Shane Warne loses bet to Sourav Ganguly, promises to upload selfie with England shirt soon – Zee News

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New Delhi: Before the ICC Champions Trophy began on June 1, if anyone would have been asked to pick 4 semifinalists, Australia would have surely made the cut never mind judging their credibility of making it to the finals or winning it.

Following a couple of rain-hit encounters and poor overall performance, Australia sought a premature departure from the Mini World Cup, leaving most of the cricketing fraternity in shock.

Shane Warne and Sourav Ganguly, who both have been giving their expert analysis as commentators and pundits for the Champions Trophy, had placed a bet on the outcome of the England Australia match, with Warne, obviously backing the team from Down Under to come out victorious. Ganguly, on the other hand, picked England as the winners.

Here's the full conversation about the bet between Ganguly and Warne:

Ganguly: England is a very good side. They have a number of match-winners in their side. They have good side, better than Australia, I firmly believe.

Warne: You think England are better than Australia. You buying me dinner if Australia win on June 10 and it won't be McDonald's.

Ganguly: I actually back England to win.

Warne: That's what I am saying, I'll buy you dinner if England win.

Ganguly: Fair enough.

Warne: One more thing. If Australia win, you will wear an Australia shirt for day and if England win, I'll wear an England shirt.

Ganguly: No problem.

".@SGanguly99 You win our bet mate. I will find an England shirt and wear it all day," Warne tweeted confirming he had lost the bet.

".@SGanguly99 Trying to get an England ODI shirt sent to me so I can wear it in honour of our bet. Will tweet a picture asap !," the legendary leg-spinner confirmed that he'll be soon tweeting a picture wearing and Engalnd ODI shirt.

Don't know about you but we surely can't wait to see Warne wearing the blues of England!

The Steve Smith-led Aussies went head-to-head against England in the final Group A fixture on Saturday, hoping to end the hosts' unbeaten run in the competition and cement a spot in the last 4.

Courtesy a terrific partnership from centurion Ben Stokes and skipper Eoin Morgan, England secured a 40-run victory (D/L) after rain restricted their innings to 40 overs.

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Shane Warne loses bet to Sourav Ganguly, promises to upload selfie with England shirt soon - Zee News

Making crucial connections while making bank: Advice from the Career Center – The Auburn Plainsman

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By Chris Heaney | Staff Writer | 18 hours ago Image by file photo | The Auburn Plainsman

Tuesday, March 28, 2017, in Auburn, Ala.

For many incoming students, getting a part-time job is the last thing on their mind when having to move to a new place, meet new people and start new classes in a totally new environment.

While starting college is definitely a challenge, what many new students dont realize is that having a part-time job or internship can be just as important as a good GPA when applying for jobs in the future.

Addye Buckley-Burnell, assistant director of career development at the Career Center, said work experience is crucial in todays job market.

80-90 percent of employers are telling us that having actual work experience is useful to students when applying for positions, and students with experience are seen more favorably by employers, Burnell said.

Burnell said the first step to finding a job is joining Handshake. Handshake is a job-posting site where employers express employment needs and all kinds of time commitments.

Registered students will automatically be added to the system and can log in with their University credentials. Once logged in, Burnell said to optimize ones profile.

We encourage students to have [their page] as updated as possible, Burnell said. They can essentially upload a resume and click add to profile which will include all the elements of their resume fully.

Burnell said the system works best when used frequently. The success rate in finding a position using this system is very high for students, Burnell said.

Helping to find a job during college isnt the only service that the Career Center provides, though.

Its for everything career related, from the day they first walk on campus to five years after theyve graduated, Burnell said.

Students who visit the Career Center will be able to utilize services like career assessments, interview preparation, resume and CV reviews and professional development discussions. The Career Center is open to all students of any major, and students can have walk-in appointments during business hours, Monday-Friday.

For students eager to get a job when the fall semester starts, the Career Center will be holding an internship and part-time job fair on Aug. 30.

It will feature employers from the Auburn area who are going to be hiring in the fall. The event is free to all students.

Its a great way for students to get connected with positions they may not know about, Burnell said.

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Making crucial connections while making bank: Advice from the Career Center - The Auburn Plainsman

Late Class XII result, online payment issues stifling UG registrations – Millennium Post

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The supposed last day of registrations to Delhi University's undergraduate saw students running helter-skelter to help desks and online centres to get assistance on completing the form and other formalities.

There are students whose Class XII results are yet to be declared, which includes students of the International Baccaulaureate (IB) Board and a few other boards.

Keeping the concerns of students in mind, the University decided to extend the deadline till Tuesday 5pm.

However, several students such as those of Uttar Pradesh board, especially in places where results have been declared late are helpless due to the deadline and the late result may cause them to lose their chance to register. Many students have faced issues in the past on the admissions portals, and the University has regularly assured and resolved such problems within two-three days.

There are, however, students who continue to have troubles with payment of fees. Some have even paid the fee twice just to make sure the registration is complete and a receipt is generated.

Mukul Sehrawat, a Statistics Honours aspirant, said: "I have given an application to the help desk to check whether or not my fee has been paid. I am really worried."

Neha Sharma, another applicant, said: "Fee receipt has been a major issue and I wish the University can give us a guarantee that it will be generated soon, given that portal is going to be closed soon and cut-offs are just a week away."

Nishika Khanna, who has applied for English Honours, said: "I have paid the fees twice and wonder whether the receipt has been generated."

Some have faced logistical problems, due to internet connectivity problems or lack of computing knowledge in uploading documents and paying fees online.

Satvik Kumar, a BCom aspirant, said: "Last date of admission registration is about to end and I am unable to upload my marksheet. I am going to Hansraj College where an online centre is helping students."

Dia Shekhawat, another aspirant, said: "I am from Uttar Pradesh board and my marksheet has not come yet. Therefore, DU must extend the deadline."

Gunjan Kaur, a History aspirant, said: "I don't know how to do credit or debit card payment and will ask someone to help me. DU can extend the deadline for other state boards I think."

Meanwhile, reacting to the report by Millennium Post on June 6 which talked about 'Gurukul-style' training lessons to be introduced in Ramjas College for freshers for the current admission process, the College authorities have said that the report is not official college policy as of now, and the views expressed are solely of Professor Dhani Ram, who was quoted in the story.

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Late Class XII result, online payment issues stifling UG registrations - Millennium Post

Flickr – TechCentral.ie

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Share your photos and keep up to date with the photo activity of your friends from your Android device

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Our Rating: 4.0

Introducing the new Flickr app upload, access, organize, edit, and share your photos from any device, from anywhere in the world.

Put your free 1000GB to work auto-upload all your photos and videos, privately storing them in your Flickr camera roll. Camera roll in the cloud instant access to your entire Flickr collection, so you can free up your phone for everything else. Organization and sharing, simplified browse with ease, select and organize hundreds of photos with one gesture, and share in seconds. Unleash your creativity tweak your photos, add filters, crop images and more, directly from the camera roll. And if you change your mind, just revert the changes! Explore, interact and engage with friends, family and the Flickr community there are millions of groups and billions of photos out there to discover.

Whats New We cant spill the beans, Exciting updates ahead; But first some tidbits! Add photos to multiple groups at the same time. Add tags to other photos. Further performance and usability enhancements.

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University of Chicago Medicine may soon be out of UnitedHealthcare’s network – Chicago Tribune

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About 8,000 UnitedHealthcare customers who get care from University of Chicago Medicine might have to switch doctors this summer or pay significantly more for services because of a contract disagreement between the insurer and the medical system.

UnitedHealthcare the state's second-largest health insurer and University of Chicago Medicine have been unable to agree on a contract to keep the medical center and the system's doctors in the insurer's network.

Both sides say in statements on their websites that they're still negotiating. But they're also warning that patients may no longer be able to get in-network care at the University of Chicago Medical Center or from University of Chicago Physicians Group after June 30 if no agreement is reached.

U. of C. Medicine sent letters to patients last week saying that UnitedHealthcare is ending its contract with the academic medical center and its physicians group after June 30. Patients with preferred provider organization and point-of-service plans would have to pay out-of-network rates, according to UnitedHealthcare.

The U. of C. Medicine letter, however, says that UnitedHealthcare members undergoing "active treatment" might be able to continue getting care at in-network rates for a time. That may include people who are already in the hospital, many pregnant women, nonsurgical cancer patients, patients with end-stage renal disease, dialysis patients and symptomatic AIDS patients, according to the letter. Patients have to contact UnitedHealthcare to see if they qualify.

UnitedHealthcare customers in group retiree Medicare Advantage plans and Medicare Supplement plans will not be affected by the contract negotiations, according to UnitedHealthcare.

Representatives of UnitedHealthcare and U. of C. Medicine declined to discuss details of the disagreement.

But the insurer said in a statement that it remains "committed to working with University of Chicago officials on a new contract."

"We recognize the important role University of Chicago plays in supporting the health care needs of our members, and our two organizations have met regularly over the last few months to reach a solution that will renew our relationship," UnitedHealthcare said.

In an email, U. of C. Medicine spokeswoman Ashley Heher said, "The medical center is committed to making sure its care and expertise is available to as many people as possible, including about 8,000 UChicago Medicine patients who are currently covered by UnitedHealthcare's commercial insurance plans."

The uncertainty is sparking stress among patients.

Ivy Elkins, of Buffalo Grove, has been seeing her University of Chicago Medicine oncologist since she was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer more than three years ago. Elkins, 50, researched and carefully selected her doctor, and followed her to the University of Chicago from a different hospital system.

She's unsure if she'll qualify, as a cancer patient, to continue receiving care if the contract falls through.

"As a level 4 cancer patient, you build up this level of trust, and I trust her," Elkins said. "Every decision she's made for my health up to this point has been spot on, and I don't want that to change in any way."

lschencker@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @lschencker

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University of Chicago Medicine may soon be out of UnitedHealthcare's network - Chicago Tribune

Eric Dishman wants precision medicine to move from personal to universal – Healthcare IT News

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BOSTON In 1989, when he was a 19-years-old college student, Eric Dishman was diagnosed with a rare kidney cancer and given just months to live.

Instead he spent the next 23 years visting 17 hospitals and clinics across eight states, receiving exhaustive and exhausting treatment more than 60 rounds of chemotherapy, radiation and/or immunotherapy than ended up costing more than $6 million.

Over the decades, he received 57 different diagnosis codes. Even in the early days, he remembers "two oncologists arguing in front of me about what I really had," said Dishman, keynoting the HIMSS Precision Medicine Summit in Boston on Monday.

[Also:Widespread precision medicine is still years away, experts say]

By the time he was in his early 40s, the prognosis was not good. His kidneys were failing, and dialysis was not compatible with the chemotherapy he needed.

At that time, Dishman was a fellow at Intel; in what he described as a "Hail Mary" gambit, one of his colleagues suggested he avail himself of the company's technology and undergo a whole-genome sequencing.

The insights gleaned from the three terabytes of genomic data that resulted changed everything. Clinicians suddenly realized that his unique form of cancer has more in common with pancreatic disease than with renal cancer, said Dishman.

[Also:How precision medicine can fix a broken healthcare system]

That enabled them to better target their treatment plan, and before long he was cancer free and eligible for a kidney transplant.

Dishman's doctor eventually told him that 90 percent of the treatment regimens he'd endured for more than than 20 years millions of dollars worth of "imprecision medicine" had been essentially worthless.

In 2016, President Barack Obama asked Dishman to head up the cohort program of the landmark Precision Medicine Initiative.

Now, as the director of what's become known as the All of Us Research Program at the National Institutes of Health, Dishman said he aims to make that patient cohort as large and representative of the U.S. population as possible.

He's also keenly aware, he said, of how lucky he was to receive the treatment he did and how great it wouldbe to democratize it. Even a a high-powered technology executive, with a smartphone filled with the names of senators and CEOs, "I barely got access to precision medicine," said Dishman. "So how do we scale that to everybody?"

Dishman has done advocacy for more than 1,100 cancer and kidney patients, and he's donated his whole-genome data to a survivor study to learn what other insights might be gleaned from it. But he wants more.

And that starts with casting as wide a net as possible for the million participants he hopes to sign up for the NIH All of Us program to speed precision medicine advances.

Most medical research participants are college-educated white men, said Dishman. "We don't have the depth of data to understand what causes illness and health."

By accounting for big individual differences in lifestyle, environment and genetics, NIH researchers will better be able to uncover new strategies for delivering precision medicine to more people he said.

Right now, healthcare is primarily delivered in an expensive "medical mainframe," said Dishman, using a computing analogy, with the focus on expensive and resource-intensive specialty hospitals, emergency rooms and ICUs.

The path forward has to be away from the "medical megaplex with the high priests of healthcare," and toward a more "personal, distributed" healthcare and health research that embraces telehealth, remote monitoring, wearables, home physician visits and more.

Rather than remaining only the province of large academic medical centers, Dishman sees a day in the not-too-distant future where genomic data could, for instance, be collected at the drugstore or even at the workplace.

But between now and then, there are four challenges but also opportunities to arriving at that model for personal, distributed research:

Toward that end, the All of Us project has three big goals, said Dishman: first, to nurture relationships with one million U.S. trial participants, "from all walks of life," for decades to come. Second, to deliver the "largest, richest biomedical dataset" yet compiled, and making it easy, safe and free to access. Third, to to catalyze a robust ecosystem of diverse researchers and funders, hungry to use and support it.

It won't be easy, but by distributing data collection and diversifying to that large and broadly diverse group, engaging them on a longitudinal basis (perhaps as long as 60 years), NIH will help democratize its research to a wider continuum of expertise, said Dishman approaching a "universal cohort" and something akin to a "learning healthcare system."

Twitter:@MikeMiliardHITN Email the writer: mike.miliard@himssmedia.com

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Widespread precision medicine is still years away, experts say … – Healthcare IT News

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While the Office of the National Coordinator believes the dawn of precision medicine has started, when pressed on the current state of the innovative technology, technology leaders say that the industry is still years away from full utilization.

In fact, on a scale of one to 10, most would place precision medicine at a three in terms of progress.

The landscape is changing so quickly and things [in the industry] have changed so much already, University Of California, San Francisco Director of Research Strategy and Associate Director of Precision Medicine India Hook-Barnard said at the HIMSS Precision Medicine Summit in Boston on Monday.

[Also:How precision medicine can fix a broken healthcare system]

Thats not to diminish the progress thats already happened, but I also think theres so much thats going to be happening moving forward, she said.

Pegasystems Director of Industry Principal Amy Simpson said there are tremendous accelerators like cost reductions that are helping make the shift to fully utilizing the technology. But real operational efforts are what will really fuel the precision medicine push.

To Stanford University Chief of General Primary Care Megan Mahoney, when considering how far along the industry is, its important to view it by function. While building big data is pretty advanced, genomics is still in the early stages.

[Also:Eric Dishman wants precision medicine to move from personal to universal]

We have to recognize that only 1 percent of patients have access to [precision medicine],said National Institutes Of Health All Of Us Research Program Director Eric Dishman. Success plus results minus expectations Were still about 15 to 20 years out.

The challenges to precision medicine are the same as the other issues facing the healthcare industry, said Simpson. Effective EHR implementation and the shift to value based care are going to pose the same problem to implementing precision medicine.

Providers really need to think about patient support. Simpson said that so much of the patient engagement framework and saturation will be critical to keeping patients engaged throughout the life cycle.

The realistic solution to some of these issues is the coordination, said Hook-Barnard. Its going to be about partnerships across multiple disciplines It really is the regulatory, policy and cultural changes that are slowing us down.

Organizations need to coordinate and forge those partnerships, which Hook-Barnard feels is one of the biggest challenges.

The revolution Mahoney sees will come with actively engaging our data and effectively bringing patients along, which will reduce costs.

Twitter:@JessieFDavis Email the writer: jessica.davis@himssmedia.com

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Widespread precision medicine is still years away, experts say ... - Healthcare IT News

Henrik Stenson’s advice for US Open: take your medicine – Golfweek.com

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Golfweek.com
Henrik Stenson's advice for US Open: take your medicine
Golfweek.com
Of course, Stenson and the other players will also need to take their figurative medicine on the course. There are times to be aggressive, but with Erin Hills' penal fescue and tough spots around greens and in bunkers, there are times to be conservative.

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Henrik Stenson's advice for US Open: take your medicine - Golfweek.com

Traditional Chinese medicine may benefit some heart disease patients – Medical Xpress

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June 12, 2017

Traditional Chinese medicine might be effective as a complement or alternative to traditional Western medicine for primary and secondary prevention of heart disease, according to a state of the art review paper published today in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Heart disease is the No. 1 cause of death worldwide, and despite advances in Western medicine for treating and preventing heart disease, unmet needs remain. As a result, traditional Chinese medicine is being increasingly looked at as a supplement to Western medicine, but to date randomized controlled trials are overall of poor quality and flawed.

Western scientists often reject Chinese medicine for specific reasons: the formula consists of dozens of ingredients with many chemical molecules, making it hard to clarify the therapeutic mechanism; the medications available in China do not undergo the same rigorous approval process as Western drugs to guarantee efficacy and safety; and most trials were conducted in China by traditional Chinese medicine physicians with medications largely unavailable in the United States.

Researchers in this review looked at studies published over the past 10 years on randomized controlled trials of traditional Chinese medicine used for patients with hypertension, dyslipidemia, diabetes/pre-diabetes, atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and chronic heart failure to assess the efficacy and safety of traditional Chinese medicine.

In all, certain Chinese medications showed suggested benefits for each of the cardiovascular health conditions studied. For example, researchers looked at eight randomized controlled trials on traditional Chinese medicine and hypertension. The evidence indicated that Tiankuijiangya, Zhongfujiangya, Qiqilian, Jiangya and Jiangyabao have antihypertensive effects and a good safety profile, making them a potential good alternative for patient intolerant of or who cannot afford Western medications.However, whether those benefits transferred into long-term positive cardiovascular outcomes would have to be determined by long-term trials.

"Of note, one should bear in mind that traditional Chinese medicine medications are usually prescribed as complex formulae, which are often further manipulated by the practitioner on a personalized basis," said Yuxia Zhao, senior author of the review and a physician in the Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine at Shandong University Qilu Hospital in Jinan, Shandong, China. "The pharmacological effects and the underlying mechanisms of some active ingredients of traditional Chinese medications have been elucidated. Thus, some medications might be used as a complementary and alternative approach for primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease."

Explore further: Can traditional chinese medicine offer treatments for dementia and Alzheimer's disease?

A new study of classical Chinese medical texts identifies references to age-related memory impairment similar to modern-day Alzheimer's disease, and to several plant-based ingredients used centuries agoand still in use ...

Traditional Chinese exercises such as Tai Chi may improve the health and well-being of those living with heart disease, high blood pressure or stroke, according to new research published in the Journal of the American Heart ...

Researchers at the University of Adelaide have shown how a complex mix of plant compounds derived from ancient clinical practice in China a traditional Chinese medicine works to kill cancer cells.

China will double the number of AIDS patients it treats with traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), officials have said, part of a broader push to increase the use of the ancient practice in the country's medical system.

Physicians should be well-versed in the herbal medications heart disease patients may take to be able to effectively discuss their clinical implications, potential benefits and side effectsdespite a lack of scientific ...

(Medical Xpress)Traditional Chinese medicine could be a key weapon in the treatment of type 2 diabetes, a joint international study has found.

A new study shows that a hybrid molecular imaging system unites three imaging modalities to map the composition of dangerous arterial plaques before they rupture and induce a major cardiac event. The research was presented ...

A study by the University of Birmingham has revealed a treatment gap in patients suffering from a heart condition that causes an irregular or abnormally fast heartbeat.

Researchers have long sought ways to harness the body's immune system to treat disease, especially cancer. Now, scientists have found that the immune system may be triggered to treat atherosclerosis and possibly other metabolic ...

Seventy per cent of readings from home blood pressure monitors are unacceptably inaccurate, which could cause serious implications for people who rely on them to make informed health decisions, new UAlberta research reveals.

(HealthDay)Adoption of four healthy lifestyle behaviors is associated with increased lifespan for men and women, according to a study published online May 31 in the Journal of Internal Medicine.

Heart disease remains the leading cause of death worldwide, yet the few available treatments are still mostly unsuccessful once the heart tissue has suffered damage. Mammalian hearts are actually able to regenerate and repair ...

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Acoustic Old Crow Medicine Show electrifies Dylan at Palace … – Minneapolis Star Tribune

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Ketch Secor (center) and Old Crow harmonized

Old Crow Medicine Show is an acoustic Americana band. Acoustic and amped.

The Nashville bands interpretation of Bob Dylan music starting with his classic album Blonde on Blonde in its entirety and ending with Like a Rolling Stone was more electrifying live on Saturday at the Palace Theatrein St. Paul than Dylan probably has been in concert since his 1974 tour with the Band.

Yes, the instruments were acoustic guitar, upright bass, mandolin, fiddle, banjo, pedal steel guitar, dobro, accordion, piano and drums (the organ was electric). But the performers had the energy and enthusiasm of middle-aged punk rockers.

Hammy and hyper frontman Ketch Secor, 39, was so fired up that at times he seemed overanxious and too eager to please. He name checked St. Paul about 100 times and gave shout-outs to Dinkytown more than anyone in the history of modern music. He was so thrilled to be performing Dylan music in Dylans home state that he sometimes couldnt contain his excitement.

And, of course, this wasnt the first time Old Crow has played in the Twin Cities. Theyve performed several times on A Prairie Home Companion and in various local venues. In fact, multi-instrumentalist Critter Fuqua gave a shout-out to nearby Mickeys Diner.

When he handled lead vocals, Fuqua did a pretty good Dylan impression. Secor had the Dylanesque phrasing but his voice was smoother, more forceful and often more urgent than Dylans.

Both Secor and Fuqua, who cofounded the band 19 years ago, played several different instruments. Same was true for all seven members of Old Crow. The musicianship may have been the most impressive aspect of the two-hour, two-set performance. That and Secors ability to remember so many Dylan lyrics without a cheat sheet.

Some songs hewed close to the original arrangements such as Like a Rolling Stone, during which Secors harmonica was so loud that concertgoers wearing earplugs even covered their ears.

Some tunes were recast such as 4th Time Around as a waltz and the bluesy rocker Obviously 5 Believers as a smokin hot bluegrass breakdown.

Secor told the story of how OCMS came to collaborate with Dylan on writing a song. The bard had written Rock Me, Mama for 1973s soundtrack to Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid. Secor added more lyrics more than two decades later and called the song Wagon Wheel. It became a signature for Old Crow and a country hit for Darius Rucker.

One Old Crow members met Dylan after "Wagon Wheel" was releasedand the great one told Mr. OCMS: You guys are killin it.

Secor told the St. Paul crowd that said hes thinking of having You guys are killin it tattooed across his chest.

Secor and crew did manage to rein it in at times. OCMS explored its old-time roots when five players huddled around one microphone (one other guy tap danced for percussion) for Knockin on Heavens Door and Blowin in the Wind.

That was a Dinkytown hootenanny 50 years later, Secor declared at songs end.

Lets see, Dylan left Dinkytown in 1960 and he wrote Blowin in the Wind in 1962. Ah, lets not quibble. Old Crow was a hoot. Period.

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Acoustic Old Crow Medicine Show electrifies Dylan at Palace ... - Minneapolis Star Tribune

Chappaqua shooter: I wanted to ‘expose’ med school dean not kill or … – The Journal News | LoHud.com

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Defense attorney Stewart Orden delivers his closing remarks in his client's attempted murder trial Monday.

Westchester assistant district attorney Christine O'Connor shows the jury the shotgun used to shoot a prominent doctor from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai outside a deli in Chappaqua.(Photo: Screen Grab from Pool Video)

Jurors will start deciding Tuesday whether the shooting of a medical school dean in Chappaqua last year was an act of violent revenge or a fired researcher's bid to publicize what he thought was the dean's medical fraud.

Hengjun Chao insists he did not try to kill, hurt or even hit Dr. Dennis Charney, aiming instead at the cup of iced coffee in his hand, when he fired a shotgun blast outsideLange's Little Store & Delicatessen last summer.

He didn't want revenge against Charney, who had fired him as a researcher at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Chao insisted as he testified Monday as the final - and only defense - witness at his attempted-murder trial in Westchester County Court.

"Because I hate him doesn't mean I want to kill him or injure him," Chao told Assistant District Attorney Christine O'Connor. "I want to expose him."

DEFENDANT: Chao takes stand at attempted murder trial

CHAPPAQUA: Man shot doctor to expose fraud, lawyer says.

DELI SHOOTING: Man targets former boss, cops say.

The prosecutor countered later that the planning, type of ammunition and Charney's injuries belied Chao's claims.

"You use that instrument of death ... you are going to kill," O'Connor told the jury, adding that only luck prevented this from being a murder trial. This is not a spur of the moment (act). This is a product of calculation. This is a product of hate."

Westchester Assistant District Attorney Christine O'Connor delivers closing arguments in the attempted murder trial of Hengjun Chao.

Chao hit Charney with buckshot pellets from less than 15 feet away on themorning of Aug. 29. The 50-year-old Tuckahoe resident is charged with second-degree attempted murder, first-degree assault and first-degree criminal use of a firearm.

He could go to prison for as long as 25 years. But his lawyer, Stewart Orden, askedjurors to acquit him because he had no intent to commit any crime when he fired that gun.

Chao claimed it wasn't until hours later, when a detective told him, that he learned Charney had been shot - even though he told the first New Castle police officer who arrived on the scene "Ijust shot an (expletive)."

"I didn't see any blood," he told Orden. "He looked at me. I looked at him. He stood there steadily."

Charney was bleeding from the shoulder. He was hospitalized for five days and testified that hehad pain and limited range of motion in his right arm for a lengthy period after that.

Chao was fired in 2010 for research fraud after three years of inquiry, investigation and appeals, all while he was able to continue working. After leaving Mount Sinai, he briefly held other, less significant lab jobs. He insisted he never doctored data and was retaliated against for making a similar claim against one of his researchers. He unsuccessfully sued the school in federal court, lost his federal appeal and the U.S. Supreme Court would not hear his case.

His civil lawyer brought medical journal articles to his attention that suggested Charney was not the esteemed psychiatrist people thought he was.

Chao insisted he had gotten over losing his job and for a few years was content to let things go as his wife had suggested. But in the summer of 2015 he was cleaning out his basement he picked up some of the journal articles and blogs.

He was particularly incensed because he was convinced Charney was in cahoots with the maker of the anti-depressant Plaxil, encouraging doctors to prescribe it even though it was known to increase the likelihood of teen suicide.

"I started having nightmares," he said.

Defense lawyer Stewart Orden demonstrates how his client's shotgun blast came out in a cone-shaped pattern.(Photo: Screen Grab from Pool Video)

In his closing arguments, Orden called those impressions "devastating" to Charney's reputation, at least in his client's mind.

"It doesn't have to be true," Orden said. "What I suggest it must be was it affected my client."

O'Connor argued that Chao, who had spent more than $200,000 in legal fees "and got nothing," could notget over the realization that he'd never again reach the pinnacle he'd attained at Mount Sinai and held Charney responsible for that.

She said Chao was "obsessed with hatred for Charney" and denounced his accusations against the dean.

"It was a clear campaign of character assassination," O'Connor said of Chao's testimony. "And I submit it had nothing to do with why he shot him."

Chao said he decided he would get himself arrested so that he would have the opportunity to speak out. He figured the best way would be to use a gun, considering the public's sensitivity to gun violence.

Hengjun Chao listens as his defense attorney attempts to acquit him for the attempted murder of his former boss, who he shot outside a Chappaqua deli.(Photo: Screen Grab from Pool Video)

He staked out Charney's home in Chappaqua, but grew worried that firing at him there could injure children if any were nearby. Once he learned the dean's routine, he settled on Lange's Little Store & Delicatessen.

Chao conceded it was him in the black Lexus SUV and the red Toyota Corrolla captured on videotape in the days leading up to the shooting.

"Every morning when I left my home I was hesitating should I do this or not. I'm begging for criminal charges against myself," he said, concluding that it was worth the risk.

He said he loaded the shotgun in his basement, but never intended to fire more than once. He figured he could make clear his intention afterward by pointing to the extra rounds in the gun and say that if he wanted to hit anyone he could have fired all the shots.

He insisted he did not fire at Charney's chest. And Orden argued that the evidence of where the pellets scattered - to Charney's right side and beyond him, and not to his left side or his car to his left - proved he wasn't aiming for center mass and could have been trying to avoid hitting him altogether.

But O'Connor suggested Charney's survival could be chalked up to luck and not Chao's careful marksmanship.

O'Connor asked Chao why he didn't simply run into the deli and grab Charney, or fire the gun in the air or into the ground.

Chao suggested the first option wouldn't have interested anyone. The second could have injured people.

Why didn't he just accost Charney at gunpoint days earlier when two New Castle police cars were at the deli the same time Charney was, O'Connor wondered. The cops would have shot him, Chao said.

"And you didn't want THAT to happen?" O'Connor asked.

"If I dead, who will tell the story?" he answered.

O'Connor also asked him why he didn't try to shoot the authors of the study that sought to legitimize Paxil. Regarding one of them, Chao said it was because he had already been exposed and fined.

O'Connor in her summation offered an alternative reason.

"Because they (the authors) didn't fire (Chao)," she told the jury. "He went to kill Charney because Charney took his life away."

The jury will begin deliberating Tuesday morning after getting legal instructions from Westchester County Judge Barry Warhit.

Twitter: @jonbandler

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Liberty’s postseason run ends in PIAA 6A baseball semifinals – The … – Allentown Morning Call

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One disastrous inning Monday afternoon sapped the potential for another Hurricanes surge.

A Liberty team that surrendered more than six runs in a game once all season gave up nine in the third inning. A pitcher who allowed 10 runs in 50 innings before Monday, Alex Super, was charged with 12 in four innings at Bears Stadium.

The Hurricanes also committed four errors, three in the decisive third inning, while falling 12-0 in five innings to District One champion Pennsbury in a PIAA 6A baseball semifinal.

The Falcons (21-6 overall) advanced to Friday's PIAA 6A title game against District 3 champion Dallastown or District 6 champion State College. The deepest playoff run by Liberty (25-4) since its 2002 state-final appearance ended a win shy of Penn State in stunning fashion.

The Hurricanes entered the state semifinals averaging 7.3 runs per game. They had scored at least two times in their first 28 games this season.

Pennsbury ace Billy Bethel shut them out with five strong innings. He allowed seven hits four in the first two innings but pitched out of trouble before the Falcons exploded in the third.

Add in the throwing and fielding errors, and Liberty looked nothing like the team that had emerged as the Lehigh Valley's best over the past 2 1/2 months.

"We've never as a team done that. Never," Liberty senior catcher Jared Burcin said. "It seems unreal to me. It's something I can't describe."

Added Liberty coach Andy Pitsilos: "That was uncharacteristic of how our season's gone. That was uncharacteristic of our team. We kind of made a few errors in that third inning, and things started to snowball. That happens. We give them credit. They hit the ball."

Liberty missed a couple of early chances to leave Pennsbury feeling the pressure to rally. The Hurricanes stranded runners at second and third in the first inning. They had a runner thrown out trying to steal second and left two more baserunners in the second.

Liberty still trailed just 1-0 at that point. By the time the Hurricanes had their third at-bat, they faced a 10-0 deficit.

The Falcons collected seven straight one-out hits against Super in the third and took advantage of a double error after that to build their huge lead. Liberty had the chance to get out of the inning trailing only 3-0, but a potential double-play ball scooted through their infield and up the middle.

Pitsilos kept Super on the mound throughout because he thought his stuff was better than the results. Super surrendered two more runs in the fourth before Ian Dougherty pitched a scoreless fifth.

"It wasn't really his fault," Pitsilos said. "He was still down in the pitch count a little bit. There were some errors in there, and he still had his stuff. It wasn't like he lost it. We just made some mistakes."

Those mistakes made for a quick trip from Bethlehem to Boyertown. They didn't obscure the other great moments from a season that included a District 11 title and a berth in the EPC title game.

"It was just as a team having fun," Burcin said. "It was everyone playing together and playing as a team and enjoying baseball, like everyone should."

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Twitter @mcallsmiller

610-820-6750

Liberty0 0 0 0 0 - 0 7 5

Pennsbury0 1 9 2 0 - 12 12 1

Super and Burcin; Bethel and Tesarck. WP: Bethel. LP: Super.

A productive return

Senior shortstop Elias Gross returned to the lineup after missing most of Liberty's state opener and all its state quarterfinal because of back spasms. He smacked singles in each of his first two plate appearances before flying out to end the game.

Gross also made a nice throw after fielding a ball deep in the hole, firing to first for the out.

"It felt good," Gross said. "I just wanted to come out and have a good last game. I wish it wasn't our last, but I was doing everything just to play today."

This and that

Pennsbury pitcher Billy Bethel has thrown 11 innings and allowed one unearned run in the PIAA tournament. He will be available to pitch in the state final. Burcin ripped a double in his final high school at-bat in the top of the seventh. He went 4-for-11 with five RBIs in three state tournament games. Jake Wagner joined Gross with multiple hits, going 2-for-2.

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Liberty firefighters speed off to call after vote that will dissolve city department – Anderson Independent Mail

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Mike Ellis , IndependentMail.com 11:18 p.m. ET June 12, 2017

After getting a call for service while elected officials talked about their future, firefighters sped away.(Photo: Mike Ellis/Independent Mail)

The firefighters stood, leaning against a firetruck marked Liberty Area,while Liberty and Pickens County officials talked about how the city firefighters will become county firefighters.

A wall of Liberty City firefighters, at the meeting where city council members voted to jettison them to the county.(Photo: Mike Ellis/Independent Mail)

A call came over the emergency radios, buzzing on the belts of the 11 firefighters. They jumped on the truck and sped off.

The decision council members reached in the moments before the fire call will go down in the citys history, Mayor Eric Boughman said.

This is a turning point, he said.

Firefighters, lined up against a wall, at a Liberty City Council meeting.(Photo: Mike Ellis/Independent Mail)

The citys 11 firefighters will soon be county firefighters, getting credit for the time theyve been on the job and being able to cash in their built-up vacation time.

The citys three fire departments will stay open and stay staffed. One of the firefighters will move to a different county fire station, but the rest will be doing the same job at the same places, said Pickens County Council Chairman Roy Costner.

The move will become effective July 1.

Liberty City Fire Department Chief Chris Rowland praises the work that went into dissolving his department but keeping all the fire departments and firefighters under Pickens County control.(Photo: Mike Ellis/Independent Mail)

Pickens County Council members have already approved taking over the fire operations. Liberty council members are expected to have a second reading of the measure July 17 but would make the changes retroactive to July 1, Boughman said.

Liberty Fire Chief Chris Rowland said the priorities were to keep fire service the same for the city and to keep the firefighter jobs. He said the deal had come through, and also had been able to save the city money.

The fire department cost the city $465,608 in the current fiscal year, about $300,000 of that comes from tax money, Boughman said.

Residents shake the hands of Liberty City Fire Department employees after city council members voted to jettison the department to county control.(Photo: Mike Ellis/Independent Mail)

Moving the department gives the city, with a $2.4 million annual general fund, an extra $300,000 to tackle years of budgets that have fallen short, Boughman said.

Jettisoning the fire department would save enough money for the city to begin to give raises to other city employees and give the city a chance to have a good budget year, said Shirley Hughes, the citys administrator.

Residents of the city will pay a $120 fire fee this year, something they hadnt had in previous years. The money will go to help pay for the fire department. Rural residents in the county had paid $106 a year and will pay a $14 increase, Costner said.

Boughman said Pickens County also gets a model for absorbing a critical service from a municipality, which would help if the county wants to take on additional services from other communities.

The Liberty City Council also on Monday approved the city's annual of $2.4 million for the coming fiscal year. The city has an additional $1.2 million in separate sewer and water funds.

Follow Mike Ellis on Twitter @MikeEllis_AIM

Firefighters mingle around after a vote that will move them to the Pickens County Fire Department(Photo: Mike Ellis/Independent Mail)

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Liberty man on tractor dies in crash on US 421 – Asheboro Courier Tribune

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By Chip Womick cwomick@courier-tribune.com Twitter: @ChipWomickCT

LIBERTY A Liberty man died Saturday afternoon when an SUV rear-ended his tractor on U.S. 421, according to a report from the N.C. Highway Patrol.

Terry Smith, 61, was northbound driving a farm tractor pulling hay equipment at about 1:20 p.m. when a northbound Kia, driven by Dean Dimaria, 56, of Greensboro hit the tractor from the rear. Smith was ejected from the tractor onto the shoulder of the highway, where the Kia came to rest on top of him. He died at the scene.

Dimaria, 56, of Greensboro was transported to Moses H. Cone Memorial Hospital in Greensboro with non-life-threatening injuries.

Trooper K.L. Brooks reported that the tractor was traveling at an estimated 20 mph; the SUV at about 60 mph. The investigation is continuing.

Smith was on his way to Troy Estate Road, which is on the east side of U.S. 421. He had been working in a field on Willard Road, which is on the opposite side of the four-lane highway. He was retired from UPS after 44 years and was a member of the Circle of Honor for safe driving for 36 years.

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These neighbors hide in fear when the sun goes down – Miami Herald

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Miami Herald
These neighbors hide in fear when the sun goes down
Miami Herald
When the sun goes down at the Annie Coleman public housing project in Liberty City, fear goes up. Because of the lack of outdoor lighting, residents tend to retreat inside their homes and kids don't use the basketball courts or playground. Walking to ...

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These neighbors hide in fear when the sun goes down - Miami Herald

How to Get to Liberaltarianism from the Left – Niskanen Center (press release) (blog)

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June 12, 2017 by Steven Teles

Will Wilkinson has scaled the Olympian Heights of the New York Times for the cause of liberaltarianism and the greater glory of the Niskanen Center. But what is liberaltarianism? And who cares about it?

Speaking as a historically oriented political scientist, my first way of attacking this question is to ask where the object under examination came from. What is its origin? The term liberaltarianism was originally coined by my good friend, co-author, and co-conspirator Brink Lindsey over a decade ago in The New Republic. While Brinks objective in that article was to invite liberals into a coalitiona coalition that liberals like Jonathan Chait quite firmly refused to acceptI think the articles most immediate target was libertarianism itself. It defined a pole of libertarianism, around which those who were uncomfortable making common cause with conservatism could rally. Brink argued that libertarians should admit that they are not, as many of them had argued going back to the 1970s, equidistant from the two parties. They are natural allies with liberalsalbeit critical allies. Their alliance with conservatism was opportunistic, but their alliance with liberalism was on principle.

That pretty much describes where Will is coming from, as well as many of the other folks at Niskanen who came out of the libertarian network of organizations. For them, liberaltarianism is another way of saying post-libertarianism (a term first coined by our own Jeffrey Friedman). The purpose of liberaltarianism is to describe the political position you get to when youve become disenthralled with the mass of positions and alliances associated with institutional libertarianism but retain a substantial chunk of its underlying principles.

While Ive hung around with a lot of libertarians in my life and learned a great deal from them, Ive never been one of them. I am and (God willing) will always be a straight-ticket Democrat. So my path to liberaltarianism has a different trajectory than my co-conspirators here at the Niskanen Center. It is worth explaining why I now think liberaltarianism is a reasonable shorthand for my political positions, and what I think the philosophy has to offer for people who come more or less from my side of the fence.

I grew up knowing that I was a liberal, but also knowing that I was not quite like the other liberals I knew. This instinct was almost certainly hard wired, with sources that I may never get to the bottom of. But it meant that I was always drawn to liberals who got into fights with other liberals. In college that drew me to the Washington Monthly and its diaspora throughout the media landscape, and to the thinkers around the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC). In graduate school I read and was deeply influenced by William Galstons Liberal Purposes, which in a very vulgar way you could think of as higher DLCism. I had not thought through exactly what my program was, but I knew what my tribe was. Much of my subsequent intellectual career has been devoted to figuring out the program that should go with the tribe.

That program, such as I have been able to develop it up until now, can be characterized as left-liberaltarianism. That is just a fancy way of saying that I come to the liberaltarian project not as a refugee from libertarianism, but as an internal critic of modern liberalism. Liberaltarianism, as I understand it, is thus Janus-facedit is not the median between conservatism and modern liberalism, for it has criticisms of both. The core of left-liberaltarianism is an effort to combine liberal principles of social justice with a respect for limited government, and a preference for a relatively sharp line between state and market, and between levels of government.

By limited government, I mean a government that operates as much as possible through relatively simple, transparent, direct means that are susceptible to political oversight and citizen comprehension. The primary defining attribute of the state is coercion, and liberaltarians prefer that it use coercion out in the open. In contrast to the increasing attraction of those on the center-left for social policy nudges, liberaltarianism has a preference for shoveslarge blunt uses of social authority. Instead of a proliferating mass of regulations to combat climate change, liberaltarians prefer a tax on carbon. Instead of a variety of different tax subsidies and clever devices to encourage people to save, liberaltarians have a preference for good old-fashioned tax-and-spend social insurance. In contrast to the confusing welter of rules and regulations in Dodd-Frank, liberaltarians favor blunt limits on bank leverage. The defining characteristic of all these reforms is that they are simple and rule-like, replacing administrative discretion wherever possible with blunt applications of coercion specified in law.

Transparency and simplicity are themselves powerful limitations on government. With rare exceptions, liberaltarians want rules that avoid the excessive entanglement of the state and market, and the interweaving of levels of government. Instead of governments that, at many levels and in subtle ways, sneak up on involvement in a particular social domain, liberaltarians want definitive decisions by the national government to intervene (or not). This serves to enhance political deliberation, since the decision to act must be clear and responsibility for results unmistakably affixed. When the national government operates by steering or nudging or partneringwhether with private firms or state governmentsit is unclear precisely who is to be praised or blamed, and it can become nearly impossible for legislatures or citizens to exercise effective oversight. In addition, especially in the case of partnering with private actorssomething mistakenly referred to as privatizationthis kind of interweaving of state and market creates powerful temptations toward the corruption of both. These temptations can be seen clearly, for example, in the Trump administrations still-vague infrastructure plans, which promise to turn $200 billion of taxpayer money into $1 trillion in projects by creating incentives, guarantees, and inducements for private businesses, rather than using direct government spending. Something similar can be said of proposals like that of the Democratic nominee for governor of New Jersey, who advocatesa state investment bank for small businesses. The opportunities for the government to steer such projects to its political allies would be enormously temptingwhich is, in the Trump administrations case, almost certainly a feature rather than a bug.

This gets to a final feature of liberaltarianism, which is that it is especially sensitive to the ways that the state is not always an instrument of egalitarianism, but can be captured by the powerful and turned to their advantage. This is the subject of my forthcoming book with Lindsey, The Captured Economy. While the state is a potentially very powerful tool to enhance equal opportunity, it is also highly susceptible to the manipulations of those with economic and social power. As Brink and I argue, that influence is magnified in policy domains characterized by policy complexity and multiple, obscure institutional venues, which are easier for the wealthy to manipulate. Dentists, to take only one example out of many, are able to turn the regulatory system to their own advantage because the licensing boards that make the rules are so low-profile that they attract attention only from dentists themselves. Something similar typically characterizes other areas of upward redistribution, from financial regulation to intellectual property and real estate.

This vision of liberaltarianism, then, is primarily institutional in character. Back in the early twentieth century, Progressives who sought to increase the power of government to enhance social justice concluded that the only way to do that was to emancipate government at every level, to remove formal limits on the state (other than individual rights). But it turns out that a system of pervasive intertwining of the national and state governments, and the market and state, is one that is not particularly good for social justice, political accountability, or citizen engagement with politics.

One agenda for liberaltarianism, therefore, is to think about how to pursue important state functions in environmental protection, social welfare, and other areas in ways that are simpler, that sort out more cleanly who is responsible, and that involve the national government either in a way that occupies the field or that leaves matters for the market or state and local governments. We want a welfare/regulatory state governed as much as possible by law rather than administrative discretionrule-of-law big government, you might say. Often that will mean purer nationalization of functions, for example by nationalizing Medicaid (i.e., ending its status as a joint state-federal venture). But it will also mean reconsidering the mass of complex mandates and funding structures in K-12 education. It will mean trying to pull the national government out of the business of subsidizing private savings (through 529s, IRAs, 401ks) and just increasing social insurance. By doing soby sharply reducing the expectation of mass participation in private equity marketswe could also reconsider how we regulate finance, with less expectation that we need to protect unsophisticated investors. Other than preventing systemic risk (for example, through capital requirements) we could let markets rip more than we do now, since only the well-to-do would be significantly invested in them.

This is not the only vision of liberaltarianism. There are other visions that come more from the left, such as those that are primarily motivated by cosmopolitanism, or an aversion to paternalism. I am less convinced by those visions, although I think they are a necessary part of the larger conversations that should happen under the liberaltarian umbrella. I hope to address them in later posts.

Steven Teles is a Senior Fellow at the Niskanen Center and Associate Professor of Political Science at Johns Hopkins University. He is co-author (with Brink Lindsey) of the forthcoming The Captured Economy: How the Powerful Become Richer, Slow Down Growth, and Increase Inequality, and (with David Dagan) Prison Break: Why Conservatives Turned Against Mass Incarceration.

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How to Get to Liberaltarianism from the Left - Niskanen Center (press release) (blog)

Was Comey Convincing, Is Trump Julius Caesar, Is Alex Jones a Libertarian? [Reason Podcast] – Reason (blog)

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"What we're witnessing," says Nick Gillespie on today's Reason Podcast, "is the end of a bunch of things"the Clinton political dynasty, Brexit, French establishment politics, the collapse of the May government in the United Kingdom"and in that end, there is the possiblity of...a different, 21st-century world...where politics and policy follow all the advances in personalization and individualization and autonomy we see in our cultural and political lives."

Gillespie is joined by Reason magazine Editor in Chief Katherine Mangu-Ward and Reason Editor at Large Matt Welch. Andrew Heaton moderates a discussion that heatdly talks about former FBI director James Comey's controversial testimony about Donald Trump, the results of last week's election in Britain, a production of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar featuring a titular character who looks a lot like the president, and whether Infowars' host and 9/11 truther Alex Jones is actually the libertarian he self-describes as.

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Meet Cliff Hyra: The libertarian with a golden ticket to the general election – Virginia Tech Collegiate Times

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Politics in plain English

A seven-part guide to the candidates running to be the next governor of Virginia.

Superlative: Most likely to be late to the party"

Cliff Hyra may have been the last candidate to join the Virginia gubernatorial race, but like all cool kids, he has the potential of using this newfound attention to get people talking about what really matters politics.

As you could imagine, running for a statewide election as the third party nominee can set you at a disadvantage from the get-go. Fortunately for Hyra, being an unopposed libertarian candidate means that he can take this time to find his edge and relax while his opponents vie for a space on the general election ballot this week.

Hyra is a patent attorney from Mechanicsville, Virginia, who is married with three young children and is expecting another in Aug. To him, this race is a unique opportunity, and he hopes to build on 2013 candidate Robert Sarvis' momentum.

"Rob Sarvis had one of the most successful campaigns in the history of third parties and libertarian parties, Hyra said. "He got about 150,000 votes which is about a 7 percent turnout. (This) is really within striking distance of 10 percent, which is the threshold where if we hit 10 percent we would have automatic ballot access."

In the past, third party candidates have been required to canvas for 10,000 signatures as a precursor to moving forward with their campaign, a costly measure of resources that is not required of the Republican or Democratic candidates.

Despite Hyra's admittedly brief introduction to state politics, he is unfailingly enthusiastic about his future plans and continues to demonstrate faith in his supporters.

"I think you have to run the race with the goal of winning and being the governor, Hyra said. "You know, we are going to do all the things that we can do to maximize the chances of winning. With that said, I am not a crazy person, so I understand that you know the chances are low. At the same time, last year we had a very unusual election and something happened that I didn't think could happen so you know, I am not ruling it out."

If elected, Hyra has addressed four key issues that he will work to resolve in his four-year term economic growth, education reform, justice reform and health care.

In essence, his strategies to achieve optimal success can be generally attributed to one traditional libertarian solution, deregulation. Most of his campaign hinges on the belief that fewer laws constricting peoples actions can do wonders for the economy, incarceration rates and the booming of businesses.

More specifically, Hyras economic proposal includes eliminating income tax of the first $50,000 and removing specific license requirements that cause businessmen and women to get tripped up on trivial tasks.

Currently Virginians are taxed $11,815.28 on $50,000. This proposed cut would likely benefit the middle class the most, but can still exhibit a positive change in tax returns for people of the state.

Involving improvements with the school system, Hyra boasts small-town research on charter schools in New York as a testament to the power of competition to bring forth greater student and parent satisfaction. He says that elected officials must put forth more effort to close the gap, beginning with the states own research.

I was lucky enough to go to some really great schools in Northern Virginia, but we also have some schools that are not doing as well in some places, Hyra said. There are schools that have been really failing the students for many years and you know to some extent there is only so much good that you can do by just throwing more money at the problem.

According to Hyra, legal punishment for victimless crimes is counterproductive, specifically involving marijuana and alcohol consumption.

Logically speaking, Hyra says that lessening criminal punishments for these kinds of crimes will save Virginia money, which spends on average approximately $25,000 a year to incarcerate a single person. In addition, this plan could help reduce racial profiling. Hyra says studies show that African Americans are equally as likely to commit these kinds of crimes as others, but are being sent to prison at much higher rates.

Finally, Hyra has promised to change the face of healthcare by tossing out laws like Virginias Certificate of Need and is looking for a way to expand the healthcare plan without further involving the government.

Cliff Hyra is an incredible candidate, Libertarian Party of Virginia Chair Bo Brown told Bearing Drift News. Hes brilliant. His wifes incredible. Theyve got this great family. Theyre a great representation of Virginians. Weve got to let a lot of our (voters) understand that there are other candidates out there. You dont have to stay stuck to one of those two old parties.

Because Hyra announced his campaign in late April and received the nomination in May, little has been said about his qualifications for this role by other important political figures or by his opponents who are preoccupied with their respective primaries on Tuesday, June 13.

Hyra is a Virginia Tech alumnus who majored in aerospace engineering before attending law school at George Mason.

Hyra says that most people may not know that he became interested in the art of advantage gambling during his time at Virginia Tech and used his computational prowess at Las Vegas casinos for fun.

Want to learn about more gubernatorial candidates? Click below to learn about Republican front-runner, Ed Gillespie.

Superlative: Most likely to take detailed notes

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Arkansas Libertarians Submit Signatures To Be "New" Political Party – KUAR

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The Libertarian Party of Arkansas submitted over 15,000 signatures on Monday to the Secretary of States office to try and qualify to be a new political party -- for the fourth election cycle in a row. The state has 30 days to certify at least 10,000 of the signatures are from registered Arkansas voters.

This initial hurdle, and the financial cost of signature drives, is often critiqued by Arkansas third parties. In order for a political party to retain Arkansas ballot access through the next election cycle a candidate for either governor or president has to garner at least three percent of the vote. Last year Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson fell just shy with 2.63 percent of the vote.

Despite falling short of that threshold in 2016, state Party Chair Michael Pakko said the Libertarian Party deserves to be thought of as competitive.

Last year the Libertarian Party was the only party to field candidates against incumbents in all four U.S. Congressional states. In state legislative races Libertarians provided the only opposition in nearly a third of all contested races, Pakko said at the Capitol, Moreover people are choosing to vote Libertarian. Across the four Congressional districts last year our candidates earned over 196,000 votes about 18.5 percent of the total.

The once all-powerful Democratic Party of Arkansas only fielded one Congressional candidate in the last election. But this year, bolstered by an impassioned base in the era of Trump, a growing number of Democrats are expressing interest in 2018 races.

Pakko said he expects Libertarians to be in more three-way races next election.

Its always nice to be the only opposition party. When the Democrats werent running in races last year that gave us a little bit bigger piece of the spotlight but we dont expect that to be the case, Pakko said, so well just take it as it comes.

No Arkansas Libertarians hold legislative, statewide, or federal offices. But that lack of experience isnt necessarily a negative to Pakko.

One of the things voters communicated in their election of Donald Trump was their willingness to pick someone for public office that didnt have previous experience, he said.

While certainly having experienced candidates would be helpful I dont think thats necessarily a handicap to have non-professional politicians, regular citizens running for office and I think voters will be receptive, said Pakko.

What matters most to voters, according to the Libertarian chair, is making government work.

The biggest issue that voters think about is the dysfunctional nature of government both at the state and national level, he said. Its a matter of the two political parties at loggerheads, constant gridlock, and wed like the voters in Arkansas to know there is another choice, another option.

For Pakko and most Libertarians making government work often means passing laws that peel back the role of government, If you believe that governments should protect the rights of the individual, that people should be able to live their lives however they see fit with minimal interference from the government, if you believe that freedom and prosperity flourish where markets are allowed to work and the U.S. is at peace with its neighbors in the world, then please consider joining the Libertarian Party.

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