Mark Taylor confident of Test tours taking place despite pay dispute
While the pay talks between Cricket Australia and Australian Cricket Association (ACA ) continues, former skipper and serving board director Mark Taylor has expressed confidence that the coming summer’s Ashes series as well as the scheduled tour to Bangladesh will go according to the plan.Taylor’s comments came few days after players had opted to boycott the upcoming Australia A tour of South Africa after the CA and ACA failed to reach the common grounds in their pay dispute.Australia A were slated to play a pair of four-day matches against South Africa A as well as a limited-overs tri-series against the Proteas’ and India’s A-teams.”We’ve got to get together, we’ve got to sort this out and hopefully sooner rather than later.But I’m very confident we’ll have a side for the Ashes, and I’m also very confident we’ll have a side to go to Bangladesh which is only in a month’s time. There’s obviously been a lot of conjecture and speculation about what’s going on,” cricket.com.au quoted Taylor a saying.The 52-year-old further confirmed that the discussions over a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) continue to take place away from public view.Taylor said that although the agreement between the two sides is yet to be reached, negotiations are currently going on to try and broke a deal.”There’s ongoing discussions and that’s about all I’m going to say, I don’t think people here need to know more than that. But I like to think I’m a positive person – we’ll have Ashes cricket this year,” the former Test captain said.advertisementMeanwhile, Taylor also admitted that the country’s cricket governing body and the players’ union need to compromise with each other before the game suffers further damage, in an ugly pay battle that has put the team’s upcoming tours at risk of abandonment.”I think there’s got to be compromise on both sides, I really believe that. I think at any negotiation you give and you take. I think when you get to that situation, which I hope we are getting very close to now, then you get close to a resolution. I’m confident there will be a resolution soon. I don’t know when but I just hope both sides keep working hard at it,” Taylor said.Players, having central contracts and state players without multi-year deals, were left unemployed after the deadline for a new MoU was not brokered by June 30. Players are due to be paid next on July 15.More than 200 leading cricketers are affected by the dispute between CA and the ACA.ACA had earlier rejected the new pay offer from the game’s governing body, saying the proposal will be a win for cricket administrators but a loss for the game.In March, CA made an offer, proposing that the average pay of Australia’s international women’s players would rise from $A79,000 to $A179,000, while the average remuneration of state cricketers would more than double to $A52,000.Under CA’s proposal, only male international players would have the chance to share in any surplus revenue, while other domestic male players and women at both domestic and international level would have to settle for fixed amounts which would not fluctuate according to the game’s income.However, the ACA pointed out a series of concerns with the proposal, saying that it “disrespects the value of domestic cricketers and the role they play in Australian cricket”.The major reason behind the ACA’s opposition is CA’s proposal to scrap a shared revenue model for player payments, which has been in place for nearly 20 years.Cricket Australia had in May threatened that players would not be paid beyond June 30, the date of expiry of their current five-year financial deal, if they don’t accept the governing body’s new proposed offer.
25 days agoMan Utd boss Solskjaer: I’m not doubting myself
Man Utd boss Solskjaer: I’m not doubting myselfby Paul Vegas25 days agoSend to a friendShare the loveManchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says he won’t doubt himself despite growing pressure surrounding his job security.The Norwegian heads into Monday’s clash with Arsenal at Old Trafford with United sitting 10th after collecting eight points from six games.”I’m not doubting myself. If I doubted myself, then I think the rest of the world would as well,” Solskjaer said.”We have loads of discussions as a club and believe in what we are doing.”I can’t think, ‘I need a player’, because it’s my reputation on the line – no, it’s the club.” About the authorPaul VegasShare the loveHave your say
Agriculture Minister Says Some Sugar Cane Lands Will be Used for Other Crops
Minister of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. Audley Shaw, has reiterated that some lands that were once used for sugar-cane production will soon be rationalised for the growing of other crops.Speaking at the Jamaica Business Development Corporation (JBDC) Employee Engagement Conference 2018, at the Jamaica Conference Centre in downtown Kingston on Monday (October 22), the Minister said the time has come for different crops to be invested in, and not sugar.“On my desk right now is the report of the rationalisation of sugar lands. I don’t want the sugar people to be nervous when I say this, but we’ll never go back into production using all of our lands for sugar again. It’s not going to happen, so let’s just call a spade a spade and let’s get ready for land use other than sugar,” Mr. Shaw emphasised.“We’re not trying to bounce the people who are in sugar out of it. We’re rationalising and we’re going to make you more efficient, but we’re going to make lands available for so many other things,” he added.The Minister said that the rationalisation project will result in sugar being produced on smaller acres of land, and new investment opportunities will be offered to farmers for the production of other crops.“In Parliament (recently), I gave an example. We’re talking about a School Feeding Programme where 80 per cent of all we feed the children is imported. Yet, we can produce all we want to produce… that are much more highly nutritious than imported flour and rice,” Mr. Shaw said.He further noted that two new products that can be looked at for the programme are breadfruit flour and cassava flour.“We don’t recognise the wealth that we are sitting on in this country. We can feed ourselves and we can export surpluses. We can feed our school children in a more nutritious manner, using what we grow,” the Minister said.The conference will be held until October 23 under the theme ‘Disturb. Reconnect. Engage’.It is being hosted for approximately 500 employers, with the objective of empowering and encouraging them to transform their workplaces into spaces that inspire their employees, and offer the kind of leadership and appropriate management systems that will enable their employees to understand and accept their role as important stakeholders in business processes, and as key players in achieving sustainable productivity.
Happy Birthgiving Day, Mom
Agadir – March 3rd will mark my 33rd birthday, Yes you read right, I am a woman and I’m writing my age. I never saw the point of girls hiding their age; we were all a kid, a teenager, we will all get to the age some are ashamed of disclosing, if we are meant to live to that age, we will.But this piece isn’t about women’s reluctance or fear of telling their age. This piece isn’t even about my birthday (Not that I would write an article about my birthday!) but I wanted to share a perspective about this “special day” that I discovered some years ago, when I turned 26, I was thousands of miles away from home, I called mom and enthusiastically said “Happy birthgiving day, mama!”. She was so happy and touched, and that to me was my birthday gift. And from then on I realized how much more amazing it is to shift my perspective from the ego, to the selfless soul, and make this day about the people I love instead.The day anyone is born is the day that marks the birthgiving day for their mother, the day the father became a father for the first time, or second. It is the day a grandmother celebrated having a grandchild. The day your aunt got excited for becoming one for the first time, or for having an extra nephew to buy cute baby clothes to. So in writing, and in two days I will verbally I say, Happy birthgiving day, mom, Happy New father’s day, dad. And to my grandmothers who passed away, God bless your soul, I know how excited you were for my existence, and how proud you were. You are on my mind every day.On your birthdays, wish your mother a happy birthgiving day, and watch her face shine, or hear the joy in her voice, that is your best birthday gift.And for the people whose parents have passed, I am sorry if what I wrote has saddened you, but your birthday will always be the day that amazing person brought you to this world, and I wish you all much happiness.© Morocco World News. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, rewritten or redistributed without permission
Air Miles will resume instore cash redemptions Wednesday after twoweek suspension
TORONTO — The Air Miles reward program says it will resume in-store cash redemptions of up to $50 cash per day, starting Wednesday.The redemptions were halted after Air Miles discovered nearly two weeks ago that some cash miles had been stolen.The loyalty program says Air Miles customers will be able to redeem up to 475 Cash Miles points per day, starting Wednesday as of 5 a.m. ET.But Air Miles won’t allow the points to be used to purchase gift cards, prepaid credit cards or other similar products.Air Miles alerts its members that cash miles have been stolen from some membersThe company is urging customers to ensure their email addresses on file are up-to-date to receive notices when the cash points are used and instructions if it appears somebody else redeemed them.The changes to Air Miles redemption policies follow a controversy that erupted last year, when the company was planning to void Air Miles that hadn’t been claimed after five years.That plan was withdrawn before it was to take effect.The Canadian Press
Alimentation CoucheTard to split shares as Q1 profit surges to US5388 million
LAVAL, Que. — Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. says it is proceeding with a two-for-one split of its shares as the convenience store giant’s profitability continued to grow in the first quarter of its fiscal year.The Quebec-based retailer says the split of its Class A and B shares will take effect Sept. 20. Couche-Tard’s shares closed up 54 cents at $82.34 in Wednesday trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange.The company said after markets closed that its net profit attributable to shareholders for the quarter surged 18 per cent year over year to US$538.8 million or 95 cents per diluted shares, up from US$455.6 million or 81 cents per share a year earlier.Excluding one-time items, adjusted profits for the period ended July 21 equalled 97 cents per share, up from 87 cents per share a year earlier.Revenues were US$14.16 billion, down 4.2 per cent from US$14.79 billion in the first quarter of 2019.The retailer was expected to post 97 cents in adjusted earnings on US$15 billion in revenues, according to the financial markets data firm Refinitiv. Companies in this story: (TSX:ATD.B)The Canadian Press
Namibia UNbacked polio immunization drive combats first outbreak in 10 years
All over the country the stamina and generosity demanded by the three-day campaign were evident at immunization posts, health clinics, schools, crèches, homes, farms and factories, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reported. Namibians have come out in record numbers on this first round of the campaign, and health workers and volunteers outdid themselves in response, the agency said. While the 2.5 million doses UNICEF bought for the first round of the campaign are more than enough, there is always the problem of vaccine wastage – not all the vaccine in a vial being used or too many vials opened and unused.Of the 109 suspected cases, 13 have so far been confirmed. Experience in outbreak response has shown that quick and repeated vaccination campaigns reaching the target population are highly effective. With such intervention, most outbreaks are stopped within 6 to 12 months.Data gathered so far suggests that the affected adults had not been immunized, or were under-immunized. Since the virus mostly affects young children, vaccination campaigns typically target those under the age of five rather than a country’s entire population. The origin of the outbreak has not yet been determined. But according to the UN World Health Organization (WHO), the virus may have come from neighbouring Angola, which reported its most recent case in November. As long as the virus circulates anywhere, all countries face a risk of importing it.Worldwide incidence of the disease has been cut by 99 per cent since 1988 thanks to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative spearheaded by national governments, Rotary International, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), WHO and UNICEF, with a coalition that includes non-governmental organizations (NGOs), corporations, foundations and development banks.But the initiative faces a funding gap of $85 million for this year and a further $400 million for 2007 and 2008.
Ministers will not be singled out for extra pay cuts insists Howlin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eP1Oe8dWr0CABINET MINISTERS will not be singled out for further specific pay cuts, the minister in charge of public pay has said.Brendan Howlin says the pay of ministers has fallen by over 30 per cent from its peak under the last administration – more than any other group in public life.In an interview last week with TheJournal.ie, asked if ministers might lead by example and take extra cuts, Howlin suggested people with similar responsibilities in the private sector would command far higher pay.“There’s not too many groups of workers in our economy that has taken a 30 to 40 per cent pay cut,” he said, of those who were still in full-time work.He said this was before any Croke Park 2 cuts, which would not treat ministers differently to anyone else on the public payroll – and leave them earning in the region of €150,000 a year.Ministers currently earn €169,275 each, having taken a pay cut in the first act after Fine Gael and Labour took office in March 2011. Before that, ministers were paid €181,283 each – an amount which had fallen quite significantly in previous years.When it was pointed out that current ministers had not taken a pay cut since their first hours in power, Howlin said ministers were no different to any other public workers, in that no public workers had seen pay cuts since the introduction of the first Croke Park agreement in mid-2010.“When you look at what other senior administrators in public companies or private companies are paid… whether that [€150,000 salary] is reasonable, I’ll let you judge that,” the minister said.Read: Hollande hands new ministers 30 per cent pay cut
As it happened Dublin v Mayo Division 1 Allianz Football League
Bid to build houses on ag land in Gorge denied
A pair of controversial housing developments in the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area have been blocked after a conservation group successfully argued in a quasi-judicial hearing that they were an attempt to sidestep land-use regulations.On Thursday, Clark County Land Use Hearing Examiner Joe Turner issued a pair of decisions that denied applications from Simon Shi-Ning Yang and Mei Sheng Zhou to build single-family residences on agricultural lots in the Gorge where they stated they would raise a high-end breed of cattle.In May, Clark County’s Department of Community Development approved applications from Yang and Zhou to build new residences on their respective 43-acre and 44-acre lots outside of Washougal. The lots are within the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, a 292,500-acre stretch in Oregon and Washington protected by federal law, and are subject to land-use restrictions intended to keep them for agricultural use and ensure that any development is consistent with surrounding buildings.To meet the agricultural requirements, Yang and Zhou indicated in their applications that they would use their land to get into the business of collecting and selling the embryos of Wagyu cows, a Japanese breed of cattle known for their marbled meat that’s prized by upscale restaurants.Conservation group Friends of the Columbia Gorge appealed the applications, arguing that neither Yang nor Zhou is qualified to run an agricultural operation. Friends suggested that the two weren’t actively managing the property and that their proposed agricultural businesses wouldn’t meet the required $40,000 gross annual income threshold required under Scenic Area restrictions.
TCIs Bugaloo in hospital needs your help
Facebook Twitter Google+LinkedInPinterestWhatsAppProvidenciales, 04 Feb 2015 – Medical expenses help is being sought for cultural personality, Bugaloo. Right now, the man who made conch salad prepared roadside and introduced a more authentic native experience in island dining is in hospital in Cuba. Berlie Williams aka Bugaloo, is 63 years old had reportedly use of his legs and arms about two weeks ago in Provo before he was flown out for care. Mike Stolow, owner of Bugaloo’s Conch Crawl in Five Cays told Magnetic Media last night that medical bills are mounting; already at $15,000 and Bugaloo will need your help. If you want to support the fund, donate to Berlie Williams account at RBC. More details to come. Facebook Twitter Google+LinkedInPinterestWhatsApp Recommended for you Bugaloo’s Conch Crawl a Joaquin survivor Related Items:bernie williams, bugaloo, mediacal expenses, mike stolow Bugaloo is back home, today Bugaloo returning to Provo Saturday, still needs financial help
Learn how to apply for college financial aid
Washington State University Vancouver will host an A-Z of Financial Aid and Scholarship workshop at 1 p.m. Dec. 13 at the Vancouver Community Library, 901 C St. in downtown Vancouver. The free, public workshop is for all prospective college students, no matter the college they plan to attend. Prospective students and parents will learn from financial aid experts how to make a college education attainable. Presenters will answer questions about financial aid and scholarships.
45 have not made financial calculations to understand their retirement needs
More than two-fifths (45%) of UK-based employee respondents have not made any financial calculations to understand their retirement needs, according to research by Mercer.Its Healthy, wealthy and work-wise report, which surveyed 7,000 adults and 600 senior decision makers from private and public sector organisations based across 12 countries in seven regions, also found that 79% of global employee respondents and 82% of UK-based employee respondents trust their employers to give independent advice on planning, saving and investing.The research also found:81% of global employee respondents and 87% of UK-based employee respondents feel personally responsible for their retirement income.26% of global employees who have yet to retire are confident they will save enough for retirement, compared to 25% employees working in the UK.68% of global employee respondents and 65% of UK employee respondents expect to keep working in some capacity or never retire, although 39% of global respondents and 43% of UK respondents admit to be in excellent or good enough health to perform the job they have today.13% of UK employee respondents have consulted a financial adviser to help calculate their retirement savings, and 49% state that they trust financial advisers, compared to 56% of global employee respondents.Rich Nuzum (pictured), president, wealth at Mercer, said: “The catalyst for our research was the convergence of several global trends including economic uncertainty, pension shortfalls, people living longer, ageism and reductions in employee benefits among other factors. These trends intersect health, wealth and careers, so planning for financial security must account for each of these core areas.“The existing expectation to retire at a certain age no longer applies. As people live and work longer, it is time to retire the concept of retirement as we currently know it. To live well later we need to act now, and [the] responsibility to act is incumbent across the private sector, public sector and individuals.”Eve Read, consulting leader, defined contribution and individual wealth at Mercer, added: “Everyone has a role to play in closing the savings gap. The majority of our research participants trust their employer to provide sound independent advice and although many [organisations] may not want to offer advice, they can have a real impact on the financial security of their workforce through other initiatives. The employee benefits market is constantly evolving and offering benefits such as financial education or the short-term use of pension contributions to meet other financial priorities are a good place to start.“Evidence suggests that [employees] without financial concerns are more productive and those with employers who provide financial wellness solutions are more engaged in their work. It’s a win-win for both employers and employees.”
I Want Media Panel Top Trends in Digital Publishing
sources online where regular citizens are producing extraordinary content—like what you saw yesterday in London. Video footage of an accused killer, right after he’s done what he’s done, talking about why he did it.” On the ethics of aggregation: “No offense,” Sekoff said, “but I feel like this is a question from 2006.”On live events and conferences: “I think there are more platforms,” Thompson said. “One of them is this. It’s face-to-face. We saw this in the music industry. In an increasingly virtual and digital world, a premium around actually meeting, hearing, seeing, experiencing grows.”On the role of social media in storytelling: Facebook was mentioned, Tumblr and YouTube too, but Twitter dominated the conversation around social media storytelling. Thompson had one of the distinctive quotes of the session: “We know who’s going to get a hard news story first—it’s going to be Twitter.”The comment started a lively debate, but coverage of the Boston Marathon bombing became a de facto case study for the platform.Twitter was getting all the facts first—and from non-traditional, non-journalistic sources—but web traffic spiked anyway. People were looking for journalists to distill the information.The information coming from those primary social sources was invaluable, but so was the BuzzFeed team on the ground in Boston, Peretti said, as was the web team in New York sifting through Suspect No. 2’s Twitter account and the threads on Reddit.”Having the knowledge of what’s happening on the web and what’s happening in the world, and how those things interact, became incredibly important covering that story and is going to be increasingly important,” he said.To stay updated on the latest FOLIO: news, become a Facebook fan and follow us on Twitter! NEW YORK—From Tumblr to live events, a few of those who are shaping the future of media discussed what they see ahead at a panel discussion Thursday.I Want Media’s Patrick Phillips moderated an Internet Week New York session at NYU’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute featuring Henry Blodget, editor and CEO of Business Insider, Cindy Jeffers, CEO and CTO of Salon Media Group, Jonah Peretti, founder and CEO of BuzzFeed, Roy Sekoff, president and co-creator of HuffPost Live and Mark Thompson, CEO of the New York Times Company.— —On Yahoo’s $1.1 billion acquisition of Tumblr: None of the panelists were certain how it would play out, but the general consensus was that it was a solid move for Yahoo even with the hefty price tag. The purchase, they said, fits with both Marissa Mayer’s acquisitive strategy and the nature of the changing media landscape. “It speaks to the importance of visual storytelling,” Jeffers said. “People have traditionally read things online, but more and more you’re seeing acquisitions of Instagram and Tumblr. There are so many millions of people on their platforms, it’s hard to ignore. It’s a really important way to consume media, especially news.”Thompson agreed with the premise, saying that the uptick in visual storytelling isn’t anything new on digital platforms. It’s just a continuation of a trend that started in the mid-90s with the CD-ROM.On the uses of video and where its real value lies: Sekoff, running a daily live 12-hour broadcast in HuffPost Live, was the panel’s resident expert on video. “We’re making our big bet on engagement,” he said, emphasizing the tools and a general philosophy that will accommodate constant interaction with an audience.Blodget responded: “I don’t think it’s going to work.”He qualified the statement saying that although the live broadcast was a losing proposition in his view—one Business Insider contemplated and decided against—there was value in the video broken down into easily consumable clips.Jeffers added: “Everyone has access to 
Car flies off road rams into shop in Karimnagar
Karimnagar: A speeding car rammed into a general store and injured four persons in Karimnagar on Sunday. The incident took place at Gundlapally village of Ganneruvaram mandal.A speeding car flew more than six feet into air and landed on the store. All the six people in the car were injured and four of them received severe injuries. They were rushed to a local hospital for treatment. The police visited the accident spot. They registered a case and started investigation.
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News | September 29, 2014 Claron Announces Universal Viewer Nil Support for BlackBerry Passport Claron’s Nil family of enterprise, zero-footprint diagnostic viewers provide authorized users with real time, flexible access to any digital imaging exam in the hospital system for viewing and interpretation on any device, including laptop, tablet and smartphone. It also supports display of DICOM modalities and related medical information on a multi-monitor diagnostic workstation. The innovative viewer family enables remote physicians to access both DICOM and non-DICOM image formats in diagnostic and referral image quality. The Claron Nil viewer brings a full range of features to the BlackBerry Passport and has been successfully validated with it. The BlackBerry Passport features a touch-enabled keyboard while adding a 4.5-in. high-resolution square screen format and an extended battery life. News | PACS | June 07, 2019 PaxeraHealth Wins Four New PACS Projects in Chile Picture archiving and communication system/radiology information system (PACS/RIS) developer PaxeraHealth has won four… read more For more information: www.clarontech.com FacebookTwitterLinkedInPrint分享 News | Electronic Medical Records (EMR) | August 01, 2019 DrChrono Teams With DeepScribe to Automate Medical Note Taking in EHR DrChrono Inc. and DeepScribe announced a partnership so medical practices using DrChrono EHR can use artificial… read more Claron offers support for the BlackBerry Passport in its web viewer and also on the Nil BlackBerry app, available for free from BlackBerry App World. Feature | Information Technology | July 02, 2019 | By Jeff Zagoudis Mobile Device App Viewing in Radiology Mo… read more 360 Photos | Ultrasound Imaging | July 11, 2019 360 Degree View of a Smartphone Performing a Cardiac Ultrasound Exam This 360 degree photo shows a basic, point-of-care cardiac echocardiogram being performed using a smartphone turned i read more Related Content Nil 5September 29, 2014 — Claron Technology introduces support for the BlackBerry Passport for its Nil family of zero-footprint enterprise medical imaging viewers, which enable anytime, anywhere Web-based review of a full range of imaging modalities and related data. The Claron Nil viewers include NilRead for diagnostic applications and NilShare for referring physician and other non-diagnostic users. 
News | Information Technology | June 25, 2019 Barco Launches Smart Solution for Remote Radiology Reading Barco’s new remote radiology reading solution ensures dependable imaging when radiologists are working outside the ho read more The Ambra Health mobile app provides medical image access across Connecticut Orthopaedic Specialists’ 21 locations. Technology | Virtual and Augmented Reality | June 04, 2019 Ann Arbor Startup Launches Augmented Reality MRI Simulator SpellBound, an Ann Arbor startup specializing in augmented reality (AR) tools for children in hospitals, has officially… read more “The BlackBerry Passport’s unique screen size and fast performance is highly beneficial for displaying medical images, and the keyboard is perfect for navigation through the patient list without taking up valuable screen real estate,” says Claudio Gatti, co-founder and co-CEO of Claron Technology. “Additionally, the long battery life is ideal for busy healthcare workers who must rely on devices constantly without stopping to charge them. The Nil app was among the first healthcare IT solutions to support true image sharing beyond a PACS and viewing on a full range of mobile devices.” News | Remote Viewing Systems | June 04, 2019 Client Outlook’s eUnity Smartviewer Selected by Duke University Health System Client Outlook Inc. announced that Duke University Health System has implemented eUnity for enterprise viewing… read more News | Remote Viewing Systems | July 16, 2019 Anatomage Releases Anatomage Cloud Platform Anatomage Inc. released an update to the Anatomage Cloud platform that allows medical and dental professionals to… read more NilRead and NilShare can be integrated into any DICOM network and are available as turn-key solutions for hospitals, imaging groups or radiology practices. Nil uses highly optimized client-server communication to remain responsive even over connections with limited bandwidth and high latency, such as cellular 3G, assuring anywhere, anytime communications. News | PACS | May 22, 2019 Brazil’s Santa Casa Hospital System Chooses Carestream for Unified Diagnostic Workflow Santa Casa de Misericordia has selected Carestream to replace its legacy diagnostic workflow technology across all… read more News | Ultrasound Imaging | May 22, 2019 Philips Lumify Earns U.S. Army Airworthiness Certification Philips announced that Philips Lumify, a point-of-care ultrasound device, has earned the U.S. Army Airworthiness… read more
The problem with Voltaire
No related posts. We were over to the deWitts last Sunday and John, as usual, was expounding about Voltaire being the greatest mind ever. Well, I happen to disagree, and dragged up Voltaire’s stupid remark about, “when the arts are perfected, we may be able to cure the crackpot,” or words to that effect. Of course “arts” covers a pretty wide field, and might be stretched to cover wallpapering and plumbing, in which case I have no comment.But my own definition of art includes only what is creative or inspired by the three Muses, which was the Greeks’ way of explaining the inexplicable mystery of creation. These days we can do better than that by appealing to neuroscience. But first, let’s talk about Chance. Take, for instance, three balls colored red, green and blue. Mix them up in a bag and pick them out one by one and you get a sequence green-blue-red. Mix and retrieve them again and you get, say, a different sequence: green-red-blue. Each sequence is something novel, arrived at purely by chance, although composed of a rearrangement of preexisting elements; red, green and blue balls.In my view, memory is the recapitulation of previous experience, and experience is nothing but a particular sequence of Action Potentials passing through the cytoplasm of sensory neurons in the Central Nervous System (CNS). In the course of recovery from storage within the nuclei of said neurons, the original sequence of APs is rarely preserved exactly, accounting for the notorious unreliability of memory. But this chance mixing of APs has a plus side; like mixing colored balls, it creates something new out of something old. Artists, indeed creators of any kind, tend to be daydreamers, unconventional and inept at anything that isn’t their specialty.“When dreaming, they are actually reviewing the elements of the existing order. Thus the transistor was an unusual rearrangement of materials already known to differentially attract negative or positive charges; surrealism was nothing but an unusual rearrangement of the normal elements composing a recognizable scene; and Symphony No.2 is no more than a completely new arrangement of the notes found in Symphony No.1.So the daydreaming is essential for memorizing all the known elements to be mixed together in the brain. There is nothing new under the sun, only different mixtures of the known. But one mixture is novel only because of the inefficiency of the memorization process, and the reputation of the artist rests on his ability to pick out the good from a large pile of the bad. Looked at this way, art cannot be perfectible, because it depends on a chance process that is uncontrollable. Artists frequently rely on a drug: coffee, cannabis, sex or something stronger to sharpen their ability to pick out the new, but that’s another story.I am sorry to report that John deWitt’s response to my devastating attack on Voltaire was “Bullshit!” But then, like so many uncreative people, he has a closed mind, impervious to anything new. Facebook Comments Jack O’Brien
Thousands of Chinese protest smash police cars
The official Fuan city police microblog said Sunday that a sedan had collided with a car and three motorcycles just before 8 p.m. Saturday, leaving five people injured.“The accident made a small number of local people dissatisfied, so they smashed police vehicles and overturned three police vans,” said the statement.An initial investigation found that a person with no driving license surnamed Jiang had caused the accident and was in police detention, it said. It said the driver wasn’t drunk but had accelerated to avoid a patrol vehicle and aroused attention.It said four of the injured were in stable condition and the other one had been discharged from hospital.Later Sunday, the propaganda department of Fuan’s Communist Party committee put out a statement countering accusations police and paramedics had been slow to respond.It said police had immediately called paramedics and traffic police after the collisions, and a patrol car drove to a hospital to pick up three doctors. The five injured were taken to hospital 40 minutes after the accident happened, it said.“As the rescue work was going on, some relatives of the injured people and onlookers got out of control,” said the statement. “They started to push and shove the doctors and knock the ambulance and so the ambulance left the scene under police escort.” It said “a handful of lawless people misled some people who didn’t know the truth” and they began targeting police vehicles.The Hong Kong-based Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy said about 10,000 people clashed with police, and that 10 police vehicles had been smashed, three overturned and 20 people injured.The scenes were triggered by the local police corruption, the center said in a faxed statement that didn’t cite any sources.It alleged that Fuan’s traffic police were illegally registering license plates to vehicles from outside their jurisdiction for 50,000 yuan ($8,000) and that local residents suspected the sedan had such a license.Calls to Fuan’s transport bureau rang unanswered. A man at Fuan’s local government propaganda department didn’t answer questions but referred to a press release on a local news portal which said the same as the Fuan police microblog.__Associated Press researcher Henry Hou contributed to this report.(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.) Bottoms up! Enjoy a cold one for International Beer Day 4 must play golf courses in Arizona Construction begins on Chandler hospital expansion project Mary Coyle ice cream to reopen in central Phoenix Former Arizona Rep. Don Shooter shows health improvement Associated PressBEIJING (AP) – Thousands of residents protested in a southeastern Chinese city after a traffic accident, smashing police cars and overturning three police vans, police and residents said.The reason for the protest in Fuan city in Fujian province was unclear. Police said it was instigated by “a handful of lawless people.” One resident said people became angry because police and paramedics took nearly an hour to arrive to help the injured, while a Hong Kong-based human rights group said it was to do with corruption.
0 Comments Share But such protests have become increasingly common in China, and Saturday’s violence is another reminder that the country’s new leadership has to deal with underlying social discontent that often boils over. People are fed up with corruption and high-handed officialdom, pensions that have not kept pace with inflation, and families being forced from their homes to make way for developments.Residents said police were stopping cars and checking people for driving after drinking on Saturday evening when the accident happened on a main road in Fuan.Wanting to avoid being tested, a driver in a sedan accelerated away and police started chasing the car, said a resident, who would give only his surname, Lin. About three motorcycles were hit during the chase, said Lin, adding he wasn’t sure who hit them.“About 10,000 to 20,000 onlookers became angry because police officers and paramedics took nearly one hour to arrive,” said Lin.He estimated that 1,000 to 2,000 people clashed with police and overturned three police vans.Photos carried by online southeastern news sites showed hundreds of people swarming across a wide street with two vans thrown onto their sides. In one photo, three people stood on top of an overturned van. Sponsored Stories How do cataracts affect your vision? Top Stories 5 treatments for adult scoliosis
Council State Government join forces for GC cruise terminal
Community support runs deep against Australia’s largest public-private partnership. Image: Save Our Spit The Gold Coast cruise terminal debate has heated up again with the Queensland Government calling for a multi-billion dollar development to be built on public land from north of Sea World to west of Wavebreak Island, adjacent to the Broadwater.Set to consist of an integrated cruise ship terminal, casino, residential development and resort, the Broadwater Marine Project will be Australia’s largest public-private partnership and the nation’s largest tourism infrastructure development. Queensland Deputy Premier Jeff Seeney and Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate are set to make the announcement today ahead of Sunday’s anti-cruise terminal rally organised by community group, Save Our Spit.“I think the timing is entirely provocative, but very consistent with Mr Tate’s pugilistic attitude to this whole issue,” Save Our Spit spokesperson Kate Mathews told e-Travel Blackboard.“I think the Queensland Government has abrogated its public responsibility in setting proper and appropriate approaches to develop public open space.”The rally is expected to attract thousands of people from the Gold Coast and beyond.“There has been no consultation whatsoever in terms of the wholesale grand giveaway of public open space in the middle a most beautiful estuary,” Ms Mathews said.“The public will not accept this. It may sound trite, but we will fight them for our beaches.“It will backfire in the government’s face.”Ms Mathews highlighted their support of further developing the cruise terminal in Brisbane with only 15 percent of the Brisbane on-shore excursion market currently captured by the Gold Coast.“Put the money into the terminal in Brisbane, it’s a beautiful terminal and we will welcome them and make their stay in the Gold Coast a wonderful experience.“Cruise ship passengers are welcome but not if it’s at the cost of one of our most beautiful assets.“The cruise ship companies should be very cautious before they get caught up in this excess of governmental greed.”Used solely as a transit port, the cruise terminal will be a mandatory part of the project and one of the first components built by 2015, two years ahead of the council’s proposed terminal project. The Gold Coast Bulletin reports that the number of casinos, hotels, residential or entertainment developments within the project will be limitless with tenders expected from some of the world’s biggest and best developers, hoteliers and casino operators. “We’ve already seen a number of the world’s leading developers and tourism groups express genuine interest in establishing a cruise ship terminal as part of a major tourism project,” Deputy Premier Jeff Seeney told the Gold Coast Bulletin.“We would expect there could be significant international and national interest in major new infrastructure on the Gold Coast.”A sufficient amount of public open space and waterfront access is required as part of the project with the land expected to be offered on a 99-year lease and the successful consortium responsible for covering all dredging costs, currently estimated at AUD$63 million initially and AUD$6.1 million per subsequent year.See below documentary developed independently that gathers information from all sides of the debate. Source = e-Travel Blackboard: N.A
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