Much of the international coverage and commentary about the disputes over islands in East Asian waters has concentrated on the battle in the South China Sea for territory and resources. And much of that has been framed as a morality play in which China is the villain, most other Asian nations are victims, and the U.S. is a Solomonic figure. On Aug. 10 the Wall Street Journal, referring to Beijing, published an editorial titled “The Bully of the South China Sea.” In another article, Robert Manning of the Washington-based Atlantic Council wrote: “It is one thing if, in a rules-based world, China seeks a larger role in shaping the rules, commensurate with increased economic and political weight. It is quite another if the message is simply about power.” Even Kishore Mahbubani, dean of Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore and an unabashed booster of the global rise of Asia and in particular China, has been critical of Beijing. In a syndicated column Mahbubani said that “China has begun to make serious mistakes” in its dealings with its neighbors.

To be sure, China has upped the ante in the South China Sea stakes and angered, in particular, some members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Beijing has established the Sansha municipality and garrison on an island in the Paracels, which China as well as Vietnam and Taiwan claim. It has engaged in a tense naval standoff with the Philippines over a reef called Scarborough Shoal. It has invited foreign companies to tender for oil and gas in disputed waters. The reasons that pundits give for Beijing’s bellicosity range from its appetite for the natural resources of the South China Sea to its desire to look tough amid an uncertain leadership transition and to stir some nationalist fervor at home (witness the violent anti-Japanese protests on the mainland during the weekend) to its irritation at what it thinks is Washington’s interference in its backyard. At a regional conference two years ago, in remarks now often cited as a sign of China’s unilateral ambitions in the South China Sea, Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi infamously declared the body of water to be a “core national interest,” adding: “China is a big country and other countries are small countries, and that is just a fact.”

It is, but there are other, wider truths. When it comes to feuds in the Pacific over islands and what lies beneath, it’s not simply a case of China against everyone else. Depending on the dispute, it’s also South Korea vs. Japan, Japan vs. Taiwan, Taiwan vs. Vietnam, Vietnam vs. Cambodia and numerous other permutations — for many of the same reasons supposedly behind China’s actions. Resource grab. Patriotic posturing. Historical baggage (mostly to do with Japan’s brutal occupation of most of East Asia before and through World War II). Referring to the South China Sea, former ASEAN secretary general Rodolfo Severino, who now heads Singapore’s Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, wrote recently that “all claimants feel their footholds are essential to what they consider their national interests … This clash of national interests … makes it most difficult even to appear to be making compromises on national integrity or maritime regimes and, thus, almost impossible to resolve [the] disputes.”

Washington says it wants to help keep the peace and to ensure that sea lanes remain free (about a third of the world’s maritime trade passes through these waters). In recent weeks the U.S. has been vocal about what it thinks about the disputes. The State Department said Beijing’s Sansha maneuvers “run counter to collaborative diplomatic efforts to resolve differences and risk further escalating tensions in the region.” When U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta recently met in Washington with his counterpart from Japan, he called again for a “code of conduct” to be set up, especially between China and ASEAN. Such a code, Washington has stated repeatedly, could govern action when an incident like the one in Scarborough Shoal occurs. Said Panetta: “The U.S. will do whatever we can to work with Japan and others to ensure that is the approach we take.” The next day the Foreign Ministry in Beijing ordered in the U.S. embassy’s deputy chief of mission, Robert Wang, and essentially told Washington to butt out.

From Beijing’s perspective, the U.S. is taking sides. Besides its traditional allies in the region — Japan, South Korea, the Philippines — Washington has been especially supportive of one of China’s historical rivals, Vietnam, over the South China Sea. While Washington portrays itself as an honest broker, the more cynical reckon the U.S. is adopting the thinking: the enemy of my enemy is my friend — which is how Beijing probably sees it. As Severino writes, “The Chinese fear that those who try to prevent or resent their country’s rise might use the South China Sea to contain it.”

While most East Asian governments welcome the U.S. diplomatic and military “pivot” to the region, they also don’t want China further antagonized. During the recent ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Phnom Penh, chair Cambodia “vetoed” the Washington-backed code of conduct for the association as a whole to deal with China over the South China Sea (as opposed to the bilateral, one-on-one negotiations Beijing wants, which give it more leverage). Many international commentators vilified Phnom Penh for kowtowing to Beijing. But if so, it has good reason: China is Cambodia’s biggest investor and donor; Phnom Penh would have miscalculated by acting against the wishes of its No. 1 patron. That’s just realpolitik. “Perfect neutrality is impossible when some [ASEAN] members are formal allies with one power, or receive large amounts of high-profile aid from another,” writes Simon Tay, chairman of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs and author of Asia Alone, a book about the geopolitics of the region. Here are another couple of truths. First, another ASEAN chair might have acted the same too. Even though its economy is softening, China remains the main driver of economic growth in East Asia. Second, not every ASEAN member has a dog in the South China Sea fight. Why risk enraging the dragon for Vietnam and the Philippines and, to a lesser extent, Malaysia and Brunei?

Amid East Asia’s island fever, there’s big and small, strong and weak, rich and poor, and enlightened and unenlightened self-interest. But not as innocent as good vs. evil.

China tried hard to shed its image of the "Weak Man of Asia" since WW2. However, instead of achieving its goal, China has further cemented its image by bullying smaller neighbors like Viet Nam and the Philippines in the South China Sea. This mentality is further highlighted by its weak responses to encounters with the U.S. and Russian armed forces in recents years, or non-military encounters with these countries. If China has the mental attitude to pick on smaller nations, then it should also has the gut to stand up to its equal or better. Else, it's just a weak man of Asia flexing its muscles. Nothing more.

C'mon bring it on.....Philippines is always ready. History tells we aint back off from nobody. Your inexperienced soldiers will be ducking ours sooner or later!.....no more reasons, BRING IT ON! We'll see who's braver.

flagging comments? some people are sore losers!!! the comment by rory is probably imporant and useful enough to be flagged by dumb comments resulting to a flagging war of supposedly levelheaded people with gits

Just like the Chinese people being brain-washed by their communist government.. Being intruded in the past doesn't give China the right to act like a bully now just because they are starting to enjoy the kind of power and influence that they never had before. How hypocritical to complain on other country's power and influence when China itself greedily wants to have the same kind of power and influence in their own worse way. Good thing the West is way too powerful coz if not China will act like a "man possessed" and "uncontrollable" given their line of thinking and reasoning. Communists will never rule.

Imagine this: You have a huge military, you have an economic might, and if you were China with nothing more could wish for, you would do the same right?

Piss all over the place and damn grab those resources from militarily weak, economic dirt poor neighbors of yours.

Now you do you understand? because I understand.

China is testing how far it's expansion could reach until someone or somebody reacts, that started with India, then diverts back to Russia, wait for the calm and strike back South China Sea expansion to the Philippines and Vietnam, back to East with Korea and Japan. That's plain and simple. China a late bloomer trying hard imperialist.

Time magazine actually has an opinion on world issues, that's a good start. Unfortunately the commenters haven't gotten any smarter. There are many complex issues behind the disputes, obviously. Even if the US wants to turn this into China bashing, it would just cause more controversy than good. The path of imperialistic nations is to believe they can impose solutions on others. That applies to all of the world powers involved..

Roubini Says 2013 `Storm' May Surpass 2008 Crisis PITFALLS WE MAY NOT KNOW Citigroup chief executive Vikram Pandit has rejected the idea of big banks being split up, media report said on Tuesday. Vikram Pandit said Citi, formed through mergers such as the acquisition of Travelers in 1998, had already gone back to the basics of banking, and had sold most of the units from that deal. "What's left here is essentially the old Citicorp. That's a tried and proven strategy. Why did it work? Because it was a strategy based upon operating the business and serving clients and not a strategy based on deal making. That's the fundamental difference," he is quoted as saying. He said Citi took almost 50 percent of its business from emerging markets and was "banking on the fact that the growth story is intact" for Asia and the southern hemisphere broadly, despite the slowdown in China. . I thank you Firozali A.Mulla DBA The best people possess a feeling for beauty, the courage to take risks, the discipline to tell the truth, the capacity for sacrifice. Ironically, their virtues make them vulnerable; they are often wounded, sometimes destroyed. -Ernest Hemingway, author and journalist, Nobel laureate (1899-1961)

China is upset, because in its naive arrogance, it assumed that all Southeast Asian nations should be happy to live under the "Protective Umbrella of the Han Chinese". Unfortunately for China, even smaller nations don't always like to be bullied (and making historical imperialistic claims doesn't help). If China had shown more respect for the less powerful countries, there could have been some compromises made, but China is quite adamant about its territorial claims (the nine-dashed line is a core Chinese interest?). They are now using the time-honored strategy of splitting up ASEAN (Laos and Cambodia are already "bribed" by the Chinese) and making this issue become a partisan choice between the US and China (I don't quite understand why China would want to antagonize the Americans?). Anyway the situation is very volatile and it almost looks like China doesn't have too many friends left in the region (except North Korea and possibly Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar).

any comment reader who wants true insight on matters relating to the article, please ignore Threedee Pete as he has no clue what he is talking about. To me and possibly many others, he thinks that kissing americas ass will one day grant him american citizenship. Enjoy the rest of the comments!

Always look on the bright side of life, 50 years ago China's GDP is about 2.5% of the world GDP, today after decades of business involvement with the US and Western countries PRC is now the world 2nd largest economy and 28% of the world GDP, in fact China has helped the US and Western businesses to many success stories. Possibly the PRC have created billion of jobs around the world, especially US and Europe, thanks to China technologies we now have BMW, Mercedes, Honda, Ford, Toyota, Subaru, Audi, Bentley, Ferrari to travel from B to A; for air travel we have Boeing, Airbus.....without China market these Aircraft manufacturers have nothing to work on; also the world most advanced washing machine (water saving/energy efficient) are invented in China, IT and WWW is also invented by a Chinese person named Wei Wu Wei!;

me not responsible for what written above, since it's so foggy, I often write tomorrow today news!

Japan just dicovered the valuable underground resouces around Senkaku, and that's when China started paying attention to the islands. They didn't give a single intrest about that before. Plus, alot of the Chinese needs publicicty stunts to raise their political popularity. Also, Japan has one of the world's most weakest military powers and it's weakening every year which is a great time to bring up territorial disputes. Same with Russia and Korea.

To the author: "Why risk enraging the "Dragon??"So there goes the neutrality down the drain. So is the author suggesting that countries especially the US should just let China do whatever it wants in the region even if its illegal and not according to laws? Coz the author is implying that China is the main dog in the region and everybody are just nuisance. And some bright poster even said this is "Great unbiased article". Perhaps another Communist sympathizer. "Why risk enraging the Dragon??" That question speaks a whole lot! It speaks about people who would just bow down to an up and coming power country and let them wreck havoc at the expense of smaller countries and not care whether it will commit atrocities in the process or not. China can rise without losing the respect of its neighbors. It can rise without resorting to bullying and creating enemies in the process. It can rise without disrespecting International Law, particularly at sea. Just one close look at the map and any logical person would see what is fair or not..But then again, "Why risk enraging the Dragon?" right? Some people just feeds the ego of some country and encourages them to do more harm and bully the others, just because they are the "main driver of economic growth in East Asia." That's how to justify the wrong.

The picture really shows which side the US is on. The most recent news is about China protesting Japan but the reporter feels that displaying China being protested is better.

The Americans, and previous colonists, set up the disputes in the first place. And now the US is provoking every side for excuses of interfering.

I think the Chinese government is actually playing the cards correctly. That is to use the situation as reasons for military buildup, and eventually US influence might be driven away. There is almost zero chance of any Asian countries firing a first shot when the US is present in the region. The US actually might be the first to do so when it becomes obvious it has to go.

These clowns would use their advantage in quantity to control even this forums to try to flag comments which are damaging to them and which they couldn't refute. Typical uncivilized Communist way of controlling things in an unfairly manner just so to gain the upperhand. Pathetic!

If the Chinese government and its sympathizers will insist on sticking with their ancient historical records as proof of their claims to lands which are clearly not theirs and their clear dislike and hatred on the US and the Americans, then here's one piece of history for you; If not for the West, all of you in Mainland China would be speaking Japanese language by now bowing your ass out endlessly to your Japanese conquerors and without the West you won't get to where you are now, that's the cold painful truth, you ungrateful braggarts. Stay in your own backyard!

These clowns would justify the past wrong doings of other countries and the sufferings it brought to people so they can suggest that China should do the same because they are now capable. How twisted the minds and reasoning of these geniuses! For them, they would right the wrong by doing another wrong! But its to their advantage and at the expense of other smaller countries. Typical imperialistic mind. And there you go guys, welcome to the minds of the Communists and how their mind works and reason out at present.

I'm not against the general Chinese people, coz obviously they're being violated by their own government as well. What I resent is their Communist Government who only get to feel their new found power acts like a bully now, that goes to show their mentality and how desperate they are for power. They complain of the US's influence and power but look at them working so hard to have the same capability and wants to DO THE SAME if given the chance, the difference is, I'm sure, with their type of thinking and reasoning it will be much much worse for the world if they succeed. I can't imagine a world dominated or ruled by Communists. Hell No! But I'm at peace and calm knowing that in the Bible itself, you will never find a passage that symbolizes China to be any kind of significance or being triumphant at that in the End of Days. So keep dreaming Communists.

While it is a matter of national interest, China has been shamelessly bullying its neighbors and wielding its new found power clumsily. Just look at the 9 dots line claim. Only goons amp; thugs would would do that. Too bad, there are good people in China but thugs are ruling the country right now. Funny that China don't want to touch the nutty NK. Obviously, China's message is: "You don't have weapons of mass destruction, you shall submit." So expect all the neighbors of China build nuclear bombs in a very near future.

One thing Chinese learn for the last two hundred years from the imperial countries such as Britain,Japan and the US, is guns and warships speak louder.Even the Chinese educated and brought up in believing love your neighbors and respect other,in return people take you as a fool and being sign of weakness.In modern history,US show the world bad example that is powerful military country gives order and law of jungle ruled.Because of this attitude of the US,every countries try to develop nuclear weapon whenever they get the chance to secure their survival and bargain power.So US citizens step up and be view as a world peace contributor and a fair judge with your mighty power.


A TAXI driver was threatened with a knife and had his cab stolen in a nighttime attack in Temple.

Around 9pm on Friday, August 31, a person within a flat in Tambowie Street called a taxi. At the same time, a Vauxhall with a man and woman inside was parked on the road outside.

As the private hire arrived to pick up the customer, the man from the Vauxhall got out and threatened the 36-year-old taxi driver with a knife, demanding money from him.

The driver was forced out of the taxi, which was a Hyundai i30, and the man got in and attempted to drive the vehicle at the taxi driver.

He jumped out the way and the suspect then drove off in the stolen taxi. The woman within the Vauxhall also drove off.

The taxi driver did not sustain any injuries but he has been left badly shaken by the incident.

The suspect is white, between 30 and 35, around 6 ft tall, with short shaved hair.

He was wearing a grey-coloured tracksuit at the time of the incident.

It's understood the woman was wearing a pink, long-sleeved top, however, no further description was available.

The Hyundai i30 was recovered burnt out a short time later on the canal path to the rear of Rotherwood Avenue.

CCTV enquiries carried out so far have revealed the Hyundai i30 was being driven at excessive speed along Baldwin Avenue, Knightswood, before eventually being abandoned and set on fire at the canal path.

Officers have been carrying out door-to-door enquiries and continue to check CCTV footage for any additional information.

Detective Constable Chris Sneddon said: “We do not know why this taxi driver has been attacked and had his cab stolen from him, the attack was completely random.

"We’re aware there were several people in the area around the time this incident occurred and I am appealing to them to contact us.

"At this stage, we don’t know how long the Vauxhall car with the male suspect and the woman was parked in the street.

"Perhaps you saw them and can provide us with more information, in particular the woman, as we have very limited information on her.

"The stolen vehicle was speeding as it made off and people in the surrounding areas may have noticed the car given its excessive speed.

"If anyone has any information or knowledge regarding this incident or the suspects, then please get in touch with us.”

Anyone with information is asked to call on 101, quoting incident number 4248 of August 31.


Q:

Adding Points to existing attributes

I have a table of 150 records which I was able to geocode except for 21 points. I'm able to manually geocode the rest of these 21 points. Every time I add the point, it creates a new row (which I know is normal). Is it possible, however, to add the point to an existing row? I have 62 fields in my attribute table, so I'd like to avoid copy and pasting.
Here is what my table looks like (This is is a copy of my attribute table exported into excel):

So far, I've created a shapefile with all the the unmatched points plotted with an ID number as the only attribute. I was thinking that I could add the ID number to the my already geocoded data and join the two sets together.

A:

If you made the ID numbers carefully to match the original shapefile, a Join can help (or this if you work in python). I recommend to use the Export feature after everything together.


73 F.3d 359NOTICE: Fourth Circuit Local Rule 36(c) states that citation of unpublished dispositions is disfavored except for establishing res judicata, estoppel, or the law of the case and requires service of copies of cited unpublished dispositions of the Fourth Circuit.
UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee,v.Kenneth W. KEMP, a/k/a Lamont, a/k/a El, a/k/a Al, a/k/a L,Defendant-Appellant.
No. 94-5321.
United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.
Argued Dec. 8, 1995.Decided Jan. 3, 1996.

ARGUED:  Cloud Hicklen Miller, III, MILLER & ASSOCIATES, Atlanta, GA, for Appellant.
Laura Marie Everhart, Assistant United States Attorney, Norfolk, VA, for Appellee.
ON BRIEF:  Helen F. Fahey, United States Attorney, Norfolk, VA, for Appellee.
Before ERVIN, Chief Judge, MOTZ, Circuit Judge, and WILLIAMS, Senior United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Virginia, sitting by designation.
OPINION
PER CURIAM:

1
Kenneth W. Kemp was convicted in a jury trial of 8 counts of conspiracy and drug distribution.  Kemp appeals both his conviction and his sentencing on various grounds, raising questions regarding the Sixth Amendment, jury instructions, several guideline sentencing factors and the admissibility of witness statements taken in the course of an investigation.  Finding no reason to modify Kemp's base offense level because such action would not affect his sentence, despite a retroactive amendment to the sentencing guidelines, and finding no abuse of discretion as to the remaining issues, we affirm the trial court in all respects.

I.

2
In July 1990 Kemp joined a cocaine distribution conspiracy that had been ongoing since 1988.  He took the place of Duane Wilkey, who was killed in a drug related gun battle.  Wilkey and Corey Jacobs were the leaders of the conspiracy, and Kemp became the new co-leader.

3
Jacobs and Kemp became leaders and organizers of a conspiracy that eventually distributed approximately 15 kilograms of cocaine per week in the Norfolk vicinity.  They recruited a number of couriers to bring in drugs from New York City.  Various other persons sold more than 50 guns to Kemp and his associates.  Although there were occasional disputes among members of the conspiracy, and even instances in which street-level drug vendors competed against each other, the conspiracy continued unabated.  The conspiracy ceased operation only with the arrest of Kemp and several others in September 1993.

4
Kemp, along with five codefendants, was indicted by a Norfolk grand jury on cocaine conspiracy charges.  Kemp was indicted on 19 of 84 counts in the indictment and asserted his right to jury trial.  His codefendants pled guilty.  Kemp was arraigned on October 27, 1993, where he was represented by court-appointed counsel Robert Rigney.  The court directed appointment of Rigney at the arraignment and set conditions in the event that Kemp should wish to retain other counsel.  One condition was that any new counsel must have no conflict of interest in the case.

5
On October 27, Kemp filed to substitute William P. Robinson, Jr. as his attorney.  The government moved to disqualify Robinson based on several actual and potential conflicts.  First, Robinson also represented Norman Tyson, a codefendant on the same indictment but a fugitive at the time.  Second, a partner of Robinson's, Junious Fulton, had previously represented Roman Grandy on a drug charge.  Grandy was a codefendant but pled guilty and was cooperating with the government at the time of the disqualification.  Grandy did in fact testify for the government.  Third, the government expected at the time to call as a witness potential defendant Delton Raynor.  Raynor was previously Robinson's client.  Although Kemp offered to waive these conflicts, there is no evidence that Tyson, Grandy or Raynor made such an offer.  The motion to substitute was denied by a magistrate judge and then affirmed by the district judge, both denials citing conflict of interest.

6
Kemp was convicted after a jury trial beginning December 29, 1993 and ending January 6, 1994.  The district judge sentenced Kemp to life imprisonment with five years supervised release on four separate counts, with lesser concurrent sentences on the four remaining counts.  The district judge based the sentencing in part on a calculation of Kemp's base offense level at 42, pursuant to the then-effective United States Sentencing Guideline Sec. 2D1.1(c).

II.

7
Kemp makes six arguments in his appeal:  (1) that the failure to substitute Robinson was so arbitrary as to violate his Sixth Amendment guaranty of the right to assistance of counsel;  (2) that the trial court prejudiced his case by refusing to order production of an FBI "302" witness statement;  (3) that he should not have received a four-level offense enhancement for his leadership role, pursuant to United States Sentencing Guidelines Sec. 3B1.1(a);  (4) that he should not have received a two-level enhancement for possession of a firearm pursuant to Sec. 2D1.1(b);  (5) that the trial court erred when it refused to give a multiple conspiracy instruction to the jury;  and (6) that a subsequent amendment to the sentencing guidelines allows his base offense level and sentence to be recalculated.  Of these arguments, Kemp does not strongly argue the first four, and we find his arguments unpersuasive.  We find that the trial court did not commit clear error or abuse its discretion as to issues (1) through (4), and as to these issues, the trial court is affirmed.  As to the two remaining issues, we also affirm the trial court, but offer the following explanation of our analysis.

8
We first address Kemp's request for a multiple conspiracy jury instruction.  A trial court's instruction will stand unless clearly erroneous.  United States v. Mills, 995 F.2d 480, 485 (4th Cir.1993).  While the government bears the burden of proving a single conspiracy as charged in the indictment, a jury's finding of a single conspiracy must stand unless the evidence would not allow it even when viewed in the light most favorable to the government.  See United States v. Hines, 717 F.2d 1481, 1489 (4th Cir.1983);  United States v. Baker, 985 F.2d 1248 (4th Cir.1993).

9
As Kemp correctly states, a multiple conspiracy instruction is an instruction that the jury may find a defendant not guilty of the conspiracy charged even though they would otherwise find him guilty of another conspiracy.  But contrary to Kemp's argument, United States v. Mills does not require that a defendant receive such an instruction each time there is but the slightest foundation in evidence, no matter how tenuous.  See 995 F.2d at 485.  The instruction is appropriate only if "supported by the facts."   Id.

10
To Kemp's burdens of clear error and the presumption of facts favorable to the jury verdict, the law adds even a final hurdle to Kemp's appeal:  proof of prejudice to his "substantial rights."   Even where there is proof of multiple conspiracies, reversal is appropriate only where such proof prejudiced the substantial rights of the defendant.  United States v. Barsanti, 943 F.2d 428, 439 (4th Cir.1991).  Substantial rights are infringed if the jury might have been confused into imputing guilt to members of one conspiracy because of the activities of other conspiracies and their members.  Id. The trial court correctly found that the facts did not support a multiple conspiracy jury instruction.  Kemp was an organizer, the hub of the various spokes of the conspiracy, and minor disputes between the lower-ranking members did not serve to end or void the conspiracy as to him.  Further, there is nothing to indicate impairment of Kemp's substantial rights.  Kemp has failed to meet his heavy burden on this issue and we therefore affirm the trial court.

11
Second, we address the question of Kemp's proper base offense level.  The trial court's application of sentencing factors will be reviewed for clear error.  United States v. Brooks, 957 F.2d 1138 (4th Cir.1992).  The trial court may determine the facts of the case, for the purposes of sentencing, by a mere preponderance of the evidence.  United States v. Vinson, 886 F.2d 740, 741-42 (4th Cir.1989).

12
Kemp's sentencing argument involves two parts, one a dispute over the amount of cocaine involved and the other a dispute over the proper offense level calculation in light of a subsequent amendment to Guidelines Sec. 2D1.1(c).  As the amount of cocaine base was a factual issue at sentencing, the trial court needed only a preponderance of the evidence to find that Kemp was involved in the distribution of 1,314.04 kilograms of cocaine base.  Reviewed on appeal only for clear error, this finding must be sustained;  in fact, the trial court clearly made every effort to resolve disputed amounts in favor of the defendant.  Regardless, in April 1994 the trial court need only have found 15 kilograms of cocaine base to put Kemp in the base offense level of 42.  See United States Sentencing Commission, Guidelines Manual, Appendix C, Amendment 505.  We affirm the trial court's factual findings.

13
The more interesting sentencing issue is the effect of Amendment 505.  In a Presentence Report of March 1994 the United States Probation Officer calculated Kemp's base offense level at 42, at that time the proper offense level for 15 or more kilograms of cocaine base under Sec. 2D1.1.  The trial court used the same method in its sentencing of April 1994 and, after the two-level enhancement for firearms and four-level enhancement for leadership role, gave Kemp an adjusted offense level of 48.  Since the Sentencing Table mandates a life sentence for any adjusted offense level higher than 42, Kemp received life imprisonment.  See USSG Ch.5, Pt.A. However, on November 1, 1994, Amendment 505 became effective and reduced the highest base offense level in Sec. 2D1.1 to 38.  Kemp argues that Sec. 1B1.10(c) makes the amendment retroactive, and that both his base offense level and sentence should now be recalculated.

14
We disagree.  Guidelines Sec. 1B1.10(a), governing subsequent modification of sentencing factors, reads in pertinent part:

15
[w]here a defendant is serving a term of imprisonment, and the guideline range applicable to that defendant has subsequently been lowered as a result of an amendment to the Guidelines Manual ... a reduction of the defendant's term of imprisonment is authorized under 18 U.S.C. Sec. 3582(c)(2).

Title 18 U.S.C. Sec. 3582(c)(2) provides:

16
in the case of a defendant who has been sentenced to a term of imprisonment based on a sentencing range that has subsequently been lowered by the Sentencing Commission ... upon motion of the defendant or the Director of the Bureau of Prisons, or on its own motion, the court may reduce the term of imprisonment....

17
Finally, Application Note 2 to Sec. 1B1.10 explains that Sec. 1B1.10 was drafted to implement 28 U.S.C. Sec. 994(u), which reads in full:

18
[i]f the Commission reduces the term of imprisonment recommended in the guidelines applicable to a particular offense or category of offenses, it shall specify in what circumstances and by what amount the sentences of prisoners serving terms of the imprisonment for the offense may be reduced.

19
Taken together, these sections authorize a court to reduce the defendant's sentence where a subsequent amendment has changed the Guidelines in such a fashion that the range of possible sentences is lowered.  But in Kemp's case, the range has not been lowered.

20
Although a new base offense level of 38 would not place Kemp in the automatic life sentence category he formerly occupied under the Sentencing Table, his adjusted offense level would still do so.  The adjusted offense level of 44, calculated by adding the base offense level to his two- and four-level enhancements, would still place Kemp off the chart and into a mandatory life sentence.  Thus the change in Sec. 2D1.1(c) is a reduction in neither the "guideline range" referred to in Guidelines Sec. 1B1.10(a) nor the "sentencing range" of 18 U.S.C. Sec. 3582(c)(2), because there is no "range."   Whether his offense level is the former 48, or the possible 44, his only authorized sentence is life imprisonment.

21
This arithmetic raises two points.  First, the authorization to apply retroactive amendments via Sec. 1B1.10 is discretionary, not mandatory, as urged by Kemp.  See United States v. Turner, 59 F.3d 481, 483 (4th Cir.1995).  Second, the three sections cited above clearly concern changes in actual sentence, not changes in the various base levels and adjustments that go into the calculation of sentence.  We question whether the sections authorize a modification with no real effect.  We conclude that retroactive modification does not apply to Kemp's case because a reduction in his base offense level would not affect his sentence.  Modification would be a meaningless exercise.  Therefore we decline to perform it and we affirm the trial court.*

III.

22
We conclude that none of the challenges raised by Kemp merit reversal.  Therefore Kemp's conviction and sentence, and the judgment of the trial court, are affirmed in all respects.

23
AFFIRMED.

*
 Should Kemp wish to engage in such an exercise, the trial court is the proper forum in which to move for reconsideration of his sentence.  Kemp may argue to the trial court that the possible reduction in base offense level makes a downward departure more feasible.  However, a departure is an extraordinary action and is best left to the trial court's sound discretion.  We will not assume such action for the purposes of this appeal


RNC Protests in Cleveland

Revolution Club in Cleveland

Rafa and Amina, two members of the Revolution Club, talk about the protests in Cleveland during the Republican National Convention, and taking out "Time To Get Organized for an ACTUAL Revolution, Message from the Central Committee of the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA" in Cleveland.

From Baton Rouge - the Police Murder of Alton Sterling

Carl Dix Speaking in Baton Rouge

Carl Dix, a representative of the Revolutionary Communist Party, and co-founder of the Stop Mass Incarceration Network. Carl was in Baton Rouge during all the protests following the police murder of Alton Sterling. He talks about the police murders of Black and Brown people, why they are happening, the movement against those murders, and how revolution could end them.

Is There Value to Voting?

Plus, an excerpt from Revolution and Religion: The Fight for Emancipation and the Role of Religion, a Dialogue between Cornel West and Bob Avakian. This dialogue took place in late 2014, before a packed house in the Riverside Church in New York City. Both speakers address two important questions, questions that people have even more today: Is there no value to working to abolish the system while also voting to minimize the immediate damage it does? And, If we avoid voting, how can we avoid the rise of the worst of the right? Cornel West is a prominent and provocative democratic intellectual, and Bob Avakian is the Chairman of the Revolutionary Communist Party.


# Contributing #

:balloon: Thanks for your help improving the project!

All Linkerd sub-projects follow the contribution guidelines described [here](https://github.com/linkerd/linkerd/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md).


#include "../../crypto/dsa/dsa.h"


Polyelectrolyte-mediated assembly of copper-phthalocyanine tetrasulfonate multilayers and the subsequent production of nanoparticulate copper oxide thin films.
An approach to producing films of nanometer-sized copper oxide particulates, based on polyelectrolyte-mediated assembly of the precursor, copper(II)phthalocyanine tetrasulfonate (CPTS), is described. Multilayered CPTS and polydiallyldimethylammonium chloride (PDADMAC) were alternately assembled on different planar substrates via the layer-by-layer (LbL) procedure. The growth of CPTS multilayers was monitored by UV-visible spectrometry and quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) measurements. Both the UV-visible spectra and the QCM data showed that a fixed amount of CPTS could be attached to the substrate surface for a given adsorption cycle. Cyclic voltammograms at the CPTS/PDADMAC-covered gold electrode exhibited a decrease in peak currents with the layer number, indicating that the permeability of CPTS multilayers on the electrodes had diminished. When these CPTS multilayered films were calcined at elevated temperatures, uniform thin films composed of nanoparticulate copper oxide could be produced. Ellipsometry showed that the thickness of copper oxide nanoparticulate films could be precisely tailored by varying the thickness of CPTS multilayer films. The morphology and roughness of CPTS multilayer and copper oxide thin films were characterized by atomic force microscopy. X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements indicated that these thin films contained both CuO and Cu2O nanoparticles. The preparation of such copper oxide thin films with the use of metal complex precursors represents a new route for the synthesis of inorganic oxide films with a controlled thickness.


Venue Change For NASA’s IceBridge Antarctic Operations

This fall, NASA’s Operation IceBridge will base its annual Antarctic campaign out of Antarctica’s McMurdo Station, a change from the mission’s previous four campaigns that were based in Punta Arenas, Chile. By switching bases of operations, IceBridge will be able to expand its reach by measuring parts of Antarctica previously unavailable to the mission.

“Antarctica is a big place and there are many science targets for us to hit,” said Tom Wagner, cryosphere program scientist at NASA headquarters, Washington. This change comes after nearly a year of planning and collaboration between NASA and the National Science Foundation or NSF, to ensure that the station could support IceBridge’s personnel, equipment and aircraft requirements.

NSF oversees all U.S.-based scientific expeditions in Antarctica and the U.S. Antarctic Program and Antarctic Service Contract manage operations at McMurdo Station. Because of this, IceBridge planners worked closely with NSF, U.S. Antarctic Program and Antarctic Service Contract personnel to arrange the upcoming campaign. “It is fantastic to see how NSF, ASC, the Air National Guard and NASA have worked together to make this happen,” said Michael Studinger, IceBridge’s project scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. “The NASA P-3 adds tremendous capabilities to the existing suite of research aircraft that have been used for science data collection over Antarctica.”

“The initial challenge was trying to comprehend and identify all of the requirements, constraints and factors of operating science instruments and a wheeled aircraft in a complex and remote environment,” said Christy Hansen, IceBridge’s project manager at NASA Goddard. “We’ve been working on this in the background during our last two campaigns.”

Late in 2012, NASA representatives traveled to Antarctica to document available resources at McMurdo Station, meet with station personnel and get a better understanding of NSF’s regulations. The representatives also verified availability of housing, food and transportation. They checked to ensure IceBridge could operate the mission’s aircraft, instruments and equipment without placing an undue burden on NSF or other scientific operations there.

After returning from Antarctica, IceBridge mission planners, instrument teams and the aircraft office at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia continued working with NSF to document the mission’s requirements. This included working out an accurate headcount for scientists, instrument operators and flight crew and making sure that there would be enough fuel and storage space for the P-3 and the equipment needed to maintain it. Because McMurdo is a remote location the team needs to secure spare parts for any necessary repairs.

While this planning work was taking place, aircraft technicians at Wallops were upgrading the P-3 aircraft so it would meet NSF’s requirements and be optimized for flying in Antarctica. Among the upgrades are new flight management and synthetic vision systems and updated satellite communication hardware. “The new flight management and synthetic vision systems will provide the P-3 the ability to perform GPS approaches into airports worldwide and improve reduce visibility landing capabilities,” said Mike Cropper, aircraft operations manager at NASA Wallops.

In late October 2013, IceBridge will start survey flights out of McMurdo with the P-3. Flying out of Punta Arenas, Chile, allowed IceBridge researchers to measure portions of West Antarctica and the Antarctic Peninsula. However, there is less information on areas like the Ross Ice Shelf and portions of East Antarctica. “The Ross Ice Shelf is the size of France and poorly understood,” Wagner said.

Having better data on these areas would improve knowledge of how the ice shelf interacts with nearby ice streams and what is happening to the continent’s ice mass balance as a whole. “Operating the P-3 from McMurdo has the potential to turn into a real game changer for airborne science in Antarctica and will create many new opportunities for science data collection,” said Studinger. “It will now be possible to collect data over areas that have been difficult and costly to reach.”


Biotechnological uses of cyanobacteria.
Cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) are O(2)-evolving photosynthesizing prokaryotes that have an extensive history of use as a human food source and as a fertilizer in rice fields. They have also been recognized as an excellent source of vitamins and proteins and as such are found in health food stores in North America and elsewhere. Cyanobacteria have a great deal of potential as a source of fine chemicals, as a biofertilizer and as a source of renewable fuel. This potential is being realized as data from research in the areas of the physiology and chemistry of these organisms are gathered and as the knowledge of cyanobacterial genetics and genetic engineering increases. We review, here, the present (and possible future) uses of cyanobacteria and assess the state of the art with respect to the genetic manipulation of cyanobacteria.


A documentary about the world’s leading expert on chimpanzees and another about the cats of Istanbul took two of the top prizes tonight at the second annual Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards.

Oscilloscope Laboratories

Jane, about chimp maven Jane Goodall, won Best Documentary at the Penn Gillette-hosted ceremony in Brooklyn, and Kedi dragged in Best First Documentary. There was a tie for Best Director between Evgeny Afineevsky for Cries from Syria and Frederick Wiseman for Ex Libris: The New York Public Library.

PBS

PBS’ The Vietnam War, the sprawling 17-hour look at America’s original polarizing foreign conflict from Ken Burns & Lynn Novick, was named Best Documentary Series. The pubcaster also claimed Best Ongoing Documentary Series for the venerable Amercian Masters.

The CCDAs are 1-for-1 so far in predicting the eventual Oscar winner for Best Documentary Feature, having given its top honor to Ezra Edelman’s epic OJ: Made in America at last year’s inaugural ceremony.

Here is the complete list of winners at the 2017 Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards:

Best Documentary

Jane

Best Director

(TIE)

Evgeny Afineevsky (Cries from Syria)

Frederick Wiseman (Ex Libris: The New York Public Library)

Best First Documentary

Kedi

Best Political Documentary

Abacus: Small Enough to Jail

Best Sports Documentary

Icarus

Best Music Documentary

Clive Davis: The Soundtrack of Our Lives

Best Song in a Documentary

“Jump” (Step) – written by Raphael Saadiq, Taura Stinson and Laura Karpman, performed by Cynthia Erivo

Best Documentary Series

The Vietnam War

Best Ongoing Documentary Series

American Masters

Most Innovative Documentary

(TIE)

Dawson City: Frozen Time

Last Men in Aleppo


Student Success Stories

William Stratton

When William Stratton was eight, his father was in a serious car accident and paralyzed. The experience taught him independence and gave him a drive to help other people and led him to the world of corrections and law enforcement. While at the Prince George's Community College Municipal Police Academy, Stratton was the second oldest student in his class and embraced the role as a mentor and support for his colleagues. Stratton graduated the academy with two awards, leadership and highest grade point average. He says the academy prepared him well for his job with Amtrak Police. In six months, he learned about traffic stops, disorderly individuals, real world situations, and built powerful bonds with his academy classmates.


Q:

Making sprites out of an arbitrary SVG file

I have found a gorgeous, free SVG file with all 52 poker cards.

Project
Image
Raw content of the SVG

I'd like to use it in a web based game to display the sprites of the cards.
Can I "split" this file into icons using css ?
I've tried following this tutorial but it requires to edit the SVG file to define the elements inside a def tag, which I would prefer to avoid (SVG is huge : 2MB).
I've also tried using the viewbox/viewport attributes with no success.
Note : I've also found a cards font but the quality of the rendering is so much worse ...

A:

Here is a simple suggestion where background-position is used to move the wanted area of an image into view

div {
  display: inline-block;
  border: 1px solid;
  height: 355px;
  width: 260px;
  background-image: url(https://cdn.rawgit.com/tyrcho/fa8bec7cc670515cd250a9dcfad5898f/raw/2d6bb400ab12bf785a29ba06202cbec789617801/Color_52_Faces_v.2.0.svg);
}
.div1 {
  background-position: -490px -1155px;
}
.div2 {
  background-position: -490px -1530px;
}


745 N.W.2d 781 (2008)
DETROIT BUILDING AUTHORITY, Plaintiff/Cross Defendant-Appellee, and
City of Detroit, Intervening Plaintiff/Counter Plaintiff/Cross Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
WAYNE COUNTY TREASURER, Defendant/Cross Defendant/Counter Defendant-Appellee, and
Michigan Financial Investments, L.L.C., Intervening Defendant/Cross Plaintiff/Counter Defendant-Appellant.
Docket No. 129743. COA No. 253479.
Supreme Court of Michigan.
March 24, 2008.
*782 On order of the Court, the motion for reconsideration of this Court's September 28, 2007 order is considered, and it is DENIED, because it does not appear that the order was entered erroneously.


OVERVIEW: IDSA addresses the most dangerous infectious diseases in the world.

IP TAKE: IDSA a good funding source for young investigators working to combat some of the world’s deadliest infectious diseases.

PROFILE: The leading cause of death around the globe of people under 60 is infectious disease. According to a report by Trust for America’s Health, infectious diseases cost the U.S. more than $120 billion annually. The IDSA Education and Research Foundation (IDSA ERF) is the philanthropic arm of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. It seeks to "[a]ttract the best and brightest to the field of infectious diseases, support research by promising young scientists, enhance the educational development of ID and HIV professionals, and ensure that decisions about infectious diseases issues are well-informed by science." The foundation makes grants but also supports fellowships, mentorship, and scholarship to young investigators, fellows, scientists, and clinicians focusing on infectious diseases. While IDSA makes some awards, it largely supports research and the creation of a new generation of health professionals capable of handling harrowing infectious diseases.

It offers the PFIZER Young Investigator Award in Vaccine Development, to grant seekers with “a demonstrated commitment to vaccinology as a career." This two-year grant is for $60,000.

The Young Investigator Award in Infectious Diseases is a one-year, $40,000 grant given to young scientist conducting “research on investigations relevant to advancing our understanding of antimicrobial resistance and that advance the optimal approaches to antimicrobial stewardship.”

Applications for IDSA awards are deadline driven and prioritize investigators not currently receiving active grant support.


Through free psychic chat rooms speak, psychic readers attempt to foretell what might happen to the future. Logical deductions support in discerning certain events that may happen into tomorrow. Like a death from your family could turn you right into a nervous wreck along with the decisions you need to make is going to be clouded through cynicism, you could possibly prefer being yourself this also can of curiosity suicidal tendencies. If you’re happy and are usually hard working then your decisions that you just elect to make will transform into right nearly all of made your time and effort. What you have to recognise is resolve actually decide your future as well as your future depends a whole lot on your mental condition. Free psychic chat helps calm everyone down and relives a person of unwanted and dangerous stress.

If you ask a teenager or perhaps a teenager that calling somebody who lives more than 100 kilometers from them once cost a quite a bit of greenbacks, they might probably laugh. They are right because for the kids, talking to somebody a large number of miles away could be the couple of a couple of clicks or taps! Especially creating a facility of webcam forums, the items are actually increasingly easy before.

Soon after the roll-out of the Internet, the notion of an on-line public platform in which users could talk with one particular an additional emerged. Alexander Trevor invented the first text based mostly chat area. He produced the CompuServe CB simulator and launched it in 1980. It was the start of the era of prompt messaging which has turn into so common in today’s occasions. The genuine energy in the concept lay rolling around in its power to permit numerous customers to communicate with every single other with the similar time. Now, this notion has developed into phone conferencing with video clip interface, development of personalized avatars and cyberspace and gaming modules. Work happen to be manufactured to jazz up the chat place interface in order that online surfers do not lose interest inside.

When you meet people online, the setting is usually safe compared with meeting a similar individual in the flesh. In this setting, you don’t need to fret about what to anticipate this also alleviates the strain of experiencing to be effective overtime to impress another party. Additionally, it provides you with the opportunity speak with people from different parts of the planet in a secure setting.

Free video chat room is definitely accessible by way of a browser. No software download is commonly required and users have the option to become listed on as guest chatters hassle-free. It’s like trying on a pair of shoes inside the store. If they can fit, then only can you commit to them. Else they’re going back on the shelf, similarly with all these free chat services. There are even disposable video boards for short term use. You start a chat room and dispose of it once done.


Phylogeographical pattern of Euplotes nobilii, a protist ciliate with a bipolar biogeographical distribution.
Nuclear (18S and ITS) and mitochondrial (16S) ribosomal RNA gene sequences were determined from genetically distinct wild-type strains of Antarctic (nine strains), Fuegian (four strains), Greenland (nine strains) and Svalbard (three strains) populations of the marine ciliate, Euplotes nobilii, and analysed for their nucleotide polymorphisms. A close genetic homogeneity was found within and between the Antarctic and Fuegian populations, while more significant levels of genetic differentiation were detected within and between the two Arctic populations, as well as between these populations and the Antarctic/Fuegian ones. The phylogeographical pattern that was derived from these data indicates that gene flow is not limited among Arctic populations; it equally connects the Arctic and Antarctic populations either directly, or through the Fuegian population. This indication reinforces previous evidence from laboratory assays of mating interactions between some of the strains analysed in this work that Southern and Northern polar populations of E. nobilii belong to a unique, panmictic population that substantially share the same gene pool.


Alien Species (1996)

Trying so hard it's too often hilariously awful acting, laughable 90s era CGI, and dialogue that vacillates between absurd and over-the-top ludicrous
are just a few of the B-movie charms of this blatant low budget knock-off of ID4 (Independence Day). Of course it's not like you'd expect anything more
of a movie where the only recognizable faces are those of character actors...

SPACE MUTINY/FIREHEAD (DVD DF)

I acquired these titles as part of the SCI-FI SIX PACK COLLECTOR'S SET put out by Echo Bridge Home Entertainment, purchased on sale at Best Buy for $14.95 (regular price $19.95). For the price
a fair deal, especially considering the contents include 3 double features (6 DVDs in 3 Amaray cases) as follows: FUTURE FORCE/FUTURE ZONE; PREY OF THE
JAGUAR/CONSPIRACY OF FEAR; and SPACE...

BEAST IN SPACE

I love science fiction, especially swashbuckling space opera adventures, so I may be predisposed to an overtly positive bias towards these sorts of movies.
Then again there have been many genre movies imported to the U.S. and dubbed, too often badly, over the years that my love of the genre has made it easy to
overlook budget tragedies and dated special effects. Many of these movies were utterly forgettable but a few, a lucky few, have gained cult status. In this
rarified category are included a...