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Tilikum and Kasatka—who were featured in the 2013 documentary Blackfish—and Tilikum’s granddaughter, Kyara, all died in 2017 of reported lung infections. The permits that were issued to import Tilikum and Kasatka in 1992 and 1978, respectively, specify that SeaWorld must submit their records to NMFS upon the orcas’ deaths—a stipulation that, in Tilikum’s case, also applies to his progeny, including Kyara. NMFS did not obtain these records and now claims (without legal justification) that 1994 amendments to the Marine Mammal Protection Act voided those provisions. The plaintiffs assert that the provisions remain in effect and that the data contained in the records are vital not only to understanding the impact of captivity on orcas’ welfare but also to informing the rescue and treatment of injured or ill marine mammals in the wild.
“Under the provisions of the Marine Mammal Protection Act, these orcas belong to the people of the United States, not SeaWorld, and we have every right to access information about their health and welfare,” states David Phillips of Earth Island Institute.
“The plaintiffs are calling on the agency to stand by the permit conditions that it imposed and ensure that the public and the independent scientific community can examine this information in order to improve marine mammal well-being and hold parks like SeaWorld accountable,” says PETA Foundation Deputy General Counsel for Animal Law Jared Goodman.
“The captive display industry is the first to claim that the marine mammals it holds are valuable to scientific research and conservation,” says Dr. Rose, AWI’s marine mammal scientist. “Withholding necropsy reports and veterinary records from the public, including outside scientists, suggests otherwise.”
After SeaWorld announced that Tilikum was ill, PETA and AWI privately and publicly tried to persuade the company to release his necropsy report and veterinary records voluntarily upon his death, and they met with SeaWorld and government officials to urge transparency. The groups, along with the other plaintiffs, are taking this legal action as a last resort.
According to Colleen Weiler of WDC, “NMFS has a responsibility to make these necropsy reports available to the public. Understanding the causes of death and health risks to captive orcas is an important part of transitioning to seaside sanctuaries. As the world continues to oppose captivity and support retiring orcas to sanctuary settings, we need to understand their health and what causes illness. SeaWorld’s refusal to release the reports and NMFS’ position that they don’t have the legal authority is not only wrong, it hinders our ability to understand the well-being of captive-held orcas and plan for a future without tanks.”
The plaintiffs are represented by Washington, D.C., public-interest law firm Meyer Glitzenstein & Eubanks. The plaintiffs are also represented on a pro bono basis by Perkins Coie LLP.


Accounting Rules Could Scare Some Life Insurers Private: S&P
November 6, 2019 by Allison Bell
The new long-duration insurance contract accounting rules could make some U.S. life insurers’ results go up and down so much that the insurers will have to give up having publicly traded stock.
Peggy Poon and other analysts at S&P Global Ratings suggest that possibiity in an analysis of the possible impact of the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s Accounting Standards Update 2018-12.
ASU 2018-12 may not have a big effect on U.S. life insurers immediately.
Eventually, however, the new standards “could drive many insurers to shift their strategies,” the S&P analysts write.
“We believe the primary impact of the new standards will be changes to strategy, reporting, or ownership structure as insurers, particularly those that are publicly held, try to educate their investors and constituents.”


text:
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Thus, payroll management can be further subdivided into two sub processes, i.e. Payroll accounting and payroll administration. Payroll refers to the administration of employees salaries, wages, bonuses, net pay, and deductions.

domain: economics


In the previous chapter of this series of articles, in How to improve the Internet connection at home (Part VII) we saw the possibility of using a Wi-Fi repeater. Its main drawback is that it works by making a new Wi-Fi network independent of the main one. Normally it has a name (SSID) different from the main network, but even putting it the same would not solve the problem we are going to remember.
Since these are independent networks, your Wi-Fi client (phone, tablet, computer ...) connects to one of the networks according to the order of priority you have assigned to it (or the one visible at that moment, if you only see one) and you will not disconnect from it unless the connection is lost. This will cause the connection quality and speed to deteriorate, even if you are close to the repeater and you may have a very powerful and close network. The only solution is to manually go to the list of Wi-Fi networks and change it. But this is very tiring if we have to do it all day at home.
The mesh network has its great advantage as it is "intelligent" and acts as a single network, has only one name (SSID) and ensures that the Wi-Fi client is connected to the closest (repeater) or most optimal node . And it changes in real time as you move. This way you always have the best possible connection.
The Wifi client needs to be mesh compatible, but today almost everyone is, it's not something too new. Although it might be the case that you have a very old or very cheap device at home that doesn't support it.
A mesh network can be built with only two nodes, although it is normal to use 3 or even more (they can be added). One of these must be connected to the main router of the house and preferably via cable. From there we can turn off the router's wifi since we won't be using it, and thus we prevent our devices from connecting by mistake.
After configuring the main node, you need to configure the following nodes and place them in strategic places as we said with the repeaters, preferably in high places.
The nodes can communicate with each other via Wifi, but in this case we have to make the distance between them as short as possible and with as few obstacles as possible. If two nodes cannot communicate with each other or the connection is bad, everything connecting there will go wrong.
Connection between nodes via cable
It is recommended to make the effort and connect the nodes via ethernet network cable. We know it is more laborious, but the connection will improve a lot, it will be more stable and we will enjoy it every day.
Not all cables need to go to the router, they usually have at least two connections, so you can chain one after the other.
Careful! We need to make sure that the ethernet connection is at least 1 Gb / s. Inexplicably there are devices with a 100 Mb / s connection that will restrict all communications.
In the example we can see the TP-Link Deco M4 or the TP-Link Deco E4, the external appearance is the same. However, the E4 has a 100 Mb / s connection, which doesn't make sense today.
I'm talking about TP-Links because I had to help a friend find this solution and it was the cheapest there was (at least at that time, a few months ago) and if you're not careful you can be wrong. Finally the M4 worked very well (he connected them via ethernet cable) even if they gave war in the initial configuration.
Connection between nodes via Wifi
We can also add the following nodes via Wifi, which is more convenient but won't give us such a good experience.
In that case it is advisable to look for triple band equipment. These have a 2,4GHz network and a 5GHz network for the clients (the devices we connect) but they have another 5GHz network to connect to each other, so that at the same time the node sends or receives a message from our phone can send or receive another from the Internet, thus gaining a lot of speed.
When using an Ethernet cable this is not necessary, as the cable acts as a third band.
Wi-Fi 5, 6, 6E
It's been a short time since we started using Wifi 6 (or Wifi ax), which is a more advanced standard than Wifi ac or Wifi n we had until now. It allows you to optimize the connection, gain speed, have multiple devices at the same time… but only the most modern devices take advantage of it.
I would say it would be great if you were looking for some Wifi 6 nodes instead of Wifi 5 in case you are going to make the investment.
However, soon, in a few months, Wifi 6E will be released, which will also be able to use a much freer 6 GHz band and where our devices will be able to work much faster. If you are not in a hurry, it might be useful to wait for the mesh devices with Wifi 6E to come out.


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Carbohydrates can make up a fantastic problem for those wishing to reduce weight. It is difficult to separate between good carbs and bad carbohydrates and many people discover themselves puzzled, not understanding any longer whether to eat carbohydrates or not. The glycemic index or GI is here to help since it ranks carbs depending on the result they have on our body. As long as the GI is under 55, it implies that those carbs benefit the body and are suggested to be taken in by those who try to drop weight. They do not unexpectedly increase the level of glucose in our blood and they release the energy slowly, keeping us alert for a longer time period. High glycemic foods are really messing with our body since the blood glucose raises and drops significantly throughout short durations of time.This holding true, a natural question pertains to everyone’s lips: how to include low GI foods into the daily diet plan and are there low GI diet plan recipes for weight reduction? The answer is a definite yes. There are plenty of low GI diet plan dishes for weight-loss and a few of them are unbelievable easy to make in your home. You can select from a variety of dishes and you can prepare yourself tasty meals, whether we are talking about breakfast, lunch, supper or just a treat. Take for example oatmeal pancakes. They are one of the simplest things you can do in your own kitchen area and even a complete novice can do them. All you need to do is mix half a cup of oatmeal with 6 egg withes and a tablespoon of fruits spread (whatever fruits you please). Once you have done this, spray a pan with oil and cook the pancakes for about five minutes on each side. They make a terrific breakfast that will supply you with energy for the whole morning. There are likewise low GI diet recipes for weight loss that can be prepared for supper or for lunch such as baked fish stew. You can utilize whatever kind of white fish you prefer and you require about 1 lb. Also take 4 carrots, 12 brand-new potatoes and an onion and chop them. Location the fish in a cooking meal sprayed with oil after you have actually cut it in pieces, put the veggies around it, include salt, pepper and also around 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and bake everything for an hour. You can serve it with cheese on top of it and with fresh parsley. Low GI diet plan recipes for weight-loss are suitable for each meal and are likewise scrumptious. Delight in!
Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR.
Read how Weight loss Supplements help in natural weight reduction. Discover details about Low GI Diet Plan for Weight Loss. Read about natural Weight loss Tablets to lose excess body fat.

domain: food


Russia, in connection with the “filtration measures” of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the village of Staromaryevka on the demarcation line in Donbass, called on the partners in the “Normandy format” and the OSCE to urge Kiev to end the violence. This is stated in the statement on the website of the Russian Foreign Ministry.
Moscow noted that the situation in the settlement remains difficult. The Ukrainian military, in particular, impose a curfew there and prohibit residents from leaving their homes in order to check the passport regime. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, these documents were confiscated from the holders of passports of Russia and the DPR, and the citizens themselves were subjected to violent actions, which ultimately led to an armed escalation.
“Fortunately, only buildings were damaged during the shelling, but not people,” the commentary says.
The Russian Foreign Ministry also said that now the situation in Staromaryevka has somewhat relieved itself. Representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross and members of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission are in the area.
We will remind, earlier the official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Maria Zakharova called on the United States, Germany and France to stop militarizing Ukraine. She stressed that the conflict in the south-east of the country cannot be resolved by military means.
Meanwhile, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, commenting on Kiev’s use of the Bayraktar strike drone in Donbass, stated that this was a response to the actions of the enemy.


text:
Diamond Star Pendant Necklace Three-Piece set-in sterling silver
This expensive cubic zirconia Pendant necklace three-piece set looks simply attractive on the neckline it offers incredible sparkle whenever the light catches it. A flawless gift for any event.
SPECIFICATIONS:. Ring size- O
L- 3.5cm, W- 2 cm, H/D 2.5mm, Approximate Weight –19 G, Metal – 925 Sterling Silver, Gemstone– Diamond, Birthstone -April – Chain- 16 inch– Drop – W- 1.5cm – L- 1.5cm

domain: design


text:
- What to expect after surgery
- What to do for the first 24 hours
- What NOT to do for the first 24 hours after your operation
- How to help your child through surgery
- Reasons you will feel confident about your child's surgery
- After surgery, you'll spend some time in the recovery area at the surgery center, where the nursing staff will care for you until you're ready to leave. A family member or friend is welcome to sit with you, and your nurse will provide lots of personal attention.
- What do do for the first 24 hours. Let your responsible adult caregiver
take care of you. You may feel fine, but this is not the time to pull weeds
or organize your taxes. Sit, relax, and allow yourself to be pampered for
- Follow any special instruction your surgeon or nurse gave you
- Call your surgeon if you have unusual symptoms or changes in your condition that you did not expect.
- What NOT to do for the first 24 hours after your operation. Anesthesia
can linger in your system for a day or more. You may feel fine, yet not
have complete command of your abilities. It is very important that you:
- Do not drive or operate heavy equipment
- Do no take any medication without your surgeon's approval
- Do not drink any alcoholic beverages
- Do not sign any legal documents
- How to help your child through surgery. Children often take their cues
from adults they trust. You can help your child feel safe and comfortable
by demonstrating your own calm assurance. The surgery center staf also
will help your child to feel at east by showing and explaining the facility,
answering questions, and even playing with your child.
You will be able to stay with your child until he or she enters the operating room, and you will be reunited right after surgery in the recovery room. The is very comforting to the child and to most parents. First State Surgery Center's policy is that all children, no matter what age, need the support of their parents. Children up to 18 years of age must be accompanied by a parent on the day of surgery.
You also may want to do some of these things that helped many other children:
- Explain what to expect. Encourage questions and give brief, honest answers. Be sure to discuss the reason for surgery and how the child will benefit from it.
- Bring a favorite toy or book
- Reasons you will feel confident about your child's surgery. Children's surgery at First State Surgery Center is always attended by someone who is familiar with the special anesthetic needs of children. First State Surgery Center provides equipment especially designed for children and pediatric surgery. Your child will be attended every minute by a member of the nursing staff and will not be left alone, even for a second.

domain: medical


YRSCB Participates in CBF Oyster Reef Building
CBF Oyster Ball Reef Workshop, October 18, 2016
We met at the VIMS boat basin at 8:30 am on a beautiful autumn morning. Several participants were seasoned veterans of the process and quickly got to work disassembling reef ball molds from a previous build. The group, along with other volunteers and CBF members, were anticipating delivery of concrete at 10am and we were ready – but the truck had issues. After much waiting for our concrete, the bucket brigade began. We finished early with many hands making light work and even had time to help with stuffing concrete by hand into the smaller “lego-style” reefs designed for homeowners.
So what does CBF’s Virginia Oyster Restoration Manager, Jackie Shannon, think of YRSCB participation in this project?
“We are so grateful for the support that the York River and Small Coastal Basin Roundtable has provided the Chesapeake Bay Foundation over the past four years. The funding and volunteerism that this group has provided has resulted in the construction of 100 oyster reef balls. I am pleased to say that we are working with other restoration partners to install the reef balls into the Piankatank River next spring (2017)!
The Nature Conservancy (TNC) owns a significant amount of land in the Piankatank watershed – many acres that border the river directly. TNC contacted CBF about partnering on a project that would protect some stretches of their shoreline that are experiencing active erosion. Over the last several months, CBF has been in discussion with The Nature Conservancy, Old Dominion University, and the Virginia Institute of Marine Science to discuss the best way to develop a project that documents coastal resiliency. We agree that reef balls would be an ideal structure to protect the shoreline while also creating three dimensional habitat for oysters and other Bay species to utilize.
We propose to install two 100’ long berms each constructed using 50 reef balls each that will be seeded with an existing population of live oysters in our tanks at VIMS prior to deployment. The reef balls were all constructed and funded by members of the York River & Small Coastal Basins Roundtable.”
YRSCB members taking part in the 2016 reef ball building were:
- Jim Tate, HCSWCD
- Karen Reay, York Roundtable webmaster
- Page Hutchinson, VDOF
- Pattie Bland, HCSWCD
- Anna Reh-Gingerich, DEQ-PRO
- Kaitlin Ranger, DEQ-PRO
- Katie Abel,TCCSWCD
- Izabela Sikora,TCCSWCD
- Rebecca Shoemaker, DEQ-NRO
- Michael Steen, Watermens Musuem
- Beverly Nunnally
See photos (courtesy of Pattie Bland, Karen Reay and Jim Tate) below and click on each photo to enlarge.
To learn more about why oyster reef balls benefit Chesapeake Bay, see Restoring the “Coral Reefs” of the Chesapeake Bay or contact Jackie Shannon, Virginia Oyster Restoration Manager, Chesapeake Bay Foundation, 804-832-8804<


text:
Amazingfiction Divine Emperor of Death online – Chapter 1268 – Surprise…! (R-18) taboo better suggest-p1
Novel–Divine Emperor of Death–Divine Emperor of Death
Chapter 1268 – Surprise…! (R-18) twig bike
Claire embarra.s.sedly retreated, crimson-confronted, “Don’t say as though like I’m always with child!”
Davis’s eyeballs narrowed, “Nora?”
“Since my daughter states so, it is possible to key in…” She spoke with belief just before grasping her tummy as she switched approximately.
Divine Emperor of Death
Davis enable out a sound of incomprehension to Nora Alstreim’s ideas.
They went in together and inserted the hall. Claire simply gestured to allow them to be sitting while Davis wondered the location where the h.e.l.l his dad might be presently. Shouldn’t he function as one particular generally having the entrance if Claire was expecting a baby?
Davis enable out a solid of incomprehension to Nora Alstreim’s thoughts.
She searched back at Davis, “Can be found in. I’ll inform you, but who is this masked buddy of the one you have?”
Only joyful and beguiling m.o.a.ns may very well be read within this master bedroom, with the two of you approaching climax once again well before they started reiterating the same anew but with a brand new posture when they shared their enjoy collectively with no prevent.
They extended this lovey-dovey moment for quarter-hour well before Evelynn had been able to process all of the yang heart and soul that had been within her w.o.m.b. It helped her cultivation as she made use of the Yin-Yang Worth Sutra, causing her to heave a alluring sigh of relief she didn’t find themselves squandering a single thing in their w.o.m.b.
the everlasting whisper
She searched back at Davis, “Come in. I’ll inform you, but who may be this masked companion of yours?”
Only joyful and beguiling m.o.a.ns may be listened to in this particular room, with both sides reaching climax again prior to they started practicing the exact same thing anew but with an all new position when they discussed their really like together with no prevent.
“Very well, for all uses planned. You may present your facial skin when you believe that it is the correct enough time to show the face. Don’t you want to find out how your child is a lot like when she actually is not in front of your gaze?”
the childhood of romeo
Nero Alstreim couldn’t guide but ask uncertain because he spotted the frightening face mask.
Lord Iverbrook’s Heir
Claire, his new mother, stood ahead of him, but she got a wry yet shy laugh on her confront, “Davis, it’s been longer than I think that you would come to go to me… Do you forget about your mommy?”
is the mandalorian the best bounty hunter
Nero Alstreim’s confront that has been hidden behind a face mask began to tremble while his whole body skilled a chill like he obtained never experienced ahead of but studying the tender concept of your mother who kept her little princess dear, he encountered lots of sentiments that instantly designed him experience old than he ever did well before.
Davis experienced that the time had come for circular two as his tricky d.i.c.k has become rock hard under her machinations. He started off plowing her just as before while he organised her, helping to make her m.o.a.n under him with the rhythm he pierced her insides. She experienced her eyeballs wide open as she performed his shoulder muscles, checking out him with enjoy.
“What have she do?” An in-depth aura began to revolve around him.
history of ternopil
“Mommy, you’re expectant again?”
Nero Alstreim’s vision squinted in skepticism. On the other hand, he didn’t refuse but required both the-horned mask and offered it a very good start looking well before he wore it on his encounter.
On the other hand…
Nero Alstreim’s vision squinted in skepticism. Nonetheless, he didn’t deny but had taken the 2 main-horned mask and offered it a great search prior to he wore it on his face.
Davis could assume that his d.i.c.k pulsated inside her every few seconds simply because it held releasing his seeds that quickly styles inside his b.a.l.l.s after every golf shot. He was similar to a s.e.m.e.n device, but Davis knew it wasn’t such as this well before. He inwardly pondered when it was caused by carrying back for your year or so, becoming pent up for some time although, simply being teased by three women of all ages through the workout.
Davis shared Evelynn since he held her under him, slowly kissing her mouth since he created appreciate together. It was three a few minutes, but his download even now proved no warning signs of halting since it started to overflow from her nether place, staining the bedsheets for that reason.
Davis observed intricate feelings over achieving a brand new sibling. Claire mentioned nine many months, in order that meant she was about to give start to his new sibling?
She searched back at Davis, “Are available in. I’ll show you, but who may be this masked friend of your own property?”
Having said that…
“Perfectly, for any functions expected. You may present your facial skin any time you believe that it is the appropriate time to display your facial skin. Don’t you need to understand how your little girl is similar to when she actually is not when in front of your gaze?”
“Davis~ I enjoy you~” Evelynn couldn’t support but randomly absolute.
“Settle down…” Claire performed Davis’s the shoulders as she endured well before him.
“Properly, for those objectives planned. You can actually present your skin any time you think it is the proper time and energy to clearly show your skin. Don’t you should understand how your child is compared to when she is not before your gaze?”
“She didn’t do anything bad, but she…” Claire sighed prior to she shook her go as she spotted the masked guy.
“New mother, you’re with child once more?”
“What do she do?” An in-depth aura begun to center around him.
Divine Emperor of Death
Davis blinked, feeling like he simply had to say thanks to Nadia for escaping from his l.u.s.tful understanding, but it seems as if she proved that he didn’t rest with any most women from the load he unveiled into her.
Davis simply let out a solid of incomprehension to Nora Alstreim’s terms.
“Because you said, you didn’t snooze with any women of all ages during the workout…”

domain: literature


text:
Global Petro Storage (GPS) has signed a long-term agreement with Equinor, the multinational energy company, to develop South East Asia’s first independent liquid petroleum gas (LPG) storage facility in Port Klang, Malaysia.
The new facility will be the first independent, refrigerated LPG terminal in Malaysia, and will provide storage services exclusively to Equinor.
Equinor will bring LPG to the terminal and sell into the domestic market in Malaysia as well as selling volumes to markets like Bangladesh, the Philippines, India, Indonesia and Vietnam.
The facility will have capacity to turn over 1.5million tons of LPG each year and will be able to handle very large gas carriers (VLGC) and pressurised LPG vessels on its jetty. Work will begin in January 2019 and the 135,000 cubic metre terminal should be completed by early 2021.
GPS, an independent storage and logistics company, is the majority shareholder for the project and will develop, own and operate the LPG facility.
Eric Arnold, managing director and CEO of GPS said: “The new LPG terminal is a highly strategic, unique asset that will give Equinor a new platform in South East Asia, and enhance its reach into the region, where the LPG market is growing.
“GPS’s focus is on developing the infrastructure that suppliers of gas and petroleum like Equinor need to access the global marketplace. This is the latest example of how our technical and operational expertise combine with our financial muscle to deliver industry-changing projects.
“We look forward to working with Equinor and our construction partners over the next two years to build this unique new facility.”
Molly Morris, vice president for products and liquids in Equinor ASA said: “Malaysia is an attractive market and we believe that we will be a competitive supplier to the wholesale Malaysian LPG market as well as to other markets in the region.
“The terminal and storage are also strategically located for blending and selling to other growing markets in the region.
“GPS’s choice of location combined with its knowledge, experience and vision made this proposal very attractive to us. The terminal will give us the opportunity to create value and strengthen our competitiveness.”
GPS and Equinor’s agreement to develop a new LPG facility in Port Klang, Malaysia, represents the first time the companies have entered into formal partnership.
The announcement in Malaysia comes just one month after construction began on GPS’s terminal project in the Port of Hamriyah in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with two long-term partners . The terminal, GPS’s first investment in the Middle East, will provide services for industrial reprocessing of waste oils, trading, import and bunkering.

domain: geography


Globo recently highlighted "Land of Desire's" success in Paraguay. The title premiered on 8 January.
On premier day, "Land of Desire" reached more than 80 thousand people and peaked at 50% share. Currently airing in prime time in Brazil, the telenovela is written by Walcyr Carrasco, who won an Emmy for "Hidden Truths." The production follows the success of ‘Pantanal’, a Globo telenovela that was broadcast on Telefuturo last year and also reached a 50% share in its first chapter.
The title tells the story of Aline, a young woman who sees her family wiped out by a crime. Driven by the desire for reparation, her story intersects with the family of Antonio La Selva divided by ambition and many secrets. The telenovela is also one of the highlights of Globo’s portfolio for Content Americas this month.


Dear William S. Sandel Families:
Attention rising 6th graders:
Please see the links below for St. Andrews Middle School registration and AVID application. They are due by May 22nd.
6th Grade Registration Card:
Please see the below for a special message from us to you!
Due to school closings, please look on the eLearning page for your student's assignments. Also, see the Library page for Virtual Read Alouds, recommended websites, activities and see the Encore page for other recommeded lessons and activies.
Have a great Spring Break!
Please call the school or your child's teacher with any questions.
RICHLAND ONE TO PROVIDE WEEK’S WORTH OF MEALS
FOR STUDENTS ON MONDAYS STARTING MARCH 30;
PARENTS ASKED TO COMPLETE ONLINE FORM
While schools are closed, Richland One is providing “grab-and-go” breakfasts and lunches for students on weekdays at designated locations. Starting March 30, families will receive a week’s worth of meals on Mondays.
“The change will reduce the number of trips families have to make to the pick-up locations for meals. The meals will be picked up once a week for the entire week,” said Richland One Nutrition Services Director Tracy Dixon.
Along with offering curbside meal pick-ups, the district also has been making bus deliveries to a limited number of sites. With the new meal distribution process, bus deliveries will end after Friday, March 27, Dixon said. Richland One is working with community partners to provide home deliveries to parents who are unable to pick up meals for their children from one of the 10 sites.
To help the Nutrition Services staff know how many meals to prepare, Richland One parents are asked to complete an online form. Parents can access the form directly at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/R1Meals or via the district’s website (www.richlandone.org). Parents will receive a follow-up email after they complete the form.
All children 18 and under are eligible to receive the free meals. Parents can drive to any of the locations, remain in their vehicles and staff will distribute the meals curbside. The pick-up hours will be 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. on Mondays. Children must be present to receive the meals.
the closest location is:
St. Andrews Middle School
1231 Bluefield Dr.
Columbia, SC 29210
Richland One will use Wi-Fi-equipped buses to help provide Internet access to students while schools are closed.
Starting Thursday, March 26, buses will be stationed at nine sites across the district (other sites may be added later). Students and parents can sit in their vehicles within 200-250 feet of the buses to access free Wi-Fi from 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. Monday through Friday at those locations. The buses will be parked in front of the buildings or in other prominent areas at the designated sites. Students and parents will not be able to board the buses.
The Information Technology Department will provide technical support to all staff, students, and parents of Richland School District One on eLearning days.
The IT Support Team can be reached by calling (803)231-7436. This number will be active Monday through Friday from the hours of 7:00AM to 5:00PM.
It is with great honor and excitement that I write this letter of introduction to you as the proud Principal of William S. Sandel Elementary School. It is with great pleasure that I serve the school and community to make William S. Sandel, a great place where students receive a quality education. I look forward to working with you in maintaining high expectations for our students and staff to ensure your child’s success.
William S. Sandel is a Title One school. This means we have an extended opportunity to provide students with additional instructional resources for school and home. Our Title One Plan can be viewed on this website. As a stakeholder, you can e-mail me or visit the school to drop off any suggestions, comments or ideas about Title One, school practices, procedures, or policies.
For the 2018-2019 school year, the faculty will continue to focus on literacy and math instruction. In addition, the faculty will participate in professional development book studies to empower our teaching and learning practices. We will focus more on student engagement and school leaders monitoring and supporting the improvement of instructional practices. We will use every minute of the day to maximize learning to ensure all students have the opportunity to reach their full potential. Please help us by ensuring your child is at school by 7:30 a.m. Students are served breakfast from 7:00 a.m. to 7:25 a.m. daily.
We will expand our professional development teaching and learning practices by having a laser focus on what we are teaching and what students are learning. We will continue to progress montior students daily and provide quality feedback. Our goal is to ensure your child is receiving personalized learning goals and targets to meet and exceed state standards.
We offer Comprehensive Remediation for students in grades 3-5 on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Our partner of 3 years, Midlands Reading Consortium serves grades 1 and 2 as reading buddies.
The staff, along with PTO and the School Improvement Council, have worked many hours to support student learning. We are very grateful for our faith-based partner, Columbia First Church of the Nazerene and NewSpring for its dedication to William S. Sandel and our families. They have made many things possible for our students and staff! It is with their full support, William S. Sandel will continue to move forward and achieve excellence.
I have an open door policy and welcome you to visit anytime. As the principal, my primary goal is to support our students, staff, and stakeholders in providing a quality education for all of our students. Remember, our slogan, "Where Great Things Are Happening on the River"!
Claudia L. Brooks-McCallum, Ed.S


text:
Last week's record-breaking
Game Developers Conference was one of the most varied and dynamic iterations of the annual event ever, and GDC affiliate Gamasutra was there to provide extensive on-site reporting.
GDC 2011, which ran from February 28-March 4, hosted speakers covering a wide array topics, from trials encountered when localizing a game to the emerging social gaming sector to a candid session about game development failures.
Presenters included game industry notables such as Zynga's Mark Skaggs, Epic Games' Cliff Bleszinski, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata, Pac-Man creator Toru Iwatani and Sim City
creator Will Wright, among many others.
GDC 2011 also was host to the annual Independent Games Festival and the Game Developers Choice Awards, ceremonies which saw Mojang's Minecraft
and Rockstar San Diego's Red Dead Redemption
walk away as the big winners.
Below is only Gamasutra's lecture and awards coverage from last week. For the complete list of GDC 2011-related content, visit our dedicated GDC 2011 page
GDC 2011: Welcome To 'Masocore', The Evolution Of Arcade
"Highlighting exciting trends in the casual, social, browser-based and mobile spaces, Playmatics' Nick Fortugno defined 'masocore,' and discussed the exciting way forward for brutally-difficult, fast-paced games."
GDC 2011: Humble Indie Bundle Creators Talk Inspiration, Execution
"At GDC 2011, two of Humble Indie Bundle's creators discussed the genesis of the project and how they endeavored to make the purchasing process as smooth as possible."
GDC 2011: An Epidemiologist's View Of World Of Warcraft's Corrupted Blood Plague
"At GDC 2011, epidemiologist Nina Fefferman recounted the Corrupted Blood Plague epidemic in World of Warcraft
from 2005, and how even a virtual disease showed instances of "courage, fear and suspicion."
GDC 2011: Riot Games' League of Legends Postmortem
"Leaders from the team behind the popular online strategy game League Of Legends
shared what they learned from building and running their community-centric game at GDC 2011's Social & Online Games Summit."
GDC 2011: Zynga's Skaggs On How The Company Achieved The Impossible
Zynga's Mark Skaggs explains how the company did the 'impossible,' from FarmVille
-- by starting with a 'minimum viable product' and focusing on getting to market quickly, among other strategies."
GDC 2011: Koster's Big List Of Social Mechanics For Social Games
"Social games possess many basic real-world social mechanics, but there's still room for improvement as social games today are still 'primarily single-player experiences,' said Playdom's Raph Koster at GDC 2011."
GDC 2011: Team Meat Discusses Super Meat Boy's Nearly Lethal Development
"In a GDC 2011 presentation, Super Meat Boy
developers Tommy Refenes and Edmund Mcmillen laid out the many ways that the development process was just as masochistic as the game itself."
GDC 2011: Rovio's Vesterbacka Thanks iPhone For Enabling Angry Birds' Success
"Rovio CEO Peter Vesterbacka, discussed how the evolving mobile market enabled his company's Angry Brids powered success, also addressing crediting concerns from the maker of the game's physics engine."
GDC 2011: Indie Revelations From Experienced Developers
"Three ex-studio developers who have gone indie -- at Spry Fox, Haunted Temple, and Dejobaan -- shared development insights gained on games like Skulls of the Shogun
GDC 2011: Zynga with Friends’ Thakkar On Transitioning from AAA To Mobile
"Vijay Thakkar, technical director at Texas-based mobile developer Zynga with Friends outlined best practices for developers moving from AAA video game production to the mobile space in a GDC 2011 talk."
GDC 2011: Chair's Core Tenets For Infinity Blade Success
"Chair entertainment head Donald Mustard shares the studio's unique generative process for making truly original 'small' games -- and what he sees as core iOS pillars that led to Infinity Blade
's smash success."
GDC 2011: Derek Yu, Andy Hull Discuss Spelunky XBLA Move, Multiplayer
Derek Yu and Andy Hull discuss the development of Spelunky, which moved from what Yu calls a rough prototype to "kind of a monster," in the XBLA version. The duo also announced multiplayer for the new title."
GDC 2011: Game Developers And The Platform Power Struggle
"Daniel Cook, co-founder of Triple Town
developer Spry Fox, warned developers at GDC 2011 that certain gaming platforms might be inviting at first, but as they gain popularity, they often force devs to 'sell out or die.'"
GDC 2011: What Intuition-Led And Metric-Led Game Design Can Learn From One Another
"The principles of metrics-led social game design can inform traditional, 'intuition'-led game design and vice-versa argued Loot Drop's Brenda Brathwaite and Sony Online Entertainment’s Laralyn McWilliams at GDC 2011."
GDC 2011: McGonigal Says, 'Don't Exploit Gamers,' Extrinsic Rewards 'Missing The Point'
"Author and designer Jane McGonigal discusses "gamefulness" as an alternative to gamification: 'Designers should be making games that help people flourish,' she urges."
GDC 2011: The 'Brand New Paradigm' Of iPad Development
"Creating games for iPad is different from any other platform, says veteran developer and ex-id and Apple staffer Graeme Devine, until you think of the app as 'a world on the other side of the glass.'"
GDC 2011: The Travails of Localizing Star Wars: The Old Republic
"At GDC's Localization Summit, Gordon Walton and Ian Mitchell shared lessons learned localizing BioWare's RPGs and experiences gained by working on its in-development Star Wars MMO."
GDC 2011: Andy Schatz: 'I'll Make My Last Game When I Die'
"Andy Schatz discusses how his 15-week project Monaco
went on to win the IGF Grand Prize, and saved his sanity. The title also informed his future views on game development."
GDC 2011: Time To Ditch The Term 'Gamification'?
"Notable game makers squared off at GDC 2011 on Tuesday to debate various aspects of 'gamification' -- from its definition, its purpose and whether or not the industry should throw the word out altogether."
GDC 2011: Debating The Relative Evils Of Social Games
"In a GDC 2011 panel, five social gaming experts took a long, hard look in the mirror and asked themselves whether or not the social gaming sector that was staring them back was inherently evil."
GDC 2011: Nintendo's Iwata On Design Lessons, Social, Mobile Risks
"Nintendo president Satoru Iwata used his GDC keynote presentation to share lessons on game design and also warn developers about industry risks brought by the rise of social and mobile games."
GDC 2011: Yu Suzuki: 'Sega Will Probably Let Me Make Shenmue 3'
At a Game Developers Conference session in San Francisco, Yu Suzuki revealed that Sega may allow him to make Shenmue 3 in the future, saying that it's only a 'question of budget.'"
GDC 2011: Yu Suzuki Describes Arcade Successes, Near Death Experiences
Yu Suzuki, in a light-hearted GDC talk, revealed the roots of his more ambitious games, from Virtua Fighter
, which provided some 'near-death experiences' for his development team at Sega."
GDC 2011: Prince Of Persia Was Almost Derailed By Screenwriting Project
Jordan Mechner reminisced on the development of his seminal platform game Prince of Persia
at GDC 2011, offering recollections on the screenplay that almost derailed the project.
GDC 2011: Ubisoft's Rouse On Making Games Moral
"Ubisoft's Richard Rouse says plausible moral systems are the best way for games to be mature and meaningful -- and he cites numerous examples from other media to demonstrate how games can achieve it."
GDC 2011: Area/Code's Frank Lantz On Finding The Sublime In Game Design
"At GDC, Area/Code founder Frank Lantz used the sublime beatuy of classic games Poker and Go to explain the unique beauty possible in our interaction with the game medium."
GDC 2011: Blizzard's Cataclysm And Retaining A Game's 'Soul'
At GDC 2011, World of Warcraft
game director Tom Chilton explained development of the ambitious expansion pack Cataclysm
, and advised how to 'retain the soul of the original' when creating an update or sequel to a game."
GDC 2011: Dead Space 2's Milham: 'Double Down On Successes'
"Ian Milham, art director of EA Redwood Shores for Dead Space 2, discusses how the team succeeded by 'doubling down on our strengths instead of addressing our weaknesses.'"
GDC 2011: Ngmoco’s Young Tells Game Entrepreneurs 'Don't Be A Pussy'
"If you want to be a successful entrepreneur in the gaming industry then 'don’t be a pussy,' advised Neil Young, CEO and founder of Ngmoco at a GDC 2011 session."
GDC 2011: Pac-Man Creator Iwatani Discusses Female-Friendly Design Lessons
"In a GDC 2011 presentation, Pac-Man
creator Toru Iwatani explained how the classic game was created with a specific, underserved segment of the gaming population in mind: women."
GDC 2011: Game Designers Confront, Learn From Failure
"At GDC 2011 on Wednesday, notable game designers who have seen big successes talked about their games that weren't so successful, giving attendees lessons so they might not make the same mistakes."
GDC 2011: Minecraft, Amnesia Win Big At Independent Games Festival Awards
"Frictional Games' dark survival horror title Amnesia: The Dark Descent won three awards while Mojang's indie mega-hit Minecraft
took the Seumas McNally Grand Prize at the IGF Awards."
GDC 2011: Red Dead Redemption Tops Game Developers Choice Awards
"Rockstar Games' Red Dead Redemption
won four awards including Game of the Year at tonight's Game Developers Choice Awards, while indie hit Minecraft
racked up three other awards."
GDC 2011: PopCap, Bejeweled's 'Sexy Action Cool' Origins
"PopCap's Jason Kapalka tells the surprising origin of the studio -- it involves a strip poker game -- and amid much speculation, explains how the three co-founders really derived Bejeweled
's match-three mechanic."
GDC 2011: Nintendo's Konno: 3DS' Social Innovation, Complex Prototyping
"During his presentation on the development of the 3DS, game developer Hideki Konno explained why he was put in charge of a hardware project, the goals the team identified, and how the system evolved."
GDC 2011: CGDC Founder Chris Crawford: Ask Yourself 'What Does The User Do?'
"In an impassioned GDC 2011 talk, Computer Game Developers Conference founder and game designer Chris Crawford discussed where the industry has been, and where it’s gone now."
GDC 2011: Epic's Bleszinski On The Rise Of The 'Power Creative'
"Epic's always-distinctive Cliff Bleszinski spoke at GDC 2011 about why games need 'power creatives' -- vocal designers who understand the deceptively-complex process of leading a game in public view."
GDC 2011: Epic’s Fergusson Describes Timeliness As Key To Success
"At GDC 2011 on Thursday, Epic Games executive producer Rod Fergusson sought to answer the question "What makes a successful game?" Turns out, the answer isn't as simple as creating a quality product."
GDC 2011: Deadly Premonition's 7 Steps To A Memorable Story
director Hidetaka "Swery" Suehiro outlined seven ways to get your story to create a memorable story, saying that 'if players can't remember your character's name, the game is crappy.'"
GDC 2011: Retro Talks Moving From Metroid to Donkey Kong Country
"A panel full of developers from Retro Studios, as well as Nintendo's Kensuke Tanabe, reminisced about the development of Donkey Kong Country Returns in a GDC presentation."
GDC 2011: Social Game Developers Direct Their Rage Outward, Inward
"At another memorable GDC rant panel, a varied group of social game developers directed their ire at everything from know-nothing executives and deceptive new platforms to social games themselves."
GDC 2011: Developing StarCraft II Like Inventing 'Basketball 2'
lead designer Dustin Browder told GDC 2011 attendees about the 'insanely hard' task of creating an e-sports game, and provided tips on creating an e-sports title."
GDC 2011: Rohrer Wins Game Design Challenge With Unique Minecraft Mod
"Inspired by the idea that chains of meaning and artifacts of those that preceded us are their own kind of spirituality, Jason Rohrer won GDC 2011's annual Game Design Challenge with a unique Minecraft mod."
GDC 2011: Perfecting The Free-To-Play Battlefield Heroes
"Ben Cousins, general manager of EA's free-to-play Easy studio in Stockholm outlined the team's experiences launching, tuning, and succeeding with the company's first non-casual free-to-play game."
GDC 2011: Ron Gilbert's 'Odd Collection' Of Maniac Mansion Memories
"In a talk he described as less a postmortem and more 'an odd collection of memories,' Maniac Mansion
programmer Ron Gilbert recounted the creation of the revolutionary 1987 classic."
GDC 2011: Daisuke Amaya Draws Lessons From Cave Story's Development
"In a GDC 2011 talk, Daisuke 'Pixel' Amaya shared lessons learned during his development of indie game Cave Story
, including thoughts on sound design, graphics, and integrating story into a game."
GDC 2011: Mark Cerny Discusses Marble Madness' Turbulent Development
"Getting his start in the industry during the arcade game crash of the early '80s, Mark Cerny's Marble Madness
was subject to a number of economic and developmental pressures, as Cerny recalled at a GDC 2011 lecture."
GDC 2011: Wright Talks Raid On Bungeling Bay Origins
"At GDC 2011 on Friday, Will Wright revealed some of the secrets behind his first full game, Raid On Bungeling Bay
, including the evolution of his in-game editing tool turning into the later Sim City

domain: game


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text:
7 Things to Know About Life Insurance and Depression 2023
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7 Things to Know About Life Insurance and Depression 2023
This can make applying for insurance feel quite intense, as you have no idea what someone will think about your mental health and it can sometimes make you remember things that you don’t want to.
I have had generalised anxiety disorder for many years and agoraphobia in the past too. When I first went for life insurance in 2010 I was declined due to my mental health. All I had was anxiety and it felt like a real kick in the teeth.
Fast forward to 2016 and I got my life insurance at standard terms. I have personally worked with many insurers to challenge the way that mental health is viewed. The changes over the last 10 years have been incredible. There are still things to be worked on but we are getting there.
1. There are different ways to get life insurance
As an adviser I am bound to say that an advised route is best for you. We will listen to your circumstances, make sure that you are applying for the right insurance and search the market for you to make sure that your application goes to the right insurer for life insurance.
Not everyone feels ok with this. You might not want to speak to anyone about your depression.
We can do things like speak by email if you don’t want to talk about it, share information by secure documents if you feel comfiest this way, or we can help you to do the application on your own.
It’s also possible to apply for life insurance through different routes such as a non-advised route, direct to an insurer or through a price comparison site. Non-advised firms can help find the right insurer for you, but they won’t be able to tell you which policy is right for you.
Price comparison sites can’t tell you which insurer is going to be right for you or make sure that you are applying for the right policy. Going direct to the insurer you will also not get advice or know if they are the right ones for you until after the application.
But, whilst there can be these issues, the important thing is that you choose a route that feels right for you.
2. Some of the questions you are asked can feel quite personal
Most life insurance applications are going to go through a core set of questions and I like to prepare people as we go through them.
Me and my team ask the questions slightly differently than if you speak directly with an insurer and some other advisers. This is because we are making sure that we ask them in a way that doesn’t just throw you straight into the questions and gently moves through them.
We start off by asking:
- When were you diagnosed with depression?
- What medications do you take or have you taken?
- Have you taken part in any treatments?
- Do you still have symptoms now?
- Does it affect your ability to work or do day to day activities?
We will then prepare you for the next set of questions that become more personal:
- Have you ever been an inpatient due to your depression?
- Have you ever seen a psychiatrist?
- Have you ever been under the care of a community mental health team?
We will then prepare you for the last set of questions:
These questions can lead to some extra bits of information that we need. We ask all of this so that we can make sure that when we research the insurers we can come back to you with a clear idea of what they can offer, once we put your life insurance application with them.
There are life insurances that you can apply for that will not go into these details but they will usually have exclusions for claims relating to mental health. You can potentially get good options through your employer for life insurance and you can read more about this here.
3. Your price might go up
It’s never nice to hear that you might pay more for something than someone else. I think it’s important to be open and clear with you, that this can happen.
There are times that life insurance will be available at normal terms, this means no price increases. This is most likely if your depression is mild and it’s not affected your ability to work.
Sometimes the price can go up. If you have needed time off work in recent years, have had suicidal thoughts, self-harmed or attempted suicide, then some insurers might increase your premiums.
Depending upon the timing of some of these symptoms, you could find that some insurers will decline your application for life insurance. Not all insurers will and that’s how our team of expert advisers standout, because we will let you know early on which insurers are right and are not right for you.
4. The insurer might want to see a report from your GP
Depending upon the symptoms that you have had, the medications and treatments that you have undertaken, you can find that insurers ask to see a report from your GP.
This is paid for by the insurer and they will only do this with your expressed permission for them to see the report. Your GP should not release any details about your medical history without your approval.
I like to suggest that you choose to see this report before it goes back to the insurer. You can then look at it to make sure that it matches what you feel is an accurate reflection of your mental health history.
GP reports can take a while. We’ve had some come back within a week, we’ve had others take over 12 months. On average we expect them to be with the insurer around 8 weeks after it’s sent to the GP.
5. Watch for exclusions!
The reason that I say watch out for exclusions is that most life insurance policies in the UK do not come with exclusions. There is an exception that I talk about in point 6 below.
With life insurance you are much more likely to get a premium increase than you an exclusion. So if you are being told there is an exclusion on life insurance policy, it is a good idea to get some advice to make sure that your policy has been set up in the right way.
There is a little extra add-on that comes with life insurance policies that you can apply for, called waiver of premium. This is an extra that basically means that if you are ill and cannot work for 26 weeks or more you won’t need to pay your premiums until you are back at work. The insurer will keep your policy active during this time.
It’s quite common to get an exclusion for mental health claims just on this waiver of premium bit, if you have had depression.
6. Most life insurance policies pay out claims related to suicide after 12 months
The exception! This is one that can confuse people because they simply can’t believe that it’s true. It is true.
Most UK life insurance policies pay out claims relating to suicide, once the policy has been active for 12 months or more. This is why insurers can sometimes be more cautious about offering life insurance to people with a significant mental health history.
I specifically help people with mental health conditions to get life insurance and this is the thing that usually surprises them the most. If you have been declined life insurance in the past due to your depression, I have found that it sometimes helps people to understand why the insurer made their decision.
It will never make the feeling of being declined ok, I do know what it feels like to personally get that decline letter, but for some people it does help.
7. There’s no best insurer
Unfortunately I can’t say to you, right you have depression the best place is Insurer X. I wish I could.
There are so many things that factor in to which is the right insurer for you. Your BMI, your occupation, your family medical history, your travel and more.
When I speak with people that have a mental health history I will usually know quite quickly a handful of providers that will probably be good, and some that I won’t approach.
To give an example, some insurers don’t ask about suicidal thoughts at all, others ask in the last 10 years, others ask have you ever had them. I’ve worked in insurance since 2010, my husband since 2005, and we have spent years working with underwriters and insurers so that we can understand the right insurer for you.
Our award winning advisers have been trained by me to specifically give you a supportive environment to discuss your mental health and get you the life insurance that you need.
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domain: finance


text:
“You’re tearing me apart Lisa!” – The
Indeed, Wiseau himself has become something of a legend with the film and it was no surprise that a film based on the making of the film and the director’s conception of the story would make its way to the big screen. Well, thanks to James Franco (Why Him?, The Interview), we now have that film in the form of The Disaster Artist, based on the book by The Room co-star Greg Sestero and it now has a prime awards season spot at the end of the year (via The Hollywood Reporter).
RELATED: Our 5-star review of the film from SXSW
Indie distributor A24 has taken over the US distribution rights to the film and has set a December release. New Line Cinema/Warner Bros retains international distribution but no other release dates have yet been set. When the film debut in a “rough-cut” at this year’s SXSW Film Festival, it received a standing ovation and some stellar reviews.
In the film, Franco stars as Wiseau (as well as writing and directing) with his brother Dave Franco playing Sestero. Amongst the array of co-stars in the film are Seth Rogen, Alison Brie, Josh Hutcherson, Zach Efron, Zach Braff, Ari Graynor, Zoey Deutch, Jacki Weaver, Melanie Griffith and Sharon Stone, with Wiseau and Sestero also appearing.
In addition, Zach Braff, Kristen Bell, Lizzy Caplan, Adam Scott, Keegan Michael-Key, Danny McBride and Bryan Cranston in cameos as “themselves”.
Here’s the synopsis:
“The Disaster Artist” is the true story of the making of the film “The Room,” which has been called “the Citizen Kane of bad movies.” Tommy Wiseau’s cult classic has been screening to sold-out audiences nationwide for more than a decade.
The Disaster Artist is scheduled for a limited US release on December 1st before going wider soon after.

domain: artistic


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- Rukstalis, D.B., Goldknopf, J.L., Crowley, E.M., Garcia, F.U. Prostate cryoablation: A scientific rationale for future modifications. Urology. 2002;60(2 SUPPL. 1):19-25. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0090-4295(02)01680-1
- Garaffa, G., Minervini, A., Christopher, N.A., Minhas, S., Ralph, D.J. The management of residual curvature after penile prosthesis implantation in men with Peyronie's disease. BJU International. 2011;108(7):1152-1156. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1464-410X.2010.10023.x
- [No author name available] Vardenafil for diabetic patients: Success rate of 72 percent | Vardenafil für diabetiker: Erfolgsquote von 72 prozent. Deutsche Apotheker Zeitung. 2001;141(27). https://doi.org/
- Modesto, A.A.D., Couto, M.T. Erectile Dysfunction in Brazilian Primary Health Care: Dealing with Medicalization. American Journal of Men's Health. 2018;12(2):431-440. https://doi.org/10.1177/1557988317736174
- Nöthling, J.O., Irons, P.C., Gerber, D. Ultrasound-guided injection of contrast medium into the crus penis for diagnosis of erection failure in bulls. Theriogenology. 2002;57(4):1199-1205. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0093-691X(02)00632-5
- Retan, J.W. To the editor. Annals of Internal Medicine. 2015;163(2):147-148. https://doi.org/10.7326/L15-5109-2


By Steve Gorman
(RockedBuzz via Reuters) – A European-built orbital satellite was launched into space from Florida on Saturday on a mission to shed new light on mysterious cosmic phenomena known as dark energy and dark matter, unseen forces that scientists say account for 95 percent of the universe known .
The telescope dubbed Euclid, after the ancient Greek mathematician called the “father of geometry,” was carried high in the cargo bay of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that took off around 11:00 EDT (1500 GMT) from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
A livestream of the liftoff was shown on NASA TV.
New insights from the $1.4 billion European Space Agency (ESA) mission, designed to last at least six years, should transform astrophysics and perhaps our understanding of the very nature of gravity itself.
After a short flight into space, Euclid was to be released from the Falcon for a month-long journey to its destination in solar orbit about 1 million miles (1.6 million km) from Earth – a position of gravitational stability between the Earth and the sun called Lagrange’s Point Two, or L2.
From there, Euclid is designed to explore the evolution of what astrophysicists call the “dark universe,” using a wide-angle telescope to observe galaxies up to 10 billion light-years from Earth across an immense expanse of sky beyond our own. Milky Way galaxy.
The 2-ton spacecraft is also equipped with instruments designed to measure the intensity and spectra of infrared light from those galaxies in a way that will accurately determine their distances.
The mission focuses on two fundamental components of the dark universe. One is dark matter, the invisible but theoretically influential cosmic scaffolding designed to give shape and texture to the cosmos. The other is dark energy, an equally enigmatic force believed to explain why the expansion of the universe, as scientists learned in the 1990s, has been accelerating for some time.
The possibilities of the mission are reflected in the enormity of Euclid’s investigation. Scientists estimate that dark energy and dark matter together make up 95% of the cosmos, while the ordinary matter we can see accounts for only 5%.
Euclid was designed and built entirely by ESA, with the US space agency, NASA, providing photodetectors for its near-infrared instrument. The Euclid Consortium collectively comprises more than 2,000 scientists from 13 European nations, the United States, Canada and Japan.
After a decade of work, the mission was originally intended to be flown into space via a Russian Soyuz rocket. But launch plans passed to SpaceX, Elon Musk’s California firm, after the outbreak of war in Ukraine and because no space was immediately available from Europe’s Arianne missile program.
While the James Webb Space Telescope launched by NASA late last year allows astronomers to focus on particular objects in the early universe with unprecedented clarity, Euclid aims to expose the hidden fabric and mechanics of the cosmos by meticulously plotting a huge swath of the observable 3-D universe, more than 1 billion galaxies in all.
Dark matter and dark energy can’t be detected directly, but their properties “are encoded in the shapes and positions of galaxies,” said astrophysicist Jason Rhodes, Euclid chief scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory near in Los Angeles.
“Measuring the shapes and positions of galaxies allows us to infer the properties of dark matter and dark energy,” Rhodes said on Friday.
The data will be collected as Euclid maps the last 10 billion years of cosmic history across a third of the sky, looking outward, and then back in time, to an era of the universe that astronomers call “cosmic noon.” , when most of the stars were forming. .
Observing subtle but distinct changes in the shapes and positions of galaxies over vast periods of time and space will reveal subtle variations in cosmic acceleration, indirectly exposing dark energy forces, the scientists say.
Euclid will also help reveal the nature of dark matter by measuring an effect called gravitational lensing, which produces subtle distortions in the visible shapes of galaxies and is attributed to the presence of invisible material warping the fabric of space around it.
Through insights into dark energy and matter, scientists hope to better understand the formation and distribution of galaxies throughout the universe’s so-called cosmic web.
Beyond Euclid’s primary goals, it will provide “a gold mine for all fields of astronomy for several decades,” said Yannick Mellier, head of the Euclid Consortium and astronomer at the Institut d’Astrophysique de Paris.
(Reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by William Mallard)


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This is to advise that the Carmelite Library is CLOSED.
This decision has been made in light of the rapidly changing situation regarding Covid-19 and the Victorian Government’s declaration of a State of Emergency.
The Library remains CLOSED for as long as the Victorian State of Emergency continues. At the moment, this State of Emergency has been declared for four weeks, i.e. until Easter Monday, but as the Premier has indicated, it could be extended.

domain: politics


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Discover a journey into the heartland of an undisturbed, uncrowded Australia - a road trip that will change you forever.
Free yourself with this epic South Western Australia road trip that will take you through wine regions, towering forests and along marine life-rich coast before heading across the outback. The South West Edge is a 12 day adventure that traverses 1200km from Perth to Esperance, a road trip that will fill your lungs, leave you in awe, and have you breathing more deeply. It feeds your soul with discovery and wonderment; every turn giving you a new experience.
What is The South West Edge?
The South West Edge is an epic road trip around the South Western edge of Western Australia. It meanders through wine regions, towering forests and along marine-life rich coast before looping through the outback. It can be done in just 12 days and traverses through the tourism regions of Destination Perth, Australia’s South West and Australia’s Golden Outback.

domain: travel


Minnesota’s state revenue collections continued to outpace projections in January, with taxpayers kicking in $140 million more than expected for the month.
The state collected $1.8 billion the first month of 2013, with individual income and sales tax revenue both beating projections. The highly volatile corporate income tax did not meet expectations, bringing in $41 million for the month, nearly half of the target.
Minnesotans paid in $1.1 billion in individual income taxes, nearly $137 million more than projected. Consumers paid $490 million in sales taxes, $17.5 million more than expected.
State budget officials are scheduled to release a new economic forecast later this month that legislators will use to craft the next two-year budget. The last forecast, in November, showed the state faces a $1.1 billion projected deficit the next two years.


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Feel impressive in the Grand Prairie. This lovable Not Rated ankle boot features a cream faux leather with outside zip and 8 inch shaft. A laser cut strap presents sparkly rhinestones and buckle closure. Last but not least is a rounded toe and 3 1/4 inch block heel.
You'll be in bliss when you have this hard edge Not Rated ankle boot on. Mystical brings you a cream man made leather upper with silver studs lining the 3/4 inch platform and 4 inch wedge heel. A zipper in the back keeps this style easy to put on.


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Sid Meier’s Starships Announcement Trailer
A new strategy title from Sid Meier that heads beyond earth and into the depths of space.
Videos You May Enjoy
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- Planet of Heroes' closed test will begin tomorrow, August 30th.
- LEGO Minifigures Online Launches June 29 as Buy to Play MMO
- Funcom is excited to announce that LEGO Minifigures Online will be launching on PC, Mac, Linux, iOS and select Android devices on June 29th.
- Secret World Drops Subscription, Still Buy To Play
- Funcom announced today that The Secret World is now subscription-optional, only requiring purchase of the original game client to play.

domain: entertainment


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We have an (informal/not-so-strict) agile process in place right now in our design and development sprints. As we start on our Vialogues project, this is a good time to refine and define this process. The following articles might give us some ideas on this space and how we might be able to use them.
Google's popular Product Design Sprint
For starters, this is a detailed handbook of steps to work the six stages, according to Google, which are 'Understand', 'Define', 'Diverge', 'Decide', 'Prototype', and 'Validate'
Lean UX is an incredibly useful technique when working on projects where the Agile development method is used. Traditional UX techniques often don’t work when development is conducted in rapid bursts – there’s not enough time to deliver UX in the same way. Fundamentally Lean UX and other forms of UX all have the same goal in mind; delivering a great user experience it’s just that the way you work on a project is slightly different.
How to successfully marry design sprints and product development
A design sprint is a design-thinking tool to help teams test big, important ideas before starting to build. We create prototypes within the sprint and attempt to validate them with targeted customers. Assuming we do collect the validation we need, the next challenge is connecting the insights uncovered during the sprint to effectively and efficiently build solutions—or in a word, execution.


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Doctor insights on:
Can A Rheumatologist Diagnose Lupus
Just out of curiosity, how often do rheumatologists come across a new patient they diagnose with lupus? Is it rarely? A couple times/year on average?
Room For More Rheum: Here's the set-up, you do the math: on average, about 5 cases per 100, 000 adult population in the U.S. get diagnosed with Lupus each year. There are about 250 million adults and 5000 rheumatologists in the U.S. And the answer is: a)3 b)30 c)300 d)3000 e)all f)none If you calculate (or guess) right, you win an all expenses paid trip to your favorite rheumatologist for any tests you'd like taken
Just diagnosed with lupus. Seeing rheumatologist soon. What are some good questions to ask? Does this mean I might end up in a wheelchair?
Many: As lupus is a multisystem disease many organs can be affected and your questions should be geared to this. Overall your concerns should go to short term and longer term prognosis based on current findings and what your treatment options are. You always want to use the least amount of medication that is effective.
How often should one with stable lupus and secondary sjogrens with no organ involvement see their rheumatologist?
3-4 months: This depends on the prior history of your disease, current medications, and current symptoms. Some mecications require more frequent monitoring. Prior problems may require a closer watch. In general 3-4 months if your only medication is plaquenil (hydroxychloroquine) and you are stable.
My rheumatologist diagnosed with lupus/sjogrens overlap. Does that mean my symptoms don't fit into one disease category perfectly or that I have both?
Autoimmune: Autoimmune phenomena are frequently tough to diagnose health problems. It is common to have symptoms of more than one autoimmune disease. Overlap means you have symptoms characteristic of both SLE and Sjogrens that don`t fit into one disease category as you stated above.See 2 more doctor answers
If a dr suspects u have lupus but your lab work is borderline will a rheumatologist treat you for it to see if it helps?
Wait and see: Go to a rheumatologist. They have seen far more lupus then most doctors and they can best put together your clinical picture and your lab results. Lab tests are not the only thing that decides if you have lupus.See 1 more doctor answer
I was recently told by my rheumatologist that my blood work is showing no lupus activity. What exactly does or can that mean?
Lupus or no lupus: If the testing was done as a screen then lab tests alone cannot eliminate lupus as a source for joint pain symptoms. If the testing was done to determine activity of a diagnosed condition then the the level of inflammatory byproducts often associated with active lupus was normal or low and may indicate response to treatment.See 1 more doctor answer
What is borderline lupus? Rheumatologist stated I have this but what does this mean? I have a follow up scheduled but I'm so confused
Lupus IS confusing: After hearing your story and doing an exam the lab tests were ordered by your specialist. Sometimes the results are clear cut but frequently the results are conflicting or only marginally diagnostic. Your doctor will set up a diagnostic and treatment plan to make you feel better. Frequently this involves rechecking more labs in the future. This should be discussed at that scheduled follow up.See 1 more doctor answer
Would it be appropriate to see a hematologist regarding elevated aptt and promethin levels that were done for lupus? Or should I see a rheumatologist
I seen the rheumatologist on 8th january and had bloods tested for lupus sle. They're not back yet, how long does it take for the rheumatologist to ge?
2-5 days: Blood tests take 2-5 days to return depending on the specific tests ordered.
My dr said my blood work shows smith antibody, but rheumatologist don't think it's lupus, then what is it?
See below: All laboratory results need to be interpreted in the clinical context and the doctor who ordered the tests is usually in the best position to do that. One autoantibody is not sufficient to make a diagnosis of lupus. It would be prudent to follow the advice from the rheumatologist.
I was diagnosed by a rheumatologist as having fibromyalgia, my gp thinks it is either lupus or ms. How will they actually make a diagnosis?
See below: There are no specific tests for fibromyalgia which is a condition in which there is widespread pain above and below the waist and on both sides of the body. Ms and lupus both have certain lab tests as well as other tests that can establish either of those diagnoses.See 2 more doctor answers
My wife has lupus & fibromyalgia she sees a local rheumatologist to scant avail. Is there a clinic in na that specializes in these diseases?
Look here: This website should point you in the right direction: http://www. Lupus. Org/newsite/index. Html.See 1 more doctor answer
Rheumatologist just started me on hydroxychloroquine 200 mg twice aday for lupus. What's ur input advise on that? Any precautions, warnings to add plz?
Take the medication: Plaquenil (hydroxychloroquine) (hydroxychloroquin) is the first line therapy for sle. Unless specific problems dictate otherwise it is normally recommended for life, in every stage of sle, as mono therapy (by itself) or if needed as part of a treatment program using other medications. The main side effects are anemia (you should have a blood test periodically) and eye toxicity - you should have periodic eye exams.
My rheumatologist confirmed that I am + anti DNA antibodies but he will not confirm it as lupus, what else could it be?
Many things: 1. Positive antibodies can proceed the onset of disease. 2. It could be a false positive. 3. Low titers, especially if IgA can be seen in healthy populations. Accuracy also depends on the type of test that was used whether it was elisa or ria. No test in medicine is 100% and rheumatology tests are worse than most.See 1 more doctor answer
Blood test came back as follows: Anti-Double Stand DNA-14 IU/mL, (CH50)-63 U/mL. Rheumatologist says it is not Lupus, should I get a second opinion?
More information: Thr rheumatoid diseases are best diagnosed clinically. Go back to your doctor and discuss with him all your symptoms
ANA1:320 DNA neg CCP neg RF neg. My rheumatologist believes I have RA but testing for lupus due to symptoms but all these blood tests are confusing.?
ANA positive: A lot depends upon what is going on. With a person's signs and symptoms and the suspected disorder, ANA testing may be used along with or followed by other autoantibody tests. Lupus is only one thing that may be ANA positive. Others are sjogrens and other autoimmune. Many symptoms overlap/positive ana further testing may be ordered. Speak to your DR Its what rheumatologists know a lot about!
How often at minimal should lupus patient doing well with no issues & only on plaquenil (hydroxychloroquine) see their rheumatologist or atleast get labs?
It depends: There is no definite answer. It depends on prior organ involvement, the length of time one has had the disease, how long one has been in remission and the preferences of your rheumatologist.
Neuro diagnosis MS on 7/21/14. My rheumatologist thinks I also have sarcoidosis or lupus. I had lesions biopsies today but all my blood work is neg. Possible
Comments: Sometimes, lupus, and less commonly sarcoidosis can mimic MS, but usually can easily be sorted out with blood studies or other diagnostic tests. Your skin lesions make me wonder about Lyme disease, another copycat. It is not rare to have two associated autoimmune disorders, so would agree with diligent workup. Gilenya (fingolimod) is a very good drug for MS, and may help stabilize most of this.See 2 more doctor answers
Why would my rheumatologist prescribe cymbalta (duloxetine) for lupus when it's an antidepressant?
Ask him: For the reason although I suspect that this was prescribed for depression associated with lupus.
- Talk to a doctor online
- What can a rheumatologist diagnose?
- Rheumatologist doctor specializing in lupus
- What can be found in cbc to diagnose lupus?
- How to get diagnosed with lupus?
- How to diagnose lupus arthritis?
- Criteria to diagnose lupus
- Women in their thirties diagnosed with lupus
- Scalp biopsy to diagnose lupus
- What specialists can diagnose mixed connective tissue disease besides rheumatologists?


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At Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh's Mumbai reception, the who's who of Bollywood is present. While the stars have turned up in large numbers, quite a few Bollywood couples, too, have grabbed the attention of fans. From Varun Dhawan-Natasha Dalal to Tiger Shroff-Disha Patani – the couples fan have been shipping for long have arrived in style.
Farhan Akhtar and Shibani Dandekar, who have caught the fancy of many ever since they first posted a photo with each other on social media, arrived together and while they have never admitted to being in a relationship, they have made their affair official on social media. The duo was all smiles as they posed for the shutterbugs.
While Shibani looked gorgeous in a glittery green dress, Farhan looked handsome in a black formal suit. Here, take a look at their photos together. (Also read: Kareena Kapoor Khan steals the thunder with Saif Ali Khan at Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh's reception)
Their relationship came under the scanner when Shibani posted a photo with a man on her Instagram account and fans speculated it was Farhan. The news was confirmed when Farhan took to social media and posted the same photo wherein only Shibani's face was visible. Their entry together is now sure to get their fans, followers and well-wishers happy. (Also read: Deepika Ranveer wedding reception: Check out the best-looking couples at the star-studded affair)
Meanwhile, Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh tied the knot on November 14 and 15 at Lake Como in Italy. To maintain their privacy and keep their wedding ceremonies a private affair, the duo announced a no-phone policy for their guests. The fans back home were literally starved for the photos and soon after they returned to India, their three wedding receptions led to a flood of photos and videos on social media and thankfully so.

domain: celebrity


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If former prime minister Ehud Olmert’s Holyland trial was the Israeli corruption trial of the century, the Arab Bank trial that has been taking place in a federal court in Brooklyn for the last five weeks could be the terrorism finance trial of the century.
The trial has a master villain, Hamas, which carried out the August 2001 Sbarro suicide bombing in Jerusalem, killing or wounding 130, and a range of horrid terrorist attacks during the second intifada.
There are the victims, 297 plaintiffs who were wounded or are family members of those murdered in the 24 terrorist attacks from 1998-2004 financed via Saudi Arabia and Hezbollah’s al-Shahid Foundation, using the Jordanian bank as a conduit.
Also, there is a 10-year history of intense legal battles, including trying to get the bank’s “secret” client documents located in Jordan, Lebanon and the Palestinian areas.
The US Supreme Court has already weighed in once pretrial and may be asked to weigh in again post-trial, while the State, Justice and Treasury departments fought over whether the US government should accede to Jordan’s requests to intervene, which could have the effect of directly or indirectly killing the case.
Jordan implied to the Supreme Court that Arab Bank is so crucial, that a billion-dollar judgment that tanks the bank could lead to the country imploding and falling under Islamist control at worst, and force an end to crucial US-Jordan counter-terrorism cooperation at the very least.
Commentators have written that if Arab Bank is held liable for being a conduit for funds that eventually reached terrorists, the precedent could shake the international banking system to its foundations, as many major banks may be using their size and looking the other way to dabble in such transactions.
The central question is whether a 11-member jury of eight women and three men, with a majority appearing to be African-American or Hispanic, will find that Arab Bank knew or should have known that its account holders were using it to transfer “blood money” to Hamas for terrorist operations – or whether it checked for suspicious transactions as best it could, and simply missed them.
The plaintiffs’ advantages are clear.
In the big picture, the volume of funds transferred to Hamas or its fronts may be just too large for a jury to ignore, with the plaintiffs saying they proved the bank transferred more than $2.5 million to terrorists, after the US had already made the designation.
Plaintiffs say they proved that more than $32m. was transferred to proven Hamas fronts.
There’s little doubt that the plaintiffs’ presentation, led by lawyers Mark Werbner, Tab Turner and Gary Osen, has been more engaging and dramatic than the often more cerebral defense, led by Shand Stephens.
The plaintiffs have played the jury videos of children dressed up as Hamas leaders and suicide bombers, and bearded men joking about being terrorists and displayed bank records that seem to spell out “Hamas” and “martyr” right on the jurors’ flat screen monitors.
Also, the plaintiffs have had emotional declarations like “Who’s Who of Hamas were bank customers” and that the bank was Hamas’s “paymaster” providing financial “oxygen that feeds” terrorism.
In the unusual US system where juries of common people decide the case as opposed to judges, as in most countries, some of these less legal considerations often weigh heavily no matter how the judge tells the jurors how they should think about the case’s legal issues.
Possibly helpful to plaintiffs, but less one-sided, there is the question of the bank’s 2002- 03 annual reports that referred to Israel as the “occupying enemy,” and annual calendars of a political nature that seem to belie the bank’s claims of neutrality, suggesting it may have had a mental state sympathetic to looking the other way on terrorist funding.
The bank also has clear advantages.
It has made a convincing case that its business was hammered by the second intifada and by terrorist incidents in that period.
Even if some bank executives harbored hostility to Israel, it may be hard to convince jurors that the very westernized cosmopolitan bank elite executives had “intent” – being purposely ready to endanger the bank’s existence by getting involved in terrorist financing.
The vast majority of the transactions, including some of the “worst” transactions that the bank is accused of letting through, such as to Haniyeh and arch terrorist Shehade, went through when even those men were not on the US watch list, even if some intelligence agencies were already targeting the men.
The bank’s mantra that it need not be an intelligence agency, that the best it can do is check US watch lists and that many of the Hamas fronts that it paid funds to, US Agency for International Development, the EU and many other prominent banks were still paying funds to at the time, all put it in a reasonable light.
Further, the bank wins if it just plays good enough defense and it may have played effectively against the plaintiffs’ claims that it approved transactions going to families of suicide bombers with bank documents seemingly noting suicide bombing as the cause of death.
The bank called attention to different interpretations of Arabic terms referring to “martyrs” or “martyrdom operations,” with possible interpretations being nonviolent, such that bank employees may not have known that the notations signified terrorism.
So yes the bank has strengths and can strongly legally rebut the majority of “terrorism transactions,” since most of the terrorists were not on the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) watch list at the time they received funds.
But its bigger legal problem may be that, with at least a small number of transfers, some terrorists who received funds were on the US watch lists, including transfers to high-profile Hamas leaders like Osama Hamdan, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, Mousa Abu-Marzook and the Hamas front Interpal.
There are also two major legal issues which hung over the trial and which the jury must tangle with: a sanctions order and causation.
An April 2013, the case’s pretrial Judge Nina Gershon issued a sanctions order, punished the bank for failing to produce certain bank documents from its Jordan and Lebanon offices out of fear of violating those countries bank secrecy laws, protecting customers’ privacy.
The order means that when the trial ends on Thursday, the judge will instruct the jury essentially that it “may” infer from the bank’s not producing the documents that those documents would have proved the plaintiffs’ arguments that the bank knew or should have known it was being used as a conduit for terror financing.
The word “may” is supposed to free the jury to rule for the bank, but that instruction is an awfully big hint, and there is no doubt that the bank, if it loses, would argue on appeal that the hint caused it improper prejudice.
On defining causation, the plaintiffs got an edge over the bank with the judge instructing the jury that to show the bank’s alleged terror financing had a hand in the 24 terror attacks, they need only find that the bank’s conduct was a “reasonably foreseeable” cause of the injuries to the victims.
The bank would have preferred that causation be closer to the plaintiffs having to prove that “but for” the bank’s conduct, the terror attacks would not have occurred, a much higher standard.
The jury instruction and the earlier summary judgment rulings on causation could be ripe for a bank appeal.
In one of the trial’s more dramatic moments, Palestinian finance minister and former bank chief executive Shuki Bishara admitted that he had personally approved paying Hamdan $8,000 in 2005. Bishara had a range of explanations about why. He said that he tried for months to close the account or find another solution by seeking advice from the Lebanese authorities, but received no answer.
He said that he was obligated under Lebanese law to close the account and return the funds to the original owner.
The bank has added that even if Hamdan was on the US watch list when the funds were sent back to him, when the account was opened he was not yet on the watch list.
With Yassin and Marzook, the bank says that different spellings of their names from the accounts to the watch lists lead to their terror identities not being caught.
With Interpal, the bank said that a lower down employee mistook an approval on a currency conversion issue as a final approval for the transaction including overriding the watch list’s hold on the transaction.
Will the jury accept these explanations? It certainly could.
But in light of the larger context, the jury might find that once the bank knew Hamdan was a terrorist, it had no obligation to send the funds back to him, and may view any fear of Lebanese contract law in the face of criminal-terrorist issues as a poor defense.
On a similar note, coming back to Haniyeh and Shehade, will the jury accept that bank employees really did not know who they were just because they not on the OFAC list? The question is sharpened since Tayseer Sadeq, the bank’s chief compliance officer for the Palestinian areas, admitted that everyone at the bank knew who prominent Hamas leaders were such as Yassin.
The bank has a real shot to pull out a win and if a cerebral judge was deciding, it might even have a better shot.
Still when taking into account the overall picture, 9/11 and Islamic State images hanging over the common New Yorker juror (the Brooklyn courthouse is directly across from where the Twin Towers stood) and the plaintiffs’ edges on the sanctions and causation issue, the plaintiffs likely have an edge to get an unprecedented historic win against a powerhouse bank.
But the jury may not have the final say.
The case would likely go to the US Supreme Court, and with Islamic State threatening Jordan and the rest of the Middle East, the US government may shift its position to blocking the case, just as Israel shifted its position from cooperation to obstruction in the massive Bank of China terrorism finance case, when changes happened geopolitically with Israel-China relations.
Regardless of how that plays out, the world of banking will be a different place when the jury reaches its expected verdict.