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Two years ago, I wrote that we were already embroiled in a kind of Civil War (elaborated upon by an expert here), one which few people were equipped to recognize, but which nevertheless existed.
With all of the insanity of 2020, I think that a sufficient number of people have accepted that this frame is not only not crazy, but in fact the state of things, that we can talk openly about how such a war might be won. I am here speaking about the political "right," since the activists for the political "left" have been aware of and acting upon everything I am going to say here for decades now. The right has some catch-up to do.
(Yes, there is a reading list at the end).
What is "4th Generation War?"
As the name implies, a "4th-Generation War" is not a conventional war. "Unconventional war" is usually thought of as synonymous with "guerilla warfare," and indeed, guerilla tactics might sometimes be used in a 4th Generation conflict. But the term doesn't so much describe the methods of combat so much as it describes who is fighting. Tactics follow the constraints of the battlefield, and non-state actors are — legally — far more constrained than conventional militaries.
The term "4th-Generation War" was coined by military theorist William Lind. The four generations of modern war refer to differences in strategy and tactics resulting in changes in technology and organizational structure. While the differences between the first, second, and third generations of modern warfare are largely the result of changes in direct combat technology (such as the machine gun), the fourth generation of modern war is the result of changes in communications and organizational technology. It is characterized by:
…a post-modern" return to decentralized forms of warfare, blurring of the lines between war and politics, combatants and civilians due to nation states' loss of their near-monopoly on combat forces, returning to modes of conflict common in pre-modern times.Wikipedia
Previous generations of modern warfare were fought between state forces. But the fourth generation is characterized and dominated by non-state actors, to such a degree that even state actors seem to prefer to act indirectly, using non-state forces as proxy forces to exert their own influence.
When we look at the antics of Antifa, of lawfare organizations like the SPLC and ADL (and, increasingly, the ACLU), and the propaganda-outlets too numerous to list; when we see the other side openly advocating the creation of black-lists merely for having supported the "wrong side," and when we see the assassinations of enemies…
…it is clear that we crossed some thin and blurry line from ordinary politics into a fourth-generation warfare, and crossed it some time back.
So — assuming this is no longer a far-fetched idea, but a clearly observable fact — how does one go about winning a fourth-generation war?
Our Fourth Generation War
One cannot hope to win a fourth-generation war without understanding the nature of fourth-generation wars generally, and the nature of one's adversary specifically. I will include some literature that people ought to read for the purpose of the former, from authors with far more expertise on the matter than myself.
That said, I happen to have some experience myself, as it relates to combating Antifa: I was a leader in an organization which dealt directly with Antifa between late 2016 and early 2019 (and even managed to successfully mitigate their damage in some circumstances). In fact, I was writing about Antifa in my naive, younger years (circa 2013), before I even knew what they were called.
From my own experience in this sort of conflict, the most important advice, the most critical principle to understand is this:
The more steps of escalation you have, the more powerful you are.
I am not talking about having the most powerful terminus in your arsenal; having nukes is even less helpful than being totally unarmed in the context of a fourth-generation conflict. What I am talking about is having more degrees of escalation along the way.
In military and law-enforcement culture, everyone is taught about the use of force continuum. This describes the acceptable degree of force that is permitted in given circumstances. There's a lot of rules and exceptions to rules, but the basic premise is that there is an acceptable level of force, and that responding to someone yelling at you by shooting them is not acceptable. Perhaps responding to that yelling by yelling back might be. If they are coming at you with a knife, however, than shooting them would be acceptable.
Now here's the thing. Suppose you only have a pistol. Someone comes up and yells at you; you're equipped to yell back. But then suppose they surround you, with maybe five or six people. They start shoving you. Someone is screaming at you through a bull-horn. Maybe someone is shining a laser-pointer in your face. You're vaguely in fear for your safety, but the situation is ambiguous.
Can you shoot them?
The objective answer is no.
You could shoot them, but then you would become "the bad guy."
Consider, as an illustration, the following story:
Very basic background. My friend is a prior service 1st LAR 0311, 0351. Multiple tours in the early to late 2000s, then DoE, then was put through selection and went to work for Colonel G____ as a team member. Since leaving, he has been doing contract work.
He is an experienced and capable meat eater and the furthest thing from a pussy or coward. Try to learn from his experiences.
"Me and three of my buddies were in Portland this weekend, got attacked by Antifa. There's a Twitter video with millions of views on it. They ended up on Hannity and Tucker Carlson, Ben Shapiro etc., of us getting beaten with bats and rocks the size of cantaloupes thrown at us, getting spit on etc. We were all carrying pistols as well. Opportunity, ability and jeopardy, we were in a deadly force situation and we could easily articulate the use of deadly force, but they had pepper sprayed us. They were using industrial strobe lights on us, etc. We couldn't PID our target and what lied beyond it, They did a great job of taking our situational awareness away, it was fucking incredible.
Bro my perspective on this changed so much.
The reason we were there wasn't to counter protest or some shit, **** and *****, two of the guys with me, one of which is a bronze star and Purple Heart recipient. They're both in the hiring process for the Portland Police Department. One is from Ohio and one is from Virginia. They both flew in that day just so they could come check out the city before they move their families across the nation.
Something else that I should make perfectly clear. We went to the Federal Courthouse first. There wasn't a whole lot going on down there. We walked around and took some pictures. Bumped into a Sheriff at one point. Talked to him for a while. We asked him if the riots were over? He said fuck no, they're trying to fuck a police station up right now on 47th and Burnside, We asked him if we could go, and he said yeah, it's still a peaceful assembly, it hasn't been declared a riot yet…. So, legit, we walked into this thing blind, in hindsight it was stupid on our part, I had no idea that they were like that. If it had been a full-blown riot we would not have gone. Bottom line, man, if you had ever given me a scenario like this and said hey, you're sober, and you have a gun, and somebody is hitting you with a bat and throwing rocks at you that could kill you or put you in a coma, you try to get away but they cut you off with a convoy of vehicles and the assault starts again. They impede your movement and beat you with bats…
Would you shoot?
I'd be like, yeah what fucking planet are you from?
But in all the training that I've been through my life, I've never been in one where in the first five seconds of the scenario you're blinded with a strobe light and sprayed with pepper spray…. That changes everything. They were throwing these rocks from 15 feet back in the crowd, you couldn't see who the fuck through it, etc. things like that…. It's just a good talking point for guys that carry concealed, but you need to think through all these different scenarios.
It got way worse after that video ended, they chased us for 11 city blocks. They had a convoy of about 25 vehicles that cut us off at the next intersection, They had scouts on the corner with radios, they had a drone following us, they had a bull horn calling us Nazis, and the crowd was following a red strobe light that was up in the air on a stick, so they would announce Nazis and then people would follow the red strobe light, That video is just the beginning, I've got a fucking fractured hand from a baton, everyone of us has black and blue bruises up and down their legs and back, I had a guy spit in my face from 6 inches away, call me a pussy and a coward for not doing anything about it, and then tell me that he was going to find where I live, rape my mother, rape my children in front of me and then kill me.
I've never been more angry about something in my fucking life, the level of restraint that it took for us to not fight back in any capacity whether that was with a gun or fists is incredible. All of us have kids at home. The only thing going through all of our minds was we have to be able to justify deadly force if we're going to go that route, there's also hundreds of these people, we can't see straight because of all the pepper spray, and it's hard to PID exactly who is throwing these rocks and hitting us with batons, because they would hit you and fucking run and their buddy would run up and hit you. It was an incredibly stressful situation, they did a very good job tactically of taking away your situational awareness, and in my opinion complicating your legal defense when you split one of their faces open with a hollow point.
As we were running from the crowd after about the third block or so, we're sprinting because the mob head caught back up to us and vehicles were trying to cut us off, I put my hand on the back strap on my appendix, And I heard somebody yell "Hey bro, whatever you're reaching for, don't reach, just keep running, they're still 30 feet behind you. Keep running straight."
We get 11 blocks down the road and this black Chevy Impala is ghosting us down the street, he's kind of been in our shadow since block two or three He rolls his window down and starts asking us a bunch of questions. Why are we here, what are we doing, telling us we need to get the fuck out of here, asking us where our car is etc., we pretty much told him to get the fuck away from us because we didn't know who he was. I finally asked him at one point, Who the fuck are you, man, you need to leave us alone, and he was like I'm the fucking police, bro, who are you? So he pulled his car over and he and his partner talked to us. He was one of the special programs guys, either with SWAT or SRT or whatever. He was the one that yelled at me not to reach, and tried to help us out. He said he knew that we've been pepper sprayed and we're having trouble seeing, I kind of snapped at him, Like hey motherfucker, You've been watching this whole thing fucking unfold and you didn't intervene at all or light the crowd up or something? He started laughing and he was like, Man, if I got out and tried to help you guys, my fucking car would be on fire right now, and I'd be running next to you.
Bottom line: don't go to an Antifa protest where you can put yourself in that situation. And if you find yourself in that situation, expect them to employ tactics that take away your situational awareness, and complicate the use of force continuum.
Seems pretty… planned-out, perhaps even "professional," for a mere "protest" or a "riot," no? The ability and intent to completely overwhelm and incapacitate perceived enemies — even actual warriors — clearly indicates an intent other than the peaceful expression of political dissatisfaction or anything else that might be construed as protected speech under the first amendment.
How else would one understand such an incredible exertion of precisely modulated force outside of the context of war?
Fourth Generation Warfare hinges upon what Sun-Tzu called "the moral law." The moral law is not "morality" as philosophers would talk about it, but rather the public opinion about who is in the right. According to Sun-Tzu, the moral law "causes the people to be in complete accord with their ruler, so that they will follow him regardless of their lives, undismayed by any danger." It is known by its effects, not by an understanding of what morality actually is in the abstract sense.
In America, in the West, and perhaps in the whole world, the aggressor always is seen as the violator of the moral law. Much of the propaganda war waged by the left is a grand attempt to define all left-wing violence as "self-defense" for exactly this reason, even when it is clearly and obviously not (this obviousness is perhaps their greatest weakness; everybody besides Antifa hates Antifa for this reason). But if you are aggressed against in a moderate manner (say, yelling), and if you escalate beyond what is thought of as appropriate, you become the aggressor in the eyes of the public. You become the violator of the moral law, and hurt your cause in the course of a Fourth Generation War.
Had that Marine Recon soldier shot those Antifa members mobbing him and his friends, he would have been perceived as the bad guy, not them.
This means that whoever has the finer degree of escalation in their arsenal has the most power.
Think of it as a game where discomfort is the lever by which you exert power and force your will on the other side. Discomfort is measured on a scale of 1-10, a scale which happens to coincide with the use of force continuum. But you aren't allowed to escalate beyond what seems reasonable (let's call it 1 point). So if someone escalates from a 1 to a 2, from presence to yelling, and you go straight to 10 by pulling out your gun and shooting, you lose. Actually, your whole side loses.
So you yell back, knowing that you're safe because you have your G17 in your waistband.
But then they escalate to a 3: they walk up to you, maybe bump into you, still yelling. Perhaps they spit on your shoe.
This is now battery. Can you shoot?
What do you have between yelling back and shooting?
If the answer is "nothing," then you are practically and legally defenseless.
Once it is admitted that we are in a Fourth Generation conflict (which is 50% of the challenge), then how to fight it becomes very obvious: you must diversify the degrees of escalation in your arsenal.
A very minor personal example: in my personal vehicle, I very often carry a firearm. But more importantly, I carry pepper spray and a three-foot stick of 3/4″ EMT (steel pipe). Neither of these implements constitute lethal force, but both are capable of exerting serious pain below that lethal threshold. The pepper spray provides an escalation-point between yelling and striking, and the EMT provides an escalation-point beyond striking with hands that does not rise up to a knife or gun.
It is essential to understand the many dimensions on this battlefield. Not everything is a matter of physical confrontation: in fact, most are informational. Some of the most devastating attacks and most frustrating defenses are organizational and informational in nature. At Antifa rallies, the most potent warriors in the Left's arsenal look like harmless observers, usually seen walking around with green hats and clipboards.
These are agents of the "National Lawyer's Guild," a left-wing activist group whose history and politics are neatly summarized on their website:
The National Lawyers Guild (NLG) was founded in 1937 as an association of progressive lawyers and jurists who believed that they had a major role to play in the reconstruction of legal values to emphasize human rights over property rights.
They proudly defended Soviet Spies in the 1950s, and continue to carry on in attempting to undermine — or "reconstruct" — America's legal system today.
But the value of these green-hat "legal observers" is best understood in the context of a Fourth Generation War: they observe and record in order to collect information that can be used in a legal context, either to exculpate people on their own side, or to prosecute those on the other side. They exist as an institution designed to give their own side ammunition and cover.
They are a phenomenal example of the power that escalation in the use of force can have, while still remaining within the boundaries of law and the reasonable confines of propriety in the escalation of force.
There is no limit to how creative one can get in these plans of escalating discomfort. Saul Alinsky, a left-wing political activist from the 1960s and 1970s, once organized a maneuver in which dozens of activists ate cans of beans to induce horrific flatulence before doing a sit-in protest in a movie theater.
How could you enjoy a movie, or ignore political protests and otherwise go about your life, in the face of malicious and organized farting?
What kind of law is there against that?
How would one even begin to fight back against that?
You'd better start to think about it.
Supplementary Reading
For the purpose of understanding the Fourth Generation War we are in, here are a number of books that will help people catch-up to the present (if what is going on today is baffling or confusing to you, you are probably in need of catching up):
1. 4th Generation Warfare Handbook by William S Lind and LtCol Gregory Thiele
This book explains what Fourth Generation Warfare is from some of the best military theorists alive. It's value is pretty straightforward, and should be essential reading. There really isn't much else to say.
(Unless you want to get real crazy and read up on "fifth-generation warfare.")
2. Rules for Radicals by Saul Alinsky
This book isn't just an example of fairly low-level Fourth Generation War tactics brilliantly put into action (low-level here meaning "they aren't killing people"). It is also a demonstration that the mindset of Fourth Generation Warfare has been there in the left for decades, perhaps even approaching a century. Their resulting gains across that period, in changing both our culture and our laws, demonstrate the success of that approach.
3. Skin in the Game by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
This book has a special place in this list because it makes the mathematical argument which overcomes the intuition that holds back many conservatives from taking the war-frame seriously: how can so few radical leftists really dominate society to the point that they are literally waging war? Let me include a small excerpt from the most relevant chapter, which can be found in full here:
The best example I know that gives insights into the functioning of a complex system is with the following situation. It suffices for an intransigent minority –a certain type of intransigent minorities –to reach a minutely small level, say three or four percent of the total population, for the entire population to have to submit to their preferences. Further, an optical illusion comes with the dominance of the minority: a naive observer would be under the impression that the choices and preferences are those of the majority. If it seems absurd, it is because our scientific intuitions aren't calibrated for that (fughedabout scientific and academic intuitions and snap judgments; they don't work and your standard intellectualization fails with complex systems, though not your grandmothers' wisdom).
The main idea behind complex systems is that the ensemble behaves in way not predicted by the components. The interactions matter more than the nature of the units. Studying individual ants will never (one can safely say never for most such situations), never give us an idea on how the ant colony operates. For that, one needs to understand an ant colony as an ant colony, no less, no more, not a collection of ants. This is called an "emergent" property of the whole, by which parts and whole differ because what matters is the interactions between such parts. And interactions can obey very simple rules. The rule we discuss in this chapter is the minority rule.
The minority rule will show us how it all it takes is a small number of intolerant virtuous people with skin in the game, in the form of courage, for society to function properly.
A small minority can exert its will on an entire nation, if it is sufficiently intolerant, and if the majority is — or can be induced to be — asymmetrically tolerant of the minority.
Asymmetries in power — including asymmetries in permitted tactics — are what give progressives leverage. And it is the right-wing reticence to respond-in-kind — the proverbial "eye for an eye" — that has given the left such a strong advantage in this culture war, and the likely long-term victory in the struggle for the soul of America. Conservatives view doxxing as "immoral," which it often is, but they fail to understand that the immorality is not in the method itself, but in the escalation beyond the appearance of propriety. It may be immoral to dox someone just because they disagree with you. But doxxing in response to being doxxed yourself… how is that any less moral than firing back after being fired upon?
4. SJWs Always Lie by Vox Day
Aside from accurately describing the nature of the adversarial Left, Vox Day himself is a first-rate example of what a successful response to left-wing activists can look like. If you have heard about the recent lawsuit against Patreon, Vox Day is why that's happening.
(Day's publishing operation, Castalia House, is also the publisher of Lind and Thiele's handbook)
SJWs Always Lie might not be the most important book Day has written related to fighting and winning a Fourth Generation War (Cuckservative probably holds that honor), but it is an excellent and necessary introduction; perhaps the one you have to read for the rest to make sense.
5. Becoming a Barbarian by Jack Donovan
This book is the best distillation of the "moral gear-shift" that has to happen if the right is to have a hope of ever fighting back against the Fourth Generation War being waged by the left in America. This largely has to do with an unskeptical universalization of morality as it is thought of in the West. We have a duty to be honest, for instance; but does this obligation extend to our enemies as well, even if Sun Tzu says that all warfare is based in deception? Would that mean we are morally prohibited from winning a war?
Most people can understand the importance of localizing their morality at an abstract level, but then default back to the universalized standards that were not just acceptable, but downright pleasant in the peaceful suburbs they grew up in. Becoming a Barbarian does an excellent job of laying out exactly what accepting the moral gear-shift looks like in application: always remembering where your loyalties lie, and protecting your heart from getting emotionally hijacked by strangers who — in reality — don't actually care about you.
All of these books will have their own takeaways relating to the "culture-war," which is really a euphemistic name for the Fourth Generation war going on in America. But they also provide inspiration for tools your can include to your arsenal, adding more precise levels of escalation in your use-of-force continuum, which will give you more power.
It should be noted that power from this continuum alone is not enough to win a Fourth Generation war. As with any war, superior strategy with inferior technology can often beat superior technology organized by an inferior strategy. In a sense, one can think of Fourth Generation warfare as a more pure distillation of raw strategy, relative to regular warfare. A single satirical cartoon; a single egg thrown at a car; a single instance of harassing someone's children at school, would each be cause for concern on their own. But their strength as Fourth Generation warfare tactics would lie in their ability to be executed at scale, en masse, perhaps over some extended period of time, with the appropriate networking, coordination, logistical distribution, public framing, and media presentation. Most of the tactics themselves are technologically simple and financially cheap. Relative to an F-35, what is the cost of bussing a bunch of drug-addled homeless people to a rich neighborhood after promising them that the unwitting inhabitants of said neighborhood would give them rooms?
(For the record, I am not advocating these measures, but describing in hypothetical terms categories of actions which left-wing activists have, in many cases, already done).
But the importance of strategic coordination notwithstanding, I think that understanding the nature of the Use of Force Continuum in relation to Fourth Generation warfare is still critical if one ever hopes to win such a conflict. And if the four years of coordinated lying, violent rioting, deceptive cover for said violent rioting, gaslighting, and general vindictive cultural warfare against conservatives which has characterized America under Trump — if all of that hasn't convinced you of the need for such knowledge, I'm not sure what will.


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subset: commoncrawl


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The 76th session of the UN General Assembly concluded on Monday amid deepening global crises.
Like the previous one, the 76th session of the General Assembly was marked by a series of deepening challenges: rising prices, the erosion of purchasing power, growing food insecurity and the gathering shadows of a global recession; a global pandemic that refused to be defeated -- and the emergence of another health emergency in monkeypox; and deadly heatwaves, storms, floods and other natural disasters, said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at the closing plenary.
He also highlighted ferocious conflicts that are putting millions of lives in jeopardy, deepening poverty and inequality that continues to impede recovery and development, a morally bankrupt global financial system that penalizes developing countries and blocks their path to sustainable recovery, and a climate emergency that is literally setting the planet on fire.
"The coming session will continue to test the multilateral system like never before. And it will continue to test cohesion and trust among member states," he warned.
"The road ahead will be challenging and unpredictable. But by using the tools of our trade -- diplomacy, negotiation and compromise -- we can continue supporting people and communities around the world. We can pave the way to a better, more peaceful future for all people. And we can renew faith in the United Nations and the multilateral system, which remain humanity's best hope," he said.
Guterres thanked Abdulla Shahid of the Maldives, as president of the 76th session of the General Assembly, for his vision and leadership.
Shahid said hope must live on despite the many challenges facing humanity.
"Today, the 76th session of the General Assembly ends. But hope must live on," he told the closing meeting. "It is true that humanity faces challenges more complex and multidimensional than ever before. Solving them will take ambition and perseverance. But guided by our faith in humanity, by our aspirations for a brighter future, by our love for our children and grandchildren, we will succeed -- with courage, with grace, with hope."
Even as countries reopen their borders and return to normal routines, COVID-19 stubbornly lingers. New conflicts are emerging, and old ones persist. Millions across the world are starving and impoverished. A fragile global economy and disrupted food-supply chains add to their burdens and anxieties, said Shahid.
The world is facing a climate emergency. The politics of hate persists even as the world is in desperate need of unity. Migrants, women, minorities, and other marginalized communities look on in despair as their hard-won rights are stripped away. The multilateral system itself is under assault, he noted.
Every crisis feels worse than the last. But the real crisis would be a loss of hope, he warned. "Hope is not blind optimism or blissful ignorance. Hope is acknowledging and affirming our potential. It is about recognizing the wonders humanity is capable of when we are at our best and work together."
Shahid built his presidency on "Five Rays of Hope:" recovering from COVID-19, rebuilding sustainably, responding to climate change, respecting human rights, and revitalizing the United Nations.
"Let us not lose hope and give into cynicism. Let us not turn our backs on those who look to us at the United Nations for solutions. Let us use the instruments at our disposal to secure global peace and justice. Let us not stand idle and let the world drift to an uncertain future. Let us tell the next generation that their aspirations, their futures, their planet, are worth fighting for. We owe it to ourselves, to our peers, to our children, to our grandchildren, to humanity, to choose hope," he said.
Shahid took stock of the work of the General Assembly under his leadership in the past year.
The 76th session of the General Assembly convened 103 formal plenary meetings and adopted 307 resolutions and 140 decisions. In addition, 15 high-level meetings and 28 informal plenary meetings, hearings, thematic debates, and other events were held, he said.
An emergency special session of the General Assembly was held for the first time in 40 years -- to address the conflict in Ukraine. The assembly also adopted a landmark resolution on the veto initiative, which mandates a formal meeting of the General Assembly every time a veto was cast in the Security Council.
The president of the upcoming 77th session of the UN General Assembly, Csaba Korosi, took the oath of office at the closing meeting.
At a press encounter after the closing meeting, he vowed to build bridges and make the work of the assembly more impact-oriented.
"We must continue to reform and transform the United Nations, including the General Assembly, and strengthen our cooperation through trust," he said. "My role will be to build bridges and make the work of the General Assembly more impact-oriented. I plan to pursue an integrated agenda of peace and security, human rights, and sustainability -- three mutually reinforcing goals. We must support each, or they will all fall."
He said his priorities will be: stand firm on the basic principles of the UN Charter, make significant and measurable progress on the sustainability transformation, aim at integrated systemic solutions, enhance the role of science in decision-shaping, and increase solidarity.
"I invite all stakeholders to work together and enlarge common ground among member states and stakeholders," said Korosi. "I will continue to coordinate efforts with the secretary-general, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council and the other relevant UN bodies, and conduct impact-oriented and regular consultations with civil society, youth, scientific institutions, knowledge centers, faith-based organizations, private sector, and key financial institutions."
The 77th annual session of the General Assembly will begin on Tuesday.


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text:
Ideas and tools to apply learning practices
5 Results
How-To Note: Activity Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Plan
Each activity is required to have an Activity Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) Plan to support management of the activity and to inform USAID and the implementing partner…
Five Things Every Practitioner Should Know about M&E for Value Chain Projects
In this brief, the GROOVE Learning Network presents lessons learned about effective M&E for value chain interventions. About the GROOVE Learning NetworkThe GROOVE Learning…
GROOVE Learning Network Progress Report Template
As part of the GROOVE Learning Network, members submitted regular progress reports including program highlights, program progress, participation in learning network activities, and…
Okiko in Pursuit of a Snail
This is third and final report of a series of three evaluations entirely led by children, here with the youngest group so far. Children beneficiaries of the programme, selected…
Training: Organizational Capacity Assessment
This is a web-based training on the USAID version of an Organizational Capacity Assessment, one of the most useful tools in the Local Solutions toolkit, created by the Local…


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Yesterday evening, Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves made a series of angry posts on Twitter taking issue with a blog post written by the New York Times' Paul Krugman criticizing Estonia's economic performance. Many who saw the Twitter spat doubted the account actually belonged to Mr. Ilves, but The Politicker reached out to the Estonian government and received confirmation and a statement from the man himself.
"Yes I send my own tweets," Mr. Ilves said. "It was a sincere and immediate defense of the major and often difficult efforts of Estonia to deal with the economic crisis and to stick to the rules adopted in the European Union."


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The Charles H. Bohlen, Jr. Technical Center in Watertown, NY recently held its annual awards ceremony virtually for graduating seniors that make up the Class of 2021. A total of 317 students were recognized for their accomplishments in the following programs: Architecture, Engineering & 3D Design; Auto Body; Automotive Technology; Building Projects; Carpentry; Cosmetology; Criminal Justice; Culinary Arts/Cooking; Culinary Arts Baking; Early Childhood Education; Electrical Wiring Technology; Electronic & Computer Technology; Heavy Equipment; Hospitality Services; Medical Assistant; Motorcycle, Marine & Power Sports; New Vision Health; Nursing Assistant; Plumbing/HVAC; Veterinary Practices; Visual Communications; and Welding.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year's awards ceremony was recorded in video form by BOCES staff and placed online for students and families to view on demand.
All graduating students will receive certificates for successfully completing their program requirements. One hundred seventy six students were recognized for earning Technical Endorsement, which is an emblem attached to their high school diploma that signifies superior achievement and recognition by New York State for completion of an approved Career & Technical Education program.
Special scholarship awards from organizations and businesses were given as follows:
Black River Council of School Superintendents ($300 each): Shane Rubyor (Criminal Justice I, Watertown)
Thomas Excavating, LLC Superior Work Ethic Award ($250 each): Ryley Jones (Heavy Equipment II, South Jefferson) & Thomas Slate (Heavy Equipment II, South Jefferson)
Northern New York Community Foundation Awards ($750 total)
($500): Landon Shedrick (Criminal Justice II, South Jefferson)
($250): Simarra Willett (New Vision Health-Ms. Denny, Lyme)
Charles H. Bohlen, Jr. Scholarship ($750): Ariel St. Croix (Early Childhood Education II, Watertown)
Cheney Tire-Motorcycle, Marine & Power Sports Award ($100): Ernest Brown (Motorcycle, Marine & Power Sports II, Thousand Islands)
Ruth Seal Memorial Nursing Scholarship ($750): Brayden Billman (Medical Assistant, Belleville Henderson)
Ryan D. Abel Memorial Scholarship ($250): Cyan Siebel (Visual Communications II, Carthage)
Logan Mannigan Memorial Scholarship ($200): Gregory VanBrocklin (Carpentry II, Indian River)
Sackets Harbor Ballroom Hospitality Services Award ($50): Gavin Barnett (Hospitality Services II, Sackets Harbor)
Pepe's Parts Xpress Auto Body Award ($150): Caleb Smith (Auto Body II,Watertown)
Pepe's Parts Express Automotive Technology Award ($100): Matthew Wright (Automotive Tech. II, Indian River)
Pepe's Parts Express Heavy Equipment Award ($100): Graden Ratigliano (Heavy Equipment II, South Jefferson)
Waite Motor Sports-Motorcycle, Marine & Power Sports Award ($100): Kaden Howard (Motorcycle, Marine & Power Sports II, Carthage)
Patty O'Driscoll Memorial Scholarship ($250): Maria Clement (New Vision Health-Ms. Denny, Watertown)
Brian C. Thomas Memorial Scholarship ($250): Katelyn Decker (New Vision Health-Ms. Denny, Watertown)
Loose Leaf Law Excellence in Criminal Justice ($75): Gavin Gaines (Criminal Justice II, Indian River)
Richard (Butch) Coseo Memorial Scholarship ($100): Zachary Premo (Criminal Justice II, General Brown)
Kevin Fuhrken Memorial Scholarship ($100): Landon Shedrick (Criminal Justice II, South Jefferson)
Rivergate Wheelers Memorial Scholarship ($600): Madison Raap (Culinary Arts, Indian River)
Frank Reed, Jr. Memorial-Motorcycle, Marine & Power Sports Scholarship ($100): Matthew Simmons, Motorcycle, Marine & Power Sports, LaFargeville)
Watertown Noon Rotary ($250 each): Joshua Biggs (Architecture, Engineering & 3D Design II, Belleville Henderson), Madison Raap (Culinary Arts, Indian River), Ashlyn Hilts (New Vision Health-Ms. Denny, Lyme), Katelyn Decker (New Vision Health-Ms. Denny, Watertown), & Christian Heyl (Visual Communications II, Lyme)
JLHHO Professional Teacher's Association Award ($50 each): Landon Shedrick (Criminal Justice II, South Jefferson), Zachary Premo (Criminal Justice II, General Brown), Madison Raap (Culinary Arts, Indian River), Dalton Hudson (Electronic & Computer Tech., Belleville Henderson), & Hailey Hunt (New Vision Health-Ms. Denny, Watertown)


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Getting started
- In order to fully enjoy the species and gain access to all of the website's features, you must first create an account by Registering.
- Once you have registered, you should receive a verification email. If you did not receive a verification email, click your username and then Settings. There will be a link you can press in order to resend a verification email.
- Once your email has been verified, the next step in order to access the full site is the authorize your Deviantart account. To do this, please head over to Settings and press the Authorize button to link your Deviantart account with our Lorekeeper site.
- IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A DEVIANTART ACCOUNT, creating a deviantart account is very simple! Just head over to dA and simply register. Nothing else more needs to be done besides going back on the Mion website and going through the steps above to authorize your account!
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Creating Your Mion
When creating your Mion, you are free to look under the Traits (Info > Traits) to find all of the possible traits Mions have. Before you make your Mion, there are two important things to note:
- Mions can only use 5 traits max!
- Traits can be added on or changed with trait upgrade items
If you are struggling with drawing your Mion or simple want a base, click the button below to access the official base! It is a .psd file which can be opened but most, if not all art programs and has multiple layers for the ear and tail traits. Body traits were not included since body traits can be modified any way the owner/artists choses and can be drawn on the base
Also please check out these tips and pointers about Traits.
- All traits can be combined or mixed together to create unique traits
- Trait combinations (for example glass horns [glass body x horns] ) only count as 1 trait
Below is some info about Character Rarity!
Mions only have 4 rarities. When creating your MYO please take note to these important notes about a character's rarity
- Common
- Shadow Walker - Only has access to Shadow traits
- Lightbearer - Only has access to Light Traits
- Legendary - Has access to all traits, including Seasonal, Light, and Shadow
Please note the following below about trait upgrade items and Character Rarity:
- Common Mions can turn into Lightbearer Mions if they use a Holy Cookie item (Light Upgrade Item)
- Common Mions can turn into Shadow-walker Mion if they use a Shadow Sucker item (Shadow upgrade item)
- All Mions (Common, Shadow-walker, or Lightbearer) can become a Legendary if they use a Holy Cookie or Shadow Sucker trait upgrade item at any point or time.
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Submitting Your Mion for Approval
After creating your Mion, it is time to get them approved! Mions can be created with MYO slots on the website and approved! If your MYO Mion was created outside the website it can still be approved as well. In order to do this, you must access Submit > Submit A Claim. From there you type in all of the info as well as an image of your Mion.
If you have a MYO Slot item, follow these steps to easily submit your MYO for approval!
- Access your inventory and click on your MYO Slot Item
- Press "Use Item". After doing an MYO Slot will be created. To check this go to your Profile and go to MYO Slots under the User section on the left hand side
- Click on the MYO Slot entry of your choice. Under the left hand side under Settings, there will be a button called Submit MYO Design
- You will be prompted to a Design Approval Request. Please fill out the information required before saving and submitting. Any items to upgrade traits can be used at this time
- Wait for approval! Once it is approved, you will receive a notification!
Once all the info is submitted, it will be quickly approved so you can use and enjoy your new Mion! They will also be placed in the Masterlist to keep a record of your Mion.
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Dream Dust is a currency that can be earned by drawing/writing your Mion or drawing for other people! There are many ways to obtain Dream Dust such as:
- Participating in prompts and events
- Playing small games in the discord. These minigames will be announced
- Submitting art or literature to our Gallery by pressing the + button
Dream Dust can be used in the Dream Dust Apothecary shop to buy various items.
If anyone is interested on how DD is calculated please view our chart here!
Dream Dust Chart
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Masterlist Changes, Issues & etc.
There will be times where you have items that can change traits and rarities or perhaps there are mistakes. If you have any issues or anything that isn't a site-related issue you simply need to make a Claim. In order to make a claim, follow these steps
- Go the Submit on the navbar and press "Submit Claim"
- URLs are always required. So if it has to do with a masterlist entry, just put the link of the Masterlist entry and put what needs to be changed in the comments. If there something wrong that isn't a site bug related issue, please post a screenshot
How Do I Update My Mion? Change Their Design, Etc?
If you wish to update your Mion's design, please view the steps below:
- Click on your Mion's ML Entry
- Left Sidebar > Settings > Update Design
- Fill out all the neccessary information and submit! If you are adding traits by using trait upgrade items, you can use your trait upgrade items in the Add-on section of the form
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Foraging & Crafting
In the Dreamlands, players will be able to Forage for ingredients, that they can Craft and create a bunch of useful items. Below is a small tutorial about foraging and crafting. Before you Forage or Craft, be sure to check out Beginner's Prompt #2 to get started on your Foraging and Crafting Adventure!
In order to Forage, you have to find the foraging page. You can do this by:
> Top Nav Bar > Play > Forage
When you Forage, you will need a Key to unlock different foraging locations as well as Forage Basket in order to forage in any location. When you forage, it will use up your Energy Bar and it will take time. The quality of the Foraging Basket you have will determine the amount of energy and time used to forage. It is possible to forage in multiple locations at the same time as long as you have enough energy! Energy will be completely refilled every 24 hours.
In order to Craft, you have to find the Craft page. You can do this by:
> Top Nav Bar > Play > Crafting
When you craft, you will have free recipes already provided to you, or you will be able to find recipes while foraging! There are many recipes you can find. Some recipes will be for items while some recipes will be to craft higher quality ingredients that you cant find while foraging. Be sure to forage a lot to find everything! In order to craft you will need ingredients. Ingredients can be found by foraging. Lastly, please note that every recipes as its own success rate. Harder and rarer recipes will have lower success rates! So be sure to forage for everything you need!


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The Earth has a natural greenhouse effect due to trace amounts of water vapour (H2O), carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) in the atmosphere. These gases let the solar radiation reach the Earth's surface, but they absorb infrared radiation emitted by the Earth and thereby lead to the heating of the surface of the planet. One needs to distinguish between the natural greenhouse effect and the enhanced greenhouse effect. The natural greenhouse effect is caused by the natural amounts of greenhouse gases, and is vital to life. In the absence of the natural greenhouse effect the surface of the Earth would be approximately 33 °C cooler. The enhanced greenhouse effect refers to the additional radiative forcing resulting from increased concentrations of greenhouse gases induced by human activities. The main greenhouse gases whose concentrations are rising are carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and ozone in the lower atmosphere.
The Global Atmosephere Watch (GAW) observes, analyses and publishes greenhouse gas data collected by fifty countries around the globe from the High Arctic to the South Pole. The greenhouse gases monitored include:
- Carbon Dioxide (CO2) (incl. Δ14C, δ13C and δ18O in CO2, and O2/N2 Ratios)
- Methane (CH4)
- Nitrous Oxide (N2O)
- Halocarbons and SF6
- Molecular Hydrogen (H2)
The data are collected and distributed by the World Data Centre for Greenhouse Gases (WDCGG) at the Japan Meteorological Agency. The GAW Scientific Advisory Group for Greenhouse Gases (SAG-GHG) advises on the programme development. GAW issues the annual Greenhouse Gas Bulletin, which reports on the latest trends and atmospheric burdens of the most influential, long-lived greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O), as well as a summary of the contributions of the lesser gases.


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This is a single (adjustable) strap bag that loops over your head to rest comfortably on your left shoulder and lays on your back to allow you to easily carry necessary items hands free. Alternatively, it can be worn over the right shoulder to lay across the chest. It's compact but roomy at approximately 7" wide by 3" deep and 11"tall.
There's a zippered pocket on the outside and an elastic pocket on the inside. It's fully lined with a head to head double zipper that holds the bag closed. The zipper pulls are decorated with a one-of-a kind embellishment of buttons and beads.
We are grateful to be using the Sandhill Sling Bag pattern copyrighted by Anna Graham of Noodlehead, Inc.
This bag is made from a lightweight fabric with a definite retro vibe. It has a bold geometric pattern in shades of gray, gold, camel and orange on a beige background.


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Leadership Victoria
Amarjit Bhalla – Winner of the 2020 VCLA in Getting Started in our Community
Updated: Mar 8, 2022
Amarjit has worked with newcomers and refugees in Victoria for 35 years, and 20 of those at the Victoria Immigrant and Refugee Centre Society (VIRCS). As the Volunteer Coordinator at VIRCS, Amarjit has the lead in the creation and growth of programs that will serve the needs of the immigrant and refugee community in Greater Victoria. She goes out of her way to bring people together and works hard to provide the hospitality and community necessary to maximum impact. Amarjit has been described as determined, thoughtful, creative, resourceful, resilient, collaborative and compassionate. In addition to creating and implementing new programs for newcomers, she also maintains the partnerships between communities, organizations and industries that are necessary to help them thrive. As a respected leader, she underscores the importance of valuing everyone's abilities and to learning together. And to all who are fortunate to know Amarjit, the greeting is always the same – "I value you."
Amarjit's first exposure to developing value-based leadership came from her mother who always looked at the best in people. Amarjit remembers her mother as someone who always went out of her way to help people and helped her to understand that everyone has something valuable to offer to the world. It is no surprise that Amarjit describes a leader as someone who can instill a sense of value in others, making them feel that their contribution to their families, communities, and world at large is important regardless of their circumstances. She also imbibed a sense of empathy from her father who taught her to be aware of social issues and an acute awareness of those that are disadvantaged - something that inspired her to make the journey from a mathematician to a counselor.
As a young immigrant to Canada at the age of 19, Amarjit found it hard to build connections and develop a sense of community. There were no resources such as VIRCS at that time to help immigrants who were making Canada their homes. She remembers it as a very challenging time, something she always keep in mind when dealing with the many people that VIRCS helps. Through her years in VIRCS, she has always been amazed by the will of both immigrants and refugees who have sometimes made the hard choice to live in an unknown country but share a common hope for building a better life for their future generations. Amarjit welcomes volunteers from the community who want to help others during the COVID crisis and thereafter.
You can connect with VIRCS through their website http://www.vircs.bc.ca/


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Building a swimming pool in your backyard is a dream come true! This is an exciting process for you and your family to go through. Turning your backyard into an oasis is everything you have ever wanted! Lets make sure you know what the stages of building a pool are. It is best to know what is going to be going on in your backyard before it happens.
What are the Stages of Building a Pool?
Premier Pools & Spas of Phoenix is going to take you through the stages of building a pool step by step. If you are just starting your pool building process then this is the perfect article to look through before your pool builders get started.
Step 1: Excavation
Assuming that you've already worked out all the details of designing prior to this point with your local pool builder. The first step that we are going to jump into is excavation. Excavation is one of the messiest parts because the pool builders have to dig a hole in your backyard. This means that there are going to be piles of dirt being taken out of your yard into a dump truck.
Step 2: Pipes and Pluming
Once you have a hole in your backyard, the pool builders will have plumping to lay down and re-barb wire to structure the shell of your swimming pool. All of the plumbing is tested before hand to ensure that the pipes work and none of them are broken. At this point it doesn't exactly resemble a swimming pool yet but just wait until the next step.
Step 3: Framing your Pool
Depending on the material you choose to create your swimming pool, this next step is where everything comes to life. With a shotcrete or gunite pool, this is where your pool builder will come in with a concrete material to spray the first layer of your swimming pool. This is where you will see the shape take place. With a Fiberglass pool, your pool builders will place an exterior shell (pre-fabricated) into the hole that they have dug already.
Step 4: Decking and Outdoor Entertainment
While the base of your swimming pool is curing in water, your pool builders will be working on the hardscaping that you chose to go around your swimming pool. They will also be working on any additional features that you wanted incorporated into your pool design. If you wanted extra patio space or an outdoor kitchen, this is the time that they will complete all of that.
Step 5: Adding Tile
After your swimming pool has had time to cure then the pool builders will go in and add the trim tile to the boarder of your swimming pool. Once that is completed they will also apply the interior finish of your swimming pool. This is something that you will also choose. The interior finish is the color plaster that your swimming pool will be when everything is finished. There are a lot of different colors of plaster that you can choose from from a tropical turquoise to a deep sea blue.
Step 6: Finishing Touches
Last step! We're almost done, only one more thing to complete and you will have the backyard of your dreams. Now that your swimming pool is constructed our pool building crew will do their best to clean up any extra debris that are laying around. We also do a complimentary pool chemistry balancing and start your swimming pool pump. Enjoy your new backyard oasis!
Build a Pool with Premier Pools & Spas
It is important to build with a swimming pool builder that has been around for a while and knows what they're doing. Premier Pools & Spas has been around for over 30 years and has built over 70,000 swimming pools. Not only do we care about customer service, but we want to make families dreams come true across the nation. Let Premier Pools and Spas build your backyard oasis, contact us today and receive a free design quote.


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Haupy's Beaver Rub
The conception of Haupy's Beaver Rub (HBR) started on 9/9/9, and was inspired with the help of liquor and other such things! There was a need for a spice which was truly Canadian. Following the success of Haupy's Original Beaver Rub, a spicy variation was created in late 2017, followed shortly thereafter with Haupy's Moose Rub: Original and Haupy's Moose Rub: Maplesque in the spring of 2018.


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My Top 5 Jeep Modifications I would do if I had do it over again.
Now that I have off-roading experience with my Jeep I can look back with confidence and tell you what I would do differently.
I certainly wouldn't change wheeling my Jeep in stock form for two years. That was important for me to gain the necessary skills to become a great wheeler. I was able to learn what my Jeep is capable of and how to pick a good line. Once I believed I out grew that level of wheeling and was looking for a new challenge, I upgraded my Jeep. I went to a 3.5 MetalCloak lift on 35" tires. If I had to do it over again, I would do a few things before that lift.
The first modification I would have made was Jeep Cables from Jeep Cables.com,
a veteran owned company. I recently installed them in my Jeep and wish I would have done it sooner. Adding the winch and off-road lights to my Jeep created a little extra pull on the OEM cables. There are videos on my YouTube channel that will show you what happens to your stock cables when you overload your OEM system by adding a winch and other electrical upgrades. You could already see the discoloration on my alternator and the cable coming from my alternator. The wires were already overloaded and getting super hot.
The second modification would be my rock sliders. Not only do my Barricade Off Road Rock sliders protect my Jeep they double as a side step. A necessary part when you lift your Jeep so you don't look foolish getting into your lifted Jeep. My rock sliders from day one have protected my Jeep and the sound of them sliding over the rocks has become a sound I love.
Steering would be the next upgrade before my lift. I would go with the Yeti Steering from SteerSmarts. Their components are so beefy. I have dinged them so many times on the rocks, they have held up amazingly. Another plus for the JKU's is the steering attenuator or now they call it the Griffin. The attenuator helps with the Wranglers jittery steering and the bump steer. Then rounding out the Top 5 would be an upgrade to my OEM front driveshaft with a Tom Woods CustomDriveshaft. Adding a lift and bigger tires will eventually wear out that stock driveshaft. You will know when it is starting to go by getting under your Jeep and looking above the driveshaft. You will be able to see the grease splatter above the driveshaft.


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You are here: Home > Section on Analytical and Functional Biophotonics
Quantitative Biophotonics for Tissue Characterization and Function
- Amir H. Gandjbakhche, PhD, Head, Section on Analytical and Functional Biophotonics
- Victor Chernomordik, PhD, Staff Scientist
- Yasaman Ardeshirpour, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow
- Franck Amyot, PhD, Guest Researcher
- Jana Kainerstorfer, PhD, Guest Researcher
- Alexander Sviridov, PhD, Guest Researcher
- Fatima A. Chowdhry, MD, Contractor
- Bahar Dasgeb, MD, Volunteer
- Ali Afshari, MS, Predoctoral Student
- Afrouz Azari, MS, Predoctoral Student
- Nader Shahni Karamzadeh, MS, Predoctoral Student
Our general goal is to devise quantitative methodologies and associated instrumentation to bring technology from the Bench to Bedside. We select our projects in the framework of the mission of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), focusing on childhood and adolescent disorders, as well as abnormal developments of cells such as cancer. We operate in the so-called 4B research mode: at the Blackboard, one models the methodology; at the Bench, one designs the prototype to be brought to the Bedside; at this stage one goes Back to the Blackboard for improving the imaging system.
Structural and functional brain imaging
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are two neurological disorders with different biological and clinical presentations that have gained the public's interest in the past few years owing to the very wide spectrum into which each disorder falls. TBI can range from mild to moderate to severe, with many caveats. In ASD, the classification has been completely reorganized in the current DSM-V to fall within four categories: autistic disorder, Asperger's disorder, childhood disintegrative disorder, and pervasive developmental disorder. Imaging the brain, with a focus on its structure and function, can help to clarify some of the idiosyncrasies that render diagnosis difficult. Some of the more traditional imaging modalities, such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and positron emission tomography (PET) are better suited for most functional brain studies, but there are some natural limitations, particularly in the case of low-functioning TBI or ASD subjects. One of the most common and challenging is that a subject is required to remain immobile, sometimes for lengthy periods during testing. Given their sensitivity to movement restrictions and unfriendly environment, children with ASD and ADHD present difficulties for fMRI data acquisition. In this regard, more patient-friendly near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) could be the imaging modality of choice. NIRS and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), in particular, are technologies for noninvasive measurements of the local changes in cerebral hemodynamic levels associated with brain activity. Owing to the low optical absorption of biological tissues at NIR wavelengths (λ=700–1000 nm), NIR light can penetrate deep enough to probe the outer layers of brain (i.e., cortex), up to about 2–3 cm deep. The NIR absorption spectrum of the tissue is sensitive to changes in the concentration of major tissue chromophores, such as hemoglobin species. Therefore, measurements of temporal variations of backscattered light can capture functionally evoked changes in the outermost cortex and can thus be used to assess brain functioning. Compared with other well-established brain imaging modalities, such as fMRI and PET, the technique offers unique features, including higher temporal resolution of several milliseconds and spectroscopic information about temporal variations in both components of hemoglobin, oxy-hemoglobin (HbO) and deoxy-hemoglobin (Hb), whereas fMRI can assess only changes in Hb. Most importantly for pediatric applications, NIRS instruments are much smaller, less restraining than fMRI or PET, and can tolerate subject motion to a larger extent than can fMRI.
Owing to its high metabolic demand and dynamic nature, the brain requires a rapid yet precise mechanism of oxygen delivery. Given that oxygen is transported by means of binding to hemoglobin molecules, local changes in concentrations of hemoglobin species (HbO and Hb) arising from mental tasks can provide an indirect measure of brain activity. To realize this approach, in collaboration with Ramon Diaz-Arrastia, we enrolled 65 subjects, both healthy individuals and TBI patients, in a clinical protocol to follow changes in brain activation (cerebral hemodynamics) in response to an action-complexity judgment task with a varying degree of cognitive load. First, we were able to map the activation at the frontopolar cortex, using co-registration between the optical sensor and MRI anatomical image. Results of fNIRS mapping are consistent with those of fMRI (within 1–2° error in polar coordinates). Our preliminary studies demonstrated the link between cognitive load and cerebrovascular activity. Observed differences between patients suffering from severe TBI and healthy controls in their responses to varying degrees of cognitive load show that application of fNIRS for such parametric studies could be used to assess impairment of cognitive function in TBI patients, thus providing clinical information on the status of TBI (e.g., resolved or not resolved TBI).
The OV index is defined as the dimensionless ratio of standard deviation to mean of oxygen saturation data.
Temporal variations in the concentration of HbO and Hb can reveal the cerebral hemodynamics of functional brain activity that can be captured by fNIRS. In particular, the variations provide information about cerebral autoregulation (CA), the mechanism that optimizes oxygen delivery to the brain. Specifically, CA maintains constant cerebral blood flow (CBF), regardless of changes in atrial blood pressure, and is thus vital for brain function. The purpose of our current study is to find a metric to quantify the hemodynamic variations related to cerebral CA and their relationship to children's development. We used frequency analysis of oscillatory patterns from fNIRS to formulate a new metric of variations in local oxygen saturation. To characterize the metric, we introduced an Oxygen Variability Index (OV Index) and analyzed two frequency bands (below 0.1 Hz and 0.2–0.3 Hz, related to CA and respiration, respectively). We then examined the relationship between the OV Index in these two bands and age in a group of normally developing children. Instantaneous amplitude and phase of HbO and Hb variations were obtained from the filtered fNIRS data using an algorithm based on an analytic signal continuation. Combining the data for both hemoglobin species, we were able to quantify instantaneous oxygen saturation (SO2). The OV index is defined as the dimensionless ratio of standard deviation to the mean of SO2 data. The index therefore assesses the variability of SO2 during a functional task at a given frequency band. fNIRS data were collected from 17 children (ages 4–8 years) while they performed a standard Go-NoGo task. The results show differences in variability of oscillations of SO2 between the two different bands. Variations in OV index in children indicated a dynamic relationship between age and hemodynamic CA oscillations in frequency band below 0.1 Hz (Figure 1). Specifically, we found a significant quadratic effect of age that included a parabola peaking just before 6 years of age. The linear fit for the group of children below age 6 also indicated a strong linear correlation between age and OV index for ages 4–6. The significant relationship between age and OV index is in line with studies using other modalities that show a similar relationship between cerebral blood flow and age. In addition, we found much higher variability in frequencies associated with CA than for respiration across subjects. The physiological reasons for an increase in CA peaking at age 6 are not fully understood. Peak values of the OV index at around age 6 years may be related to other neurophysiological changes occurring at that time, which require increased regulation of CBF (Figure 1).
Our method allows us to quantify the mechanism of CA and eventually to measure the relationship between developmental changes in CA and subsequently between CA and brain function and its impairments. Analysis of hemodynamic oscillations originating from CA does not provide a full picture of this complicated phenomenon. However, using fNIRS, the suggested approach might allow one to link changes in cerebral hemodynamics with developmental and functional changes. As a non-invasive and patient-friendly method, it can be used to monitor brain development and possibly detect impairments of CA in both typical and atypical groups such as ASD and ADH individuals.
Click image to enlarge.
The Quality Threshold Algorithm (QTA) can follow brain connectivity as a function of known event-related potentials (ERPs) in EEG measurements.
Studies of resting-state and task-based functional connectivity (FC), aiming to identify brain regions similar in functional behavior, have received mounting attention over the past few years. Using different modalities, we attempt to extract features of FC by studying both hemodynamic and neural responses of the brain. We recorded hemodynamic activity during a Go/No-Go task from 11 right-handed subjects with probes placed bilaterally over prefrontal areas. Using the data, we demonstrated reliable detection of a fast optical signal (FOS) concurrently with an electroencephalogram (EEG) during the Go/No-Go task. According to NIRS, the hemodynamic responses showed higher task-related activation (an increase/decrease in HbO/Hb hemoglobin, respectively) in the right versus left hemisphere. We also employed a new approach to trace, with EEG, the dynamic patterns of human brain task-based functional connectivity. The EEG signals of five healthy subjects were recorded while they performed an auditory oddball and a visual modified oddball task. To capture the dynamic patterns of functional connectivity during the execution of each task, EEG signals are segmented into duration that correspond to the temporal windows of previously well-studied event-related potentials (ERPs) (Figure 2). We also introduced and validated a novel time-series feature extraction technique, Relative Brain Signature (RBS), that can be applied to ERP signals to provide an effective dimensionality reduction, does not require the typical channel-selection procedure, and accounts for all the ERP signals. Unlike common feature-extraction techniques, the RBS technique obtains information from subjects' ERP by considering the status of their relationship to the given population of the study. RBS combines vector space analysis and orthogonal subspace projection to generate feature vectors that signify the corresponding population of the subjects (Figure 3). The proposed technique can be used to identify the biomarkers related to a specific population and to localize functional biomarkers.
In pursuit of an idea that would use the controlled motion of detector fibers over a target to provide useful diagnostic signals in the form of a handheld device, the hematoma detector, as it is known, was created, which would provide an excellent tool for use in the field to triage TBI patients so as to rule out a possible hematoma and to avoid more labor-intensive imaging tools. The technology was fine-tuned to be applicable to the bedside by creating the startup company Archeoptics.
The components of the RBS vectors quantify the association of an event-related potential (ERP) waveform and the alcoholic population (shown in blue) or to the control population (shown in red). A positive value closer to 1 for a component of the RBS vectors indicates a stronger association with a certain population, whereas smaller positive values and the negative values suggest that the corresponding ERP data are weakly associated with a population. In panel a, the majority of Alcoholic-RBS component values are significantly associated with the alcoholic population, while for the Control-RBS component values, the majority of the ERPs were weakly associated with the control population. In panel b, Control-RBS component values illustrate a strong association with the control population while Alcoholic-RBS demonstrates weak association with the alcoholic population.
Multispectral imaging
Facial redness is one of the earliest described clinical features of Cushing's syndrome (CS). In collaboration with Constantine Stratakis, we began a study aimed at quantifying changes in facial plethora in CS as an early assessment of cure. We are recruiting Cushing's patients for optical imaging before and after surgery and at two session follow-ups, 6 months and one year after their surgery. Twenty patients with CS (14 female, mean age 19.8 ± 12.3) were studied so far. Among these patients, 17 patients had ACTH–secreting pituitary tumors-Cushing's disease (CD), two had ACTH–independent adrenocortical tumors, and one had an ectopic ACTH–secreting pulmonary carcinoid. Two patients with CD were excluded from the study, one due to severe facial acne and the second because of fever on the day of imaging. One of the patients required two consecutive surgeries as the initial trans-sphenoidal surgery was unsuccessful. Non-invasive multi-spectral near-infrared imaging was performed on the right cheek of the patients before and 5.6 ± 3.9 days after surgery. Patients were defined as cured of disease by postoperative measurements of plasma cortisol of less than 3 mcg/dl and/or adrenocortical insufficiency, for which they received replacement. Clinical data obtained from the 18 patients indicate that a reduction in facial plethora after surgery, as evidenced by lowered blood volume fraction, is well correlated with cure of CS. The results of the study were presented in Annual Meeting of Endocrinology (ENDO) 2014, San Francisco (Figure 4).
We are pursuing Kaposi Sarcoma (KS) studies in ongoing clinical trials under four different NCI protocols and therapeutic agents. The goal is to further evaluate diffuse multispectral imaging as a potential supplement to existing response assessment in KS, providing an early non-invasive marker of treatment efficacy. In our preliminary work, we made multi-spectral images of Kaposi Sarcoma skin lesions over the course of treatment and obtained blood volume and oxygenation concentration maps through Principal Component Analysis (PCA) of the data. Corresponding images were compared with clinical and pathological assessment provided by conventional means. In agreement with our hypothesis that successful treatment would reduce blood volume in the lesions, the normalized standard deviation for blood volume declined in each of the five patients whose lesion responded to treatment, while the normalized standard deviation for blood volume rose in the two patients whose lesion did not respond to therapy. These initial results confirm that concentrations of HbO in the tumor can be used as a quantitative marker of tumor response to the therapy.
Preclinical studies on fluorescence imaging of HER2–positive breast cancer
Detection of specific oncogenic biomarkers is an important factor in choosing the proper targeted cancer therapy. Current cancer therapy is focused on drugs that selectively attack the cancer-causing biomarkers, inactivate molecular mechanisms responsible for cell malignancy, and deliver the toxin specifically to the malignant cells. The most prominent example of this approach is the use of the monoclonal antibody (mAb) Trastuzumab antibody-drug conjugate, T-DM1, to treat human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)–positive cancers. Elevated HER2 expression is associated with increased proliferation and survival of cancer cells, thereby contributing to poor therapy outcomes. Given that the efficacy of the mAb depends on overexpression of its target on tumor cells, development of techniques to assess receptor expression is extremely important for monitoring the efficacy of therapy and optimizing treatment. Current clinical evaluation of HER2 expression is based on immunohistochemistry (IHC)– or fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH)–staining of biopsied tissue. Both are ex vivo techniques and, owing to tumor heterogeneity, may deliver false-positive or false-negative results and are therefore unreliable for monitoring therapy. By contrast, molecular imaging using HER2–specific fluorescently labeled probes allows assessment of the status of HER2 receptors in vivo and the following of treatment in real time. After injection, probes such as the HER2–specific Affibody concentrate in the tumor. Probe accumulation at tumor cells can occur in parallel with the delivery of some HER2–specific drugs, such as Trastuzumab, to the malignant tumor. As a result, HER2–specific Affibody fluorescent probes can be used to monitor HER2 expression without interfering with the treatment itself, making this probe suitable for an image-and-treat paradigm.
Besides the information that can be extracted from the serial imaging of fluorescence intensity at different time points, additional information about tumor characteristics can be extracted from lifetime fluorescence measurements, including binding affinity of the probe to cancer cells and environmental conditions (e.g., pH), based on local variations in lifetimes for specially designed probes at a given site.
Click image to enlarge.
A: The average fluorescence lifetime at the tumor site for 5 mice at different time points after injection of ABD-HER2–specific Affibody probe; before, 12 hours, and one week after the last treatment with 17-DMAG.
B: The difference between the fluorescence lifetimes at the tumor and contralateral site for the same mice as in panel A.
We studied the potential of in vivo fluorescence lifetime imaging to monitor the efficacy of treatment, in particular the feasibility of fluorescence lifetime imaging to monitor in vivo expression of the HER2 receptor in a breast carcinoma (mouse model) during the course of treatment. We observed a considerable difference (>130 ps) between the fluorescence lifetime of HER2–specific optical probes at the tumor and a contralateral site before and seven days after the last treatment with 17-DMAG (an HSP90 inhibitor), when the tumor regrew to almost its pretreatment volume. However, soon after the therapy (12 hours), when the effect of drug on HER2 degradation is maximal, the difference decreased significantly. Based on our previous findings on the relationship between fluorescence lifetime and binding of HER2–specific probe to corresponding receptors, we believe that the differences between the fluorescence lifetimes at the tumor and contralateral site, observed for mice with BT-474 xenografts after treatment with 17-DMAG, result from the strong downregulation of HER2 receptors soon after the therapy (i.e., less binding sites for the HER2–specific probe) and corresponding changes in the fraction of bound to total fluorescent probes in the tumor. Immediately after treatment, the fraction of bound to total fluorophores inside the tumor changed considerably, resulting in a noticeable increase in the average fluorescence lifetime. Subsequent tumor and HER2 expression recovery a week later caused gradual restoration of the original level of the binding ratio of HER2–targeting probe in the tumor and a corresponding return to pre-treatment values of the fluorescence lifetime. The results reveal that fluorescence lifetime imaging, based on evaluating the fraction of the bound and unbound fluorophores inside the tumor, can be used as an alternative in vivo imaging approach to characterize tumors, separate high from low HER2–expression tumors, and monitor the efficacy of targeted therapies (Figure 5).
In collaboration with Alan Halpern, we conducted a pilot study to determine the affinity and selectivity of BerEp4 antibody conjugated with fluorescence probe and to assess its possible use in designing theranostic probes for basal cell carcinoma (BCC). The most common cancer in humans, BCC appears macroscopically and microscopically similar to many other skin lesions, which makes differential diagnosis difficult. Based on the initial cell culture results, BerEP4 appears to be a promising biomarker for molecular imaging of BCC and can be used in conjunction with in vivo near-infrared fluorescence imaging. To prepare BerEP4 for eventual theranostic use, the feasibility of a combined macro-/micro-optical approach to imaging BCC was examined with various histologies.
Additional Funding
- Bench to Bedside Award
- Center for Neuroscience and Regenerative Medicine
- Dasgeb B, Smirnov A, Ardeshirpour Y, Gandjbakhche A, Halpern A, Knutson JR, Mehregan D, Sackett DL. Multi-scale BerEp4 molecular imaging of microtumor phantom towards theranostics for basal cell carcinoma. Mol Imaging 2014;13:1-9.
- Combs CA, Smirnov A, Glancy B, Karamzadeh NS, Gandjbakhche AH, Redford G, Kilborn K, Knutson JR, Balaban RS. Compact non-contact total emission detection for in vivo multiphoton excitation microscopy. J Microsc 2014;253(2):83-92.
- Ardeshirpour Y, Chernomordik V, Hassan M, Zielinski R, Capala J, Gandjbakhche A. In vivo fluorescence lifetime imaging for monitoring the efficacy of the cancer treatment. Clin Cancer Res 2014;20(13):3531-3539.
- Kainerstorfer JM, Polizzotto MN, Uldrick TS, Rahman R, Hassan M, Najafizadeh L, Ardeshirpour Y, Wyvill KM, Aleman K, Smith PD, Yarchoan R, Gandjbakhche AH. Evaluation of non-invasive multispectral imaging as a tool for measuring the effect of systemic therapy in Kaposi sarcoma. PLoS One 2013;8(12):e83887.
- Karamzadeh N, Medvedev A, Azari A, Gandjbakhche A, Najafizadeh L. Capturing dynamic patterns of task-based functional connectivity with EEG. NeuroImage 2013;66:311-317.
- Samuel Achilefu, PhD, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO
- Robert Balaban, PhD, Laboratory of Cardiac Energetics, NHLBI, Bethesda, MD
- Claude Boccara, PhD, École Supérieure de Physique et de Chimie Industrielles, Paris, France
- Kevin Camphausen, PhD, Radiation Oncology Branch, NCI, Bethesda, MD
- Jacek Capala, PhD, Radiation Oncology Branch, NCI, Bethesda, MD
- Christian Combs, PhD, Light Microscopy Facility, NHLBI, Bethesda, MD
- Stavros Demos, PhD, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA
- Ramon Diaz-Arrastia, MD, PhD, Center for Neuroscience and Regenerative Medicine, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD
- Israel Gannot, PhD, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel, and The George Washington University, Washington, DC
- Gary Griffiths, PhD, Imaging Probe Development Center, NIH, Rockville, MD
- Alan Halpern, MD, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY
- Ilko Ilev, PhD, Office of Science and Engineering Laboratories, FDA, Bethesda, MD
- Jay Knutson, PhD, Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics, NHLBI, Bethesda, MD
- Ralph Nossal, PhD, Program in Physical Biology, NICHD, Bethesda, MD
- Sinisa Pajevic, PhD, Division of Computational Bioscience, CIT, NIH, Bethesda, MD
- Tom Pohida, MS, Division of Computational Bioscience, CIT, NIH, Bethesda, MD
- Dan Sackett, PhD, Program in Physical Biology, NICHD, Bethesda, MD
- Alexsandr Smirnov, PhD, Light Microscopy Facility, NHLBI, Bethesda, MD
- Paul Smith, PhD, Division of Bioengineering and Physical Science, Office of Research Services, NIH, Bethesda, MD
- Eric Wassermann, MD, Cognitive Neuroscience Section, NINDS, Bethesda, MD
- Robert Yarchoan, MD, HIV and AIDS Malignancy Branch, NCI, Bethesda, MD
- Rafal Zielinski, PhD, Radiation Oncology Branch, NCI, Bethesda, MD
For more information, email email@example.com.


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Hikers Discover Body in Theodore Roosevelt National Park
A body was discovered by two hikers in the south unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park late Wednesday afternoon, May 18th.
According to KX News, the body has been transported to Bismarck, where an autopsy will be performed. The body has not yet been identified.
Multiple agencies responded to the discovery of the body, including the North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
While the incident remains under investigation, authorities have stated that their is no danger to the public.
We'll update this story as more details become available.
[KX News]


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Vegas Golden Knights Owner Looking to 'Dominate' iGaming Industry: Report
Posted on: December 8, 2020, 01:50h.
Last updated on: December 8, 2020, 02:32h.
Vegas Golden Knights owner Bill Foley plans to enter the online gaming industry and wants his company to "dominate" it, according to a published report.
Foley's company, Foley Trasimene Acquisition Corp. II, announced plans this week to merge with Paysafe Group Holdings Ltd., in a $9 billion transaction, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. London-based Paysafe processes online payments, which is useful for online gamblers. Paysafe's clients include sports-wagering companies such as William Hill US and DraftKings.
At the merger's completion, the company is expected to be called Paysafe Limited. The plan is for it to be listed under the symbol PSFE on the New York Stock Exchange. Foley would become board chairman.
Foley told the newspaper he wants Playsafe to "dominate" iGaming. He is seeking to establish Playsafe's "tie-ins with every major casino company that's headquartered or located in Las Vegas."
Foley is a familiar figure on the Las Vegas gaming scene. The National Hockey League's Golden Knights play their home games on the west side of the Las Vegas Strip at T-Mobile Arena. The arena is a short walking distance from several large hotel-casinos, including Park MGM and New York-New York.
Brendan Bussmann of Las Vegas-based Global Market Advisors told the Review-Journal that iGaming and sports betting are growth areas in the industry.
Sports Betting Goes 'Mainstream'
The increased popularity of sports betting was evident this year on Election Day. Voters approved sports wagering in the three states where it was on the ballot. These states are Maryland, Louisiana, and South Dakota.
Sports betting is legal in 19 states and Washington, D.C., according to the American Gaming Association website. It is legal but not yet operational in six other states, including Maryland, Louisiana, and South Dakota. Legislation is active or pre-filed in four more states.
On an episode of CNBC's Mad Money airing after the election, host Jim Cramer said states see an upside in the tax money from legal sports betting. That's one reason sports betting is "taking the country by storm," Cramer said.
Sports betting has gone mainstream," he said.
A 2018 ruling by the US Supreme Court gave states the ability to make their own decisions on sports betting.
Overwhelming Support
The vote in Louisiana underscores sports betting's mainstream acceptance.
In the Bayou State, voters in 55 of the 64 parishes approved sports wagering within their parish. The measure passed with overwhelming support in the parishes that are home to the state's largest cities, including Baton Rouge and New Orleans. In several parishes, more than 65 percent of voters approved the measure.
Louisiana is home to 15 licensed riverboat casinos, a land-based casino in New Orleans, and four racinos. One riverboat casino, the Isle of Capri in Lake Charles, remained closed this week. It came unmoored during a hurricane in the summer and struck a bridge. No one was injured in the incident. A tugboat returned the floating casino to its original location.
When legislators next meet at the Capitol in Baton Rouge, they will determine sports-betting regulation and taxation issues. Lawmakers also must decide whether sports betting will be allowed only inside casinos or also on electronic devices, such as smartphones.
Authorities have said legal sports betting probably won't take place in Louisiana until at least 2022.
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Susan Kelly December 9, 2020
Does this mean real payouts on slot machines on Texas poker and all the other great gambling sources?¿?
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The distinguished "John William Kaye" described the whole narrative of FCR's hallmark in such a words; "We cannot rein wild horses with silken braids", which are not quite convincible, because human being is the product of environment in which they lives. On the other hand, the man of outstanding sensations "Emile Durkheim" articulated in such words; Society is, above all, a consciousness; it is the consciousness of the collectivity.
So, FATA, according to the statement of ED, is a conscious society, by virtue of its having traditional values, customs, cultural, moralities and so on and forth. Therefore, as far as the FCR (Frontier Crime Regulation) is concern, which is the dirt left by British, is in violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Constitution of Pakistan. Broadly speaking, every trait of FCR is gruesome, but the most irritating one is the "Collective Responsibility Clause". Under this clause, which is the worst aberration of the FCR, a collective punishment is imposed on anyone in the tribal area for a crime committed by his or her relative, spouse, or even a person from the same tribe and area.
The voice of FATA's people is not much enough to pave the better way for the better future.
The roots of FCR can be found in the Murderous Outrages Regulation act of 1867 implemented by British to further increase the power of government. In addition, the demarcation of the Durand Line in 1893 by the British compounded the already bad situation. Thereupon, a new act was implemented in 1901 which is FCR. The FCR was implemented to some specific area i.e. FATA. Tellingly, FATA was made as a buffer zone amid the 'Cold War' between Russia and British.
Moreover, if we look back into the history of West we will find many such instances which played out the social harmony. Europe, for instance, was on the path of disintegration, particularly after the Roman fall, had owed it to presence of three types of laws: the civil law, the cannon law and the customary law. Each one of the mentioned laws performs different role and hence divided the social fabric into different sphere.
The roots of FCR can be found in the Murderous Outrages Regulation act of 1867 implemented by British to further increase the power of government.
The Civil laws, which were rooted in the laws of Roman Civilization, were just conducive to the rulers of the time; on the other hand, the cannon laws, which were opposite to the civil laws, were the laws conducive to theologians. In addition, which is compulsory to mentioned, the Customary Laws; these were laws conducive to common people. Therefore, the journey of disintegration of European social fabric further exacerbated by the enforcing many laws in one integration. Consequently, the integration of Europe transformed into disintegration in which one of the foremost factors was the presence of different laws.
In the same way, FATA is experiencing different laws from that of the entire Pakistan. Likewise, the amendments in the FCR are not only a dream of FATA's people but, without any exaggeration, a dream for what they live for.
FATA MNAs, without any mercy, exploiting the tribal elders and common people and use them to impose their autocratic decisions.
In short it is an everyday debate of their life. Though some amendments in the FCR are done by the former president Asif Ali Zardari, which without any doubt, made the FCR little bit a human friendly; in which men above 65 years and children blow 16 years have been exempted from jail, but a lot more need to be done. Notwithstanding, however, all the elected MNAs (Members of National Assembly) of FATA are either from the bureaucratic or the elite families, who without any mercy, exploiting the tribal people and the MALIKS (tribal elders), moreover, use them to impose their autocratic decisions. So how can one expect that they will abolish FCR or amend the parts which are causing violation of basic Human Rights?
After Independence, and the birth of a sovereign Pakistan, it was hoped that the Constitution of 1973 would herald a new era of freedom for the people of this country to flourish and progress. However, unlike the rest of Pakistan, the Constitution was not applied to the region of FATA.
Constitutional rights were not applied to the tribal regions when rest of the country was given such rights.
Here are some instances which are the following:
According to SPARC's annual report 2009, in December 2009, it was reported that 14 children were detained under the FCR. In 2004, the annual report of SPARC had reported that about 70 children had been detained under the same law. In 2004, during a visit to Haripur Central Prison, the SPARC team met with 21 women and children who were members of a fugitive's family. The women and children had been convicted under section 40 of the FCR. They were arrested after the wanted man had escaped arrest.
In the same order, the Lahore High Court directed the release of Qimat Gul of the FATA who had been detained for about two-and-a-half years without any right to defend. The Political Agent of Bajaur Agency had implicated him under the FCR and had detained him when he protested against forcibly grabbing of his land by some influential persons in the village.
Children and women are also the victims of the FCR law without any right to defend themselves legally
Above all is the current tragedy of disappearance of some of government's official and thereupon, according to the FCR the Suleman Khel tribe is responsible and hence 22 elders are arrested by the political administration of South Waziristan, in spite of the fact that these areas were recently proclaimed clear of every type of terrorism. In addition, the arrested people recently kicked out to their villages, and it was not been a year even, that, unfortunately, they once again set out on the path of great misfortune.
Finally, which is not the least to mention, the voice of FATA's people is not much enough to pave the better way for the better future. And without the support of concern authorizes, they are neither sane nor insane.


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Offensive graffiti has been scrawled on a number of properties in the Craigavon area in recent days.
The latest reported incident happened in the Ardowen area where an anti-PSNI slogan was sprayed at least six feet high.
SDLP councillor Thomas Larkham has hit out at those responsible/
"I have reported this graffiti in Ardowen to Council and the NI Housing Executive for urgent removal.
"I understand that there was other incidents of graffiti in neighbouring estates over the past few days."
He added: "This is totally unacceptable behaviour and I call on those who wish to deface our community in such a manner to stop! Your views are not reflective of the people."


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Question: My forklift says code E-34 what does this mean?
Code E-34: Spark system error signal typically throws a Code E-34. Most of the time when you get a Code E-34 a tune up can fix this problem. The other-thing it could be when you get a Code E-34 is a wiring problem. Sometimes a Code E-34 can be fixed as easy as new spark plug wires.