
But people are starting to wake up and smell a problem: Starbucks' self-certified coffees do not have to pass any outside review, only the company's own criteria and in-house standards.
Typically, that's not a program that benefits the small producer, so much as the big company that devised the plan. Critics are asking, can Starbucks be a true supporter of small coffee producers in Africa and Latin America without submitting to an outside Fair Trade process?
Now, a possible boycott is brewing.
The Organic Consumers Association (OCA) and GMO Inside are challenging Starbucks to use organic milk – yes, that's another issue — and Fair Trade coffee beans, just as many smaller coffee shops and local coffee grinders have managed to do for years.
"They're an extremely profitable company," says Katherine Paul, associate director of the OCA. "That profit is really at the expense of poor farmers, and really, they [Starbucks] should take the lead on Fair Trade and Organic. They have the ability to do that. It's time to give back to society."
The OCA did not come hastily to its conclusion that Starbucks could do better. For 12 years, it's been pressing the global corporation, which now has 20,100 stores and profits just shy of $15 billion annually, to improve its sourcing.
In 2007, Starbucks responded to OCA's call that it drop milk made by cows injected with Monsanto's Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (RBGH), a chemical blamed for sickening dairy cows and causing dangerous estrogenic effects in humans.
But the company has remained impervious to calls to buy coffee beans certified as Fair Trade for the American market – other than to offer a couple token varieties over the years.
To be fair about Fair Trade, it's not a panacea. The certification programs by the World Fair Trade Organization and the Fair Trade Federation, set up to help small coffee (and cocoa) farmers bargain for better prices, have been accused of not keeping pace themselves. Newer groups have come along to facilitate coffee trade for small producers, and some coffee cooperatives have begun dealing directly with coffee grinders in US and Europe, where the majority of java consumers live.
Still, many see Fair Trade certification by these groups as a fairer, more transparent way of helping small farmers.
Starbucks also kept its critics second-guessing the authenticity of its self-certification because of its positions on related issues. The multinational has not budged on requests that it switch to healthier organic milk instead of conventional, which could help support smaller farmers and reduce pesticide use.
Another issue: Starbucks' coffees and food items contain preservatives, high fructose corn syrup and other questionable additives, according to its critics. These include the recently outed "yoga mat" dough conditioner and preservative found in baked goods, azodicarbonamide, or as I like to call it, #@$P@&*#%PWFS?.
To read Starbucks response to these charges, see the company's statement on ethical sourcing. Starbucks reports that its "committed to offering ethically purchased and responsibly produced products," and that it supports farmers and forests.
Critics, though, say that Starbucks could, as Beyonce might say, put a ring on it, if they agreed to Fair Trade scrutiny.
The company's actions belie its intentions, according to the OCA and GMO Inside.
Last year, when Washington state advocates for GMO labeling tried to pass a state referendum, they appealed to Starbucks for support.
But the company declined. Instead, Starbucks backed the Grocery Manufacturers Association, a group that worked vigorously to defeat the ballot box initiative, I-522.
For organic food and GMO-free advocates, that was Starbucks going over to the dark side, and we don't mean they took an espresso break.
The Organic Consumers Association has called for a boycott of all the members of the GMA, including Starbucks, arguing that the grocery group, by fighting labeling choice, does not have consumers' best interests at heart.
GM labeling, say supporters, would simply assist consumers in choosing more natural foods, grown without genetic modification.
The GMA's position is that labeling genetically modified foods would be costly – even though multi-national food manufacturers already have to label GM foods for free-wheeling countries like Russia and China that require labeling.
The GMA also maintains that GM foods are safe and use fewer pesticides. Critics disagree with both those statements.
Given how important this issue is — to the growers, the land and forests — it's hard to fathom why Americans have been asleep on it. They're certainly well-enough caffeinated.
Paul thinks Starbucks has gotten a pass because it has successfully presented itself as warm and caring, and now that it's set up on every other street corner, it's simply accepted.
Coffee is immediate, hot and comforting. Fair Trade is abstract and distant and would require hanging out somewhere else, or even becoming your own barista.
"They've managed to make a name for themselves and become so popular that they're the go-to coffee place for consumers who don't think about Fair Trade, and a lot of consumers don't," she said.
So, look for the boycott to come, though we'll have to find out if it even slows the lines at the drive through.
5 Reasons to Boycott Starbucks
By Ronnie Cummins and Katherine Paul of the Organic Consumers Association
1 – Starbucks uses non-organic milk from factory farms
In 2011 (and the company has grown steadily since then), Starbucks used over 93 million gallons of milk per year, enough to fill 155 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
None of it was organic.
But what if it were? Imagine the impact Starbucks could have on the organic milk industry. The pressure it could exert on the marketplace by forcing other coffee chains to switch to organic, in order to remain competitive. And the role the company could play in ending the abuse and unhealthy practices rampant in factory farm dairies.
Starbucks likes to tout the fact that since it stopped using milk that contains Monsanto's rBGH growth hormone, it uses "GMO-free" milk.
That may be true. But by its refusal to switch to USDA certified organic milk, Starbucks is a huge promoter of the GMO agriculture model—because dairy cows are fed a steady diet of GMO feed, including corn, soy, alfalfa, and cotton seed.
That's an unhealthy diet for animals. And an unsustainable model for agriculture.
2 – Starbucks peddles mostly non-organic, GMO (junk) foods and drinks
Starbucks may use GMO-free (non-organic) milk in its coffee drinks, but only 1.1 percent of its coffee is certified organic.
And there are plenty of other GMO-tainted (and non-organic) products and ingredients on the Starbucks menu. In fact, the addition of breakfast sandwiches, juice and tea are credited with a recent uptick in company sales.
"The single largest contributor to the comparable sales growth in the [second] quarter was food," Chief Operating Officer Troy Alstead told Bloomberg. "It resonates with customers."
Here's what would "resonate" with consumers who want healthy food choices—organic, non-GMO food and beverages.
Instead, as "Food Babe" Vani Hari wrote last year, Starbucks' offerings include preservatives, high fructose (GMO) corn syrup, proplyene glycol, chemically derived sugars, cellulose gum (a filler made from wood pulp), and azodicarbonamide, a substance banned in other countries and linked to asthma. And that's the short list.
3 – Starbucks is a member of the Grocery Manufacturers Association
Maybe all those GMO-tainted foods are the reason Starbucks supports the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA), the lobbying group that has spent millions of dollars to defeat GMO labeling laws?
Last year the anti-GMO movement was locked in a fierce battle—on Starbucks' home turf, Washington State—with Monsanto and the processed-food industry, over I-522, a citizens' initiative to label GMOs.
The measure was defeated, by a mere 1 percent, after companies like Monsanto and Coca-Cola, and their multi-billion dollar lobbying group, the GMA, spent millions to defeat it.
The GMA stooped to illegally laundering contributions to defeat I-522. The group also donated $2.2 million to defeat a similar labeling initiative in California, in 2012. All told, GMA and its members spent about $20 million to defeat Prop 37.
During the Washington I-522 campaign, the OCA reached out to Starbucks to ask the company to withdraw its support from the GMA and come out in support consumers' right to know.
Motion denied. Starbucks continues to support the GMA, which is now pushing a bill in Congress that would preempt state GMO labeling laws, and overturn existing laws, like the one recently passed in Vermont.
The OCA has called for a boycott of all members of the GMA, including Starbucks.
4 – Starbucks fails the Fair Trade test
Starbucks wants you to feel all warm and fuzzy about buying its coffee. But here are the facts. According to the company's own global impact report, only 8.4 percent of the company's coffee purchases in 2013 were certified fair trade.
So how does the company get around such a dismal fair trade track record, and still fool consumers into thinking it "cares" about coffee farmers? By creating its very own "fair" trade standards.
Again, according to the coffee giant's global impact report, 95.3 percent of Starbucks coffee is "ethically sourced." But all that means is that those coffee purchases meet the (weak) standards of Starbucks' in-house program, called CAFE (Coffee and Farmer Equity Practices). These sub-standard standards are often applied to large-scale plantations, which then compete against small-scale coffee co-ops for which (real) fair trade standards were intended to provide market opportunities.
Starbucks' CAFÉ standards are focused on the farm level, not on Starbucks' own commitment to farmers in terms or long-term stability. Unlike genuine fair trade standards, the CAFÉ program standards don't specify either a minimum price or a standard for negotiating price that would guarantee a fair price for small farmers.
You can learn more about how Starbucks skirts the Fair Trade issue at the Fair World Project.
5 – Starbucks is negotiating "free trade" in secret
¬Starbucks isn't content to just make up its own "fair" trade standards. The company is also working behind the scenes to finagle corporate-friendly (as in, not worker-friendly) conditions for global trade.
A representative from Starbucks has a seat at the table of the highly secretive negotiations for the Trans Pacific Partnership, a global trade deal being negotiated behind closed doors. The public and most of Congress have been shut out of the negotiations—but nearly 600 corporations, including Starbucks, have full access.
When a representative from the OCA's Fair World Project contacted Starbucks to ask what role the company is playing on the negotiating team, and what policies the company is advocating, she was referred to the company website for its "policies on free trade."
Surely, a company as profitable as Starbucks can do better. But if it won't, it's time for Starbucks to own up to the fact that, despite its purported concern for society, the company worships exclusively at the altar of profits.

subset: commoncrawl


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Loria arrives at Spring Training
Marlins owner says payroll will likely increase with new stadium
By Joe Frisaro / MLB.com
Next up for the organization is working toward moving into its own park, while grooming some of its young, promising talent.
Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria arrived at Spring Training on Saturday morning, and his outlook for the future of the franchise has never been brighter.
Among the highlights Loria addressed were:
Payroll, which projects to increase to mid-range in the league
Stadium design
South Florida playing host to future All-Star and/or World Baseball Classic games
New uniforms down the road
Stymied on their stadium front for about a decade, the Marlins received a boost recently when the city of Miami and Miami-Dade County commissioners each approved the final pieces of funding on a $515 million retractable-roof park that is slated to open in 2011 at the Orange Bowl grounds.
"It basically solidifies baseball here in South Florida for a long time," Loria said. "We have a home now.
"The uncertainty of the future of the franchise has always been a main problem for me and the franchise. It's hard to fall in love with something if you don't know if it's going to leave. As a fan, we needed some more permanence. We now have it."
With a stadium deal finalized, the Marlins still have economic challenges until they move into their own park.
The past few seasons, the Marlins have ranked at or near the bottom in payroll. As they push toward 2011, payroll is expected to gradually rise. It won't substantially escalate until they are out of Dolphin Stadium and playing at their Orange Bowl home.
"Down the road, absolutely," Loria said of a bump in payroll. "I think that's what we've been categorized as -- a middle-market team. It's all going to be a function of the revenues that we generate. If we have a bigger base than we anticipate, then that will go back into payroll."
What stadium stability does do is put the team in position to rethink its policy of locking up players through their arbitration years and perhaps into some of their free-agency seasons.
The past few years, without the security of a new stadium in place, the Marlins have not considered signing players through their arbitration years.
"We're going to look at that going forward," Loria said. "The dynamic has changed. We are challenged until we get into that new stadium."
Spring Training info:
MLB.com coverage | Schedule | Ballpark | Tickets
This is significant when it comes to evaluating players such as 24-year-old shortstop Hanley Ramirez, who enters arbitration after this season. Ramirez isn't in line to become a free agent until the 2012 season, yet in arbitration, his salary would dramatically rise.
While there is no guarantee the team will lock up Ramirez long term, it appears open to considering ways to get a deal done in the next year or two for the rising star.
In the near future, the organization will address internally what direction it will go on payroll projections and specific players.
"We've got to get the stadium done first," Loria said. "Putting together the team down the road is a separate issue."
On the stadium front, Loria spoke with the architects Friday regarding design.
"I can tell you it's going to be a special stadium," Loria said. "It will be a special facility which our fans will be very proud of when we're done."
Projections on when the design will be completed are six to nine months. Construction remains targeted to begin around November.
Traditionally, markets with new stadiums receive an All-Star Game. The Marlins' future home may also be a possible site for an upcoming World Baseball Classic round.
"Those announcements will come shortly," Loria said of whether South Florida would someday be a host to either an All-Star Game or a Classic contest. "The answer is yes, but we will be announcing them shortly."
When the Marlins eventually move into their park, they will officially change to the Miami Marlins. At that time, they also will revise their uniforms.
"There will be a complete change," Loria said. "Nothing has been designed yet. It will be different. It will be fun. It will be something we can all grab on to and call our own."
Joe Frisaro is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


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Department of Political Science Home > People > Student and Alumni Profiles > Molly Berendt '09
When she arrived at Saint Louis University her freshmen year with a Presidential Scholarship, Molly Berendt already knew that she wanted to major in political science. She began taking political sciences courses right away and became an active member of the Political Science Club. However, it was not until she returned from a year studying abroad in Lyon, France, that the Political Science department really became her home at SLU. Molly had left as a freshman and returned as a junior, and the Political Science Department was the one place on campus that provided her with some consistency: the professors, the students, and the Political Science Club were still there, and she fit in without feeling that she had missed a full year.
Molly quickly stepped up as the president of the Political Science Club. She names the recurring "Coffee with a Professor" event as her favorite new Club activity. Molly appreciates having the opportunity to meet with professors outside of the academic setting. Molly says, "finding out about their lives, families, and passions gives us a more holistic view of the people we see every day in the classroom and in the hallways." Molly also participated in recruiting and selecting new faculty members for the Political Science department.
In addition to her Political Science major, Molly completed majors in French and International Studies, and she is a Pre-Law Scholar. She participated in a number of organization on SLU's campus over the years - Mock Trial, Intramural Soccer - and was inducted into several honor societies including the Alpha Phi Omega Service Fraternity, Omicron Delta Kappa National Leadership Honor Society, and Pi Sigma Alpha Political Science Honor Society. During Fall 2008, Molly worked as a Teach for America Campus Campaign Coordinator. She has also worked as a teacher's aide at the International Institute. Ultimately, she is planning to attend law school.
Molly would recommend political science as a major to others who are interested in learning about and questioning the world around them. Molly says, "My political science classes have been tougher than any others I've taken at Saint Louis University. They have challenged me to engage the material, study hard, formulate concepts and theories and apply them to big picture problems and situations."


text: Obama Calls For Crack Down On Oil Market Manipulators 4/17/2012 2:37 PM ET President Barack Obama Tuesday called on Congress to expand the administration's authority to target speculators attempting to manipulate oil and gas prices.Speaking in the White House Rose Garden, flanked by Attorney General Eric Holder and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, Obama also called for additional funding to allow for an upgrade of information technology and the hiring of more regulators to police oil market trading.While Obama acknowledged that the current high price of oil is largely a result of other factors outside his control, such as growing global demand and instability in the Middle East, he said it is still important to do everything possible to protect consumers."We can't afford a situation where speculators artificially manipulate markets by buying up oil, creating the perception of a shortage, and driving prices higher -- only to flip the oil for a quick profit," Obama said. "We can't afford a situation where some speculators can reap millions, while millions of American families get the short end of the stick. That's not the way the market should work."He added, "For anyone who thinks this cannot happen, just think back to how Enron traders manipulated the price of electricity to reap huge profits at everybody else's expense."Obama called on Congress to pass a supplemental budget appropriation of $52 million to allow for the hiring of more regulators - putting "more cops on the beat," as the President put it - and to upgrade information technology systems so regulators can more closely monitor the markets."We should strengthen protections for American consumers, not gut them. And these markets have expanded significantly," he said.Quoting Commodities Futures Trading Commission Chairman Gary Gensler, Obama used a football analogy to illustrate the need for more regulatory personnel."Imagine if the NFL quadrupled the number of teams but didn't increase the number of refs," the president said. "You'd end up having havoc on the field, and it would diminish the game. It wouldn't be fair."He added, "That's part of what's going on in a lot of these markets."Obama also sought a statutory increase in the civil and criminal penalties the CFTC can levy against those who illegally manipulate energy markets and expand the ability of regulators to require traders to post more funds as security against market moves.The president conceded that none of these measures would bring down gas prices in the short term but insisted that they were nevertheless important."It will prevent market manipulation and make sure we're looking out for American consumers," he said of his proposal. "And in the meantime we're going to keep pursuing an all-of-the-above strategy for American energy to break the cycle of price spikes year after year."He added, "We are going to keep producing more biofuels; we're going to keep producing more fuel-efficient cars; we are going to keep tapping into every source of American-made energy." by RTT Staff WriterFor comments and feedback: firstname.lastname@example.com News Most successful video games of all time A Rundown of Dravet Syndrome Drugs In The Pipeline New Drugs approved in December


text: For sale is a 9.5/10 Volkl Organix 10 325. Only used for a couple of hours. Strung with MSV Focus HEX Black 1.10mm @ 53lbs in the mains and 51lbs in the crosses. Grip size is L2 or 4 1/4. Comes with a Volkl carry bag and header card. Great racket, just happy to stay with my current stick. £5 1st class postage to the UK, slightly higher (probably £7) for EU. Fair offers welcome! Pics available on request. Thanks a lot.


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Canadian Axford feels relaxed in Toronto
By Jordan Bastian / MLB.com
TORONTO -- Indians reliever John Axford felt relaxed again on the mound during his appearance in the seventh inning against the Blue Jays on Tuesday night. Perhaps it was the fact that the Canadian was pitching in his home country for the first time as a visitor.
"Maybe that's it, too," Axford said with a smirk. "Tim Horton's, good Canadian maple syrup, poutine. All that's making me feel perfect."
Kidding aside, Axford felt Tuesday's appearance was a step in the right direction for him.
In his first outing since being temporarily removed from his role as Cleveland's closer, Axford needed only 10 pitches to set Jose Reyes, Melky Cabrera and Jose Bautista down in order. Reyes and Cabrera each grounded out, and Axford finished the frame off with a three-pitch strikeout against Bautista, who stared at each offering.
Axford -- born in Simcoe, Ontario, and a resident of Port Dover, Ontario -- had a host of family and friends in attendance on Tuesday, and will continue to have familiar faces in the crowd throughout this series.
On Saturday, Axford was informed that he was not going to work as the Tribe's closer for the time being. The right-hander has nine saves in 11 chances this season, but he allowed five runs, issued two walks, surrendered two home runs and labored through 102 pitches in his four outings (three innings) prior to Tuesday's appearance.
Needless to say, Axford was pleased with the results against Toronto.
"Certainly," said Axford, who has a 4.60 ERA with 16 strikeouts against 13 walks in 15 2/3 innings this season. "I got ahead of guys. I didn't throw 30 pitches in an inning. I had a one-two-three inning. It's definitely a step in the right direction. I felt relaxed, if I could sum it up in one word."
Francona thrilled with friend Farrell's ASG invite
TORONTO -- Indians manager Terry Francona does not need to worry about picking players for the American League's All-Star roster, and he does not have to worry about making in-game decisions during the game, either. This year, Francona will just get to soak everything in.
Red Sox manager John Farrell -- a close friend of Francona's -- revealed on Tuesday that Cleveland's manager -- along with Twins manager Ron Gardenhire -- will be a part of his AL coaching staff for the All-Star Game in July at Target Field.
"When John asked me at the Winter Meetings, it completely caught me off guard." Francona said prior to Wednesday's game in Toronto. "I was honored as heck. First of all, it's John, and it's the All-Star Game. I was really honored. It'll be really fun, because it'll be the first time where I don't have the obligation of being in charge."
Francona, who won the World Series as manager of the Red Sox in 2004 and '07, managed the American League All-Star team in the '05 and '08 seasons.
"I honestly don't remember the two All-Star Games I've been a part of," Francona said. "I don't remember a lot of them, because it all happens so fast and you're trying to navigate getting guys in. The one in New York had a chance to be a fiasco.
"So, to be there and just to take it in will be really fun. But, to be there with John is really meaningful for me."
The friendship between Francona and Farrell dates back to their days as teammates with the Indians in 1988. Farrell also served as a pitching coach on Francona's coaching staff in Boston for a few seasons.
Francona recalled the time he asked former Tigers manager Jim Leyland to be a part of the AL coaching staff for the 2008 All-Star Game at the old Yankee Stadium. Farrell was Francona's pitching coach for that Midsummer Classic, too.
"I remember calling [Leyland] from the parking lot in Fort Myers [Florida]," Francona said. "I was stunned. He called me back and was like, '[Heck] yes, I'll do it.' Then, it dawned on me why he's so good. Then, to get to spend two days with him, those are some of my best memories of that All-Star Game. Me, John and him sitting in the office just talking and laughing."
Brantley goes way back with Toronto manager Gibbons
TORONTO -- Michael Brantley always enjoys the chance to catch up with Blue Jays manager John Gibbons. When Brantley was just a boy, Gibbons gave him a taste of what it was like to be a professional ballplayer.
Brantley's dad, Mickey, was the hitting coach for Gibbons in 1996, when the Toronto skipper was the manager of the Class A St. Lucie Mets. Michael, who was around nine years old at the time, was allowed to take the field with the team during workouts in the summer.
"Gibby's the man," Brantley said. "He was great for me. As a kid, he allowed me to come on the field and work out with the team. It was almost like I was a player. I'd go hit in the cages and just be one of the guys. He allowed me to do that. He was the manager, so it's his team. For him to allow me to be a part of that environment, it meant a lot to me and my development."
Gibbons, who also had Mickey Brantley (a member of the Mariners during his playing career) on his coaching staff with the Blue Jays for parts of the 2005-07 seasons, smiled when asked about Cleveland's left fielder.
"He's just such a fluid, natural athlete," Gibbons said. "His dad was a really good hitter, so you know he's getting some good teaching. He's a first-class kid. Very professional. It really doesn't surprise me some of the things he's done."
Entering Wednesday's game, the 26-year-old Brantley was batting .278 with a team-leading seven home runs and 30 RBIs through 38 games. Brantley also had eight doubles, 13 walks and 20 runs scored for Cleveland, which signed him to a four-year extension worth $25 million in February.
"You know what he does? He does it when it matters -- at least against us he does," Gibbons said with a chuckle. "When you need something good done, he's usually right in the middle of it. And lefties, righties, it doesn't matter. He's not known as a power hitter, but he can bring you deep, too, man."
Brantley said he will always be appreciative of Gibbons.
"When a person kind of opens a door for you and allows you to be part of his locker room as a manager, I think that's special, especially as a young kid," Brantley said. "I was coming up trying to be a baseball player and wanting to be a baseball player, having a dream, and having that opportunity through my father and, obviously Gibby allowing me being out there with the guys, that meant a lot."
Quote to note
"That was that game that went 15 innings. I was getting a little panicky. I was looking at the lineup card one inning and [former manager Jim Leyland] just wandered over and he said, 'You can look at that lineup card all you want, you ain't going to find a pitcher.'"
--Indians manager Terry Francona, on the 2008 All-Star Game
Smoke signals
• Francona has seen replays of the play at the plate in the eighth inning on Tuesday, when Carlos Santana was tagged out by catcher Josh Thole. Francona said Wednesday that he still feels Thole's positioning was fine, considering the relay throw from left fielder Melky Cabrera forced the catcher into Santana's path.
"The throw kind of took him across the plate," Francona said. "I don't know what else he could've done. I wish I could say, 'I wish we could've challenged something,' but I thought [Thole] did a good job. ... I thought the bat [on the ground] messed up Carlos. He didn't know where to go because the bat was laying there."
Francona noted that he did consider pulling Santana in favor of a pinch-hitter, but quickly decided against it. Lefty Brett Cecil was on the mound for Toronto and lefty-swinging Lonnie Chisenhall was on deck, so Francona prioritized keeping his options open for a pinch-hit scenario.
• Designated hitter Jason Giambi, who is on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right calf, will be eligible for activation on Monday. Cleveland is still weighing its options for the 43-year-old Giambi, who went 0-for-10 in four games prior to being sidelined.
"He's doing good," Francona said. "We've got to figure out our roster, obviously. The one thing we'll always want to do is be respectful of 'G,' because he deserves that, and make it work on our roster. Sometimes that's harder than it has been in the past. That's not his fault."
• Prior to Tuesday's game, when the Indians faced Blue Jays knuckleballer R.A. Dickey, Francona said he had "pretty good numbers" in his career against knucklers. During his playing days, Francona hit a combined .375 (12-for-32) against Tom Candiotti, Terry Clark, Charlie Hough, Joe Niekro and Phil Niekro.
Jordan Bastian is a reporter for MLB.com. Read his blog, Major League Bastian, and follow him on Twitter @MLBastian. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


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The following commentary does not necessarily reflect the views of AgWeb or Farm Journal Media. The opinions expressed below are the author's own.
Paul is now part of the fourth generation in America that is involved in farming and hopes the next generation will be involved also. Through his blog he provides analysis and insight to farmer tax questions.
For farmers who raise certain crops with a longer pre-productive life (over two years) such as apples, oranges, and other similar plants, one of the tax rules under Section 263A require all of the costs associated with planting and growing this crop until it reaches economic production to be capitalized and then depreciated over ten years. The IRS has a list of these plants which they periodically update.
The IRS just released Revenue Notice 2013-18 removing blackberries, raspberries and papayas from these rules. This means cash basis farmers will now be able to deduct normal growing costs associated with these plants from the time of planting forward. Hard asset costs such as irrigation systems, wells, etc. will still be capitalized and depreciated over their normal life.
Revenue Procedure 2013-20 provides guidance on the timing and procedures to follow in making this change. This should be welcome news for those farmers since accounting and accumulating these costs can provide heartburn to farmers and their accountants.
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New Beginnings
Carol Friedgood always dreamed of retiring to the desert. She came to the Palm Springs area regularly for weekends and vacations when she was living and working in Los Angeles as an executive secretary and legal secretary in the entertainment industry, first at the studios, and then for a private law firm specializing in entertainment.
Carol retired to Palm Desert eleven years ago."I moved here the first chance I got! I just love it here," says Carol."The colors, the mountains, the sunsets, there isn't anything about the desert that I don't love.And, I have wonderful friends in the area."
Carol's routine changed when she retired. She was very busy and active when she was working, but her pace changed in the desert. She spent more time socializing with friends, which meant more time eating and drinking, and less time spent on activities that would burn off the extra calories.
"When I was working, I did not worry too much about my weight. If I needed to lose a few extra pounds every now and then, it was something I could live with," Carol recalls."It never became a problem. But that changed when I retired."
Carol found that her weight began to steadily creep up, and before she knew it, she had gained nearly seventy pounds.When she came to the desert, she began seeing Eisenhower Cardiologist Philip Shaver,MD for a slight heart murmur. Dr. Shaver says he warned Carol at almost every visit about the risks her extra weight was putting on her health, particularly as a woman over 60 with a family history of diabetes. But Carol says she shrugged off his warnings despite her family history. "Dr. Shaver told me I was very close to the number that takes you from pre-diabetes to diabetes, and that I really needed to get the weight off, but I just wasn't ready to hear it," she explains.
The American Diabetes Association® reports that before people develop type 2 diabetes, they almost always have "pre-diabetes" — blood glucose levels that are higher than normal, but not yet high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes. Recent research has shown that some long-term damage to the body, especially the heart and circulatory system,may already be occurring during pre-diabetes.
"I see Carol every four months, and each time she would come in, we saw her numbers creeping up — her blood pressure, her cholesterol, her glucose levels were all getting too high," shares Dr. Shaver. According to Dr. Shaver,men and women who are overweight when they reach middle age, and who do not exercise regularly, increase their risk not just for diabetes, but also for hypertension, high cholesterol, coronary heart disease, stroke, certain types of cancer, gallbladder disease, and fatty liver disease.
In addition to seeing Dr. Shaver, Carol also saw Eisenhower Endocrinologist Elke Jost-Vu,MD. Soon, however, her doctors gave her the news she was hoping to avoid…she had diabetes."When I heard those words," Carol says,"I finally realized I needed to do something." Dr. Shaver and Dr. Jost-Vu recommended that Carol attend classes at Eisenhower's Diabetes Program to learn more about her disease and how to manage it."My physicians agreed that we would first try treating my diabetes with diet and exercise, rather than medication," says Carol."I took eight hours of classes at Eisenhower, which really increased my resolve to do something drastic about my weight.""Thanks to her weight loss, and her careful management of her diet, Carol has dramatically reduced her risk for cardiovascular disease and other serious health conditions. This is a case where losing really is winning."—Eisenhower Cardiologist Philip Shaver,MD
Carol says simply that the classes scared her into action."I was not interested in losing my eyesight, or a foot, or one of my limbs, so I told myself that I really needed to take this seriously." Carol immediately adjusted her diet based on a plan provided by Eisenhower. She eats three balanced meals a day, with small portions of the right food groups."I weigh and measure everything now," says Carol."The only things I can eat as much as I want of are green vegetables."Within a year, Carol had lost 70 pounds.
"You listened to me,"Dr. Shaver grinned."This is a stunning change!" That was two years ago, and she has not gained it back.
"Carol still requires medications for hypertension and high cholesterol, but both are now much easier to manage because of the lifestyle changes she has made," shares Dr. Shaver. "Her glucose is normal, and we are reducing her blood pressure and cholesterol medications. I think we are on our way to getting Carol off the medications all together. Thanks to her weight loss, and her careful management of her diet, Carol has dramatically reduced her risk for cardiovascular disease and other serious health conditions. This is a case where losing really is winning." Carol is enjoying her new lease on life, spending time with her friends and her dogs. She has had whippets — racing dogs similar to greyhounds — since 1974."I love their sleek look and their beautiful expressive eyes," says Carol."They are really sweet loving dogs."
Carol has also discovered a Web site that fascinates her, and has made her a part of an online community. "David Hancock is a wildlife expert in Vancouver.He has a site called hancockwildlife.org that has a mini-cam focused on a bald eagle's nest on Vancouver Island," says Carol."You can watch live streaming video every day of what is happening at that nest."
"It's the most interesting thing I've ever seen," Carol explains."You can watch the eggs hatch, watch the babies be cared for by their parents for 13 weeks, and then for two to three weeks, you can watch them learn to fly. There really is a lot of drama, and it's fascinating to see these new lives beginning."
"The site is a forum, and is set up for discussion, and research, and fun," smiles Carol."You get to know everybody, and you find yourself sitting in front of the computer waiting for something to happen…and it always does. Just the other day, I watched a raven steal an egg right out of the nest. Unfortunately, we lost a baby."
When asked if it was hard to lose the weight and keep it off for two years, Carol reflects on her new beginning."It's hard because you cannot eat like you did, but it's easy when your life is at stake," shares Carol."That comes first and foremost.How do I save myself?"
For more information about diabetes, contact Eisenhower's Diabetes information line at 760-773-1403.


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Tom Hardy Is Making Everything Wet
It's true! Tom Hardy and, surprisingly, Shia LaBeouf. Also today: the USA Network ventures into strange new territory, Zac Efron is going to be such a badass, as is Will Smith, again.
English sexplosion Tom Hardy will be tag-teaming with Shia LaBeouf in The Wettest County in the World, a
story about whatever county Tom Hardy happens to be in at the moment Prohibition-era drama from some guys who have nothing to do with Boardwalk Empire. The script was written by Nick Cave and it will be directed by John Hillcoat, who has worked with Cave before, directing The Proposition, written by Cave, and The Road, for which Cave wrote the music. But yeah, really the important thing is that Tom Hardy will continue to be associated with the word "wet." Amirite, ladies? (Gross.) [LAT (Sorry, Nikke!)]
A company called Media Rights Capital is moving to acquire the screenplay Die in a Gunfight, which already has Zac Efron attached to star. The script was written by two recent NYU grads, so that's great. Efron will play "a fight-prone and death-obsessed young society man who pursues a romance with the daughter of his father's enemy," which, hahahaha. Ha ha ha. Ha. Ha. Haaaa. Yes. OK. Good casting, everyone! The film will partly be produced by Efron's Ninjas Runnin' Wild projection company, so there's another great thing. It's too bad nothing completely silly ever happens in Hollyweird. [Deadline]
Speaking of things never being silly! The Wachowski
Brothers Siblings, the curious and reclusive duo who brought you The Matrix and the smash hit success Speed Racer, are putting together an "urban" take on the Robin Hood story, "urban" meaning Will Smith has been approached to star. While a Robin Hood movie isn't exactly what we need right now (ask Ridley), this is probably a slightly more marketable film that the Wachowskis' other supposedly-in-the-works project, a futuristic gay romance about the Iraq war. Just slightly more marketable than that. [THR]
Good actor Irrfan Khan will be joined by My Father the Hero actor Gerard Depardieu in the movie version of The Life of Pi, that philosophical book about a boy on a boat with a tiger or something. That's what that book is about, right? The cover isn't a metaphor or anything? Because, I've got to tell you, I have been totally judging that book by its cover. That's all I've been doing with that book! My mom liked it, and we tend to like the same books (Await Your Reply, yes, but also: The Help!!!!!!!!), but I never read it. Just saw the cover and judged it: "Oh, that's about a boy and a tiger on a boat. Fair enough." [Variety]
Fear actor Mark Wahlberg will be producing and likely starring in a film, based on a short, called The Raven. No, no, no. Wahlberg won't be running around Baltimore in period costume weeping about his dead girlfriend. It's not based on that Raven. (One could say it is not so Raven.) This movie is about "a young man with powers being chased around downtown Los Angeles by robotic police drones, while a giant police ship coordinates the effort from the skies above." So it's a realistic romantic comedy, basically. [THR]
This sculpted slab of American cheese, civilian name Warren Kole, has been tapped to costar in a USA show. So... guess what it's about? It's not on TNT, but it could be... Yup, it's about museum curators! No, kidding, it's about cops. It's always about cops. We've actually talked about this one before. It's called Common Law and will also star Michael Ealy, and it's about two constantly squabbling police partners whose boss forces them to go to couples counseling! Haha don't homo me, bro! Isn't that so zany and/or quirky? USA welcomes ALL the characters, from wacky cops to eccentric cops. USA: Characters Welcome, As Long As You Work In Law Enforcement Or Lighthearted Mystery Solving In A General Sense. [Deadline]


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Glendronach 1989 is a single cask, aged in bourbon cask (N°2662). The nose it opens to dried fruits notes, apricot and black pepper, before subtle orange and lemon aromas develops. The palate is generous, reminding of plum tart and marmalade. The finish lingers on spices and cigar notes. Bottled at 54,8% ABV unchill-filtered.
Sourcing actor, importer and exclusive distributor of a portfolio of international brands, La Maison du Whisky is, since 60 years a reference for whisky and spirit lovers. Thanks to our close relationships with producers and independent bottlers, we have access to limited editions and unique products we bring to market exclusively. Curious and creative, we are driven by our passion for products and our desire to constantly bring our clients the latest expressions through our own shops, our website whisky.fr and selected wine retail shops in France.
Glendronach means "valley of the brambles" in Gaelic. Located near the town of Huntley in the east of Speyside, this distillery uses traditional production methods (malting that includes partial use of a peat-fired kiln and stills heated by 'direct firing'), which largely explains its powerful character and the strong personality of its single malt. It is always a very rich malt, with this demonstrated best in its sherry cask bottlings which reveal a perfect balance of sherry, malted barley and (red) fruit notes. Find out more
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text:
July 28, 2009
Volturi Merch!
Thanks lissiedllen and Ashley TWA
- Lorabell
6 comments:
This makes me happy because it means they'll hopefully be tons of wolf pack stuff too.ReplyDelete
lol, i'm TOTALLY Team Aro!!! hehe. He's totally the guy you love to hate. And i think if he wasnt so "i want to rule the world" he'd be a good guy and we wouldn't be so ani-Volturi hehe.ReplyDelete
Plenty of guys will buy it. My son thinks it's awesome. I like that Summit is thinking out of the box & is reaching out to more than just the women of Twilight. :)ReplyDelete
I would buy this.. I like the Volturi..ReplyDelete
yeah, i know they supposed to be the bad guys, but I don't see them in that light... yeah, they eat peaople. yeah, they crave for ore and more power.. but that's not the worst thing in the world!
And this Volturi merch looks much more appealing than Cullens.. :)
@Aija I have to totally agree. I'd buy all that Volturi stuff up. It's pretty and it lets real fans know that you're a Twihard while all the other un-enlightened people think my name starts with a V. =DReplyDelete
me parece genial, me gustaReplyDelete


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CES is kicking into full gear this week, and Lenovo is
starting things off early with three new notebook releases in its ThinkPad
family. The new offerings include the X120e, Edge E220s and Edge E420s.
First up is the tiny ThinkPad X120e that is powered by AMD's
new Fusion E-Series Accelerated Processing Unit (APU). The X120e will be
available with either the single-core Fusion E-240 processor (1.5GHz, 18W) or
dual-core Fusion E-350 processor (1.6GHz, 18W). Graphics duties are handled by
an AMD Radeon HD 6310 GPU (500MHz clock) no matter which processor is selected.
Like its predecessor, the X120e features an 11.6"
LED-backlit display (1366x768) and your choice of either Windows 7 Home Premium
or Windows 7 Professional. Whereas the older X100e offers 5400rpm hard drives,
the new X120e is available with 7200rpm hard drives in capacities of 160GB and
320GB. The memory subsystem has also been upgrade to support DDR3 (up to 4GB
using two modules).
There are plenty of ports on the diminutive X120e including
VGA, HDMI, GbE, multi-reader, and three USB ports. Wireless options include
802.11a/b/g/n, Bluetooth, and 3G radios.
The ThinkPad X120e weighs 2.9 pounds with a 3-cell battery,
3.3 pounds with a 6-cell battery, and will be available with a stating price of
under $400.
"We've optimized the ThinkPad X120e to not only give
businesses an excellent experience creating and consuming multimedia content, but
we've also made key improvements to an area that has plagued laptops: battery
life," said Dilip Bhatia, vice president, ThinkPad Marketing and Product
Operations, Lenovo.
"Mobile users no longer have to trade battery life for great
graphics performance," added Chris Cloran, corporate vice president and general
manager, Client Division AMP Products Group, AMD. "AMD Fusion APUs allow for
thinner, cool-running devices that can last the day and do what is demanded of
today's professional."
Next up are the latest additions to the ThinkPad Edge
family: the Edge E220s and E420s. According to Lenovo, it wanted to go with a
more premium, contemporary design with the new Edge models. As a result, they
feature what Lenovo calls an "infinity display" which is supposed to
remind you of watching a large-screen TV. There are also metal accents used
through the chassis to "project a cosmopolitan image".
"How we think about PC design and the entire computing
experience is changing," said Peter Hortensius, senior vice president, Think
Product Group, Lenovo. "The new ThinkPad Edge premium laptops give users
technology that is extremely personal, beautiful and powerful so they can
accomplish their business goals and keep up with their personal lives."
Despite the efforts to class things up a bit, the Edge E220s
and E420s still feature the famous spill resistant ThinkPad keyboard along with
a TrackPoint and touchpad for navigation.
The Edge E220s features a 12.5" screen, is less than
one-inch thick, and comes in at under 3.5 pounds. The Edge E420s has a 14"
screen, is one-inch thick, and weighs four pounds. Both laptops are available
with Core i3, Core i5, and Core i7 processors and optional 4G/WiMAX
mobile broadband.
The Edge E220s and E420s will be available in April, and
will be priced at $899 and $749 respectively.


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I don't know how long it will be up (maybe permanently), but Lousy Canuck is now using the new site redesign template. Take a look, it may soon be sweeping through all the FtB sites.
If you're concerned about the font size (I am), I'm also pretty sure I'll be able to tweak little things like that once it's in place. I'm kind of fond of the familiar 14pt Georgia I use here.


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I probably could at some point. Their's at least one part of the code which would lend itself to traits fairly well.
You could also try using Moose::Role as well, I would be interested to see how you thought the two (Class::Trait & Moose::Role) compared.- Stevan
I had already screwed up one part of the Moose code (setting a subtype on an accessor). I need to learn Moose better before moving on to advanced stuff.
I noticed in the Changelog that there are references to Moose performance improvements. It seemed to be fairly speedy for the stuff that I'm doing. Is it fast enough for general use?
Is it fast enough for general use?
Maybe not quite yet. It is getting there though, the current set of performance enhancements are just simple things I found while doing the larger performance enhancements, which I hope to have ready by the end of the month.- Stevan
While we're on the subject of Moose, have you thought about adding Dump methods to Moose::Autobox? Using something like Data::Dump::Streamer to dump a code reference could be very handy for debugging.


text: ok, you post a word, a simple one like cat. The next person posts a word that is in some way associated with the last word (include an explination if needed) like dog. To make it interesting, anyone at any time can switch it from association to disassociation. In which you have to think of a word that has nothing to do with the last. For instance if someone posts cat, you could post fudge. (but, dont go crazy and saying things like: "my cat eats fudge!") Its pointless... but fun.i will start. Mario


text:
Read the full story here Web Link posted Friday, August 30, 2013, 9:29 AM
Town Square
Boy struck by car while biking sues Palo Alto
Original post made on Aug 30, 2013
Read the full story here Web Link posted Friday, August 30, 2013, 9:29 AM
Comments (30)
a resident of Downtown North
on Aug 30, 2013 at 10:30 am
Best wishes to the victim. I hope that he is able to get the medical care that he needs, even if that requires lawsuits against the parties partly responsible for this collision.
Is it true that the driver was never charged with a crime, despite running down a bicyclist that was right in front of him?
a resident of Esther Clark Park
on Aug 30, 2013 at 10:44 am
best wishes - charged with what, causing an ACCIDENT?
a resident of Palo Verde
on Aug 30, 2013 at 11:06 am
I am terribly sorry for what happened to the child, and I hope that he recovers. And if the family does not have sufficient insurance to cover the treatment, then that is another good case for solving our messed up medical insurance mess.
Now to the lawsuit.
I first want to ask when the once-truly-American concept of PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY got thrown out the window. Have we as a people gotten to the point where we do not think at all? Knives cut; plastic bags suffocate; fire burns; electricity shocks; bicycle riding on streets with cars is dangerous; and so on. When did it become society's responsibility to have to warn everyone to the common dangers of life? When did the parents no longer have to teach those things to their children?
"There were no signs to warn bicyclists of the danger ..." ??
Yes, children daydream, their attention wanders. We do try to protect them. But ACCIDENTS HAPPEN and society cannot be every child's parent nor can society be held responsible for everything bad that happens to anyone.
If it can be shown that the driver did something wrong, that he failed to take precautions that any normal person would be expected to do in those circumstances, then maybe there is some fault to be attached there. And if the only way to deal with that is a lawsuit, well, that is unfortunate but sadly the way of things in the USofA these days.
But to blindly "sue them all! someone else is at fault!" has got to stop.
Sigh ... All done now.
a resident of Downtown North
on Aug 30, 2013 at 11:25 am
I feel bad for the situation, and specifically the boy that has to deal with this.
However, what's problematic is the lawsuit strategy of forcing the parties to pay. They have named anyone and everyone, here; whatever sticks to see who is afraid enough to settle out of court. The system is sick, and at some point this legal way of settling things needs to be fixed. In this country anyone can sue any one else for whatever reason they pleases. The plaintiffs should at least be responsible for everyone's legal costs in case of frivolous lawsuits.
a resident of Downtown North
on Aug 30, 2013 at 11:27 am
What about the personal responsibility of driving an SUV with a suspended licence at 35 mph in a residential area with roadworks when you ADMIT you can't see because the sun is in your eyes? It wasn't the victim's fault! It's a kid riding his bike to school at 7.20am! So yes, until innocent victims can get correctly compensated for their pain and suffering, sue the lot of them because someone else is clearly clearly at fault here.
a resident of Evergreen Park
on Aug 30, 2013 at 11:29 am
"If it can be shown the driver did something wrong...." What is not wrong with hitting another vehicle (the bicyclist). The vehicle in the front has the right of way. The cyclist was hit from behind. It is every motorists responsibility to have control of their vehicle. If you can't see while driving into the sun you shouldn't be driving. If you make an honest mistake, which we all do, you should be willing to except the consequences.
The city was sued because it has the deepest pockets. I disagree with this mentality but if there was construction in the area (which it sounds like there was) often the cyclist is pushed out into traffic to make room for the Caution or Lane Marking signs. Very ironic and sad.
Being a cyclist AND driver I see this situation very often. It would not be hard to redesign the signs to take up less space but it will not happen unless there is financial motivation. Maybe a few lost lawsuits will instigate change.
a resident of South of Midtown
on Aug 30, 2013 at 11:32 am
From earlier reports, the fault was entirely the driver's and the boy did nothing wrong. The driver had a suspended license, was speeding with the sun in his eyes, and he swerved into the bike lane and struck the boy.
frustrated said "bicycling on streets with cars is dangerous", which is true because we allow drivers who run over bicyclists to get away with no penalties. If we got serious about holding drivers responsible for their actions then the streets would be a whole lot safer for bicyclists.
a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Aug 30, 2013 at 11:46 am
I don't see how the city is responsible for the accident, but they do have much deeper pockets than Hau or Izzy's Bagels. Good luck finding a PA jury willing to dip into the city's coffers for this frivolous lawsuit. I guess the family is hoping for a generous settlement.
a resident of Southgate
on Aug 30, 2013 at 12:11 pm
My condolences to this boy's family for his injuries, but asking their fellow citizens for $17M is just plain greed.
a resident of Green Acres
on Aug 30, 2013 at 1:04 pm
I would have felt like you, until we witnessed what has happened with the Maybell rezoning, and how the City completely abrogated all responsibility to review the impacts to the safety of the children walking and biking to school from a major development right along the only routes to 4 local schools.
The Council was reminded ad nauseum of the City policy of "heightened scrutiny" of developments along commute routes, but it made no difference, they want the development and don't want something as inconvenient as an official look at seriously overburdened infrastructure with known safety problems to muck it up.
The City designates safe routes to school (it's why it promises such heightened scrutiny) which are heavily advertised to the kids, promises to put safety first in the transportation element, the kids are constantly pushed and encouraged to take their bikes to school -- the City does have responsibilities. From what I witnessed in the Maybell situation, they aren't minding the store. Neighbors in the vicinity of Maybell have been belittled for even bringing up the safety concerns on a street that has over a thousand kids on foot and bike daily, with heavy traffic and not even enough room for a regular full-width bike lane or sidewalk.
I also think you have to take the $17million with a grain of salt. Injury suits have short time limits to file, there's no way to wait until a few years have passed and everyone knows how the child will recover. They have to make a guess, and figure what will compensate the child for medical care and possible permanent disability for the rest of his life. And cover the attorney costs. I think in these cases, the injured person is rarely even made whole financially even with a large recovery.
a resident of Crescent Park
on Aug 30, 2013 at 1:05 pm
This is such a sad tragedy.
Universal health insurance is only the real solution to this kind of tragedy.
That the city and all Palo Altan's must pay damages for something that ( and I don't mean to be disrespectful but from the story I read ) was an accident and caused by the boy riding in the wrong place in front of a car that should have seen him but did not is not just. The driver of the car was shared partial fault with the bicycle rider. We end up with lots of ridiculous claims and no standard for justice or care, the worst of all worlds.
Rather than have to sue someone, it is just much better to have universal health care that will not rely on how good your lawyers are or how at fault those responsible were, or even if they were.
a resident of Crescent Park
on Aug 30, 2013 at 1:09 pm
what is someone supposed to do if they are low income and there is no one rich to sue?
sallyann - the driver plainly is not going to ever be able to afford to pay a large settlement since he did not have insurance.
the solution to this that is fair to everyone is universal health care, and as a benefit the whole medical system which is now another big disgrace to America would get better.
a resident of Evergreen Park
on Aug 30, 2013 at 1:24 pm
@ CresentParkAnon - How was the boy riding in the wrong place. Because he was on the street? If so, that is were he should have been. Until people realize bikes are not supposed to be on the sidewalk people will continue to get run over by people that do not understand the law. Bicycles are cars in the view of the law. Give us room!!!!
a resident of Southgate
on Aug 30, 2013 at 1:49 pm
The details of this incident haven't been in the Weekly for a while, but as I recall (some of this in my inference from the vague original article): there was construction project going on, a sign or equipment was placed so it blocked the designated bike path, the boy swerved out of the bike path to avoid the object and into the car portion of the roadway. The minivan was probably right behind him when he swerved out. An accident. No great villains. I do think there should be some kind of rule and training of construction workers to not place giant signs blocking the entire bike path. However, I'd urge the City to continue to not offer a settlement, as I don't think the plaintiff has a case.
a resident of Greater Miranda
on Aug 30, 2013 at 2:03 pm
[Post removed.]
a resident of Greendell/Walnut Grove
on Aug 30, 2013 at 2:18 pm
Something similar happened to me a couple of decades ago. I was biking to school and was hit by an unlicensed, uninsured foreign driver.
I had big medical bills I could not afford, and this driver was pretty well off, though irresponsible. I got a lawyer ( not cheap) and sued to pay my bills and get physical therapy. I won, easily.
However, the driver filed for bankruptcy, and never paid. Then he returned to Saudi Arabia. I was 24 years old by this time, and my life was ruined.
So, you see, you can sue, you can win, but you cannot make them pay!
a resident of South of Midtown
on Aug 30, 2013 at 3:27 pm
The original article (July 13) said that the boy had left the (blocked) bike lane to go around the construction and had just moved back into the bike lane when he was struck. The driver was in the bike lane at the time of the collision. Driving in a bike lane was one of his violations that the DA chose not to pursue.
What good are bike lanes when they are full of parked cars, blocked by construction, and drivers are allowed to go into them and run people over with no consequences?
a resident of Stanford
on Aug 30, 2013 at 4:33 pm
Posted by frustrated, a resident of the Palo Verde neighborhood, 5 hours ago
I am terribly sorry for what happened to the child, and I hope that he recovers. And if the family does not have sufficient insurance to cover the treatment, then that is another good case for solving our messed up medical insurance mess.
Now to the lawsuit.
I first want to ask when the once-truly-American concept of PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY got thrown out the window. Have we as a people gotten to the point where we do not think at all? Knives cut; plastic bags suffocate; fire burns; electricity shocks; bicycle riding on streets with cars is dangerous; and so on. When did it become society's responsibility to have to warn everyone to the common dangers of life? When did the parents no longer have to teach those things to their children?
"There were no signs to warn bicyclists of the danger ..." ??
Yes, children daydream, their attention wanders. We do try to protect them. But ACCIDENTS HAPPEN and society cannot be every child's parent nor can society be held responsible for everything bad that happens to anyone.
If it can be shown that the driver did something wrong, that he failed to take precautions that any normal person would be expected to do in those circumstances, then maybe there is some fault to be attached there. And if the only way to deal with that is a lawsuit, well, that is unfortunate but sadly the way of things in the USofA these days.
But to blindly "sue them all! someone else is at fault!" has got to stop.
Sigh ... All done now.
Beautifully said, frustrated. Personal responsibility seems to have gone with the wind.
a resident of another community
on Aug 30, 2013 at 7:37 pm
@Me Too,
You said: "I got a lawyer ( not cheap)", so I assume the lawyer got paid. True?
a resident of Menlo Park
on Aug 30, 2013 at 10:25 pm
That poor, dear boy! I really hope that he makes a full recovery. My heart goes out to him and his whole family.
Riding a bike on streets where the only protection from +2,000-pound cars, trucks, etc., is a painted line is dangerous beyond belief! Neither parents not schools have any business pushing children into riding bicycles to and from school, instead of walking. Or, better yet: don't we really need to bring back school buses, or provide some form of safe transportation to and from school for our precious children?
And I agree that universal health care is a must -- Medicare for all. That would help that boy's family, at least financially.
a resident of Crescent Park
on Aug 31, 2013 at 12:03 am
Palo Alto is generally an unsafe city to bicycle from one end to the other. Whether its going down El Camino or Alma, the routes are very unsafe.
Los Altos, Mountain View, Sunnyvale, Cupertino, and Santa Clara all have safe ways for bicyclists to travel from one end of the city to the other.
In Palo Alto, there is no bike lane on El Camino nor on Alma, and the right lanes on Alma are very small.
a resident of Professorville
on Aug 31, 2013 at 3:32 pm
Louise68, you seem to have drunk the Koolaid of the "incompetent driver" crowd. These people believe that drivers are incapable of controlling their vehicles and will always weave around on the road and run over pedestrians and bicyclists, and that we should accept that and plan for it. Of course if that is what you expect, that is what you get, but it is not necessary. Other countries hold drivers to much higher standards and get better drivers as a result, with car-bike crash rates 30 times less than ours.
a resident of Downtown North
on Aug 31, 2013 at 5:44 pm
Just one comment and it's about "being suddenly blinded by the glare of the sun in your eyes". I was involved in an accident as a passanger. The other car crashed frontally against our.Our car was totalled and there were injuries. The other car's driver said he had been suddenly blinded by the glare of the sun in his eyes. I accepted that explanation. It's absurd to me to say that if the sun glare impares your vision you shouldn't drive. That would be the case if the glare was extensive and for a long stretch, just like thick fog. But with trees and tree leaves you may be fine and suddenly you are in a glare area, next to a perfectly fine area, and so on, suddenly. What is there to do? Stop suddenly on the highway and wait maybe hours until the glare disappears putting at risk yourself and any car behind you? So if you are sun blinded for 1 second and get into an accident because of it how could you have avoided it? You couldn't.
The young boy doesn't seem to have been at fault, though he could have been if for example, he moved suddenly left or right without making
a signal in good time. The driver, despite his driving record may not have been at fault. We don't know if his explanation is true.Maybe the other parties are responsible maybe not. Maybe his parents are also responsible. I see so many kids doing dangerous and/or ilegal maneuvers that's a miracle more accidents don't happen. 12 year olds rarely have the experience and judgement necessary for traffic (that's why they are not allowed to drive cars). What this means is that we need health care for all, and a provision for reasonable compensation.
a resident of Crescent Park
on Aug 31, 2013 at 10:58 pm
> @ CresentParkAnon - How was the boy riding in the wrong place.
Brian, I don't mean to be mean, but he was in the wrong place, and not watching out. Maybe he was not competent to ride a bike, but that makes him partially responsible for his accident. I don't say that for any other reason than this is how the law looks at things.
The driver who was driving irresponsibly was mainly to blame, and I did not mean to absolve or ignore his responsibility, sorry if that is how you interpreted my post.
My post was mainly to say that socially, the lawsuit game is a crappy way to see that people who need permanent medicare get it. I would much rather see the costs of medical care covered for everyone by universal health care where it would not matter if a rich or poor person or no one at all was responsible for a major health problem and we all have a strong incentive to try to make things safer and less expensive for all of us.
The kid driving sounded like he has no business driving a car to me. Trying to push this off onto Izzy's does not sound reasonable, and I don't think it is the City Of Palo Alto's fault either.
a resident of Crescent Park
on Aug 31, 2013 at 11:04 pm
ndnorth ... if one is driving one needs to be thinking about something like glare or whatever obscuring their view momentarily and not be traveling faster than they can project forward in time if it did happen.
The same thing - people drive and they pay zero attention to the two-second rule on the freeway, or as I think they are calling it now since now one does it, the three-second rule ... as if that will help.
When one behaves in a way that is safe, the bad drivers go running in and make a fool of them - that is one of the major problems on the road. The people who up the tension level and lower the reaction time for everyone are the bad drivers, but they just usually make other people get into accidents, and when they themselves get involved in an accident they don't really have to pay a price.
If we wanted to be sensible about traffic regulations we would be stricter, and fine people in accordance with their incomes in order to motivate them not to break the law like they do in Sweden. The US is just plain not really interested in enforcing any law, except as a way to punish, herd and keep track of working people and the poor.
a resident of South of Midtown
on Sep 1, 2013 at 8:15 am
The boy was in the bike lane and was struck from behind. How is that "riding in the wrong place, and not watching out"? Why do people continue to blame the victim when the police and DA have indicated that he did nothing wrong and that the driver broke a half-dozen laws? I don't like the idea of suing everyone in sight, but when the DA won't even prosecute violations of our anemic laws, it leaves injured party little recourse.
a resident of Green Acres
on Sep 1, 2013 at 10:07 pm
I hope the boy recovers. I have a son the same age. Why the law suite? What kind of citizen needs 17 m? [Portion removed]
a resident of Green Acres
on Sep 1, 2013 at 10:33 pm
Now that I have seen how bicycling is so pushed in the schools, and so much is made of the "safe routes", as well as what a back seat safety takes to so many other development concerns in this town, and how there is no overarching "safety first" ethos at City Hall, I'm actually sympathetic to the view that the City may be negligent. They're being absolutely, foreseeably negligent at Maybell. I wouldn't at all be surprised if City policies or negligent failure to follow them was a factor. We shall see.
a resident of Midtown
on Sep 2, 2013 at 9:16 pm
Just teach our children the good ways to safety issues; and our Drivers Must look out very carefully!
a resident of Greenmeadow
on Sep 3, 2013 at 2:06 pm
It isnt a sue everybody mentallity. It is a fact that medical bills will be hundreds of thousands of dollars that insurance will probably not cover. The figures people sue for are usually huge figures because they will end up settling for lower numbers.
I drive on that street all the time, and I have never had a problem hitting a pedestrian?
The driver wasn't charged even though he had a suspended license and crystal meth in his system. That is a crime in itself.
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text:
Summaries of EU Legislation
Summaries of EU legislation: direct access to the main summaries page.
Counter-terrorism strategy
Terrorism poses a serious threat to all States and to all peoples. In response to this, the European Union (EU) has established a counter-terrorism strategy, based on prevention, protection, pursuit and response.
Council of the European Union, 30 November 2005: The European Union Counter-Terrorism Strategy.
In response to the current terrorist threat, the European Union (EU) and the United Nations (UN) have introduced a global strategy to contribute to global security. The strategy adopted at EU level promotes democracy, dialogue and good governance to tackle the root causes of radicalisation.
To combat terrorism effectively, the EU proposes to organise its actions around four objectives: prevention, protection, pursuit and response.
The "Prevention" pillar aims to combat radicalisation and recruitment of terrorists by identifying the methods, propaganda and the instruments used by terrorists. Although these challenges lie with the Member States, the EU helps to coordinate the national policies, determine good practice and share information.
The priorities identified concerning prevention are to:
- develop common approaches to spot and tackle problem behaviour;
- hold in check incitement and recruitment in key environments (prisons, places of worship, etc.);
- develop inter-cultural dialogue;
- explain European policies better;
- promote good governance, democracy, education and economic prosperity through assistance programmes;
- continue research in this area and share analysis and experiences.
The "Protection" pillar aims to reduce the vulnerability of targets to attack and to limit the resulting impact of attack. It proposes to establish collective action for border security, transport and other cross-border infrastructures.
Member States have the Schengen Information System II (SIS II) and the Visa Information System (VIS), as well as the FRONTEX agency to maximise the effectiveness of border controls. In parallel to these instruments, they are required to exchange their passenger data and to use biometric information in identity documents.
With a view to increasing transport security, Member States must together examine the weak spots of transport systems and enhance the security of roads, trains, airports and seaports.
The EU wishes to assess the threat and its vulnerability. It is a matter of devising a work programme, methods of protection against attacks and a European programme for critical infrastructure protection. Member States must also continue their efforts towards cooperation in the fields of non-proliferation of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear materials (CBRN).
The aim of the third pillar is to pursue terrorists across borders, while respecting human rights and international law. The EU wishes first and foremost to cut off access to attack materials (arms, explosives, etc.), disrupt terrorist networks and recruitment agents and tackle the misuse of non-profit associations.
The second aim of pursuing terrorists is to put an end to sources of terrorist financing by carrying out inquiries, freezing assets and impeding money transfers (which also concerns the "protection" aspect). The EU has also implemented legislation on money laundering and the financing of terrorism.
The third aim is to put an end to the planning of terrorist activities by impeding the communication and dissemination of terrorists' technical knowledge, especially via the Internet.
Member States make the necessary instruments available to obtain and analyse information. They prepare joint analyses and exchange information through Europol and Eurojust. Each Member State reports on how it has strengthened its capabilities and on its national mechanisms.
The instruments used to respond to these objectives are:
- the analyses carried out by the Joint Situation Centre (SITCEN) and Europol;
- the European arrest warrant and the European Evidence Warrant;
- the Joint Investigation Teams;
- the principle of availability of law enforcement information;
- VIS and SIS II (for better information access);
- the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), of which the Commission is an active member and which provides recommendations, a large number of which are implemented by European legislation.
The risk of terrorist attacks cannot be reduced to zero. It is for Member States to be able to deal with them when they occur. The response systems to terrorist attacks will often be similar to those in place to manage natural, technological or man-made disasters. To make provision, full use should be made of the existing structures and European civil protection mechanisms. An EU database lists the resources and assets which Member States could mobilise in the case of a terrorist attack.
In the event of an attack, it is vital to:
- exchange operational and policy information rapidly and ensure media coordination (in the case of a cross-border incident);
- ensure solidarity, assistance and compensation of the victims of terrorism and their families at national and European levels;
- provide assistance to EU citizens in third countries;
- protect and assist civilian and military assets on EU crisis management operations.
This strategy is complemented by a detailed action plan listing all the relevant measures to be taken under the four pillars of this strategy.
Council of the European Union Report of 17 January 2011 on the EU Action Plan on combating terrorism.
Council of the European Union, 17 July 2008 – Revised Strategy on Terrorist Financing.
Council Decision 2007/124/EC of 12 February 2007 establishing for the period 2007 to 2013, as part of the General Programme "Security and Safeguarding Liberties", the Specific Programme "Prevention, Preparedness and Consequence Management of Terrorism and other Security related risks" [Official Journal L 58 of 24.2.2007].
See also
- the website of the European Commission Directorate-General for Home Affairs - Fight Against Terrorism
Last updated: 07.12.2011


text:
19.0171 Company markings and roof sign.Cite as [A.S.A.C. § 19.0171]
(a) Each taxi shall contain identifying markings identifying the vehicle as a taxi. The markings shall meet the minimum physical standards of this section:
(1) The markings shall appear on both sides of the taxi;
(2) The letters shall contrast sharply in color with the background on which they are placed;
(3) The information shall be readily legible during daylight hours from a distance of 50 feet while the taxi is stationary; and
(4) The markings must be maintained in a manner that retains the legibility.
(b) The markings maybe be painted directly on the taxi, or may consist of a removable device, such as a decal or sticker, so long as the requirements of section (a) are maintained.
(c) The markings shall contain at a minimum the following information:
(1) The legal or trade name of the taxi, as identified on the certificate of convenience;
(2) The vehicle identification number;
(3) The physical address of the business; and
(4) The phone number of the business.
(d) The markings may include the company logo, but shall not include advertising for other companies or products.
(e) Each taxi shall bear a roof sign which shall distinguish the taxi as a commercial vehicle and shall indicate whether the taxi is available for fare.
(f) Failure to adhere to this section shall be grounds for revocation or suspension of a commercial driver's permit or a certificate of convenience.History: Comm. Commn. Regs., Rule 01-2012, eff 1 Jan 13.