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LOWELL — Twenty million people dead.
That was the aftermath of the flu pandemic of 1918, when a strain of virus caught the world off guard, said Frank Singleton, director of the Lowell Health Department.
Whether the next pandemic could be just around the corner — this time, in the form of bird flu, which is mostly found in Southeast Asia — is a possibility Massachusetts needs to take very seriously. And the danger could be especially prevalent in Lowell, where about one-fourth of the population has Southeast Asian ties.
“It’s coming. It’s inevitable,” said Singleton, referring to bird flu. “The question is, how serious of a virulence could we end up with?”
Bird flu, also known as avian flu, is a strain of influenza that, until recently, affected mostly fowl. Evidence that the virus had mutated emerged in Southeast Asia in 1997, when it began affecting a small number of humans, killing some of them.
International alarm grew recently when a family of Southeast Asians got sick, implying that the virus has again mutated and can now transmit itself from human to human, making it that much more dangerous.
If it’s true, there’s nothing the world can do to prepare for it, officials say.
“If it’s half as bad as 1918, we’re talking 35 percent of Massachusetts getting sick within the first three or four weeks,” said Singleton, who attended a regional drill in Brookline yesterday to train communities and hospitals how to deal with flu outbreak. “That’s 6,000 deaths in Massachusetts statewide.”
The fact that Lowell has so many Southeast Asian immigrants puts the city in particular danger. New immigrants are still arriving, and permanent Southeast Asian residents travel back and forth to their homeland to visit family. And unlike the 1918 pandemic, Singleton said, technology has enabled germs to travel much faster.
“In 1918, people came over by steamship,” he said. “People now can get on a plane.”
The problem with preparing for the possibility of a flu pandemic is that a vaccine cannot be created until it’s known which particular viral strain is the culprit.
Several dangerous strains of bird flu exist, and the state would go bankrupt if it invested money to develop vaccines for all of them in hope of matching the one that could invade the country, said Dr. Bela Matyas, medical director of the epidemiology program for the state Department of Public Health.
While the potential situation is serious, he agreed, the average resident shouldn’t panic, given that it’s unclear whether the bird-flu strain that eventually reaches the United States will be a particularly lethal one.
“There is no imminent threat that people need to be worried about,” he said. “Until we know the strain, we can’t begin developing a vaccine.”
Hospitals, too, are doing all they can to prepare for the unknown. However, without identifying a definite strain first, there’s not much they can do.
“We’re constantly getting bulletins from the CDC, and we’re certainly in touch with the state,” said Marcia Cassidy, spokeswoman for Lowell General Hospital, referring to the Centers for Disease Control. “But it’s hurry up and wait.”
The hospital recently participated in a regional drill designed to train people for bioterrorism attacks or natural disasters. Reacting to a flu pandemic requires the same skills.
“The point was to see how the emergency agencies can handle that sudden influx of patients,” Cassidy said. “It’s a constant reiteration of drills.”
Once a strain is identified and scientists begin developing a vaccine, said Singleton, it will likely take six months before any doses reach Massachusetts, and it’s unlikely that more than 400,000 doses would arrive at once.
That scenario would fall seriously short of vaccinating the 6 million Bay Staters.
“No one’s immune,” he said. “Most of the damage would have been done before any vaccine shows up.”
Rebecca Fater’s e-mail address is firstname.lastname@example.org.


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After years of drought, there seems to be no relief in sight. Then came January 2023. California was hit with 31 atmospheric rivers, record rainfall and a historic snowpack. But what happens when too little becomes too much?
ABC30 presents Feast or Famine: California’s Water Crisis. The new Taking Action Together original documentary explores the past 10 months as California transitioned from a drought state, to having an abundance of water with nowhere to go.
Watch Saturdays at 10pm on ABC30.
The documentary examines four areas:
California leads the US in food production with over $51 billion in revenue and is the 5th largest supplier of food in the world. But in a state facing a mega drought for decades, what does this mean for farmers? Learn the science behind California’s increasing drought and its effects on every California resident.
Immersion in ground water:
California’s largest reservoirs are not behind dams, but underground and California is already depleted. If over-reliance on groundwater pumping continues, it will have devastating effects. As of 2014, 5,300 domestic wells have dried up. If over-pumping continues, another 9,200 wells could dry up by 2040, leaving many rural, poor communities without the water they need.
Not only the drying up of the wells but the excessive pumping causes another phenomenon called subsidence, which is the sinking of the land. Since 2015 the Corcoran, CA area has seen over 4 feet of subsidence, leaving the area vulnerable to flooding.
California is experiencing climate whiplash in 2023, from years of drought. After 31 atmospheric rivers, record rainfall and historic snowpack, communities across the state experienced flooding that left many homeless. With full reservoirs and swollen rivers, record amounts of water have returned to what was once the largest body of water west of the Mississippi, Tulare Lake.
California’s Water Future:
So, is the drought over? What happens to all the extra time? What can we all do to help make California’s water future safer? Find out the small actions we can all take to make a difference when it comes to sustainability.

domain: geography


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I’ve been surfing through the website for the German FREMO club America-N a lot lately. They manage a terrific website and within it a page outlining their method of manually controlling turnouts. They too are relying on a DPDT switch to both control the polarity at the frog and also to lock the blades in either position.
Here’s a link to their page:
At the heart of their design is a brass rod from the fascia. This rod is slid in and out to move the blades. What I liked was how they have separated out the switch and the wire to the turnout. This would make it a lot easier to install both and also build in some spring action to compensate for the broad throw of the switch and the much more limited travel an N scale turnout needs. Their method is pretty simple and makes terrific use of readily available parts. Check it out.


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On well-prepared surface, It will take 1 to 2 days to achieve the finished wall.

domain: design


text:
Sleeping With Fear -- Kay Hooper
Book 9 of Bishop/Special Crimes Unit series
2006 Release -- Bantam Books
Paranormal Mystery, Romantic Suspense
This is probably my favorite of the three Bishop/SCU -- Fear trilogy set. There is a lot more anticipatory “who dunnit?” going on in this book than there had been in the previous two. On top of that, I actually ended up feeling quite anxious for Riley to reclaim her lost memories and figure out what the heck was going on.
Riley Crane wakes up in a beach house on Opal Island, her arms and her clothes covered in dried blood and weeks of her memory lost. Upon contacting her boss, Noah Bishop, she learns that she had gone on an unofficial assignment under the guise of being on vacation to investigate a string of plausible occult occurrences. As a specialist in the occult, Riley has more to offer in this unofficial investigation than simply her psychic abilities, though there’s not doubt that being psychic has always given her an advantageous edge.
It doesn’t take long for her to realize that a lot of uncharacteristic things had happened to her while she was on Opal Island, including taking a lover within days of meeting the man. Her Swiss cheese memory appears in random fragments, but nothing tells her what she needs to know the most: What she may have uncovered on Opal Island, why her memory is gone, and why her psychic abilities have become AWOL.
And then, with a gruesome murder, possibly linked to an occult ritual as well as finding out that her missing psychic abilities and memory might have to do with being Tasered at the base of her skull, Riley knows she’s got a limited time to find out what happened to her as well as weed out those she cannot trust and find out who she can trust.
With the rest of the SCU agents scattered all over the country covering other cases, Riley knows that she’ll be going it alone with this investigation. And no matter how insistent Bishop is about recalling her to Quantico, Riley is equally reluctant to walk away from this mystery and a murder that she may or may not be involved in.
And then there’s the intense, mysterious Hazard County District Attorney she has supposedly started a relationship with, but cannot even remember the first time they met. Knowing she wouldn’t have gotten so involved with Ash Prescott if she didn’t fully trust him, she still can’t help the doubts that keep surfacing.
The ninth installment of the Bishop/SCU paranormal mystery series actually takes a little twist for the majority of the book and I kind of liked it. While the characters constantly reference the paranormal, Riley’s psychic abilities, and the like, Riley actually spends a good amount of time without her psychic abilities; and so the murder investigation is reliant purely on her own skills as an FBI agent as well as how much knowledge she has accumulated over the years on serials and the occult. It seems like sort of a “Hey, just because we’ve got psychic abilities doesn’t mean that’s all we have” type of shout out. That the SCU agents are just as good at investigating any case without that extra edge.
Sleeping With Fear was definitely another page turning Romantic Suspense with the continued forward progress as well as the looming mystery driving one to physically WANT to finish reading the book. After all, something happened to Riley and something is continuing to happen to Riley and we, as the readers, desperately want to know what that something is. So I definitely appreciate the sense of mystery, of the unknown throughout this entire storyline. Because not only is Riley trying to help investigate a murder, but she’s also trying to investigate her missing memories, all while trying not to let on that anything is different about her.
Honestly, it’s quite the talent and I would have almost thought Riley was a bit too efficient at keeping her cool and fooling everyone else. But the way in which she maneuvers herself is frankly quite clever. In fact, she might be one of my favorite SCU main female characters now.
As for Ash, the love interest… I can’t say that he didn’t stand out, but at the same time I can’t quite say that he did. He was sort of... just there, in a significant role, but he wasn’t outstanding as a main character. Since Riley pretty much drove the entire show, I’m not really complaining, because it worked.
On the romantic front, while we don’t get to see the two of them fall in love with each other--a part of Riley’s Swiss cheese memory--we still get the feeling that a lot of high-handed “Fated to Be” stuff was going on in the background. Although very little is stated on that front except for the fact that Ash and Riley were drawn to each other, started their relationship off on attraction and lust, then ended up falling in love. All of that is backstory that we only get to see the characters talking about.
But seeing their simmering chemistry in the present state (sans memories on Riley’s part) was not bad. A little deliberate, as it seems Kay Hooper is wont to do with all of her characters, their actions, and actions surrounding the characters, but I’ll take it. At the very least, the murder mystery aspect was done very well and story progression just as excellent.
Final Thoughts: This is probably the more exciting of the three Fear trilogy books in the Bishop/SCU series. While the ending was a big curtain call of a strange conclusion--with some left-field revelations as well as some necessity to suspend disbelief, even for a book about psychics investigating murders--it tied together just fine. Very enjoyable, very suspenseful.
And while I’m only half sure I understand the purpose of the flashbacks to Riley’s previous investigation of a serial murder, I thought it was a nice touch to the atmosphere of the storyline, if nothing else.
Though we’ve set up a pretty good atmosphere already, what with a deliberate and obvious exposition using Bishop and fellow agent Tony Hart to point out all the people around Riley who may be potentially harmful to her, but being ultra vague about it. Oh yea, and nothing beats waking up covered in dried blood with a block of memory missing.
The only thing that bugs me about the Bishop/SCU books at this point is the too vague “universe” and “fate” and “evil” being the go to answer for almost all the questions. I really have liked all the attempted “scientific” twists on explaining psychic abilities, even if it’s a stretch. But then turning around and blaming an all-encompassing evil for certain grisly acts, or leaving the explanations of the unexplainable up to a simple “the Universe has its plans” is too big of a cop out for me to accept.
Sure, there is the ultimate culprit of the murders in some of the books, but others stray too far to using a powerful evil presence as the deux ex machina and it irks me a little bit.
Nonetheless, the books in this series continues to intrigue me and I look forward to the next trilogy subset in this ongoing Bishop/SCU series.
This book is a pre-chosen participant in the following Reading Challenge(s):
- 2015 Reading Assignment Challenge hosted by Because Reading and Fantasy is More Fun
- The Series That Never Ends hosted by Delighted Reader

domain: literature


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Divyanka Tripathi will play the lead in Ekta Kapoor’s new romantic ALTBalaji web series which will revolve around two chefs. The hunt for the male actor is currently underaway.
Divyanka Tripathi:Popular television actor Divyanka Tripathi is all set to make her digital debut with an ALTBalaji series. The Yeh Hai Mohabbatein star will play the lead in Ekta Kapoor’s new romantic series which will revolve around two chefs. The hunt for the male actor is currently underaway.
Producer Ekta Kapoor confirmed the news with a tweet. Her post read, “Ok since ppl got it! An official statement! A love story between two chefs! That shared pain betrayal a past and the love for FOOD!most love stories end in a kitchen this started in one @dorisdey209 @jaya_misra.” She also added that the original will be streaming soon on ALTBalaji.
A source shared with indianexpress.com, “The show will be a mature love story. It will be an emotional tale and will also have a tinge of comedy. Both Ekta and Divyanka are quite excited to start this new journey. Once the male lead is confirmed, the show will go on floors. It’s expected to launch by end of the year. Popular author Jaya Misra will pen the story for Ekta.”
Speculation around the show started after Ekta commented on one of Divyanka’s Instagram post. Ekta, while promoting her new web series Home, urged people to share photos of what home means to them. Divyanka shared a beautiful collage of some of the most important people in her life and tagged Ekta on the same. Thanking the actor, Ekta added, “Thanu love ! Ishika cum going to be chef.” Divyanka too replied stating, “@ektaravikapoor yes chef.”

domain: celebrity


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The Kootenay Spirit Festival is humming along this weekend in Nelson. The first time festival has over 20 workshops celebrating yoga, dance, meditation and music led by top local and visiting teachers, speakers and musical acts across town.
Yoga classes, whether they be active or restorative self care, are accompanied with skilled instructors who are there to inspire participants to expand their mind and body through the spirit.
A day or weekend pass gives entry to participants, plus there is a free event this afternoon at Lakeside Park. Join the free yoga jam from 3:30- 4:30 p.m., followed by kirtan with musicians John de Kadt, Sparrow Grace and conscious roots and soul with Buckman Coe.
Sunday’s workshops continue at the Prestige Lakeside Resort, including the Spirit Market Place from 9 a.m to 3 pm. For more information visit kootenayspiritfestival.ca.

domain: entertainment


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If there is something in life we can never say “no” to, it’s #PizzaNight! Never screw with our pizza nights or you’re sure to get a fistful of dough in your pants or pepperoni in your socks.
There is no better feeling than accidentally discovering pizza joints in Manila that serve reasonably awesome and legit pizzas. Take this Tuscano Italian Wood Oven Pizza over at Burgos Circle, BGC as a classic example. The entire name is a quite a mouthful, it makes me full already!
Having given up on BHS restaurants where nothing could fulfill our pizza cravings – except for Nolita, but I found its pizza on the salty side the other night, so sorry not for now – we ended up strolling until we ended up at Tuscano’s doorstep.
The place serves the usual Italian fares, but greedy pizza kids only order pizza on #pizzanight – that’s the rule!
We ordered Tuscan Garden (aka the vegetarian pizza) and Seafood Feast (Frutti di Mare), both pies for sharing. I did have a taste of the compli bread because I was already dying of hunger from that trek.
I know there were only two of us, so doing the math, we should have borne a superfluous bounty, but restaurants always underestimate my appetite based on my foot size and my brother, based on his tattoos. Okay, no sense at all.
To summarize, we finished everything to the last crumb and morsel and yes, I ate the crust which I never do with cheap pizzas.
All in all, considering two skinny kids finished a “for sharing” portion each, I’d say that the quality makes up for the size.
Imagine the Tuscan Garden brimming with fresh vegetables and what seemed to be asparagus! It was an almighty greenery that vegans will pay homage to!
It wasn’t about thick gooey dough or cheap cheese; it was about fresh and quality ingredients, meticulously put together for that freshly baked Italian gourmet ride.
The pizza is crisp and crackling with greens, and nothing is scrimped in terms of freshness. Ah yes, to Tuscano and beyond – and can I not eat mainstream pizza ever again?
Or maybe. it’s time to plan #PastaNight!

domain: food


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My husband and I recently stayed twice at the Alto Lyon Departamentos at the beginning and end of our vacation in Chile, the first time for one night, the second for two nights. We really enjoyed our stays and it was nice to be in an apartment rather than a hotel room. The location is wonderful, close to many restaurants,... More
- Official Description (provided by the hotel):
- Alto Lyon Apartments a modern and exclusive lodging concept, located just 15 minutes to the international airport and very close to Los Leones Metro Station. Stands out the proximity of important business areas, commercial centers and health clinics.Address: Nueva de Lyon / Costanera Andrés Bello, Providencia. Santiago de Chile. In Alto Lyon you will find apartments of 1 and 2 rooms with separated areas modernly equipped with minimalist's styles and the best thing of everything; an excellent relation price-quality to make of your stay in Santiago a pleasing experience, just like be in home. ... more less
- Reservation Options:
- TripAdvisor is proud to partner with Booking.com and Orbitz so you can book your Alto Lyon Departamentos reservations with confidence. We help millions of travelers each month to find the perfect hotel for both vacation and business trips, always with the best discounts and special offers.

domain: travel


United top Group H with 3-0 win at Young Boys
Manchester United made a winning start to the 2018/19 UEFA Champions League campaign, by registering an impressive 3-0 away win over in-form Swiss champions Young Boys.
Paul Pogba produced a captain’s display and scored twice in the first half to give the Reds a commanding lead by half-time, before Jose Mourinho’s men went on to secure what is undoubtedly an excellent victory in the second half thanks to a goal from another Frenchman, Anthony Martial.
The result on Wednesday evening capped a wholly positive trip to Switzerland, after Nicky Butt’s talented Under-19s also registered a gutsy 2-1 comeback victory over Young Boys in the UEFA Youth League.
Winning away from home in the Champions League is never easy and especially at venues like the 32,000-seat Stade de Suisse, where the fervent Young Boys supporters unveiled a massive mosaic banner as the teams walked out for kick-off, as well as a giant surfer flag of a bear holding the European Cup, complete with two red smoking flares for eyes.
On the pitch, Jose Mourinho had made five changes to his starting XI and gave an official debut to Diogo Dalot, the summer signing who arrived from FC Porto with an injury and had twice appeared for the Under-23s at Old Trafford before this Champions League encounter.
The Portuguese right-back played well and showed off his pace when bombing up the flank on the overlap, as well as his defensive nous as the Reds soaked up some early pressure from the hosts. Indeed, Young Boys controlled the opening exchanges and David De Gea was forced to make a smart save on 16 minutes, when tipping a vicious 20-yard strike from Mohamed Ali Camara over the bar.
United settled into the game thereafter and Marcus Rashford, recalled to the side and playing on the right flank, flashed an acute effort just wide of the brilliantly-named David von Ballmoos' right-hand post.
The deadlock was soon broken, on 35 minutes, when captain Pogba showed his quality with a left-footed shot that soared into the top corner from the edge of the box. The Frenchman’s effort was greeted with huge cheers from the away end, where 1,636 travelling Reds were sent into raptures.
The decibel count only increased eight minutes later when the visitors were awarded a penalty. German referee Deniz Aytekin decided that Luke Shaw's cross had been handled by Kevin Mbabu and United's powerful no.6 duly dispatched his spot-kick into the net, doubling our lead and his tally for the night.
A death blow was then dealt on 65 minutes when Martial’s right-footed shot from inside the area took a small deflection to find the back of the net, prompting his ever-popular terrace anthem to boom out of the away end with great enthusiasm. It was the Frenchman’s first goal of the season.
Mourinho sent substitutes Marouane Fellaini, Juan Mata and Andreas Pereira into the action shortly after the third goal, removing Rashford, Fred and Pogba respectively, as the manager’s mind possibly turned to Saturday’s big Premier League match against Wolverhampton Wanderers at Old Trafford.
Mata almost got on the scoresheet, too, when he connected with Shaw’s thunderous cross from the left wing, but the Spanish forward’s effort unfortunately flew narrowly wide of the left-hand post, in the last meaningful piece of attacking action from a thoroughly-enjoyable 3-0 victory.
Elsewhere in Champions League Group H, Juventus secured a valuable 2-0 away win at Valencia, but their success came at a hefty cost after Cristiano Ronaldo was sent off for an off-the-ball incident. The Portuguese star will be suspended, and if the duration is set at three games, he will miss the two clashes with his former club United.
Young Boys: Von Ballmoos, Mbebu, Camara, Von Bergen, Benito, Fassnacht (Moumi Ngamaleu 65), Sow (Aebischer 59), Sanogo, Sulejmani, Hoarau (Nsame 75), Assale.
Subs not used: Wolfli, Bertone, Schick, Garcia.
United: De Gea, Dalot, Smalling, Lindelof, Shaw, Fred (Fellaini 69), Matic, Pogba (Pereira 75), Rashford (Mata 69), Lukaku, Martial.
Subs not used: Romero, Bailly, Young, Alexis.


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domain: medical


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James Tanner is warming our hearts and tummies with his roast autumn veg and rosti potato.
In the second part of our series with chef Ching He Huang, she shows us simple Beef Dan Dan noodles.
Beat the chill on Bonfire Night with our heart-warming recipes.
It's one of our best loved takeaways - and in the first of our new series, we will be showing you how easy it is to make Chinese food. On the menu today is steamed salmon teriyaki with wok-fried vegetables.
Get some recipe ideas and inspiration for a kitchen spookfest this Halloween.


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«THE USEFULNESS OF CORPORATE FINANCIAL REPORTS: EVIDENCE FROM THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES Abdulkareem Alzarouni, National Bank of Abu Dhabi Khaled ...»
ACCOUNTING & TAXATION ♦ Volume 3♦ Number 2 ♦ 2011
THE USEFULNESS OF CORPORATE FINANCIAL
REPORTS: EVIDENCE FROM THE UNITED ARAB
Abdulkareem Alzarouni, National Bank of Abu Dhabi
Khaled Aljifri, United Arab Emirates University
Chew Ng, Griffith University
Mohammad Iqbal Tahir, Griffith University
JEL: M4, M41 KEYWORDS: Corporate financial disclosure, information needs, user groups, usefulness, UAE firms, annual reports
INTRODUCTIONT he usefulness of corporate financial reports and the perception of various user groups about these reports have been the subject of a number of previous studies (Anderson, 1981; Most and Chang, 1979; Abu-Nassar, 1993; Anderson and Epstein, 1995; Abu-Nassar and Rutherford, 1995 and 1996; Ho and Wong, 2001; Naser and Nuseibeh, 2003; Al-Shayeb, 2005; Naseret al., 2006; Alattar and Alkhater, 2007; Chatterjee, 2007; Chatterjee et al., 2010). However, few of the studies on the attitudes and perceptions of user groups of corporate financial reporting focus on the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, or member countries such as the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Since its establishment as an independent country in December 1971, UAE has adopted an open economy strategy which makes it arguably one of the fastest growing countries in the world (Offset, 2003).
Although the UAE government realised the need to set up an official securities market, their main focus during the first three decades of federation had been to build a national economy and infrastructure. In the absence of an official securities market, investors were forced to conduct their trading over the counter (OTC) through UAE banks.
In 1998, many investors suffered substantial financial losses as there was no official securities market to monitor stock market practices. The market capitalisation in August 1998 rose to US$64billion and four month later it fell almost 50% to US$34billion. The Governor of the UAE Central Bank attributed these losses to insufficient financial disclosures made by these companies (Gulf Newspaper, 18 October, 1998).
17A. Alzarouni et al | AT ♦ Vol. 3 ♦ No. 2 ♦ 2011
Adequate financial disclosure is essential to maintain an efficient financial market system (Kothari 2001;
Jenkins 2002; Gao, 2008), and this requires the availability of transparent and complete information. If financial disclosure is inadequate or, in most cases, weak as found by Al-Shayeb (2003), identifying perceptions and needs of the main users of corporate financial reports are essential to our understanding of the UAE financial reporting environment. The importance of empirically examining corporate financial disclosure in the UAE is to identify areas where efforts to improve the disclosure regulatory regime can be concentrated. Few research studies have addressed financial reporting disclosure in the UAE, and to date no comprehensive study has been conducted to examine this important issue.
The main purpose of this paper, therefore, is to examine whether the UAE firms disclose information that different user groups perceive as important. Healy and Palepu (2001) acknowledge that financial reporting and disclosure will continue to be a rich field of empirical inquiry. Hence, findings of this study are also likely to have comparative benefits for researchers and users of corporate financial reports in other countries.
The importance of corporate disclosure lies in the assumption that there is a positive relationship between increased disclosure and the efficiency of national financial markets (Barrett 1977). This efficiency is achieved when information about the securities traded in that market is accessible to market participants at relatively low cost, and the prices of securities being traded incorporate all the relevant information which can be acquired (Dixon & Holmes 1991). Thus, the ability of the financial markets to accurately reflect the value of a company is influenced by the quality of disclosure. Although other sources may be used by firms to communicate and disclose their information, corporate annual reports are considered the main source of information for most external users (Knutson 1992; Alsaeed 2005). The corporate annual reports play an affirmative role (Al-Mulhim 1979) by providing their users with the required information and helping them to predict future cash flows for their investments. In addition, corporate annual reports communicate and shape the reality of the entity in the public mind (Coy & Pratt 1998).
Given the importance of corporate annual reports as a primary source of information for most external users, the adequacy of disclosure in these reports needs to be considered (see for example Buzby, 1974b;
Al-Mulhem, 1997; Hookset al.,2002; Alsaeed, 2005; Chatterjee, 2007). Also, while there is a wide range of different user groups who are interested in the information disclosed in corporate annual reports, there is no agreement on whether these reports should serve the needs of all users (Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants, 1988; Abu-Nassar, 1993; Wallace, 1987; Accounting Standards Board, 1991; Ho and Wong, 2001; Meek and Thomas, 2004; and Vinten, 2004). Moreover, disclosing all possible information is arduous as it involves costs in preparing, auditing and disseminating the information. Also businesses may suffer serious consequences if they disclose sensitive information (Page, 1984; OwsusAnsah, 1998; Naser and Al-Khatib, 2000).
The needs of users and the role of corporate disclosure in decision making processes are controversial issues, as they are not known with any degree of certainty (Benjamin and Stanga, 1977; and Schipper, 2007). In its report, the AICPA Special Committee on financial reporting (1991) mentioned that increased competition and rapid advances in technology are resulting in changes in the reporting schema adopted by firms, with consequent changes in the extent to which to the needs of users of financial reports are met.
By failing to satisfy the information needs of users, financial reporting will be left behind in a rapidly changing environment, and may become irrelevant.
Several previous studies have concluded that there is a low level of financial disclosure in corporate reports in relation to the needs of different user groups (Buzby, 1974a and 1974b; McNally et al., 1982;
Wallace, 1987; Arabia: Al-Mulhem, 1997; Bartlett and Chandler, 1997; Al-Hussaini, 2001; Naser, 18 ACCOUNTING & TAXATION ♦ Volume 3♦ Number 2 ♦ 2011 Nuseibeh, and Al-Hussaini, 2003; Mirshekary and Saudagaran, 2005; Ngangan et al., 2005; Chatterjee, 2007). Different users of corporate annual reports are likely to have different objectives and therefore have diverse information needs. Schneider et al. (1994) reported a lack of agreement between those who prepare annual reports and those who use them in developed countries in terms of the relative importance of various items reported. The evidence suggests that preparers do not place the same value on information as users do, with users placing a higher value on the free flow of information. Interestingly, users from developed and developing countries rate the importance of disclosure items differently (Ngangan et al., 2005).
In summary, disclosing all information may be overwhelming and not practical. The relevance of information to users’ needs, its reliability, and the costs of gathering and publishing it, are the most important factors in determining the quantity and quality of information that should be disclosed in corporate annual reports. Those who prepare corporate annual reports should disclose information that meets user needs, by identifying user groups and their purposes in using financial information for decision making.
DATA AND METHODOLOGY
A survey questionnaire was used to explore whether the financial reports published by UAE firms were relevant to the needs of their users and whether the items included in the disclosure were those that the users perceived were important. This instrument has been used in prior studies to obtain insights on respondents’ views of various annual report disclosures (Ho and Wong 2001; Hooks et al., 2002;
Prencipe, 2004; Tooley et al., 2010). It is considered a practical and efficient means of collecting data on perceptions of respondents especially when a large number of respondents are involved.
Questions asked in the survey instrument were focused around three themes: What is the most important source of information for users? Do corporate annual reports meet the needs of users? What are the most important items that users look for in corporate annual reports? Construction of the questionnaire for this study was based on an extensive review of the literature and similar questionnaire surveys that had previously been conducted in other countries, especially in developing countries (Abu-Nassar and Rutherford, 1995 and 1996; Al-Hussaini, 2001; Ho and Wong, 2001; Ngangan et al., 2005; and Mirshekary and Saudagaran, 2005; Alattar and Alkhater, 2007; Chatterjeeet al., 2010). Additional comments and feedback were obtained from UAE auditors.
The questionnaire is divided into three sections. Section one is concerned with the demographic profile of participants. Section Two aims to evaluate the current corporate reporting practices in the UAE from the perspective of participants. Subjects were asked the extent to which they use corporate annual reports in their decision making, their rating of importance for various sources of information, and the reason for using other sources of information. Participants were asked to identify issues that might affect their use of annual reports in the UAE. They were then asked to evaluate the extent to which they rely on the following seven sections of annual reports: management report; auditor’s report; statement of financial position (Balance Sheet); income statement; statement of changes in equity; statement of cash flow; and notes to financial statements. Moreover, subjects were asked to evaluate the difficulty, reliability, and relevance of the information included in these sections. Finally, participants were asked to indicate the reasons why they might not use annual reports to inform their decision making.
The final section of this research instrument focuses on participants’ perceptions of the level of importance of each of the selected information items in annual reports. A list of items of information that might be included in annual reports published by UAE firms was provided. Respondents were asked to examine each information item and assign a weight to it (using the 5-point Likert scale), reflecting its
importance in their decision making. The objective of this method was to develop an index indicating the perceived importance of items for most user groups.
The selection of the information items for inclusion in the survey was based on items used in previous studies (Wallace, 1987; Cooke, 1989; Ngangan et al., 2005; and Mirshekary and Saudagaran, 2005), especially those conducted in the region such as Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Kuwait, which are similar to the UAE in terms of their socio-economic and political systems (Abu-Nassar, 1993; Al-Mulhem, 1997;
Al-Hussaini, 2001; Naser and Nuseibeh, 2003; Alattar and Alkhater, 2007).
One hundred and thirty two items of information were included in the initial list, which was discussed with three senior auditors from three large audit firms in the UAE to ensure the relevance of the items to the socio-economic environment of the UAE (Ho and Wong, 2003). This consultation process resulted in a reduction of the list to 84 information items. Table 1 provides a breakdown of these items.
Table 1: Details of Information Items within the Annual Report
The final draft of the questionnaire was prepared and reviewed several times and then was pilot-tested and distributed to a group of different users (individual investors, institutional investors, bank credit officers and brokers). Positive feedback was received with some comments and suggestions, which were considered and incorporated to develop the final version of the questionnaire. Also, Cronbach’s alpha was calculated to test the reliability of the instrument (Judd et al., 1991; Abu-Nassar and Rutherford, 1995).
The alpha value for all scales was above 0.7, which indicates that the scales, in general, have good internal consistency and reliability (Huck and Cormier, 1996).

domain: finance


It is an open secret that the dashing Mahesh Babu is one of the most successful and talented stars in Tollywood today. Fondly called 'Prince', the actor is held in high regard thanks to his mesmerizing personality, chocolate-boy looks, impressive versatility as a performer and his bindass nature. Over the years, Mahesh Babu has starred in quite a few well-received films, and this has established him as the heart and soul of the Telugu film industry.
Now, here is some awesome news for all you Mahesh Babu fans out there. As it so happens, the 1 star is all set to collaborate with the noted director SS Rajamouli for a film that is going to be shot simultaneously in Telugu and Hindi. The said project will mark Mahesh Babu's Bollywood debut and it's likely to go on the floors once SS Rajamouli and Mahesh Babu wrap up their pending films.
Interestingly, the buzz is that Karan Johar is keen on producing the film and helping it reach a wider audience. As it so happens, Karan had previously expressed a desire to launch Prabhas in Bollywood. However, that plan went for a toss because of Darling's busy schedule. Let us hope that things work out this time around.
On a related note, Rajamouli is currently working on his film with Ram Charan and Jr NTR. On the other hand, Prince is currently busy working on Maharshi.


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With its backlit color screen and Master System compatibility, the Game Gear was years ahead of its main competition. The major downside was that it tore through alkaline batteries quickly, and for that reason the cheaper but less equipped Game Boy was still able to compete. Since we live in the future, however, the Game Gear has received new life with many modifications that address its shortcomings, including this latest one that adds an HDMI output.
The core of the build is an FPGA which is used to handle pixel decoding and also handles the HDMI output. The FPGA allows for a speed high enough to handle all the data that is required, although [Stephen] still has to iron out some screen-filling issues, add sound over HDMI, and take care of a few various pixel glitches. To turn this hack into a complete hodgepodge of adapters, though, [Stephen] has also added an SNES controller adapter to the Game Gear as well. Nintendo has featured Sonic in many of its games, so although we may have disagreed back in the early 90s we think that this Sega/Nintendo pairing is not crossing any boundaries anymore.
Game Gears have had their share of other modifications as well to make them more capable as a handheld system than they were when they were new. We’ve also seen them turned into a console system (they were Master System compatible, after all) and converted into other things entirely, too.
Continue reading “Game Gear HDMI with SNES Controller”
[Jason Carlson]’s favorite game as kid was 1983’s Treasure of Tarmin by Intellivision, a maze game that eventually came to be called Minotaur. As an adult there was only one thing he could do: remake it on a beautiful Arduino-based handheld.
[Jason] built the handheld out of a small-footprint Arduino Mega clone, a 1.8” LCD from Adafruit, a 5 V booster, a 1” speaker and vibe motor for haptic feedback. There are some nice touches, like the joystick with a custom Sugru top and a surprisingly elegant 2 x AA battery holder — harvested from a Yamaha guitar.
The maze maps are all the same as the original game, which [Jason] found online, but he stored the maps as bytes in an array to speed up the game—there was a flicker in the refresh already. However he added a progress map so players could see every area that was explored. In addition to Minotaur [Jason] also added remakes of Tetris, Simon and Snake, simpler games he wrote to test out the hardware.
We’ve published a bunch of handheld gaming projects over the years, including putting a Pi Zero in a GameBoy, building a throwback handheld, and playing Ocarina of Time on a N64 handheld.
Continue reading “Fight a Minotaur with this Gorgeous Handheld”
We think [Brek Martin] set out to build a handheld GPS and ended up adding an mp3 Player to it. Regardless, it’s beautifully constructed. Hand built circuit boards and even a custom antenna adorn this impressive build.
The core of the build is a 16 bit microcontroller a dsPIC33FJ128GP802 from Microchip. It’s a humble chip to be doing so much. It uses a UBlox NEO-6M positioning module for the location and a custom built QFH antenna built after calculations done with an online calculator for the GPS half. The audio half is based around a VLSI VS1003b decoder chip.
The whole build is done with protoboard. Where the built in traces didn’t suffice enamel and wire wrap wire were carefully routed and soldered in place. There’s a 48pin LQFP package chip soldered dead bug style that’s impressive to behold. You can see some good pictures in this small gallery below.
Continue reading “MP3 Player and Handheld GPS is an Odd Combo Work Of Art”
[Nino K] built a portable game player for text adventures. He decided he had spent enough time with the ATmega328 kit from NerdKits to build a more advanced project.
To start with, he built a prototype PCB and tested out the concept. It worked so he began on the real thing. He tore out the guts from a broken Game Gear, saving some parts like those responsible for supplying power. Impressively, he etched his own replacement boards for the Game Gear’s control pads; surprising himself at how simple it ended up being. He fit a 16×4 LCD into the space previously occupied by the Game Gear’s screen.
The program itself is a simple text adventure of his own creation. He even added little 8-bit sprites. The story is classic, a princess has gotten herself in some trouble and a brave hero has been coerced into saving her. Last, he added some music and sound effects from Zelda with a piezo buzzer.
This project is guaranteed to disappoint a visiting younger cousin or relative, but we like to think of that as a feature and not a bug. Great work!
One of the earliest Nintendo products to gain popularity was the Game and Watch product line. Produced by Nintendo between 1980 and 1991, they are a source of nostalgia for many an 80s or 90s kid. These were those electronic handheld games that had pre-drawn monochrome images that would light up to make very basic animations. [Andrew] loved his old “Vermin” game as a kid, but eventually he sold it off. Wanting to re-live those childhood memories, he decided to build his own Game and Watch emulator.
The heart of [Andrew’s] build is a PIC18F4550 USB demo board he found on eBay. The board allows you to upload HEX files directly via USB using some simple front end software. [Andrew] wrote the code for his game in C using MPLAB. His device uses a Nokia 5110 LCD screen and is powered from a small lithium ion battery.
For the housing, [Andrew] started from another old handheld game that was about the right size. He gutted all of the old parts and stuck the new ones in their place. He also gave the housing a sort of brushed metal look using spray paint. The end result is a pretty good approximation of the original thing as evidenced by the video below. Continue reading “Give In To Nostalgia With a Retro Game And Watch”
Are you all thumbs when it comes to Linux? If you follow [Chris]’s guide to building a handheld Linux terminal, that particular condition could work to your advantage. His pocket-sized machine is perfect for practicing command line-fu and honing your scripting skills on the go.
[Chris]’s creation is built around a Raspberry Pi A+ that he stripped to its essentials by removing the GPIO pins, HDMI and USB ports, the audio port, and the camera and display ports. It’s housed in a pair of plastic 2.5″ hard drive enclosures connected with a piano hinge, making it about the size of a Nintendo DS. The display is an Adafruit PiTFT touch screen and in order to save space, he soldered it directly to the Pi.
The 2.4GHz wireless thumb keyboard has all the special characters necessary for Linuxing, but the four USB ports from a dismantled hub provide flexibility. If [Chris] were to make another one, he might use this slightly larger screen from Tindie and add some charging ports to the case.
[Thanks for the tip, ar0cketman]
The Hackaday Prize party wasn’t just about the five finalists; actually, there were more THP entries in attendance – All Yarns Are Beautiful, OpenExposer, M.A.R.S., a 3D scanner, and a few more that I’m forgetting – than actual finalists. In addition, a number of people brought projects that had never seen the light of day, like [Ralf] and [Pamungkas]’ Phoenard.
Phoenard is a Kickstarter project the guys launched at the prize party, something they could attend as a little side trip after manning the ‘maker’ part of the Atmel booth at Electronica. They’ve come up with a tiny handheld device that can only be described as a ‘gadget’. It has a touchscreen, a battery, an MegaAVR, a few connectors, and not much else. What makes this project cool is how they’re running their applications. A bootloader sits on the AVR, but all the applications – everything from a GSM phone to an MP3 player – lives on a microSD card.
The Phoenard guys have come up with a few expansion modules for Bluetooth LE, GSM, GPS, and all the usual cool modules. Plugging one of these modules into the back of the device adds capability, and if that isn’t enough, there’s an old 30-pin iPhone connector on the bottom ready to accept a prototyping board.
Video of these guys below.
Continue reading “Phoenard, A Prototyping Gadget”


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Van Morrison and the bizarre mystery surrounding claims that he fathered his tour manager's baby
- FIRST Brown-Eyed Girl singer Van Morrison’s website announced his tour manager Gigi Lee had given birth to his son
- THEN A friend said on radio the website had been hacked, the baby wasn’t Van’s – and the singer didn’t even know Gigi Lee
- NOW We can reveal Ms Lee was the director of 14 Van companies, she was pregnant and she told best friend ‘I’m having a little Van’
It is not difficult to imagine Van Morrison’s displeasure at having to interrupt his ‘quiet family Christmas’ to refute startling claims about his love life.
The singer is intensely private and curmudgeonly and is not given to making public pronouncements.
But he faced an allegation that he had become a father again at the age of 64 to a baby boy, George Ivan Morrison III, by a woman who was not his wife.
His response was unambiguous.
New mum: Gigi Lee, who has given birth to baby George
In a statement, the singer of Brown Eyed Girl, who is married to former Miss Ireland Michelle Rocca, said it was all ‘completely and utterly without foundation’.
A public relations executive drafted in to represent him said he had asked Morrison whether he had even heard of the supposed mother, a woman named as Gigi Lee.
He said: ‘He [Morrison] has never heard the name at any stage in the past. He doesn’t even know who this person is.’
What gave the original claim credence – it was reported as fact by many leading news organisations – was that it appeared on Morrison’s official website and included a statement purporting to be from ‘Van the Man’ himself, talking of his joy at becoming a father again.
The official line was that he had been the victim of a hoax perpetrated by a computer hacker. And there the matter rested – just another bizarre showbusiness tale that never was.
Only it isn’t quite as simple as that. For a start, Gigi does exist and is linked to Morrison in many ways. Her friends find it frankly inconceivable that the PR executive should claim otherwise.
Family man: Van Morrison with wife Michelle, the mother of two of his children
She is his tour manager and a director of 14 of his companies. Witnesses have seen them together on numerous occasions.
Then there is the reaction of Van’s long-term backing singer, Bianca Thornton, when told that the PR executive claimed Morrison did not know Gigi. Roaring with laughter, she said: ‘Oh my God! Everyone knows Gigi. That is very odd.’
And last night Morrison’s lawyers said that it had been ‘incorrectly’ stated that Morrison did not know Gigi.
So just what is the truth about 42-year-old Gigi, who hails from Texas, and the baby she has named George?
The paternity of her child can be settled beyond doubt only by a test. Meanwhile, Gigi, who is a friend of Jerry Hall’s sister Rosy, appears to have been happy to promote the idea that Morrison is the father.
In an apparently genuine email sent to her closest friend, Carla Higdon, on June 15 last year, she said: ‘You are going to be an auntie – I am having a little Van.’
Always passionate about rock music, particularly The Beatles, Gigi grew up in a working-class Dallas suburb. She was unambitious and had no great plans to escape it when she left school.
But according to her friend Carla, a backstage meeting with fellow Texan Rosy Hall at a Rolling Stones concert in the Nineties changed her life.
Was it a hoax? Van Morrison claims the the message on his website, pictured above, was the work of hackers
Through Rosy, Gigi is said to have been introduced to a world way beyond her small corner of Dallas. At the time, she was working as a temporary secretary and looking after her disabled brother.
Although she had a roadie for a boyfriend, friends say that the love of her life was her Yorkshire terrier, Aly.
Gigi claimed that, in the summer of 1998, Rosy invited her to the christening of Mick Jagger and Jerry Hall’s son Gabriel.
‘She told me that while she was in London, she met Van at a party at Ronnie Wood’s place,’ said Carla.
‘She sounded very excited. I had no idea Van was married. In fact, I didn’t know he had a wife until this week, when the story broke about how he was claiming it wasn’t his baby.
‘I don’t know if Gigi knew he had a wife, but she never mentioned it to me.’
From London, Gigi travelled to Ireland with Rosy, who introduced her to Marina Guinness, the granddaughter of Diana Mitford, and a woman who is not unfamiliar to controversy herself. A few years ago, Marina made headlines when she admitted having a lifelong crush on the former IRA leader Martin McGuinness.
Back in Texas, Gigi resumed her life with her boyfriend, a roadie for Fleetwood Mac and Lenny Kravitz.
‘He was very good to her,’ said Carla. ‘But what he didn’t realise was that she had developed a crush on Van. There was no question about it from the way she talked.
‘I’ve only ever spoken to Van once. He called the house where she was living and I picked it up and he said, “Gigi, It’s Van!” and I said, “Hold on.”
‘She would tell [her boyfriend] she was going to Ireland to hook up with Marina, but that was a code word for Van.
‘She was constantly travelling to London or wherever he was. She said the only reason she was keeping a place here [in Dallas] was because of her brother. She loves him, but she also loves Van. She said, “If it wasn’t for my brother, I’d be out of here." ’
The boyfriend finally began to become aware of her crush about four years ago. ‘He saw CDs autographed by Van Morrison lying around,’ said Carla, ‘and one day he asked me, “What’s the truth?” ’
There were other clues. On Gigi’s wish list on the Amazon shopping website she listed the book Let’s Spend The Night Together: Backstage Secrets Of Rock Muses And Supergroupies.
Gigi’s boyfriend confirmed to The Mail on Sunday that he broke off their relationship about four years ago because he believed that she was Van Morrison’s mistress.
He admits, however, that to this day he has not confronted her with his suspicions.
‘I had been in love with her,’ he said. ‘When Carla told me about her feelings for that guy, I just left her.
Pals: Gigi Lee with friend Rosy, who is Jerry Hall's sister
'I had no idea she was working for Van Morrison until recently, when I went by the house to see how her brother was doing. By then, she’d moved into her new house.
‘There was a tour itinerary for Van Morrison lying on the ground and it listed her as his “producer”. I was surprised. She had no background in music.’
Two smart black Mercedes owned by Gigi – a convertible and a four-door sedan – were parked outside her house last night in Dallas and discarded Pampers nappy cartons were piled on the pavement.
‘I haven’t seen the baby since he was born,’ said Carla, ‘but I went with Gigi when she had a sonogram [ultrasound] and it was labelled with her name and Van’s and she said, “Oh, he looks just like his daddy.” ’
Filed neatly in a blue cardboard folder in Carla’s sitting room are emails from Gigi – or at least from her email address – which allude to ‘Van’ and ‘the baby’.
The friends also appear to have corresponded about Gigi’s new house, a £300,000, three-bedroom, three-bathroom mini-mansion which she recently purchased in an upwardly-mobile Dallas development.
Van Morrison is fiercely protective of his privacy
Its small front garden is dominated by a concrete fountain and it has a games room and a swimming pool.
Carla says that Gigi told her Morrison had paid for it. But she has no way of knowing if there is any truth in that claim.
Yesterday, reached on her mobile, Gigi said over the sound of a baby crying in the background: ‘I really don’t have a comment now, not yet. I will do.’
Earlier, two women who claimed to work for Gigi answered the door of her house.
A Mail on Sunday reporter explained that she wished to interview Gigi about the conflicting reports of George’s paternity.
‘She is resting. She can’t talk now,’ said one.
The other said: ‘I understand. You just want to clear things up.’
Asked how ‘the baby, George’ was doing, the first woman said: ‘He’s fine.’
Until Gigi’s pregnancy, Carla admits that little seemed to change in her friend’s life, except for the mysterious travelling.
She said: ‘I saw Van once, when he was playing theatres here three or four years ago, and I went up to the suite he had at a hotel and he was walking out as I was walking in. Gigi is very private and he is very private.’
After Gigi announced her pregnancy Carla heard about the plans to upgrade her lifestyle.
‘She claimed Van had given her a budget of $500,000 to buy her new home,’ Carla said, ‘but I didn’t know what to believe. Another friend says she raised the money herself.’
Intriguingly, Gigi was made a director of 14 of Morrison’s production companies in April last year – just weeks before she told close friends she was pregnant.
She is listed under a Texas address in Companies House documents in London, sometimes appearing both as secretary and director of Morrison’s businesses.
Her occupation is given as ‘real estate management’ and the 14 companies cover Morrison’s business activities in film, music and concert tours.
She has also been described as an executive producer of a filmed concert recently released by the singer.
Scott Foundas, a journalist with US-based LA Weekly, said yesterday that he had met ‘Gigi with Van Morrison on several occasions’.
He added: ‘The most recent was a few months ago when I attended Van’s concert in Chicago. She was heavily pregnant at the time. It never occurred to me to ask whether Van was the father.
‘You don’t go round asking people who the father of their baby is. They don’t go in for any public displays of affection. Two days ago, Phil Lobel [Morrison’s publicist] sent me an email saying, “Gigi had her baby”.
Denial: Van Morrison said in a statement that he was happily married to his wife Michelle, above, with whom he has two children
‘Gigi is a very striking woman. She’s about 5ft 10in – a little bit taller than Van – and slim with long, blonde hair. You can tell that she cares about her appearance. She’s always very well dressed, but nothing too showy or flamboyant.
‘Gigi’s title is something like executive tour manager. Together with Phil Lobel, she’s definitely the person to go to for anything to do with Van. She takes care of everything.
'She always stands in the wings of the stage and watches Van whenever he performs. I’ve seen several of Van’s concerts and she always watches from the wings. I saw her again with Van on a TV show.
‘I cannot imagine why this PR executive would claim he doesn’t know Gigi. That doesn’t seem right at all.’
In his statement last week, Morrison said: ‘For the avoidance of all doubt and in the interests of clarity, I am very happily married to Michelle Morrison with whom I have two wonderful children.’
The singer also said that the false posting was the second time his website had been hacked into during the past three months. As result, he has ordered a review of its security.
The statement on the website, which has since been taken down, read: ‘Gigi and Van Morrison are proud to announce the birth of their first born son George Ivan Morrison III. “Little Van” born 28 Dec, 2009 – the spitting image of his daddy.
'He is a dual citizen of Northern Ireland/United Kingdom and the United States of America.’
Morrison has a three-year-old daughter and two-year-old son with his wife. He also has a daughter, Shana, 39, a musician, from his first marriage to Janet ‘Planet’ Minto.
Morrison, who was born in East Belfast, first enjoyed success in the mid-Sixties as a member of the band Them. Their hits included Gloria and Here Comes The Night. He went on to find fame as a solo artist.
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domain: news


To overcome the shortage of teaching staff, the Haryana government has decided to recruit 19,902 post-graduate teachers for its schools across the state.
Recruitment for the newly sanctioned posts will be made on the pattern of Kendriya Vidyalayas run by the Central government, an official release quoting education minister Geeta Bhukkal said here on Saturday.
The government has also decided to set up a training institute in Jhajjar to impart necessary skills among the teachers before they join services.
Besides imparting pre-service and in-service training, it will run a four-year integrated degree course in the disciplines of Arts, Science and Commerce.
The minister said due to consistent efforts by the state government, Haryana's gross enrolment ratio has reached to about 20.13 per cent as compared to the National average of of 19.40 per cent.


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The Warrior’s Heart is a book about a modern day American hero. Eric Greitens is a former Navy Seal who excelled at the hardest military training in the world then teamed up with other fellow Navy Seals to hunt al Qaeda terrorists in Iraq. He is not only a true warrior, however a true humanitarian as well.
In The Warrior’s Heart Eric shares his story of friendship, struggle and hard earned wisdom. His journey will take you from his boyhood in Missouri, to a factory in China, to refugee camps in Rwanda, to the battlefield in Iraq. Eric will show you how through his personal service that every one of us can make a difference.
Eric was a Military boxing champion as well as a highly decorated combat veteran. He currently speaks to teens in which he shares his adventures and stories of overcoming hardship, developing leadership and becoming a true humanitarian. He is the founder of a nonprofit organization called the Mission Continues.
The Warrior’s Heart was an inspiring and excellent read. Eric is all about accountability and ownership. While being a true warrior on the battlefield when he needed to be he also carries a sense of humbleness that shows through in his compassion for others. If you are into reading about the true hero’s in this world, this is a book for you.


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I really want to write what I want to say about this game in a good way, because I didn’t really see a game that affected me so much after Celeste and Assassins’s Creed: Origins. First of all I would like to thank my dear love, Cameron Monaghan. At first I was scared when he heard that one of the Hollywood actors would play the main character, but he was a tremendous voice actor. Cal Kestis — that is, Cameron- who voiced everything that she was living in as if she was living in it, has really done a great job. It was an interesting start, but I apologize that I could not mention Cameron.
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order Review
You probably already understood this in the trailer of the game, but it is still useful to write. Jedi Fallen Order takes place in the most exciting time neglected by movies. You are in the role of Cal Kestis, who survived “Order 66” in the game and has been living in exile, the scrap planet Bracca. One day, when he uses his force (Force) to save a friend, the Imperial organization still looking for the last remaining Jedi realizes this. Cal is rescued at the last minute by the Rebellion organization and embarks on a mysterious quest to restore the Jedi order. In this mysterious quest, he tries to uncover the mysteries in Ancient temples.
First of all, we are confronted with a mixture of Assassins’s Creed, Ori and the Blind Forest and Soulsborne. “What is Ori about here?” I am aware of what you said, but I really like some mechanics of the game overly similar to the mechanics in Ori, especially the mechanics we did with ivy seemed very similar to me, of course this is my own opinion. If you ask why I said Assassin’s Creed, the track mechanics are very similar to me. If anyone among you has played Titanfall 2, Respawn has put the friction mechanics on this wall too, so while EA really gives this project to Respawn, “I don’t get involved anymore.” He said officially. If you ask why I said Soulsborne (i.e. Dark Souls, Bloodborne), I will explain a little more below, but in summary: Combat system.
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order Combat System
With a third-person view, you fight on different planets of the Star Wars universe. The combat system is based on the Soulsborne series, as I mentioned above: Blocking, Parrying and Avoiding. It depends on the level of difficulty, but often it will not make sense to go to war against a multi-person group. At the time of death, our main character Cal loses all unused experience points and is born back where he last meditated (doing the same function as Bonfire in Dark Souls meditation mechanics). But don’t worry, it is possible to regain your lost experience points, which is to find and kill the person who murdered you – yes, it’s a bit of an awful situation. The game is definitely in the meditation zone right before critical battle zones, but it is in your hands to use it sensibly. We have 2 options in meditation mechanics, rest and spend your skill points. The critical thing in meditation is that if you click the rest button in your meditation zone, all the monsters you have killed before – storm troopers, etc. – come back to where you killed. This difficulty varies depending on the option, but I do not click on the rest option unless I feel overly necessary because I play at high difficulty because the game really makes you suffer when you return to your ship just because you used that mechanic.
Fallen Order BD-1
The game is also cute or cute, you encounter a droid that will help you almost anywhere in the game: BD-1. Telling the story of BD-1 can be a huge spoiler for you, so let me tell you directly what help this tiny droid did to us. It allows you to scan all the mysterious areas you encounter in the game, heal yourself, repair broken doors, open your treasure chests and, of course, most importantly, you can control your minimap completely from this Droid. Also, one of the great features of BD-1 is this: If you fail to solve a puzzle in the game, BD-1 will try to help you solve that puzzle after a while. I said it works because when the BD-1 wants to help you, you also have the option to refuse help. In addition, there are treasure chests and improvements special to BD-1 on all the planets we visit. Of course, finding them will become a pain for you, but you get two good rewards in return. One of them is the Stim Canister chests (i.e. pots that heal you). When we first meet BD-1, we have a total of three (3) particles of Stim Canister, each time we find a Stim Canister chest, it can have another healing pot. The other one is BD-1 mechanical improvements that will help you progress in the game, we can find them again on the planets we find Stim Canister chests. These BD-1 improvements are easier to find than other chests, but of course it’s up to your sharp eyes because if you just look at a flat spot and find them, it will be impossible for you to find them. To put it briefly, I sacrifice my life for BD-1, for me now BD-1 is the same value as Baby Yoda.
Let’s talk about Cal Kestis’s cosmetics aside from BD-1: You can reach Cal’s cosmetics in general from treasure chests, cosmetics generally include Cal’s Pancho, normal uniform and Lightsaber coatings. The variety is pretty much for Lightsaber coatings, but I can’t say the same for Poncho and Uniform. Poncho designs are all the same, the only difference of other ponchos is their colors. Of course, I will not score points due to the low cosmetics of the game. Other than that, you have options such as changing the color of BD-1, changing the color of Mantis (your ship).
First of all, I am not an extreme Star Wars fan, but I have not fallen back enough to understand the references in the game. As a Jedi force, we can also see who is using it or what is happening there by focusing on a particular object. With this mechanic, you can have the chance to anticipate what you will encounter, or you can witness Star Wars media references. To say this, there are a lot of submissions in the game, and one of these submissions is: I have the high ground – I hope everyone remembered it -. This reference can sometimes change as “He has the high ground”, depending on who is at the top and who is at the bottom – please don’t joke from this sentence. Apart from that, Clone Wars is mentioned in almost every part of the game. You are witnessing the remains of Clone Wars in the world of the game, these references did not have much effect for me, but of course it is nice to have such details for someone who watches Clone Wars.
Although there is not much variety – a very normal situation according to the subject of the game – we have Force skills. First of all, you start the game with only one Force skill, but don’t worry, you can have new Force skills depending on your progress in the game. I don’t want to give much information about this “Force” because it contains a lot of spoilers. Also, I’m not going to say that, because what you do with Lightsaber is so free that it makes the game’s combat system perfect. Sometimes you have a cinematic scene in the combats you are dealing with and it officially moves this game from the Star Wars universe to the Soulsborne universe, and you can compare it to the Fatality in Mortal Kombat. It was a very satisfying experience for me to throw your Lightsaber into a storm trooper, or to throw people you fight with a simple Force skill off the cliff. So no matter how much I describe the combat system of this game, it will be more useful for you to play, see or watch. Of course, bosses can use all of what I say against you, so you should be careful.
Speaking of the graphics of the game. I was a little surprised when I saw that the game was with Unreal Engine in the first show because most of the single-player games published by Electronic Arts are made with the Frostbite engine. Re spawn has done an excellent job in this game with Unreal Engine 4, and the graphics seem to be a masterpiece in every region of the game. The landscape of the game is very diverse in terms of geography and design. Re spawn has done a tremendous job in terms of diversity, with lush forests, mysterious temples, icy underground caves, Imperial bases, and beyond. I hope the developers did not draw too much workforce while making this game. Because the game is made in a short time and looks so great, it seems scary in terms of work force.
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order PS4
In addition to experiencing some deterioration of the textures that appeared during the game, I experienced occasional slowing and lag while loading new areas and costumes. Fortunately, none of these problems cooled me down a bit. Unfortunately, the game has not been fully optimized, but you are experiencing these FPS drops in crowded or open areas in general. Other than that, you don’t have to worry about the FPS drop when you’re inside caves, dungeons, and temples – at least that’s not a problem for me. As far as I have seen so far, PS4 players have suffered the most, then Xbox and finally PC players. Interestingly, the best optimized version of the game is now on PC and this is generally the opposite.
Oh let me not forget, the character designs in the game are very diverse and I am sure that you will fall in love with all of them. I am generally in love with the villains in Star Wars, not only because of their understanding in the Empire, but until now, there has never been someone I have fallen so much in my life.
I can not even write before I conclude that it was a really sad situation for me that the Game Awards could not participate in the Game Awards because of the absurd excuse. No, it was “too late”, the game was released exactly 1 week after Death Stranding came out and its beta was played well before that. This game definitely deserved the game of the year award, and it was officially absurd that it couldn’t even attend the event for a fake reason.
Anyway, let’s come to the conclusion: With the game combat system, the masterpiece atmosphere, the chilling theme, the emotional moments and the excellent innovative Star Wars characters, I comfortably entered the top 5 in the best games I have played. The game of course has problems, such as the lack of fast travel system, optimisation problem or graphics disruptions, but this has never spoiled my enjoyment in the game. Because the game affects the depths of your soul, your sense of being uncomfortable with these problems is lost. This article was much more wrong than my other articles because it was really hard for me to write this game. I think you should definitely taste this game with your own eyes, but then you will understand all that I feel.

domain: game


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from Off Grid Survival:
The U.S. State Department has issued a worldwide travel warning telling Americans to be aware of increased terrorist threats throughout the world. The travel alert was released this afternoon, and is in effect until February 24, 2016.
The alert comes as areas throughout the EU have increased security measures in the wake of the Nov. 13 Paris terror attacks that killed 130 people. Earlier this week, multiple Syrian refugees were caught trying to gain entry into the U.S. by entering into Texas over the Southern Border.
Travel Alert: Authorities believe likelihood of terror attacks will continue as ISIL/Da’esh return from Syria/ Iraq. https://t.co/Ebm8Ny3Bom
— Travel – State Dept (@TravelGov) November 23, 2015
The U.S. State department says that current information suggests that terrorist groups are planning attacks in multiple regions of the world.
The State Department alert Reads:
The State Department alerts U.S. citizens to possible risks of travel due to increased terrorist threats. Current information suggests that ISIL (aka Da’esh), al-Qa’ida, Boko Haram, and other terrorist groups continue to plan terrorist attacks in multiple regions. These attacks may employ a wide variety of tactics, using conventional and non-conventional weapons and targeting both official and private interests. This Travel Alert expires on February 24, 2016.
Please follow SGT Report on Twitter & help share the message.


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Sharing is Caring, & Makes the Cars Go Round
By: Jared Harvill | Tennessee SLC Member
A few days ago, while I was trapped in a YouTube rabbit hole, I came across a video that suggested we should get rid of traffic signs altogether. Naturally, when I read that thumbnail, I was intrigued but also horrified at the thought of what a disaster that would mean for traffic safety. At least that’s what I thought until I watched the whole video. As it turns out, this idea may not be so crazy to some. Some experts suggest replacing intersections with “shared spaces” could reduce traffic accidents, traffic congestion and make intersections safer for pedestrians.
The idea comes from urban planners who seek to reduce traffic congestion in intersections and make them more free-flowing. It has been done in several cities across Europe within the last decade and has shown to accomplish the desired goal behind them. For example, Ipswich, UK, replaced one of their intersections with a shared space, which resulted in their fatal accident rate to fall from 23 over 3 years to only 1 per year. That’s a significant drop! There have also been similar drops in fatality rates in other cities that have done the same thing. In each case, the shared spaces reduce traffic and waiting times because cars do not have to stop and wait for the traffic lights. Cars, bicycles, and pedestrians all share the same open space and therefore slow down and steadily move around. This creates a situation where everyone must become more aware of their surroundings rather than relying on traffic lights. In these cases, the concept works. Traffic congestion is reduced, fatal accident rates drop, and pedestrians are given more consideration and have more room to walk freely.
While it may seem as though a shared space is the perfect alternative to traditional intersections, it does have its own challenges. Shared spaces have proven to be somewhat of a challenge for disabled individuals who previously relied on traffic lights and signals to cue them to be able to cross the street. One family in the UK lost their disabled loved one during a vehicular accident in one of these shared spaces. They called for a return to traditional traffic lights, claiming that their son would not have died if they were still there. In 2015, the UK Parliament called for a temporary pause on installing all-new shared spaces until they could develop a better way of accommodating disabled people. It is now up to our elected officials and us to weigh both the issues and benefits of shared spaces.
We have seen these shared spaces in Europe over the last few years, but could they work in the United States? Could we take away all of our traffic light intersections and replace them with shared spaces? Should we do this? Of course, more research needs to be conducted on these shared spaces, but the existing data is thought-provoking. Replacing our intersections with shared spaces could lead to less traffic congestion, more free-flowing movement of cars and pedestrians, and higher levels of traffic safety for all who use them, as long as the right accommodations and safety precautions are made. However, they may not work in every community depending on their terrain or other factors that would hinder their effectiveness, so we need to consider this new idea carefully. It’s a gray area that the leaders of today and tomorrow should definitely continue to research!

domain: sociology