text:
Search For Jigsaw Puzzles
Number of Jigsaw puzzles found: 49
Click a name or image to play.
Statue of George Washington
Flag At Capitol Building
Awaiting Train at DC Metro Station
Mt. Washington
Seattle Public Market Center
Mt St Helens volcano eruption
Seattle Seattle Fish Market
Vietnam Memorial Washington, DC
Subway in Washington, DC
Cherry Blossoms in Washington DC with water in background
Cherry Blossom with Washington Monument
Seattle Market Center
Wildflowers at Mount Rainier
Capitol in Washington, DC
The Smithsonian Institute
Ferris Wheel, King County Fair, Washington
Jefferson Memorial at Night
Airplane Flying Past the Jefferson Memorial
Ferry Against Seattle Skyline
George Washington at Valley Forge
Room with Old Stove Inside Quarters
United States Capitol Building
Mount Vernon, Virginia
Close-up of the Seattle Skyline
Lincoln Memorial at Dusk
Sasquatch Crossing Road Sign
Record Books on Table Inside Dusty Quarters
Statue of Abraham Lincoln
Seattle Skyline at Sunrise
Cold Pine
The Washington Coast
Wetland Background
Wet Lake
The White House at Sunset
Sunset Inspiration
Smooth River
North Cascades
Mount Rainier
Olympic National Forest
Close-up of Mount Rushmore
River Birches
Elk in the Olympic National Park
Peaceful Reflection
Also check out
Just Solitaire
Just Mah Jongg Solitaire
Copyright 1999-2023
CleverMedia, Inc.


text:
We've spent quite some time over the last month or two changing and revamping the store, updating many of the products and adding special offers here and there.
Note that some prices are dependent on stock. Once sold (at the current price) the price may increase. So, hurry! REDUCED indicates a further discount added to a product since last month. NEW indicates a discounted product added since the previous month. TOP DEAL refers to our very best or exclusive offers.
Important: *most of the above minimum discounts are USD (US Dollars) priced discounts. Exact discount depends on your location and currency (some discounts may be higher or lower). Not all discounts and/or offers are available in every store.
We're offering you CyberLink Media Suite 9 Centra, a current product, worth $49.99, FREE with every eligible order. To get CyberLink Media Suite 9 Centra, simply add Extended Download Insurance to your order. This is peace-of-mind protection for your order, that enables you to go back to the store, for up to two years from your order, find your order via your email address, download your software, view your serial codes and print your original invoice. Ideal if you lose your email confirmation, need access for longer than the default 30-days or plan on upgrading your PC in the next two years.
Eligible software includes these brands:
Some store brands are not included in this promotion.
Each month we add more products and update existing software. New or updated products included:
Please read and then click the "I have tested the trial and am happy with the terms" in the yellow box before continuing.
I have tested the trial and am happy with the terms

subset: commoncrawl


text:
So this weekend I leave for Japan. "Why?" you ask? Because it's there. And also because I got drunk one night and Victor asked me if I'd go to Japan with him and apparently I said yes. This is what happens when you get drunk around Victor. You wake up in the morning and need a passport. Whenever I mention it to people they're all "JAPAN! THAT'S AWESOME!" but to be honest I'm a terrible traveler and Japan scares the shit out of me and all I really know about Japan is that Godzilla was born there. Also, I may be mixing Japan up with China. Which I think makes me racist. Or just bad at geography. Possibly both.
Victor's been to Japan before because he buys and sells samurai swords (I assure you, I am not shitting you) and he knows enough Japanese to get by but I am totally fucked. When I was in college I easily blew through all my classes except French, which ruined my GPA because I suck at languages. And I studied my ass off every spare minute for years just to get screamed at in French by a disappointed German teacher because it was kind of a shitty college and they couldn't afford a real French teacher. So now I speak bad French with a German accent. It's like Tex-Mex. But instead it's Gerench. Or Frerman. The point here is that I can't really do any language other than English and even then I kind of suck at it. Plus, Victor's been drilling me in Japanese for over a month and the only thing I can remember is that "juice" is "jewwwwwzuh". Also, I'm allergic to juice so it's doubly pointless. And at least one day I'm totally on my own in Japan because Victor's off doing sword stuff so I can only assume that will be the day I get lost and no one will ever see me again.
Victor: I cannot believe you still don't know any Japanese.
me: I know "Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto".
Victor: *glare*
me: I know how to say "I tried to fart but poop came out".
Victor: Say it.
me: Okay, I don't *actually* know how to say it. But I totally wrote it down in case I needed it.
Victor: Why would you need that?
me: I DON'T KNOW. This is exactly why I'm so panicked. Teach me how to say "I'm a dumb American. I throw myself on your mercy. Help, please."
Victor: Just stick with "Sumimasen".
Me: Huh?
Victor: Sumimasen. It means "I'm sorry". Sue – me – mah – sen
me: Huh. How do you say, "I'm sorry I burnt down your temple?"
Victor: Why would you need to say that?
Me: I like to be prepared.
Victor: Just say "Sumimasen". It works for everything. It's like saying "Excuse me".
me: "Excuse me" doesn't seem dynamic enough for what I need. How do you say "I'm so sorry I let all of your tigers out, Japan?"
Victor: Out of where?
me: Out of…Japan?
Victor: What the fuck is wrong with you?
me: I DON'T KNOW. I'M TOO FREAKED OUT TO THINK RATIONALLY. If I write down a bunch of scenarios will you translate them for me on paper and I can just hand them out? Like "I don't want to buy your monkey" and put a picture of a monkey on it so I know that's what it says.
Victor: ?
Me: Because it would suck if I meant to hand someone the "Am I supposed to eat this?" card but instead handed them the "I don't want to buy your monkey" card. Mass confusion.
Victor: Just…just stick with "sumimasen".
me: Soo-mee-aw-sem?
Victor: No. Sue–me ma–sen.
me: Sue me I'm awesome.
Victor: No. Not even close
me: Really? Because it sounds exactly the same to me. Plus, it works in English too. Like if I fuck up I'll be all "So sue me. I'm awesome." It sounds like something a total bad-ass would say.
Then Victor stopped talking to me and hired a free Japanese tour guide for me to chaperon me for that day. Except she's free so I don't know that "hired" is the right word. "Enlisted?" Fuck. I CAN'T EVEN SPEAK ENGLISH RIGHT, Y'ALL. Anyway, some chick is supposed to take me around Japan for free and when I asked why she'd do that Victor said that the Japanese people have "a strong sense of civic duty" but it still doesn't make sense because what is she getting out of it? Victor says she doesn't get anything out of it except "a sense of pride in helping others" but I can't really understand that so I'm just going to pretend she's doing community service for drunk driving because then at least I can relate to her. Also it's possible that she's really part of the Yakuza Japanese Mafia and is going to kidnap me. Victor thinks I'm joking about that but I'm about about 20% sure that could happen. Also, Victor said he'd download a bunch of Japanese phrases to my iphone so I can just press a button and it'll talk for me which sounded awesome at first because then I can hold my phone up to my throat like I can speak Japanese but I lost my voice-box to throat cancer, but then how am I supposed to understand what the Japanese people say back to me? Basically the only thing useful I can say with my fake voice-box is "I'm also deaf too. Sorry. Sue me, I'm awesome." Victor says I'm not understanding the point but I think he just wants me to get lost and never come home again. Except it's not going to work because when we get to our hotel I'm going to have them write their address on my arm with a sharpie so I can just show the taxi driver and pretend I'm too drunk to talk. So yeah. I do have a plan.
So then I started looking online at all the cool shit you can do in Japan but then I realized that I don't actually have any money to do any of that stuff so I approached a few companies and asked them if they wanted to sponsor me and they all said no in a very sweet way and I won't name names because I'm not that kind of person but I will say that #nikonhatesthebloggess. (They don't really hate me though. That's a joke. They just hate Japan, I guess.) But then I was all "Hang on, don't I write for a really successful magazine/toy shop that totally gave me inflatable sheep and edible nipple pasties to give out to soldiers when I visited the Navy?" And turns out, yeah, I totally do. And so I sent an email to Eden Fantasys telling them that they spelled their name wrong and they were all "Yeah, you keep telling us that" and I told them that if they sponsored me in Japan I'd write funny stories for them about how to be a Japanese prostitute and they were all "Done". Which is why it's awesome to work for a company that sells flogging toys for a living. They are pretty much unshockable. Unlike Nikon. Who didn't even want to hear about Japanese prostitutes.
So that's why this weekend I'm leaving for Japan. Basically I'm like Christopher Columbus and Eden Fantasys is like the King and Queen of Spain backing my expedition. Except that if I remember correctly, Christopher Columbus got lost and thought he was in India the whole time he was in America. So basically if I just manage to land on the right Continent I'm better than Christopher Columbus.
This is a really long post, right? But I'm not sure how much I'll be able to post over here while I'm in Japan so this is kind of making up for next week. You can even break this out into little pieces if you want to save it for later but I'm about to get naked. Stop now.
You didn't stop did you? I wouldn't either.
So since I'm writing for SexIs as an official "International Correspondent" I'm trying to find some bizarrely strange things to do in Japan that would fit in a satirical sex column and I'm all "I know! I'll do that thing where you get naked on a table and people eat sushi off you". Except every place I emailed in Japan refused to respond to me and I can only assume it's because those Japanese girls are tiny so you don't have to put a bunch of sushi on them to make it look like you're getting a full meal but I'm an American so I'm like 3 times bigger than those tiny Asian girls so probably the sushi managers think it'd be a bad idea because it would look like the customers were getting tiny portions when they saw their sushi on me. Like when Weight-Watchers tells you to eat everything off a tiny plate because it fools your brain into thinking you're eating more. So basically, I'm not economical to use as a plate because I'm too fat. Thanks Japan. Now I have a complex. But then I thought maybe I could convince them to change their minds by showing them how awesome I am at balancing food on me so I bought a bunch of burgers and artfully placed them on myself so I could send the sushi-restaurant-owners photos of me in action and I yelled at Victor to come help me and Victor was all "Why the hell are you naked and covered in cheeseburgers?" and I'm all "It's for work, asshole" and he was all "I'm not getting involved in this" and I'm all "Yes you are! Come take my picture!" and he did, but he did it grudgingly and totally from the wrong angle and I'm all "No. Stand on the back of the couch so you get a good shot" and he's all "Why are you making my life this way?!" and I'm all "What?! I'm just asking you to take a damn picture, not kill the President!" He's very unsupportive.
Then he took the pictures and it was awesome so I sent several to the sushi restaurant owners and guess what? No response. Assholes.
Also, their models don't usually eat at the time but I was hungry and multi-tasking because I didn't have time to eat lunch. But I wouldn't be doing that at the sushi restaurant, *obviously*. I understand good manners, Japan.
So if you want to keep up with me while I'm in Japan, you can check out my satirical sex column which (as always) is relatively safe for work if your boss isn't a tremendous douche. If he is you should probably wait until you get home. Also, my parents are going to be house-sitting and watching Hailey for us while we're in Japan and I just want to remind you that my father is a giant, Bohemian hunter who carries his own crossbow with him and mounts bears for a living. And when I say he "mounts bears" I mean he's a taxidermist. Not…that other thing. But either way? Burglars beware.
Comment of the day: It might suck even more if you handed them "Am I supposed to eat this?" instead of "I don't want to buy your monkey." ~ Kelley


text:
The 2012 playoffs are finally here, with the 12 surviving teams -- the best of the best in the NFL -- set to fight it out for the Super Bowl XLVII title. The action kicks off this weekend with the wild-card round. To get you ready, let's take a closer look at all four games.
The setup
Houston romped to a 31-10 win when these two teams met in the wild-card round last postseason. The three previous times two teams faced off in back-to-back wild-card meetings, the team that won the first game also won the second. Of course, in this case, the team that won the first game hasn't looked so hot lately -- the Texans have lost three of their past four, while the Bengals have won seven of their past eight.
Player to watch
J.J. Watt, DE, Texans: Houston receiver Andre Johnson has been one of the game's best downfield threats, and Cincinnati receiver A.J. Green should be one for the decade to come. But Watt might be the most fun to watch this weekend. A veritable game-changer, he's tipped 16 passes this season while collecting 20.5 sacks and forcing four fumbles. Watt raised his game in the postseason last year, including in the wild-card matchup, when he intercepted a pass by Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton at the line of scrimmage and took it 29 yards to the house. Remember, stopping the Dalton-Green combo becomes exponentially easier if Dalton can't get the ball out.
Under pressure
Andy Dalton, QB, Bengals: Before the Bengals' Week 16 game in Pittsburgh, Cincinnati quarterbacks coach Ken Zampese pulled his young charge aside. "If you can't get past the Steelers and Ravens, you're going to have to get used to being the step-child for a long, long time," Zampese told him. In Week 16, Dalton beat the Steelers. In Week 17, Dalton played a half and the Bengals' makeshift lineup took out the Ravens' subs; afterward, a confident Dalton wasn't saying anything about a cheapened win. Still, it's been an up-and-down sophomore season for the signal-caller, and pressure is what he'll face from the Texans' formidable pass rush. Houston defensive coordinator Wade Phillips is one of the game's best; getting past Phillips would mean checking off another huge box for Dalton.
Matchup to watch
Bengals' front four vs. Matt Schaub: In his past four games, the Texans quarterback has thrown exactly one touchdown pass. He's seemingly lost his marksmanship abilities when it comes to vertical throws, and he hasn't been playing particularly well of late. Now he gets a front four that sets up shop in opponents' backfields. The Bengals' line has accounted for 42 of their franchise-record 51 sacks; there isn't a weak link on this relentless front. Cincinnati's defense has been afire down the stretch in general. In the Bengals' past eight games, they've allowed just 282 yards and 12.8 points per contest, numbers that Texans head coach Gary Kubiak called "incredible."
Did you know?
The Bengals' last playoff win was over Houston. Only, the franchise in Houston was the Oilers and the year was 1990. ... The Bengals' next road playoff win will be their first. ... Schaub is 2-0 against the Bengals, with seven touchdowns and just one interception. ... Dalton is 0-2 against the Texans, with one touchdown and three interceptions. ... Dalton's lifetime record at Reliant Stadium is 3-1; he won twice there in high school and once while playing for TCU in the 2007 Texas Bowl. ... Texans running back Arian Foster has 15 red-zone rushing touchdowns; the Bengals allow 3.3 yards per rush inside the 20.
The Bengals are playing quarterback-eating defense. The Texans' offense can't seem to score. If the Bengals' rush can get to Schaub, if the Bengals' front can contain Foster, if Schaub can't get his play-action game going, it could be a long afternoon in Texas. The Bengals are streaking, riding their defense. And if anyone in addition to Green can show up on offense, the question that Cincinnati safety Chris Crocker asked -- "Why not us?" -- could be appropriate.


text:
Professional Mirfield Office Clearance
Whether you're having an office clearance or an office refurbishment, there can be a lot of clutter you need removing and an unexpected amount of waste that you may be wondering what to do with. Our uniformed teams will come to your offices in Mirfield and take away any unwanted items and dispose of them efficiently, ethically and legally.
As a licensed waste carrier, you can be assured that the items collected from your offices will be reused, recycled or disposed of at licensed facilities responsibly, ethically and legally.


text:
You can bring in a hand luggage item free of charge, whether it is a backpack, a small bag or a suitcase. You hand luggage will be marked with a blue tag, and after boarding you should place it in a luggage compartment above your seat. It is important that it does not exceed the allowed weight and size.
|Economy class
|Business class
age 12+
age 2-12
1 bag (max)
2 bags (max)
|Maximum baggage dimensions
(including handles, pockets and wheels)
|40 × 23 × 55 cm (Length × Width × Height)
- Children under 2 years old are not entitled to hand-baggage, except collapsible children's strollers оr baby carriages such as a bassinet or carrycot, and baby food for the flight.
Additional hand luggage
You can also bring in another additional small luggage item or an object which may be placed under the seat in front of you, but it should not exceed the prescribed weight.
|Economy class
|Business class
age 12+
age 2-12
1 bag (max)
1 bag (max)
This luggage item may be as follows:
- a purse or laptop bag,
- a file case or briefcase,
- a small backpack,
- a sack with duty free products,
- a small camera,
- binoculars,
- a box with possessions.
You may also bring in the following items:
- a jacket or coat,
- a folding wheelchair and other orthopedic aids,
- a folding pushchair or baby carrier, food and beverages for the baby during the flight,
- a walking stick.
Items such as folders, tablets, mobile phones, smart phones, another sack with duty free products, newspapers, books and other reading material will not be regarded as separate items and must be packed in a handbag or additional luggage item.
Please show your folding pushchairs or wheelchairs to the airport staff at the check-in counter or boarding gate. Both types of chairs are transported in the aircraft hold without any additional charge.
Restrictions and prohibition of the entry of liquids, hazardous substances and other items
For the safety of passengers and crew, we have special regulations regarding transport of liquids and other items, including hazardous substances, the transport of which is either prohibited or allowed under special conditions.
Regulations regarding transport of liquids, hazardous substances and other items →
You may not bring in Samsung Galaxy Note 7 phone neither as a part of the hand luggage or checked baggage as some of these have installed faulty lithium batteries which may cause self-ignition or fire.
Excess hand luggage
If hand luggage exceeds the allowed dimensions or weight or you carry more pieces than allowed, it will be accepted only as checked baggage in accordance with our policy and price list.
Checked Baggage Policy →


text:
Supermassive black holes appear to light up with hard X-rays when their parent galaxies decide to merge, according to a survey by NASA's peeping Swift satellite. The new findings solve a mystery that has kept astronomers in the dark for decades.
Just 1 percent of supermassive black holes currently put on such exhibitionist behavior by giving off as much as 10 billion times the sun's energy, as so-called active galactic nuclei, or AGN. The supermassive black holes themselves hold anywhere from a million to a billion times the sun's mass, while the Milky Way galaxy's black hole is about 3 or 4 million solar masses.
Researchers had scratched their heads over why such high-energy displays occurred, until now. The findings announced on Wednesday confirm past theories that suggested that violence from galactic mergers can fuel the growth of central black holes.
"We find that about 25 percent of black holes found by Swift are in the process of merging," team member Michael Koss of the University of Maryland in College Park said during a NASA teleconference.
About 60 percent of such active galaxies will merge completely within the next billion years to create giant black holes.
Hard X-ray action
Swift used its Burst Alert Telescope, or BAT, to detect any telltale signs of hard X-rays, which rank between gamma-rays and X-rays on the electromagnetic spectrum of light.
Such hard X-rays can pass through interstellar gas or dust which otherwise blocks ultraviolet, optical and soft-X-ray light. Infrared radiation can also pass through the material, but may represent emissions from a galaxy's star nurseries rather than the central black holes.
The hard X-ray survey allowed astronomers to feel confident that they had spotted the majority of AGN within Swift's survey range of about 650 million light-years away. (A light-year is the distance that light can travel in one year — about 6 trillion miles or 10 trillion kilometers.)
Koss and his colleagues then followed up by spending 20 nights peering at the AGN with a 2-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory near Tucson, Ariz.
"Many of these galaxies are very close to us, so we see the severe distortion of the galaxy shapes," Koss explained. "In addition, we see that the galaxies are very close to each other and therefore will merge and interact very strongly."
Feeding on mergers
The galactic mergers represent a way in which supermassive black holes can feed as they grow, according to Joel Bregman, an astrophysicist at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor who was not involved with the study. Astronomers had previously known that black holes could grow by either merging with other black holes, or by sucking down nearby gaseous material.
"What this work does is it shows us the [black holes] feeding on gas channeled into the center [of the galaxies] at a fairly early stage," Bregman said. In other words, supermassive black holes can kick into high gear early on before their host galaxies have even begun to merge.
Past findings have also show that both merging galaxies and AGN are both much more common in the earlier universe, which had many more small galaxies than now. That indirectly supports the idea of galactic mergers triggering the growth of black holes.
But unlike the merger galaxies that spew plenty of hard X-rays, our Milky Way galaxy has a fairly quiet black hole at its center. The black hole likely goes through periods of outbursts and relative quiet, Bregman noted.
About 10 percent of similar-size galaxies are much more active than the Milky Way, said Meg Urry, an astrophysicist at Yale University in New Haven, Conn., who was not a member of the Swift team.
"It's kind of lucky that we're in the 90 percent that aren't very active, so there are not a lot of hard X-rays being produced and coming our way and disturbing [Earth's] atmosphere," Urry said.
Peeking into the past
Swift's eyes could get a complementary boost from NASA's upcoming NuStar mission, which is slated for launch in 2012. NuStar would use two sets of mirror arrays that focus hard X-rays to study even more distant galaxies from 7 or 8 billion years ago.
"It will find more distant black hole growth and AGN, so the question is whether those are triggered the same way as the [Swift] sample," Urry said in response to a Space.com question. "We think they are, but you'd like to observe them and see if that's the case."
For now, the Swift satellite continues its main mission of watching for gamma-ray bursts, which represent the most powerful form of energy in the universe since the Big Bang.
"We just detected our 508th gamma-ray burst about 30 minutes ago," Neil Gehrels, principal investigator for Swift at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., said during the NASA teleconference. NASA celebrated Swift's 500th discovery of gamma ray bursts back in April.
The Swift study will appear in the June 20 issue of The Astrophysical Journal Letters.


text: In their mission to bring qualified legal representation to foreign nationals, visa holders and permanent residents in West Palm Beach and throughout the surrounding areas in Florida, Sarah S. Rama, Esq., LL.M. has joined our nationwide directory of immigration law firms. Located in West Palm Beach, FL, the firm represents clients in the area as well as in other countries who have the goal of visiting or living in the United States. Recognizing the overwhelming number of people who use the internet to conduct searches for immigration lawyers and all types of legal professionals, Sarah S. Rama, Esq., LL.M. joined our directory to bring their services to more individuals and families in need. To learn more about Sarah S. Rama, Esq., LL.M. and the immigration cases they handle, you can visit their profile in this directory or can call their offices directly at (561) 744-2611 to speak with a West Palm Beach immigration lawyer.


text:
(CNN) -- The internet as we know it is reaching its limits.
Within 18 months it is estimated that the number of new devices able to connect to the world wide web will plummet as we run out of "IP addresses" -- the unique codes that provide access to the internet for everything from PCs to smart phones.
"The internet as we know it will no longer be able to grow," Daniel Karrenberg, chief scientist at RIPE NCC, the organization that issues IP addresses in Europe, told CNN.
"That doesn't mean it will cease to function, but entry could be limited to new devices."
Some estimate that by September 2011 the last large batches of addresses will be issued, meaning that months after that date there will be no new addresses available.
But while this sounds like a complete disaster -- another Millennium Bug -- it need not be, and there is a solution, if we all act quickly enough.
Currently the internet is built around the Internet Protocol Addressing Scheme version 4 (IPv4), which has around four billion addresses -- and they're fast running out.
Four billion no doubt seemed a huge amount when the system was designed in the 1970s, but few then could have predicted how the internet would take off, and how many billions more connections would be needed.
However, there is a replacement, IPv6, which has trillions more addresses available and ready to go. The problem is that businesses are proving slow to adapt their technology to IPv6, leaving experts fearful that we might be heading for a crunch within 18 months.
"My impression is that while awareness of the issue is quite high, a lot of businesses are sitting on the fence," said Karrenberg. "Many small businesses are waiting to see what the early adopters do; how they handle things.
"My suspicion is too many are leaving it too late."
This growing problem has been compounded in recent years as the amount of hardware needing an internet connection has risen enormously, thanks largely to the popularity of smart phones, like Apple's iPhone and other mobile devices, and the rapid pace of technological development in countries like China and India.
"All sorts of devices need to access the internet now, from smartphones and games consoles, to cars," says Karrenberg.
"But still only a quarter of European businesses are using IPV6 -- the rest should be making this a priority."
All the big players in the internet, such as Google, and YouTube, are fully IPV6 enabled, but many others have yet to commit.
"If they keep on lagging behind then the internet will not be able to grow in the way it has been; the curve will flatten out," said Karrenberg.
"Although it's still unclear what kind of plateau we will see, certainly we could see impeded or seriously curtailed growth."
None of this is what businesses need to hear as they struggle out of a serious recession, but there is still time to act.
"The window left to invest is still relatively large," said Karrenberg.
"But businesses should remember that the earlier they act, the less they will pay. The more they neglect this issue, the higher premiums people can expect to be charged."
According to Karrenberg, the necessary costs can be met as part of the routine process of upgrading technology. "It is possible to deal with these issues through the usual round of investment in hard and soft technology," he said.
"It's just a question of what tactics people follow as they make their choices. "Businesses need to future-proof their decisions and this issue needs to be on every CTO's radar."
In addition, while IPv4 and IPv6 are designed to work together, there have been reports of teething troubles, and businesses that leave their switch-over too late may find glitches compound their problems.
Business leaders should also remember that this isn't only an issue for those producing devices needing a connection or selling broadband services. Content providers also need to ensure their services are IPv6-ready, otherwise they will exclude potential clients connecting using the new protocols.
"They will lose their customers -- the eyeballs -- who may not be able to connect," said Karrenberg.
It's a classic paradox of the internet era -- while the technology exists to leap frog the problem, human nature is naturally cautious and some businesses are reluctant to do what they know they need to do, whether due to tightened budgets or simple inertia.
"I'm certainly not optimistic this will all work out for everyone," said Karrenberg.
"I suppose I'm cautiously pessimistic. My fear is that a significant number of businesses will be left in a position where they have to scramble to catch up.
"People know there is a problem, but it's converting that knowledge into action plans, business plans, which is so important."


text:
Here's a beautiful, friendly, organic and wholesome track that makes you feel good and relaxed, and brings out positive emotions of adventure and a new road ahead. It features a strummed acoustic guitar as the main instrument with piano filling in a bit of subtle melody and bass notes.
This is a typical background song that fits photo albums, mellow corporate presentations or anything that has to do with caring or love.
Earn 30% from sales of this track
Did you know that by linking to this track, you will get 30% if a new buyer signs up and buys it?
This is what a referral link to this track looks like:
Just replace GroovingGecko (but keep the ?ref=) with your own Envato/AudioJungle username and post the link to your blog, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook or anywhere else. You can even post the preview (WITH the watermark) on YouTube directing viewers here with your referral link.
YouTube users: If you get an "Acknowledged third party content" match, all you have to do is go here and enter your license details and it will be removed within 24 hours, but usually much faster than that.
Or you can contact me directly and I will clear your video for you right away. I can also whitelist your entire YouTube channel before you upload your video.


text:
use Crypt::Blowfish;
my $cipher = new Crypt::Blowfish $key;
my $ciphertext = $cipher->encrypt($plaintext);
my $plaintext = $cipher->decrypt($ciphertext);
You probably want to use this in conjunction with
a block chaining module like Crypt::CBC.
DESCRIPTIONBlowfish is capable of strong encryption and can use key sizes up to 56 bytes (a 448 bit key). You're encouraged to take advantage of the full key size to ensure the strongest encryption possible from this module.
Crypt::Blowfish has the following methods:
blocksize() keysize() encrypt() decrypt()
- blocksize
Returns the size (in bytes) of the block cipher.
Crypt::Blowfish doesn't return a key size due to its ability to use variable-length keys. More accurately, it shouldn't, but it does anyway to play nicely with others.
- new
my $cipher = new Crypt::Blowfish $key;
This creates a new Crypt::Blowfish BlockCipher object, using $key, where $key is a key of "keysize()" bytes (minimum of eight bytes).
- encrypt
my $cipher = new Crypt::Blowfish $key; my $ciphertext = $cipher->encrypt($plaintext);
This function encrypts $plaintext and returns the $ciphertext where $plaintext and $ciphertext must be of "blocksize()" bytes. (hint: Blowfish is an 8 byte block cipher)
- decrypt
my $cipher = new Crypt::Blowfish $key; my $plaintext = $cipher->decrypt($ciphertext);
This function decrypts $ciphertext and returns the $plaintext where $plaintext and $ciphertext must be of "blocksize()" bytes. (hint: see previous hint)
my $key = pack("H16", "0123456789ABCDEF"); # min. 8 bytes my $cipher = new Crypt::Blowfish $key; my $ciphertext = $cipher->encrypt("plaintex"); # SEE NOTES print unpack("H16", $ciphertext), "\n";
Please see the README document for platforms and performance tests.
NOTESThe module is capable of being used with Crypt::CBC. You're encouraged to read the perldoc for Crypt::CBC if you intend to use this module for Cipher Block Chaining modes. In fact, if you have any intentions of encrypting more than eight bytes of data with this, or any other block cipher, you're going to need some type of block chaining help. Crypt::CBC tends to be very good at this. If you're not going to encrypt more than eight bytes, your data must be exactly eight bytes long. If need be, do your own padding. ``\0'' as a null byte is perfectly valid to use for this.
COPYRIGHTThe implementation of the Blowfish algorithm was developed by, and is copyright of, A.M. Kuchling.
Other parts of the perl extension and module are copyright of Systemics Ltd ( http://www.systemics.com/ ).
Code revisions, updates, and standalone release are copyright 1999-2010 W3Works, LLC.
AUTHOROriginal algorithm, Bruce Shneier. Original implementation, A.M. Kuchling. Original Perl implementation, Systemics Ltd. Current maintenance by W3Works, LLC.
Current revision and maintainer: Dave Paris <[email protected]>


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HPV (Human Papillomavirus) Vaccine – Gardasil®-9: What You Need to Know
May 2, 2016
Secure vaccine storage and distribution services protect your inventory throughout the supply chain. Sentry BioPharma Services ensures proper vaccine storage, rotation, accurate tracking and proper distribution of vaccines for routine fulfillment or pandemic response. Standard operating procedures (SOPs) and validated cold chain storage environments minimize time-out-of-refrigeration (TOR) risks, helping to reduce or eliminate waste attributable to inadequate storage methods. Sentry provides the following vaccine information statement updated recently by the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) concerning the human papillomavirus.
HPV (Human Papillomavirus) Vaccine – Gardasil®-9: What You Need to Know
1. Why get vaccinated?
Gardasil-9 prevents human papillomavirus (HPV) types that cause many cancers, including:
- cervical cancer in females,
- vaginal and vulvar cancers in females,
- anal cancer in females and males,
- throat cancer in females and males, and
- penile cancer in males.
In addition, Gardasil-9 prevents HPV types that cause genital warts in both females and males.
In the U.S., about 12,000 women get cervical cancer every year, and about 4,000 women die from it. Gardasil-9 can prevent most of these cases of cervical cancer.
Vaccination is not a substitute for cervical cancer screening. This vaccine does not protect against all HPV types that can cause cervical cancer. Women should still get regular Pap tests.
HPV infection usually comes from sexual contact, and most people will become infected at some point in their life. About 14 million Americans, including teens, get infected every year. Most infections will go away and not cause serious problems. But thousands of women and men get cancer and diseases from HPV.
2. HPV vaccine
Gardasil-9 is an FDA-approved HPV vaccine. It is recommended for both males and females. It is routinely given at 11 or 12 years of age, but it may be given beginning at age 9 years through age 26 years.
Three doses of Gardasil-9 are recommended with the second dose given 1-2 months after the first dose and the third dose given 6 months after the first dose.
3. Some people should not get this vaccine:
- Anyone who has had a severe, life-threatening allergic reaction to a dose of HPV vaccine should not get another dose.
- Anyone who has a severe (life threatening) allergy to any component of HPV vaccine should not get the vaccine.
- Tell your doctor if you have any severe allergies that you know of, including a severe allergy to yeast.
- HPV vaccine is not recommended for pregnant women. If you learn that you were pregnant when you were vaccinated, there is no reason to expect any problems for you or your baby. Any woman who learns she was pregnant when she got Gardasil-9 vaccine is encouraged to contact the manufacturer's registry for HPV vaccination during pregnancy at 1-800-986-8999. Women who are breastfeeding may be vaccinated.
- If you have a mild illness, such as a cold, you can probably get the vaccine today. If you are moderately or severely ill, you should probably wait until you recover. Your doctor can advise you.
4. Risks of a vaccine reaction
With any medicine, including vaccines, there is a chance of side effects. These are usually mild and go away on their own, but serious reactions are also possible.
Most people who get HPV vaccine do not have any serious problems with it.
Mild or moderate problems following Gardasil-9:
- Reactions in the arm where the shot was given:
- Soreness (about 9 people in 10)
- Redness or swelling (about 1 person in 3)
- Fever:
- Mild (100°F) (about 1 person in 10)
- Moderate (102°F) (about 1 person in 65)
- Other problems:
- Headache (about 1 person in 3)
Problems that could happen after any injected vaccine:
- People sometimes faint after a medical procedure, including vaccination. Sitting or lying down for about 15 minutes can help prevent fainting, and injuries caused by a fall. Tell your doctor if you feel dizzy, or have vision changes or ringing in the ears.
- Some people get severe pain in the shoulder and have difficulty moving the arm where a shot was given. This happens very rarely.
- Any medication can cause a severe allergic reaction. Such reactions from a vaccine are very rare, estimated at about 1 in a million doses, and would happen within a few minutes to a few hours after the vaccination.
As with any medicine, there is a very remote chance of a vaccine causing a serious injury or death.
The safety of vaccines is always being monitored. For more information, visit: www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/.
5. What if there is a serious reaction?
What should I look for?
Look for anything that concerns you, such as signs of a severe allergic reaction, very high fever, or unusual behavior.
Signs of a severe allergic reaction can include hives, swelling of the face and throat, difficulty breathing, a fast heartbeat, dizziness, and weakness. These would usually start a few minutes to a few hours after the vaccination.
What should I do?
If you think it is a severe allergic reaction or other emergency that can't wait, call 9-1-1 or get to the nearest hospital. Otherwise, call your doctor.
Afterward, the reaction should be reported to the "Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System" (VAERS). Your doctor should file this report, or you can do it yourself through the VAERS web site at www.vaers.hhs.gov, or by calling 1-800-822-7967. VAERS does not give medical advice.
6. The National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program
The National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) is a federal program that was created to compensate people who may have been injured by certain vaccines.
Persons who believe they may have been injured by a vaccine can learn about the program and about filing a claim by calling 1-800-338-2382 or visiting the VICP website at www.hrsa.gov/vaccinecompensation. There is a time limit to file a claim for compensation.
7. How can I learn more?
- Ask your health care provider. He or she can give you the vaccine package insert or suggest other sources of information.
- Call your local or state health department.
- Contact the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC):
- Call 1-800-232-4636 (1-800-CDC-INFO) or
Visit CDC's website at www.cdc.gov/hpv
For more information about how Sentry's proven vaccine management system can protect your vaccine throughout the global supply chain, contact Sentry via email or by phone at 1-866-757-7400.


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By Ilham Tohti, translated by Cindy Carter, published: April 22, 2015
This article, a total of 24,000 words in Chinese, was first posted on the Daxiong Gonghui ("大象公会") website after the Uighur scholar Ilham Tohti's arrest in January, 2014. Daxiong Gonghui described the origin of the article in a note: "This document was written by Ilham Tohti, associate professor of economics at Minzu University of China (formerly Central Nationalities University), in response to a 2011 request from high-level officials in the Chinese government. Ilham Tohti made first-draft revisions to this document in October of 2013, but was unable to complete a final draft." The post has since been censored and is only available elsewhere as a repost. I was able to confirm the origin and the authenticity of the article with Mr. Huang Zhangjin (黄章晋), the editor of the online Daxiong magazine. The translation will be posted in several installments for easy reading, and the entire article will be ready for download in a few days. – The Editor
Since Zhang Chunxian (张春贤) took office, a big push on Xianjiang policy by the Chinese central government and a series of initiatives by Zhang Chunxian himself have rekindled hope among ethnic population in Xiangjiang for the region's future social stability and development prospects.[1] Furthermore, Zhang Chunxian has managed, in a very short period of time, to win high praise from local ethnic minority officials and intellectuals alike.
At present, the new administration in Xinjiang is relying on increased economic investment and improvements in citizens' livelihoods to quell ethnic tensions. These policies will likely have a positive short-term effect, but because they do not address deep-seated problems, we cannot afford to be sanguine about Xinjiang's future, nor can we be certain that violence will not erupt again. If the government is to win broad-based popular support and achieve genuine long-term peace and stability, it must promote further systemic and social adjustments.
To this end, I have prepared a simple list of nine issues affecting ethnic relations in Xinjiang. For each, I have included an overview of the present situation, causes and contributing factors, and proposed solutions.
I. Unemployment among Ethnic Minorities
Unemployment is a social issue that affects all regions of China, but Xinjiang's unemployment problem tends to be concentrated among ethnic minorities. For Uighurs who migrate to the cities in search of work, employment opportunities are markedly limited, confined to a narrow band of service-industry jobs, mostly jobs in restaurants. There is a vast gap in employment opportunities available to different ethnic groups: Uighur and other ethnic-minority job applicants face significant employment discrimination. These factors, in turn, fuel resentment toward the government and toward the Han Chinese majority.
Because the factors driving urban and rural unemployment are so different, we can divide the employment issue in Xinjiang into two distinct facets: (1) unemployment among Uighur university graduates and (2) the rural labor surplus.
- Unemployment among Uighur university graduates
According to official government data, only 17% of ethnic Uighur university students in Xinjiang manage to secure a full-time job by the time they graduate. This is far below the rate for ethnic Han Chinese university students. My own research reveals that the actual job-placement rate for Uighur university students approaching graduation is even lower, at less than 15%. The difficulty of finding work after graduation not only impoverishes ethnic-minority families who have sacrificed to send their children to university, it also contributes to the notion, widespread among Uighurs, that education is useless.
- The rural labor surplus
The rural labor surplus in Xinjiang is a serious problem. The root cause of this excess rural labor force is lagging urbanization and industrialization in Uighur areas. In fact, the actual urbanization rate among the Uighur population is only about 10%.
Most of Xinjiang's Uighur population is concentrated in the rural south, where the average amount of arable land per capita is less than one mu, or one-sixth of an acre. This sort of marginal existence and inescapable poverty not only bottles up vast reserves of surplus rural labor, it also gives rise to lawlessness and criminal behavior, making these areas potential breeding grounds for future threats to the social order. If this vicious cycle is allowed to continue, it may even bring about the collapse of southern Xinjiang's fragile oasis ecosystem.
1. Given the absence or non-enforcement of national ethnic policies, the primary cause of employment difficulties among minority university students is blatant ethnic discrimination in hiring. Ethnic minorities are severely under-recruited for jobs in the civil service and in state-owned enterprises. Prior to the July 2009 ethnic unrest in Urumqi, many private-sector job advertisements openly stated that only Han Chinese applicants would be considered; some state-owned enterprises went so far as to recruit Han Chinese from other parts of mainland China, rather than hire local ethnic minorities. At some workplaces with no Uighur employees, Uighurs may be stopped by security guards and prevented from entering the premises. Severely curtailed employment prospects have given rise to an unusual phenomenon in Xinjiang: a craze for extracurricular foreign language training courses. Xinjiang's ethnic minority university students are keener on studying foreign languages than students at top-tier universities such as Peking University and Tsinghua University, because these students feel that their only hope lies in finding work in international trade, tourism, or overseas. Even the privileged classes are not immune to employment difficulties: one child of a high-ranking Xinjiang Uighur government official graduated from a prestigious mainland university and spent a year searching fruitlessly for work. It was only after securing a personal letter of introduction from Wang Lequan [then Communist Party Secretary of Xinjiang] that the young graduate was finally able to secure a job.
2. A unique feature of Xinjiang's natural geography is its desert archipelago of insular, isolated oases. Historically, there has been a vast gap in the amount of government investment given to these different geographical units. This is particularly true of the Uighur enclaves in Xinjiang's south, where urbanization and industrialization lag far behind the Han Chinese-dominated "Tianshan North Slope Economic Zone." (The "Tianshan North Slope Economic Zone," situated at the northern foot of the Tianshan mountain range, is the most economically developed region of Xinjiang. This highly concentrated swath of productive forces forms the developmental core of Xinjiang's modern industry, agriculture, telecommunications, education, science, information technology and other sectors. Home to over 83% of Xianjiang's heavy industry and 62% of its light industry, favored with ample natural resources and robust urban and transportation infrastructure, the zone accounts for over 40% of Xinjiang's gross domestic product.) Xinjiang's south is geographically isolated; the Han Chinese cities in the north tend to exclude Uighurs; and when the surplus rural labor force in the south tries to flow into the Tianshan North Slope Economic Zone, it is met with restrictions. All these make it even more difficult for southern surplus rural labor to migrate to urban areas.
3. Severe underinvestment in basic education: there is a vast north-south disparity in educational investment in Xinjiang. Even in southern Xinjiang, one finds stark ethnic inequalities in the allocation of educational resources, particularly in the area of secondary schools. Whether in terms of fiscal investment or number of schools, the proportion of educational resources allocated to Uighur students is far below what it should be, given their percentage as a proportion of the local population. Moreover, the high school enrollment rate in southern Xinjiang is extremely low, due to the critical lack of investment in basic education: in large Uighur population centers such as Kuqa country and Shache [Yarkant] county, there is only one high school in each county offering Uighur-language instruction. As a result, average educational levels in Uighur communities in southern Xinjiang are extremely low, causing workers to be inadequately equipped for careers in modern agriculture or industry. The surplus rural labor supply spills into the cities, where migrants face severely limited job prospects, forcing them further afield into the interior to look for better opportunities.
4. Since the ethnic unrest of July 2009, nearly all of Xinjiang's Uighur enclaves have been subject to the constant pressure of "stability maintenance" policies. Rural migrants to the northern city of Urumqi have been expelled in large numbers, and forced to return to their villages in the south. At the same time, local governments have adopted stringent limits on outward population migration, thus exacerbating the problem of rural employment.
Thoughts and Recommendations
The Uighur unemployment problem is the cumulative result of numerous long-term forces. As such, resolving the dilemma will require a broad-based approach and systematic long-term planning; it will not happen overnight. Simply pouring money from central government coffers into Xinjiang to create a slew of make-work jobs is not the right approach: not only would this prove an undue fiscal burden for the government, it would also transform the Uighur population into a people dependent upon handouts, engendering a sense of shame and inferiority.
I have the following thoughts on how the issue of unemployment should be addressed systematically:
1. Article 23 of the "Regional Ethnic Autonomy Law of the People's Republic of China" expressly stipulates that ethnic minorities be given priority in hiring by government institutions and state-owned enterprises.[2] Even taking into consideration the practical difficulties of immediately implementing such a policy, steps should be taken to gradually expand Uighur employment opportunities and to phase in quotas for the hiring of ethnic minorities in the civil service and state-owned enterprises. At present, public services in Xinjiang suffer from a serious dearth of Uighur and other ethnic minority employees. Hospitals, post offices, banks, insurance companies, notaries, courts, municipal bureaus and other social service organizations are staffed mainly by Han Chinese who cannot speak Uighur, causing tremendous inconvenience to Uighur citizens in their daily lives.
2. The government should take an active role in promoting internal population migration in Xinjiang as a means of alleviating unemployment in the south and preventing further damage to the fragile southern ecosystem. For example, it could oversee a controlled and systematic transfer of a certain proportion of southern Xinjiang's population to the northern industrial belt, or to farms managed by the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC). Instead of spending vast sums of labor and capital to organize rural migrant workers to culturally unfamiliar coastal cities thousands of kilometers away, the regional government should encourage rural-to-urban population shifts within Xinjiang's borders. The Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC), currently suffering from severe manpower shortages due to population drain, has tried all manner of methods to attract labor from other areas of mainland China, but it has done nothing to absorb the surplus rural labor force that exists in southern Xinjiang.
By taking an active role in organizing and guiding population shifts within Xinjiang, the government can alleviate unemployment in the south, while also reducing ethnic segregation and helping to dispel the notion, prevalent within the Uighur community, that the XPCC and the northern cities are being used by Han Chinese to deal with the Uighur population.
3. Provide more assistance to ethnic minority entrepreneurs. This is the most fundamental, long-term solution to Xinjiang's unemployment problem, and it relies on market-based mechanisms rather than governmental supervision. Since Secretary Zhang Chunxian assumed office, there has been a noticeable improvement in Xinjiang's level of assistance to ethnic minority entrepreneurs. I recommend broadening this approach to establish a long-term plan aimed at improving the modern management skills of ethnic minority entrepreneurs via exchanges with highly developed coastal regions and prestigious mainland Chinese universities, thus creating a long-term mechanism for the systematic training of minority entrepreneurs. Furthermore, we should foster closer cooperation between Han Chinese and ethnic minority entrepreneurs, encouraging them to bond together in their mutual interest. Having the government train and support a large contingent of minority entrepreneurs is the most convenient way to promote ethnic unity and harmony in Xinjiang.
One detail worth noting: the practice of prominently featuring minority entrepreneurs as speakers at government-organized ethnic unity rallies may not have the desired propaganda effect. Minority entrepreneurs should not be leveraged for government publicity: they have a far more important and effective role to play off the political stage.
4. Increase investment in basic education in minority-populated areas. The government has many long years of unfulfilled promises in this regard, but expanding access to basic education will transform minority peoples' ability to adapt to industrialization and urbanization. In a mere five to ten years, we will begin to see a marked improvement. At the very least, better access to education will significantly reduce the barriers that ethnic minority migrants face when trying to enter the urban labor force. Now that the government has substantially increased investment in basic education in southern Xinjiang, there remain two problems that need to be addressed: countering the preconception that education is useless, and correcting misapprehensions and assuaging people's fears about bilingual education.
5. Establish systematic professional and technical training for ethnic minority workers. Xinjiang suffers from a serious lack of ethnic minority professional and technical personnel, which makes it difficult for ethnic minorities to enter the technical and industrial workforce. Entrepreneurial skill is also in short supply to start businesses. I propose increasing training for early-career and mid-career specialists in fields suited to the unique economy of the Xinjiang Autonomous Region, in which resource-oriented and state-owned enterprises predominate. For example, the government could work with vocational and technical schools to increase employment opportunities for ethnic minorities in the mining, textile, and agricultural-processing sectors. In fact, work on this has already begun, to positive feedback from Xinjiang's Uighur community.
I also recommend that the Xinjiang Autonomous Region cooperate with localities in China's more economically developed coastal regions to systematically train up a cohort of technically-proficient ethnic minority youth who will form Xinjiang's future technological and entrepreneurial talent pool.
6. Establish brigades of ethnic minority industrial workers. Industrial workers are an essential component and driving force of industrial and economic development. They play a fundamental role in accelerating industrial transformation, promoting technological innovation, improving corporate competitiveness, and so on. Employers in Xinjiang are currently in need of a large number of industrial workers, but they face widespread difficulties in recruiting qualified personnel.
Training up and establishing brigades of ethnic minority industrial workers will help to expand employment opportunities and widen career horizons for minority university and polytechnic graduates. This, in turn, will increase the employment rate among ethnic minorities and help facilitate their adjustment to modern industrial society.
7. Leverage local and regional advantages to support the development of Xinjiang's own cultural and creative industries. This would both raise employment and allow Xinjiang's cultural influence to radiate across the Central Asian region. Targeted training and practical support would help creative entrepreneurs and small- and medium-size enterprises to expand into the broader Central Asian market. China's information technology, animation, advertising and other creative sectors enjoy a distinct advantage in the Central Asia market region, but Han Chinese enterprises attempting to enter this market face tremendous cultural and linguistic barriers, whereas Uighur enterprises possess a natural advantage. By leveraging the technological strength of China's other regions, it is entirely possible for Xinjiang to cultivate local cultural and creative industries with a strong competitive edge in Central Asia. This would allow Xinjiang's ethnic minority populations to transform themselves from cultural importers to cultural exporters, an achievement of immeasurable importance.
Translator's Notes:
[1] In April 2010, Zhang Chunxian was appointed Communist Party Secretary of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, replacing Wang Lequan, whose divisive policies may have helped to fuel ethnic unrest in the region. Zhang Chunxian's appointment was regarded by many as positive step toward defusing ethnic tensions in Xinjiang.
[2] The English text of Article 23 of the "Regional Ethnic Autonomy Law of the People's Republic of China" reads: "When recruiting personnel in accordance with state regulations, enterprises and institutions in ethnic autonomous areas give priority to minority nationalities and may enlist them from the population of minority nationalities in rural and pastoral areas."
Continue reading:
Present-Day Ethnic Problems in Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region: Overview and Recommendations (2) – Bilingual Education
- My Ideals and the Career Path I Have Chosen, Ilham Tohti's autobiographic essay.
- Ilham Tohti's Statement after Receiving a Life Sentence for Allegedly "Separatist" Crimes, September 25, 2014.
- Ilham Tohti Says, September 17, 2014
- Excerpts from "My West China, Your East Turkestan" — My View on the Kunming Incident, by Wang Lixiong, March 3, 2014
Chinese original: 《伊力哈木:当前新疆民族问题的现状及建议》
38 responses to "Present-Day Ethnic Problems in Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region: Overview and Recommendations (1) – Unemployment"
[…] Ilham Tohti is serving a life sentence for separatism, despite the fact that he has publicly opposed independence for Xinjiang and has taken a more moderate stance while advocating on behalf of Uyghurs. In the introduction to the essay, he explains, "I have prepared a simple list of nine issues affecting ethnic relations in Xinjiang. For each, I have included an overview of the present situation, causes and contributing factors, and proposed solutions." The first section looks at the problems around employment for young Uyghurs: […]
[…] By Ilham Tohti, translated by Cindy Carter, published: April 22, 2015 http://chinachange.org/2015/04/22/present-day-ethnic-problems-in-xinjiang-uighur-autonomous-region-o… […]
[…] By Ilham Tohti, translated by Cindy Carter, published: April 22, 2015 http://chinachange.org/2015/04/22/present-day-ethnic-problems-in-xinjiang-uighur-autonomous-region-o… […]
[…] [lxxx] Tohti, I. (2015, April 15). [Translation of Earlier Released Article] Present-Day Ethnic Problems in Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region: Overview and Recommendations (1) – Unemployment, China Change. Retrieved from: https://chinachange.org/2015/04/22/present-day-ethnic-problems-in-xinjiang-uighur-autonomous-region-… […]
[…] Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region: Overview and Recommendations, China Change, 22 April 2015, http://chinachange.org/2015/04/22/present-day-ethnic-problems-in-xinjiang-uighur-autonomous-region-o… [cciii] Stratfor, China's Uighur Militants Make a Strategic Shift, 2 March […]


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Herb Lubalin
1936–39: studies at the Cooper Union in New York. 1939: produces work for the world exhibition in New York. Art director for Deutsch & Shea Advertising (1941–42), Fairchild Publications (1942–43) and Reiss Advertising (1943–45). 1945: vice-president of Sudler & Hennesey Inc. in New York. 1964–69: founds Herb Lubalin Inc. in New York. 1969–75: president of Lubalin, Smith & Carnase Inc., from 1975 onwards also with Alan Peckolick. 1970: founds the International Typeface Corporation (ITC) with Aaron Burns in New York. 1972: teaches at Cornell University and from 1976–81 at the Cooper Union in New York. 1973: publishes ITC's in-house magazine, "Upper and lower case" (U&lc). Lubalin won over 500 prizes and took part in numerous exhibitions, including at the Society of Typographic Arts in Chicago (1957), at the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris (1979) and at the ITC Center in New York (1980). Lubalin developed an associative, pictorial typography.
Fonts: ITC Avant Garde Gothic® (with Carnase, Gschwind, Gürtler, Mengelt, 1970–77), Ronda® (1970), Lubalin Graph® (1974), ITC Serif Gothic® (with Tony DiSpigna, 1974).
Publications include: Gertrude Snyder, Alan Peckolick "Herb Lubalin. Art Director, Graphic Designer and Typographer", New York 1985.
* TYPOGRAPHY – An Encyclopedic Survey of Type Design and Techniques Throughout History by Friedrich Friedl, Nicolaus Ott (Editor), Bernard Stein, published by Könemann Verlagsgesellschaft mbH.


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Let's face it: There's no way to reduce America's budget deficit that won't hurt someone, and that pain can't be limited only to the rich. A payroll tax, passed in 2010, is scheduled to expire at the end of this year, for example, and that will cost middle-class households anywhere from $600 to $1,200. In addition, more than 20 million taxpayers could become subject to the alternative minimum tax (AMT), adding several hundred dollars to their annual tax bills on average. On the spending side, budget cuts would not only reduce government services but could also eventually cost tens of thousands of Americans their jobs.
But there are other ways to make progress on the deficit over the long term that would be a lot less painful and would also be politically viable. In my last column, I wrote about the estimated $30 billion a year that the Federal government could save by getting really tough on fraud. Even more could be done, though, by changing the inflation adjustments for government spending.
Cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) are used throughout the U.S. economy – for union contracts and income tax brackets, as well as for government entitlements. It may seem only fair to adjust contracts and government programs for inflation – otherwise recipients would see their standard of living steadily erode over time. But there are a lot of ways to adjust for inflation. Moreover, the most commonly used gauge, the Consumer Price Index (CPI), may overstate the adjustment needed. Switching to a more conservative measure could save as much as $200 billion over the coming decade.
(MORE: The Best Way to Cut Government Spending: Get Really Tough on Fraud)
The most commonly proposed change is to replace the CPI with another index called the "chained CPI." Basically, inflation is calculated based on putting together a basket of commonly bought goods and services and then tracking the price increases for them. In reality, though, people don't consistently buy the same things. If one particular item – steak, for example – gets very expensive, people will typically buy something cheaper instead, such as chicken. The chained CPI takes into account the substitution of cheaper items for things that get too expensive, and is therefore arguably more accurate than the regular CPI. It also rises a little bit more slowly.
The result of replacing the regular CPI with the chained CPI would be slightly slower increases in monthly Social Security payments and some other government benefits. The new measure would also modestly boost tax revenues. The reason: tax brackets are indexed to inflation and would ratchet up more slowly if the chained CPI were used to adjust them. For many taxpayers, that would mean that some of their income would fall in a higher bracket.
Further savings could come from changing the formula used to calculate initial Social Security benefits. Because Social Security was originally designed to mimic a pension plan rather than look like a welfare entitlement, initial benefits are pegged to retirees' earnings over their working lives. Because the general standard of living improves over time, wages and salaries normally outpace inflation – and so do initial Social Security benefits. (After benefits have begun, further increases are based on a more usual cost-of-living adjustment.) Some economists have long argued for altering the formula for initial benefits. Keeping the current more generous earnings-based calculation for lower-income retirees but switching to an inflation-based calculation for the more-affluent half of the population could eliminate half of the Social Security deficit over the next 75 years.
(MORE: How Debt-Ravaged Greece Aced a Financial Literacy Survey)
Such fixes to benefit plans are not uncontroversial. When a recent Republican budget proposal included changes to the way the Federal government calculates inflation, the idea was swiftly rejected by some Democrats. Opponents of the idea objected that retirees face higher inflation than the average American because of health-care costs and that some of the tax increases would fall on the middle class. It's true, of course, that altering inflation adjustments will limit future benefit increases and cause an upward creep in income taxes. But the idea that the Federal deficit can be brought down to sustainable levels without anyone giving up anything is simply unrealistic. Hiking tax rates on the rich alone will raise enough revenue to cut the deficit only by about 8%. In the end, simple arithmetic ensures that the bulk of deficit reduction will come from the middle class – the challenge is to minimize the pain.
Unfortunately, tinkering with inflation adjustments will be little help with other runaway costs – most significantly health care, which presents even greater long-term budget problems than Social Security does. Advances in medicine often make treatment more expensive. In addition, health care is labor intensive, and in all service sectors it's hard to offset rising labor costs with the sort of productivity gains that can be achieved in manufacturing. Doctors can only see so many patients an hour, teachers can only correct so many papers, and there's a limit to how fast a pianist can play the minute waltz.
(MORE: What Paul Ryan's Vote on the Fiscal Cliff Will Tell Us About His Future)
But where rising costs are chiefly the result of inflation adjustments, fine-tuning those mechanisms may be the least painful way to start bringing down the long-term deficit. The spending cuts that are currently scheduled to go into effect next year in the absence of a budget deal look horrific and could result in 7% to 9% reductions in a broad range of Federal programs. Surely it seems more rational to minimize the need for such sudden, deep, and indicriminate cuts in the near term by accepting smaller increases in government spending over the coming decades.


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The GNU project has released Emacs 22. For the curious, now is a good time to try the World's greatest software package. There is even an Emacs tour for people to take a look first.
Emacs development began in 1976 and has been active development ever since. It was built for extensibility, and for thirty years, users have been adding and smoothing the features that make their daily work easier. The documentation for GNU Emacs is also amazing. As well as the comprehensive manual, there is convenient per-function and per-variable information available from within Emacs.
When I moved from ViM to Emacs in 2002, I was amazed that most of the mildly complex tricks that I learned with ViM were coded into Emacs and available at a key press. It's definitely the piece of software the contributes most to the efficiency of my computer usage.
Version 22 doesn't have a killer feature, there are just jumper loads of changes that make things more like you'd expect or more convenient, such as:
- The TRAMP packages for editing remote files transparently over FTP or SSH etc. is included
- Now follows convention of 'left mouse click to follow link'.
- Can now handle 256 megabyte files on 32-bit machines.
'C-x eee'now executes the last macro 3 times, so you don't have to
'C-x e C-x e C-x e'
- The new Kmacro package has added a load of other conveniences too.
- GTK+ gui support, although I don't use those features.
- Better interface defaults: syntax highlighting is on by default and the colour scheme is much easier on the eyes.
- New longlines-mode for editing paragraph-style documents which don't start a new line in the file for each line displayed on the screen.
- Consistent display of lists of messages with line numbers such as the results of grep or html validation.
A list of notable changes can be seen in the NEWS file. There are new features for programmers, but I'm not one (any more). And there is better support for editing files in Asian writing systems, and for users of non-standard hardware and operating systems, but I can't comment on any of those features either.
Tips and tricks for Emacs can be found on this independent site: http://www.emacswiki.org/, and the Emacs article on Wikipedia is quite good. And discussion of the release can be found on LWN.net, Slashdot, OSNews, etc.
Ciarán O'Riordan, -- Support free software: Join FSFE's Fellowship


text: Thanks to the generosity of our governmental and corporate sponsors, limited financial support for travel expenses will be available for students attending RECOMB 98. Support is offered on a competitive basis. In order to apply for financial support, you must: 1) be a graduate student or undergraduate student attending RECOMB 98, 2) register for RECOMB 98 including the submission of registration fees by Feb. 20, 1998, 3) submit a one page essay describing why you should receive financial support. The essay (up to *500* words) should include the following information: i) your name, ii) your email address, iii) the school you are attending, iv) the professor who is overseeing your research, v) a short description of your research, vi) the paper title if you have a paper at RECOMB 98, v) a short description of your research, vi) the paper title if you have a paper at RECOMB 98, vii) the poster title if you have a poster at RECOMB 98, viii) any other information that you think would be relevant. The essay should be sent via email to support at ecology.biomath.mssm.edu by Feb. 20, 1998. Those students selected for financial support will be notified by email on or before March 9, 1998. Early registration ends February 20, 1998! Hotel conference rate ends February 24, 1998!