text:
The Cast
The voice talents that brought this memorable movie to life.
[Tarzan] [Production] [Gallery] [Review] [Cast] [Creators] [Artists]
Vicki Tracy is editor of Animation Artist magazine. Joe Tracy is the publisher and director of marketing for Animation Artist magazine.
Animation Artist Magazine Home Page
All images on this
page are copyright by ©Burroughs and Disney, Tarzan® Edgar
Rice Burroughs, Inc.


text:
Yes, there are fees for selling on Tophatter.
- There is a success fee which is charged when an item is paid for.
- There is a commission on the final sale price plus the shipping price of each item.
- There is a processing fee for processing each paid order. It is comparable to PayPal processing fees.
- By listing items, sellers agree to the Default Fees.
- Fees are deducted prior to payouts.
- Selling terms are subject to change at any time. We will honor the selling terms in place at the time the item was scheduled.
- In the event of a technical/site error, review What if there is a site outage?
- If a refund is issued, review Can seller fees be refunded?
1. Success fee
- The success fee is charged when an order is paid.
- A sale is considered to be successful when an item goes on the block and is successfully paid or it is purchased via the catalogs.
2. Commission
- Commission is charged on the final sale price plus the shipping price. Commission is charged on an item when it is paid for.
3. Other deductions
Along with the scheduling fees, commission, and processing fees, other deductions may include the following:
Chargeback Fee: If a chargeback is initiated by a buyer and it is not covered by Seller Protection, this fee will be assessed.
Refund Deduction: When a refund is issued, Tophatter pays the refunded amount to the buyer and a Refund Deduction will be invoiced to the seller for the net amount. For more information on how refund work please refer to our article What if my buyer requests a refund?
Shipping Label: Sellers who purchase shipping labels from Tophatter will see this charge for the Shipping Label they have purchased.
Shipping Label Confirmation: Sellers may purchase optional signature confirmation.
Shipping Label Insurance: Sellers may purchase optional insurance for a minimum $1.00 additional charge.
- Disbursement Correction Fee: Infrequently Tophatter may need to recoup funds that were disbursed in error. This is done by adding a Disbursement Correction Fee to a seller's account.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Jallet, Alex, Thiago Silva, Maxwell
Chantome, Verratti, Matuidi
Menez, Lavezzi
Danilo, Otamendi, Mangala, Alex Sandro
Lucho, Moutinho
Varela, Martinez, James Rodriguez
Paris Saint-Germain coach Carlo Ancelotti is set to welcome back goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu and midfielder Marco Verratti to his starting line-up after the duo missed the 2-1 defeat to Nice through injury.
Blaise Matuidi should keep his place in the side despite a silly red card in that league reverse, with Christophe Jallet set to remain in the side ahead of Gregory van der Wiel. Kevin Gameiro and Thiago Motta remain absent through injury.
Porto will recall a number of players to their starting line-up after the 2-1 defeat to Braga at the weekend as they seek a repeat of their 1-0 victory over the Ligue 1 giants earlier in the Champions League group stage.
The likes of Joao Moutinho, Jackson Martinez and Lucho Gonzalez should be named in the starting XI at the Parc des Princes, with no significant injury worries ahead of Tuesday's clash for Vitor Pereira.
- PSG sit in fourth place in Ligue 1 with 26 points from 14 games, having suffered their first away league defeat of the season.
- Carlo Ancelotti's side have qualified from Group A. They will progress as group winners if they beat Porto.
- Les Parisiens won their last home game against Porto in the 2004-05 group stage. Goals from Charles-Edouard Coridon and Pauleta sealed the win.
- That defeat was one of only three defeats on French soil for the Portuguese club. They beat Olympique de Marseille, Olympique Lyonnais and Monaco en route to Champions League glory in 2004.
- Porto are top of the Portuguese Primeira Liga, with 26 points.
- Thiago Silva - now at PSG - was a Porto player in 2004, but left for Russia without playing a first team game.
- Vitor Pereira's men need only to avoid defeat to progress as group winners.
- If Porto lose, it will be their first back-to-back competitive defeats since November 2009.


text:
Tables have turned
You might recall that a few weeks back, I was invited to participate as a reviewer in a portfolio review. . .and now the tables have turned and it's me in the "hot seat"! I decided to sign up for a portfolio review sponsored by the local AIGA chapter. I whipped out the old portfolio case I made out of masonite boards. I'll be sure to post better pics on my Flickr and let you know how it goes. Wish me luck!


text:
I don't want to feel this way...
Hi all,
I'm a ts female and I've been involved with a M-F couple for nearly two years. It began as completely sexual but it has developed into a wonderful friendship over time.
We see each other two or three times a week and we enjoy spending time with all three of us together or one on one. We all get along so well and we have wonderful communication and trust, we take holidays together, dinners, or just being lazy on Sunday afternoon just watching tv together, just what most people do.
They don't see anybody else and neither do I but we are all allowed to see other people as long as we tell each other.
Over the few months I have started to develop feelings that I don't want to have and I am worried . I have never felt this way before as I have never experienced the love for two people at the same time. I know what it is to be in love and I know I have fallen in love with both of them. I want to spend more and more time with them and I imagine how my life will be with them in the future if we can all be together.
I want to tell them how I feel but I am scared that if I do and they don't feel the same way then what we have now will be ruined and I don't want that to happen. Their friendship means so much to me and I don't want to lose it because of my feelings. I don't really know what I should do. Should I keep quiet and let things develop by themselves or say something?
Thank you for reading.
Hey PoP,
I know *exactly* how you feel. I have unrequited feelings for my metamour, Eric. Just knowing how he felt helped me a lot, and I asked in a way that didn't make me too vulnerable. I just said, basically, "Y'know, with any other person I've been casually involved with for this long, we would have talked by now about our feelings, desires, interest in the future, that sort of thing. When I stopped to think about it, it struck me as funny that we haven't. So, tell me what you're thinking and feeling, where you picture this going.
He was kind but very clear and direct -- he didn't want a relationship. He kept it about him, not me, and he didn't ask how I felt in return (either he didn't want to know or it was obvious). It was a hard thing to hear, and I cried over it later, but it was much better to just know.
Since then we've stayed close... we maintained our sexual relationship (which is now on hold for different reasons), we've stayed friends, and we've gotten closer in some ways. I've spent a lot of energy trying to decide whether or not to tell him how I feel, but so far I've decided not to. Why put that out there when he's made it clear he's not interested in the same way?
My compromise has been not to hide my feelings in other ways, even if I don't say it out loud. I touch him lovingly, I help him with things, I let him know that I care about him. I'm not, like, all over him all the time or anything, but it's gotta be obvious that I at least have strong positive feelings for him. And I've discovered that I'm ok with that. It's not easy some of the time, but a lot of the time it is.
Of course, my situation is different because I have a mutually loving, acknowledged relationship with the other member of the couple, Gia. I think it might be quite different if I couldn't express my love for at least one of them.
Best of luck!!!
Me, 30ish bi female, been doing solo poly for roughly 5 years. Gia, Clay, and Pike, my partners. Davis, ex/friend/"it's complicated." Eric, Gia's husband. Bee, Gia and Eric's toddler.
|Thread Tools
|Display Modes
Linear Mode


text:
Date of release: October 31, 2017
Pictured: New stop sign covered with bag at intersection of South 9th and Clark Streets
To enhance pedestrian and vehicular safety, the intersection of South 9th and Clark Streets in Paducah will become a four-way stop effective Monday, November 6. The signs have been installed and are covered until that date.
Currently, the intersection has stop signs for traffic on Clark Street with no stop signs for traffic on South 9th Street.
In addition to converting the intersection to a four-way stop, crosswalks and curbside parking restriction signage have been installed.
City Engineer & Public Works Director Rick Murphy says, "This change matches the configuration one block away at South 9th and Washington Streets. This area sees significant pedestrian and vehicular traffic due to the residents and visitors of the neighboring Jackson House Apartments. Having both intersections function identically improves the safety for pedestrian and vehicular traffic."


text:
The Dallas Mavericks haven't been very successful against the Oklahoma City Thunder over the last couple of years, and the second best offense in the NBA, led by Monta Ellis and Dirk Nowitzki, will certainly be put to the test against the reunited duo of Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant. More
Amare Stoudemire hasn't been having a dream season, and it seems his postseason came to a quick end as he injured himself after the game 2 loss against the Miami Heat. The Knicks' forward punched through the glass holding the fire extinguisher, which should keep him out of the next game at least. More
Derrick Rose went down, and the Chicago Bulls saw a big chunk of their title hopes disappear. LeBron James put on a huge show to open the Heat's title run. Kevin Durant showed just how clutch he is against the stubborn Dallas Mavericks. The Orlando Magic stunned the Indiana Pacers, but nothing seemed to be as impactful as Rose tearing his ACL. More


text:
SOURCE: Serena Software
April 05, 2011 08:36 ET
REDWOOD CITY, CA--(Marketwire - April 5, 2011) -
Last week at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington DC, Serena Software held its 5th annual Federal User Group meeting. Hundreds of government technology professionals, innovators, contractors, partners and system integrators congregated to share tips and best practices and evaluate the many facets of one of the industry's leading Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) technologies for 21st century government.
The theme of this year's meeting was "Orchestrating Your Agency To Do More With Less." Many of Serena's federal customers were on hand to discuss how they have improved release management processes and made business practices more efficient, faster and more stable with Serena's technology.
Highlights of this year's User Group meeting included keynotes from Gartner Research Vice President, Jim Duggan, Serena's President and CEO, John Nugent and the CIO of NETPDTC US Navy, Bill Reynolds. The schedule incorporated 12 breakout sessions, which included topics on Requirements Management, Release Management, SharePoint Productivity, IT Service Management and Value Engineering, led by Serena solution experts and federal agency customers.
A survey conducted at the event revealed that nearly all of Serena's federal customers brought on the technology to standardize methodology and improve and automate processes. The majority of respondents also indicated they are currently using Serena's Development Management and Release Management solutions for improved visibility and responding faster to requests. More than 75 percent of those polled said that Serena's customer support was excellent or higher.
As part of the 2011 Federal User Group meeting, Serena presented awards to the customers that best demonstrate industry leadership in using its technology to achieve innovation excellence. Ken McCurdy of US Navy NETPDTC took home the 2011 Innovation Award; The Composer Award went to Bill Lamberton of the Office of Personnel Management; the Orchestrated ALM Award was given to Sean Gamino of the US Army; Marc Tolbert of US Navy PEO-EIS Sea Warrior Program was selected for The Maestro Award.
Supporting Quote
"To meet budget constraints, government agencies such as the Department of Energy and the Department of Veterans Affairs are leveraging Serena's software to develop and release applications in one tenth of the time at a tenth of the cost. It is heartening to see that we are helping to address the challenging situation that organizations are facing today," said Mark Blair, Director of National Federal Sales, Serena Software. "Our mission is to continue to increase our exposure across this important market through product strategy, a complete solution focus, and presenting customers with critical ROI through our complimentary value engineering process."
Helpful Links
About Serena Software
Serena Software is the largest independent ALM vendor. Serena technology orchestrates application development, IT and business processes for the Global 2000. Serena's unique approach to ALM and Process Management delivers solutions that power confidence and process improvement for more than 3,000 active enterprise customers, encompassing almost one million users worldwide. Headquartered in Silicon Valley, Serena serves enterprise customers from 29 offices in 14 countries. Serena is a portfolio company of Silver Lake Partners, the leader in private investments in technology-enabled industries. For more information on Serena, visit http://www.serena.com.
Serena is a registered trademark of Serena Software. All other product or company names may be trademarks of their respective owners, and their use is intended for identification purposes only and not in association with or as sponsorship or endorsement by such owners ©2011 Serena Software. All Rights Reserved.
Media Contact: Cathy Wright Kulesa Faul for Serena Software firstname.lastname@example.com
Media Contact: Cathy Wright Kulesa Faul for Serena Software firstname.lastname@example.com
See all RSS Newsfeeds


text:
Want more from Genius Kitchen?
Watch on your Apple TV, Roku, or Fire TV and your iOS, Fire, or Android device.Learn More
Ultimate Burritos (Easy)
Chef's Note
"Trying to think how to convey how good these are. They are really good. Simple and basic but perfect. What transforms them from average to extraordinary is in the final step - lightly frying each side with a bit of oil. It gives it that perfect crunch that balances the different flavors and textures inside."
READY IN:35mins
YIELD:8 burritos
Ingredients Nutrition
- 2 chicken breasts, fried and diced into small pieces
- 2 cups cooked rice
- 16 ounces salsa
- 16 ounces refried beans
- 12 ounces shredded cheese
- 8 large flour tortillas
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1) Dice chicken breasts into cubes. Fry in lightly oiled frying pan until cooked through. Cut into small chunks. (This recipe is also a great way to use up leftover rotisserie chicken from the night before - just strip the remaining chicken and dice into bits).
- 2) Boil rice, set aside.
- 3) Assemble burritos. I layer the ingredients in the following order - first refried beans, then salsa, then rice, chicken, then cheese. However, any order will do. Fold the burrito - see pictures for how.
- 4) Heat 1 tbsp oil in a frying pan. I like olive oil, but vegetable oil will also work. Heat between med-low and med temperature. There should be just enough oil to grease the bottom of the frying pan without pooling.
- 5) Fry each burrito lightly on each side until golden brown. Add additional oil as needed. I find that I usually add a drizzle of oil after frying two burritos. Serve hot!
get the genius kitchen app.
Watch on your iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Android, Roku, or Fire TV.Learn More


text:
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Entertainment Theme Park Concept Art
Recently I had the pleasure to work on some concept art for GGE (Gary Goddard Entertainment). These are concepts I worked on for a theme park which would be in S. Korea. These were really fun to do and worked under a great designer, Robert Delapp.
The top is for a 'mech war' 4d show...that was fun to do. The lower images are for various areas of the park and attractions.
Thanks for looking,
9 comments:
- jabraniho said...
nice work james!
i want that robot figthing painting
that you have it on your house!
maybe you can give it to me
for b day present!
- October 2, 2008 at 2:27 PM
- cdeboda said...
Wow, amazing work here!
- October 5, 2008 at 12:14 PM
- Simon Scales said...
Hey James - really cool stuff - love the scene you have set in the fist piece - awesome stuff mate
- October 7, 2008 at 2:06 AM
- Jason Scheier said...
Very Nice!
- October 7, 2008 at 9:40 PM
- jpforjohnpark said...
wow james hyoung, just pure awesomeness..
ps. i still need an autograph print out from you. =)
- October 7, 2008 at 9:47 PM
- Josh Kao said...
this blog is amazing
- October 7, 2008 at 11:07 PM
- Mike said...
You are really kicking some ass james!!!
- October 25, 2008 at 3:19 PM
- gaohui said...
If you want to look ed hardy clothes and feel sexy, a Christian audigier maternity cocktail ed hardy shoes dress may be the ed hardy outlet fashion choice. There ed hardy Bikini are a variety ed hardy hats of cocktail dresses ed hardy swimsuits available, from a sexy ed hardy clothing black to an eye catching red. You can ed hardy glasses either choose a dramatic wrap-dress ed hardy or a sophisticated jersey dress. There ed hardy iphone cases are a variety of styles, patterns, and designs ed hardy dresses to suit any occasion. If you are looking for a bit more ed hardy Jackets dazzle, consider a comfy waist band mini skirt.
- September 3, 2010 at 6:01 PM
- david theming works said...
Great compilation of draft.
The creativity and innovation in the design of theme parks.
- February 16, 2013 at 2:35 AM


text:
Israeli Defense chief Ariel Sharon reportedly signed a military accord with the Honduran armed forces last week that would give the Central American nation sophisticated fighter jets and tanks.
A top-level military source who asked not to be identified told this reporter that General Sharon agreed in a semisecret meeting here to sell Israeli Kfir fighter jets, armored tanks, and Galil assault rifles to the Honduran armed forces.
If the reports are true, the sales would constitute a major escalation of the Central American military buildup. Honduras already has the most advanced Air Force in the region.
According to the military source interviewed by this reporter, the Israel-Honduras military agreement includes weaponry and training for Honduran officers, troops, and pilots. The officer added that a second phase of arms sales may involve more sophisticated weapons, such as missiles.
The first shipments of arms are scheduled to arrive in Honduras in the next three to four months, he said. The officer declined to explain the deal in more detail, saying this would identify him.
In Jerusalem Sunday General Sharon denied reports that he signed an agreement to provide Kfirs and armored tanks. But he said an Israeli mission would be sent to Honduras next month to sign a security agreement.
During General Sharon's three-day trip to Honduras, which involved unprecedented security measures in this country, the defense chief spent nearly four hours closeted with Honduran armed forces chief Gustavo Alvarez Martinez.
General Sharon also flew by military helicopter to La Ceiba on the Atlantic coast, which the Hondurans want to turn into a major military base, and to two military bases in the center of the country to assess military needs.
Observers note that General Sharon and his entourage - which included Gen. David Ivry, head of the Israeli Air Force, and Gen. Aaron Bet Halamchi, director-general of the Defense Ministry - were accorded the full measure of honors usually accorded to a visiting head of state. A government functionary compared Sharon's visit favorably with that of US President Ronald Reagan only two days earlier.
''Sharon's trip was more positive,'' he observed. ''He sold us arms. Reagan only uttered platitudes, explaining that Congress was preventing him from doing more,'' he said.
Military sources say Honduras asked the US for 12 F-5 fighter bombers earlier this year, citing intelligence reports that Nicaragua was about to receive MIG fighters from Moscow. Nicargua announced last month that MIG negotiations have been postponed.
Israel has cooperated militarily with Honduras since 1977. Its sale of French-built Super Mystere combat jets to Honduras made the Honduran Air Force the region's strongest.
The unannounced visit and military accord underline Israel's growing role as US arms broker and proxy in crisis-ridden Central America. Some six weeks ago, Israeli Foreign Minister Itzhak Shamir visited Costa Rica, offering to help with internal security.
Honduras is to send a top-level mission, headed by General Alvarez, to Israel in the near future, according to the source interviewed.


text:
Swarming behaviours in animals have been extensively studied owing to their implications for the evolution of cooperation, social cognition and predator–prey dynamics. An important goal of these studies is discerning which evolutionary pressures favour the formation of swarms. One hypothesis is that swarms arise because the presence of multiple moving prey in swarms causes confusion for attacking predators, but it remains unclear how important this selective force is. Using an evolutionary model of a predator–prey system, we show that predator confusion provides a sufficient selection pressure to evolve swarming behaviour in prey. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the evolutionary effect of predator confusion on prey could in turn exert pressure on the structure of the predator's visual field, favouring the frontally oriented, high-resolution visual systems commonly observed in predators that feed on swarming animals. Finally, we provide evidence that when prey evolve swarming in response to predator confusion, there is a change in the shape of the functional response curve describing the predator's consumption rate as prey density increases. Thus, we show that a relatively simple perceptual constraint—predator confusion—could have pervasive evolutionary effects on prey behaviour, predator sensory mechanisms and the ecological interactions between predators and prey.
1. Introduction
The sudden emergence of a cohesive swarm from the behavioural decisions of individual animals is one of nature's most striking examples of collective animal behaviour [1]. For example, European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) are known to form spectacular, coordinated flocks composed of hundreds of thousands of birds, seemingly without any form of leadership [2,3]. During their monthly breeding seasons, Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus) aggregate into schools comprising hundreds of millions of fish to spawn offspring [4]. Perhaps most notoriously, desert locusts (Schistocerca gregaria) form massive swarms with billions of locusts that devastate entire agricultural zones in Africa, the Near East and southwest Asia [5].
While swarm-like aggregations could arise for relatively simple reasons, e.g. to converge on a common resource [6], in many cases swarms are formed via behavioural mechanisms that coordinate the movements of individuals to ensure group cohesion [7]. Because swarming may incur a variety of fitness costs (e.g. increased attack rate from predators on larger swarms), considerable effort has been devoted to understanding the compensatory benefits of swarming [8]. Many such benefits have been proposed: swarming may improve mating success [9,10], increase foraging efficiency [11] and provide distributed information processing abilities [1]. In this study, we focus on swarming as a defence against predation [8].
Evolved swarm behaviours could protect group members from predators in several ways. For example, swarming improves group vigilance [12–15], reduces the chance of being encountered by predators [15,16], dilutes an individual's risk of being attacked [17–19], enables an active defence against predators [20] and reduces predator attack efficiency by confusing the predator [21,22]. Given the long generation times of many of the animals involved (months to years), it is exceedingly difficult to discern which of these benefits, if any, are sufficient to produce swarming as an evolutionary response, let alone study the properties of swarm behaviours as they evolve [22,23].
To address this challenge, we investigate the evolutionary origins of swarming behaviour in a digital system. Digital systems have previously been used to provide key insights into core evolutionary processes [24,25], and several well-known studies have adopted digital systems as a method to study swarm behaviour [26–28]. More recently, digital systems have even been used to elucidate the emergence of prey swarming behaviour as a response to predation [29]. These previous studies have provided insight into the fundamental dynamics of swarming behaviour. However, most have not focused on isolating the evolutionary pressures that might favour the formation of swarms, and none have explored the coevolution of predator and prey behaviour. In fact, except for only a handful of studies [30–34], this literature typically has not studied Darwinian evolution as a process affecting the properties of swarms. Here, we present a model in which predators and groups of genetically homogeneous prey are coevolved in a two-dimensional virtual environment. Predators are endowed with a retina that enables them to observe prey, whereas prey are equipped with a retina that enables them to sense both conspecifics and predators. In this model, predator and prey are preferentially selected based on how effective they are at consuming prey and surviving, respectively. Swarming is a possible solution for the prey, but is not selected for directly.
While there are many different selective pressures that have been hypothesized to produce swarming behaviour, within this digital environment, we specifically study the evolution of swarming in the presence of predator confusion. In the predator confusion hypothesis, the presence of multiple individuals moving in a swarm confuses approaching predators, making it difficult for them to successfully execute an attack [21,22,35,36]. In a recent review of predator–prey systems with swarming prey, Jeschke & Tollrian [22] noted that predators appeared to become confused by swarming behaviour in 16 of the 25 systems reviewed. However, evidence that predator confusion is a seemingly widespread phenomenon still leaves open the question of how effective predator confusion could be as a selective force favouring the evolution of swarming behaviour.
Predator confusion is broadly interesting for two additional reasons. First, it provides an opportunity to study how swarming behaviour can in turn exert evolutionary pressures on predators, especially on the perceptual constraints that allow for predator confusion in the first place. For example, once swarming behaviour evolves in prey, predator confusion may in turn provide a selective advantage for predators that are no longer confused by swarms. Second, predator confusion may influence the functional response describing the predator's consumption rate as prey density increases [37], as suggested in a previous study [38]. Understanding how pervasive mechanisms such as predator confusion affect functional response relationships is critical for accurately modelling the dynamics of predator–prey interactions over ecological and evolutionary time [39].
The contributions of this work are as follows. First, we demonstrate that the predator confusion effect provides a sufficient selective advantage for prey to evolve swarming behaviour. Furthermore, given prey that swarm as a result of the predator confusion effect, we show that predators could in turn be selected to evolve a frontally oriented, high-resolution visual field. Finally, we provide evidence that the shape of the predator functional response curve can be affected when prey evolve swarming behaviour in response to the predator confusion effect. Consequently, we demonstrate that predator confusion could have extensive evolutionary effects on traits ranging from prey behaviour to predator sensory mechanisms, as well as the ecological interactions between predators and prey.
2. Material and methods
To study the effects of predator confusion on the evolution of swarming, we create an agent-based simulation in which predator and prey agents interact in a continuous two-dimensional virtual environment. Each agent is controlled by a Markov network (MN), which is a stochastic state machine that makes control decisions based on a combination of sensory input (i.e. vision) and internal states (i.e. memory) [40]. We coevolve the MNs of predators and prey with a genetic algorithm (GA), selecting for MNs that exhibit behaviours that are more effective at consuming prey and surviving, respectively. Certain properties of the sensory and motor behaviour of predators and prey are implemented as constraints that model some of the differences between predators and prey observed in nature (e.g. relative movement speed, turning agility, and, for predators, maximum consumption rate). Predator confusion, described in more detail below, is implemented as a constraint on predator perception that can be varied experimentally. The source code (https://github.com/adamilab/eos) and data (https://github.com/adamilab/eos-data) for these experiments are available online. In the remainder of this section, we summarize the evolutionary process that enables the coevolution of predator and prey, describe the sensory-motor architecture of individual agents, then present the characteristics of the environment in which predator and prey interact. A detailed description of MNs and how they are evolved can be found in the electronic supplementary material text.
2.1. Coevolution of predator and prey
We coevolve the predator and prey with a GA, which is a digital model of evolution by natural selection [41]. In a GA, pools of genomes are evolved over time by evaluating the fitness of each genome at each generation and preferentially selecting those with higher fitness to populate the next generation. The genomes here are variable-length strings of integers that are translated into MNs during fitness evaluation (see the electronic supplementary material text).
To perform this coevolution, we create separate genome pools for the predator and prey genomes. Next, we evaluate the genomes' fitness by selecting pairs of predator and prey genomes at random without replacement, then place each pair into a simulation environment and evaluate them for 2000 simulation time steps. Within this simulation environment, we generate 50 identical prey agents from the single prey genome and compete them with the single predator agent to obtain their respective fitness. This evaluation period is akin to the agents' lifespan, hence each agent has a potential lifespan of 2000 time steps (enough time for the prey to travel approx. 400 body lengths). The fitness values, calculated using the fitness function described below, are used to determine the next generation of the respective genome pools. Parameters describing the operation of this GA are summarized in the electronic supplementary material, table S1. At the end of the lifetime simulation, we assign the predator and prey genomes separate fitness values according to the fitness functions: 2.1and 2.2where t is the current simulation time step, S is the starting swarm size (here, S = 50), and At is the number of prey agents alive at simulation time step t. It can be shown that the predator fitness (equation (2.1)) is proportional to the mean kill rate k (mean number of prey consumed per time step), while the prey fitness (equation (2.2)) is proportional to (1 − k). Thus, predators are awarded higher fitness for capturing more prey faster, and prey are rewarded for surviving longer. We only simulate a portion of the prey's lifespan where they are under predation because we are investigating swarming as a response to predation, rather than a feeding or mating behaviour.
Once we evaluate all of the predator–prey genome pairs in a generation, we perform fitness-proportionate selection on the populations via a Moran process, allow the selected genomes to asexually reproduce into the next generation's populations, increment the generation counter and repeat the evaluation process on the new populations until the final generation (1200) is reached.
We perform 180 replicates of each experiment, where for each replicate we seed the prey population with a set of randomly generated MNs and the predator population with a pre-evolved predator MN that exhibits rudimentary prey-tracking behaviour. Seeding the predator population in this manner only serves to speed up the coevolutionary process and has negligible effects on the outcome of the experiment (electronic supplementary material, figure S1).
2.2. Predator and prey agents
Figure 1 depicts the sensory-motor architecture of predator and prey agents in this system. The retina sensors of both predator and prey agents are logically organized into 'layers', where a layer includes 12 sensors, with each sensor having a field of view of 15° and a range of 100 virtual metres (200 virtual metres for predators). Moreover, each layer is attuned to sensing a specific type of agent. Specifically, the predator agents have a single-layer retina that is only capable of sensing prey. In contrast, the prey agents have a dual-layer retina, where one layer is able to sense conspecifics and the other senses the predator. (We note that there is only a single predator active during each simulation, hence the lack of a predator-sensing retinal layer for the predator agent.)
Regardless of the number of agents present in a single retina slice, the agents only know the agent type(s) that reside within that slice, but not how many, representing the wide, relatively coarse-grain visual systems typical in swarming birds such as starlings [42]. For example in figure 1, the furthest-right retina slice has two prey in it (light grey triangles), so the prey sensor for that slice activates. Similarly, the sixth retina slice from the left has both a predator (dark grey triangle) and a prey (light grey triangle) agent in it, so both the predator and prey sensors activate and inform the MN that one or more predators and one or more prey are currently in that slice. Finally, since the prey near the fourth retina slice from the left is just outside the range of the retina slice, the prey sensor for that slice does not activate. We note that although the agent's sensors do not report the number of agents present in a single retina slice, this constraint does not preclude the agent's MN from evolving and making use of a counting mechanism that reports the number of agents present in a set of retina slices. Once provided with its sensory information, the prey agent chooses one of four discrete actions: (i) stay still, (ii) move forward 1 unit, (iii) turn left 8° while moving forward 1 unit, or (iv) turn right 8° while moving forward 1 unit.
Likewise, the predator agent detects nearby prey agents using a limited-distance (200 virtual metres), pixelated retina covering its frontal 180° that functions just like the prey agent's retina. Similar to the prey agents, predator agents make decisions about where to move next, but the predator agents move three times faster than the prey agents and turn correspondingly slower (6° per simulation time step) owing to their higher speed.
2.3. Simulation environment
We use a simulation environment to evaluate the relative performance of the predator and prey agents. At the beginning of every simulation, we place a single predator agent and 50 prey agents at random locations inside a closed 512 × 512 unit two-dimensional simulation environment. Each of the 50 prey agents are controlled by clonal MNs of the particular prey MN being evaluated. We evaluate the swarm with clonal MNs to eliminate any possible effects of selection on the individual level, e.g. the 'selfish herd' effect [30,32].
During each simulation time step, we provide all agents their sensory input, update their MN, then allow the MN to make a decision about where to move next. When the predator agent moves within five virtual metres of a prey agent it can see, it automatically makes an attack attempt on that prey agent. If the attack attempt is successful, the target prey agent is removed from the simulation and marked as consumed. Predator agents are limited to one attack attempt every 10 simulation time steps, which is called the handling time. The handling time represents the time it takes to consume and digest a prey after successful prey capture, or the time it takes to refocus on another prey in the case of an unsuccessful attack attempt. Shorter handling times have negligible effects on the outcome of the experiment, except for when there is no handling time at all (electronic supplementary material, figure S2).
To investigate predator confusion as an indirect selection pressure driving the evolution of swarming, we implement a perceptual constraint on the predator agent. When the predator confusion mechanism is active, the predator agent's chance of successfully capturing its target prey agent (Pcapture) is diminished when any prey agents near the target prey agent are visible anywhere in the predator's visual field. This perceptual constraint is similar to previous models of predator confusion based on observations from natural predator–prey systems [21,22,38], where the predator's attack efficiency (no. of successful attacks/total no. of attacks) is reduced when attacking swarms of higher density. Pcapture is determined by the equation 2.3where ANV is the number of prey agents that are visible to the predator, i.e. anywhere in the predator agent's visual field, and within 30 virtual metres of the target prey. By only counting prey near the target prey, this mechanism localizes the predator confusion effect to the predator's retina, and enables us to experimentally control the strength of the predator confusion effect. Although our predator confusion model is based on the predator's retina, it is functionally equivalent to previous models that are based on the total swarm size (figure 2, dashed line), e.g. in references [21,22,38,43]. As shown in figure 2 (solid line with triangles), the predator has a 50 per cent chance of capturing a prey with one visible prey near the target prey (ANV = 2), a 33 per cent chance of capturing a prey with two visible prey near the target prey (ANV = 3), etc. As a consequence, prey are in principle able to exploit the combined effects of predator confusion and handling time by swarming.
3. Results
3.1. Effects of predator confusion
Qualitatively, we observed significant differences in prey behaviour over the course of evolution between swarms experiencing predators with and without predator confusion. Figure 3a illustrates that prey hunted by a predator without the predator confusion mechanism dispersed as much as possible to escape the predator. No replicates containing a predator without predator confusion resulted in prey behaviour that resembled a cohesive swarm. Conversely, when evolution occurred with predator confusion, prey exhibited cohesive swarm behaviour in the majority of the replicates (70% of our replicates). Figure 3b depicts one such swarm in which prey follow the conspecific directly in front of them, resulting in an elongated swarm. Similarly, figure 3c shows another swarm where the prey circle around their nearest conspecific, resulting in multiple small, cohesive swarms with the prey constantly trying to circle around each other. Both of these swarms evolved as defensive behaviours to exploit the predator confusion effect.
Furthermore, predators exhibited divergent hunting behaviours when hunting prey with and without predator confusion. As seen in figure 3a, predators that evolved in the absence of predator confusion, and hence had to contend with dispersed prey, simply tracked the nearest visible prey until it was captured, then immediately pursued the next nearest visible prey. On the other hand, predators that evolved in the presence of predator confusion, and hence were challenged with cohesive swarms, used a mechanism that causes them to attack prey on the outer edges of the swarm. This strategy is similar to a predatory behaviour observed in many natural systems [44,45], and effectively minimized the number of prey in the predator's retina and maximized its chance of capturing prey. Figure 3b demonstrates this behaviour, where the predator just captured a prey on the top-right edge of the swarm (prey capture location denoted by a black star). Videos of the evolved swarms under predation are available in the electronic supplementary material, videos S1–S5.
To evaluate the evolved swarms quantitatively, we obtained the line of descent (LOD) for every replicate by tracing the ancestors of the most-fit prey MN in the final population until we reached the randomly generated ancestral MN with which the starting population was seeded (see [24] for an introduction to the concept of a LOD in the context of digital evolution). For each ancestor in the LOD, we characterized the swarm behaviour with two common behaviour measurements: swarm density and swarm dispersion [46]. We measured the swarm density as the mean number of prey within 30 virtual metres of each other over a lifespan of 2000 simulation time steps. The swarm's dispersion was computed by averaging the distance to the nearest prey for every living prey over a lifespan of 2000 simulation time steps. Together, these metrics captured whether or not the prey were cohesively swarming.
Figure 4a demonstrates that the prey hunted by a predator with only handling time (i.e. without predator confusion) moved close to each other by chance but never coordinated their movement at any point in their evolutionary history (mean swarm density ± 1 s.e. across 180 replicates: 0.69 ± 0.02). In contrast, when hunted by a predator with predator confusion, the prey coordinated their movement to remain close to each other and form a swarm (mean swarm density 12.48 ± 0.8 at generation 1200). Likewise, figure 4b shows that in the absence of predator confusion, prey evolved to maximize their dispersion (mean shortest distance 46.69 ± 0.44 at generation 1200), whereas with predator confusion, prey evolved increasingly cohesive swarm behaviour (mean shortest distance 22.54 ± 1.32 at generation 1200). Taken together, these results confirm that predator confusion provided a sufficient selection pressure to evolve cohesive swarming behaviour in this model, even though the swarming prey actually experience an increased attack rate from the predator owing to this behaviour (electronic supplementary material, figures S3 and S4).
Figure 4c shows that as a result of these evolutionary trends, the cohesive swarms that evolved under predator confusion experienced significantly higher survivorship than swarms that evolved without predator confusion (34.7 ± 0.6 and 25.54 ± 0.49 prey surviving the simulations, respectively). This increased survivorship confirms that swarming behaviour confused the predator, leading to fewer successful prey captures. We found these results robust to a variety of experimental parameters, including weaker predator confusion effects (electronic supplementary material, figures S5 and S6) and applying a minimum threshold to predator attack efficiency (electronic supplementary material, figure S7).
3.2. Evolved predator and prey behaviour
To deduce how swarms emerge in our model from individual-level behaviours, we next determined the functionality of the evolved predator and prey MNs. We accomplished this by first visualizing the MN connectivity to discern what slices of the retina and memory nodes of the MN were causally connected, then created a truth table from the MN mapping every possible input combination with its corresponding most-likely output from the MN. With this input–output mapping, we computed the minimal descriptive logic of the MN with Logic Friday, a hardware logic minimization program. We used the most-likely output for every input combination owing to the stochastic nature of MNs; therefore the functionality we determined was the most-likely behaviour of the predator or prey.
In all of our experiments, the prey at generation 1200 ignored the presence of predators and instead only reacted to the presence of conspecifics in their retina in order to follow the other prey in the swarm. This was particularly striking because it suggested that prey can evolve swarming behaviour in response to predation without the ability to sense the predators hunting them, which was suggested in a previous study [29]. We observed that the prey evolved a wide variety of simple algorithms that exhibited a diversity of emergent swarming behaviours (videos of the swarms are available as electronic supplementary material, videos S2–S5), ranging from moderately dispersed, elongated swarms similar to starling murmurations (figure 3b) to tighly packed cohesive swarms reminiscent of fish bait balls (figure 3c).
As for the predators, the evolved behaviour we observed at generation 1200 with predator confusion appeared to be rather complex: the predators avoided dense swarms and hunted prey outside, or on the edge, of the swarm. However, the algorithm underlying this behaviour was relatively simple. The predators only watched the two centre retina slices and constantly turned in one direction until a prey entered one of those slices. Once a prey became visible in one of the centre retina slices, the predator moved forward and pursued that prey until it made a capture attempt. This process was repeated regardless of whether the predator successfully captured the prey. The simplicity of the predator algorithm and relative simplicity of the prey algorithms support the findings of earlier digital swarm studies that complex swarm behaviours can be described by simple rules applied over a group of locally interacting agents [47,48].
3.3. Effects of predator retina angle
We implemented predator confusion by imposing a perceptual constraint that reduces the probability of successfully capturing prey if one or more prey near the target prey are visible to the predator. This is meant to simulate the difficulty, arising from attentional or cognitive limitations, that a biological predator might have in choosing among multiple available prey at the moment of attack. To examine the effect of relaxing this constraint, we coevolved the predator and prey again and experimentally reduced the size of the predator's field of view. This procedure reduces the possibility that multiple prey can be detected at the moment of attack, thereby reducing the probability of confusion. For example, experimentally decreasing the predator's field of view from 180° to 60° decreases by two-thirds the area within which the presence of multiple prey can confuse the predator.
Figure 5 demonstrates that when the predator's retina only covered the frontal 60° or less, swarming to confuse the predator was no longer a viable adaptation (as indicated by a mean swarm density of 0.68 ± 0.02 at generation 1200). In this case, the predator had such a narrow view angle that few swarming prey were visible during an attack, which minimizes the confusion effect and correspondingly increases its capture rate (electronic supplementary material, figure S8). As the predator's retina was incrementally modified to cover the frontal 120° and beyond, swarming again became an effective adaptation against the predator owing to the confusion effect (indicated by a mean swarm density of 6.13 ± 0.76 at generation 1200). This suggests that the predator confusion mechanism may not only provide a selective pressure for the prey to swarm, but it could also provide a selective pressure for the predator to narrow its view angle to become less easily confused.
3.4. Effects on functional response
Predator confusion has been hypothesized to be not only a selective pressure favouring swarming, but also as a determinant of the functional response [38], i.e. the number of prey consumed by the predator as a function of prey density [49]. Figure 6 supports a key prediction of functional response theory: both with and without predator confusion, the system displayed a type II functional response (a saturating effect of prey density), but when predator confusion was present the functional response showed a lower plateau (24.01 ± 0.49 prey consumed without predator confusion; 15.18 ± 0.57 with predator confusion). The fact that there was a type II functional response even in the condition without predator confusion was the result of an additional constraint present in both conditions: the handling time that was imposed on the predator after prey capture before it can attack again. Additionally, when we varied the handling time in our experiments, we found that increasing the handling time also lowers the plateau of the type II functional response (electronic supplementary material, figure S9).
4. Discussion
We demonstrated that swarming evolves as an emergent behaviour in prey when a simple perceptual constraint—predator confusion—is imposed on the predator. Further, we found that measuring swarm density and swarm dispersion, proposed in [46], serves as an effective substitute for qualitatively assessing every swarm to determine if cohesive swarming behaviour is present. A diverse collection of prey swarming behaviours evolved in our model, suggesting that predator confusion could allow for a wide range of swarming behaviours to evolve. Strikingly, most evolved prey strategies used algorithms that responded to other prey, but not to the attacking predators. This raises the interesting question of what selection pressures would favour the evolution of prey that detect and respond to the predators themselves.
In contrast to the diversity of evolutionary outcomes for prey, a common behavioural strategy emerged among the predators when evolved in the confusion condition. Namely, the evolved predators focused on attacking prey on the vulnerable edges of the swarms, which is a phenomenon commonly observed in nature [44,45].
We also found that we could reduce the advantage of swarming by diminishing the predator's field of view, hence decreasing the level of confusion affecting the predator. This suggests that predator confusion could impose a selective pressure on the shape of the predator's retina: once swarming has evolved in the prey, selection will favour predators that are no longer confused by swarms. Following the trend in figure 5, we would expect selection to favour predators with a narrower, more frontally focused retina, as observed in the visual systems of many natural predators [50].
Modelling functional response has been an important problem in ecology [51], and is critical for constructing accurate models that capture the dynamics of predator–prey interactions over ecological and evolutionary time [52]. We provided evidence that predator confusion has significant effects on functional response that are not captured in traditional models [38]. Most of these traditional models, including the original formulation of Holling [37], capture the ecological interaction between predator and prey. Evolution is assumed to shape the behavioural strategies and constraints that influence predator–prey dynamics, but only recently have biologists begun to explicitly study the dynamics of predator–prey interactions over both ecological and evolutionary time [39]. We have shown that a type II functional response evolves even when it is not directly selected for, and the shape of the functional response can be attributed to specific constraints such as handling time and predator confusion.
5. Conclusion
We demonstrated that predator confusion provides a sufficient selective advantage for prey to evolve swarming behaviour in a digital evolutionary model. This suggests that predator confusion likely contributed to the evolution of swarming behaviour in animals which were hunted by predators that relied on visual systems to track their prey. Furthermore, in this work we (i) proposed a new method to directly test hypotheses about the evolution of swarming behaviour, (ii) provided an example of how to apply this method, and (iii) demonstrated that by considering swarming behaviour in the context of evolution, we are able to make discoveries about swarming behaviour that were never previously considered. Of course, there are many other evolutionary pressures that have been hypothesized to lead to the evolution of swarming behaviour [8], such as the 'selfish herd' effect [30,32], that remain to be explored in future work. Our results suggest that digital evolutionary systems can provide a powerful tool to tease apart these various hypothesized selective pressures underlying swarm behaviour.
This work was supported in part by the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, the National Science Foundation (NSF) BEACON Center for the Study of Evolution in Action under Cooperative Agreement DBI-0939454, and NSF grant no. OCI-1122617. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the NSF. We wish to acknowledge the support of the Michigan State University High Performance Computing Center and the Institute for Cyber Enabled Research (iCER).
- Received April 3, 2013.
- Accepted May 13, 2013.
- © 2013 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.


text: Obviously, it creates an un even playing field. Players with chemical induced advantage, not only gain a physical edge, but now the chances of them suffering long term side effects, due to drug use and possible, drug over dose, become a serious factor. Other than that, it takes away from the game with false results.


text:
The PS3's biggest game yet over in Japan is just about a month away from release, and, sure enough, Sony isn't being quiet about it. Following a heavily promoted downloadable demo of Minna no Golf 5 (known as Hot Shots Golf 5 oustide of Japan), Sony has announced a special PS3 package to coincide with the game's release.
Officially known as the PlayStation 3 Beginners' Pack, this bundle combines a PS3 system with a copy of Minna no Golf 5, all in a slick new box. It will be available on 7/26 at a cost of 61,980 yen for a 60 Gig version and 51,980 yen for a 20 Gig version.
There are a couple of points of note in this announcement. First, different from other territories, Sony seems to be continuing with sales of the two PS3 models in Japan. Currently, both 20 Gig and 60 Gig versions of the hardware are available for purchase at.
More importantly, the price of the bundle represents a savings of nearly 4,000 yen off the price of purchasing the game and hardware separately. It's not quite a price drop, but perhaps it will draw in a few holdouts.


text: I'm looking for automated software solutions for profile, web 2.0, and/or social backlink creation. The demo of SENuke I tried back in Jan had a Web2.0 creator but that was only for a specific set of sites (about 250) and they were all no-follow. If they've updated this I'd be interested but this software is a bit out of my current budget (I don't make enough in IM to pay the $100+ a month...once I get there, I'll be interested). Same thing with xrummer etc ($500 is a great price for what it does...just don't have the cash yet). What other, cheaper solutions are out there for automated backlink creation?


text:
Wavelab 8.5 Mastering Software
Wavelab 8.5 Mastering Software
Watch Folders
The latest edition of Steinberg's flagship mastering software has some major revisions to your offline workflow. Watch Folders will perform certain audio editing tasks on all files in a selected folder, working at an operating system level without Wavelab even running. Do you always normalise your drum loops? Then just stick them in the loops folder and it happens automatically. Things can get a lot more complex than that with offline plugin rendering possible too.
Encoder support
The other main pillar of 8.5 is a load of new options for different encoders, A/B test in OGG/Wav then render to AAC, Wav and OGG simultaneously.
Full Details Of Wavelab 8.5 Are Available On Steinberg's Website


text:
ANTAM is Part of The IDX30 Index at The Indonesia Stock Exchange
Home News, Reports and Presentations News Releases
Jakarta, 8 August 2017 - PT ANTAM (Persero) Tbk (ANTAM; ASX – ATM; IDX – ANTM) is pleased to announce the Company has been included as part of the IDX30 Index at the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) for the trading period of August 2017 until January 2018. The IDX30 Index comprises of 30 companies with the highest liquidity at the IDX.
ANTAM's Finance Director Dimas Wikan Pramudhito said:
From the end of 2016 until June 2017, the number of investors trading ANTAM's share rose 15% from 31,325 investors to 36,006 investors. ANTAM's share was also actively traded in IDX. As at the end of June 2017, the average traded shares reached 45,987,705 shares with the average trading value of Rp35.78 billion. As of June 2017, the shareholder composition of ANTAM was the Government of Indonesia with 65% of ownership, domestic institutions with 18.08% of ownership, foreign institutions with 4.92% of ownership, domestic retail investors with 11.92% of ownership and foreign retail investors with 0.08% of ownership.
The inclusion of IDX30 Index assesses share transaction activity including transaction value, transaction frequency, number of transaction days and market capitalization. The IDX also assesses the Company's financial condition, growth prospect and factors related to business sustainability for inclusion at the IDX30.
|Precious Metals Prices
PT Antam (Persero) Tbk
|Base Metals Prices
PT Antam (Persero) Tbk


text:
So (irrelevant story here) the cousin of a friend of my mom asked me to come over to her apartment, because a couple days beforehand, her cousin and son were fooling around with her PC and when it started acting/doing weird they just said 'Virus!' and shut the computer down.
They didn't boot the PC since, so I was the first to do it and the first thing I saw in the middle of the boot up(After it said "activating/booting up services" or something like that): Windows install not complete(The PC and message is in Dutch though, but that serves no relevance). So first I asked her how long she had been using the PC(I thought it might be a new computer and she just never finished installing it), but she told me she had it for months.
After that I hit Ok to see what would happen and it said it would restart to re-install Windows. Then it restarted and the exact same message popped up once more. So now I'm wondering.
What's the next step to take after this? And my apologies for not knowing if the PC used XP or 7.
Reinstall everything and save yourself some time., When you format the hard drive, delete it to make sure all the shite is well gone.
I agree
Thinking a fresh install would be the best bet. Using a Windows disc for recovery might work, and then it might not. So just do a clean install.
Use SARDU, boot on it and scan for malware
once clean up is done see if you can boot it and the weird messages are gone. Next step will be to repair Windows or to re-install/Upgrade.
Because fresh copy of the windows install
seems the windows files have been deleted or some sort of thing happened. try booting with a windows disc, and repair the pc. it would make it ok since, some of the files are missing. if problem persists, boot with a windows live CD , backup the drive and reinstall windows.


text:
Bilingual senior level executive with 30 years of experience in Operations, Production and Sales Management, including traveling domestically and internationally throughout North America, South America and Asia. Accomplished career known throughout the industry for delivering and sustaining revenue and profit gains within highly competitive global and commercial markets.
Budget Planning and Financial Management
Developed annual budget and sales/marketing plans for established and startup companies. Analyzed P&L and balance sheets to help maintain company vision and goals. Evaluating market data to drive sales in general markets as well as niche markets. Constantly evolving production procedures to maintain cost effectiveness.
Operations and Project Management
Initiated corporate policies and structures for all departments. Coordinated and maximized all production functions in conjunction with sales forecasts, enabling our company to meet all delivery dates and have no QC field issues. Increased sales from $0 to $139 million total sales over 15 years in a market that is driven by price rather then quality, forcing our competitors to change how they did business. Established and maintained strong customer relationships.
Leadership Development
Involved in the development and training of customer service representatives, sales representatives (both employee and non-employee), supervisors and managers to understand corporate vision and product knowledge. Assessed and adopted innovative processes to maintain goals through changing economic conditions.


text:
Dakele Spring 4G phone launched; has 5.5-inch qHD screen and 1GB RAM, costs 699 RMB (113.82 USD)
by Sep 3, 2014 5:38 am0
This afternoon, Dakele formally launched their first 4G cell phone, the Dakele Spring.
The launch confirmed much of what was reported about the Dakele Spring before. It was done in collaboration with Aliyun and uses the new Yun 2.9 OS which boasts good security settings. It also has anti-theft settings and the user can lock the phone from a distance. The new Cloud OS allows the user to personalize their phone more by letting them do things like letting them search their contacts by typing a letter or hid their phone record.
The Dakele Spring has a very simple round design. Many will be interested to know that it sports a 5.5-inch screen with qHD resolution (960 x 540). Its processor is the MSM8926 quad-core chipset. It has 1GB RAM and 4GB ROM as well as a 2mp/8mp dual-camera. It is powered by a 2300mAh battery and supports TD-LTE, TD-SCDMA, and GSM dual-SIM
The Dakele Spring costs 699 RMB and is already on sale at Juhuasuan. Users can pick up their orders on September 9.


text:
ANDREW TAY & Eroca Nicols IN CONVERSATION
Join Capitalism, Sex, and Magic artists Andrew Tay (Summoning Aesthetics) and Eroca Nicols (...Truthteller...) in conversation as they talk about their practices, discuss the queer arts ecology and debate the differences between the cities where they live and work. Rigorous thinkers and notable personalities, expect a fiery discussion about art, life and the universe.
This discussion will be moderated by Brendan Healy, an award-winning director and current Artistic Director of Buddies in Bad Times.
ABOUT Andrew Tay
After attending Walkerville Centre for the Creative Arts in Windsor, Ontario, Andrew Tay completed his BFA in contemporary dance at Concordia University. He has presented his work at venues and festivals throughout Canada, New York and Europe. His work has appeared in films, installations and multi media projects for companies such as Moment Factory, Bravo! and Dpt.
In 2005, Andrew co-founded (with collaborator Sasha Kleinplatz) the company Wants&Needs Danse. Since then the company has produced the wildly popular dance events Piss in the Pool, Short&Sweet and Involved in Montreal. In June 2012, the duo choreographed the Cirque du Soleil show Les Frontieres de Pixels and were nominated for a Quebec Notables award in the Arts & Culture category.
Andrew was awarded the Dance WEB scholarship in May 2012 (ImPulsTanz Festival, Vienna). In 2013, he participated in the Rencontres internationales de jeunes créateurs et critiques des arts de la scène professionnels (Festival TransAmériques, Montreal). He was also selected to participate in 8 Days, an Intergenerational meeting of dance artists from across Canada organized by the company Public Recordings. In June 2014, he took part in the Copycat Academy (Luminato Festival, Toronto) organized by Hannah Hurtzig of the Mobile Academy. He currently sits on the board of directors representing dance for ELAN (English Language Artist Network), and on the administrative council of Le Regroupement Québécois de la Danse.
About Eroca Nicols
After earning her Honors BFA in Film/Video/Performance and Sculpture from California College of the Arts (San Francisco, CA), Eroca Nicols' artistic practice shifted to the body. She studied in professional programs in Canada at both Ballet Creole and The School of Toronto Dance Theatre before pursuing further training in functionally based and improvisational forms. She is currently a Toronto-based dance artist, curator and educator. Her company, Lady Janitor, has presented work in Canada, Europe, and the UK. Eroca has performed with Matthew Smith, Andrea Nann, Les Imprudanses, Francesca Pedulla and is co-founder of the arts advocacy and professional training provider, the Toronto Dance Community Love-In.
Eroca's commitment to community based arts engagement and radical political redefinition through artmaking has led her to create platforms for presenting both her own work and the work of fellow emerging artists — DIMBY (Dance In My BackYard) and Badass Dance Fun (a mini festival at Toronto's Harbourfront Centre) are among these projects, as is the Love-In. Eroca teaches partnering and contemporary dance including workshops in UK, Europe (recently ImPulsTanz Festival with Matthew Smith) and North America (recently Dance Exchange).
About Brendan Healy
Brendan Healy is an award-winning director and currently the Artistic Director of Buddies in Bad Times Theatre. He has established himself as a central figure in the city's theatre scene and his work has been presented across the country. Brendan is a graduate of the National Theatre School's Directing Program and has trained extensively with one of the pioneers of the American avant-garde Anne Bogart and the SITI Company.
60 minutes
Saturday, May 9 | 6:30 pm
Dancemakers, Studio 314
9 Trinity Street, 3rd Floor
Toronto, ON M5A 3C4
> Get Directions


text:
Ok, let's be honest; they have several problems. Their desire to cram their religion down everyone's throats, their constant efforts at blocking gay marriage, their high levels of hypocrisy, their constant ignoring of Jesus' teachings about the poor, etc. But I'm going to talk about one in particular, and that's their constant, endless whining about how oppressed they are. How, despite their religion being, by far, the mostly widely-practiced in the country, and despite how powerful they tend to be, they're somehow still under non-stop threat from someone, somewhere, somehow.
The most recent bits of this that comes to mind are the various attempts at passing laws allowing people to discriminate against gays by saying their religion says they should. This is done under the guise of protecting Christianity from a threat that doesn't really exist. The fascinating thing is that while Christianity isn't even remotely under threat here in the United States, there are large parts of the world where it very much is.
Take for example Malaysia. The courts there have just ruled that the Arabic word "Allah" is reserved only for the use of Muslims. Now the word, translated into English, simply means "god". An English-speaking Muslim might say "Allah", but they could, and sometimes do, say "God". But in Malaysia, only Muslims may now use the word "Allah" when referring to their god.
Now it's worth noting that the God of Islam is the same one as the Jewish God and the Christian God. Islam venerates Moses, Abraham, Jesus and Mary. But apart from any theological ignorance that this ruling displays, it's also very much an example of actual, real persecution against Christians. And yet, what do you want to bet that if I turned on CNN, and they actually covered this story for more than 30 seconds before breaking away to talk about their documentary series on the 1960s, they wouldn't have a single right-wing Christian American politician on to condemn Malaysia for their actions?
That isn't even going into the horrible levels of persecution against Christians in places like China and North Korea, or those against Christians in our greatest ally ever, ever, Saudi Arabia. There, we find two cities that non-Muslims can't even enter, and Christians are severely limited in how they can practice their faith. Converting from Islam to Christianity, in that country, which I remind you, is an American ally, is punishable by death. I don't recall hearing any of the right-wing Christian conservative commentators bitching about this lately.
Of course, actual oppression abroad isn't as "sexy" as fake oppression here at home. Fighting against actual oppression won't get you votes, for one thing. It also requires actual hard, difficult effort to fix, with sacrifices along the way (ie: if we started really putting the pressure on Saudi Arabia, one imagines problems with the oil supply). Fighting against fake oppression is way easier, because even if you lose, you win. All you have to do is win by saying, "Well, that's our modern secular society for you! Give us money so we can continue the fight!"
Ultimately the problem with conservative American Christians, is that they care solely about restoring this country to what they view as a bucolic, 1950s-style nation. They won't, they never can, and the nation they want us to become never existed. But they'll continue the fight, because if there's one thing religion is good at, it's flying in the face of reality.


text:
Top Posts & Pages
- animals
- animation
- art
- articles
- artist
- blogging
- blogs
- books
- cinema
- collection
- comics
- covers
- culture
- cute
- design
- films
- Flickr
- food
- French
- fun
- funny
- History
- humour
- illustration
- illustrator
- images
- Internet
- Japanese
- movies
- music
- news
- painting
- photographer
- photography
- pictures
- pin-ups
- posters
- reference
- science
- technology
- tools
- toys
- video
- vintage
- weird
Category Archives: weird
Plush Internal Organs
Kids, and many adults, love plush and stuffed toys. That's why there are so many options available: classic teddy bears, bunnies, hearts, cute animals, plush food, cthulhus, microbes, pee and poo, and even sushi for puppies. The Brazilian designer brothers … Continue reading
Giant Zombie LEGO Men
After those LEGO® Ice Brick Tray to make your own pieces of iced LEGO, the Giant Zombie LEGO Men ATTACK! are great present for LEGO enthusiasts. Two models of those customizes and painted 19″ LEGO zombies were created using plastic, … Continue reading
The Stamp Collector's Guide to the Galaxy
Stamps for sending a letter to outer space: The Stamp Collector's Guide to the Galaxy. Ufology and philately share at least one thing: a passion for collecting, whether it be news clippings on unexplained cases or first day covers. From … Continue reading
The Grim Reaper Cat
I grew up picturing death as the Grim Reaper, the skeletal figure carrying a large scythe. Even though I studied in catholic schools, I've never believed their philosophy that death is an angel of God and there is a better … Continue reading
Posted in animals, cats, culture, Friday Cat Blogging, weird Tagged cats, comics, culture, Friday Cat Blogging, movies, news, weird 2 Comments
Kentucky Ventriloquism Museum Photos
Sometimes I'm not sure why I blog some things. This is a good example: Terror Tour 2007, an appropriate name, is a set on Flickr with photos of Kentuck Ventriloquism Museum. That's the kind of place I won't visit in … Continue reading
Posted in cinema, photography, video, weird Tagged cinema, dolls, Flickr, movies, photography, pictures, ventriloquism, video, weird 2 Comments
Cool Toys for Grown-ups
Lisa Katayama says: Who says toys are for kids? In Japan, we believe that everyone — including our parents and grandparents — should have playthings too. I totally agree with her and emphatasy that I didn't won any of those … Continue reading
The Dayalets
The Dayalets are vitamin mascots, what I translate for scary human portraits made with food, cigars, objects and snacks. One more time the term "playing with food" fits like a glove, and this time moms have all the rights to … Continue reading
The Top 10 Creepiest Fast Food Mascots
I'm not a fan of fast food. My weakness, and it's not really a real one, are French fries, that is what makes me go to Mac Donald's four times per year. It's just a question of taste (or the … Continue reading
Odd Music
Odd Music is home to unique, odd, ethnic, experimental and unusual musical instruments and resources. Explore their gallery with pictures, descriptions and sound clips of those weird instruments.Thanks to that site I discovered a better use for beer, at least … Continue reading
Bad Mags
Bad Mags illuminates the darker recesses of "pop lit"- focusing upon the strangest, sleaziest and most unusual periodicals and tabloids published in the US from the fifties through the eighties. Don't doubt of its title, the covers are really bad, … Continue reading


text:
On New Year's Day, Los Angeles County is scheduled to set a dubious record.
Effective that day, the county's 55,000 employees will be withdrawn from the social security system - making the county the largest unit ever to defect. But it's a move that flies in the face of proposals being discussed to help cure the system's financial woes.
At issue is how to mandate participation in social security for those groups left out of the system when it was set up in 1935: federal employees, nonprofit employees, and state and local government employees. (The two latter groups were given the option to join, with a right to withdraw later, under federal legislation passed in 1950. Federal employees, who wield considerable political clout, have always fought inclusion in the system.)
The concept, known as ''universal coverage,'' has been debated by the presidentially appointed National Commission on Social Security Reform and is generally considered to be - in some form - one of the recommendations it will make by the end of the year.
Although the commission's staff estimates that mandated participation by all three groups would raise $110 billion in social security revenues by 1989, it's unlikely that the commission will propose such a sweeping move. Instead, those involved with the advisory group say, some modified form of universal coverage is likely to be proposed as a way to help raise the estimated $150 billion to $ 200 billion the system will need by 1989.
''Most of us will vote for including newly hired federal emloyees and those with less than five years' experience,'' says Robert Ball, former commissioner of the social security system and leader of the Democrats on the bipartisan reform commission. He explains that it takes five years as a federal employee to earn vested rights in civil service.
It is also considered likely that the advisory group will vote to include all nonprofit employees in the program. Of the estimated 5.3 million employees of nonprofit organizations, about 85 percent now participate in the social security system.
The stickiest problem, however, is what to do about state and local employees. The Social Security Administration (SSA) statistics show that 71 percent, or 9.4 million of the 13.2 million state and local employees, currently are covered by social security.
But the case of Los Angeles County highlights what observers say is an increasing and disturbing trend: Since 1981 - when US legislation was introduced , but not passed, to revoke the withdrawal clause - more and more state and local units and nonprofit organizations have filed to opt out of the system in favor of setting up, or enhancing, their own retirement programs.
As of the first of this year, according to SSA spokesman Jim Brown, 396 state and local employers with 189,000 employees and 723 nonprofit employers with approximately 290,000 employees have filed - under a two-year-long process - to pull out. Traditionally, only half of those who file to withdraw actually do so, but if all these organizations were to pull out, they would cost the system an estimated $7 billion over the next five years - a sum that goes on top of the estimated $150 billion to $200 billion needed to bail the system out by 1989.
''If major state and local units start pulling out, it would deprive the system of revenues right now. Savings wouldn't show up until several years down the line,'' says Dr. Robert Kaplan, a social security expert and dean of the Graduate School of Industrial Administration at Carnegie-Mellon University. ''It would aggravate an already severe situation.''
In addition, advocates of mandatory participation argue, the present system just isn't fair. For example, a state employee who has been covered under social security for 10 years reaps essentially full benefits even if his employer decides to withdraw from the system - thereby passing on the costs of his benefits to those who remain in the national pension program.
''If the average Joe working in a gas station doesn't have the right to pull out, why should anybody else?'' asks one insider, who requests anonynmity because his job is closely related to the issue.
One other argument against allowing voluntary participation in social security, say observers, is that no other plan can meet the benefits social security offers. In fact, some members of the local union have voiced concern that the county may not be able to provide as good a package.
State and local authorities - including those in Los Angeles County, where the pullout move has been taken by the Board of Supervisors as a way to augment declining revenues - argue that the US government is prohibited under the 10th Amendment from interfering with the reserve powers of states on this issue.
Universal-coverage proponents agree the problem is a tricky one. ''If we made participation mandatory, there would be a race to see who could get to the Supreme Court first to challenge it,'' says one congressional aide. But backers argue for plunging ahead and letting the courts settle the issue.
''The extent of the national government's power to impose'' social security participation on state and local employees ''is uncertain,'' says Jesse Choper, dean of Boalt Hall law school at the University of California, Berkeley, and a constitutional law expert. ''The question is by no means settled.
''The court could certainly find a way to uphold it if it chose,'' he adds. ''The general doctrine is sufficiently ambiguous (on Congress interfering at the state and local level) that it could be done.''


text: Dr. Dobb's has put up the full text (as well as video and audio versions) of the recent lecture by Marvin Minsky entitled, It's 2001. Where's HAL that he gave at the 2001 Game Developers Conference. It contains a lot of interesting thoughts on where AI developers have gone wrong and how we can get things back on track. The audience Q & A session is also included. Definitely worth a read.


text:
West Ham United could soon be boosted by the return of midfielder Jack Collison.
The 24-year old Welsh midfielder has not appeared for the Hammers this season because of an ongoing knee problem but made big steps towards a comeback by getting through part of a U21 match on Monday.
Collison played 45 minutes as the Hammers lost 3-1 to Norwich City and almost had a hand in two possible West Ham goals prior to departing at the break.
The game is about opinions. Make yours heard! Join the tribalfootball.com nation on Facebook today: Facebook.com/tribalfootball


text:
Plot: Jack is pushed past the brink of his stalking obsession when he decides to break into Emily's home to take what he wants by force. However, his plans for her pain and his pleasure come unhinged when he wakes up to find himself bleeding and bound to a chair in her kitchen. For one night Jack and Emily engage in a twisted and thrilling courtship of the sexes that leads one to wonder which one of them will survive the night.
Genre: Comedy | Romance | Thriller
IMDB Rating: 6.8/10 from 53 users
Directed by: John Jarratt, Kaarin Fairfax
Starring: John Jarratt, Kaarin Fairfax, Alan Finney
Release Name: StalkHer.2015.DVDRip.x264-PFa
Size: 465 MiB
Video: MKV | 720 x 404 | 539 Kbps
Audio: English | AAC
Runtime: 1h 26mn
Subtitles: N/A


text:
GRANDVIEW - The expected opening of Yakima District Court in Grandview has been delayed. The court, returning to the Lower Valley after an eight-year absence, was scheduled to open Jan. 1, but the estimated date is now mid-February, according to Harold Delia, court administrator.
"They're still putting paint on the walls and carpeting should be in place by Jan. 15. I'll probably accept the building then," said Delia, who said the court will probably be in place by mid-February.
The remodeling of the interior to transform the former Department of Social and Health Services building on Wine Country Road into aN 8,190 square foot home suitable for a district courtroom, judges chambers, a jury room and three offices each for prosecutors, public defenders and probation officers took longer than the contractor expected, Delia said.
When Lower Valley District Court opens, four judges will rotate monthly service on the bench. They are Don Engel, Rod Fitch, Kevin Roy and Michael McCarthy.
Delia serves as court administrator for all the courts in Yakima County, which makes it possible to have not only district court cases heard at the Grandview site, but also some Superior Court cases and probation issues.
The building is owned by Nelson Realty in Bellevue, which will lease the building to the court at what will be a cost of $13 a square-foot for the first five years and $7 a square foot for the next five. A deal called "good" by the architect, Delia said when he announced the selection at a news conference Oct. 20, 2005. In monetary terms, that means payments of $9,000 a month for the first five years and $4,700 monthly for the following five years.
The City of Grandview, under the leadership of Mayor Norm Childress and City Manager Jim Sewell, helped coordinate the meetings between the realtor and the court when the selection process was in progress. Toppenish and Sunnyside were the other two cities being considered as possible district court sites.
Comments are subject to moderator review and may not appear immediately on the site.
Please read our commenting policy before posting.
Any comment violating the site's commenting guidelines will be removed and the user could be banned from the site.
Use the comment form below to begin a discussion about this content.


text:
The Bermuda Police Service is appealing for the public's assistance in locating 14 year old Hillary Coddington.
Ms. Coddington, a student of The Berkeley Institute, is described as brown complexioned, between 5 feet 1 inch and 5 feet 2 inches tall with her hair in long braids.
She was apparently last seen on Monday, November 27th in the City of Hamilton wearing her school uniform.
There is concern for the wellbeing of Ms. Coddington, who has never gone missing before and is said to frequent the City of Hamilton as well as the Stowe Court, Pembroke area.
In addition, she usually travels on foot or by bus and has been known to visit the St. George's area.
Anyone with any information on the whereabouts of 14 year old Hillary Coddington is asked to contact the main police telephone number 295-0011 at the earliest opportunity.
Update: 14 year old Hillary Coddington was found this morning (November 29th) safe and well. The Bermuda Police Service would like to thank the public for their assistance in this matter.


text:
Ronald D. Covington Jr.
While helping police clear debris after a minor highway accident Mr. Covington was hit by a log truck. The truck ignored the police orders to stop and fled the scene. The man was arrested the next day and booked for negligent homicide hit and run and failure to obey police. Mr. Covington died at the scene.


text:
Suggestions On How To Choose Your Criminal Law Attorney For Domestic Assault Charges
At The Oncale Firm, we represent individuals in contested divorces, uncontested divorces and other household members law matters. As such, to find the case of Jarrell vs. Balkcom you require to look in volume 735 of the Federal Reporter 2d(second series) on page 1242. Whilst the Framers gave us only one particular law making branch of government, you now assert there are two. As you can see, you have supplied case support (New Jersey DYFS vs. PP,180 N.J. 494, 852 A.2d 1093,1100 (2004) and statutory assistance (N.J.S.A 30:4C-15.1a) to effectively argue that Carrie's rights as a parent really should be terminated. That is where the founders believed our courts had a jurisdiction when dealing with the typical law. Legal precedents are rules or principles that have been established in prior case.
Example of courts abrogating the prevalent law: In tort law, the old typical law rule of sevens" held that kids are normally viewed as capable of tortious behavior according to the following guidelines: children beneath seven are regarded as incapable of torts children among the ages of seven and fourteen are PRESUMED to be INCAPABLE of torts and kids more than fourteen are PRESUMED to be CAPABLE of torts.
This is a Law that deals with the connection amongst the state and individuals or citizens. Applying only 1 or two search criteria will yield a high number of results – working with more search criteria considerably reduces the quantity of benefits yielded. It does not imply that they produced the law only followed the law as judges are supposed to do. By your logic, when a judge confirms or follows a law passed by a legislature he is the a single generating the law which is absurd, he is only confirming the law. Some of the following net web pages have a search feature" that allows you search for case law and other products.
Additional specifically, the law student's major premise is that popular law was produced by judges, as a result it is case law… Beyond the fact that you refuted this claim at least twice without him addressing them straight there's the basic matter that popular law was NOT designed by Judges. Instance is the Law that details out what to be done and those not to be done in a family members.
You will strengthen your argument by citing to the legal authority (case law, statute, regulation) that supports your position. Administrative Law deals with the functions of government agencies within the state. To find a case according to its meta information (names of parties, case number, and date of delivery, case year and so on) one want not fill in all the fields.
This Law is located in the chapter 77 of the Law of Federal Republic of Nigeria, that is, the Criminal Code Act of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. As numerous components of the frequent law deal with the King and the church which of course would not apply and consequently have no force in our laws. These explanations are carried out applying straightforward English words so that even one particular who is not in Law discipline can very easily comprehend the message passed across. It is the Law which regulates the structure of a country, the power and functions of government, suitable and duties of the person and delivers treatments for unconstitutional acts.


text:
Bryan Chaffin will be speaking at the Silicon Valley Mac User Group on Monday evening. At the top of his agenda will be whether or not Apple is going to release a 7.x" iPad (Hint: the answer is "Yes.") He'll be discussing the pros and cons of such a device, Apple's possible pricing strategies for it, and what we might expect it look like. In case the SVMUGgers are in a feisty mood, he's ready to talk about just about anything else Apple-related.
SVMUG meets on Google's campus at the following address:
Bodega Bay Tech Talk Room
1950 Amphitheater Parkway
Mountain View, California 94043
Cortland will also ne on hand to offer a demonstration of EtherPad / TitanPad.
The meeting room will open at 6:30 PM (PDT), and news starts at 7:00 PM. Bryan will speak at 7:30 PM, and there will be a raffle afterwards.


text:
Watch Jennifer Lawrence Have Homeland Spoiled for Her on the Red Carpet. She Gets Mad. Rightfully So
OK, I'm not going to beat up too much on the Access Hollywood reporter who blurted out a massive Homeland spoiler as Jennifer Lawrence swooned over meeting Damian Lewis—but seriously, I have no idea why she just yelled it out like she did. I'm dancing around the actual content because some of you are probably not caught up on Homeland yet, just like J.Law, who hasn't seen season three at all. (Obviously, don't watch the video if you haven't.) This is the recorded, celebrity version of what most of us do in front of our computers when some errant headline or tweet shatters our cocoon of TV ignorance.


text:
FSi wet area checkweighing scale has a number of features including fast weighing, a 100 position memory function and a rechargeable battery as standard.
This checkweighing scale is ideal for use in the meat industry, fishing industry, raw product packaging, processed vegetables, chemical industry, filling applications and for product grading.
High visibilty indicator lights and the analogue sweep display make the FSi a obvious choice for any product packaging or grading requirement.
The 3 weighing ranges within each capacity make the FS-i a flexible weighing unit which can be configured for your particular application. The FS-i comes in three separate capacities of 3 kg, 6 kg or 15 kg.
Peripheral equipment address presents no problem for the FSi with RS232/Relay and RS422/485/Relay options available.
The UFC data formatting function allows the data to be configured to your particular requirement, allowing for accurate placement onto adhesive labels etc:
- Fast weighing- stability in 0.5 seconds
- IP65 dustproof and waterproof
- Comparator function- Pack to preset targets
- Large indicator lights- Displays a HI LO or GO result against your targets
- Analogue Sweep Display (ASD)- Ideal for target filling with a fast flowing product
- Backlight function- Perfect for poorly lit work areas
- Three weighing resolutions (1/3000 trade approved, 1/6000/7500, 1/12000/15,000)
- Rechargeable battery supplied as standard- Up to 80 hours from one charge
- Auto power off function- Preserves battery life by switching off if inactive
- Memory function- 100 Target weight memory positions
- UFC Function- Flexible setup of print output
- Simple calibration
- Choice of power supplies- Both Ac or battery power available
The A&D Mercury FSi is available from Accuweigh.


text:
Moral outrage is seldom a pretty sight. When BP's chief executive Tony Hayward appeared before a Congressional investigation into the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, there was little he could say to placate angry members of the energy sub-committee. Most of the committee members had turned up to take part in a ritual denunciation, a modern version of putting someone in the stocks, and Hayward remained for the most part impassive as the rancid eggs rained down.
I don't say this in defence of BP. When his inquisitors broke off from telling Hayward how personally affronted they felt by the oil disaster which followed the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig, they had telling charges to make against the company. Peter Welch, a Democrat Congressman from Vermont, listed a catalogue of safety failings at the company long before the Deepwater Horizon blast killed 11 people. The committee heard that BP's record was significantly worse than that of other oil companies; it has been accused of 760 safety violations in the US in the past five years, compared with eight at ConocoPhilips and six at ExxonMobil.
This is not a record that's easy to defend and the committee could hardly have been more damning, even if its members didn't go quite as far as the oil-smeared demonstrator who shouted that Hayward should go to jail. BP's defenders in this country should stop complaining about falls in the company's share price and the temporary suspension of dividends, even if it hurts British pension funds; denials of responsibility on this side of the Atlantic are as unedifying as the crude attacks on "British Petroleum" - the company has been known as BP for more than a decade - on the other. The timing of yesterday's intervention by its US partner Anadarko - which described BP's behaviour in the run-up to the disaster as "reckless" - looks opportunist, to say the least.
Indeed the most telling moment in last week's theatre of outrage starring BP as the villain came when Bart Stupak, Democrat chairman of the oversights and investigations sub-committee, made a quintessentially American statement: "We are not small people". He was referring to a gaffe earlier in the week by BP's chairman, Carl-Henric Svanberg, who had made the cardinal error of describing Gulf residents in that manner; you would be hard to put to find any Americans who regard themselves as "small" in any way, shape or form. There is a positive aspect to this sense of national self-esteem; a nation which invented itself with a declaration enshrining the right to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" has never been shy when it feels slighted or injured. BP is just the latest entity to feel the heat and last week gave in to White House demands to set up a $20bn (£13.5bn) fund to compensate victims of oil pollution.
The problem is that this American sense of entitlement tends also to be a form of exceptionalism, and it generally stops short of demanding the same high standards for people who don't live in the US. Ghastly as the Gulf oil spill is, it is dwarfed in scale and consequences by what remains the world's worst industrial accident, a leak of cyanide gas in the city of Bhopal in central India in December 1984. The disaster happened at a pesticide plant run by the Indian subsidiary of US chemical company, Union Carbide, in the state of Madhya Pradesh; according to the Indian government, 3,500 people were killed outright: subsequent deaths raised the toll to 15,000. Union Carbide abandoned the plant after the disaster but it has been accused of failing to clean up the site, exposing local people to a water supply allegedly contaminated with toxic chemicals.
What was the American reaction to this unprecedented catastrophe? Were there Congressional hearings to hold Union Carbide publicly accountable? Was the company told to apologise to "all Indians"? One Congressman, the California Democrat Henry Waxman, was quick to act: only 11 days after the Bhopal disaster, he held a field hearing near Union Carbide's US plant in West Virginia. "We wanted to make sure we never had a similar incident here," he explained in a speech last year. At that time Union Carbide, which later became part of Dow Chemical, stood accused of cutting jobs, decreasing safety training and cutting maintenance costs at the Indian plant; the most damning claim of all was that the company had used technology at Bhopal which was far inferior to that in West Virginia. But the main result of Waxman's field hearing was legislation in 1990 to protect the American public from accidental releases of toxic chemicals. In 2004, the US government blocked India's request to extradite Warren Anderson, former chief executive of Union Carbide, to face criminal charges. It took 17 years for the Indian government to obtain $470m compensation on behalf of the victims - a paltry sum compared to the fund set up by BP.
Last Thursday, Waxman chaired the hearing into the oil spill and accused Hayward of not paying attention to the risks BP was taking with the Deepwater Horizon rig. "BP's corporate complacency is astonishing," he declared. To be fair, Waxman met two survivors of the Bhopal disaster last year and listened to their complaints that Union Carbide has repeatedly refused to appear before the Bhopal district court to answer criminal charges. Earlier this month, several Indian managers at the Bhopal plant received two-year prison sentences, prompting an outcry in India over the failure to get Union Carbide into court. A Democrat Congressman, Frank Pallone from New Jersey, described the verdict as "outrageous" and called for Anderson, now 89, to be sent to India to stand trial.
The moral of all this is simple: the US has the right to demand that BP should do everything in its power to stop the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, repair environmental damage and compensate victims. But if Barack Obama's new politics are to mean anything, US companies must be under exactly the same set of obligations, no matter where their operations take place in the world.


text:
Looking for a group of men or women to connect with while having a little fun? Check out our new men's and women's ministries!
Women's Ministry
IF:Tables are monthly gatherings of women around the dinner table. Come enjoy an evening of great food, fellowship with other women, and a short devotional.
Men's Ministry
Join with fellow men around a common activity (archery, sports, movie, etc.), food, and a devotional. These monthly gatherings are an easy way to connect with other men of faith or get connected with some new ones.


text:
Material: Premium Wool
Brim: 3 7/8"
Colour: Black
Made in Mexico
We promise to never spam you, and just use your email address to identify you as a valid customer.
This product hasn't received any reviews yet. Be the first to review this product!
All prices are in CND. Copyright 2018 Herbert's Boots and Western Wear.