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In some situations, you may need to remove an appliance from your Command Center account. For example, you want to move your appliance to another account or you reinstalled NG Firewall and the appliance has a new UID.
Log into Command Center from untangle.com.
Select the appliance to be removed.
Confirm that you want to remove the appliance from your account. | {
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} |
These days, I'm mostly OK. The big struggles now are finances and logistics and boredom and single-parenting. My life has devolved into getting through today and tomorrow with an eye to how next week is going to fall. It's an improvement. I used to just try to get through each day.
Last week, though, I got surprised. I woke up early one morning and it was raining - I have always found rain to be incredibly romantic - and I was warm beneath the comforter in my big, queen sized bed when I turned my head and saw that empty spot next to me. Suddenly, I missed him. I missed him and I wanted to be warm in his arms and listen to the rain and his breathing and know I was loved.
Foolish, I know. I was never really loved the way I thought I was by him. If I were, he wouldn't have moved on, even before we were done.
Even before I knew we were done.
And he's got a new companion and new life and beautiful new house they bought together with state-of-the art everything while I try to figure out how to repair a toilet flapper and can't fix my lawn mower and my oven doesn't work anymore.
It's easy, so easy to feel like I got the short end of the stick.
Even if they don't end up making it work, he's still got a whole playing field out there waiting for him. He's good-looking, with just enough distinguished gray in his hair. He's fit. He's got a great job as an executive and he can date down twenty years without getting much of a reaction out of anyone.
Me? Well, a late-fortysomething, not-quite-at-my-dating-weight single Mom with two kids still at home doesn't have quite the same options. And if I tell someone I'm someday-dating that I'm heavily in debt to my underwater mortgage, I have primary physical custody of my kids and oh, by the way, my son has autism - well, let's just say my prospects will be even more less-than-stellar.
Yeah, I got the raw deal. Taken to the cleaners. Treated like a doormat. I deserve to feel shafted. I try not to wallow in it too much or label myself a victim, because that's counter-productive and a total waste of time. It is what it is, and I got what I got and now it's up to me to move forward.
Some women are immobilized by the grief that comes with this kind of a wound. Some retreat into bitterness and anger and vengeance. Don't paint me with a saintly brush - I've inhabited all those worlds for short visits, but I haven't felt like staying and building a house on any of them. The thing that's seen me through the worst of this (other than my children, of course) is this one simple truth.
I haven't lost as much as he has. Not really.
I lost someone who didn't really love me as much as I thought he did. He, on the other hand, lost someone who loved him very much, and with everything she had. I am capable of having and sustaining such a love.
It's not much to cling to some days.
But some days, it feels like a victory flag set atop the mountain of my new truth.
Ellie- I so get this. You put your heart and soul into a man and he betrays that love, breaks your heart and then leaves you holding the peices of the life you built with him. The scars never really heal. But remember this - the love that you gave him that he didin't deserve- its not wasted, love never is. The universe owes you that love and sometime, somewhere, someone will give it back to you. | {
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#21 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J. K. Rowling
Join Harry and his friends as they return to Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft for their fifth year.
Shortly before his return to Hogwarts, Harry and Dudley, his big, dumb muggle cousin, face a Dementor attack... right in the middle of Little Whinging! Harry ends up using magic to repel the dementors, but because of that offense—underage magic in the presence of muggles—he is forced to attend a hearing and face possible expulsion from Hogwarts! But just what were dementors doing in Little Whinging if not specifically sent to attack Harry?
So begins Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the fifth book in the Harry Potter series. The Order of the Phoenix is actually a secret society of Wizards and Witches founded by Dumbledore, it's members being the same that fought against Voldemort last time. Unfortunately, with Cornelius Fudge and the rest of the Ministry of Magic vehemently denying Voldemort's return, and taking every opportunity they can to slander both Dumbledore and Harry through stories in the Daily Prophet, the Order definitely has their work cut out for them.
Starting with the fourth book, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, these books have definitely gotten darker, and in my opinion have stepped outside the realm of children's books while still remaining in the young adult category.
I didn't like this book quite as much as The Goblet of Fire which seemed to have a lot more going on. Overall, it was still an excellent book as I rated it 8 out of 10; however I just couldn't help comparing it to Goblet of Fire, and in that regard, I didn't feel it quite measured up to that standard.
(I actually feel the opposite about the movie versions: Goblet left out so much from the book, missing a lot of key points and issues, that I didn't like it that much; while Phoenix was more complete to the book, and perhaps even a bit more flashy than its predecessor.)
Tags: fantasy, paranormal/occult, young adult
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Our new Functional Training Zone has been installed at Jubilee Hall gym in Covent Garden and our FREE A.R.D. small group training sessions will be starting on Monday 28th April. The instructor-led workouts will last 30 minutes and utilize the different exercise 'stations' such as the rebound board, monkey bars, dip station and punch bag. There will be three main types of session – A.R.D. abs to target your stomach muscles; A.R.D. tone to tighten and firm your body ready for summer and A.R.D. circuit, a fast-moving mix of different activities for all round fitness.
If you want to know more about A.R.D. training or to book a session, please contact reception. | {
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} |
The new rules are very wide-reaching, often completely different than the superseded rules that existed for years, and portions are incredibly complex. Additional guidance in the form of Treasury Regulations is expected.
The changes do not entirely move the U.S. out of the "worldwide income" taxation regime and into the "territorial" regime, but they move us much closer in that direction.
This article is written with the assumption that its readers have some level of familiarity with U.S. taxation of international operations, although it will provide some background for those less familiar. Some aspects of international taxation have not been changed, and this article is not intended to provide an overview of the system. Instead, it will focus on some of the most widely-relevant areas changed by the TCJA.
One can only understand U.S. taxation of international operations by distinguishing between two competing systems – (1) worldwide taxation and (2) territorial taxation – and by understanding the concept and historical use of Controlled Foreign Corporations.
Historically, U.S.-based individuals and corporations have been required to report and pay U.S. income taxes on their worldwide income. This results in some income being taxed both by a foreign country and by the U.S. Use of a "foreign tax credit" allows U.S. companies to reduce their U.S. taxes by the amount of taxes paid to foreign countries on that same income. While subject to a number of limitations, this regime attempts to avoid double-taxation that otherwise would unfairly burden U.S. taxpayers.
Unlike the U.S., nearly every other industrialized country in the world uses a territorial system, where the country only taxes the income that is earned within its borders.
The concept of Controlled Foreign Corporations is pervasive under both old and new law, and their treatment differs from other types of taxpayers.
Worldwide taxation generally put U.S.-based companies at a disadvantage compared to foreign-based entities. All income (including overseas income) was taxed by the U.S., and the complex math behind the foreign tax credit did not always allow it to mitigate double taxation. Add to this the fact that the U.S. tax rates have been higher than nearly any other industrialized country's corporate rate, and you had a system that right out of the gate placed U.S.-based multinational companies at a huge disadvantage when competing with overseas competitors. They were faced with a higher tax applied to a broader base than their competitors, and to achieve the same level of after-tax profit, they had to be more efficient (which is difficult when U.S. labor costs are relatively high), or price their products higher, which could drive buyers to their competitors' products.
To legally circumvent worldwide taxation and attain equal footing with non-U.S. based competitors, many U.S. taxpayers formed foreign subsidiaries, or even underwent "corporate inversions," whereby the U.S. company or its subsidiary took the form of a CFC. A CFC is simply a corporation that is not based in the U.S., but is owned/controlled by a U.S. taxpayer (often, but not necessarily, another corporation). Because CFCs are based in other countries rather than the U.S., they were not subject to the worldwide taxation regime. They may be subject to their foreign host country's taxation, but their income became subject to U.S. taxation only when repatriated (brought back into the U.S., often via dividends paid to its U.S. owner).
The historical CFC can be best viewed as a legal tax-deferral structure. As long as the money stayed out of the U.S., the U.S. taxation of that company's earnings was deferred. Note that foreign entities that are disregarded as separate from their owners (known as "check the box entities"), as well as flow-through entities, are not CFCs. They, instead, generally remain subject to the worldwide income regime.
For starters, the TCJA reduces the top corporate income tax rate from 35% to 21% - much closer to the average corporate rate assessed by other countries.
It also completely upends CFC's deferral features – in two ways. First, a tax of either 15.5% (for liquid assets) or 8% (for non-liquid assets) will be due on PAST cumulative, deferred earnings. This one-time tax will be payable over an 8-year period, with the first payment, representing 8% of the total tax, due for most calendar year taxpayers by April 15, 2018.
Observation: Although this deadline coincides with the filing deadline of many taxpayers' 2017 tax returns, an extension of time to file the tax return does not extend the time to make this payment. The computations necessary to determine the tax may be very complex and time-consuming.
The second way the TCJA upends CFC's deferral features is by imposing an annual tax on gross CFC income that exceeds a certain rate of return.
It also provides an incentive, though, in the form of a reduced tax rate on a portion of income, for taxpayers who earn foreign income derived from the use of U.S.-based intangibles.
These, and many other features of the Act are discussed in more detail below.
The TCJA provides a one-time transitional tax on a U.S. 10%-or-more shareholder's pro rata share of the foreign corporation's post-1986 tax-deferred earnings. This is accomplished as somewhat of a deemed dividend, in that it occurs whether or not any funds are transferred. One of two tax rates will be applied to the earnings: 15.5% (in the case of accumulated earnings held in cash, cash equivalents or certain other short-term assets) or 8% (in the case of accumulated earnings invested in illiquid assets, like property, plant and equipment). The foreign corporation's post-1986 tax-deferred earnings subject to tax is the greater of the earnings as of November 2, 2017 or December 31, 2017. It excludes earnings and profits that were accumulated by a foreign company prior to attaining its status as a specified foreign corporation, but allows post-1986 accumulated earnings deficits of any foreign corporations to offset tax-deferred earnings of other foreign corporations (netting generally may be used among all affiliated group members).
The U.S. shareholder may elect to pay the transitional tax over a period of up to eight years. The first payment is due for most filers by April 15, 2018 for calendar year U.S. taxpayers. At that time, and each of the next four years, 8% of the tax is due. In years five, six and seven, respectively, the remaining 15%, 20%, and 25% of the tax is due.
The TCJA allows shareholders of S corporations that in turn own specified foreign corporations to defer the toll charge until a "termination event" occurs, including a sale of the S corporation stock, cessation of status as an S corporation, or a liquidation of the S corporation.
The TCJA exempts 100% of the foreign-source portion of dividends received by a U.S. corporation from a foreign corporation (other than a Passive Foreign Investment Corporation (PFIC) that is not also a Controlled Foreign Corporation (CFC)) in which the U.S. corporation owns at least a 10% stake. It does not allow the same exemption to U.S. individual shareholders; the exemption applies only to C corporations. The effective date is generally for distributions made after December 31, 2017. Some additional specifics are noted below.
The exemption applies only if the stock of the foreign corporation has been held for more than one year.
No foreign tax credit or deduction is allowed for any portion of a distribution that is also exempt under this provision (no double-dipping!).
A special rule applies to the sale of foreign corporations. The TCJA applies the dividend exemption to gain on the sale of foreign stock only to the extent of its earnings and profits (E&P), and clarifies that the dividend exemption will apply on the gain from the sale of lower tier CFCs to the extent of that CFC's E&P. Only for determining loss on the sale of stock of a 10% owned foreign corporation, a U.S. parent would reduce its basis in the stock of the foreign corporation by an amount equal to the exempt dividend it received from that foreign corporation.
The TCJA allows an exemption for a U.S. corporation's distributive share of a dividend received by a partnership in which the U.S. corporation is a partner if the dividend would have been eligible for the exemption had the U.S. corporation directly owned stock in the foreign corporation.
Anti-base erosion rules, as the name suggests, refer to an attempt to prevent the U.S. tax base from eroding. The TCJA includes some positive and negative encouragement toward this end (a stick and a carrot, if you will), both geared toward taxpayer's utilization of intangible assets. Two predominant provisions stand out from the others: The "GILTI" stick that applies to foreign-based entities (CFCs), and the "FDII" carrot that applies to U.S.-based taxpayers who earn money overseas.
The TCJA imposes a new tax on a U.S. shareholder's aggregate net CFC income that is treated as global intangible low-taxed income ("GILTI"). GILTI is gross income in excess of extraordinary returns derived from tangible depreciable assets, excluding effectively connected income (ECI), subpart F income, high-taxed income, and dividends from related parties. The extraordinary return base is equal to 10% of the CFCs' aggregate adjusted basis in depreciable tangible property. Under these rules, only 80% of the foreign taxes paid on the income will be allowed as a foreign tax credit. All CFCs are aggregated for purposes of the computation. For taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017 and before January 1, 2026 the highest effective tax rate on GILTI is 10.5%. For taxable years beginning after December 31, 2025 the effective tax rate on GILTI is 13.125%.
Observation: The one-time toll charge described earlier is just that (one-time). However, this portion of the anti-erosion rules will cause CFCs that are extraordinarily profitable overseas, or whose overseas profits are derived too heavily from intangible sources, to pay a tax in the U.S. based on the deemed excess. This will discourage companies from stockpiling cash earned from offshore intangible property out of the country. How? This feature will tax excess earnings before they are repatriated, and not allow the dividend exclusion described earlier on such income.
Foreign derived intangible income ("FDII") is income derived by U.S. companies in connection with property sold, leased, or licensed to, and services provided to, foreign persons. For taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017 and before January 1, 2026, FDII is effectively taxed at a lower rate than normally would apply (21% for corporations). Specifically, it allows an effective tax rate of 13.125%. For taxable years beginning after December 31, 2025, the effective tax rate on FDII is 16.406%.
Proceeds from sales, leasing, or licensing, and revenue from services provided to a related foreign person are included only if the related foreign person sells the property to an unrelated foreign person, and the taxpayer establishes that the ultimate sale is for foreign use. Income from services provided to related foreign persons is included if the taxpayer establishes that the related person does not perform substantially similar activities for U.S. persons.
Observation: This provides a tax break for U.S.-based companies that sell or lease property outside of the country. It thereby encourages companies to remain based in the U.S.. It is unclear to what extent this benefit will apply to flow-through entities, which have their own new 20% deduction of flow-through income created by the TCJA. Practitioners expect a flurry of Treasury Regulations to begin materializing that address this and other ambiguities in the new law.
The TCJA changes the definition of intangible property to include workforce in place, goodwill and going concern value and "any similar item," the value of which is not attributable to tangible property or the services of an individual. It also confirms the authority of the Treasury Department to require certain valuation methods.
The TCJA establishes a separate foreign tax credit basket for branches, and appears to establish another one for GILTI income (described above). These join the existing baskets of general and passive income, resulting in four baskets. This change reduces a corporation's ability to utilize foreign tax credits generated by one type of activity against income created by another.
The TCJA amends the "source of income" rules under Sec. 863(b). For property manufactured in the U.S. and sold overseas, this will result in more income "sourced" to the U.S. for purposes of the foreign tax credit. This will produce a smaller foreign tax credit, but other portions of the Act will in many cases mitigate this damage.
Indirect foreign tax credits will be available only for Subpart F income. No credits will be allowed with respect to any dividends associated with exempt dividends. Applicable to C-corporations only, foreign tax credits will be used on a current year basis and will not be allowed to be carried forward or back.
The TCJA creates a new base erosion anti-abuse tax ("BEAT"). It applies only to certain very large companies. Specifically, the BEAT applies to corporations (other than RICs, REITs, or S-corporations) that are subject to U.S. net income tax, and have average annual gross receipts of at least $500 million, and that have made related party deductible payments totaling 3% (2% in the case of banks and certain security dealers) or more of the corporation's total deductions for the year. A corporation subject to the tax generally determines the amount of tax owed under the provision (if any) by adding back to its adjusted taxable income for the year all deductible payments made to a foreign affiliate ("base erosion payments") for the year (the "modified taxable income"). Base erosion payments do not include cost of goods sold, certain amounts paid with respect to services, and certain qualified derivative payments. The excess of 10% (5% in the case of one taxable year for base erosion payments paid or accrued in taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017) of the corporation's modified taxable income over its regular tax liability for the year (net of an adjusted amount of tax credits allowed) is the base erosion minimum tax amount that is owed. For tax years beginning after December 31, 2025 the rate is increased from 10% to 12.5%. The rate for certain banks and security dealers is 1% higher than the rates described above. Premiums related to reinsurance of life and property and casualty contracts are specifically included as base erosion payments.
Transfers of property from the U.S. to another country generally result in taxable gain. Prior to the TCJA, an exception existed that allowed property used in an active trade or business to avoid this treatment, and instead qualify as a tax-free organization, reorganization, or liquidation. The exception is removed with the passage of TCJA.
For purposes of the foreign tax credit, the TCJA provides an election to increase the percentage (but not greater than 100%) of domestic taxable income that may be offset by any pre-2018 unused overall domestic loss and re-characterized as foreign source.
The definition of a U.S. shareholder was changed to include any U.S. person who owns 10% or more of the total value (as well as voting power) of shares of all classes of stock of a foreign corporation. Related to this, U.S. corporations will be deemed to own the foreign stock that is owned by the U.S. corporation's foreign parent for purposes of determining CFC status. The TCJA clarifies that the provision is intended to target transactions that avoid subpart F by "de-controlling" a foreign subsidiary so that it is no longer a CFC. So brother/sister foreign corporations owned by a U.S. subsidiary's foreign parent would be a CFC and such U.S. subsidiary U.S. corporate tax filings would require additional information tax reporting.
Observation: This is relevant to whether or not Form 5471 must be filed (and which portions of this complex form must be completed), the one-time repatriation tax, and GILTI income, and will result in more entities being subject to new requirements via attribution.
Under the TCJA, foreign corporations will be considered as CFCs as soon as the ownership requirements are met and the entity is subject to the subpart F and base erosion rules. Under the old rules, an entity was not considered to be a CFC unless held for at least 30 days. The TCJA thus closes a loophole.
Currently, Sec. 954 of the Internal Revenue Code ("IRC") allows dividends, interest and royalties received by one CFC from another CFC to qualify as deferred income, rather than immediately taxable income. This feature was a temporary one, set to expire after 2019. The TCJA did not intervene to make this feature permanent. Thus, the rule expires after 2019, and such income will be taxable unless otherwise exempt.
Both the House and Senate bill repealed or modified existing Sec. 956 rules, and it was therefore anticipated that the final law would as well. However, the TCJA adopted no such change. Any investments by a CFC into U.S. property, including loans to CFC shareholders and guarantees of U.S. shareholder debt, will continue to trigger subpart F income for such U.S. shareholders.
Observation: Without this rule, entities might circumvent dividend treatment under the CFC regime by categorizing cash transfers as loans to their parent companies, rather than dividends.
Gain from the sale or exchange of a partnership interest is treated as effectively connected income ("ECI"), and, therefore, is subject to U.S. tax, to the extent the partnership is engaged in a U.S. trade or business and the foreign partner would have had ECI had the partnership sold all of its assets. There is also a provision that would require the partnership to withhold 10% of the amount realized on the sale or exchange of the partnership interest unless the transferor certifies that the transferor is not a nonresident alien individual or a foreign corporation.
A previous version of the Act proposed unfavorable changes to the tax treatment of interest charge domestic international sales corporations ("IC-DISC"). Those proposed changes were dropped, however, and the tax treatment of the IC-DISC structure survives.
Observation: While the treatment survives, the tax rate savings impact of an IC-DISC is somewhat muted as a result of other tax rate changes in the Act. Its benefit for individual taxpayers that receive DISC dividends relates solely to the difference between the 23.8% top tax rate that generally applies to dividend income (including the net investment tax at 3.8%) and the top rate an individual would pay on pass-through income for entity that pays commissions to the IC-DISC. Under the Act, for S-corporation and LLC owners the owners receive a 2.6% decrease in the top rate, and potentially pay tax on only 80% of their S-corporation income. This makes the effective rate differential smaller. So assuming a pass-through owner with a DISC paying tax on operating earnings is subject to a top tax rate of 29.6% (37% x 80%), this would still result of permanent tax rate savings of 5.8% when compared to the 23.8% top dividend tax rate on DISC dividends. So if the volume of foreign sales is there, IC DISC's still makes sense.
It should be apparent that the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act imposes significant new burdens on both U.S. and foreign taxpayers. International taxation was complex before these changes, and the new concepts do not simplify it at all. We have a new regime – not the worldwide income structure left behind, or a territorial system sported by many countries, but sort of a pseudo-territorial structure all our own. We most certainly will see voluminous new Treasury Regulations and other guidance to follow.
Owners of controlled foreign corporations ("CFCs") are encouraged to very quickly undertake any necessary computations of accumulated earnings, which may be very time-consuming; and prepare for the first payment of the new repatriation tax that for most taxpayers is due by April 15 of this year.
If you would like to discuss these matters further, contact Stuart Lyons, international tax practice lead, or your BNN advisor at 1.800.244.7444. | {
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What are the benefits of leaf litter?
With fall conditions rapidly removing leaves from the trees home owners are turning their attention to raking... sometimes madly! Lawns and gardens can become very leafy at this time of the year. So the question becomes: is this okay and what should we do with these leaves? Here are some pointers.
Can I move my perennials now (in fall) or should I wait until spring?
Fall is a time for garden renovations. At this time of the year we can readily visualize changes we want to make using the "data" that relate to our gardens' dynamics (exposure, soil conditions, plant height, colour combos etc). And whether due to plants growing larger than expected or simply for maintenance purposes it is very common to wonder about moving or dividing perennials in September / early October. | {
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International Commission on Missing Persons
Inquiry Center
Report a Missing Person
ICMP Board of Commissioners
Ambassador (Ret) Thomas Miller, Chairman
Her Majesty Queen Noor, Jordan
Ambassador Knut Vollebæk, former Norwegian Foreign Minister
Ambassador Rolf Ekéus, former OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities
Rt. Hon. Alistair Burt, British Member of Parliament
Judge Sanji Monageng
María Eugenia Brizuela de Ávila
Bert Koenders
Ambassador Dirk Brengelmann
Former Chairpersons
Steering Committee on Forensic Science Programs
Advisory Committee of Government Representatives
Kathryne Bomberger, Director-General
Andreas Kleiser, Director for Policy and Cooperation
Thomas Parsons, Director of Science and Technology
Adnan Rizvic, Director of Data Systems and Coordination
Simon Short, Director of Corporate Services
Deborah Ruiz Verduzco, Head of Civil Society Initiatives
René Huel, Head of DNA Laboratories Division
Rasa Ostrauskaite, Head of Iraq Program
Fawaz Abdulabbas Abdulameer, Deputy Head of Iraq Program
Caroline Barker, Head of Archaeology and Anthropology Division
Lena Alhusseini, Head of the Syria/MENA Program
Matthew Holliday, Head of Western Balkans Program
Samira Krehic, Deputy Head of Western Balkans Program
Andreas Forer, Head of Colombia Program
Edin H. Jasaragic, Head of the Data Coordination Division
Alessandra La Vaccara, Program Manager of the Missing Migrants Program
Kevin Sullivan, Communications Manager
Working for ICMP
ICMP Salary Scales
List of ICMP's holidays in 2020
From 2010 through 2018, Tom Miller served as President/CEO of International Executive Service Corps, a non-profit that provides expertise to developing countries to train in best business practices. Tom is presently the Chair of the Board of Intralot, Inc., a corporation that runs lotteries in 11 states and the District of Columbia.
Since 2011, Tom has served as Chair of the Board of the International Commission on Missing Persons, an internationally acclaimed organization that identifies missing persons by using DNA-matching techniques. He also serves on the boards of Partnership for a Secure America (promoting bipartisanship in US foreign policy), The People's Trust (supporting young entrepreneurs in Greece), and Lampsa (a Greek hotel company). From 2005 through 2008, he served as CEO of Plan International, a nongovernmental organization that works in 66 countries to improve the lives of children in developing countries.
A 29-year career diplomat, Tom's experience in the Foreign Service spanned many continents. From 2001-04, he served as U.S. ambassador to Greece, where he focused on security concerns of the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. From 1999-2001, as U.S. Ambassador to Bosnia-Herzegovina, he worked on helping the country recover after a devastating war. From 1997-99, he was Special Coordinator for the Cyprus negotiations (rank of ambassador). He was also posted to Thailand as well as the State Department in Washington, where he focused on North Africa, the Middle East, and counter-terrorism issues.
A native of the Chicago area, Ambassador Miller holds five degrees, including a Ph.D., from the University of Michigan.
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Online Inquiry Center
This interactive resource makes it possible for families, government authorities, forensic professionals and others to access and provide information related to missing persons cases.
Implementation of the BiH Law on Missing Persons must be expedited, say members of BiH Missing Persons Institute Advisory Board
FTESË E HAPUR PËR PROPOZIME PËR GRANTE TË VOGLA TË ICMP PËR SHOQATAT E FAMILJEVE TË PERSONAVE TË ZHDUKUR (FAS)
OPEN CALL FOR PROPOSALS FOR ICMP´S SMALL GRANTS FOR THE ASSOCIATIONS OF FAMILIES OF MISSING PERSONS (FAS)", WESTERN BALKANS (2020-2021)
About ICMP | {
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A precise, complete calcium & alkalinity control system in one simple, inexpensive package!!
2-Channel Dosing for Calcium/Alkalinity Control - The Nautilis II comes complete with a 2-channel tubing set, which allows you to dose both components of a 2-component system at identical rates simultaneously. The Nautilis II can dose as little as 3.6 mL/day per channel up to 1920 mL/day per channel.
1-Channel Set for Makeup – The one-channel high-volume tubing provides higher flow rates without putting excessive strain on the motor or gear assembly. Rates are adjustable from 5 mL/hour to 850 mL/hour, and the one-channel set can be substituted for the 2-channel set when ordering the pump. Exceptionally quiet - quieter than your computer is right now.
Self-Priming: also anti-siphoning when not running.
Timer/Controller Compatible- Using the controller interface for timer or pH control enables the user to have the pump be controlled by a timer or pH controller. The pump remains on, but will run only when the controller is energized.
Float Switch Compatible - Low voltage float switch accessory controls the pump's operation. The optional float switch uses only 5 Volt transistor-level voltage from pump to float switch, offering very long life of float electronics as well as assuring personal safety.
24/7 Operation - The Nautilis II is designed and built to medical standards for long-term, 24/7 operation.
Important note: The Nautilis II is a previously used medical pump modified to provide optimum performance for the discerning reef hobbyist. It will be functionally perfect and is guaranteed for one full year. If you are not completely satisfied with the Nautilis II, you may return it within 30 days for a FULL refund, including shipping. | {
"redpajama_set_name": "RedPajamaC4"
} |
Celebrity news and Сelebrity gossip
Hot Celebrity News
Fashion trends & news
New generation of rising stars
Since 1992, Vanity Fair magazine does Vanities section featuring a full-page portrait of a promising young star. Here are the latest women in film industry who have it all to make it to having their names on the Walk of Fame. Here is a fastidious pick of four girls out of Vanity Fair's 24.
Provenance: North Hollywood, California.
You first glimpsed her as … Jodie Foster's doppelgänger daughter in Panic Room (2002). "[Director] David Fincher does a lot of takes," Stewart says:
There was this one scene we must have done, like, 80 times. I didn't know that it wasn't the norm. Now I wouldn't be as chill with it … "
Because now she's a prolific industry veteran, with four films due out this year. Namely, In the Land of Women, The Messengers, The Cake Eaters (the directorial debut of Mary Stuart Masterson, with Stewart in the lead role), and Sean Penn's Into the Wild, based on the Jon Krakauer book. But is this the life for her? Not necessarily:
I want to go to college for literature. I want to be a writer. I mean, I love what I do, but it's not all I want to do—be a professional liar for the rest of my life."
Still, Kristen's no brooder: "I love big-band music, and I'm taking swing classes now. I can't wait till I'm going to be able to be tossed up in the air."
Provenance: London.
You know her as … the cold-eyed young Brit who stole The Devil Wears Prada, delivering the performance most comically evocative of what editorial assistants are really like at … oh, certain publishing companies we've heard of. "I kind of knew that girl—she's a total impersonation of various people whom I would find personally excruciating," says Blunt, who is also a 2007 Golden Globe winner for her performance in the BBC drama Gideon's Daughter.
But what I liked about that character was that there was the opportunity to glimpse something beyond sarcasm. There's a vulnerability that's transparent to me, when someone defines herself just by having an association with someone else."
And you'll know her better still after you see her this year in … Wind Chill, a thriller produced by George Clooney and Steven Soderbergh ("I literally went from wearing Manolos to huge snow boots covered in blood and mud"); The Great Buck Howard, with John Malkovich, Tom Hanks, and Colin Hanks; Dan in Real Life, in which she gets to "have a dance-off" with Steve Carell; and The Jane Austen Book Club, an ensemble piece in which Blunt plays "a total nerd—a different part for me, because I often play the fast-talking, manipulative sort of character." Extraordinary, considering that …
I had a really bad stutter as a child. It never occurred to me that I would want to be on the stage, because I couldn't even bloody talk. My parents tried everything: I had speech therapy, I had [recordings of] dolphins squeaking at me at night to try and relax me, cranial osteopathy, everything you could do. And then I had a rather wonderful teacher who encouraged me to do the class play when I was about 12. I think he had the faith in me that I'd rise to the occasion. Or maybe he just had the smarts to say, 'Why don't you be someone else?'"
And now she's smooth-talked her way into a relationship with swingin' singer Michael Bublé: "It's wonderful. I love him. We met at some awards ceremony and I was a bit of a fan and I told him, and he liked compliments, obviously."
Provenance: Rockland County, New York.
Currently serving humankind as … Claire, "the Cheerleader," on NBC's breakout hit Heroes. "[The show] just sort of plopped in my lap," Panettiere says:
I was walking out of a general meeting with NBC, and they were like, 'Oh, hey, by the way, read this'—this script with a cockroach running across the front of it. And I read it, and it was amazing."
Look out, Mandy Moore: Panettiere's debut album, for which she co-wrote most of the songs, comes out this spring.
My [day] job is to portray people who are not myself, and this is sort of getting to portray a little bit of me." What happens to college plans when you have a hit series at 17? "I've got 15 alumni from Duke University in my family. I absolutely want to go to college, but I don't know if it's going to work out with this series. [To her mom, Lesley] How long are we on contract? [Mom says, "I think it's six years."] Oh my God, I'll be 23!"
And finally the hottest pick. She is the one from Mamma Mia!
Provenance: Allentown, Pennsylvania.
You know her… as the coming-of-age teen in everyone's favorite polygamy-motif'd TV show, Big Love. But you'll see her next as Meryl Streep's daughter in the screen adaptation of Mamma Mia! "She's the coolest human being ever," says Seyfried of her on-camera mom. She didn't treat me like I was younger. She respected me. I couldn't ask for anything better." Diablo rising: Next up for Seyfried is Jennifer's Body, the latest project from multi-tattooed Oscar-winning screenwriter Diablo Cody.
I play the nerdy best friend of Jennifer, who becomes a zombie. I'm like the heroine of the movie. I have to try to save the small town we live in."
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Glamour Vanity | Contact Us
Disclaimer: GlamourVanity is a celebrity oriented site which publishes opinion based on rumor, conjecture and factual information. Postings on this site may have errors and inaccurate information. The contemplations here may not contain the truth. However the information is carefully selected.
Note: All images that appear on the site are copyright of their respective owners. There may be links to other websites; however GlamourVanity takes no control or responsibility for the source. GlamourVanity claims no credit for images unless noted. If you own the rights to any of the images and do not wish them to appear on GlamourVanity, please, contact us and they will be removed immediately.
Copyright © 2008 - 2012 GlamourVanity.com. All rights reserved. | {
"redpajama_set_name": "RedPajamaCommonCrawl"
} |
My parents immigrated to Israel in 1950 after surviving the concentration camps of World War II. Once in Israel, they moved to a small village near Petah Tikvah where they continued their family tradition of farming. As a child I helped farm the land, milk the cows and worked in the chicken coop. By the time I was in High School I realized that I did not want to be a farmer.
I excelled in my studies in High School and with the support of my parents I decided to focus on medicine as a career. My dream was to not only be a doctor but to become a researcher as well. I wanted to help people in the best way that I believed I knew how. After my first year in the army I became a student at The Hebrew University's Medical School and remained a part of the faculty to this day.
My main field from the beginning was prenatal and postnatal development of children. I focused on the causes of abnormal development. By the time I was in my third year of Medical School, I began studying bone and skeleton development which I continued for a number of years. LaterI focused on the development of the brain, with special emphasis on normal and abnormal development of children. After finishing my degree in medicine, I began my training in Pediatrics in Hadassah Hospital. In the US I trained in clinical Teratology and Developmental Pediatrics, which have been the main areas of my research and clinical work for the last twenty years.
Serving as the Head of the Department of Child Development and Rehabilitation in Israel's Ministry of Health, I continue to be heavily involved in the development of policies for diagnosis and treatment of children with ASD (Autistic Spectrum Disorder). My research in this area focuses on possible prenatal causes of autism: maternal treatment during pregnancy with valproic acid and/or SSRIs or other causes. I also plan to develop experimental models to investigate possible etiologies (causes) of ASD.
2009: Additional training in pediatric neurology, licensef in "Pediatric Neurology and Child Development"
1987: Visiting professor - Clinical Teratology, Child Development and Pediatric Neurology Dept of Pediatrics, Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, PA.
Are the body functions of children with Down syndrome related to their participation?
The prevalence of Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is steadily increasing and is now more than 10 times more common than it was 60 years ago. With that statistic in mind, IMRIC is embarking on new, intensive research in ASD. This research will question whether the maternal use of psychotropic drugs (i.e. anti-psychotics, anti-anxiety, anti-depressives, and other drugs affecting the brain) in pregnancy is associated with Autistic Spectrum Disorders in the offspring. | {
"redpajama_set_name": "RedPajamaC4"
} |
Dad did make it on his Upper Hillsborough WMA archery hunt without me over the weekend, though he didn't put anything in the cooler. He wanted me to be his pack mule. He needed my expertise, I think. As you might recall from last week, Dad turned 65 and was exempt from requiring a quota permit. Upper Hills is one of a few WMAs that allows this exemption. He had applied for the quota, wasn't drawn, but was still able to hunt. He was not, however, able to take me hunting as only quota permitholders are issued guest permits.
This reminds me of the challenges associated with wildlife management. On one hand, FWC wants to create hunting opportunities. On the other, they are charged with responsibly managing the resource. As Tammy noted, the system does allow non-hunters to aid in the hunt for all exempt hunters which include residents 65 and over; youth under 16; residents with Disabled Person Hunting and Fishing Certificates; residents in the U.S. Armed Services stationed out of state and home on leave for 30 days or less. Thank you to Tammy for sharing this information.
For more information regarding exempt hunters and guest permits, please click here. | {
"redpajama_set_name": "RedPajamaC4"
} |
package org.qi4j.api.association;
import org.qi4j.api.util.Classes;
import java.lang.reflect.AccessibleObject;
import java.lang.reflect.ParameterizedType;
import java.lang.reflect.Type;
public final class GenericAssociationInfo
{
public static Type getAssociationType( AccessibleObject accessor )
{
return getAssociationType( Classes.TYPE_OF.map( accessor ) );
}
public static Type getAssociationType( Type methodReturnType )
{
if( methodReturnType instanceof ParameterizedType )
{
ParameterizedType parameterizedType = (ParameterizedType) methodReturnType;
if( AbstractAssociation.class.isAssignableFrom( (Class<?>) parameterizedType.getRawType() ) )
{
return parameterizedType.getActualTypeArguments()[ 0 ];
}
}
Type[] interfaces = ( (Class<?>) methodReturnType ).getGenericInterfaces();
for( Type anInterface : interfaces )
{
Type associationType = getAssociationType( anInterface );
if( associationType != null )
{
return associationType;
}
}
return null;
}
}
| {
"redpajama_set_name": "RedPajamaGithub"
} |
The rebirth of the media barons of old
Imagine we lived in a Britain where a handful of multi-millionaires owned almost the entire media, and had names like Viscount Rothermere, Lord Northcliffe and Baron Beaverbrook.
That was the situation only a few decades ago. Today, it would be hard for us to imagine a media system of that nature could describe itself as "free" or the "fourth estate", and claim to be a tenacious watchdog of other power centres.
The media of that time, most of us would agree now, was simply a tool of the upper class, looking out for its interests. It really was no more complicated than that.
And yet, as Nafeez Ahmed argues in the lengthy article below, the English-speaking world today is little different. Instead of Lords and Viscounts, we have a handful of trans-national corporations, with annual turnovers in the billions or trillions, that control almost our entire media.
In the US, just six huge conglomerates own not just all the newspapers and TV channels, but every lens through which we perceive the world: the films, music, ads, and popular websites we consume every waking moment.
The personnel who control these media conglomerates are not only fabulously wealthy but have diverse business interests that will be affected by how our societies are run, what laws apply or don't, and how foreign policy is made.
Even more worrying, as Ahmed highlights in detail, the heads of these media corporations often have additional interests in military and defence corporations, what he terms a "media-military-industrial complex".
Ahmed: "Consider, then, the fact that these individuals simultaneously hold senior positions in global media conglomerates and giant defence contractors, profiting directly from the dividends of 'reconstruction' in devastated war zones like Iraq and Afghanistan, on the back of wars enabled by their own propaganda."
And yet most of us continue to look to the media for an impartial and accurate picture of the world, simply because Time Warner, Walt Disney, Viacom and News Corp, unlike their recent forebears, don't preface their names with the title Lord or Viscount. These faceless, profit-driven corporations have persuaded us that they are dispassionate, neutral and classless – unlike their all too flesh-and-blood predecessors.
Even with the new possibilities offered by the internet, most traffic is still limited to sites that are controlled by these same big players.
And the new platforms like Google, as Ahmed's and Wikileak's investigations show, have enjoyed ties to western security establishments from the very beginning of their development. Edward Snowden's revelations show they continue to cooperate closely with state surveillance agencies like the NSA.
Ahmed: "These examples demonstrate the nature of the networks that dominate the global corporate media: an interlocking nexus of private defence contractors, banks, investment firms, and corporate giants with a vested interest in perpetuating the power and privilege of their own class: no matter the implications for the loss of life of millions of people."
Ahmed also outlines how these modern media barons, and their enablers in the political class, are starting to undermine the outposts in the new media where real information and critical thinking flourish.
www.mediareform.org.uk/blog/how-the-mainstream-media-became-a-neo-stalinist-propaganda-regime-for-wealthy-neocons
You can also read my articles HERE. To join discussions about my work, please visit my Facebook or Twitter page.
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archeology BBC BDS Britain capitalism colonialism corporations environment ethnic cleansing Europe Gaza George Monbiot Glenn Greenwald Guardian hasbara Israel airport Israel apartheid Israel army Israel corruption Israel courts Israel education Israel lobby Israel police Israel racism Israel war crimes Jeremy Corbyn Jerusalem Julian Assange Left politics liberal Zionism media criticism media on Israel Nazareth occupation Palestinian Authority peace process Russell Brand security state settlements Shin Bet surveillance Syria war on terror whistleblowers Zionism
ARTICLES SORTED BY DATE AND TITLE | {
"redpajama_set_name": "RedPajamaCommonCrawl"
} |
Puer maculatus is een insect uit de familie van de vlinderhaften (Ascalaphidae), die tot de orde netvleugeligen (Neuroptera) behoort.
Puer maculatus is voor het eerst wetenschappelijk beschreven door Olivier in 1790.
Vlinderhaften | {
"redpajama_set_name": "RedPajamaWikipedia"
} |
Q: Truncate +CDS Response AT COMMAND I'm with trouble in +CDS return from channel. I'm using a modem with 64 channels and I need to get this value. This missing information in any lines above
+CDS: 6,248,"21988
+CDS: 6,249,"6299224415
+CDS: 6,39,"11974579414",129,"13/01/31,16:40:30-12","13/02/01,16:40:30-12",70
+CDS: 6,211,"2199678119",129,"13/01/31,16:40:31-12","13/02/01,16:40:31-12",70
+CDS: 6,51,"6
+CDS: 6,105,"11974579414",129,"13/01/31,16:40:32-12","13/02/01,16:40:32-12",70
+CDS: 6,40,"11973375726",129,"13/01/31,
+CDS: 6,106,"2199378635",129,"13/01/31,16:
+CDS: 6,251,"1297228284",129,"13/01/31,16:40:38-12","13/02/01,16:40:38-12",70
+CDS: 6,53,"2499482633",129,"13/
+CDS: 6,243,"2198922817",129,"13/01/31,16:40:45-12","13/02/01
+CDS: 6,253,"2198070285",129,"13/01/31,16:40:48-12","13/02/01,16:40:48-12",70
+CDS: 6,43,"2197371789",129,"13/01/31,16:40:51-12","13/02/01,16
+CDS: 6,170,"11975327641",129,"13/02/01,11:47:58-12","13/02/01,16:41:37-12",0
+CDS: 6,158,"1982067777",129,"13/02/01,17:36:31-08","13/02/01,17:36:34-08",0
+CDS: 6,46,"1992200437",129,"13/02/01,17:36:32-08","13/02/0
+CDS: 6,154,"4891019678",129,"13/01/31,17:52:44-08","13/01/31,17:52:45-08",70
+CDS: 6,254,"6296236810",129,"13/01/31,16:41:58-12","13/02/01,16:41:59-12",
I'm starting:
public PortaCOM(string porta)
: base(porta, 115200, Parity.None, 8, StopBits.One)
{
this.StatusPort = StatusPorta.Ready;
this.DiscardNull = true;
this.Handshake = Handshake.RequestToSend;
//this.RtsEnable = true;
//this.DtrEnable = true;
//this.ReadTimeout = 12000;
//this.ReadTimeout = 12000;
}
I get value using:
static void p_DataReceived(object sender, SerialDataReceivedEventArgs e)
{
var p = (PortaCOM)sender;
try
{
int dataLength = p.BytesToRead;
byte[] dados = new byte[dataLength];
int nbrDataRead = p.Read(dados, 0, dataLength);
if (nbrDataRead == 0)
return;
var retorno = Encoding.ASCII.GetString(dados);
Console.WriteLine(retorno);
}
catch (Exception err) { Console.WriteLine(err.Message); }
}
Please, any help me!
Ricardo Beck
A: I changed inside p_DataReceived
static void p_DataReceived(object sender, SerialDataReceivedEventArgs e)
{
var p = (PortaCOM)sender;
try
{
**var b = new List<byte>();
while (p.BytesToRead > 0)
b.Add((byte)p.ReadByte());
if (b.IsEmpty())
return;**
var retorno = Encoding.ASCII.GetString(b.ToArray());
Console.WriteLine(retorno);
}
catch (Exception err) { Console.WriteLine(err.Message); }
}
| {
"redpajama_set_name": "RedPajamaStackExchange"
} |
How Old-Earth Inerrantists Are Unintentionally Undermining Inerrancy
Posted by Josh Toupos | Creation, Research | 0 |
Ideas have consequences. In fact, ideas often have unintended consequences. American sociologist Robert K. Merton coined the term "law of unintended consequences" to illustrate that policy changes often have far-reaching consequences beyond the actual changes themselves. An example was the use of Agent Orange in the Vietnam War. The pesticide killed the foliage in the jungle so troops could fight easier, but it also gave cancer and possibly other diseases to those same troops.
It seems like old-earth theologians, many of whom also believe in biblical inerrancy, have stumbled upon an unintended consequence for their hermeneutic: undermining the very Bible they claim to uphold.
The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy (CSBI) is a clear statement of the Bible's accuracy regarding everything it teaches. A biblical creationist could completely agree with everything in it, and even find seeming support for the plain interpretation of the creation account:
We deny that Biblical infallibility and inerrancy are limited to spiritual, religious, or redemptive themes, exclusive of assertions in the fields of history and science. We further deny that scientific hypotheses about earth history may properly be used to overturn the teaching of Scripture on creation and the flood.1
In 1982, the ICBI produced the "Chicago Statement on Biblical Hermeneutics" (CSBH). Article 15 affirms,
We affirm the necessity of interpreting the Bible according to its literal, or normal, sense. The literal sense is the grammatical-historical sense, that is, the meaning which the writer expressed. Interpretation according to the literal sense will take account of all figures of speech and literary forms found in the text.2
Article 22 seems to even contain a clear statement in support of creation:
We affirm that Genesis 1–11 is factual, as is the rest of the book. We deny that the teachings of Genesis 1–11 are mythical and that scientific hypotheses about earth history or the origin of humanity may be invoked to overthrow what Scripture teaches about creation.3
So, it might be surprising to learn that most of the signatories of these documents were old-earth creationists or theistic evolutionists. One of the leaders in the writing of the CSBI, Norman Geisler, said,
Most of the founders and framers of the early inerrancy movement of the 1900s (e.g., Warfield and Hodge) and the contemporary movement of the 1970–80s (e.g., the International Council on Biblical Inerrancy) held firmly to inerrancy but saw no necessary tie of it to a Young Earth view.4
Additionally, many of the signers have made public statements affirming various old-earth views regarding creation. How do they reconcile their old-earth views with their strong affirmations of inerrancy?
Additionally, many of the signers have made public statements affirming various old-earth views regarding creation.
Data Versus Interpretation
Article 20 of CSBH states, "We further affirm that in some cases extrabiblical data have value for clarifying what Scripture teaches, and for prompting correction of faulty interpretations."5 Article 21 of CSBH states,
We affirm the harmony of special [revelation] with general revelation and therefore of biblical teaching with the facts of nature. We deny that any genuine scientific facts are inconsistent with the true meaning of any passage of Scripture.6
But sometimes, what old-earth creationists accept as "data" or "facts" are actually the interpretations of data. For instance, all geologists (both creationists and evolutionists) agree on the composition of the rock layers in the Grand Canyon. But the statement, "The layers of the Grand Canyon were deposited over the course of 300 million years, and the canyon was carved in about 5 million years by the Colorado River," is an interpretation of the evidence. A biblical creationist interpretation would be, "The layers of the Grand Canyon were laid down by water during the global flood of Noah's day, and the canyon was carved as the floodwaters drained from the continent."
Biblical young-earth creationists, of course, agree that no fact from the natural world will contradict Scripture. However, the wording of this statement would allow for interpretations of facts to affect the interpretation of Scripture.
In fact, Scripture defines and limits general revelation. Romans 1:18–20 explains that creation reveals God's existence and some of his attributes to all people in all places and at all times, regardless of their age, education, culture, or religion. The universality of the revelation is why people are without excuse when they fail to worship and thank God. This is also why the Bible calls the atheist a fool (Psalm 14:1) when he denies God's existence, and why people are culpable for worshipping anything in creation rather than God.
History assures us that many things believed by the majority of scientists today will be rejected as false in the future.
However, old-earth creationists redefine general revelation as a collection of truth claims believed by most modern scientists and understood only by the fraction of modern humanity who understands twentieth and twenty-first century science. History assures us that many things believed by the majority of scientists today will be rejected as false in the future. Nowhere does Scripture teach that nature is infallible when teaching about the history and origin of the world. In other words, creation is not the 67th book of the Bible, as Hugh Ross erroneously teaches.
This also prompts one to consider what kinds of change in interpretation the CSBH would allow. While most would concede that extrabiblical sources could shed light on the meaning of a rarely used word in Scripture or clarify the historical context of a passage, Christians should be cautious about letting extrabiblical data change the meaning of Scripture to something that was never recognized in the history of Christian interpretation of Scripture. Extrabiblical data can add the equivalent of color to a black-and-white photo, but it should not be allowed to change the entire picture!
Unfortunately, old-earth creationists, perhaps unintentionally, end up allowing extrabiblical interpretations of data to change critical details of the picture where there is no biblical justification to do so. The timeframe is stretched from a little over 6,000 years to around 13.8 billion years. The order of creation is also changed. In the biblical account, God created the stars on day four, after the earth, sea, dry land, and plants. The evolutionary account has stars forming long before the earth and plants. But because of the CSBH loophole, the "extrabiblical" evidence can be used to radically alter the timescale and order of creation while remaining inerrantist.
Theological Implications
Old-earth creation has theological as well as historical implications, because it also places death and disease in the animal world before human sin. All old-earth views accept millions of years of what philosophers call "natural evil." In contrast, Christians have historically recognized that both moral evil (sinful actions of human beings like murder, adultery, and theft) and natural evil (disease, famine, hurricanes, etc.) are the result of Adam's sin and God's resulting curse on creation. By asserting that natural evil was not introduced at the fall, but was part of God's design at creation, old-earth creationists radically reinterpret the creation account.
Misplaced Hermeneutical Humility
The CSBI was released over 40 years ago, but old-earth inerrantists today repeat the same errors. Until his death in 2019, leading inerrantist Norman Geisler maintained belief in an old earth. He stated, "The problem is deepened by the fact that there is prima facie evidence to indicate that the days of Genesis are indeed 24 hour periods."7 However, he claims, "Scientific dating has demonstrated that life emerged gradually over many millions of years. . . Most scientific evidence sets the age of the world at billions of years."8 In other words, what he wrongly views as "general revelation" overrules what he recognizes to be special revelation!
The late R. C. Sproul, another old-earth inerrantist, was interviewed on Tim Challies' popular blog. Challies asked him, "Have you ever had second thoughts about the stand that you took in favor of a six-day creation and a young earth, especially in view of all the new material on the subject that has come out since 2006?"9 Sproul responded,
Well, that's kind of a complex question because when I took the stand, I took the stand on a six-day creation. I didn't take a stand on a young earth. I don't know how old the earth is. I didn't know then. I still don't. And what do we mean by "young earth"? If you're thinking six thousand years, I doubt that. If you're thinking 12 billion years, I doubt that, too. All I was speaking about was the understanding of what the Scriptures teach regarding the six days of creation. And I'm not even sure it's correct to say that I took a stand. I said that's what my view was. When you say you have a view, it's one thing to say, "I think that this is the way it is." It's another thing to take a stand where you say: "Here I stand. I'm going to die on this mountain." I could be wrong in my understanding of Genesis. It's very difficult to deal with the literary genre in the opening verses of the beginning chapters of Genesis. I think there has to be some room for some flexibility on it.10
However, there are multiple literary markers that Genesis 1–11 is historical narrative and not poetry or myth. And the genealogies in Genesis 5 and 11, combined with other equally historical and chronological statements throughout the rest of the Old Testament, give us a clear timeline of a little over 6,000 years from creation to today.
Given the clarity of the biblical evidence, why did Sproul doubt the young-earth timeline? At a conference, Sproul said the following:
For some people, it's an all-or-nothing issue. When people ask me how old the earth is, I tell them I don't know. Because I don't. And I'll tell you why I don't. In the first place, the Bible does not give us a date of creation. Now it gives us hints and inclinations that would indicate in many cases, a young earth. And at the same time, you get all this expanding universe and all this astronomical dating and triangulation and all that stuff coming from outside the church that makes me wonder.11
[Sproul] acknowledged that the biblical data indicates a young earth, but the evolutionary interpretations of scientific data make him unsure of the actual history of the world.
In other words, he acknowledged that the biblical data indicates a young earth, but the evolutionary interpretations of scientific data make him unsure of the actual history of the world. The weight he gives to this evolutionary interpretation makes him both minimize the biblical data (it is possible to create a timeline from creation to the birth of Christ using the biblical data, which is more than "hinting" at a young earth) and consider a view of earth history that is nowhere in Scripture in hints, implications, or otherwise.
It might seem humble to allow for uncertainty regarding the age of the earth, but it is actually arrogant to insert uncertainty where Scripture is clear. Unfortunately, evangelicalism is filled with similar "theoretical inerrantists" who take an otherwise strong stance on Scripture but unfortunately allow for evolutionary views.
Science over Scripture?
Article 20 of CSBH states, "We deny that extra-biblical views ever disprove the teaching of Scripture or hold priority over it."12 But in fact, they allow the interpretations of the scientific majority to determine their views on the age of the earth and Noah's flood. Those long-age interpretations are the only reason for the hermeneutical false humility that claims Scripture is less than clear regarding creation and the age of the earth. Reinterpreting these parts of the Bible to accommodate long ages is another way of saying that the Bible is in error.
Equally concerning is that many do not attach much importance to the age of the earth. They do not study Genesis 1–11 carefully and are not familiar with the work done by young-earth scientists and theologians. As a result, the vast majority of Bible scholars and Christian leaders over the last two centuries have uncritically accepted claims that rest on a foundation of naturalistic philosophy that is fundamentally hostile to Christianity.
Geological Evolution: A Naturalistic Myth
When people think of evolution, they normally think of the biological idea that all life is descended from a common ancestor, a single-celled creature generated from a primordial soup. However, just as important to the naturalistic worldview is geological evolution, the idea that the stars and planets formed over billions of years following the first event in the universe, the big bang. Geological evolution further states that geological uniformitarianism can best explain earth's geological history.
For the first 1800 years of church history, almost universally, Christians believed in what could be termed "young-earth creationism."
For the first 1800 years of church history, almost universally, Christians believed in what could be termed young-earth creationism. An early-nineteenth century group of geologists known as the "scriptural geologists" defended the biblical view against long-age views. They raised biblical, geological, and philosophical arguments against various old-earth views that were developing at the time. Particularly, they affirmed the six-day creation, a global flood in Noah's day, and the earth's age of around 6,000 years old.
After 1840, the uniformitarian view became the ruling dogma in geology. As uniformitarians became professors and taught that view to their students, it became the dominant view, crowding out biblical geology.
Charles Lyell, the uniformitarian most responsible for that view's dominance, was not coming from an impartial view of dispassionately weighing the evidence—he was overtly anti-biblical. His goal was to "free the science [of geology] from Moses."13
So what we have is two views, one Christian and one anti-Christian, competing over two views of world history, using the evidence in the present to try to reconstruct what happened in the past. The difference is that Christians have an inerrant, inspired record of world history that records geologically significant events—creation and the global flood of Noah's day. When old-earth inerrantists take the side of the uniformitarians, they are agreeing with them that the Bible's historical record is somehow lacking, or even in error.
Darwin was directly influenced by Lyell's uniformitarianism and applied the same naturalism to biology. In 1844 he wrote,
I always feel as if my books came half out of Lyell's brains and that I never acknowledge this sufficiently, nor do I know how I can, without saying so in so many words—for I have always thought that the great merit of the Principles [of Geology], was that it altered the whole tone of one's mind & therefore that when seeing a thing never seen by Lyell, one yet saw it partially through his eyes.14
However, some modern geologists reject uniformitarianism. Some non-Christian geologists, such as Derek Ager, who wrote a book entitled The New Catastrophism, argue from a naturalistic basis that some geological evidence can be better explained by rapid, catastrophic formation than by slow and gradual processes over long periods of time.
While these naturalistic catastrophists may be as hostile to Scripture as Lyell was and operate with the assumption of the same timescale, their alternate view of geology shows that the geological evidence is open to interpretation and that criticism of uniformitarianism is by no means limited to the religious.
Cosmological Evolution: A Naturalistic Myth
The big bang theory is another piece of the naturalistic myth that is increasingly under attack even from secularists. Internationally-known astrophysicist Eric Lerner wrote,
Big bang theory today relies on a growing number of hypothetical entities—things that we have never observed. Inflation, dark matter and dark energy are the most prominent. Without them, there would be fatal contradictions between the observations made by astronomers and the predictions of the big bang theory. In no other field of physics would this continual recourse to new hypothetical objects be accepted as a way of bridging the gap between theory and observation. It would, at the least, raise serious questions about the validity of the underlying theory.15
Lerner is far from the only astrophysicist that shares these views. The late Halton Arp, who died in 2013, rejected the big bang and wrote, "Scientists, particularly at the most prestigious institutions, regularly suppress and ridicule findings which contradict their current theories and assumptions . . . astronomers now feel compelled to fit the observations to the theory and not vice versa."16
These secularist dissenters from the big bang theory show that the only reason the big bang appears to be a fact is because its proponents are suppressing contrary views.
These secularist dissenters from the big bang theory show that the only reason the big bang appears to be a fact is because its proponents are suppressing contrary views. Not only is it impossible to harmonize these naturalistic paradigms with Scripture, they are not even accepted by some eminent naturalists!
Old-earth inerrantists likely have sincere intentions to "save" Genesis from what they mistakenly view as proven science by allowing it to control their interpretation. However, by doing so, they undermine the inerrancy and thus the authority of the Bible.
Biblical Creationist Response to Old Earth Inerrantists
The preface to CSBI said,
We invite response to this statement from any who see reason to amend its affirmations about Scripture by the light of Scripture itself, under whose infallible authority we stand as we speak. We claim no personal infallibility for the witness we bear, and for any help which enables us to strengthen this testimony to God's Word we shall be grateful.17
A group of fourteen inerrantist scholars, most of them Bible professors, responded to this invitation by producing a supplement statement of affirmations and denials. It was published in Coming to Grips with Genesis: Biblical Authority and the Age of the Earth18 and is also available on the AiG website. Anyone who has a master's degree or higher in some field of theology can sign the document. Although Coming to Grips with Genesis has been sold at many annual Evangelical Theological Society meetings, it seems that old-earth theologians have largely ignored the book and its arguments.
While it is possible to be an inerrantist and believe in evolution and/or millions of years, it is not consistent, and requires old-earth inerrantists to play hermeneutical tricks that undermine inerrancy itself.
While it is possible to be an inerrantist and believe in evolution and/or millions of years, it is not consistent, and requires old-earth inerrantists to play hermeneutical tricks that undermine inerrancy itself. Many Christian leaders who proudly proclaim "sola Scriptura" unintentionally actually practice "sola Scientia" (science alone) when they allow the interpretations of naturalistic scientists to control their interpretation of the first chapters of the Bible.
It is clear from the Bible's own witness and the unanimous interpretation of the Church for the first 1800 years of its existence that Genesis 1–11 is history. If Scripture is the only inerrant book, we must affirm its teachings over any other truth claims. It must be the supreme authority in everything that it teaches—not only in matters of theology and morality, but in any area its pronouncements touch—including history and science. We cannot separate the Bible's inerrancy from its authority.
Theologians demonstrate true humility when they handle Scripture with reverence, taking seriously its claims and allowing Scripture to interpret Scripture, rather than reinterpreting Scripture to fit with naturalistic philosophy that is fundamentally hostile to biblical claims.
Christians should not be afraid to stand firmly on the foundation of Scripture and boldly proclaim and defend what God clearly says regarding the creation and history of the world. As America and the rest of the once-Christian West sink deeper into moral insanity, wickedness, and animosity toward Bible-believing Christians, may God help us to be faithful in the tremendous battle over the truth of God's inerrant and supremely authoritative Word.
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In this article we are reviewing various career scenarios and how that could impact your decision making as it relates to budgeting and investing. While your career is often the most important component of your financial well-being, it can also be an aspect of your life that you have the least control over, especially if you do not own your own business.
There are three parts to being financially secure: investing your money smartly, budgeting correctly, and making a decent consistent income. Many financial articles will downplay the effect of earning a reliable salary from a high paying job because they want to be the ultimate guide to hack your financial situation into bliss and success. However, cutting corners anywhere in finance will not deliver the necessary results. You can squeeze the most happiness and success out of your life by spending frugally and making your money work for you, but let's not ignore the fact that having a high paying job makes it easier to achieve your financial goals. However, it's possible to be broke even if you make six or seven figures per year; that's why any successful strategy involving finance has those 3 pillars. Breaking any of them makes it difficult to reach your financial goals.
The great part about understanding how each pillar is important is that they impact one another, allowing for different actions to be taken with one based on the results of others. The most obvious example of adjusting the pillars is if you earn a comfortable living through a high paying job. This allows you the luxury to spend more, but it does not dissolve you of the responsibility to budget and invest appropriately. It also means your 6 month emergency savings need to be larger to accommodate your spending habits. While it may sound weird to save so much for an emergency if you have a lavish lifestyle because in theory you can reduce spending, in practice it may not be so easy to do that especially if you have high fixed costs such as a mortgage or a car payment. The more money you keep readily available and unencumbered (liquid), the lower the yield you'll receive on your investment, but the greater your peace of mind will be in the event that something doesn't go according to plan.
When it comes to investing, your strategy depends on your goals. The advantage of earning a comfortable salary is you'll have the opportunity to invest solely in less risky securities and earn a lower investment return yet still potentially meet your long term goals. On the other hand, if you have sufficient savings as a result of great income, you have the opportunity to consider riskier investments with a small portion of your investment portfolio.
We're looking at various career paths because your career is the decision you control the least. It's easy to change your spending habits, improve your credit score, and alter the risk your take in your portfolio, but your career depends on your education, interests, and skills which aren't as fluid. The next career option we'll look at is a risky career. The risk taken in a career can alter your budgeting and investment philosophy. Risky careers can be in highly cyclical industries such as construction or oil fracking or they can be in firms which are seasonal or don't have a long operating history. Working at startups or for your own business has higher risk because the business model might not be proven yet or not profitable. The advantages are freedom as they have less of a bureaucracy and bigger upside because you have more operational leverage with your decisions, and the opportunity to earn more value for your efforts as a function of being compensated with equity in the business.
Dealing with a risky career means you need to save more money in case of an emergency. The best way to calculate how much you should save is to calculate the expected return of your salary. You can calculate this by multiplying the success rate of startups in your industry by your pay. This is going to require you to save more money to compensate for the extra risk. You can do a sensitivity analysis to see how much you'll need in different lengths of time spent unemployed.
For a cyclical industry, you can calculate the money you will make in a full cycle, assuming you are unemployed during the worst of the cycle. Averaging out the lean years and the strong years, gives you a cyclically adjusted budget. It doesn't make sense for a worker in the energy sector to act as if his/her job is as secure as working for a healthcare services firm. The great part about this analysis is it's easy. If you've had a long career, you can even assume similar cycle lengths and earnings changes.
Investing should balance out your career risk. There's nothing wrong with owning equity in a firm you're employed by, but its important to carefully examine potential pitfalls a company can face when you take equity as a portion of your salary. If you work in energy or construction, it's very tempting to invest in what you know, but you want your portfolio to act uncorrelated with your earnings. One way to invest if you really want to make bets in the same industry is to do a pairs trade where you short (bet against) a firm in the industry that you know is a laggard and buy one you think is a winner. That potentially eliminates correlation risk with your earnings. Another way to use your industry knowledge to your advantage is knowing if you sector is dominating a certain part of the market, and avoid investing in companies associated with that sector. An investment not made can often be as good in terms of avoiding losses as a great investment that is successful.
One consideration most people don't make when determining their budget and investments is whether their job is their passion. If your job is your passion you won't want to retire early. This is why many people would work on job they are passionate about for less pay. Unfortunately, it's not always feasible to work at a job you love. It's easy to tell someone to work at the perfect job, but that's not realistic for all readers based on their skill set and interests. If you have a tough job, think of your leisure expenses as an investment in your mental health. This means you can spend more money within reason to improve your quality of life. There's no point in saving money if you aren't enjoying the present.
Investing when you have a difficult job means you'll want to have high investment returns so you can retire early. Retiring early could be for your mental health or it could be because physically demanding jobs can't be done past a certain age. In this case, make sure to take risk in your portfolio when time is on your side. As a young worker in your 20s and 30s, taking more risk is okay because timing the business cycle is less relevant. You need to slowly lower your risk as you get older to avoid losing money right before you retire. | {
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import re
from unittest import TestCase
import pandas as pd
from sklearn.feature_extraction.text import TfidfTransformer
from sklearn.linear_model import PassiveAggressiveClassifier
from scattertext import CorpusFromParsedDocuments
from scattertext import FeatsFromSpacyDoc, FeatsFromSpacyDocAndEmpath
from scattertext import TermDocMatrixFactory
from scattertext.TermDocMatrixFactory import FeatsFromDoc
from scattertext.WhitespaceNLP import whitespace_nlp, Doc, Tok
def build_hamlet_jz_term_doc_mat():
# type: () -> TermDocMatrix
categories, documents = get_docs_categories()
clean_function = lambda text: '' if text.startswith('[') else text
term_doc_mat = TermDocMatrixFactory(
category_text_iter=zip(categories, documents),
clean_function=clean_function,
nlp=whitespace_nlp
).build()
return term_doc_mat
def build_hamlet_jz_corpus():
# type: () -> Corpus
df = build_hamlet_jz_df()
return CorpusFromParsedDocuments(
df=df,
category_col='category',
parsed_col='parsed'
).build()
def build_hamlet_jz_df():
# type: () -> pd.DataFrame
categories, documents = get_docs_categories()
clean_function = lambda text: '' if text.startswith('[') else text
df = pd.DataFrame({
'category': categories,
'parsed': [whitespace_nlp(clean_function(doc)) for doc in documents]
})
df = df[df['parsed'].apply(lambda x: len(str(x).strip()) > 0)]
return df
def build_hamlet_jz_corpus_with_alt_text():
# type: () -> Corpus
df = build_hamlet_jz_df_with_alt_text()
return CorpusFromParsedDocuments(
df=df,
category_col='category',
parsed_col='parsed'
).build()
def build_hamlet_jz_df_with_alt_text():
# type: () -> pd.DataFrame
categories, documents = get_docs_categories()
clean_function = lambda text: '' if text.startswith('[') else text
df = pd.DataFrame({
'category': categories,
'parsed': [whitespace_nlp(clean_function(doc)) for doc in documents],
'alt': [doc.upper() for doc in documents]
})
df = df[df['parsed'].apply(lambda x: len(str(x).strip()) > 0)]
return df
def build_hamlet_jz_corpus_with_meta():
# type: () -> Corpus
def empath_mock(doc, **kwargs):
toks = list(doc)
num_toks = min(3,len(toks))
return {'cat'+str(len(tok)):val for val,tok in enumerate(toks[:num_toks])}
categories, documents = get_docs_categories()
clean_function = lambda text: '' if text.startswith('[') else text
df = pd.DataFrame({
'category': categories,
'parsed': [whitespace_nlp(clean_function(doc)) for doc in documents]
})
df = df[df['parsed'].apply(lambda x: len(str(x).strip()) > 0)]
return CorpusFromParsedDocuments(
df=df,
category_col='category',
parsed_col='parsed',
feats_from_spacy_doc=FeatsFromSpacyDocAndEmpath(empath_analyze_function=empath_mock)
).build()
def get_docs_categories():
documents = [u"What art thou that usurp'st this time of night,",
u'Together with that fair and warlike form',
u'In which the majesty of buried Denmark',
u'Did sometimes march? by heaven I charge thee, speak!',
u'Halt! Who goes there?',
u'[Intro]',
u'It is I sire Tone from Brooklyn.',
u'Well, speak up man what is it?',
u'News from the East sire! THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS HAS RETURNED!'
]
categories = ['hamlet'] * 4 + ['jay-z/r. kelly'] * 5
return categories, documents
def _testing_nlp(doc):
toks = []
for tok in re.split(r"(\W)", doc):
pos = 'WORD'
ent = ''
tag = ''
if tok.strip() == '':
pos = 'SPACE'
elif re.match('^\W+$', tok):
pos = 'PUNCT'
if tok == 'Tone':
ent = 'PERSON'
if tok == 'Brooklyn':
ent = 'GPE'
toks.append(Tok(pos, tok[:2].lower(), tok.lower(), ent, tag))
return Doc([toks])
class TestTermDocMatrixFactory(TestCase):
def test_build(self):
term_doc_mat = build_hamlet_jz_term_doc_mat()
self.assertEqual(term_doc_mat.get_num_docs(), 8)
self.assertEqual(term_doc_mat.get_categories(), ['hamlet', 'jay-z/r. kelly'])
def test_build_censor_entities(self):
categories, documents = get_docs_categories()
clean_function = lambda text: '' if text.startswith('[') else text
term_doc_mat = (
TermDocMatrixFactory(
category_text_iter=zip(categories, documents),
clean_function=clean_function,
nlp=_testing_nlp,
feats_from_spacy_doc=FeatsFromSpacyDoc(entity_types_to_censor=set(['GPE']))
).build()
)
self.assertIn('_GPE', set(term_doc_mat.get_term_freq_df().index))
self.assertNotIn('brooklyn', set(term_doc_mat.get_term_freq_df().index))
class TestFeatsFromDoc(TestCase):
def test_main(self):
categories, documents = get_docs_categories()
clean_function = lambda text: '' if text.startswith('[') else text
entity_types = set(['GPE'])
term_doc_mat = (
TermDocMatrixFactory(
category_text_iter=zip(categories, documents),
clean_function=clean_function,
nlp=_testing_nlp,
feats_from_spacy_doc=FeatsFromSpacyDoc(entity_types_to_censor=entity_types)
).build()
)
clf = PassiveAggressiveClassifier()
fdc = FeatsFromDoc(term_doc_mat._term_idx_store,
clean_function=clean_function,
feats_from_spacy_doc=FeatsFromSpacyDoc(
entity_types_to_censor=entity_types)).set_nlp(_testing_nlp)
tfidf = TfidfTransformer(norm='l1')
X = tfidf.fit_transform(term_doc_mat._X)
clf.fit(X, term_doc_mat._y)
X_to_predict = fdc.feats_from_doc('Did sometimes march UNKNOWNWORD')
pred = clf.predict(tfidf.transform(X_to_predict))
dec = clf.decision_function(X_to_predict)
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Earlier in March, Slator reported that London-based Pearl Linguistics was going into liquidation. When a UK company goes bankrupt, the liquidator usually puts up a notice on the company's website directing affected parties where to send details. But, as pointed out in our earlier story, Pearl's website was simply taken down.
We reached out to Goodier Smith & Watts of Devonshire House, Manor Way, which, according to March 8, 2017 regulatory filing is Pearl's new registered office. The Hertfordshire-based accountants said they are not the liquidator ("we are just the registered office") and that Chris Sykes, Senior Associate at Big Four accounting firm PwC, is handling the case.
According to a PwC website on the Pearl insolvency that went live Friday, March 10, 2017, PwC will hold a creditor's meeting on March 17, 2017 in London. The firm called the meeting "an opportunity for creditors to receive information about [Pearl] and the reasons for its failure." The meeting will also ask creditors to approve PwC's appointment as liquidator.
Despite repeated attempts, Slator has not been able to contact Pearl's former CEO, Zeynep Demirbilek, who is unlikely to be present at the meeting. Demirbilek signed the document appointing PwC as liquidator on March 3, 2017, but has since gone silent.
The Pearl story is obviously far from over. Left holding the bag are the translators and interpreters whose fees were left unpaid by Pearl and its clients, such as the National Health Service (NHS).
A March 10, 2017 story by GP Online quoted an NHS spokesman as saying they knew about Pearl's liquidation the day prior and "immediately took steps to make alternative arrangements" so other language service providers (LSPs) could step in.
Among these LSPs is translate plus. Director Robert Timms said translate plus hired a project manager from Pearl, who starts working March 13, 2017. "So we have helped a bit in terms of people's jobs — but the biggest casualty is the trust in translation companies among the freelance translator community caused by Pearl just disappearing in a very disrespectful way," Timms said.
Meanwhile, the NHS spokesman was also quoted as saying that only "a minimal number of pre-booked appointments" had been affected by Pearl's filing for bankruptcy.
A number of Pearl linguists have joined a Facebook Group called "Pearl Linguistics Ltd Survivors Group, UK," put up by Joe Baker, the husband of one of the affected translators. This group is but one example of professional linguists who have taken to social media to air their frustrations.
Unite the Union's Regional Officer Andy Murray concurs telling Slator that, at this time, he is not aware of any successful case that has gone to court against an LSP that did not pay its freelancers. Unite is a British trade union that counts a number of linguists among its ranks. Murray said Unite members can get legal advice through the Unite Legal program.
He added that cost-cutting is driving highly competent interpreters away because they cannot afford to live on the wages offered. Murray said Unite is currently lobbying government (e.g., Crown Commercial Service, the Justice Secretary) regarding the way it runs public service frameworks.
A source close to the matter pointed out that government procurers would do well to perform a more thorough vetting, instead of relying too much on what suppliers claim in their bids. Procurers, typically, do not check the financial stability and other details surrounding their contracted suppliers, the source said. | {
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The Economist magazine dubbed Mayo Clinic one of the nation's most influential voices in the health care reform debate. President Obama has cited the Rochester medical center in many speeches.
So it's good to see Mayo weigh in during August's sound-and-fury season of town hall meetings on one of the most controversial reform proposals — Medicare funding for advance directives on end-of-life care. Former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, Minnesota congresswoman Michele Bachmann and Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley helped incite discredited fears that this would lead to so-called "death panels'' that would pull the plug on the elderly and disabled.
Mayo's latest policy perspective, released Tuesday, reiterates the organization's advocacy for payment reform and individual mandates, as well as its staunch opposition to a public plan based on a government-run, price-controlled, Medicare-like insurance model.
Senator Edward M. Kennedy, one of the longest serving members of the Senate and a central figure in the current healthcare reform debate, died Tuesday night.
The nation would be forced to borrow more than $9 trillion to support President Obama's initiatives and other federal programs over the next decade, the White House said Tuesday, a sharp increase in projected deficits that provided fresh ammunition to critics of the president's sweeping proposal to expand health coverage to the uninsured.
The White House's grim new budget projections, released Tuesday, show a decade-worth of deficits tallying $9.05 trillion, $2 trillion deeper than anticipated in February. Peter Orszag, the White House budget director, said "the key driver of our long-term deficits" is federal health spending, mainly on the ballooning Medicare and Medicaid programs.
One of the most widely accepted arguments against a government medical plan for the middle class is that it would quash competition — just what private insurers seem to be doing themselves in many parts of the U.S.
Ron Williams, chief executive of the giant insurer Aetna, has been the most vocal insurance executive in favor of an overhaul of the health care system — as long as it does not include a public, government-run health plan. On Wednesday, Mr. Williams plans to make that case on the "Tavis Smiley Show" on PBS. Click here to link to the PBS interview.
Health Populi's analysis of the 2010 Segal Health Plan Cost Trend Survey.
Minnesota will announce $47 million in grants to 40 communities to fight smoking and obesity today, the first fruits of a landmark 2008 bill designed to revamp and improve health care in the state.
As debate over federally funded healthcare coverage rages across the country, a survey found that San Francisco's universal healthcare scheme gets high marks from participants.
A congressman's plan to save Medicare billions could cost the drug industry.
In our current system, medical costs are hidden to many Americans, making more radical insurance change seem risky to many. With a discussion of the Wyden-Bennett bill.
The Congressional Budget Office's cautious methods may have unintended consequences in the current health care reform effort.
Most Americans are satisfied with the status quo for their own healthcare and are doubtful that reforming the system will create affordable or better quality medical care, according to a Thomson Reuters study.
Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY) represents the smallest state in population but he has a big role to play in the negotiations to overhaul health care. Enzi is one of the "gang of six" senators crafting the Senate's health care bill. He says he won't vote for any measure that can't get the support of 75 to 80 senators. Related: Enzi Frustrates Liberals With Harder Line, The Hill.
Anchored by two GOP Members who are also medical doctors — Sens. John Barrasso (Wyo.) and Tom Coburn (Okla.) — House and Senate Republicans are joining forces beginning Wednesday and ending Friday to hold four town hall meetings and tour local medical facilities.
Though politicians routinely state that health care reform will destroy the nation's medical system, there is no evidence to support this claim.
It's not poor communications or town-hall crazies. It's a basic Obama miscalculation.
A Q&A with journalist and author T.R. Reid, who traveled the world, including Britain, in search of a better health care system -- and help for his sore shoulder. Reid talks about his journey in a new book -- The Healing of America: A Global Quest for Better, Cheaper, and Fairer Health Care. | {
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...to play the upcoming Superfighters Deluxe update!
While it is still a long way off, the game has been seeing some spectacular changes lately, most notably the addition of "joints". With these, you can link tiles and objects together in almost any way imaginable.
Don't hold your breath for the new version just yet, as there is much work left on the physics, melee system, animations and other content. But things are going very well at the moment. | {
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This old fashioned school room is set up in one of the old classrooms in the Gravelbourg Elementary School, formerly known as Le Couvent Jésus-Marie.
The types of desks set up in the classroom are Fashion School Desks; they were first manufactured in 1881. The desk features a Patent T-head, thus eliminating screws and bolts by joining the wood of the desk top, back, and seat to the legs, which are made of cast iron.
5 x 7 fine art greeting cards, featuring these images are available for purchase at Café Paris in Gravelbourg, SK. | {
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We will close Catholic Schools Week by celebrating Special Guest Day. Please invite grandparents, aunts, uncles, godparents or other special persons in your family to arrive at 10 am. We will have a 12:15 pm dismissal. Students should be in full uniform and there will be no Eagle's Nest in the afternoon. | {
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Detail of "Adam and Eve" by Gustav Klimt.Museum of Fine Arts, boston
An occasion in itself, the first ever display of a painting by Gustav Klimt (1862-1918) at the Museum of Fine Arts, also confirms a new trend in museum showmanship — and I like it.
It involves negotiating with other institutions to borrow, for a few months, single works of art, and then making a bit of a fuss over them. Put them on display. Adorn them with one or two, maybe half a dozen, other works from your own museum's collection — works that enhance or illuminate some aspect of the borrowed work. And voila! There's your show.
Inexpensive, juicy, surprisingly satisfying.
In this era of rising borrowing costs and ballooning overheads (often the result of ill-conceived expansions), this more modest approach to temporary exhibitions is at once practical and commendable. It's all about focus.
The Museum of Fine Arts has been mounting such shows for several years under the auspices of its Visiting Masterpieces series. The program has an improvised, what-will-they-pull-out-of-the-hat-next? aspect that I enjoy.
Since 2010, the museum has played host to Van Gogh's "The Sower" (from the Van Gogh Museum), Cezanne's "The Large Bathers" (from the Philadelphia Museum of Art), Renoir's "Dance in the Country" and "Dance in the City" (the Musee d'Orsay) as well as the Capitoline Brutus and works by Caravaggio and Piero della Francesca from Italy.
It has borrowed the Klimt, which was painted within 12 months of the artist's death and left unfinished, from the Osterreichische Galerie Belvedere in Vienna.
Inevitably, these loans involve a quid pro quo — usually a work or works sent from the MFA to the lending institution. But such arrangements seem more spontaneous and civil than the more brutish business of organizing large-scale blockbusters, with their colossal logistical and financial challenges and necessarily long lead times, and obviously preferable to gutting the museum of its masterpieces for traveling shows that raise revenue.
The MFA's "Visiting Masterpieces" approach is also being pursued by other museums in the region. The Worcester Art Museum recently launched its so-called "Master Series," which is all about spotlighting a work — often borrowed, but sometimes taken from Worcester's own collection — and pairing it with one or two others.
Presently, it is showing a gigantic Norman Rockwell drawing, recently acquired from the Higgins Armory Museum, and Raphael's beautiful "The Small Cowper Madonna," which is on loan from the National Gallery in Washington, D.C.
Raphael's "The Small Cowper Madonna."national gallery of art
The visiting Raphael has been paired with a similar painting of the Virgin and Child from Worcester's own collection, which the museum acquired in 1940, believing it to be a Raphael. That attribution was long ago set aside. It's easy to see why — especially when you see it next to "The Small Cowper Madonna," which Raphael painted as a young man, shortly after coming to Florence from Urbino.
A Virgin and Child once believed to be by Raphael.worcester art museum
The Worcester picture is lovely enough, but there is something thwarted and incomplete about it. The background landscape feels insubstantial; the infant Christ's fingers are absurdly stubby; and his mother's face — with its half-closed eyes and strikingly long, straight nose — is stylized to the point of vacancy.
Note, too, the way the arc describing the back of the boy's head perfectly touches the arc of the Virgin's cheek. As a compositional conceit, it's suspiciously contrived — not at all a trick Raphael would have played.
Raphael epitomized instead the Italian ideal of sprezzatura: the notion, which was soon to be developed by Baldassare Castiglione in "The Book of the Courtier" (1528), of a personal freedom and nonchalance that avoids any appearance of over-diligence. His art expressed what Raphael's contemporary, Giorgio Vasari, called "a grace beyond measure."
It is exciting, up close, to see Raphael's under-drawing in "The Small Cowper Madonna." We can see, in these visible outlines, the beginning of what we think of now as the modern style — a style that was massively influential not only in Raphael's day, but for the next 400 years. I'm talking about Raphael's special way of combining an unprecedented naturalism, a fidelity to the three-dimensional appearance of reality, with a form of idealization — a style.
In unexpected ways, that distinctive combination raises its head again in the work of Gustav Klimt, which is part of what makes these two mini-exhibitions so interesting to think about in tandem.
In Raphael, style amounts to an ongoing conversation between the earthly world of appearances (with all its imperfections) and a divine or ideal realm. You can see the dialog at its most rudimentary level in the contrast between, on the one hand, the realism of the fabric that is stretched across the Virgin's bust so that it forms creases at the seam, and, on the other, the idealization expressed by the uninflected curve of her jaw line and the continuous, apparently boneless curve of her right shoulder.
In Raphael's many studies for his paintings of the Virgin with the infant Christ (and often John the Baptist), what stands out are the circling motions of his pen. You can feel the beginnings of a Christian theology in these simple-seeming motions.
For Raphael, the circle was a perfect form, linked to the divine. But in his drawing, the circles, even as they seem to search for the perfection of completion, are never actually complete. Instead, they are left as unfinished arcs, or they are distended into ellipses — imperfect circles, suggestive of the earthly, rather than the heavenly realm.
Of course, these ellipses and incomplete arcs also serve important pictorial functions. On the one hand, they are decorative: They establish rhythms and echoes across the surface of the picture.
But they are also fully alive, fully plastic (bendable, malleable); their smallest inflections help Raphael carve out the illusion of space, pushing his figures back behind the flat surface of the image into an imaginary depth, an earthly, embodied landscape. Repeated with small variations, they also convey bodily animation.
Raphael's easy naturalism is reinforced in a painting like "The Small Cowper Madonna" by his beautiful rendering of light and his subtle modeling. The way this naturalism harmonizes so comfortably with the divine is what makes his works so fresh, and so timelessly beautiful.
Raphael forged a style, as personal and unmistakable in its way as any 20th-century style, but it was a style of unassailable integrity. By 1917, when Klimt painted his "Adam and Eve," on show at the Museum of Fine Arts, the world had moved on from the idea that the relationship between an ideal world and reality — between the heavenly realm and the "fallen" world — could be expressed so comfortably, so seamlessly.
Yet Klimt's art expressed exactly the same underlying tensions as Raphael's. It was the tension between naturalism and idealism; between a decorative organization of the picture's surface, and a convincing illusion of reality.
Against Raphael's repeating arcs, Klimt expressed the scurrying, flickering, twitchy character of modern life with his wild, unraveling line, full of serpentine energies ominously disturbed.
The line, for instance, that defines the contour of Eve's left side (on our right) has no natural grace or proportion — not by Raphaelesque standards, anyway. It seems to ripple and bend wherever it will. And yet Eve's frontally displayed body, with its veinous pallor, thick thighs, and pink knees, also feels extremely naturalistic.
"If he wants to make a woman, let him make a woman," said Picasso after seeing Matisse's "Blue Nude (Memory of Biskra)" in 1907. "If he wants to make a design, let him make a design. This is between the two."
The same thing could be said of Klimt — but with a crucial difference: Where Matisse struggled endlessly to unite his feeling for decoration with his fidelity to sensual reality, Klimt was happy to play up the dissonance.
It is often observed that Klimt's preoccupations overlapped with those of Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis, who was thinking and writing and treating patients in the same social milieu in Vienna in which Klimt was painting. The painter's unfinished rendering of Eve (which may have been the last woman he ever painted) suggests a similar desire to excavate the instinctual and especially the erotic side of existence, buried beneath layers of civilization and repression.
Klimt, who was the cofounder and first president of the Vienna Secession, had been painting erotic subjects since the 1890s. But to be addressing this theme in 1917, against a backdrop of mass death and destruction — and indeed the artist's own impending death — must surely have felt charged. (Freud at the same time was cogitating on ideas that would soon become "Beyond the Pleasure Principle" — his brilliant, speculative meditation on the so-called "death drive.")
In the Bible, the story of Adam and Eve is linked not with a knitting together of heavenly and earthly realms, as in the art of Raphael, but with a fall from perfection, with the curse of original sin.
But in this painting Klimt is less interested in any traditionally Christian take on original sin, and more concerned with emphasizing Eve's powerful eroticism. She may, as she emerges from the thigh of the shadowy male figure of Adam behind her, represent the liberation of female sexuality, but it is a sexuality you feel Klimt, and men in general, might feel threatened or overwhelmed by.
His Eve, in other words, is not just a pretty woman. She is the archetype of the femme fatale — that evergreen product of the patriarchal imagination that was especially in vogue in Klimt's day.
What are we to make of Klimt's vision a century later? His ideas, and his take on female sexuality, do not seem particularly current. It seems that he, like Freud and like his Scandinavian contemporaries Edvard Munch and August Strindberg, wanted to register the radical, tragic nature of the conflict between the sexes — to see it in all its terrible grandeur.
Although these visions suggest strong streaks of misogyny — Strindberg, for instance, was "mocked and maddened," as Germaine Greer once wrote, "by the very inscrutability of the female body compared to the pathetic exposure of male libido" — they might in some ways contain truths ignored by our current tendency to trivialize the problem of male-female relations.
Still, aesthetically, I find Klimt's style uncomfortable. At times, he can seem like a society portraitist and decorator looking for, but never quite finding, a deeper purpose.
His much younger protégé, Egon Schiele, represented here by a charcoal and watercolor drawing and a drypoint from the MFA's collection, pushed his master's delicately dissonant aesthetic powerfully in the direction of naturalism — but it was a neurotic naturalism that frequently tipped over into histrionics.
"Two Nudes (Lovers)" by Oskar Kokoschka. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
The same tendency manifested itself, albeit with different results, in the work of Oskar Kokoschka. The MFA's Kokoschka, "Two Nudes (Lovers)" from 1913 — a portrait of the artist awkwardly embracing his lover, the legendary Alma Mahler, in a dismal-looking Eden — hangs here next to Klimt's "Adam and Eve."
The juxtaposition intensifies, by contrast, the Klimt's decorative aspects, just as the Klimt's blushing fragility brings out the blowsy Expressionism of the Kokoschka. Neither is especially enhanced by the pairing.
Klimt's drawings, it must be said, are among the most beautiful of the 20th century. They turn Raphael's incomplete arcs into looping, dancing tangles that twitch with erotic energy. Two are included here, along with Ferdinand Hodler's famous "Secession" poster from 1904, rounding off a fascinating, provocative display.
Visiting Masterpiece :
Gustav Klimt's Adam and Eve
At: Museum of Fine Arts, through April 27. 617-267-9300. www.mfa.org
Raphael: The Cowper Madonna
At: Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, through Sept. 27.
508-799-4406, www.worcesterart.org
• More from Sebastian Smee
Sebastian Smee can be reached at [email protected]. | {
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Future Landscape of Dairy Processing Information Day took place at the Midlands Park Hotel, Portlaoise on 23 May . The event was a first step in the process that will ultimately identify themes and areas of research that DPTC will engage in beyond 2019 (DPTC Phase II).
Pictured are DPTC team members; Dr Abigail Pattenden, Orla Kelly and Mary Frost. | {
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The actors in the pathogenesis of diabetes and its complications are many and multifaceted. The effects of elevated levels of glucose are myriad; among these is the generation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs), the products of nonenzymatic glycoxidation of proteins and lipids. The finding that AGEs stimulate signal transduction cascades through the multiligand receptor RAGE unveiled novel insights into diabetes and its complications. Inextricably woven into AGE–RAGE interactions in diabetes is the engagement of the innate and adaptive immune responses. Although glucose may be the triggering stimulus to draw RAGE into diabetes pathology, consequent cellular stress results in release of proinflammatory RAGE ligands S100/calgranulins and HMGB1. We predict that once RAGE is engaged in the diabetic tissue, a vicious cycle of ligand–RAGE perturbation ensues, leading to chronic tissue injury and suppression of repair mechanisms. Targeting RAGE may be a beneficial strategy in diabetes, its complications, and untoward inflammatory responses.
Serum endogenous secretory RAGE levels are inversely associated with carotid IMT in type 2 diabetic patients.
Low circulating endogenous secretory receptor for AGEs predicts cardiovascular mortality in patients with end-stage renal disease.
Blockade of RAGE suppresses alloimmune reactions in vitro and delays allograft rejection in murine heart transplantation.
Hexameric calgranulin C (S100A12) binds to the receptor for advanced glycated end products (RAGE) using symmetric hydrophobic target-binding patches.
Masquerader: high mobility group box-1 and cancer.
Serum levels of sRAGE, the soluble form of receptor for advanced glycation end products, are associated with inflammatory markers in patients with type 2 diabetes.
Receptor for advanced glycation end products--soluble form and gene polymorphisms in chronic haemodialysis patients.
Structural and functional insights into RAGE activation by multimeric S100B.
RAGE (Receptor for Advanced Glycation Endproducts), RAGE ligands, and their role in cancer and inflammation. (2009) Louis J Sparvero et al.
Higher plasma soluble Receptor for Advanced Glycation End Products (sRAGE) levels are associated with incident cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality in type 1 diabetes:... (2010) Johanna W M Nin et al.
Effects of glycation of the model food allergen ovalbumin on antigen uptake and presentation by human dendritic cells (2010) Tamara Hilmenyuk et al.
Association of serum soluble receptor for advanced glycation end-products with subclinical cerebrovascular disease: the Northern Manhattan Study (NOMAS). (2011) Barry I Hudson et al.
Soluble RAGE: therapy and biomarker in unraveling the RAGE axis in chronic disease and aging. (2010) Shi Fang Yan et al.
RAGE and soluble RAGE: potential therapeutic targets for cardiovascular diseases. Hidenori Koyama et al.
Serum levels of soluble form of receptor for advanced glycation end products (sRAGE) are correlated with AGEs in both diabetic and non-diabetic subjects (2007) K. Nakamura et al.
Non-surgical periodontal therapy with and without subgingival minocycline administration in patients with poorly controlled type II diabetes: a randomized controlled clinical trial. (2012) Shih-Jung Lin et al.
High-mobility group box-1 induces decreased brain-derived neurotrophic factor-mediated neuroprotection in the diabetic retina. (2013) Ahmed M Abu El-Asrar et al.
Fluorescent advanced glycation end products and their soluble receptor: the birth of new plasmatic biomarkers for risk stratification of acute coronary syndrome. (2013) Sergio Raposeiras-Roubín et al.
Involvement of TAGE-RAGE System in the Pathogenesis of Diabetic Retinopathy. (2010) Masayoshi Takeuchi et al.
Effect of Nɛ-carboxymethyllysine on oxidative stress and the glutathione system in beta cells (2014) Boesten Daniëlle M.P.H.J et al.
The Role of Advanced Glycation End Products in Diabetic Vascular Complications. (2018) Sang Youl Rhee et al.
Serum asymmetric dimethylarginine levels are independently associated with procollagen III N-terminal peptide in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease patients. (2014) Hideyuki Hyogo et al. | {
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Home Lighting is proud to present this burnished bronze finished outdoor pendant, by Kalco Lighting. The 9007BB is made from premium materials, this Outdoor Pendant offers great function and value for your home. This fixture is part of Kalco Lighting's decorative Santa Barbara Outdoor Collection, so make sure to check out other golden era fixtures to accessorize your room. | {
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USMNT's first post-World Cup roster includes players you've never heard of — and exciting ones, too
Henry Bushnell
Alejandro Zendejas will likely play his first game for the USMNT next week. (Photo by Hector Vivas/Getty Images)
The first U.S. men's national team roster of the 2026 World Cup cycle features 11 newbies and a few players you've likely never heard of.
There's a defender whose entire professional career spans the United Soccer League and the Norwegian Eliteserien. There's a newly minted American citizen and a 25-year-old winger who plays in Denmark. There's even a Major League Soccer teenager who has never played a first-team game in Major League Soccer.
There's the typical sprinkling of MLS veterans, of course, including a few who were in Qatar last month, but this squad, more than most, comes from everywhere and nowhere.
It will play Serbia (Jan. 25) and Colombia (Jan. 28) next week in the USMNT's first two games since the 2022 World Cup. They'll occur amid coaching uncertainty and outside an official FIFA window, meaning clubs weren't required to release their players to national teams. With U.S. stars increasingly populating European clubs, therefore, many were unavailable — as they are every year for this annual January camp, colloquially known as "Camp Cupcake."
But the camp, which will be led by caretaker coach Anthony Hudson while incumbent coach Gregg Berhalter is under investigation, is an opportunity for the stars of the next generation to emerge.
It will welcome Gabriel "Gaga" Slonina, the 18-year-old goalkeeper expected to someday challenge Matt Turner for the USMNT's No. 1 gig.
It could offer debuts to Paxten Aaronson, the brother of Brenden, and Alejandro Zendejas, a Mexican American dual national who has been excelling for Club América in Liga MX. Despite the Mexican league season overlapping with the USMNT's January camp, América agreed to allow Zendejas, a regular club starter, to participate in one of the two games.
There will be eight players, including Slonina, Aaronson and Cade Cowell, who'll be eligible to represent the U.S. as under-23 participants at the 2024 Olympics, in its first men's soccer appearance at the Games since 2008.
There are 24 players in total, some of whom might never see the field for the USMNT after this month. But several surely will.
The full USMNT roster
Goalkeepers (3): Roman Celentano (FC Cincinnati), Sean Johnson (free agent), Gaga Slonina (Chelsea)
Defenders (8): Jonathan Gómez (Real Sociedad), Julian Gressel (Vancouver Whitecaps), DeJuan Jones (New England Revolution), Aaron Long (LAFC), Jalen Neal (LA Galaxy), Sam Rogers (Rosenborg), John Tolkin (New York Red Bulls), Walker Zimmerman (Nashville)
Midfielders (6): Paxten Aaronson (Eintracht Frankfurt), Kellyn Acosta (LAFC), Aidan Morris (Columbus Crew), Paxton Pomykal (FC Dallas), Alan Soñora (free agent), Eryk Williamson (Portland Timbers)
Forwards (7): Paul Arriola (FC Dallas), Cade Cowell (San Jose Earthquakes), Jesús Ferreira (FC Dallas), Matthew Hoppe (Middlesbrough), Emmanuel Sabbi (Odense), Brandon Vazquez (FC Cincinnati), Alejandro Zendejas (Club América)
The most exciting USMNT newcomers
Among the 24 players, Slonina is the biggest name. The Illinois native turned pro at age 14 and moved from the Chicago Fire to Chelsea for an eight-figure fee at age 18. He was in the mix for a 2022 World Cup roster spot. He and his former Fire teammate, 18-year-old Chris Brady, are considered the USMNT goalkeepers of the future.
The most notable inclusion in this squad, though, is Zendejas, an attacking midfielder who has been the subject of a controversial recruiting battle between the U.S. and Mexico. He was born in Ciudad Juárez, then moved to Texas as a child. He played alongside Christian Pulisic and other current USMNTers with the U.S. under-17s, including at the 2015 U-17 World Cup — but later played for Mexico U-level national teams as well.
He accepted a Mexico senior-team call-up in 2021 and debuted for El Tri in a friendly, and that's where his situation got messy. To play for Mexico, per FIFA rules, he would have needed to file a one-time switch of association away from the U.S. He apparently never did. With the 2022 World Cup approaching and Zendejas presumably a candidate for El Tri's roster, the Mexican soccer federation reportedly asked Zendejas to sign a document "renouncing" his affiliation with the U.S.; he reportedly declined.
Amid the confusion and controversy, he established himself as a regular at Club América. He has now accepted his first USMNT call-up — though his international soccer future won't be tied to the U.S. until he appears in a competitive senior game, the first of which could be in March.
Hudson said in a Q&A published by U.S. Soccer that the USMNT staff "didn't think" they'd get Zendejas for the January camp and expressed "huge appreciation" to América for allowing him to join. Hudson said Zendejas is "going to play [for América on Jan. 21], that day that camp starts but they're going to let him fly in and play [for the U.S.] against Serbia." He'll then fly back to Mexico City and play for América on the 28th instead of staying with the USMNT for its second match of the week against Colombia, a team spokesperson confirmed.
The other players with the brightest futures are Aaronson, a 19-year-old attacker who joined Bundesliga club Eintracht Frankfurt from the Philadelphia Union this month; John Tolkin, an adventurous 20-year-old left back for the New York Red Bulls; and Cowell, another Mexican-American dual national who has burst onto the scene with the San Jose Earthquakes as a teen. Cowell debuted for the USMNT in a December 2021 friendly.
Other notable call-ups include Brandon Vazquez, a breakout MLS striker who'll attempt to establish himself as a potential No. 9 throughout the 2026 cycle, and Alan Soñora, a New Jersey-born midfielder who has spent most of his life in Argentina. He played regularly for Independiente, a top-flight Argentine club, in 2021 and 2022, and has been linked with a move to MLS.
Then there are the out-of-nowhere inclusions: Sam Rogers is a 23-year-old Seattle Sounders youth product who started his pro career in the USL before moving to HamKam and then Rosenborg in Norway. Emmanuel Sabbi is an Italy-born product of Ohio and Chicago-area youth clubs. He then moved to Las Palmas in Spain as a teen and has spent his first-team career with Hobro and Odense in Denmark.
The Danish and Norwegian leagues, like MLS, do not play through the winter months, allowing those players to join the January camp. Others, such as Slonina, Jonathan Gomez and Matthew Hoppe, meanwhile, are available because they are not regulars for their respective clubs.
Many will be fringe players at best for the USMNT going forward. Of the 27 players called into 2019 January camp, only one (Walker Zimmerman) started games and two played minutes at the 2022 World Cup.
The following year, though, January granted opportunity to players such as Matt Turner and Brenden Aaronson, and that, precisely, is the point. Even if just a few someday make a meaningful impact, the week in Southern California will have been worthwhile.
The games will be played at the homes of MLS' two Los Angeles clubs, Banc of California Stadium and Dignity Health Sports Park. They kick off at 10 p.m. ET Jan. 25 (HBO Max, Universo, Peacock) and at 7:30 p.m. ET Jan. 28 (TNT, Telemundo, Peacock).
Bennylyn Burke: Man admits killing mum and her two-year-old daughter in Scotland but denies murder
Andrew Innes, 52, admits killing but denies murder of Bennylyn Burke and Jellica Burke
'Ferocious' knife attack killed random stranger in Oxford Street, court hears
Jurors at the Old Bailey were shown graphic CCTV footage of the attack outside the Microsoft store in the heart of London's shopping district
Flybe: Where are the worst-hit travellers after airline goes bust for second time?
Analysis shows Flybe struggled to fill half its seats
Founders of education provider Twinkl study £500m Vitruvian deal
The husband-and-wife team who founded one of Britain's biggest privately owned educational resources providers are close to sealing a deal that will propel them into the ranks of the country's richest entrepreneurs. Sky News has learned that Jon and Susie Seaton, who established Twinkl in 2010 in a bedroom in their Sheffield home, are in advanced talks with the private equity firm Vitruvian Partners about the sale of a minority stake.
'Unions expressing views to members is unhelpful', says Govt
The education minister says that it is "disappointing" that the NEU has decided to go ahead with teachers strikes, adding "unions are expressing views to their membership and I think that it is unhelpful". Nick Gibb also says "it isn't helpful" if members are being asked not to tell headteachers if they are striking by unions.
Are sanctions working? Why Russia's economy continues to grow
Sanctions on Russia 'might not be having the impact the West had hoped'
US dairy policies drive small farms to 'get big or get out' as monopolies get rich
Exclusive: Misguided policies have hurt small-scale farms while enriching agribusinesses and corporate lobbyists, analysis shows
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Wilding has its moment! - Martha Rolison of Simon Langton Girls Grammar School
Surprise as the first Bison calf is born in the UK for 1000 years. | {
"redpajama_set_name": "RedPajamaCommonCrawl"
} |
King Fahad National Library
Saudi Arabia, Riyadh
Design and project management
Gerber Architekten
Installations products
Qbuc
Adapta Plus executive desk
Adapta Plus meeting table
Adapta Plus workstation
The King Fahd National Library, one of the most important cultural buildings in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, was furnished by JG. This installation is, without doubt, one of the company's major successes in recent years, and one of JG's most important projects.
The project acts as the central driving force behind urban development and combines the challenge of designing within an existing building with respect for Arab culture.
The new building is covered by a filigree textile facade drawing on traditional Middle Eastern architectural lines. It is an exterior see-through cladding made up of white diamond shaped awnings.
The membranes are supported by a steel structure, giving them the appearance of canopies in a modern technological interpretation of the Arabian tent structure.
JG furnished the building with the Adapta, AMT and Qbuc ranges with various finishes based on the way in which each workstation was to be used: maple and aluminium for the reading and study area; white and aluminium for the administration area.
The versatility of the Adapta range, the integration of work and filing solutions in a single brand, and the rapid delivery of project and product requirements were crucial in outfitting this iconic building. | {
"redpajama_set_name": "RedPajamaCommonCrawl"
} |
I live in Colorado Springs. With over 9,000 acres of lush parks, 500 acres of trail ways and 5,000 acres of beautiful open space, Colorado Springs fosters active lifestyles 365 days a year with a stunning Pike's Peak backdrop. It's no wonder that Colorado Springs was listed as Money Magazine's #1 Best Place to Live in 2006 and ranked #1 on Outside's list of America's Best Cities in 2009. Military relocation is a specialty living in CO Springs, I understand the complications that come along with that move & am here to help every step of the way. I look forward to helping you make the home buying process easy & enjoyable.
As both a resident and professional in this area, I am a great resource for information on the real estate market: including schools scores, shop and restaurant development, local amenities, public transportation, business/economy updates and upcoming area projects. And I understand firsthand that safe neighborhoods and welcoming communities are paramount when choosing a home. | {
"redpajama_set_name": "RedPajamaC4"
} |
Focusing on tons of Satin Chrome Hinges this week. We focus on an extremely broad assortment of products available for sale at hard to beat costs. Get your Satin Chrome Hinges today on the internet.
Are you looking for satin chrome hinges on sale? Are you looking for satin chrome hinges or other similiar products? Our site represents a large assortment of satin chrome hinges, along with listings such as Antique Chair, Antique Dresser, Antique Cabinet, Antique Sofa, and lots more. Browse our great selection, or try a simple search for a more precise satin chrome hinges . Our site has access to thousands of products from retailers online, so our site just might have just what you're trying to find! Buy satin chrome hinges here!
Buy satin chrome hinges! Shop lots of satin chrome hinges in stock. Featuring Satin Chrome Hinges on sale from eBay.com. | {
"redpajama_set_name": "RedPajamaC4"
} |
Infiniti Support Our Paras Racing heads to Donington Park this weekend for the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship with both its Q50 race cars ready for action.
A fortnight after Lesmahagow's Derek Palmer debuted the first race car at Brands Hatch, notching two impressive top 20 finishes, the 28-year-old Scot is joined by team-mate Richard Hawken.
The 42-year-old from Walton on Thames sat out the season opener, but will now take his place on the grid for Sunday's BTCC triple-header.
The Mallory Park-based team's Infiniti Q50 race cars are prepared by injured ex-servicemen from the Parachute Regiment, with all team profits being donated to Support Our Paras, the official Regiment charity.
And Palmer admitted he's targeting his first championship points in Sunday's high-speed triple-header at the Derbyshire circuit.
"Yeh, that has to be the goal really," Palmer said today. "That's what I really want to do! Of course it's going to be tough, but we showed at Brands that the team is capable of delivering improvements throughout a race weekend.
Hawken meanwhile is looking forward to making his full BTCC debut this weekend.
How important to you was it to get three BTCC races under your belt at Brands Hatch?
I think it was very important for us to do that. We went into the weekend with the idea of getting as much running in as possible. With such limited testing going into the start of the season, we wanted to learn more about our car and the package we have produced. We achieved this and also had great reliability with only a small power steering issue in race one. I think looking to Donington we want to see another big step forward with the car and ultimately move further up the grid.
Was the step up to the BTCC more challenging than you had imagined?
I know how tough the BTCC is and how good you have to be to get into the mix, so it was what I expected being honest. What really impressed me was the whole team effort that was put in to make the race weekend a success. We jumped in at the deep end and everyone made a very professional job of it, even when they were under immense pressure in a very stressful situation: but I suppose that's what the Paras excel at, so I shouldn't really be surprised at all!
Your times improved impressively through all sessions at Brands Hatch, ultimately delivering two top-20 finishes: are points a possibility at Donington?
That has to be the goal really. That's what I really want to do! Of course it's going to be tough, but we showed at Brands that the team is capable of delivering improvements throughout a race weekend. If we continue doing that, and we get the rub of the green, then yes, points are a possibility.
What race experience do you have of Donington?
I've raced there quite a few times in British GT, single seaters and historics. I love the circuit and I'm excited about the weekend!
Finally, can you sum up the level of work and commitment the Paras achieve in preparing your car.
I don't think the boys ever stop when we are back at base. I leave and come back and they are still there: they're machines! They are completely dedicated to it. They know, as we all do, that we have a massive learning curve and a mountain to climb to achieve our ultimate goal, but we are just all working as hard as we can to scale it as quickly as we can. This is where it's great to have partners like Infiniti to help us with the task and also bring their experience and insight into the project.
It's hard for me to put it into words. The only thing I would encourage anyone to do is stop by the Infiniti Support Our Paras Racing garage at Donington Park this weekend and see them in action. Believe me, you'll be impressed.
How have you prepared for your debut in the BTCC?
The BTCC is a tough championship to both get in to, and compete in, so over the winter I undertook a very serious fitness campaign with the help of a personal trainer: that has prepared me physically, plus helped shed a further 2kg. Mentally I have for many years visualised racing in the championship for the first time, but I still think when the lights go out on Sunday there will be an enormous rush of nervous excitement.
Acknowledging the step up from Club Touring car racing into the 'Premier League', I have also spent valuable time with a driver tutor and a few sessions with a professional sports coach (a friend's father) to get the 'head edge'. I think no matter what you do, nothing can prepare you enough though.
How difficult was it to sit-out the opening race weekend at Brands Hatch?
Sitting out Brands Hatch was tough for many reasons. Firstly it's my local track, as I live in Surrey 45 mins away; secondly it's the circuit I have had the most poles, most outright wins and most fastest laps on in the Super Touring cars I raced. So when you're confident and you lose your seat for that race it becomes very tough indeed to handle the rush of emotions and disappointment. Hopefully it's not an experience I will need to relive again in my racing career.
How challenging do you expect the step up to the BTCC to be?
It's the BTCC, so no matter how much you probably think you're ready, there's always the unknown. Having raced classic Super Touring cars where we are all owner-drivers of these fantastic machines, we try not to damage them by staying 1-2 cms apart. The BTCC drivers make a car fit into a bicycle-sized hole, so I think when we start mixing it up as we progress through the pack, the physicality of it will be quite challenging to deal with. I just need to learn to give as good as I get.
First time out: what's your expectations for Donington Park?
Essentially, Free Practice 1 will be getting used to the feel of the car, as well as collecting critical data for the engineers to work with. FP2 is where I aim to start nibbling time out of the lap as we prepare for qualifying in the afternoon. Ultimately I am a racer, so I want to do as well as I can. However, being a debutant and not having had the experience from the first race weekend, or testing for that matter, I am looking to finish all three races well, hopefully without drama. If I can break into the top 20 I will pat myself on the back and consider than an achievement for my first weekend.
I have raced at Donington a number of times over the years with the BARC and BRSCC, visiting the podium more than once. My first experience of the circuit was in a RWD Thundersaloon, so I'll be digging deep to retrieve those experiences. Latterly was with my Vauxhall Cavalier and Nissan Primera Super Tourers. For me the circuit's up there with the best of them, alongside Brands Hatch and Oulton Park. I enjoy the sweeping high speed bends combined with the necessary technical precision to nit a decent lap together. Last time out at Donington I broke the Nissan's gearbox and only had the top three gears, yet still managed a podium.
I have the whole team to thank for their total dedication in preparing both Derek's and my Infiniti Q50 race cars for Donington. The Paras are such a tenacious, motivated bunch and no more perfectly illustrated than seeing them working on race cars … our race cars. Eighteen hours a day is a feat for a regular person, let alone one who has suffered injuries, yet nothing stops these guys and nothing phases them. It's just incredible to be a part of, and learn their ethos. One thing I have learned from the Paras recently: always know the job above you and step in when necessary. | {
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} |
Texas, you make me proud! I love my vintage Texas recipe box filled with fabulous recipes like Dutch Apple Cake, three different recipes for Devil's Food Cake, Never Fail Ice Box Rolls, and Boston Cream Pie. This Red Devils Food Cake (from Charis) is so easy and takes basic ingredients you will likely have on hand. If you don't have buttermilk, use lemon juice to sour your milk. You can bake this in two 8-inch or two 9-inch cake pans, a large sheet pan, or pretty much whatever you have on hand. A few notes: you'll add the boiling water and think "what a freaking hot mess" when you look at your bowl of batter. Stir, stir, and stir again. The water will be incorporated and you'll be left with a great, classic chocolate cake batter that rises well and tastes delicious.
The recipe didn't say how long to bake – but I guessed at 30-35 minutes and it worked out just fine, resulting in well baked cakes with a nice amount of spring to them. For the love of baking, however, please grease your pans with generous amount of butter and flour or lay parchment on the the bottom because they have serious potential to stick if you do not. Stuck cakes make me frustrated….
I originally intended to frost this cake with a chocolate icing from an old Hershey's cookbook that has been well used and loved in my family. I royally screwed it up. It called for melting sugar in boiling water and cooking to the soft ball (candy) stage, then pouring this mixture into whipped egg whites and mixing until cool, folding in cocoa powder at the very end. Sounds amazing. Complete disaster. My icing never got firm enough and was like chocolate soup. Round two was a whipped butter and powdered sugar chocolate icing mixed with a bit of heavy cream which worked, thank God, because I was by this point I'd been baking all day and needed some chocolate cake right now. In the end I'd run out of daylight for shooting so apologies for the flash photography of the finished product. But no apologies for the huge wedge of cake I managed to eat as a reward for being in the kitchen and fighting with icing for the better part of the afternoon.
May your cake be wonderful and your icing be firm ~ Enjoy!
Red Devils Food Cake from a vintage Texas recipe box. Chocolate and buttermilk combine to form a classic, chocolate cake.
Add eggs, one at a time. Beat well.
Add vanilla and buttermilk. Stir until incorporated into batter.
In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder.
Add flour mixture to butter mixture and stir well.
Last: add boiling water to batter. Stir well.
Grease and flour cake pan(s). Divide batter equally into pans (if using two). Bake at 350* for 30-35 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.
Cool in pan for about 10 minutes, then remove from pan and cool completely on rack. | {
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} |
68.33% people happy with AP govt : RGS Survey..
68.33% people in Guntur, Krishna & Visakha district's are happy with the various welfare and development schemes of AP govt as per the recent Real Time Governance Society survey. Reports say that different category people responded differently over the schemes while expressing satisfaction. People expressed 80% satisfaction over Sand sales, Anna Amruta Hastam, Mid-day-meals, Balamrutham, NTR medical services, mother & child express, AP fibre net, employment & Chandranna medical centres. AP govt has received average response on some of the schemes, functioning of certain departments and especially from farmers over which CM demanded explanation from collectors. | {
"redpajama_set_name": "RedPajamaC4"
} |
The Delebrities
What do you get when you cross a designer with a celebrity? This year saw the answer.
By Marc Karimzadeh Plus Icon
Marc Karimzadeh
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"I got Roberto's cigar!" a young woman shouted during Roberto Cavalli's appearance in New York to launch his line for Hennes & Mauritz in November. "It fell down when he stood here. I waited until he walked away, then picked it up and put it in a plastic Ziploc bag. I'm going to sell it on eBay. It's open to all bidders."
View the full coverage of WWD Year in Fashion 2007 at www.wwd.com/yearfashion07
When a designer's cigar butt is as desirable as some of his clothes, you know that strange times have taken hold of the industry. More so than ever, 2007 was the year that all lines blurred between designers and celebrities, with a continued crossover between the two, at all price levels. While some designers like Cavalli and Vera Wang were treated like movie stars at their lower-priced launches, every celebrity worth his or her salt, from Madonna to Victoria Beckham, has taken a stab at designing clothes. If anything, all the activity furthered the notion of the "massification" of fashion, with exclusive designer names available at accessible prices and well-known Hollywood names leaving their mark on department store fixtures.
"It's all happening because there is too much going on in fashion," said David Wolfe, a creative director at the Doneger Group. "The consumer is desperate for some guidance to sort out the crowded retail landscape. Because the media tells us so much about celebrities, people have an idea of what their image means in terms of fashion, and if they can connect a name to an image and merchandise, it makes shopping so much easier."
Here are just some of the big names attached to deals that happened this year:
-Paris Hilton — who later in the year was arrested and jailed in a lengthy soap opera — kicked things off with the news of contemporary sportswear and lingerie lines, slated for a fall retail launch. The sportswear is licensed to BBC Apparel Group Inc., and the lingerie is licensed to SBH Intimates Inc. and includes mesh baby-doll nighties, corsets, panties and bras.
-Jennifer Lopez also widened her reach in January when she unveiled designs for a junior clothing line called justsweet, which complements the contemporary Sweetface line and replaced JLO by Jennifer Lopez at retail. Lopez showcased the designs during New York Fashion Week in September.
-In February, Victoria "Posh Spice" Beckham lifted the veil on her lifestyle empire with dVb, starting off with a line of sunglasses, which was followed in May with a collection of slim-cut denim pants. September saw the launch in the U.S. of fragrances with her husband, soccer star David Beckham. The jeans, from $285 to $325 at suggested retail, featured details such as contrast stitching, colored zippers and purple pocket linings, while the sunglasses, which sell at a suggested price of $280 on average, were mostly oversize. By the end of the year, Posh would be back onstage in a different way, via a Spice Girls reunion tour.
-In March, H&M launched the M by Madonna line, her first full collection for the retailer after designing a capsule line of tracksuits in 2006. The collection featured everything from kimono-style dresses, tailored jackets and knee-length hipster shorts to accessories such as lace-up boots, skinny leather belts and sunglasses. The one-season collection was available in H&M stores in 26 countries. (There has even been talk of Madonna launching a fragrance, though that would not be with H&M.) That same month, the Swedish retail chain also tapped Kylie Minogue as the muse of a new beachwear line called H&M Loves Kylie.
-Retail chain Steve & Barry's took a bite out of the celebrity designer field when it unveiled a deal with Sarah Jessica Parker in March. The line, called Bitten and inspired by Parker's personal closet, launched at the chain's 200-plus stores in June, offering apparel, swimwear, costume jewelry, handbags, belts, sunglasses and shoes at $19.98 or less. In May, the Port Washington, N.Y.-based chain disclosed its deal with actress Amanda Bynes for an apparel and accessories collection called Dear, which launched in August. Like Bitten, pieces sold for $19.98 or less.
Also in August, Steve & Barry's introduced a special collection with Venus Williams called EleVen, which hit stores with sneakers, velour tracksuits, pleated tennis skirts, fleece jackets and graphic T-shirts. The under-$19.98 line launched at retail in November.
-In April, Gap unveiled the Gap Design Editions, featuring a collection by Doo-Ri Chung, Thakoon Panichgul and Rodarte's Kate and Laura Mulleavy. The four emerging designers offered their take on Gap's classic white shirt, which retailed in select Gap stores for $68 to $88. The limited edition project was an offshoot of Gap's partnership with the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund, and came with a marketing initiative that included a striking black-and-white print and outdoor advertising campaign shot by Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin and featuring the designers with Stella Tennant, Liya Kebede and Carmen Kass. The shirts were also featured on Vogue's May cover.
-British chain Topshop jumped on the celeb bandwagon in May when a long-term collection designed by Kate Moss hit its stores in the U.K. and was greeted by a mob scene of fans and fashion lovers. The Kate Moss for Topshop collection is inspired by the model's personal wardrobe, with such pieces as racer-back minidresses, cotton tank tops in Crayola colors and denim HotPants. The collection was also sold at Collette in Paris, Corso Como in Milan and Barneys New York, bringing Moss' design sensibility to each fashion capital.
-Vera Wang entered the moderate market with the Very Vera lifestyle brand, which is exclusive to Kohl's and hit the retailer's nearly 1,000 doors in the first week of September. It featured such looks as a brocade car coat for $138 at retail and a silky dress for $128, while the lion's share of the line is available for $30 to $70.
-That same month, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen unveiled Elizabeth and James, a contemporary sportswear line named after the Olsens' younger sister, Elizabeth, and older brother, James. The partnership with L'Koral Industries launched at stores including Bergdorf Goodman, Neiman Marcus and Intermix for fall.
-June saw the arrival of Sienna Miller on the celebrity fashion circuit. In conjunction with Carlos Ortega, the Spanish entrepreneur who owns companies such as Pepe Jeans, Miller and her older sister, Savannah, launched the Twenty8Twelve contemporary clothing line. Fall's line included printed silk dresses, denim jeans, cropped tuxedo jackets, canvas trenches and leather bomber jackets, at wholesale price points between $24 and $177. It sold exclusively at Bergdorf Goodman in New York, Neiman Marcus in Los Angeles and Holt Renfrew in Canada in the first season.
-Also in June, Ashley Judd jumped into the celebrity designer pool when she inked a deal for a collection with moderate-price retailer Goody's Family Clothing Inc. The three Judd-designed labels — AJ; Love, Ashley, and Ashley Judd — feature such looks as organic and knit T-shirts, sweaters, blazers, blouses, cardigans and denim. And rapper-actress Eve relaunched her young contemporary "Fetish" sportswear collection that included leather jackets, oversize cozy sweaters, high-waisted denim jeans and skirts, leather pants, wool plaid shorts and a few logo T-shirts, from about $50 to $300 wholesale.
-Cavalli unveiled the designs for his H&M guest gig in November. In typical Cavalli manner, the 40-piece line was glamorous and festive with animal prints, Lurex, ink-blue denim, fake fur and metallic accents. It was available at 200 H&M stores worldwide, including 10 in the U.S., with prices from $59 to $198, and supported by an advertising campaign that Terry Richardson photographed.
-Throughout 2007, Target continued on its quest to bring fashion to the masses, offering collections by Proenza Schouler, Patrick Robinson, Libertine and Erin Fetherston under its Go International initiative. Each collaboration included heavy TV and print advertising, which helped raise the designers' profiles in markets their upscale runway clothes wouldn't necessarily reach.
-Similarly, Japanese chain Uniqlo brought in the likes of Alice Roi, Phillip Lim, Lutz & Patmos, Jones and Maruyam to create special limited edition lines for its stores.
"It's a reality that's not going away, but it runs the risk of having some backlash if there is too much," Robert Burke, founder of fashion consultancy Robert Burke Associates, said of the "delebrity" phenomenon. "The consumer wants to know that there is some authenticity to the collaborations. If it's not authentic and not genuine, the consumer can sense that and it will not be popular."
Burke said these celebrity lines are appealing because turning an unknown name into a brand can be a lengthy and expensive prospect. "Introducing a celebrity collaboration can offer a much faster growth and a wider range of distribution," he noted. On the flip side, he added, guest collaborations like Karl Lagerfeld or Cavalli at H&M can help the designer gain recognition and visibility.
"It often boosts sales in their fragrance or other classifications because of this name recognition," Burke said. "Cavalli probably got $20 million-plus in marketing exposure and he got it on someone else's budget."
Michael Fink, vice president and women's fashion director at Saks Fifth Avenue, said, "This idea of fashion for the mainstream is intriguing. I love the concept that current fashion deals are reaching a part of the public it used to take seasons to filter down to."
As for celebrity lines, Fink said at a retailer like Saks, it is irrelevant whether the designer is a celebrity or not as long as the product is well-made and addresses a missing niche in a woman's wardrobe. And that trend could soon run out of steam.
"How many celebrities are left that are not the new blonde of the day?" he said, laughing. "I think we are running out of celebrities. Too many are interchangeable." | {
"redpajama_set_name": "RedPajamaCommonCrawl"
} |
Q: connecting to clickhouse in R I am new to clickhouse. I am trying to set connection in the following way:
library(DBI)
con <- dbConnect(clickhouse::clickhouse(),
host="localhost",
port=8123L,
user="default",
password="")
but I get this error:
Error in .local(drv, ...) : dbIsValid(con) is not TRUE
I have tested the authentication and they are correct. I also check the connection with dbCanconnect and I get this error:
"fail to connect: Operation now in progress"
Could you please help on that?
| {
"redpajama_set_name": "RedPajamaStackExchange"
} |
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New growth alliance in the sleep segment: Waterland acquires RUF|Betten and BRUNO from NORD Holding
Investment group Waterland Private Equity ("Waterland") has acquired RUF|Betten and BRUNO. The company is among the leading suppliers of premium beds in the German market. The seller is NORD Holding. RUF and BRUNO's current management will remain with the companies in their usual function. The transaction is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2022 and is subject to the usual antitrust approval by the German regulatory authorities; no further financial details have been released.
Based in the town of Rastatt in Baden-Württemberg, RUF|Betten was established in 1926 and currently has around 200 employees. RUF has a comprehensive offering of box spring beds and upholstered beds and entered the sofa bed market in 2021. The company manufactures over 30,000 high-quality beds each year. The long-established company specialises in stationary furniture sales and prides itself on a high level of individualisation, modern design, and top-class product quality.
Headquartered in Berlin, BRUNO is a direct-to-consumer company (D2C) that specialises in online direct sales of high-quality designer box spring beds and sofa beds. In just a few years, BRUNO has successfully built a leading market position in the D2C bedroom furniture segment in Germany. BRUNO joined the group at the beginning of 2020.
The annual turnover of the group amounts to EUR 60 million. With the support of the new owner and buy-&-build investor Waterland, the group intends to continue its successful growth trajectory and further accelerate it in the medium term through strategic acquisitions. The focus is on continued internationalisation as well as the expansion of the direct-to-consumer division.
Discussing the many years of collaboration, Ronald Grott, member of the management at NORD Holding, notes: "We are very proud of the growth and success that the RUF Group has achieved in the last five years. This investment is an outstanding example of NORD Holding's strategy of supporting high-quality companies from the DACH region and management teams in order to expand nationally and internationally and foster growth through transformative M&A. We are confident that RUF and BRUNO are in good, experienced hands with Waterland."
"Thanks to the support from NORD Holding, we have enjoyed outstanding growth in recent years. Together with Waterland, we want to raise this growth to the next level. We are looking forward to the collaboration and to breaking new and innovative ground", says Heiner Goossens, Managing Director of RUF|Betten.
"We believe that this new partnership opens up further value creation opportunities, particularly in the D2C area. We are looking forward to working with Waterland to strengthen the BRUNO and RUF brands even further in the years ahead", adds Dr. Felix Baer, BRUNO's Managing Director.
"RUF|Betten has a wide, loyal customer base, ambitious staff, and experienced management. With BRUNO, the group is also exceptionally well positioned in the D2C segment and has consistently managed to gain market share in recent years", explains Dr. Carsten Rahlfs, Managing Partner at Waterland. "We intend to build on this growth trajectory through organic drivers as well as further acquisitions in the years ahead. We are looking forward to a successful partnership."
Austrian Private Equity & Venture Capital Organisation (AVCO)
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Fringe benefits like FSAs can be confusing, but they don't have to be.
An employer is the provider of a fringe benefit, even if a third party provides the actual benefit. Fringe benefits are taxable unless they are specifically excluded from an employee's income.
Here, let's take a deeper dive into the most common fringe benefits that can be excluded from income.
Below, we've outlined some common employee fringe benefits. For more information, please review IRS Publication 15-B, Employer's Tax Guide to Fringe Benefits.
While the following information is current for 2018, the IRS changes the exclusion limits annually. Be sure to double check with a tax professional to be sure you're using the most up-to-date information.
In our previous article, take a look at the section entitled: Classifying an Employee as a Non-Employee For Specific Fringe Benefits. There, you'll find more information about the various types of ineligible employees defined by the IRS. We hope this helps you navigate which employees are exempt from which fringe benefits.
What it is: Accident & health plans. Also applies to payments made to an employee under an accident plan.
Who's exempt from income tax withholding: Most employees, with the exception of greater than 2% shareholders of an S-corporation.
What it is: Self-insured plans that do not favor highly compensated employees. Includes medical care reimbursement plans.
Who's exempt from income tax withholding: Most employees, with the exception of greater than 2% shareholders of an S-corporation, provided that the benefit does not discriminate in favor of highly compensated employees.
What it is: This is an award that is given to an employee for either length of service or a safety achievement. Cannot include cash or intangible property such as vacations, meals, lodging, tickets, stocks, or securities. Limited to a value of $1,600 per year. See chapter 2 of IRS Publication 535, Business Expenses, for more details.
What it is: An employer may pay or reimburse adopted expenses an employee incurs. An employer shouldn't pay more than 5% of its payments during the year for shareholders or owners (or their spouses or dependents) and the benefit should not favor highly compensated employee. All payments must be reported on Form W-2 in Box 12 with Code "T". For more information see Instructions for Form 8839, Qualified Adoption Expenses.
What it is: An employer can provide athletic facility to its employees tax-free provided that (i) the facility must be located on premises the employer owns or leases, and (ii) it is operated by the employer exclusively for the use of current or retired employees, their spouses, and dependent children. Partners in a partnership are treated as employees for this benefit.
Who's exempt from income tax withholding: All employees, as well as former employees, partners and widows or widowers of former employees, provided it satisfies the necessary requirements.
What it is: Publication 15-B states that "a de minimis benefit is any property or service you provide to an employee that has so little value (taking into account how frequently you provide similar benefits to your employees) that accounting for it would be unreasonable or administratively impracticable." Cash or cash equivalents (such as gift cards) are never excludable. Specific types of de minimis benefits are included elsewhere in this list.
Who's exempt from income tax withholding: All employees, provided it satisfies the necessary requirements.
What it is: An employer can pay for or provide dependent care assistance to employees, exempt up to certain limits, $5,000 ($2,500 for married employee filing separate return) per year. Value of all payments must be reported in Box 10 of Form W-2. Excess payments must be included in Boxes 1, 3 and 5. The benefit may not discriminate in favor of highly compensated employees.
Who's exempt from income tax withholding: All employees, provided that the benefit does not discriminate in favor of highly compensated employees and it satisfies the necessary requirements.
What it is: An employer may provide educational assistance to an employee up to $5,250 per year; if you provide an employee with assistance exceeding $5,250, you must include the value of these benefits as wages, unless the benefits are working condition benefits. Graduate courses may also satisfy this exclusion. Educational assistance may include the cost of books, equipment, fees, supplies, and tuition. Employer must have a qualified written plan. Value of benefit is based on when a course begins, not when the benefit is paid. The benefit may not discriminate in favor of highly compensated employees.
What it is: This exclusion applies to a price reduction given to employees on property or services you offer to customers. The discount may not be more than the gross profit percentage times the price charged to non-employee customers or not more than 20% of the price charged non-employee customers. The benefit may not discriminate in favor of highly compensated employees.
What it is: There are three kinds of stock options—incentive stock options, employee stock purchase plan options, and nonstatutory (nonqualified) stock options. Different rules apply to each, so it's best to check sections 83, 421, 422, and 423 of the Internal Revenue Code and their related regulations for more information about employee stock options.
Who's exempt from income tax withholding: It depends on a number of factors.
What it is: De minimis fringe only if there are noncompensatory and substantial business reasons for providing the phone.
Who's exempt from income tax withholding: Often employer-provided cell phones will not satisfy the noncompensatory business purpose requirement, so the value of the personal use of a cell phone will be considered taxable.
What it is: An employer can generally exclude up to $50,000 of the cost of group-term life insurance. Excess value of coverage is subject to federal income tax and FICA, but not subject to FUTA. The value of the excess coverage must be reported on the Form W-2 in Boxes 1, 3, and 5 and in Box 12 with Code C. For more information on how to calculate the value of the coverage, see Table 2-2 of IRS Publication 15-B.
Who's exempt from income tax withholding: Most employees, provided that the benefit satisfies the necessary requirements, with the exception of greater than 2% shareholders of an S-corporation.
What it is: Employer contributions up to specified dollar limits are exempt from federal income tax withholding, FICA taxes, and FUTA. (For 2018, employers can contribute up to $3,450 for self-only coverage under an HDHP or $6,850 for family coverage under an HDHP to a qualified individual's HSA. Individuals who are age 55 or older may contribute an additional $1,000 a year.) For more information refer to IRS Publication 969, Health Savings Accounts and Other Tax-Favored Health Plans.
Related Article: What is a Health Savings Account? Your HSA Questions, Answered.
What it is: The value of employer provided lodging can be excluded only if (1) it is furnished on business premises, (2) it is furnished for the employer's convenience, and (3) the employee must accept it as a condition of employment.
What it is: Meal or meal money that has so little value that accounting for it would be unreasonable. Includes such things as coffee, doughnuts, soft drinks, and occasional meals that enable an employee to work overtime. The benefit may not discriminate in favor of highly compensated employees. Even non-de minimis meals may be exempt if they are furnished on the business premises and they are furnished for the employer's convenience.
Who's exempt from income tax withholding: For non-de minimis meals, most employees with the exception of greater than 2% shareholders of an S-corporation.
What it is: Services that are offered to customers in the ordinary course of business that can be offered to employees without incurring any substantial additional costs. Includes excess capacity services, such as airline, bus, or train tickets; hotel rooms; or telephone services provided free or at a reduced price to employees working in those lines of business. The benefit may not discriminate in favor of highly compensated employees.
What it is: You may exclude from an employee's wages the value of any retirement planning advice or information you provide to your employee or their spouse if you maintain a qualified retirement plan. Does not include services for tax preparation, accounting, legal, or brokerage services.
What it is: An employer can provide qualified parking, transit passes, and/or rides in a commuter highway vehicle. In 2018, there is an exclusion for transportation benefits up to $260 a month. See IRS Publication 15-B for details.
Who's exempt from income tax withholding: Most employees with the exception of greater than 2% shareholders of an S-corporation.
What it is: An educational institution can exclude tuition reductions for qualified employees, dependents, and those retired or on disability. Exempt if for undergraduate education (or graduate education if the employee performs teaching or research activities).
What it is: Property and services provided to an employee so that the employee can perform their job.
Understanding the employment tax treatment of fringe benefits may not be totally straightforward, but we hope this overview gives you a good place to start. Again, it's always a good idea to consult with a tax professional to make sure you're doing everything correctly! | {
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Dear Miss Manners: During the trip, my husband and I decided to stay for the night. I called a large chain hotel for half price. As I spoke, the clerk asked to put me on hold. It's been a long time, but I thought he had to wait for someone at the counter.
A few minutes later, we arrived at the hotel. The same woman was at the desk. In the middle of our discussion, he apologized and went behind. It was, once again, a very long wait, and when it finally came out, I asked if there was something wrong.
"I'm sick," he said. I asked her if she meant her stomach. Was. I asked if it was contagious, and she said, "I hope not." I was horrified and withdrew from the counter, saying I did not want to get sick. He said he understood and asked his manager to wait for me, then he came back to the back again. I waited and waited and no one came out. I guess he was throwing up again.
I told my husband I just wanted to leave. He was very annoyed with me, but we left. He said I was terribly rude and embarrassed about the way I reacted physically.
My main concern was not to capture what he had. In addition to being right in front of her, she would have managed my credit card, the room keys, the pen and the documents that I would have to handle myself.
Was I rude? I did not want to get sick. How else should I handle the situation?
With at least a semblance of polite concern for the person who is actually ill before being consumed with the remote probability of his illness.
Dear Miss Manners: What does "elegant shades of white" mean for formal wear?
That the bride is the very unusual combination dictatorial, but eager to be overshadowed.
On the one hand, since it is the thought that matters, the recipient may want to know the amount of thought ("It was so kind of you!"). On the other hand, such revelations can tarnish the gift and come out like crass fishing for thanks.
Although there is a direct inquiry ("How long did it take to make it?"), Is it permissible to respond directly or is the deflection ("Oh, was not it a problem, really") the favorite answer?
"Oh, I had so much fun find / sort / cut out this gift for you. I hope you like it. "If you ask for more details, Miss Manners will allow you to indulge modestly, indulge, not luxuriate.
The new Miss Manners columns are published Monday through Saturday at washingtonpost.com/advice. You can send questions to Miss Manners on her website, missmanners.com. | {
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TOURISM SPECIALIST In assuming the challenging office of Director of Tourism, Robert Stephens came to the Jamaica Tourist Board with optimism, the drive to achieve and the belief that under his direction the organization could make considerable strides in developing the industry. He brought to the post considerable experience in marketing, management and an understanding of the power of information and technology and the difference that all of these combined, could make to the development of tourism in Jamaica. The closure of Eastern Air Lines and Pan American Airways, the Persian Gulf War, increased competition and the United States Travel Advisory issued on Jamaica in 1991, were just some of the obstacles that the Robert Stephens administration had to overcome. Never one to sit on the sidelines, however, he motivated his staff and took action, by launching an aggressive product improvement and marketing campaign, in an attempt to breathe new life into a besieged industry. Conscious of the power of the media, he sought to convert obstacles into opportunities and mounted a focused advertising campaign, to take advantage of a growing global television audience. He not only marketed the product in major traditional hubs such as North America and Europe, but boldly ventured into Latin America as well as Japan, a country already captivated by Jamaica's music. Robert Stephens understood the importance of the human element in the marketing mix and used familiarization tours, press trips and trade shows to break down the barriers of distance, culture and negative perceptions. These efforts were rewarded with a 60 per cent increase in air seats from Europe, growing interest in the island from Japan and Latin America, and an overall increase in arrivals for 1991 over 1990, Jamaica's best year up to that time. He will long be remembered for his emphasis on community involvement and his attempt to motivate people at all levels of society, to support the industry under the banner of the "Tourism Coalition". Despite the turbulence of the industry both locally and internationally, when he demitted office in 1992, Jamaica was firmly established on a growth path. The Jamaica Tourist Board honours Robert Stephens for the zeal and application which he brought to his office and his invaluable service to the industry. A tourism specialist consultant for the HEART NTA, Robert Stephens boasts over 30 years in senior man¬agement and consulting in Jamaica, Jordan, Ghana, Nigeria and the Caribbean. He is the conceptualizer of the Port Royal Heritage Tourism Development Project; a council member of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA) and a director of the Kingston City Centre Improvement Company. In the Gleaner article entitled 'Robert Stephens is… Boss of the Year', dated Wednesday, April 13, 2005, pages 10 & 11, ROBERT 'Bobby' Stephens copped prizes valued at over $250,000 and the coveted 2005-2006 All-Island Boss of the Year Award.
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May 16, 2015 at 4:56 pm EDT | by Michael K. Lavers
Mariela Castro leads LGBT march
Mariela Castro Espín, daughter of Cuban President Raúl Castro, speaks in Las Tunas, Cuba, on May 16, 2015, during events to commemorate the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)
LAS TUNAS, Cuba — The daughter of Cuban President Raúl Castro on Saturday led a march through the provincial city of Las Tunas to commemorate the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia.
Mariela Castro Espín, who directs the National Center for Sexual Education (CENESEX), was among those who held a giant Pride flag as they and hundreds of others walked towards the city's main square.
Marchers chanted "Yes to Socialism, no to homophobia," and other slogans that included "rights to all people" and "Las Tunas is present." Members of Colmanita de Balcón, a group of young dancers and singers from Las Tunas, also took part in the march alongside a number of stilt walkers holding Pride flags and a group of local residents who covered themselves with a clay-like substance.
Two activists, including a member of CENESEX's Network of Young People for Health and Sexual Rights (Red de Jóvenes por la Salud y los Derechos Sexuales in Spanish) at the end of the march placed a wreath of flowers and palm fronds from the organization under a statue of Vicente García, a leading figure in the 10 Years' War from 1868-1878 during which Cubans fought for independence from Spain, that noted its events commemorating the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia.
Mariela Castro paid homage to García in a brief ceremony.
"Long live our martyrs," she proclaimed to the crowd gathered around the statute. "Long live the revolution!"
Mariela Castro during a speech to her supporters highlighted the ban against discrimination in the workplace based on sexual orientation the country's lawmakers approved in late 2013. Mariela Castro, who is a member of the Cuban Parliament, voted against it because it did not include trans-specific protections.
"The laws are not sufficient to guarantee in full plurality the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and transsexuals in our workplaces," she said. "The processes of sensitization, education must be articulated positively for Cubans who experience discrimination."
Mariela Castro added her father's government has pledged to include "our citizens in all forms of social integration."
"We do not want exclusion," she said. "We are working for the social participation of everyone. We want unity. We are fighting for unity."
Mariela Castro left the event without speaking to the Blade and reporters from a handful of other foreign media outlets who were covering it. CENESEX supporters who took part in an information fair after her speech and the march were quick to applaud the Cuban president's daughter and what they insist are her efforts to advance the Communist island's LGBT rights movement.
Marilyn Ávila, a trans woman from Las Tunas who is a member of Proyecto HSH, which works to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS in the country, described Mariela Castro to the Blade as "the best." She said that CENESEX provides her organization with support and other assistance.
"They support us in everything," said Ávila. "She (Mariela Castro) is an incredible person, as a human being."
The Las Tunas events occurred a week after another march took place in Havana to commemorate the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia on Sunday. Pastors from the U.S. and Canada blessed the relationships of 20 Cuban same-sex couples during the event, even though gays and lesbians lack marriage rights on the island.
Rev. Troy Perry, founder of the Metropolitan Community Churches who led a delegation to Cuba earlier this month, was among those who attended the Havana event. He too praised Mariela Castro during a telephone interview with the Blade shortly after returning to his Los Angeles home.
"Mariela Castro as far as the gay community goes, they all had nothing but good things to say about her," said Perry. "She is a star in the gay community, just like I knew she would be."
Cuban LGBT advocates who are not affiliated with CENESEX have repeatedly criticized Mariela Castro over the number of people they say have received free sex reassignment surgeries under the country's national health care system and other issues. U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), a Cuban-born Republican who vocally supports LGBT rights, also remains sharply critical of her and her father's government and the process to normalize relations between it and the U.S.
Cristal, a trans woman from Havana who is a member of the Trans Network of Cuba (Red Trans de Cuba in Spanish), which is also affiliated with CENESEX, said as she spoke to the Blade after Mariela Castro's speech that any suggestion she works on LGBT-specific issues in Cuba "for money is not true."
"It's absurd," said Cristal. "She has her husband. She has her life, her children and she has many bad things to worry about."
Participants in events to commemorate the annual International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia in Las Tunas, Cuba, on May 16, 2015, carry a large rainbow flag through the streets of the provincial capital. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)
A group of residents from Las Tunas, Cuba, take part in a march in their provincial capital on May 16, 2015, to commemorate the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)
bisexualCubagayInternational Day Against Homophobia and TransphobialesbianMariela CastroNational Center for Sexual EducationtransgenderTroy Perry
Michael K. Lavers
Michael K. Lavers is the international news editor of the Washington Blade. Follow Michael | {
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Written by Mable Starr, photos by Nathaniel Chang
Bingley Music Live: Bingley, West Yorkshire
Bingley Music Live, or HASHTAGBINGLEY! as the very enthusiastic teenagers in my train carriage screeched on the way towards the site, has become firmly established as a key player on the end of summer festival calendar. Punching well above its weight in terms of music to location ratio, a friendly crowd of locals and visitors from further beyond enjoyed a fantastic weekend of music and weather that provided a shot of Dutch courage to those requiring one last blow-out before returning to the post-summer routine.
The full weekend line up held its own on each day and managed to provide something for everyone. From the families with children in tow, teenies who had escaped curfew for the weekend right through to the hardcore festival lags and musicados of all ages, genuinely excited by the line-up, the delicate balance of appealing to the punters whilst providing a credible music base was definitely struck this year.
The big name headliners, as always draw in the ticket sales, but the lesser-known bands provide the atmosphere that keeps everyone happy on-site. The location of the second, Discovery stage, directly next to the ticket entrance provided a fantastic and upbeat introduction to the thousands streaming through the gates all weekend.
Coupled with the music were the additional facilities that every festival is now judged for – rightly or wrongly. However, with junior reviewers in tow, it was a good opportunity to see the festival from a smaller point of view. The glade-like children's area was absolutely fantastic and provided a thoughtful mix for children of all age groups to let off steam and enjoy the outdoor space. With all activities provided for free, thanks to Bradford Council, children could learn circus skills with friendly facilitators, get brave on the inflatable challenges or build dens with 'real' tools. Counterfeit's junior reviewers, already spoilt by the never-ending sweet supply in the press tent declared it BRILLIANT and demanded our hard-working photographer spend the best part of an hour documenting theirs and their friends escapades.
But, back to the music. As the Friday after-work crowds streamed in and the aroma of pizza filled the early evening air, beautiful vocals from Rae Morris encompassed the Discovery Stage, while over on the main stage The Beat set the tone with a tribute to Joe Strummer with Rock the Casbah. With which, the mood was set. As the sun dipped over the tree tops surrounding the main festival arena, John Power , fronting Cast with the enthusiasm and bounce he displayed in 1995, announced he was voting for Jeremy Corbyn to great cheers and launched into the beautiful Walkaway. A beautiful moment that felt very special.
The excitement for James was evident and Tim Booth and crew lived up to expectations. A born in Bradford boy, Booth embraced the crowd as they in turn embraced his vocals – both reaching higher and higher crescendos as the set went on. James finished the night on a real high, echoed by the singing throughout the crowds as they spilled out at the end of the night.
Saturday's line up was targeted at a younger audience, with excitement towards Ella Eyre and Labrinth growing throughout the day. At points, the excitement in front of the stage was bigger in between sets as the DJs hyped up the crowd into a frenzy.
Ella Eyre did not disappoint. A lively set filled with her distinctive soulful vocals coupled with a fresh, dance undertone pleased the crowd enormously and somehow led seamlessly into Ash's set, at their final festival of the summer. Looking and sounding as angsty as their 90s heyday, they took the audience with them through a punk pop tour of their classics, with Jack Named the Planets and Kung Fu as particular highlights. In a nod to their music and geographical roots, a Teenage kicks cover went down well with all ages.
Labrinth as headliner took to the stage with aplomb and gave a soulful and melodic finish to the night. His vocals carried beautifully across the natural bowl that is Myrtle Park, with a flowing set that provided funk, soul and dance to a crowd who were absolutely up for it.
Sunday was unofficially the hot day, officially the superheroes day. Walking onto site surrounded by Wonderwomen, Supermen and assorted Power Rangers gave a fun, upbeat atmosphere that can sometimes be lacking on the final day of a festival. That's not to say the hangovers weren't in full force. Many took full advantage of the sun to lay and enjoy the music and the echoey vocals of Nothing but Thieves provided the perfect soundtrack, but it wasn't until Peter Hook took to the stage that the hangovers lifted and the rave began again. Grown men running to the front of the crowd, some with children in tow to experience Joy Division Classics such as Transmission and Love Will Tear us Apart was emotional. The whole field dancing along to Blue Monday was just fantastic. Hook himself was on fine form – appearing to love it all as much as the crowd loved him. A contender for a returning headliner in future years perhaps?
In the theme of the previous two nights, Super Furry Animals carried off the 90s revival with style – musically and sartorially. Long-time fans were not to be disappointed, whilst the newer crowd were well introduced to the SFA classics, finishing the weekend on a real high.
In addition, the periphery stuff that often gets ignored added to a real sense of how special this festival is. The disabled facilities were outstanding, with excellent viewing and access support, as were all staff and crew on site. From security on the gates to Bradford Council staff in the play area, everyone was friendly, enthusiastic and completely part of the event.
Local festivals have a tough balance to strike. Putting on a high quality event that pleases the many whilst maintaining music credibility is tougher than it seems. This year, Bingley Music Live achieved it with ease, with the atmosphere all weekend and the diversity of the crowd speaking volumes.
A real end of summer treat.
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Warragul is a town in Victoria, Australia, 102 kilometres east-southeast of Melbourne. Warragul lies between the Strzelecki Ranges to the south and the Mount Baw Baw Plateau of the Great Dividing Range to the north. The town is named after an Aboriginal word meaning "wild dog". | {
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Capstone Law offers the highest level of expertise in a broad range of business matters. Our client base consists of entrepreneurs and small to midsize businesses at all stages of maturity. We represent many successful companies through their life-cycle, from forming the business entity to helping it grow and thrive to advising it and its principals in connection with a sale or succession to the next generation. Weekes Law business attorneys bring extensive legal and business experience to address our clients' legal and practical business needs. As a result, our role often expands beyond that of a lawyer to that of general business advisor and counselor for the companies and individuals we represent.
Capstone Law handles all types of contracts and transactions from the simple preparation of annual meeting votes to the drafting of more complex documents including licensing, supply, and lease agreements. Our attorneys negotiate stock and asset sales and acquisitions and handle the real estate needs of the business from leasing to the purchase and sale of commercial property. We facilitate our clients' relationships with lenders and accountants, who are a critical part of the service team, and strive to deal proactively with the issues, large and small that come from running a business in today's economy.
Our Utah Business Attorney can help you take your first step to securing your business with an Free Evaluation today!
We have extensive contract negotiation, drafting, and review experiences in a wide array of subjects.
Starting or winding down a business? We can take you through the legal process.
Business relations occasionally break down and a third-party is necessary to resolve the dispute. This can be either through mediation, arbitration or litigation. We can help you through any disputes. | {
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Open Studio | Metalwerx, Inc.
Our studio is your studio!
Open Studio is offered to students and local artists who would like access to our fully equipped classroom. It is a perfect time to finish up projects and use our specialized equipment including rolling mills, torches, hydraulic press, enameling supplies, etc.
This program is available when there are no classes going on in the main studio. Availability is listed at the bottom of this page AND on our online calendar. First time registrants can apply by filling out our web application below. The cost is $10 per hour and normally purchased 5 or 10 hour blocks. There is a one-time maintenance fee of $50, payable when purchasing the first block. Once registered, students can sign up for a specific time slot by giving us a call or sending an email at least 24 hours in advance.
Monitored Open Studio is open to any student who is enrolled in or has completed at least one metalsmithing course. This is a time to work independently on projects, but there will be a monitor in the room to help people find tools and ensure safe studio practices.
Advanced Open Studio is unmonitored. It is for experienced students to work autonomously with access to specialized tools and equipment with which they are familiar. Participants must have intermediate level skills and be comfortable using with a torch. Please get in touch with us if you have questions about pre-requisites.
Please briefly describe your skill level (beginner, intermediate, advanced) and metalworking experience. | {
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1-Day New York City Deluxe Tour from New York
Tour code: 255-1078
From USD $140
Depart from: New York, NY; Flushing, NY
Visit New York (Charging Bull, Hudson Yards, Statue of Liberty Cruise, Trinity Church, United Nations, Wall Street).
Elite Tour with no more than 14 guests
2-hour MOMA tour including admission ticket
Included Liberty Cruise Admission
Visit the United Nations Headquarters
Today, we will embark on a tour of New York City. We will visit the One World Observatory as the first stop. Then we will take the Statue of Liberty Cruise, and outside visit the Hudson Yards Vessel, Trinity Church. We will go to the Wall Street and take photo of Charging Bull. After that, we will also go to the United Nations Headquarters and visit the renowned MOMA and the the Fifth Avenue.
Duration: Approx. 1 Hour 30 Minutes
Hudson Yards Hudson Yards is one of the largest real estate development projects in the United States, a "city in the city" that rises in the bustling capital of Manhattan. It is called the "New Future City" and may be the next largest in New York.
Trinity Church (Passing By) Built in the mid-1800s, Trinity Church (also called St. Paul's Chapel) is the oldest public building that is in continuous use in NYC. The current church is the third on this site; the first Trinity Church was built in 1698.
Wall Street This famous street in New York City's Financial District has become synonymous with American financial enterprises. It is also the home of the New York Stock Exchange, and has been (or still is) the location of several other exchanges.
Duration: Approx. 20 Minutes
Charging Bull (Passing By) This bronze sculpture that sits at the northern tip of New York's Bowling Green Park is ready to strike! It was commissioned to represent the "strength and power of the American people" after the stock market crashed in 1987.
United Nations This building in New York City has served as the global headquarters of the United Nations since 1952. The area has extraterritoriality status, meaning it is technically not bound by the laws of New York or even the United States.
Guests must have valid passport or ID to enter United Nations. If it is closed, outside visit only.
Museum of Modern Art The MoMA is one of the most visited museums in the world, attracting over 3 million visitors per year. The impressive collection that it houses includes works by Pollock, Dali, van Gogh, Picasso, among others.
Fifth Avenue One of the most famous shopping areas in the world-- and one of the most expensive-- New York City's Fifth Avenue cuts across Manhattan and hold some of its most famous landmarks and event centers.
Location: Flushing, NY
Address: 13330 39th Ave, Flushing, NY 11354 (Asian Jewels Seafood Restaurant - Flushing, NY)
Departure: 7:00am
Return: 8:30pm
Address: 229 W 43rd Street, New York, NY 10036
*Return time is an estimate and varies based on traffic and weather conditions.
Please arrive at pick-up location 15 min earlier to check-in.
Statue of Liberty Cruise admission ticket
MOMA admission ticket
All meals and drinks during the trip, but the tour guide will arrange for.
A mandatory service fees (Minimum $10.00/day per passenger ). This should be paid in cash.
Regardless of reason, cancellations result in costly charges from our travel and hotel providers covering penalties and fees incurred by canceling confirmed and pending bookings. Therefore, cancellation penalties and or fees will apply. The time of cancellation will be determined when notice is received and confirmed by our office. Notice of cancellation must be made directly to TakeTours by email or through webmail at Contact Us .
21 days or more prior to departure - 10% of the total purchase amount.
Within 7 days prior to departure or no show- 100% of the total purchase amount.
Trips require a minimum number of participants to avoid cancellation. We reserve the right to cancel a schedule trip to fully refund affected customers although tour companies will make every effort to maintain the normal operation.
NOTE: We cannot grant any refunds more than 30 days after completion of the tour.
We reserves the right to cancel or re-schedule any tour departure in accordance with operating requirements or circumstances beyond its control. If cancellation is made any time prior to departure* of the tour, TakeTours' only liability will be to refund to the passenger the amount it has received for the tour booking. We will try to re-book the same or similar tour.. Please note that we are not liable for any cancellation penalties incurred on any other travel arrangements including air tickets purchased separately from customers.
We are not responsible for any other travel arrangements affected due to our cancellations.
Posted by: C on 2011-03-16
The International Flower show itself was a beautiful event with flowers and plants from all over the world. It was in City Center and so there were other places available to visit close by if people were done with the flower show. The tour van seemed to always be running 30 minutes late. The advertising was misleading since a free buffet and casino voucher was not included with the trip. When I signed up in February the advertising at that point also led me to believe the ticket to the flower show was included in the price. The ad was adjusted later. | {
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The stable has had an excellent 3 days getting winners Saturday, Sunday and Monday. We started off with Iceconi winning at Colac on Saturday. She won the last race the 2000 metre maiden by 2.3 lengths. She was ridden well by Fabian Alesci. Our next winner was on Sunday at Hamilton where Ready Diva won race 2 the 1400 metre maiden. Our third winner was Monday at Swan Hill where the consistent Mr Obvious won race 6 the Benchmark 72 over 975 metres. He won well by a length and was ridden by Tom Sadler. Let's hope our winning luck can continue over the next few days when we have runners at Bendigo, Ballarat, Stawell and Mortlake. | {
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This what your Home Decor and Interior Design Blog Ad will look like to visitors! Of course you will want to use keywords and ad targeting to get the most out of your ad campaign! So purchase an ad space today before there all gone!
If you are the owner of Home Decor and Interior Design, or someone who enjoys this blog why not upgrade it to a Featured Listing or Permanent Listing? | {
"redpajama_set_name": "RedPajamaC4"
} |
Three Ways Trudeau's Liberals Have Let Down Open Government Advocates
New laws fall short of what's needed on transparency and civil rights, critics say.
By Jeremy J. Nuttall 23 Jun 2017 | TheTyee.ca
Jeremy J. Nuttall is The Tyee's reader-funded Parliament Hill reporter in Ottawa. Find his previous stories here.
The promise of 'real change' on transparency, open governments and civil rights is looking shaky, critics say. Photo: PMO photo gallery.
Remember the Harper government's Bill C-51? Introduced in January 2015, it was meant to bolster the powers of Canada's security agencies to prevent terrorist activity and unveiled with an Orwellian media lockup.
Critics warned the bill's Orwellian provisions would jeopardize Canadian' rights and chill freedom of expression.
The Trudeau government, elected in October 2015, promised to address some of the bill's flaws.
But this week's long-anticipated rollout of legislation on both national security and access to information has sparked complaints that the Liberal government has failed to deliver on promises of greater government transparency and civil rights protection.
And the criticism comes as controversy continues to surround the Liberals' "pay for access" fundraising dinners, despite promised changes to increase transparency around such events.
The promise of "real change" on transparency, open governments and civil rights is looking shaky, critics say.
1. Still work to do on fixing Bill C-51
In 2015, civil rights advocates sounded the alarm when the Conservative government introduced Bill C-51, the Anti-Terrorism Act.
Among other provisions, Bill C-51 made promoting terrorism online against the law, lowered standards for preventive arrests and expanded the powers of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.
Canada's privacy commissioner slammed the bill shortly after its release, and others warned much of it was too vague and open to abuse by authorities.
At the time, only the New Democrats opposed the legislation. The Liberals promised tweaks if elected.
Those tweaks came earlier this week in the form of Bill C-59.
The bill includes the creation of a stronger oversight body, a so-called super watchdog, to keep an eye on Canada's security agencies. Thresholds for preventive detention were also raised.
But civil rights advocates still insist many aspects of the new legislation aren't justified.
Tim McSorley, national coordinator of the International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group, said while the Liberals made some progress in improving Bill C-51, elements still infringe on Canadians' rights.
"Our takeaway is basically that they're putting in a framework and protocol around laws that we don't think should be there in the first place," he said. "There was no justification from the start as to why those powers were needed."
McSorley said the new bill also seems to give security agencies the ability to legally collect and keep metadata on the public, even if it's collected by accident and isn't related to an investigation.
He said though the changes tighten up government agencies' ability to share Canadians' information, it's still problematic.
"When Canadians give information to a certain agency, they expect it to stay with that agency," he said. "They don't expect it to be transferred from one to another for reasons that were never made clear to them."
McSorley speculates the government didn't simply repeal C-51 because the Liberals don't want to appear soft on national security issues.
Bill C-22, establishing a National Security and Intelligence Committee, also passed third reading in the Senate this week. The committee, composed of MPs and Senators, would be responsible for parliamentary oversight of national security agencies.
But McSorley said that legislation has fundamental flaws. The Prime Minister's Office can stop committee investigations and nothing guarantees committee access to all documents during an investigation of Canada's security agencies.
2. Access to information still problematic
Reporters lately have been receiving heavily redacted documents in response to access to information requests, including one returned late last year with talking points for the media redacted.
This week the government released its planned changes to the Access to Information Act, including giving the information commissioner the power to compel government to release documents.
But governments constantly promise to increase Canadians' access to information on their decision-making process without following through, says Mount Royal University journalism professor Sean Holman.
Holman said he's not surprised the government's proposed changes are minor.
A larger concern, he said, is that the Liberals have added a dangerous element by giving government the ability to increase limits on access.
"Government will now have the power to unilaterally disregard an access to information request if it is vexatious or meets a number of other conditions," Holman said. "This is a serious issue."
In essence, he said, the federal government would be able to decide on its own if an information request doesn't deserve to be answered.
Holman said other provinces and municipalities have similar provisions, but in many of them the government cannot simply decide for itself if a request is vexatious.
Many have to apply to an information commissioner who makes the decision.
Holman said overall the proposed reforms "marginally" improve access to information.
Another concern is that the Prime Minister's Office and ministers' offices are still not subject to FOI requests, despite a promise by the Trudeau government to make them subject to the Access to Information Act.
The government also said it would proactively release information, such as expenses, from these offices, and Treasury Board president Scott Brison tried to claim it showed the government made those offices subject to the access to information laws.
"Actually for the first time ever we are applying the access to information act to ministers' offices," Brison said during a confrontational TV interview. "What we're doing is the first major reform of the ATIP act in 34 years."
But Holman said that though proactive release of information is good, it is not the same as being subject to the Access to Information Act.
"One is the disclosure of certain classes of information," he said. "The other, an access request, allows individuals to demand information outside those parameters. This is not the same thing."
3. Open access for media? Not quite
After a series of articles in The Tyee and The Globe and Mail about the Trudeau government's private fundraisers, where people paid up to $1,500 to attend private parties featuring the prime minister and other ministers, the Liberals assured Canadians things would be different.
Fundraisers would no longer be held in private homes and media would be able to attend. A list of attendees would also be issued 45 days after the event, according to changes announced by the party.
But when media showed up at an Ottawa fundraiser on Monday for members of the Laurier Club, they were told to stay in a pen.
One reporter who left the pen was shadowed by Braeden Caley, senior director of communications for the Liberal Party, according to a story in the Hill Times.
"(Reporters) were told they were not allowed to mingle, but could talk to guests registering and entering the event in the foyer of the museum," wrote the publication.
In January, The Globe and Mail reported the Liberals were going to change party rules around fundraisers and would discuss the logistics of inviting media to events with the Parliamentary Press Gallery.
Gallery president Tonda MacCharles said two party officials did present a plan to the gallery, but the blueprint didn't include media in pens.
MacCharles stressed the meeting was not part of any negotiations or attempt at gaining approval from the gallery. She pointed out the parliamentary gallery cannot advocate for journalists across Canada and therefore an open access policy is best.
Six Things Protesters Need to Know about Bill C-51
"We urged as much open access as possible including supplying media the names of who attends any given fundraising event, and ensuring that the speeches were on the record," she told The Tyee in an email.
"We suggested the Liberal Party should not expect the Gallery to coordinate pooled coverage of party fundraisers — which should be open to all."
During the final years of Stephen Harper's government, the Conservatives took flack for keeping reporters in roped off areas and even banning them from some events during the 2015 election campaign.
Asked if reporters would be prevented from speaking to attendees in the future, in an email Caley said the party is "facilitating" media access.
Caley said the Liberals' policy on open fundraising goes further than other parties.
Read more: Rights + Justice, Politics | {
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WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center
ADMINISTRATIVE PANEL DECISION
AB Electrolux v. tanhuajiang
Case No. D2012-0685
1. The Parties
The Complainant is AB Electrolux of Stockholm, Sweden, represented by Melbourne IT Digital Brand Services, Sweden.
The Respondent is tanhuajiang of Shanghai, China.
2. The Domain Name and Registrar
The disputed domain name <electrolux-weixiu.com> is registered with Jiangsu Bangning Science & technology Co. Ltd. (the "Registrar").
3. Procedural History
The Complaint was filed with the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center (the "Center") on April 2, 2012. On April 2, 2012, the Center transmitted by email to the Registrar a request for registrar verification in connection with the disputed domain name. On April 8, 2012, the Registrar transmitted by email to the Center its verification response confirming that the Respondent is listed as the registrant and providing the contact details. On April 11, 2012, the Center transmitted an email to the parties in both the Chinese and English language regarding the language of proceedings. On April 12, 2012, the Complainant confirmed their request that English be the language of proceedings. The Respondent did not comment on the language of proceedings by the specified due date.
The Center verified that the Complaint satisfied the formal requirements of the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (the "Policy" or "UDRP"), the Rules for Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (the "Rules"), and the WIPO Supplemental Rules for Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (the "Supplemental Rules").
In accordance with the Rules, paragraphs 2(a) and 4(a), the Center formally notified the Respondent of the Complaint, and the proceedings commenced on April 17, 2012. In accordance with the Rules, paragraph 5(a), the due date for Response was May 7, 2012. The Respondent did not submit any response. Accordingly, the Center notified the Respondent's default on May 8, 2012.
The Center appointed Colin Yee Cheng Ong as the sole panelist in this matter on June 19, 2012. The Panel finds that it was properly constituted. The Panel has submitted the Statement of Acceptance and Declaration of Impartiality and Independence, as required by the Center to ensure compliance with the Rules, paragraph 7.
4. Factual Background
4.1. The Complainant has provided evidence to substantiate its claim that it is a Swedish joint stock company founded in 1901 and registered as a Swedish company in 1919. Evidence was adduced to show that AB Electrolux is a world leading producer of appliances and equipment for kitchen and cleaning. The Complainant has shown evidence that purportedly shows it to be the market leader in many of the individual product categories in which they compete.
4.2. The Complainant has sold more than 40 million products to customers in 150 countries every year including in China. Such products include refrigerators, dishwashers, washing machines, vacuum cleaners and cookers sold under brands such as ELECTROLUX, AEG, AEG-ELECTROLUX.
4.3. The Complainant also produced evidence to show that in 2010, it had accomplished sales of SEK 109 billion and had employed 55,150 employees.
4.4. The Complainant has registered the trademark ELECTROLUX as a word and figure mark in several classes in more than 150 countries all over the world, including in China.
4.5. The Complainant has not stated when the first ELECTROLUX trademark was registered but it does allege that this was done long before the registration of the disputed domain name. The Complainant has shown evidence that it has also registered the trademark ELECTROLUX as a domain name under almost 700 gTLDs and ccTLDs worldwide, among these: <electrolux.com>, <electrolux.cn>.
4.6. Finally, the Complainant states that the awareness of the trademark ELECTROLUX is considered significant in the whole Community to be significant and that the registrant could not have been unaware of the trademark at the time of registration or thereafter because Electrolux is a global company and runs its business all over the world, including in China.
4.7. The Complainant submits that the awareness of the trademark ELECTROLUX is considered in the whole Community to be significant and it relies upon the provisions of Article 6bis of the Paris Convention for protection of Industrial Property and extended by Article 16.2 and Article 16.3 of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights that provides the owner of such a trademark with the right to prevent any use of the well-known trademark or a confusingly similar denomination in connection with any products or services.
5. Parties' Contentions
A. Complainant
5.1 The Complainant contends that the disputed domain name <electrolux-weixiu.com> is confusingly similar to its own trademark ELECTROLUX for several reasons:
(i) The dominant part of the disputed domain name <electrolux-weixiu.com> comprises the word "electrolux", which is identical to the registered trademark ELECTROLUX.
(ii) The addition of a hyphen and the suffix "weixiu" is not relevant and will not have any impact on the overall impression of the dominant part of the disputed domain name, "electrolux". It was submitted that the term "weixiu" is rather fitted to enhance the confusingly similar element, since the word "weixiu" is "service" (repair) in Chinese, as the Complainant is widely known for conducting business with home appliances and service and repair of the same.
(iii) The Complainant referred to Aktiebolaget Electrolux v. Jose Manuel, WIPO Case No. D2010-2031 allegedly dealing with the domain name <grupoelectrolux.com>. Unfortunately, there was no annexure on this decision. In any event, the Panel has located the decision and has noted the Complainant's submission that the other panel held that "In the present case, the disputed domain name incorporates the Complainant's well-known and widely-registered trademark ELECTROLUX. The addition of the word 'grupo' is purely descriptive and does not serve to distinguish, for Policy purposes, the disputed domain name from the Complainant's registered trademark ELECTROLUX." The same discussion could be applied in this case as well.
(iv) The Complainant submits that the addition of the genetic top-level domain (gTLD) ".com" does not have any impact on the overall impression of the dominant portion of the disputed domain name and is therefore irrelevant to determining the confusing similarity of the trademark.
(v) It then submitted that anyone who sees the disputed domain name is bound to mistake it for a domain name related to the Complainant. The confusing similarity includes an obvious association with the trademark of the Complainant and that there is a considerable risk that the public will perceive the Respondent's disputed domain name either as a domain name owned by the Complainant or that there is some kind of commercial relation with the Complainant. By using "electrolux" as a dominant part of the disputed domain name, the Respondent has exploited the goodwill and the image of the trademark, which may result in dilution and other damage for the Complainant's trademark.
(vi) The Complainant summed up this part of its case by submitting that it is the owner of the world wide registered trademark ELECTROLUX and that the Respondent registered the disputed domain name which is confusingly similar to the trademark owned by the Complainant. The Complainant summed up by suggesting that the addition of a suffix to a trade or service mark is legally inconsequential and does not prevent a finding of confusing similarity.
5.2 The Complainant contends that the Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in the disputed domain name for the following reasons:
(i) The Respondent has not been authorized or approved by the trademark owner to use the trademark ELECTROLUX.
(ii) The Respondent registered the disputed domain name December 6, 2011. The mere registration of a domain name does not give the owner a right or a legitimate interest in respect of the domain name.
(iii) The Complainant has also not found anything that would suggest that the Respondent has been using "electrolux" in any other way that would give him any rights or legitimate rights in the disputed domain name and consequently cannot claim any rights established by common usage.
(iv) The Respondent is not using the disputed domain name in connection with a bona fide offering of goods or services. By intentionally choosing a domain name based on a registered trademark, this disputed domain name appears to be an official service website endorsed or sponsored by the Complainant.
(v) By using the disputed domain name, the Respondent is likely to mislead and deceive consumers into believing that he has an affiliation or approval with the original trademark owner when this is not the case. The Respondent has so far not demonstrated its rights or legitimate interests in the disputed domain name in order to refute the prima facie case made out by the Complainant. The owner of the disputed domain name does not reflect the disputed domain name. The disputed domain name is registered in the name of tanhuajiang, which has no relationship with the Complainant.
5.3 The Complainant, lastly, contends that the disputed domain name was registered and is being used in bad faith for the following reasons:
(i) The Complainant alleged that the Respondent has registered the disputed domain name in bad faith because the trademark ELECTROLUX has the status of a well-known and reputed trademark with a substantial and widespread reputation "throughout the whole Community and throughout the world" and that "The awareness of the trademark is to be considered, in the whole Community in general, to be significant and substantial." It submitted that the number of third party domain name registrations, comprising the trademark in combination with other words, has skyrocketed over the last years. The considerable value and goodwill of the mark ELECTROLUX is most likely a large contribution to this and also what made the Respondent register the disputed domain name.
(ii) The Complainant provided evidence that it had tried to contact the Respondent on January 31, 2012 through a cease and desist letter. The Complainant did not receive a reply and sent a reminder on March 3, 2012 and a final reminder on March 9, 2012 without any reply. The Complainant relies upon these letters as well as a few prior UDRP decisions which suggest that a cease and desist letter, or a similar attempt at contact, has been considered relevant in a finding of bad faith.
(iii) The disputed domain name is used to attract visitors by including the trademark ELECTROLUX. The Complainant alleged that the Respondent promotes its business and the term "weixiu" within the disputed domain name means "service" (repair) which is a business in which the Complainant trades.
(iv) Since the Respondent must have knowledge of the Complainant's rights in the ELECTROLUX trademark at the moment it registered the disputed domain name, and the Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in the disputed domain name, the disputed domain name was registered and is being used in bad faith.
(v) Finally, the Complainant submits that the disputed domain name is designed to attract Internet users who are looking for Complainant's services and that this causes confusion with the Complainant's marks and websites and also disrupts the Complainant's business by diverting consumers away from Complainant's official website in China. As a result thereof, the Respondent is using the disputed domain name to intentionally attempt to attract, for commercial gain, Internet users to the website, by creating a likelihood of confusion with the Complainant's mark as to the source, sponsorship, affiliation or endorsement of the website.
The Complainant requests a decision that the disputed domain name be transferred to the Complainant.
B. Respondent
5.4 The Respondent did not reply to the Complainant's contentions.
6. Discussion and Findings
6.1 The Complaint was filed in the English language. On April 8, 2012, the Center transmitted an email to the parties in both Chinese and English regarding the language of proceedings. Pursuant to the Rules, paragraph 11, in the absence of an agreement between the parties, or as specified otherwise in the registration agreement, the language of the administrative proceeding shall be the language of the registration agreement. The Center has been informed by the concerned registrar that the language of the registration agreement for the disputed domain name is Chinese. Although the Chinese language is the language of the registration agreement for the disputed domain name, the Complainant asserted its request that English should be the language of proceedings. According to paragraph 11 of the Rules, the language of the administrative proceeding shall be the language of the registration agreement unless the Panel decides otherwise. The spirit of paragraph 11 of the Rules is to ensure fairness in the selection of language by giving full consideration to the parties' level of comfort with each language, the expenses to be incurred and the possibility of delay in the proceeding in the event translations are required and other relevant factors.
6.2 The Complainant has submitted that it had sent the cease and desist letter to the Respondent in the English language. The Complainant submits that the Respondent had never replied to the letter, nor stated that he does not understand the content. It then submitted that "[i]f he had not understood the content of the cease and desist letter, the natural thing would have been to send a short email stating that he did not understand the content of the letter." The Complainant also complained that it would be cumbersome and to the Complainant's disadvantage to be forced to translate the entire Complaint into Chinese.
6.3 Unfortunately, these are not persuasive arguments, let alone properly constructed legal submissions with valid reasoning backed by jurisprudence. The Panel is unable to accept such illogical submissions. The inability of the Complainant to communicate in the Chinese language or its preference to communicate in English by itself is not and cannot be a proper legal basis for not adopting the proper language of proceedings as set out in paragraph 11 of the Rules. This has been ruled in previous UDRP decisions including in the case of Compagnie Gervais Danone v. yunengdonglishangmao(beijing)youxiangongsi, WIPO Case No. D2007-1918. It would be in fact a very poor argument for the Complainant to submit that because it has no knowledge of the Chinese language.
6.4 The fact that a complainant may have to retain specialized translation services at a cost that is likely to be higher than the overall cost for the present proceeding is not a legal reason at all that can be accepted by this Panel. At the end of the day, it is up to any complainant to secure the services of legal counsel that can communicate in the language in which the language of the registration agreement is to be based.
6.5 What is deemed to be fair to one party may be deemed to be unfair to the other party. It is a fundamental rule of the UDRP administrative proceedings that a party should be allowed to present his case. In the event that the language of the administrative proceeding has to be held in a particular language for the "costs convenience" of one party, thereby depriving the other party of being entitled to communicate in the language set down by the Rules, this is unfair and inequitable.
6.6 Looking at the submissions that have been made by the Complainant, it is self-evident that the Complainant does not indeed understand the Chinese language. It has submitted that "the term 'weixiu' is rather fitted to enhance the confusingly similar element, since the Chinese word 'weixiu' translates into the word 'service' in English" (which should be "repair" in fact), therefore the Complainant has apparently relied on Google Translate to discover this).
6.7 In the circumstances, had this been a truly contested matter, the Respondent may have been likely to have been entitled to expect a Panel to rule that the language of the proceedings should take place in Chinese, in strict adherence to paragraph 11 of the Rules. There is also no legal basis or logic to suggest that if a Respondent chooses not to respond to a "cease and desist letter" written in the English language, then the conclusion is such that the Respondent understands the language in which that "cease and desist letter is written in. The Complainant has to discharge its burden of proof and cannot simply rely upon a failure to reply to a "cease and desist letter" as conclusive proof that the other party will be deemed to understand the language of such a letter.
6.8 However, in the present case, considering the composition of the domain name and the Panel's assessment of the unique circumstances of the case, bearing in mind its broad powers given to the Panel by paragraph 11(a) of the Rules, and bearing in mind the fact that the Respondent did not attempt to contest these proceedings, the Panel hereby decides, under paragraph 11 of the Rules, that English shall be the language of administrative proceeding in this case. The Panel notes however that had the Respondent objected to the Complainant's request the Panel would have had little hesitation in requiring a translation of the Complaint.
6.9 The Panel finds that the proceedings have been conducted in accordance with the Rules and the Policy. The procedural history of this case raises the question as to whether the Respondent has received notice of this proceeding. Having gone through the series of communications as set out above under the section on procedural history, the Panel concludes that the Center has notified the Respondent of this proceeding and has discharged its responsibility under paragraph 2(a) of the Rules. The Panel finds that the proceedings have been conducted in accordance with the Rules and the Policy. The procedural history of this case raises the question as to whether Respondent has received notice of this proceeding. However, having gone through the series of communications as set out above under the section on procedural history, the Panel concludes that the Center has notified the Respondent of this proceeding and has discharged its responsibility under paragraph 2(a) of the Rules. The Panel has reviewed the Complaint together with its annexes and, in the light of this material, the Panel finds as set out below. This Panel does not find any exceptional circumstances pursuant to paragraph 5(e) of the Rules so as to prevent this Panel determining the dispute based upon the Complaint, notwithstanding the failure of the Respondent to lodge a Response.
6.10 The Respondent has been accorded with the opportunity to provide submissions and evidence to dispute the claims of the Complainant. Some previous UDRP panels have suggested that if the Respondent chooses not to present any such evidence, an inference may be made that such evidence would not have been favorable to the Respondent, or that he accepts the claims of the Complainant, or even that he does not wish to respond or defend his perceived interest in the trademark. (See cases set out by the Complainant above). However, this Panel respectfully views that any such adverse inference is not conclusive at all and the Complainant would still be obliged to prove his case in accordance with the UDRP rules. The burden of proof falls upon and remains on the Complainant. In such case of silence by the Respondent, the Complainant shall then continue with his case and shall have to prove the three elements that are required by the Policy without opposition than the Complainant's own ability to explain them. (See: PRL USA Holdings, Inc. v. Yan Shif, WIPO Case No. D2006-0700).
6.11 Under paragraph 14 of the Rules, where a party does not comply with any provision of the Rules, the panel "shall draw such inferences there from as it considers appropriate". Therefore, in a case where a respondent fails to put in a response, a panel may draw negative inferences from the respondent's default (see paragraph 4.6 of the WIPO Overview of WIPO Panel Views on Selected UDRP Questions, Second Edition). Notwithstanding the default of the respondent, it remains incumbent on the complainant to make out its case in all respects as set out in paragraph 4(a) of the Policy (see, PRL USA Holdings, Inc. v. Yan Shif, supra). Namely, the complainant must prove that:
(i) the domain name is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark or service mark in which the complainant has rights; and
(ii) the respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the domain name; and
(iii) the domain name has been registered and is being used in bad faith.
A. Identical or Confusingly Similar
6.8. Pursuant to paragraph 4(a)(i) of the Policy, a complainant must prove that the domain name is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark or service mark in which the complainant has rights. In line with such provision, the Complainant must prove two limbs, i.e., that it holds the trademark or service mark right; and that the disputed domain name is identical with or confusingly similar to its trademark or service mark. The test of identity or confusing similarity under the Policy is confined to a comparison of the disputed domain name and the trademark alone, independent of the domain name's use or other marketing factors, usually considered in trademark infringement (see, for example, Ebay Inc. v. Wangming, WIPO Case No. D2006-1107). The Complainant has appended to the Complaint a list of registered trademarks and it is quite clear that the Complainant is the legitimate owner of these trademarks.
6.9 The Complainant's reference to Aktiebolaget Electrolux v. Jose Manuel, WIPO Case No. D2010-2031 that dealt with the domain name <grupoelectrolux.com> was unhelpful to the present case. This is because the case was decided on factual grounds that was unique to that case and was not decided on a point of law. Regardless of the fact that this panel may have come to a different conclusion on the case cited by the Complainant, this panel respects the decision of the other panel but respectfully disagrees to adopt the conclusion taken by the earlier panel.
6.10 This Panel wholeheartedly agrees with the Complainant's other submission that the addition of the genetic top-level domain (gTLD) ".com" does not have any impact on the overall impression of the dominant portion of the disputed domain name and is therefore irrelevant to determine the confusing similarity of the trademark. The Respondent's registration consists of the use of the Complainant's trademark ELECTROLUX which causes confusing similarity. Previous decisions pronounced under the UDRP in similar situations such as F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG v. Drug Sale, WIPO Case No. D2006-0066 had correctly decided that such additions of generic words were not enough to distinguish capacity in the context of the domain name and they do not alter the value of the trademarks represented in the domain name. Given this, the Panel has little difficulty in concluding that the disputed domain name is confusingly similar to a number of trademarks in which the Complainant has rights.
B. Rights or Legitimate Interests
6.11 The Panel accepts that the Complainant has satisfied it in providing evidence showing that the trademark for ELEXTROLUX has been registered as a word and figure mark in several classes in more than 150 countries all over the world, including in China, where the Respondent is located. At the heart of the Complaint is the Complainant's contention that the Respondent has taken the trademark of the Complainant with a view to attracting Internet users to its website to intentionally link its domain name with ELECTROLUX trademark. The Panel accepts that such activity clearly does not provide the Respondent with a legitimate interest in the disputed domain name.
6.12 According to paragraph 4(a)(ii) of the Policy, the Complainant has to demonstrate that the Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in the disputed domain name. However, it is the prevailing view among panelists that where a complainant makes a prima facie case that the respondent has no rights or legitimate interests, and the respondent fails to show, inter alia, one of the three circumstances under paragraph 4(c) of the Policy, then the respondent may lack a right or legitimate interest in the domain name.
6.13 As previously held by other UDRP panels, "rights or legitimate interests cannot be created where the user of the domain name at issue would not choose such a name unless he was seeking to create an impression of association with the Complainant". (See eBay Inc. v. Akram Mehmood, WIPO Case No. DAE2007-0001). As another panel held in the case of Consitex S.A., Lanificio Ermenegildo Zegna & Figli S.p.A., Ermenegildo Zegna Corporation v. Varentinuo inc. reg by sopao.com, WIPO Case No. D2008-0186, if a respondent wants to argue that it has a right or legitimate interest in a domain name on this basis, it is then for the respondent to positively advance that case and to bring forward evidence in support (see paragraph 6.16 of that decision).
6.14 The Respondent has not provided evidence of circumstances of the type specified in paragraph 4(c) of the Policy, or any other circumstances giving rise to a right or legitimate interest in the domain name. There is no evidence on the record of this proceeding to suggest that Respondent has been commonly known by the disputed domain name, or that Respondent has made noncommercial or fair use of the name. The Respondent has also not used the disputed domain name in connection with a bona fide offering of goods or services.
6.15 In addition, the Panel has noted that the owner of the disputed domain name "tanhuajiang" does not reflect the disputed domain name, which has no relationship with the Complainant. The Panel thus finds that Complainant has made a prima facie case showing that the Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in the disputed domain name which is confusingly similar to the Complainant's mark. Under these circumstances, the Panel takes the view that the Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in the domain name and that the requirement of paragraph 4(a)(ii) of the Policy is also satisfied.
C. Registered and Used in Bad Faith
6.16. The Panel accepts that the Complainant has satisfied it in providing evidence showing that the trademark for ELEXTROLUX has been registered as a word and figure mark in several classes in more than 150 countries all over the world, including in China, where the Respondent is located.
6.17. The Complainant then submitted that the selection of the disputed domain name, which wholly incorporates the ELECTROLUX trademark was done in bad faith. The Panel accepts this line of submission and accepts the contention that the Respondent registered the disputed domain name in the knowledge of the Complainant's business and its use of the ELECTROLUX trademark. The Panel accepts the Complainant's submission that the Respondent is using the disputed domain name to intentionally gain commercially by attracting Internet users to a website, by creating a likelihood of confusion with the Complainant's mark.
6.18. Paragraph 4(b) of the Policy provides a list of examples of evidence of bad faith registration and use. Paragraph 4(b)(iv) of the Policy refers to use of a domain name to intentionally attempt to attract for commercial gain Internet users to a website by creating a likelihood of confusion with the Complainant's mark as to the source of a website.
6.19. Given that the Respondent has failed to show (for the reasons set out under the heading Rights and Legitimate Interests above) that it was using the disputed domain name genuinely for its own goods or services and that it has also failed to disclose on the site the true relationship between it and the Complainant, the Panel concludes that the Respondent in this case did intentionally attract for commercial gain Internet users to its website by creating a likelihood of confusion with the Complainant's mark. The Panel accepts the submission that the Respondent is intentionally attempting for a commercial purpose to attract internet users to the Respondent's website. The activities of the Respondent, therefore, fall within the scope of paragraph 4(b)(iv) of the Policy.
6.20. In the circumstances, the Complainant has made out the requirements of paragraph 4(a)(iii) of the Policy. This is sufficient to dispose of this matter in favour of the Complainant. However, the Panel would also add a further point before drawing this decision to a close.
6.21. In coming to its decision the Panel has given very little weight to the Complainant's contention that the failure on the part of the Respondent to respond to its "cease and desist letter" is also evidence of bad faith. Whilst previous UDRP panels have indeed suggested that this was one factor that could be taken into account on the issue of bad faith registration and use, this Panel would suggest that this is a tempting conclusion that a panel should reach with great care. There may, indeed, be occasions where a failure to respond to a factual allegation in such a letter may tell against a respondent. However, that will depend upon the exact nature of the allegation and all the circumstances of the case. See Deutsche Post AG v. Yonghua Zhang, WIPO Case No. D2008-0326.
6.22. Further, if a complainant wants a panel to draw an adverse inference from a failure on the part of a respondent to respond to a "cease and desist letter" or any other "letter before action", it is essential that the complainant puts that letter before the panel so that it can properly consider the same. The complainant has to discharge its burden of proof and cannot simply rely upon a failure to reply to a "cease and desist letter" as conclusive proof that there has been bad faith. Regardless of the fact that the Rules have provided that the language of proceedings is to be in the language of the registration agreement, i.e. Chinese in the current case, any "cease and desist letter" even if written in the Chinese language can only amount to no more than an adverse inference. Although this has been done by the Complainant, the failure to respond to the cease and desist letter is not by itself conclusive of bad faith registration and use of the domain name for the reasons give earlier above. Nevertheless, the Panel has been able to conclude that the Respondent registered and used the disputed domain name in bad faith for other reasons.
7. Decision
For the foregoing reasons, in accordance with paragraphs 4(i) of the Policy and 15 of the Rules, the Panel orders that the domain name <electrolux-weixiu.com> be transferred to the Complainant.
Dr Colin Yee Cheng Ong
Sole Panelist
Dated: July 30, 2012 | {
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} |
Sean McVay Talks Cooper Kupp, Dante Fowler and Facing the Saints
posted by Ed Black - Nov 1, 2018
Rich Eisen brings on the head coach of the now 8-0 Los Angeles Rams, Sean McVay. Eisen and McVay talk in depth about the status of their wide receiver, Cooper Kupp, the team's acquisitions at the trade deadline and the upcoming challenge of Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints. McVay also speaks on Todd Gurley taking a knee this past weekend against the Green Bay Packers instead of going for the touchdown and thus making the fantasy and Vegas crowd lose their collective minds:
Eisen: Did you think Todd Gurley was going to score at the end of that game?
McVay: You know what? I didn't because Todd is a situational master and he knew exactly what to do right there. He's a special player, but he's also one of the smartest players that's been around and I think that his big picture understanding and most importantly just the unselfishness that he's demonstrated right there when you look at the production he's had specific to touchdowns and always putting his team in front of some of the individual things you can accomplish, I think says as much about Todd and really our team as anything when one of our captains/leaders is doing the little things the right way and trying to find ways to just win the game, even if sometimes it does hurt your fantasy stat.
Here's what Sean McVay had to say regarding the challenge of the New Orleans Saints:
We have a lot of respect for what a complete team the Saints are in all three phases. What we try to do every week is figure out: what's it going to take for all three phases to play complementary football? These eight games that we've had up to this point have served as great reference points for us where defenses had a handful of big-time plays in crunch time to be able to win games. The offense has had to do some things to close it out, obviously special teams the other day...Aaron gets a big stop when we're down one point...ended up going and kicking a field goal and then to be able to allow Ramik Wilson to make that play...So I think it's been about all three phases, but certainly, we always have to be ready with contingency plans based on the way that the feel/flow of the game plays out...It's going to be a great challenge at New Orleans...
Watch The Full Interview below! | {
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adapterled.com -Diy Bathroom Storage Ideas DIY Bathroom Towel Storage in Under 5 Minutes Wicker baskets look great in the bathroom. In fact, you can mount them on the wall and have instant towel storage.50 unique diy bathroom storage ideas you must try. Add a lot of storage space in your small or big bathroom without spending too much fortune just by these 50 brilliant DIY bathroom storage ideas that too innovate and smart to win your heart! All these DIY bathroom storage ideas and projects would also help to25 diy bathroom storage ideas for small spaces. Storage is always at a premium in the bathroom. Think of all the accessories you have: shampoos, conditioners, makeup, toilet rolls, toothpaste, razors etc to name but a few.Bathroom storage ideas. The experts at DIY Network share creative bathroom storage ideas to help keep your space organized. | {
"redpajama_set_name": "RedPajamaC4"
} |
A team of six students from Flathead Valley Community College has earned first place in the Phillips Machinist Cutting Edge Parts Competition: Student Edition. The national machining competition was launched by the Maryland-based Phillips Corporation last fall through the Phillips Machinist app.
FVCC Industrial Machine Technology students Isaac Neumann, Joseph Montoya, James DeTienne, Aaron Frazee, Joshua Wortman and Ivy Alexander designed and produced a conceptual foot shifter for a manual automobile transmission under the guidance of instructors Dan Leatzow and Harry Smith. They submitted the foot shifter to the Phillips competition last semester and learned on Feb. 1 that they had won first place.
"As the winner of the first annual student competition from Phillips Corporation, Flathead Valley Community College has set high standards for the winners of future competitions," Contest Coordinator Katelyn Clary said.
In addition to bragging rights, the students have won an expense-paid trip to the Haas Automation, Inc. headquarters in Oxnard, Calif. where they will travel this spring to tour the company's 1.1 million-square-foot manufacturing facility and connect with professionals in the machining industry. | {
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} |
public class OverloadedGenericMethodprintArray21_5 {
public static void main(String[] args) {
Integer[] intArray = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5};
Double[] doubleArray = {1.1, 2.2, 3.3, 4.4, 5.5, 6.6, 7.7};
Character[] charArray = {'H', 'E', 'L', 'L', 'O'};
System.out.println("Array integerArray contains:");
printArray(intArray);
System.out.println("Array integerArray from possition 1 to 3 contains:");
printArray(intArray, 1, 3);
System.out.println("Array doubleArray contains:");
printArray(doubleArray);
System.out.println("Array doubleArray from possition 1 to 3 contains:");
printArray(doubleArray, 1, 3);
System.out.println("Array charArray contains:");
printArray(charArray);
System.out.println("Array charArray from possition -1 to 30 contains:");
printArray(intArray, -1, 30);
}
public static <T> void printArray(T[] inputArray) {
int counter = 0;
for (T element : inputArray) {
System.out.printf("%s ", element);
counter++;
}
System.out.println();
System.out.println(counter + " element(s) were output");
counter = 0;
}
public static <T> void printArray(T[] inputArray, int lowSubscript, int hightSubscript) throws InvalidSubScriptException {
int counter = 0;
if (lowSubscript >= 0 && hightSubscript < inputArray.length) {
for (int i = lowSubscript; i <= hightSubscript; i++) {
System.out.printf("%s ", inputArray[i]);
counter++;
}
System.out.println();
System.out.println(counter + " element(s) were output");
counter = 0;
} else {
throw new InvalidSubScriptException();
}
}
}
| {
"redpajama_set_name": "RedPajamaGithub"
} |
Our client based in Chessington, Surrey are a well-established organization within the leisure and entertainment industry and have a number of sites both in the UK and overseas. Due to expansion our client are now looking for a Trainee Technician to join their existing team. The successful candidate will be responsible for working alongside the technician to provide support, maintenance and repair on the equipment. | {
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} |
It's likely that during this time there will be 5.89 mm more rain in Okinawa than in Sydney .
In Sydney, the weather for the next ten days is 7.7°C, but in Okinawa it'll be 24.2°C.
Which airlines fly from Sydney to Okinawa?
Our recent data shows 0 airline is currently operating direct flights from Sydney to Okinawa .
Over the last 30 days, you are the only person to have searched for flights from Sydney to Okinawa. | {
"redpajama_set_name": "RedPajamaC4"
} |
Student and staff safety is our top priority. Lake Harriet Community School reviews safety and security procedures regularly and follows consistent systems to ensure our staff members are prepared to handle crisis situations and provide students with support. Our staff members are trained in our procedures and students participate in emergency drills at least five times a year.
In order to assure the safety of our students, 5 fire drills are held throughout the year. When the fire alarm sounds, the students and staff leave the building in a quiet, orderly fashion using the nearest exit. In the event of a fire, families would be notified and students would be picked up at designated evacuation site.
Lake Harriet practices 5 lockdown drills during the school year. Minneapolis Public Schools uses the following codes to determine emergency protocols for each situation: Code Green, Code Yellow, Code Red. For more information, please see student handbook.
In the event of an evacuation, Lower Campus students, staff and visitors will evacuate to the True Apostolic Church located at 3520 W. 43rd St. If that church would be unavailable, the alternate location for lower campus is the Linden Hills Park House located at 43rd and Xerxes. Upper Campus students, staff and visitors are evacuated to Southwest High School located at 3414 West 47th St. There will be formal dismissal procedures in place for parents to retrieve their children from the evacuation site in the event of an evacuation. We ask for your cooperation to ensure our students' safety. | {
"redpajama_set_name": "RedPajamaC4"
} |
Bought this out of NY this week, some of you may have seen it on Craigslist.
It arrived in kinda rough shape but I have been working on it for a couple days.
The drivetrain was stuck but I got it fully rotating.
It had a broken headset race but fortunately I found a match in my parts stash and replaced it.
The stem was broken off in the steer tube, I managed to remove all but a section of the wedge.
I need a 1" diameter seatpost coupling.
I'd love to find a gear cover & it would obviously look killer with a leaf spring fork but I don't think I can afford the bill.
Wow that's a great find! Looks like a 24" seat tube? Nice bike.
ment to say 22" seat tube??
I'd say that's a top ten Craigslist find !
I bought the carcass of a women's chainless below it as well.
I've been gathering Columbia chainless parts for a project that may or may not happen so it could be time for a chainless parts sale soon!
Would you have a need for this?
the name of the model with the ND hub is called the American Pan-Am .... the hub was optional.
the gear cover is different in size for the ND hub and the other hub available for that year, making the search even more difficult.
I know the gear covers were recast, so they are out there!
difficult to ride, need to find a nice flat spot or your leg muscles will be sore.
The ladies Columbia carcass did retain its Model 51 badge as well as that distinct fork & even part of the drivetrain intact.
I didn't end up with the sidewalk bike though, had to have the other two shipped.
Thanks man, i didn't recognize the stamp. | {
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} |
"I was not a young guy when my ex-wife told me she was pregnant. She was already parenting our 8 year old so I was shocked when she told me she wanted to place our child for adoption. She had already called an agency, Friends in Adoption, and was looking at profiles of potential families.
I was adopted through the foster care system and mistakenly thought that a private agency was the same as the state. I was so wrong. I was approached by a caseworker who truly wanted me to get involved with the process and meet the adoptive parents and provide my medical history. | {
"redpajama_set_name": "RedPajamaC4"
} |
Taz Comments On Three-Person Announce Teams, Working With Vince McMahon
Former SmackDown commentator, Taz, has shared his thoughts on three-person announce teams, as well as working with Vince McMahon.
By Steve Russell
Former WWE commentator, Taz, has shared his thoughts on three-person announce teams. In an interview with Wrestling Inc., the former SmackDown announcer shared that he is a "firm believer in the two-man booth."
"To me, it's a better and easier listen. In some cases, a three-man booth is important, for example AEW because they're a new brand and there's a lot of stories that need to be told. I think that's important as long as the announcers in AEW can get their cadence right," Taz said.
"I've worked in both but I've always preferred a two-person booth. Everyone needs to know their role when it's a three-person booth. There has to be a lead and you can't step on each other or it will be a horrible listen."
Reflecting on his time commentating in WWE, Taz brought up his working relationship with Vince McMahon. He explained that Vince was always "more helpful than hurtful." Taz added that he thinks all announcers need to be produced as it helps the announce team to be prepared.
"I learned more from Vince in my headset. But he would often get upset in a segment cause of the guys in the ring or the ref, and he'd then get on the announcers," he said. "He was always a little harder on the play-by-play guys than the color commentators because back then the commentators were former champions or former wrestlers. Now the business is different where many commentators weren't champions or never wrestled much. But back then he did have a little bit of a different respect for guys who laced up boots."
WWE recently revealed new commentary line-ups for both RAW and SmackDown. Both are comprised of three-person teams. | {
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} |
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Eyes On Impressions
Last year we wrote a little about the new Out of Home measuring system called Eyes On. Back then it was still a theory and a nice look into the future. As it happens, the future is now and Eyes On is the currency for the Out of Home (OOH) media measurement. Eyes On is a better way and it's now real.
Over the past few decades OOH industry and media planners have used Daily Effective Circulation (DEC) as the primary measurement, which has been based off of traffic counts surrounding specific outdoor boards. OOH was used as a broad reach vehicle. Given the DEC measurement, it was almost impossible to demographically target a specific audience. OOH was purchased via "showings", typically a #100, #75, #50 and #25. The showing number represented a percentage reach of the market population. The number of units/panels required to achieve a specific showing varied by market. As a way to standardize OOH delivery, The Traffic Audit Bureau for Media Measurement (TAB), developed the Eyes On concept as an alternative to the DEC.
TAB developed what they call the four building blocks of Eyes On – Circulation (more accurate traffic counts); Visibility Research (travel simulation eye tracking data that actually converts the number of people passing a display to the audience that actually sees the advertisement); Demographics (Census and trip survey data is used to identify the demographic composition of people passing each display); Reach and Frequency (trip origins and destination information). The research program was designed to determine the portion of the population who pass an OOH advertisement and actually see it. It also takes into account how a unit's format, size, road type/speed, road side, angle to the road and distance to the road effect the likelihood that the advertising will be noticed.
The transition from DEC and showings will take some time to completely comprehend the new metric with many new terms: CSBA's, EOI's, VAI's, PRS, MAP and many more. With Eyes On measurement, buying OOH will be more sophisticated, accurate and more in-line with numbers and terms media planners/buyers are more familiar with.
As of January 1, 2012 Eyes On is the currency for the OOH industry and data is now available for the Philadelphia market. If you would like to hear more about the new metric please feel free to contact your friendly media managers – Debbie, Alena or Holly.
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GILLESPIE GROUP WORK | {
"redpajama_set_name": "RedPajamaCommonCrawl"
} |
Serhi Jaindrava –en ucraniano, Сергій Хайндрава– (Kiev, URSS, 10 de octubre de 1961) es un deportista ucraniano que compitió en vela en la clase Soling.
Ganó una medalla de oro en el Campeonato Europeo de Soling de 1996. Participó en dos Juegos Olímpicos de Verano, en los años 1992 y 1996, ocupando el séptimo lugar en Atlanta 1996 en la clase Soling.
Palmarés internacional
Referencias
Regatistas de Ucrania
Regatistas en los Juegos Olímpicos de Barcelona 1992
Regatistas en los Juegos Olímpicos de Atlanta 1996
Deportistas del Equipo Unificado en los Juegos Olímpicos de Barcelona 1992
Deportistas de Ucrania en los Juegos Olímpicos de Atlanta 1996
Regatistas de la clase Soling | {
"redpajama_set_name": "RedPajamaWikipedia"
} |
Posted by Mish | December 23, 2005 1:54:00 | Uncategorized
Richmond FED president says Rate policy likely in flux.
Short-term U.S. interest rates probably won't reach a plateau and then remain steady as financial markets now predict, the president of the Richmond Federal Reserve Bank said Thursday. Standing before the National Economists Club in Washington, Jeffrey Lacker said that interest rates will likely fluctuate during the economic expansion ahead. It was his second speech in as many days.
"Thus, whenever the current sequence of tightening moves reaches completion, short-term interest rates should not be expected to remain constant for an extended period of time," Lacker said. Lacker did say that rates have been "rising toward a range"consistent with steady growth
Lacker also said it was "too soon to say" whether rates are already in that range
Lacker did say that sustained growth path decisions will be more complex than the Fed simply reaching a coasting point in coming months
Energy prices still pose a risk to core inflation, but the Fed's "well-positioned" to resist inflation pressures should they emerge, Lacker said
"In the immediate aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, monetary policymakers naturally have focused on the risk that the attendant energy price increases would 'pass through' to an acceleration in core inflation," Lacker said Inflation-adjusted, or core, inflation has been tame for the last several months, Lacker said
While there wasn't an upsurge in core inflation in September and October and November, he noted that "it is too soon to declare that pass-through risk is entirely behind us." "We've gotten a few good core numbers in the last three months," Lacker said, adding that this has "moderated" his concerns
"But I don't think that risk is entirely behind us yet," he said
In his remarks, Lacker gave a mostly positive reading on the nation's economy, calling the outlook "fairly encouraging." "Growth is on a solid footing, despite this year's run-up in energy prices and the disruptions of a devastating hurricane season," he said. He predicted real gross domestic product will grow at about 3.5% in 2006. Household spending should grow at about the same rate in real terms, he said. Lacker's set to become a voting member of the rate-setting FOMC next year. Like other economists, Lacker expects appreciation in housing prices to flatten in 2006. Aggregate residential investment, he added, will likely stop growing or may even decline
Consumer spending, meanwhile, is likely to be buoyed by what Lacker called "healthy income growth" and a "reasonably strong overall job market." Rita and Katrina had less impact on the overall economy than was initially feared, Lacker said. "The effect of the storms on consumer outlays have turned out to be far more limited than expected, exemplifying the oft-cited resilience of the U.S. economy," he said. But he said monetary policymakers should address energy shocks by focusing on price stability. "Any energy price pass-through to core inflation that is more than marginal and transitory would be unwelcome," he said. So far, he noted, market participants believe core inflation will remain contained. Lacker told the economists in Washington that the yield curve was not a good predictor of future economic trends
Lacker also said he wasn't troubled by the low U.S. personal savings rate, saying he did not put much weight in the statistic
"I think consumption is on a sustainable path," he said
In addition, he said he wasn't worried about a sharp break hitting financial markets as a result of the large U.S. current account deficit.
Let's see:
Personal savings rate is not a problem
Consumption is on a sustainable path
He is not worried about the large U.S. current account deficit
Interest rates have been rising towards a range consistent with steady growth
The yield curve is not a good predictor of future economic trends
One more thing he forgot to say: Don't Worry Be Happy.
Mike Shedlock / Mish/ | {
"redpajama_set_name": "RedPajamaCommonCrawl"
} |
Q: Swift/SpriteKit Access A Variable Of An Object + Remove A Node So I have two objects that should lose health points at an collision.
func addPlayer(xPos: CGFloat, yPos: CGFloat){
playerNode = SKSpriteNode(imageNamed: "player")
playerNode.physicsBody = SKPhysicsBody(circleOfRadius: width/2)
playerNode.physicsBody!.affectedByGravity = false
playerNode.physicsBody!.categoryBitMask = PhysicsCategory.Player
playerNode.physicsBody!.contactTestBitMask = PhysicsCategory.Wall | PhysicsCategory.Zombie
playerNode.physicsBody!.collisionBitMask = PhysicsCategory.Wall | PhysicsCategory.Zombie
playerNode.name = "Player"
player = Player(node: playerNode, healthPoints: 100, attack: 10)
playerNode.position.x = xPos
playerNode.position.y = yPos
playerNode.size = CGSize(width: width, height: width)
addChild(playerNode)
}
func addZombie(xPos: CGFloat, yPos: CGFloat){
zombieNode = SKSpriteNode(imageNamed: "zombie")
zombieNode.physicsBody = SKPhysicsBody(circleOfRadius: width/2)
zombieNode.physicsBody!.affectedByGravity = false
zombieNode.physicsBody!.categoryBitMask = PhysicsCategory.Zombie
zombieNode.physicsBody!.contactTestBitMask = PhysicsCategory.Zombie | PhysicsCategory.Player | PhysicsCategory.Wall
zombieNode.physicsBody!.collisionBitMask = PhysicsCategory.Zombie | PhysicsCategory.Player | PhysicsCategory.Wall
zombieNode.name = "Zombie"
zombie = Zombie(node: zombieNode, healthPoints: 50, attack: 5)
Zombies.append(zombie!)
zombieNode.position.x = xPos
zombieNode.position.y = yPos
zombieNode.size = CGSize(width: width, height: width)
addChild(zombieNode)
}
When a collision appears this function get activated:
func didBeginContact(contact: SKPhysicsContact) {
let firstBody = contact.bodyA.node as! SKSpriteNode
let secondBody = contact.bodyB.node as! SKSpriteNode
if(firstBody.name == "Player" && secondBody.name == "Zombie"){
changeHealthPointsForZombieWithNode(secondBody, points: player!.attack)
} else if(firstBody.name == "Zombie" && secondBody.name == "Player"){
changeHealthPointsForPlayer(secondBody, points: zombie!.attack)
print(player!.healthPoints)
}
}
func changeHealthPointsForZombieWithNode(node: SKSpriteNode, points: Int) {
for zombie in Zombies {
if zombie.node == node {
zombie.healthPoints -= points
print(zombie.healthPoints)
if(zombie.healthPoints <= 0){
zombieNode.removeFromParent()
}
return
}
}
}
func changeHealthPointsForPlayer(node: SKSpriteNode, points: Int) {
player!.healthPoints -= points
if(player!.healthPoints <= 0){
playerNode.removeFromParent()
gameOver = true
}
}
I want to subtract the health points of the zombie depending on the attack of the player and other way around. When the player hits the zombie the zombie should lose life points. When the zombie hits the player the player should lose life points. Every player/zombie got health points and an attack value. How do you access them in my didBeginContact function? I also have multiple zombies stored here var Zombies:[Zombie] = [] because every zombie should have its universal values. How is it possible that just the zombie I attack loses health points.
PS: My class Playerlooks like this:
class Player{
var node: SKSpriteNode
var xPos = CGFloat()
var yPos = CGFloat()
var healthPoints: Int
var attack: Int
init(node: SKSpriteNode, healthPoints: Int, attack: Int){
self.node = node
self.healthPoints = healthPoints
self.attack = attack
}
}
A: First you can do is compare your firstBody or secondBody object (one that would be zombie after checking) with node field in your Zombie object in loop like this:
func changeHelthPointsForZombieWithNode(node: SKSpriteNode, andPoints points: Int) {
for zombie in Zombies {
if zombie.node == node {
zombie.healthPoints -= points
return
}
}
}
func didBeginContact(contact: SKPhysicsContact) {
let firstBody = contact.bodyA.node as! SKSpriteNode
let secondBody = contact.bodyB.node as! SKSpriteNode
if(firstBody.name == "Player" && secondBody.name == "Zombie"){
changeHelthPointsForZombieWithNode(secondBody, andPoints: Player.attack)
} else if(firstBody.name == "Zombie" && secondBody.name == "Player"){
changeHelthPointsForZombieWithNode(firstBody, andPoints: Player.attack)
}
}
This will be work if Zombie is a class type object, if it struct object you will need to use for var i = 0; i < Zombies.count; ++i loop and call object field form Zombies with index i
Second you can append fields you need to change insede the nodes like this:
class ZombieNode: SKSpriteNode {
var healthPoints: Int
var attack: Int
...
// create custom init method with this params
...
}
Then append to scene this objects of this type like this:
func addZombie(xPos: CGFloat, yPos: CGFloat){
var zombieNode = ZombieNode(imageNamed: "zombie", healthPoints: 100, attack: 10)
...
...
addChild(zombieNode)
}
And in this case you have access you need inside you find in didBeginContact method objects like this:
func didBeginContact(contact: SKPhysicsContact) {
let firstBody = contact.bodyA.node as! ZombieNode
let secondBody = contact.bodyB.node as! ZombieNode
if(firstBody.name == "Player" && secondBody.name == "Zombie"){
secondBody.helthPoints -= Player.attack
} else if(firstBody.name == "Zombie" && secondBody.name == "Player"){
firstBody.helthPoints -= Zombie.attack
}
}
Edits for new code:
Your zombie objects are not removed from the scene because you have not deleted them. You have a variable zombieNode, whenever you create Zambia in this line of code:
zombieNode = SKSpriteNode(imageNamed: "zombie")
you every time assign it a new value, and is a result zombieNode is a pointer to the last created node. This approach works with the player because it is single object, and did not accept for a set of objects. In fact every time when your zombie died you tryed to remove this last created object. Thats why this was not worked. To fix it you need to do the following:
First of all you need do remove this line of code:
var zombieNode = SKSpriteNode()
In your addZombie method create new nodes like this:
let zombieNode = SKSpriteNode(imageNamed: "zombie")
And in changeHealthPointsForZombieWithNode method you can remove zombie nodes like this:
if(zombie.healthPoints <= 0){
node.removeFromParent()
}
It would be good as well, remove objects from Zombie array when you remove the node.
| {
"redpajama_set_name": "RedPajamaStackExchange"
} |
John Ellis, a disillusioned suburban ER doctor, who finds his existence transformed when he intervenes in a drive-by shooting, saving a young boy's life and killing one of his attackers. When he learns the boy is still marked for death he finds himself compelled to save him at any cost and discovers that his life and his outlook on medicine may never be the same.
Director: Matt Nix
Actors: Albert C. Bates, Beth Riesgraf, Chris Chalk, Christine Horn, Conphidance, Eric Edelstein, Gregory Fears, Jason O'Mara, Jessica Szohr, Lauren Stamile, RonReaco Lee
Studio: Flying Glass Of Milk Productions, Fox 21 Television Studios
Networks: USA Network
America's Hidden Stories
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Big Papi Needs a Job
David Ortiz, the one and only Big Papi, has jacked his last mammoth home run into the Fenway stands. He retired after the 2016 season as one of the most…
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Akil the Fugitive Hunter
The loss of his best friend due to gang violence compels a man to change his ways and hunt the most elusive criminals in Los Angeles.
Genre: Action & Adventure, Crime, Documentary
Las Vegas is an American television series broadcast by NBC from September 22, 2003 to February 15, 2008. The show focuses on a team of people working at the fictional…
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Phil Spencer's Stately Homes
PropertyexpertPhilSpencervisitssomeofBritain'sbeststatelyhomes.
Pro-boxer Tommy "Little Dog" Ross (JOEL THOMAS HYNES), the favourite to win a Championship Belt, has a world-class meltdown in the middle of the fight and walks out of the…
Small Time Gangster
Small Time Gangster is an Australian drama series produced by Boilermaker-Burberry Entertainment for Movie Extra subscription television channel. The series follows the adventures of Tony Piccolo, a man who works…
From executive producers Kevin Spacey and Dana Brunetti, CNN Original Series "Race for the White House" captures the drama of how a high-stakes presidential election can turn on a single… | {
"redpajama_set_name": "RedPajamaCommonCrawl"
} |
Check the dates on which Mother�s Day will be celebrated in South Africa.
The festival Mother's Day, also known as Mother�s Day, will be celebrated on 12th May in 2013 in South Africa.
Mother's Day generally falls on 12th May and this year 2013 Mother's Day will be celebrated in the 2nd week of May. Mother's Day is a festival that is also celebrated in Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States, Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Greece, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Republic Of Korea and Russia and is also called Mother�s Day in South Africa.Mother's Day is most popular in United States.Mother's Day is also commonly referred to as Mothering Sunday and National Mother's Day.
Other countries also refer to Mother�s Day as F�te Des M�res, Haha No Hi, Hari Ibu, Mother's Day, Mothering Sunday, Mothers Day, Muttertag and Parents Day. | {
"redpajama_set_name": "RedPajamaC4"
} |
#include "data/feature_space.h"
#include <stdexcept>
#include <string>
#include "utils/logger.h"
DECLARE_LOGGER(logger, __FILE__);
namespace redgiant {
auto FeatureSpace::calculate_feature_id(const std::string& feature_key) const
-> FeatureId {
static std::hash<std::string> string_hash;
FeatureId id = 0;
// use high 8 bits to store space id
id |= ((FeatureId)space_id_ << kSpaceOffset) & kSpaceMask;
if (type_ == SpaceType::kString) {
// Any string literal is valid.
// For strings, hash the string and get the lower 56 bits.
id |= (FeatureId)string_hash(feature_key) & kFeatureMask;
} else if (type_ == SpaceType::kInteger) {
try {
// For integers, get the lower 56 bits directly.
unsigned long long number = stoull(feature_key);
id |= (FeatureId)number & kFeatureMask;
} catch (std::invalid_argument& exception) {
LOG_DEBUG(logger, "feature key %s is invalid in space %s",
feature_key.c_str(), space_name_.c_str());
return kInvalidId;
} catch (std::out_of_range& exception) {
LOG_DEBUG(logger, "feature key %s is out of range in space %s",
feature_key.c_str(), space_name_.c_str());
return kInvalidId;
}
}
LOG_TRACE(logger, "Built feature key %s in space %s to id %016llx",
feature_key.c_str(), space_name_.c_str(), (unsigned long long int)id);
return id;
}
} /* namespace redgiant */
| {
"redpajama_set_name": "RedPajamaGithub"
} |
Summers in Vaughan can be hot. Right now, you might be looking forward to shorts and fun outdoor events, but once the weather starts to get warmer, what you will be looking forward to the most is walking in to a nice cool home. This summer, you will appreciate your air conditioner more than anything else! As the temperatures increase during the summer months, a properly running air conditioner quickly becomes an essential part of every day life.
At Heating Ontario, we are known for being professional and efficient in everything that we do. This includes air conditioner repairs in Vaughan and the GTA. Whatever your repair needs, we will be able to fix your air conditioning unit quickly and correctly.
Let our dependable Vaughan team repair your Air Conditioner. Please call 647-591-2683 for more information and one of our friendly reps will be happy to assist you. | {
"redpajama_set_name": "RedPajamaC4"
} |
Good afternoon! I've been seeing this problem for several days. The form is opened for a long time both in the design mode and on the site. Previously, the site was downloaded completely in 3 seconds. Now it takes 45 seconds. See for yourself: https://7hatka.ru/3526_plat-ya/plat-e-p5-3665-1/ (click on the button calculator). Or in the design mode: https://eu.jotform.com/build/80148666746366. The problem is definitely not in the provider - all other sites work fast.
I have tested your form on your website and it takes about 4 seconds to load completely because you have a lot of form elements and conditions.
I suggest you use the IFRAME method.
Because you have added lots of conditionals, load time may vary by computer specs because there are a lot of calculations which are done in the browser.
The fact is that the same form worked 15 days earlier. Objectively, nothing has changed. The same shape. The same conditions. The same computer. One and the same site. The same provider. Speed fell sharply about 3 days ago. The reason is not clear. Also very slowly began to work the designer in a mode of viewing.
It seems you recently did some changes on your Form.
I have cleared your form cache for now. Could you please try and check if it still loads slowly on your end?
If it still loads slow, kindly try clearing your Browser's Cache.
Previously, the site was downloaded completely in 3 seconds.
Loads in about the same time for me as well, maybe 4 seconds. But it is nowhere close to 45 seconds.
I can not tell my visitors to change their browser. However, I opened the form in another browser. Loads about 45 seconds.
I tested it also and seems to load fine on my end. However you can optimize the form performance by reducing the conditions on your form.
It seems to me that the problem is not in the complexity of the form, not in the way the form is implemented on the site, but the other. Because even the form preview in the constructor is loaded very long - from 20 to 40 seconds. This is a common problem, not the problem of a single form, site, or browser. I work on one computer, in one browser and only your service for some reason brakes for me. Other sites work fast. A similar situation was about 1.5 months ago. Then the problem disappeared itself-without my intervention. At the same time, the version of the form by complexity and number of conditions differed little from the current version.
Since you have 100+ conditions on that form. It would also matter to the Web Browser you are using if they are able to Process the scripts faster.
May I know what Web Browser you are using and the version of it ?
I tested your website and direct Form URL on Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox and both load fine and similar time.
If you can please try using the Browser I mentioned Chrome and Firefox. That would be a great help for us to do further check. | {
"redpajama_set_name": "RedPajamaC4"
} |
Re: Can anyone tell me if it is true that there are no restocking fees if you purchase a phone via internet or phone?
Can anyone tell me if it is true that there are no restocking fees if you purchase a phone via internet or phone?
The website says there is a restock fee, but when I talked to 2 different people on the phone they said there is no fee unless purchased at a store. Then they said "As of last month". I want to know if there is a fee or not, who is right, the customer service person or the website?
The restocking fee is $75 for advanced, data-focused devices that are designed for web browsing (e.g.: tablets, netbooks).
The restocking fee is $50 for "smart phone" and "wearable devices" with SIM cards, which are high-end phones and wearable devices designed for web and social media use in addition to standard phone usage such as voice and text messaging.
The restocking fee is $25 for all other devices (e.g.: basic phone devices and data sticks).
Return all equipment acquired in connection with your activation your Device and/or accessory along with proof of purchase and a completed Return Form.
You must return your Device in its original package with all original contents, undamaged and in good working condition with no material alterations to the Device's hardware or software.
Accessories or other items received as part of a promotional offer (e.g. "Buy One Get One" etc.) must be returned for a refund or exchangealong with the original Device.
Limited edition and some other Devices may not be refunded or exchanged.
Refunds and exchanges will be less any rebates, restocking fees, and shipping costs.
d. Charge you the suggested retail price of a destroyed or altered Device, or, in the case of cancelled service, a non-returned Device, (which may be greater than the price you paid), plus any shipping and handling charges.
You are responsible for any charges incurred prior to service cancellation, including roaming, long distance, taxes, control charges, regulatory program fees, and other fees.
Right, that's what I read, but the person I talked to on the phone from T-Mobile told me that there was no fee if purchased online or by phone and I was wondering if anyone knew for sure which was right?
That information is in print and from T-Mobile. So, that supersedes any rep's word. | {
"redpajama_set_name": "RedPajamaC4"
} |
'Medical Directors Home Home
Medical Directors Section Newsroom
State of the States
Many of us think about legislative advocacy in terms of the federal government, and, of course, there is good reason for placing focus there, as it goes without saying that the impact of Washington on medical practice is considerable. Nonetheless, new laws tend to pass at a much faster pace at the state level, and arguably at no time in history has state activity had a larger significant impact on how health care is delivered to patients in the United States than it does now.
For those focused on state level advocacy, the first half of the year is always the most hectic time. In 2018, all but four states (Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, and Texas) have regular scheduled legislative sessions. While a handful of states meet year-round, the vast majority compress their legislative sessions into the first half of the year, with many completing their work around the time that the trees begin to bud. The compressed schedule of many state legislatures challenges all who wish to monitor developments and impact legislation rationally and for the good of patients.
To review all of the issues of concern – or opportunity – before legislatures would require more space than is available in this brief article, but following is a quick review of the most important issues that emergency physicians should be aware of.
Balance Billing/Out of Network Reimbursement
This has been a key issue in front of legislatures for several years now, as health plans have narrowed networks and sought legislative help with reducing payment to out of network providers without garnering the notice of their enrollees. The most common approach to this has been for health plans to pursue a ban on balance billing in combination with benchmarking out of network reimbursement to in network rates or some multiple of Medicare. This year, having been rebuffed on proposals for Medicare based methodologies, insurers in some states are pursuing the use of a database representing allowed amounts.
Those representing emergency physicians, as well as other physicians, have pointed out that such schemes would provide health plans with little or no incentive to contract at reasonable rates. Why negotiate a contract if one can pay contracted rates without them?
ACEP has worked with various similarly-situated medical specialty associations to oppose these proposals, while offering alternatives that would protect patients from unexpected balance bills while ensuring adequate payment. This has involved advocacy of the use of the 80th percentile of an independent, transparent charge database that is not under the control of health plans as a benchmark for determining reimbursement. ACEP sponsored a resolution adopted by the AMA House of Delegates last year supporting this solution.
It is important to note that a bad outcome on this issue would not only affect out of network reimbursement but would also impact contractual negotiations between providers and health plans. In fact, one could argue that the desire to push down contracted rates explains the fierceness with which the health plans have engaged in the debate. The physician coalition has organized itself to effectively oppose the health plans and push back on behalf of patients and access to emergency care.
Commercial Insurance and Prudent Layperson
As of the time of this writing, Anthem Blue Cross/Blue Shield has rolled out policies in six states (Georgia, Missouri, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, and New Hampshire) that threaten nonpayment if the visit is deemed non-emergent. This violates the prudent layperson standard as stated in federal law, as well as in the statutes of many states.
As an aggressive public relations campaign pushes back on these threats to patient safety and possible legal strategies continue to be explored, legislative solutions have also been proposed. In Missouri, legislation would require specific criteria, including review by a board-certified Missouri licensed emergency physician, before such a payment denial could be issued. Legislation put forth in Ohio would deny government contracts to health plans engaged in such practices.
ACEP is interested in stories involving non-payment and denials of coverage. If there are stories from your departments and patients that can be shared (keeping in mind HIPAA privacy protections), please consider forwarding such information to the state legislative office.
Medicaid Developments
With a friendlier administration in Washington, many "red states" are putting forth Medicaid waiver proposals that merit careful attention. Kentucky recently became the first state to gain approval of a waiver proposal that ties access to Medicaid benefits to pursuit of employment by able bodied persons, and other states are now pursuing similar ideas. Of particular significance to emergency medicine are waiver proposals that create increased co-payments for emergency department use retrospectively determined to be non-emergent. Variations on this theme include punitive payment structures for frequent use or negative impacts on health savings accounts tied to Medicaid services. ACEP's State Legislative/Regulatory Committee is developing resources around these types of issues.
States continue to respond to the opioid epidemic with various legislative approaches, most commonly with limitations on the quantity of pills. Some of those limitations have particular applicability to situations where there is not an existing doctor/patient relationship, and that obviously impacts emergency practice. In addition, states continue to expand mandates related to prescriber access to prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs).
While legislative interference with medical practice always generates concerns, there seems to be a bit of transition regarding how to respond to these developments. Thus, emergency departments have pointed out that PDMP mandates must be accompanied by improved database access through enhanced health information technology that pushes patient PDMP information to the physician. Thus, states have been encouraged to facilitate the availability of such technology financed through various types of public and private partnerships. Washington provided an initial example of how this could work to improve outcomes while saving money, and the concept is spreading across the country.
As stated at the outset, covering all the issues of concern to emergency medicine would require a much larger space, but a few issues of great impact have been summarized. For additional information, feel free to contact ACEP's State Legislative Office.
Harry J. Monroe, Jr.
Director, ACEP Chapter and State Relations
Chadd Kraus, DO, DrPH, FACEP
Chair, ACEP State Legislative and Regulatory Committee
A Message from the Chair – Self-Care in a Crisis
Reflections Post-COVID-19's First Wave from Chicago
What's New in the World?
Medical Directors | {
"redpajama_set_name": "RedPajamaCommonCrawl"
} |
France evacuates over 300 people including Afghans from Afgh...| MENAFN.COM
France evacuates over 300 people including Afghans from Afghanistan
(MENAFN- Khaama Press)
A spokesperson of the French Foreign Ministry on Friday, December 3 said that the country has carried out an evacuation mission in Afghanistan taking 258 Afghans, 11 French nationals, some 60 Dutch people, and an unspecified number of people liked to them out of the country.
The evacuation flight was organized with the help of Qatar.
The evacuees included Afghans who were at risks such as journalists and the Afghans who were once employed with the French army in Afghanistan.
French Foreign Ministry in a statement said that this was the tenth evacuation flight since September 10 this year that bringing the total number of evacuees to 396 Afghans and 110 French nationals.
All the flights were conducted with the help of Qatar.
In the meantime, France and Qatar jointly operated a humanitarian mission on Thursday, delivering medical equipment, food, and winter supplies to international organizations operating in Afghanistan.
The supplies were delivered with a Qatari military plane.
Qatar has been one of the key countries for European and Western countries since the start of evacuation that played the role of third-country to Afghans leaving their country. | {
"redpajama_set_name": "RedPajamaCommonCrawl"
} |
What is FAAR and how did I get involved with it? FAAR is the Foundation for Advancing Alcohol Responsibility. And it is a group or initiative that is funded by the distillers to empower and encourage parents to talk early and often with their kids about being responsible with alcohol. They are dedicated to encouraging a lifetime of conversations with your kids. And it's not necessarily always about alcohol. It's about keeping an open channel and encouraging those conversations with your kids regardless of what it is, keeping some sort of transparency with them. The inspiration behind me getting involved with FAAR is pretty simple. I was a teenager once. I know, am aware of, and have experienced those peer pressures that tend to rear their heads. As good as you are as a parent, you can never keep your kids away from those types of things. They may pop up on the school, on the school bus. I think you just have to really prepare your kids. You have to teach them about the potential dangers of alcohol and how to be responsible with it. | {
"redpajama_set_name": "RedPajamaC4"
} |
Q: How I can try this code in try catch block with groovy? I have defined method to try push if there is any error while pushing the string the code will execute 3 times if the push failed. so what I want is that it should throw an exception with push failed if it failed after 3rd push retry. how I can rewrite this code with try catch block.
def push(String string) {
echo "push method start............"
int count = 0;
def status = sh(returnStatus: true, script: "${string}")
while(count<=2 && status != 0) {
sh "sleep 10"
++count;
echo "push : $count"
def status1 = sh(returnStatus: true, script: "${string}")
if (status1 == 0) {
echo "push : $count is success"
break
}
}
echo "dockerPushAndRetry method ends............"
}
return this
A: without try-catch code could be simler:
def dockerPushAndRetry(String image) {
for(int i=0;i<3;i++){
if( 0==sh(returnStatus: true, script: "${image}") )return
Thread.sleep(10000) // 10 sec
}
error "error to run ${image}, please read logs..."
}
if you want to use try-catch...
without returnStatus the sh step will throw exception, so code could look like this:
def dockerPushAndRetry(String image) {
int count = 3
for(int i=0;i<count;i++){
try {
sh(script: "${image}")
return
}catch(e){
if(i==count-1)throw e
}
Thread.sleep(10000) // 10 sec
}
}
| {
"redpajama_set_name": "RedPajamaStackExchange"
} |
The bustling town of Gisenyi, located in northwest Rwanda in the Rubavu district, makes for a perfect weekend trip. Sitting on the coast of Lake Kivu and offering up casual eateries, lovely accommodations, plentiful activities, and expansive views, Gisenyi is a spot in Rwanda that shouldn't be missed.
Gisenyi is approximately three hours away from Kigali, and one hour away from the gorilla-trekking capital of Musanze. Though it is difficult and time-consuming to visit Gisenyi for just a day trip, Gisenyi luckily possesses a variety of accommodations suited to all budgets and styles.
Luxury travelers will find themselves at home at the scenic Lake Kivu Serena hotel, where private beach access, a fresh breakfast buffet, and lake views reign supreme. For midrange travelers, the Palm Garden (previously known as the Waterfront Resort), Paradis Malahide, and Gorillas Lake Kivu Hotel are the best. The restaurants at all three hotels serve up excellent meat and fish brochettes as well as an included hearty breakfast. For budget travelers, the Discover Rwanda dorm room is a good option and is located right next to the public beach.
Gisenyi's leafy green promenade, located just outside the center of the bustling downtown, is the place to be. Walk around the area, peeking into the thick tree canopies for a glimpse of the town's famous bat colony before going to the town's public beach for a lazy afternoon. On a nice day, make sure to explore the hilly green coastline by boat or kayak. Pretty much every hotel in town rents out boats for day trips around the area, or tourists can pick them up on the beach. Kingfisher Journeys is currently the only kayak trip operator in the area, and they offer trips ranging from a few hours to a few days.
Daily markets both in the center of town and on the lakeshore sell vegetables, fruit, colorful kitenge fabric, and fresh sambaza—a small fish found in Lake Kivu that is served deep fried or in a stew.
For the adventurous traveler, the Democratic Republic of Congo is right across the Grand Barrier border in Gisenyi—just a few minutes walk from the town center. Congo's Virunga National Park has plenty of exciting adventure activities for really reasonable prices, including an overnight hike of the active Nyriragongo Volcano and endangered mountain gorilla trekking. For those interested in gorilla trekking at a fraction of Rwanda's current permit price, Virunga National Park is the place to go.
Gisenyi, as one of the larger towns along Lake Kivu, has plenty of eating options that will satisfy everyone's palates. TamTam, Gisenyi's eponymous beachside bar, is the place to be during the weekend. Offering up some of the town's best local food, including grilled meat brochettes, roasted potatoes, and cold beer (definitely go for a Skol or Mutizig), dance parties, DJs, and daytime boozy lunches are the name of the game at this place.
Next door, the Lakeside bar and restaurant (formerly known as ThaiJazz Beach Restaurant) continues the party and serves a large selection of both local and international beer, as well as a variety of simple cocktails all overlooking the gorgeous Lake Kivu.
For those interested in some international cuisine, Calafia Cafe, a Rwandan-take on Californian fresh food, serves up some of the area's best brunches and casual dinners in their colorful and laid-back space right near the lakefront. Make sure to get the grilled chicken sandwich, beet goat cheese salad, and any of their homemade smoothies.
The Bistro Wine Garage is Gisenyi's resident pizza parlor, and the only place in the area with a proper wood burning pizza oven. Go for the classic Margherita, or switch it up with a couple of fun vegetable toppings.
As one of Gisenyi's premier restaurants, White Rock Bistro is located right next to the Goma border and cooks up some excellent Italian and Rwandan food while offering the dreamiest dinnertime view. Sparkling lights from neighboring Congo, coupled with fishing lights on the reflection of water are absolutely gorgeous, and their lasagne and well-seasoned steaks are an added bonus. | {
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800th anniversary celebrations of Magna Carta a Jewish fraud
Why the Magna Carta anniversary celebrations will be missing two crucial paragraphs
by Francis Carr Begbie May 19, 2013
If there is one thing our elites enjoy it is giving each other a big pat on the back and the extravagant celebrations planned for the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta will give them lots of opportunities to do just that.
There may still be eighteen months to go before the actual anniversary itself but the commemoration events are well underway to mark the day in 1215 that King John was finally brought to heel by the barons and where limited government and Western constitutional freedom was born.
In Britain the BBC will broadcast TV documentaries, dramas and radio programmes, and the event is to even have its own opera and specially commissioned symphony. The occasion will be marked by commemorative stamps and the Royal Mint will issue a special £2 coin. In America high-powered lawyers and constitutional experts will be chewing over the meaning of it all at banquets, dinners, lectures and exhibitions in Boston, Washington and Philadelphia and 800 U.S. lawyers are expected to make the pilgrimage to Runnymede beside the Thames where the document was sealed.
Across the English-speaking judicial world no single document is probably more venerated than the Great Charter. The Founding Fathers embedded it into the 1791 Bill of Rights in the shape of the Fifth Amendment that says no-one "can be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law". And today it is regularly cited in newspaper editorials, political debates and Supreme Court judgments.
But amidst all the self-congratulation about habeas corpus, the right to trial by jury and how it's wisdom shines down the through the ages and still has much to teach us, one awkward question should be asked, however churlish it might seem.
Why have clauses 10 and 11 been airbrushed from history? These were the ones inserted in the original charter to protect widows and underage heirs specifically from Jewish moneylenders by restricting the recovery of debt out of the deceased debtor's estate.
But they are nowhere to be found in the official Magna Carta Trust website nor the US National Archive website which instead features the text of the later — and much shorter — 1297 version. The two clauses in the original 1215 Great Charter are:
10. If one who has borrowed from the Jews any sum, great or small, die before that loan be repaid, the debt shall not bear interest while the heir is under age, of whomsoever he may hold; and if the debt fall into our hands, we will not take anything except the principal sum contained in the bond.
11. And if anyone die indebted to the Jews, his wife shall have her dower and pay nothing of that debt; and if any children of the deceased are left under age, necessaries shall be provided for them in keeping with the holding of the deceased; and out of the residue the debt shall be paid, reserving, however, service due to feudal lords; in like manner let it be done touching debts due to others than Jews.
You can, as they say in the British civil service, see the problem. While unremarkable in their day these short paragraphs are pretty incendiary stuff now and a headache for the organisers of the Magna Carta Trust — Patron: Her Majesty The Queen — which obviously wants to avoid causing offence to the richest and most powerful ethnic group in the legal profession.
Of the forty or so distinguished members of the advisory board of the Magna Carta Trust about a quarter are Jewish and they include:
US Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer;
John Bercow, Speaker of the British House of Commons;
David W. Rivkin, Secretary General of the International Bar Association and a member of President Obama's finance committee;
Stephen Zack, former president of the American Bar Association and chairman of the ABA's Magna Carta committee;
David Rubenstein, private equity billionaire and philanthropist; Rubenstein who founded the Carlyle Group and purchased one of the few remaining Magna Carta charters.
The organisers will also wish to avoid putting noses out of joint with the American Bar Association which is planning to drag 800 of its members away from the expensive shops, hotels and fleshpots of Chelsea and Kensington on a pilgrimage to the rolling meadow by the Thames where the ABA erected the impressive domed monument that has sat on there since 1957.
There is a partial explanation for the omission of the offending clauses. Like all statutes, the Magna Carta underwent a series of revisions and was superseded by other charters drawn up in 1216, 1217 and 1225 and later. Only in the original was there a specific reference to Jews (see Andrew Joyce's "Background to the Magna Carta").
The Magna Carta charter bought by David Rubenstein, on display in the U.S. National Archives, for instance, makes no mention of the Jews but it was produced in 1297, seven years after the Jews were expelled from England. Nevertheless it is still a fact that the 800th anniversary in 2015 is a commemoration of the most important Charter, the original toe-curlingly politically incorrect one.
So what relevance has any of this for today? In the narrowest of senses, very little because practically nothing from the Great Charter is still on the statute books in Britain today.
But more broadly it does shine a light into our medieval history and specifically the role played by the Jews in medieval England. In recent years there has been a concerted attempt to depict Jews as a peaceful open community pursuing a wide variety of occupations.
But as Andrew Joyce has so brilliantly shown in the Occidental Observer this is no more than a fiction concocted to hide the less salubrious truth. For the Jews of medieval England were occupied entirely as moneylenders and enjoyed great privileges and the special protection of the King. Not only were they exempt from the usury ban on Christians, they were able to move about the country without paying tolls and special weight was attributed to a Jew's oath, which was valid against that of 12 Christians.
But the protection of the King depended purely on their revenue-raising abilities. It has been said that just as the Jews could soak the wealth from a land the King could squeeze it from them. The money raising powers of the Jews were an important element on his side in the struggle between Crown, barons, and municipalities which makes up the constitutional history of England. But as could be expected this earned them the hatred of the general population and this often found violent expression. The Jews were seen as very much the King's creatures and to take against the moneylenders was to take against the King.
What is interesting about clauses 10 and 11 is how prosaic and matter of fact they are. They deal with the technical issue of how an underage heir's estate can be protected from the depredations of moneylenders until he reaches his majority. There are no diabolical fantasies of blood libel or any religious content at all. It is just business that is at issue, but underlying the dry prose is anger at Jewish moneylending.
In more recent times some people have chosen to place a generous interpretation that the Jews were not being singled out at all. That is because there is also a phrase "Debts owed to persons other than Jews are to be dealt with similarly" in the original.
In fact much popular anger remained against Jewish extortionate financial practices—so much so that when King Edward returned from the Crusades in 1274 he discovered so much land dispossession that he decided to take action with the Statute of Jewry. This outlawed usury altogether and tried to entice Jews into the community by granting them a licence to farm. They were also encouraged to make a living as merchants, farmers, craftsmen or soldiers.
Unfortunately when the 15-year trial period had elapsed, it was discovered that the Jews had covertly continued their moneylending and other sharp practices such as coin-clipping. In 1290, King Edward I issued an edict expelling all Jews from England. The expulsion edict remained in force for the rest of the Middle Ages, the culmination of over 200 years of conflict on the matters of usury.
Background to the Magna Carta
Andrew Joyce on May 19, 2013
The first point to bear in mind in that Magna Carta was a document produced by the nobles and presented to the monarch — in this case, King John. In this sense we should bear in mind the tensions between the nobles and the King over one chief issue — the role of Jewish usury in enabling land transfer from the nobility to the monarch. The relevant clauses are as follows:
* (10) If anyone who has borrowed a sum of money from Jews dies before the debt has been repaid, his heir shall pay no interest on the debt for so long as he remains under age, irrespective of whom he holds his lands. If such a debt falls into the hands of the Crown, it will take nothing except the principal sum specified in the bond.
* (11) If a man dies owing money to Jews, his wife may have her dower and pay nothing towards the debt from it. If he leaves children that are under age, their needs may also be provided for on a scale appropriate to the size of his holding of lands. The debt is to be paid out of the residue, reserving the service due to his feudal lords. Debts owed to persons other than Jews are to be dealt with similarly.
So obviously these clauses weaken the ability of Jew and Crown to recoup either debt or interest on loans. It doesn't prevent moneylending etc., but certainly we could agree that the position of Jew and King would be weakened. We must then ask, firstly, why was this necessary? And secondly, why did it suddenly disappear a year later in the 1216 charter? On the first point, as I state in my article on medieval Jewry, the relationship at this time during the Crown and the nobles was tense indeed, and the Jews were a very important factor in this tension. King John, whose actions had brought about the need for the Magna Carta, was profligate, incompetent, and utterly beholden to his Jews and their ability to provide him with seemingly unlimited funds for his misadventures on the Continent.
He was also merciless in taxation. In 1207 he raised over £60,000 from the Christian population — a vast sum in that time period. He also levied a much more lenient tax on the Jews. (Patricia Skinner [Jews in Medieval England, 42] writes that their tax was "onerous but not devastating.") But suspecting that Jews were understating their income and wealth, John innovated by demanding that lists of all their debts be maintained and held at the Royal Treasury — he then reserved the right to purchase any of these debts that he liked the look of.
This was the beginning in earnest of the process of land transfer from the nobles to the Crown (and facilitated by Jewish usury) that I mentioned in my article. Nobles would borrow from Jews, John (or his agents) would monitor repayments on the treasury rolls — and if anyone looked like they were getting into trouble with repayments and might forfeit, John would buy the debt from the Jew and reap the land for himself.
Obviously over time this created a great deal of antagonism against Crown and Jew. Monarchs had done this on a smaller scale before, but John was utterly reckless. Skinner writes that by 1207, John "brought into his hands the largest single cache of Jewish debts since 1186; he also ordered the exchequer to begin seizing the lands of debtors." To the remaining debtors, it was clear they were going to lose their lands and possessions to either King or Jew. Both were seen by the nobles as inseparable, and so when the Magna Carta rebellion broke out "Jews and Jewish property were among the principle targets" (Skinner, 44).
This is the primary reason why the clauses on Jews were introduced in the first place in 1215. On the question of why it was changed only a year later: firstly, John died and was succeeded by the boy King Henry III prior to the issuance of the second charter. In total, nineteen clauses were eliminated from the first (Runnymeade) Magna Carta, and the two relating to Jews and usury were among them. The boy King himself did not have anything to do with this; it was the circle of elites around him. They wished to restore order in the country and, traditionally, treatment of the Jews was a reliable barometer for Crown authority — if the Jews were left alone, then the Crown was in a solid position because it was on Crown authority alone that they remained safe. In times of transition and weak royal authority, the Jews were among the first to be attacked, because the gloves could safely come off so to speak.
For the small circle of elites around the boy king, making the Jews safe (and wealthy) was thus a priority. As part of their negotiations with the barons they pressed for and achieved:
1) the elimination of the two clauses on Jews;
2) the release of all Jews captured by the barons;
3) the renewal and reinforcing of royal safeguards for all Jews;
4) the return of bonds to Jews for collection;
5) an order for port officials to permit all foreign Jews entry to England;
6) the establishment of a separate Jewish Exchequer;
7) special policing units established specifically for the purpose of protecting the Jews of Lincoln, Oxford, Gloucester and Bristol; 8) the exemption of Jews from the decree of the Fourth Lateran Council that all Jews should wear an identifying badge;
9) the exemption of Jews from all episcopal courts;
10) the active enforcement by Royal sheriffs of all debts owed by Christians to Jews (Skinner, 44).
This was an astonishing amount of freedom and protection. It's unfortunate that more is not known about the background and motivations of the circle of advisers around the boy King. I strongly suspect that among them were people with direct financial interest in Jewish economic activities, or maybe even a few crypto-Jews.
The whole episode is extremely suspect. It bought the Jews some time, and it did reinforce for a while the impression of royal strength. However, Henry grew to be just as avaricious and over-ambitious as his predecessor. His partnership with the Jews only ratcheted the tension higher than ever. Jews certainly felt the pressure rising and some turned to crypsis to avoid conflict (Skinner, 51 describes a "flood of Jewish conversions" during the period 1230–1250s, but many Christians suspected insincerity).
Henry's government collapsed in 1258, and his son Edward came to the throne. Edward saw the writing on the wall, banning Jewish moneylending altogether in 1275. Seeking a way to placate his increasingly annoyed barons, and ridding himself of a now fairly useless population, he sent the Jews on their way in 1290.
The removal of the clauses was thus an attempt to patch up a ship that had been coming apart at the seams for some time — the Crown-Jew alliance. The breaking up of this alliance by the barons is something that England should be forever grateful for, given the fate of other nations in which the alliance of Crown and Jew persisted for many more centuries — Poland being a prime example.
Review: Anthony Julius' "Trials of the Diaspora" [Part 2]: "Medieval English Anti-Semitism"
by Andrew Joyce January 21, 2013 — 3 Comments
Go to Part 1.In part one of this essay we laid the groundwork for an examination of Anthony Julius' Trials of the Diaspora by considering the background of the author, his background as a follower of the Frankfurt School, and his role in defending and advancing Jewish interests. We now move on to a discussion of the historical content of the text. The following analysis will first provide the reader with Julius' narrative of the Jewish experience in medieval England. The latter half of the essay will be devoted to dissecting his narrative, and pointing out its myriad flaws, misrepresentations, and fabrications.
Julius on Jews in Medieval England.
Julius sets out his history of Jews in medieval England by establishing a common theme in Jewish ethnic activist history writing — complete Jewish passivity and the employment of what I term 'the victim paradigm.' As I explained in my earlier work on the 19th century Russian disturbances, "it is the notion that Jews stand alone in the world as the quintessential 'blameless victim.' To allow for any sense of Jewish agency — any argument that Jews may have in some way contributed to anti-Jewish sentiment — is to harm the perpetuation of this paradigm." To Julius, the history of Jews in medieval England is one in which an innocent Jewish population is victimized by "a predatory State, an antagonistic Church, and an intermittently but homicidally violent populace" (p. xli). Julius writes that the period witnessed "a war against the Jews" (p. xli). The lives of the Jews, from the moment of their settlement in the country in 1066, were according to Julius "always difficult, often intolerable" (p. xli).
Julius paints a portrait of a community like any other, diverse in its interests and occupations. Certainly, admits Julius, there were "some great financiers," but money-lending played no great part in Jewish life, and there were also "physicians, traders, goldsmiths and ballad-singers" (p. 106). Julius claims that "they were not segregated from their Christian neighbors" (p. 107). He urges us to avoid "the misconception that the typical Jewish milieu is a commercial one, and that Judaism itself is especially hospitable to moneymaking" (p. 123).
Julius attributes the first serious disruption to this precarious existence to the appearance of the "blood libel," which according to Julius emerged out of the irrationality and inherent malice of the Christian population (p. 123). The Crown then joined in and "turned the extorting of money from England's wealthiest Jews into a project" (p. 123). Observe the victim paradigm at work when Julius argues that "the history of medieval English Jewry is thus in large measure the history of the persecution of medieval English Jewry" [original emphasis] (p. 123). He states that "in medieval England, Jews were defamed, their wealth was expropriated, they were killed or injured, they were subjected to discriminatory and humiliating regulation, and they were, finally, expelled" (p. 108). Violence "came from above and below" (p. 108), "neither Jewish life nor Jewish property was ever wholly secure from attack. … Even their most commonplace, least consequential, of social encounters with Christians was freighted with danger for Jews" (p. 119). Victimhood, passivity, lack of agency.
Julius argues that the State victimized Jews by supporting "extortion, by judicial sanctions for false charges, by its tacit support for mob violence and its refusal to prosecute the murderers of Jews" (p. 119). The Church "practised violence and incited others to violence by its pursuit of persecutory legislation, by its preaching, and by other coercive measures" (p. 119). Mob violence was "radical, merciless, and quite often skillfully directed" (p. 119). Julius offers no references, citations, or evidence in support of these claims.
Much of Julius' polemic on this period concerns the "blood libel," a phenomenon he completely fails to contextualize or explain. He relies on dismissing it as "the paradigmatic instance of a total fabrication," without asking why a local population would a) fabricate evidence against Jews in the first place and b) why it took the form it did and emerged when it did. Since answering such questions are key to the understanding of any historical issue or period, Julius' entire section on this is flawed not only factually, but methodologically. He attributes the anti-Jewish riots of 1189–1190 to "a broad enthusiasm for the Crusades" (p. 119), without offering grounds for making such a statement, and writes provocatively that he imagines the crowds of non-Jews "robbing, raping, burning, and killing — all the time, self-righteously" (p. 119).
The Crown, argues Julius, weighed down England's Jews with "burdensome taxation," levied on the basis of personal greed and a malicious theology which deemed them "God's rejected people" (p. 125). They were subject to the whims of kings who would request vast loans and tallages [a kind of land tax]. The English Church persecuted Jews by telling Christians not to use Jewish doctors, by telling them not to borrow money from Jews, and by the priestly engagement of Jewish religious figures in theological debates. Edward I was particularly nasty, states Julius, because he "issued instructions to Jews to attend Dominican sermons" (p. 139).
Julius writes that in 1290 Edward I expelled a "weakened" and "intimidated" Jewish population from England, once it was no longer financially useful to the Crown. A depressing and, for the uninstructed reader, a pity-inducing narrative indeed.
But an entirely false one.
Jews in Medieval England.
Even back in 1894 there was a sufficient amount of this documentation for W. Bacher to write that "no country in Europe possesses for the history of the Jews in the twelfth century so rich a stock of documentary material as England"[1] Despite the availability of vast amounts of primary documentary evidence, Julius consulted not one original source for his discussion of medieval English Jews, instead borrowing heavily and selectively from other writers. As G.R. Elton, the great English rationalist historian, said in his classic The Practice of History (1961) "knowing what other historians have written is vital to a proper job" but "the first demand of sound historical scholarship must be stressed: it must rest on a broad-fronted attack upon all the relevant material."[2] Julius doesn't just fail to tackle all of the relevant material that has been unearthed in the course of centuries – he doesn't tackle any of it. With the exception of one or two entries, Julius' list of over one hundred footnotes for his discussion of Jews in medieval England consists exclusively of books written in the 1980s and 1990s by historians of the kind described by Elton as purveyors of "anti-positivist criticisms" – that is, a school of historians who claim theory trumps evidence, and thus for whom it is "virtually axiomatic that historians never work with the materials of the raw past."[3] Of course, anti-positivism was the major strain of Frankfurt School thought which infected the writing of academic history in the 1960s, and persists to this day.[4] Its proponents believe in conducting their research in the realm of the imagination rather than the archive.
Let us first deal with Julius' claim that this Jewish community was diverse in trade and profession, and that money-lending was a very minor part of it. Unlike Julius, A.M. Fuss consulted the available records and information for his 1975 article on "Inter-Jewish Loans in Pre-Expulsion England" and concluded that English Jews "were primarily engaged in money-lending, rather than trade or commerce. … In fact the charters issued by Kings John and Richard specifically provide protection for their money-lending activities."[5] P. Elman writes in the Economic History Review that "the obvious function of the Jews in regard to the general population was that of money-lending."[6] B. Lionel Abrahams used vast quantities of archival evidence in his 1894 Arnold Prize-winning article on "The Expulsion of the Jews from England in 1290″ and was able to conclude on the basis of this evidence that when the Jews first settled in England "they brought with them money, but no skill in any occupation except lending it out at interest."[7] Another article states that there is no evidence, among this abundant literature, "to suppose that the English Jews of this period got their living in any considerable numbers in any other art or craft. … It is therefore probable that the capital with which the community started in the country was very considerable."[8] In the thousands upon thousands of pages of documents we have on this community (the residential data, the taxation information, the details of their personal accounts etc.) we don't find a professionally diverse and dispersed population, but instead a close-knit, inter-related, and extremely well-organized group of money-lenders and financiers. Julius would not like us to have the "misconception that the typical Jewish milieu is a commercial one," so he shamelessly distorts the historical record. As to whether this is a deliberate distortion, in his discussion of 'occupational diversity' he cites page twenty-six of H.G. Richardson's The English Jewry under Angevin Kings (1960). The previous page, that is page twenty-five, gives a lengthy description of the vast Jewish money-lending enterprise.[9]
Julius claims that Christians and Jews were living side by side and that they enjoyed the little things in life together until the psychotic Christian population became homicidal. B. Lionel Abrahams paints a rather different picture. Using town plans and residential data, he found that Jews "occupied, not under compulsion, but of their own choice, a separate quarter of each town in which they dwelt."[10] He writes that they "rejected meat as unfit for themselves, but considered it good enough to be offered for sale to their Christian neighbors."[11] They lived as "semi-aliens, growing rich as usurers, and observing strange customs."[12] They stood outside of the feudal society, built on an aristocratic militant confraternity, itself founded on oaths and fealty.[13]
Julius complains about heavy, relentless, and burdensome taxation and loans squeezed from the Jews, though I very much doubt he has ever laid eyes on the relevant documents. P. Elman, who has, writes that "apart from the quasi-regular and normal legal sources of income, which the English as much as the Jews were required to pay, the king claimed from a Jews a number of occasional contributions, especially loans and tallages. In the thirteenth century, which is the vital period for our purpose, the loans were insignificant in number and amount [emphasis added]."[14] Further, there "is no evidence of the levy of any collective tallage upon them until the year 1168, and then the number did not exceed 5,000 marks."[15] When the tallages were brought in, they only applied to land that Jews had seized in lieu of the unpaid loans of the barons (see below). Further, Jews were excused from Crown taxes[16] and unlike the Christian population, in their movement around the country transacting business Jews were "free of all tolls and dues."[17]
If we were to have before us today a thirteenth-century English peasant, he would find much to dispute in Julius' claim that it was the Jew who stood at the bottom of the social and economic ladder. In fact it has been well established that Jews occupied the position of a privileged elite, under royal protection. B. Lionel Abrahams, upon examining centuries of royal charters concluded that "from their first arrival in the country, they had enjoyed a kind of informal Royal protection."[18] Later, Henry II "gave and secured to the Jews special privileges so great as to arouse the envy of their neighbors,"[19] granted them the use of their own courts, and "placed them under the special protection of the royal officers in each district."[20]
In charging high rates of interest and preying upon the indebtedness of the lesser barons and the freeholders, Jews were successful in acquiring vast numbers of estates, which the king then gradually acquired by accepting them in lieu of tallages.[21] The Jews had a free rein to carry on their regular, and highly profitable, money-lending activities as long as they continued in a mutually beneficial partnership designed to facilitate "the transfer of land from the small landowners to the upper stratum."[22] Unsurprisingly, Jews thus came to be seen as a hostile elite. They were viewed as such not just by the peasantry but by the barons, who chafed under their interest rates and at their inability to strike at those under royal protection. Irven Resnick writes in a 2007 article for the respected journal Church History that Jews were the "agents of hated royal fiscal policies,"[23] as well as the usurers of the masses. The Crown was aware of this and took measures to increase security for Jews. A lot has been made about Jews first having to wear a badge identifying them at this time. What is far less often publicized is that these badges were first introduced by the English Crown, according to an article in the Jewish Quarterly Review, to better "facilitate their recognition by their protectors."[24] This partnership stands quite opposite to the picture painted by Julius, in which the Crown would even refuse "to prosecute the murderers of Jews."[25] In fact this statement is itself a complete fabrication. One of the most notable things about the expulsion was that during the event itself, and long after the Crown viewed the Jews as useful, there remained a gratitude for services rendered. Zefira Rokeah writes that the Crown "endeavored to ensure the safe passage of Jews during the expulsion itself and punished those who robbed them or abandoned them to their death."[26] Julius knows this of course — he cites several times, though selectively, from the exact chapter I have just quoted from.[27]
Julius claims that the English Church was inherently bent on persecution because it viewed Judaism as a heresy, and in doing so gives Jews an entirely passive role. In this he borrows heavily from mainstream Jewish writing on this subject,[28] and he cites extensively from Zefira Rokeah who is one of the main proponents of this notion. For example she writes that "England was among the most orthodox countries in religious matters. Heresy was both exceedingly rare and decisively dealt with when it appeared. It was not found necessary to import the Inquisition into England, although the Dominicans were present and capable of acting as its agents."[29]
There is one basic and fundamental problem with the Jewish rationale on this however. Heresy can only be committed by 'one of the flock' and Jews were never seen as part of the flock. In fact, compared with the heresies of sects like the Cathars, which flourished at this time, Abrahams writes that "Jewish unbelief was seen as harmless."[30] Put simply, the Jews were outsiders of no import or concern to the Church.
In the early years of Church-Jew interaction, relations were actually positive. We know from documents that the English Church was borrowing money at interest from the Jews, "pledging church vessels, books, and vestments as security for their loans; even relics were used in this way. … The Jewish financier Aaron of Lincoln alone financed building projects in nine Cistercian abbeys as well as the cathedrals of Lincoln and Petersborough."[31] Relations eventually ceased not because of theological differences, but under the direction of the bishop of Lincoln who complained that interests levels for these loans had become "exorbitant."[32] J.M. Rigg concluded following a survey of Church correspondence that "religion had little or nothing to do with the expulsion,"[33] and that "the clergy of England during the period under review evinced far less hostility to the Jews than the laity."[34] When the laity began to suffer under Jewish usury, relations further deteriorated, and the Church moved to end Christian-Jewish contact altogether. When these efforts failed and Jews had spread into new towns across England, protected by royal guards, tensions grew. Because an attack on the Jews was seen as an attack on the king, some pretext had to be sought. A religious pretext, which might offer the protection of the Church, was thought viable, and in this atmosphere the allegation of ritual murder emerged. Gillian Bennett, a fine historian of medieval England and an expert on the use and reception of folklore, concluded in 2005 following years of research into these allegations that "where accusations of ritual murder where made in this period … it is more probable that they were cause celebres around which anti-Jewish feeling could crystallize, rather than the cause of anti-Semitism in the first place."[35] A pretext — a 'safe' pretext under which one could forge an attack on a hostile, heavily protected elite. Of course, the peasantry under-estimated the reaction of the sovereign — following a riot against Jews in York in 1190, many rioters were hanged by orders of the king.[36]
Thus, rather than Julius' "war on the Jews," the period saw the partnership of Crown and Jew against the barony and the peasantry. Only when the cautious Edward I ascended the throne did the situation change. The barons were becoming increasingly restless — a restlessness that Edward was sure would eventually target him. During the interregnum of Henry II and Richard I, the brief period before the new king declared 'the peace,' successful raids had been carried out by the barons on the archae — heavily guarded buildings which housed records of what they owed Crown and Jew.[37] Tallages consistently revealed the astonishing level of Jewish wealth, and as J.M. Rigg states: "Doubtless the discovery this made of their opulence had grown, had much to do with the outbreak of anti-Semitism which followed."[38] Edward thus decided to cut his losses while the going was good — for both him and the Jews. As Rigg concluded, given the realities of the period "it would be absurd to find fault with him for dismissing them from the country. … Nay, it is even probable that their expulsion was a blessing in disguise."[39] Also, if Jews had such a terrible time in medieval England, perhaps Mr. Julius can explain why only twenty years after the 'expulsion' Jews started petitioning for their return?[40]
To conclude our analysis of Julius' discussion of the Jews in medieval England, it is worth contextualizing it and highlighting its role in the broader landscape of the writing of Jewish history. To take just one example, the claim advanced by Julius, that the medieval Jewish community of England was diverse in trade and profession, has absolutely no basis in fact, and is a mere creation intended to whitewash a dark spot in the Jewish past. All the evidence we have points to almost complete involvement in money lending. In the 1970s, however, Salo Baron in his Economic History of the Jews conjectured that it was diverse, laying the theoretical groundwork for future writers to embellish. He argued that, "the extant rich documentation on Jewish moneylenders in medieval England has almost completely diverted the attention of scholars from the pulsating life of what was probably the non-moneylending majority of English Jews [emphasis added]."
Baron had nothing to go on in making this claim, and certainly no justification at all for claiming that the majority of Jews in England were not engaged in money lending. In fact, this statement contradicts most of his discussion of Jewish economic activity in England, in which he argues that money lending was the "lifeblood" and "the very economic foundation" of the community.
However, Baron's intercession was enough for a 1988 chapter in Anti-Semitism Through the Ages in which Zefira Rokeah cited Baron but made it sound like he had discovered hard evidence to prove his theory. Rokeah obscurely alluded to "manuscript evidence" in the main body of text, but hidden in her footnotes it becomes clear that this 'discovery' was just more paperwork on money lenders — nothing at all to do with the imagined majority of diversely employed Jews. Despite approvingly citing Baron's conjecture, and embellishing it further, no evidence at all had yet been found to substantiate it.
Moving forward to 2010, our own Anthony Julius played his part in the whitewashing of Jewish history by citing Rokeah as evidence for his assertion that medieval English Jewry was definitely economically diverse. At no point in this sequence was new evidence introduced — it was simply Jewish academics citing each other and relying on the scholarly apparatus of citation alone to bestow legitimacy on their claims. But by this simple method, in three books (and over 40 years) the truth was smothered, and we went from a view of a predominantly money lending community, to a complete re-write of history in which the community was barely involved in money lending at all. Just imagine all the future scholars who will, knowingly or not, cite Julius, and thus perpetuate this fabrication in their works.
Andrew Joyce's review of Trials of the Diaspora will continue at a later date.
[1] W. Bacher, "The Jews of Angevin England: Documents and Records from Latin and Hebrew Sources," Jewish Quarterly Review, 6:2 (1894), 335-374 (p.335-6).
[2] G.R. Elton The Practice of History (London, 1961), p.88.
[3] Ibid, p.79.
[4] J. Marcus, Foundations of the Frankfurt School of Social Research (New Brunswick, 1984), p.15.
[5] A.M. Fuss "Inter-Jewish Loans in Pre-Expulsion England" Jewish Quarterly Review, 65:4 (1975), 229-245 (p.229).
[6] P. Elman, "The Economic Causes of the Expulsion of the Jews in 1290″ The Economic History Review, 7:2(1937) 145-154 (p.145).
[7] B. L. Abrahams, "The Expulsion of the Jews from England in 1290″ Jewish Quarterly Review, 7:1 (1894), 75-100 (p.76).
[8] "The Jews of England in the Thirteenth Century," Jewish Quarterly Review, 15:1 (1902), 5-22 (p.10).
[9] See H.G. Richardson, The English Jewry under Angevin Kings, (London, 1960), p.25.
[10] B. L. Abrahams, "The Expulsion of the Jews from England in 1290″ Jewish Quarterly Review, 7:1 (1894), 75-100 (p.76-7).
[12] Ibid, p.78.
[13] "The Jews of England in the Thirteenth Century," Jewish Quarterly Review, 15:1 (1902), 5-22 (p.7).
[14] P. Elman, "The Economic Causes of the Expulsion of the Jews in 1290″ The Economic History Review, 7:2(1937) 145-154 (p.145).
[15] "The Jews of England in the Thirteenth Century," Jewish Quarterly Review, 15:1 (1902), 5-22 (p.10).
[17] B. L. Abrahams, "The Expulsion of the Jews from England in 1290″ Jewish Quarterly Review, 7:1 (1894), 75-100 (p.84).
[19] Ibid, p.81
[23] Irven Resnick "Review: Expulsion: England's Jewish Solution by Richard Huscroft" Church History, 76:3 (2007), 634-636 (p.635).
[26] Z.E. Rokeah "The State, The Church, and Medieval England," in S. Almog Antisemitism Through the Ages (New York, 1988), p.104.
[27] Julius, Trials of the Diaspora, p.654, 656, 657.
[28] See for example, D. Cohn-Sherbok, The Crucified Jew: Twenty Centuries of Christian Anti-Semitism (London, 1992), R.S. Wistrich, Anti-Semitism: The Longest Hatred (London, 1991), and M. Perry Antisemitism: Myth and Hate from Antiquity to the Present (New York, 2002).
[29] Ibid, p.101.
[30] B.L. Abrahams "The Expulsion of the Jews from England (Concluded)" The Jewish Quarterly Review, Vol. 7, No. 3 (Apr., 1895), pp. 428-458, (p.458).
[33] J.M. Rigg "The Jews of England in the Thirteenth Century," Jewish Quarterly Review, 15:1 (1902), 5-22 (p.19).
[35] G. Bennett, "William of Norwich and the Expulsion of the Jews", Folklore 116:3, 311-314 (p.313).
[36] J. Gillingham, Anglo-Norman Studies: Proceedings of the Battle Conference, Volume 25 (Woodbridge, 2003), p.145.
[40] Z.E. Rokeah "The State, The Church, and Medieval England," in S. Almog Antisemitism Through the Ages (New York, 1988), p.118, note 6.
Debate about Combat Drones in Germany
Russia Issues "All-Out War" Alert Over Syria | {
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That Spaniard's mad or drunk. But that can't be, or else in his one case our old Mogul's fire-waters are somewhat long in working.
No more serifs, same bright colours: Google new identity
Google has just launched a new visual identity and redesign of its multicoloured logo. At the time of writing the new logo is shown on the Google homepage being drawn by an animated hand. They doubtless were Thark warriors who…
This sportswear peels away when you're hot and sweaty
The latest Pebble looks a touch different from previous models of the smartwatch. Instead of a square screen with rounded edges, it bears a circular watch face. Prior to last weekend's race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, JGR announced Josh…
Israel could send the first privately-funded mission to the Moon on a Falcon 9 rocket
Israel nonprofit competing in the Google Lunar X Prize competition — will use SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket to launch its lunar lander into space, the group announced today in Jerusalem. The rocket will launch the team's vehicle into lower Earth…
Scientists can draw very different meanings from the same data, study shows
Giving the same information to multiple scientific teams can lead to very different conclusions, a report published today in Nature shows. And that's exactly why two researchers think scientists should share their data with others — well before they publish.…
'Amateur astronauts' will send a person into space in 2017
Copenhagen Suborbitals currently consists of 50 people — engineers, mathematicians and a kindergarten teacher — who are trying to send a person to space using only off-the-shelf components — the kind you would find in your local hardware store. "All…
Back to the Future: Science fiction turns science fact
One of the technological innovations presented in this film was a huge 3D display. As far as this invention is concerned, Hollywood was almost right. I had gone but a short distance further when what seemed to be an excellent…
Seen From Space: Hurricane Joaquin Churns Towards Bahamas
Hurricane Joaquin battered the Bahamas early Friday and from his perch on the International Space Station astronaut Scott Kelly was witness to the magnitude of the huge storm. Kelly captured this early morning image before the storm hit the Atlantic…
Matt Damon Could Travel To Mars In This Suit, Thanks to Nasa
When you're making a blockbuster film that's set on Mars, there's a lot of science to get wrong. But for The Martian, a cinema adaptation of Andy Weir's self-published bestseller about a lone astronaut stranded on the red planet, director Ridley… | {
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} |
Mike is the one to see.
It's been awhile since i made a purchase here. I'll need a new washing machine soon, and i'll be sure to check w/these guys first. not sure if it's still all family owned and run, but when i made my last purchase Mike was the brother to deal with. kind, reasonable, patiently answered my questions. i referred two people to him. the other brothers were a different story. rude in person, ruder still on the phone. i'll only deal w/Mike. if he's not still there, i'll take my business elsewhere.
Posted by by Lealion at Citysearch on October 19, 2010. Brought to you by Citysearch.
Since 1956, Keystone Appliance Co, Inc. has been providing Retail - Electric Household Appliances from North Bergen. Keystone Appliance Co, Inc. is incorporated in New Jersey. Keystone Appliance Co, Inc. has estimated annual revenues of $910,000.00 and also employs an estimated 6 employees.
Keystone Appliances can be found at Bergen Tpke 4237. The following is offered: Electronics Retailers. The entry is present with us since Sep 10, 2010 and was last updated on Nov 14, 2013. In North Bergen there are 7 other Electronics Retailers. An overview can be found here. | {
"redpajama_set_name": "RedPajamaC4"
} |
Paco Ohad commented on Developing Talents in Art for self-sustenance.
-- Education and pro-activity are fundamental parts of the project, explain the link between pride of the African culture and heritage, and ceasing to admire Western role models together with initiative and entrepreneurship may make significant changes on the long run.
-- As for the academy as a project, explain how it will run its costs and incomes. Make clear how it will sustain itself. It is possible that it will take time to cut it´s costs even, explain how long this will take if it it the case. Make sure to believe in your words and be as transparent as possible, as I know you will be.
It is possible to divide this into time segments. Perhaps start with fundamental or core parts of the project to start off with, such as theatre / training area, housing for students, feeding costs, etc. You have experience in this, it is not new to you! Next stage could be studio, restaurant, museum. However you configure it, make sure to demonstrate how the numbers work out so that it will be clear that it is viable and worth investing in.
-- End users or graduate students. These are the cause for the project to run. Explain how they will sustain themselves, how this project will have improved their livelihoods and the repercussion it had in East African society. This is tricky because entrepreneurship is extremely vast, and as diverse as imagination itself. I believe it is enough to illustrate how a graduate may use their skills. Don't forget to mention how this will contribute to society as a whole.
· Before editing anything, go back to the guidelines of the project, designing principles and winning ideas. Keep these in mind as you re-edit the text, it´s worth writing them down or printing them out. And as Chelsea Takamine mentions, revisit the Storytelling office hour if necessary.
- The prototype of 3 months is worth elaborating a little bit on. Take the scenario that you made it, and have 3 months to demonstrate that your idea works. How do you go about it. This I believe is a bonus more than a necessity.
What would you expect to receive from the Rockies Talent Center?
How would you envision using the talents you gain in the academy to bring income?
Movies can be an amazing addition and on the long run will attract foreign funding. I think it fits very well the mission of the Rockies. Mpola mpola, I'm sure we will reach everything we are aiming at. | {
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Versluys ist der Familienname folgender Personen:
Elisabeth Versluys (1923–2011), niederländische Schauspielerin
Kristiaan Versluys, Literaturwissenschaftler und Amerikanist
Patrick Versluys (* 1958), belgischer Radrennfahrer
Siehe auch:
Versluis | {
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Whether you are preparing for Chattanooga's Waterfront Triathlon or even the Ironman in September, make sure you have the right gear to have your best race yet. At Front Runner we go beyond running shoe fittings by offering swim gear and running accessories too.
Check out a few of these products and enjoy 10% off when you show proof of any future triathlon registration!
While it is important to hydrate as far as a week out from your race, we also suggest having a race day hydration plan. Nathan offers a variety of hydration gear focusing on comfort and performance, designed specifically for runners. Avoid relying on the next water stop to stay hydrated and instead consider the convenience that carrying your own would bring.
2. STAY LEAK FREE. STAY FOG FREE.
The last thing you want is river water sloshing around in your goggles. Get fitted at Front Runner for the perfect Speedo goggle. Consider using a mirrored goggle to block the sun. Speedo also makes a defogging solution that retails for $15.
3. OUCH! AVOID CHAFING & BLISTERS.
We have seen our fair share of chafing and blisters to know it is better to be safe than sorry when it comes to protecting your skin. Body Glide is protective balm applied directly to the skin and is known as the leader in anti chafing and blister protection.
Body Glide is sweat resistant and mess free, unlike products like petroleum jelly.
Bonk: (of a cyclist or runner) reach a point of exhaustion that makes one unable to go further. Trust us, bonking isn't fun. Although aid stations may offer nutrition, we suggest stocking up on the nutrition you have trained with (including sticking to the same flavors, brands, caffeine content, etc.).
At Front Runner we offer a variety of Gu gel and chews, HUMA (an all natural solution to gel), and NUUN electrolyte replenish tablets.
While you may not be able to control mother nature, we do have a solution for phsychologically feeling cool. Goodr sunglasses were designed for the runner who wants gear that looks as cool as it is functional.
These slip free, bounce free, polarized sunglasses come in a variety of colors and retail for just $25! Although our stock is low, reserve your favorite color now and be one of the first to receive a pair when we receive our next shipment.
While celebrating and rest may feel like your first order of business post race, don't forget the power of a proper recovery. Stretching and compression should be done as soon as possible after crossing the finish line to minimize muscle tightness and soreness.
We recommend trying a high quality foam roller and Sockwell compression socks for recovery. Trigger Point offers a variety of foam rollers depending on desired firmness and preferred stretching routine. Sockwell socks are a graduated compression sock that retail for $25/pair. Plus they are made right here in Chattanooga! | {
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Heading into summer is a great time to take a break and reflect on the goals you set at the start of the year. If better self-care was at the top of your list, what better way to stay motivated and mindful than with a handmade yoga bolster. Spoonflower Berlin crew member Allie is visiting the blog today to share how she whipped up a pattern-blocked bolster to take her practice to the next level using Fill-a-Yard® and Dogwood Denim™! | {
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Home News British Airways to Start Charging Customers for Food on Flights
British Airways to Start Charging Customers for Food on Flights
In a bid to compete with its low-fare airline rivals, British Airways is set to abandon its policy of giving away complimentary meals to all of its passengers.
A report in The Telegraph of London says Alex Cruz, who became chairman and chief executive of BA in April, believes the carrier should begin charging short-haul customers for upmarket meals and snacks.
Mr Cruz is understood to be considering bringing in Waitrose to provide premium range products to customers, in a move to boost the company's revenues from short-haul flights.
In recent years BA has struggled against its competitor easyJet, which has charged customers for food and drink since it first took to the skies in 1995.
Business has been particularly challenging at Gatwick, where easyJet now flies 42 per cent of the airport's passengers.
Up until now, BA has maintained a policy of free food, promising customers "Whenever and wherever you are travelling, we offer a complimentary snack or meal and bar service."
While customers on longer BA flights to destinations such as Greece and Turkey are still treated to a three-course meal, the introduction of a new premium product range could offer the carrier a new stream of revenue.
Its rival Flybe offers Food Doctor pots of couscous and lentils for £3, while easyJet sells passengers warmed focaccia sandwiches for £4.50.
Airport retailers such as Boots and Pret A Manger have also also increased the range and quality of food available to take on board.
A spokesman for BA said: "We are constantly reviewing every element of the experience our customers receive, including the in-flight catering, to ensure we're delivering what they want.
"We are always innovating, for example, our new pre-paid meal option for customers travelling on our long-haul economy flights is proving enormously popular.
"The meals are an alternative to the normal complimentary menu, which remains on-board. Customers can instead choose to pre-order and pre-pay via ba.com for one of six enhanced meals, including gourmet dining, great British breakfast and taste of the east."
British Aiways
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I'm A Clear Successor To Free, Fair Election Come 2023, Says Buhari | {
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} |
Are you in a situation that you need legal representation? Hiring a lawyer is very important even though they are expensive. To be free from jail, it is important to search for a lawyer to represent you, the lawyer will also help you save money and time. When you hire a criminal defense lawyer, you will be assured of so many benefits. In this article, you will learn about the benefits you will get when you hire a criminal defense lawyer.
Secondly, when you hire a criminal defense lawyer, he will make an evaluation on your case. Your criminal case is unique from other criminal cases and it is important for the lawyer to understand that and give it attention. There is an advantage of hiring a lawyer in your case because he will explain to you the case that you have, the charges made against you as well as the things you need to do as you face the case. If you hire the lawyer he will create a strategy with an objective of protecting your interests.
Thirdly, it is important to ensure that you hire a criminal defense lawyer because he can protect your rights. The lawyer has the ability to protect your rights because he understands the constitution. You will also not be faced with heavy penalties if you hire a criminal lawyer to handle your case. You can be guaranteed of your charges being reduced or dropped if you hire a criminal lawyer in your case.
Fourthly, it is important to ensure that you hire the lawyer because he will be useful for damage control. On the off chance you have a criminal case, you must ensure that you have someone you can trust. A lawyer is going to be neutral in your case and he will offer you invaluable advice for your case. With the advice offered by the lawyer, you will be assured of peace of mind and you will be sure that you have someone on your side to depend on.
A criminal lawyer that understands the courts has been able to create relationships with people that work in the court. If the lawyer knows these people, it means that he knows how they operate and the procedures that they use. With the relationship advantage, the lawyer will also have the knowledge about the procedures to use and create a successful case. | {
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This Peach Cake Recipe is really delicious. The streusel topping turns this easy peach cupcake recipe into a fantastic dessert cupcake.
Most cupcake recipes can be made as cakes as well and this is definitely one of them. This recipe makes up a delightful cake that is best made in a spring form tin.
Beat butter and sugar in a mixing bowl with electric mixer until light and fluffy.
In another bowl combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Slowly beat the dry ingredients into the creamed mixture until well blended.
Spread the batter into cupcake trays.
Slice the peaches and arrange over the batter, pressing lightly, overlapping as needed so that the top of the cupcake is well covered with peach slices.
Sprinkle topping over the peaches and bake for 20 minutes or until cupcakes are golden brown and the peaches are soft.
Note: This is a very stiff mixture but makes a moist, light cake. | {
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} |
The Strike King Rage Lizard is the last soft plastic lizard you'll ever buy. The ever popular 6″ lizard body has been a staple among many Texas rig and Carolina rig fisherman for years. The new 6″ Rage Tail Lizard features the unique Rage Tail design on all 4 legs and the large Rage Tail has incredible movement in the water. Never has a lizard had all 5 body parts moving at the same time with small movements of the rod tip or the current in the water. On a Carolina Rig this movement does nothing but entice big bites! Tie one on and see what the Rage is all about! Protected by US Patent # 7,774,974. | {
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} |
Cinema
La famiglia Addams 2 (Addams Family Values) – film statunitense del 1993 diretto da Barry Sonnenfel
Musica
Addams Family Values (The Original Orchestral Score) – album di Marc Shaiman del 1993.
Addams Family Values (Music from the Motion Picture) – compilation del 1993.
Videogiochi
Addams Family Values – videogioco del 1995 | {
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} |
Q: Adding "Link to Document" to all document libraries in SharePoint 2010 Is there a way to add the "Link to Document" content type to all existing document libraries in a site/site collection other than editing each one manually? I'm fine to do it with PowerShell if there is a way.
Also is there a way to change the template for the default document library so that all new document libraries will have this functionality?
A: This is untested, but I'd probably do something like this:
$site = get-spsite http://your/site
$rootWeb = $site.RootWeb
$linkToDocCType = $rootWeb.AvailableContentTypes["Link to a Document"]
foreach ($web in $site.AllWebs)
{
foreach ($list in $web.Lists)
{
if ($list.BaseType -eq [Microsoft.SharePoint.SPBaseType]::DocumentLibrary)
{
$listMatchCTypeId = $list.ContentTypes.BestMatch($linkToDocCType.Id)
if (!$listMatchCTypeId.IsChildOf($linkToDocCType.Id))
{
$webCTypeCopy = $list.ParentWeb.AvailableContentTypes[$linkToDocCType.Id]
$listCTypeCopy = new-object Microsoft.SharePoint.SPContentType($webCTypeCopy, $list.ContentTypes, $webCTypeCopy.Name)
$list.ContentTypes.Add($listCTypeCopy)
$list.Update()
}
}
}
$web.Dispose()
}
$rootWeb.Dispose()
$site.Dispose()
As far as your second question, about changing the default document library template to always include "Link to a Document", I really don't know. It may be possible, but then again it's my understanding that it's a best-practice to leave the OOB stuff alone and not customize it, as an update from Microsoft might overwrite your customization.
| {
"redpajama_set_name": "RedPajamaStackExchange"
} |
Alica Schmidt Bio: The Inside Scoop On The German Olympian
Racing / By Stephen Hands
Stephen Hands
Stephen grew up playing and watching soccer matches with his family. As a young adult, he played football until he sustained a serious injury that stopped him from continuing. He started competitive running because the social aspect and traveling intrigued him while also giving him the same competition buzz. He enjoys writing for Pro Sports Bio because it allows him to deep dive into the lives of athletes he admires and learn more about them while appreciating their journey and sharing his own insights on what it takes to climb to the top.
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Alica Schmidt is a German track and field athlete who qualified for the Tokyo Olympics. She is a 400-meter specialist and has represented her country in the relay over this distance. Schmidt has been dubbed the 'world's sexiest athlete' and has a large social media presence. She recently came to the attention of the larger sporting world when chosen to join the medical and fitness staff at the German Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund.
Alica Schmidt Quick Facts
Full Name: Alica Megan Schmidt
Birth Date: November 8th, 1998
Birth Place: Worms, Germany
Nickname: None
Siblings: None known
Partner: Fredi Richter
Profession: Athlete
Net Worth: $500,000 to $1,000,000
Social Media: Instagram;
Silver medal 4×400m relay U20 European Championships
Bronze medal 4×400m relay U23 European Championships
Last Updated: July 2021
Alica Schmidt Birthplace and Early Life
Alica Schmidt was born November 8th, 1998 in Worms, Germany. She has kept her family life very private, but she is thought to be a single child. From an early age, she was always full of energy and loved to run. Schmidt participated in several different sporting events at school, including the 400 meters and the long jump.
Alica Schmidt's father had also competed in track and field, and her parents helped to instill a love of running. Recognizing her potential, Schmidt was encouraged to join an athletics club at the age of seven. She would continue to combine her running with her studies, and after completing high school Schmidt attended the Freie Universitat Berlin, where she gained a bachelor's degree.
To help further her ambitions of becoming an international athlete, Schmidt joined the prestigious SCC sports club in Berlin to help hone her training.
Alica Schmidt Professional Career
Alica Schmidt's blossoming athletic career is at a very early stage, but she has already run some impressive performances at home and on the international scene. She combined her athletics with her studies and by 2016 she had a 400 meter personal best time of 55.54. Schmidt was also running other distances too, competing in events up to 800 meters.
European Junior Success
She gave a glimpse of her potential in 2017 as part of the German 4×400 meter relay team at the European U20 Championships in Grosseto, Italy. Running the third leg in the final she helped her compatriots win the silver medal in a time of 3:33.08, just behind a strong Ukrainian quartet. Both the German and the Ukraine relay teams beat the previous world record for the age group in this final. The same year saw her take over a second off her own individual personal best at a meet in Mannheim.
Alica Schmidt would kick on again in 2019, bringing her best time for 400 meters down to 53.66 at an event in Berlin. She was selected to represent Germany, this time at the European U23 Championships in Gavle, Sweden. Schmidt was once more part of the women's 4×400 meter relay squad. As in 2017, Schmidt ran the third leg, but this time the German team was one place back, working hard to win the bronze medal.
Tokyo Bound
Over the next two years, Alica Schmidt has continued to progress on the track, bringing her 400 meters personal best time down to 52.21. This progress and her previous achievements for the national team have seen her selected to represent Germany in the 4×400 meter relay at the delayed Tokyo Olympics.
Schmidt had dreamed of representing Germany at the Olympics, and the Tokyo games will provide an additional chance of a medal for the relay runners. The Tokyo Games will hold mixed 4×400 meter relays for the first time as an Olympic event. Alica Schmidt will compete for Germany in this mixed event, an opportunity she has said she is thrilled to have been given.
Alica Schmidt also participates in the indoor track season. Ahead of the Olympic games, she ran an indoor personal best time for 400 meters indoors. In February 2021 Schmidt ran 53.53, half a second quicker than she has run the distance before on an indoor track.
Similar to outdoors, Alica Schmidt also runs a range of other distances on the indoor tracks, helping build both speed and endurance for the 400-meter event. Over the last few years, Schmidt has improved her indoor times at 60 meters, 200 meters, 400 meters, and 800 meters.
While athletics remains her prime focus, Alica Schmidt has a large presence on social media, with 1.8 million followers on Instagram alone. She is a social media influencer and a model and often posts workout videos as part of her keen interest in healthy eating and wellness.
She promotes brands she is happy to work with through her social media channels. These include the German food company Frosta, as well as protein powders from the organic sports nutrition company Food Spring. Schmidt highlights the importance of nutrition for her athletics training on her Instagram channel, detailing her eating habits to offer an insight into how athletes eat right to perform well.
The Borussia Dortmund Connection
In 2020 Alica Schmidt was invited to the training complex of top Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund. Schmidt led the team through an athletics-based fitness workout session, before taking part in a 400m race against Dortmund's Mats Hummels, a race she comfortably won.
The connection between the athlete and the soccer club is Puma who sponsors Schmidt and is also a provider of equipment to Borussia Dortmund. It is hoped Schmidt will be able to help the overall fitness levels of the Borussia Dortmund squad.
Alica Schmidt Video
Alica Schmidt wins her first major medal, silver as part of the women's 4×400 meter team at the European U20 Championships in 2017:
Alica Schmidt follows up her 2017 silver by winning the bronze in the 4×400 meters final at the European U23 championships in 2019:
Taking on Borussia Dortmund's Mats Hummels over 400 meters:
Alica Schmidt Family
The details of Alica Schmidt's family are kept very private by the athlete. It is assumed she is a single child. Her parents were both influential in Schmidt's love of sport and in impressing the importance of hard work. Her father was a former track and field athlete and has been a driving force behind his daughter's career.
Alica Schmidt is far more open about her relationship with her boyfriend, Fredi Richter. The couple has been dating for over three years. Richter is a proficient German bodybuilder and the couple shares a strong interest in fitness and well-being. They both post pictures of themselves at the gym while working out. Fredi Richter has a strong social media presence and is considered an influencer.
Freddi Richer is also a photographer, and one of his Instagram channels, @richter.raw, displays portraits of Alica Schmidt. The couple first made their relationship public through social media and they often post pictures of one another on their individual channels. The couple does not have any children.
Alica Schmidt Net Worth and Career Earnings
Alica Schmidt's net worth is estimated between $500,000 to $1 million. A major proportion of her net worth comes from endorsements and as a model and social media influencer. As an up-and-coming athlete, Schmidt's income on the track is likely to be a fraction of her earnings away from the track.
As her career progresses Alica Schmidt will likely start to earn more in prize money and appearance fees from athletics. The top athletes can make a good living out of the sport, but for many on the circuit, grinding out a living can be tough without endorsements.
Alica Schmidt's major endorsement is with Puma, the German athletic clothing and footwear company. As one of the best young talents in German sport, Puma recognized the potential benefits of a sponsorship deal with Schmidt early in her career.
Schmidt will often be seen wearing Puma branded gear on her Instagram channel and has the company name on her Instagram bio. Puma offered Schmidt a contract for an advertising campaign to model their clothing when they became her principal sponsor. They expanded this further by including Schmidt in a television commercial.
Alica Schmidt currently has 1.8 million Instagram followers, with her bio also including another of her endorsements from Food Spring. It is estimated that for every post-Schmidt makes on Instagram she can earn up to $4,300. She also has her own YouTube channel where she posts training videos and athletics-based vlogs.
Alica Schmidt's stated focus remains on athletics and the Tokyo Olympics. Going forward her income from the track will depend on future development and individual success. This would also raise her profile higher and open the way for further endorsement opportunities.
Question: How Fast is Alica Schmidt?
Answer: Quick! Her best time for 400 meters is 52.21, while she has also run 12.03 for 100 meters and 24.14 for 200 meters. At just 22 years of age, as long as she stays relatively injury-free, Schmidt should be able to continue to bring these times down further over the coming years.
Question: How Tall is Alica Schmidt?
Answer: Alica Schmidt is 5ft 9" tall (1.75m).
Question: What is Alica Schmidt's World Ranking?
Answer: Alica Schmidt is currently ranked number 201 in the world for the women's 400 meters and 796 in the world over 200 meters. Her best ranking for 400 meters to date has been 160th in the world, while over 200 meters she has been ranked number 655.
Question: Which Country Does Alica Schmidt Represent?
Answer: Alica Schmidt runs for Germany where she was born. To date she has represented Germany in the women's 4×400 meter relay, winning silver and bronze at the European U20 and U23 championships in 2017 and 2019. She has been selected to represent Germany in the 4×400 meter relays at the Tokyo Olympic Games.
Question: Is Alica Schmidt Single?
Answer: No, she has been dating bodybuilder and social media influencer, Freddi Richter, for over three years. People first became aware of their relationship when they posted photos of themselves together on Instagram.
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