Yep, it on!

Let's talk about Blockchain. Goal is to use this forum topic to highlight its usefulness to programming language theory and practice. If you're familiar with existing research efforts, please share them here. In addition, feel free to generate ideas for how Blockchain could improve languages and developer productivity.

As one tasty example: Blockchain helps to formalize thinking about mutual knowledge and common knowledge, and potentially think about sharing intergalactic computing power through vast distributed computing fabrics. If we can design contracts in such a way that maximizes the usage of mutual knowledge while minimizing common knowledge to situations where you have to "prove your collateral", third-party transactions could eliminate a lot of back office burden. But, there might be benefits in other areas of computer science from such research, as well.

Some language researchers, like Mark S. Miller, have always dreamed of Agoric and the Decades-Long Quest for Secure Smart Contracts.

Some may also be aware that verification of smart contracts is an important research area, because of the notorious theft of purse via logic bug in an Ethereum smart contract.

BY WADNER PIERRE

Since the CEP published its tainted and most controversial results for the presidential, second round legislative and local elections early last November, thousands have been demonstrated in the streets of Haiti’s largest cities to reclaim a recount of their votes. Religious leaders and international human rights and advocacy groups have also urged the CEP to investigate irregularities and massive electoral frauds that are no longer mere allegations.

As protests widening, diplomatic talks failed and G8 candidates remaining steadfast in their position, to remedy the situation, Haiti’s PM Evans Paul in an one-page letter sent to the President Michel J. Martelly, proposed a formation of an electoral commission to ensure the credibility of the already festered electoral process.

The commission according to the Prime Minister’s letter will have three days to produce recommendations to the government and the Conseil Electoral Provisoire (Electoral Provisional Council), known as the CEP. The head of the government stated,“ …it is necessary to organize credible, transparent, participative and inclusive elections,” as well as “to do whatever it takes” to create a climate of trust for the actors involving in the process.

The CEP shows no sign that it will abide by the recommendations of the government-formed commission. One of its members Marie Carmelle Paul Austin told a radio in the Haiti’s capital that the electoral council members are ready to depart in bloc should the commission interfere in their work. “If this commission’s purpose is to redo or verify the work that the CEP has already done, the council members will resign,” implied council Austin.

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BY WADNER PIERRE

Nearly two months since Haiti’s Conseil Electoral Provisoire (Electoral Provisional Council), know as the CEP, announced the final results for the first round residential, second round legislative and local elections that plagued with massive frauds. The controversial results for the presidential elections placed Haiti’s ruling Party candidate, Jovel Moise at the first place with over 34 percent of the popular and the former 2010 presidential candidate Jude Celestin in second place. Since then protest against those tainted results have been widened through the country.

After candidates and their backers, religious leaders (Catholics and Protestants) and national and international human rights and advocacy groups urged the CEP to form an independent commission to investigate the electoral frauds that were no longer mere allegations, the CEP rejected such proposition and proceeded to schedule the presidential runoff on Dec. 27 with the two candidates obtained the majority of the vote. Celestin, a member of group of eight presidential candidates, known as G8, who have been protesting the CEP’s results, declared he would not participate at the runoff unless the CEP satisfied the demand of G8.

The United States, a staunch supporter of the current administration, and spent over $30 millions for the organization of these log-overdue elections, sent Kenneth Merten, the U.S former ambassador to Haiti and State Department’s Special Envoy to Haiti to convince candidates, most importantly Celestin, to accept the CEP’s results. Merten, a close friend of Martelly, and one the controversial figures that engineered Martelly’s election in the 2010 controversial elections, failed to his mission.

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Yes, a second blog post in a week. I am spoiling you! Or not, as this is in fact something that should be very worrying to you all. I have been working for a while on a big review of … Continue reading →

Seattle, WA - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has settled two federal Clean Water Act cases with Coleman Oil Company, LLC, located in Lewiston, Idaho, owner and operator of a former oil bulk terminal in Wenatchee, Washington, adjacent to the Columbia River.

Guest Post: SRv6 enables you to code directly into each packet header where the traffic should be sent and how it should be treated.

On Thursday, European leaders will discuss how to navigate the block through the economic crisis triggered by the novel coronavirus. In a DER SPIEGEL interview, European Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni talks about what is at stake and the need to find at least 1 trillion euros.

We use longitudinal data from the income tax system to study the impacts of firms’ employment and wage-setting policies on the level and change in immigrant-native wage differences in Canada. We focus on immigrants who arrived in the early 2000s, distinguishing between those with and without a college degree from two broad groups of countries – the U.S., the U.K. and Northern Europe, and the rest of the world. Consistent with a growing literature based on the two-way fixed effects model of Abowd, Kramarz, and Margolis (1999), we find that firm-specific wage premiums explain a significant share of earnings inequality in Canada and contribute to the average earnings gap between immigrants and natives. In the decade after receiving permanent status, earnings of immigrants rise relative to those of natives. Compositional effects due to selective outmigration and changing participation play no role in this gain. About one-sixth is attributable to movements up the job ladder to employers that offer higher pay premiums for all groups, with particularly large gains for immigrants from the “rest of the world” countries.

By the time in 2015 when prosecutors indicted Chris Christie flunkies Bridget Kelly and Bill Baroni for shutting down Fort Lee’s George Washington Bridge lanes for four days in 2013 to punish the mayor for failing to endorse the big man in Trenton’s reelection, the two sick sycophants had long lost their stupid sinecures in the State House and Port Authority. And Christie had already rightly lost the trust of Jerseyans for building the hothouse in which the lichens could grow.

As physicians who work in New York City hospitals, we are witnessing how COVID-19 is ravaging the communities we serve. The only way to slow this pandemic is to stop the transmission of the disease. Yet despite everything we know about how the virus spreads and the unprecedented sacrifices workers have made to slow the spread, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) continues to endanger the lives of over 40,000 immigrants in more than 200 jails and prisons nationally. Most people in immigration detention have committed no criminal offense and have been deemed by ICE to pose no danger, yet they are held arbitrarily pending disposition of their asylum claims or deportation orders.

Known for his hearty laugh and creative mind, Storen rose to executive spots in basketball, football, baseball and tennis during a four-decade career in sports.

We show a causal impact of immigration on innovation and dynamism in US counties. To identify the causal impact of immigration, we use 130 years of detailed data on migrations from foreign countries to US counties to isolate quasi-random variation in the ancestry composition of US counties that results purely from the interaction of two historical forces: (i) changes over time in the relative attractiveness of different destinations within the US to the average migrant arriving at the time and (ii) the staggered timing of the arrival of migrants from different origin countries. We then use this plausibly exogenous variation in ancestry composition to predict the total number of migrants flowing into each US county in recent decades. We show four main results. First, immigration has a positive impact on innovation, measured by the patenting of local firms. Second, immigration has a positive impact on measures of local economic dynamism. Third, the positive impact of immigration on innovation percolates over space, but spatial spillovers quickly die out with distance. Fourth, the impact of immigration on innovation is stronger for more educated migrants.

The Trump coronavirus immigration order shows he has yet to find a crisis he can't try to exploit for his own political gain.

USC's final chance to salvage the 2020 recruiting class came with no surprises as the day showed off the state of the program.

Reese Dixon-Waters, one of the nation's top guard prospects, commits to USC. Dixon-Waters, who will be a senior next season, plays at Playa del Rey St. Bernard.

Malik Thomas of La Verne Damien committed to USC on Friday as the Trojans' 2021 class landed another highly rated shooting guard within the same week.

USC's football staff continued its run of recruiting success with the commitment from safety Anthony Beavers Jr., a four-star prospect from Narbonne High.

USC received a commitment Friday from St. John Bosco offensive lineman Maximus Gibbs as the Trojans continued a momentous run on the recruiting trail.

Pasadena Muir four-star defensive back Calen Bullock, who also plays wide receiver, became the third player in four days to commit to the Trojans.

In this pandemic, we need an emergency increase in the number of green cards issued to immigrants with critically required skills.

The Los Angeles Times has announced new guidelines for covering immigration.

Eight trades, two negated contracts, and one coaching change later, the first phase of the Kings' rebuilding process is complete.

A clever forward with a great scoring touch, Granato played in the first women's world championships in 1990 and was the captain of the champion 1998 U.S. team in the first women's Olympic hockey tournament.

The Dodgers on Friday joined a long list of clubs who have pledged to pay non-playing employees through May 31 while the MLB season remains suspended.

Known for his hearty laugh and creative mind, Storen rose to executive spots in basketball, football, baseball and tennis during a four-decade career in sports.

Former UCLA offensive lineman Christaphany Murray announces he has committed to Oklahoma, where he will rejoin former Bruins teammate Theo Howard.

Daishen Nix, a top point guard recruit, will forgo a likely one-and-done season at UCLA to join the G League select team.

My immigrant parents lost their jobs because of COVID-19. The CARES Act won't help because they're in the U.S. illegally. At 22, I was the breadwinner.

During a pandemic that puts class divisions into sharper focus, this acclaimed "Ironbound" gets a benefit reading by its original New York cast.

The London Fire Commissioner will today call for the Government to take stronger action and undertake urgent research on ‘buildings that fail’ on fire safety which leaves ‘stay put’ advice no longer viable.

The London Fire Commissioner, Dany Cotton, has today announced she will be stepping down from her position at London Fire Brigade on 31 December.

Today the Brigade’s first ever woman Commissioner Dany Cotton leaves London Fire Brigade after 32 years. Her long career has seen her break new ground for women in the fire service and open up the discussion around mental health issues in the emergency services.

London Fire Brigade’s first Commissioner in 75 years to have served as a commissioned officer in the British army has today sign a covenant with the UK armed forces.

Former child star Quinn Cummings put her mixology hobby to work, first as a morale boost for pals, then as a fundraiser for an L.A. cat rescue.

The state isn't doing right by undocumented immigrants with a financial relief program that does nothing to address abusive labor practices.

The spouses of immigrants need economic help too so they can stay afloat during the coronavirus pandemic.

'To provide counsel to the president on the reopening of America'

Directed by Alex Rivera and Cristina Ibarra, "The Infiltrators" is a mix of documentary footage and staged fiction scenes to tell the story of undocumented young immigration activists taking their work inside a Florida detention facility.

FOLLOWING the Windrush scandal the NHS says that its records will no longer be used to track down illegal immigrants.

Morocco is somewhere I'd wanted to visit for a while. At its closest point, Morocco is less than 10 miles from Europe, and yet the country held a fascinating allure for me. Its culture is a centuries-old mix of Berber, Arab and Mediterranean influences, and all of these combine to create somewhere with a very distinctive and fascinating culture. Matthew Carey writes for Express.co.uk about his experience in Marrakech...

Data from Sweden's Public Health Agency confirmed that Somali Swedes made up almost 5 per cent of the country's COVID-19 cases, yet represented less than 1 per cent of its 10 million people.

Marco......Polo

'Thank God we have a president in office with a backbone.'

We all must work together to dismantle the barriers and empower our neighbors for a truly inclusive city, a letter to the editor says.

Racing is scheduled for Greenland, Brazil, Nepal and Senegal, among other places.

Watch this style from the Dakotas, showing higher-pitched singing, and a lower-pitched style from Oklahoma, shown at a Danville pow wow on Saturday.

Senior combo guard Armaan Franklin, a standout at Cathedral and a four-star prospect, becomes IU's first commitment in the 2019 class.

Holloman, a three-star prospect from Auburn Hills, also had offers from West Virginia, Nebraska, Maryland, Iowa State, and Central Michigan, among others.