790 F.2d 418
Mary Jane LEETE, Petitioner,v.DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF WORKERS' COMPENSATION PROGRAMS, UNITEDSTATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR,andPetroleum Helicopters, Inc. and American Home AssuranceCompany, Respondents.
No. 85-4447.
United States Court of Appeals,Fifth Circuit.
May 23, 1986.

N. Elton Dry, Pravel, Gambrell, Hewitt & Kimball, Houston, Tex., for petitioner.

1
Ralph F. Meyer, Charles D. Kennedy, Houston, Tex., for Petroleum Helicopters and Am. Home Assur. Co.

2
Marianne Demetral Smith, Donald S. Shire, Assoc. Sol., U.S. Dept. of Labor, Washington, D.C., for Director, Office of Workers' Compensation Programs.

3
Linda Meekins, Clerk, Benefits Review Bd., Washington, D.C., for other interested respondents.

4
On Petition for Review of an Order of the Benefits Review Board.

5
Before WISDOM, REAVLEY, and JOHNSON, Circuit Judges.

JOHNSON, Circuit Judge:

6
Mary Jane Leete brings this petition for review of a decision of the Benefits Review Board denying Leete survivor's benefits under the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act on the basis that Mary Jane Leete was not the statutory widow of the decedent-employee, Theodore E. Leete.  For the following reasons, the petition for review is granted, the order of the Board reversed, and the cause remanded with instructions to enter an order in accordance with this opinion.

I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

7
In December of 1977, Theodore E. Leete (hereinafter "the decedent") was killed in a helicopter crash while employed by respondent Petroleum Helicopters, Inc.  Mary Jane Leete and one Mary Christine Leete both sought death benefits under the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act, 33 U.S.C. Sec. 901 et seq., claiming to be the widow of the decedent.1   An administrative law judge ("ALJ") determined that neither woman was entitled to benefits.  The ALJ denied Mary Christine Leete's claim on the ground that she was not the lawful wife of the decedent.  Mary Jane Leete's claim was denied on the ground that she was not living apart from the decedent "by reason of his ... desertion...."  33 U.S.C. Sec. 902(16).  Only Mary Jane Leete appealed2 the decision to the Benefits Review Board (hereinafter "the Board"), and the Board affirmed.

8
A brief history of the relationship between the decedent and Mary Jane Leete, and between the decedent and Mary Christine Leete, is pertinent to the resolution of this appeal.  Mary Jane Leete, the legal wife of the decedent,3 lived with the decedent in their home in Lafayette, Louisiana, from their marriage in 1971 until the decedent deserted Mary Jane Leete in October of 1975 to live with Mary Christine Hampton in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.  Mary Jane Leete filed a petition for a legal separation in November or December of 1975, which she withdrew when she and the decedent reconciled in January of 1976.  Sometime in March of 1976, the decedent again left Mary Jane Leete and moved to Fort Worth, Texas, to resume his relationship with Mary Christine Hampton.

9
In June of 1976, Mary Jane Leete filed a second petition for a formal separation.  Mary Jane Leete and the decedent thereafter sold their home, splitting the proceeds as well as the remaining community estate.  The petition for separation resulted in a decree of separation in September 1976.  That same month, coincidentally, Mary Christine Hampton married a Mr. Lowery.  The decedent returned to Lafayette spending many of his days off with Mary Jane Leete.  (The decedent worked seven days and was then off seven days).  While in Lafayette, the decedent stayed in Mary Jane Leete's apartment and engaged in sexual relations with her.4

10
The decedent, however, resumed his affair with Mary Christine Hampton in March of 1977 after Mary Christine Hampton divorced Mr. Lowery.  The decedent left Mary Jane Leete for the last time in May of 1977, and that same month the decedent purchased a home in Texas which he shared with Mary Christine Hampton up until his death.5

11
In June of 1977, Mary Jane Leete moved from Lafayette, Louisiana, to Houston, Texas, to take a job that had been offered to her.  In December of 1976, prior to leaving Lafayette, Mary Jane Leete had met and had dinner with a Dwain Carder.  She saw Carder in Lafayette perhaps two or three times thereafter.  Carder, however, lived in Houston, and Mary Jane Leete saw more of him after she moved there, dating him once or twice a week at the most, and often less frequently.  Mary Jane Leete admitted engaging in occasional sexual relations with Carder, perhaps "once or twice a month," from June of 1977 until after the death of the decedent.  Both Carder and Mary Jane Leete testified that their relationship was not serious, and Carder continued to date other women.

12
Mary Jane Leete last heard from the decedent in November of 1977, when he called her from Galveston and made tentative plans to see her but did not in fact carry out those plans.  Theodore E. Leete died a few weeks later.  At the time of the decedent's death, no formal divorce had been entered;  Mary Jane Leete, however, received from the decedent a formal petition for divorce in the mail two days after the decedent's death.  The decedent listed Mary Jane Leete as the only beneficiary on the decedent's life insurance, company profit sharing plan, and other company benefit programs.  In addition, Mary Jane Leete paid the majority of the decedent's funeral expenses.

II. DISCUSSION

13
The Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act ("the Act") provides that compensation "known as a death benefit" is payable to "a widow...."  33 U.S.C. Sec. 909.  The Act further states that "[t]he term[ ] 'widow ...' includes only the decedent's wife ... living with or dependent for support upon him ... at the time of his ... death;  or living apart for justifiable cause or by reason of his ... desertion at such time."    33 U.S.C. Sec. 902(16).  The sole issue in this appeal is whether Mary Jane Leete meets this definition of widow.

14
No one contests that Mary Jane Leete remained the legal wife of the decedent.  Nevertheless, that status alone is not sufficient to establish entitlement to benefits under the Act because although "Congress might have provided in [the Act] that a woman is entitled to compensation so long as she is still deemed to be the lawful wife of the decedent ... Congress did not do so."    Rather, Congress "defined the requirements which every claimant for compensation must meet."    Thompson v. Lawson, 347 U.S. 334, 336, 74 S.Ct. 555, 556, 98 L.Ed. 733 (1954).

15
In the present case, Mary Jane Leete claims widow status solely on the basis that she was living apart from the decedent at the time of his death "by reason of his ... desertion at such time."    33 U.S.C. Sec. 902(16).  In determining whether a claimant is a deserted spouse for purposes of the statute, "the essential requirement is a conjugal nexus between the claimant and the decedent subsisting at the time of the [decedent's] death...."  Thompson, 347 U.S. at 336-37, 74 S.Ct. at 557.  Moreover, the Supreme Court also stated that the determination of whether a conjugal nexus exists is not to be reached by "assessing the marital conduct of the parties."    347 U.S. at 336, 74 S.Ct. at 556.

16
The ALJ in the instant case determined that Mary Jane Leete was not a deserted wife because she "was not living as the abandoned (deserted) wife of decedent, but had chosen to terminate that alleged status to embark upon another relationship."    Record Vol. 1 at 137.  The Board upheld that determination, holding that the ALJ's findings were supported by substantial evidence.6   One member of the Board dissented contending that Mary Jane Leete established her status as a deserted wife as a matter of law.

17
This Court reverses the decision of the Board for two reasons, both of which are errors of law.7   First, the Board and the ALJ improperly relied on conduct of Mary Jane Leete occurring more than four months to one year subsequent to the decedent's death.  Second, considering only that evidence which is relevant to the determination of the conjugal nexus, Mary Jane Leete qualifies as a deserted wife under existing Supreme Court and Fifth Circuit precedent as a matter of law.

18
First, the ALJ relied on certain events occurring after the death of the decedent in determining that the conjugal nexus between Mary Jane Leete and the decedent had been severed.  In the spring of 1978, months after the death of the decedent, Mary Jane Leete and Dwain Carder each contributed approximately one-half of the down payment needed to purchase a house in Houston.  Mary Jane Leete occupied that house and she paid Carder $400.00 per month rent.  Both Mary Jane Leete and Carder testified that Carder entered into the transaction for investment purposes.  In the end of 1978, approximately one year after decedent's death, Mary Jane Leete and Carder began to live together in that house.  This arrangement lasted about five months until Carder moved out.  Thereafter, Carder and Mary Jane Leete sold the house and Carder and Mary Jane Leete divided the proceeds.  Subsequently, Mary Jane Leete returned to Lafayette, where she presently lives.  The ALJ clearly relied on these postdeath events to conclude that the conjugal nexus between Mary Jane Leete and the decedent had been severed.  Record Vol. 1 at 136.

19
Mary Jane Leete petitioned the ALJ to reconsider his order denying her benefits on the grounds that he had considered conduct occurring after the death of the decedent.  The ALJ denied that request.  Record Vol. I at 118.  Leete raised the identical point to the Board.  The Board held that Leete's subsequent conduct was relevant to determining the strength of the relationship between the decedent and Mary Jane Leete at the time of the decedent's death.

20
Although this Court concludes that some postdeath conduct, nearer the time of death than the facts in this case, might be relevant to assessing the strength of the conjugal nexus between a petitioner and a decedent, the postdeath events in the instant case are clearly not relevant.  The evidence is undisputed that Carder and Leete did not begin to cohabit until almost one year after decedent's death.  This Court is hard pressed to understand how such conduct has any bearing on whether Mary Jane Leete was the deserted wife of the decedent at the time of decedent's death, the only relevant point in time under the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act.  33 U.S.C. Sec. 902(16);  Thompson, 347 U.S. at 337, 74 S.Ct. at 557.

21
Second, considering only the relevant evidence, the evidence demonstrates that under existing Supreme Court and Fifth Circuit precedent Mary Jane Leete falls within the definition of a widow as a matter of law.  The present case turns on whether Leete's relationship with Carder prior to the death of the decedent severed the conjugal nexus between Leete and the decedent.  We begin with the admonishment of the Supreme Court that we are not to assess the marital conduct of the parties.  Thus, this Court has held that "[t]he fact that [the petitioner] found other fleeting but impermanent domestic attachments did not prevent [the petitioner] from meeting the requirement of the Act which, as construed by the Supreme Court, is 'that she must continue to live as the deserted wife of the (decedent).' "    Port Arthur Shipping Corp. v. Calbeck, 287 F.2d 26, 27 (5th Cir.1961) (quoting Thompson, 347 U.S. at 337, 74 S.Ct. at 557).

22
In Thompson, the Supreme Court indicated that the spouse must make a "conscious choice to terminate her prior conjugal relationship ...," 347 U.S. at 337, 74 S.Ct. at 557, which was accomplished in that case by "embarking upon another permanent relationship."    Id.  There, the woman claiming widow status had entered into a bigamous marriage with another man, other than the decedent, and had refused the decedent's request to reconcile.

23
In contrast, in Matthews v. Walter, 512 F.2d 941 (D.C.Cir.1975), the court held that the conjugal nexus had not been severed under the following facts.  There, the claimant had separated from the decedent in 1954 and remained separated until the decedent's death in 1970.  During that time, the claimant established an ongoing relationship with another man and even bore the second man's child.  Nevertheless, even though the claimant had established, for all practical purposes, a permanent relationship with a second man, the court found a conjugal nexus between the claimant and the decedent because the claimant had continued to see the decedent over the entire sixteen year period, the claimant and decedent regularly engaged in sexual relations, the claimant consistently referred to herself as "Mrs. Valentine," and finally, the claimant cared for the decedent during his final days.  Consequently, the Matthews court refused to hold that the establishment of a permanent relationship with another person other than the decedent necessarily constituted an "absolute bar to compensation...."  512 F.2d at 945 & n. 8.

24
As is apparent from the Thompson, Matthews, and Port Arthur cases, the proper focus is on the relationship between the claimant and the decedent and not on any extramarital affairs of the claimant unless such an affair demonstrates a conscious decision to sever the conjugal nexus.  In the present case, Mary Jane Leete accepted the decedent back each and every time he sought a reconciliation.  Even two weeks prior to the decedent's death, Mary Jane Leete agreed to see him.  The parties had not divorced and Mary Jane testified, uncontradicted in the record, that she did not desire a divorce.  She knew nothing of the decedent's desire for one until two days after his death.  Mary Jane Leete testified that she prosecuted a petition for a legal separation to a conclusion in order to "protect herself" and to obtain alimony.  Even after the entry of the separation order, Mary Jane Leete reestablished a relationship with the decedent for a period of almost eight months before the decedent left her again.8   Contrary to the determination of the Board, Leete's relationship with Carder, fleeting and impermanent as it was, did not represent a conscious decision to sever the conjugal nexus.9

III. CONCLUSION

25
In short, Leete was the deserted wife of the decedent at the time of the decedent's death, and as such, she is entitled to compensation benefits under the Act.  The decision of the Board is reversed, and the cause remanded to the Board for entry of an order in accordance with this opinion.

26
REVERSED AND REMANDED.

1
 In addition, three children of the decedent (none by Mary Jane Leete or Mary Christine) filed for benefits

2
 Mary Christine Leete initially appealed the decision of the ALJ but voluntarily withdrew her appeal thereafter.  Record Vol. 1 at 2

3
 No one contests that Mary Jane Leete was the legal wife of the decedent.  She married the decedent in 1971, and they remained legally married until the decedent's death

4
 The ALJ found no "single statement to relate that the deceased slept with [Mary Jane Leete] or committed a single act of cohabitation during any of these intermittent visitations."    Record Vol. 1 at 132-33.  This finding clearly is not supported by substantial evidence.  Mary Jane Leete specifically stated that she and the decedent engaged in sexual relations during those visits.  That testimony was unchallenged.  Plaintiff Mary Christine Leete's Exhibit 3 at 68.  See also Record Vol. 3 at 103, 104, 108-09 (Mary Jane Leete's testimony that the decedent stayed with her overnight in her apartment or "spent the night.");    Record Vol. 3 at 170 (corroborating testimony by Mary Jane Leete's son that decedent stayed the night "many times")

5
 That fall, the decedent entered into a bigamous marriage with Mary Christine Hampton.  On the basis of that ceremonial marriage, Mary Christine Leete also claimed widow status under the Act

6
 The Act provides that the Board may reverse only those factual findings of the ALJ which are not supported by substantial evidence in the record considered as a whole.  33 U.S.C. Sec. 921(b)(3)

7
 In reviewing an order of the Benefits Review Board, this Court is limited to considering errors of law as well as to making certain that the Board adhered to its statutory standard of review of factual determinations, which is whether the findings of fact are supported by substantial evidence and consistent with the law.    Marathon Oil Co. v. Lunsford, 733 F.2d 1139, 1141 (5th Cir.1984);  New Orleans (Gulfwide) Stevedores v. Turner, 661 F.2d 1031, 1037 (5th Cir.1981)

8
 This Court holds that it is immaterial whether the relationship between Mary Jane Leete and the decedent, from September 1976 until March 1977, constituted a formal reconciliation under Louisiana law for the purposes of reestablishing the marital estate, because the question of whether a claimant is a deserted spouse under the Act is a question of federal rather than state law

9
 Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. v. Donovan, 218 F.2d 860 (D.C.Cir.1955), is not contrary to this holding.  In that case, the court remanded the cause to the Board to consider whether the conjugal nexus had been severed.  There, the claimant was deserted by the decedent in 1949.  Three months later the claimant established a relationship with another man, bore twins by him, held herself out as his wife and lived in an apartment rented for her by him.  Within a week of the decedent's death, the claimant and the other man established a "common law marriage."    Such conduct clearly could demonstrate a factual basis for a finding that the claimant made a conscious decision to sever the conjugal nexus


0 of 32

Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports

We are closing in on that time…finally.

Training camps around the NFL will open later this month. That means there will be jobs available, some more than others, on all 32 teams.

One of our most valuables assets in keeping up with the many moves around the league is the utilization of the Ourlads depth charts. Don Shonka and his staff do a terrific job keeping everyone up to snuff on a daily basis.

Here, we are going to upset the apple cart a bit. We will try to predict a surprise starter for each squad, bar none, based on factors such as a team looking to add youth to its club, the failure of a regular to live up to his end of the bargain and other factors as well. Some of the choices will have a better shot than others of panning out, and for others, it’s basically a matter of food for thought.

Fair warning: We are going to take some chances with our selections. And while you may think we are completely off the mark on some or all of our choices, rest assured there is a method to our madness. And while some of our picks are far from stunning, we've done our best when it comes to teams that are more settled than others.

Just don’t get mad at us. After all, we are just looking for a different kind of fireworks on the Fourth of July.


Q:

Return Count From Database Into PHP As Variable

I'm trying to get a count of how many entries are in a database by using COUNT in SQL similar to this. This is my code, it returns/echos nothing.
$result=mysqli_query($con,"SELECT COUNT(id) as total FROM Customer");

if (!$result) echo mysql_error();

$row=mysqli_fetch_assoc($result);

echo $row['total'];

$id=$row['total'];

echo($id);

What is wrong? The connection info is correct and has no errors.
Update: I still need help with this. Please stop downvoting and not giving answers. If it's a question with an obvious answer please tell me.
Update: This is not at all a duplicate of that question. The issue was not specifically with error reporting.
Update: I answered this question and figured out my problem was with the default database which is why nothing was being returned. I can't select my answer until tomorrow.

A:

I never put mysqli_select_db ( $con, "....."); Into my file so it never knew what database to use. I also was not getting errors because I was using mysql_error instead of mysqli_error. Once I selected the default database, it worked fine.


Backlit Sun Through Mist

As I have mentioned before, I love to backlight subjects. Backlighting is especially great when there is some atmosphere in the air, like smoke, fog or mist. One example is this image from Yellowstone National Park of the morning sun through the mists of nearby geysers.

It can be tricky to get the exposure in balance when the camera is looking straight into the sun, as here. The contrast between the bright sun and the shadows is usually too much, so you can only get one or the other properly exposed.

In this situation, the mist softened up the light from the sun a bit, but would still blow out the sky. I needed something else to tone down the sun a bit more, so I placed a tree in line between the sun and my lens to diffract the sun a bit and bring the whole exposure into range.


{<>}

A downloadable card game

( it's whatever you think it is )

A cooperative card game about relationship maintenance

{<>} is a cooperative 3-player card game that borrows mechanics from the tabletop RPG genre. Players can expect to take part in narrative authorship, character creation and development, and roleplaying. While it’s a game focused on the understanding and maintenance of relationships, we hope that it serves as a fulfilling, nurturing, and informative experience for you, your playing partner, and those who assume the role of Happenstance, a third player whose role is to author moments in your relationship.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Finalist for Excellence in Narrative award.Winner of the Non-Digital award.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

{<>} was created in 48 hours at the Heartbeat 2018 game jam (a love, sex and romance symposium created by Blushbox) by:


PHS Force coordination in grasping is severely impaired in individuals with certain neurological and musculoskeletal diseases. Basic understanding of the development of force coordination is essential for the rehabilitation and restoration of hand function in these individuals. The objective of the present proposal is to better understand the mechanisms underlying the spatial and temporal coordination of multiple grip forces during grasping. This objective will be pursued by examining involuntary corrective force responses to perturbations to stable force sharing patterns during five-digit grasps. A novel procedure will be introduced that elicits transient force changes in individual digits, disrupting the force sharing pattern. The specific aims of the proposal are to determine the effects of varying 1) force perturbation parameters (digit perturbed, direction of force) and 2) initial force sharing pattern on the involuntary corrective force responses developed to compensate for the perturbation. Our preliminary data suggests that involuntary corrective responses are involved. We will test that the corrective force responses will be dependent upon the function role of the perturbed digit in maintaining grasp stability. [unreadable] [unreadable]


Suppose you want to build something — a skyscraper or a spacecraft, a computer or a car, a water bottle or a wristwatch.

You’ll need materials to make that product, and you’ll need to choose the best materials for the job. For instance, you’ll want lightweight materials for a spacecraft so that you can afford to propel it out of Earth’s gravity. But if it will come back to Earth, it also needs to withstand the heat of re-entry. How do you find the right material to build the best product? ASU engineers are turning the typical trial-and-error process on its head. Download Full Image

How do you find the right material to suit your needs? Generally, it takes a lot of trial and error. You make a material and you test it in a lab. Crush it. Cook it. Stretch it. Chill it. Then do it over and over and over again.

It is a time-consuming and expensive process. And although you’ll probably find a material that suits your purpose, it might not be the best possible material for the job.

That’s why a group of researchers at Arizona State University are working to flip the process on its head. Instead of making a material and then finding out what it can do, they are starting from the end — deciding what properties a material should have and then designing the material to have those traits. These could range from strength to flexibility to electrical conductivity and more.

A need for structure

“We already have performance in mind. So we need to ask ourselves, what are the things you can change, what can you play with to give you this performance? The thing that we play with is the material microstructure,” said Yang Jiao, an assistant professor in ASU’s School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy (SEMTE).

For example, if you look at a piece of metal, it appears to be one uniform material. But most metals are alloys made from two or more elements, such as copper and aluminum.

“You melt them together, stir and cool again. As you cool it, the distribution of the components will be different in different parts of the metal,” Jiao said.

At high temperatures, copper and aluminum mix together evenly, but as they cool the copper forms clusters. The differences are not visible to the naked eye, but they can be seen under a microscope. This structure, with its clusters of copper, affects the properties of the material.

Think about building a house out of bricks. If you just stack bricks on top of each other in side-by-side columns, your house will not be very strong. But if you stagger the bricks, the structure will be much stronger.

A metal alloy that forms clumps of one of its elements after heating and cooling is like a wall made of bricks stacked directly over one another, in columns (left). This results in a wall that is structurally weaker than one in which the bricks are staggered.

It’s easy to see how staggered bricks make a stronger wall. It’s much harder to figure out how the structure of a titanium alloy helps it withstand repeated stresses without breaking — also known as fatigue strength. This is the challenge that Jiao is confronting with his colleagues in SEMTE, Yi “Max” Ren and Yongming Liu.

“You have a target property — I want a fracture strength as high as possible. Then what kind of microstructure will achieve that? Instead of evaluating existing materials, I want to find the structure that will match the property,” said Ren, an assistant professor who studies design optimization.

Making a connection

Scientists can figure out the microstructure of a material that already exists. Jiao develops computer simulations that can analyze that microstructure and determine what properties it will have. The simulations are based on data from experimental testing.

What he can’t do, yet, is go in reverse. The computer simulation can say, “This structure will give you this property, and that structure will give you that property.” But it doesn’t explain why. So the researchers don’t know what specific characteristics of a structure cause it to have the properties it does.

This is where Ren’s expertise comes in. He is developing software to help the computer identify which features of a microstructure are important to specific properties. He is drawing on deep learning technologies, a branch of artificial intelligence in which software learns to recognize patterns. This is how Facebook recognizes your friends in a photograph and how Amazon makes personalized recommendations.

“We want the machine to learn by itself what structural features influence a material property,” he said.

The computer will analyze images of different microstructures pixel by pixel. Pulling data from Jiao’s simulations, the software will look for patterns in the images that correlate with specific properties.

“The machine sees several images and tries to make puzzle pieces of these images. You want to come up with a small set of pieces that can be used to reconstruct all of these images. Then you are free to recombine the pieces to get new images,” he said.

Across the top, images of original samples of titanium alloy, lead-tin alloy, Fontainebleau sandstone and spherical colloids (from left to right). The computer learned from these samples and created the reconstructions shown across the bottom. Image by Ruijin Cang, Yang Jiao and Yongming Liu

The team is also working to reduce the number of pixels the computer needs to analyze. This is similar to compressing a high-resolution photo as a JPG file. Photo compression removes pixels to reduce the file size and the computing power needed to work with it, while still leaving a recognizable image. The ASU researchers want to reduce the computer’s workload in analyzing microstructures. But they don’t want to lose key information about which structures create useful properties.

Ultimately, the process will make materials development less costly and time-consuming, potentially reducing the development cycle from about 10 years to about two.

“Another benefit is that when we do this type of study, we generate a huge database which is shared among the community. Anyone can access these,” Jiao said.

Putting materials to the test

Once the team has identified the best structure, they’ll need to produce a sample of the material and test it out in the lab. In this case, that means pulling and releasing the material over and over to find out how quickly it gets fatigued.

Material fatigue is what caused the fuselage of a Southwest Airlines jet to rupture mid-flight in 2011, ripping a 5-foot gash in the upper cabin. (Fortunately, the pilot was able to make an emergency landing without any fatalities.)

Every time an airplane takes off, the cabin inside is pressurized so that passengers can survive at high altitude. This puts force on the body of the aircraft. With every landing, the cabin is depressurized, removing that force. After thousands of these flight cycles, the metal of the fuselage gives out and begins to develop cracks, which are often microscopic and require special tools to detect.

“Aircraft is safe, much safer than before,” noteed Liu, a professor in SEMTE. “But still fatigue is inevitable and a safety concern. We want it to be even safer. People still don’t really understand the very fundamental aspect of fatigue. The variability is huge. This could fail in one year or 100 years. People don’t really know why. One of the primary reasons comes from the microstructure.”

Liu is an expert in mechanical structures who works with a variety of tools at ASU to test and image materials. For example, ASU has a palm-size fatigue testing machine that can fit into a scanning electron microscope.

“If you don’t know what happens, you go in and see it,” he explained.

One major challenge the team faces is that it may not be possible to reproduce the ideal microstructure using current manufacturing techniques.

“It’s probably not possible at this stage to reproduce the design exactly,” Jiao said. “We can produce something similar and do the testing. We need to come up with a microstructure with a certain tolerance of uncertainty.”

Transformative ideas

Although computational materials design is a fairly new field, it’s a hot topic nationwide, spurred by the federal Materials Genome Initiative. The multi-agency initiative was launched in 2011 to support institutions in discovering, manufacturing and deploying the advanced materials that are essential to economic security and human well-being.

ASU’s work is supported through a National Science Foundation EAGER grant, which funds early-stage work on potentially transformative ideas.

“There is a growing interest in this area because people realize it will change how materials will be developed. It saves a lot of time and money. It will also bring a lot of benefit to fundamental physics and mathematics,” Liu said.

“We are lucky that we have complementary expertise,” he added. “We’re a strong team. I’m a computational person, so I know it’s extremely important for me to work with experimentalists. We have a very nice characterization group, testing group. And the microscopy facility here is world-class.”

Liu notes that ASU provides an excellent environment for collaboration, not just within a school but across disciplines. In fact, he recently won a $10 million grant from NASA to lead a multidisciplinary team in studying how to integrate the complex data sources that are driving the future of air traffic management systems.

“We’re addressing very large problems for complex systems. The problem is not too little data, it’s too much. How do you fuse this data to get what you want? You need to go beyond, working with very different schools, including human factors,” he explained.

He added: “At ASU I don’t need to go outside. I get whatever I need from ASU.”

Learn more about this research at: http://designinformaticslab.github.io/project-esd/2016/05/25/materialdesign.html. The School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy is a unit of the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering. This research is funded through the National Science Foundation EAGER award No. 1651147.

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Air Canada reports record May traffic

7 June 2007

Air Canada reported a record load factor for the mainline of 83.8 per cent in May 2007, the highest ever for the month. The mainline carrier flew 0.2 per cent fewer revenue passenger miles (RPMs) in May 2007 than in May 2006, according to preliminary traffic figures.

Capacity decreased by 1.0 per cent, resulting in a load factor of 83.8 per cent, compared to 83.2 per cent in May 2006; an increase of 0.6 percentage point.

Jazz, from which Air Canada purchases regional capacity, flew 19.8 per cent more RPMs in May 2007 than in May 2006, according to preliminary traffic figures. Capacity increased by 16.9 per cent, resulting in a load factor of 74.6 per cent, compared to 72.8 per cent in May 2006; an increase of 1.8 percentage points.

Year over year, system traffic on a consolidated basis for Air Canada and Jazz, rose 1.3 per cent on a capacity increase of 0.6 per cent, resulting in a load factor of 82.8 per cent; an increase of 0.5 percentage points.

“Air Canada achieved a record load factor of 83.8 per cent for the month of May. Traffic has remained strong, particularly in the domestic market where traffic was up five per cent and our load factor up nearly two per cent on a combined basis with Jazz. Our record load factor is also a testament to our disciplined approach to capacity growth in a buoyant travel market,” said Montie Brewer, President and Chief Executive Officer. “The ongoing deliveries of new and refurbished aircraft are enabling us to offer the latest amenities to our customers, who clearly like the new Air Canada. As well, our new revenue model, with à la carte pricing and multi-trip subscription flight pass products, makes it easy and affordable to fly with Air Canada. Finally, I would like to thank our employees who continue to earn our customers’ loyalty with the quality of our service, demonstrated by the fact we exceeded on-time performance and customer satisfaction objectives for May.” ——-


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This product is the replacement premium silicone forehead pad and support for the Respironics Comfort Fusion Nasal Mask. Note: This package includes the replacement silicone forehead pad and support ONLY.

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Slovakia agrees to deliver gas to Ukraine

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP) — Slovakia has agreed to use reverse-flow deliveries to send natural gas to Ukraine, which is facing a threat from Russia to cut off supplies because of a massive debt.

The Slovak pipeline operator Eustream says both sides have reached a deal during talks in Kiev.

In a Saturday statement, Eustream said it would sign a memorandum of understanding with Ukraine's Ukrtransgaz in Bratislava Monday.

Slovakia will use a currently unused pipeline from Vojany to Ukraine's western city of Uzhorod. Ukraine could get about a fifth of its gas needs through the pipeline.

Ukraine wanted Slovakia to provide the gas through four pipelines that flow Russian gas through Ukraine to Slovakia and Western Europe, but that was rejected because it would violate a Slovak deal with Russia's Gazprom.

ODESSA, Texas (AP) — A West Texas man has been charged with impersonating an officer by using sirens and flashing lights to skip to the head of the drive-thru line at a fast-food restaurant. Full Story

Sufjan Stevens, "Carrie & Lowell" (Asthmatic Kitty) Plucked strings and pulsing keyboards dominate the distinctive arrangements on Sufjan Stevens' latest album, and in the absence of a rhythm section, they serve to keep time. Full Story


Phil Duprey

Phil Duprey (born February 6, 1944) is an American bobsledder. He competed at the 1968, 1972 and the 1976 Winter Olympics.

References

Category:1944 births
Category:Living people
Category:American male bobsledders
Category:Olympic bobsledders of the United States
Category:Bobsledders at the 1968 Winter Olympics
Category:Bobsledders at the 1972 Winter Olympics
Category:Bobsledders at the 1976 Winter Olympics
Category:People from Lake Placid, New York


Emergent Neuroimaging in the Oncologic and Immunosuppressed Patient.
Neuroimaging in the emergency department increasingly involves patients at increased risk for acute neurologic complications from malignancy and immunosuppression, including patients with organ transplantation, diabetes mellitus, treatment of chronic disease, and HIV positivity. These patients are susceptible to the same infections and emergencies as immunocompetent patients, but may present differently with common illnesses and are susceptible to a variety of other diseases. This article reviews important patient risk factors, emergent central nervous system abnormalities, and their imaging findings. Detailed knowledge of risk factors and specific complications in these complex patients is essential for optimal image acquisition, interpretation, diagnosis, and treatment.


HORRIFYING video and images shows President Nicolas Maduro's armoured cars ploughing into anti-regime protesters in Venezuela.

The under-siege tyrant ordered loyal troops onto the streets of Caracas after opposition leader Juan Guaido issued a call for a popular uprising supported by soldiers who had defected from the regime.

38 An armoured car drives into a crowd of protesters as violence spills out onto the street in Caracas, Venezuela

38 Under orders? The armed personnel carrier appears to deliberately drive into crowds

38 Protesters rush to help those injured and crushed by the huge vehicle

Venezuela coup – Gunfire in Caracas amid fears of all-out civil war as US backs opposition leader Juan Guaido's demand for ‘uprising'

US President Donald Trump last night tweeted: "I am monitoring the situation in Venezuela very closely.

"The United States stands with the People of Venezuela and their Freedom!"

Disturbing TV footage showed three Venezuelan National Guard armoured personnel carriers arriving at a demonstration before two turn into the crowd.

Other images — which appear to have been taken in a different spot to the footage — also show a demonstrator being run over.

Protesters could be seen throwing missiles at the white vehicles while tear gas canisters and rubber bullets were fired at them.

The violence in Venezuela yesterday comes as the country continues to be mired in deep economic distress.

This is despite it having the world's largest oil reserves and once being South America's richest nation.

When oil prices crashed in 2014, the Venezuelan government had not used the prosperous years to build up reserves to fall back on.

Large areas of the collapsing country have been left in the dark for days at a time by power outages.

People have begun to starve amid food shortages.

But rather than raise taxes or cut spending, the Maduro government printed more money, which in turn caused hyperinflation at an astonishing 1.7 million per cent, meaning the currency and people's savings are close to worthless.

The United States stands with the People of Venezuela and their Freedom US President Donald Trump

More than three million Venezuelans have fled in recent years.

Maduro has strongly resisted calls for an early vote or that he leave power early before his six-year second term ends in 2025, sparking huge anti-government demonstrations.

But Tuesday marked the most violent episode of Venezuela's growing political crisis, with a day of mayhem that involved:

Opposition leader Juan Guaido calling for uprising to topple President Nicolas Maduro from the La Carlota airbase in Caracas

Maduro's forces firing tear gas before a heavy exchange of gunfire, with protesters caught in the middle

Video footage emerged showing a Venezuelan National Guard armoured vehicle ploughing into demonstrators

Trump backing Guaido and his uprising while Putin backs Maduro in talks with top officials

At least 70 confirmed injured— about half from rubber bullets —but the death toll is unclear

Embattled Maduro meanwhile called for his supporters to take to the streets with "nerves of steel" after his US-backed rival Guaido called for a military uprising ahead of a major march in the capital tomorrow.

The "interim president" made his call to arms against regime surrounded by dozens of defecting troops outside an air force base in the capital Caracas.

In a dawn address Guaido declared the "beginning the final phase of Operation Freedom" had begun.

Meanwhile US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told CNN Maduro had been about to leave his country this morning but was talked out of it by the Russians who back his regime.

He claimed: “We’ve watched throughout the day, it’s been a long time since anyone’s seen Maduro.

"He had an airplane on the tarmac, he was ready to leave this morning as we understand it and the Russians indicated he should stay.”

38 An opposition demonstrator runs before being struck near the Generalisimo Francisco de Miranda Airbase 'La Carlota' in Caracas Credit: Reuters

38 The protester is mowed down by a Venezuelan National Guard troop carrier Credit: Reuters

38 The legs of a demonstrator can be seen after being run overt by a regime personal carrier

38 The injured protester is taken away with his bleeding head while being carried by fellow protesters Credit: Reuters

38 Another protester who had been struck by an armoured car Credit: AP:Associated Press

38 Fire crackers launched by demonstrators land near military vehicles Credit: AP:Associated Press

38 An opposition demonstrator gestures in front of a burning bus, while holding a rock Credit: Reuters

38 A wounded opposition demonstrator receives medical attention Credit: Reuters

38 This man is being taken on a scooter to hospital Credit: AP:Associated Press

38 Many of the wounded had to be treated on the roadside Credit: Reuters

ANTI-REGIME DEMONSTRATORS FLEE AMID GUNFIRE

Government security forces fired tear gas at Guaido, his supporters and around 70 armed men in military uniform.

Video footage showed people fleeing as the sound of bullets being fired rang through the air.

So far, the military, and in particular the higher ranks, have repeatedly pledged their loyalty to President Maduro.

He defiantly tweeted: "Nerves of steel. I call for maximum popular mobilisation to assure the victory of peace. We will win!"

Maduro said he had spoken with military leaders and they had shown him "their total loyalty".

But in a bid to gain armed forces support, the opposition has developed an amnesty proposal that would grant amnesty to soldiers who willingly break ranks with the current government.

38 Demonstrators hit back with a petrol bomb Credit: AFP or licensors

38 A demonstrator throws a tear gas canister back at government troops Credit: AFP or licensors

38 Demonstrators throw petrol bombs to military forces at the air force base La Carlota Credit: Getty Images - Getty

38 National Bolivarian Police officers open fire against opposition demonstrators during clashes Credit: AFP or licensors

38 Rebel troops fire their weapons from an overpass outside La Carlota military airbase where loyal troops are located Credit: AP:Associated Press

38 Opposition demonstrators clashes with soldiers loyal to Maduro Credit: AFP or licensors

38 An injured demonstrator is taken to safety Credit: AFP or licensors

38 With no ambulances available, this casualty has to ride on a scooter to hospital Credit: Reuters

38 An opponent to President Maduro throws a tear gas canister back at state troops Credit: AP:Associated Press

38 Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido puts on a united front a with a military leader Credit: Reuters

38 Members of the Bolivarian National Guard loyal to Nicolas Maduro run under a cloud of tear gas after being repelled by forces backing Juan Guaido Credit: AFP or licensors

38 A Guaido supporter uses a gas mask to protect herself from the tear gas launched by the security forces loyal to Nicolas Maduro Credit: EPA

'UNITED STATES STANDS BY PEOPLE OF VENEZUELA'

US national security adviser John Bolton appeared to back Juan Guaido and back his effort to oust President Nicolas Maduro.

"The FANB must protect the Constitution and the Venezuelan people. It should stand by the National Assembly and the legitimate institutions against the usurpation of democracy.

"The United States stands with the people of Venezuela," Bolton tweeted, referring to the FANB armed forces.

Meanwhile, Venezuela's socialist party boss, Diosdado Cabello, called on government supporters to amass at the presidential palace to defend Maduro from what he called a small uprising of traitorous military soldiers backed by the US.

He desperately tried to downplay the significance of the rebellion, saying Caracas is calm and that the air base near where the rebellious soldiers are gathered had not been touched.

Cabello said the opposition had not been able to take over the air base, which he said remained "absolutely under the operational control" of the government.

In the three-minute video, Guaido said any soldiers who took to the streets would be acting to protect Venezuela’s constitution.

He made the comments a day before a planned anti-government rally due to be held on Wednesday.

“The moment is now,” he said, as his political mentor Leopoldo Lopez and several heavily armed soldiers backed by a single armoured vehicle looked on.

CORBYNISTAS SLAM UPRISING AS 'PINOCHET-STYLE COUP'

Meanwhile supporters of UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn — a vocal admirer of the embattled socialist regime — dubbed the uprising a "Pincohet-style coup".

Corbynista MP Chris Williamson said: "It appears that the USA is ramping up its efforts to overthrow the legitimate and democratically elected President of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, in a military coup."

"I stand in full solidarity with the people of Venezuela against this attack on their democracy and sovereignty."

Venezuela opposition leader Juan Guaido appears in video surrounded by soldiers saying he's begun 'final phase' to oust Nicolas Maduro

38 TRoops rebelling against the government of Maduro take cover on an overpass Credit: AP:Associated Press

38 Pro-Guaido soldiers point their weapons towards a cameraman Credit: Getty Images - Getty

38 Gun fire was heard in the hours after the video call to arms Credit: Reuters

38 Soldiers and people react to the sound of the gunfire Credit: Reuters

38 Guaido called on the heroes of the army to stand by him in a Twitter video Credit: Sky News

38 Guaido talking to a military officer outside La Carlota air base Credit: AP:Associated Press

38 Former bus driver Nicolas Maduro took power as president in 2013... US spooks said he was ready to flee this morning but was talked down by the Russians Credit: AP:Associated Press

38 A counter demonstration of supporters of Maduro on Tuesday Credit: EPA

38 A supporter of Maduro, centre, argues with supporters of Guaido during a rally in New York's Union Square Credit: AP:Associated Press

Lopez has been under house arrest for leading an anti-government push in 2014.

Guaido later told CNN Espanol: "“Evidently, there is no such backing of the armed forces to Maduro’s regime.

"Communication was blocked between civilian leaders and the democratic armed forces of Venezuela … but we have been able to pierce through that.

“It’s great news for the entire country that the military of Venezuela’s armed forces have taken this step. They were an important part of this.

"This was fundamental not only for a transitioning, but to recover Venezuela’s sovereignty. Here we are next to our legislators, the military and soon with the people of Venezuela.

"We are determined to conquer freedom for our country.”

Regarding Lopez, Guaido said: “We have decreed amnesty and the release for jailed politicians. This is the beginning of the (release) of political leaders and military personnel.”

What is the military's stance in Venezuela? While most military leaders openly back Maduro, the lower ranks are ill-equipped and are constantly monitored by the intelligence services. Salaries have hugely decreased over the years and more than 4,000 low-ranking officers have deserted during the last 12 months. "The middle ranks are earning around $3 to $4 a month, and that is impacting their own structure," said one expert on Venezuela's armed forces. The military has also struggled to maintain its equipment as it suffers from a shortage of spare parts. According to some analysts, intelligence agents are also embedded among the military forces to guard against anti-regime activity. Those troops who support the opposition have been accused of betrayal and have been arrested, according to Human Rights Watch. Authorities have also arrested the family members of some suspects in an effort to determine their whereabouts, the rights group said.

Venezuelan Information Minister Jorge Rodriguez tweeted that the government was confronting a small group of "military traitors" seeking to promote a coup.

Guaido, in the video posted on his Twitter account, spoke in the company of men in military uniform and opposition politician Lopez, who is under house arrest.

"The national armed forces have taken the correct decision, and they are counting on the support of the Venezuelan people," Guaido said.

President Donald Trump is monitoring the situation in Venezuela, the White House said this afternoon.

Spain said it did not support any military coup, even though it considered Guaido as the country's legitimate leader.

Guaido, the leader of Venezuela's opposition-controlled National Assembly, in January invoked the constitution to assume an interim presidency, arguing that Maduro's re-election in 2018 was illegitimate.

He has been travelling outside the capital, Caracas, more and more in recent weeks to try to put pressure on Maduro to step down.

Protests are planned for Wednesday including what Guaido has said will be "the largest march in Venezuela's history", part of what he calls the "definitive phase" of his effort to take office in order to call fresh elections.

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Around 50 countries including the United States have recognised Guaido as Venezuela's interim president.

Maduro calls Guaido a US-backed puppet who seeks to oust him in a coup. The government has arrested his top aide, stripped Guaido of his parliamentary immunity and barred him from leaving the country

Last week, Guaido said his congressional ally - opposition lawmaker Gilber Caro - had been detained, and that 11 members of his team had been summoned to appear before the Sebin intelligence agency.

38 A Guaido supporter wipes her eyes after tear gas was fired by government troops Credit: AP:Associated Press

38 An opposition demonstrator peers over a concrete barrier Credit: Reuters

38 Journalists later reported how security forces fired tear gas at Guaido and his supporters Credit: Reuters


Sri Lanka's Roman Catholic Church has said it had forgiven the suicide bombers behind the attacks that killed at least 279 people last Easter.

Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith told an Easter mass - broadcast from a TV studio because of the coronavirus pandemic - on Sunday that "we offered love to the enemies who tried to destroy us".

More:

"We forgave them," he said, adding that instead of retaliating, the nation's Catholic minority had contemplated Jesus's message of hope and reduced tensions.

The attackers carried out bomb blasts at three churches and three luxury hotels on Easter Sunday - April 21, 2019. About 600 people were injured in the attacks.

Archbishop of Colombo Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith holds an online Good Friday service at the almost deserted All Saints' Church during an island-wide curfew [Chamila Karunarathne/EPA]

Last year, Ranjith called for the government at-the-time to step down over its alleged failure to investigate an "international conspiracy" behind the attacks.

That government headed by President Maithripala Sirisena, lost November's elections, with former President Mahinda Rajapaksa's younger brother Gotabaya taking the reins.

Officials charged with murder

Sirisena initially blamed Muslim hardliners for the bombings, but later accused international drug dealers of being behind the attacks - supposedly to destabilise his anti-narcotics drive.

The country's then-police chief and secretary to the Ministry of Defence have been charged with murder for allegedly not acting on intelligence about the attacks.

Police have arrested 135 people in connection with the bombings, blamed on the National Thowheed Jamath group. They have yet to be charged.

This year's Easter celebrations have been muted amid a nationwide indefinite curfew imposed to contain the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Some 199 people have been infected, with seven deaths, the government said.

Closed-door Easter services were conducted at two of the churches attacked - St Anthony's and St Sebastian's.


General Description

Located North of Wittering village and on the West side of
the A1, North of the A47, around 4 miles South of Stamford and 8 miles West of Peterborough.
RAF Wittering is actually two airfields that have merged together; unfortunately this and the
A1 have made access for viewing rather difficult to say the least. Wittering was home to the
Harriers of various squadrons over the years, but not any more - now it's just the far less
exciting activity of various Tutor squadrons.

What you can expect to see

Tutors of the resident units - No. 3 FTS, 16(R) and 115(R) Squadrons, Cambridge UAS, London UAS and 5 AEF. You may be lucky
and see other RAF types carrying out practice approaches and the occasional fuel stop.

Viewing

Driving up the A1 Northbound, you will see a turn-off for Wittering
village, take this. If you follow the road it will curve round to the right and then things
become somewhat woody, dark and narrow. SLOW RIGHT DOWN! There is a blind bend to the left
here which is barely wide enough for two cars, and there are plenty of nutters who barrel
through here at 50-60 mph. Out of the blind bend the road is still dangerous as it is
so narrow and so many idiots are incapable of keeping on their side of the road, so be very
careful. The road curves right again going up towards the edge of the station -
you can see the hangars now (A). Views onto the pan are pretty limited here (but if you
want serials, a walk along this road may suit your purposes), so keep following
this horrible little road along the fence. There's a crash gate just before it
curves left, but again viewing is pretty non-existent.

Harrier T.10 landing (taken from point B, 800mm lens); author

Keep going and the road now goes away from the airfield. Shortly you'll see a lane
off to the right with a sign for a pig farm and 'PRIVATE ROAD' displayed
prominently. If you park the car at the side of the road near here (B) and
stand at the corner of the lane and look across the field (direction - about 45
degrees right of the lane) you may be able to see any flying activity in the distance.
The land owners here prefer spotters do not drive down the lane, but tolerate occasional
people on foot going town towards the control tower (C). Some views of the taxiways
and hangars are available from the far end, though the control tower and firestation block the direct
view opposite you and the RAF Police will take an interest in anybody hanging around down here as well.

Back to the car and continue driving away from Wittering. Turn right onto the A47 (towards
Leicester). Take the next right (towards Collyweston). Immediately on your right here is
an area of rough ground you can park on (D). Here you are as near as you can get
to the end of runway 08 and Tutors on finals will pass nearly overhead. It's not great
for photography as they are still rather high though. You can also park by the side of this
road further North towards Collyweston to change your angle on the approach, just be careful
getting out of your car as the road can get busy at certain times of day.

Harrier GR.7 on finals (taken from North of point D); author

Continue driving towards Collyweston and turn right onto the A43 towards Easton on the Hill.
On the right at a cross junction there is small road that runs towards a crash gate (E), however this
is nearest the Western end of the runway and is lower than the rest of the airfield -
aircraft landing on 26 will be well out of sight; even if they taxied all the way to the end
of the runway you wouldn't see them. Aircraft flying circuits will however lift off
to your left and you should be able to read off tail codes or possibly serials with
a good pair of binoculars - and maybe even get useable photographs with a large lens,
say 600mm or above. It's not a good spot though, unless you particularly want a photo of
the combined aircraft-building metal construction the firecrews use for practicing on! There
is a footpath across the fields here to the East but it leads to near enough this same spot
and is therefore not worth the long hike from the road.

Giving up on this spot and going back down the road to the village, turn
right onto the A43 again and you will soon see a turn-off to the right
signposted to Barnack. Take this and keep going for quite a while until you see
an aerial mast. Pull in on the right by this mast (F) and you'll see a red bar
across a lane that disappears towards the airfield. This looks promising at
first sight... so, ten minute's walk down this lane (which isn't marked as
being private property though it may be - so exercise discretion) and youll find
the lane dips as it ends so by the time you reach the crash gate here (G), all
you can see is a hill in front of you with some caravans parked on it. Assuming you don't want
the serials of these, about the only use this spot now has is if you are lucky and the Tutors are
practicing tight circuits; they may fly over your head here. However, that's a rarity!

Harrier T.10 on short finals (taken from point H, 500mm lens); author

So, return to your car and turn right to continue on the Barnack road - just round the corner
from the aerial mast you will join the A1 just before an exit/roundabout, time to double back onto
the A1 southbound. Keep going South - you'll see a turn for Barnack but for the time being we
will ignore this. Just down the road from the turn is a small layby - if you want to risk it,
park here. From here you have a clear but distant view of aircraft on finals to 26. Photography
requires a 500mm lens to fill the frame of anything going over the A1. You could always leave
the car here and walk along the side of the A1 until you're in line with the approach lights.
However, this is not a pleasant experience. The walk itself is noisy, smelly and dangerous,
with HGVs thundering past you every few seconds on most days. The police have been known
to ask people to move on if they find they have left their cars in the layby
too. Photography-wise it's not that brilliant and certainly not worth the risk
to your life and health - particularly for Tutors!

So... continue on Southbound! You will notice a couple of turn-offs into farm tracks but
you can't stop at either of these - you'd be blocking their access and it's dangerous enough
slowing down to get into either of them. You'll soon see another turn-off for Barnack - take
this one and drive up this road. Shortly after the road comes out of the trees you'll see
a gate marked 'PRIVATE' on the left followed very shortly by another entrance on the right.
Just up from here (I) is possibly the best spot there is for viewing. Aircraft may
curve round on finals to 26 around about here, offering nice topside views, or underside
views (depending on how tight they turn). The bad news is, you need a big lens - there's
significant variation on the track they take towards final approach and this can mean
needing anything from 200mm to 800mm for a full frame shot. The sun in the early morning
is a pain here but later in the day things improve.

Next, continue up the road. Ignore the Barnack village turn
and you'll come to a T junction. Turn left (back towards the A1) and right at the end, just
before you come to the A1, there are several places where you can pull the car over onto the
verge (J). From here you have a clear but distant view of aircraft landing on 26 or
departing from 08. Unfortunately the position of the sun for much of
the day and the trees here make photography rather hit and miss.

Back onto the A1 Southbound and you'll soon see a turn-off to the right into Wittering
village. You may have to wait some time here to cross the Northbound carriageway but once
you have done so, turn around and rejoin the A1 going North. Almost immediately there is
a turn-off for the station itself. There is a pretty big car park here, but you are now
on MoD property (K). The Harrier gate guard can normally be photographed if you ask
nicely - there will be a human gate guard in camofulage fatigues at the small gatehouse,
who will generally say no to your request but should refer you to the RAF Police in the main
guardroom for a definite answer. The RAF Police are normally okay about photographing the Harrier,
especially if you pre-empt their objections by saying you'll only photograph facing away
from the gate, out towards the A1.

Harrier GR.3 gate guard (taken from point K); author

Back out onto the A1 Northbound. Shortly after your pass the approach lights and the station
disappears behind the rising ground, there is a large layby on your left. Pull in here (L). If you
really do want to hang around close to the approach this is your safest option - you can walk back
down towards the lights on the cycle path on this side - again it's not a pleasant experience
though and the high hedges will make for very little warning of anything on finals. So that's it for
Wittering, possibly one of the least rewarding stations for spotting in the UK.

Other Information

Petrol is available in Wittering village.

Foreign visitors may wish to note that the A1 is sometimes signposted
as the Great Northern Road.

The area South of the station is somewhat pastoral and quiet so you're unlikely to be
troubled by the plod if you do park on a verge somewhere; North of the station the
roads are busier but you've got no reason to hang around on them anyway!


October 31, 2003

THE CENTER FOR PUBLIC INTEGRITY is suffering some major credibility blows, as Daniel Drezner and Steven Antler point out that it’s hyping a report on Iraq reconstruction contracts that doesn’t really say anything. Drezner: “The Center for Public Integrity wants to claim that there’s a fire here. Looking over their numbers, I’m not even convinced there’s any smoke.”

I would say this isn’t worth anyone’s time, except it appears to document many contracts awarded to smaller, politically inactive, non-well-connected companies. It presents — unintentionally, one might guess — considerable evidence contradicting its central contention.

To coin a phrase, it shouldn’t take a blogger to point stuff like this out.

But it does. Shouldn’t the press be embarrassed to have missed this? And shouldn’t the Center for Public Integrity be a bit embarrassed to be advancing such a weak claim amid such hype?

UPDATE: Stuart Buck has further criticism. To be fair to the CPI, though, conflating individual donations with donations from their employers is common, and not necessarily unjustified, as it’s often expected that people will make these donations as part of their jobs. That doesn’t excuse the CPI for claiming a lot more than it proved, or the allegedly-skeptical media for not looking into it.

InstaPundit is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.


I know there are a bunch of people who like yoga here, and I love Dharma Mittra yoga classes, they just tend to be pretty pricey. Except now Dharma Yoga Center is giving an introductory offer of 30 days for $30 dollars!


This CWA includes all of the emergent islands and shoals in Nassau Sound, including Bird Island, which can be accessed from Little Talbot Island during low tides. Only areas posted as no public access are closed. Nesting areas are posted seasonally when birds begin nesting, and these areas are re-opened after nesting concludes. Other areas may be posted as closed in winter for roosting and foraging shorebirds as they migrate through the area. Signs are removed when birds are no longer using the site. Thousands of federally listed red knots have been observed foraging in the sand flats and roosting on the emergent shoals in the winter.


A reader writes:

I have a very bizarre situation. I read your article about a forged doctor’s note and this is similar, but different.

An employee came to me with a note stating that she was at the doctor on a particular date and cleared to return to work four days later. She then told me that the appointment was with her doctor and a cancer doctor and that she had stomach cancer and was starting chemo and radiation. I forwarded this information to my administrator, HR director, and the owner of my company. We have concerns about an employee being on chemotherapy due to the dirty nature of our jobs and the risk for potentially contagious illness.

Our adminstrator called her doctor to ask about work restrictions due to chemotherapy. The receptionist there stated that there were no work restrictions and they had no record of cancer, no record of chemotherapy, and had never referred her to a specialist.

The employee is now pissed that we called her doctor and is talking to some employees threatening a lawsuit but is otherwise acting sweet as pie. I am beside myself with anxiety and distrust. Thoughts? Are we in the wrong for trying to protect a potentially immunocompromised person?

There are two pieces of this: what you did and what your employee may have done.

Let’s cover yours first. You weren’t in the wrong to bring up concerns about work conditions that could dangerous for someone with a compromised immune system … but the way you bring that up is to talk to the employee directly, not to call her doctor on her behalf. Calling an employee’s doctor to discuss her medical condition, especially without her permission, isn’t illegal but it’s a real violation of her privacy. It’s also a violation of HIPAA for the doctor’s office to have released the information they did to you — but that’s a violation on their side, not yours. (In fact, it’s pretty shocking that the doctor’s office released that information to you, since HIPAA regulations are so clear on this. That makes me wonder if your employee isn’t even a patient there, since I believe HIPAA does allow them to say that someone is not a patient there.)

Now let’s talk about your employee’s piece of this. Has she … lied about having cancer? If so, her piece of this is far, far worse.

Have you asked her to explain why the doctor’s office told you what they did? Have you looked into whether the note itself was forged?

There are really only two possibilities here — either your employee does have cancer and there’s been a miscommunication somewhere and she’s owed a huge apology, or she told a particularly egregious lie (or series of lies) that warrants firing. Those are two very different scenarios, so you’ve got to talk with her and figure out what the hell is going on.

So, talk to her. Acknowledge that you should have spoken with her directly about your concerns originally, and apologize for seeking information about her health without her permission. Explain that you are now trying to make sense of the statement from her doctor’s office that they don’t have a record of anything she relayed to you. Ask if she can help you understand what happened there. (Say this kindly — the way you’ll want to have said it if it turns out that she didn’t lie to you. If it does turn out that she lied, you can deal with that once you’ve figured that out. But if it turns out that she’s telling the truth, you won’t be able to erase treating her as a liar.)

Given the circumstances, it would also be smart to have the doctor’s office verify that the note from them is real. HIPAA does allow them to confirm or deny that they wrote this sort of note, so you could fax it to them with a request for that confirmation. (To be clear, I don’t think you should be requiring employees to supply doctors’ notes at all because your employees are generally adults, not wayward children, but you have and in a case that has so many hallmarks of fakery, it’s reasonable to confirm it’s real.)

It’s also okay to let your thinking here be informed — at least to some extent — by what you know of this employee aside from this. Is she someone who you’ve previously known to be trustworthy? Or have there been other times where things haven’t added up? People are often pretty consistent when it comes to having or lacking integrity, so it’s not unreasonable to calibrate your suspicion meter based on what else you know of how she generally operates, whether it’s good or bad.

Update: The letter-writer has updated in the comments here, noting that the employee has now acknowledged she doesn’t have cancer and that she lied because the letter-writer was asking too many questions.


Cincinnati Reds pitcher Homer Bailey hoping to put frustration behind him

GOODYEAR, Ariz. – Homer Bailey’s look answers the question. And the answer is:

“What the blank do you think?”

The question was about how frustrating the last 3 ½ years have been.

“It gets very frustrating,” he says. “I can’t think of any other way to say it other than it’s frustrating.”

Call it the Curse of the Contract. Call it rotten luck. But whatever you call it, the last 3 ½ seasons have been miserably frustrating for Bailey.

Three surgeries, countless hours of rehab, spotty results on the occasions he was healthy enough to pitch.

The Reds are hoping that this is the year that Bailey is finally the same guy to whom they gave that six-year, $105 million contract. They’ve hoped that before – as has Bailey.

“I felt like it was all behind me several times,” Bailey said.

But Bailey, the 31-year-old right-hander, did end the 2017 season on a healthy note and had some success.

“I don’t know if putting up a 6 (ERA) counts as success,” Bailey said.

He went 6-9 with a 6.43 ERA in 18 starts, but he got better as the year wound down.

Consider: He was 4-6 with an 8.44 ERA and walked 50 in 53 ⅓ innings in his first 12 starts. He was 2-3 with 3.58 ERA and walked 12 in the 37 ⅓ innings in his last seven starts.

“It started to come together at the end,” Bailey said. “When you take the better part of four years off and then try to do it ... And still the first game was in June, even then you’re only five months out of surgery.

“I think it will be a different year this year. The biggest thing is staying healthy.”

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If Bailey can stay healthy and be something close to the guy he was in 2014, the Reds’ rotation has a chance to be much better than last year.

Bailey had his third surgery just before spring training started last year. The surgery was relatively minor (bones spurs were removed). Bailey made his season debut June 24.

“The stuff was there,” Reds manager Bryan Price said. “When we’re talking about his tough outings, the command of his stuff wasn’t there with the consistency that it had been in the years before the injuries.”

“Going into 2014 before he got hurt, he was a guy who could really pound fastballs to locations with really good accuracy. The other pitches really are accessory pitches because he really pitches off his fastball. Last year, he was making a lot of fastball location mistakes. He got hurt with that.”

Price referred to 2014. Bailey signed the big deal on Feb. 20 of that year. For 23 starts, he looked to be worth the money. He was 9-5 with a 3.71 ERA. He beat the Cubs 4-0 on Aug. 4. He missed his next start. He had season-ending surgery to repair the flexor tendon on Sept. 4.

No one knew it then, but the nightmare had begun. Bailey is 8-13 with a 6.39 ERA in 26 starts since. The fact that he earned $47 million in that span has been a topic on social media and talk radio since.

There are two years and an option remaining on the contract. If Bailey can help get the rebuild into the final stages, he’ll be looked at a lot differently in Redsland.

He has a realistic chance of doing that this year.

“It’s different from the last couple of years,” Bailey said. “I haven’t had a surgery in a couple of months.”

Bailey’s fastball averaged 93.5 mph last year, according to fangraphs.com. That’s in line with 2012 and ’13, his best years. But until the command came, he struggled.

“You remember the no-hitters when he was throwing 97, 98 the last three innings or so, just blowing fastballs up in the zone past hitters,” Price said. “However, I remember a shutout he pitched in Pittsburgh, he managed the game with lesser stuff. He was just really good with his command. He can do it both ways. I don’t think he has to have his upper-level velocity to be successful. I'm really looking for the return of his command.”

Command can be the last thing to return after Tommy John surgery.

“It’s different for everybody. Homer spends a lot of time – ever since I’ve been here and his minor league days as well – on the delivery. Some guys' deliveries are more challenging to repeat. Some have a more advance feel. I couldn’t put my finger on it for Homer. It’s just his command wasn’t as good as we have seen.”

Bailey has found it takes time to come back.

“Ninety-five percent of that is the lack of mound time over the course of those years,” Bailey said. “Then you’re still five months out from surgery, you’re a year out from surgery from Tommy John, you’re two years out from flexor mass repair.

“It’s a lot of time missed. Then you’re getting back into the five-day thing, then you’re getting deep into games. I think if I had only gone five innings the numbers would be different. It was sixth or trying to finish out the seventh where I got in trouble.”

Getting ready for that begins in the offseason.

“I think the repetition, the ability to have a normal offseason,” Price said, “a regular long-toss plan, having a normal spring training will go a long way in him regaining his status as one of better starters in our mix.”


#include "RecoLuminosity/LumiProducer/interface/DBService.h"
#include "RecoLuminosity/LumiProducer/interface/DBConfig.h"
#include "RelationalAccess/ConnectionService.h"
#include "CoralBase/Exception.h"
#include "RelationalAccess/ISessionProxy.h"
#include "RelationalAccess/AccessMode.h"

#include <iostream>
lumi::service::DBService::DBService(const edm::ParameterSet& iConfig)
    : m_svc(std::make_unique<coral::ConnectionService>()), m_dbconfig(std::make_unique<lumi::DBConfig>(*m_svc)) {
  std::string authpath = iConfig.getUntrackedParameter<std::string>("authPath", "");
  if (!authpath.empty()) {
    m_dbconfig->setAuthentication(authpath);
  }
}

lumi::service::DBService::~DBService() {}

lumi::service::ISessionProxyPtr lumi::service::DBService::connectReadOnly(const std::string& connectstring) {
  std::unique_lock<std::mutex> lock(m_mutex);

  return ISessionProxyPtr(std::unique_ptr<coral::ISessionProxy>(m_svc->connect(connectstring, coral::ReadOnly)),
                          std::move(lock));
}


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TBH it's kinda out of focus, but those are the stipules you are talking about, the preflowers emerge in between those green spikes (stipules) and the secondary branch. Honestly it looks like there is kind of a ball shape coming in where I described and you should take a more focused shot of what I described... I hope it turns female for you though... Is this your only plant? I never grow one, it always turns male it seems.

I have seen it enough times to be able to sex them at that point. If its very tall, and skinny then it is a female, if it is round like a tiny little nut, then it's most likely a male... So get a closer look and make a better judgment that way. I'm sorry if it is a male... that would blow, and I've been there.