The 2014 Sydney hostage crisis, also known as the Sydney siege and Lindt Cafe siege, occurred on 15–16 December 2014 when a lone gunman, Man Haron Monis, held hostage ten customers and eight employees of a Lindt chocolate café located at Martin Place in Sydney, Australia. Police treated the event as a terrorist attack at the time, but Monis' motives have subsequently been debated.
The Sydney siege led to a 16-hour standoff, after which a gunshot was heard from inside and police officers from the Tactical Operations Unit stormed the café. Hostage Tori Johnson was killed by Monis and hostage Katrina Dawson was killed by a police bullet ricochet in the subsequent raid. Monis was also killed. Three other hostages and a police officer were injured by police gunfire during the raid.
Police have been criticised over their handling of the siege for not taking proactive action earlier, for the deaths of hostages at the end of the siege, and for the lack of negotiation during the siege. Hostage Marcia Mikhael called radio station 2GB during the siege and said “They have not negotiated, they’ve done nothing. They have left us here to die.”
Early on, hostages were seen holding an Islamic black flag up against the window of the café, featuring the shahādah creed. Initially, some media organisations mistook it for the flag used by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL); Monis later demanded that an ISIL flag be brought to him. Monis also unsuccessfully demanded to speak to the Prime Minister of Australia, Tony Abbott, live on radio. Monis was described by Abbott as having indicated a "political motivation" but the eventual assessment was that the gunman was "a very unusual case—a rare mix of extremism, mental health problems and plain criminality".
In the aftermath of the siege, Muslim groups issued a joint statement in which they condemned the incident, and memorial services were held in the city at the nearby St Mary's Cathedral and St James' Church. Condolence books were set up in other Lindt cafés and the community turned Martin Place into a "field of flowers". The Martin Place Lindt café was severely damaged during the police raid, closed afterwards and renovated for reopening in March 2015.
An anonymous call was made to Australia's anti-terrorism hotline 48 hours before the siege, raising concerns about the content of Monis' website. On his website, Monis had pledged allegiance to "the caliph of the Muslims", believed to be referring to Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and denounced moderate Islam. It has been reported that the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation followed up on the call by reviewing the website and Monis' posts on social media but found nothing to indicate that he was likely to commit an act of violence.
The situation began at 9:44 am AEDT on 15 December (22:44 UTC, 14 December), when Monis—who had entered the Lindt Chocolate Café at 53 Martin Place, Sydney, at 8:33—forced Tori Johnson, the manager of the café, to phone 000. The café is located directly across from the Seven News television studios, and near the Reserve Bank of Australia, the headquarters of the Commonwealth Bank, Westpac bank, and Martin Place underground train station.
Monis was bearded, wearing a black cap and wearing a black headband with the inscription, in Arabic: "We are ready to sacrifice for you, O Mohammad." He was carrying a blue sports bag, and armed with a shotgun.  The sawn off pump action shotgun was old but could fire four shots in five seconds.
Monis also stated there were four "devices" located around Sydney. However, New South Wales Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione said that none of the alleged devices were found during investigations. Monis also demanded that a hostage ask all media to broadcast that "this is an attack on Australia by the Islamic State". In addition, he demanded that an Islamic State flag be delivered to him, although the request was never fulfilled.
Hostages were ordered to hold up a Black Standard flag, with the shahādah in white Arabic letters (an Islamic creed declaring: "There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is the messenger of God"), against the window of the café. Some news reports initially mistook it for the flag used by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
Several hostages made videos of Monis's demands, which can be seen at liveleak.
Monis demanded to speak to the Australian Prime Minister live on radio, but this demand was rejected. This was relayed by hostage Marcia Mikhael, who said that she "lost it" when told that the Prime Minister was too busy, saying, "I don't care what [Abbott] is doing right now...I'm sure there's nothing more important happening in Australia...than the lives of the people in this café..."
Mamdouh Habib said he knew Monis well and offered to help police negotiate with him. He believed that Monis was "sick and disturbed" over his failure to gain access to his children, and said Monis could trust him to get his message out. Lawyer Manny Conditsis had represented Monis and had also offered help because he said that Monis respected what he had to say to him. Barrister Michael Klooster who had met Monis in the cafe before the siege called the police at 2:17 pm Other Muslim leaders also offered to help, including the Grand Mufti of Australia, Ibrahim Abu Mohamed.
All such offers were rejected by police who said that that was because they had no control over what the untrained negotiators might say or do. However, Mikhael said that after the request to speak to the Prime Minister was refused: "It was then that I knew that there was not going to be any negotiation and we were just left there. ...They were waiting for him to kill someone or shoot something so they [could] come in. ...There was nothing proactive about that operation, nothing."
Belinda Neil, who was a negotiator for the NSW police, said that in negotiations, "[W]e want to try and talk to the hostage-taker. ...[W]e want to find out why he's there, why is he doing this, and we don't just go into this situation hoping to resolve it in half an hour." This approach would be consistent with the Behavioral Change Stairway Model. However, Mikhael stated that no such negotiation took place. Habib said that he called both the police and the Attorney General twice during the raid, but they did not return his calls. Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione confirmed during the siege that "we're not dealing directly with him ... we do not have direct contact with the offender.".
Several hostages made contact with media outlets and relayed Monis' demands to them. At the request of the New South Wales Police Force, they were not published during the siege. The social media profiles of the hostages were also used to relay demands.
At 1:43 am Tori Johnson texted his family “He’s (Monis) increasingly agitated, walks around when he hears a noise outside with a hostage in front of him. Wants to release one person in good faith, tell police.”.  This was conveyed to the police 10 minutes later.
During the early stages of the siege, the Australian government and NSW authorities did not label the event as a terrorist attack; however, as the siege continued, NSW police authorised the engagement of the state's counter-terrorism task force, treating the incident as an act of terrorism.
At around 3:37 pm, two hostages, John O'Brien and barrister Stefan Balafoutis, escaped from the front entrance of the building, followed by a third hostage, an employee, Paolo Vassallo, who ran out from a fire exit at the side of the building. At around 4:58 pm, two female hostages, both employees, Jieun Bae and Elly Chen, escaped by running from another entrance of the building and were met by Tactical Operations Unit officers.
Monis was unaware that Jieun Bae and Elly Chen had escaped. Jarrod Morton-Hoffman made noise to cover their exit and persuaded Monis that media reports of five hostages escaping were wrong. After the escape, Monis threatened to kill hostages.
At 2:03 am on 16 December, a "very loud bang" was heard as Monis shot towards six hostages fleeing from the building. At 2:11 am Monis fired a shot towards the kitchen, and was heard on the police listening device reloading his shotgun. The hostage Fiona Ma then escaped though the front door, and two police Tactical Operations Unit teams were ordered to move towards the two entrances.
At 2:14 am, Monis shot Tori Johnson in the back of the head, killing him. The shooting was witnessed by a police sniper, who reported a hostage down. Police armed with M4A1 carbines threw 11 stun grenades as they stormed the café.
Monis was shot in the head. An officer reported that “I watched the (gun's) laser ... from the centre of his chest go to his head and his head exploded and he fell". One officer then fired a total of 17 rounds, and another officer fired 5 additional rounds. (Some fragments of those rounds killed Dawson.)
Police declared the siege over soon after, later confirming that Monis was killed in the raid. Two hostages had died, and another three were injured by police bullets. One police officer, whose face was grazed by a police bullet, was discharged from hospital later in the day.
At the inquest, Counsel assisting the coroner, Jeremy Gormley SC, said, "No shot fired by Mr Monis, other than the one that struck and killed Mr Johnson, struck anyone." Mitchell McAlister, who was a tactical assaulter with 2nd Commando Tactical Assault Group questioned the police use of M4A1 carbines with 5.56mm NATO rounds that could have "dangerous effects in a dense and enclosed environment." It was also unclear why 22 shots were fired by police, of which 13 hit Monis.
At around 2:00 pm on 15 December, police contacted Rebecca Kay, a member of the Muslim community, and asked her to help source an ISIS flag for Monis. Kay contacted many people in the Muslim community but ultimately the police sourced their own flag. However, the flag was never given to Monis.
The following day, NSW and federal police raided three homes of people who had been contacted in the attempt to source the flag. Kay assumes that her conversations had been monitored. Kay said she would help police in another crisis, but "with this incident they have not built trust at all. You don't understand...the fear that [the AFP and ASIO] create, and how they stalk...members of our community..." Lawyer Zali Burrows questioned the purpose of the police contacting Kay in the first place, stating, "Why didn't they just print [a flag]?"
The police followed a "contain and negotiate" strategy which was to avoid any direct action unless a hostage was killed or injured. They decided that this strategy could deliver a "peaceful negotiated outcome" because Monis had not harmed any hostages, despite having threatened to do so. Monis had also not reacted violently to the escape of five hostages on two separate occasions, or due to none of his demands being met. Further, Monis claimed to have a bomb, and "if the bomb was triggered, all of those inside the cafe and those attempting a rescue were not likely to survive". At 8:20 pm and again at 11:35 pm, the head of the tactical operations unit attempted to persuade the other commanders to take a "deliberate action" plan and storm the cafe but this was overruled by other commanders and Assistant Commissioner Mark Jenkins due to the danger to the hostages and police. Police snipers could not be used due to "the narrow windows, the moving around of Monis, the risk to hostages if there was a missed shot, (and) the position of the snipers behind glass".
At 11 am, Operational Commander Mick Fuller approved negotiations for the release of half of the 18 hostages in return for Monis being allowed to talk on ABC radio. However, the negotiation commander decided not to do so because it conflicted with a standing policy to not negotiate with terrorists.
The first negotiator was not told that the Grand Mufti of Australia and a barrister who represented Monis had offered to help negotiate with Monis. He only found out about Monis's demand for the ABC to broadcast that Australia was under attack after a Facebook post from one of the hostages was read out on radio 2GB. Monis had also demanded that the Christmas lights be turned off. The first negotiator thought that doing this would have provided an opportunity to bargain with Monis, but did not hear back from commanders as to whether it was possible so "discarded" the option.
He was then relieved by a second negotiator, but did not tell him about the demand that the Christmas lights be turned off. Hostage Selina Win Pe told the second negotiator Monis wanted to know why it hadn’t happened. It was later revealed an Ausgrid team had assembled to switch off the lights, but was sent home.
A third negotiator later said that he did not have the Christmas lights turned off because he had some reason to be know that Monis would not carry through his threat to kill Win Pe. He said there was some "step-by-step" process to have the hostages released (after nineteen hours). Jenkins says he would have liked the Christmas lights turned off quickly, and was unaware that this had been found to be possible. Jenkins was also not told about the Johnson text near the end of the siege that Monis wanted to release a hostage.
The negotiation team leader did not think Monis would hurt anyone because Monis had told people inside the cafe that everyone would go home once Prime Minister Tony Abbott called. The team leader later conceded that Abbott was never going to call. Forensic advice given to the police by an unnamed consultant psychiatrist was that Monis was probably undertaking a grandiose act to be recognized as a figure of great infamy rather than wishing to hurt anyone. He doubted that Monis actually represented ISIS because he did not have the correct flag, nor that his actions were politically motivated. The psychiatrist warned that “a wounded narcissist is a dangerous specimen” as none of Monis's demands were met.
|8:22 am||Monis enters cafe.|
|9:44 am||Monis produces shotgun, orders doors locked.|
|11:00 am||Operational Commander Mick Fuller approves negotiations for the release of half of the 18 hostages in return for Monis being allowed to talk on ABC radio. However, the negotiation commander decided not to do so because it conflicted with a standing policy not to negotiate with terrorists.|
|3:37 pm||Three hostages escape.|
|4:58 pm||Two more hostages escape.|
|5:00 pm||Negotiators calls Monis, answered by hostage Mikhael, indicate they knew Monis's identity. Monis did not like being referred to as Sheik Haron.|
|5:55 pm||Monis frustrated that his message not getting out, hostages suggest uploading to Facebook and YouTube.|
|8:38 pm||Mikhael asked for Christmas lighting to be turned off.|
|10:30 pm||Ausgrid team assemble to switch off Christmas lights, but sent home.|
|10:30 pm||Assistant Commissioner Mark Jenkins and a "forward commander" hold a teleconference saying they will continue to "contain and (in theory) negotiate".|
|12:30 am||Four calls from hostage Win Pe to negotiators go unanswered. She calls 000 and says she will be shot if the Christmas lights are not turned off.|
|1:43 am||Johnson texts family that Monis is becoming increasingly agitated and wants to release one hostage in good faith.|
|2:03 am||Monis moves hostages around cafe, six hostages take opportunity to flee. Monis fires first shot.|
|2:13 am||Monis shoots and kills Johnson.|
|2:13 am||Police enter cafe. They kill Monis and Dawson, and wound three other hostages and a policeman.|
Authorities did not release an estimate of the number of hostages inside the café during the siege. After the siege, a total of 18 hostages was confirmed—eight staff and ten customers of the café including lawyers and Westpac employees with offices close by. Initial estimates varied, with some significantly overestimating the number.
Tori Johnson, the 34-year-old manager of the café, died after being shot in the head by Monis. Katrina Dawson, a 38-year-old barrister, was killed when hit by seven police bullet fragments while lying behind a chair, which was hit by 10 bullets.
Three hostages and a police officer were wounded by police gunfire during the raid. The three hostages were Marcia Mikhael, who was shot in the leg; Robyn Hope, a 75-year-old woman who was shot in the shoulder; and Louisa Hope, her 52-year-old daughter, who was shot in the foot. All three were in a stable condition after treatment. Paolo Vassallo, one of the five hostages who initially escaped the scene, was hospitalised for a pre-existing condition. The other hostages were identified as John O'Brien, Stefan Balafoutis, Elly Chen, Jieun Bae, Harriette Denny, Viswakanth Ankireddy, Joel Herat, Fiona Ma, Jarrod Hoffman, Puspendu Ghosh, Selina Win Pe, and Julie Taylor.
Memorial services for Johnson and Dawson were held on 23 December: Johnson's in the morning at St Stephen's Uniting Church, Sydney, and Dawson's in the afternoon in the Great Hall of the University of Sydney. Interviews with some of the hostages were later recorded for television and broadcast, amid some controversy.
After the siege began, a staged exclusion zone was established with thousands of people evacuated from nearby buildings, including from the floors above the café. The Sydney Opera House was evacuated after a suspicious package was found; however, reports were unconfirmed by police. The US Consulate General in Sydney, located in Martin Place, was also evacuated. Some Sydney schools were put in "white level lockout" due to the hostage situation, which meant that no school group was permitted to leave the school grounds.
Police advised people in the area bounded by Hunter, George, Elizabeth, and Macquarie streets, bordering Martin Place, to remain indoors and away from windows. Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, and ANZ closed their CBD branches for the day. The State Library was also closed. Numerous other buildings, including David Jones stores, executive offices for the New South Wales Parliament, criminal courts for the Supreme Court, the Downing Centre, and "several city legal chambers" were evacuated, as were the facilities of the Seven Network, situated directly across from the café, forcing The Morning Show to suspend transmission. Police established an emergency centre in nearby Hyde Park, Sydney in response to the unfolding situation with emergency services sent to the area to respond to any immediate threats and evacuees were relocated to the park as a safety precaution.
Trains did not stop at Martin Place railway station during the incident. Transport for NSW advised people to stay away from the CBD. Road closures prevented southbound access to the Cahill Expressway, York Street, and Harbour Street, and northbound access to the Cahill Expressway, and all traffic was diverted to the Sydney Harbour Tunnel.On the morning of 16 December, road diversions remained in place and Martin Place train station remained closed. In the evening of 16 December, Elizabeth Street, Macquarie Street and Hunter Street were opened to traffic.
Uber's fares for travel in Sydney increased dramatically during the event under the company's automated system that calculates fees based on demand, which led to online backlash against the company. Uber subsequently refunded excessive fares and provided free rides out of the CBD.
Monis was identified as the hostage-taker and named early on the morning of 16 December.
In September 2009, Monis was convicted for criminal use of the postal service to "menace, harass or cause offence", for a campaign protesting the presence of Australian troops in Afghanistan, by writing letters to the families of soldiers killed there, in which he called the soldiers murderers. On 12 December, three days before the siege, Monis lost his appeal against his conviction and was sentenced to 300 hours community service. Monis had been charged with accessory to murder relating to the death of his former wife who was found stabbed eighteen times, and set alight, on 21 April 2013 at a unit block in Werrington. However, on 12 December 2013, Magistrate William Pierce said "It is a weak case" and granted Monis bail. In November 2016 Amirah Droudis was found guilty, in a judge only trial, of the murder of Monis' ex-wife.
Monis also has numerous charges of sexual assault, aggravated indecent assault, and common assault. On 14 April 2014, Monis was charged with three sexual assault offences against a woman and remanded in custody. He was granted bail on 26 May, six days after the Bail Act in New South Wales was rewritten based on recommendations by the New South Wales Law Reform Commission. On 10 October, he was charged with another 40 sexual assault offences against six more women, and his bail was continued.
Jeremy Gormly SC, counsel assisting the inquest, summarised Monis as "a complex, disturbed individual desperate for recognition and status but completely lacking the skills or achievements to bring that dream to life". Gormly summarised that "Monis could be plausible, courteous and controlled, but he was also almost entirely consumed in his own self-importance. ... By 2014 he owned no property, was in debt, and had developed no employment skills. His attempts to develop a personal, religious following ... had failed. ... He was facing future serious criminal charges... he had made no public impact of note on the Australian political scene". Monis may have felt that he had "little left to live for".
Hostage Jarrod Morton-Hoffman described Monis as a "a very dangerous toddler." "He seemed unstable, emotional, not very logical. I think 'volatile' is the word to describe him. ... he did not seem to be following any logic — his demands changed with the wind ... He was driven largely by emotion and anger and he was easy to manipulate."
No weapons were found when police raided his home in 2013. From 1997 to 2000, Monis held a security guard licence, which would have let him carry a pistol between March and June 1997. The weapon that Monis used, a sawn-off French made Manufrance La Salle pump-action shotgun, was more than 50 years old. Police believe the weapon was imported in the 1950s, when no registration was required. Monis had 23 shotgun cartidges of different brands on him, between 15 and 20 years old.
The Prime Minister convened the National Security Committee of Cabinet to give briefings on the situation and said "Australians should be reassured that our law enforcement and security agencies are well trained and equipped and are responding in a thorough and professional manner." He later said, "The whole point of politically motivated violence is to scare people out of being themselves. Australia is a peaceful, open, and generous society. Nothing should ever change that and that's why I would urge all Australians today to go about their business as usual", and "Australians should be reassured by the way our law enforcement and security agencies responded to this brush with terrorism."
The Premier of New South Wales, Mike Baird, addressed the media during the stand-off, and stated "we are being tested today... in Sydney. The police are being tested, the public is being tested, but whatever the test we will face it head on and we will remain a strong democratic, civil society. I have full confidence in the Police Commissioner and the incredible work of the NSW police force.
The Lord Mayor of Sydney, Clover Moore, on the morning of 16 December, urged Australians to see this as a "one-off event", stating, "We're an inclusive multicultural community and we need to deal with this together". Governor-General of Australia, Sir Peter Cosgrove, released a statement sympathising with the families, commending the work of the police involved, and urging Australians to "unite in our resolve to protect what we value most—our way of life, our care and respect for each other".
Thousands of people visited the site in the first few days after the incident to pay tribute to the victims. Among them were members of the families of Dawson and Johnson. Johnson's father was accompanied by rabbis Levi Wolff and Zalmen Kastel, Hindu priest Pandit Ramachandra, the Reverend Bill Crews and Sheikh Wesam Charkawi. Dawson's young daughter left her own note.
A magistrate who had granted Monis bail and the lawyers who had represented him in his court appearances received death threats in the days after the attack. This reaction was described by the Bar Association as "understandable but wrong-headed", as magistrates have to deal with cases as they come before them on the basis of the law at the time.
During and immediately following the incident, some in the community expressed concern about an increased potential for violence or intimidation directed at Muslims in Australia. For example, the head of the Australian Muslim Women's Association told the media there was an increase in anti-Muslim messages being posted on social media. Due to this concern among some local social media users, many started using the hashtag #illridewithyou [I'll ride with you]. This sought to offer solidarity and emotional support to Muslims travelling alone on public transport by people tweeting their bus/train route and suggesting that they would be willing to "ride with" anyone who might feel threatened. More than 150,000 people indicated their support of the concept by using the hashtag. The campaign was initially inspired by a Facebook status update about offering to walk with a woman who had removed her head covering. The campaign received international attention, including from United States President Barack Obama, although federal National Party member of Parliament George Christensen criticised the campaign for creating "false victims" out of Muslims and thereby taking attention away from the hostages.
On the morning of 16 December, after police declared the crisis to be over, a makeshift memorial began to take shape in Martin Place. From the first bunch of lilies, tributes developed into a field of flowers that "you can smell before you can see" and which was extensively reported and photographed. The Prime Minister and NSW Premier were among many in the community to lay flowers at the memorial in a demarcated space. Flowers were also taken to suburban Lindt shops.
Volunteers from the Rural Fire Service, the State Emergency Service and the Red Cross began clearing the flowers on 22 December after consultation with the families, because rain was expected. It was announced that the condolence books would be bound in several volumes and one complete copy provided to each family. The messages on the many cards were to be digitised. During the week after the siege, it was estimated that 110,000 bouquets were laid at Martin Place.
During the siege, Sanier Dandan, president of the Lebanese Muslim Association, informed ABC News that Australian Muslim leaders were meeting online for discussions as to how the Muslim community could help with the situation. He added, "Regardless, we have a hostage situation. Whether he is someone who belongs to the Australian Muslim community or not, we are still waiting for information to be provided by police and based on that if there's something the Muslim community can do or assist, we are there."
Ibrahim Abu Mohamed, the Grand Mufti of Australia, condemned the incident in a statement released on 15 December. The same afternoon, around fifty Muslim groups issued a joint statement in which they condemned the incident. The Australian Ahmadiyya Muslim Association condemned the incident, the national president saying that "such actions are criminal and totally contrary to the teachings of Islam." Egypt's Grand Mufti Shawqi Allam also condemned the attack.
The Catholic Archbishop of Sydney, Anthony Fisher, invoked the special prayers in the Roman Missal from the "mass in times of civil disturbance" and a memorial service was held at St Mary's Cathedral, on the morning of 19 December.
St James' Church, which had been within the exclusion zone, held a "Service of Remembrance and Reflection" on the afternoon of 19 December. The service was attended by about 400 people, most of them members of the legal profession.
During the siege, a spokesman for the Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs, John Baird, said, "We urge all Canadians in Sydney to use extra precaution and limit their movements as authorities handle this situation."
Iran Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Marzieh Afkham, strongly condemned the taking of hostages as "inhuman" and also stated that the Australian authorities had been repeatedly warned about Monis.
United States President Barack Obama called the Prime Minister to express his condolences on behalf of the United States. According to the White House, Obama praised the "Australian public's embrace of #illridewithyou and the Muslim leaders who have disavowed the actions of the hostage taker", and "Australia's rejection of any violence taken in the name of religion and the fear this violence seeks to stoke." The President also conveyed the United States' willingness to provide assistance in the aftermath of the situation. United States Secretary of State, John Kerry, said the United States stood ready to provide Australia with any assistance required in "determining the facts of the case, assisting the victims and holding accountable anyone and everyone responsible for this act of terror". Citing this event, the United States issued a global travel alert to its citizens, to be alert for possible terrorist attacks within public venues.
New Zealand Prime Minister John Key, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, UK Prime Minister David Cameron, and Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak also expressed their concern about the incident. In addition, the Israeli embassy in Australia stated that it stood with Australia in the face of terror.
Following the two deaths during the hostage situation, the Katrina Dawson Foundation was established, with the aim of supporting educational opportunities for women. The then Governor-General Quentin Bryce was a founding member. At his parents' request, a memorial fund for Johnson was used to raise money for mental health organisation Beyond Blue. The first donation, of $51,000, came from Lindt Australia.
Two weeks after the siege, Dabiq, a magazine published by the ISIL editorialised on Monis' actions and attempted to claim him as one of their own, in a response that an expert described as "absolutely predictable". The magazine lauded Monis' actions and their effect on the city. The al Qaeda-produced magazine Inspire also praised Monis' actions.
A number of organisations announced formal investigations.
Police investigations include a "critical incident" investigation undertaken by NSW police; headed by Detective Inspector Angelo Memmolo and an enquiry conducted by the Australian Federal Police.
Federal and state governments announced a joint review to be led by Michael Thawley from the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and Blair Comley of the New South Wales Department of Premier and Cabinet.
Following the siege, officers from the New South Wales Police Force and the Australian Federal Police went to the Belmore home of Monis' partner Amirah Droudis, and removed property. Her bail was revoked after a hearing on 22 December 2014. Investigations by Australian security agencies and monitoring of suspects following the siege revealed increased "terror chatter".
The findings of the Federal–State joint review were released on 22 February 2015. The report covered Monis' earlier interactions with the government, his access to firearms, and the government response to Monis including problems correlating his various aliases. The report's terms of reference did not cover the controversial police actions during the siege itself, such as the nature of the negotiations or the final assault.
The review found that the judgements made by government agencies were reasonable. It suggested only modest changes to laws and procedures, taking the view that "introducing substantial further controls involves a larger choice about the sort of society we wish to live in and is properly the province of the public and our elected representatives". The review found that the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) had conducted a thorough review of Monis in 2008/9 and found that he was not involved in politically motivated violence, nor had significant contact with groups of security concern. After receiving 18 calls from the public, ASIO reviewed Monis' Facebook page, which was considered not to indicate a threat. None of the calls related to any pending attack. The review found that there was no credible information that would indicate an attack. Monis had been granted bail while charged for several violent offences. However, bail laws had since been tightened in this regard. Monis obtained his firearm illegally and was never granted a license.
The review suggested, in addition to the reforms to the bail laws and "new programmes to counter violent extremism", that a review of immigration policies and visa applications should be undertaken. The review suggested that the gun that Monis used had lawfully entered the country, possibly as early as the 1950s, and had fallen into the "grey market" after not being included in the gun buyback schemes of 1996 and 2002.
An inquest, mandatory whenever people die in a police operation, began as scheduled on 29 January 2015, presided over by the State Coroner, Michael Barnes. Its aim is "to determine how the [three] deaths occurred, the factors that contributed to them and whether they could have been prevented".
The hearings are divided into blocks of a couple of weeks. The first, which started on 25 May 2015, queried people who knew Monis to get background information. The second started on 17 August 2015 to consider Monis's bail application. Further blocks that investigate how the police dealt with the siege itself will be withheld from the public "in the interests of the families".
Treasurer Joe Hockey declared the siege to be a "terrorist incident" under the Terrorism Insurance Act 2003. The Act means that insurance exclusions for terrorist incidents do not apply if such a declaration is made.
Scholars and social commentators have debated whether Monis was a terrorist and whether his actions could be classified as an act of terrorism. There is doubt as to whether or not Monis fit the definition of a lone wolf terrorist.
Queensland University of Technology criminologist Mark Lauchs said it was important to not describe the siege as a "terrorist attack". Lauchs said Monis was simply a deranged person running a hostage situation. "This incident was not about religion and neither was it a terrorist attack, but given that perception by the paraphernalia Monis used." The Australian prime minister said, "[Man Haron Monis] had a long history of violent crime, infatuation with extremism and mental instability...As the siege unfolded yesterday, he sought to cloak his actions with the symbolism of the ISIL death cult.".
Prof Greg Barton (from Deakin University) and Dr Clarke Jones (ANU) told the inquest that Monis was a loner and had mental health problems, and was desperate to attach himself to something. Clarke suggested that if the Rebels had accepted his membership then the siege might not have happened. Roger Shanahan from the Lowy institute said that if Monis had followed ISIS direction he would have just killed everyone.
The chief of ASIO Duncan Lewis confirmed that he believed Monis to be a terrorist. However, former counter-terrorism adviser to the White House, Richard A. Clarke, said, "I don't think this was a lone wolf terrorist, I don't think this was a terrorist at all, I think this was someone who was committing suicide by police as a lot of people with mental problems do, and now, if they say they're a terrorist, if they say they're somehow associated with ISIS or Al Qaeda, it becomes a major event that shuts down the city and gets international attention. This was a person with a mental problem who tried to gain attention and succeeded, tried to shut down the city and succeeded, merely by putting up a flag that was something like the flag of ISIS."
The difference between terrorism and terrorising acts was noted in one analysis as "enormously important"—it added that in Monis' case, terrorism "was clearly an element, but he was coming to the end of his rope with a variety of legal processes; there was clearly some mental instability." One view was that his lack of ties to any movement did not preclude his being a terrorist as it is "an inclusive club". Another commentator said, "There can be also no doubt that his attack was a terrorist act, as defined under Australia's Criminal Code Act 1995" and that, "he was a terrorist, clearly influenced by IS".
One terrorism expert, Professor Greg Barton, described Monis' actions as those of a "lone wolf terrorist ... driven by a desire for attention and to be in the spotlight", and his use of the flag was described as "the only way" to instil fear on a global scale. Professor Michael Wesley, Director of the School of International, Political and Strategic Studies at the Australian National University said the attack "was very different from first-generation or second-generation terrorist attacks—but it was terrorism, and terrorism of a brutal and more unpredictable sort." Another view was that describing the gunman as a terrorist was misplaced and would only serve the interests of ISIL. The supervisor of terrorism and security analysis for Stratfor said that this hostage-incident exhibits many of the elements associated with grassroots terrorism. A criminologist said that the event "was not about religion and neither was it a terrorist attack but given that perception by the paraphernalia Monis used."
Conversely, researcher Yassir Morsi, researcher at the Centre for Muslim and non-Muslim Understanding in Australia, suggested that "before he flew the black flag, Monis was just a desperate man with a violent past" and that "he was just another gunman. ... the symbol (flag) rewrote Monis's violent past and gave grammar to his attack."
Monis had entered the cafe without an ISIS flag. ASIO's previous investigations had found no links between Monis and any terrorist group. When a News reporter met him before the crisis she thought Monis was "lost and confused" and "harmless". Habib said Monis was "sick and disturbed" and desperately seeking attention over his grievances with government officials that had nothing to do with terrorism.
In 2016, Monis was cited as one of a number of recent violent attackers who were mentally disturbed and operated under the justification of Islamist ideas or slogans. Other examples include the as-of-yet unidentified perpetrator of the Munich knife attack and Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, the perpetrator of the 2014 shootings at Parliament Hill, Ottawa. According to psychologists and psychiatrists who study radicalization, jihad propaganda and calls to kill infidels can push mentally individuals to act, even in the absence of direct or personal contact with radical Islamists.
In February 2017, United States President Donald Trump cited the Sydney siege as an example of what he claimed was deliberate underreporting of terrorist attacks by the media, notwithstanding that the event received "blanket coverage" in local and international news.
During the siege, an Australian Army Tactical Assault Group East team at Holsworthy Barracks evaluated the floorplan of the cafe and gave advice to police. Mitchell McAlister, a former member of TAG East, questioned the police use of M4A1 carbines with 5.56 mm rounds over Heckler & Koch MP5 submachine guns.
Katrina Dawson died from a fragment of a police bullet, and other hostages appear to have been hit by bullets that ricocheted off the concrete building. It was unclear why 22 shots were fired by police, of which 13 hit Monis. Police have been criticised for both the high powered weapons used and the number of shots fired.
During the siege no significant effort was made to negotiate with Monis, as would normally be expected in a hostage situation in order to build a relationship with a gunman and persuade them to surrender. Instead, Monis received no encouragement or assistance from trained police negotiators.
Help was offered by the Muslim community including the Grand Mufti and Mamdouh Habib who had known Monis personally. Habib offered to help negotiate or provide background information to the police. These offers were not taken up.
It has been suggested that the police treatment of the siege as a terrorist attack may have led to errors such as making no attempt to negotiate with the gunman as would have been normal practice in other hostage situations. One commentator, Guy Rundle, questioned whether the police may have used a "crude rule" that "we don't negotiate with terrorists" that affected their procedures. It might also explain the use of high calibre weapons in a small enclosure against a lone gunman. These factors may have directly led to the deaths of Johnson and Dawson.
During the siege, police asked Muslims in Sydney to source an ISIL flag for Monis, before obtaining their own. The police later raided several houses of people contacted by Ms Kay who was attempting to find an ISIL flag. Ms Kay assumed that the phone calls had been monitored, and that the request had been solely to find out who she would contact, lowering trust among Muslims in the NSW police force.
The security forces have been criticised for not recognising that Monis was a threat, and for taking him off their watch list in 2008. This may have been because they overlooked key evidence, or it may have been because there was simply no evidence to collect. The federal/state joint review found that the relevant agencies' analysis had been reasonable.
After the siege, the revelation that the new Bail Act had allowed Monis to be granted bail sparked calls to further tighten the law; however a review had already been conducted in the wake of earlier controversial bail releases, with the new law set "to take effect next year" (that is, on 28 January 2015). Former director of public prosecutions in New South Wales, Nicholas Cowdery, said he was not sure that the amended law would have changed anything in Monis' case, part of the argument being that "magistrates and judges cannot be expected to gaze into a crystal ball when granting bail". Homicide detectives sent a letter to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) urging them to challenge the bail decision for Monis, but a commissioned officer did not pass it on to the DPP. Michael Esposito, writing for the Law Society of South Australia, noted that the shocking nature of the Sydney siege had the power to prompt reviews of bail laws across Australia.
Some commentators expressed concerns about immigration and citizenship processes. Monis' "confused agenda" meant that Amnesty International did not realise that he and Boroujerdim, who had sought help in 1997, were the same man until they went back through their records. In the absence of hard evidence, suggestions that Monis represented a growing trend of systemic failure, rather than being an aberration, were noted as dangerous to public confidence; to the separation of powers; to the idea of innocence till proven guilty and also to social cohesion by inviting suspicion of people from the Middle East.
In the week after the siege, it was revealed that John Robertson, NSW Opposition leader, had sent a letter which passed on a request made by Monis, a constituent in his Blacktown electorate, to the Department of Family and Community Services in 2011. The letter was, according to Robertson, routine procedure on behalf of a constituent and written in support of Monis' request for a supervised visit with his children on Father's Day despite an apprehended violence order against him. The Department declined Monis' request. As pressure mounted on Robertson to resign as Leader of the Labor Party, and three months away from the 2015 state election, he stood aside on 23 December 2014.
Commentators considered Monis' history of domestic violence, with a family violence expert arguing that it should have been considered when bail was given. A columnist noted that while his behaviour highlighted an "epidemic" of violence towards women, the media focus remained on terrorism.
Historians of religion and politics also critically reviewed the role of violence committed in the name of religion.
Debate followed about the difficulty of managing a police operation in the presence of continuous global media coverage as well as the likely damage caused by the spread of rumour. Particular criticism was levelled at Rupert Murdoch and News Corp for spreading false information as well as for insensitivity and "gross ethical violations". Commissioner Scipione and chair of the Australian Press Council, Professor Julian Disney released statements about the media coverage after the event. Beyond misinformation, concerns were raised regarding the presentation of crises as entertainment.
A month after the siege, police, ambulance workers, firefighters and others were officially thanked at NSW Government House. Memorial plaques were placed inside the reopened Lindt café. A permanent memorial to the victims of the siege will incorporate the flowers from Martin Place, which are to be mulched and incorporated into its garden element. As of March 2017, there was no plan for the memorial's completion.
Composer Lyle Chan, who resides less than a kilometre from the Lindt cafe, wrote two works influenced by the events. Sea of Flowers was premiered by conductor Alondra de la Parra and the Queensland Symphony Orchestra in May 2015. Chan's Love Is Always Born (December), with original words by Michael Leunig and ‘Silent Night’ in Arabic, was commissioned and premiered by the Song Company at concerts around the first anniversary of the events.
Dawson's family created the Katrina Dawson Foundation and scholarships to The Women's College, University of Sydney to provide financial assistance to young women for their university education. The first recipients started university in 2016.
Senator Dean Smith, a gay Liberal Party member, changed his views on Gay marriage in Australia due to Tori Johnson and his partner of 14 years. Smith later introduced a bill aimed at legalising same-sex marriage to the Senate, which became law.
A ceremony unveiling the memorial was held on 16 December 2017.


30 January 2013
Learning for Sustainability consultation
To: Policy Manager, Learning Directorate, Scottish Government
Thank you for your letter of 11 January 2013 seeking our organisation's views on the recent "Learning for Sustainability" report.
This report, with its emphasis on sustainable education including local and global contexts, citizenship and outdoor learning, is encouraging. We note, however, that responsibility is being placed directly upon teachers before a plan for strategic progress has been produced.
It is in our view essential that stakeholders are consulted upon the manner of implementation of any of the recommendations. It would be a concern should these recommendations be implemented in such a way that the demand on teachers was unrealisable in practice or, indeed, in breach of the terms of the SNCT Handbook. For example, the provisions regarding the working week.
In particular, it is noted from the report that a sustained and coordinated programme of career-long professional learning will be required for practitioners across Scotland.
Given that the revised GTCS Professional Standards will expressly include reference to learning for sustainability in teachers' practice from August 2013, it is in our view essential that the necessary resource is provided for the required career-long professional learning programme. Funding will therefore be required at a local level to provide the training opportunities necessary to ensure that sustainable education in fact becomes embedded in schools.
It would be inequitable for teachers to be held responsible for learning for sustainability should the necessary support, training and materials not be in place in good time before August 2013, to ensure success.
I hope that the above comments are helpful. Please don't hesitate to get in touch should you have any queries regarding the above.
Senior Professional Officer (Scotland)
Learning for Sustainability Report (Scottish Government) (Word doc)
Scottish Government's response (March 2013) (Word doc)


text:
It’s the new year and you’re probably ready to rid yourself of the past. The holidays and the rush of “getting things done” brings on unwanted anxiety and stress. If you’re like me, you are emphatic, we all have an innate gift of empathy which helps us connect to others. Some of us are more hieghten then others and it can make us feel anxious even when we are having a good time.
Taking the time to care for self is extremely important not only for your health but your spiritual growth as well. These uncomfortable emotions take a toll on our mind, body, and soul. A simple bath like the one I’m about to share with you can shift you right back into alignment and help you ground.
I created a bath spell that is both simple and powerful. If you can imagine, this is very personal for me but the more I thought about it, the more I realized how much everyone has their own combination of stress and I bet a good portion of you reading this now haven’t taken the time to release it. It combines various techniques that I have tried over the years. I would try them all individually without much success and it wasn’t until I took the time to combine them in a spell/ritual that I found the results I’d been looking for. Taking the time to care about yourself enough to perform a ritual is where the true magick happens. Magick can’t be rushed nor can you take shortcuts and expect things to work. It requires attention and devotion and knowing that self-care isn’t selfish, it’s necessary.
This spell requires you to devote at least 30 minutes of self-care so that you are prepared to tackle the problems that face us daily. Find a time when you know you won’t be disturbed. Bathing is often thought of as a night activity but I have done this bath many times in the morning and it is equally amazing.
Here’s what you’ll need:
- Handful of calming crystals (I suggest amethyst or lithium quartz)
2 teaspoons of Salt (for clearing gemstones)
- Candles, preferably in white, silver or purple
- Rosemary essential oil
- Lavender essential oil
- Bath tea (optional: Brew a bath tea infusion using rosemary, spearmint and wood betony. Consider adding lemon zest if doing this in the morning)
Anti – Anxiety herbal tea (Optional but highly recommended)
Here’s a list of some great herbs for calming anxiousness. I drink a combination of these herbs almost daily and I have to say my overall anxiety has calmed down dramatically. Drink 1 or a combination of these herbs or look for blends that contains them. Both my company, Spirit Element and November Sage carries wonderful stress reducing teas.
– Skullcap: arguably, the best nervine in the herbal world. It is used to treat all nervous disorders from hysteria to digestive distress and regular consumption helps one to respond better to stress.
– Passionflower: often referred to as the “herb of tranquility”, this heavenly herb is a mild sedative that is a miracle worker for nervous disorders like tension, hyperactivity, anxiety, headaches and exhaustion. It has no side effects and gradually steadies nerves when taken regularly.
– Lemon Balm: This herb is actually in the mint family and is loved for it’s amazing lemon like scent. It is a “happy herb” and useful for treating mild depression. It is used by both magic folk and muggles to treat mental and nervous disorders.
– Wood Betony: The name comes from the Celtic word “betonica”, meaning “good for the head”. This is one of my favorite herbs of all times as it calms the nerves, improves circulation, relieves the feeling of a “heavy head” and aids in clearing out the liver. Magic wise, it is often used in healing as well as for calming dark fears and emotions that are tied to the imagination.
Some other great herbs include, holy basil (aka tulsi), linden leaf and flower, spearmint or peppermint, and rosemary.
Place 1 teaspoon of salt and crystals in a bowl, then fill with warm water. Allow your crystals to cleanse for about 30 minutes. Next mix your oils by adding 18 drops of rosemary essential oil and 6 drops of lavender essential oil to a small bottle (about 1 oz in size) then top it off with a vegetable oil like grape seed or jojoba. Lightly shake and allow the oils to synergize while you wait for the crystals to cleanse. You can also mix the same amount of essential oils but leave them undiluted to add to your oil burner. I’ll often burn this around the house or my apothecary when jumping into a bath isn’t an option at that time.
Find a time when you can be alone for 20-30 minutes but preferably an hour. Brew yourself a cup of tea using one or more of the herbs above and bring it into the bathroom with you. Be sure to take sips here and there as you get prepared. Begin by casting a circle that surrounds your bathroom. You can do so by imagining a white beam of light coming down and surrounding the bathroom area. Pour the saltwater off of your crystals and then place them in the tub before running a warm bath that is a comfortable temperature for you. Light your candles and place them around the tub to create a calming ambiance. I have Christmas lights strung up around my bathroom ceiling which creates a very soothing feel. This is unnecessary of course but I would be remiss if I didn’t mention how relaxing it is to turn off the overhead lights and watch my Xmas lights and candles flicker.
Check the temperature of the water and adjust if necessary. You want to do this before adding your essential oils so that the scent doesn’t disperse too much before you have a chance to breathe it in. Add your bath brew (if using) and oils, then swirl around with your hands. Step into the bath and just be present for a few moments, taking in the scent of the oils. Maybe take a few sips of tea and feel the warmth of it sliding down your throat. After a few deep breaths, take your towel and dip it into the water then gently squeeze the warm water over your body. Wipe your face with soft movements, allow the water to flow over your neck and shoulders… wherever you feel called to draw attention. As you do so, imagine the warm water with the help of the towel cleansing away the stress and anxiety. Re Dip your towel often and continue to wash away your stress. Take a few moments here or there to take sips of your tea and feel the calm, warming sensation aid in relieving your tension. Do this for as long as you like and when you are done, let the water out. Imagine all your stress and tension flowing down the drain.
Place the remaining teas. of salt and crystals back into the bowl and fill with warm water to cleanse them of the stress that they have taken from you. Be sure to rinse out your tub to remove any lingering negative energy. Release the circle surrounding your bathroom.
Finish up by massaging the body with your favorite moisturizer, giving a little extra care to those spots that tend to hold your stress. Do this spell often and gradually, you will begin to respond better to stress in general. I advise drinking the tea often as well, but at the least, when you feel stress creeping up your spine. I hope this spell brings you as much relief as it has brought me.
(We would love to hear from you! Comment below, say hi! what is your go to for stress release? What would you like to see us share on our blog? )

domain: health


text:
It is important to document poor employee performance for many reasons. It will serve to outline clearly to the employee what they did wrong, and suggest what corrective action needs to be taken. It is also very important for an employer to document an employee’s file. Should the employee end up being terminated, written warnings and other similar documentation can protect the employer from a possible wrongful termination lawsuit.
Employee Warning Notice PLEASE PRINT Employee Name Date of Warning Department Class/Step Type of Violation Attendance Insubordination Failure to Follow Instructions Rudeness to Employees or Patrons Violation of Library Policies Unsatisfactory Work Quality Violation of Library Policy or Willful Damages to Material or Working on Personal Matters Procedures Equipment (Computers/E-mail) Other Previous Warnings ORAL WRITTEN DATE BY WHOM 1st Warning / / 2nd Warning / / 3rd Warning / / Employer Statement Employee Statement AM I agree with Employer's statement. Date of Incident / / Time : PM I disagree with Employer's description of violation for these reasons: Action to be taken Warning Probation Suspension Dismissal Other Consequence should incident occur again I have read this Employee Warning Notice and understand it. / / SIGNATURE OF EMPLOYEE DATE / / SIGNATURE OF SUPERVISOR WHO ISSUED WARNING DATE Obi-Wan\Shared Files\Work Folders\Student\Forms\Employee Warning Notice 09/12/02 7:46 PM Print Form Clear Form
Pages to are hidden for
"Warning An Employee"Please download to view full document

domain: law


text:
Beachgoers were forced to leave after the incident yesterday, local media reported. Trucks arrived to remove the sewage from the water and stop further leaks. The were concerns for the safety of tourists on the beach following the leakage.
The beach is expected to be reopened to the public today.
Torrential rainfall caused rain and sewage water to mix as facilities could not cope with the volume.
A beach in Majorca has been closed to tourists after a sewage leak
Tuesday’s beach closure comes after protesters launched a war against tourists in Majorca by smashing rental cars with a hammer, spraying them with graffiti and slashing their tyres.
Earlier this week, campaign group Arran shared a video of their demonstration against the tourism in Palma.
The footage shows members dressed in white overalls and masks as they vandalise the vehicles.
The group tweeted: “More than 100,000 annual tourist rental cars = unsustainable tourist saturation. Residents self Defense!”
Last year a spokesman for Arran told The Sun: “The problem of tourism here is totally out of control.
“It is focused on partying and being uncontrollable and it attracts all kinds of people who have no respect for the places they visit and who leave the places they visit in a state that nobody can then enjoy.
Spain ramps up bid to stop tourists arriving in Barcelona [LATEST]
Venice tourist crackdown: Holidaymakers fined in bid to save city [NEWS]
Benidorm holiday hell exposed with OAPs in marathon drug, drink and... [VIDEO]
“The problem can be seen across the island.”
More than 2.3 million Britons head to Majorca for a holiday every year, making up around 26 percent of the total number of tourists to the island.
The campaign by the Federation of Barcelona Neighbourhood Associations (FAVB) will ask tourists not to tell anyone that they have been to the Spanish city after their holiday.
The idea is to avoid word of mouth so that others do not feel encouraged to visit.
FAVB President Ana Menéndez Martínez de Bartolomé said: “We wanted to make tourists aware that they can also do something in this regard and it is not to explain that they have visited the city, not to explain the treasures they have found.
“We wanted to make tourists accomplices. This is like when someone goes to the forest to pick mushrooms and doesn’t tell anyone.”
The president of the FAVB argued that the campaign “wants to be different and friendly to the tourist” because “it does not pretend to blame them, but make them aware that they are part of the problem”.
She added: ”Barcelona has become one of the most requested cities, it is number twelve in the ranking of the most touristic cities in the world and ranks fourth in the list of European cities that receive more tourists.”

domain: sociology


text:
Wow! What's the top one?
Last edited by Standard22; 07-12-2012 at 11:35 PM.
I like it. You should send it to me.
What is that peter carey called?
My coloured plain edge folders:
Go traditional... lots of choices there typically in small runs making your knife more unique (but that also means many of the below will be hard/impossible to find)
CRK is always popular too.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

domain: hobby


text:
About Adlatus Robotics
Adlatus Robotics develops an automated robot for cleaning and maintaining large areas such as supermarkets, airports, hospitals, and more. It produces CR 700 which features a range of features for day-to-day operations, including reliable navigation, intuitive touch interface and control via mobile device, automated return to its service station, and connectivity and documentation. The company was founded in 2015 and is based in Ulm, Germany.
Expert Collections containing Adlatus Robotics
Expert Collections are analyst-curated lists that highlight the companies you need to know in the most important technology spaces.
Adlatus Robotics is included in 5 Expert Collections, including Restaurant Tech.
Hardware and software for restaurant management, bookings, staffing, mobile restaurant payments, inventory management, cloud kitchens, and more. On-demand food delivery services are excluded from this collection.
This collection includes startups developing autonomous ground robots, unmanned aerial vehicles, robotic arms, and underwater drones, among other robotic systems. This collection also includes companies developing operating systems and vision modules for robots.
Smart building tech covers energy management/HVAC tech, occupancy/security tech, connectivity/IoT tech, construction materials, robotics use in buildings, and the metaverse/virtual buildings.
Cleaning & Sanitation Tech
These companies are featured in our Tech Market Map Report — New Products & Services For Retail In Cleaning & Sanitation Tech.
Store tech (In-store retail tech)
Latest Adlatus Robotics News
Aug 17, 2020
Courtesy of Ahold Delhaize Dive Brief: Ahold Delhaize has chosen European robotics companies Fybots and Adlatus Robotics as the winners of its first Cleaning Bot Challenge, a competition that began on May 19 to find smart technology solutions to clean stores, according to a release . Initially, over 380 companies were scouted, with only nine making it to the finals. The contestants pitched in two tracks, with the first involving directly applicable cleaning solutions. Fybots, of France, won that track for the flexibility of its autonomous technology. The second track centered on promising future opportunities that can be co-created. Germany-based Adlatus won this track because of the strength of its technical capabilities, Ahold Delhaize said. The robotics company will develop new applications for its robotic technology in partnership with Ahold Delhaize’s AirLab. Dive Insight: Ahold Delhaize’s challenge to find a startup to create a cleaning robot spotlights the company’s efforts to bring smart technology to its stores. A cleaning bot would free up time for store associates to focus on doing other tasks, and seeing one roam the aisles could help customers feel safer shopping in stores. “A clean environment for associates and customers is now more important than ever,” Frans Muller, president and CEO of Ahold Delhaize, said in a statement. "Cleaning tasks are often physically demanding and include many repetitive tasks. Increased cleaning cycles, due to COVID-19, have put teams under a lot of pressure. Robotics can help these associates.’’ Due to COVID-19, Ahold Delhaize has implemented more stringent cleaning and hygiene initiatives like cleaning shopping carts before and after each use. The pandemic has sparked a wave of new technology to aid in the new store processes. For example, Brain Corp , a company that transforms manual machines into autonomous devices using its own software, called BrainOS, has partnerships with major original equipment manufacturers to create floor autonomous cleaning robots for retailers. Walmart has also invested in cleaning bot technology, with robotic floor scrubbers now working in hundreds of stores. The cleaning contest is not Ahold Delhaize’s first foray into robotics. Last January, the company announced it would roll out shelf-scanning robots called “Marty” to 500 Giant/Martin’s and Stop & Shop stores after a successful test at two locations. In 2018, the company partnered with Delft University of Technology to fund robotics research that will develop and test innovations. The partnership was an expansion to its Artificial Intelligence for Retail (AIR) Lab, which launched that same year. Its cleaning bot challenge was conducted through its joint industry lab, according to the press release. Follow Krishna Thakker on Twitter
Adlatus Robotics Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
When was Adlatus Robotics founded?
Adlatus Robotics was founded in 2015.
Where is Adlatus Robotics's headquarters?
Adlatus Robotics's headquarters is located at Nicolaus-Otto-Str. 4, Ulm.
What is Adlatus Robotics's latest funding round?
Adlatus Robotics's latest funding round is Seed VC.
Who are the investors of Adlatus Robotics?
Investors of Adlatus Robotics include Seedfonds Baden-Wurttemberg, High-Tech Grunderfonds and MBG Baden-Württemberg.
Who are Adlatus Robotics's competitors?
Competitors of Adlatus Robotics include Smile Robotics, Reset Company, Avidbots, iRobot, Somatic and 13 more.
Compare Adlatus Robotics to Competitors
Aziobot develops a prototype of an autonomous cleaning robot for large retailers and managers of large spaces. The company offers artificial intelligence solutions including advanced floor scrubber robots, commercial floor cleaning robots, floor cleaning robots, professional cleaning robots, and more. It was founded in 2017 and is based in Eindhoven, Netherlands.
Avibots develops commercial robots for cleaning. It uses artificial intelligence (AI) powered robots to help clean commercial locations, such as department stores, auto dealerships, education facilities, airports, and more. The company was founded in 2014 and is based in Kitchener, Canada.
Peppermint operates as a service robotics company. It develops a robot that autonomously cleans floors and surfaces. The products include a scrubber, dryer, tug autonomous mobile robot (AMR), and more. It was founded in 2019 and is based in Pune, India.
SOMATIC offers a robotic cleaning service. It builds robots to clean restrooms via virtual reality and also offers a recharging space for the robot for commercial bathroom cleaning. The company was founded in 2018 and is based in New York, New York.
Weston Robot is a developer and supplier of integrated robotics solutions. The company's products include exoskeletons, outdoor robots, robotic arms and hands, warehousing and logistics robots, mobile COVID-19 disinfection robots, and autonomous temperature screening robots.
Bear Robotics develops restaurant robots that help customers receive a dining experience. Its product includes Servi, a restaurant robot runner that can autonomously shuttle food from the kitchen out to tables and bring dirty dishes back for cleaning. The company was founded in 2017 and is based in Redwood City, California.

domain: news


|Publication number||US4498013 A|
|Application number||US 06/363,518|
|Publication date||Feb 5, 1985|
|Filing date||Mar 30, 1982|
|Priority date||Mar 30, 1981|
|Publication number||06363518, 363518, US 4498013 A, US 4498013A, US-A-4498013, US4498013 A, US4498013A|
|Inventors||Takao Kuroda, Kenju Horii, Shigenori Matsumoto|
|Original Assignee||Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.|
|Export Citation||BiBTeX, EndNote, RefMan|
|Patent Citations (2), Referenced by (40), Classifications (12), Legal Events (4)|
|External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, Espacenet|
The present invention relates to a solid state image pickup device. In a conventional solid state image pickup device, the quality of reproduced images is degraded due to a smear phenomenon.
It is an object of the present invention to eliminate the smear phenomenon wherein an electric charge which becomes a noise component is generated by an incident light beam in a substrate and the electric charge is mixed with a signal component so that degradation of the quality of a reproduced image may be prevented and an excellent image may be produced.
In order to achieve the above object of the present invention, there is provided a solid state image pickup device having photoelectric transducers and signal readout means, wherein a concentration of an impurity in a substrate region which surrounds the readout means adjacent to the photoelectric transducers is higher than that in a substrate region under the photoelectric transducers.
FIG. 1 is a view showing the basic arrangement of a CCD-type solid state image pickup element of an interline transfer system to explain the mode of operation thereof;
FIGS. 2A and 2B are respectively a sectional view of a conventional solid state image pickup element to explain the mechanism of smear phenomenon, and a graph showing the potential profile as a function of the depth of a substrate;
FIGS. 3A and 3B are respectively a sectional view for explaining the mode of operation of a solid state image pickup element, and a graph showing the potential profile as a function of the depth of a substrate, according to one embodiment of the present invention; and
FIGS. 4 and 5 are sectional views of a solid state image pickup element according to another embodiment of the present invention.
A CCD-type solid state image pickup element of an interline transfer system has a photodiode (to be referred to as a PD for brevity hereinafter) as a photoelectric transducer formed on a p-type substrate and an n-channel buried channel CCD (charge coupled device) as a vertical transfer shift register (to be referred to as a V-CCD hereinafter). The smear phenomenon will be described with reference to the solid state image pickup element of this type.
FIG. 1 shows the arrangement of the CCD-type solid state image pickup element of the interline transfer system. Light beams are radiated on photoelectric transducers 1 and electric charge generated thereby is supplied to V-CCDs 2 as indicated by an arrow. This electric charge is then supplied to horizontal transfer CCDs 3 (to be referred to as H-CCDs hereinafter) and a charge detecting section 4. The charge detecting section 4 detects the electric charge and generates a signal.
The basic mode of operation of the solid state image pickup element is described above. However, during transmission of the electric charge corresponding to the signal, an electric charge is generated by the incident light beams in the substrate and part of the charge is supplied to the V-CCDs 2 and causes the noise component. When the incident light beam is intense, the amount of the electric charge which is the noise component is increased. Therefore, the amount of the electric charge supplied to the V-CCDs 2 is also increased. As a result, white streaks appear above and below the part on which the intense light beam is radiated, thus degrading quality of the image on the screen. This is the so-called smear phenomenon.
This phenomenon is described with reference to the sectional view of FIG. 2A along the line A--A of FIG. 1. Referring to FIG. 2A, reference numeral 5 denotes a channel of the V-CCD; 6, a transfer electrode of the V-CCD; 7, a transfer gate electrode; 8, a silicon dioxide layer; 9, a depletion layer of the photoelectric transducer (PD)1; 10, a signal charge; 11, a depletion layer of the channel of the V-CCD; and 12, a smear charge. The electric charge generated deep in a photodiode PD1 in response to the incident light beam includes the signal charge 10 which is supplied to the depletion layer 9 of the PD1 and collected therein and the smear charge 12 which is generated in the p-type substrate and supplied to the depletion layer 11 of the V-CCD. This smear charge 12 causes the smear phenomenon. FIG. 2B is a graph of the potential profile along the line B--B' of FIG. 2A. This graph shows the state in which the smear charge 12 migrates to the depletion layer 11. When the light beam is radiated in a steady state, the smear charge 12 is generated steadily and supplied to the depletion layer 11, thus degrading the reproduced image on the screen since the smear charge 12 is output together with the signal charge 10.
Since the electric charge is supplied steadily in the V-CCD near the PD 1 on which the intense light beam is radiated, the charge is equally mixed in every bit of the signal transferred through the V-CCD. Therefore, vertical white streaks appear on the screen, thus degrading the quality of the reproduced image.
A solid state image pickup device according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 3A and 3B. FIG. 3A is a sectional view of the solid state image pickup device. The channel 5 is covered with a p30 -type layer 13 the impurity concentration of which is higher than that of a p-type layer 16. The p-type layer 16 is formed on an n-type substrate 15. The solid state image pickup element of FIG. 3A is the same as that of FIG. 2A except for the above structural arrangements.
With the solid state pickup device of the above structure, the potential of the p30 -type layer 13 relative to electrons is higher than that of the p-type layer 16. An electric charge 14 which becomes the noise component and which is generated in the p-type layer 16 may hardly be introduced to the depletion layer 11 of the V-CCD. This is because a potential barrier against the charge 14 is formed around the depletion layer 11 of the V-CCD. In this embodiment, since the p-type layer 16 is formed on the n-type substrate 15, an electric charge is discharged to the n-type substrate 15 even if the incident light is very intense. Thus, the smear phenomenon can be further prevented. FIG. 3B is a graph of the potential profile when taken along the line C--C of FIG. 3A. If a reverse bias voltage is applied between the p-type layer 16 and the n-type substrate 15, the potential profile is changed as indicated by the broken line of FIG. 3B. Thus, excessive charge can be discharged effectively.
In order to discharge the smear charge 12 generated in the p-type layer 16 to the n-type substrate 15 in a great amount, the p-type layer 16 under the photoelectric transducer 1 must be made thinner. FIG. 4 shows a structure wherein the p-type layer 16 is made thin and the n-type substrate layer 15 is in contact with the p30 -type layer according to another embodiment of the present invention.
Referring to FIG. 5, an overflow drain 17 for discharging the excess charge in PD1 can also discharge the charge generated in the deep region of the PD1 to the outside, for example through an overflow control gate 18.
Further, if the structure shown in FIG. 5 is formed on the n-type substrate of FIG. 3A, barrier effects are further enhanced.
Above embodiments has been described with reference to the CCD of the interline transfer system. However, the present invention may alternatively be applied to a solid state image pickup element using a MOS (metal oxide semiconductor) switching transistor which serves as signal charge readout means. Further, the pesent invention may also be applied to a BBD (bucket-brigate device) or a one-dimensional solid state image pickup element.
In summary, the solid state image pickup device according to the present invention has a function to prevent the smear phenomenon. Therefore, an excellent image is produced on the screen and the device allows various industrial applications.
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|US4373167 *||Oct 9, 1980||Feb 8, 1983||Tokyo Shibaura Denki Kabushiki Kaisha||Solid state image sensor with overflow protection and high resolution|
|Citing Patent||Filing date||Publication date||Applicant||Title|
|US4608749 *||Aug 22, 1984||Sep 2, 1986||Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba||Method of manufacturing a solid-state image pickup device|
|US4618874 *||Sep 6, 1984||Oct 21, 1986||Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba||Solid state imaging device|
|US4663656 *||Mar 16, 1984||May 5, 1987||Rca Corporation||High-resolution CCD imagers using area-array CCD's for sensing spectral components of an optical line image|
|US4663771 *||Aug 27, 1982||May 5, 1987||Sony Corporation||Solid state image pickup device in which the transfer gate areas are supplied with negative voltage during the vertical transfer period and light receiving period but not when the positive readout pulse period is applied|
|US4672455 *||Aug 28, 1985||Jun 9, 1987||Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha||Solid-state image-sensor having reverse-biased substrate and transfer registers|
|US4814848 *||Jun 5, 1987||Mar 21, 1989||Hitachi, Ltd.||Solid-state imaging device|
|US4851890 *||Sep 4, 1986||Jul 25, 1989||Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha||Solid-state image sensor|
|US4912560 *||Jan 27, 1989||Mar 27, 1990||Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba||Solid state image sensing device|
|US4916501 *||Jun 19, 1989||Apr 10, 1990||Thomson-Csf||CCD frame transfer photosensitive matrix with vertical anti-blooming system|
|US4997784 *||Jan 29, 1990||Mar 5, 1991||Thomson-Csf||Fabrication method for a CCD frame transfer photosensitive matrix with vertical anti-blooming system|
|US5044000 *||Jul 27, 1989||Aug 27, 1991||Nec Corporation||Driving method of solid-state imaging device for improving smear phenomenon|
|US5077592 *||Aug 6, 1990||Dec 31, 1991||California Institute Of Technology||Front-illuminated CCD with open pinned-phase region and two-phase transfer gate regions|
|US5416345 *||Oct 24, 1994||May 16, 1995||Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba||Solid-state image sensor with dark-current eliminator|
|US5426317 *||Jan 21, 1994||Jun 20, 1995||Sony Corporation||Frame interline transfer CCD imager|
|US5446297 *||Feb 8, 1994||Aug 29, 1995||Goldstar Electron Co., Ltd.||CCD type solid-state image sensor|
|US5637893 *||Feb 21, 1996||Jun 10, 1997||Nec Corporation||Interline-transfer CCD image sensor and method for fabricating the same|
|US5780884 *||Nov 6, 1996||Jul 14, 1998||Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha||Amplication type solid-state imaging device|
|US5880494 *||Feb 1, 1995||Mar 9, 1999||Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha||Active type photoelectric converting device and an active type solid-state imaging device using the same|
|US5998818 *||Jan 20, 1998||Dec 7, 1999||Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha||Amplification type solid-state imaging device|
|US6590195 *||Apr 26, 2001||Jul 8, 2003||Nec Electronics Corporation||Solid-state image sensor with reduced smear and noise|
|US6683646 *||Nov 24, 1997||Jan 27, 2004||Xerox Corporation||CMOS image sensor array having charge spillover protection for photodiodes|
|US6815791 *||Dec 14, 1999||Nov 9, 2004||Fillfactory||Buried, fully depletable, high fill factor photodiodes|
|US6927091||Aug 19, 2002||Aug 9, 2005||Sony Corporation||Method for fabricating solid-state imaging device|
|US7199410||Dec 13, 2000||Apr 3, 2007||Cypress Semiconductor Corporation (Belgium) Bvba||Pixel structure with improved charge transfer|
|US7253019||Nov 9, 2004||Aug 7, 2007||Cypress Semiconductor Corporation (Belgium) Bvba||Buried, fully depletable, high fill factor photodiodes|
|US7750958||Jul 6, 2010||Cypress Semiconductor Corporation||Pixel structure|
|US7808022||Mar 28, 2006||Oct 5, 2010||Cypress Semiconductor Corporation||Cross talk reduction|
|US8476567||Sep 22, 2008||Jul 2, 2013||Semiconductor Components Industries, Llc||Active pixel with precharging circuit|
|US8598674 *||Nov 18, 2010||Dec 3, 2013||Hamamatsu Photonics K.K.||Range sensor and range image sensor|
|US8653619||Jun 4, 2012||Feb 18, 2014||Hamamatsu Photonics K.K.||Range sensor and range image sensor|
|US20010011736 *||Dec 13, 2000||Aug 9, 2001||Bart Dierickx||Pixel structure with improved charge transfer|
|US20030059974 *||Aug 19, 2002||Mar 27, 2003||Kouichi Harada||Method for fabricating solid-state imaging device|
|US20050064617 *||Nov 9, 2004||Mar 24, 2005||Bart Dierickx||Buried, fully depletable, high fill factor photodiodes|
|US20070145503 *||Feb 16, 2007||Jun 28, 2007||Bart Dierickx||Pixel structure with improved charge transfer|
|US20120181650 *||Nov 18, 2010||Jul 19, 2012||Hamamatsu Photonics K.K.||Range sensor and range image sensor|
|DE3829003A1 *||Aug 26, 1988||Mar 16, 1989||Mitsubishi Electric Corp||Abbildungseinrichtung mit uebergitter|
|DE4329838A1 *||Sep 3, 1993||Mar 9, 1995||Gold Star Electronics||Solid-state image sensor|
|DE4329838B4 *||Sep 3, 1993||Sep 22, 2005||Hynix Semiconductor Inc., Ichon||Festkörper-Bildsensor|
|EP0224993A1 *||Sep 3, 1986||Jun 10, 1987||Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha||A method of operating a solid-state image sensor|
|EP0399551A2 *||May 25, 1990||Nov 28, 1990||Sony Corporation||Frame interline transfer type ccd imager|
|U.S. Classification||250/208.1, 257/E27.162, 257/230, 257/223|
|International Classification||H04N5/369, H04N5/374, H04N5/335, H04N5/3728, H04N5/359, H01L27/148|
|Mar 30, 1982||AS||Assignment|
Owner name: MATSUSHITA ELECTRIC INDUSTRIAL, CO., LTD., 1006, O
Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST.;ASSIGNORS:KURODA, TAKAO;HORII, KENJU;MATSUMOTO, SHIGENORI;REEL/FRAME:003981/0269
Effective date: 19820315
|Jul 18, 1988||FPAY||Fee payment|
Year of fee payment: 4
|Jul 23, 1992||FPAY||Fee payment|
Year of fee payment: 8
|Jul 22, 1996||FPAY||Fee payment|
Year of fee payment: 12


text:
In recent years, Bonafarm-Bábolna Feed Ltd. has been offering its Silver, Gold and Platinum diets for turkey growers. These three diet lines have been renewed several times and have become well differentiated in price and nutrient content over the years, thus enabling turkey producers to select and feed to their flocks the diets most closely meeting the specific characteristics of their farms. These well-proven turkey diets of our company have been used by the producers with great satisfaction and good production results over several years.
However, the recent unprecedented feed price explosion and the unpredictability of the meat market require increasingly high and more optimal production levels. The producers are also trying to minimise their production costs in the most reasonable manner possible. As the feed costs constitute a major part and a steadily increasing proportion of the production costs, it is obvious that all producers wish to feed their flocks with the most economical diets that are of the highest possible quality and best adjusted to the specific raw material cost situation. The specialists of Bonafarm-Bábolna Feed Ltd. rise to all these challenges by developing a new, innovative diet and with their expert knowledge. This is how our AMINO turkey diet range was created.
In the classical sense of the word, crude protein is one of the most important and most expensive nutrients of the diet. However, turkeys do not have a crude protein requirement: only the amino acids constituting the protein should be supplied to them with the diet. The quality of the protein contained by the feed is determined by the biological value depending on the essential and non-essential amino acids and by the digestibility of the amino acids. The supplementation of any possibly limiting amino acid in synthetic form provides a possibility for lowering the crude protein content and to establish the ideal ratio of digestible amino acids related to lysine. This process is greatly facilitated by the fact that over the recent years more and more synthetic amino acids have become available for feed manufacture. In addition to methionine, lysine, threonine, valine and tryptophan, which were being used widely already earlier, now it is possible to use other synthetic amino acids, primarily isoleucine and arginine. The AMINO turkey diet range contains also these amino acids which have become available recently. The use of new amino acids is one of the conditions necessary for economically viable nutrition, as the reduction of the feed costs accounting for more than two thirds of the total production cost of turkey fattening can be achieved by optimising the protein and amino acid content of the compound feeds. Beyond that, the unnecessary protein excess or amino acid imbalance loads the intermediary metabolism of the birds and increases the nitrogen burden of the environment.
Besides the good feed, the body weight of pre-reared grower turkeys is also very important in turkey production. The main objective of turkey brooding is to provide high-quality turkeys for the grow-out stage. Therefore, in addition to the high digestibility of the feed it is also important for the birds to be able to develop a robust skeletal structure. This greatly contributes to the success of the later grow-out stages characterised by high muscle mass accretion.
One of our first feeding trials conducted with the AMINO turkey diets was started at the Bérbaltavár farm of Three-B Farm Ltd. The farm keeps precise records, and it has had good professional relations with our company for several years. The experimental batch comprising 19,920 Converter day-old poults were placed on 19 February 2021. No animal health problems occurred during brooding. The body weight gain of the flock conformed to the technological specifications throughout the cycle. The birds developed nicely and were lively and agile throughout the brooding phase. The batch was transferred to the grow-out unit after 44.5 days of brooding on average, with an average body weight of 2.63 kg per bird. At the end of the brooding period, the average weight of the females was 2.47 kg per bird, while that of the males was 2.84 kg per bird. The feed conversion ratio was 1.67 kg/kg and the mortality rate was 4.01%. The achieved production results prove that the development of these products reached its goal. For us, the most important feedback is always our partner’s opinion: in this case Three-B Farm Ltd. was maximally satisfied with the results achieved.
In summary, our newly developed AMINO turkey diet range can successfully meet the challenges posed by the present and the future. With its unique synthetic amino acid content, composition and nutrient content, this diet range provides an economical feeding solution for turkey growers even at the current feed prices. Moreover, the use of the new synthetic amino acids represents a very substantial potential for the turkey producers, which must be utilised to the greatest possible extent in order to maintain the competitiveness of turkey production and also for environmental protection reasons.
Bonafarm-Bábolna Feed Ltd.

domain: agronomy


text:
Download PNG image - Picture Williams Maisie Actress PNG Download Free
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domain: artistic


Iraqi Navy on Way to Independence, Official Says
By Carmen L. Gleason
American Forces Press Service
With a contract on the verge of completion, the Iraqi navy is the first of the country’s forces to use the Ministry of Defense’s procurement process with Iraqi money in purchasing major capital programs from foreign governments and commercial ventures.
“The Iraqi navy has come a long way since the end of the hostilities,” U.S. Navy Capt. Michael Zamesnik, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command liaison officer to Multinational Force Iraq, said “They were an organization that had been ravaged by the effects of the war, and they are making great strides to rebuild themselves.”
Zamesnik said that the force is making positive steps and continuing to grow in the areas of equipment, training, manning and procurement. Iraqi naval installations are going under massive modernization efforts to build roads, utilities and barracks in addition to the reconstruction of piers to support the incoming vessels, he said. By 2010, 15 patrol boats, four patrol ships, and two off-shore support vessels will be added to the current fleet of fast attack boats and Predator-class ships.
“They have a 24-hour capability, are armed for self-defense, and I would say the Iraqi navy is considering these to be the jewel in the crown of their future fleet,” British Navy Cmdr. Paul Marshall, Royal Navy advisor, said.
“Any navy in the world would be proud to have an acquisition program that increases capability by that amount within such a short time scale,” Marshall said.
He said that the Iraqi government shows a lot of commitment and faith in the program by supporting it with resources and policies. The Iraqi waterways will continue to become safer with the increased number and skills of personnel, as well, he said.
Four battalions of Iraqi marines are being trained to provide all-point defense for the oil platforms, while navy diver platoons are being developed for maintenance on ships and platforms.
The Iraqi navy will take sole responsibility to ensure the security and protection of territorial waters and key infrastructure within its area of responsibility and to counter terrorism, smuggling and illegal activity at sea.
British Navy Capt. Tony Radakin, commander of the Naval Transition Team at Umm Qasr Naval Base, said that a recent coalition commander referred to the Iraqi patrol boats as one of his best assets. “That’s simply because of their understanding of local waters, their ability to help shepherd any (Arab ships) that might be coming too close to the oil platforms, and to do that probably a lot more effectively than some of the coalition ships,” he said.
The performance of the Iraqi navy and marines is “actually very good,” Radakin said.
He attributed the recent decrease in piracy and oil smuggling in area waterways to current navy efforts. He also said that the heightened visibility of the navy has created safe waterways for the major commercial ports that have led to quadruple increases in port revenues.
“The Iraqi navy is a story of success,” Zamesnik said. “They’ve done a very solid job of rebuilding. I know it will continue, along with coalition assistance.”
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text:
love them, but they should release some stuff.. their last album is from 2003? 2004? can't remember..
they were touring in Brazil a couple years ago.. I went to 5 of 6.
spend my whole life thinking that I would never see them, so I had to enjoy it.
I even took the same flight with them... hahahhahaha. funny days.
Great band. I know them from the start with The Hurting which is a great debut album in 1983 but 1985 Songs from the Big Chair is a masterpiece. I went to see them on The Seeds of Love tour in 1990 in Rotterdam. Great concert. Maybe I will go to see them in Amsterdam or Antwerp next year.
"Larry was pretty much against it. He thought we were exploiting other people's misery for entertainment. Bono definitely felt that we were shining a light on something important."
- Paul McGuinness on the idea of playing Sarajevo during Zoo TV
did you know
"All Along the Watchtower" was recorded in Justin Herman Plaza in San Francisco in front of what many consider to be the ugliest sculpture in the city. Bono's spraypainted words required a formal apology from the band and were removed within days.

domain: entertainment


text:
Owl Bookkeeping and CFO provides qualified bookkeepers who understand that fiscal stability starts with having a good understanding of where your numbers are, and you can only know that when they are managed correctly. It’s critical to get your office bookkeeping done right and done timely.
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We’re here to provide temporary and part-time experienced bookkeepers to small- and mid-sized companies throughout the Minneapolis – St. Paul metro area. Click HERE to fill out our contact form to get you and your company started on the right path to financial understanding.

domain: economics


text:
Philadelphia has some of the best pediatric medicine in the world. MC3 was happy to spend the day supplying, preparing, and cooking dinner at the Ronald McDonald House in Camden, NJ for 15-20 families of children being treated at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and Cooper University Hospital! Members of the MC3 team prepared grilled veggies, BBQ chicken, hamburgers, hot dogs, fruit salad, mac-n-cheese, and German potato salad made by our very own German colleague Sonja. The whole meal was topped off with warm brownies, ice cream, and much needed smiles on the faces of these families going through a hard time.
#ronaldmcdonaldhouse #childrenshospitalofphiladelphia #chop #cooperuniversityhospital #sharingiscaring

domain: food


text:
When One of his top series was based on, Stranger things, Has nothing to do with recent shows or movies. Instead, Shooting hoops, Titter up And Card blast Is the casual title with greater appeal in mind, Comments. They are part of Netflix’s effort to keep growing in other areas of entertainment beyond streaming.
If you’re in those three countries, you’ll see a Games tab in the Netflix Android app. When you tap on a game, it takes you to its Google Play Store list. You can download the game and sign in using your Netflix credentials. Games have no ads or in-app purchases. The new titles are now live in all three countries, while people in Spain and Italy have gained access Stranger Things 1984 And .
All products offered by Engadget are selected by our editorial team, independent of our parent company. Some of our stories have affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, we can earn an affiliate commission.