Elisabeth MacNamara, president of the League of Women Voters of the United States, said “By cutting the heart out of the Voting Rights Act, the Court has weakened our ability to keep our elections free, fair, and accessible to every voter while at the same time emboldening those who seek to create barriers to voting.”
MacNamara also said, “The Court weakened the Voting Rights Act as mechanism to fight discrimination by striking down Section 4, which determines the states and jurisdictions that must secure federal approval before changing election laws. The fact that the Department of Justice blocked over 700 voting changes they found to be discriminatory from 1982-through the VRA’s 2006 reauthorization speaks for itself.”
The people of Iowa have challenges to maintain their own voting system. Will the people of Iowa allow laws and administrative rules to be put in place that will intimidate some voters and make voting unnecessarily cumbersome for the rest of the indoor positioning system? Will elections in Iowa be subject to laws that block some qualified voters from the polls and make access to the vote more difficult for everyone?
Administrative rules recently set by the secretary of state have greatly discouraged some qualified voters. Registration rolls are now purged using federal data bases that were never intended for that purpose, and are not appropriate for this use. Our driver license rolls are also inappropriate for use in voter registration questions and their use is costly for Iowans. Secretary of State investigations have used more than $200,000 and resulted in less than 10 alleged voter registration violations and no convictions.
There are Iowa legislators that would have us believe that we need to spend millions of dollars to institute a voter photo ID law that would greatly decrease the efficiency of our elections and create an insurmountable barrier for qualified voters who cannot satisfy the bureaucratic red tape these laws create or afford the added expense they may put on the registration process. Think about everyone you know who is disabled and does not drive, lives in a nursing home, students, and people in cities who use public transportation. All would be affected by voter photo ID law.
Iowans deserve elections that are free, fair and accessible. The recent Supreme Court ruling has put the responsibility for elections squarely in the hands of the states. It is important that each Iowan be vigilant to insure elections are accessible to every qualified voter.
The Supreme Court left intact the part of the Voting Rights Act that directly prohibits discriminatory voting rules, and they can still be challenged in court after they're passed. But the preclearance process has proven especially effective in protecting voting rights in places with a history of discrimination. In their ruling, the five justices who rejected Section 4 said Congress would be within its constitutional rights to craft new legislation to revise the preclearance criteria.
Getting Congress to act swiftly would seem unlikely, however. While Democrats responded that new standards must be written, very few Republicans spoke out, especially in the House where the GOP is in control. That was in contrast to many leaders in Republican-led states who hailed the high court's decision and eagerly pushed their new voting rules.
Still, some Democrats suggest that national Republicans who have been interested in "rebranding" the GOP as less hostile to African Americans and other minorities may conclude that it's not in their interest to be seen as taking advantage of the truncated Voting Rights Act.
"What is needed most on this issue is bipartisanship so there can be enough people on the Republican side to say, 'This law has worked pretty good for almost 50 years. We need to follow the direction of the court and come up with a new criteria,'" said Rep. William Lacy Clay (D-Mo.), pointing to Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.), an author of the 2006 extension of the Voting Rights Act and one of the few Republicans who spoke out aggressively on the issue.
"If the Supreme Court really had a real desire for us to come up with a new formula and if they really believed that we had some desire to bring them something that they thought was appropriate, then they would have given us some guidance or some direction as to what they were looking for," Fudge told HuffPost. "So as far as I'm concerned, the Supreme Court, for all intents and purposes, believes that we cannot do it. I happen to disagree with that."
"I don't believe that the speaker would not move," she added, arguing that for Boehner to sit on his hands, he would have to "basically ignore a decision of the Supreme Court" that said new legislation is the proper remedy.
"It's not going to be easy for him, but the good thing is, I think, there are enough of us in the House who do believe in democracy that even if we can't agree on everything, we can agree on enough to get something back into Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act," Fudge said. "I just can't believe it won't happen."
There is precedent for his concern. Recently, Boehner failed to rally Republican House members behind the much less controversial farm bill, which failed in his chamber largely thanks to opposition from conservatives. Many of them hail from states that fell under the preclearance requirements and from states that have aggressively gerrymandered voting districts to protect Republican majorities.
Click on their website http://www.ecived.com/en/.
Sunday, July 7, 2013
Thursday, July 4, 2013
New treatment may prevent disability in stroke patients
Enrique Chapa lay in a hospital emergency room bed about a month ago, disoriented, unable to speak and barely able to move. Paramedics had just rushed in the 75-year-old retired truck driver, who had suffered a major stroke in his home.His wife and son sat outside his room in Memorial Hermann Hospital in the Texas Medical Center, on the brink of making what needed to be a quick decision that could help Chapa's recovery, as well as countless other future patients.
Physicians had just told them about an experimental study that could give Chapa access to a treatment that potentially could better dissolve the blood clot in his brain and lessen his chance of a long-term disability. They would need their permission to try it on him.Another element: The study is a randomized, double-blinded and placebo-controlled trial, meaning they wouldn't know if Chapa received the experimental portion of the treatment until the trial is complete.
The family weighed its options, asked to see the device and prayed. “I told them, OK, let's do it,” said his son, Michael Chapa.With that green light, Chapa became the world's first stroke patient to participate in a pivotal Phase III clinical trial for the treatment of Indoor Positioning System, or strokes in which blood clots occur.The therapy involves using a device that delivers ultrasound energy to the brain in combination with a blood clot-busting medication that's currently the only approved treatment for stroke patients.
“If the device is better than no device, then presumably if there's an effect and it helps more patients achieve full recovery from their stroke, then the (Food and Drug Administration) may approve the device for stroke treatment,” said Dr. Andrew Barreto, assistant professor of neurology in the stroke division at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, one of 60 sites worldwide recruiting patients for the trial. “Then we would have our second-approved stroke treatment.”
The device, called the Clotbust-ER, is a hands-free head frame, worn like a helmet, that delivers ultrasound waves through the skull and to the brain using 16 probes, focusing on areas where blood clots are most likely to occur.Barreto, who's also the North American principal investigator on the study, said the waves can open up the blood clot and allow more of the drug to get into the clot, restoring blood flow quicker and potentially reduce damage.
Earlier research using ultrasound technology was done with a single-hand device that required extensive medical training. The latest design can be administered easily in any emergency room.The clinical trial will require a total of 830 patients and take about 21/2 years. Previous research using the device was sponsored by the National Institutes of Health.The current trial is sponsored by Cerevast Therapeutics, which used some technology licensed from UTHSC to design and develop the device.
Currently, the medication, tissue plasminogen activator or tPA, is the only approved treatment for ischemic stroke.While the drug works well, it doesn't have as much benefit to those with large blood clots and can cause some brain bleeding, Barreto said.“So we're adding additional treatments to tPA in the hope that we can amplify the effect,” he said.
In 2004, former UTHSC Professor Dr. Andrei Alexandrov published the results of a small safety study he led for the treatment in the New England Journal of Medicine.The study used two groups of 63 patients each: One group received the ultrasound treatment with tPA and the other received just the drug.Those given ultrasound technology with the clot-busting medication didn't suffer any increased risk of bleeding, the research showed. It also found the rate of reopening arteries in the brain blocked by a clot tripled in patients administered ultrasound energy and those patients were also less disabled at 90 days.
“We knew that they can respond to tPA and ultrasound, but there were not studies telling us what to expect at three months,” said Alexandrov, director of the comprehensive stroke center at the University of Alabama Hospital and global principal investigator for the current trial. “That's why we powered the study at 126 patients, relatively large for a safety study, but quite small for the definitive trial.”
There is no evidence that the poor eat more takeaways than any other group in our society. There may be more takeaway outlets in poor areas, but all cohorts of Kiwi society eat them regularly, both rich and poor. The one advantage for the rich is that they can afford to spend a bit more on "healthier" versions of takeaways.
What is driving our obsession with takeaways? One factor is no doubt the recession, during which people have been looking for a cheap, convenient treat.The business model of the convenience and takeaway food industry ensures that the resulting meal will be stacked full of sugar, fat and salt. This cocktail is lethal for one in four Kiwis who are a high risk for getting diabetes - a grisly condition that wipes eight years off your life.
For most Kiwis the excuse that we can't afford to eat healthily are pretty hollow, the truth is we are too lazy - or to be more politically correct, we're too time-short.That raises the question of whether government health policy hasn't priced our time correctly. Or to translate that into English - whether our "free" public health system should make it more expensive for us not to avoid crap food and save the taxpayer some dosh in paying for the consequences - let alone extend our own years of health living.
A health sector that was cheaper to access for those who have taken preventive measures to avoid the consequences of the worst of our fake food - diabetes, cancer, strokes, obesity, sleep apnoea - would be a win-win.A tax on "rubbish" food would provide the funds for the health sector to treat those too slack too avoid it. With such an abuser pays regime in place why would we care about those who eat the seeds of their own demise?
And what of that first group we discussed - the poor who can't afford to do anything else but turn up each night at the local chippie?
Read the full story at www.ecived.com/en/!
Physicians had just told them about an experimental study that could give Chapa access to a treatment that potentially could better dissolve the blood clot in his brain and lessen his chance of a long-term disability. They would need their permission to try it on him.Another element: The study is a randomized, double-blinded and placebo-controlled trial, meaning they wouldn't know if Chapa received the experimental portion of the treatment until the trial is complete.
The family weighed its options, asked to see the device and prayed. “I told them, OK, let's do it,” said his son, Michael Chapa.With that green light, Chapa became the world's first stroke patient to participate in a pivotal Phase III clinical trial for the treatment of Indoor Positioning System, or strokes in which blood clots occur.The therapy involves using a device that delivers ultrasound energy to the brain in combination with a blood clot-busting medication that's currently the only approved treatment for stroke patients.
“If the device is better than no device, then presumably if there's an effect and it helps more patients achieve full recovery from their stroke, then the (Food and Drug Administration) may approve the device for stroke treatment,” said Dr. Andrew Barreto, assistant professor of neurology in the stroke division at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, one of 60 sites worldwide recruiting patients for the trial. “Then we would have our second-approved stroke treatment.”
The device, called the Clotbust-ER, is a hands-free head frame, worn like a helmet, that delivers ultrasound waves through the skull and to the brain using 16 probes, focusing on areas where blood clots are most likely to occur.Barreto, who's also the North American principal investigator on the study, said the waves can open up the blood clot and allow more of the drug to get into the clot, restoring blood flow quicker and potentially reduce damage.
Earlier research using ultrasound technology was done with a single-hand device that required extensive medical training. The latest design can be administered easily in any emergency room.The clinical trial will require a total of 830 patients and take about 21/2 years. Previous research using the device was sponsored by the National Institutes of Health.The current trial is sponsored by Cerevast Therapeutics, which used some technology licensed from UTHSC to design and develop the device.
Currently, the medication, tissue plasminogen activator or tPA, is the only approved treatment for ischemic stroke.While the drug works well, it doesn't have as much benefit to those with large blood clots and can cause some brain bleeding, Barreto said.“So we're adding additional treatments to tPA in the hope that we can amplify the effect,” he said.
In 2004, former UTHSC Professor Dr. Andrei Alexandrov published the results of a small safety study he led for the treatment in the New England Journal of Medicine.The study used two groups of 63 patients each: One group received the ultrasound treatment with tPA and the other received just the drug.Those given ultrasound technology with the clot-busting medication didn't suffer any increased risk of bleeding, the research showed. It also found the rate of reopening arteries in the brain blocked by a clot tripled in patients administered ultrasound energy and those patients were also less disabled at 90 days.
“We knew that they can respond to tPA and ultrasound, but there were not studies telling us what to expect at three months,” said Alexandrov, director of the comprehensive stroke center at the University of Alabama Hospital and global principal investigator for the current trial. “That's why we powered the study at 126 patients, relatively large for a safety study, but quite small for the definitive trial.”
There is no evidence that the poor eat more takeaways than any other group in our society. There may be more takeaway outlets in poor areas, but all cohorts of Kiwi society eat them regularly, both rich and poor. The one advantage for the rich is that they can afford to spend a bit more on "healthier" versions of takeaways.
What is driving our obsession with takeaways? One factor is no doubt the recession, during which people have been looking for a cheap, convenient treat.The business model of the convenience and takeaway food industry ensures that the resulting meal will be stacked full of sugar, fat and salt. This cocktail is lethal for one in four Kiwis who are a high risk for getting diabetes - a grisly condition that wipes eight years off your life.
For most Kiwis the excuse that we can't afford to eat healthily are pretty hollow, the truth is we are too lazy - or to be more politically correct, we're too time-short.That raises the question of whether government health policy hasn't priced our time correctly. Or to translate that into English - whether our "free" public health system should make it more expensive for us not to avoid crap food and save the taxpayer some dosh in paying for the consequences - let alone extend our own years of health living.
A health sector that was cheaper to access for those who have taken preventive measures to avoid the consequences of the worst of our fake food - diabetes, cancer, strokes, obesity, sleep apnoea - would be a win-win.A tax on "rubbish" food would provide the funds for the health sector to treat those too slack too avoid it. With such an abuser pays regime in place why would we care about those who eat the seeds of their own demise?
And what of that first group we discussed - the poor who can't afford to do anything else but turn up each night at the local chippie?
Read the full story at www.ecived.com/en/!
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
Telemarketers Get Your Cell Phone Number
If you’re in the shrinking pool of people who still have a land line, you’re most likely inundated with calls from telemarketers.
But your cell phone is different, right? You may have registered on the FTC’s National Do Not Call Registry and maybe you know regulations exist that limit the ways debt collectors and companies selling things can pester you on your cell phone.
That kind of thinking isn’t grounded in reality and, unfortunately, a growing number of telemarketing companies don’t care about lists and legislation and will harass you with unwanted calls and texts on your mobile phone anyway. In fact, one tech analyst recently estimated as many as 100 billion robocalls—those lacking a human being on the other end—and other solicitations are made to cell phones in the U.S. every year.
Anytime you fill out a form and give out your phone number—whether it’s a contest entry, a warranty registration, a signup form for an online service, what you include on your social networking profile—you’re opening yourself up for solicitations. Or, think about how many retailers have your number because you want loyalty points to score discounts or in-store credit.
“Anywhere you’re entering your number on a form or anywhere that you’re supplying your information, there is a chance that that number is going to end up in someone else’s hands, whether or not the policy is stating that you’re protected or not,” says Jonathan Sasse, acting CMO of PrivacyStar, an app that lets you block numbers on your Android smartphone as well as report abusers to the government.
Don’t you hate it when you give $10 to some charity that’s been hounding you only to have it double down on trying to get even more money from you? The few bucks you gave it are completely eaten up in its marketing efforts to get deeper access to your wallet.
Blame the third-party telemarketing companies the charities hire to collect funds on their behalf. According to indoor Tracking, “The telemarketers keep a percentage of whatever they collect, turning over the rest of your donation to the charity. However, the telemarketers also keep your personal information, from which they can profit exponentially as they sell and resell it to other telemarketing companies.”
Even better, use a fake or alternate number if you absolutely must sign up for a loyalty program or contest. And there’s simply no reason you need to post your phone number on Facebook or your Google profile. The people who you want to hear from already have your number.
I checked with Barajas and assuming that Sandoval gets the second batch of paperwork approved, he’ll be officially blessed with 90 days to go get 1,449 valid signatures.
I also understand that Casta?eda filed a response to the recall effort on Monday, which is his right by law. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get a copy before deadline, but I am dying to know what bizarre pretzel logic he’ll use as a defense. It should be entertaining if nothing else.Assuming Sandoval gets some help, I suspect he’ll be able to get those signatures and I wish him the best of luck.
The best thing about this affair turning from a possible recall to an actual recall election is that the people of District 1 will have a meaningful second bite at the apple to decide whether Casta?eda is truly fit for office.
"Broadly, I recommend using the following age categories: birth to preschool (kids can operate a touchscreen before they can walk!), young elementary, tweens, and teenagers. While only you can judge your child's individual maturity level, in general, a younger age should indicate the need for more supervision and restriction.""Your kids may grumble and make you feel like the bad guy, but stick to your guns. And make sure to share your screen time rules with grandparents, the parents of your kids' friends, babysitters, and so on."
"As phones become smarter, you also need to think about apps, texting, data usage, phone cameras, GPS and location services. Which features are you comfortable with your kids using? Be sure to check whether your child's phone's software comes with parental controls or allows you to disable certain functions.""Internet rules should cover e-mail, credit card requests,
search engine use, approved and banned sites, and rules for social media and chat. Especially if you have younger children who may not understand the guidelines and restrictions you want them to follow, it's worth your time (and perhaps money) to learn about setting filters and parental controls.
"Whatever consequences you choose, be sure to communicate them at the same time that the policy is created. I strongly recommend creating a no-tolerance policy on dangerous behaviors, such as cyberbullying, sexting, and texting while driving."
Click on their website www.ecived.com/en/ for more information.
But your cell phone is different, right? You may have registered on the FTC’s National Do Not Call Registry and maybe you know regulations exist that limit the ways debt collectors and companies selling things can pester you on your cell phone.
That kind of thinking isn’t grounded in reality and, unfortunately, a growing number of telemarketing companies don’t care about lists and legislation and will harass you with unwanted calls and texts on your mobile phone anyway. In fact, one tech analyst recently estimated as many as 100 billion robocalls—those lacking a human being on the other end—and other solicitations are made to cell phones in the U.S. every year.
Anytime you fill out a form and give out your phone number—whether it’s a contest entry, a warranty registration, a signup form for an online service, what you include on your social networking profile—you’re opening yourself up for solicitations. Or, think about how many retailers have your number because you want loyalty points to score discounts or in-store credit.
“Anywhere you’re entering your number on a form or anywhere that you’re supplying your information, there is a chance that that number is going to end up in someone else’s hands, whether or not the policy is stating that you’re protected or not,” says Jonathan Sasse, acting CMO of PrivacyStar, an app that lets you block numbers on your Android smartphone as well as report abusers to the government.
Don’t you hate it when you give $10 to some charity that’s been hounding you only to have it double down on trying to get even more money from you? The few bucks you gave it are completely eaten up in its marketing efforts to get deeper access to your wallet.
Blame the third-party telemarketing companies the charities hire to collect funds on their behalf. According to indoor Tracking, “The telemarketers keep a percentage of whatever they collect, turning over the rest of your donation to the charity. However, the telemarketers also keep your personal information, from which they can profit exponentially as they sell and resell it to other telemarketing companies.”
Even better, use a fake or alternate number if you absolutely must sign up for a loyalty program or contest. And there’s simply no reason you need to post your phone number on Facebook or your Google profile. The people who you want to hear from already have your number.
I checked with Barajas and assuming that Sandoval gets the second batch of paperwork approved, he’ll be officially blessed with 90 days to go get 1,449 valid signatures.
I also understand that Casta?eda filed a response to the recall effort on Monday, which is his right by law. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get a copy before deadline, but I am dying to know what bizarre pretzel logic he’ll use as a defense. It should be entertaining if nothing else.Assuming Sandoval gets some help, I suspect he’ll be able to get those signatures and I wish him the best of luck.
The best thing about this affair turning from a possible recall to an actual recall election is that the people of District 1 will have a meaningful second bite at the apple to decide whether Casta?eda is truly fit for office.
"Broadly, I recommend using the following age categories: birth to preschool (kids can operate a touchscreen before they can walk!), young elementary, tweens, and teenagers. While only you can judge your child's individual maturity level, in general, a younger age should indicate the need for more supervision and restriction.""Your kids may grumble and make you feel like the bad guy, but stick to your guns. And make sure to share your screen time rules with grandparents, the parents of your kids' friends, babysitters, and so on."
"As phones become smarter, you also need to think about apps, texting, data usage, phone cameras, GPS and location services. Which features are you comfortable with your kids using? Be sure to check whether your child's phone's software comes with parental controls or allows you to disable certain functions.""Internet rules should cover e-mail, credit card requests,
search engine use, approved and banned sites, and rules for social media and chat. Especially if you have younger children who may not understand the guidelines and restrictions you want them to follow, it's worth your time (and perhaps money) to learn about setting filters and parental controls.
"Whatever consequences you choose, be sure to communicate them at the same time that the policy is created. I strongly recommend creating a no-tolerance policy on dangerous behaviors, such as cyberbullying, sexting, and texting while driving."
Click on their website www.ecived.com/en/ for more information.
Sunday, June 30, 2013
Inspirational leader James Horwill is a 'Kev' all Aussies want to follow
It is too early, after just eight Tests as captain, for James Horwill to have that bouquet unreservedly but he is well on his way after being the inspirational heart of the Wallabies storming back into an epic rugby series against the British and Irish Lions.The primal, clenched-fist scream that James Horwill unleashed in Melbourne on full-time last Saturday night when his team somehow found a way to win came from the very core of Australian rugby.
The "Big Kev'' nickname sprung from his youth when he was compared to the excitable TV salesman with that moniker. The mood was back in Melbourne in that one celebratory moment before his mind quickly switched to Saturday's series decider in Sydney.The closed-roof venue in Melbourne made the night more like a rock concert than a rugby Test. Horwill was on lead guitar bullocking ahead, urging, cleaning out.
That Saturday's shot at history could tonight be ripped away from him by the International Rugby Board scuttling their own judicial process to re-try him on a trampling charge is without precedent.Crushing. A call on his intregrity when he said it was an accident? Absolutely.
Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting is another with a make-up like chiselled cement. His experience of being deprived of a milestone 35 years in the making in 2004 is a glimpse at how Horwill may be feeling on Saturday night unless the second hearing clears him as well.Numbness, tears and elation...Ponting felt them all in the dressing room in Nagpur when Australia clinched a series win in India for the first time since 1969-70.
"Missing those first three Tests in India was the hardest thing I had to do in my career,'' Ponting once said.It was a broken thumb that caused Ponting's deep sense of loss even in victory. He was part of it but not part of it because sportsmen only get the true fulfillment being in the battle.
In an era where too many alcohol-fuelled or late night dining footballers don't get it, indoor positioning system. It is one of the reasons that Wallaby great John Eales rates Horwill so highly.Horwill has played just 36 of the 73 Tests of the Robbie Deans reign since 2008 which means he has spent as much time ploughing into rehab at the Reds and Wallabies for major injuries as he has playing.
It has never been idle time. He has contributed at Queensland Rugby Union board level, he has sold the rugby message at countless speaking engagements and he's got to understand rugby's commerical and media world. He's devoted time to know the game from top to bottom.
The one-time firebrand has also absorbed wise lessons in risk-taking as a captain.Eales predicted before the series that Horwill's Reds' background of knowing when to roll the dice by waving away a penalty goal attempt to press for a try could be pivotal in the series. It happened on cue with the scrum he called rather than go for three points with 10 minutes to play.
It was a great captaincy call in the try build-up.This series has been a marvellous event, not the least because of the carnival pulse that the travelling Lions fans give it.There is fun but needle at the same time.At 3pm last Saturday, Lions fans were lampooning Kurtley Beale at full volume in song in a riverside bar in central Melbourne.
"He kicked, he slipped and now he's on the piss...Kurtley Beale, Kurtley Beale,'' went the roaring verse in repetition.By 10pm, the Lions fans were silent but the voice will be back for Sydney.Whether the Lions can pull themselves back together from the jolting loss is another thing. The whole momentum of this series has changed because no longer are they serenely sailing along.
Selection changes, self doubt, massive pressure to breakthrough for their first series victory since 1997 and keeping the now holidaying players in the squad on the straight and narrow at their Noosa camp this week are all major challenges.
"One measly kick. One desperate lunge for glory. One last chance for redemption. Poor Leigh Halfpenny. At least Kurtley Beale could curse the turf or his moulded studs...It was a long, long effort - more than 50 metres and on the angle. The only man who will blame Halfpenny is Halfpenny himself. He hung his head in despair as the kick fell short. Will Genia gathered and booted it joyfully into the stands. Halfpenny could barely look anyone in the eye as they tried to console him and the opposition preferred hands. He was a man apart in his misery. Rugby the ultimate team game? Not for everyone. The loneliness of the long-distance kicker."
"If you took this storyline to a Hollywood producer you'd be thrown out on your ear for stretching credibility way beyond breaking point. As entertainment this was appalling, as edge-of-the-seat, nerve-shredding drama it was utterly compelling...Needs must, as the old saying has it and, needing a win to take the series to Sydney, the Wallabies went to their well of sporting resilience and mustered the victory that they so badly needed. The crowd roared their approval at the death and skipper James Horwill, with that disciplinary cloud hanging over him, raised twin fists at the Lions, the critics and anyone else who wanted a piece of him."
"Whatever the result of next Saturday's deciding Test in Sydney, North will return to the British Isles this summer with his name etched into Lions folklore...When North gathered an up-and-under near the Lions' 22-metre line and he saw Israel Folau charging towards him he looked to be up the creek without a paddle...Rather than getting himself in the best position to present the ball for the seemingly inevitable maul to follow, North used Folau's iron-tight grip to his own advantage, scooping the 6ft 5in, 15st 6lb wing up in the air and over his shoulder with gobsmacking ease. With a global audience watching in awe North then pumped his legs, taking Folau with him as he gained significant ground - even using the Wallaby as a shield for would-be tacklers."
Click on their website www.ecived.com/en/ for more information.
The "Big Kev'' nickname sprung from his youth when he was compared to the excitable TV salesman with that moniker. The mood was back in Melbourne in that one celebratory moment before his mind quickly switched to Saturday's series decider in Sydney.The closed-roof venue in Melbourne made the night more like a rock concert than a rugby Test. Horwill was on lead guitar bullocking ahead, urging, cleaning out.
That Saturday's shot at history could tonight be ripped away from him by the International Rugby Board scuttling their own judicial process to re-try him on a trampling charge is without precedent.Crushing. A call on his intregrity when he said it was an accident? Absolutely.
Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting is another with a make-up like chiselled cement. His experience of being deprived of a milestone 35 years in the making in 2004 is a glimpse at how Horwill may be feeling on Saturday night unless the second hearing clears him as well.Numbness, tears and elation...Ponting felt them all in the dressing room in Nagpur when Australia clinched a series win in India for the first time since 1969-70.
"Missing those first three Tests in India was the hardest thing I had to do in my career,'' Ponting once said.It was a broken thumb that caused Ponting's deep sense of loss even in victory. He was part of it but not part of it because sportsmen only get the true fulfillment being in the battle.
In an era where too many alcohol-fuelled or late night dining footballers don't get it, indoor positioning system. It is one of the reasons that Wallaby great John Eales rates Horwill so highly.Horwill has played just 36 of the 73 Tests of the Robbie Deans reign since 2008 which means he has spent as much time ploughing into rehab at the Reds and Wallabies for major injuries as he has playing.
It has never been idle time. He has contributed at Queensland Rugby Union board level, he has sold the rugby message at countless speaking engagements and he's got to understand rugby's commerical and media world. He's devoted time to know the game from top to bottom.
The one-time firebrand has also absorbed wise lessons in risk-taking as a captain.Eales predicted before the series that Horwill's Reds' background of knowing when to roll the dice by waving away a penalty goal attempt to press for a try could be pivotal in the series. It happened on cue with the scrum he called rather than go for three points with 10 minutes to play.
It was a great captaincy call in the try build-up.This series has been a marvellous event, not the least because of the carnival pulse that the travelling Lions fans give it.There is fun but needle at the same time.At 3pm last Saturday, Lions fans were lampooning Kurtley Beale at full volume in song in a riverside bar in central Melbourne.
"He kicked, he slipped and now he's on the piss...Kurtley Beale, Kurtley Beale,'' went the roaring verse in repetition.By 10pm, the Lions fans were silent but the voice will be back for Sydney.Whether the Lions can pull themselves back together from the jolting loss is another thing. The whole momentum of this series has changed because no longer are they serenely sailing along.
Selection changes, self doubt, massive pressure to breakthrough for their first series victory since 1997 and keeping the now holidaying players in the squad on the straight and narrow at their Noosa camp this week are all major challenges.
"One measly kick. One desperate lunge for glory. One last chance for redemption. Poor Leigh Halfpenny. At least Kurtley Beale could curse the turf or his moulded studs...It was a long, long effort - more than 50 metres and on the angle. The only man who will blame Halfpenny is Halfpenny himself. He hung his head in despair as the kick fell short. Will Genia gathered and booted it joyfully into the stands. Halfpenny could barely look anyone in the eye as they tried to console him and the opposition preferred hands. He was a man apart in his misery. Rugby the ultimate team game? Not for everyone. The loneliness of the long-distance kicker."
"If you took this storyline to a Hollywood producer you'd be thrown out on your ear for stretching credibility way beyond breaking point. As entertainment this was appalling, as edge-of-the-seat, nerve-shredding drama it was utterly compelling...Needs must, as the old saying has it and, needing a win to take the series to Sydney, the Wallabies went to their well of sporting resilience and mustered the victory that they so badly needed. The crowd roared their approval at the death and skipper James Horwill, with that disciplinary cloud hanging over him, raised twin fists at the Lions, the critics and anyone else who wanted a piece of him."
"Whatever the result of next Saturday's deciding Test in Sydney, North will return to the British Isles this summer with his name etched into Lions folklore...When North gathered an up-and-under near the Lions' 22-metre line and he saw Israel Folau charging towards him he looked to be up the creek without a paddle...Rather than getting himself in the best position to present the ball for the seemingly inevitable maul to follow, North used Folau's iron-tight grip to his own advantage, scooping the 6ft 5in, 15st 6lb wing up in the air and over his shoulder with gobsmacking ease. With a global audience watching in awe North then pumped his legs, taking Folau with him as he gained significant ground - even using the Wallaby as a shield for would-be tacklers."
Click on their website www.ecived.com/en/ for more information.
Thursday, June 27, 2013
Hernandez faces long legal road in murder case
Aaron Hernandez’s appearance in Attleboro District Court in Massachusetts on Wednesday was just the first step in what could be a long legal process for the former New England Patriots tight end, who faces six felony charges, including first-degree murder.
Hernandez was ordered to remain in jail without bail by Judge Daniel J. O’Shea. He is legally entitled to a bail review hearing in Massachusetts Superior Court, and that could occur within days. His attorneys have not responded to a request for comment on future hearings.
Hernandez’s lawyers argued that because of the constant media presence outside of his home in North Attleborough, Mass., and because of the frequent communication between the defensive team and prosecutors in previous days, Hernandez is not a flight risk.
Hernandez’s next scheduled appearance in O’Hara’s court has been tentatively set for July 24 for a probable cause hearing, though prosecutors could convene a grand jury before that date to seek a formal indictment, said Chris Dearborn, a criminal law professor at Suffolk University in Boston.
Dearborn, a former public defender and defense attorney, said he would expect a grand jury hearing within the next two or three weeks, at which point the case would be transferred to a Superior Court that has jurisdiction over murder cases.
“The standard for the grand jury is probable cause, which really is not a high threshold,” Dearborn said. “It wouldn’t be a shock at all for an indictment to return, and it doesn’t mean anything at all about whether they can prove the case.”
New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez made his first appearance in court shortly after he was arrested and charged with killing a friend, Odin Lloyd a few days after they got into a dispute at a nightclub.
Hernandez was flanked Wednesday by his team of defensive attorneys from two high-profile Boston law firms. Michael Fee, primarily known as a corporate attorney, spoke on Hernandez’s behalf and made the case for bail. Fee called the prosecution’s case “circumstantial” and “not strong” and successfully argued for affidavits regarding the case to be sealed.
Hernandez is also represented by James Sultan and his partner Charles Rankin, who have a long track record of serving as defense attorneys in high-profile cases and for famous clients.
“Jamie Sultan is a very highly respected criminal defense lawyer in Boston,” said David Siegel, a law professor at New England Law Boston.
Sultan represented the Amirault family in post-conviction litigation of the famous Fells Acre Day Care Center child abuse case, and successfully had convictions overturned on appeal. More recently, he won new trials for two clients convicted of murder, winning appeals for Linrose Woodbine in 2012, and Thomas Toolan in 2011.
“Both (Sultan) and Charlie are really, really smart lawyers that are good at identifying issues and solving problems. Both are very talented legal writers and have a reputation for being top-notch appellate lawyers,” said Dearborn, who worked for Sultan and Rankin before moving to academia. “But they both have very good trial skills, and do a phenomenal job in the court room during the trial.”
That legal mettle will be tested in front of a national audience should the defense team choose to appeal the decision by O’Shea to hold Hernandez without bail.
Former Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis was not allowed to post bond when he was arrested in 2000 on murder charges. His Atlanta-based attorney Ed Garland told USA TODAY Sports on Wednesday that Hernandez’s team should be “very aggressive to get bond.”
Garland was successful in getting Lewis freed on $1 million bond. Lewis eventually plead guilty to obstruction of justice charges and went on to play 12 more years in the NFL before retiring after last season.
“The first thing I did was file a motion for bond, and then we supported it with all sorts of facts, claiming the weakness of the case, claiming they rushed to judgment, showing all of the positive things we could show, bringing the team owners, and on and on and on. We were able to make a substantial showing that it was a defensible case, and there was no risk of flight,” Garland said.
It was notable to Garland that the Patriots did not show similar support for Hernandez. The team released Hernandez less than two hours after he was arrested, and several hours before the charges were announced publicly at the arraignment.
Read the full story at www.ecived.com/en/!
Hernandez was ordered to remain in jail without bail by Judge Daniel J. O’Shea. He is legally entitled to a bail review hearing in Massachusetts Superior Court, and that could occur within days. His attorneys have not responded to a request for comment on future hearings.
Hernandez’s lawyers argued that because of the constant media presence outside of his home in North Attleborough, Mass., and because of the frequent communication between the defensive team and prosecutors in previous days, Hernandez is not a flight risk.
Hernandez’s next scheduled appearance in O’Hara’s court has been tentatively set for July 24 for a probable cause hearing, though prosecutors could convene a grand jury before that date to seek a formal indictment, said Chris Dearborn, a criminal law professor at Suffolk University in Boston.
Dearborn, a former public defender and defense attorney, said he would expect a grand jury hearing within the next two or three weeks, at which point the case would be transferred to a Superior Court that has jurisdiction over murder cases.
“The standard for the grand jury is probable cause, which really is not a high threshold,” Dearborn said. “It wouldn’t be a shock at all for an indictment to return, and it doesn’t mean anything at all about whether they can prove the case.”
New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez made his first appearance in court shortly after he was arrested and charged with killing a friend, Odin Lloyd a few days after they got into a dispute at a nightclub.
Hernandez was flanked Wednesday by his team of defensive attorneys from two high-profile Boston law firms. Michael Fee, primarily known as a corporate attorney, spoke on Hernandez’s behalf and made the case for bail. Fee called the prosecution’s case “circumstantial” and “not strong” and successfully argued for affidavits regarding the case to be sealed.
Hernandez is also represented by James Sultan and his partner Charles Rankin, who have a long track record of serving as defense attorneys in high-profile cases and for famous clients.
“Jamie Sultan is a very highly respected criminal defense lawyer in Boston,” said David Siegel, a law professor at New England Law Boston.
Sultan represented the Amirault family in post-conviction litigation of the famous Fells Acre Day Care Center child abuse case, and successfully had convictions overturned on appeal. More recently, he won new trials for two clients convicted of murder, winning appeals for Linrose Woodbine in 2012, and Thomas Toolan in 2011.
“Both (Sultan) and Charlie are really, really smart lawyers that are good at identifying issues and solving problems. Both are very talented legal writers and have a reputation for being top-notch appellate lawyers,” said Dearborn, who worked for Sultan and Rankin before moving to academia. “But they both have very good trial skills, and do a phenomenal job in the court room during the trial.”
That legal mettle will be tested in front of a national audience should the defense team choose to appeal the decision by O’Shea to hold Hernandez without bail.
Former Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis was not allowed to post bond when he was arrested in 2000 on murder charges. His Atlanta-based attorney Ed Garland told USA TODAY Sports on Wednesday that Hernandez’s team should be “very aggressive to get bond.”
Garland was successful in getting Lewis freed on $1 million bond. Lewis eventually plead guilty to obstruction of justice charges and went on to play 12 more years in the NFL before retiring after last season.
“The first thing I did was file a motion for bond, and then we supported it with all sorts of facts, claiming the weakness of the case, claiming they rushed to judgment, showing all of the positive things we could show, bringing the team owners, and on and on and on. We were able to make a substantial showing that it was a defensible case, and there was no risk of flight,” Garland said.
It was notable to Garland that the Patriots did not show similar support for Hernandez. The team released Hernandez less than two hours after he was arrested, and several hours before the charges were announced publicly at the arraignment.
Read the full story at www.ecived.com/en/!
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Seeing Hamilton through the lens of Instagram
Did you know that sometimes at Churchill Park turtles shuffle into the warm open spaces to lay their eggs? What about West Avenue North and how the neighbourhood kids have recently drawn messages on the road in chalk to deter would-be speedsters? I bet you didn't know that Tiger-Cats offensive lineman Peter Dyakowski gave a signed player card to his realtor, thanking him for the house he sold to him.
If you type in #hamont in the Instagram search bar, more than 50,000 images, like the ones I just described, appear: thank you letters, graduation celebrations, a couch for sale, friends hiking, people jumping and waving. Instagram is a U.S.-based website where you can post pictures from your Apple cellphone camera, or from other phones if it allows the Instagram program.
Below each image is a brief sentence. The backdrop for all of these fleeting moments: Hamilton, Ontario. These are just snippets of a brief time period captured in a vintage hue on Instagram. It's a virtual world made real where people seize and share the poetry of everyday city life.
Dr. Alexandre Sévigny, associate professor, department of communication studies and multimedia, McMaster University, said social media platforms such as Instagram help build closeness within a city.
"Generally this happens around a crisis, such as the Tim Bosma investigation, where the public will rally around a cause that is something spectacular," he said. "But more people are interested in the everyday things, small things — like a jumping dog — because it's a moment in someone's life and it becomes real to people who live in the indoor positioning system."
Hamiltonian Michael Pett said he and his wife found a stick-figure drawn in chalk on their street, West Avenue North, last Saturday evening. Next to the stick figure it read: Stop! Don't run over me. It was one of about a dozen images that had been drawn by the neighbours' children, Pett said.
"I can't say for certain that their intentions were to deter speeding with the drawing, but the problem is a well-known issue on our street," he said. "I was intrigued by the juxtaposition, its message, and the sad reality that the issue has become so widespread that even the children on our street are speaking up about it."
Last Wednesday while walking her dog in Churchill Park, Shannon Aiken stopped in her tracks; she came across a turtle out in the open. "Our dog Ella was most curious about this strange creature and was not shy about approaching her," she said. "I don't think the turtle was thrilled with the attention."
Jordan Cumberland took his photo of an underpass covered in graffiti at the Royal Botanical Gardens. Leaving the parking lot he saw a little trail that led down to the where he took his photograph.
"One of the reasons why I enjoy Instagram so much is because it makes me look at the world in a different way," he said. "I want to explore and capture the beauty of Ontario so I can share it with the world and inspire tourism to our beautiful province."
Prior to this digital phenomenon, Sévigny said people were living concrete lives where you'd have to meet in person, perhaps over a coffee, to reveal information. Now, it's instantaneous.
"Social media reveals everyday life for us. It shifts away from our print culture of rules and regulations, shifting toward a more oral culture where life is fluid and more emotional," he said. "The majority of information we send is nonverbal and more visual. If you look at Vine, YouTube, Instagram — we are more comfortable and more welcoming with visuals than with words."
A 2011 study by Zachary McCune from Cambridge University titled A Case Study of the Instagram iPhone App revealed after four-weeks of researching why people share photos on Instagram, users wanted to experience a sense of community. He also found that people wanted to exchange images with others, were excited about the social interaction and wanted to find users who shared common interests.
A University of Gothenburg study looked at how visitors used smart phone technology in a museum. When the researchers sifted through the data they found patrons often uploaded many images during their visit that were carefully planned and edited. This is contrary to popular belief that most Instagram photos are mostly shots of food and "selfies". The study also indicated smart phones have changed the way we share experiences.
Facebook, which owns Instagram, recently announced that Instagram will now include a 15-second video component, matching other video social media streams such as Vine, SocialCam and Viddy. The video option will provide 13 different visual filters that will include a Cinema feature, a function that will help stabilize your shaky footage taken on the go.
"If you live in Ancaster or Dundas, and you see photos of people in shops and walking their dogs at parks, you become aware of the boundaries of the everyday life," he said. "Social media opens up the rest of the city to you. You see people experiencing parts of the city in a compelling way, and then it becomes real to you."
David Everett is the British cryptographic expert hired by the RCM to develop the MintChip prototype. Everett said it all when he was quoted in the April 30 The Star newspaper as saying, “I would look on it very much as an alternative, and hopefully a replacement, for physical cash. Today, people obviously use coins. They use bits of metal and bits of paper. The future is obviously going to be much more electronic.”
MintChip has been under consideration by the RCM for some time. The mint began the process more than a year ago with its MintChip Challenge contest. Contestants were to create payment applications that demonstrate potential for digital cash to replace physical cash. Jan Hannemann from Victoria won the grand prize with his MintWallet concept.
Hannemann’s idea is to make virtual currency to be “like instant messaging for your wallet.” Hannemann suggested using cloud technology and push notifications, with users using MintChips for payments.
Hannemann said of his idea, “The concept of cash that’s peer-to-peer is very appealing,” adding “Communicating with people, we use social networks, instant messaging. The same can be true with money, using MintChip.”
According to the April 30 The Star article, “MicroSD cards loaded with money were sent to hundreds of developers a year ago by the Royal Canadian Mint. The tiny chips had logos on them, representing MintChip, and the recipients were some of the first people outside the mint to get a glimpse of Canada’s electronic currency prototype.”
If you type in #hamont in the Instagram search bar, more than 50,000 images, like the ones I just described, appear: thank you letters, graduation celebrations, a couch for sale, friends hiking, people jumping and waving. Instagram is a U.S.-based website where you can post pictures from your Apple cellphone camera, or from other phones if it allows the Instagram program.
Below each image is a brief sentence. The backdrop for all of these fleeting moments: Hamilton, Ontario. These are just snippets of a brief time period captured in a vintage hue on Instagram. It's a virtual world made real where people seize and share the poetry of everyday city life.
Dr. Alexandre Sévigny, associate professor, department of communication studies and multimedia, McMaster University, said social media platforms such as Instagram help build closeness within a city.
"Generally this happens around a crisis, such as the Tim Bosma investigation, where the public will rally around a cause that is something spectacular," he said. "But more people are interested in the everyday things, small things — like a jumping dog — because it's a moment in someone's life and it becomes real to people who live in the indoor positioning system."
Hamiltonian Michael Pett said he and his wife found a stick-figure drawn in chalk on their street, West Avenue North, last Saturday evening. Next to the stick figure it read: Stop! Don't run over me. It was one of about a dozen images that had been drawn by the neighbours' children, Pett said.
"I can't say for certain that their intentions were to deter speeding with the drawing, but the problem is a well-known issue on our street," he said. "I was intrigued by the juxtaposition, its message, and the sad reality that the issue has become so widespread that even the children on our street are speaking up about it."
Last Wednesday while walking her dog in Churchill Park, Shannon Aiken stopped in her tracks; she came across a turtle out in the open. "Our dog Ella was most curious about this strange creature and was not shy about approaching her," she said. "I don't think the turtle was thrilled with the attention."
Jordan Cumberland took his photo of an underpass covered in graffiti at the Royal Botanical Gardens. Leaving the parking lot he saw a little trail that led down to the where he took his photograph.
"One of the reasons why I enjoy Instagram so much is because it makes me look at the world in a different way," he said. "I want to explore and capture the beauty of Ontario so I can share it with the world and inspire tourism to our beautiful province."
Prior to this digital phenomenon, Sévigny said people were living concrete lives where you'd have to meet in person, perhaps over a coffee, to reveal information. Now, it's instantaneous.
"Social media reveals everyday life for us. It shifts away from our print culture of rules and regulations, shifting toward a more oral culture where life is fluid and more emotional," he said. "The majority of information we send is nonverbal and more visual. If you look at Vine, YouTube, Instagram — we are more comfortable and more welcoming with visuals than with words."
A 2011 study by Zachary McCune from Cambridge University titled A Case Study of the Instagram iPhone App revealed after four-weeks of researching why people share photos on Instagram, users wanted to experience a sense of community. He also found that people wanted to exchange images with others, were excited about the social interaction and wanted to find users who shared common interests.
A University of Gothenburg study looked at how visitors used smart phone technology in a museum. When the researchers sifted through the data they found patrons often uploaded many images during their visit that were carefully planned and edited. This is contrary to popular belief that most Instagram photos are mostly shots of food and "selfies". The study also indicated smart phones have changed the way we share experiences.
Facebook, which owns Instagram, recently announced that Instagram will now include a 15-second video component, matching other video social media streams such as Vine, SocialCam and Viddy. The video option will provide 13 different visual filters that will include a Cinema feature, a function that will help stabilize your shaky footage taken on the go.
"If you live in Ancaster or Dundas, and you see photos of people in shops and walking their dogs at parks, you become aware of the boundaries of the everyday life," he said. "Social media opens up the rest of the city to you. You see people experiencing parts of the city in a compelling way, and then it becomes real to you."
David Everett is the British cryptographic expert hired by the RCM to develop the MintChip prototype. Everett said it all when he was quoted in the April 30 The Star newspaper as saying, “I would look on it very much as an alternative, and hopefully a replacement, for physical cash. Today, people obviously use coins. They use bits of metal and bits of paper. The future is obviously going to be much more electronic.”
MintChip has been under consideration by the RCM for some time. The mint began the process more than a year ago with its MintChip Challenge contest. Contestants were to create payment applications that demonstrate potential for digital cash to replace physical cash. Jan Hannemann from Victoria won the grand prize with his MintWallet concept.
Hannemann’s idea is to make virtual currency to be “like instant messaging for your wallet.” Hannemann suggested using cloud technology and push notifications, with users using MintChips for payments.
Hannemann said of his idea, “The concept of cash that’s peer-to-peer is very appealing,” adding “Communicating with people, we use social networks, instant messaging. The same can be true with money, using MintChip.”
According to the April 30 The Star article, “MicroSD cards loaded with money were sent to hundreds of developers a year ago by the Royal Canadian Mint. The tiny chips had logos on them, representing MintChip, and the recipients were some of the first people outside the mint to get a glimpse of Canada’s electronic currency prototype.”
Sunday, June 23, 2013
British cyclists size up bike-friendly America
With the assistance of air travel and a boat, they'll eventually make their way to Ireland, Wales and finally down to London, where they plan to end their journey on Portland Place, home to the Royal Institute of British Architects, in August.
Along the way, they've met with the government officials and bicycle advocates in Portland, Ore., Minneapolis and several other cities to learn about the "cylicization of cities," absorbing ideas that they'll compile in a report. Their project has drawn the attention of London Mayor Boris Johnson, who earlier this year pledged to spend 1 billion pounds ($1.54 billion) on cycling infrastructure over the next 13 years. He's so synonymous with London's efforts to be more cyclist-friendly that the signature blue bikes in the city's bike-sharing system are colloquially known as "Boris Bikes."
The cyclists gathered Saturday at Bike Pittsburgh, whose Lawrenceville office is on one of those very streets -- a narrow passageway flanked by parked cars -- that may have reminded Mr. Murray of London. There, they talked shop with city officials -- including bicycle/pedestrian coordinator Stephen Patchan and Councilman Bill Peduto's policy director -- and Bike Pittsburgh co-founders Scott Bricker and Louis Fineberg.
In a roundtable discussion, they touched on a variety of topics related to challenges of making cities more bike-friendly. Both Pittsburgh and London deal with a similar problem with infrastructure: how do you adapt roads that were built for horses and carts to accommodate cars, parking and cyclists?
Patrick Roberts, the principal transportation planner for the city of Pittsburgh, said it's going to require a paradigm shift, getting transportation engineers to build roads to include cyclists. As it stands, roads are constructed with the idea that there will be a growth in the number of cars, which becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy when roads aren't built with cyclists in mind.
Roger Hawkins, a 53-year-old rider and architect, said reducing speed limits had a dramatic effect in bringing out cyclists. Of the 100 employees in his office -- based in the London borough of Islington -- none drives to work and about half ride their bikes. He attributes the proliferation of cyclists to Islington's maximum speed of 20 mph. He called it "simple physics" that fast-moving traffic would scare cyclists off their bikes.
With the assistance of air travel and a boat, they'll eventually make their way to Ireland, Wales and finally down to London, where they plan to end their journey on Portland Place, home to the Royal Institute of British Architects, in August.
Along the way, they've met with the government officials and bicycle advocates in Portland, Ore., Minneapolis and several other cities to learn about the "cylicization of cities," absorbing ideas that they'll compile in a report. Their project has drawn the attention of London Mayor Boris Johnson, who earlier this year pledged to spend 1 billion pounds ($1.54 billion) on cycling infrastructure over the next 13 years. He's so synonymous with London's efforts to be more cyclist-friendly that the signature blue bikes in the city's bike-sharing system are colloquially known as "Boris Bikes."
The cyclists gathered Saturday at Bike Pittsburgh, whose Lawrenceville office is on one of those very streets -- a narrow passageway flanked by parked cars -- that may have reminded Mr. Murray of London. There, they talked shop with city officials -- including bicycle/pedestrian coordinator Stephen Patchan and Councilman Bill Peduto's policy director -- and Bike Pittsburgh co-founders Scott Bricker and Louis Fineberg.
In a roundtable discussion, they touched on a variety of topics related to challenges of making cities more bike-friendly. Both Pittsburgh and London deal with a similar problem with infrastructure: how do you adapt roads that were built for horses and carts to accommodate cars, parking and cyclists?
Patrick Roberts, the principal transportation planner for the city of Pittsburgh, said it's going to require a paradigm shift, getting transportation engineers to build roads to include cyclists. As it stands, roads are constructed with the idea that there will be a growth in the number of cars, which becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy when roads aren't built with cyclists in mind.
Roger Hawkins, a 53-year-old rider and architect, said reducing speed limits had a dramatic effect in bringing out cyclists. Of the 100 employees in his office -- based in the London borough of Islington -- none drives to work and about half ride their bikes. He attributes the proliferation of cyclists to Islington's maximum speed of 20 mph. He called it "simple physics" that fast-moving traffic would scare cyclists off their bikes.
A day before the six-month anniversary of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, the National Rifle Association extolled Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval for "standing up for the Second Amendment."
Sandoval, a rising Republican star, had followed through on a pledge to veto one of the few gun control measures ever to have emerged from the Nevada Legislature.
Sandoval's veto message two weeks ago said Senate Bill 221 would have eroded "Nevadans' Second Amendment rights under the United States Constitution" and subjected "law-abiding citizens to criminal prosecution."
Not wanting to let the moment pass, the NRA urged its members to email Sandoval and "thank him for standing up for the Second Amendment and law-abiding gun owners in Nevada."
Facing loss of federal funding for his state's largest psychiatric hospital, Sandoval halted the busing last month. The exportation of firearms is an entirely different matter.
California has laws protecting against gun sales to felons and people who have a history of severe mental illness. But people so inclined can drive to a Reno gun show, find a private individual with a weapon to sell and throw down sufficient cash to cover the price.
The seller need not ask questions. The buyer doesn't have to offer answers. There's no requirement that private-party sellers run buyers' names through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System to check for a history of criminal convictions, domestic violence or mental illness. It's called the gun show loophole.
Legislation by U.S. Sens. Patrick Toomey, R-Pa., and Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., would have closed the gun show loophole nationally. It failed in April. On June 3, the Nevada Legislature gave final approval to Senate Bill 221 to close that state's gun show loophole, only to have Sandoval veto it June 13.
The author, Sen. Justin Jones, a Las Vegas Democrat, viewed it as a stopgap until Congress can pass legislation requiring all sellers nationwide to run background checks. Without a national standard, gun laws in one state are "only as effective as the laws in the next state over."
Two months earlier, Bedell tried to buy a gun from a California dealer, only to be denied because of his history of hospitalization for mental illness. Nineteen days later, he bought one of his handguns at a Las Vegas gun show, no questions asked.
As part of his research, Dr. Garen Wintemute, a UC Davis medical school professor who studies gun violence, has counted license plates in the parking lots outside Reno gun shows. Fully 30 percent of the cars had California plates, he said.
"Northern California had a direct personal interest in that debate in Nevada," Wintemute said. "It would have made it more difficult for prohibited persons to obtain firearms. It would have made it harder to get crime guns into California."
Last week, the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives issued its latest annual report documenting the origins of guns used in crimes in all 50 states. The agency traced 31,244 guns used in crimes in California. The largest number came from within California.
Read the full story at www.ecived.com/en/!
Along the way, they've met with the government officials and bicycle advocates in Portland, Ore., Minneapolis and several other cities to learn about the "cylicization of cities," absorbing ideas that they'll compile in a report. Their project has drawn the attention of London Mayor Boris Johnson, who earlier this year pledged to spend 1 billion pounds ($1.54 billion) on cycling infrastructure over the next 13 years. He's so synonymous with London's efforts to be more cyclist-friendly that the signature blue bikes in the city's bike-sharing system are colloquially known as "Boris Bikes."
The cyclists gathered Saturday at Bike Pittsburgh, whose Lawrenceville office is on one of those very streets -- a narrow passageway flanked by parked cars -- that may have reminded Mr. Murray of London. There, they talked shop with city officials -- including bicycle/pedestrian coordinator Stephen Patchan and Councilman Bill Peduto's policy director -- and Bike Pittsburgh co-founders Scott Bricker and Louis Fineberg.
In a roundtable discussion, they touched on a variety of topics related to challenges of making cities more bike-friendly. Both Pittsburgh and London deal with a similar problem with infrastructure: how do you adapt roads that were built for horses and carts to accommodate cars, parking and cyclists?
Patrick Roberts, the principal transportation planner for the city of Pittsburgh, said it's going to require a paradigm shift, getting transportation engineers to build roads to include cyclists. As it stands, roads are constructed with the idea that there will be a growth in the number of cars, which becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy when roads aren't built with cyclists in mind.
Roger Hawkins, a 53-year-old rider and architect, said reducing speed limits had a dramatic effect in bringing out cyclists. Of the 100 employees in his office -- based in the London borough of Islington -- none drives to work and about half ride their bikes. He attributes the proliferation of cyclists to Islington's maximum speed of 20 mph. He called it "simple physics" that fast-moving traffic would scare cyclists off their bikes.
With the assistance of air travel and a boat, they'll eventually make their way to Ireland, Wales and finally down to London, where they plan to end their journey on Portland Place, home to the Royal Institute of British Architects, in August.
Along the way, they've met with the government officials and bicycle advocates in Portland, Ore., Minneapolis and several other cities to learn about the "cylicization of cities," absorbing ideas that they'll compile in a report. Their project has drawn the attention of London Mayor Boris Johnson, who earlier this year pledged to spend 1 billion pounds ($1.54 billion) on cycling infrastructure over the next 13 years. He's so synonymous with London's efforts to be more cyclist-friendly that the signature blue bikes in the city's bike-sharing system are colloquially known as "Boris Bikes."
The cyclists gathered Saturday at Bike Pittsburgh, whose Lawrenceville office is on one of those very streets -- a narrow passageway flanked by parked cars -- that may have reminded Mr. Murray of London. There, they talked shop with city officials -- including bicycle/pedestrian coordinator Stephen Patchan and Councilman Bill Peduto's policy director -- and Bike Pittsburgh co-founders Scott Bricker and Louis Fineberg.
In a roundtable discussion, they touched on a variety of topics related to challenges of making cities more bike-friendly. Both Pittsburgh and London deal with a similar problem with infrastructure: how do you adapt roads that were built for horses and carts to accommodate cars, parking and cyclists?
Patrick Roberts, the principal transportation planner for the city of Pittsburgh, said it's going to require a paradigm shift, getting transportation engineers to build roads to include cyclists. As it stands, roads are constructed with the idea that there will be a growth in the number of cars, which becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy when roads aren't built with cyclists in mind.
Roger Hawkins, a 53-year-old rider and architect, said reducing speed limits had a dramatic effect in bringing out cyclists. Of the 100 employees in his office -- based in the London borough of Islington -- none drives to work and about half ride their bikes. He attributes the proliferation of cyclists to Islington's maximum speed of 20 mph. He called it "simple physics" that fast-moving traffic would scare cyclists off their bikes.
A day before the six-month anniversary of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, the National Rifle Association extolled Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval for "standing up for the Second Amendment."
Sandoval, a rising Republican star, had followed through on a pledge to veto one of the few gun control measures ever to have emerged from the Nevada Legislature.
Sandoval's veto message two weeks ago said Senate Bill 221 would have eroded "Nevadans' Second Amendment rights under the United States Constitution" and subjected "law-abiding citizens to criminal prosecution."
Not wanting to let the moment pass, the NRA urged its members to email Sandoval and "thank him for standing up for the Second Amendment and law-abiding gun owners in Nevada."
Facing loss of federal funding for his state's largest psychiatric hospital, Sandoval halted the busing last month. The exportation of firearms is an entirely different matter.
California has laws protecting against gun sales to felons and people who have a history of severe mental illness. But people so inclined can drive to a Reno gun show, find a private individual with a weapon to sell and throw down sufficient cash to cover the price.
The seller need not ask questions. The buyer doesn't have to offer answers. There's no requirement that private-party sellers run buyers' names through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System to check for a history of criminal convictions, domestic violence or mental illness. It's called the gun show loophole.
Legislation by U.S. Sens. Patrick Toomey, R-Pa., and Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., would have closed the gun show loophole nationally. It failed in April. On June 3, the Nevada Legislature gave final approval to Senate Bill 221 to close that state's gun show loophole, only to have Sandoval veto it June 13.
The author, Sen. Justin Jones, a Las Vegas Democrat, viewed it as a stopgap until Congress can pass legislation requiring all sellers nationwide to run background checks. Without a national standard, gun laws in one state are "only as effective as the laws in the next state over."
Two months earlier, Bedell tried to buy a gun from a California dealer, only to be denied because of his history of hospitalization for mental illness. Nineteen days later, he bought one of his handguns at a Las Vegas gun show, no questions asked.
As part of his research, Dr. Garen Wintemute, a UC Davis medical school professor who studies gun violence, has counted license plates in the parking lots outside Reno gun shows. Fully 30 percent of the cars had California plates, he said.
"Northern California had a direct personal interest in that debate in Nevada," Wintemute said. "It would have made it more difficult for prohibited persons to obtain firearms. It would have made it harder to get crime guns into California."
Last week, the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives issued its latest annual report documenting the origins of guns used in crimes in all 50 states. The agency traced 31,244 guns used in crimes in California. The largest number came from within California.
Read the full story at www.ecived.com/en/!
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