Military News U.S. Navy
Retired Navy SEAL says he’s not a “terrorist” after breaching the Capitol building
A retired Navy SEAL who described “breaching the Capitol” in a Facebook video is now being questioned by the FBI about his involvement in last week’s violent riot, according to a news report.
Adam Newbold, 45, from Lisbon, Ohio, recorded a now-deleted video when he was returning from Washington, saying he was “proud” of the riot that happened at the Capitol building, ABC News reported. The news organization was able to obtain a copy of the video before it was deleted.
From the 30 seconds of video that ABC News posted, Newbold appears to reference lawmakers who returned to the Capitol after the riot ended to conclude the certification of the election.
“What did get destroyed — and they’re obviously trying to overcome now — again maybe they’re just — they just didn’t get the message, unfortunately. I’m hoping the message was strong enough. Unfortunately, maybe it wasn’t. I hate to see this escalate more,” he said.
The Navy confirmed Wednesday that Newbold is a retired senior chief petty officer, or E-8, who served more than 23 years. Most of his career, he was either training or based at an “East Coast naval special warfare unit” until he retired from the Naval Reserve in 2017, according to details of his service record provided by the Navy.
Newbold has deployed to Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Iraq, according to his military awards. Newbold has also received the Joint Service Commendation Medal, two Navy/Marine Corps Commendation Medals with Combat “V” for valor, the Army Commendation Medal, and four Navy/Marine Corps Achievement Medals, according to his service record.
In a Facebook video by Newbold posted the night before the riot, he said there are “good people on all sides of this thing” but they “can no longer be quiet.”
“It’s time to stand up and take our country back, and make sure that we are being respectful and doing things in the right way. We are not going down looking for a fight, keep that in mind… we are just very prepared, very capable, and very skilled patriots ready for a fight. And we will react without hesitation when called upon to do so,” he said.
Newbold told ABC News that he had been questioned by the FBI about his activities at the Capitol building and a second interview had been requested. An FBI spokeswoman from the Washington, D.C. Field Office would not confirm Wednesday that he is being questioned, saying the bureau does not comment on specific investigations.
Newbold said he now regrets being in the crowd and he had gotten caught up in the moment to try to stop the election certification and that the riot on the Capitol “was all taken too far,” according to the ABC News report.
In the deleted video after the riot, he defended the people who broke into the Capitol, saying they had to destroy doors and windows to get in to “our building, our house,” according to ABC News.
He denied harming any police officers at the Capitol or entering the building. However, in the video, he described details of the damage caused by rioters. Now his life “has absolutely turned upside-down.”
“I am not a terrorist. I am not a traitor,” Newbold told ABC News.
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"Love is a god, my children..." (In the Land of the Gods, M.532)
Home › $25,000 and Up › "Love is a god, my children..." (In the Land of the Gods, M.532)
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Lithograph on Japon
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Marc Chagall is, without doubt, one of the greatest artists of the 20th century. He created a unique world full of pathos, poetry, humor, and enchantment, drawing on vivid memories of his childhood in what is today Belarus. "Love is a god, my children..." is a hand-signed lithograph. The image size is 17 x 13 - inches.
Though Marc Chagall’s work bares the formal influence of Cubism, Fauvism, and Symbolism, he steered away from total abstraction, and instead held fast to representation by proving its potency with a distinctly narrative approach. Dreamlike color and folkloric imagery pervade throughout Chagall’s oeuvre comprised of painting, printmaking, and book illustration.
Clearly influenced by Byzantine and Russian icon painting and folk art, he wished his own mythological floating figures and symbolism to be interpreted freely. Chagall loved life. He loved the circus, he loved the Bible and found the same human paradox in both—joy mixed with tragedy, beauty with sadness. The poetic and biblical inspirations of Chagall’s art have always appealed to a broad public, and his works are collected, exhibited and admired all over the world.
Marc Chagall was born Moishe/Marc Shagal in Liozne, near Vitebsk, in modern day Belarus, in 1887. He was a Russian-French-Jewish artist of international repute who, arguably, was one of the most influential modernist artists of the 20th Century, both as an early modernist, and as an important part of the Jewish artistic tradition. He distinguished himself in many arenas: as a painter, book illustrator, ceramicist, stained-glass painter, stage set designer and tapestry maker. Widely admired by both his contemporaries, and by later artists, he forged his creative path in spite of the many difficulties and injustices he faced in his long lifetime. Chagall's early life in the schetl with his Hasidic Jew parents was a strong influence on his work throughout his life. He carried a Russian mysticism, and an intrinsic understanding of and sympathy for his religious roots wherever he travelled.
More from Marc Chagall
Inspiration (M.398)
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Frontispiece, Self-Portrait (M.282)**
lithograph on Arches $5,850 $1,995
Lovers in Bouquet of Dahlias
watercolor, tempera, pastel, color pencil and pencil on heavy vellum paper Contact Gallery
The House in My Village (M.283)
Lithograph $4,850


Laureate Education Announces Proposed Offering of up to $800 Million of Senior Notes
BALTIMORE, April 17, 2017 /PRNewswire/ — Laureate Education, Inc. (Nasdaq: LAUR) (“Laureate”) announced today that it intends, subject to market and other customary conditions, to offer up to $800 million in aggregate principal amount of senior notes due 2025 (the “Notes”) in a private offering to eligible purchasers under Rule 144A and Regulation S under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”). Laureate’s obligations under the Notes will be guaranteed by certain wholly-owned U.S. subsidiaries of Laureate that are guarantors under Laureate’s senior secured credit facilities.
Laureate intends to use the net proceeds from the offering of the Notes, together with a portion of the net proceeds from its initial public offering and net proceeds from the recently announced $1,925 million senior secured credit facilities, to (i) repay, redeem or repurchase certain of its outstanding 9.250% Senior Notes due 2019 (other than certain of such senior notes that the holders of which have agreed to exchange for shares of Laureate’s Class A common stock), (ii) repay the Company’s term loans under its senior secured credit facilities and/or (iii) repay the seller notes used to partially finance the acquisition of FMU Group, and pay certain related fees and expenses in connection with the offering.
The Notes and the related guarantees have not been registered under the Securities Act and, unless so registered, may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, the registration requirements of the Securities Act and other applicable securities laws.
This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell, or the solicitation of an offer to buy, any securities, nor shall there be any sales of securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction.
This press release includes certain disclosures which contain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the U.S. federal securities laws, which involve risks and uncertainties. You can identify forward-looking statements because they contain words such as “may,” “will,” “intends” or “expects” or similar expressions that concern Laureate’s strategy, plans or intentions. Forward-looking statements are based on Laureate’s current expectations and assumptions. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, they are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that may differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements, which are neither statements of historical fact nor guarantees or assurances of future performance. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from Laureate’s expectations are set forth in its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2016 under the caption “Risk Factors.”
About Laureate Education, Inc.
Laureate Education, Inc. is the largest global network of degree-granting higher education institutions, with more than one million students enrolled across 70 institutions in 25 countries at campuses and online. Laureate offers high-quality, undergraduate, graduate and specialized degree programs in a wide range of academic disciplines that provide attractive employment prospects. Laureate believes that when our students succeed, countries prosper and societies benefit. This belief is expressed through the company’s philosophy of being ‘Here for Good’ and is represented by its status as a Certified B Corporation™ and conversion in 2015 to a U.S. public benefit corporation, a new class of corporation committed to creating a positive impact on society.
To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/laureate-education-announces-proposed-offering-of-up-to-800-million-of-senior-notes-300440142.html
SOURCE Laureate Education, Inc.
Synergy Pharmaceuticals Appoints Gary G. Gemignani as Chief Financial Officer
Mast Reminds Stockholders To Vote For The Proposed Merger With Savara


HIGHLAND – Gov. Andrew Cuomo may need more than an act of the state Legislature to merge the New York State Bridge Authority into the New York State Thruway Authority.
He may need an act of Congress.
“There's a federal law, passed in 1987, that clearly states tolls collected on the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge can only be used to operate, maintain and repair the authority's bridges,'' said Harry Stanton, a former executive director of the Bridge Authority and now a Cuomo appointee to its board.
Cuomo proposed merging the Bridge Authority into the Thruway Authority in his 2020-21 budget address on Jan. 21, catching Stanton and other board members as well as Hudson Valley legislators by surprise.
The governor's SAGE Commission had recommended a merger in 2012 as a first step in folding the two authorities into the Department of Transportation, but Cuomo never pursued it. At the time, lawmakers from both parties and both sides of the river were united in their opposition.
“I alerted them (the governor's staff) to the law right away,'' said Stanton, now retired from the Westchester County Department of Transportation, where he was deputy commissioner.
Stanton is confident the state will have to reckon with the federal government because he negotiated the agreement that Congress subsequently adopted during his 1985-1997 tenure at the Bridge Authority.
He explained that the Bridge Authority received federal aid for the first and only time in 1980, to widen the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge to four lanes from two. The bridge carries a federal highway, Interstate 84, across the Hudson.
The Federal Highway Administration provided 90 percent of the money for the $140 million project on the condition that the Bridge Authority would abolish tolls on the span as soon as it paid its 10 percent share.
Stanton, however, fought to keep the tolls in place because the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge, then and now, accounts for roughly 50 percent of the Bridge Authority's revenue and the money is needed to maintain its other, smaller bridges. The FHwA ultimately relented and Congress memorialized the agreement in law.
Freeman Klopott, a spokesman for the Division of the Budget, said the administration doesn't think the law will be an obstacle to a merger.
"There's a pretty simple solution,'' Klopott said. "The proposed merger language allows the Thruway Authority as the successor agency to honor any agreements of the Bridge Authority."
Stanton speculated the merger recommendation has resurfaced now because the Bridge Authority plans to convert its five Hudson River crossings to all-electronic tolling in two years and is likely to draw on the Thruway Authority's experience. The Thruway Authority will complete its conversion this year.
Cuomo's budget does reference cashless tolling as well as a general desire to have the two authorities “leverage their expertise, increase coordination and operate more efficiently.”
The Bridge Authority already relies on the Thruway Authority to process its E-ZPass tolls and will join it and other toll agencies – the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the Port Authority – to process “Tolls by Mail” for non-E-ZPass customers when it switches to all-electronic tolling.
The consortium allows the agencies to provide customers with joint statements and bills rather than individual ones.
“The suggestion has merit but I don't think a merger is something that should be done rashly, certainly not in the tidal wave of adopting the budget,'' Stanton said. “There's a lot to consider beyond cashless tolling and it has to be studied, be given careful thought.”
Assemblyman Kevin Cahill, D-Kingston, has already introduced a bill that would require a study and reiterated his long-standing opposition to a merger in the absence of one immediately after Cuomo's budget address.
By Monday, other legislators were piling on. Sen. James Skoufis, D-Cornwall, Sen. Jen Metzger, D-Rosendale, and Assemblyman Jonathan Jacobson, D-Newburgh, announced their opposition in separate press releases but voiced the same fears that a merger, and a loss of local oversight, would eventually result in higher tolls to pay for projects elsewhere in the state.
judyrife@gmail.com
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Rodrigo Y Gabriela Merchandise
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The duo met in Mexico City while playing in a thrash metal band called "Tierra Acida". Growing frustrated with the limited scope of the domestic music scene, they pulled up roots and moved to Europe, where they have met considerable acclaim.
They have taken up residence in Dublin, Ireland, after hearing it was particularly welcoming to travelling musicians. Playing live gigs in various pubs and busking on Grafton Street and Temple Bar allowed them to practice their sound. They received their break when Damien Rice approached them to provide the support for Oxegen. In 2005 they toured extensively in festivals around the United Kingdom and beyond.
The duo had released three records - Foc, Live in Manchester and Dublin, and re-Foc - before recording their self-titled album Rodrigo y Gabriela which was produced by John Leckie. It entered the Irish Albums Chart at #1 beating The Arctic Monkeys and Johnny Cash to the top spot. It was released internationally on March 13th 2006, having been given an earlier Irish release. Rodrigo y Gabriela includes covers of Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" and Metallica's "Orion". The duo list Metallica as being among their key influences, alongside other heavy metal bands such as Megadeth, Slayer, Testament and Overkill. The other tracks are original works inspired by the places they have been and the people they have met.
The duo currently use hand made guitars produced by Frank Tate.
In 2007, a US tour was disrupted when Sánchez was unable to renew his visa to enter the United States. However, this has been subsequently rectified and the tour has since continued.
On April 29, 2007 Rodrigo y Gabriela played at Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival
On June 16, 2007 Rodrigo y Gabriela supported Muse at the new Wembley Stadium. The other support acts that played with them were The Streets and Dirty Pretty Things.
On June 23, 2007 the pair headlined on the Jazz World stage at the Glastonbury Festival, and their performance was subsequently aired on BBC television in the UK.
On July 4, 2007 Rodrigo y Gabriela opened the WXRT 20th annual Free 4th of July Concert at Grant Park in Chicago. They shared the stage with John Mayer and Robert Randolph & the Family Band.
re-Foc has been certified gold in Ireland, while, Live in Manchester and Dublin and Rodrigo y Gabriela have both been certified platinum.
On August 20, 2007 - August 27, 2007 Rodrigo y Gabriela were featured on MTV during promos for upcoming shows.
They performed "Orion" on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" on September 4th, 2007.


Gastroenterology > Hepatitis
Time to Expand Age Base for HCV Screening?
— Bargain price of $11,378 per QALY gained for one-time, universal testing
by Diana Swift, Contributing Writer September 15, 2018
Compared with currently recommended birth cohort screening, universal one-time screening for hepatitis C virus (HCV) for U.S. adults would be highly cost-effective, resulting in an expenditure of $11,378 per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) gained, researchers reported
The findings support broadening the current age cohort for one-time screening to all U.S. adults, concluded Mark H. Eckman, MD, of the University of Cincinnati, and colleagues. "A recommendation for HCV testing of all adults will support the national response to the epidemic of HCV infection among young persons in the United States."
As noted in the study online in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, the majority (81%) of U.S. residents with chronic HCV infection belong to the cohort born from 1945 through 1965, and testing is recommended for this age group by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, and the American Association of the Study of Liver Diseases/Infectious Diseases Society of America. "However, HCV incidence is increasing among younger persons in many parts of the country, and treatment is recommended for all adults with HCV infection," the researchers wrote.
Their study aimed to determine the prevalence of HCV antibody above which one-time HCV testing for all U.S. adults 18 years and older is cost effective. Using a Markov state transition model, the team found that a threshold prevalence of HCV antibody above 0.07% in the general adult population outside of the 1945-1965 cohort would cost less than $50,000/QALY compared with no screening. But compared with cohort testing, universal screening and treatment would cost $11,378 per QALY gained.
The analysis was based on healthcare system expenditures using 2017 U.S. dollars and factored in the toll taken by fibrosis, cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma, and liver transplantation, as well as the impact of excess mortality, and also addressed patient quality of life and the cost of treatment with direct-acting antivirals. The researchers calculated a mean age of 40.85 for the expanded-base cohort versus the 61.85 years for referent birth cohort.
Asked for his perspective, Jagpreet Chhatwal, PhD, of Harvard Medical School, who was not involved in the study, said it "provides the compelling evidence needed to update HCV screening guidelines in the United States."
"The current screening guidelines predate the availability of all-oral direct-acting antivirals, now the current standard of care. This study shows that universal one-time screening will further reduce HCV-associated burden, will be cost-effective, and will bring us closer to the goal of HCV elimination by 2030."
Broader-based recommendations are needed, since the incidence of acute HCV infection rose almost three-fold in the period 2010-2015, an increase associated with more widespread injection drug use and was most pronounced in persons younger than 40. Furthermore, the new generation of potent, non-interferon-based, direct-acting oral regimens with fewer side effects and shorter treatment courses has altered the discussion around screening.
The authors noted that the estimated prevalence of HCV in the 1945-1965 cohort is 2.6% and 1.0% in the general population, while the calculated prevalence in adults outside the 1945-1965 cohort is 0.29%. "Our estimate for the prevalence of HCV antibody positivity in adults who are not part of the cohort of adults born between 1945 and 1965 is likely low, as it is based on estimates made prior to the steep rise in new cases of HCV infection associated with the opioid epidemic," they wrote.
Another recent analysis also found an age-expanded strategy of one-time testing of all adults ages 18 and older to be cost effective at $28,000/QALY versus birth cohort-based screening. Those authors noted that targeted screening is not cost effective in very low-risk subgroups, such as Caucasian women ages 20 to 59 with no or only one lifetime sexual partner and no history of drug use or other HCV risk factors, as well as Caucasians older than age 60 with no history of blood transfusions before 1992 and no other HCV risk factors.
The study was supported in part by the National Foundation for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Eckman reported grant support from Merck; other co-authors reported financial relationships with AbbVie, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Gilead, Inovio, Intercept, MedImmune, Abbott, Merck, Watermark, and Pace.
Chhatwal reported having no relevant conflicts of interest related to his comments.
Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology
Source Reference: Eckman MH, et al “Cost effectiveness of universal screening for HCV infection in the era of direct-acting, pangenotypic treatment regimens” Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol 2018. DOI: 10.1016/j.cgh.2018.08.080.


13/06/2013: Philippine Embassy in DC Marks Independence Day by Sharing Good News about Economic Transformation
WASHINGTON, D.C.—The Philippine Embassy marked the 115th year of Philippine Independence on Wednesday with a well-attended diplomatic reception that allowed it to share the good news about the economic transformation taking place in the country.
“Truly, we have much to celebrate as a country and as a people. Hope is permeating the Philippines today and a renewed sense of confidence is felt by Filipinos all over the world,” Ambassador Jose L. Cuisia Jr. told the close to 300 guests who attended the reception at the Hay Adams Hotel.
“Key credit rating agencies have upgraded the Philippines to investment grade. Thus we hear about the Philippines being “the country to watch out for,” “the new Asian tiger,” and “an emerging economic giant,” testaments to the reforms instituted by the Aquino Administration,” he said, adding that the 7.8 percent growth the Philippine economy recorded in the first quarter of the year was the strongest in all of Asia.
Ambassador Cuisia’s positive outlook of the Philippines was also shared by Trade and Industry Secretary Gregory Domingo; Rep. Ed Royce, chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations of the United States House of Representatives; and Deputy Secretary of State William Burns.
In his remarks, Secretary Domingo echoed Ambassador Cuisia’s optimism: “We have been improving in the competitiveness rankings released by the World Economic Forum, which has raised us from 85th place in 2010 to 65th place. We hope to continue to see more improvements in this rating.”
Among other accomplishments of the Philippines, Secretary Domingo told the audience about the country’s recent investment grade ratings from Standard and Poor’s and Fitch and its emergence as the No. 1 call center destination in the world.
Congressman Royce, for his part, said: “Our economic ties are an important part of this relationship. For too many years, the Philippines had failed to reach its enormous potential. The problems have been bad government, corruption, and generally harmful economic policies.”
“There are welcome signs that conditions are improving. When I met with President Aquino earlier this year in Manila, I was deeply impressed by his commitment to reform. He has already accomplished much under very difficult circumstances,” the California lawmaker added.
In his remarks, Deputy Secretary of State Burns said: “The US is one of the top trading partners of the Philippines and together, through the Partnership for Growth, we are working hard to support and sustain the Philippines’ unprecedented economic growth.”
“We hope to bolster President Aquino’s goals of generating more jobs, attracting greater investments including a more equitable future for all Filipinos for many generations to come,” he told ambassadors and other diplomats, business leaders, congressional staff members and leaders of the Filipino-American Community present.
During the program, Ambassador Cuisia presented awards of recognition to Dr. Gabriel Esteban, President of Seton Hall, the largest Catholic university in New Jersey, and White House Executive Chef Cristeta Comerford for their outstanding accomplishments.
According to the Ambassador, Dr. Esteban, the first non-Catholic priest to head Seton Hall University, impressed the university with his leadership and business acumen while students and faculty praised him for his personal touch and take-charge personality. “He has led the University to greater heights, with Seton Hall winning more international faculty fellowships and student scholarships, including the first-ever prestigious Rhodes Scholarship,” he said
Ambassador Cuisia said Comerford was recognized for becoming the first woman and first minority to hold the top position in the White House Kitchen. She served as assistant chef during the Clinton Administration and was subsequently elevated to executive chef by Mrs. Laura Bush in 2005. She was reappointed by First Lady Michelle Obama for her passion and emphasis for healthy eating. Her many responsibilities include designing and executing menus for official dinners and social events.
The event was capped with a performance by Filipina-American Broadway artist, Stephanie Reese, who captivated the audience with her impressive rendition of popular Broadway songs and the time-honored Bayan Ko and Ako ay Pilipino. ###
Ambassador Jose L. Cuisia Jr. welcomes United States Assistant Secretary of State Joseph Y. Yun to the Independence Day Reception of the Philippine Embassy at the Hay Adams Hotel in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday (Philippine Embassy Photo by Elmer G. Cato)
Trade and Industry Secretary Gregory Domingo delivers his remarks during the Independence Day Reception of the Philippine Embassy at the Hay Adams Hotel in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday (Philippine Embassy Photo by Elmer G. Cato)
Ambassador and Mrs. Jose L. Cuisia Jr. and Dr. and Mrs. Gabriel Esteban pose after Dr. Esteban received an award of recognition for being selected President of Seton Hall University, the largest Catholic university in New Jersey, during the Independence Day Reception at the Hay Adams Hotel in Washington, D.C. (Philippine Embassy Photo by Elmer G. Cato)
Ambassador Jose L. Cuisia Jr. congratulates White House Executive Chef Cristeta Comerford after she was presented with an award of recognition for her accomplishments during the Independence Day Reception at the Hay Adams Hotel in Washington, D.C. (Philippine Embassy Photo by Elmer G. Cato)
Ambassador Jose L. Cuisia Jr. welcomes Rep. Ed Royce (R, California), Chair of the Committee on Foreign Relations of the United States House of Representatives, during the Independence Day Reception at the Hay Adams Hotel in Washington, D.C. (Philippine Embassy Photo by Elmer G. Cato)
Deputy Secretary of State William Burns deliver his remarks during the Independence Day Reception at the Hay Adams Hotel in Washington, D.C. (Philippine Embassy Photo by Elmer G. Cato)
Ambassador Jose L. Cuisia Jr. offers a toast during the Independence Day Reception at the Hay Adams Hotel in Washington, D.C. (Philippine Embassy Photo by Elmer G. Cato)
Filipina-American Broadway artist Stephanie Reese sings Bayan Ko during the Independence Day Reception at the Hay Adams Hotel in Washington, D.C. (Philippine Embassy Photo by Elmer G. Cato)


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Patrick S. Roberts releases book on government preparation for disaster /
Current page: Patrick S. Roberts releases book on government preparation for disaster
Patrick Robert's new book cover
Growing up along the hurricane-prone Texas gulf coast, Patrick S. Roberts, an associate professor in the Center for Public Administration and Policy in the School of Public and International Affairs at Virginia Tech, developed an interest in how disaster and security organizations prepare for extreme events.
His new book, “Disasters and the American State: How Politicians, Bureaucrats and the Public Prepare for the Unexpected,” just released through the Cambridge University Press, explores the captivating history of the U.S. government’s growing role in dealing with crisis, including Hurricane Katrina and 9/11.
Roberts’ book provides the only single-volume history of the development of federal government disaster management in the United States. The contents range from the origins of the disaster state between 1789 and 1914 to the creation of the Department of Homeland Security between 1993 and 2003 and include details behind the rise of emergency management and the formation of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
“His analysis of the change from a government in transition — from responding to events to trying to manage them — is a tremendously important and path-breaking contribution to a question that increasingly, and inevitably, demands the best thinking we can bring,” said Donald F. Kettl, dean of the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland.
FourDesign, Virginia Tech's faculty-led, student run design agency created the information graphics included for the book. The resulting 17 figures chronicle the development of disaster relief in the United States and track the toll of the disasters themselves.
“Disasters and the American State: How Politicians, Bureaucrats and the Public Prepare for the Unexpected” is available through numerous online outlets, and on GoodReads, there is a contest to win a hard copy of the book that runs through Oct. 14.
Patrick S. Roberts is the associate chair for the Center for Public Administration and Policy and the program director for the center’s National Capital Region location in Alexandria, Va. He received his doctoral degree in government from the University of Virginia, a master’s degree from Claremont Graduate University, and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Dallas.
During 2010-11, he was the Ghaemian Scholar-in-Residence at the University of Heidelberg Center for American Studies in Germany. He has also worked as a reporter for the Associated Press.
The School of Public and International Affairs, one of four schools in the College of Architecture and Urban Studies, comprises three dynamic academic programs: Center for Public Administration and Policy, Government and International Affairs, and Urban Affairs and Planning. Each program consists of a robust cohort of faculty and researchers, led by a program chair who oversees the degree offerings across three Virginia locations in Blacksburg, Alexandria, and Richmond.
Cover of Roberts' book
Katie Gehrt
Greater Washington, D.C., metro area


Home/The Microfoundations of Community: Small Groups as Bridges and Barriers to Participatory Democracy
The Microfoundations of Community: Small Groups as Bridges and Barriers to Participatory Democracy
This chapter reviews research on the small group foundations of community participation and civil society. The approach used is interdisciplinary in nature, combining social psychological and microsociological research with wider-reaching theories of civil society and democratic theory, and arguing that the two are fundamentally linked. Fist, it is argued that associational groups provide both opportunities (bridges) and obstacles (barriers) for participation on a wider level, each of which is discussed in turn. It is argued that small groups provide microenvironments that allow individuals to develop cognitive and emotional models of citizenship, empowerment, and inclusion. However, the small group literature also points to cognitive biases, exclusionary tendencies, and irrational behavior associated with groups that call into question their ability to provide sustainable models of democratic participation. It is argued that many of the failings of participatory democracy cannot be understood without reference to the small group origins of modern democracies. In order to chart a path between these seeming contradictory findings the chapter concludes by posing the question of whether a polity based on principles of group psychology can sustain universalistic aspirations such as tolerance, universal participation, and mutual respect, or whether ultimately such aspirations break down into in-fighting and factionalism. An attempt is made to suggest provisional solutions based on social psychological research. Specifically, research on group relations that examines moderators of inter-group biases and factors that promote inclusion is suggested as a fruitful direction.


Will Sacha Baron Cohen’s Borat Sequel Arrive Before the Election?
The long-rumored film, which was first announced in 2007, reportedly shot in secret and has already screened for some industry insiders.
Photo by Moviestore/Shutterstock.
Next month could be pretty significant for Sacha Baron Cohen. On October 16, Netflix will release The Trial of Chicago 7, Aaron Sorkin’s long-gestating film about the 1969 legal proceeding. It stars as Abbie Hoffman in a performance that’s already garnered Cohen strong reviews and received nascent Oscar buzz. But that film might not even be Cohen’s biggest contribution to the discourse over the next four weeks. That’s because the comedian also appears to have his own October surprise in store: a sequel to Borat that was filmed in secret. It allegedly interrogates the government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic as well as President Donald Trump’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, and could be released before Election Day.
That, at least, is what separate reports from film websites Collider and The Film Stage revealed earlier this month, as both sites reported on apparent test screenings of the project. But Cohen has been leaving his own trail of breadcrumbs for weeks. In June, a disguised Cohen crashed a far-right rally in Washington State and performed a savage parody song critical of Dr. Anthony Fauci, Bill Gates, and other “mask-wearers” who have preached scientific fact during the coronavirus pandemic.
In July, former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani called the police on Cohen, again wearing a disguise, after he surprised Giuliani in a spoof interview. “This guy comes running in, wearing a crazy, what I would say was a pink transgender outfit,” Giuliani told the New York Post. “It was a pink bikini, with lace, underneath a translucent mesh top, it looked absurd. He had the beard, bare legs, and wasn’t what I would call distractingly attractive.”
After he called the police, Giuliani alleged, Cohen ran off. “I only later realized it must have been Sacha Baron Cohen. I thought about all the people he previously fooled and I felt good about myself because he didn’t get me,” Giuliani said. At the time, a representative for Cohen did not comment on the Giuliani interview; Vanity Fair has reached out to Cohen’s reps about Borat 2 and has not yet heard back.
In August, a video emerged of Cohen, dressed as Borat, driving through the streets of Los Angeles.
Over the weekend, a potential title was revealed via a now-deleted page on the Writers Guild of America website: Borat: Gift of Pornographic Monkey to Vice Premier Mikhael Pence to Make Benefit Recently Diminished Nation of Kazakhstan.
Released in November 2006, Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan was a cultural phenomenon and massive blockbuster for 20th Century Fox, earning $262 million worldwide. In 2007, a sequel was announced by Rupert Murdoch. In the years since, however, Cohen has moved on to other projects, including Bruno (which Universal released) as well as his recent Showtime series Who Is America?
As Collider noted in its report last month, it’s unclear which company funded and will release the Borat sequel, as 20th Century Fox is now owned by Disney. The presumption is that the film will come out via a streaming platform. (Some speculation for thought: in addition to The Trial of Chicago 7, which Netflix acquired from Paramount, the streaming platform also released The Spy starring Cohen last year.) But at least one person on Twitter has connected Borat 2 to Universal. Last year, the studio announced an “Untitled Universal Event Comedy” would come out on October 23. No further details were revealed about that potential project, however, and Universal denied it was involved in the Borat sequel when reached for comment.
Still, regardless of how it arrives, fans of Cohen’s political satire probably only have two words for the potential film: very nice.


‘Fear Factor’ Reboot is Explosive
Five years ago, “Fear Factor” showed us that eating buffalo testicles, African cave-dwelling spiders and hissing cockroaches can be mindlessly entertaining. This past December, “Fear Factor” returned to prime time television and it is crazier than ever.
The show originally debuted in the summer of 2001, becoming an instant hit. “Fear Factor” offered a fresh perspective on reality television, accented with stunts and mental challenges that drove viewers to the edge of their seats. After a series of good ratings, the show began competing against the Goliath of broadcasttelevision, “American Idol.” After losing a majority of its audience to Simon Cowell and company, “Fear Factor” was cancelled.
Now airing instead in the less competitive 9 p.m. time slot, the show brought back its original host Joe Rogan to lead the pack and challenge contestants. Because of the immense popularity the show enjoyed in its original seasons, producers told audiences not to expect to see a lot of changes. “Fear Factor” will try to win back fans with a similar method to the one it used in the original series.
If you have ever watched the original “Fear Factor,” the first things you will notice about the new show is that it is now in HD and that Rogan looks 10 years older.
The stunts in the show remain as entertaining and fast-paced as they were in the original series. Whether jumping off a building or hanging onto a flying helicopter, contestants are pitted in the same overly dramatic stunts. With the show now in HD, the creators abuse the use of explosions, but one can’t argue with the results. The show is hands down one of the most thrilling shows on television.
The fan-favorite part of the show (better known as the gross part) will definitely not disappoint the audience with the challenges it has up its sleeve for the new season. Whether contestants are challenged to eat live scorpions, jump in a bath full of cow’s blood or drink a mixture of tomato horn worms, stink beetles, flies and spoiled milk, be ready to put your plate down for this segment and ask yourself: “Would I really do that for a chance to win $50,000?”
With a strong show of ratings in the first 3 weeks averaging over 7,500,000 viewers, “Fear Factor” has proven that it is back on television and here to stay. So if you’re bored on a Monday night looking for something to watch, fear not to grab the remote and turn on “Fear Factor.”


The National
Three-part play first broadcast on Tues 19th, Weds 20th and Thursday 21st of November 2019 at 2.15pm on BBC Radio 4.
Politics and theatre do battle as the National's first Artistic Director, Sir Laurence Olivier, and his lieutenant Kenneth Tynan fight to establish a successful National Theatre.
With all the intensity of life back-stage, the theatre world itself can make for good drama, and writer Sarah Wooley has created one here, bringing to life the personalities and the power struggles that attended the opening of the National Theatre in 1963. No relationship was more key to the project’s success that that between founding artistic director Laurence Olivier (a suitably testy Robert Glenister) and his dramaturg Kenneth Tynan, (played by John Heffenan), and it’s captured in all its tension. Radio Times


The Forgotten Trauma Of Congo’s Forever War
Reprinted with permission from Tom Dispatch
GOMA, North Kivu Province, Democratic Republic of Congo — The boy was sitting next to his father, as he so often did. He mimicked his dad in every way. He wanted to be just like him, but Muhindo Maronga Godfroid, then a 31-year-old primary school teacher and farmer, had bigger plans for his two-and-a-half-year-old son. He would go to university one day. He would become a “big name” — not just in their village of Kibirizi, but in North Kivu Province, maybe the entire Democratic Republic of Congo. The boy was exceedingly smart. He was, Godfroid said, “amazing.” He could grow up to be a leader in a country in desperate need of them.
Kahindo Jeonnette was just putting dinner on the table when someone began pounding on the front door. “Open! Open! Open!” a man yelled in Swahili. Jeonnette was startled.
The 24-year-old mother of two looked at her husband. Godfroid shook his head. “I can’t open the door unless you say who you are,” she called out.
“I’m looking for your husband. I’m his friend,” came the response.
“It’s too late now. My husband can’t come out. Come back tomorrow,” she replied.
The man shouted, “Then I’m going to open it!” and pumped several bullets into the door. One tore through Godfroid’s left hand, leaving him with just a thumb and two-and-a-half fingers. For a moment, he was stunned. The pain had yet to hit him and he couldn’t quite piece together what had happened. Then he turned his head and saw his tiny son splayed out on the floor.
The grieving parents can’t even bring themselves to utter their late son’s name. “I’ll never forget seeing my baby lying there,” Jeonnette told me, her eyes red and glassy, as we sat in the kitchen of her two-room, clapboard home in a tumbledown area of Goma, the capital of North Kivu Province. “I close my eyes and that’s all I can see.”
No one knows who exactly killed Jeonnette and Godfroid’s son. No one knows exactly why. His death was just one more murder in an endless tally; a killing somehow tied to a war started decades before he breathed his first breath; a homicide abetted by an accident of birth — the bad luck of being born in a region roiled by a conflict as interminable as it is ignored.
Lightning Fast Lava, an Exploding Lake, and “the Most Dangerous City in the World”
The attack on Jeonnette and Godfroid’s home, the violence they endured, was no anomaly, but another painful incident in one of the most enduring catastrophes on the planet. A new report, “Congo, Forgotten: The Numbers Behind Africa’s Longest Humanitarian Crisis” by Human Rights Watch and the New York University-based Congo Research Group, finds that between June 1, 2017 and June 26, 2019, there were at least 3,015 violent incidents — including killings, mass rapes, and kidnappings — involving 6,555 victims in the provinces of North Kivu and South Kivu.
An average of 8.38 civilians were killed per 100,000 people in those two provinces alone, a number that exceeds even the 2018 death rate of 6.87 civilians in Borno, Nigeria, the state most affected by the terror group Boko Haram. It’s more than double the rate — 4.13 — in all of civil-war-torn Yemen, where Houthi rebels and civilians have, for years, been under a relentless assault by a U.S.-backed coalition led by Saudi Arabia.
“The fighting in recent years shows that peace and stability in eastern Congo are elusive,” said Jason Stearns, director of the Congo Research Group. “A comprehensive approach is needed, including an invigorated demobilization program and deep-seated reforms at every level of the state to counter impunity.”
The chances of that happening anytime soon are, however, remote. Violence has stalked the Congo’s far east since at least the nineteenth century, when slave raiders plied their trade here and local mutineers from a Belgian colonial expedition rampaged through the region. And since the end of the last century, North Kivu has been an epicenter of conflict.
For its part, Goma — home to two million people — has been called “cursed,” labeled a “magnet of misery,” and identified as “the most dangerous city in the world.” While it might not sit directly over hell, beneath the volcano that looms over it, Mount Nyiragongo, is a burning lake of lava — an estimated 2.3 billion gallons worth. At the same time, Lake Kivu, the body of water on whose shores Goma sits, could potentially asphyxiate millions in the event of an earthquake, thanks to gases building up beneath its surface. Then again, Lake Kivu itself might just explode — as it does about once every thousand years.
Goma is, to put it mildly, a tough town and, in recent times, it’s endured some genuine tough luck as well. In 1977, Mount Nyiragongo erupted, sending lava racing through the outskirts of the city at the fastest rate ever recorded, around 62 miles per hour, just shy of the speed of a cheetah running at full tilt. Several outlying villages were obliterated and almost 300 people burned alive.
In 1994, after the overthrow of a Hutu-led regime that had committed a genocide on the Tutsis of neighboring Rwanda, more than a million refugees, mostly Hutus, swamped Goma, prompting aid agencies to set up camps for them. Those camps, in turn, became bases for the ousted genocidaires to launch cross-border raids into Rwanda. In addition, cholera ravaged those refugee camps and Tutsis who had also fled the genocide were soon being attacked in Goma just as they had been in their native Rwanda.
The aftermath of that genocide birthed what came to be known as Africa’s World War, a conflict that raged from the mid-1990s through the early 2000s and saw Goma become a rebel capital controlled by a military elite, while more than five million people in the region died of violence or its fallout: hunger, starvation, and illness. Then, as if things weren’t bad enough, in 2002, Mount Nyiragongo erupted again, sending more than 14 million cubic meters of lava flowing down its southern flank. Two raging rivers of molten rock tore through the center of Goma, destroying 15 percent of the city, killing at least 170 people, leaving 120,000 homeless, and sending 300,000 others streaming into Rwanda.
Despite a regional peace deal that same year, Goma became the target of a Tutsi group that evolved into the March 23 Movement, or M23, a militia that would then battle the Congolese army for the better part of a decade, leading to yet another influx of displaced people settling into yet more camps and slums on Goma’s peripheries. Worse still, in 2012, the Rwandan-backed M23 rebels briefly seized and sacked the city, while carrying out an assassination campaign in and around it.
Today, Goma is officially at peace, but it’s never really peaceful. “Since the start of 2019, a series of murders, violent robberies, and kidnappings have taken place in peripheral neighborhoods of Goma,” reads a report released this spring by the Rift Valley Institute, which investigates conflict and its costs in the Democratic Republic of Congo. An armed robbery described in the report bears an eerie resemblance to the attack on Jeonnette and Godfroid’s home in Kibirizi. One of the victims explained how bandits carried out that home invasion in a neighborhood on the edge of Goma:
”I was sleeping downstairs with my wife and the baby. They entered the front door by shooting through it. We fled our room to take the stairs to go inside. Downstairs, they forced one of our daughters to show them the rooms upstairs. We locked ourselves in the room. The bandits shot through the door, hurting our baby, right above her eye and in her arm. We fled to the shower. The baby was bleeding very much. They came in and I started to give them everything they wanted from us… It was very traumatizing. My wife, who was pregnant, gave birth too early, but the baby is more or less OK. While locked in the bathroom, I called the chef de quartier and the colonel I know but they started to talk about fuel, [more specifically, the lack of fuel, which prevented them from intervening] so no one came to help.”
In the face of such violence, most Congolese are left with few options but to endure or flee. Last year, 1.8 million people — more than two percent of Congo’s population of 81 million — were internally displaced, second only to Ethiopia. All told, there are currently 5.6 million displaced Congolese and it’s estimated that 99 percent were made homeless due to violence.
Conflict Minerals Trumped by Conflict Alone
From the 1990s through the first years of the present century, an estimated 40 armed groups operated in the eastern Congo. Today, more than 130 such groups are active just in North and South Kivu Provinces.
With at least $24 trillion in gold, diamonds, tin, coltan, copper, cobalt, and other natural resources beneath the ground, it’s often assumed that Congo’s violence is intimately connected with the desire to control its mineral wealth. The Congo Research Group’s Kivu Security Tracker data, however, indicates that there is “no systematic correlation between violence and mining areas.” Instead, that land’s conflicts have become their own revenue stream. A “military bourgeoisie” has used the country’s complex set of conflicts-within-conflicts for career advancement, financing their private wars through kidnapping, the taxation of commodities and the movement of people, poaching, and protection rackets of every sort. Violence has become just another resource in the eastern Congo, a commodity whose value can be measured in both pain and Congolese francs.
Between June 2017 and June 2019, about 11 percent of the killings and 17 percent of all clashes in the Kivus occurred in the Fizi and Uvira territories of South Kivu and yet the epicenter of the violence in the region remains Beni territory in North Kivu (also a hotspot in the current and widening Ebola outbreak that even powerful new vaccines are unable to stem). Thirty-one percent of all the civilian killings in the Kivus took place in or around Beni, according to the Human Rights Watch report, “Congo, Forgotten,” with most of the bloodshed attributed to conflict between the Congolese armed forces and the Allied Democratic Forces, or ADF, a decades-old group that only recently rebranded itself as an Islamic State franchise.
Nearby Rutshuru territory experienced 35 percent of all the kidnappings in the two provinces, according to “Congo, Forgotten.” Recently, Sylvestre Mudacumura, a leader of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, an armed group founded by Hutu genocidaires in 2000, was killed there by the Congolese army. Rutshuru and neighboring Lubero territory are also home to two loose coalitions of opposing militias — the Nyatura and the Mai-Mai Mazembe — that draw from and nominally defend different ethnic groups in the region.
And so it goes in one of the most persistent bloodlettings on this planet, which is likely to continue taking a terrible toll in the years to come as the world turns a blind eye to it all.
Muhindo Maronga Godfroid and Kahindo Jeonnette, both from the Nande ethnic group, hail from Rutshuru. While they don’t know for certain who attacked their home on November 24, 2017, they suspect that Nyatura, a Congolese Hutu militia, was behind it.
When the couple returned from the hospital following the shooting, they found their home completely looted. Fearing for their lives, they fled to Goma, where I met them, with their five-year-old daughter Eliane. All three now live in a two-room shack in a rough part of town where dirt and volcanic rock serve as the floors of most homes.
With his injured hand, Godfroid has been unable to find work. The family survives on the money Jeonnette makes by selling lotoko, a potent local moonshine.
Wearing blue jeans and a red Liverpool soccer jersey, Godfroid continued to talk with me about their son until Jeonnette walked over and waved her hand as if to say, No more. The conversation had left her shaken and she didn’t want to hear about or talk about or think about that horrible night for one second more. Jeonnette said that she needed a drink. Would I like to join her? After an hour of my questions about the violence that had upended her world, about the death of a son whose name she couldn’t bring herself to utter, how could I not?
Jeonnette can’t forget that night, the sight of her son, the moment her life fell apart, but the world has forgotten the humanitarian crisis in Congo — to the extent that it was ever aware of it in the first place. After several decades of conflict, after a “World War” most people on this planet don’t even know happened (let alone killed millions), after rebel raids and village massacres, after countless attacks and uncounted murders, Congo’s constellation of crises remains largely ignored. It’s a burning reservoir of pain for which — the yeoman efforts of Human Rights Watch and the Congo Research Group aside — there is neither an accounting nor accountability.
Retreating to the back room, Jeonnette emerged with a metal cannister of crystal-clear liquor and poured a bit for each of us. As we toasted the memory of her son and I savored the slow burn of the lotoko, Jeonnette took a deep breath and leaned toward me. “This trauma lives in my heart. I can’t escape it,” she said, her eyes brimming with hurt. “This country keeps pulling us back. We just can’t move forward.”
Nick Turse is the managing editor of TomDispatch. He is the author of Next Time They’ll Come to Count the Dead: War and Survival in South Sudan and the award-winning Kill Anything That Moves: The Real American War in Vietnam.
Copyright 2019 Nick Turse.
South Africa Summons US Envoy To Protest Trump’s Racist Conspiracy Tweet
Reprinted with permission from Shareblue.
Trump’s decision to promote a racist conspiracy theory has sparked a diplomatic confrontation, requiring South Africa to summon America’s most senior diplomat there to set the record straight.
Earlier this week, after watching a segment on Fox News, Trump tweeted that he has “asked Secretary of State @SecPompeo to closely study the South Africa land and farm seizures and expropriations and the large scale killing of farmers.”
South Africa’s government summoned U.S. Charge d’Affaires Jessye Lapenn to “convey the unhappiness of the people” over Trump’s tweet.
Trump’s tweet was based on “false information,” the South African government says, and served “only to polarize debate on this sensitive and crucial matter.”
The government also said it was “disappointed” in Trump’s failure to use the existing diplomatic channels to discuss issues.
The entire story is based on a conspiracy theory popularized by white supremacists that farmers are facing a form of “white genocide” in South Africa, as purported retribution for the racist policies of the apartheid regime.
Investigators who have analyzed crime data in South Africa have debunked the conspiracy, which has inflamed racial tensions in a country that has long struggled over racial divisiveness.
Trump has come to the table with his own bigotry, and through the presidency has created problems for South Africa as they have been working to heal them.
The tweet thrilled many of the racists who form Trump’s base, but as is so often the case with his off-handed decisions, the fallout and repercussions have far-reaching effects.
Now Trump has forced the U.S. State Department in a baseless conspiracy theory that involves the highest levels of South Africa’s government — a government that now has to clean up a mess Trump created by impulsively tweeting while watching Fox.
Danziger: Expert Assistance
Watch: Obama Warns Against Populist Bigotry In South Africa Speech
#EndorseThis: Samantha Bee Opens Rescue Farm For Displaced Trump-Era Diplomats


https://apnews.com/article/4a98ad7e435c4d33a3aa3253551a356b
PG&E: Company equipment ‘probable’ cause of California fire
By SUDHIN THANAWALA and CATHY BUSSEWITZFebruary 28, 2019 GMT
FILE - In this Dec. 3, 2018 file photo, a vehicle rests in front of a home leveled by the Camp Fire in Paradise, Calif. Pacific Gas & Electric says its equipment may have ignited the 2018 Camp Fire, which killed 86 people and destroyed an entire town in Northern California. The embattled utility said Thursday, Feb. 28, 2019, it’s taking a $10.5 billion charge for claims connected to the Camp Fire in its fourth quarter earnings.(AP Photo/Noah Berger, File)
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Pacific Gas & Electric Corp. inched closer to taking responsibility for the deadliest U.S. wildfire in a century, saying Thursday it is “probable” that one of its transmission lines sparked the blaze last year that killed 86 people and destroyed most of the city of Paradise.
The embattled utility company, which filed for bankruptcy protection in January, said it’s taking a $10.5 billion charge for claims connected to the fire in its fourth quarter earnings. The fire destroyed 14,000 homes in and around Paradise — a city of 27,000 people in the Sierra Nevada foothills.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation. But firefighters located its start near a tower on PG&E’s Caribou-Palermo transmission line.
“Based on the information currently known to the company and reported to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and other agencies, the company believes it is probable that its equipment will be determined to be an ignition point of the 2018 Camp Fire,” PG&E said in a news release.
PG&E has previously acknowledged that the Caribou-Palermo transmission line lost power right before the fire and was later found to be damaged. It also included the blaze among the more than $30 billion in potential wildfire liabilities it said it was facing when it announced plans to file for bankruptcy in January. But it had not gone as far as it did Thursday in connecting the line to the blaze.
“We recognize that more must be done to adapt to and address the increasing threat of wildfires and extreme weather in order to keep our customers and communities safe,” said John Simon, interim CEO of PG&E. “We are taking action now on important safety and maintenance measures identified through our accelerated and enhanced safety inspections and will continue to keep our regulators, customers and investors informed of our efforts.”
John Geesman, an energy consultant and former member of the California Energy Commission, said PG&E’s announcement Thursday is significant and will increase scrutiny of the company by lawmakers and others.
“This corroborates a lot of the worst things that people have believed,” he said.
The Wall Street Journal, citing federal records, reported Wednesday that PG&E since 2013 has repeatedly delayed safety work on the Caribou-Palermo line, including replacing towers and wires. PG&E said in a statement that the story “inaccurately portrays planned electric transmission regulatory compliance work, and omits key aspects of the work we are currently doing to enhance safety.”
PG&E also recorded a new $1 billion charge related to 2017 wildfires in Northern California.
Citing extraordinary challenges from wildfires, PG&E’s management concluded the circumstances “raise substantial doubt about PG&E Corporation’s and the Utility’s ability to continue as going concerns.”
PG&E also said there was an outage and downed wires in another location, called Big Bend, on the morning of the fire that destroyed Paradise.. While fire officials have identified the second location as another potential ignition point, PG&E said it’s unsure if that problem might have ignited the fire.
The Caribou-Palermo transmission line has been out of service since mid-December, and inspections have identified equipment that needs repair or replacement, the company said.
Bussewitz reported from New York.


abandoned batman nightclub
My interest in capturing this genre of images has led me to some peculiarly fascinating and truly one-of-a-kind places all around Thailand, the country I’ve called home for 9 years. I’ll tell you a bit about a place that stands out as one of the more unusual and magnificent abandoned sites that I’ve explored.
The Batman nightclub entertainment establishment sits decaying away in the Thai coastal city of Pattaya, often associated with its notorious sex-tourism trade, though there is much more to the city than that seedy side. Derelict for over 20 years, the crumbling club sits on Soi Batman, the street that still carries its name, as it is still a very distinguishing building. The Batman was built in the mid-1990’s in central Pattaya, where it became one of the city’s hottest night-spots. The club’s Batman spotlights could be seen beaming across the city each night, as if Pattaya were Gotham City and customers were being called instead of help from a caped-crusader. It was also a ‘snooker club’ on the members-only upper floors, where the ladies that worked there walked around scantily clad (or un-clad) and entertained club members in short-time rental rooms. This enormous, dilapidated venue, though only in operation for a brief spell, remains standing as a mysterious and foreboding reminder to Pattaya locals of past adventures in local nightlife.
I visited the Batman club with my girlfriend Mook, my ride-or-die companion for most urbex-exploits. We heard about the the unusual venue via online forums and blogs on strange and unique places around Thailand. We were in the area for a weekend escape from bustling Bangkok and drove over to have a look, expecting it to be restricted or the entrances to be covered (often the case). However, when we arrived, we were, surprisingly, able to walk right in the front door without restriction.
The once-eventful six-floor structure (including the rooftop), now seems to host mainly street artists who come to spray murals on the many walled canvases, as well as a few vagrant folks who use it as a shelter for humid, rainy Pattaya nights. There was a street art event held at the Batman in March of 2016, which provided the colorful array of murals covering most of the internal and external walls, my favorite of which is a tribute to the late Phife Dawg of A Tribe Called Quest. Due to the rainy weather, there was dripping water to be avoided on almost every floor, which required some careful maneuvering on stairs and overhangs. However, the oily water accumulated on some of the upper floors created some vivid, symmetrical reflections of the graffiti colors along with the rusty concrete support columns. The ground floor area, which was the main Batman dance floor, is completely submerged under several meters of water. What is now a murky pond was once a large dance area with a bar and a stage for live performances. It was reported in local news last year that a man’s dead body of was found floating in that very pool, a bit of information that I didn’t come across until after our visit.
The history of the Batman’s operation, along with the reasons for it’s closure are not easy to find in online research. Luckily, when we came back on the second day to get some more exterior shots, we met a former employee of the club who now works at a nearby motorbike shop and parks his truck in the vacant club’s parking lot. His name is Hae and he spoke with us for a few minutes, providing some detailed information on the club’s history. According to Mr. Hae, who was a security guard and general ‘everyman’ at the club, the location was open for less than two years before shutting it’s doors forever. He also confirmed that the upper floors were a sort of ‘VIP’ area with snooker tables and escort services. He explained that the large hole in the middle of two of the floors was originally surrounded by a protective railing and used to look down on one of the dance floors. According to Hae, there was an electrical fire caused by overloaded circuits from lights and other equipment. He indicated that several patrons died in the fire and that he only escaped out a top floor window, but I was unable to verify these fatalities in my research as the availability of online news from that time period is sparse. The fire damage, combined with an inability to maintain profits led to the clubs closure 18 or so months after its opening. The site is now owned by a local bank that repossessed it from the original owner. The final item that Mr. Hae mentioned was that he sometimes swims in the flooded dance floor area on the ground level, which is something I can’t imagine doing, especially after finding out about the floating corpse. Hae is a kind man and spoke in a genuine and thoughtful tone, though there was a sadness in his voice as he recalled the history of the his former workplace.
The Batman club is one of many distinctive abandoned sites around Thailand, and one of my favorite places to have ever taken pictures. Each ramshackle location across the country has its own unique history, as well as its own reasons for being left behind in time, but each one is connected in the the sense that they are reminders of what once was, what might’ve been, and what happens when we forget. They are no longer freshly painted, not shiny and new anymore. Windows are broken. Doors, furniture, light fixtures, and most metal has been either stolen or scrapped. They are not as they once were, nor will they ever again be. Nonetheless, despite the decay and rust that many see as unsightly blots on the landscape, the allure for urban explorers and photographers lies in identifying and capturing the remaining beauty in these forgotten locations. If we look closely, it isn’t hard to find.
© 2016 Dax Ward
taken at the abandoned Batman nightclub, Pattaya, Chonburi, Thailand


Japanese ready for iPhone’s arrival
August 24, 2007 10:46 am UTC
Despite the country’s advanced cellular industry, many Japanese are eagerly awaiting the arrival of the iPhone, reports USA Today. According to a July survey conducted by research firm Yahoo Value, 13 percent of the 400 surveyed want an iPhone, and 15 percent of those would switch service providers to get one. “This is the first phone that thrilled me,” freelance journalist Tsutsumu Ishikawa says. Ishikawa flew to Hawaii on June 29 to pick up an iPhone, despite the fact that the device’s phone features don’t work in Japan. “People regard it as cool and advanced. And the interface is easy to use.” Several obstacles stand in the way of the iPhone and success in Japan, according to the article. Obstacles include Japan’s 3G networks, the iPhone’s pricing, privacy issues, and the process of negotiating a deal with a service provider, a process which, the article suggests, may be expedited by a “personal friendship” between Apple CEO Steve Jobs and SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son, who happened to be on hand at the device’s unveiling at the Macworld Expo in January. SoftBank is one of Japan’s three top service providers, along with KDDI and DoCoMo. “We are interested” in the iPhone, says DoCoMo spokesman Roland Arafat. “But nothing has been decided.” The iPhone is scheduled to be released in Asia in 2008.
iLounge > News > iPhone > Japanese ready for iPhone’s arrival


Even though Costa Rica is a small country, it has a great biological and habitat diversity due to the convergence of two hemispheres, two oceans, and its varying geography. This creates wonderful changing views for travelers. There is a chain of mountains that forms a back- bone down the length of Costa Rica. They start in the north with the Guanacaste "Cordillera" (mountain range), continues with the Tilaran Cordillera (location of Monteverde and Arenal), the Central Cordillera (Irazu, Poás, Braulio Carrillo), and finishes with the southern Talamanca Cordillera (which is the highest in the country).
While the Pacific coastline is almost 780 miles (1,254 km), the Caribbean is only 132 miles (212 km). Hilly peninsulas are settled in the Pacific coast. There are two large gulfs, and many small coves and bays. Two major commercial ports are located in the Pacific: Puntarenas and Puerto Caldera. On the Caribbean, there is a natural harbor in the Moin - Limon area. It is the largest area of lowland plains (about one-fifth of Costa Rica), which stretches back from the northern coastline almost to Limon.
Costa Rica lies in the tropics between 8 and 11 degrees north of the equator. You might expect moderate temperatures, but the rugged mountain chain's effect on factors such as wind, and rain, creating many microclimates. Most people are surprised to learn that frost and ice can occur on some of the loftier peaks, such as Chirripo. Temperatures are somewhat higher on the Pacific side than on the Caribbean at the same elevation because there are more clouds on the Caribbean watershed year-round than on the Pacific. At sea level on either side, the annual average is always above 75°F (24°C). Some of the highest peaks average 54°F (12°C), though temperatures there can fall below freezing.
There is not spring, or fall times in Costa Rica. The seasons are called verano (summer) and invierno (winter).They are just a dry season (since December until April) and a rainy season (since May until November). Temperature has more variation from night to day than from verano to invierno. Difference in daily temperatures averages 14°F to 18°F (8°C to 10°C). From November to January, cold breezes from the north funnel through the mountains of North America causing a little down in temperature. This is one of the few countries in the world in which polar air gets this close to the equator. The warmest months are March, April, and May, and the wettest months are September and October. Rainfall amounts vary from less than 59 inches (1500mm) to more than 190 inches (4800mm) during these months. The country's average rainfall pattern is in the range of 79 to 158 inches (2,000 to 4,000 mm). Precipitation can come in the form of a tropical downpour with impressive lightning and thunder (aguacero), steady rain, or the less common, a continuous light rain for several days (temporal).
Even in the rainy season, rain will not fall during the all day, every day. It usually begins in early afternoon in the Central Valley and other highland areas, but later in the afternoon in the Pacific lowlands. Each season has its own beauty and unique characteristics. In wetter times the flora is profuse, with a vibrant life that gets into the soul. In the dry season the background is perfect for orchids, bougainvilleas, reina de la noche (queen of the night), as well as for colorful trees that flower only then.
Costa Rica can boast that it is the country with the highest percentage (25%) of its territory designated as protected areas: Forest Reserves, Biological Reserves, Nature Shelters, and of course, National Parks. These is another of the good reasons why many Europeans and North Americans, further than coming to travel, have made this land their home being nowadays around 1% of the Costa Rican population.
Country Demographics:
Area: 19,929 square miles
Capital: San Jose
Government type: Democratic republic
Language: Spanish (official), English
Literacy rate: 94.8%
Location: At 19,929 square miles, Costa Rica is slightly smaller in area than West Virginia, U.S. It borders Nicaragua on its north, Panama on the southeast, the Pacific Ocean on the west and southwest, and the Caribbean Sea on the northeast.
Major Religions: Roman Catholic (76.3%), Evangelical (13.7%)
Population (2002 est.): 3,834,934
About the weather in Costa Rica:
Be prepared for sunshine, rain, cool mountain breezes, and muggy jungle mists depending on where and when you visit our country. Due to our topography, we have a variety of microclimates. As you ascend or descend in altitude, or move from one province to another, our weather changes.
Our rainy season, which typically brings sunny mornings and afternoon showers, lasts from May to November, but it's best to be prepared for rain at any time of the year. In rain forests and cloud forests, it rains almost every day, sometimes several times per day. Costa Rica's beaches are hot and humid, except for the northwestern province of Guanacaste, which tends to be dry and breezy. To get more specific, refer to the information provided in your itinerary.
More info in www.imn.ac.cr
Government offices are open from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Commercial offices are open from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Stores and other businesses are open from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Costa Rica offers superb craft items at affordable prices. Wooden and leather goods are excellent buys, and they are typically very well made. Wooden jewelry and jewelry boxes, utensils, serving bowls and other small ornaments can be easily transported home in your luggage. Leather purses, wallets, and briefcases are similar to those found in the other places, but at much better prices. Fresh roasted coffee beans are a popular buy, and can be purchased in elegant gift packaging. For the best deals, however, purchase coffee in a grocery store rather than a souvenir shop. You will get the same quality merchandise without inflated pricing. Silver, gold, and ceramic replicas of pre-Columbian artifacts also make great souvenirs, but think carefully before purchasing anything advertised as an antiquity. Customs will also seize most items involving furs, coral, tortoise shell, reptile skins, feathers, and plants.
Bargaining is not a common practice in Costa Rica, even at the stands of street vendors However, you can ask for "la feria" which is an extra object as a gift for the many you have purchased.
Remember to leave some extra space in your luggage when you are packing for your trip, so you can fit in your vacation purchases.
Churches:
Like all Latin American countries, Costa Rica is predominantly Catholic, but churches of other denominations are found throughout the country.
Direct-dial telephone service, facsimile, telex, radio and cable television are all available. Bilingual operator assistance for international calls is - 116, local information - 113, long distance information - 124.
On the day of departure, travelers must be at the airport about two hours before the time their flight is scheduled to leave. There is a departure tax of US$26.00. There is a 13% sales tax at hotels, restaurants, and most service industries, and an additional 3% tourist tax at hotels.
Health care in Costa Rica is very good and sanitary standards are high. First aid assistance and access to hospitals are available throughout the country. However, you should bring sufficient supply of your prescribed medication if you are taking any. Travel insurance is advisable for refunds in your country of origin.
Spanish is officially spoken. English is the second language spoken in many areas throughout the country.
Costa Rica is in the same time zone as U.S. Central Standard Time.
Official Holidays:
January 1st: New Year’s Day
March/April: Easter Week
April 11th: Juan Santamaría Day
May 1st: Worker Day
July 25th: Annexation of Guanacaste Day
November 2nd: All Soul’s Day
December 25th: Christmas Day
... Costa Rica General Information ...
by Frida Travel Staff
Within Costa Rica’s 51,200 square kilometers there is a wider variety of species of birds than in all of Europe or North America. With a relatively small population of roughly three and a half million inhabitants, Costa Rica also boasts of one of the oldest and more consolidated democracies in Latin America. In 1869, primary education for both sexes was declared obligatory and free of cost, defrayed by the State. In 1882 the death sentence was abolished. In the 1949 the armed forces were abolished and in 1983 Perpetual Neutrality was proclaimed. Prestigious international human rights organizations have their headquarters in Costa Rica. Because of this, and of its lush 1500 kilometers of tropical sun-bathed beaches and the wild diversity of flora and fauna to be found in its wide array of microclimates (most present in one or more of its National Parks), Costa Rica has justifiably earned its reputation of paradise regained.
Costa Rica's microclimates vary from the barren cold volcanic tundra to the exotic cloud forest, from the deep dense jungle of Talamanca to the tropical dry forests of Guanacaste, from quiet gold-hued beaches where the Baulas Tortoises build their nests to the winding Tortuguero Canals where the crocodile is king. Even so, Costa Rica's overall climate can be best described as mild. Being located within the tropics, seasonal changes in Costa Rica are not as dramatic as they are in countries on other latitudes. There is a 'dry" season (equivalent to summer and spring) during which temperatures hover pleasantly in the high 60’s to low 70’s (20 –23 degrees C), which goes from December to May, and a "wet" season from June to November during which mornings are usually sunny and showers might be expected in the afternoon. On areas near the coasts, temperatures may be as much as ten degrees higher, where as at Chirripó Peak, the highest mountain in Costa Rica (3800 meters), temperatures may drop down to the freezing point. Tourists should bring light clothes: a jacket and a raincoat is all the protection you'll need unless you plan to go hiking in the higher mountains.
Costa Rica is six hours behind Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), which is equivalent to Central Time in North America. There is no daylight saving time.
Costa Rica's official language is Spanish. On the Caribbean Coast a small minority of Jamaican descendants speak a local version of English, and most Costa Ricans can understand and speak a bit of English. Quite recently all public schools made mandatory the learning of a second language.
As in the rest of Latin America, Roman Catholicism is Costa Rica’s main religion, but there is a very wide margin of tolerance and the constitutional freedom of creed is always respected. Costa Rica’s religions by percentage of practicing members: Roman Catholic 76.3%, Evangelical 13.7%, Jehovah's Witnesses 1.3%, other Protestant 0.7%, other 4.8%, none 3.2%.
Costa Rica is a civil law country which means that the organization of the legal system is derived from the French Napoleonic Code as opposed to English common law. The Government of Costa Rica has 4 branches: The Judicial, Executive - President and cabinet ministers, Legislative - Elected members and Electoral Tribunal - takes over police and all government functions dealing with elections before each election. Members are usually unpaid volunteers who are judges. This is to ensure all elections are completely democratic and free.
The national currency is the colon and dollars are easily exchanged at all banks, other foreign currency can be exchanged through private agencies. All mayor credit cards as well as travelers checks are widely accepted. The colon exchanges at 460 per dollar (as of March 2005) and can be expected to increment by 0,17 on average per day.
The standard in Costa Rica is the same as in the United States: 110 volts AC (60 cycles). However, three-pronged outlets can be scarce, so it's helpful to bring along an adapter.
Most banks are open Monday through Friday from 9am to 3:30pm, although many have begun to offer extended hours. Offices are open Monday through Friday from 8am to 5pm (many close for 1 hr. at lunch). Stores are generally open Monday through Saturday from 9am to 6pm (many close for 1 hr. at lunch).
There are postal and telegraph offices in cities and villages throughout the country. The Central Post Office is located in San José on Second Street between Avenues 1 and 3, and is open Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturdays from 7 a.m. to 12 noon. Radiográfica Costarricense is located on Fifth Avenue between Streets 1 and 3. This company provides telex, fax, international data transmission, and many other services (including Internet access). The country code for Costa Rica is 506, and there is no area code inside the country.
International Air Transportation: Most air traffic to and from Costa Rica is handled through the Juan Santamaría Airport, located 29 minutes from San José, in the city of Alajuela.
Domestic Air Transportation: All flights leave from the International Juan Santamaría Airport or the Tobías Bolaños Airport. There is a network of internal airports which not only serve important cities, but special interest tourist areas. Among the most important are: Liberia, Palmar Sur, Tamarindo, Barra del Colorado, Limón, Quepos, Golfito, Coto 47, etc. From the Tobías Bolaños Airport, located to the west of the capital city, private airlines offer flights to most areas of the country.
Domestic Bus Service: The country, in general, offers adequate bus service. The majority are private companies which link San José with the principal provincial towns and cities, seaports and tourist areas. With good-quality vehicles and frequent itineraries, the user can easily travel by bus throughout the country. In the main cities and villages nationwide, there are taxicab companies that service the user to the more remote places in the country. Four-wheel drive vehicles are typical for the rural areas.
International Bus Service: Leaving from San José, there is bus service to Central America and Panama. The companies: TICA BUS, SIRC A and TRACOPA have scheduled trips to Panama, Nicaragua and other countries.
Automobile Circulation: Costa Rica has a good highway network, the majority of which, for tourist use, is paved. In most places there are adequate traffic signs. In the major highways there are toll booths (San José-San Ramón, San José-Guápiles, San José-Cartago, San José-Ciudad Colón). Throughout the country there are many gas stations, some of which offer round-the-clock service. Costa Rica does not have self-service gas stations.
Driver Requirements: A foreigner may drive with a current license from his country of origin and his passport, during the three months that his tourist visa is valid. Warning triangles should be carried at all times by all drivers, and seat belts are also required for drivers and front-seat passengers. The use of helmets for motorcycle conductors is required.
Click here for a complete list of foreign embassies and consulates.
Entry/Exit Requirements
With a valid passport and round trip or continuing ticket, citizens of the United States of America, Canada, Germany, Spain and Italy can travel to Costa Rica for a 90-day stay without a consular visa. To stay legally beyond the period granted, travelers will need to submit an application for an extension to the Office of Temporary Permits in the Costa Rican Department of Immigration. Tourist visas are usually not extended except under special circumstances, such as academic, employment, or medical grounds, and extension requests are evaluated on a case-by-case basis. There is a departure tax for short-term visitors. Tourists who stay over ninety days without receiving a formal extension can expect to pay a higher departure tax at the airport or land border, and may experience some delay at the airport. Persons who have overstayed previously may be denied entry to Costa Rica.
As of this time, Costa Rica does not require visitors to have any particular vaccinations, although you should make sure that all your normal vaccinations are up to date.
Any foreigner who is temporarily in the country has the right to receive health attention at hospitals and clinics in case of an emergency, sudden illness or a chronic disease. Costa Rica boasts a modern and renown medical health system, under the administration of the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social (CCSS)…more information
Costa Rica has a 911 system for reporting emergencies. Crimes that are no longer in progress should be reported in person at the nearest police station. In the event of a traffic accident, vehicles must be left where they are, and not moved out of the way. Both the Tránsito (Traffic Police) and the Insurance Investigator must make accident reports before the vehicles are moved. Although sometimes slow to respond after notification, these officials will come to the accident scene.
Emergency telephone numbers:
Emergencies . . . . . . .911 (Metropolitan area)
Fire Department and
Rescue Units. . . . . . .118
Traffic Police. . . . . .222-9330/ 222-9245
Police Department . . . .117
Rural Police Department .127
Red Cross . . . . . . . .128
Juan Santamaría International Airport Phone: 441-0744.
Limón International Airport . Phone: 758-1379
Tobías Bolaños International Airport. Phone: 232-2820
Daniel Oduber Quiros International
Airport (Liberia, Guanacaste) . Phone: 666-0695


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Home Politics Nigerian Ambassador Baba Ahmad Jidda: China is our second home
Nigerian Ambassador Baba Ahmad Jidda: China is our second home
SephoraNews
The Nigerian Embassy lies in Beijing’s Sanlitun, an area in Chaoyang District popular among ex-pats with a large number of embassies. Ambassador Baba Ahmad Jidda office is on the second floor.
If you ask him to show you one of the fancy things he keeps, he will probably show you something his wife bought for him – a special Chinese plant. “My wife brought it to my office. She said this one brings you a lot of fortune, a lot of money.
Chinese Bank of China money will come to this, the Export and Import Bank money will come, so I send it to Nigeria for infrastructure development,” Jidda said.
Baba Ahmad Jidda took up his current post in September 2017.
At the beginning of the year, he went back to Nigeria for the Christmas holiday. When Wuhan was struck by COVID-19, he decided to rush back to Beijing.
“China is our second home. So I discussed with my wife and said we cannot be away from China during the difficult time of China. And in any case, there were so many Nigerians in China, especially students.
So there is a need for me to go back, as a captain of the ship to ensure we sink or swim with China. So I returned to Beijing with my wife. And everybody was surprised to see us because the airport was empty, very few people. Few immigration officers were even there. It was like there was nobody,” Baba Ahmad Jidda recalled.
“We have 75 Nigerians in Wuhan, 65 of them were student, 10 are other Nigerians. I told them ‘please stay put. I assure you that things will be good.’ So we sent them support, and the government did more than we did to support the students and other Nigerians.
I made a press conference, a press release, urging all Nigerians to stay in China, assuring them that sooner or later China will do something about the COVID-19. Finally, I’ve been vindicated that China contained the virus.
In the whole world today, China is the safest. Therefore I feel very proud that I have taken that bold decision to come back to China when everybody was running out of China,” he said.
He said the construction company China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation, undertaking railways and airports in Nigeria, was very helpful in fighting the pandemic.
“Loads of medical equipment and medical personnel, you know, were sent to Nigeria, and they have done a great job. They trained my people, making sure some the equipment that we lacked was provided, and we have since been cooperating in that area, and we’ll not stop appreciating China for the support that was most needed at the time it was given,” said the ambassador.
Baba Ahmad Jidda and his wife also made personal contributions to encourage Chinese people.
“My wife is the President of the Commonwealth Society in Beijing. That society is like a charity organization. During the pandemic, they decided to support the medical facility in Wuhan hospitals. They contributed some 200,000 RMB for the support of hospitals who are taking care of the affected patients,” he said.
“I personally took as an ambassador, I have made a contribution to students and other Nigerians in my own capacity, 25,000 to 30,000 yuan before the government came to my help,” he added.
He said with the coronavirus situation now under control in China, health is still the focus of bilateral cooperation.
“China believes in multilateralism. China does not operate alone. China must ensure that other countries in the world also get healthy. Maybe that’s the reason his Excellency President Xi Jinping contributed some $2 billion during the last World Health Assembly.
Maybe that’s why China is everyday supporting the World Health Organization because it’s very important for other countries to be healthy, for us to conduct or bilateral relations, especially African countries,” he said.
“We cannot wait to receive [a] vaccine from China, we cannot wait to see China sending millions of vaccines to Africa, so that the Forum for China-Africa Cooperation, the Belt and Road Initiative you know, to have healthy countries, to have healthy bilateral and multilateral relationship with China,” he added.
Responding to words saying China’s been setting a debt trap for Africa, he said, “If you are [a] naive type of leader, you’ll be frightened of what the Western press says about China’s loans to Africa. But our leaders are responsible leaders, our leaders are intellectuals, they are educated, they know what’s good for their people.”
Baba Ahmad Jidda said he had been to almost every province in the country, and he praised China’s development blueprint, saying that the “Five-Year Plan” is an important tool for the country’s progress.
“The 14th development plan of China is like a global plan. It encompasses almost everything the world is going through because China has reached a point where whatever it does, affects the rest of the world.
The plan has its ramifications to friendly countries, like African countries, they mentioned the Forum for China-Africa Cooperation, mentioned the Belt and Road Initiative, and these are areas that touch on several other countries of the world,” he said.
Baba Ahmad Jidda said he’s staying in China for his second three-year term, as he aims to deepen the already friendly ties between his host, and home, country.
Source: cgtn.com
Baba Ahmad Jidda
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