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Saturday, September 30, 2023
Helen Clark interviews Professor CARL THAYER, an expert on Vietnam
HANOI, Dec 2 2009 (IPS) - Professor Carl Thayer, a Vietnam expert with the Australian Defence Force Academy in Canberra, was in Hanoi last week for a multilateral conference on the issue of the South China Sea.
Vietnam, China, Taiwan, the Philippines and Malaysia all lay claim to the oil- rich Spratly-Paracel islands, which have as yet remained unexplored.
Thayer, who speaks Vietnamese, has been coming to Vietnam since 1981, five years before 'doi moi', the economic opening of the country to the rest of the world. Since then Vietnam has reduced poverty, built relationships in the region and farther afield, and joined the World Trade Organisation in 2007.
A graduate of Brown University in the U.S., Thayer obtained his master's degree in South-east Asian studies from Yale University and Ph.D. in International Relations from the Australian National University.
He shares his thoughts on some of the major issues affecting Vietnam today.
There are three pillars: socio-political, economic, socio-cultural. Vietnam is specifically pushing the first one through an initiative its defence minister has recently endorsed. ADMM Plus, which is the ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting, stands for its ten dialogue partners. But more to the point is its (Vietnam's) growing economy, political stability and willingness to cooperate outside South-east Asia.
Indonesia was unstable, Malaysia was unstable. They've come through and Thailand hasn't. Vietnam is ready, willing and able to play that (increased) role.
IPS: It does not hurt that Vietnam has weathered the global financial crisis relatively well. CT: Take economic growth. It's down to 5.2 percent this year, but it's a high growth rate in the region. It puts it in the top rank in the region.
I think Vietnam did well as they launched their own stimulus programme and they haven't lost FDI [foreign direct investment]. Its own monetary policies have resulted in return. The country's going to be stable and it's going to grow.
But like every country in the world, it's got to decide when you go from special relief measures to withdrawing those so the real market forces can work.
IPS: Some have wondered whether Vietnam will 'pick' one over the other when it comes to two of its largest trading partners—the U.S. and China. CT: Take the tyranny of distance—this is the tyranny of geography. Vietnam's next to China and it's big and it won't go away. The population of Vietnam is equivalent to a mid-sized Chinese province. Trade is 20 billion U.S. dollars and China has a ten-billion-dollar surplus in that. Vietnam has a massive deficit. Vietnam has an eight-billion-dollar trade surplus with the United States. It has other countries it can trade with… but those countries are so important.
All countries have to get along with China. Given the trade imbalances, it'd be suicidal (not to).
Vietnam is hosting the U.S.-ASEAN Summit (in 2010). They desperately want Obama here. Dealing with China, you're using the summit and it's useful to have an American president.
IPS: Could you call the U.S. attitude toward Vietnam part of a 'China containment policy' as some have argued? CT: If you look at Obama's visit to China, he welcomed China's rise. In the South-east Asian region, the new [U.S] administration is playing a multilateral game. Under Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, they signed the TAC [Treaty Amity and Cooperation]. ASEAN then invited the other countries to sign it. As Clinton has said, the United States is back. And very quickly we've covered lost ground.
IPS: What does Vietnam specifically want? CT: Vietnam wants to develop. The no-brainer is it has to have a peaceful environment. But part of that development was in 2007. They drew up a plan to develop maritime resources coast, territorial waters and exclusive economic zones.
If those plans were to work, it would contribute to half of all GDP [gross domestic product] in the future. China got wind of that in 2007 and approached oil and gas companies (working with Vietnam) and said "if you do deals with the Vietnamese, your interests in China will be hurt."
Their development plans were held hostage. This year the U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State gave testimony at the Senate foreign relations committee, stating publicly the U.S. has protested to China about its behaviour, and the U.S. protests (Chinese) threats to U.S. companies.
Once U.S. companies are involved, they'll go screaming to Washington, (so Vietnam) needs the U.S. to keep a check on China.
And there are other roles. One concern for the U.S.—one of the greatest concerns—is nuclear weapons. And on the U.N. Security Council, Vietnam has played a helpful role pushing towards non-proliferation. The U.S. gets another sign-up against North Korea.
IPS: And how does China view Vietnam? CT: China has borders with 14 countries. Vietnam is looked at as a country where you do not want instability or issues to flow over (the border). Vietnam is different from the other countries as it shares (South China Sea) conflict (with China) in the South China Sea. Vietnam needs China more than China needs Vietnam.
Vietnam is in ASEAN and China has to deal with ASEAN. China would like Vietnam to be compliant. Despite the frictions, its not a bad relationship…. except for the territorial disputes. We shouldn't exaggerate certain issues.
IPS: Nations such as India also have reported strategic interest in Vietnam. Both have fought border wars with China, though only Vietnam won. CT: It's particularly strong on the defence side. Eight years ago, India wanted to exchange views with Vietnam about fighting the Chinese in the mountains. They have an emerging strategic partnership, but it's not operational. India is a big power in South Asia. It's not unimportant.
IPS: People from fairly disparate groups— Buddhist, Catholic, anti-China, environmentalist, pro-democracy—seem to be finding each other via the Internet. But the government's blocking of social networking site Facebook has put a damper on things of late. CT: There is cross-pollination going on and the country leaders' default position is always repression.
IPS: For all the government arrests of dissidents and Internet activity, it still seems like most young people are apolitical. CT: Freedom and democracy… what's the material gain? For years I've been arguing the legitimacy of the Communist Party is economic growth, and now political stability.
You don't want political instability as that kills off foreign investment. When I first came to Vietnam, I met government ministers with patches on their clothes. When I look at the children today, they're getting the material life their parents didn't have.
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Initiatives, Partners and Friends – July/August 2020
Project Planet
A drop in travel helps the planet. But there's a catch.
With global travel largely on pause during the Covid-19 pandemic, some cities and companies see an opportunity to rethink tourism with the planet's health in mind.
Click Here to see the 4-minute video on reimagining tourism.
Bloomberg Green Newsletter
In climate news today…
- There's a lesson for the energy transition in California's blackouts.
- Tiffany will soon reveal where your diamond has come from.
- Crabs may help prevent flooding in the Philippines.
Sustainability reporting is quickly going mainstream. While companies aren't always required by regulators to report their greenhouse gas emissions, human rights records and wastewater management, investors are pushing them for this information at a faster clip.
Part of the issue is that global investors are under pressure from governments and asset owners themselves to report their impact on people and the planet. Sustainability information companies provided up until now has rarely been comparable, timely or consistent year-to-year. There's been a focus on gloss over substance. Big companies, such as Tesla, Amazon and UnitedHealth, are still relatively young sustainability reporters.
Investors who find such information critical to understanding future business prospects can make educated guesses or hire analysts, but what they really want is information from the companies themselves. That was the thinking behind the pre-pandemic push by BlackRock Chairman Larry Fink to specifically ask companies to use Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) metrics.
"For a long time, companies weren't really convinced investors wanted this information and weren't convinced investors were using it. It's a significant investment for companies to report high-quality sustainability information," said Janine Guillot, chief executive of the SASB, which created industry-specific sustainability standards that she said matter most to investors.
It turns out that Fink's letter in January may have changed some minds.
So far this year, SASB said 279 companies are reporting in line with its standards, up from 118 in all of 2019. SASB has been helping those companies new to the reporting concept. This is especially needed by those firms that operate in multiple industries, which requires finding metrics that best reflect their business models.
SASB said it also has 150 investors using its metrics in their investment process. (Bloomberg LP founder and majority owner Michael Bloomberg is chairman emeritus of the SASB.)
Now that more companies and investors are using SASB standards, the real test will be whether transparency and market competition pushes companies to improve their ESG performance. Will energy companies get out of coal faster? Will they feel like they have to diversify their workforces as quickly as competitors? Will they compete on how much water they use or the amount of waste they generate?
"Companies already benchmark their financial performance against their peers," Guillot said. "If you have comparable, consistent information, companies should start to compete on those metrics."
Resilience Isn't a Project – It's a Mindset for Better Plants Partners
Better Buildings Beat Blog | August 25, 2020
2020 has been the year of "the pivot" – of looking critically at every part of operations and thinking creatively about new approaches to doing business.
Changes that businesses would never have dreamed of a few months ago have become commonplace. News of British shirt factories now producing masks and hospital gowns, or an award-winning distillery ditching gin for hand sanitizer, is a new normal. While some companies have had to make significant cultural changes to adapt their output, creative and innovative thinking has driven the success of Better Plants partners for years.
Better Plants partners have cumulatively saved more than $6.7 billion and 1.3 quadrillion BTUs of energy – all built on principles of innovation, creative thinking, and challenging the status quo.
So, as the COVID-19 pandemic shook our lives and economy, partners like General Motors (GM) and L'Oréal USA did what they always do – adapted.
For GM, that meant looking at their plants in a whole new way.
To start, the auto manufacturer needed to turn their facilities into oh-so-efficient sleeping giants. Energy managers throughout the company tracked the performance of each plant, competing to see who could reduce energy-use the most during the shutdown, maximizing the company's savings to weather the storm. Leading plants reduced their energy use during periods of plant shutdown by 95 percent.
Meanwhile, plants started looking for new ways to put their facilities to work. Ideas came from the plant employees themselves. Clean rooms typically used to build transmissions became facilities for producing masks and gowns, with workers who specialize in interior trim for vehicles now sewing protective equipment for healthcare professionals. An employee with expertise in 3D printing developed frames for face shields. Just four weeks after shifting its product mix, GM delivered one million face masks and had shared production plans with GM suppliers, the Original Equipment Suppliers Association, and the Michigan Manufacturers Association to help other manufacturers ramp up their own production efforts.
The auto manufacturer has also established a partnership with medical device company Ventec Life Systems to produce 30,000 ventilators by August 2020, relying on GM's manufacturing expertise and global supply chain.
The operational changes are dramatic, but those closest to the action tend to downplay the transition. "When you have the technology to build a vehicle, there's not much you can't do," explains Al Hildreth, GM's global energy manager who has spent his career transforming GM into one of the most energy-efficient vehicle manufacturers on the planet using exactly the same creative thinking that has seen the company through 2020's challenges.
The attitude is similar at L'Oréal, where lines that typically produce cosmetics have cranked out more than 40 million units of hand sanitizer, globally.
"We are great at making products – that's not the issue," said Jay Harf, L'Oréal's vice president of environment, health, safety and sustainability. "The most important thing is getting people's minds around this transition. An agile mindset, combined with extensive launch experience, gave us the ability to adapt our lines to produce hand sanitizer, leverage onsite technology to build intubation boxes and face masks, and react to sudden shifts in consumer demand."
For L'Oréal, finding and cultivating that agile mindset starts right before new employees have even signed on the dotted line. Roles at L'Oréal plants are explained to job applicants as a pursuit of four principles: excellence, safety, environmental stewardship and innovation.
"We look for candidates who demonstrate logic, reasoning and problem-solving skills, and we test them with questions that put them in the position of a decision-maker," explained Harf.
L'Oréal also gives young talent perspective on the entire business through their GROW program – an internal program that helps employees prepare for future management positions by introducing them to sourcing, packaging, manufacturing and e-commerce partners like Amazon.
The agility of L'Oréal's team allowed them to pivot to hand sanitizer production in under two weeks, including formula development, manufacturing, packaging and distribution.
That work has been accomplished without losing site of the company's larger goals. In May, the company announced the L'Oréal for the Future program, introducing new goals for 2030 to addresses critical environmental and societal issues, including plans for all global sites to achieve carbon neutrality by 2025. GM has set similar goals, aiming to reduce absolute carbon emissions from their operations by 31% by 2030.
That's not to say more change is always better. "It's critical that change come from established need," Harf cautions. "You can adapt too often. Our culture is built on a clear understanding of why there is need for change. Always seek to serve and to care about your employees and your customers. Never lose sight of your goals and objectives. Evolve to a better version of your company, product, and process. And don't shake the foundation each week to be the cool guy on the block."
Sound advice. After all, the coolest person on the block isn't the one who reinvents themselves over and over again, it's the person who can try something new and make it look natural – but that's a topic for another time.

subset: commoncrawl


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GUNS N' ROSES CELEBRATES 30th ANNIVERSARY OF "APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION"
Music Legends to Dominate North America on Summer and Fall Leg of Tour, Kicking Off July 27
General Onsale for New Dates Starts July 28 at LiveNation.com
New Date Added for the Forum is November 29
Los Angeles, CA (July 21st, 2017) – Three decades ago today, Guns N' Roses transformed and transfixed the world of rock and roll forever with their seminal debut album Appetite for Destruction. To celebrate the multi-platinum record that welcomed fans to the jungle and topped the Billboard 200, the unprecedented legends of rock are announcing a selection of new stops on their momentous Not In This Lifetime Tour produced by Live Nation.
Named the #1 selling tour worldwide for 2017, stadiums were sold out this summer across the UK, Europe, and Israel. The Daily Telegraph said of the London shows "The Guns N' Roses reunion arrived in London and it was big, brash and absolutely brilliant. — «««««" The highly anticipated North American run of the tour kicks off July 27th in St. Louis, MO and the music icons are revealing eleven more coveted dates in cities across the U.S. including Newark, DC, Hartford, Louisville, Milwaukee, Nashville, Sacramento, and San Diego. They will also be adding a second stop in Toronto, and third dates in both New York and Los Angeles.
Citi® is the official presale credit card for the Guns N' Roses Not In This Lifetime tour. As such, Citi® cardmembers will have access to purchase U.S. presale tickets beginning Monday, July 24th at 10:00am local time until Thursday, July 27th at 10:00pm local time through Citi's Private Pass® program. Tickets for the Los Angeles date November 29th at The Forum will be available beginning Monday, July 31st at 10:00am local time through Thursday, August 3 at 10:00pm local time. For complete presale details visit www.citiprivatepass.com.
AT&T is sending customers to the front of the line with AT&T priority presale ticket access beginning on Wednesday, July 26th at 10:00am local time through Thursday, July 27th at 10:00pm local time via the AT&T THANKS program. Tickets for the Los Angeles show November 29th at The Forum will be available beginning on Wednesday, August 2nd at 10:00am local time through Thursday, August 3rd at 10:00pm local time. For complete presale details visit att.com/frontoftheline.com.
Tickets for new dates of the Not In This Lifetime tour go on sale to the general public starting Friday, July 28th at 10:00am local time at livenation.com. Tickets for the Los Angeles show November 29th at The Forum will be available to the general public beginning on Friday, August 4th. Exclusive Guns N' Roses VIP packages are available for North American dates at vipnation.com.
Last night the band continued their celebration of the 30th anniversary of Appetite for Destruction and the upcoming start of their North American outing with an exclusive show at Harlem's world famous Apollo Theater. The intimate evening for fans was the first time Guns N' Roses performed at the iconic venue. Appetite for Destruction sold 30 million copies globally when it leapt onto the scene in 1987 and became the bestselling U.S. debut in music history.
Following the group's 1985 formation, Guns N' Roses injected unbridled, unrivaled, and unstoppable attitude into the burgeoning Los Angeles rock scene. The spirit went on to captivate the entire world with the release of their 1987 debut Appetite for Destruction –the best-selling U.S. debut ever, moving 30 million copies globally. In 1991, the seven-time platinum Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II occupied the top two spots of the Billboard Top 200 upon release. Over the course of the past decade, Guns N' Roses have performed sold out shows and headlined festivals worldwide following the critically acclaimed release of 2008's RIAA platinum-certified Chinese Democracy. Six studio albums later, Guns N' Roses are one of the most important and influential acts in music history and continue to set the benchmark for live performances connecting with millions of fans across the globe. Guns N' Roses' are Axl Rose (vocals, piano), Duff McKagan (bass), Slash (lead guitar), Dizzy Reed (keyboard), Richard Fortus (rhythm guitar), Frank Ferrer (drums), and Melissa Reese (keyboard).
# # #
The full list of routing can be found below, with new dates bolded.
North America
|Thursday, July 27, 2017
Sunday, July 30, 2017
Wednesday, August 2, 2017
Saturday, August 5, 2017
Tuesday, August 8, 2017
|+St. Louis, MO
+Minneapolis, MN
**Denver, CO
**Little Rock, AK
**Miami, FL
|The Dome At America's Center
U.S. Bank Stadium
Sports Authority Field at Mile High
War Memorial Stadium
Miami Marlins Stadium
|Friday, August 11, 2017
|++Winston-Salem, NC
|BB&T Field at Wake Forest University
|Sunday, August 13, 2017
|++Hershey, PA
|Hersheypark Stadium
|Wednesday, August 16, 2017
|Buffalo, NY
|New Era Field
|Saturday, August 19, 2017
|^Montreal, QC
|Parc Jean Drapeau
|Monday, August 21, 2017
|^Ottawa, ON
|TD Place Stadium
|Thursday, August 24, 2017
|^Winnipeg, MB
|Investors Group Field
|Sunday, August 27, 2017
|Regina, SK
|New Mosaic Stadium at Evraz Place
|Wednesday, August 30, 2017
|^Edmonton, AB
|Commonwealth Stadium
|Friday, September 1, 2017
|*Vancouver, BC
|BC Place Stadium
|Sunday, September 3, 2017
|*George, WA
|The Gorge
|Wednesday, September 6, 2017
Friday, September 8, 2017
|***El Paso, TX
***San Antonio, TX
|Sun Bowl Stadium
|Sunday, October 8, 2017
Wednesday, October 11, 2017
Thursday, October 12, 2017
Sunday, October 15, 2017
Monday, October 16, 2017
Thursday, October 19, 2017
Sunday, October 22, 2017
Monday, October 23, 2017
Thursday, October 26, 2017
Sunday, October 29, 2017
Monday, October 30, 2017
Thursday, November 2, 2017
Friday, November 3, 2017
Monday, November 6, 2017
Tuesday, November 7, 2017
Friday, November 10, 2017
Monday, November 13, 2017
Tuesday, November 14, 2017
Friday, November 17, 2017
Saturday, November 18, 2017
Tuesday, November 21, 2017
Friday, November 24, 2017
Saturday, November 25, 2017
Tuesday, November 28, 2017
Wednesday, November 29, 2017
***with ZZ Top
+with Deftones
**with Sturgill Simpson
*with Royal Blood
++with LĪVE
^with Our Lady Peace
|Philadelphia, PA
New York, NY
Newark, NJ
New York, NY
New York, NY
Washington D.C.
Boston, MA
Hartford, CT
Cleveland, OH
Toronto, ON
Toronto, ON
Detroit, MI
Louisville, KY
Chicago, IL
Milwaukee, WI
Houston, TX
Nashville, TN
Tulsa, OK
Las Vegas, NV
Sacramento, CA
Oakland, CA
Los Angeles, CA
Los Angeles, CA
San Diego, CA
Los Angeles, CA
|Wells Fargo Center
Madison Square Garden
Prudential Center
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden
Verizon Center
TD Garden
XL Center
Quicken Loans Arena
Air Canada Centre
Air Canada Centre
Little Caesers Arena
KFC Yum! Center
United Center
Bradley Center
Toyota Center
Bridgestone Arena
BOK Center
T-Mobile Arena
Golden 1 Center
Oracle Arena
Staples Center
The Forum
Valley View Casino Center
The Forum
About Live Nation Entertainment
Live Nation Entertainment (NYSE: LYV) is the world's leading live entertainment company comprised of global market leaders: Ticketmaster, Live Nation Concerts, and Live Nation Media & Sponsorship. For additional information, visit www.livenationentertainment.com.
Live Nation:
Emily Bender, firstname.lastname@example.com
Scoop Marketing for the Forum:
Brooke Paller, firstname.lastname@example.com


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Breaking News: APC Governorship Candidate, Comrade Tony Nwoye to be removed as APC groups call for primary re-run, petitions presidency
Already four support groups registered with the national secretariat of APC, have rejected the election of Comrade Nwoye, appealing to the National Working Committee (NWC) and the Presidency to drop Nwoye as the flag bearer of the party if the party must win the Governorship election.
The Groups were not only calling for the cancellation of the primary election that produced Comrade Nwoye but as well called on NWC of APC to order for a re-run in which Senator Andy Uba and Hon Tony Nwoye would not participate.
The organizations calling for cancellation of Nwoye as the flag bearer of the party include the Anambra All Progressives Congress Forum Abuja led by Chief Obum Ozuanwu and All Progressives Congress Voters Club led by Ifeanyi Obinna.
Others are South-East All Progressive Congress Forum led by its Coordinator Mazi Chuzzy and Igbo/Yoruba Unity Forum led by Godwin Okafor. They asked him to stop commending President Buhari and the APC for a level playing ground as it is not necessary, vowing to work against the party if Nwoye is not substituted.
Spokesperson of the groups and National Vice Chairman of Coalition of APC Support Groups South-East Zone Mazi Chuzzy called for the suspension of Comrade Tony Nwoye and Senator Andy Uba from APC for openly sharing money to procure votes at the venue of the primary election and even asking delegates to take pictures of their votes in order to collect more money after voting.
The groups asked President Muhammadu Buhari NWC of APC to give the party a clean candidate in Anambra as its flag bearer and to direct that Nwoye by dropped, warning that Comrade Nwoye cannot be the candidate of the APC in Anambra Governorship election unless the party is not going into the election to win, adding that Nwoye as a former PDP leader still has sympathy for the party and would sabotage the party in the elections.
The groups wanted a better and credible candidate to be used to substitute Nwoye to enable the party win the elections as according to them Nwoye has so much baggage allegedly on him including his godfather who has spent over N3 Billion allegedly just for the primary.
Part of the statement read in part: '' these support organizations registered with APC national Secretariat are calling for the cancellations of the just concluded Anambra state Governorship Primary. The party's NWC should order for a re-run and we are calling for a suspension of Tony Nwoye and Andy Uba from participating in the re-run.
''Our Party, the APC is known for its anti-corruption stance and we should not allow people from the PDP with corruption hanging on them to come and take the position of rightful party members. Nwoye and Uba should first be members of the party and wait for their turn to participate in the party's primary but not now. Some people have been in the party for long and they just came to take the position of those who have been in the party. We won't allow that.
''Why should our party known for fighting corruption offer its ticket to Nwoye who spent 16 years in PDP and was allegedly associated with the atrocities of the PDP in the state especially during Dr Chris Nwabueze Ngige as Governor, when Ngige was kidnapped and Government establishments burnt.
''Why should delegates choice be twisted because a money bag was bent on sponsoring a candidate in a manner, that seems an imposition on the party. The money bag spent between N18.5 Million and N20 Million in each local government openly to woo delegates against their conscience. That is not the spirit of APC but PDP.
''Nwoye is a man that has been accused of so many things including being a cultist, participating in the killing of the Igwe's during Mbadinuju's era, burning of Anambra public structures and despite that the party has the final say in the screening of candidates, we call on the DSS to bring out Tony's records from his student days to his PDP days till now, and see why APC should not have him as its candidate.
''Constitution of Nigeria and even our party is clear on membership of a cult group as alleged and why should APC with its slogan of change pick a PDP apologist as its flag bearer. PDP was corrupt, Nwoye and Uba shouldn't have been allowed to participate in the primary. Yes! Nwoye was elected as the candidate but we want him substituted with a candidate who is credible or have a re-run of the primary with credible candidates who can win election for APC in Anambra. Nwoye isn't that candidate and the party is supreme on such issues because it has happened in the past and this won't be any different.
''If this is allowed, how can APC survive in the South-East? We have tried it before in some other states, by allowing candidates who are not credible represent the party and we failed like a pack of cards, so we won't allow such again.
Breaking News: APC Governorship Candidate, Comrade Tony Nwoye to be removed as APC groups call for primary re-run, petitions presidency Reviewed by Unknown on Thursday, August 31, 2017 Rating:


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Canada isn't as sweet as many believe, even with all that maple syrup. In 2014, a 15-year-old indigenous girl named Tina Fontaine was found floating in Winnipeg's Red River, according to Global News.
At the time, she was under the supervision of Child and Family Services. Raymond Cormier, a 56 year old man, was charged with second-degree murder for the death of Tina Fontaine, but was found innocent.
Her murder shocked the country and started the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG). The little known fact that Canadian First Nation women are actively facing violence, human rights abuses and grave injustice is an issue that was recently brought to my attention.
After conducting research, I found out that these innocent women and girls are being murdered and raped without the perpetrators being found guilty.
There's a long history of abuse in North America against the First Nation people that still continues today.
Even up until a few decades ago, the Canadian government was still attempting to erase the indigenous cultures.
A feature was released on Foreign Policy that brought attention to the current issues First Nation women are going through, and how these people were mistreated in the past by the government and society.
The article talks about how Natives were denied voting rights if they did not renounce their indigenous status. The article also details how indigenous children were forced to assimilate into the majority culture, to the point of being beaten if they spoke their native language.
2011 data shows that even though the First Nation female population makes up 4.3 percent of Canada's female population, they represent five times their population percentage for female homicide victims.
Police reports show 4.5 out of 100,000 Canadian First Nation women die by homicide. Between 1980 and 2012 a little over 1,200 women were brutally murdered or reported missing. Even though the government claims that 90 percent of these cases have been solved, activists argue that the real number is only around 50 percent.
A five-member committee was appointed by the Canadian government to investigate these issues. Over 1,300 families have testified about the injustices against First Nation
people that have been occuring.
On the MMIWG website it states: "The Commissioners' mandate is to gather evidence, and to examine and report on the systemic causes of all forms of violence against Indigenous women and girls and 2SLGBTQQIA [equivalent to LGTBQ+] individuals in Canada by looking at patterns and underlying factors."
Canada needs to be more proactive in their investigations. The lives of the indigenous women are worth more than what they are being valued at.
Some of these women are also seeking justice because they were manipulated into being sterilized. Today 60 indigenous women are filing a class action lawsuit alleging forced sterilization by doctors dating back 30 years, with some of the sterilizations occurring as late as 2017.
The Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has spoken out about the issues, but little to nothing is being done to rectify the injustices these women are facing right now.
Stephen Harper, Trudeau's predecessor, said the abuse of indigenous women and girls was not a priority for him.
As people who can change what goes on in the world and bring awareness, we ought to fight for the human rights of people who have been brought down by others.
We have an obligation to care about these indigenous women who are being targeted by groups of people who hate them for their identity.
We can't continue to live in a world where no one advocates for the people who have already been taken advantage of enough.
We cannot let people be made powerless.
What you can do for these women is spread the message about what is happening to them, and add your voice to the call for action.


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< back
Keep your charity safe from fraud – tips from MannionDaniels' Fiduciary Risk team
Posted: 19/10/2020
Charity Fraud Awareness week takes place between 19 - 23 October 2020, it is an opportunity to empower not-for-profit sectors and charities to raise awareness and share good practice for tackling fraud.
This Charity Fraud Awareness week our Fiduciary Risk team at MannionDaniels have put together some top tips for effective risk management, internal controls and cyber security focusing on this year's three core messages.
Be fraud aware
- Ensure employees are trained in fraud prevention techniques so that all staff are aware of how to report and handle a suspected case
- Routinely share successful cases of proven fraud with your team so that they are confident in the types of fraud to look out for. However, ensure any confidential information remains confidential
- Be vigilant - do not reply to emails which ask for bank details or personal information directly, use the contact information on your system to follow up in a new email trail
Take time to check
- Ensure you check the background of all staff prior to employment – references, education, and credit history
- Ensure all allegations of fraud are taken seriously, assessed, and reported as per your organisations anti-fraud and whistleblowing policies
- Check procedures and processes to ensure they still apply during the current working environment with more people working from home. If there are any changes or amendments make sure to document them.
Keep your charity safe
- Communicate regularly with staff about anti-fraud policies, ways to report suspicions of misconduct and the potential consequences of fraudulent behaviour
- Tighten IT security on all devices, especially now more employees are working from home
- If you are not sure – report it. This allows for new and emerging fraud to be identified and monitored.
Learn more about Fraud Awareness Week by following #CharityFraudAwarenessWeek and #CharityFraudOut on Twitter, or by visiting the fraud advisory panel.


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Sandgrube, Europainstitut
The Institute for European Global Studies at Open House Basel
On May 15, 2022, the "Sandgrube" opens its doors for free as part of Open House Basel. At 10 am (in German) and at 11 am (in English), Prof. Dr. Madeleine Herren-Oesch, Director of the Institute for European Global Studies, will give guided tours explaining the history of the building. The number of participants is limited to 20 persons (first come, first served). Afterwards, guided tours are offered continuously. The meeting point is the entrance gate in the direction of Messe Basel.
Open House Basel opens around 100 outstanding buildings and outdoor spaces on May 14 and 15, 2022. On both days, between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., there will be guided tours through private houses and apartments, through theatres, churches, museums and schools, through offices and studios, workshops and infrastructure buildings.
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Get Your Home Inspection Report in 24 Hours
By gaining insight into potentially significant issues on your property, you can evaluate the implications from a cost or safety perspective.
We know you're busy. Lean and Green will send your report within 24 hours of your home inspection. We include our observations, recommendations, and reporting limitations to give you a fair assessment of your house.
Choosing a Home Inspector
The Alberta Professional Home Inspectors Society (APHIS) works to uphold and improve the standard of education and skill level of home inspectors. As a member of APHIS, we follow the Standards of Practice of ASHI (American Society of Home Inspectors) and are committed to its code of ethics for the home inspection profession.
Wayne Harvey, Edmonton Home Inspector
Prior to starting Lean and Green Home Inspections, Wayne Harvey spent fourteen years working in construction. As a Master Electrician, Wayne has an analytical mind and an eye for detail. These problem-solving skills provide immense benefits for home inspection and help us to provide clear and concise reports for our customers.
Wayne also served in the military as a soldier with Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry for fourteen years. Wayne extends a discount to his brothers and sisters in the military and first responders, as thanks for their continued service.


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Aluminium Mobile Tower Double Width
The Double width Mobile tower is ACE's scaffold system which has various applications for both interior and exterior use.
The maximum working height for interior and exterior work is 16 meter
Built in integral ladder frame, braces welded not crimped. Heavy duty claws on braces with fast release clip-trigger mechanism.
Safe working load is 270Kg per platform and the total weight including the tower is 850Kg.
The frames are connected with rigid spigot straight for easy assembling and dismantling along with locking pins to prevent accidental removal of frames .
Caster wheels 200mm has a foot operated dual brake system and can easily be locked and released.300mm adjustable leg with self cleaning thread.
The towers are equipped with standard & trapdoor platform along with aluminum or wooden toe board.
Frame Width available 1.2, 1.4, 1.5, 1.7 & 2.0 meter
Frame Length available 1.5 , 2.0 & 2.5 meter.


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Tooth Extraction And Braces
Most dentists come to hear from patients that they need to have a beautiful and perfect smile but they don't want any tooth extraction and braces. Some patients need to remove teeth as a part of having braces. All of us have two sets of teeth, primary and permanent teeth. Primary teeth will fall outRead more


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Vodafone's European towers unit, which is currently gearing up for a stock market listing, on Tuesday said it expects pro forma adjusted core earnings of up to 540 million euros ($640 million) in its 2021 financial year.The mobile operator on Tuesday will detail the prospects for Vantage Towers, which will IPO in Germany, Vodafone's biggest market. Vantage will operate around 68,000 macro sites across nine European countries, with commitments to build 7,100 new sites by financial year 2027, Vodafone said.
Vantage Towers CEO Vivek Badrinath said: "The growth potential in the towers sector is fuelled by the requirement for data as well as the roll-out of 5G technology and new and wider network coverage obligations across Europe. "These factors will increase the number of tenants renting space on our towers and we have also received firm commitments to build 7,100 new sites for our customers.
"Vantage Towers will target more mobile operator customers for its sites, taking its tenancy ratio from around 1.38 operators per site to more than 1.5 in the medium term, Vodafone said. The new company will include a proportionate share of INWIT, Italy's largest tower operator, Vodafone said
Vodafone and Telecom Italia both hold stakes in INWIT.Vodafone also said it intended to transfer its 50% stake in CTIL, its infrastructure joint venture with Telefonica in Britain, into Vantage, subject to reaching a legally binding agreement with Telefonica.
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Portugal faces two years of sharp recession: central bank
The Portuguese central bank sharply downgraded its estimates for the economy this year and next on Tuesday, in the midst of eurozone debt turmoil, saying the country was set for two years of strong recession.
The economy was heading for shrinkage of 2.0 percent in 2011, it said, downgrading a previous 2011 forecast of 1.4-percent shrinkage.
The bank said that next year the economy would shrink by 1.8 percent instead of growing by 0.3 percent as it had signalled previously, a revision of 2.1 percentage points of gross domestic product.
The new central bank forecasts are in line with forecasts by the European Commission and the International Monetary Fund.
The Bank of Portugal said that the country would feel the effects of recession during these two years because of "macroeconomic corrections" demanded by the European Union and International Monetary Fund as part of a rescue of 78.0 billion euros ($104.0 billion) rescue negotiated earlier this year.
The two years of expected recession come as Portuguese sovereign debt yields soared with markets worried that Portugal will need a second bailout to help it meet its debt commitments.
Despite the promised austerity measures, the yield on 10-year Portuguese debt has risen sharply in the last few days, although on Tuesday there was a slight respite.
Shortly after mid-day, the 10-year debt yield was 12.705 percent, down from 12.947 percent at close of trading on Monday.
Last week, Moody's ratings agency downgraded Portuguese 10-year bonds to junk status, triggering market nervousness which has rocked share prices and the euro.
Meanwhile, Portuguese inflation fell in June to 3.4 percent on a 12-month basis, from 3.8 percent in May, the national statistics institute INE said.
Prices fell 0.2 percent from May to June the institute said.
Average annual inflation rose 3.3 percent, above the 2.7 percent eurozone average.


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The late Bob Adamski didn't live to see his prediction from the early 2000s come true, but it has. Here are some of the reports: From FireEye, on 12/14/17: Attackers Deploy New ICS Attack Framework "TRITON" and Cause Operational Disruption to Critical Infrastructure And on 12/15, New TRITON ICS Malware is Bold and Important Bob and I, and Joe Weiss, have been continuously … [Read more...] about Major Cyber Attack on SIS Systems–and we told you so!
process safety
PAS spotlights process safety and cyber security at PTC2014 #pauto #PASTech2014
From PAS about the PAS Technical Conference: Process Safety and Cyber Security to be Key Focus at PTC2014 Industry leaders will share next generation best practices for operational safety and cyber security at PAS Technology Conference 2014 in Houston, May 19-21. Houston, Texas—May 6, 2014 – PAS Inc. today announced details of the topics to be presented at its PAS Technology … [Read more...] about PAS spotlights process safety and cyber security at PTC2014 #pauto #PASTech2014


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President Barack Obama signed a bipartisan budget deal Monday that suspends the debt limit through March 2017 and increases spending levels by $80 billion until September 2017, The Hill reported Monday.
Jordan Fabian writes the signed budget plan comes a day before the Tuesday deadline to avoid a federal default on debt.
âDemocrats and Republicans came together to set up a responsible, long-term budget process, and what we now see is a budget that reflects our values, that grows our economy, creates jobs [and] keeps America safe,â Obama said.
David Jackson also reports on USA Today that the bill would prevent possible government shutdowns in the next two years.
Departing House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) moved to propose the budget plan to prevent a breach in the debt limit, which he said could affect the countryâs credit rating, according to the report.


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Resources: Court Decisions
Matter of Sean O.
Surrogate, Suffolk County, denies guardianship of young man with autism, applying the principle of "least restrictive alternative," finding that Sean "is … functioning on his own in society as a capable adult who engages in supportive decision-making with his family and support professionals, [and] is aware of his limitations and recognizes his need to turn to others for guidance on certain matters."
Matter of Capurso
Surrogate, Westchester County, terminates the guardianship of Stephen a 34-year-old man with intellectual and developmental disabilities "because Stephen has a system of supported decision-making in place that constitutes a less restrictive alternative to 17-A guardianship"
Matter of Dameris L.
Surrogate, New York County, applying the "constitutional imperative" of least-restrictive alternative, and citing the CRPD, terminates guardianship of a 32-year-old woman who had been found "to be functioning at the mental age of a seven year old" based on evidence that she 'is able to exercise her legal capacity, to make and act on her own decisions, with the assistance of a support network which has come together for her since she first appeared in this court."
Matter of Michelle M.
Surrogate, Kings County, denies guardianship for a 34-year-old woman with an intellectual disability, based on evidence that she has the capacity to make decisions on her own with support, citing, e.g. the CRPD, the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Olmstead v. L.C., Governor Cuomo's Olmstead Cabinet Report and a law review article by SDMNY Advisory Council member Leslie Saltzman who wrote "Just as we recognize that the law…generally require[s] that we build a ramp so that an individual with a physical impairment can enter a building without being carried up the steps, we should also recognize a legal obligation to provide decision-making support to an individual with limitations in mental capabilities rather than assign a guardian to make decisions for that person."


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This beautifully soft, black sweatshirt features our Running Woman Signature subtly on the chest, representing strength & support to your fellow community.
Just perfect for any occasion, not only keeping you cosy & warm, but stylish too. The Running Woman Signature Collection is another essential addition to every running woman's wardrobe.
Model wears: S (Size 10) Model's height: 172cm / 5'8"
Washing Instructions
- Machine wash 30°
- Do not bleach
- Tumble dry on low heat
- Iron on low heat, on the reverse side of the print
- Do not dry clean
80% Ringspun cotton
20% Polyester
Accreditations & Industry Standards
- Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production
- PETA-Approved Vegan
- Veganok standard


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My name is Allen Shelton & I am the owner & operator of Definitive Arts. An artist since birth, I have almost 25 years of professional experience in the Sign & Design industry with a Bachelor of Arts in Visual Communications from the Northwest College of Arts (formerly) in Poulsbo, Washington. There, I learned a lot of the basics I would need as a professional artist as well as Airbrush (and later Pinstriping) from the late Tony Crosta, of Air Exaggerations.
From there, I entered the Sign Industry under the guise of Mike & Alicia Hanson of Hayden Signs & Designs, (formerly) of Poulsbo, Washington. There I honed my skills in layout & design, color & form, and vinyl application & traditional, custom, non-illuminated signage, adding to the visual aesthetic started by local signwriter and master Bill Austin, of Austin Signs, in Poulsbo.
Later, we would then become the in-house graphics production department for Steelhead Productions, a Tradeshow Production Company, (formerly) based out of Poulsbo as well. I was tasked with replicating & installing the signs & graphics on tradeshow booths for large computer software companies like Oracal, Sun, Wall Data, Cyberprise, Primus, Conectex, & more, as well as helping design & create 3D models & signs for the various tradeshow booths, that went all around the country, from L.A., to New York, to Las Vegas.
After a few years there, it was time to return to the custom sign world so I joined up with the crew at Port Orchard Signs, (formerly) of Port Orchard, Washington, where my college airbrush instructor, Tony Crosta, was renting shop space at, where he did his airbrush & pinstripe work from. There I produced a large body of work for the surrounding area. Small business signs, vehicle graphics, boat lettering, as well as vehicle graphics for the Port Orchard Police Department, Central Kitsap Fire & Rescue. I was also in charge of the complete redesign of Kitsap Transit's new bus fleet but, though I had a good 7 1/2 year tenure there, something was still missing... & it was time to move on, so...
In the Summer of 2006, I co-founded Definitive Arts, with my father, Jim Shelton. We set out to combine our 40+ collective years of artistic experience & create an outlet & source for high quality, custom window splash advertising, hand & computer generated signage, design, murals, pinstriping, & more. The idea was simple. Don't limit ourselves or our clientele. The sky's the limit, & hence, ... Definitive Arts was born.
For the last 14 years, Definitive Arts has traveled as far West as Aberdeen, as far East as Covington, as far South as Olympia, & as far North as Bellingham, providing our Sign, Design, & Window Splash services around the entire Western Washington area.
My father has since retired but the dream still caries on so, Definitive Arts is now a solo project still set out to provide the same level & quality & service, enjoyed by our customers since day one!
Please, take a look at all our products & services offered, via the navigation bar & give Definitive Arts a call, or drop a line, & let's see what Definitive Arts can do for you, TODAY! Hope to hear from you soon!
Allen Shelton
Definitive Arts


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SA With Martin Simpson: An Interview with Professor Marc Duby
Hi everyone, I'm Martin. Jake, kindly invited me to join the staff here at BMM and have my own column, What I'll be doing, is interviewing South Africa's low end fraternity so that, you, the reader, will become aware of some of the incredible talent that resides down here at the tip of the World's Dark Continent. I sincerely hope you'll enjoy this section of the magazine and invite your feedback. O.K. That's enough from me – let's get started with my first interview.
An Interview with Professor Marc Duby
After being invited by Jake, to join the staff of this wonderful magazine, I sent out mails to five of the top bassists in South Africa, including Marc, the absolutely awesome, Denis Lallouette and 'Not of this Planet' Maestro, Carlo Mombelli and spoke to each about the possibility of an interview. All five responded extremely positively and so I prepared question sheets for each individual. Marc was the 'First Home' with his answers and it's really ironic as Marc has taught some of South Africa's best bassists, including Ex Johnny Clegg bassist, Concord Nkabinde and Sibusiso Masondo, who'll both be featured in the coming issues. Marc has been teaching at TUT for many years but was given an opportunity to move down south to Rhodes University recently. This is what the good Professor told me in October 2008. [MS] How long have you been playing Marc? [Marc] I started playing professionally at age 16 in Cape Town, with the likes of Morris Goldberg, David Bravo, Nol Klinkhamer, Feedback, and others. So that makes it 36 years or so…embarrassingly long, really (laughter)
[MS] Who are the musicians that have influenced your career? [Marc] This could take a while, since it's a long list, but to spare you and the readers…
As a bass-player: Jack Bruce, John Paul Jones, Paul McCartney, Eberhard Weber, Jaco, Dave Holland, Charles Mingus, Paul Chambers, Steve Swallow, Charlie Haden
As a composer: Carla Bley, Robert Wyatt, Django Bates, Enrico Rava, Frank Zappa, Steve Lacy, Eberhard again, Coltrane, the Western art greats from Bach to Mozart to Varèse and Steve Reich, and so on
As you see, there are many influences—I'm not sure to what extent they are direct, in the ultimate sense of my trying to sound like myself as a musician and composer, which, if it doesn't sound too grandiose, is one of my missions in life. I think where they may be well be influential is in pointing out different ways of hearing music, and I've found as I get older, I like to leave things out more and more. Eventually perhaps I'll play one note a month, if I get that lucky…but seriously, space is the place, as Sun Ra said.
My interests as a composer are a weird mixture of quite thoroughly composed music, where there is little departure from the chart, to very open pieces, which may incorporate other sonic elements like sound effects or electronics or improvisation. My PhD was about Walter Thompson's Soundpainting language for live composition, where you work with an ensemble and create gestures, which steer the music in various directions. [MS] What instruments have you owned over the years? [Marc] I started with an el cheapo no name bass, which I sanded down. And then a Fender Jazz, a short scale Gibson bass, a Fender Precision, a Hayman fretless, a Maton fretless, and various 5-strings. And Art Kelly (a dear departed friend) basically gave me an old Kay upright (called Stella) in the 1990s as a swap for a German bass, which was way too big for me (and my car) at the time. I gave up sanding instruments down quite some time ago. [MS] What are you playing currently? [Marc] I have an old Ibanez fretless, a Peavey 6 string, and Stella. I play guitar at home, and also use s***th***zers occasionally. [MS] Are you an endorser of these products? [Marc] They've never asked me …(laughter) [MS] You recently left Pretoria to take up a position in Grahamstown. What challenges are you facing there? [Marc] It's a well established music department in the Western art sphere, so I suppose the challenges are to develop the jazz studies, music education, ethnomusicology, and technology elements of the programme so as to contribute to the musical life of the region. I am also quite involved in examining various elements of jazz curricula, which sounds a bit dry, but I'm really interested in how to improve people's understanding of improvising, one of the keys to the jazz art. [MS] What projects have you been involved in over the last five years or so? [Marc] I spent quite a lot of time writing my PhD, which took me away from the profession for a while. I ran the Standard Bank Youth Band in 2001, which was a tremendous experience. In 2004 I worked with François Jeanneau and Walter Thompson in Paris, doing Soundpainting, which is a very interesting concept for improvising without charts.
I did some playing and arranging on Lydia vom Hagen's album, "Red." We're married, as are quite a few bass players and singers whom I've heard of.
Thanks to Alan Webster, the organizer of the Standard Bank Jazz Festival, I've had the opportunity to work with some amazing international players over the years, such as Karlheinz Miklin, Gary Wittner, Carl Allen, Mike del Ferro, and Dave O'Higgins, to name a few. Quite recently Sanjoy Bandophadyaye (a great sitarist) and I worked on some Indian classical improvising at the university, and I composed some music for First Physical Theatre Co, in Grahamstown for this year's festival. [MS] Are there any cd's currently available in the cd stores that you've played on? [Marc] I'm not sure, since it's a fair list. Lydia's album "Red" should be available, and some tracks I did with Greg Georgiades and Ashish Joshi's group. There are no solo albums yet, but I'm working on some ideas for the future. [MS] What are your goals – long term and short term? [Marc] My long-term goals are to continue teaching, which I really love, and writing for the various ensembles I work with. We have a small group in Grahamstown, which is a great vehicle for arranging and composing. I think writing for big band is really interesting, and I'm learning the craft, a pretty complex one. The aim is somehow to make a big band in the region that plays SA music in the SA context, one that incorporates some free playing maybe as well; something like what Chris McGregor was doing. I really love his writing and the crazy electric energy of that group, with so many great SA musicians featured like Dudu Pukwana and Mongezi Feza, and Chris himself of course.
In the immediate future, I'm lucky to have some time to compose and work with some really good musicians down here. I have a big concert planned for next year, a retrospective kind of thing that Rhodes is hosting, and we have some really interesting visitors planned to start some international projects. [MS] What advice would you give to a youngster starting out on a music career? [Marc] I believe that it takes self-belief, and a certain amount of courage and discipline, to persist in music. It's a hugely rewarding career choice and nowadays there are many opportunities in the studio, the production side, not to mention performing. Steve Lacy speaks of "appetite," and I think he means curiosity about the field and what other people are exploring. Curiosity keeps your mind open, which is good for us all, I believe.
It helps if you have certain skills to begin with, and then it's up to you to respect and develop them. If you know how to ask questions and develop that sense of curiosity about music, you may have the opportunity to build really worthwhile relationships with other musicians as equals or mentors or whatever.
A cheerful demeanour and a clear head may be beneficial in the long run as well. It's really about being committed to something far greater than oneself, something hugely interesting, in an area where the fewer times your ego comes to the party, so to speak, the more you may be free to create opportunities to affect people positively. It seems to me that not taking oneself too seriously is healthy. A bit of good luck doesn't hurt either.


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Welcome New Faculty: Yan Li
Aug 01, 2020 | Dartmouth Engineer
Yan Li joined the Dartmouth Engineering faculty in January as an assistant professor of engineering. Her research focuses on the mechanics of advanced materials, and involves multiscale, multi-physics modeling. Li taps integrated computational and experimental approaches to develop next-generation material design. "I believe curiosity drives innovation," says Li, who earned her PhD at the Georgia Institute of Technology and her MA at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. "I like my students to think outside the box and be creative about problem-solving." Li previously collaborated with Boeing, Gulfstream, and GE, and her research has been supported by the U.S. Army Research Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, and the National Science Foundation's Center for Computational Materials Design.
For contacts and other media information visit our Media Resources page.


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File this story in the 'people wake up when tragedy hits a little too close to home' department.
Bassem Youssef is regarded as the 'Jon Stewart of Egypt'. He's also appeared on Jon Stewart's program.
When Bassam was arrested last week for insulting Egypt's president Mohammed Morsi, it made news. It apparently also struck a nerve with Stewart himself, who spent a good deal of time ripping Egypt's president Morsi in response to the news.
Watch Jon Stewart do what men of power in politics, the media, and yes, the church refuse to do.
Is it a good thing to be afflicted with Islamophobia? Get the new book from Walid Shoebat, The Case FOR ISLAMOPHOBIA: Jihad by the Word; America's Final Warning.
Click here to see Youssef's previous appearance on The Daily Show as well as his interview on CNN about his arrest.
Perhaps Morsi will issue an arrest warrant for the REAL Jon Stewart after watching this:
Via MediaIte:


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is a visual artist, a writer and a musician, born in Geneva, Switzerland, in a family mixing the Balkans and the Alps. Working both in Europe and in the U.S, she chose an artistic path that mingles her different fields of expression. In a large part of her work, Nejda explores the idea of freedom and the place of the individual faced with collective thinking. Her art aims to escape the inherent limits of the philosophical concepts of culture, identity, community, while studying and questioning them.
In her paintings, she goes from texts to visuals, from image to poetry, in a search for dialogue and a desire to transcend the frame of each artistic expression. Her current work is based on a visual codification of her musical and poetry creations through the use of QR Codes. Each code contains a poem or a musical piece, but is also a visual creation that tells something to the viewers about what is communicated to them as well as what is hidden from them. Every message needs a code; every thing that is shown is simultaneously hidden and coded. The image meets the text, which is by essence coded by its alphabet and its language, with the aim to overcome its natural limits and create a multi-dimensional conversation with the viewer.
Musically, she is currently preparing her second album, which will be produced between Switzerland, Bulgaria, Spain and the U.S.
As a poet, Nejda performs in live shows of poetry improvisation, often in collaboration with a musician and a painter, in order to create a tridimensional performance born from the conversation between the three forms of art. As a writer, she writes poetry and lyrics for herself and other artists and is currently in the process of writing the screenplay of a feature film.


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If you've ever bought furniture only to come home and discover it doesn't fit the space or look the way you hoped, you will love the revolutionary new app from IKEA. The Swedish furniture store is effectively offering customers the chance to try before they buy, and see how an item will look in their own homes.
STORY: IKEA has created an ingenious cookbook that you can cook
IKEA Place uses augmented reality technology to allow prospective buyers to see how their chosen item will look in their home simply by pointing their camera at the space they want to put it. The app will then superimpose an image of the product into view. Sizing will be to scale, and shoppers will even be able to see where its shadow will fall. After examining how the furniture looks up close and from every angle, users can even share photos of the mocked-up room to get a second opinion from family and friends.
IKEA's app allows people to see what furniture will look like in their homes
The app is expected to be made available for iPhone and iPad users when Apple's upcoming iOS11 software update launches later this month. Up to 600 items should be ready to preview in 3D initially, with priority given to IKEA's newest products and furniture.
Michael Valdsgaard, IKEA's digital transformation manager, called IKEA Place a "complete game changer". Meanwhile IKEA Concept's communications business partner Caroline Hjertstrom said: "It bridges the imagination reality gap for you as it transforms your home and how you look at home furnishings — IKEA Place is the place where you go to find out the design possibilities for your home."
STORY: Aldi launches vintage homeware range
The aim of the app is to allow customers to experiment with different designs and products more easily. "We wanted to break down the barriers for people imagining what is possible in your space, and make the possibilities real. Enable people to stop wondering and start doing," Caroline said. We can't wait to try this!
See more home inspiration here.


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Puffin Profile Tile
This charming homage to the "sea parrot" joins our 6×8 Puffiin. Available in three colorways: Cream, Light Blue and Ocean Blue. May be framed in Natural Oak or Ebony hardwood frame, or hung unframed, or displayed on an easel.
- Actual tile size: 3-13/16″ x 7-13/16″
- Tiles are 5/8″ thick and have a notch at the back for hanging.


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Trails Advisory Committee Photo Contest Winners Announced
Six township residents came up winners in the annual photo contest sponsored by the township Trails Advisory Committee.
Five of the winners received their prizes at the Sept. 12 committee meeting.
The winners will have their photos featured in the committee's upcoming calendar.
The winners are:
Overall winner: Corrine Prochazka
Adult Photo Contest
- Navjot Singh
- Caasi Santiago
- Bapinder Long
- Kristen Polo
Kids Photo Contest
- Christopher Sherman (age 12) – first, second and third place
Prochazka's winning picture was of the Delaware & Raritan Canal.
"It was a nice November day, the leaves are different colors and I just shoot according to what looks good," she told the committee and other winners. "If it catches my eye, it's a photograph. I'm just fortunate to have a really good eye like you guys."
Polo said she took her winning picture at the Negri Nepote grasslands preserve with her cell phone.
"I like to go there, they have lots of butterflies there always," she said.
One of Long's two winning pictures was of Middlebush Park.
"I took this photograph with my cell phone," she said. "I'm trying to get better with close-ups. I just happened to see these beautiful flowers there, and I took some pictures."
Santiago's picture was taken at 6 Mile Run.
"I was at the start of this trail and I saw this nice white flower," he said. "The contrast of the trail itself, it's a beautiful place."
Sherman, who will be in 7th Grade at the Sampson G. Smith campus of Franklin Middle School this year, said he took shots in different seasons.
One of Sherman's winning photos was taken on a trail intersection with Butler Road.
"Honestly we had been walking down the trails and were looking for something good, then we hear water all of a sudden, so I immediately knew that was going to be the picture because water always makes a good picture," he said. "I just took the picture when there was good sunlight. It just worked out."
Another of his winning photos was taken at Inman Park.
It had just snowed like two days before," he said. "My mom suggested we do different seasonal pictures, and I thought this would be a nice picture to do."
"We saw all these snow-covered fields, and then went a little deeper into where the trail starts," Sherman said. "We found a bridge to walk across, and then we saw some water, so this picture has a little bit of everything, with trees and snow."
The third picture was taken in Middlebush Park.
"I had to get an odd angle," he said. "I was standing on this little muddy patch that the water had been flowing over. I thought it would make a nice picture."


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Staff Attorney - Legal Services Senior Analyst
The Legal Services Senior Analyst (staff attorney) will join a dynamic team that provides expert legal consultation, analysis, research, writing and editing to support the mission of the Administrative Office of the Courts and Washington courts.
Reporting to the Legal Services and Appellate Court Support Manager, this is an expert level job that works independently with minimal guidance and supervision. Exercises broad decision making authority within the area of responsibility and expertise defined and directed by the LS & ACS Manager. Interacts regularly with AOC staff, judicial committees and court staff.
For the Office of Legal Services & Appellate Court Support
Job#: 2021-14
Status: Regular, Full-Time
Location: Olympia, Washington
Salary: Range 64: $67,560 — $88,644 per year (DOQ)
Opens: March 5, 2021
Closes: Open until filled; first review of applications to begin March 26, 2021. The AOC reserves the right to close the recruitment at any time. This recruitment may be used to fill additional positions.


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It's hard to believe that our first year as a Community Market has already come and gone! We had so many people come support our local vendors – and we could not be more proud of everyone's hard work!
We had SO MANY amazing vendors and community volunteers during our market nights. We will be posting more information on our vendors and will be asking for community input in the near future.
MARK YOUR CALENDARS for our HOLIDAY MARKET!
Saturday, November 13th from 10am-2pm @ Slater Hall!
We are still taking applications for vendors until next Monday, Nov 18th! (see the "Holiday Market" tab for more info – visit the google form: https://forms.gle/wrbbjaYuaxFPbMEZ8
Give-Away Tree tickets! We have a 3 foot tree filled with gift cards and cash that will be given away – tickets are $5 or 5/$20 and can be bought in advance *proceeds from donations will go to families in need within our community
There will be gift vendors, food, children's activities, and a fun atmosphere! Invite a friend or two!
If you are not subscribed to our website, please add your email below so that all of our news will come through your inbox! 🙂 👇
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Holiday Market


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Actress Vaani Kapoor feels blessed to be working in the "best Bollywood era" because "there is wide acceptance of subjects that were deemed forbidden for actors" earlier.
Vaani says, "The fact that the industry has produced two back to back progressive films like Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui (CKA) and Badhaai Do shows the paradigm shift that the Hindi film industry is going through." "As an artiste, I feel I'm working in the best era of cinema because there is wide acceptance of subjects that were deemed forbidden for actors to choose." Vaani credits the progressive movie-going audience of India for accepting such films with open arms as it would lead to positive social change towards inclusivity for all genders.
Vaani says, "I'm delighted that both CKA and Badhaai Do found its audience and entertained people with a heartfelt story of inclusivity in a highly divisive world. As an actor and a consumer of cinema, I love entertainers that can leave a message and I'm proud that I was part of an uplifting film like CKA!" "I hope the film made the right impact on the minds of audiences.
The fact that my countrymen are encouraging cinema on gender equality is an amazing feeling because we all know that we can be an extremely progressive country."Vaani will be next seen in the much-awaited action drama 'Shamshera' that releases on July 22.She has been paired opposite Ranbir Kapoor.


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Seventh jackpot hit in 2019
A lucky Multi-Match player is certainly having a December to remember! Someone hit the $575,000 jackpot in the Monday, Dec. 9 drawing.
The winner, who is the seventh player to hit a Multi-Match jackpot in 2019, can choose between the annuity and an estimated $312,500 cash option (before taxes). The winning ticket with the numbers 4, 14, 15, 29, 34 and 38 came from Crestview Wine & Spirits in Landover Hills.
Lottery officials encourage the winner to sign the back of the ticket and keep it in a safe location. The player has 182 days to claim the prize in person at Lottery headquarters located at 1800 Washington Blvd. in Baltimore.
Our winner isn't the only person celebrating. The lucky Prince George's County retailer located at 6705 Annapolis Road will receive a $1,000 bonus for selling the winning ticket. The top three Multi-Match jackpot wins were $4.8 million on Sept. 19, 2009; $4.45 million on March 18, 2010 and $3.8 million on Dec. 16, 2010.
Multi-Match is a $2 game. The Lottery draws six numbers from one to 43 every Monday and Thursday night. Players match between three and five numbers on any one line to win up to $1,000. Match between five and 18 numbers total on all three lines combined to win up to $2,000 more. To win the jackpot, players match all six numbers on any one line. The overall chances of winning are 1 in 8.5.
Watch the drawings at 11:22 p.m. Mondays and Thursdays on WBAL TV. Results also are available online at mdlottery.com and on your smartphone. Simply download the free MD Lottery app in the Apple and android app stores.


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Our network consists of thousands of speakers and thousands of planners. We have no contracts and make it easy for members to come and go as they need.
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Jul 12, 2019
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February 10, 2020 Barbara Rockefeller
Part 1: Unknown Supply.
Trading FX is harder than trading oil or soybeans or equities. The central reason is that FX is money and therefore in virtually infinite supply. That leaves only demand as a price determinant. Nobody ever thinks of supply in FX, as they do in commodities like oil and also to a certain extent, equities.
In some instances, we see that other commodities can be treated as having infinite supply, too. Oil is a great case. At one point during the 2000's, more oil was traded in futures contracts than existed in storage to be deliverable. Equities may be traded as though supply were infinite, too. This can be seen by prices rising to ridiculously high levels to induce the holders to release some more supply. There is always a price high enough to have that effect. This is why many traders watch volume alongside price.
Technically money is not in infinite supply, either, because it always lives in a bank account in some country. If you added up all the bank accounts in every country, you'd get a number far more than the $5-6 trillion per day traded in foreign exchange. And since much of what does get traded in FX is settled on a net basis, the total dollar volume that needs actual settlement is far lower than the amount traded back and forth a few dozen times per day.
Still, we know practically nothing useful about the supply of money for trading purposes. The only time we consider supply in FX is those rare occasions when a central bank intervenes. If a central bank perceives its currency is getting too strong, for example, it will sell a boatload of it in the FX market, meeting every bid. Intervention is over-supply to drive prices down. We have seen the Swiss National Bank and Bank of Japan intervene in this manner in recent years. The opposite side of the coin is when the currency is too weak in the eyes of the central bank. Then it wants to reduce supply, so it uses some of its other currencies held in reserve to buy its own currency and drive up its price. As a rule, the rumor of central bank intervention is enough to get the desired price effect. Supply is not actually changed and it is demand that does the trick.
Part 2: Unknown Demand
In most securities, the exchanges offer data on volume traded. Several very useful indicators have been invented to compare price changes with the associated volume. When a price starts flying sky-high and it is accompanied by commensurately rising volume, you can feel secure that the rally has legs. When the price keeps rising but volume falls off, some greater fool has just been suckered in and the price gain has lost its footing.
We do not have volume in the spot FX market. That's because each trade in the professional market—banks and fund managers—is a private transaction. The banks do report trading volume to regulators, but not on a daily basis and the information is confidential. Some retail brokers (like Oanda) publish current trading volumes, but the retail FX market is a tiny fraction of total volume. That doesn't mean it's not useful to show some estimate of market sentiment, but it's hardly an accurate measurement.
Then there's the commitment of traders report or COT from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. This is published on a Friday for the previous Tuesday close. Many analysts like the COT report as the only volume information we can get, but the COT has some major problems:
Another way to estimate demand is with technical indicators. Momentum is the top one, along with overbought/oversold indicators.You can also simply eyeball the size of the bars and when they contract to a fraction of the normal average true range for that currency, deduce that volume is falling. See the Japanese yen.
The price is failing to rise to the level of the previous high, despite a herculean effort near the end. Does this mean volume by buyers is fading and the upmove is fizzling? Maybe. It can also mean these bars are occurring near the end of the day on a Friday and many traders have already just quit for the weekend.
The problem with indicators is that they are not actual volume data but rather implied/deduced information. This information can be dirty—some traders are acting on a false rumor, or there is a timing issue that dictates positioning (month-end, quarterly rollover), or some big-shots are pulling a stunt like a short-squeeze. To infer demand from this information is dangerous. You can get misled all too easily.
Rocky's Rule No. 5: There is no substitute for hard data on volume.
We embrace technical analysis but it's no substitute for hard volume data. We like reading about sentiment but it's no substitute for hard volume data. Does this mean FX traders are at a terrible disadvantage compared to traders in other securities? Yes.
Why do we persist with FX despite this awful, terrible, really bad drawback? First up, of course, is the extra leverage over other asset classes, including equities. Second, the matrix of factors that drive FX prices is wide and deep. There's politics, economics, business, other assets (e.g., oil), history, public personalities, central banks, and a list as long as your arm. FX is just like any other asset from a trading management point of view—buy low and sell high—but unique as the pinnacle of high finance, and endlessly fascinating. In agricultural commodities, you have a handful of factors—weather, diseases, shipping costs, demand fads. In equities, you have earnings, inventions, management, the state of the sector or index. But in FX, you have anything and everything. It's fun
President + Author


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Spring Time Tagua and Black Lava Stone Necklace
- Total length: 24"
- Width at widest: .25"
- Beads/stones/composition: tagua, lava stone, ashanti brass
- Bead Origins: Columbia, US
- Colors: black, yellow, magenta, turquoise, blue, purple, cream, metallic brass
- When to wear: All day, depending on ensemble
Want custom pieces to accompany these? Just say the word. Use the contact form on the site or feel free to email us directly at firstname.lastname@example.com for custom orders or special requests. We are happy to work with you!
*Bracelets not included


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We create high‑quality content not only for architecture, design, and manufacturing.
- We prepare interviews, short videos, and podcasts.
- We collaborate with the best Czech photographers and we love to meet inspirative people.
- For that, we built our own Idealab studio.
- Our lab is full of professional equipment. We have all that is needed for interviews, videos, podcasts, and photoshoots.
- We have great ideas!
What can we do?
- Think and write an engaging script.
- Build a scene. Set up the audio and lit the lights.
- Shot a product video, interview, professional discussion, podcasts, and other formats
How does it work?
- You park your car, we will have coffee, and then we create the concept. We will draw, describe and prepare the script.
- We aim the spotlights, cameras, start the technique. We will shoot a professional video, edit it, and send it to the world.
- We will do everything to make it visible on social networks, Youtube, Spotify, and everywhere else.
- Our studio is here for ARCHIZOOM projects, but yours as well. You can rent it (even with our ideas) and start working with us.
Our podcast and video services
- Want to come up and record your podcast? A series of interviews? Product photos? Portraits of your team?
- We are ready for all this!
- Contact us.


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UC Browser is a free web browser that includes features such as faster downloads, data saving while surfing, ad-blocking, and more. You can browse cricket websites to cheer for your team, watch live cricket matches, and get match results. UC Browser also has a Facebook feature built-in.
If you are dissatisfied with the current version, you can revert to an older version of UC Browser by downloading any of its prior version APKs. See the table below for a list of available versions.
Gingerbread (2.3, 2.3.3, 2.3.4), Honeycomb (3.0, 3.1, 3.2), Ice Cream Sandwich (4.0, 4.0.3, 4.0.4), Jelly Bean (4.1, 4.2, 4.3), KitKat (4.4), Lollipop (5.0, 5.1), Marshmallow (6.0), Nougat (7.0, 7.1), Oreo (8.0, 8.1), Pie (9), Android 10, Android 11
A Light Browser that's Free
UC Browser is a web browser designed for sluggish connections and low-end PCs. A dedicated download manager, cloud sync, theme customization, add-ons, and more are included. It loads photographs and links before you click them to create a unique browsing experience.
Simple and easy browsing
This program is designed for slow PCs and can run on a number of devices. In fact, if this version is too resource-intensive for your machine, you can install UC Mini instead. It's from the same firm, but it reduces the minimum hardware need to the absolute minimum.
UC Browser is a browser that is similar to Google Chrome. It supports all of the same add-ons, themes, and sophisticated settings tweaks as Firefox. It does, however, use significantly fewer system resources than Chrome. While it lacks a VPN and an ad blocker, it's still a good choice for a basic online experience.
However, this app has trouble streaming material and buffering huge videos. As a result, while conventional online pages load faster, data-heavy sites like YouTube or Dailymotion are bound to slow you down.
The installation process, like the program, is quick and easy. For Android devices, you can use the UC Browser APK, or for Windows computers, you can download the.exe file.
Extra tools
This application is missing a few key features, but it does have some tricks up its sleeve. It includes a one-of-a-kind download manager. You can use this tool to pause and resume downloads as needed. Simply put, if you need to save bandwidth for other apps that are more important, you can pause a download and resume it later. If you've ever used Chrome, you'll know that this feature may be a pain to use, and you won't always be able to start up where you left off.
A clever file manager is included when you download UC Browser. On your phone or computer, you can use this extension to copy, remove, transfer, rename, delete, and share information.
It succeeds because it is quick, simple to use, and requires low resources.
The tab management mechanism is undoubtedly the program's best feature. It's built up to allow numerous open tabs with little to no impact on your device's speed or responsiveness. Crashing and freezing are also avoided using this feature. When you open each tab independently, it loads information on it.
Tabs that aren't being used but are playing music or video will continue to work in the background. However, because you'll continue to eat up those resources, you risk overloading your computer or phone with these.
Very customizable
A tile-style favorites page is included in most recent web browsers, such as Mozilla Firefox. When you start a new tab, this occurs. You can select which websites will appear as quick links that will open in a new tab with a single click.
There are also numerous browser themes from which to choose and apply. These alter the program's entire design, from the window's appearance to the colors used for links and menu choices. You can also choose from a variety of backgrounds or upload your own.
While using the browser, users will find a library of mini-games to play. These include Monster Squad and Trollface Quest 4, which can help you pass the time if you're having trouble with your internet connection.
Cloud sync
UC Browser saves all of your information across all platforms, whether you're using the PC version or the Android version. Bookmarks, search results, and login information are all included. However, due to some security issues with the browser, as discussed a little later, this information may be compromised.
Other browsers, such as Opera, have comparable features. This application, on the other hand, is one of the best at keeping your data up to current across all of your devices. You only need to register an account with UC to get started.
Safety, security, and privacy
The issue of online privacy and security is a prominent topic. Unfortunately, there is a lot of skepticism about this app's security. There are a few significant figures in the industry who believe that whenever you use user data, it is a danger. This generates a lot of issues about data and surveillance, and many people believe UC Browser is unsafe. In reality, this app was removed from the Play Store before it was updated to better secure its users.
In the classic sense, it isn't harmful. There have been no complaints of malicious programs designed to harm or destroy devices. However, many people have discovered that it consumes an unusual amount of battery and sends data to an external server long after it's been deleted.
It's also clear that it monitors your online activities. It keeps track of your activity and sends them to a remote server. This includes things like movies you watch, photographs you like, search terms, personal information, and so on. This is, however, no longer an unusual event. This is a problem that most programs have.
High Functionality with Shaky Security
This is an excellent browser if you're willing to put some of your data at risk. It's quick, efficient, and ideal for anyone who is a little behind in terms of technology. With UC Browser, old phones, computers, and slow internet speeds are no longer an issue.
In the most recent version, the tab switching pane includes popular website recommendations. After reading push articles, there's now a simpler way to get to the UC Browser news feed. They also overhauled the notification system.
- Designed to work with sluggish connections and devices.
- Excellent tab system
- Downloads that can be paused
- Quick loading times
- It's not good for streaming.
- Risks to your security
When installing the latest version of an app on an older smartphone, it's not uncommon for it to cause issues. Due to system incompatibilities, newer versions of apps may not work with your device. Use an older version of the app until the app developer fixes the problem.
Check the app's version history on Uptodown if you need to reset UC Browser. It contains all of the file versions for that software that is available to download from Uptodown. UC Browser for Android rollbacks is available for download. Any version of UC Browser available on Uptodown is virus-free and absolutely free to download.


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It was a case of mistaken identity gone violently wrong.
Two plain clothes officers – FBI Special Agent Douglas Brownback and Grand Rapids, Michigan, Detective Todd Allen – were looking for Aaron Davison, a fugitive wanted for home invasion. Their description of Davison was that of a 26-year-old white male between 5'10" and 6'3" with glasses, short, dark hair, and a thin build.
On July 18, 2014, 21-year-old college student James King roughly fit that description. The officers stopped King, who at one point thought he was being mugged, and a violent altercation ensued.
King was tackled and knocked unconscious, and when he came to, he began biting Allen. In response, Allen said he began beating King's head and face "as hard as I could, as fast as I could, as many times as I could."
Fast forward almost six years, and King has been acquitted of felony charges of assault against the officers. But the court battle isn't over; in fact, King's lawyer says it's only in its infancy.
King sued the officers, and his case has made its way to the United States Supreme Court. The question before the high court is a narrow one: should the judgment bar of the Federal Tort Claims Act apply?
But the case also raises broader questions about government liability. The doctrine of qualified immunity, specifically, is increasingly coming into question.
"There is a growing movement against the doctrine of qualified immunity," said Indianapolis civil rights lawyer Rich Waples.
Rulings and reversals
After he was acquitted in state court, King in 2016 sued Brownback and Allen in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan. He brought claims under both 18 U.S.C. § 1983 and Bivens v. Six Unknown Agents of Fed. Bureau of Narcotics, 403 U.S. 388 (1971), as well as under the FTCA.
The district court dismissed all of those claims, finding the officers should be sued under Bivens, not § 1983, but qualified immunity shielded them regardless. The FTCA claim likewise failed, the district court ruled, because King failed to state a claim under Michigan law, thus failing to meet the sixth element of FDIC v. Meyer, 510 U.S. 471 (1994).
On appeal, a majority of the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals determined the dismissal of King's FTCA claim was a dismissal for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction, which means it was not a merits determination. Thus, the so-called "judgment bar" in the FTCA did not apply to keep King's case from moving forward on remand.
Additionally, the 6th Circuit agreed the case should proceed under Bivens, but it overturned the grant of qualified immunity to the officers.
Senior Judge John Rogers dissented on the FTCA issue, writing that because King did not challenge the FTCA dismissal on appeal, it was a final judgment. What's more, Rogers said, Simmons v. Himmelreich, 136 S. Ct. 1843 (2016), held that the judgment bar applies when a plaintiff fails to prove his claim – here, he said, King did just that.
The government would make a similar argument in its petition for writ of certiorari, which was granted March 30. But King's legal team says the officers' argument is only an attempt to extend their protection from liability.
Passing the 'bar'
King is being represented by Patrick Jaicomo, a native Hoosier now with the Institute for Justice in Arlington, Virginia.
According to Jaicomo, this is a case about accountability. Though qualified immunity is not before the high court, Jaicomo says the government's FTCA argument is an attempt to "shield its agents from any form of accountability."
The Institute is urging the court to uphold the 6th Circuit majority's analysis of the FTCA claim, saying the government's argument would be an extension of government protection. The solicitor general, however, agrees with Judge Rogers' dissent.
According to Paul Figley, a professor at the American University Washington College of Law, the "judgment bar" precludes further action against the United States if a final judgment is obtained under the FTCA and if the further action involves the same event and circumstances. Some clarity was added to the law in Simmons, Figley said, which held that the bar could not apply if the government is found not liable under exceptions within the FTCA.
With the judgment bar back before the Supreme Court, Figley said King's case presents "a logical conundrum." If the government prevails under the FTCA because a plaintiff failed to state a claim, then the 6th Circuit's ruling would mean the judgment bar couldn't apply. But, Figley said, that would also mean the judgment bar would never apply in FTCA cases where the government prevails.
The solicitor general made a similar argument in the government's cert petition, writing that "the majority's reasoning 'would effectively nullify the judgment bar' in all cases 'where the FTCA judgment was in favor of the government' – a result this Court expressly rejected in Simmons."
Immunity arguments
If the justices agree with King's theory – that the district court's dismissal did not trigger the judgment bar – then, according to Jaicomo, the parties could start to get to the meat of the issues. The defendant officers have never answered King's complaint, Jaicomo said, choosing instead to pursue a motion to dismiss.
If the high court remands to the district court, King's claims will proceed under Bivens. Though the district court already found in favor of qualified immunity, the 6th Circuit overturned that judgment, and the reversal is not part of the appeal.
King's case has been dubbed by some as a sort of referendum on the doctrine of qualified immunity. While that's not exactly true, Jaicomo did say the case is one of a handful used to launch the Institute's Project on Immunity and Accountability.
Waples, of Waples & Hanger, said qualified immunity is a judicially created doctrine that has no statutory basis. The growing movement toward overturning the doctrine comes from both the left and the right, he said, with Justices Clarence Thomas and Sonia Sotomayor both writing to question it.
It's not impossible for a plaintiff to defeat a qualified immunity defense, Waples said, but it is difficult. The two-part test looks at whether a right was violated and whether that right was clearly established. If a judge finds a right has not been clearly established by a prior case, then the issue perpetuates itself, Waples said – if one judge can't find an on-point case, then the next judge who looks at the same issue likewise won't have a case to pull from.
The doctrine does have its defenders, though.
In a June 2018 article for the Notre Dame Law Review, law professors Aaron Nielson and Christopher Walker argue stare decisis cuts strongly in favor of upholding qualified immunity. Nielson is a professor at the J. Reuben Clark Law School at Brigham Young University, while Walker teaches at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law.
Additionally, law enforcement might argue they need qualified immunity to protect split-second decisions, but Waples said that protection is already built into the Fourth Amendment. A claim for "excessive" force, he said, is the same as asking if the force was "reasonable" under the circumstances.
The case of Douglas Brownback, et al. v. James King, 19-546, has not yet been scheduled for oral arguments.•