Watch “Top 10 Songs That Will Make You Cry” on YouTube

Watch “”40 Hour Week (For A Livin’)” – Alabama (Lyrics in description)” on YouTube

Watch “Blake Shelton – Who Are You When I’m Not Looking (Official Video)” on YouTube

My Duck today

My Duck today

My Duck today 

France 24 : Trump proposes $54 billion hike in military spending

Trump proposes $54 billion hike in military spending

US President Donald Trump’s first budget proposal includes a substantial $54 billion dollar increase in defence spending, with corresponding cuts in foreign assistance and other non-military spending.

http://www.france24.com/en/20170227-trump-proposes-54-billion-hike-military-spending-defence-pentagon

The nearly four trillion dollar annual federal budget is a declaration of intent that puts the president’s policy goals down in black and white.

It also separates affordable campaign promises from the fanciful and is the final arbitrator after turf wars between departments and powerful interest groups.

Trump has promised to cut waste and duplication in federal spending.

US president after US president has made similar promises on coming to office, before delving into a text that runs to thousands of pages and tossing the plan into the thicket of Congress.

Trump has oodles of campaign promises to pay for, but faces a national debt set to hit $20 trillion on his watch and a deficit at 3.1 percent of GDP and rising.

Trump’s promises – from building a wall on the Mexican border to stepping-up the deportation of undocumented immigrants – carry an estimated price tag of $5.3 trillion, according to the non-partisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

France 24 : Mysterious US billionaire played crucial role in Trump, Brexit victories

Mysterious US billionaire played crucial role in Trump, Brexit victories

The secretive US billionaire Robert Mercer played a crucial role in the United Kingdom’s campaign to leave the European Union, as well as US President Donald Trump’s election victory, according to a recent media report.

http://www.france24.com/en/20170228-usa-mysterious-billionaire-robert-mercer-played-crucial-role-trump-brexit-victories

Mercer gave the UK’s Leave.eu campaign a boost by directing his data analytics company, Cambridge Analytica, to offer its services free of charge via his close friendNigel Farage, a prominent Brexit supporter and former leader of the far-right UKIPparty, British newspaper The Guardianreported earlier this week.

Until recently, the 70-year-old hedge fund manager was best known for keeping out of the public eye. With an income of $150 million in 2016, Mercer came in at number 18 on Forbes list of 25 Highest-Earning Hedge Fund Managers and Traders last year.

A pioneer of artificial intelligence

Mercer launched his career at IBM during the early 1970s. While there, he earned a reputation as a talented computer programmer, making a number of advances in language processing – an area of research that has since played an important role in the development of artificial intelligence (AI).

In 1993, he joined Renaissance Technologies, which specialised in using so-called “big data” to identify investment strategies. After eight years at the hedge fund, he was named co-CEO in 2011.

Known for his extreme discretion, Mercer made news headlines during the 2016 US presidential election as one of the biggest Republican donors. After initially supporting Senator Ted Cruz of Texas during the primaries, Mercer spent more than $11 million to help get Trump elected.

He has also invested millions of dollars into the far-right website Breitbart News Network, which was once run by Trump’s chief strategist and former campaign manager, Stephen Bannon. Last week, Breitbart President and CEO Larry Solov confirmed that the Mercer family was a partial owner of the organisation.

Cruz, Trump and Leave.eu

But it now appears Mercer’s support extended far beyond financial contributions. According to The Guardian, he directed Cambridge Analytica, of which he is a major stakeholder, to consult for his pet political causes.

The small US-based data analytics company specialises in collecting information from social media to construct accurate psychological profiles of target audiences. In other words, it tracks a user’s “likes” and other technological habits to get to know him or her better than a close friend.

Cambridge Analytica worked for Mercer’s two favourite Republican candidates: first Cruz, then Trump. The company also offered its services free of charge to Leave.eu via Farage ahead of the UK’s June 23 referendum, The Guardian reported, citing the campaign’s former communication director Andy Wigmore.

“They were happy to help. Because Nigel is a good friend of the Mercers. And Mercer introduced them to us. He said, ‘Here’s this company we think may be useful to you.’ What they were trying to do in the US and what we were trying to do had massive parallels,” Wigmore told The Guardian.

Data on 220 million Americans

So what gives Cambridge Analytica an edge over other data analytics services? First, its expansive database. The companyboasts of having collected up to 5,000 data points on over 220 million Americans. Secondly, it uses a unique method of analysis that doesn’t rely on traditional information, such as an individual’s geolocalisation, age or profession.

Instead, Cambridge Analytics creates a psychographic profile for each person. The controversial practice allows the company to gauge a person’s intelligence and behavior through both objective and emotional information. This data is used to draw conclusions about an individual, such as whether he or she is conservative, liberal or undecided, enjoys socialising, is easily upset, has a sexual preference, is recently divorced or is nervous by nature.

A campaign can then use this information to woo voters by personalising the advertisements and videos that appear on their social media feeds. For example, black voters in some states were targeted by content appearing to show Trump’s rival, Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, referring to African-Americans as “sexual predators”, according to the websiteMotherboard. “Pretty much every message that Trump put out was data-driven,” Cambridge Analytica CEO Alexander James Ashburner Nix told the publication.

In the UK, the Leave.eu campaign targeted prospective supporters by drafting dozens of emails that responded directly to their concerns based on information gleaned by Cambridge Analytics, The Guardian reported.

Although there is no concrete evidence that Mercer used “big data” to influence the outcome of the two elections, Leave.eu’s former communication director Wigmore left little doubt.

“AI won it for Leave,” he told The Guardian.

This article was translated from the original in French.

Watch “AND SO IT WAS THAT LATER – Found Film #3” on YouTube

A Whiter Shade of Pale

Procol Harum

Lyrics

We skipped the light fandango
Turned cartwheels ‘cross the floor
I was feeling kinda seasick
But the crowd called out for more
The room was humming harder
As the ceiling flew away
When we called out for another drink
The waiter brought a tray

And so it was that later
As the miller told his tale
That her face, at first just ghostly,
Turned a whiter shade of pale
She said, ‘There is no reason
And the truth is plain to see.’
But I wandered through my playing cards
And would not let her be
One of sixteen vestal virgins
Who were leaving for the coast
And although my eyes were open
They might have just as well’ve been closed

And so it was that later
As the miller told his tale
That her face, at first just ghostly,
Turned a whiter shade of pale

And so it was that later

Songwriters: Gary Brooker / Keith Reid / Matthew Fisher

A Whiter Shade of Pale lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, T.R.O. Inc.

Today’s Holiday:Mardi Gras (New Orleans)

Today’s Holiday:
Mardi Gras (New Orleans)
The most flamboyant of Mardi Gras celebrations in North America culminates in a riot of parades and throngs of laughing, drinking, dancing people in the streets of New Orleans, Louisiana. On the day of Mardi Gras, designated the “Day of Un-Rule,” the traditional parades spotlight Rex, King of Carnival and Monarch of Merriment, in the morning, and Comus, God of Revelry, by torchlight at night. On that same evening the private balls of Rex and Comus are held. At midnight, the madness of Carnival ends, and Lent begins, and a million or so spectators and participants face sobriety. More…: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tfd.mobile.TfdSearch

Today’s Birthday:Linus Carl Pauling (1901)

Today’s Birthday:
Linus Carl Pauling (1901)
An American chemist, Pauling was the first person to win two unshared Nobel Prizes: one for chemistry in 1954 and one for peace in 1962. He was one of the first to study molecular structure using quantum mechanics, and he made discoveries in biochemistry and medicine. In the 1950s, he became concerned about nuclear weapons testing and radioactive fallout and wrote an appeal—signed by thousands of scientists—to halt such tests. What publication called his peace prize “A Weird Insult from Norway”? More…: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tfd.mobile.TfdSearch

This Day in History:DuPont Scientist Wallace Carothers Invents Nylon (1935)

This Day in History:
DuPont Scientist Wallace Carothers Invents Nylon (1935)
Though his struggles with mental illness made him initially reject a lucrative job with DuPont, chemist Wallace Carothers accepted the offer in the late 1920s and enjoyed much success there. Perhaps his greatest achievement was the invention of nylon, which rapidly gained widespread use in an array of products. First used to make toothbrush bristles, nylon was soon replacing silk in the parachutes and flak vests of American WWII combatants and in women’s stockings. How did nylon get its name? More…: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tfd.mobile.TfdSearch

Quote of the Day:Oscar Wilde

Quote of the Day:
Oscar Wilde
Disobedience, in the eyes of anyone who has read history, is man’s original virtue. More…: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tfd.mobile.TfdSearch

Article of the Day:Hussars

Article of the Day:
Hussars
Hussars originated in 15th-century Hungary as a light-horse corps, but the term now applies to members of various light cavalry regiments in European armies, renowned for their elegant dress. The brilliantly colored Hungarian hussar’s uniform consisted of a high cylindrical cap, a jacket with heavy braiding, and a loose coat worn hanging from the left shoulder. Several hussar regiments of the British army survive today as armored units. What were the original meanings of the word “hussar”? More…: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tfd.mobile.TfdSearch

Idiom of the Day:be like herding cats

Idiom of the Day:
be like herding cats
To be very unwieldy or unmanageable; to be nearly impossible to organize. Usually said of a group of people. Watch the video…: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tfd.mobile.TfdSearch

Word of the Day:rampart

Word of the Day:
rampart
Definition: (noun) A fortification consisting of an embankment, often with a parapet built on top.
Synonyms: bulwark, wall
Usage: They stormed the ramparts of the city with ladders and catapults.: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tfd.mobile.TfdSearch

I just earned the Bronze Mismatch badge on The Free Dictionary!:

I just earned the Bronze Mismatch badge on The Free Dictionary!: http://secure.thefreedictionary.com/user/George_Bost?rff=bFGy3

E primăvară iar la Breaza de Făgăraş!

E primăvară iar la Breaza de Făgăraş!

Cetatea FĂGĂRAŞULUI: Ultima zi de Februarie…

Cetatea FĂGĂRAŞULUI: Ultima zi de Februarie…

​JE SUIS C O M M E JE S U I S, by Jacques Prévert (Paroles)

JE SUIS C O M M E JE S U I S
 Je suis comme je suis

 Je suis faite comme ça. 

Quand j’ai envie de rire

 Oui je ris aux éclats 

J’aime celui qui m’aime 

Est-ce ma faute à moi 

Si ce n’est pas le même 

Que j’aime chaque fois 

Je suis comme je suis

 Je suis faite comme ca

 Que voulez-vous de plus 

Que voulez-vous de moi
 Je suis faite pour plaire

 Et n’y puis rien changer

 Mes talons sont trop hauts

 Ma taille trop cambrée

 Mes seins beaucoup trop durs

 Et mes yeux trop cernés

 Et puis après

 Qu’est-ce que ça peut vous faire 

Je suis comme je suis

 Je plais à qui je plais

 Qu’est-ce que ça peut vous faire 

Ce qui m’est arrivé

Oui j’ai aimé quelqu’un

Oui quelqu’un m’a aimée 

Comme les enfants qui s’aiment Simplement savent aimer

 Aimer aimer… 

Pourquoi me questionner 

Je suis là pour vous plaire

 Et n’y puis rien changer.

Danielle_Campbell_B&W PRINT

Danielle_Campbell_B&W PRINT

Nicolae Vermont – Asteptare

Nicolae Vermont – Asteptare

Watch “TWICE “CHEER UP” M/V” on YouTube

Watch “TWICE(트와이스) “KNOCK KNOCK” M/V” on YouTube

Watch “Franz Liszt – Hungarian Rhapsody No.2 (Orchestra version)” on YouTube

Watch “Tchaikovsky – 1812 Overture (Full with Cannons)” on YouTube

Watch “Beethoven “Ode To Joy” Symphony No.9″ on YouTube

Watch “Beethoven Piano Sonata no. 24 op. 78, Fflat Major, À Thérèse. Piano Eric Heidsieck (most beautiful)” on YouTube

Watch “Bob Dylan (Gotta Serve Somebody) Grammy 1980 Live STEREO” on YouTube

Watch “360 at Seal Beach Pier” on YouTube (pne of my videos)

Under the palm tree

Under the palm tree

Birds in trees

Birds in trees

France 24 : Wave of bomb threats against US Jewish centres after cemetery attacked

Wave of bomb threats against US Jewish centres after cemetery attacked

Jewish centers and schools across the nation coped with another wave of bomb threats Monday as officials in Philadelphia began raising money to repair and restore hundreds of vandalized headstones at a Jewish cemetery.

http://www.france24.com/en/20170228-wave-bomb-threats-against-usa-jewish-centres-after-cemetery-attacked

Watch “Sting – Shape Of My Heart (lyrics)” on YouTube

Shape of My Heart

Sting

Lyrics

He deals the cards as a meditation
And those he plays never suspect
He doesn’t play for the money he wins
He doesn’t play for the respect
He deals the cards to find the answer
The sacred geometry of chance
The hidden law of probable outcome
The numbers lead a dance

I know that the spades are the swords of a soldier
I know that the clubs are weapons of war
I know that diamonds mean money for this art
But that’s not the shape of my heart

He may play the jack of diamonds
He may lay the queen of spades
He may conceal a king in his hand
While the memory of it fades

I know that the spades are the swords of a soldier
I know that the clubs are weapons of war
I know that diamonds mean money for this art
But that’s not the shape of my heart
That’s not the shape, the shape of my heart

And if I told you that I loved you
You’d maybe think there’s something wrong
I’m not a man of too many faces
The mask I wear is one
Those who speak know nothing
And find out to their cost
Like those who curse their luck in too many places
And those who smile are lost

I know that the spades are the swords of a soldier
I know that the clubs are weapons of war
I know that diamonds mean money for this art
But that’s not the shape of my heart
That’s not the shape of my heart

Songwriters: Dominic James Miller

Shape of My Heart lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

Watch “Sting – Shape Of My Heart (lyrics)” on YouTube

Today’s Holiday:Shrove Monday

Today’s Holiday:
Shrove Monday
Many countries celebrate Shrove Monday as well as Shrove Tuesday, both days marking a time of preparation for Lent. It is often a day for eating pastry, as the butter and eggs in the house must all be used up before Lent. In Greece it is known as Clean Monday and is observed by holding picnics at which Lenten foods are served. In Iceland, the Monday before Lent is known as Bun Day. The significance of the name is twofold: it is a day for striking people on the buttocks with a stick before they get out of bed as well as a day for eating sweet buns with whipped cream. More…: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tfd.mobile.TfdSearch

Today’s Birthday:Hugo LaFayette Black (1886)

Today’s Birthday:
Hugo LaFayette Black (1886)
Black was a US Supreme Court Justice for 34 years. A prominent supporter of the New Deal, he was also in the majority that struck down mandatory school prayer and guaranteed the availability of legal counsel to suspected criminals. He was known for an absolutist belief in the Bill of Rights, and his last major opinion supported the right of The New York Times to publish the Pentagon Papers, which revealed improper government conduct. To what secret society did Black once belong? More…: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tfd.mobile.TfdSearch

This Day in History:The Reichstag Fire (1933)

This Day in History:
The Reichstag Fire (1933)
The 1933 fire at the German Parliament building known as the Reichstag was a pivotal event in the establishment of Nazi Germany. Allegedly set by a Dutch communist, the fire was used by Adolf Hitler to turn public opinion against his opponents, especially the communists. Immediately after the fire, he enacted a decree suspending constitutional protection of personal rights, effectively establishing the Nazi Party dictatorship. Why do some believe the fire was set by the Nazis themselves? More…: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tfd.mobile.TfdSearch

Quote of the Day:George Eliot

Quote of the Day:
George Eliot
Our dead are never dead to us, until we have forgotten them. More…: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tfd.mobile.TfdSearch

Article of the Day:The Skating Minister

Article of the Day:
The Skating Minister
The Reverend Robert Walker Skating on Duddingston Loch is an oil painting better known as The Skating Minister. Completed in the 1790s, the work was practically unknown until 1949, but it is now one of Scotland’s most famous paintings. Although it is traditionally attributed to Scottish portrait painter Sir Henry Raeburn, some have argued that the painting was actually made by French artist Henri-Pierre Danloux. What evidence do they cite to support these claims? More…: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tfd.mobile.TfdSearch

Idiom of the Day:rarer than hens’ teeth

Idiom of the Day:
rarer than hens’ teeth
Incredibly scarce or rare; extremely difficult or impossible to find. Watch the video…: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tfd.mobile.TfdSearch

Word of the Day:fleecy

Word of the Day:
fleecy
Definition: (adjective) Having soft nap produced by brushing.
Synonyms: napped, brushed
Usage: Though the train was unbearably cold, she snuggled into the fleecy lining of her coat and promptly fell asleep.: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tfd.mobile.TfdSearch

Watch “Natalie Cole LIVE – Unforgettable” on YouTube

Watch “Nat King Cole – Mona Lisa” on YouTube

BBC News: World’s most threatening superbugs ranked in new list

I saw this on the BBC and thought you should see it:

World’s most threatening superbugs ranked in new list – http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-39104411

Watch “George Enescu – Rapsodia Romana (Full)” on YouTube

Watch “Ciprian Porumbescu – Balada pentru vioara si orchestra (Ballad for violin and orchestra)” on YouTube

Watch “The Doors “Riders On The Storm (Alternate Version)”” on YouTube

Julian Assange Lawyer Fears Wikileaks Founder Could Be Evicted From Embassy Shelter – NBC News

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/julian-assange-lawyer-fears-wikileaks-founder-could-be-evicted-embassy-n725731

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 Will Wikileaks’ Julian Assange Be Sent to the U.S.? 10:23

A lawyer acting for Wikileaks founder Julian Assange told NBC News there is “great concern” among his team that a new Ecuadorian president could force him out of the country’s London embassy and warned his health was deteriorating.

Trump: ‘Nobody knew health care could be so complicated’ – CNNPolitics.com

http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/27/politics/trump-health-care-complicated/#|gigyaMobileDialog

Now, I have to tell you, it’s an unbelievably complex subject,” he added. “Nobody knew health care could be so complicated.”

Watch “F. Schubert Sonata A major # 20 D.959 Valentina Lisitsa” on YouTube

Watch “Carl Sandburg Reads Poetry For Children, 1959” on YouTube