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- Watch Appropriate Behaviour now on BFI Player
- Watch Desiree Akhavan talk about her favourite LGBT film
Out now on BFI Player, Appropriate Behaviour is one of the funniest comedies of recent years, a witty, razor-sharp tale of a twentysomething, bisexual Iranian-American woman negotiating her troubled love life in Brooklyn.
Boasting some great set pieces – the threesome scene is destined to become a classic – the film breathes the same air as the films of Woody Allen and the work of Lena Dunham, but director and star Desiree Akhavan has a voice very much of her own.
We met Akhavan to discuss bisexuality on film, Muriel’s Wedding (1994), and the challenges of directing herself.
Why is the film called Appropriate Behaviour?
First of all, I’m terrible at naming films. I really hate it. We tossed around titles for a very long time. Appropriate Behaviour was the best – the major theme of the film is identity, and this character has so many different niches that she belongs to and they all have very different codes of conduct and a different set of appropriate rules to go by. There’s a signed decorum wherever you go, but her natural impulses are, across the board, inappropriate.
To what extent is the film based on personal experience?
The themes are really true to my life, but it’s not autobiographical. The events never took place. I was interested in taking something that was personal, but I didn’t want to make a diary entry. I didn’t think that would be compelling, and it wouldn’t communicate the story I wanted to communicate.
How did you find the experience of directing yourself?
It’s tricky at first, but gets easier as you go. [The challenge was] wearing the dual hats of actor and director. The trick was to turn off one half of my brain when I was in front of the camera, so I was 100% in the scene, and then when the camera’s off I’m not thinking about that, I am with my crew and planning shots and overseeing everyone’s work.
There wasn’t a lot of time so I couldn’t view the monitor very much, which was good and bad. I was able not to be precious with my own performance.
Which comedians do you admire, and have they influenced your work?
Louis CK is someone I am constantly referencing. His TV show Louie is incredible to me, he is someone who takes personal things and heightens them to the next level, and he plays with form and story and realism in a really fun way. I also think his humour is honest, first and foremost, it feels heartfelt. That’s what I mean when I say my work is personal, but not autobiographical.
Sarah Silverman is another comedian I really love. Her work is very political, it’s very funny and it has a lot to say, in a very intelligent way. Tracey Ullman is someone I grew up watching, and I have been very influenced by her characters and her comedy.
Are there any comedy films you particularly like?
I really love Muriel’s Wedding. It was the first time I saw myself on screen. It was someone who wasn’t the most beautiful or the most charismatic, just a loser who wants to be the star of the show, an ‘unlikeable’ protagonist. I find her incredibly likeable – she’s someone who feels just as entitled as any asshole out there, and wants to be the star of their own story, even if they didn’t have the most talent, or beauty, or brains even.
For some reason, most films feel the need to qualify someone’s nerdiness, and say they’re really so special, and this was one of the first times a film said she’s not special, she’s just needy and that’s OK, you can still fall in love with her. She’s still worthy of love and attention. It was also the way they meshed the comedy and the drama, it deals with such heavy subject matters, it tears your heart apart at moments, but it’s absurdly funny. The characters can delve into caricature, but in a really fun, affectionate way. And it feels quite realistic to me, even though it’s farcical. I’m very fascinated by that divide between caricature and real.
Bisexual characters are seldom seen in cinema, certainly as central characters. Was it important for you to have a bi protagonist for your first film?
Very much so. There’s no bi visibility – if there is, I’m not seeing it! It’s just one of those things – it’s the one sexuality where you’re defined by whoever your partner is at that moment. That if I’m partnered with a woman I’m gay, if I’m partnered with a man I’m straight, and there’s no in-between. It’s quite taboo in all circles, there are only negative references to bisexuality.
Saying you’re bisexual is like saying “I’m a huge slut.” It’s so uncomfortable, and I feel very taboo calling myself bi, but it is what I am and every time I say it I’m winning a tiny victory for myself, I am going to dictate what this means, and it doesn’t mean I can’t make up my mind or I’m confused. That I happen to be a human being to have the weird capacity to love people by their gender, and it’s a weird true thing about me. People keep coming up to me after every screening saying “I’m bisexual but no one knows”. Terrified, horrified, much more so than the lesbians I meet.
Are there any LGBT films you particularly admire?
I love High Art (1998). That’s a film that spoke to me. Young and Wild (2012) is a film that came out a few years ago that was at Sundance. It’s a film about a bisexual protagonist and I thought it was really beautiful. It’s from Chile, about a bisexual girl from an evangelical family. It’s so good. I don’t know why it didn’t get more attention.
I have a pilot for a bisexual dating comedy. So I’m trying to develop a TV series about a bisexual in New York. I’m appearing in the next season of Girls. I play a classmate of Hannah Horvatz.


RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- 16-year-old Aaliyah Mekkhi Harris has been found safe, according to Raleigh police.
A Silver Alert had been issued for Harris after she was last seen in the 3200 block of Capital Blvd in Raleigh on Saturday at 10:30 p.m.
Harris is described as 5'2 and 190 pounds with long brown hair and brown eyes.
Harris suffers from several cognitive impairments and does not have her medications with her.
She could be wearing a short sleeve gray t-shirt and black leggings.
Silver Alerts are issued for those suffering from dementia or other cognitive impairments.


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How to join the mages guild eso
The Mage's Guild is an association of non-player characters which you can join on all of your characters. When you join the Mage's Guild you will gain access to . There used to be a note posted on a tree in Vulkhel Guard, but it's not there anymore!. The Mages Guild is a joinable faction in The Elder Scrolls Online. Players may join the Mages Guild regardless of their Alliance, much like the Fighters Guild.
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Join the Mages Guild is a quest in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. If the Hero would like to join the Mages Guild, they must not have any bounties on them and . Mage's Guild is an NPC association in The Elder Scrolls Online, it is You may join the Mage's Guild after you have discovered some. A Reddit community dedicated to The Elder Scrolls Online, an MMO . You can join Fighters/Mages Guild by Playing story in the Morrowind.
Each lorebook adds five points to the Mages Guild skill line, and an increasing number of points is required to gain a rank. Good relations Nemarc's Invitation: Accept an invitation to join the Mages Guild. .. Factions in ESO. The only method to unlock the Mage's guild skill line is to find the Mage's city of each starter zone) and there will be an NPC outside ready to help you join. Joining the Mages Guild is one of the most involved tasks in the game. However, once you join you'll have access to the Arcane University in.
There are 4 primary guilds in ESO: The Dark Brotherhood, Fighters Guild, Mages Guild and Thieves Guild. Everyone can join a guild to get access to new quests. For The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited on the PlayStation 4, a GameFAQs Any character can join the Fighter's and Mages guild. I havent started mage guild and accidently picked up a lorebook, is it gonna give me exp for that The Elder Scrolls Online Any Mages Guild XP you get from Lorebooks before joining the guild gets added when you do join. Getting Started. Join the Mages Guild by visiting your local Mages Guild in any major city and make sure you have the following: Dulfy's awesome guide. A player can join all NPC Guilds at once and rank them up at the same time. Elder Scrolls Online – How To Kill Gutstripper (Mage's Guild) A stealth attack at the. First, the biggest question - yes you can join both the fighter and mage guild, and when it's added, the thieves guild. No, the thieves guild isn't in. Throughout the Mages Guid quest-line, you will need to approach a Mages Guild hall in any city once you are in the correct level range for the. Arch-Mage Achievement in The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited: Complete the Mages Guild series of To begin the quest line join the Mages guild. For a Dragonknight, joining the Fighters Guild makes more sense than joining the Mages Guild, but both do provide benefits. The Fighters Guild. Mages Guild is a well-known faction in Elder Scrolls games, also present in Elder Scrolls Online. Any player can join it regardless of Alliance. Mages Guild skill.

domain: entertainment


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Euphemius was a Byzantine admiral, probably born in Messina. Around 826, according to Michele Amari, the Byzantine Emperor appointed a new governor of Sicily called either Constantine or Photinus, who in turn entrusted a naval command to Euphemius, a landowner with a large following. Accused on a perhaps trumped-up charge of abducting a young nun from a convent, he organized an uprising against the Byzantine Emperor, Michael II, and, after some military successes, proclaimed himself emperor in Syracuse, independent from Constantinople. In practice, he was a charismatic chief, and, respected as a king, the title of emperor meant that he dominated the whole territory of the island. Realising that he would be defeated by Byzantine troops when reinforcements were sent from the East, he appealed to Muslim leaders of Ifriqiya, where he asked the help of Arabs to take Sicily and Malta from the Byzantines. In the high summer of 827 he joined his forces with a large fleet commanded by Asad ibn al-Furat, but died later that year, killed by members of the imperial garrison at Castrogiovanni (Enna). He is considered to be the man who initiated the Arab invasion of Sicily and Malta and the beginning of the two-century Islamic domination on the island as the Emirate of Sicily.
In 826 Euphemius, the commander of the Byzantine fleet of Sicily, forced a nun to marry him. Emperor Michael II caught wind of the matter and ordered that General Constantine end the marriage and cut off Euphemius' nose. Euphemius rose up, killed Constantine and then occupied Syracuse; he in turn was defeated and driven out to North Africa. He offered rule of Sicily over to Ziyadat Allah the Aghlabid Emir of Tunisia in return for a place as a general and safety; an Arab army was sent. The latter agreed to conquer Sicily, promising to give it to Euphemius in exchange for a yearly tribute, and entrusted its conquest to the 70-year-old qadi Asad ibn al-Furat. The Muslim force counted 10,000 infantry, 700 cavalry and 100 ships, reinforced by Euphemius' ships and, after the landing at Mazara del Vallo. A first battle against the loyal Byzantine troops occurred on July 15, 827, near Mazara, resulting in an Aghlabid victory. Asad subsequently conquered the southern shore of the island and laid siege to Syracuse. After a year of siege, and an attempted mutiny, his troops were however able to defeat a large army sent from Palermo, also backed by a Venetian fleet led by Doge Giustiniano Participazio. But when a plague killed many of the Muslim troops, as well as Asad himself, the Muslims retreated to the castle of Mineo. Later they returned to the offensive, but failed to conquer Castrogiovanni (Enna, where Euphemius died) and retreated back to Mazara. In 830 they received a strong reinforcement of 30,000 Ifriqiyan and Andalusian troops. The Iberian Muslims defeated the Byzantine commander Teodotus in July–August of that year, but again a plague forced them to return to Mazara and then to Ifriqiya. The Ifriqiyan units sent to besiege Palermo managed to capture it after a year long siege in September 831. Palermo became the Muslim capital of Sicily, renamed al-Madinah ("The City"). The conquest was a see-saw affair; with considerable resistance and many internal struggles, it took over a century for Byzantine Sicily to be conquered.
The western third of Sicily fell relatively quickly into Muslim hands, but conquest of the eastern portion of the island was a protracted and haphazard affair. There is little evidence of large-scale campaigns or pitched battles, and warfare was dominated by repeated Arab attacks on Byzantine citadels, coupled with raids in the surrounding countryside, aimed at looting or the extraction of tribute and prisoners from the threatened localities. In this type of warfare, the south-eastern third of the island (Val di Noto) suffered comparatively more than the more mountainous and inaccessible north-eastern portion. No operations are reported in Sicily for the first two years after the fall of Palermo. The Muslims were probably preoccupied with organizing their new province, while the Byzantines were too weak to react, and could not expect any reinforcements: the Empire faced mounting pressure in the East, where the
Abbasid Caliph al-Ma'mun launched repeated invasions of the Byzantine borderlands and threatened to march on Constantinople itself until his sudden death in August 833. The struggle during the next few years focused on Enna, which became the main Byzantine stronghold in central Sicily. In early 834, Abu Fihr campaigned against Enna, defeated its garrison in the field and forced it to withdraw within the town's fortifications. In spring, the garrison sallied forth, but was again defeated and driven back. In 835, Abu Fihr again raided central Sicily, and defeated the army under a Byzantine patrikios (probably the island's strategos) that opposed him, taking the Byzantine commander's wife and son captive in the process. After his success, Abu Fihr sent Muhammad ibn Salim in a raid against the eastern parts of the island, which reached as far as Taormina . However, dissensions broke out once again among the Muslims: Abu Fihr was murdered, and his killers found refuge among the Byzantines. The Aghlabids replaced Abu Fihr with al-Fadl ibn Yaqub, who displayed great energy: immediately after his arrival he led a raid against the environs of Syracuse, and then another into central Sicily, around Enna. The Byzantine strategos marched out to meet them, but the Muslims withdrew to a mountainous and thickly forested area where the Byzantines could not pursue. After waiting in vain for the Muslims to accept battle, the strategos turned his army back, but was ambushed by the Muslims who put his men to flight. The Muslims seized most of the Byzantines' arms, equipment and animals, and almost managed to capture the severely wounded strategos himself. Despite his success, Ibn Yaqub was replaced in September by a new governor, the Aghlabid prince Abu'l-Aghlab Ibrahim ibn Abdallah ibn al-Aghlab , a first cousin of the emir Ziyadat Allah. At the same time, the long-awaited Byzantine reinforcements arrived. The Byzantine fleet contested the passage of Abu'l-Aghlab's small fleet, which lost ships both to the Byzantine attack and to storms; the Byzantines however could not prevent it from reaching Palermo, and were driven off by a squadron from the city under Muhammad ibn al-Sindi. Abu'l-Aghlab avenged himself by launching naval raids against Pantelleria and other localities, beheading the Christians taken prisoner. At the same time, a Muslim cavalry raid reached the eastern parts of the island around Mount Etna, burning the villages and crops and taking captives. In 836, Abu'l-Aghlab launched fresh attacks. A Muslim force seized the fortress known in Arabic as Qastaliasali (Castelluccio on the island's northern coast), but were driven away by a Byzantine counter-attack. The Muslim fleet, under al-Fadl ibn Yaqub, raided the Aeolian Islands and seized a number of forts on the northern coast of Sicily, most notably Tyndaris . In the meantime, another cavalry raid was dispatched against the region of Etna and was so successful that the price for Byzantine captives plummeted.
In 837, a Muslim army under Abd al-Salam ibn Abd al-Wahhab attacked Enna, but was defeated by the Byzantines, and Abd al-Salam himself was taken prisoner. The Muslims responded by reinforcing their position around Enna, which they placed under siege. During the following winter, one of the besiegers discovered an unguarded path leading to the town, allowing the Muslims to take the entire lower town. The Byzantines however managed to maintain control of the citadel, and after negotiations secured a Muslim withdrawal in exchange for a large ransom. Theophilos now undertook a serious effort to relieve Sicily: he assembled a large army and placed it under the command of his son-in-law, the Caesar Alexios Mousele. Mousele arrived in Sicily in spring 838, in time to relieve the fortress of Cefalù from a Muslim attack. Mousele scored a number of successes against Muslim raiding parties but, back in Constantinople, his enemies launched accusations of contacts with the Arabs and designs on the throne. Furthermore, the death of his infant wife, Maria, cut his link to Theophilos, and the Emperor sent the archbishop of Syracuse, Theodore Krithinos, to recall the Caesar to Constantinople in 839. On 11 June 838 the emir Ziyadat Allah had died, and was succeeded by his brother, Abu Iqal ibn al-Aghlab. The new emir sent fresh troops to Sicily, where the Muslims regained the upper hand after Mousele's departure: in 839–840, the Muslims captured the fortresses of Corleone, Platani, Caltabellotta, and possibly also Marineo , Geraci and other forts, and in 841, they raided from Enna as far as Grotte. In the same period, the Sicilian Muslims also established footholds in the Italian mainland. The Muslims were asked to assist the beleaguered Duchy of Naples against Sicard of Benevento in 839, but then they sacked Brindisi and, following Sicard's murder and the outbreak of civil war in the Principality of Benevento , seized Tarentum in 840 and Bari in 847, which they made their bases. Until well into the 880s, the Muslims would launch destructive raids along the coasts of Italy and into the Adriatic Sea from their bases on the Italian mainland most notably from the Emirate of Bari, until its destruction in 871.
In late 842 or 843, with Neapolitan support, the Muslims conquered Messina. In 845, the fortress of Modica also fell, while the Byzantines, now at peace with the Abbasid Caliphate, received reinforcements from the eastern theme of Charsianon. The two armies met near Butera, where the Byzantines suffered a crushing defeat, losing about 10,000 men. In the wake of this disaster, the Byzantine position deteriorated rapidly: al-Fadl ibn Ja'far took Leontini by a ruse in 846, and the fortress of Ragusa followed in 848, when its garrison was forced by severe famine to surrender it to the Muslims, who razed it to the ground. At about the same time (late 847 or 848), an attempt by the Byzantine fleet to land troops near Palermo failed, and subsequently the Byzantines lost seven out of their ten ships in a storm. In 851, the capable Muslim governor and general Abu'l-Aghlab Ibrahim died, and the local Muslims elected Abu'l-Aghlab al-Abbas ibn al-Fadl , the victor of Butera, as his successor. Without waiting for confirmation of his appointment from Ifriqiya, the new governor attacked and captured the northern fortress of Caltavuturo, and then turned south towards Enna, whose Byzantine commander refused to meet him in the field. Abbas continued his raid, and in 852–853 he devastated the Val di Noto. Butera was besieged for five or six months, until its inhabitants came to terms and secured his withdrawal by delivering 5,000–6,000 prisoners. Little details are known about the events of the next four years, but the picture painted by the sources is one of unopposed Muslim raids across the remaining Byzantine territories. Abbas captured several fortresses, including Cefalù in 857, whose population was allowed safe departure and which was then razed. Gagliano was also besieged, but not taken. In summer 858, the two sides were engaged in naval combat, probably off Apulia; Abbas' brother Ali managed to defeat the Byzantine fleet of 40 ships in the first engagement, but was in turn defeated and forced to flee in the second. Then, in January 859, the Muslims scored a major success through the capture, with the aid of a Byzantine prisoner, of hitherto impregnable Enna. As Metcalfe remarks, the capture of the fortress was of major importance, for Enna was the key to Muslim expansion in eastern Sicily: "without bringing it under their control, the Muslims were not able to capture and consolidate towns further to the eastwithout the risk of losing their gains in counteroffensives. ... Its fall, followed by its comprehensive sacking and the slaughter of its defenders on 24 January 859 was thus, in military terms, the crowning achievement of the early Aghlabids in Sicily since the fall of Palermo". The fall of Enna reduced the Byzantines to the eastern coastal strip between Syracuse and Taormina, and forced the emperor to send a large army and a fleet of reportedly 300 ships, under Constantine Kontomytes, which arrived at Syracuse in autumn 859. Soon after, the Byzantine navy was defeated a major battle with the Muslims, in which the Byzantines lost a third of their fleet. Nevertheless, the arrival of a large Byzantine army induced several settlements, which had previously submitted to the Muslims, to rise in revolt. Abbas soon suppressed these uprisings, and marched against Kontomytes. The two armies met near Cefalù, and in the ensuing battle, the Byzantines were heavily defeated and retired to Syracuse, while Abbas strengthened his position by refortifying and colonizing Enna.
Abbas died in autumn 861, after another raid into Byzantine territory, and was buried at Caltagirone; the Byzantines later exhumed and burned his corpse. As his replacement, the Sicilian Muslims chose his uncle Ahmad ibn Ya'qub. His tenure was short, as in February 862 he was deposed in favour of Abdallah, son of Abbas. Abdallah's general Rabah was able to capture a few Byzantine fortresses, despite suffering a defeat in battle at first. Abdallah's elevation, however, was not acknowledged by the Aghlabids, and he was replaced, after only five months in office, by Khafaja ibn Sufyan. In 863, Khafaja sent his son Muhammad to raid the environs of Syracuse, but he was defeated by the Byzantines and forced to retire. In February/March 864, however, with the aid of a Byzantine renegade, the Muslims captured Noto and Scicli. In 865, Khafaja led in person an expedition against the environs of Enna which may signify that the Byzantines had retaken it, or that they still held forts in its vicinity before moving onto Syracuse, but again his son Muhammad was defeated in an ambush, losing 1,000 men. In 866, Khafaja marched once more against Syracuse. From there he marched along the coast towards the north. There he met a delegation of the citizens of Taormina, who concluded a treaty with him, but soon broke it. In the same year, the Muslims retook Noto and Ragusa, which the Byzantines had apparently recaptured, or which had simply failed to renew their tribute payments after previous capitulations. Khafaja also captured the fortress called "al-Giran" and a few other towns, before an illness forced him to return to Palermo. In the summer of 867, after the illness had passed, Khafaja led his army towards Syracuse and Catania again, raiding their environs. In September 867, the Byzantine emperor Michael III was killed and succeeded by Basil I the Macedonian. The new emperor was more energetic than his predecessor, and the relative peace on his eastern frontier allowed him to soon turn his full attention to the west: in 868–869 admiral Niketas Ooryphas was sent to relieve an Arab siege of Ragusa and re-establish imperial authority in Dalmatia, after which he sailed to Italy in an abortive attempt to conclude a alliance through marriage and co-ordinate a joint siege of Bari with the western emperor, Louis II. Another fleet was dispatched to Sicily in spring 868, but the Byzantines were heavily defeated by Khafaja in battle, after which the Muslims freely raided the environs of Syracuse. After Khafaga's return to Palermo, his son Muhammad launched a raid against mainland Italy, possibly besieging Gaeta. On his return to Sicily, in January–February 869, Muhammad led an attempt to capture Taormina through treason, but although a small Muslim detachment gained control of the gates, Muhammad tarried to arrive with the main army and the detachment, fearing capture, abandoned the city. A month later, Khafaja launched an attack on the region of Mount Etna, probably against the town of Tiracia (modern Randazzo), while Muhammad raided around Syracuse. The Byzantines, however, sortied from the city and defeated Muhammad's men, inflicting heavy casualties, forcing Khafaja to turn on Syracuse himself. He reportedly laid siege to the city for a few weeks, before turning back towards Palermo in June. On his march home, however, he was assassinated by a dissatisfied Berber soldier, who then fled to Syracuse. It was a heavy loss for the Sicilian Muslims. The motives for the murder remain unclear: Metcalfe suggests a dispute over the division of spoils between the various sections of the Muslim army, but Alexander Vasiliev suggested the possibility that the Berber soldier was in the Byzantines' pay.
Khafaja was succeeded by his son Muhammad, elected by the Sicilian army and confirmed by the Aghlabid emir. In contrast to his previous energy, Muhammad was a sedentary governor, preferring to remain in his capital rather than campaign in person. His tenure was furthermore cut short when he was assassinated by his court eunuchs on 27 May 871. Nevertheless, his tenure is associated with a major success of long-term significance, the capture of Malta. Of all the islands around Sicily, this was the last to remain in Byzantine hands, and in 869 a fleet under Ahmad ibn Umar ibn Ubaydallah ibn al-Aghlab al-Habashi attacked it. The Byzantines, having received timely reinforcements, resisted successfully at first, but in 870 Muhammad sent a fleet from Sicily to the island, and the capital Melite fell on 29 August 870. The local governor was captured, the town was plundered Ahmad al-Habashi reportedly took along the local cathedral's marble columns to decorate his palace and its fortifications razed. The fall of Malta had important ramifications for the defence of what remained of Byzantine Sicily: with Reggio in Calabria and now Malta in their hands, the Muslims completed their encirclement of the island, and could easily interdict any aid sent from the east. From 872 to 877 there was apparently a period of calm, since the sources are silent on any military operations in Sicily. This was probably chiefly due to internal turmoil in Muslim Sicily, with six governors reported as having taken office during this period, as well as the weakness of the Aghlabid government on the Ifriqiyan metropolis. In Italy, Muslim raids continued, but the Byzantines had a major success in 875 or 876, after the death of Louis II, when they took possession of Bari. In 875, the unwarlike and pleasure-loving Aghlabid emir Muhammad II ibn Ahmad (r. 864–875) died, and was succeeded by his more energetic brother, Ibrahim II (r. 875–902). The new Emir of Ifriqiya was determined to finally capture Syracuse. He appointed a new governor for the island, Ja'far ibn Muhammad, and sent a fleet from Ifriqiya to his assistance. Ja'far began his campaign in 877, raiding the Byzantine territories and occupying some outlying forts around Syracuse, before settling down to besiege the city. The Muslims, well supplied with siege weapons, launched incessant attacks on the city's defenders, but Syracuse received scant reinforcements from Constantinople, where the bulk of the imperial fleet was apparently occupied with carrying building materials for a sumptuous new church built by Emperor Basil. During nine months of siege, the Arabs gradually occupied the outer defences, and finally, on 21 May 878, stormed the city. The population was massacred or enslaved, and the city thoroughly looted over two months.
The Byzantines tried to take advantage of the Arab revolt, and began assembling forces at Messina and Reggio, while a fleet was dispatched from Constantinople. Abu'l-Abbas, however, did not tarry and as soon as he had suppressed the rebellion, marched against the Byzantines, ravaging the environs of Taormina and launching an unsuccessful siege of Catania before returning to winter in Palermo. In the next spring, he resumed his attack and assaulted Demona. To disrupt the Byzantine preparations, his forces then crossed over to the mainland. Reggio was captured on 10 July, and was subjected to a savage sack; a vast booty was collected, over 15,000 of its inhabitants were carted off as slaves, and the jizya imposed on the remainder. On his return to Sicily, Abu'l-Abbas came across a Byzantine fleet that had just arrived from Constantinople and thoroughly defeated it, capturing thirty of its vessels. In early 902, Emir Ibrahim II was forced into abdication by his subjects, through the intervention of the Abbasid caliph. Ibrahim exchanged places with Abu'l-Abbas, who was named as his successor: Abu'l-Abbas left Sicily for Ifriqiya, while Ibrahim now resolved to take up the mantle of the Holy War, and accompanied a group of volunteers to Sicily in the summer. In an act that broke the long-standing stalemate on the island, Ibrahim and his followers advanced on Taormina, defeated the Byzantine garrison before its walls and laid siege to it. Left unsupported by the imperial government, the town fell on 1 August 902. Ibrahim then capitalized on his success by sending raiding parties against various strongholds in the vicinity, forcing either their capitulation and destruction or the payment of tribute. Indefatigable, Ibrahim now crossed over into the mainland, where cities as far as Naples began to prepare to resist his attack. In the end, his advance was stopped at the siege of Cosenza , where Ibrahim died of dysentery on October 24. His grandson stopped the military campaign and returned to Sicily. Although few strongholds in the northeast remained unconquered and in Christian hands, the fall of Taormina marked the effective end of Byzantine Sicily, and the consolidation of Muslim control over the island. However, it did not signal the end of Arab–Byzantine warfare on and around the island. The long Arab–Byzantine struggle left abiding traces on the island's subsequent history: although under Muslim rule, Sicilian culture quickly became Arabicized, the Christian communities in the central and eastern parts largely resisted islamization. The level of Arab influence, as attested through surviving toponyms, also varied across the island depending on the length of resistance and the extent of Arab settlement: there are many Arab-derived names in the western third (the medieval Val di Mazara), are more mixed in the southeastern third (Val di Noto ), while Christian identities survived strongest in the northeastern third of the island (Val Demone), which was the last to fall, where Christian refugees from other parts of Sicily had assembled, and which furthermore remained in contact with Byzantine southern Italy.

domain: history


The major outage that hit Facebook was caused by a routing problem related to the BGP protocol
This 4 October 2021, an outage made Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp inaccessible for 5 hours. While some may have mentioned the possibility of a cyberattack, the problem was actually related to the routers of Facebook’s data centres, precisely to a failure of the Border Gateway Protocol (BGP).
During a routine configuration update of these routers, a high number of route deletion BGP messages were sent in error. This influx of messages caused a chain reaction, which led to the disconnection from the Internet of all of Facebook’s services, including Instagram and WhatsApp.
The BGP protocol is at the heart of the deployment of the Internet worldwide. In particular, it allows the cooperation of different operators to route all Internet traffic to its destination, via the exchange of access paths.
This protocol dates from 1994 and remains fragile, despite its revision in 2006. Its vulnerability has already led to several major incidents, either due to errors or deliberate manipulation.
On 12 June 2015, for example, the operator Telekom Malaysia mistakenly announced a large number of erroneous routes, which were then picked up globally. This failure of the BGP protocol drove a significant amount of Internet traffic to the operator, causing slowdowns and disruptions that were felt on a global scale.


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Many readers have responded to recent commentaries in which I have discussed the US budget problem, the Federal Reserve’s de facto QE 3 policy, and the evolution of the EU toward more fiscal centralization as it attempts to deal with its unsustainable sovereign debt problems. My concern is that the US may be on a path that could lead to a European-style fiscal crisis caused by bloated government and safety-net programs. The comments have been constructive and thoughtful, but sometimes did not totally reflect the magnitude of the problems we face. For example, one theme was that the US should cut non-entitlement programs as the means to fiscal stability. But eliminating foreign aid or cutting defense spending, just to name a couple suggestions, can’t come close to dealing with the fact that retirement and healthcare promises simply can’t be kept. And if we don’t come to grips with that reality, the US is fated to repeat the experience that Europe is currently undergoing.
The solutions require more than making modest changes in discretionary spending programs, and it is not likely that the new super joint congressional committee will be able to break the political log jam over the debt ceiling that led to the recent downgrade of the US’s credit rating by S&P. Reports are already surfacing that the lobbyists are circling the committee in a desperate attempt to ensure that, whatever programs might be on the block, theirs will survive. Lobbyists all have money, politicians need campaign financing help, and the 2012 election season is starting early. So the outcome seems assured that only minimal progress will be made.
It seems appropriate to expand a bit more on some suggestions made in previous commentaries as to how we might proceed to solve our fiscal problems before it becomes too late. I propose a two-step process. The first step sets out to limit the size of government without unduly hampering its ability to deal with exigent circumstances, and the second seeks to focus congressional attention on the political process of allocating scarce government resources.
But before proceeding it seems appropriate to level set the discussion with a few facts, some of which have already been presented in previous commentaries. US government revenue and expenditures as a percentage of GDP have been misaligned for generations. From 1952 to the present, revenues have averaged 17.9% of GDP, with a standard deviation of only 1 percentage point. This is despite significant variation in marginal income tax rates, capital gains tax rates and corporate tax rates. Expenditures, in contrast, have steadily increased as a percentage of GDP, except for the brief period when the US ran a surplus. The average has been 20.1% but is on track to be consistently equal to or above 24% through 2021, with a revenue-expense shortfall of about 5 percentage points per year, if nothing is done.
The last time US expenses were over 24% of GDP was in the two WW II years 1942 and 1946. The ratio was even higher between 1943 and 1945, averaging a bit over 42% when the war effort was at its peak. The war was funded mainly through deficit spending and monetization of the debt, because revenues as a percent of GDP never exceeded 21%. After the war emergency, expenses were promptly reduced to a range of between 17 and 18 percent of GDP.
How does this experience compare with that of the European Union, which is experiencing its own fiscal crisis? For the 27 countries presently in the European Union, revenues have averaged about 44% of GDP since 1999. The highest have been in the Nordic countries, where government revenues have averaged over 50% of GDP. The real story, however, is on the expenditure side. For the 27 countries in the European Union, government expenditures have averaged slightly over 50 % of GDP, or nearly double that for the US, and this is up from an average of 47% in 1999. Again, these countries, despite the high percentage that government took out of GDP, still ran deficits in nearly every year. Equally astounding is the fact that in 2010 Ireland’s government spent 67 percent of GDP against revenues of 34% of GDP. The evidence seems clear that governments, which produce nothing, can’t consume a huge proportion of a nation’s GDP before the fiscal burdens become too great to bear. Moreover, it also appears that regardless of how much revenue is collected, spending is always greater and leads to persistent deficits.
So what should the US do? As I have argued previously, the first step should be for the nation to decide how large government should be and to put in place procedures to ensure that expenditures don’t exceed revenues. The second step should leave to politicians the subsequent process of allocation of whatever resources are available to competing needs, while holding them accountable for those decisions. In other words, separate the first decision about what the budget objective is from the second set of decisions on exactly how it will be achieved.
The super commission may be well suited to the second step, but they can’t be expected to decide both how big government will be and how resources will be allocated. That was the problem with the recent debt-ceiling debate. Interested parties were fighting not only over the size of the government’s share of resources but also simultaneously arguing over who got what. The way to make progress is to separate the issues concerning the size of government’s resource share from the allocation decision.
So how big should government’s share be? Historically, it has been about 17.9% in terms of revenues collected and about 20.2% of GDP in terms of spending. To balance spending and revenues, a reasonable compromise would be a proportion of between 18 and 19% for spending, including both on- and off-budget expenditures, and revenues. This would require a cut in spending, after revenue adjustments of about somewhat less than $ 1 trillion spread out over a transition period. Thereafter spending would then grow on pace with GDP as the economy prospered. To avoid the kinds of end runs around a hard spending constraint we have experienced in the past, expenditures should be limited to an average of the past two or three years of GDP with that figure to be determined by an independent arbiter like the CBO or GAO. The hard constraint accomplishes several things. It lets Congress know exactly how much can be spent. It also avoids the incentive problem of gaming budget projections to determine spending limits and it eliminates Congress’ incentive to shift from on budget to off budget mechanisms to expand spending, as was done when the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was created. Note that such a constraint does not limit the size of government, because as GDP increases, so can government spending. Additionally, the limit would make government focus on growth and policies that foster it since that is the only way that programs can be expanded or initiated without cutting others. The hard constraints get rid of the arguments concerning how to increase government's share as the easy way to solve the budget and deficit problems, which are at the heart of the current congressional stalemate. Finally, during periods when revenues exceed expenditures, it forces Congress to pay down the debt rather than increase it. Over the longer run, this should reduce outstanding debt, especially as a percentage of GDP. At the same time, during economic downturns, gearing spending to an average allows some flexibility to engage in fiscal stimulus and enables automatic stabilizers to work.
What about emergencies? Emergencies, as we saw from the WWII data, do occasionally require that unusual expenditures be made. This is why a congressional spending and revenue limit should be imposed that also permits an override of the budget limits with a super majority vote by both the House and Senate upon recommendation by the President. The need for an exception to budget limits is also a reason why a constitutional amendment would not be appropriate. The Constitution does not include provisions for exceptions and is not well-suited to deal with budget problems.
Once we have decided how big government’s share of GDP should be, the second step is to charge the political body with the task of allocating the available scarce resources among competing demands, which include social safety-net subsidies, public works, defense, etc. Charging the super commission, for example, with this second step task would greatly simplify their job. Having said that, the allocation problem is so significant that it should not be delegated to a committee of Congress. This is what Congress’ job should be. An added benefit of focusing on the allocation problem in the context of a hard constraint is that it would force Congress to concentrate on cost reductions, improving the efficiency of government, and addressing social priorities. Cost savings and elimination of duplicate and outdated programs would be low-hanging fruit as a means to find revenue to fund new programs. Incentives to do this are not now operative. The process would also provide Congress with the backbone to require those proposing new programs to also offer suggestions as to what programs should be eliminated, if theirs are to be funded. These are not easy tasks, but this is the appropriate role of politics.
What about timing? Movement to a new regime from an imbalanced budget situation can’t be accomplished overnight. Setting limits on the size of government could be done promptly, and this would send a positive sign to financial markets. Getting there, however, would take some time, so a reasonable but relatively short transition period should be imposed, such as four years. That period of time would allow political entities to debate and come to grips with the transitional reallocation issues and begin the process of balancing available resources with expenditures. A super commission, such as the one that was formed, could be tasked with suggesting an outline of the transition to the new regime, with perhaps the Bowles-Simpson plan as a starting point. The difference between the present charge of the super commission and what is envisioned in this commentary is that the former’s time horizon is too short and the issues are too complex and too political to lead to reasonable recommendations. What is being recommended is a two-step approach to the practical resource allocation problems within a time horizon that is amenable to compromise and rational debate.
What is abundantly clear is that the path we are currently on is not sustainable, nor is the structure of the political debate likely to lead to a solution. The end game of continuing to devolve down to a European model is one that is bound to collapse under the weight of government expropriation of resources and wealth.

domain: finance


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Destiny's Child's Michelle Williams Joins FELA! National Tour
Producers Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter, Will & Jada Pinkett Smith and Ruth & Stephen Hendel have announced that Grammy Award-winning recording artist and former member of Destiny's Child Michelle Williams will join the national tour of the hit Award-winning Broadway musical Fela! when it opens at Sidney Harman Hall in Washington, DC on January 29. Fela! received three 2010 Tony Awards, including Best Choreography.
"I am thrilled to join the cast of Fela!," said Michelle Williams. "This musical journey is one that I've wanted to be a part of since first seeing it on stage in 2008. The sounds, the passion and the politics of Fela Kuti have long intrigued me and speak to my heart. I am simply honored."
A triumphant and inspirational tale of courage, passion and love, Fela! is the true story of Kuti, who created a type of music, Afrobeat, and mixed these pounding eclectic rhythms (a blend of jazz, funk and African rhythm and harmonies) with rousing lyrics that openly attacked the corrupt and oppressive military dictatorships that ruled Nigeria and much of Africa. Featuring many of Fela Kuti's most captivating songs and Bill T. Jones's visionary staging, the global phenomenon that is Fela! reveals Kuti's controversial life as an artist and political activist, while at the same time celebrating his pioneering music and committment to the cause of universal human dignity. "More than a musical, an ecstatic phenemenon" (David Cote, Time Out New York), Fela! "Is a spectacularly inspiring hybrid: theater, music, dance, biography, history lesson, political rally, and religious experience. Sublime" (Joyce Kulhawik).
A multi-award winning international singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress, Michelle Williams is best known as a member of the record-breaking R&B and Pop sensation, Destiny's Child, one of the world's best-selling female groups of all time. Born and raised in the small Chicago suburb of Rockford, Illinois, Michelle always dreamed of a life on stage. Fiercely guided by her faith and raised with a strong family core, Michelle was certain that one day she'd be a superstar. During her teenage years, she directed church and community choirs; a platform that not only served to develop her distinct voice but also her independence and dexterity as an artist. Throughout her career in Destiny's Child, Michelle explored solo terrain by releasing two gospel recordings: the award-winning "Heart To Yours" (2002), which featured a collaboration with the legendary Shirley Caesar, and "Do You Know" (2004). At the end of 2008, Michelle joined forces with producer Rico Love and created a fresh and innovative sound on her dance/pop album, "Unexpected." The first single released from the album, "We Break the Dawn," quickly became a huge club hit, topping the Billboard Hot Dance/Club Play and Hot Dance Airplay charts. For fans of her subtle and smooth work in Destiny's Child, as well as her soul-stirring spiritual solo work, this was a brand-new Michelle Williams.
In between recordings and concert tours, Michelle has conquered yet another challenging mountain as an actress. First, she took the reigns of Broadway's Aida in 2003 to critical acclaim and audience raves. Then, in 2006, she took to the television screen for a hotly touted, ground-breaking multi-episode run in the popular UPN sitcom "Half & Half," where she played the role of Naomi, a record company executive who is HIV-positive. Later that year, she was featured on FOX's successful "Celebrity Duets" series.

domain: celebrity


Education & Research
Environmental majors are popular at the University of Vermont with many students enrolled in the following colleges and departments:
- Environmental Studies majors and minors in 4 colleges, including a track in Sustainability Studies;
- Environmental Science majors across 3 college units; and
- majors in The Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources (RSENR) in both Environmental Studies and Environmental Science as well as Forestry, Wildlife and Fisheries Biology, Recreation Management, and Natural Resources.
In addition, UVM offers classes on energy efficiency and renewable energy across departments including:
- Animal Science;
- Mechanical Engineering;
- Civil & Environmental Engineering;
- Education and Culture;
- Environmental Science;
- Environmental Studies;
- Nutrition and Food Science;
- Natural Resources;
- Public Administration;
- Economics; and
- Plant & Soil Science.
The Office of Sustainability has begun to evaluate UVM's sustainability in the co-curricular section of STARS.
The following summary pie chart illustrates how many points UVM may get for each credit by the amount that each piece of the pie is filled in:
Click on a category in the menu to the left to find out more about UVM's initiatives for a specific operations topic.
UVM currently does not track sustainability efforts in curriculum and research; however, please check back at a later date to see our progress.


This range of mats is very versatile and particularly well-suited to use in schools and for intensive collective use. Fitted with handles stitched into the full width of the track. Designed for easy and fast storage in the least possible space, the tracks are made from springy dense polyethylene foam and fold up easily for a minimum footprint.
- Made of high density, dynamic polyethylene foam,
- Non-slip underside, leather grain topside,
- Fitted with handles stitched into the full width of the track
- All our mats are made with a 1000 denier Tergal cover, compliant with flame retardancy standard M2 and Phtalate-free.
- Certified compliant with safety standard NF EN 12503 and Infant Agility standard NF S54300
Made in France by Dima
Made up of 3 elements of 200x100x5cm
Unfolded dimensions : 600x100x5cm
Folded dimensions : 200x100x15cm
This product is no longer in stock
No customer questions for the moment.


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Integra Baby Firespiral Cloudburst Moorland Size 1
Outer is Cloudburst Moorland – 63% cotton 24% linen 13% viscose
Oeko Tex Black Cotton Straps and Inner
Made in the UK
nb – there will be variation in the pattern placement in this edition – resulting in a unique carrier of a bespoke nature.

domain: design


text:
Wild Hope Eden Necklace
If you could choose one thing to hold onto right now, what would it be?
Is hope your anthem in this season?
Hope is what keeps you going, because you are believing in a positive outcome regardless of the current circumstances. When everything around you is attempting to silence this belief in God's goodness, your hope needs to be fiercely unstoppable. Choose a wild hope and let it grow beyond any attempt to tame it.
Wear this elegant necklace as a declaration that no matter the circumstance, you will have wild hope.
Words on this necklace:
- Silver-plated chain
- Gold-plated tag
- Ornate gold-plated clasp
- Necklace has two chains of different lengths that join at the clasp
- Chain measures 15 inches at its shortest length
- Made by hand
- Includes The Crowning Jewels Logo tag, reversible with the word "hope" on one side
- Necklace comes with a 3x3 printout of hope-filled declarations you can speak over yourself. Hang this beautiful print somewhere to remind yourself of God’s truth!

domain: artistic


text:
The decision by London transport authorities to oust US ride-hailing firm Uber is "not really justified," US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said Friday.
London transport authorities said Friday they would not renew Uber's licence to operate in the city when it expires due to public safety concerns, although the US-based ride-hailing app has said it will appeal.
France's tax authority is seeking 600 million euros ($715 million) from Microsoft's local subsidiary for billing French customers from Ireland, the weekly L'Express reported on Wednesday.
Former General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt is among the finalists being considered to run ride-hailing company Uber, but there's no clear consensus among its board about a front-runner, two people briefed on the search said ...
India's richest man Mukesh Ambani said Friday that his telecoms venture Jio would launch a free smartphone, escalating a price war that is shaking up the country's ultra-competitive mobile market.
China is tightening control over foreign companies' internet use in a move some worry might disrupt their operations or jeopardize trade secrets as part of a crackdown on technology that allows web surfers to evade Beijing's ...
With summer travel kicking off, we're offering several tips on how to really disconnect from work electronically. After all, isn't taking a minute to enjoy a breathtaking view or your child's laughter more important than ...
The number of Southern natives and the average education level in a county are the most influential factors on the odds of a U.S. public school using corporal punishment, according to new Penn State research.
Some problems are so challenging to solve that even the most advanced computers need weeks, not seconds, to process them.
Multinational corporations are moving income from their profitable, high-tax subsidiaries into unprofitable ones to save money on taxes, a University of Waterloo study has found.

domain: economics


At Simmons Hanly Conroy, our mesothelioma lawyers are committed to keeping you up-to-date on the latest asbestos and mesothelioma headlines. Here is a brief list of some of the most recent headlines concerning the dangers of asbestos exposure, along with new information about mesothelioma research happening in the United States and throughout the world.
- Second Geologist Confirms Asbestos-Form Fibers at Proposed Mine Site
The presence of asbestos-like fibers has been confirmed by a second geologist at a proposed iron ore mine in Penokee Hills, Wisconsin. Along with this confirmation comes the warning that, if disturbed, the asbestos fibers have the potential to cause serious harm.
- GTAC: ‘Asbestos merely issues in the media, not the mine’
Gogebic Taconite (GTAC) is a Florida-based company hoping to dig the world’s largest open put iron ore mine near the Bad River Ojibwe Reservation in Wisconsin. The company has been battling with the tribe and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) over issues with possible asbestos minerals in the location of the new mine.
- The 2014 International Symposium on Malignant Mesothelioma Announced
The Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation has announced its 11th annual International Symposium on Malignant Mesothelioma, a conference for the entire meso community, will take place March 5 – 7, 2014 in Washington, D.C. A simultaneous scientific seminar on the disease will take place congruently for the medical community as well.
- The 10th Annual International Asbestos Awareness Conference Announced
More than 30 renowned experts and asbestos victims from ten countries will present the latest advancements in disease prevention, global advocacy and treatment for mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases during the “Where Knowledge and Action Unite” 10th Annual International Asbestos Awareness Conference The conference, presented by the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization, will take place April 4-6, 2014 in Washington, D.C.


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Secret Hamper teams up with Theo Paphitis to put a twist on Valentines Day
Secret Hamper recently teamed up with business magnate Theo Paphitis to put a twist on Valentine’s Day gift-giving.
We launched a campaign this month calling on people to donate a hamper to their local care home to mark Valentine’s Day.
As part of the campaign we are donating £1 to AgeUk Essex for every hamper sold.
Earlier this month Nigel met Dragon’s Den star Theo Pahitis at his annual Small Business Sunday event in Birimingham earlier this month asked Theo if he’d like to help out.
Following a series of discussions Theo decided to put a further twist on the idea and agreed to donate 12 hampers to Shooting Star Chase, a children’s hospice charity he is patron of.
The boxes included heart shaped balloons, sweets, cake and chocolate to help youngsters enjoy an afternoon tea.
He said: “I told him we were doing this campaign for Valentine’s Day and asked if he would be interested in buying a hamper.
“He said to speak to his PA and when she came back she said Theo would love to do something but would we mind doing it for a children’s hospice.
“I delivered the hampers and met Karen Sugarman the director of fundraising who was over the moon.”
Karen has since written to Nigel thanking him for the delivery.
He added: “It is what we are all about – so you feel as if it is a hug in a box.”
Both Theo and Shooting Star Chase Hospice have since tweeted thanks to Secret Hamper

domain: news


text:
Separate names with a comma.
Sign up and join the fastest growing Yuneec drone community.
Getting cabin fever - had a day near 30 degrees, driving around to find a place to shoot some drone footage, and came up with this - enjoy!
Hey all, I'm wondering if you fine people can give me some ideas or suggestions on backpacking with a Typhoon H. I'm heading on a 4 day trek over...
Using google maps to find somewhere scenic to fly and happened on this place.
Been here over ten years and though I knew this place existed I...

domain: geography


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There is reason to be "cautiously optimistic" about a rise in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity in the second half of 2020, a senior corporate lawyer has said.
Published 7 August 2020
Commercial law firm Tughans remains the top M&A firm in Northern Ireland by deal count, according to the latest report from Experian Market IQ.
Published 4 August 2020
A&L Goodbody has ranked as the top M&A firm in Ireland by deal count in the latest edition of Mergermarket's Global and Regional M&A Report.
Published 29 July 2020
Dorit McCann, partner at Beauchamps, considers whether firms emerging from the COVID-19 crisis with access to financing can use the "failing firm defence" to justify acquisitions of competitive businesses.
Published 18 June 2020
Corporate law firm A&L Goodbody's Belfast office advised on deals worth £1.1 billion last year, greater in value than any other law firm in Northern Ireland for a sixth consecutive year.
Published 3 February 2020
Arthur Cox has topped the league table of Irish M&A legal advisers by both deal value and volume for 2019.
Published 9 January 2020
The total value of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in Ireland has risen by 24 per cent to €2.5 billion in the past year, according to new analysis from William Fry and Mergermarket.
Published 15 August 2019
A&L Goodbody (ALG) has won two China Business Law Journal awards for its complex and high-profile work throughout 2018.
Published 12 April 2019
Belfast-based Cleaver Fulton Rankin played an integral role in the merger of major dairy processing co-operatives Lakeland Dairies and LacPatrick Dairies.
Published 2 April 2019
The volume of M&A deals in Ireland reached a five-year high, despite a backdrop of increased geo-political instability and macro-economic issues, according to William Fry.
Published 7 March 2019
Ronan Daly Jermyn has advised an Irish wine importer on its acquisition by a multinational wholesaler.
Published 31 January 2019
Pinsent Masons has celebrated being ranking in the top 10 for M&A deal volume in its first full year in the Irish market.
Published 30 January 2019
Tughans has topped an M&A league table for the fourth consecutive year.
Published 22 January 2019
Magic Circle firms have overtaken US firms in the UK league table for mergers and acquisitions, The Times reports.
Published 9 January 2019
The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) has revealed it is preparing internally for an increase in complex merger notifications after Brexit.
Published 7 January 2019


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domain: sociology


It's day 4 of Summer Break for RRPS students! Let's celebrate all the fun ahead for this summer with a bit of music from the CHS Choir. These amazing vocals are sure to start your day off on the right foot.
Great performance CHS Storm!
Performed by V. Sue Cleveland High School - Combined Choirs #GiftingMusic (Edited by Natalie Bonelli and Jadira Flamm)


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Dyckman Street station (IND Eighth Avenue Line)
|New York City Subway station (rapid transit)|
|Address||Dyckman Street & Broadway|
New York, NY 10034
|Coordinates||40°51′56″N 73°55′38″W / 40.865465°N 73.927345°WCoordinates: 40°51′56″N 73°55′38″W / 40.865465°N 73.927345°W|
|Line||IND Eighth Avenue Line|
|Services||A (all times)|
|Transit|| NYCT Bus: M100, Bx7|
MTA Bus: BxM1
|Platforms||2 side platforms|
|Tracks||4 (2 in passenger service)|
|Opened||September 10, 1932|
|Former/other names||Dyckman Street–200th Street|
|Broadway, Riverside Drive, and Dyckman Street|
|Rank||210 out of 424|
The Dyckman Street station (pronounced DIKE-man) is a station on the IND Eighth Avenue Line of the New York City Subway, located at the intersection of Dyckman Street and Broadway in Inwood, within northern Manhattan. It is served by the A train at all times.
Discover more about Dyckman Street station (IND Eighth Avenue Line) related topics
Dyckman Street was formerly named Dyckman Street–200th Street despite Manhattan never having a street numbered 200th. The station opened on September 10, 1932, as part of the city-operated Independent Subway System (IND)'s initial segment, the Eighth Avenue Line between Chambers Street and 207th Street. Construction of the whole line cost $191.2 million. Service at this station was provided with express service from its onset.
The station was planned to be rehabilitated as part of the 2015–2019 MTA Capital Program.
|Northbound||← toward Inwood–207th Street (Terminus)|
← termination track (select rush hour trips)
|Yard lead||No regular service|
|Yard lead||No regular service|
|Southbound||toward Far Rockaway–Mott Avenue, Ozone Park–Lefferts Boulevard or Rockaway Park–Beach 116th Street (190th Street) →|
|B2||Crossunder||Connection between platforms|
There are four tracks and two side platforms, much like a typical local station in the subway system. The two outer tracks lead to the 207th Street terminal station while the two center tracks lead to the 207th Street Yard. The two center tracks merge with the two outer tracks south of this station and there are diamond crossovers between all four tracks to the north. They can be used for train storage, reroutes, or emergencies. During the morning rush hour, some northbound A trains terminate here before being taken out of service to the yard by switching to the center tracks north of this station.
Both platform walls have no trim line, but there are mosaic name tablets reading "DYCKMAN–200TH ST." in white sans-serif lettering on a maroon background and black border. Small "200" tile captions in white numbering on a black background run along the walls between the name tablets. Yellow I-beam columns run along both platforms at regular intervals, alternating ones having the standard black station name plate in white lettering, reading "Dyckman Street". A few column signs still read "200". There is an underpass connecting the platforms.
Each platform has one same-level fare control area and there is a crossunder inside fare control. The southbound platform has the full-time turnstile bank and token booth. There are three street stairs here, two of which are built inside buildings and go up to the northwest corner of Broadway and Dyckman Street. The other stair goes up to the southwest corner of Broadway and Riverside Drive on the northern end of Fort Tryon Park.
Since Inwood–207th Street is the next and last stop on the line, this station's fare control on the northbound platform is exit only, containing just full height turnstiles and four staircases, two of which go up to the northeast corner of Broadway and Dyckman Street and the other two to the southeast corner.
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Nearby points of interest
Source: "Dyckman Street station (IND Eighth Avenue Line)", Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, (2023, February 8th), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyckman_Street_station_(IND_Eighth_Avenue_Line).
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Bowling Green station
Winthrop Street station
Inwood–207th Street station
190th Street station
Canal Street station (IND Eighth Avenue Line)
Howard Beach–JFK Airport station
215th Street station
75th Avenue station
Bedford Park Boulevard station
Bay Ridge Avenue station
77th Street station (BMT Fourth Avenue Line)
Smith–Ninth Streets station
72nd Street station (IND Eighth Avenue Line)
53rd Street station (BMT Fourth Avenue Line)
Spring Street station (IND Eighth Avenue Line)
Parsons Boulevard station
Sutphin Boulevard station (IND Queens Boulevard Line)
Liberty Avenue station
- ^ "Glossary". Second Avenue Subway Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement (SDEIS) (PDF). Vol. 1. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. March 4, 2003. pp. 1–2. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 26, 2021. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
- ^ "List of the 28 Stations on the New 8th Av. Line". The New York Times. September 10, 1932. p. 6. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 21, 2020.
- ^ "Facts and Figures: Annual Subway Ridership 2014–2019". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2020. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
- ^ a b "Facts and Figures: Annual Subway Ridership 2014–2019". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2020. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
- ^ Crowell, Paul (September 10, 1932). "Gay Midnight Crowd Rides First Trains In The New Subway: Throngs at Station an Hour Before Time, Rush Turnstiles When Chains are Dropped" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved November 8, 2015.
- ^ Review of the A and C Lines (PDF) (Report). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. December 11, 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 3, 2020. Retrieved January 19, 2016.
- ^ Dougherty, Peter (2006) . Tracks of the New York City Subway 2006 (3rd ed.). Dougherty. OCLC 49777633 – via Google Books.
- ^ "A Subway Timetable, Effective June 26, 2022". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved August 1, 2022.
- ^ Cox, Jeremiah (March 7, 2013). "A name tablet". subwaynut.com. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
- ^ Barnes, John (June 15, 2009). "(One of?) the last 200 St. signs at Dyckman Street (Line A)- most have been removed". nycsubway.org. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
- ^ Cox, Jeremiah (August 15, 2008). "The underpass that has seen better days". subwaynut.com. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
- ^ Cox, Jeremiah (March 7, 2013). "The underpass and High Exit turnstiles from the uptown platform". subwaynut.com. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
- ^ a b c d e "MTA Neighborhood Maps: Inwood" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2015. Retrieved July 29, 2016.
- ^ Cox, Jeremiah (December 21, 2005). "The Exit Only No Entry Staircase also has a chain and closed sign during the transit strike to try and prevent passengers from going down". subwaynut.com. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
- ^ Cox, Jeremiah (August 15, 2008). "The two exit only streetstairs (with red square Ms and normal globes) from the uptown platform". subwaynut.com. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
- nycsubway.org – IND 8th Avenue: Dyckman Street/200th Street
- Station Reporter — A Rockaway
- Station Reporter — A Lefferts
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One Person, One Record: Creating a Seamless Connection for Patients
MidMichigan Community Health Services is moving to a single electronic medical record (EMR) system that will connect all of its services to MidMichigan Health. The new system will enable each patient to have one comprehensive medical record shared across all of the MidMichigan Community Health Services and MidMichigan Health facilities who deliver their care. The project will also bring all services onto the same platform for registration, scheduling and billing.
“The new EMR will bring our system onto the same software as MidMichigan Health,” said Jim Raschke, chief executive officer, MidMichigan Community Health Services. “This will allow for easier access for patients, more communication options and less questions as all of the patients’ health records will be housed in one system across our sites and MidMichigan’s subsidiary locations.”
MidMichigan Community Health Services has signed a contract with Epic Systems Corp., a privately owned healthcare software company based in Verona, Wisc., to provide the clinical, administrative and billing software. The new system will result in faster, more accurate communication and streamlined processes for safer, higher-quality patient care.
MidMichigan leaders emphasize that this is not just a software project, but rather a complete transformation in the way patient care is delivered.
“Although we’re partnering with MidMichigan Health to improve collaboration through record sharing, MidMichigan Community Health Services will remain an independent and locally-based federally qualified health center,” continued Raschke. “This is just one more way that we can make it easier for our patients to access high-quality care.”
EMR project team members have already completed multiple trainings in the new system. MidMichigan states that the system will be fully operational at its offices as of Monday, May 3, 2021. At that time, patients will transition to using Epic for their MyMidMichigan accounts, which they use to communicate electronically with their providers, view their medical records and manage appointments and prescriptions.
MidMichigan Community Health Services is a federally-qualified community health center (FQHC) affiliated with MidMichigan Health serving Roscommon and Gladwin counties and the surrounding areas. We provide primary and specialty health care for all, with a particular emphasis on access for the underserved. Our facilities include: MidMichigan Health Park - Houghton Lake; MidMichigan Urgent Care - Houghton Lake; MidMichigan Medical Offices – Roscommon; and MidMichigan Medical Offices – Beaverton. MidMichigan Community Health Services also partners with schools in Harrison, Houghton Lake and Roscommon, Michigan to provide school-based health centers. Those interested in more information may visit www.healthynorth.org.

domain: medical


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YVES SALOMON MOON BOOTS
Through its masterful expertise, the Maison Yves Salomon has revolutionized the fur industry. Its passion for skins has allowed it to truly modernize its approach and change the image of fur in the world of fashion and luxury. Lightweight, trend-driven and often combined with other materials, furs are updated every season under the direction of the creative and artisanal workshops.
Avril Gau created her own namesake brand in Spring 2002. Her collections are a combination of classic and contemporary styles, which would appeal equally well to the modern fashion-conscious woman as to her daughter! Her sophisticated styles seduce as much for their quality as for their comfort.


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Baseball fans steam through the outfield gates at Nationals Park before the opening day baseball game between the Washington Nationals and the Miami Marlins in Washington, on Monday, April 1, 2013. (AP Photo/J. David Ake)
Greg Hansen's Video Notebook ... on Arizona basketball and playing the Ducks in Eugene
In this edition, Arizona Daily Star sports columnist Greg Hansen joins sports editor Ryan Finley via Google Hangouts from Oregon to discuss the UA's last regular season game in Eugene against the Ducks, how Oregon's up-and-down season came to be and whether the Cats will go all out with so much already wrapped up.


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Going to school
Children learn what it is like to go to school in other countries.
- 1 of 1 copy available at OWWL.
Current holds0 current holds with 1 total copy.
|Location||Call Number /
|Honeoye Public Library||J372.22 (Text)

domain: library


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For PreferDine, we were able to secure a 50% off deal where you pay $30 for $60 worth of food and drinks at this inimitable Westside wonderland. You can read all about the myriad treats in store for you and buy the deal here, or read my text below to learn more about the restaurant.
THE DEAL2424 Pico Boulevard
Santa Monica,CA 90405
The prospect of dinner at Josie is sort of like venturing into a Choose Your Own Adventure book. Diners never know what new dishes they’ll find on Chef Josie Le Balch’s menu on a given evening—even Josie herself doesn’t know until she peruses the produce at the farmer’s market that morning. It’s that very adaptability, though, as well as an ability to cook in a variety of styles using an eclectic mix of ingredients that has made her eponymous restaurant a Santa Monica institution. Recent items on her ever-changing menu have included: Farmer’s Market nectarine and wild arugula salad with toasted Oregon hazelnuts and shaved Parmigiano Reggiano; grilled quail wrapped in applewood-smoked bacon, with sweet corn and bacon chowder; California white bass with zucchini ribbons, heirloom cherry tomatoes and basil sauce; and warm blackberry crumble pie with toasted almond crumble, rhubarb sauce and crème fraiche ice cream. With dishes like that, every meal is an adventure. The only hard part is choosing.
- The restaurant has won the Wine Spectator’s Award of Excellence every year since it has opened.
- Josie learned to cook as a child by helping in the kitchen at her father’s French restaurant Chef Gregoire.
- Le Balch and her pastry chef, Jonna Jensen, have worked together at Saddle Peak Lodge, Remi and The Beach House before opening Josie’s together in 2001.
- Josie has been a guest chef on Gordon Ramsay’s “Hell’s Kitchen.”

domain: food


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A MASHED up Christmas dinner squeezed into an ice cream glass probably isn’t about to become a festive tradition.
But we sent reporter
to take on the bizarre roast turkey twist on offer at TGI Fridays.
The Christmas Dinner Sundae is packed with turkey, mashed potato, stuffing and gravy topped with parsnip crisps.
Luckily for diners fearing a gross ice creamy mess, the meal is still served hot and almost tastes as it would on the big day…at least with your eyes closed.
The cranberry sauce oozing from the mash might prove too sweet for some but as a savoury dish in dessert disguise it’s worth a spoon or two.
It joins a range of new food and drink on the TGI Fridays festive menu which runs until January 7.


The popular daytime show Dr Phil comes to an end after 21 seasons. Dr Phil McGraw, a 72-year-old, advised individuals and families hailing from different aspects of life on his talk show, which grew as a popular daytime television show worldwide.
The talk show began in 2002 featuring Dr Phil with different guests every day, asking for advice on their problems like finances, marriage, addiction, weight, families and more.
Dr Phil’s statement on ending the show after two decades.
In a statement issued by Dr Phil McGraw, he expressed his feelings regarding the end of his show. As per the British daily newspaper, The Guardian, he stated, “I have been blessed with over 25 wonderful years in daytime television. With this show, we have helped thousands of guests and millions of viewers through everything from addiction and marriage to mental wellness and raising children. This has been an incredible chapter of my life and career, but while I’m moving on from daytime, there is so much more I wish to do.”
According to the American television broadcast CBS, sources told American media company Variety that McGraw decided to end the production of the show himself.
The general audience became familiar with Dr Phil after he came on Oprah Winfrey’s talk show in the 1990s. He was also featured as a guest speaker on the show and became recognized for his candid nature in giving advice. His show, Dr Phil, was initially produced by Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Production.
The host of the talk show did not share details about his plans but it’s sure that retirement is not what he has in mind.
The multinational news channel CNN reported that he “will focus on prime-time programming and plans to announce a strategic prime-time partnership, scheduled for an early 2024 launch.”
“I am compelled to engage with a broader audience because I have grave concerns for the American family, and I am determined to help restore a clarity of purpose as well as our core values”, McGraw added.
While the original episodes will be broadcasted in the 2022-2023 season, the network seeks to sell reruns for “2023-24 and beyond.”
“Classic library episodes will include new content such as wrap-around and introductions by McGraw, as well as guest updates”, the broadcaster said.
In a statement, Steve LoCascio, president of CBS Media Ventures, said “Phil is a valued partner and member of the CBS/King World family, and while his show may be ending after 21 years, I’m happy to say our relationship is not. Phil changed the daytime landscape as the force behind one of the most popular talk shows ever on daytime TV – we plan to be in Dr Phil’s business with the library for years to come and welcome opportunities to work together in the future.”
The network stated that the show became a hit after it began in 2002 and secured its way into one or two ratings in its genre as long as the show was on air. McGraw, in 2020, was honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Dr Phil’s controversies
Dr Phil McGraw has secured a doctorate in clinical psychology. As reported, in 2006 he stopped renewing his licence to practice. According to The Guardian, the show uses ‘psychology as entertainment’ which has faced criticism from viewers. Some have condemned the way the disturbed and mentally vulnerable guests are treated.
In 2004, for instance, Dr Phil was subjected to heavy criticism when he compared a nine-year-old boy to a serial killer. The National Alliance for the Mentally Ill wrote to CBS stating that Dr Phil’s “conduct is serious enough to warrant investigation by a relevant board of licensure.” The spokesperson said the letter was “based on lack of information and inaccurate and inappropriate assumptions.”
Another controversy was in 2008 when Dr Phil paid a visit to Britney Spears when she was admitted to a hospital for a mental breakdown. The production of the talk show wanted to record an episode on her mental health. The special episode was postponed after the singer’s family and mental health professionals denounced the same.
In its recent controversy in 2020, Dr Phil criticized measures adopted to control the COVID-19 pandemic and further compared the then-increasing death rates to death caused by smoking cigarettes and drowning in swimming pools.
After being criticized on social media, McGraw issued a video apology saying his comments had been motivated by concern about the impact of restrictions on the public’s mental health.


Activists have criticised the Ugandan president for failing to cater for gay men in his new plan to end HIV by 2030.
President Yoweri Museveni launched his ambitious initiative last week, but did not specifically mention gay people, sex workers and drug users – who bear a disproportionate share of the HIV burden.
The five-point plan focuses on accelerating action to stop new HIV infections, especially among adolescent girls and young women, and eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV.
It also aims to increase testing among men to reach the 90-90-90 target set by UNAids, which calls on countries to ensure that by 2020, 90% of people living with HIV are diagnosed, 90% of diagnosed people are put on antiretroviral treatment, and 90% of people on treatment have a fully suppressed viral load – the measure of successful treatment.
“Uganda will not end Aids if these populations are left out and [continue] to be marginalised, stigmatised and discriminated against in our planning. They have high HIV prevalence and incidence,” said Sylvia Nakasi, policy and advocacy officer, Uganda Network of Aids Service Organisations (Unaso).
Moses Mulindwa, deputy executive director of Spectrum Uganda Initiatives, which works to empower gay men, said that while the president may not have mentioned the involvement of men who have sex with men and other at-risk groups, the initiative would definitely have to include them if it was to be productive.
Health minister Sarah Achieng Opendi said gay communities should not get special treatment. “We don’t want homosexuality and homosexuals in this country. People want to promote what is not in our culture. We can’t accept it.
“Our hospitals are open. We don’t ask people whether they are homosexual or not. Let them go and test. If they are positive, they start treatment. But we can’t give them special attention,” she said.
Uganda has seen a significant reduction in new HIV infections from 135,000 in 2010, to approximately 60,000 in 2016, in men and women. New infections among children dropped from 26,000 in 2010 to 4,000 in 2016.
Out of the 1.5 million people living with HIV, 1 million people are enrolled in care and 980,954 are on antiretroviral therapy. But the country is not on course to meet the 90-90-90 target.
According to the National HIV strategic plan, HIV prevalence among gay men was 13%, among men in uniformed services 18.2%, among sex workers 37%, and as high as 40% among fishing communities.
Homosexuality, sex work and drug use are all outlawed in Uganda and are punishable by long prison sentences.
In 2014, Uganda passed a punitive HIV Prevention and Control Act, which criminalises deliberate transmission of the virus, which activists condemned as a “step backward in the fight against Aids”.
“We will only achieve the target to eliminate HIV by 2030 if we change the way we are doing business,” said Unaso’s Nakasi. “We need to set ambitious targets, increase our domestic financing of the response – we need a National Aids Trust Fund up and running – more emphasis on prevention, prevention using proven options like VMMC [voluntary medical male circumcision], use of prophylactic medications (PrEP), targeting high risk populations, and above all address HIV stigma and discrimination.”
“[The president’s fast-track initiative] can only be achieved if corruption does not eat it up and resources committed are put to its intended purpose,” said Mulindwa.


On today’s Locked On Auburn, Zac Blackerby is joined by Lance Dawe (Former Intern Jaws). The guys talk about Auburn’s latest hire. They then touch on Auburn’s schedule for the 2021 football season.
You can hear the full podcast below.
You can hear Locked On Auburn every day on College and Mag or wherever you get your podcasts.


PBI-Honduras accompanies town hall meeting in Intibucá that rejects ZEDEs
On September 2, the Peace Brigades International-Honduras Project posted: “PBI accompanies town hall meeting where the municipality of Intibucá said no to ZEDEs. In this way, it becomes the first municipality in the department to declare its territory free from the Special Development and Employment Zones.”
COPINH on ZEDEs
Criterio.hn also reports: “The Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations in Honduras (COPINH) celebrated the citizen action that involved the struggle of the Lenca people in Azacualpa, Intibucá, and through which it became the first municipality in the department to declare its territory free of ZEDE.”
That article adds: “The coordinator of COPINH, Bertha Zúniga Cáceres expressed through this social network that ‘Today we won dignity and sovereignty!’ by giving a ‘resounding no to the PROJECT of the ZEDE’.”
The PBI-Honduras post also quotes COPINH saying: “We believe in our land, we believe in our cultivation, we believe in our indigenous people! Always up in the fight in search of the liberation of the ancestral territories as our companera Berta Cáceres taught us.”
More about ZEDEs
In their September newsletter, PBI-Honduras explains:
“The implementation of Zones of Employment and Economic Development (Zonas de Empleo y Desarrollo Económico – ZEDEs), an idea that emerged in force in the context of the 2009 Coup d’État, is currently being defended by the Honduran Government as a form of economic development and a centre for the creation of numerous jobs. Civil society organisations warn, however, that the establishment of ZEDEs could lead to serious human rights impacts.
The main impact these groups fear is the cession of national sovereignty, creating a favourable environment for corruption. The National Centre of Field Workers (Central Nacional de Trabajadores del Campo – CNTC) warns that the ZEDEs plan entails the privatisation and sale of national territory and common and natural goods to foreign capital, which will hold complete autonomy in the administration of public services and the criminal justice system. They also refer to their social impacts (such as forced displacement and increased conflict), environmental impacts (such as deforestation and pollution), and economic impacts (such as increased poverty and the loss of livelihoods).
‘Honduras will not be Zede-d’ has been the main response of Honduran society in the face of the implementation of ZEDEs in different areas throughout the country. Civil society describes the initiative as part of a continuum of extractivist policies that have led to the plunder of the country in past decades, including mining and banana enclaves.
PBI has been observing and accompanying actions in opposition to this initiative, which have been led by the National Movement Against ZEDEs and for Sovereignty, including protests, marches, consultations and town hall meetings. By 6 June, over 180 municipalities declared themselves free of ZEDEs. This number has continued to grow. Although these actions have been held throughout the country, the majority of such declarations were made in the north of the country, in the Atlantic coast corridor.
The banding together of civil society organisations and their discontent in the face of the ZEDEs could become a mobilising element in the November elections.”
For more from PBI-Honduras on this, please see “Honduras will not be Zede-d”.
France 24 also reports on this in their article Hondureños protestan contra “ciudades soberanas”, zonas extraterritoriales de inversion.


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Florida school bus crash: 2 adults, 4 children injured
MIAMI - Authorities say two adults and four children have been hospitalized following a school bus crash in South Florida. Hialeah police say a car ran a stop sign, forcing the driver of the private school bus to swerve and smash through a concrete wall surrounding the yard of a home. None of the injuries are considered life-threatening.
Desktop NewsClick to open Continuous News in a sidebar that updates in real-time.
Freshman move-in day at Southern University takes place with COVID health precautions
YMCA unable to offer distance learning program because of state law
Southern set to welcome back students with modified move-in day
St. Helena Parish teachers welcome students back to class via eLearning platforms
'Lee High' letters removed from newly-named Liberty High School in Baton Rouge


The tragedy in Isla Vista, California last week is leading to new calls for more gun-control legislation. The actions of Elliot Rodger, the disturbed person who murdered six people (three by stabbing and three by shooting) at the University of California at Santa Barbara is seen by some as yet another reason for Congress to act to make it more difficult to purchase weapons or to ban them. The anguished demand of Richard Martinez, a parent of one of the victims, “When will this insanity stop?” rapidly went viral and his accusation that his son’s death was the fault of “craven, irresponsible politicians and the NRA” is being taken up by those who are still wondering why the national outrage at the shooting of 20 children at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut didn’t result in the enactment of more gun laws.
But this time even liberals are conceding that Martinez’s demands won’t be heeded. As Chris Cilizza writes today in the Washington Post, resistance to more draconian restrictions has stiffened since Newtown and more states have loosened gun laws than tightened them. Though some on the left, like the Los Angeles Times’s Steve Lopez, are doubling down on the anger about guns that such incidents provoke, the main reaction from liberals is to lament the fact that the emotional surge after a shooting has never provided the tipping point on the issue they desire. Though polls have always shown public sympathy for proposals for more background checks, as Cillizza notes, support for more gun control in general has actually dwindled in the last two decades, including in the last year since Newtown.
Why? There are two reasons. One has to do with the fact that the public rightly believes that such laws won’t prevent mass killings by madmen. The other has to do with a belief that such calls are not about “common sense gun control” but abrogation of constitutional gun rights. Indeed, the anger of gun-control advocates after these tragedies has the perverse effect of heightening suspicions about their true intent.
The lack of any real connection between most gun-control proposals, including the most anodyne involving background checks such as last year’s bill sponsored by Senators Joe Manchin and Pat Toomey, and the actual chain of events leading to crimes such as the ones at Newtown or Isla Vista undermines the argument that these laws would save lives. Most of those who commit gun violence would never fall under the category of those whom the checks would prevent from purchasing a gun. Moreover, those who would be stopped can almost certainly obtain them by extralegal means.
Even more frustrating is the possibility that even an emphasis on mental health—which is the underlying cause of almost all mass shootings—wouldn’t do much to prevent these incidents from occurring. As clinical psychiatrist Richard Friedman explains today in a New York Times op-ed:
As a psychiatrist, I welcome calls from our politicians to improve our mental health care system. But even the best mental health care is unlikely to prevent these tragedies.
If we can’t reliably identify people who are at risk of committing violent acts, then how can we possibly prevent guns from falling into the hands of those who are likely to kill? Mr. Rodger had no problem legally buying guns because he had neither been institutionalized nor involuntarily hospitalized, both of which are generally factors that would have prevented him from purchasing firearms.
Would lowering the threshold for involuntary psychiatric treatment, as some argue, be effective in preventing mass killings or homicide in general? It’s doubtful.
Friedman concludes that the idea that improving our mental health system might prevent such horrors is a myth. While that shouldn’t preclude us from efforts in that direction, the sobering truth is that these shocking yet rare incidents can’t be legislated out of existence. This is a piece of wisdom that increasingly large numbers of Americans seem to have figured out for themselves without benefit of a degree in psychiatry.
Just as important in explaining the failure of more gun control is the fact that most gun owners and others who support Second Amendment rights don’t believe the assurances they hear from liberals about not wanting to take away their guns. Indeed, the more they hear from those advocating more restrictions, the less they trust them. In particular, this latest incident in which Rodger shot three of the victims with a handgun makes the case for such laws even more difficult. Gun-control advocates seized on the assault weapon used in Newtown as an example of the sort of gun that ought not be legal. Though the distinction between that sort of rifle and others was largely cosmetic, it made sense to a lot of Americans. But there is a broad judicial consensus that the right to possess a handgun is not in question. If, in response to Martinez’s heartfelt pleas, liberals think they can leverage the Santa Barbara incident into another legislative push, the effort may backfire.
The nation should grieve with Mr. Martinez and the other families who have suffered as a result of Isla Vista murders. But blaming the crime on politicians and the NRA tells us more about the need to vent about a senseless atrocity than it does about reasonable policy options. If calls for more gun control have been rejected, it is not because our politicians are too corrupt or the NRA too powerful. It is because most Americans rightly believe more such laws would do no good and possibly abridge their constitutional rights.