The Peanuts Movie
Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Lucy, Linus and the rest of the beloved “Peanuts” gang make their big-screen debut, like they’ve never been seen before, in state-of-the-art 3D animation. Snoopy, the world’s most lovable beagle—and flying ace—embarks upon his greatest mission as he takes to the skies to pursue his arch-nemesis The Red Baron, while his best pal, Charlie Brown, begins his own epic quest. From the imagination of Charles M. Schulz and the creators of the ICE AGE films, THE PEANUTS MOVIE will prove that every underdog has his day.
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The Fantastic Four
THE FANTASTIC FOUR, a contemporary re-imagining of Marvel’s original and longest-running superhero team, centers on four young outsiders who teleport to an alternate and dangerous universe, which alters their physical forms in shocking ways. Their lives irrevocably upended, the team must learn to harness their daunting new abilities and work together to save Earth from a former friend turned enemy.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Star Wars: The Force Awakens opens in theaters December 18, 2015. Star Wars: The Force Awakens is directed by J.J. Abrams from a screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan & Abrams, and features a cast including actors John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Academy Award winner Lupita Nyong’o, Gwendoline Christie, Crystal Clarke, Pip Andersen, Domhnall Gleeson, and Max von Sydow. They will join the original stars of the saga, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, and Kenny Baker. The film is being produced by Kathleen Kennedy, J.J. Abrams, and Bryan Burk, and John Williams returns as the composer. Star Wars: The Force Awakens is Episode VII in the Star Wars Saga.
Charlie Hebdo: Gun attack on French magazine kills 12
Gunmen have shot dead 12 people at the Paris office of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in an apparent militant Islamist attack.
Four of the magazine's well-known cartoonists, including its editor, were among those killed, as well as two police officers.
A major police operation is under way to find three gunmen who fled by car.
President Francois Hollande said there was no doubt it had been a terrorist attack "of exceptional barbarity".
It is believed to be the deadliest attack in France since 1961, when right-wingers who wanted to keep Algeria French bombed a train, killing 28 people.
The masked attackers opened fire with assault rifles in the office and exchanged shots with police in the street outside before escaping by car. They later abandoned the car in Rue de Meaux, northern Paris, where they hijacked a second car.
Middle Caicos Pine Yard Treated with Controlled Burning
Members of the Department of Environment & Maritime Affairs (DEMA) initiated the second controlled burn in the Middle Caicos pine yard on Tuesday, 9 December 2014.
This is an on going part of the Caicos Pine Recovery Project. Various measures were put in place to ensure safety and residents were alerted via radio announcements and other media outlets.
B Naqqi Manco, Caicos Pine Recovery Project Manager, DEMA stated; “Similar to 2012, the low-intensity fire will help to replenish important nutrients in the thin soil and the fire-adapted pine trees will survive without difficulty.
“As the National Tree of the Turks & Caicos Islands, Caicos pine dominated the pine yards in North and Middle Caicos and Pine Cay until an invasive insect called the pine tortoise scale killed over 95% of the pine trees between 2005 and 2010.”
He also said; “The controlled burn is part of an effort to save the pine from extinction due to the scale insect. The Caicos pine variety should not be confused with the invasive Australian pine or “cedar” which is not a pine at all.”
Amy Avenant, Outreach Coordinator, DEMA added; “Some of these experts were on the team of the successful controlled burn in May 2012. We saw improvement shortly after the previous burn, with insect-stunted trees growing up quickly, free from pests, and producing cones within a year.
“We expect the same results. The burn was also used as a training exercise and Five people received training in controlled burning, including three DEMA staff members.”
The controlled burn team includes members of the Department of Environment and Maritime Affairs, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and the United States Forest Service. Turks & Caicos Fire & Rescue, Environmental Health Department, and Civil Aviation Department have given their support of the exercise.
For more information, visit the new Caicos pine exhibit at the National Environmental Centre, Lower Bight Road, Providenciales; also find the Caicos Pine Recovery Project on Facebook and follow @KewUKOTs on Twitter.
Hon. Astwood Addresses Manatee Incident
For the past several weeks, we have all been following the unfolding saga of the manatee that found its way to our beautiful by nature shores. Sadly, despite valiant efforts to save it and return it to its natural environment, it did not survive. I wish, now, to give a special thanks to the staff of DEMA and all those persons from the community of Grand Turk who assisted in the care and rescue of the young manatee that wondered into our waters. These individuals attended to the animal around the clock. I must give special thanks to Ms. Katharine Hart, DEMA Environmental Officer, and commend her for the tireless effort she gave in attending to the manatee’s critical needs, trying to ensure its immediate and long-term survival. As a result of this occurrence, there was much education given to the general public by the staff of the department on Manatees. Also, a wonderfully heartwarming, short documentary has been produced on the care and rescue activities that took place for the manatee.
Manatees are very rarely seen in our waters. They are herbivores and eat over 60 different freshwater and saltwater plants, but have been known to eat small amounts of fish from nets. They inhabit the shallow, marshy coastal areas and rivers of the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, and West Africa. Some manatees, e.g. Florida manatees, can move freely between salinity extremes. However, they must have some access to fresh water for proper regulation of water and salts within their bodies. The freshwater Amazonian manatee inhabits the Amazon River and its tributaries, and never ventures into salt water. The main causes of death for manatees are human-related issues, such as habitat destruction and human objects.
We can only speculate about the events that led it to wonder into our waters - whether it was the death of its mother, or escaping from human threats. What we know for sure is that there is no availability of fresh water near our coastal regions for a manatee’s long-term survival.
I was saddened that the young manatee did not survive, even with all the efforts given my Ms. Hart and her team of volunteers. They cared for it down to its end, with the manatee taking its final breath while asleep in the arms of Ms. Hart, and for that we are most grateful.
Hon. Edwin Astwood
MP Grand Turk South and Salt Cay
Peoples' Democratic Movement
Ministerial Statement and Midterm Address of the Premier (November 2014)
Ministerial Statement and Midterm Address of the Premier, Dr. the Hon. Rufus W. Ewing, that was delivered today during the 1st Sitting of the 14th Meeting of the 2nd Session of the 10th Legislature of the House of Assembly in the nation's capital, Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos Islands.
Ministerial Statement and Midterm Address
Microsoft rolls out Clutter tool to help you ignore email you don't want to see
Anyone with an overflowing inbox knows that separating the most important messages from the noise isn't an easy task.
That's why Microsoft is rolling out Clutter, an inbox tool for Office 365 business customers that helps users prioritize email within Outlook.
First previewed at Microsoft's Exchange Conference earlier this year, Clutter aims to help users separate their most important email from everything else.
Much like Google's Priority Inbox for Gmail, it learns from your actions over time to surface the most important email while weeding out the messages it thinks you're most likely to ignore. These messages get separated into a designated "Clutter" folder; they can be viewed at any time but don't appear in your main inbox.
"You can proactively train Clutter by marking items as Clutter or simply move the items to the Clutter folder," the company explained in a blog post. "Clutter continuously learns and will adapt to your new patterns within days when you begin working on new projects or a new role."
Microsoft will begin rolling out the tool to Office 365's business users on Tuesday. Businesses participating in the company's First Release program will be the first to get the tool, which can be enabled from the Outlook Web App options menu. The rest of business users will get the update later this month.
It's not clear when, or if, Clutter will roll out to non-business Office 365 users.
Tomorrow, a Spacecraft Will Try to Land on a Comet for the First Time Ever
Tomorrow morning, a 10-year, 4-billion-mile journey will end when a spacecraft attempts to land on a comet for the first time.
The ESA’s Rosetta spacecraft arrived at comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on August 6, settling in an orbit around the roughly 20-trillion-pound space rock, which, if you squint, kind of looks like a rubber duck. For the last couple months, Rosetta has been studying the comet, surveying its surface and measuring the dust particles and gases around it. Scientists are finding that 67P, which stretches for about 2.5 miles at its widest, is expelling methane, ethanol, and sulfur, which might give it a rotten-egg-like stench.
Tonight, at 11:35 p.m. PST, Rosetta will release its 220-pound lander craft, dubbed Philae, which will slowly descend from a height of about 13 miles onto the landing site named Agilkia, a relatively flat spot on the duck’s head. You can follow along here (above) as the landing unfolds on live webcast from the ESA’s mission control starting at 11:00 a.m. PST/2:00 p.m. EST today. NASA TV is also providing live coverage starting at 6:00 a.m. PST/9:00 a.m. EST tomorrow.
Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko from 17.8 miles away. ESA/Rosetta/NAVCAM
Scientists didn’t know what the comet’s surface would be like until Rosetta got close, so they couldn’t choose a landing site ahead of time. Once the spacecraft arrived, it scoured the comet for potential places to touch down—the first time a spacecraft had to look for its own landing site. In previous missions to Mars, for instance, data from orbiting spacecraft gave scientists the luxury to spend months and years pondering their options. But Rosetta had to find a location in just six weeks.
Rosetta discovered that the comet was more dusty than it was icy. To maximize the chances of a successful landing, scientists modeled how Philae would land on different kinds of soil—some harder, some softer. Still, there’s a lot of uncertainty. The comet is a rugged place, covered with jagged edges and huge boulders. Philae can’t steer, so if there’s a rock in the way, there isn’t much anyone can do. “That’s the part that worries me most,” said Andrea Accomazzo, flight director of the European Space Operations Centre, in an online media briefing last week.
Once Philae is released, it will float freely toward the comet for seven hours before gently dropping onto the surface. If all goes well, mission controllers will receive confirmation of a successful landing at 8:02 a.m. PST/11:02 a.m. EST.
Philae’s landing spot, seen from about 19 miles away. ESA/Rosetta/MPS
Once Philae lands on its three spindly legs, it will fire a harpoon straight into the surface, anchoring itself to the comet to prevent it from floating away. Small thrusters will also blast upward from the lander to help it stay grounded. It will then begin its preprogrammed sequence of snapping pictures and taking data. The lander is equipped with 10 instruments, including cameras and a drill, to analyze the comet’s surface and chemical composition. Rosetta will also send radio signals through the comet to probe 67P’s interior structure; Philae will relay those signals back to Rosetta.
The initial automated phase will last about 65 hours, but the lander is expected to continue doing science until March, when the comet gets so close to the sun that the scorching temperatures will damage Philae’s electronics. Dust may also accumulate on its solar panels over time, choking off its power source.
Meanwhile, Rosetta will remain in orbit as the comet swings by the sun, whose solar wind blows the gases and dust that surround the comet into its characteristic tail. No one’s sure how long Rosetta will last in the sun’s heat and the harsh environment of space, but the spacecraft’s designed to continue studying 67P for 17 more months—and likely several months more. Even though Philae’s landing is certainly important, 80 percent of the scientific data from the mission will be from Rosetta, simply because it will spend more time studying the comet, says Fred Jansen, the Rosetta mission manager.
How Philae will land on a comet. ESA/ATG medialab
Needless to say, landing on a comet is hard. Both Rosetta and 67P are hurtling through space at about 40,000 miles per hour, 300 million miles away.
Spacecraft previously have landed only on seven other places in the universe: the moon, Mars, Venus, Saturn’s moon Titan, and two asteroids. Although not quite a landing, NASA’s Deep Impact mission purposefully smashed an impactor into comet Tempel 1 in 2005 to study the resulting cloud of debris. The plan for Philae, of course, is to land in one piece and explore the comet intact.
Premier and Minister of Tourism, Culture and Heritage National Address (November 2014)
National Address - Tourism Month
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