Bela Sei Bela Video || Best Record

Click & Close Ads Click & Close Ads play has grown in stature since its premiere at the Almeida in April. Now we’ve got over the titillating shock of seeing living royals presented on stage, we can see that the play offers a meditation on the inviolable solitude of monarchy and uses a dense tissue of Shakespearean references to acquire a tragic dimension. I still find the premise a touch dodgy: that within a few days of becoming king, Charles would be so naive as to refuse royal assent to a parliamentary bill restricting press freedom. But once we are past that hurdle, the play ingeniously explores the constitutional crisis that would result from Charles’s interventionism. Bartlett also goes beyond parodying Shakespearean verse to evoke memories of specific plays. Charles reflects on the clash between the private man and the public role in the manner of Shakespeare’s kings, ghostly predictions remind us of Hamlet and Macbeth, and there is even an allusion to Hal’s rejection of Falstaff on the threshold of his coronation. But the play transcends spot-the-bard jokiness to explore the unresolved contradictions of monarchy even in an age when it is largely ceremonial. Click & Close Ads Click & Close Ads Tim Pigott-Smith gives the performance of his distinguished career as Charles. He eschews mere impersonation to convey, in the first half, a tormented idealist struggling to come to terms with his new role. He then grows into a movingly tragic figure in his baffled rage at being outmanoeuvred by members of his own family and his realisation of the hollowness of the throne. Oliver Chris as the deceptively gauche William, Richard Goulding as a roistering Harry and Lydia Wilson as a secretly manipulative Kate also carry conviction, and Rupert Goold’s superb production, played on Tom Scutt’s empurpled dais, shows how memorable effects can be achieved through carefully choreographed grouping. The costumes are virtually all black and white – but there is nothing morally simplistic about a play that raises urgent issues about the monarchy’s future role in a country without a defined constitution.Click & Close Ads Click & Close Ads

Click & Close Ads Click & Close Ads So, what happens when two lamps become one? The answer is, “More light!” (if not, “More lamps!”). Product designer Sandro Lominashvili of Tblisi, Georgia, used 3D-printed components in the most ingenious and oddly romantic way to create a chic, contemporary looking two-in-one lighting fixture. He calls it or, rather, them, the “Love Lamps.” Lominashvili, who studied mechanical engineering at King’s College in London, UK and worked for several years for a number of architecture and design companies before setting up his own studio last year, is an ardent advocate of 3D design and printing. In his leisure time, the energetic Lominashvili studies design and architecture magazines to spot the latest trends in innovative design, sketching every day and developing ideas into successful products. He incorporates digital and manual processes, including the use of 3D modeling software like Grasshopper, SolidWorks, and Rhino, the latter of which he utilized to design the Love Lamps. Click & Close Ads Click & Close Ads When he’s not flying solo, Lominashvili works with different craftspeople and makers both in Tbilisi and abroad, building a community of forward-thinking designers using the latest technological tools to produce a range of products. He also exhibits his work as he did with the Love Lamps, which were showcased at the Ventura Lambrate show during Milan Design Week 2015.Lominashvili’s Love Lamps are meant to represent, he explained, “the constant togetherness of couples in love.” He created three different versions of this endearing design concept. In each, the two seemingly separate lamps, they interlock or intersect in different ways via the angular arms and the shades. All were 3D printed using transparent resin as he wanted the cables, fixtures and bulbs to be visible. The design of the these individuals pieces were inspired by the classic Anglepoise Lamp, a balanced-arm lamp created by the British designer, George Cawardine in the early 1930s. Click & Close Ads Click & Close Ads When asked why he chose 3D printing as the manufacturing method of choice for his Love Lamps, Lominashvili said, “3D printing seemed like the best option because it made it possible for the design to be very clean, with almost no extra parts, and I had very few constraints with the shape.” He chose i.materialise to do the 3D printing job as he found the printing material–in this case, the transparent resin–ideal for the Lamps. As his studio is new, Lominashvili does not yet have an extensive portfolio that he can share via his website, but we imagine that will change as he adds new products like the Love Lamps and the sleek, Modernist chair already showcased on the site. What do you think of these uniquely designed lamps? Discuss in the 3D Printed Love Lamps forum thread on 3DPB.com. Click & Close Ads Click & Close Ads

Click & Close Ads Click & Close Ads BASTROP, Texas — The office of the Bastrop County Republican Party is in an old lumber mill on Main Street, with peeling brown paint and a sign out front that captures the party’s feelings about the Obama administration: “WISE UP AMERICA!” Inside, county Chairman Albert Ellison pulled out a yellow legal pad on which he had written page after page of reasons why many Texans distrust President Obama, including the fact that, “in the minds of some, he was raised by communists and mentored by terrorists.” So it should come as no surprise, Ellison said, that as the U.S. military prepares to launch one of the largest training exercises in history later this month, many Bastrop residents might suspect a secret Obama plot to spy on them, confiscate their guns and ultimately establish martial law in one of America’s proudly free conservative states. They are not “nuts and wackos. They are concerned citizens, and they are patriots,” Ellison said of his suspicious neighbors. “Obama has really painted a portrait in the minds of many conservatives that he is capable of this sort of thing.” Click & Close Ads Click & Close Ads Across town at the Bastrop County Courthouse, such talk elicits a weary sigh from County Judge Paul Pape, the chief official in this county of 78,000 people. Pape said he has tried to explain to folks that the exercise, known as Jade Helm 15, is a routine training mission that poses no threat to anyone.Pape chaired a public meeting this spring and invited a U.S. Army Special Operations Command spokesman to answer questions about Jade Helm. The meeting drew more than 150 people carrying signs that read “No Gestapo in Bastropo,” “Keep America Free” and “Dissent is Not a Conspiracy Theory.” Some asked whether the Army was bringing in Islamic State fighters, if the United Nations would be involved, and whether the military was planning to relieve local gun owners of their firearms. “I’m sensitive to the fact that some of our Bastrop residents are concerned, and I’m confident that they are very sincere about their concerns,” Pape said. “But how did we get to this point in our country?” Race and economic anxiety Here in the soft, green farmlands east of Austin, some say the answer is simple: “The truth is, this stems a fair amount from the fact that we have a black president,” said Terry Orr, who was Bastrop’s mayor from 2008 to 2014. Orr said he strongly disagrees with those views, and he supports Jade Helm. But he said a significant number of people in town distrust Obama because they think he is primarily concerned with the welfare of blacks and “illegal aliens.” “People think the government is just not on the side of the white guy,” Orr said. Bastrop’s current mayor, Kenneth Kesselus, who also supports Jade Helm, agrees. Kesselus said the distrust is due in part to a sense that “things aren’t as good as they used to be,” especially economically. “The middle class is getting squeezed and they’ve got to take it out on somebody, and Obama is a great target.”Dock Jackson, 62, an African American who has been on the Bastrop City Council for 24 years, grew up when the town was still segregated, literally by railroad tracks. Today, Bastrop is 34 percent Hispanic and 8 percent black, and a wonderful place to live, he said, a place where the races generally get along. But the Jade Helm backlash has been a “red flag” that our county “still has a lot of things they need to come to terms with,” Jackson said, including the anger and disrespect being directed at the president. At a recent family reunion at a Bastrop community center, Mark Peterson, who is black, said he has been “shocked” by what he views as racist undertones in much of the objection to Jade Helm. Click & Close Ads Click & Close Ads Click & Close Ads Click & Close Ads “What I hate to hear most is, ‘We want to take our country back.’ This is still your country. Where did it go?” said Peterson, 42, a technology manager for a financial firm in Austin. “If it were any other president but Obama, it would not be an issue.” [It isn’t just Jade Helm 15: The varying and misunderstood roles of state-sponsored militias] Jade Helm’s troubles started with a map, released by the military, which depicted the area of operations. It showed seven southwestern states colored red for “hostile” (including Texas) and blue for “permissive” (including California). The map sent the conspiracy-minded into overdrive. At the public hearing this spring, military spokesman Lt. Col. Mark Lastoria explained that those designations are part of a fictional scenario: Jade Helm is intended to simulate U.S. Special Forces helping resistance fighters restore democracy in an imaginary country. The operation’s logo, which features a Dutch wooden shoe, is meant to represent anti-Nazi resistance in World War II Europe. Lastoria patiently answered questions for nearly three hours, explaining that while Jade Helm would involve 1,200 troops across seven states, no more than 60 would be training in Bastrop County. Moreover, the The Texas operation would be confined to military bases — including Camp Swift, a large Army National Guard base in Bastrop — as well as private property where the military had secured the landowners’ permission. “All service members take an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States, and we put our lives on the line every day to uphold that oath,” he said. “So for people to come up with irrational ideas and try to associate them with the United States military, it does our troops a disservice.” The hearing failed to tamp down the paranoia, however. Ellison, the GOP chairman, said “the fear factor is justified.” Obama “doesn’t take national threats seriously enough,” Ellison said, ticking off Obama’s policies toward Russia, Iran, Cuba and the Islamic State, as well as illegal immigration across the U.S. southern border and the deadly attack in Benghazi, Libya. “What he views as alarming instead is conservatism,” Ellison said, alleging that the Obama administration has used the Internal Revenue Service to attack the tea party and other conservative groups, been hostile to gun owners, issued what conservatives consider an illegal executive order to avoid deporting illegal immigrants, and “been complicit in stirring riots” in racially charged situations in Ferguson, Mo., and Baltimore. “The Obama administration has a history of attacking Texas” on issues from education standards to environmental regulations to Obamacare, he said. “It’s not that much of a leap to believe that he would try to employ the military like he does the IRS.” Others suspect Obama wants to establish martial law to cancel the 2016 presidential elections and extend his term in office. Terry Wareham, head of the Bastrop County Tea Party, said she fears that the Obama administration might deliberately instigate violence between soldiers and Texans as a pretext for establishing martial law. “We’re not against the military. This community is very supportive of the military,” Wareham said. “But who’s the commander in chief of the military?” A ‘toxic’ politics Some in Bastrop dismiss the talk of martial law as the delusional rantings of saucer-eyed loons. But others see it as the logical outcome of the Texas political climate, where they say the state’s Republican leaders have eagerly stoked distrust of the federal government, and especially of Obama. “They are trying to convince people the federal government is coming after them,” said state Sen. Kirk Watson, a Democrat who represents Bastrop County. Gov. Greg Abbott (R) has ordered the Texas State Guard to “monitor” Jade Helm 15. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, a Republican presidential hopeful, has said he understands “the reason for concern and uncertainty, because . . . the federal government has not demonstrated itself to be trustworthy in this administration.” “They say the government is coming after you,” Watson said, “so why would you be surprised if the government shows up with guns?” Carol Schumacher, a Bastrop artist whose property backs up onto Camp Swift, laughed when asked about the Jade Helm conspiracy theorists. “I think those people are crazy,” she said. “I’m more worried about them taking over.”Click & Close Ads Click & Close Ads

Click & Close Ads
Click & Close Ads
    Raikkonen qualified third after team-mate Vettel fell by the wayside in Q1 with an MGU-H failure. While Kimi’s life was undoubtedly made easier as a result of his team-mate’s demise, the Finn had been faster in FP3 and saw off a strong challenge from Valtteri Bottas to claim the position. Despite it being his best qualifying position so far this year, Kimi said: “We still have some work ahead, obviously we are not happy to finish third in the grid but in the race we’lll try to do better. It’s hard to say what will happen tomorrow but at least we did a better qualifying than normal and we’ll be in a better position for the race.” Ferrari, running an upgraded power unit this weekend, have looked strong throughout the event. Nico Rosberg & Lewis Hamilton have both commented on how Ferrari appear to have raised their game, and Kimi says that the weekend has been smooth sailing so far:
 Click & Close Ads
Click & Close Ads
 “The car has been feeling good all weekend. We had no problems, apart from the one Sebastian had in qualifying, and everything ran smoothly. We have been making sure that all the small details were correct, we have learned from the past difficult races how small things can make a big change and enable you to get the result you want . So far it has been ok but tomorrow is the big day. I expect that we can be stronger and challenge for a competitive race . The weather has been tricky these days, so it will be a bit of uncertain tomorrow. Tonight we are going to analyse a lot of data and will try to make the right decisions”. While Raikkonen will be keen to challenge the Mercs, Sebastian Vettel faces a much tougher task. After falling out of contention during Q1, Vettel was called in front of the stewards to answer charges of overtaking Roberto Merhi under red flag conditions in FP3. He was found guilty, and hit with a five place grid and three penalty points. “Right from the start we didn’t have the full power available, so when I went out for the first run we tried to fix the problem, but we couldn’t.” said Vettel afterwards. “Due to the lack of power we couldn’t make it further. For sure we have to investigate but I don’t think that there’s anything to do with the engine. I think it has more to do with the electronical side, but I am confident that we can fix the problem in time for tomorrow’s race. We have plenty of tyres and anything can happen. We have a strong car and a strong pace, so I should be able to score good points. The problem we had this morning in FP3 was completely unrelated.”
Click & Close Ads
Click & Close Ads

Click & Close Ads
Click & Close
 Pentagon’s prime contractor, Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT - Analyst Report), will join forces with Bombardier and Raytheon Co. (RTN - Analyst Report) to contend for the U.S. Air Force's next-generation JSTARS replacement. For now, Lockheed Martin has secured a big contract modification to develop the ballistic missile defense command and control program. Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. (HII - Snapshot Report) broke ground for building a new joint manufacturing assembly facility in Newport News, VA. (Read Defense Stock Roundup for Jun 16, 2015 here.) Recap of the Week’s Most Important Stories
Click & Close Ads
Click & Close Ads
 1. Lockheed Martin Corp. secured a big pie from the Pentagon’s daily funding list, worth $870 million. The U.S. military awarded Lockheed Martin a contract to continue developing the ballistic missile defense (“BMD”) command and control program that enables senior U.S. officials to plan BMD operations. The company will continue engineering, development, test, integration, fielding and on-site operations and sustainment support for the command and control, battle management and communications (“C2BMC”) system located worldwide for the Ballistic Missile Defense System. This is a modification contract that brings the total cumulative contract value to $2.1 billion from $1.2 billion. The work is expected to be completed by Dec 31, 2021. 2. Lockheed Martin will collaborate with Bombardier and Raytheon to compete for the U.S. Air Force's next-generation Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (“JSTARS”) Recapitalization program. The team will build a replacement for the aging JSTARS aircraft. Lockheed Martin will act as the lead systems integrator, while Raytheon will bring its expertise in ground surveillance, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems, mission systems integration, and JSTARS communications. Bombardier for its part will provide its ultra-long-range Global business jet platform that is less pricey to operate than modern airliners. Meanwhile, Northrop Grumman Corp. (NOC - Analyst Report) recently announced that it would team up with General Dynamics Corp. (GD - Analyst Report), Gulfstream and L-3 Communications Holdings Inc. (LLL - Analyst Report) to compete for the program. This means Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin will confront each other on both the B-3 bomber program and the JSTARS recap. The contract from the Air Force has not yet been awarded. 3. Raytheon Company has won a multi-year contract from the U.S. Navy to produce 53 maritime, littoral and overland surveillance radars, known as AN/APY-10, valued at $153 million. The radars will be used in Boeing’s (BA) P-8A Poseidon aircraft. So far, Raytheon has delivered about 62% of the previous order of 58 AN/APY-10 radars from the U.S. Navy. Last week, another category of Raytheon’s radars – AN/TPY-2 ballistic missile defense radar – received a green signal from the U.S. government for its use in forward-based mode by its allies (read more: Raytheon Wins Surveillance Radar Orders from U.S. Navy). In another development, Raytheon announced that along with the U.S. Navy, it has completed operational testing and evaluation of live fires of the AIM-9X Sidewinder Block II infrared air-to-air missile. The U.S. government is now finalizing the approval, acceptance and delivery of Block II missiles to the U.S. and foreign allies, which are scheduled later this year. Block I missiles have been delivered to nine U.S. allies, while seven customers have already signed up for deliveries of Block II by the beginning of this year (read more: Raytheon Completes AIM-9X Missile Testing with U.S. Navy).
Click & Close Ads
Click & Close Ads
 4. United Technologies Corporation’s (UTX - Analyst Report) unit, Sikorsky Aircraft, completed the delivery of six CH-148 Cyclone helicopters to the Canadian government. The helicopters are the first batch of an order of 28 Cyclone aircraft that Sikorsky is scheduled to deliver to the Canadian Armed Forces (read more: UTX's Sikorsky Delivers 6 Cyclone Helicopters to Canada).5. Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc.’s Newport News Shipbuilding segment broke ground for building a 250,000-square-foot joint manufacturing assembly facility. The facility’s first two phases, to open in 2017, will support work under current contracts for the Navy's new Gerald R. Ford-class nuclear-powered carriers and Virginia-class submarines. It will be among the largest at the shipyard. Meanwhile, as a part of its planned incremental availability, Newport News Shipbuilding clinched a $23.8 million contract from the U.S. Navy for nuclear propulsion and complex modernization work on the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77). The modernization work is expected to be completed by Nov 2015 at Norfolk Naval Shipyard. Performance The last five trading days have seen gains for the sector overall led by Northrop Grumman and followed by Boeing. The picture in the past six-month period is mixed with gains as well as losses. Only Boeing and Rockwell Collins have been able to register double-digit gains. Lockheed Martin, Raytheon and L-3 Communications on the other hand have failed to end in the green. General Dynamics, Northrop Grumman and Textron registered single-digit share price appreciation. The following table shows the price movement of the major defense players over the past five trading days and during the last six months.Click & Close Ads
Click & Close Ads
 

Click & Close Ads
Click & Close Ads
Defense operator L-3 Communications Holdings Inc. LLL said that its National Security Solutions ("L-3 NSS") business has been awarded an integration and technical support contract worth $117 million for the U.S. Army's Medical Communications for Combat Casualty Care (MC4) program. MC4 system provides important details to the medical personnel for quick and accurate access to patient histories, ensuring that deployed soldiers receive appropriate medical treatment from the battlefield through recovery and beyond. MC4 also provides automated tools to facilitate patient tracking, blood management, medical reporting and medical logistical support. Timeliness and accurate medical details are crucial for saving lives of critical patients. Also, providing the right medical treatment during the golden hour could help save lives. The MC4 program with its timeliness and accuracy had helped save the lives of wounded soldiers.
 Click & Close Ads
Click & Close Ads
 Per the new contract, L-3 NSS will extend its support for this program for the period that runs from Jan 2015 through Dec 2019. In addition, L-3 NSS will expand its current engineering and integration efforts to further strengthen this critical program for medical communications. L-3 Communications Holdings Inc. exited fourth quarter 2014 on a positive note with its earnings per share and total revenue of $2.19 and $3,208 million beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 3.7% and 1.8%, respectively. L-3 Communications expects to maintain the strong performance in 2015 as well, supported by the defense contract wins at regular intervals. L-3 Communications Holdings Inc. currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Other better-ranked stocks in the space are API Technologies Corp. ATNY , Rockwell Collins Inc. COL and AAR Corp. AIR . All of these stocks carry a Zacks Rank #2.
Click & Close Ads
Click & Close Ads
 

Click & Close Ads
Click & Close Ads
Le maire de Grand-Yoff ne lâche pas l’Acte lll de la décentralisation. Selon Pape Madiop Diop, ce texte élaboré par le régime de Macky Sall comporte des problèmes dans sa mise en œuvre. Au -delà des critiques formulées sur le texte, le premier magistrat de la dite commune a invité les force vive pour évaluer l’Acte lll de la décentralisation. Il a réuni notables, délégués de quartiers, jeunes et femmes de sa localité, hier, à l’hôtel de ville pour échanger sur les difficultés auxquelles tous les maires de Dakar sont confrontées. « L’acte lll est venu avec des difficultés. C’est une réforme incomplète. Nous avons des problèmes pour agir normalement. Notre véritable difficulté est un problème financier. Depuis très longtemps, ce sont les communes qui collectaient les taxes sur l’eau et la patente. Mais maintenant, l’Etat veut créer une Agence pour y verser tous ces fonds. Nous pensons c’est anormale. L’Etat doit nous laisser nos taxes. Si l’Etat nous retire toutes ces taxes, mais comment allons nous fonctionner ? Voilà notre inquiétude », a expliqué le maire de Grand Yoff à sa population.
 Click & Close Ads
Click & Close Ads
 Les difficultés financières commencent à impacter dans certaines communes qui ont du mal à payer le salaire de leurs personnels. C’est le cas à Grand –Yoff même si le maire continue toujours de résister. Des solutions alternatives ont été élaborées. « J’ai payé les salaires du mois passé. Et je vais payer aussi ceux du mois de juin. Mais, si l’Etat ne nous laisse pas ses taxes là, nous aurons des difficultés pour payer les salaires. Parce qu’actuellement, ce sont ces taxes qui nous permettent de fonctionner. Je ne le souhaite pas, mais je pense que d’ici peu de temps, nous aurons des difficultés pour payer les salaires », s’inquiète Pape Madiop Diop. Les fonds de dotation se sont également invités dans les débats. Mr le maire juge que la répartition n’est pas bonne. « Grand Yoff recevait 220 millions de fond de dotation et 130 millions de fond d’équipement. Cette année nous avons reçu 43 millions de l’Etat comme fond de dotation et 9 millions pour le fond d’équipement. L’écart est grand. Voilà notre inquiétude », se désole Madiop Diop. Une désolation partagée par les populations. D’ailleurs certaines parmi elles pensent que c’est le chef de l’Etat qui est en train de déclarer la guerre à Khalifa Sall. Les forces vives de Grand Yoff ont aussi fait savoir à leur maire, qu’ils vont porter le combat. Ils n’excluent pas de descendre dans les rues pour crier leur colère. Le maire en a profité pour éclairer la lanterne des populations sur la masse salariale. Elle est revue à la hausse en passant de 11 millions Fcfa à 43 millions Fcfa. Cette hausse s’explique par le redéploiement de certains agents de la ville de Dakar à la Commune. 154 agents ont été redéployés à Grand Yoff dont 79 agents de santé. Mis en ligne par Mamadou Fall Cette entrée a été publiée dans Politique. Vous pouvez la mettre en favoris avec ce permalien.
Click & Close Ads
Click & Close Ads

Click & Close Ads
Click & Close Ads
 DOWNERS GROVE, lll. — Imagine being able to pull a plane out of your garage door, drive down your driveway and take off on a trip. No driving to the airport. No security lines. No waiting at all. Well that’s just what happens in one suburban community. From one side it looks like any other Downers Grove, Ill., neighborhood. But on the other you can see what makes it so unique.
 Click & Close Ads
Click & Close Ads
 Hangars are attached to houses, and small planes sit in driveways. This is Brookeridge Airpark, where plane enthusiasts come to live. The airport has a primary runway that’s about 2,800 feet, along with a secondary runway, and its own fuel tanks. It’s owned by a group of the residents who live here… and has been around since the early 1960s. Pilots can simply pull their planes out, taxi to the runway and take off. It isn’t the only neighborhood of its kind in the area. There are others, in Naperville and Monee, Ill., to name a few. Some of the pilots say they offset the cost by being their own mechanics.
Click & Close Ads
Click & Close Ads
 

Click & Close Ads
Click & Close Ads
The United Dixie White Knights of Mississippi contacted the city of Laurel to express its interest in holding a rally at the Jones County Courthouse this summer. The group is listed as an active chapter of the Ku Klux Klan by the Southern Poverty Law Center and is registered with the Mississippi Secretary of State's Office, with Brent Waller listed as the registered agent. The city of Laurel's Special Events Coordinator Lauren Stewart said the group e-mailed the city asking for a special events permit to hold a rally where they would also sell some items. "The City of Laurel is not sure if we can permit them on the premises of the county because they're actually wanting to host it at a county building in the city limits," Stewart explained. In the email, Waller identified himself as the "elected Imperial Wizard of the United Dixie White Knights LLC, Realm of Mississippi." Waller stated that the rally will be "in regards to current Federal Court cases that are attempting to circumvent Mississippi's Constitution in regards to Gay Marriage, and illegal Federal intervention into our States right to enforce Illegal Immigration laws." In February, the Mississippi group issued a "call to arms in Alabama" in response to the federal court ruling that an amendment to the state constitution banning same-sex marriage was unconstitutional. The post on the group's website praised Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore, who ordered the state's probate judges to defy the ruling on the day same-sex marriages were expected to begin in Alabama. Stewart said the group had not picked up a permit application as of Thursday. An e-mail to the Leakesville-based group was not immediately returned.
 Click & Close Ads
Click & Close Ads
 Brandiilyne Dear of The Dandelion Project, an LGBTQ support group based in Laurel, said she started organizing a counter-protest when she first heard of the possible rally. Dear said the group is waiting to see what date the group chooses to hold the rally so it can host its own. "We are very hopeful we'll have a Supreme Court decision by that time so we'll be able to perform same-sex marriages that day as part of the protest as well as heterosexual marriages," she explained. She said area ministers will also be at the event to bless any families who wish to participate.
Click & Close Ads
Click & Close Ads
 "Love is louder than hate," Dear said, noting even if the group decides not to hold the rally, The Dandelion Project will still hold its own. According to the website for the United Dixie White Knights, the group seeks "an end to all illegal immigration, race mixing, the loss of American sovereignty, the fed, IRS and all powers not granted the President in the original constitution ... We only bow to one king and that is Jesus."
 Click & Close Ads
Click & Close Ads

Click & Close Ads
Click & Close Ads
 GETTYSBURG, Pa.-- Scout Troop 210 out of Springfield, Illinois carried its own flag this week as it re-enacted Pickett's charge at Gettysburg Battlefield. But the battle flag that the Confederate Army carried 152 years ago today is not hard to find here. In a Gettysburg shop you can even find it on a bikini. With calls in some parts of the country to ban the flag, here there's been little protest and only modest change."We feel strongly there will always be a role for the Confederate flag at Gettysburg in our museum exhibits, on monuments," said Katie Lawhon, spokeswoman for Gettysburg National Military Park. There have been changes in what's for sale inside the park. The Confederate flags are gone, leaving only the Stars-and-Stripes. And you can buy a mug or a t-shirt with the rebel flag -- but only if it also displays the American flag. The Confederate flag, though, is still widely displayed in the museum and on the battlefield itself.
 Click & Close Ads
Click & Close Ads
 "We've always told both sides of the story here at Gettysburg National Military Park," said Lawhon. "It is our passion to tell the whole story." Civil war reenactor Lee Houser wears the elaborate uniform of Confederate General Isaac Trimble, a key figure at Gettysburg."To me it is heritage and history," said Houser. "I had ancestors on the Confederate side. All that I am doing is honoring them by flying this flag." Scott Wilson plays a mid-level officer. Both men say they are pained by the fact that some people -- including the Ku Klux Klan and white supremacists, such as alleged killer Dylann Roof-- have long used the flag as a symbol of hatred and racism. "Sometimes people pervert it and use it for other things, which is an injustice," said Wilson. Houser added: "If I could take the flag away from the KKK I would tomorrow, in a heartbeat. But I can't -- freedom of speech, you know." But they say here at Gettysburg that flag is an important part of an educational experience intended to inspire Americans to learn about their past.
Click & Close Ads
Click & Close Ads

Click & Close Ads
Click & Close Ads
 The three men -- Thomas Jordan Driver, 25, David Elliot Moran, 47, and 42-year-old Charles Thomas Newcomb -- each were arrested Thursday on one state count of conspiracy to commit murder, according to a statement from Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi's office. Investigators said that late last year Driver handed a picture of the inmate, who was at that time out on supervised released, to an FBI informant who had infiltrated the Traditional American Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. Driver told the informant he had a fight with the inmate and both he and Moran wanted the former inmate "six feet under." Over the next few months, the FBI said their informant met with all three men, discussing plans to kill the man. One alleged plan involved shooting him during a ride to Palatka; another plan was to inject him with insulin and make it look like he died in a fishing accident. "My statewide prosecutor, acting in conjunction again with the FBI, staged a homicide scene where they took photos of the victim who was out of prison, now, of course, making it appear that he had been violently murdered," Bondi said. "Those photos were then shown to the corrections officers, who are alleged members of the KKK, and were very proud of this killing."
Click & Close Ads
Click & Close Ads
 Driver and Moran are current correctional officers of the Department of Corrections at the Reception and Medical Center in Lake Butler. Newcomb was a corrections officer trainee who was dismissed in January 2013 for failure to meet minimum requirements. “We are moving swiftly to terminate the employees arrested today and working closely with Office of the Attorney General to assist in their prosecution," DOC Secretary Julie Jones said. "Our department has zero tolerance for racism or prejudice of any kind. The actions of these individuals are unacceptable and do not, in any way, represent the thousands of good, hardworking and honorable correctional officers employed at the Department of Corrections.” Driver and Moran were arrested in Union County and Newcomb in Alachua County. The case will be prosecuted in Columbia County. Click & Close Ads
Click & Close Ads
 The wide-ranging investigation included the FBI, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, Homeland Security Investigations, the Florida Department of Corrections Office of Inspector General, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Florida Highway Patrol, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office. The FBI's office in Jacksonville said it would not comment on an open investigation. The charges for the three men mark the latest black eye for the Florida Corrections Department. Last fall, DOC officials fired nearly 50 prison employees, including several over allegations that they punched and beat inmates. The deaths of inmates Randall Jordan-Aparo and Darren Rainey also drew attention. Rainey, a mentally ill prisoner, was punished in 2012 with a shower so hot that his skin separated from his body. Jordan-Aparo was reportedly gassed while in a confinement cell. Witnesses say guards at Dade Correctional Institution left Rainey alone for two hours in a locked, scalding hot shower as punishment for defecating in his cell and refusing to clean it up. The warden at Dade Correctional was fired.
Click & Close Ads
Click & Close Ads

Click & Close Ads
Click & Close Ads
 The Ku Klux Klan is using the Internet to ramp up its calls for violence to compensate for their decreasing rank and file membership, a special RadarOnline.com investigation has uncovered. The evidence in the nefarious new strategy is illustrated in a sickening recorded message that greets recruits calling the phone number for the North Carolina based Loyal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan — the country’s largest and growing Klan group. The evil message, heard by Radar, congratulates 21-year-old Dylann Storm Roof who coldly executed nine worshippers at a Charleston, S.C., church using a .45-caliber handgun to cut down the victims attending Bible study class on June 17th.The recording blathers about Roof doing “what the Bible told him” by exacting revenge against minorities before rallying the listener with these evil words of encouragement: “If we had 10,000 more men like this young man, America would not be in the shape that it is in now!” Radar can now shine a bright light on the dark and sinister playbook of the Klan’s new “guerilla war” of encouraging lone wolf psychos to kill instead of doing it themselves, like they did years ago. Radar’s in-depth investigation has also uncovered the KKK operating in 26 states. “No organized hate group wants to be directly implicated to a terrorist attack that will have their return address on the envelope,” renowned KKK expert Brian Levin, the director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University in San Bernardino told Radar. PHOTOS: Celebrity Racist Rants Click & Close Ads
Click & Close Ads
 “So the Klan and groups like it are very happy to indirectly influence radicals who then blow up on their own.” The brainwashing tactic is also evident in Roof’s 2000-word screed where he explains why he took matters into his own hands: “We have no skinheads, no real KKK, no one doing anything but talking on the Internet,” he wrote. “Well someone has to have the bravery to take it to the real world, and I guess that has to be me.” “That’s the beauty of having the group on the Internet,” Levin explained to Radar. “You don’t have to ensnare someone into membership — they just want to ensnare people into their ideology.” The Klan, which once boasted more than four million members in the 1920s, has been steadily shrinking with an estimated 4000 to 5000 haters spread out into dozens of splintered groups, experts say. PHOTOS: Church Mass Murderer Dylann Storm Roof Smirking During Extradition In 12 Photos –– Sicko’s Smile Might Disappear After Officials Say DEATH PENALTY Charges Expected “As the Klan has shrunk and lost their viability….It has become more desperately radical and overtly violent,” Dr. David Cunningham, professor and director of Social Justice & Social Policy Program at Brandeis University told Radar. Encouraging the lone wolves is essentially “guerilla war,” added Cunningham, who wrote the book Klansville, USA: The Rise and Fall of the Civil Rights-Era Ku Klux Klan. “In a lot of ways it’s just a signal of their desperation and their sense that this is their only choice because they are not going to build a mass following in any real way.” “What they’ll lack in numbers they’ll certainly make up in terms of danger, combustibility and unpredictability,” continued Cunningham. “There is an encouragement of this kind of action and there’s no real sense of predicting where it might pop up or explode in any given situation.” Roof, who faces federal hate crime charges, most likely got introduced to the Klan 12 years ago when his family moved to Lexington, S.C., the hometown of Horace King, longtime leader of the Christian Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. PHOTOS: American Psycho: Church Murderer Dylann Storm Roof Hated America — 21 Sickening Photos “The Klan is still alive and active out there,” one of Roof’s former neighbors in Columbia, S.C., told Radar. “The Klan is a shadow of its former self but that shadow is cast diffusely across society,” Levin added. “Their Internet presence, which gives them a far greater reach to disseminate their hatred to unstable loners who will act on this hatred.”
Click & Close Ads
Click & Close Ads
 

Click & Close Ads
Click & Close Ads
 In light of the recent national conversation about the Confederate battle flag brought on by the horrific Charleston S.C. shooting, Middle Tennessee State University students, alumni and faculty are petitioning the name of Nathan Bedford Forrest Hall. RELATED: Building honoring KKK Grand Dragon renamed by U. of North Carolina Forrest Hall was dedicated to Nathan Bedford Forrest in 1958 for his involvement with the Confederate Army. While his Confederate involvement has stirred feelings, it’s Forrest’s role as the Ku Klux Klan’s first Grand Wizard — the organization’s highest ranking member — that has students protesting. Students vigorously took to social media early this week to petition against the name, starting the Facebook group “Change the Name of Nathan Bedford Forrest Hall MTSU,” which has received nearly 650 likes since its creation. Students are also debating the issue on the university’s Class of 2018 Facebook page. One student even posted a photo of the battle flag being burned, prompting the page’s moderator, Laurie Witherow, who is an assistant dean at MTSU, to comment. “I’ve had requests to remove both the flag post from Rebecca Gibbs and the flag burning post from Jeremy Dobbs,” Witherow wrote. “I’ll leave them both and trust you with the healthy discussion of what kind of country you’re going to build for me to live in. I trust you.”The exchange also prompted response from the university. “In light of the horrific killings in Charleston, and the national discussion that has ensued in the aftermath, it is right and appropriate to revisit this matter with the university community, our alumni and supporters, and state officials, who by law must approve any change,” University President Sidney A. McPhee said in an email statement.
 Click & Close Ads
Click & Close Ads
 McPhee said the issue has been brought up periodically throughout the years. But after a series of discussions and a Student Government Association vote, the name was left unaltered. In the wake of the renewed civil rights discussion, MTSU students do not seem to be discouraged by past failed attempts to rename Forest Hall. The organization had its first meeting on June 26 and later released a statement explaining that they believe Forrest Hall to be an “inappropriate” name for MTSU’s ROTC building. “Nathan Bedford Forrest is a symbol of white supremacist violence across the United States and the world,” the statement read. “As the nation comes to grips with the power of white supremacist symbolism, we are calling for Forrest’s name to be removed from the building, just as other symbols of his legacy have been removed from campus in the past,” they said in the release. “It is perplexing to many that a figure associated with a massacre of black American soldiers and the most notorious terrorist organization in our nation’s history could be honored on an ROTC building.” RELATED: Newsome: Confederate flag ‘banner of racial intimidation and fear’ The organization created a petition on June 27 to have the hall’s name changed and has “[called] on President Sidney A. McPhee, the State Legislature, the Board of regents, the SGA, and the Department of the Army to support our campaign and help to promote justice on MTSU’s campus.” As of June 30, it has been backed by 170 supporters. MTSU student Lane Matthews created a counter-petition to preserve the name of Forrest Hall, arguing that Forrest left the Klan soon after joining and became “reformed and reestablished much like others in history.” He says that the name has too much historical value to remove from campus. His petition, which launched June 25, has been backed by nearly 50 supporters. Click & Close Ads
Click & Close Ads
 Forrest has now been condemned to upheaval from all instances of his likenesses and name,” he says. “I understand that this fight is long standing, but the new revival is most certainly associated with the violence in South Carolina, and due to a man’s crimes we are now associating these actions with great heroes and people who fought and died for something they believed in. I can almost guarantee that the shooter did not take a stroll through Nathan Bedford Forrest Park that morning nor did he stand outside and admire the great works of MTSU’s Forrest Hall. Why due to one man’s actions do we have to fly off the handle and remove heritage from every instance in America?”This article comes from The USA TODAY College Contributor network. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of USA TODAY. You understand that we have no obligation to monitor any discussion forums, blogs, photo- or video-sharing pages, or other areas of the Site through which users can supply information or material. However, we reserve the right at all times, in our sole discretion, to screen content submitted by users and to edit, move, delete, and/or refuse to accept any content that in our judgment violates these Terms of Service or is otherwise unacceptable or inappropriate, whether for legal or other reasons.
Click & Close Ads
Click & Close Ads
 

Click & Close Ads
Click & Close Ads
 By NWV Senior Political News Writer, Jim Kouri Posted 1:00 AM Eastern July 5, 2015 © 2015 NewsWithViews.com At a time when the nation is still reeling from the racially-motivated attack on a black church in South Carolina that left nine churchgoers, including their pastor, dead, a black male suspect, who tried to pass off his racist threats as being made by a member of the Ku Klux Klan, was arrested by ColoradoSprings, Colorado, police officers on Tuesday. The 44-year old man is being held for posting the offensive signs at a predominately black church, according to law enforcement. Click & Close Ads
Click & Close Ads
 Vincent Broughton, a resident of Colorado Springs, is accused of posting signs near a church at the 200 block of East Platte Avenue, according to a police statement on Tuesday. One of the signs read: [sic]"HELP This church identified 6 Devils for the K.K.K The Police." The homemade signs appeared on three consecutive Sundays outside the New Covenant Church, a Pentecostal Christian denominational church. The congregation's pastor, Rev. Roland Joyner, told police that he believed the signs were hung up outside of his church during the Sunday afternoon service. He told police that one of the signs said "Black men be aware, you are the target." A woman, Holly Garvin, who lived in the neighborhood close to the church but was not a member of the congregation, said that she replaced the racist messages with positive, Christian signs such as: "no more violence" and "God loves us all."
 Click & Close Ads
Click & Close Ads
 When the racist signs were first discovered posted outside of New Covenant Church, Pastor Joyner told reporters that out of fear for the safety of his "flock" he locked the doors while the churchgoers were inside worshiping. "While this incident doesn't rise to the severity of the South Carolina black church slaughter by a white racist suspect, it nonetheless caused great concern to the Christians in Colorado Springs as well as to the police department," said Ronald Faisel, a former New York State police officer and member of the religious organization Cops for Christ. Broughton was taken into custody by police without incident on Tuesday after he was a suspect in the posting of more signs in the Colorado Springs downtown area, according to reports. police said. "I did it. Probably about 100 or so, I'd come downtown everyday and put up the posters." said Broughton. "I want people to know how corrupt these people that run the town are, the police department, city council and people in the community," said Broughton. However, he didn't mention why he wished the pastor and the churchgoers to think the Ku Klux Klan was responsible for the hateful messages.The suspected KKK impersonator is charged with perpetrating a biased-motivated crime, disorderly conduct, harassment, and littering, according to the police. He was served with a Desk Appearance Ticket (DAT) to appear in court and released, police said.
Click & Close Ads
Click & Close Ads
 

Click & Close Ads Click & Close Ads Flights to and from Bali have been cancelled and suspended across Australia following an ash threat from an active volcano. The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) said volcanic ash from Mount Raung had drifted toward Denpasar Airport following an eruption on Thursday. The ash, which is 150 kilometres from Bali and 15 nautical miles from Denpasar, is not very thick and has been described as a weak plume. However, the BoM said it could be days before it clears. Jetstar Airlines has cancelled six flights and a further six have been delayed pending a further assessment of the situation. Virgin Australia also said six flights to and from Denpasar have been cancelled and a further eight for today and tomorrow have been suspended. "Our team of meteorologists are continuing to monitor the situation, in consultation with the Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre," Virgin Australia said in a statement. "The safety of our guests and crew is our highest priority, and we will recommence normal operations as soon as the volcanic ash safely allows it." The airlines said travellers scheduled to fly on cancelled flights would be eligible to rebook on another flight or receive credit. Jetstar cancelled flights on Thursday because of the ash before resuming services on Friday. Family split up in airline 'chaos'Click & Close Ads Click & Close Sally Neville said her family was rebooked on two different flights after their original Jetstar flight was cancelled on Thursday. Ms Neville and her sister flew to Bali on Friday, while her partner and his three daughters, aged six, nine and 12, waited in Melbourne for a flight on Saturday. However, her partner's flight was cancelled again, leaving him in Melbourne with the children. The ash is not visible in Bali, the locals are unaware of the volcano. Traveller Sally Neville "The impact that it has had on our holiday has been pretty disappointing as my partner's friends are here and we are all meant to be holidaying together," Ms Neville said. "It's been chaos." Ms Neville said she and her partner were travelling with two other families, all from rural towns in the Fleurieu Peninsula, south of Adelaide. "We had booked and planned this holiday for four months," she said. "The ash is not visible in Bali, the locals are unaware of the volcano." Another traveller Paul Langstaff said he waited at Perth Airport for more than five hours on Saturday after his Jetstar flight was delayed, then cancelled. "There was a boarding call for Air Asia from Perth to Denpasar and everybody just looked at each other in absolute disgust," he said.Click & Close Ads Click & Close Ads

Click & Close Ads Click & Close Ads By: Catherine Porter Columnist, Published on Fri Jul 03 2015 Paul Bernardo, Canada’s most notorious murderer and rapist, has applied for day parole in the Toronto area, the Star has learned. Bernardo was convicted 20 years ago of murdering two teenage school girls, Leslie Mahaffy and Kristen French. He was sentenced to life in prison with no hope of parole for 25 years. However, notices from Correctional Service Canada went out last week to at least one of his victims, advising her Bernardo had applied for day parole in the Toronto area. Criminal lawyer Daniel Brown says Bernardo’s chances of release from jail, now or in the future however, are virtually nil. “I can’t think of any murderer designated a ‘dangerous offender’ who has been granted parole,” he said. “Simply being eligible for parole means very little to the parole board.” After his trial, Bernardo confessed to raping 14 women as the dreaded Scarborough rapist. Rather than going through another trial, the Crown applied that he be declared a “dangerous offender” — a designation reserved for Canada’s most violent criminals and sexual predators. Bernardo agreed. The notice from Correctional Service Canada has shocked one of Bernardo’s rape victims. She never got to testify against her attacker, since there was no trial.Click & Close Ads Click & Close Ads “All these years, I’ve assumed being deemed a dangerous offender meant he could never get paroled,” she said. Now, she wonders if she was duped. The letter instructs her to submit her victim impact statement as well as her views on his “possible conditional release” by July 14, if she wants it to be included in the “case preparation process” by Bernardo’s parole officer. “You can also request a “no contact” condition, as this type of condition is not automatically imposed,” the letter states, adding “Please keep in mind that all information you provide must be shared with the inmate, but your personal information (address and phone number, etc.) will remain confidential.” In Canada, “dangerous offenders” can apply for day parole three years before their full parole eligibility date. Day parole means the offender must report back to jail or a half-way house at night.According to Public Safety Canada’s national guide to high-risk offenders, day parole is typically preceded by a number of escorted and then unescorted “temporary absences” to prove the offender’s performance. Correctional Services Canada spokesperson Kyle Lawlor would not comment on Bernardo’s application or state whether he has be granted temporary absences, citing the Privacy Act. Most criminals convicted of first-degree murder serve an average of 35 years before being granted parole, said Brown. With the addition of the status as “dangerous offender,” the parole board will be doubly cautious. “A ‘dangerous offender’ finding is very significant,” he said. Bernardo is considered Canada’s most violent and perverse criminal. During his murder trial, the jury watched videotapes of him violently raping both Mahaffy and French, before killing them. Click & Close Ads Click & Close Ads Both teenagers were kidnapped by Bernardo and his fiancé-turned-wife, Karla Homolka. The two also drugged Homolka’s younger sister Tammy and raped her. The 15-year-old girl choked on her vomit and died the next day. Nine years ago, while in jail, Bernardo confessed to sexually assaulting at least 10 additional women before being arrested by police in 1992. Homolka was freed from prison in 2005, after serving a 12-year-sentence. In 2012, she was tracked down by journalist Paula Todd on the Carribean island of Guadeloupe, where she was living with her and three children.Click & Close Ads Click & Close Ads

Click & Close Ads Click & Close Ads Alex Aitken and Trevor Tough are travelling through the remote Kimberley, tracking down long-forgotten burial sites. "We're recording the stories of all sorts of people who were up here in the early days," Mr Tough explained. "Not just the people who built stations and developed things, but the ordinary people like women and kids ... who lived and perished here. "It's giving us a sense of how hard it must have been in the early days - so many of the graves we come across are of young men of 19, 21, 23 years old. "They would have been fit, robust strong young fellows, and they died of things like malaria and snakebite and drowning." The outback graves project was sparked when the pair met at a 50-year high school reunion in Perth. It's a beautiful spot for a final resting place, and it's really quite moving to be here. Alex Aitken The old friends discovered a shared love of history and desire to hit the road.Click & Close Ads Click & Close Ads Months of preparation ensued as the men trawled existing Lonely Graves of Australia history books, and made enough posts and plaques to honour more than 100 burial sites. Their first outing has been a four week trip to the Kimberley, where the cattle stations are littered with old, overgrown graves from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Mr Tough said every grave carried a story at risk of being lost through fading memory and the harsh climate. "There are so many amazing stories attached to the graves," he said. "The first one we're looking for is Augustus Frederick Skipworth, who died here at Liveringa Station in 1904. "He and his father were labourers here, and the poor lad was only 15 years old when he died."Mr Aitken and Mr Tough had little information to go on, only that Skipworth was buried at the base of a boab in a southern paddock. After a one kilometre trek under a hot morning sun, they spotted the rusted metal railings and sun-bleached headstone they were looking for. There was a sombre mood as they cleared away overgrown vines, and hammered in the small metal plaque engraved only the day before. "It's a beautiful spot for a final resting place, and it's really quite moving to be here," Mr Aitken said. "It's a privilege to be able to do this, it really is," Mr Tough added. "I bet this family never thought someone would come along 100 years later, and mark the grave again." 'They might be able to find the graves I've heard about' Click & Close Ads Click & Close Ads Helping the pair with the project are dozens of local people, grateful someone is taking the time to restore the burial sites. One of those is Mandy Frost, who is the caretaker of the heritage-listed homestead at Liveringa Station. "When I heard Alex and Trevor were coming, I thought 'beauty!'," she said. "They might be able to find the graves I've heard about but never been able to find. "The more that's known about the history of the place, the better."Having endured seven brutal wet seasons at the remote homestead, Ms Frost is full of sympathy for the conditions the early settlers endured. "I don't know how they survived out here in the early days," she said. "The heat builds up for months and we've recorded days here of 53 degrees ... if we didn't have that air conditioning, we wouldn't be here. "I just don't know how they did it with no flyscreens, no power. "Even after the wet season you get the bugs, you can't even walk out on the verandah, the bugs drive you crazy, so really they must have done it so tough." Ms Frost thinks the outback graves project reflects a broader revival of interest in Australia's pioneer history. "I think all of Australia is interested in history now," she said. "Suddenly it's a big thing to know where you came from and what was here before you." An army of grey nomads Mr Aitken and Mr Tough are thinking big. There are thousands of outback graves scattered across Australia, each year fading, eroding and succumbing to the elements. They want to restore and record every one.Click & Close Ads Click & Close Ads "There is an urgency because these graves are disappearing, and once the grave itself has disappeared, the whole story goes," Mr Tough said. And the two men know they cannot do it alone. "We really desperately need researchers, but also we're after other like-minded people, retired folk, who want to get involved," Mr Tough said. "People who maybe have the equipment and can afford to buy a little engraving machine to go out as teams, and then feed their finds back into our system." In the meantime, they are winding their first road trip up and reflecting on the work ahead.Click & Close Ads Click & Close Ads

Click & Close Ads
Click & Close Ads Under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), consumers can receive up to £85,000 per account. But from 1 January 2016, the amount will be reduced to £75,000, as a result of the strength of the pound. Furious bankers said they had been given no notice of the changes, which were announced by the Bank of England. "The level of anger is extraordinary," said one source in the industry. Andrew Tyrie MP, the Tory chairman of the Treasury Select Committee, said the whole scheme was "defective". "It is absurd that the 16% depreciation of the euro largely brought about by the crisis in the eurozone in general, and the Greek crisis in particular, should be forcing a reduction in the level of protection available to UK depositors," said Mr Tyrie. 'No sense'Click & Close Ads
Click & Close Ads The compensation scheme is run under a European directive, which sets the limit at €100,000 across the whole of the European Union. But the precise sum in pounds for the next five years is based on exchange rates on 3 July. The euro has fallen significantly against the pound this year, partly because of the crisis in Greece. The pound is currently trading at €1.40, close to its highest level since 2007. "It makes no sense to fix deposit guarantees....to a volatile variable like the exchange rate," said Mr Tyrie. He said he would be writing to the chancellor to demand a change. Five-year review Click & Close Ads
Click & Close Ads Consumer groups also reacted strongly. "This will be a massive blow to savers," said Anna Bowes, director of the independent website, Savings Champion. "It will also be an administrative headache, as savers will need to find new homes for their money." The Treasury said the change would have been implemented now, but it was delaying it until January to give the public a chance to adjust to the lower level of protection. "People have six months to get ready for the change, if necessary," said Mark Neale, the chief executive of the FSCS. The new limit of £75,000 will still protect more than 95% of consumers, the FSCS said. The compensation scheme applies to those with accounts in banks, building societies and credit unions. The level will not be reviewed for a further five years. The consumer group Which? said bank staff would need to be made aware of the changes. "We've consistently found bank staff have an extremely poor knowledge of the scheme so, with people's savings soon to have less protection, we expect all banks to ensure staff are properly trained," said Richard Lloyd, the executive director of Which? Click & Close Ads
Click & Close Ads

Click & Close Ads
Click & Close Ads The Solar Impulse 2 aircraft has completed a historic flight in its quest to circle the globe without consuming a drop of fuel, touching down gracefully in Hawaii after the most arduous leg of its journey. The sun-powered plane, piloted by veteran Swiss aviator Andre Borschberg, took 118 hours — about five days — to make the voyage from Japan to Hawaii and landed shortly after dawn at Kalaeloa Airport on the main Hawaiian island of Oahu. "Just landed in #Hawaii with @solarimpulse! For @bertrandpiccard and I, it's a dream coming true," Mr Borschberg tweeted triumphantly after completing the most perilous part of the around-the-world odyssey. Mr Borschberg and Bertrand Piccard have been alternating the long solo flights and Japan to Hawaii — where it was Borschberg in sole control — was the eighth of 13 legs. "Difficult to believe what I see: #Si2 in Hawaii! But I never had doubts that @andreborschberg could make it!" tag-team copilot Mr Piccard wrote on Twitter. "This flight to Hawaii is not only an aviation historic first, but also a historic first for energy and cleantechs." The experimental plane landed a little after dawn, and Mr Borschberg, all smiles, emerged a short time later from the cockpit, later adorning a traditional Hawaiian flower lei and holding a celebratory bottle of champagne. Click & Close Ads
Click & Close Ads Sunlight glimmered on the horizon as the Solar Impulse ground crew burst into cheers and applause upon completion of the groundbreaking flight. The 6,500 kilometre leg from Nagoya, Japan to Hawaii was not only the world's longest solar-powered flight both in terms of flying time and distance, it also set the record for longest solo flight by time. The whole trip from Japan to Hawaii took four days and 22 hours, with the Swiss aviator taking catnaps of only 20 minutes at a time to maintain control of the pioneering plane. Mr Borschberg easily beat the previous longest solo endurance flight, by Steve Fossett, who flew for 76 hours and 45 minutes in 2006 in the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer. Fellow pioneering aviator and Virgin Group founder Richard Branson tweeted his congratulations to Mr Borschberg and his team. "Congrats @SolarImpulse, beating @Virgin GlobalFlyer record non-stop solo flight without refuelling. Huge step forward," Branson wrote. 'Yoga is a great support for this flight above the Pacific' The flight tested its exhausted pilot to the maximum, in what his team described as "difficult" conditions. Traveling at altitudes of more than 9,000 metres, Mr Borschberg at times had to use oxygen tanks to breathe and experienced huge swings in temperature throughout. Alone throughout the entire flight and utterly self-reliant in the unpressurized cockpit, he was equipped with a parachute and life raft, in case he needed to ditch in the Pacific. Mission organizers described the journey as having taken "pilot and aircraft to the limits" of their endurance. Mr Borschberg, born in Zurich, is no stranger to adventure — 15 years ago, he narrowly escaped an avalanche, and then in 2013 he was involved in a helicopter crash that left him with minor injuries. The pilot, who is also a yoga enthusiast, has worked as an army pilot and supervised the construction of the first Solar Impulse plane. In 2010, for the first time in history, he flew 26 hours straight using only solar energy. Mr Borschberg didn't let the tiny cockpit of the Solar Impulse 2 plane stop him from practising yoga, transforming his tiny bench into a yoga mat and using specialized postures custom-tailored for him by his personal yogi. "Yoga is a great support for this flight above the Pacific: it positively affects my mood and mindset," he tweeted Thursday with a photo of himself in a pose. Next stop: PhoenixClick & Close Ads
Click & Close Ads The plane will now be flown across the United States and eventually, if all goes according to plan, land back in Abu Dhabi next March, where it started its journey earlier this year. The next leg will be piloted by Mr Piccard and will fly 4,699 kilometres from Hawaii to Phoenix. Solar Impusle 2 has 17,000 solar cells and on-board rechargeable lithium batteries, allowing it to fly through the night. Its wingspan is longer than that of a jumbo jet but it weighs only 2,300 kilograms — about the same as a car.Click & Close Ads
Click & Close Ads