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That this House regrets the depth of scientific illiteracy in the Government's Psychoactive Substances Bill; agrees with the New Scientist magazine that the Bill is one of the stupidest, most dangerous and unscientific pieces of drugs legislation ever; applauds the judgment of the hon. Member for Reigate that one part of the Bill is manifestly stupid; is appalled that the Bill is evidence-free and prejudice-rich in disregarding the counterproductive, harmful results of similar bills in Ireland and Poland; notes that the Reitox Poland report from 2013 shows that that country's number of legal high-related poisonings three years after their ban are above pre-ban levels, and that the European Commission's conclusion is that use of legal highs in Ireland after their ban increased from 16 per cent in 2011 to 22 per cent in 2014, with the current use in Ireland among young people the highest in the EU; is surprised that the Government disregarded 45 years of evidence which shows that prohibiting drugs and replacing legal markets with illegal ones always leads to increases in drug use and harm; affirms the unique and life-threatening perils of substances that have never previously been ingested by humankind; and commends the intelligent approach taken to reduce harm in the New Zealand Psychoactive Substances Act 2013. Signatures (4) Supporters (4) Withdrawn Signatures (0) The first 6 Members who have signed to support the motion are the sponsors. The primary sponsor is generally the person who tabled the motion and has responsibility for it. The date shown is when the Member signed the motion. There are no withdrawn signatures for this Motion	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
BROOKSVILLE, Maine — Voters here made their town the fifth in Hancock County to pass a local food sovereignty ordinance that thumbs its nose at state and federal regulations for direct-to-consumer sales of prepared foods and farm products. In a referendum election on March 4, residents voted 112-64 to approve the “Local Food and Community Self-Governance Ordinance,” which states that producers or processors of local foods are “exempt from licensure and inspection,” so long as the food is sold directly by the producer to a consumer. The ordinance also makes it “unlawful for any law or regulation adopted by the state or federal government to interfere with the rights organized by this ordinance.” The state contends that such ordinances hold no legal weight, but that hasn’t stopped residents of Sedgwick, Penobscot, Blue Hill and Trenton from passing the same local rules. Food sovereignty ordinances also have been passed in Hope, Plymouth, Livermore and Appleton. In an interview, Kaylene Waindle, special assistant to the attorney general, said the state has a legitimate and legal interest in overseeing the safety of food being sold to consumers, and that state laws about food safety, inspection and licensing pre-empt local ordinances. Much like individual states passing marijuana laws that fly in the face of the federal government’s stance on cannabis, the dispute over who controls local food regulation seems destined for court. At least until that happens, one Brooksville farmer said she’ll consider Brooksville’s new rule the law of the land. “Until this ordinance is stricken in a court of proper authority, or the citizens decide to rescind the ordinance, this stands as the law in this town,” Deborah Evans, owner of Bagaduce Farm and one of the ordinance’s supporters, said on Monday. Evans raises pigs and sells pork products directly to consumers through private sales and at farmers markets. She also sells lard, produced in her home kitchen without the supervision of a state inspector, which is required by state law for the sale of meat products. The state considers lard a meat product, but Evans disagrees. All the state regulation in the world can’t guarantee food safety, Evans said. She said she’s been rendering lard and selling it to friends and family for quite some time, and that Brooksville’s ordinance will embolden her to “push the envelope” even more, she said. “On my lard, I’m going to change the label to say, ‘I proudly make this lard in my home kitchen without federal or state guidelines or permissions,” she said. “If [a customer] asks why, I’ll say, ‘Because we have an ordinance in Brooksville.’ It’s a point of pride.” State Rep. Ralph Chapman, D-Brooksville, has said there are several bills being crafted in Augusta that would seek to implement the local food sovereignty rules for direct-to-consumer sales at the state level. If that happened, there would no longer be a conflict between state and local rules. If, before then, the state makes a legal move to invalidate Brooksville’s assertion of autonomy, the ordinance requires the town to hold public meetings to decide whether to fight the state in court or take other actions, including acquiescing to state control. Follow Mario Moretto on Twitter at @riocarmine.	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
Unveiled: Camelot Unchained Newsletter #14 - City State Entertainment View this email in your browser Share Tweet +1 Beta Update! On Friday, October 2nd, at 3PM EDT/12PM PDT/7PM UTC, we will do a livestream update on when Beta 1 will officially begin. The livestream will focus on the features that will have to be completed before Beta 1 starts, as well as the currently projected date for its opening. This session will be followed by a Q&A with CSE and our Backers, as well as other interested parties. So join us for what will be a very important and informative update for all of our Backers! Our Twitch channel can be found here! Team Tidings -by Max Porter Wow, what an amazing September it’s been! With the weather cooling off and shifting toward one of the nicest and most pretty times of year in these parts, we too are shifting our focus toward the nicer and more pretty parts of making Camelot Unchained™. So much has happened here at City State Entertainment™ over the past month! We had the Dragon Con presentation, which was great fun for all concerned, and showed off some of our cool stuff! You can bet there’ll be more on that later in the newsletter. We had two new senior programmers join the team, Marc and George, and it’s been fantastic to see them fitting in so well! They’ve made so many improvements to the build already, with lots more still to come, from them and the whole team. On top of that, we’ve been having lots of fun with things like Friday Night Fights, tons of tests the rest of the time, and many excellent additions as we continue our march toward Beta and beyond. With our class reveals coming out and our lovely Backers voting on which trio to reveal next (go here to check out the trios!), it’s an especially exciting time. In the office, well, those desks in the programmer pit that were lying empty for so long have finally been filled (yay!), while improved weather has led to more meetings being held on the balcony. The gaming table is currently co-opted for Cory to build a rig on it, even as a new table laden with some testing rigs has been laid out in the corner. On the opposite side of the room, one of the bare walls has been designated an exercise space, used mostly by James, Jon, and Scott to stretch out their backs after long hours hard at work on amazing art. Truly, this newsletter has got way too much goodness to even touch on it all here, so I will just let you get right to it. Read on for your favorite articles, news, lore, thoughts, and tons more, and please enjoy this, the fourteenth issue of Unveiled. General Updates So many things to update you all on! First off, we brought on Marc Hernandez and George Davison, the two senior programmers we hired as fulfillment of our “Programmers, where art thou programmers?” Stretch Goal. Marc is a senior network/server engineer, who worked at Kixeye, LucasArts, Carbine, Insomniac, and Oddworld Inhabitants. Among the games he has worked on are two Oddworld titles, Resistance, Wildstar, and Star Wars: First Assault. George is a senior graphics engineer with an equally impressive resume. He has worked at Runic Games, Bungie, Warner Bros, Paradigm, and others. His list of titles includes such major titles as Hob, Destiny, and Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor. Huge welcome to these guys, who’ve already added some significant pieces to the build! Check out the video we did with the pair of them, here. Just in case you missed it, we had Mark, Andrew, Brian, Michelle, Dave, and Tyler on a panel at Dragon Con! You can watch the video here with some pretty cool hints, announcements, and Q&A within. They really had a blast, right along with the audience! On top of all that, we’ve also begun the “Fall Season of Class Presentations” here at CSE. If you’re a Backer, you should have gotten a survey in your email (contact [email protected] if you are a Backer and you have not received that survey), asking you what trio of classes we should reveal next! We are all extremely excited to be making these presentations, and we can’t wait to discuss them with you all. Take a look at the silhouettes you’re voting on, here! CMSphere -by Jenesee Grey This is where we talk directly to you, the Community! Happy September, Community! The studio is bustling as we enjoy the lovely weather at the end of summer. Beards are growing, pumpkin spice is flowing, and we are knuckling down. It’s been quite an exciting month! The team had our first ever group appearance and panel at a convention, and it went very well. Thank you so much to the Alpha and IT players who came online to be a part of our (also first ever!) live gameplay, for the panel crowd. It was truly exciting to show off the new terrain system and have so many players do battle! Many people have been asking me for some actual footage of the game, so here you go! If you have not seen the new gameplay or videos featured during that Dragon Con event, you can do so here. (Starts 11:33) We are beginning to plan a lot of Community events, so please take a look in the forums on our website and let us know if you have ideas for meetups as we plan our con schedule for the coming year. I’ve been spending time talking with our German, French, and Italian Backers, and it is really wonderful to see how news of Camelot Unchained is beginning to spread around the world. You are so generous with your time, helping to share and build the worldwide CU Community! Let us know if you have a fan site you want to feature, and download the fan kit from the front page of the English website. Speaking of sharing, we were glad to hear that one of our friendly guilds, The Syndicate, had a very fun and successful gaming convention this year in Las Vegas, where they generously had a raffle for the Boys and Girls club, as well as the American Cancer Society. We were pleased to help them raise $11,300 toward these worthy causes by donating some tiers for the raffle. If you attended their event, which had more than 200 guild members, we hope you had a great time! They even sent us some swag to celebrate! Community Question! Q: Are there going to be seasonal or unique events/creatures/occurrences in the game world? I always dream of an MMO that features the functionality of something like a Neverwinter Nights server where DMs can spawn monsters or placeables, and control creatures to breathe life into the world. A: Creideamh, while it is too early for me to answer definitively on this, I can certainly speculate and dream with you. My opinion is that seasonal/special events will occur, and I’ll give you four reasons why: The Depths™ The Veilstorms The Procedurally Generated Terrain Editor MJ RP Server Ok, I lied, that was five reasons. We all know that The Depths is a very special place, with its own feelings and reactions, both predictable and unpredictable, and that surely counts as a lovely setup for some chaos, as well as for some special events. As conditions change in The Depths, especially if one Realm controls it for too long, things could really change within. It is also the perfect stage for some unpredictably predictable events! Another way this could occur is through Veilstorms, which could be used to kick off special events. For example, the Veilstorms could mirror systems like the Santa Ana Winds in California, on a seasonal basis. Additionally, Veilstorms can gather in places where an overabundance of magic has been used, say a long-running, pitched battle. What reaction will occur when it hits right in the middle of the open fields around you? As Mark would say, time will tell. By now, we hope you have seen our presentation on the Procedurally Generated Terrain Editor, and how amazing changes can be made to the game world in real time (if you haven’t, head here to check it out). This tool makes it very easy for us to make changes to the world itself, if we should so choose. A few clicks in the Editor, and poof! the world has changed If we hold live events, this tool would be a very important weapon in our arsenal. One big factor would have to be MJ. As we know from his past games, he isn’t opposed to seasonal events. Now, Mark has said that we don’t want to simply do what other games have done. He has also said that if we do events, they should tie into our game’s world. So you should keep this in mind, as well. Finally, since the Kickstarter began, we have talked about having a special RP server, which would have DMs/GMs running events, enforcing the rules, etc. An RP server is something that Mark has said will be left to the players themselves, to tell us if they want to support it. As is usual with us, we want to hear from our Backers on this issue, and there is a long-running discussion on our forums about it! Hot Topics These are the Hot Topics of the week! Classes are the word of the day, and the forum is having its own friendly voting and arguing for favorite trios. Join us on the forums on our Classes are the word of the day, and the forum is having its own friendly voting and arguing for favorite trios.Join us on the forums on our website to bring your thoughts and ideas to the discussion table! Look What You Did Wow, thank you so much to all who entered our Frost Giant art contest. We really, really enjoyed every single entry, they were all so incredibly cool. We picked a winner and a runner-up! In first place, we have this totally awesome illustration that captures a dramatic moment from the Jötnar story, done by Hellminster: As a runner-up, we’ve got this truly characterful entry by Roque: For our next contest, it will be time to get into the Halloween spirit! Carve up a pumpkin to look like something from CU, whether one of the class reveals, ducks, dragons, favorite race, or what-have-you! Take a photo and post it in the thread you’ll see in the Fan Art section of the forums on our website. We can’t wait to see what you all come up with this year! Thank You To start off the thank-yous, we’ve got a bit of an apology. We never properly thanked Ludovic in a newsletter for the clay and armature wire he sent us! Or as he called it, a “Do-it-yourself 3D printer”. So, thank you, Ludovic! Next up, a familiar name in the hallowed halls of the Thank You section: Failboat. Once again, he’s kept the gamedev engines powering onward, with these incredibly delicious gifts! Thank you, Failboat! Dose of Design -by Ben Pielstick Iterative Design Since the last time we talked about combat in a newsletter, a lot of additional questions have been asked about combat in CU. A few of these have been addressed in replies to forum threads you can check by going through our website here if you are or want to become a Backer. In addition, I thought I'd take the time to write a follow-up here, in order to address the reasoning behind our approach to some of the more unique design elements. That is to say, here’s a little of the method behind the madness. It is a nearly universal truth in game design that when you try pitching an idea you're going to get responses with two main lines of concern. One is that the design is too similar to other games. This causes worry either because the respondent isn't fond of other games cited, or because the similarity to what has been done before isn't seen as innovative enough, leading to a perception of simply copying rather than coming up with something new and fun. The other main line of concern is that the design is not similar enough to other games. This can be a concern because if an idea is too unfamiliar, too hard to understand (too BSC?), then analogies to other games start to fall apart, and it can become difficult for the respondent to imagine how the idea could work without a basis for comparison. In the case of our previous article, some concerns were brought up out of the overall highly-positive response. These were largely of the latter type of concern, which is that maybe some of the direction we're taking is going too far, and that maybe some of the BSC ideas we've proposed really are too BSC and need to be toned down. Rather than telling you we've got this all figured out, and that we have full confidence in everything we've proposed, I'm going to tell you the opposite: Our conceptual designs that haven't been tested yet are far from written in stone. This is an important distinction for us, and hopefully further explanation can provide a little more insight into the way we're piecing Camelot Unchained together. While we are often lighthearted in the way we present things as BSC, we have a very serious reason behind it: We want to emphasize that these ideas knowingly push the limits of what should be considered reasonable and safe design concepts. Rather than coming up with a finalized design at the beginning of the project, handing it off for implementation, and then shipping the game at the end of the development cycle, our approach has been different. We come up with tentative design ideas to try out while we build an engine. This gives us a chance to try things out a little at a time along the way. We can see what works and what doesn't, and then make some changes, replace the parts that don't work until we find parts that do, and eventually arrive at a final result by the time the engine is ready. If our first attempt had to be our final design, we obviously would have to curtail our ideas a lot more heavily, in an attempt to play things safe from the start. Fortunately, that’s not the case! Instead, we have the opportunity to imagine new possibilities, ones that might work better than what's been done before, and take some risks trying them out. The hope is that this will allow new ideas (which might seem a bit crazy at first) to evolve into solid, fun, unique features that we wouldn't have a chance to develop otherwise. Of course, crazy ideas also might not work out at all in the end, so keep in mind they definitely aren't set in stone. At the very least, we always have the option to fall back on what we're all familiar with from titles we've worked on in the past, if we can't find a new and better way to do something. All of this is to say that at a minimum we’ll end up with what we already know how to do, and could implement pretty easily if we decide we need to, while the best case is actually something new and better, to be determined through ongoing testing and feedback. Largely for this purpose, our active Alpha and Beta testing process has been started much earlier than is often the case in the development of other games, and we will be continuing regular tests until launch. We want to keep trying things out and discovering where changes are needed, both in terms of performance and gameplay. There are a lot of new exciting features coming up on our User Stories, including stances, weapon types, armor, archery, melee combo attacks, and body part damage, which will all need extensive testing that will no doubt lead to a number of rounds of improvements. We're very excited to see where the process of trying out each new feature takes us as we continue moving toward delivering a fully-featured combat experience in Camelot Unchained. Whether you're already testing with us, or even if you aren't a part of our testing group, there will still be a lot to see and read about in the coming months. A lot of the things you've already heard about will no doubt change and improve, as more of our focus shifts from building the basics of our engine toward delivering the overall mechanics involved in playing the game. Developer Quote “I work with a lot of smart people. :) Could not have done it without them, nor without Andrew and Mark's decision to tackle the tough stuff first" - Tyler Rockwell, Producer Artitup -by Scott Trolan September’s been a wild month. In preparation to present Camelot Unchained at Dragon Con, the team really pulled together to accomplish a wide array of tasks. Tyler spearheaded a massive, jaw-dropping push on getting terrain and world art assets into the game, tweaking everything he could. Michelle refined existing artwork and oversaw printing for promotional posters to be awarded as giveaways for crowd participation. We anticipated the likelihood that our audience might not be familiar with our game, so MJ and I worked together to create explanations and highlight videos to showcase at the event. If you haven't seen the footage of the Q&A Panel or the BONUS highlight videos, check it all out here: Jon has been working on a second pass of our male and female Human models. The changes not only look amazing, but are actually lower in poly count. Jon rocks. Sandra has been focused on defining Realm armor to work within our character creation requirements. Even under concept restrictions and reuse, Sandra has pulled off an amazing amount of uniqueness and style for all three Realms. James K. has been working with Ben, prototyping UI elements to best display the newly-introduced Wounds game mechanic. And when he found time, he worked on redesigning our main website. And lastly, I’ll mention that James K. and Michelle worked together to create the new Class Reveals page on our website, for the purpose of unveiling the new classes of Camelot Unchained as you, our Backers, vote on which ones to further develop. If you like any of the trios, we’ve made wallpapers of ‘em all. Happy Pumpkin Spice Season! Tech Central -by Bull Durham Every Designer’s Favorite Tool, a.k.a. If it ain’t broke… A long time ago, in a Texas town far, far away, I was a designer on a Science Fantasy MMO made by BioWare. We had a plethora of challenges to overcome in order to push that game out of the studio. During this time, I was responsible (along with several other people) for making bad guys do stuff in mass quantities. Unfortunately, the tools only allowed you to do one thing at one time, and there was NO search functionality. Do you want to change all instances of the “Horrible Game Designer” monster to “Scumbag” across the game? OK, better block out two days of clicking on every monster in the game, finding the bad names, checking it out of the database, pasting the new name, clicking save, and checking it back in. If you’re lucky, the display names of the monster align with the ID of the monster in the database. Yes, the ID was a string. If you are a programmer, you should probably be cringing right now. Anywho, since I am a very lazy person, I really hated doing this. However, I am also a gamer, so I spent the first four hours of this ridiculous task seeing how many I could get done per hour. After lunch I did a little bit of napkin-math and calculated that it would take me approximately 42 million days (give or take) to do this. So I didn’t do it. I opened up the END ALL AND BE ALL of design tools, Microsoft Excel. A side note to any would-be game designers out there. If you don’t use spreadsheets to design your game, you are almost certainly doing it wrong. Seriously, if you go to a game design interview, you might want to bring some spreadsheets on a thumb drive with you (but only if they don’t suck). Anyway, if you are familiar with Excel, you probably know that it has scripting using the Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) language. This is kind of like Visual Basic, except you can’t do a lot with it, and you have to type a lot of words in order to convey the simplest of concepts. Kind of like if Dickens wrote a programming language. Still, it is scripting, and you can parse XML (Extensible Markup Language) with it. Which just happened to be the same format that the data for our game was stored in. After some tinkering with it, I found that I could read the data off of my computer, parse the XML, and have it appear in a spreadsheet. This meant that I no longer had to click on every monster in the editor looking for the name, I could just sort by the name in the spreadsheet and find them. Excelsior! So this was good enough to get it done. I spent the rest of the day writing a parsing spreadsheet and then knocked out the remainder of the task the next morning. Unfortunately, since I got it done faster, I showed some other people so they could also work faster. Then I was bringing in more functionality to the spreadsheet in order to do other cool things, like find and delete misplaced monsters. Since monsters take up server time, deleting ones that exist but can’t be seen because they are sitting at origin effectively made the game run faster, and released our monster budget so we could add more monsters to the game. Then I did the unthinkable. I decided that since I can read data, why not write it back out using the same method? Being the novice programmer I was, I didn’t know enough about XML to be confident that I could do it. Being a former jet mechanic, I knew that it would not be a good idea to test out an idea without confidence, so I asked a programmer how to do it. One thing led to another, there was a minor freak out, and I was told more or less that if I did something like circumvent the tools that I could be in a lot of trouble. I kept doing it anyway. Eventually, I guess they decided they could keep a closer eye on me if they made me an engineer, and I accepted. Sadly, I never got to finish my Awesome Excel tool, because they gave me something more important to do. Now fast forward to right now. Ben is working on getting a lot of abilities ready for our game. Mark and Ben want to be able to iterate on them rapidly, and they know Excel. They love Excel. They use Excel to do ALL the things. So Mark asked if I could use Excel to import data for abilities. I said: “Yes, yes I can.” So right now I’m in the middle of a task to write a mass edit tool that uses Excel spreadsheets to interface with our in-house tool set, effectively coming full circle with how I got involved with programming in the first place. What we are going to do is allow Ben and Mark to edit a spreadsheet with all of the ability data, open our tool, and import the data. Our tool will read it, figure out the intent, and change the game accordingly. How? Well, Microsoft has a library that we can use in the tools to help us read the spreadsheet Ben makes. It will go through line by line, find the appropriate entry in the database, look for changes, and then make those changes. After it is done editing the data – if it has encountered no problems – it will then save the whole caboodle to the database and you will all see it. What do we gain by doing this? Well, coupled with real-time data, we could possibly see that all Arthurians are cheating, exploiting, jerk faces (are there any other kinds of Arthurians?) because Ben made slight a miscalculation with fire, and we need to fix all of them Right Now™. Ben could shave a little pepper off of the power of all of the fiery things in the same spreadsheet he uses to balance the abilities, and export it immediately to the game. Within minutes, Vikings are again smashing Arthurian faces the way Mark and Ben intended. I’m really quite excited about this, since it ties back in with how I got started with engineering in the first place. Ben and Mark are excited because they get to work the way they want to, and not have to go through the tedious part of taking what they (and most other game designers in the industry) make in Excel and move it to the tools. We’re saving the time they would otherwise spend doing the boring stuff, and giving them the freedom to use their time to make the game better. In the end, you’ll get a better game for it. Mark and Ben don’t prefer one Realm over another. No really, they don’t. Cross my cold black heart. State Of The Build -by Brian Green Game development is a challenging field. Most game programmers could make a lot more money in another field, but the challenges unique to game development often keep programmers interested. Marc Hernandez, one of our new engineers, said that game development is a soft real-time field, but nobody in the offline world dies if you make a mistake. :) One of the most interesting challenges to me is finding interesting gameplay. One of the goals of Camelot Unchained is to try out unique, or "BSC", systems. For example, the design specifies that the game will have a combat system that uses different body parts instead of using the "one giant bar of hit points" model that other games use. While there have been other games that have used this type of system, nobody has used it for a TriRealm™ game. How do we design and implement the system to be fun? Our big advantage is that we have a lot of very experienced people on the team, particularly people who have done player vs. player (PvP) combat in the past. None of us have necessarily made a combat system that used body parts before, but our experience lets us envision how it would fit within this type of game. As we design and implement the gameplay, we make a ton of little decisions that affect the outcome. It can be hard to judge how a system will come out, though. Think about a game like a map of terrain, and the height represents the amount of fun. You might find a hill where things are pretty fun, called a "local maximum". Then you might reason that there's an even taller hill just beyond the horizon that nobody has seen. But, as you move toward that point, you're going to have to go through a valley between the hills where the game is less fun. It can be hard to anticipate how well things are going until you start climbing that other hill. This isn't to say that our expectations are always 100% correct. The exciting thing about MMO development is that players will do crazy things you don't expect. Along the way, we have our Backers that offer suggestions about the system. Many of us at CSE read the forums on a regular basis, and watch for feedback along with bug reports. In the end, we will create an even better system, one that brings more fun and a unique experience to the game. And, now, a selection of patch notes from this past month: We have added a bunch of new sounds to the game: ambient sounds for the night/day cycle, rain ambiance for stormy weather, and basic footsteps. Added impostors to the world, so that objects at a distance can render a simplified version to greatly improve client performance. Added rules to the plots in the game that we use to test building. Players can now take ownership of a building plot for their Realm... until they are killed, and ownership can be taken by another Realm! First pass of the body part and injuries system! Right now, there's only one body part, the torso. More will come in the near future! Torso health is now separate from the blood pool used to power your spells. When a body part takes enough damage, a trauma and a wound are applied. A trauma is a short-term effect that can be removed with sufficient overhealing, but a wound is a debuff that stays until cured by a healer. If a character takes enough wounds to the torso, he or she will die. Backer Spotlight -Jenesee asks TimothyTierless This month’s spotlight is on (teenage mutant ninja turtle) Tierless, the excellent bi-weekly columnist over on MMORPG.com, and long-time blogger and major fan of Camelot Unchained! Jenesee asked a few questions about his process, and as usual, Tierless responded in spades, and left us in stitches! Q: Why did you decide to play Camelot Unchained? A: Short answer, Mark Jacobs. Medium answer (the long one is too long for this) is I watched Mark (whom at that time I only knew as “one of the WAR devs”) come to MMORPG.com, post his ideas, take criticism and engage with his trolling detractors. I was impressed with his character and even more so his candor. Mark’s foundational principles made me a fan of Camelot Unchained. It sounded like everything so many of the old school MMORPGers had been begging for for nearly 10 years! It might have ended up “too good to be true” but I didn’t care. I decided CU would be the last time I invested in the development of an MMO and I was going to do everything I could to help it succeed. If it was another marketing swerve into a let down like so many other MMOs had been I was walking away from the genre for good, in fact right about the time Mark came out with the CU concept I was almost gone. Just when I thought I was out--he pulled me back in! Q: What is the story behind your column at MMORPG.com? A: I got lucky! Little known fact, they pay me in Cheeze-Its! Ok, back when CU was picking up momentum I decided it would be fun to start a blog to talk about the concepts and sort of document the experience. KS games were fairly new and I knew it was going to be a long ride. I was sort of fascinated with the entire concept and thought it might be fun to look back and see how things panned out. It also gave me a place to “slip into character” and rant about all things MMO without people writing “TLDR” after my posts! I did that for a few years for love and for fun then one day Mark posted on the CU forums that MMORPG was looking to hire a writer for a bi-weekly CU column. At first I thought “nah I’m not a writer, I’m just having fun” but then many of my CU brethren encouraged me. I can’t say enough about the encouragement from the community! We have some incredible people supporting this game. I thought about it, weighed the boons and banes and decide to give it a shot. Fortunately the powers that be must not have read my blogs because they hired me. As grateful as I am to the CU community I am just as grateful to Bill Murphy and everyone at MMORPG for giving a fan a chance. Q: As a bi-weekly columnist, do you feel you have enough new information to write a compelling article this often? A: Enough!? I often have too much! It’s hard to get what can sometimes be several updates and the MASSIVE newsletter cut down to 1000 words or less! If CSE has surpassed any one expectation so far, it is in the amount of information you guys keep putting out. Don't think I'm complaining! It’s a great problem to have, both as a writer and especially as a Backer. Q: How do you walk that line between objective critic and fan? A: The first step is admitting that CU does have a special place in my little black heart. As hard as I try I will have a natural bias even if it is subconscious. Once you admit it you can try to prevent it. I take my journalistic integrity seriously and have adjusted how I interact within the CUniverse in an attempt to write from a more unbiased perspective. When I read updates, how much time I spend talking about them on the forums and how close to the IT stuff I get have all been adjusted to help me interpret CU information from a less biased perspective. I also have the benefit of CU being early enough in development that a lot of it is still a rough concept which doesn't demand as much criticism as a more developed idea. Once things get further along I will certainly be more critical of them. I don't think it’s fair to assault an early concept unless it’s so blatantly terribad that it NEEDS a preemptive strike. Most ideas will either work, fail, or just be meh. I’m willing to let most concepts grow and either stand or fall on their own. The hard part is knowing when to say “ok, I’ve given this a thorough shot, it’s simply not working”. Q: What is the process like for writing these articles? A: Figuring out how to write as “Timothy” was a process in itself. “Tierless” was easy to RP, turn the dial to 10, drink some beers sit down and go! No rules, all fun and games, almost never too serious. Now I’m representing the CUniverse and MMORPG.com! Who am I writing for? What is my voice? Why didn’t Raph’s sunglasses ever fall off his head in the new TMNT movie? Will I let down the CU community? These were all serious questions I asked myself before I started writing the column. It’s still not where I want it to be but I feel like the columns have been improving (other than the stealth column I bombed-damn pressure). I quickly realized I needed to modify how I took in CU information in order to cover it in a less bias and less “inside” way. Since its bi-weekly I save the updates until a few days before the column and I don't go to the forums to talk about them before I’ve written about them. There are simply too many good/intelligent people posting about the topics and it moves my original view/opinions of them. I read through all of the CNews (see what I did there) and jot notes with a real pen on real paper (I'm oldschool). That is my absolute live reaction and I think it’s important to note how I interpreted the information as I first processed it. Then I basically start roughing out ideas in my head. I tend to go through a few ideas and some angles/thoughts on those ideas as I go about my day. When I finally sit down to write it sort of just comes out (most of the time-damned stealth column ganked me) Q: You have an interesting style of crazy humor and serious reveals on your thoughts. Where did you develop this? A: I'd love to say I have a background in design and marketing and it’s a communication process I developed to help subtly convey a concept while making the words memorable not unlike the CSE user stories (or Yoda talk for you Star Wars Fans-wait, that means EVERYONE, doesn’t it?) but I'd be lying. I don't know if anyone has seen me on the Opposition Podcast (I'm sorry if you did) but the truth is it's basically how I am. Not much gray, either all in or all out with a lot of over the top BS mixed in. I just turn it up for the column (or podcast) to hopefully give the reader a fun experience that they can be entertained by but also relate to. I certainly have fun doing it and hope some of that energy comes through. I also watched way too much pro-wrestling as a kid, that might be part of it...ok I STILL watch way too much pro wrestling! I can’t help it! Daddy needs his male soap opera! NXT rules! WOOOoooo!!!!! Q: What are your thoughts on current development? A: These are the good times. Everything until this point was gritty preparation. It was laying the foundation. Now that that is done the pretty stuff can begin! Animations, classes, building, burning buildings! I feel like this is the beginning of the most fun phase. After this comes the push to launch which I assume is as exciting as it is terrifying with a lot of tough decisions to be made and testing to be done. At this point, we get to see and even experience the incredible ideas we’ve read about for years. It’s experimental MMO art and we get to participate in it. It’s a great time to be a backer. Q: Where can people go to find your work? A: Don't bother, I wouldn't, but I hear cool and famous people think it's swell (I lie I have 0 evidence to back that up) so you should too! You can find my column here, my general MMORPG blog here, and my twitter here. If you want to see my softer side I also dabble in engraved paintings as well as pics of pretty clouds located here. Enough about me! I want to thank CSE and the CU community for supporting the column. Every click helps show sites like MMORPG.com that CU is worth covering. Thanks for your support and contributions, I appreciate it! Lore Corner -by Max Porter TRIGGER WARNING: In a world full of dark stories, the Becoming of the Valkyrie has always been one of the darkest. This tale touches on a number of adult themes that may be disturbing, such as rape, murder, torture, and mass killings. This Becoming tale was originally written by Mark Jacobs, and has now been expanded and developed by Loremaster Max Porter. Here is the first part of the tale. The Becoming ™ - Valkyrie Part 1 “Gather round, my children, and hear the Fornaldarsaga of the Valkyrie, the story of our race’s birth,” said the aged Valkyrie as she fluttered her wings. After many long years of flying, they had begun to show signs of decay, but they were still strong, and kicked up a swirl of snow in the courtyard. The group of youngsters quickly surrounded her. “You have come of age, and are now old enough to know this dark tale. For though our story is horrible and gruesome, it must never be forgotten. Do not be embarrassed to shed tears. Tears are not a sign of weakness. Empathy is our great virtue, and we learn it from our origins. As you listen, recall our code, and the oath you have all taken.” Shaken by the elder Valkyrie’s serious tone, the boys and girls sat in silence, their wild-haired heads bobbing attentively in time with her story. It is true that the Piercing of the Veil brought many terrors into this world. Yet we cannot ignore the awful truth: The world has twisted souls who do not need the influence of a Veilstorm to commit acts of the most terrible kind. In one of the mighty fjords of our Realm, the was a small island that held an even tinier village. Hardy folk lived fished and roamed the fjord, mostly young people and a few persevering elders. Unimaginable alterations swept through the land after the Piercing; yet this tiny village somehow managed to weather the storms on this remote island. Life became very hard when the rocking waves and fierce winds destroyed their boats, cutting them off from the mainland. Hunger seeped through the village like a poison, as fishing was difficult and no one could get to the mainland without a boat. A young lady named Brynhildr was one who never gave up hope. She roamed the small island, clutching the necklace her mother gave her for luck, looking for precious driftwood to help the boat-makers with their task, though they never asked her. Brynhildr had always been a willful child. She was much more interested in the aggressive games that the village boys played than in the dolls that her little sisters liked. From the time she was very small, the girl excelled at their gambols and their battle training, surpassing all the boys her age. As they all grew, the boys eventually surpassed her in size and strength, but she changed her fighting style accordingly. With her martial skill, she became a match for anyone. She became known as a protector early on. When one of the warlike games played by the older boys rew too rough, leaving the younger ones on the verge of tears, it was Brynhildr who stepped in. Ducking and weaving, she brought down the older, stronger boys with a few well-placed blows. “Don’t do that again,” she told them firmly. “Fight someone who can fight back.” From then on, the smaller boy she’d saved followed her movements, trying to learn from her. Her parents were very proud of Brynhildr’s accomplishments, for in her chest beat the heart of a true warrior. The girl promised to keep her mother’s necklace safe forever. But that promise would prove as difficult to keep as catching the autumn wind. The wind blew over the island, making the long grasses wave their fading green finery in supplication of the sky. The wind carried a salty cold that made the island's inhabitants shiver. The few children who were doing their chores glanced up and hoped it wasn’t another storm. Something about the cold wind made them want to go somewhere, want to go exploring, anywhere on the little island that they hadn't seen before, as if to escape the rattling wind and its icy fingers. It was the wind of the coming fall, bringing a new or different scent of the sea, of things roiled in the black deeps. The wind whistled through the cracks in the walls and the wicker baskets that they carried across town. The wind brought a dot on the horizon that grew and grew, grabbing the attention of the villagers with a glimpse of salvation. The cry rang round the village like the tolling of a bell: A sail, a sail! A ship from the mainland! The villagers rejoiced, dropping their desperate boatmaking and their daily tasks. They rushed down to the shore, waving their arms excitedly. Rescued at last! Men and women laughed and smiled a welcome, overjoyed at their good fortune. They couldn’t have been more horribly wrong. As the sail rode the ominous wind closer to the island, some of the older villagers grew concerned, for it had the look of a warship. But they had nothing worth taking in their little village, and the weapons on deck stayed in their scabbards. Fear faded as the men and scattered women of the crew smiled and waved to the villagers on shore as if they were long-lost relatives. Brynhildr stood among the crowd near the shore. She smiled and nodded with the other girls as they laughed in relief and commented on which warrior was the most comely. Something in her heart felt sick with fear, though Brynhildr could not say why. She fingered the amulet around her neck, then hid it under her shirt. One of the boys, a younger brother to the one that Brynhildr had saved, ran down to greet the first man that splashed ashore. Beaming up at the tall, roughly dressed warrior, the boy grinned happily. Even though the lad barely reached the warrior’s knee, he burst out, “Let me carry some of your gear ashore, sir!” The stranger grinned in return and tousled the boy’s auburn hair. Without changing expression, the man drew his sword and swung it in a tight arc, cleanly separating the boy’s head from his shoulders. It happened in an instant. The boy’s helpful smile spun as his head bounced away, and his lifeless body collapsed onto the sand, gushing blood. There was a moment of stunned silence among the onlookers. Then, as the rest of the warriors howled and leaped ashore, they broke and ran screaming. None of them could run very far; the island was small and had nowhere to hide. They were gathered together like stray cattle, with no chance to organize a defence against the overwhelming power of the raiders. The days of brutality had only just begun, dark days that most only speak of in the faintest of whispers. The invaders ran amok, murdering villagers in ways that should have sickened even the most hardened warrior. And yet they were just getting started. Some of the villagers were bound and used for target practice. Several young men were castrated and used by the invaders in the most horrific ways. This was not done to fulfill bodily desire. The strangers wished for power and pain, causing their victims to suffer in the cruelest way they could conceive. The village elders were treated as pack animals. The invaders competed with each other to devise ever-crueler ways to humiliate and demoralize them. Contests were held to see who could come up with the most novel way to break an old man through sheer exertion. When the last of this group died, the tormentors turned their attention to the dozens of imprisoned villagers. Commencing a drunken feast, they separated the survivors into two groups. One group was immediately forced to serve their new masters. They were made to posture like dogs and beg for what little food they were given. This first evening was filled with laughter, folk weeping in between playing the mad game. The more awful their abuse, the more the invaders laughed and celebrated their own imagined bravery and strength. They forced the villagers to thank them for the “honor” bestowed on the “lucky” survivors. The warriors drank themselves into a stupor at their vile feast, yet never relaxed their grip on their weapons. There was no question of resistance; the surviving villagers were weak and shivering with humiliation and fear. The new dawn did not deliver true daylight to the village. The sun rose faint and red, sickly and ominous. The second group of captives had been dressed in their finest garments and told to wait until their “kindly new masters” summoned them to that night’s feast. The minutes turned to hours, and their apprehension mounted as they recalled the sounds of the night before; The terrified screams and desperate sobs of their friends, mingled with the derisive laughter of the warriors. They prayed to the sky, to the old gods, to any powers that would save them and their lost loved ones. But when the summons to the feast finally came, there was still no response from the heavens. Shuddering, the villagers were dragged to the central square. Each captive in turn was made to stand on a table. They were then measured and assessed in every degrading way possible. Each warrior, according to rank, was allowed to choose one villager. The rest were told to stand ready, in case any of the chosen didn’t “want to see the new morning.” A “priest” was called forth, a grinning and dancing fat man who draped white cloth over his armor. In a mockery of ceremony, each of the captives was wed to the warrior who had chosen him or her. Then, their hands bound, the newlyweds were dragged into private rooms for their ‘wedding night.’ The horrors that went on there were greater than anything that had come before. The subhuman torturers laughed and laughed long into the night, stopping only when the villagers were fortunate enough to stop screaming forever. As time passed and the days blurred together, the terrors eventually became predictable. Some sufferers grew numb, and walked aimlessly about, mere shells of human beings. This emotionless state irritated the invaders, for they hungered for the struggle, for blood and terror. So the warriors began to devise new and unthinkable ways to torture their captives, trying to make them respond. Some of the aimless ones were beaten with spears, while survivors were forced to beg for more abuse each night. Through everything, Brynhildr tried to retain her sanity. When she hadn’t seen her parents for days, she knew they were gone. She was luckier; passed over for some of the worst horrors, and only kept in a pen like an animal, along with the boy she had once defended. He survived the castration and ensuing abuse, and endured quietly, teeth clenched, while others wept. The dramatic conclusion coming soon in Part 2! Bonus Image! We can't let you go without taking a look at this marvelous construction by Gnôl Neanias (formerly Vixxen), all lit up in the twilight:	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
James Anderson had questioned Virat Kohli’s batting capabilities, however, Kohli has scored 640 runs in this ongoing series. James Anderson had questioned Virat Kohli’s batting capabilities, however, Kohli has scored 640 runs in this ongoing series. Pakistan chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq has criticised James Anderson for his uncharitable comments about Virat Kohli’s technique, saying that the England pacer should first take wickets in India before questioning the Indian skipper’s capabilities. Anderson had recently said Kohli’s technical deficiencies were not at display during the ongoing Test series between India and England because the pitches in India are devoid of bounce and there is lack of movement. “It is surprising to me that Anderson should question Kohli’s runs and ability because I haven’t seen him take too many wickets in India,” Inzamam said on the Geo Super sports channel here last night. “Does Anderson mean to say that if you get runs in England you get some sort of certificate that makes you a quality batsman. Don’t the English and Australian players struggle when they play in the sub-continent? Does that mean they are bad players or weak teams. To me it does not matter where you get runs because in Test matches runs are runs,” the former Pakistan skipper added. Inzamam, who played against the golden breed of Indian batsmen, rated Kohli highly. “I always judge a batsman by seeing how many times the runs he scores leads to his team winning matches. In my opinion if a batsman scores 80 and it helps his team win, it matters more to me than someone scoring 150 and his team still losing. “He is a quality player and when he is getting runs his team does well. That is important to judge or classify a batsman’s value. There is hunger in him for runs,” he said. The veteran of 120 Tests lamented that the Asians have a habit of questioning their own teams and players while England and Australia always back their cricketers. “If they don’t do well there we start questioning the ability of our teams and players ourselves. We must not forget Australia lost 3-0 in Sri Lanka, we beat England 3-0 in the past in the UAE.” Meanwhile, Inzamam revealed that during his captaincy he feared Virender Sehwag the most among the Indian batsmen. “Sehwag was a dangerous player because if he scored 80 odd runs it meant his team would end up scoring 300 or more in a Test or ODI. The more time he spent time at the crease the more he dented the morale of the bowlers, which was worrying for me as captain,” said Inzamam. On the suspension of bilateral cricket between Pakistan and India, Inzamam said it has hurt Pakistan cricket a lot. “Overall it is not good for cricket and for both countries not to play bilateral series. But from a Pakistani perspective it has done us more damage as already foreign teams are also not touring Pakistan and our young players are not getting chances to play matches against international sides before playing for the senior team. “People want to see Indo-Pak matches but there is nothing one can do about it until things are normal at the government level. Personally I always enjoyed the challenge of playing against India and it made a better player. To me a Indo-Pak series has always been even bigger than the Ashes,” concluded Inzamam. 📣 The Indian Express is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@indianexpress) and stay updated with the latest headlines For all the latest Sports News, download Indian Express App.	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
TSMC and GlobalFoundries are expected to have 20nm mobile chip production in 2014 and this should align with the next generation of ARM based mobile processors. At the moment 2.3GHz is currently the limit 28nm and Snapdragon 800 and Tegra 4i (Grey) that is set to come in late 2013 or early 2014 both stop at this magical clock. In order to surpass this number there is a big indication that companies will have to go for a smaller manufacturing node such as 20nm. At 20nm TSMC promises 30 percent higher speed and 1.9 times better density at 25 percent less power. The 30 percent faster will get ARM SoCs to around 3GHz with significantly more transistors that will mostly be spent on graphics. This is most likely how Nvidia plans to put the Kepler core on a Logan processor but we don’t have this confirmed, it just makes sense. The 25 percent reduction in power consumption can be translated into a 25 percent better battery life boost with next generation SoCs. Since poor battery life is still one of the top complaints when it comes to smartphones, consumers should look forward to 20nm. This will make the ARM alliance more competitive and ready to face the x86 threat coming from Intel and AMD, especially in the tablet and convertible space, but we are confident that Intel is not sleeping. If all goes well toward the end of 2014 Intel is going to get to 14nm Atoms, and AMD has a chance to get to the same transistor size with GlobalFoundries that has promised 14nm in the 2014.	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
Check out our new site Makeup Addiction add your own caption add your own caption add your own caption add your own caption add your own caption add your own caption add your own caption add your own caption add your own caption add your own caption add your own caption Turn your toaster sideways for an easy grilled cheese	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
Virtual Reality is getting closer and closer to becoming an actual reality thanks to the development of the Oculus Rift VR headset. The Rift was launched via Kickstarter in 2012 and the first developer prototypes were shipped in 2013. The Rift Development Kit 2 followed this year and using the device was a largely impressive experience. VR keeps getting closer to becoming available in a consumer product and at the start of September, Samsung, along with Oculus VR, launched the Gear VR headset that allows you to experience VR with the Samsung Galaxy Note 4. The Gear VR has gone up for pre-order with a third part- retailer at GBP150, or approximately Rs. 14,750, but no availability has been defined yet. On the Oculus, some of our favourite experiences of course involved videogames - the Rift really makes you feel like you're living inside those worlds, and it's amazing for first-person gaming. There's more to it than just gaming though and many developers have been coming up with experiences that use the Rift to improve education and tourism, among other things. For many of us though, the most common experience on our computers is simply browsing the Internet. A regular Web page looks weird on the Rift and you'll find yourself alternating between the headset and your regular monitor when you need to look things up online. This is a problem but there are some very interesting solutions being developed. One solution is to use Steam to browse the Web. You need to use Steam VR for this - in Steam, go to Tools and install it if you haven't already. Once that is done, opt in to the Beta, and restart Steam with -vr added to the launch prompt. SteamVR is basically a client to let you use Big Picture Mode while wearing the Oculus Rift, and it's an easy way to get your Oculus compatible games running. And if you want to browse the Internet, just press Shift+Tab after loading a game to launch the browser. This browser was made for being seen on a TV and not a monitor so all the visual elements are scaled up and clear, and this is actually very useful for VR too. Since you're looking at a 2D webpage the Rift doesn't create a sense of depth, but the page looks huge. Your view doesn't take in the whole page so you can look around a little to see the entire screen. It's a little weird to watch a Facebook page fill up your view like that; but for browsing the Web in its current form, this seems to be the best way. The future of the Internet looks to be taking virtual reality into account though. On his blog, Brandon Jones, Manager, Partner Operations at Google has written about the possibilities for VR in Web browsing. Jones, who leads partner operations for Project Tango, an initiative out of Google's Advanced Technology and Projects Group, writes that VR could have a big impact in fields like e-commerce, data visualisation and mapping, among other areas. For example, he writes, "it [WebGL] provides an API that allows developers to create VR content in the context of a web page. Picture this: You are browsing Amazon and find a jacket/TV/bike/whatever that you're interested in. If Amazon's developers took advantage of the WebVR API they could add a button that says "View in VR" which let you view the item through a VR headset in 3D at 1:1 scale. In the case of a piece of clothing you could see it on a virtual mannequin, walk around it, lean in and examine the stitching, and so on as if it were actually sitting right in front of you." You can download the build for Chromium with VR here. Firefox creators Mozilla are also working on many of the same ideas and looking to evolve the Web into the Metaverse, as described by Neal Stephenson in his book Snow Crash. In the book Stephenson describes the Metaverse as an urban street that covers a planet, which users can visit, and walk around in - passing through portals to new worlds and wonders. Vlad Vukicevic, Gaming Director at Mozilla, describes this in a blogpost where he talks about rendering 2D content for VR, rendering 3D video inside the browser for VR headsets, and receiving inputs from the VR devices. You can download the early previews for Windows and OS X. These are great ideas, and companies like Mozilla and Google obviously have the know-how and capacity to build out these experiences when VR becomes more widely available. But you can already get a sense of what this is like, thanks to an indie project called Janus VR. While it may not be ready to replace your Web browser just yet, it's a compelling experience nonetheless. Janus VR puts you inside a virtual shopping mall like space where you can see different doors leading to VR experiences. This could be something like the Tuscany demo (a famous VR tourism experience) rendered inside the VR browser, or a Wikipedia page that is displayed like a shrine hung with different sections of text represented as portraits. An encyclopaedia's website could lead to a mansion filled with rooms - each room would contain models of the objects you are looking up, turning plain content into a museum on demand. Features like multiplayer browsing also let you see what others are checking out, and add a sense of being in the virtual world. You can add to the community by visiting VRSites to create your own rooms. As of now the experience of VR is only possible though small, disparate projects, but Janus VR shows how it can become much more than this. As VR grows beyond gaming enthusiasts, being able to walk through the Web, and socialise with other people who are doing the same things - browsing Reddit or watching funny videos on YouTube - is going to be like impossible to resist for anyone.	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
A married Sikh couple were told they could not adopt a white child because of their ‘cultural heritage’, the family claim. Sandeep and Reena Mander, a British couple from Berkshire, said they were instead advised to ‘adopt a child from India’. The couple, both business professionals in their 30s, told an adoption agency they were very happy to adopt a child from any ethnic background. Despite being found to be suitable adoptive parents after a home visit, the couple claim the agency said they shouldn’t apply because only white children were available. Adopt Berkshire, the county-wide agency run by the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, said white British or European parents would be given preference. Scroll down for video Sandeep and Reena Mander, a British couple from Berkshire, said they were advised to ‘adopt a child from India’ The Manders have no close links to India but are of Sikh heritage, the Times reported. They have now begun legal action to overturn the decision, claiming discrimination in the provision of services. The Manders have been trying to conceive for seven years, and have had 16 sessions of IVF treatment. Mr Mander, 35, said: ‘Having attended introductory workshops organised by RBWM and Adopt Berkshire, giving an adopted child — no matter what race — the security of a loving home was all we wanted to do. ‘What we didn’t expect was a refusal for us to even apply for adoption, not because of our incapability to adopt, but because our cultural heritage was defined as “Indian/Pakistani”.’ It is legal for agencies to give preference to parents from the same ethnic group, but government guidelines stipulate different racial backgrounds should not prevent a couple from adopting. Falling adoption numbers have been blamed on the ‘misguided’ belief that children should only be adopted by families of the same ethnic background. The Manders' case is being backed by the Equality and Human Rights Commision. Sandeep, pictured right, and Reena Mander, pictured left, a British couple from Berkshire, said they were instead advised to ‘adopt a child from India’ The Manders have now begun legal action to overturn the decision, claiming discrimination in the provision of services David Isaac, chairman of the EHRC, said: ‘There are many children who are waiting for a loving family like Sandeep and Reena to help give them a better life. To be denied this because of so-called cultural heritage is wrong.’ In 2015, senior judges ruled on a test case that allowed two black African boys to be adopted by a white British couple. In spite of the cultural differences, the Court of Appeal said the couple were perfectly suited to adopt the brothers – one of whom has Down’s syndrome. Social workers believed that white parents couldn’t met the children’s needs, including preparing them for the impact of racism. But Lady Justice Black ruled: ‘The boys had a number of needs, not limited to important considerations related to nationality, culture and race, and there was no perfect way in which to satisfy all those needs.’ The eldest boy, 15, had suffered emotional harm at the hands of his birth parents. His younger brother, 8, was removed from the parents shortly after birth.	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
Over the past 25 years, Republicans have methodically consolidated power in state legislatures, taking both chambers in every Southern state, flipping long-Democratic Midwestern strongholds and claiming new territory like West Virginia. Heading into the midterm elections, they controlled two-thirds of all state legislative bodies. Newly energized activists and donors on the left had hoped to begin rolling back that trend this year, and on Tuesday Democrats took a big step, netting about 250 state legislative seats. But their major victories all came in states Hillary Clinton won in 2016. Their road back to simple parity remains long: Who controls state legislatures State legislatures controlled by Republicans Democrats or were split. States highlighted in bold changed status from the previous two years, including in off-year and special elections. Nebraska is not included because it has a nonpartisan legislature. Minnesota’s legislature was nonpartisan until 1972. States in bold changed status in the previous two years, in some states including off-year and special elections National Conference of State Legislatures, Ballotpedia Democrats took outright control of seven chambers in six states, leaving Minnesota as the only state with a divided legislature. Those wins are modest compared with 2010, when Republicans captured two dozen chambers ahead of the once-a-decade redistricting process that state legislatures largely control. “Part of the reason Democrats did not do better on Tuesday was because Republicans mostly drew the lines of the districts they’re still running in,” said Tim Storey, the director of state services for the National Conference of State Legislatures. “That has haunted Democrats the entire decade, getting wiped out in 2010.” Redistricting is around the corner again, and that’s partly why Democrats have made a bigger push this year. They’re reacting, too, to much of what Republican majorities produced: stand-your-ground gun laws, voter ID requirements, bills limiting the power of unions, and social policies like governing who can use public bathrooms. “Over the last decade, because there’s no policymaking in Washington, the state of policymaking in America has been set at the state level, and it’s been set by Republicans,” said Drew Morrison, the co-founder of EveryDistrict, a group helping Democratic candidates. “And it’s been set with a pretty aggressive conservative vision of what the world should be.” Mr. Morrison called Democrats’ gains on Tuesday a “generally impressive haul.” But he said they came on ground the party shouldn’t have ceded in the first place. And Republicans have shrugged off the losses, pointing out that they still hold legislative majorities in all six battleground states Donald J. Trump flipped in 2016. “The battlefield is very deep into their turf,” said Matt Walter, the president of the Republican State Leadership Committee. “They’re still trying to chip away at the thousand seats they lost over the course of the decade, to crawl out from those historic lows.” Democrats’ more impressive gains this week came in governor’s races, which will help them blunt the effect of some legislatures still in Republican control: Which party holds the governor's office Governorships that were held by a Republican , Democrat or a third party candidate . States highlighted in bold changed status from the previous two years, including in off-year and special elections. Races are still undecided. National Conference of State Legislatures, Ballotpedia Democrats won seven governor’s offices (with races in Florida and Georgia still undecided). They now claim the governor’s mansion in the swing states of Michigan and Wisconsin heading into the 2020 election. And they’ll take unified control of the legislature and executive branch in six new states. Illinois, with its Democratic-controlled legislature, will now have a Democratic governor. In New York, where Gov. Andrew Cuomo remains in power, the Democratic Party will now control the state Senate for the first time in a decade. (Democratic candidates won a majority of Senate seats there in 2012, but a group of them formed a coalition with Republicans, giving them control of the chamber, and our charts here reflect that Republican control). As a testament to their dominance over the past two decades, Republicans entering this election held unified power in 25 states — a remarkable shift from when they controlled no single state in 1976. (Last year, they picked up West Virginia when its Democratic governor, Jim Justice, switched parties). Democrats held complete power in just eight states entering this election, after off-cycle elections in New Jersey and Washington in 2017. Where parties have unified state control State legislatures and governorships controlled by Republicans Democrats or were split. States highlighted in bold changed status from the previous two years, including in off-year and special elections. Nebraska is not included because it has a nonpartisan legislature. Minnesota’s legislature was nonpartisan until 1972. States in bold changed status in the previous two years, in some states including off-year and special elections. Governor’s races are still undecided. National Conference of State Legislatures, Ballotpedia Political scientists say that Republicans have become so dominant at the state level because of their focus on organization and alliances with well-funded pro-business groups, like the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). And they’ve risen to power in the states during a time, since the 1980s, when responsibilities have increasingly shifted to the states to set rules for federal programs. Most state legislatures have no filibuster, making action easier there, too. “By the time that progressives wake up to the fact that conservative networks have been so successful, they are now starting from behind,” said Alexander Hertel-Fernandez, a political scientist at Columbia University who has written a forthcoming book, “State Capture,” covering this period. Republican state legislators have had more power than Republicans in Congress to derail parts of the Affordable Care Act, by refusing its offer to fund most of a Medicaid expansion. Across a range of other conservative priorities, model bills advocated by groups like ALEC have been adopted in states across the country. As Republicans have become more dominant in states, the legislation they’ve advanced has also become more similar across state lines, a trend Mr. Hertel-Fernandez and Konstantin Kashin, a data scientist, have tracked with plagiarism detection software. They have found a growing share of bills introduced and enacted with text copied nearly verbatim from outside groups, particularly ALEC but also organizations on the left. “What we’ve seen effectively is the nationalization of state politics,” said Gordon Lafer, a political economist at the University of Oregon. “All those old clichés that ‘states are laboratories of democracy,’ that ‘all politics is local’ — it has been the opposite in the last decade.” Scholars suggest that Democrats and their donors might have been slow to respond to these trends in state politics because they’re philosophically more inclined to focus on what the federal government can do — and to be suspicious of “state control.” “That stems from how Democrats view how government should work,” said Mr. Morrison, the Democratic activist. “Government should work for the broadest group of people. And the best way to ensure that policy works for as many people as possible is to have it happen at the federal level.”	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
CAIRO (AP) — The United Nations refugee agency says nearly 100 civilians were killed or wounded in Yemen on average each week of 2018. UNHCR says in a report that around 5,000 civilians were either killed or wounded last year, which averages out to 93 victims each week. Nearly half of this number were wounded or killed in the country’s west, including the in the war-torn governorate of Hodeida. A third of the causalities were children, according to the Thursday report. Volker Türk of the UNHCR says: “Exposed to daily violence, many live under constant fear and suffer in deteriorating conditions, turning in desperation to harmful coping mechanisms in order to survive.” ADVERTISEMENT The war in Yemen started in 2014 and pits rebels who seized the capital against a Saudi-led coalition supporting the internationally recognized government.	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
IL RAPPORTO sulla societa’ italiana Censis, gli italiani «sciapi e infelici» Crescono quelli che fuggono all’estero In un decennio si è passati da 50mila a ai 106mila. Nell’ultimo anno il trasferimenti all’estero sono cresciuti del 28,8% Il presidente del Censis Giuseppe De Rita (Ansa)«Una società sciapa e infelice in cerca di connettività».Così il Censis definisce la situazione sociale italiana nel suo 47mo illustrato a Roma dal direttore generale Giuseppe Roma e dal presidente Giuseppe De Rita. Una società, quella italiana, che sembra sempre ad un passo dal crollo ma che non crolla. «Negli anni della crisi - si legge nel rapporto del Censis - abbiamo avuto il dominio di un solo processo, che ha impegnato ogni soggetto economico e sociale: la sopravvivenza. C’è stata la reazione di adattamento continuato (spesso il puro galleggiamento) delle imprese e delle famiglie. Abbiamo fatto tesoro di ciò che restava nella cultura collettiva dei valori acquisiti nello sviluppo passato (lo «scheletro contadino», l’imprenditorialità artigiana, l’internazionalizzazione su base mercantile), abbiamo fatto conto sulla capacità collettiva di riorientare i propri comportamenti (misura, sobrietà, autocontrollo), abbiamo sviluppato la propensione a riposizionare gli interessi (nelle strategie aziendali come in quelle familiari). SCIAPI E INFELICI - Siamo anche una «società sciapa e infelice» secondo il Censis «senza fermento e dove circola troppa accidia, furbizia generalizzata, disabitudine al lavoro, immoralismo diffuso, crescente evasione fiscale, disinteresse per le tematiche di governo del sistema, passiva accettazione della impressiva comunicazione di massa». Di conseguenza siamo anche «infelici, perché viviamo un grande, inatteso ampliamento delle diseguaglianze sociali». A giudizio dei ricercatori del Censis si sarebbe «rotto il “grande lago della cetomedizzazione”, storico perno della agiatezza e della coesione sociale. Troppa gente non cresce, ma declina nella scala sociale. Da ciò nasce uno scontento rancoroso, che non viene da motivi identitari, ma dalla crisi delle precedenti collocazioni sociali di individui e ceti». FUGA ALL’ESTERO - Ciò avrebbe determinato una vera e propria fuga all’estero. Nell’ultimo decennio il numero di italiani che hanno trasferito la propria residenza all’estero è più che raddoppiato, passando dai circa 50mila del 2002 ai 106mila del 2012. Ma è stato soprattutto nell’ultimo anno che l’aumento dei trasferimenti è stato particolarmente rilevante: (+28,8% tra il 2011 e il 2012). IL LAVORO CHE NON C’E’ - Una reazione al grave disagio sociale, all’ instabilità lavorativa e sottoccupazione che interessa il 25,9% dei lavoratori: una platea di 3,5 milioni di persone ha contratti a termine, occasionali, sono collaboratori o finte partite Iva. Ci sono poi 4,4 milioni di italiani che non riescono a trovare un’occupazione «pure desiderandola». Per il Censis «2,7 milioni sono quelli che cercano attivamente un lavoro ma non riescono a trovarlo, un universo che dallo scoppio della crisi è quasi raddoppiato (+82% tra il 2007 e il 2012)». Ci sono poi 1,6 milioni di italiani che, «pur disponibili a lavorare, hanno rinunciato a cercare attivamente un impiego perché convinti di non trovarlo». ALLA LARGA DALLA POLITICA - Cresce sempre più il disinteresse per la politica: il 56% degli italiani (contro il 42% della media europea) non ha attuato nessun tipo di coinvolgimento civico negli ultimi due anni, neppure quelli di minore impegno, come la firma di una petizione. Più di un quarto dei cittadini manifesta una lontananza pressoché totale dalla dimensione politica, non informandosi mai al riguardo. Al contrario, si registrano nuove energie difensive in tanta parte del territorio nazionale contro la chiusura di ospedali, tribunali, uffici postali o presidi di sicurezza. LE ENERGIE POSITIVE - Tuttavia il Censis vede anche dei segnali positivi e di tenuta sociale. «Si registra una sempre più attiva responsabilità imprenditoriale femminile (nell’agroalimentare, nel turismo, nel terziario di relazione), l’iniziativa degli stranieri, la presa in carico di impulsi imprenditoriali da parte del territorio, la dinamicità delle centinaia di migliaia di italiani che studiano e/o lavorano all’estero (sono più di un milione le famiglie che hanno almeno un proprio componente in tale condizione) e che possono contribuire al formarsi di una Italia attiva nella grande platea della globalizzazione». WELFARE E DIGITALE - Nuove energie si sprigionano inoltre in due ambiti che permetterebbero anche l’apertura di nuovi spazi imprenditoriali e di nuove occasioni di lavoro. «Il primo -si legge nel rapporto- è il processo di radicale revisione del welfare. Il secondo è quello della economia digitale: dalle reti infrastrutturali di nuova generazione al commercio elettronico, dalla elaborazione intelligente di grandi masse di dati, dallo sviluppo degli strumenti digitali ai servizi innovativi di comunicazione, alla crescita massiccia di giovani “artigiani digitali”». LA CONNETTIVITA’ - Il nuovo motore dello sviluppo, secondo il Censis, potrebbe essere la connettività (non banalmente la connessione tecnica) fra i soggetti coinvolti in questi processi». Se infatti «restiamo una società caratterizzata da individualismo, egoismo particolaristico, resistenza a mettere insieme esistenze e obiettivi, gusto per la contrapposizione emotiva, scarsa immedesimazione nell’interesse collettivo e nelle istituzioni» avremmo anche raggiunto il punto più basso dal quale non potrà che derivare un progressivo superamento di questa «crisi antropologica». Per fare connettività, secondo il Censis, non si può contare sulle istituzioni «perché autoreferenziali, avvitate su se stesse, condizionate dagli interessi delle categorie, avulse dalle dinamiche che dovrebbero regolare, pericolosamente politicizzate, con il conseguente declino della terzietà necessaria per gestire la dimensione intermedia fra potere e popolo». SPINTA ORIZZONTALE - Neanche la politica può sviluppare questa connettività perché «più propensa all’enfasi della mobilitazione che al paziente lavoro di discernimento e mediazione necessario per fare connettività, scivolando di conseguenza verso l’antagonismo, la personalizzazione del potere, la vocazione maggioritaria, la strumentalizzazione delle istituzioni, la prigionia decisionale in logiche semplificate e rigide». Se dunque, conclude il Censis, «istituzioni e politica non sembrano in grado di valorizzarla, la spinta alla connettività sarà in orizzontale, nei vari sottosistemi della vita collettiva. A riprova del fatto che questa società, se lasciata al suo respiro più spontaneo, produce frutti più positivi di quanto si pensi».	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
That "trying to achieve an interesting color" experiment went pretty well I would say! The glowing from the sun and the whole sky in general is astounding. Plus, the gigantic "rock mountains" were very well done and gives a feeling on wonder to the viewer. Great job.	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
Google has released a powerful tool that can help security researchers hack and find bugs in iOS 11.1.2, a very recent version of the iPhone operating system. The exploit is the work of Ian Beer, one of the most prolific iOS bug hunters, and a member of Google Project Zero, which works to find bugs in all types of software, including that not made by Google. Beer released the tool Monday, which he says should work for “all devices.” The proof of concept works only for those devices he tested—iPhone 7, 6s and iPod touch 6G—“but adding more support should be easy,” he wrote. Last week, Beer caused a stir among the community of hackers who hack on the iPhone—also traditionally known as jailbreakers—by announcing that he was about to publish an exploit for iOS 11.1.2. Researchers reacted with excitement as they realized the tool would make jailbreaking and security research much easier. Got a tip? You can contact this reporter securely on Signal at +1 917 257 1382, OTR chat at [email protected], or email [email protected] While it might seem surprising that Google would release a tool to hack a device from a competitor, it actually makes a lot of sense. The iPhone is one of the hardest consumer devices to hack, and researchers who can do that and are able to find bugs in it rarely report the bugs or publish the tools they use because they are so valuable. But Google Project Zero researchers don’t need the money, and their mission is precisely to make all software, especially that owned by other companies, safer. Google told Motherboard that Beer’s goal is to allow other security researchers to explore and test the security layers of iOS without needing to develop and find their own exploits. In other words, Google gave other researchers a starting point, a base, to bootstrap their own research. The final goal, Google said, is to help security researchers find even more bugs and hopefully report them to Apple so that they get fixed. Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but the exploit has been patched. If you’re not interested in jailbreaking your phone, you should update immediately. Read more: The Motherboard Guide To Not Getting Hacked Luca Todesco, one of the most well-known iOS hackers in the world, told me that Beer’s tool can definitely help researchers who don’t have their own iOS bugs. Other iOS researchers such as Marco Grassi or Ryan Stortz have already speculated that Beer’s exploit could be turned into a full jailbreak.	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
Today, President Donald J. Trump declared that a major disaster exists in the State of Tennessee and ordered Federal assistance to supplement State and local recovery efforts in the areas affected by a severe storm and straight-line winds on October 26, 2019. Federal funding is available to State and eligible local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations on a cost-sharing basis for emergency work and the repair or replacement of facilities damaged by the severe storm and straight-line winds in the counties of Benton, Decatur, Hardin, Henderson, Houston, Humphreys, McNairy, Montgomery, Perry, and Wayne. Federal funding is also available on a cost-sharing basis for hazard mitigation measures statewide. Pete Gaynor, Acting Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Department of Homeland Security, named Manny J. Toro as the Federal Coordinating Officer for Federal recovery operations in the affected areas. Additional designations may be made at a later date if requested by the State and warranted by the results of further damage assessments. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION MEDIA SHOULD CONTACT THE FEMA NEWS DESK AT (202) 646-3272 OR [email protected].	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
With Cody Wilson, the founder of Defense Distributed, a company that sells both software and hardware allowing individuals to make firearms at home, is getting more attention thanks to his pending lawsuit against the government. In light of this, Thor Benson with the liberal anti-gun Daily Beast, decided to interview Wilson. Following that interview, Benson predicted a “terrifying future” where government gun controllers wouldn’t be able to keep up with Wilson’s expanding technology. Benson wrote that legislators can pass laws requiring background checks and putting undesirables onto “no fly, no buy” lists all day long. But they will have precious little impact when people have the freedom to purchase the increasingly sophisticated hardware and software to make their own weapons at home. Benson was dismayed with the concept of “ghost guns” becoming a reality “because they’re essentially untraceable.” He became even more upset when he learned that Wilson thinks that’s a good thing, and that his company’s mission is to allow citizens to operate freely around gun-control laws. He quoted Wilson: "I have nothing but contempt for people who would support [the] secret list culture and the Stasi environment that that creates…. [Pass] all the background check [laws] you want. My company is built around evading that entire program." Oh, the horror! Benson saw the future and he didn’t like it: "Thousands of amateur gun manufacturers could be operating independently around the country without anyone knowing. As these untraceable guns spread throughout the country, the identities of their creators get completely lost." Even worse, Benson wrote, was how increasingly difficult it would be for anti-gun politicians to keep track of all those individuals exercising their newly-expanded freedoms: "It remains unclear how politicians will get around the issue of people making their own guns at home. Someone with a 3-D printer or a milling machine [which Wilson’s company also sells] can make a gun at home without being connected to a [government] network that might detect what they are doing." Adam Winkler, author of Gunfight: The Battle Over the Right to Bear Arms in America and professor of constitutional law at UCLA, agrees with Benson but without the histrionics: "[3-D printing of guns] certainly adds a layer of complexity to gun control that we haven’t seen before, and it’s likely to undermine many of our current gun laws." Winkler also agreed with Benson’s fear that politicians could pass laws but without any means to enforce them: "You could prohibit the manufacture of these firearms … [but] the technology will still exist, and as long as [that] technology exists, any legislation becomes difficult to [enforce]." It’s not that they will give up trying. In December 2013, the Philadelphia city council passed an ordinance redefining firearms to include “any device, made or adapted to expel a projectile through a barrel” and then banning any citizen from making one: “No person shall use a three-dimensional printer to create any firearm, or any piece or part thereof, unless such person possesses a license to manufacture firearms under Federal law.” Various penalties were applied, but without one word about how it would be enforced. In July, California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law something very similar, expanding the definition of "firearm" to include “an unfinished frame or receiver that can be readily converted to the functional condition of a finished frame or receiver” which then makes such an item regulated under California’s already notoriously stringent gun-control laws. Again, just how would the state enforce the newly expanded law? As Wilson told Adam Popescu, writing for the liberal British tabloid The Guardian: “We’ve [already] shipped almost 2,000 machines at this point. We’re responsible for at least 5,000 to 10,000 new [ghost] ARs … at least.” Wilson’s profile could take a quantum jump if he wins his First and Second Amendment lawsuit against the government: "I have developers for anything and everything, some of the best talent in the world. I know some of the world’s best hackers. It’s all ready to go. I have interested stakeholders, a large network that care about what I do…. I’m not the NRA. I’m the internet." Wilson’s profile could also take a quantum jump depending on the outcome of the presidential election: “If Hillary Clinton is elected president, I become a much more important person in the gun world. It’s conceivable, especially under four or eight years of Hillary, that I become the biggest way [for] people to make ARs.” Anti-gun legislators such as Representative Steve Israel (D-N.Y.) have been trying to rein in the proliferation of guns for years. He sports a zero-percent rating from both the NRA and the Gun Owners of America while enjoying a 100-percent rating from both the Brady Campaign and the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence. He co-sponsored legislation to extend the Undetectable Firearms Act of 1988 for another 10 years in December 2013. What is Israel, and others like him in Congress, going to do about enforcement of these laws? How about technology that will soon allow 3D printers to replicate themselves? Or allow 3D printing of the essential components of rifle and pistol ammunition? If the essence of freedom is the limitation of government, then Wilson, the Internet, and 3D printers and their related hardware and software will continue to expand individual freedom and leave Israel and others like him trying desperately to catch up. A graduate of an Ivy League school and a former investment advisor, Bob is a regular contributor to The New American magazine and blogs frequently at LightFromTheRight.com, primarily on economics and politics. He can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
WEST POINT, N.Y. — With college football season drawing near, the United States Military Academy at West Point has released its schedule for the 2015 season without including any games against the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis for the first time in 85 years. West Point has claimed that the arrangement was an oversight, having accidentally booked a game against ITT Technical Institute for the same weekend the Navy was expecting to play. Army coach Jeff Monken seemed excited as he explained his plans to Duffel Blog. “So maybe we can’t fit Navy into our schedule, but we do have a scrimmage scheduled with a team of employees from Old Navy over in Mohegan Lake. Loser has to buy Orange Julius for everybody.” Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo was surprised. “Our schedule still says we’re playing those goobers on December 12th. The boys always look forward to beating the Army, and I don’t know how they’re going to take the news that we’re gonna play a real team now.” Niumatalolo paused. “Or maybe we’ll take a page from West Point’s playbook and replace the date with a game against Devry University Online.” Monken doesn’t think the break with tradition will mean any more bad luck for West Point than usual. “I’m telling you, my Black Knights intend to finish a record fantasy football season online, and we’re looking forward to our real-life match-ups against the Doodletown Volunteer Fire Department and the Haldane High School varsity team.”	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
Beloit native raises money for charities on wheelchair trek to Lambeau Field 170-mile trip expected to take 40-50 days Jenna Middaugh by Jenna Middaugh Dennis Schulze is no stranger to the cold, so he’s not fazed by the idea of having the wind whip his face as he propels his wheelchair down the road for hours on end. In fact, he’s looking forward to it. “I’m just going to take my time, relax. I enjoy it,” Schulze said. He’s taking off from Janesville Thursday morning for a 170-mile trek to Lambeau Field to raise money for several causes that are close to his heart. “I do Alzheimer’s in memory of my dad. I do cancer in memory of my mom,” Schulze said. He’s had a rough past few years after losing his right leg in a bad wreck in 2012 and then watching his mom and dad pass away in the years following. He’s raising money to help others who are affected by Alzheimer ‘s disease and cancer. Schulze is also fundraising for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, March of Dimes and to support families of fallen soldiers in honor of his cousin Ryan Copeland who was killed in the line of duty as a McFarland police officer in 2015. Schulze took a similar journey to Wrigley Field in December for the same causes. He’s hoping to inspire others with his story. “There’s a lot of people with disabilities, don’t give up,” Schulze said. “There’s things you can do.” He expects the trip to Lambeau to take between 40 and 50 days. He’ll have his close friend, Joan Sohn, riding in a car alongside him during the trek. “He’s very determined, and when he puts his mind to something, he just does it,” Sohn said. She also accompanied Schulze on his trip to Wrigley. She said when he first told her his idea, she thought he was crazy, but after joining him on his first trip, she was changed. “My whole outlook on the public has totally changed,” Sohn said. “I was never really a trusting person before, but the kindness and the generosity that we experienced with the first journey, my whole outlook has changed.” Schulze said he’s also hoping to spread good news and hope in a world where people focus so much on negativity. “I get so many people coming by. They honk, they ‘God Bless’ me,” he said. “And that’s like filling up my tank.” Schulze said the Wisconsin State Patrol was going to help him plan the best route. He’s preparing to leave around 9 a.m. Thursday from the cow statue on Milton Avenue. He said he’ll probably travel about five to seven miles a day. He has family along the way to Green Bay, so he said he’ll sleep there some nights. Other nights, he’ll sleep in churches if they are offered or in motels when he can afford them, but he said everything always works out. “It falls into place,” he said. “I couldn’t plan it any better than having it fall into place.” People can follow Schulze’s journey on Facebook by searching ” Dennis’s Lambeau Journey. ” He said he’d try to post daily updates. He’s also challenging professional sport stars to make a $5 donation to charity. When Schulze gets to Green Bay, he’ll walk the last half-mile with his prosthetic leg. “There’s people that can’t walk there or even be put in a wheelchair to get there,” he said. “So the last half-mile is for those who can’t walk.” COPYRIGHT 2020 BY CHANNEL 3000. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST, REWRITTEN OR REDISTRIBUTED.	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
Michael Gove has told Cabinet ministers he is prepared to delay Brexit until late 2020 rather than leave without a deal on October 31, The Telegraph has learned. The Environment Secretary has told colleagues that a no-deal Brexit in October risks triggering a General Election that will put Jeremy Corbyn in Downing Street. His position puts him directly at odds with other Brexiteer leadership candidates including Boris Johnson, the former foreign secretary, who have committed to leaving on time with or without a deal. It comes as ministers are braced for Donald Trump, the US President, to say during his State Visit this week that Britain must be prepared to walk away from the EU without a deal. The US President is expected to hold a one-on-one meeting with Mr Johnson after saying he would make an “excellent” Conservative leader. He is also expected to meet Nigel Farage, the head of the Brexit Party.	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Simon Jack gets reaction to the result from the CBI business lobby group Shares on the London stock market rose on Friday after Scotland voted against independence. The FTSE 100 share index was up 0.27%, or 18 points, closing at 6837.92. An initial rally in the pound faded. Overnight it hit a two-year high against the euro and a two-week high against the US dollar, but fell back during the day. Meanwhile RBS confirmed it would not be moving its registered head office now that independence had been rejected. "The announcement we made about moving our registered head office to England was part of a contingency plan to ensure certainty and stability for our customers, staff and shareholders should there be a 'Yes' vote," the bank said. "That contingency plan is no longer required. Following the result it is business as usual for all our customers across the UK and RBS." In a statement, Lloyds Banking Group said: "The group is proud of its strong Scottish heritage and remains committed to having a significant presence in Scotland. We remain fully focused on supporting households and businesses in Scotland as well as right across the rest of the UK." Relief Over the past couple of weeks the pound had fallen on fears that Scotland would vote in favour of independence. As it became clear overnight that Scotland would vote against leaving the union, the pound spiked to a two-year high against at the euro and two-week high against the US dollar. However, as trading in London got underway the rally faded and the pound dipped. At the end of the trading day it was down 0.48% against the dollar at 1.6322. Against the euro it was still 0.2% higher at 1.2714 euros, but lower than its overnight highs. Jeremy Cook, economist at World First said: "The obvious risk to the currency markets was a yes and that would have caused a big sell off. Now the markets will go back to concentrating on the fundamentals of the UK economy." Shares in RBS were up 2.6%. Lloyds Banking Group shares climbed nearly 2% in early trade before slipping back. Brenda Kelly from IG Index said: "Investors in these firms will be relieved that management will be able to devote their time to business performance, rather than fretting about contract changes or headquarter moves. "There is still uncertainty, primarily over the new changes to voting on English issues, but these are of importance primarily to politicians and less so to markets," she added. The main Spanish share index, the IBEX, jumped more than 1% in early trade, but fell back in the afternoon. That was attributed to the 'No' vote because it was seen as reducing the chances of a breakaway in Catalonia. The boss of Aberdeen Asset Management, Martin Gilbert, who had previously said that Scotland "would prosper" as an independent country, also welcomed the end to the uncertainty of the last few months. "Scotland has long been a world leader in business sectors such as oil and gas, whisky and investment and the task now is to grow the rest of the economy with the strong support of politicians of all parties," said Mr Gilbert. Analysis: Kamal Ahmed, BBC business editor Sterling wasn't the only thing with a spring in its step this morning. Business leaders who had expressed concerns about the possibility of independence will also be relieved that all those contingency plans for possible upheaval can be put away - for the foreseeable future at least. Business attention will now quickly turn to the constitutional changes announced by the prime minister this morning. Although initially it may not seem a business matter, greater federalism in the UK could have significant ramifications. There may never be an English Parliament - I'm sure the last thing voters want is more politicians - but if powers over the setting of taxes and business policies for example are devolved to the four nations of the UK, then chief executives will have to sit up and take notice. Read Kamal's blog in full Image copyright Getty Images Image caption The 'Yes' campaign has called for national unity in the wake of defeat Image copyright AP Image caption Supporters of the 'No' campaign celebrate 'Disruption avoided' Analysts also said that the result reduced the risk of the UK leaving the European Union. "Scottish residents are more in favour of remaining in the EU, compared to the rest of the UK where the majority favour an exit. Overall, major disruption has been avoided and focus can now return to building on the strong economic recovery in progress, " said Azad Zangana, economist at Schroders. "The Bank of England is now likely to press ahead with raising interest rates early next year in the absence of political uncertainty," he added. Stock markets in Asia were mostly higher, taking their cues from Wall Street. US stocks rose on Thursday, one day after the central bank - the US Federal Reserve - said it would maintain its pledge to keep interest rates low. Those comments helped to lift the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 index to record highs.	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump, three of his children and the Trump Organization on Wednesday lost their bid to block Deutsche Bank AG and Capital One Financial Corp from providing financial records to Democratic lawmakers investigating Trump’s businesses. In a decision read from the bench after hearing arguments, U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos in New York said Congress has the legal authority to demand the records, clearing the way for the banks to comply with subpoenas issued to them by two U.S. House of Representatives committees last month. The committees have agreed not to enforce the subpoenas for seven days, the judge said. It was the second time in three days that a judge had ruled against the Republican president in his fight with Democrats and Trump’s lawyers were expected to appeal both decisions. Ramos said he would not suspend his decision pending appeal. Some Democratic lawmakers welcomed the decision. “So far, I think the president would be wise to come to the realization that our legitimate areas of inquiry are going to be supported by the courts,” Representative Dan Kildee, a Michigan Democrat and member of the House Ways and Means Committee, told Reuters in an interview. Representative Brad Sherman, a Democratic member of the financial services committee, was more cautious, telling Reuters in an interview that he expected the decision would be appealed. Asked if lawmakers should be satisfied that they will get the information they seek, Sherman said, “I’ll believe it when I see it out of the U.S. Supreme Court.” The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Deutsche Bank said it would abide by the court’s decision. Capital One did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Trump, who is seeking re-election next year, has aggressively sought to defy congressional oversight of his administration since Democrats took control of the House in January. Ramos said that the committees had the power to issue the subpoenas under Congress’ “broad” power to conduct investigations to further legislation. He also rejected Trump’s argument that they were barred by a federal financial privacy law, the Right to Financial Privacy Act, saying the law does not apply to congressional investigations. Trump said last month that the administration was “fighting all the subpoenas” issued by the House, hardening his position after the release of a redacted report from Special Counsel Robert Mueller on how Russia interfered in the 2016 U.S. election to help Trump and on the president’s attempts to impede the investigation. “We remain committed to providing appropriate information to all authorized investigations and will abide by a court order regarding such investigations,” Deutsche Bank spokeswoman Kerrie McHugh said in an emailed statement after the ruling. Slideshow ( 7 images ) Lawyers for the Trump family members and the Trump Organization declined to comment on the decision. Some parts of the subpoenas have been included in court filings. The subpoena on Deutsche Bank seeks extensive records of accounts, transactions and investments linked to Trump, his three oldest children, their immediate family members and several Trump Organization entities, as well as records of ties they might have to foreign entities. Deutsche Bank has long been a principal lender for Trump’s real estate business and a 2017 disclosure form showed that Trump had at least $130 million of liabilities to the bank. Slideshow ( 7 images ) The subpoena on Capital One seeks records related to multiple entities tied to the Trump Organization’s hotel business. In March, before issuing their subpoena, Democratic lawmakers asked Capital One for documents concerning potential conflicts of interest tied to Trump’s Washington hotel and other business interests since he became president in January 2017. Trump, his adult children, Donald Jr., Eric and Ivanka, and the Trump Organization had sought a preliminary injunction to prevent Deutsche Bank complying with the subpoenas from the House Financial Services Committee and the House Intelligence Committee, and Capital One from complying with a subpoena from the Financial Services Committee. In a lawsuit filed on April 29, lawyers for the Trumps argued that the subpoenas were too broad, and that Democrats are hoping they will “stumble upon something” that could be used for political attacks on the president. Patrick Strawbridge, a lawyer for Trump, said at Wednesday’s hearing that the subpoenas were “the epitome of an inquiry into private or personal matters,” and that the House committees were reaching beyond their role as legislators. Douglas Letter, a lawyer for the committees, said the subpoenas were part of a “very serious investigation on behalf of the American people” that could lead to legislation aimed at reducing foreign influence in U.S. politics. He denied that it was intended to target Trump personally. “He clearly sees us as some sort of nuisance,” Letter said. The banks are the only defendants in the case, but the House committees intervened to oppose Trump’s effort to block the subpoenas. Representative Maxine Waters, who chairs the House Financial Services Committee, told reporters after the lawsuit was filed that Trump had “cast a gauntlet.” “We will fight him,” she said. On Monday, a federal judge in Washington ruled against the president in a similar case, finding that Trump’s accounting firm, Mazars LLP, must comply with a congressional subpoena for Trump’s financial records. U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta found that Congress was “not engaged in a fishing expedition” for the President’s financial records when it subpoenaed Mazars and said that documents obtained might assist Congress in passing laws and performing other core functions. Trump called Mehta’s decision “crazy” and vowed to appeal. On Wednesday, the House committee involved in that case, the House Oversight Committee, said in a statement it had reached an agreement with Trump’s lawyers to seek an expedited appeal.	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
(This version of the May 19th story corrects reference to Iran in second paragraph to Islamic Republic) Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif arrives at the EU council in Brussels, Belgium May 15, 2018. REUTERS/Yves Herman TEHRAN (Reuters) - Europe’s energy chief will seek to reassure Iran’s top ministers on Saturday that the European Union wants to keep trade open despite the U.S. withdrawal from the nuclear deal. Miguel Arias Canete, European commissioner for energy and climate, will meet with five top Iranian minister over two days, including the Islamic Republic’s nuclear chief, oil minister and foreign minister. EU leaders have united behind the 2015 accord, with Brussels considering banning EU-based firms from complying with the sanctions that President Donald Trump has reimposed and urging governments to make money transfers to Iran’s central bank to avoid fines. But EU officials admit there is a limit to what they can do to parry sanctions as a wave of European companies quit business with Tehran, fearing the global reach of U.S. sanctions. “There is no magic wand beyond trying to offer Iran a bit of reassurance,” a senior EU official involved in Iran talks told Reuters. The mission led by Canete is a symbolic gesture to urge Iran’s leadership to stick to the nuclear deal and shore up support for the relatively moderate President Hassan Rouhani against hardliners looking to constrain his ability to open up to the West, EU officials said. “The mission is very important to us because it shows the EU’s determination to stand by its commitment,” a senior Iranian official said. Europe sees the pact, limiting Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for the relaxation of economic sanctions, as vital for international security. Trump denounced it as “the worst deal ever” for failing to curb Iran’s separate ballistic missile program and its influence in Syria, Yemen, Iraq and Lebanon. PAYOFF With the reimposition of U.S. sanctions threatening the accord’s economic payoff for Tehran, EU diplomats worry they will lose what little sway they have in the Islamic Republic. Canete will raise with Tehran the possibility of EU governments bypassing the U.S. financial system by making direct payments to Iran for oil exports and to repatriate Iranian funds in Europe - though the move will be up to member states. In other efforts to shield European firms, the EU’s “blocking statute” would ban EU companies from complying with U.S. sanctions and does not recognize any court rulings that enforce American penalties. The EU is also seeking to allow the European Investment Bank to do business in Iran and to scale up euro-denominated credit lines from EU states. But some big names are already heading for the door. French energy group Total TOTF.PA said it may quit a multi-billion-dollar gas project that Tehran had repeatedly hailed as a symbol of the nuclear accord's success. The first sanctions to snap back into place are limits on Iranian oil exports that choked off more than half of Iran’s oil exports after 2012 - largely due to European and Asian buyers cutting back. “One of the big factors for how the Iranians will react is what oil importers will do and how well the energy system can cope,” another EU official said. “It will be difficult for us to deliver on the benefits the Iranians are expecting.”	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
After giving us a WTH moment with her video PONPONPON, J-Pop singer Kyary Pamyu Pamyu is back with another Illuminati-drenched video. The video appears to be based on Alice in Wonderland. How many times can that fairy tale be referred to in popular culture? I believe I personally mentioned Alice in Wonderland about a dozen of times in the past few months on this site. The story and the symbolism surrounding it is obviously of a great importance for the Illuminati industry – maybe because it is a staple in actual MK programming. Kyary’s latest video “Tsukematsukeru” is another mesmerizing symbolism overload with a typical Japanese twist. Checkerboard patterns, creepy eyes ominously watching over everything, etc. You don’t have to watch it, but if you do, prepare to set your facial expression to HUH?	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
Earlier today, we learned that Andre Johnson would miss the Pro Bowl. No reason was given as to why 'Dre would be missing the NFL's annual All-Star Game. Until now. Thanks to Mark Berman for finding out why 'Dre will not be in Honolulu: Andre Johnson will not play in Pro Bowl because of wrist injury that's healing according 2his uncle, Andre Melton. Surgery was not necessary — Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) January 17, 2014 Andre Johnson's uncle, Andre Melton, says his nephew played w/hurt wrist 4 final 4 games,essentially playing w/1 hand but didn't tell anyone — Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) January 17, 2014 Oh, 'Dre. I swoon anew at your toughness, though the Texans (2-10 at the time) likely would have gladly shut you down with four games remaining if you'd told them you were hurt. Here's to a speedy and full recovery this offseason.	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
Federalism has been an important aspect and ingredient and many of the world’s community of nations. In fact, around 70% of nations in the world are said to have at least some element of federalism, while roughly 10% are considered federal states. Forty percent of the world’s population lives in these countries. Federalism has been adopted not only by developed countries like the United States, Canada and Germany, but developing ones such Mexico, India and Brazil. Recently, the Philippines has began to contemplate a change in its governing set up after Rodrigo Duterte, a prime advocate for federalism in the country in the country, won the presidential national elections. Some scholars argue that a federal system is the next logical step after devolution. In the Philippines, the main argument of federalists is that the system allows diversity and division while promoting national interest at the same time. It is also claimed that a shift to the system could accelerate the development of impoverished regions in the country and end ethnic conflicts brought about by the Filipinos’ cultural differences. Basic Features and ‘Identity Federalism’ Federalism is a governmental system that institutes a constitutionally stipulated and specified division of powers between different levels of government. Usually, there are two main levels: a national, central or federal level (e.g. the federal government of Germany); and a state, provincial or regional level (e.g. the German Länders). There are some instances, however, where the federal system may demand a three-fold distribution of power by recognizing the constitutional powers of the local government; or by forming compound forms of overlapping territorial and linguistic federalism. Therefore, federalism makes it possible for ethnic regions that have specific territorial jurisdiction to exercise their own autonomy while remaining to be a part of larger federal union. In this arrangement, the federal and subnational government will have both specific and shared powers. A very good example in this respect is Canada. The federal nature of the Canada’s constitution was a response to the diversity of the country during the colonial era, particularly the linguistic differences between the French-speaking inhabitants of Lower Canada and the English-speaking inhabitants of Upper Canada and the Maritimes. Federalism successfully eliminated violent ethnic conflicts between the two major linguistic groups of the country. Today, Canada is one of the most socially and economically progressive countries in the world. ‘Efficiency Federalism’ Aside from its potential to resolve diversity-induced conflicts, federalism may also improve governance in terms of efficiency, democratic representation and accountability. This can be achieved through the decentralization of power it promotes and by allowing local people a greater control over their resources and policies, while still preserving national unity and the ability to act coherently in issues and matters of national importance. An archipelago of 7,641 islands, the highly centralized government of the Philippines has been inefficient and ineffective in dealing with contingencies in far-flung regions of the country. This results in inequitable and uneven development of its many regions. Decentralization of power promoted by a federal system of governance could potentially resolve this dilemma. Federalism brings the government closer to the people, facilitates quicker delivery of needed basic services and endorses participatory governance. A rationale for a federal Philippines It is due to the aforementioned features and disposition of federalism that President Duterte proposes the system as an option for governance for the Philippines. But despite its apparent promise and potentials, issues and concerns have to be confronted, such as the fact that Moros demand a separate nation, not autonomy. Moreover, the shift to federalism should profoundly decentralize the central government to promote and develop self-reliance in the subnational governments. Finally, it is important to understand and to take into consideration, especially by political leaders, policy-makers and advocates, that there is no one standard model of federalism that suits all. Countries can have varying degrees of federalism in their political system. Some may have more centralized models than others (e.g. Australia); those where the federal state and subnational units have clearly defined powers by the Consititution (e.g. Germany); and federal states where the powers of the federal and subnational levels are in persistent review and movement (e.g. United States). Each country must determine its own form of federalism according to the existing and unique conditions of their societies.	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
The toll for this weekend’s heat wave rose to eight dead and 2,000 injured Sunday after two people died in Shiga and Saga prefectures, a Kyodo News tally showed. Temperatures rose above 35 in many parts of Japan, with the high for the day logged as 38.8 in Fukuchiyama, Kyoto Prefecture, and in the town of Ibigawa, Gifu Prefecture. The tally showed that 2,061 people across the nation were taken to hospitals for heatstroke or heat exhaustion on Sunday as many were making the most of a three-day weekend. On Saturday, six people died and over 1,500 were treated for heat-related maladies, with a temperature of 38.7 recorded in Tajimi, Gifu Prefecture. The extreme heat made it harder to carry out relief operations in areas ravaged by this month’s flooding and landslides. In the hardest-hit prefectures of Okayama, Hiroshima and Ehime, 145 people, including volunteers, were taken to hospitals as the mercury touched 36 in some areas. Of the 927 monitoring points run nationwide by the Meteorological Agency, 200 logged highs of at least 35. Osaka had the highest number of people — 141 — taken to hospitals. The agency warned people to take measures to prevent heatstroke and heat exhaustion because the hot weather is expected to continue through next Sunday.	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
Article content BEIJING — Brad Pitt is now on China’s version of Twitter, and his mysterious first tweet has drawn thousands of comments. The actor’s verified Sina Weibo account sent the message Monday: “It is the truth. Yup, I’m coming.” That was forwarded more than 31,000 times and netted over 14,000 comments, many expressing surprise. He gathered more than 100,000 followers. We apologize, but this video has failed to load. tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Despite ban from entering country, Brad Pitt goes on Chinese Twitter to warn: 'Yup, I'm coming' Back to video The IMDb.com movie website says Pitt was banned from ever entering China because of his role in the 1997 film Seven Years in Tibet. The government was upset about the film’s portrayal of harsh Chinese rule in Tibet. His later film Mr. and Mrs. Smith with Angelina Jolie was popular in China. Former NBA star Stephon Marbury who now plays for China’s professional basketball league is prolific on Weibo and has over 779,000 followers.	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
PUNE: Social crusader Anna Hazare on Thursday accused Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of telling lies and betraying him as well as the people of the country by giving false promises regarding passing of the Lokpal bill, bringing all government officials under the Lokpal ambit, citizens' charter and setting up a Lokayukta in each state. "I never imagined that for the sake of power you will speak a lie," Hazare said in a letter sent to Singh on Thursday. The letter stated that he would go on an indefinite fast at the Yadavbaba temple in Ralegan Siddhi from December 10. Hazare recalled several promises made by the Prime Minister after he started an indefinite fast at Ramlila ground in New Delhi in 2011 and the subsequent letters reiterating the government's commitment to passing the Lokpal bill. However, matters have not progressed in the last two years, he rued. He said that whenever he raised the Lokpal issue, the Prime Minister gave him false assurances. "Today, I feel that you made false promises to betray me and the people of India, as you just wanted to silence me and the people who participated in the Janlokpal movement. I always considered you a noble man and had a very good image. Many times I have publicly said that Prime Minister is a good man, but I never imagined that for the sake of power you will ever speak a lie," Hazare said in his letter. Had I known that Singh was betraying the people of the country I would never have ended the fast, he added. Referring to the letters, Singh sent him on August 23 and August 27, 2011, Hazare said: "Now I assume that you won't remember what you had written in letters dated August 23 and 27. You must have forgotten them, therefore I am sending copies of your letters so that you can recall it. After reading them you will definitely feel that you have made a mistake. The lust for power is such that it makes one unconscious," Hazare said, adding, "From your office, I received many letters written by V Narayanasamy. Every time, he praised you and gave me assurances on your behalf. I am also attaching copy of one such letter dated 3/09/2013." Hazare said he was worried about the future of the country if Singh's government includes people who bluntly lie. He pointed that the country will never prosper if it was ruled by liars. "I am surprised to see how come so many liars have come together in your government who level false allegations against me also," he said. Hazare said Singh was doing injustice to the people by not bringing the Lokpal bill and this has forced him to go on an indefinite fast a day prior to the beginning of the winter session in Parliament. Hazare said the venue has been changed from Ramlila ground to Yadavbaba temple at Ralegan Siddhi due to health reasons. 'Verbal violence' Anna Hazare acknowledged in his letter that he has committed 'verbal violence'. "In my life I have always followed the principle of non-violence and never committed any violence. But in this letter, I have made verbal violence. I know it but the government is responsible. Any such verbal violence which is for the benefit of society is not a sin," Hazare said in the letter.	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
While many of their peers were receiving acceptance and rejection letters from various universities, the members of Avi Buffalo were asked to join the coolest post-high school academy: Sub Pop Records. Thankfully, they accepted. And now we all have the pleasure of toe tapping to their gem of an album, Avi Buffalo, which exudes a sunny, lush vibe that’s poppy without being overly “cute.” Call it “surf-folk prog-rock”—all shimmering guitars, sprinkling piano and experiments in tempo thanks to Avi Zahner-Isenberg’s intricate guitar leads and drummer Sheridan Riley’s reign over the kit, balancing decorative rhythm and driving force. Currently on a European tour, Sheridan—the youngest member of Avi B—answered some questions via e-mail about drumming idols, recording a full-length album, and those darn good fills of hers (so ’70s glam!) Full Name: Sheridan Riley Age: 18 Hometown: LBC! Currently live in: Long Beach Past bands: Time of Wolves, Fort Wife Current bands: Avi Buffalo, John Michael Quartet Day job: None, though I wish I did have one. I’d like to buy more cymbals. Tom Tom Magazine: First off, how long have you been playing the drums and why did you get started? Did you take lessons? Sheridan Riley: My dad plays guitar and loves ’70s blues/rock. He played Led Zeppelin very frequently and ever since I heard the opening drum break for the song “Rock n Roll” I knew I wanted to play. I’ve been playing the drums for six years and over the years I’ve taken [lessons] with four people. The crowning thing my first teacher Brian Mahoney taught me, I think, was bass drum/hi-hat independence. [After three years off of lessons,] I studied with Ronnie Ciago for just a month, but he taught me so much in that time. I remember he asked who my favorite drummer was and I said “John Bonham!” and he laughed and said “Well then let’s do some triplets!” Because of a tight schedule and money, I didn’t take lessons again for another year. In that time I met my first ever in-person drum hero, Dylan Wood. He played in Avi’s old band, Monogram, and when I saw them play I was awe-struck. Dylan kind of took me under his wing. We had first period music class and we bonded over our love for John Bonham. He also gave me helpful tips for rolls and beats. He recommended me to his teacher, Greg Paxton, who taught me so much about feel and developing an ear … The most important lessons I took, however, were from Steven Nistor. Steven’s kit consisted of just a kick, snare, hat, floor and ride. But it was so incredible what he was doing with everything. He let me play his kit and it was tuned so beautifully. I took only three lessons with him last year. He taught me the importance of achieving a full sound out of the kit, relieving your self of that choppy, unbalanced sound. When we’re done touring for a while I want to take with him again. What kind of kit do you play nowadays? I am currently playing our very generous bass player’s Catalina Maple with a Mahogany C&C snare drum. How has Long Beach shaped your relationship to music? How would you describe the current indie music scene down there? Long Beach is very diverse, with enough people and variety to be a city, but a fair distance from Los Angeles so as to encourage it’s own kind of vibe. We also still have a music program in all of our schools, and that’s becoming more and more rare in California because of how messed up the budget is here. Because there are still programs, especially like jazz band and jazz combo, kids here have an easier way of getting introduced to a variety of music. The current scene is pretty DIY, consisting mostly of house shows and a few coffee shops. It’s very close—everyone knows each other pretty well and there is a lot of support. There’s only one all-ages venue here that I think every single high schooler has been to at least once. Avi Buffalo originally started as a one-man ordeal. Can you explain the freedom (or lack of freedom?) you have in writing drum parts? Avi writes all the songs, but he never stifles me. He’ll tell me what feel he wants, if it’s getting too busy or too boring, and I’ll work with that. We’ve been playing together off and on since we both started playing our instruments in middle school, so we know each other’s playing and expectations pretty well. But we also try and ignore that, since you don’t want to get predictable. He’s very much about the shows being a collaborative effort and that’s one of the reasons why I like working with him the most. Describe your drumming style in 3 words. In the process. What’s the most challenging thing about the drums? So much! Laying back is tough, playing fast and laying back is even tougher. When we play shows I’m always thinking, “Is this too much, is that too little? Could it have killed you to sneak in a fill there? Wait, where are we again? Oh!” Being in the moment, but being prepared. It’s not my forte. What’s your proudest drumming moment? Toughie, because there’s either a good show, a “meh” show, or just a terrible show, and after a while you don’t remember specifics. I can remember one instance though. In ninth grade I didn’t make the jazz band because I couldn’t read the charts. The less powerful co-instructor of the jazz band liked me enough and knew I wanted to play desperately, so he started a jazz combo. For our last song at our fall concert we played “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy” and I was given a little “four bar solo at the end of the song before you give the band a wink and cue them back in” sort of thing. I was very anxious and felt I had to prove something to the other jazz band instructor and the whole entire student body of Millikan High School. I did it: I managed to put my elbow on the snare and roll around the kit. I think I made it longer than four bars, because I felt entitled. The whole auditorium seemed to roar and all the senior jazz cats liked it, even Avi and Dylan Wood! Technically I’m a better drummer now, but I don’t have the confidence that I had back then. I would never take a solo now, let alone double the time allotted, yet at that point in time I did, and people responded to it. Hopefully one of these days I’ll tap back into my overzealous, elbow-on-the-snare, stick-twirling self—but this time with a bit more humility and taste. Getting signed to Sup Pop straight out of high school is a huge deal (and so awesome!) Did getting signed change your original after-high school plans at all? Thank you! And yes, it definitely did. I intended on applying to some schools in Oregon and up the California coast. It wasn’t until this September when we toured for a week with Beach House that I realized that I couldn’t do both for the time being. And I felt relieved, because, while I do want to go back to school, I felt so happy to know that I could devote myself fully to music, something that I haven’t been able to do while I’ve been in school. I want to learn piano, and get to the point where I could jam with others, and most importantly practice drums for as much time as I please. Do you ever have to deal with people constantly commenting on your gender or age as a drummer? Which do you anticipate you’ll have to address most often (if at all)? It’s mostly the age that we deal with, but I’ve also been noticed because of being a girl, too. It sucks, because often the first thing they’ll say is “I love girl drummers!” and it’s really nice, but sometimes it feels like they wouldn’t say anything about what they heard if I wasn’t a girl. It’s a funny thing, I’m all about girl power and women being in music, because there is a distinct voice from males and females that needs to be heard. I just don’t like it when it ends up defining your talent, you know? However, the age thing happens a lot. I’ve lied about my age in some interviews just so we can avoid the question because it affects the way some people listen and interpret us. We can’t really hide it in any other way than that. Usually my zits do me in. Who are your favorite drummers? Well, John Bonham was my first drummer love. For me, he is rock drumming. I also love Glenn Kotche from Wilco. His pocket is so tasty and solid, and his solo percussion work is really amazing. It’s inspiring to hear his searching—he makes all kinds of sounds and rhythms from so many percussive objects. I saw this interview where he used a condenser mic on a fruit bowl and it sounded so neat, and it was so cool to see him really getting into the sounds around him. In middle school I listened to the Killers a lot, Ronnie Vannucci is so good! Elvin Jones, Zigaboo Modeliste, and Greg Saunier [of Deerhoof] are who I’m listening to the most right now. Elvin’s playing just has a life of its own—everything on A Love Supreme is so powerful and relevant to what everyone is playing. I saw Greg play last year and that changed my life. He’s all over the songs—his energy is contagious. What were some of the challenges or surprises in tracking the drums for Avi Buffalo? Did you record live? Every song I recorded, except for “Where’s Your Dirty Mind” was done live. It was more comfortable, but next time I’d like to see what it’s like to lay down a track and come in with a more planned part. But not for every song, I just want the drums to be a bit cleaner on the next record. I never really wrote out parts for each song, I’d just go along with them, which sometimes works fine. But I’d really like to plan some parts next time. What was your favorite song to record off of this album? What about your favorite song to play live? Probably “Can’t I Know.” It’s a quieter, darker song, and it was fun to feel that vibe. Aaron Embry kindly provided me with a 1930s copper/nickel Ludwig snare for the song, which sounds great. Live, I also still like playing “Cant I Know” but also “Remember Last Time” and “Jessica”. Each change a little every show depending on what everyone’s thinking, and they’ve also evolved a lot. It’s neat to see where they take you. Your fills are fantastic! I struggle with fills. Any tips for practicing them? Sheridan, how can I jam out and be totally awesome like you are in “Remember Last Time?” Oh man, thank you! I don’t really know, I learned most about fills from my dad, “Sheridan, do one of those galloping, ‘Crossroads’ fills!” Anything else you’d like to add about what you love most about drumming? Good vibrations!!! Thanks a lot, Melanie! Link to Avi Buffalo’s music video for “What’s in it For?” Tom Tom Blogger Melanie Glover is a freelance writer and arts administrator based out of Sacramento, CA. She played drums and sang for the now defunct surf-pop band Buildings Breeding., and has been published in SN&R, The Sacramento Bee, Sactown magazine, and other publications. She enjoys gaining rhythmic inspiration and advice from the women at Tom Tom–both interviewees and staff–and is forever a student of words and vibrations.	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
Partaking or Taking Over by Stephanie Galonska I’ve known about the Asian ownership of our gas stations, hotels and dunkin’ donuts for quite some time but I had no idea just how prevalent the ‘Asian ownership’ was until I drove from Des Moines, Iowa to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania some few years ago. The Mississippi River had flooded again so I had to take a long detour around I-80 and it was there where I saw it. Imagine my surprise when I walked into an Antique store to ask for directions and saw, to my great dismay, an Indian from India. Now these weren’t Antiques from India, they were American and European Antiques. Needless to say, I didn’t ask for any directions. The next Town I stopped in only had one gas station and guess what? It was owned by a Chinese person. Throughout my trip, a pattern was emerging. Everywhere I stopped, no matter how small the Town, an Asian could be found owning something. How did this come to be? Well, we all know it came slow and long ago but as far as I’m concerned, it came mostly in 1990 when our “Leaders” enacted IMMACT which gives us this: “under the new provisions; increases in the proportion of immigrants coming from Asia, with a corresponding decrease in the numbers from northern and western Europe” [1] All one needs to do is look around to see that that’s true. Add that to all the Government and Business Sponsored Minority Privilege and what do ya get? According to BUSINESS.COM, you get “over 50 percent of all U.S. minority-owned businesses with sales exceeding $1 million are owned by Asian-Americans.” [2] How did that fifty percent Asian ownership happen in what seems to be, so quickly? Once again, according to BUSINESS.COM, Bank of America and its special program called the “Minority and Women Prequalification Program” [2] helps them but they’re far from the only ones. BUSINESS.COM goes on to mention how Asians can “meet prospective customers in person at one of the regional procurement events sponsored by The US Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce (USPAACC).” [2] Now who supports USPAACC? According to them, just about everybody. One Government Department they mention is The Social Security Administration [3] and I wonder, do they mean this: “Greta is the admissions coordinator in a federally-subsidized senior citizens housing facility in the San Francisco Bay area. She remarks that, when one of her tenants, an immigrant from Taiwan whom we will call Wen, told her that he had just passed his citizenship test, “I was congratulating and welcoming him, but he laughed and said, ‘Now they can’t take my [welfare] money away.'” [4] I find it worthy to remind us all that in that quote are two significant points of interest and they are “federally-subsidized” and “[welfare]”. Immigrants were supposed to support their own elderly immigrant family members when they brought them here but no, once again, our “leaders” changed that Law for them too. Back to the USPAACC. Who pays for them? We all do. Aside from the numerous government agencies they name, they have plenty of corporate sponsors too. Lockheed Martin, Frito Lays, Dallas/Fort Worth Airport, Verizon, it just goes on and on. It’s one thing for Businesses to give to the Community but it’s discrimination to set aside business opportunities and/or funding for minorities because they’re “minorities”. Minorities have done nothing for America except be non-white and/or female and that’s just not a contribution worthy of any “recognition” or the “Supplier Diversity Program” these companies have set up for them. What’s a Supplier Diversity Program? That is a program created by yet another minority group called “The National Minority Supplier Development Council” who created “The Business Consortium Fund, Inc. (BCF) which “provides contract financing to NMSDC certified minority businesses across America through a network of local participating banks and NMSDC affiliates.” And who funds the BCF? According to them, it comes from “several sources including corporations, state governments and foundations.” [5] The Supplier Diversity Program is a program that is used by businesses in which they purchase goods and services from minority owned businesses. Minorities get help from government and businesses because they’re “minorities” and then they get business from businesses because they’re “minorities”. The Privilege for Non-Whites shall not end as is proven with this gem from allBusiness: “The Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) is the only federal agency created specifically to foster the establishment and growth of minority-owned businesses. MBDA provides funding for a network of Minority Business Development Centers (MBDCs), Native American Business Development Centers (NABDCs), and Business Resource Centers (BRCs) located throughout the country. The centers provide minority entrepreneurs with personalized assistance in writing business plans, marketing, management and technical assistance, and financial planning to secure adequate financing for business ventures.” [6] The MBDA’s Organizational Chart begins with the “Office of the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders” [7] Aside from Affirmative Action, this is the most blatant form of discrimination I can name. This Federally Funded Department promotes non-whites and only non-whites. Does this sound fair to you? “Federal” means you’re payin’ for it and worse, this Program assumes minorities need Help so, not only are they eligible for various Welfare Programs because they’re “poor” but also, they get extra help because they’re “minorities”. Huh? Confusing, I know. It’s a Double Dip and when they play it right, a Triple Dip and for all nothing but for our American Gullibility. Did I mention how there are NO Privileges for White Men just for being White Men? To carry on, aside from the MBDA, minorities also have the SBA and its various programs like the 8(a) Business Development in which the SBA boasts that “Under the Small Business Act, certain individuals are presumed socially disadvantaged: African-Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Pacific Americans, Native Americans (American Indians, Eskimos, Aleuts, or Native Hawaiians), and Subcontinent Asian Americans. An individual who is not a member of one of the groups listed can be admitted to the program if he/she shows – through a “preponderance of the evidence” – that he/she is socially disadvantaged. For instance, an individual may show social disadvantage due to race, ethnic origin, gender, physical handicap, long-term residence in an environment isolated from the mainstream of American society; or other similar causes.” [8] The most disturbing thing about this is how it is “presumed” that non-whites are all automatically “socially disadvantaged” but if you don’t fall into any one of those non-white groups, you must prove, through a “preponderance of the evidence”, that you are “socially disadvantaged”. I have no proof but this sounds like a program specifically designed for their favored non-whites. The Small Business Administration gets $978,000,000.00 for FY2012. “The bill contains $978 million for the Small Business Administration (SBA) – $249 million more than last year’s level and $7 million below the request. Small business loans – which have seen marked increase in demand and higher subsidy costs due to the current economic situation – receive an increase of $128 million.” [9] How much of that money goes to minority only programs? I don’t know but when I look around, it seems to me like they’re getting quite a good bit of it and from everywhere else too. According to Reuters, “SAN FRANCISCO–(Business Wire)–In celebration of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, Wells Fargo Asian Business Services announced today it has reached its 10-year goal to lend $3 billion to Asian business owners nationwide — three years ahead of schedule. The goal was established at the program`s inception in 2002. The company also announced they have expanded the goal to $5 billion by the end of 2013.” [10] I looked but I couldn’t find any special Divisions for White Men at Wells Fargo like they do for the Asians with their “Asian Business Owners” page and I couldn’t find any five billion dollar set-aside for loans that only White Men can apply for like they did for the Asians neither. Banks aren’t supposed to be setting aside money to loan to a specific group of people. They’re supposed to be concerned about one’s ability to pay it back and that’s it. And to add insult to injury, these same people, these companies, bankers and our government just love to tell us how smart and capable these people are but if that’s true then why do they need so much special help? If you’re not concerned by now, perhaps this, coming from the Office of Refugee Resettlement will concern you: “Microenterprise Development Program assists refugees to become financially independent by helping them develop capital resources and business expertise to start, expands, or strengthens their own business. The program provides training and technical assistance in business plan development, management, bookkeeping, and marketing to equip refugees with the skills they need to become successful entrepreneurs. In FY 2011, there are 18 grantees in 15 states that receive grants totaling $4.0 million.” “The targeted refugee population for these programs may include refugees who receive public assistance or subsidies, and/or who lack the financial resources, credit history, or personal assets to qualify for business loans or assistance through commercial institutions. Refugees who are not yet citizens may participate in the Microenterprise Development Program regardless of their date of arrival in the U.S.” [11] They get to live off Welfare because they’re ‘poor refugees’ and then because they’re “minorities”, they get Minority Business Loans and Minority Grants too and they don’t even have to be Citizens. Isn’t that nice? Don’t recall if I mentioned or not, but I’m still lookin’ for those special government and business set-asides for White Men… Aside from all the government and corporate business funding they get, the Asians also have their own private groups that work very hard to make sure their own people are getting everything out of America they possibly can. The following is from USINPAC (United States and India PAC): 15% – percentage of Silicon Valley start-up firms owned by Indian-Americans • 59.9% of Indian-Americans work in top managerial positions • Average yearly income of an Indian worker is $51,904 • More than 300,000 Indian-Americans work in the Information Technology sector • $69,470 – the median income of Indian-American families, nearly double the median income of all American families — $38,885 • Nearly 10% of the physicians in the US are of Indian origin • Indian-Americans also have a huge marked presence in the national and local political arena. At least 12 candidates won various elections in 2010 • Of the total non-farm business owned by the Asians, the Indians own close to 1/5 of the business in America and have earned over $150 billion in revenue • Indian-Americans owned 19.9% of the total Asian firms with a value of $152.5 billion and a recorded growth of 38.2 % in 2007 • Over 50% of the H1-B and L visas are issued in India • Over 900,000 Hotel rooms – Asian-Americans currently own 50 percent of the economy lodging sector and 37 percent of all hotels (Source: Asian American Hotel Owners Association). [12] The above are only a few mentions of their “accomplishments”. Make no mistake about the Indians, they have every intention of taking over single last piece of America they can. There is something to be learned from these Third World Indians though. They have no shame in seeking power and control for themselves. White People used to do that and we need to learn how to do it again before it truly is too late. If we don’t pull it together, the Asians are all too happy to take it from us. The Committee of 100 is a group of Chinese people whose goal is “To encourage constructive relations between the peoples of the United States and Greater China. • To promote the full participation of Chinese Americans in all fields of American life.” This is from Committee of 100. [13] And the Koreans… “Nurture the sense of pride and confidence in Korean cultural heritage and tradition.” From the Korean-American Scholarship Foundation. [14] See what I mean? It’s an all out ‘in your face, dare to ya do something about it’ take-over of our Country and us. Name your Asian and somewhere out there is something for them but don’t take my word for it; look it up yourself. Type in your Asian Flavor and I guarantee you, you will find something that helps only, their own kind. And it’s worth noting, none of them are called “racist” or “bigot” for doing so neither. [1] http://migration.ucdavis.edu/mn/cir/94report/immact.htm [2] http://www.business.com/guides/resources-for-asian-american-business-owners-1318/ [3] http://uspaacc.com/meet-our-members/government-partners/ [4] http://www.cis.org/WelfareReformPrediction [5] http://www.nmsdc.org/nmsdc/app/template/contentMgmt%2CContentPage.vm/contentid/1962/#.T5IqIKveAaY [6] http://www.allbusiness.com/business-finance/business-loans-government/3523-1.html [7] http://www.business.com/guides/resources-for-asian-american-business-owners-1318/ [8] http://www.sba.gov/content/8a-business-development-0 [9] http://appropriations.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=246626 [10] http://www.reuters.com/article/2009/05/14/idUS144732+14-May-2009+BW20090514 [11] http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/orr/programs/microenterprise_dev_prg.htm [12] http://www.usinpac.com/indian-americans/demographic-info.html [13] http://www.committee100.org/aboutus/about-us.htm [14] http://www.kasf.org/about	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
George Osborne prides himself on his commitment to bear down on welfare spending, but today's report from the OBR (handily commissioned by the Chancellor) shows how he's struggling. It warns that the new cap imposed on expenditure is in danger of being breached due to the botched implementation of disability benefit reforms and the surging housing benefit bill. Between March 2011 and March 2014, forecast spending on incapacity benefits for 2015–16 has been revised up by £3.5bn (34 per cent) due to a higher than expected caseload, slower than expected transfer from incapacity benefit to the new employment and support allowance, and a lower than expected number being found "fit for work" (and therefore ineligible for full support). In addition, forecast spending on housing benefit (or, as you might call it, landlord subsidy) has been revised up by £2.5bn (11 per cent) since the expected number of renters and the level of rents relative to earnings have increased at a faster rate than predicted. As wages have continued to lag behind inflation, the number forced to rely on welfare to remain in their homes has surged. The government is now forecast to spend more than £27bn on housing benefit by 2018-19, accounting for more than 11 per cent of welfare expenditure. As the OBR notes, one of the main causes of higher spending has been the shift from public to private rented housing. In 2012-13, the number of private renters exceeded the nunber of social renters for the first time in nearly 50 years. Since private rents are usually higher than social rents, the housing benefit bill has risen accordingly. The OBR also notes that "rents have risen faster than earnings and inflation over the past decade." What all of this shows is the limits of an approach that focuses on salami slicing the welfare budget (through measures such as the benefit cap and the "bedroom tax"), rather than addressing the structural drivers of higher spending. Unless problems such as inadequate wages and extortionate rents are tackled (through a significantly higher minimum wage, greater use of the living wage, more affordable housing and limits on rent increases, as proposed by Labour) then it will become ever harder to control expenditure.	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
The deal will see the two firms working together on payments and coin listings South Korean blockchain company ICON announced on Wednesday that it is partnering with Chain Partners. The deal will see the two financial technology companies join forces to work together on a number of different projects. In a statement, ICON said that it would be discussing the listing of its own cryptocurrency – ICX – on Chain Partners’ cryptocurrency exchange. Developer apps (Dapps), which are designed for the ICON blockchain, may also be listed on that exchange as a result of the partnership. Called DAYBIT, Chain Partners’ cryptocurrency exchange was built on the elixir blockchain. The financial technology company says that, because of that, is is able to rapidly complete a large number of transactions – something many other blockchains have struggled to do. Read More at FinanceMagnates...	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
As it currently stands, Facebook users are only able to use to platform under the condition that Facebook can also collect their user data outside of the network. This data comes from the company's own services, such as WhatsApp and Instagram, and from third-party websites with embedded Facebook like and share buttons -- and even on pages where there's no obvious sign the company is present. The Bundeskartellamt claims that this adds up to an abuse of market dominance, and in its ruling stipulates that Facebook may continue to collect this data only if users give their voluntary consent. If consent is not given, the data must remain with the respective Facebook-owned service, or in the case of third-party websites, is not collected in the first instance. Users that don't give their consent must still be allowed to use the platform, and if consent is withheld, Facebook must "substantially restrict its collection and combining of data." So any data gleaned from outside the site cannot be processed in combination with data gathered directly from Facebook. The watchdog has given Facebook 12 months to develop a proposal for solutions to do this, but predictably, the social network is having none of it. "We disagree with their conclusions and intend to appeal so that people in Germany continue to benefit fully from all our services," Facebook said in a blog post. "The Bundeskartellamt underestimates the fierce competition we face in Germany, misinterprets our compliance with the GDPR, and threatens the mechanism European law provides for ensuring consistent data protection standards across the EU." The decision is not yet legal and Facebook has one month to appeal the decision, which it almost certainly will, because in matters like this, where Germany leads others tend to follow.	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
The Islamic State group — also known as Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (Isis) or Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) — is reportedly selling organs harvested from its own fighters in Iraq. The terrorist group has lost the iron grip it once had in the country, with paranoia replacing the tyranny that was once seen in its stronghold of Mosul. Isis was earlier accused of trafficking children and organs of civilians for money as their other sources of income -- selling oil from Iraq in the black or grey markets and kidnapping people for ransom -- have dried up. The terrorist organisation has also reportedly received funds from state actors, and has been known to plunder the areas it controls. However, with fund flow drying up from abroad and the terrorist group losing ground to advancing Iraqi and US-led coalition forces, it is now looking to other sources of income, the latest of them being selling the organs of its own injured fighters. How it is being done According to Al Sumaira TV, Isis has stolen organs from dozens of its fighters lying injured in hospitals across the Nineveh province in Iraq, and passed them on to their intermediaries in Syria so that they could sell them to international organ-trafficking and smuggling gangs. The report quoted a source as saying that a special medical cell of Isis stole organs, including kidneys, of at least 85 of the organisations own fighters who are admitted to hospitals across Nineveh with injuries, and transported them to other locations under tight security. The source was also quoted as saying that this kind of organ-stealing was initially limited to civilians, but Isis has now widened its scope to include anyone who comes for treatment in hospitals controlled by it. He also confirmed that this was helping the terrorist group supplement its income. 'Even the dead are not spared' The source also told the news outlet that even the dead were not being spared from this fate, with organs being harvested from all cadavers that are passing through Isis-controlled hospitals in Iraq. The organs are reportedly being bought at a premium by Arab and other foreign nationals. It is also reported that the bodies from which the organs are harvested are being thrown in a pit.	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
I love the design of the machine! I believe I've hardly seen anything like this in real life and still I can feel a kind of nostalgy. From movies perhaps. The seat looks great, I can feel leather texture. The pony's emotions are expressed beautifully. He's literally flying over the stool and I believe in the next moment he's going to gallop all over the screen	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
Questionable (Groin): Mayowa is nursing a groin injury, and it is uncertain if he will take part in Sunday's contest against the Cowboys. (Updated September 23, 2020)	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
Today, Katy and Cody discuss the ongoing shutdown, Laura Loomer's ongoing theatrics that disprove her entire point, Steve King's ongoing, you know, racism, the FBI's ongoing investigation "bombshells" that are completely unsurprising, and more! Support SOME MORE NEWS: http://www.patreon.com/SomeMoreNews Follow us on social Media! YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/ybfx89rh Twitter: https://twitter.com/SomeMoreNews Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/SomeMoreNews/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SomeMoreNews/	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
A Bar Code Primer, ©1997-2019 Worth Data Contents Introduction This primer from Worth Data® is to help you understand bar codes so that you can better plan for your bar coding applications. The use of bar coding has been growing dramatically over the last 40 years. With the adoption of UPC as the standard for retail grocery stores in the late 1970's, bar codes have become an everyday experience for most people. Bar codes are a fast, easy, and accurate data entry method. The correct use of bar codes can decrease employee time required and increase an organization's efficiency. One thing to remember with bar codes: the application software that accepts the bar code data is in 95% control of the success or failure of an application. Bar codes are the sizzle on the software steak. You can eat steak without sizzle, but you can't eat sizzle without steak. Remember that bar codes are just another data input method; what you do with the data is most important. With the introduction of the IBM PC in the early 80's, bar coding applications expanded along with the PC explosion. Worth Data was and is a pioneer in providing bar code hardware and printing software to the PC (and Macintosh) user. Most of this primer is devoted to bar coding in the desktop computer marketplace. We hope this information proves of benefit to you in understanding bar codes and its associated technology. We wish you well in your undertakings and hope to be able to supply you with bar code equipment and software to meet your needs. What's in a bar code? There is a mystique surrounding bar codes which intimidates many people. Let's eliminate it quickly. First the bar code usually doesn't contain descriptive data, (just like your social security number or car's license plate number doesn't have anything about your name or where you live). The data in a bar code is just a reference number which the computer uses to look up associated computer disk record(s) which contain descriptive data and other pertinent information. For example, the bar codes found on food items at grocery stores don't contain the price or description of the food item; instead the bar code has a "product number" (12 or 14 digits in the USA) in it. When read by a bar code reader and transmitted to the computer, the computer finds the disk file item record(s) associated with that item number. In the disk file is the price, vendor name, quantity on-hand, description, etc. The computer does a "price lookup" by reading the bar code, and then it creates a register of the items and adds the price to the subtotal of the groceries purchased. (It also subtracts the quantity from the "on-hand" total.) Another example of bar code data might be in a quality reporting application, the bar code may have only a single digit in it, but it may be titled "Failed Vibration Test". The computer associates the single digit with the test result. So, bar codes typically have only ID data in them; the ID data is used by the computer to look up all the pertinent detailed data associated with the ID data. Bar Code Structure A standard 1D bar code is a series of varying width vertical lines (called bars) and spaces. Bars and spaces together are named "elements". There are different combinations of the bars and spaces which represent different characters. When a bar code scanner is passed over the bar code, the light source from the scanner is absorbed by the dark bars and not reflected, but it is reflected by the light spaces. A photocell detector in the scanner receives the reflected light and converts the light into an electrical signal. As the wand is passed over the bar code (in the above illustration), the scanner creates a low electrical signal for the spaces (reflected light) and a high electrical signal for the bars (nothing is reflected); the duration of the electrical signal determines wide vs. narrow elements. This signal can be "decoded" by the bar code reader's decoder into the characters that the bar code represents. The decoded data is then passed to the computer in a traditional data format. Types of Bar Codes There are lots of different bar codes. Some bar codes are numeric only, (i.e. UPC, EAN, GS1 DataBar, ITF Interleaved 2 of 5). Some bar codes are fixed length, (i.e. UPC-A is 12 digits, UPC-E is 6 digits, EAN-13 is 13 digits, EAN-8 is 8 digits, and GS1 DataBar is 14 digits). Some bar codes can have numbers and alphabetic characters, (i.e. Code 93, Code 128, and Code 39). One bar code allows you to encode all 128 characters, (Code 128) while 2D bar codes allow you to encode a lot of data into a small space (PDF417, Data Matrix, QR, and MaxiCode). Many were invented some time ago and have been superseded by newer bar codes. Some industries standardized on older bar codes before the better ones had been invented, thus there is a continuing requirement for their use in particular industries. Bar Code Variable Length Allowable Characters Industries in use Older Bar Codes Code 11 Yes 0-9 AT&T pre 1990 Codabar Yes 0-9,$+.:/ Blood Banks, Cotton, Transportation, Libraries Plessey Yes 0-9,A-F Shelf Labels, Libraries MSI Yes 0-9 Shelf Labels 2 of 5 Yes 0-9 UPC Shipping Container, ITF-14 UPC and EAN No 0-9 Food/Discount Store Items - Now called GS1-12, GS1-13 etc... Newer Bar Codes Code 39 Yes 0-9,A-Z./+-%$SPC (2 character pairings for Full ASCII ) LOGMARS, HIBCC, AIAG,TCIF Code 128 Yes Full ASCII UCC-128, EAN-128, GS1-128 Code 93 Yes 0-9,A-Z./+-%$SPC (2 character pairings for Full ASCII) HIBCC Alternative, Canadian Postal Service GS1 DataBar (RSS-14) No 0-9 This is a the new GS1 retail bar code - GS1 DataBar will enable GTIN identification. There are several versions of the GS1 DataBar: Omni-directional, Truncated, Stacked, & Stacked Omni-directional for hard-to-mark products GS1 DataBar Expanded Yes 0-9 The expanded versions of the GS1 retail bar code will enable GTIN identification for products and also can carry additional Application Identifiers such as serial numbers, lot numbers, weight, country of origin, and even expiration dates for drugs and food. PDF 417 Yes Full ASCII This is a “stacked” 2D code, used mainly by AIAG, LOGMARS, USPS, DOD MIL-STD and for identification card applications. Data Matrix Yes Full ASCII This is a 2D "matrix" code created and used primarily for limited space marking and for trace ability in the aviation industry, HIBC and by the Department of Defense. MaxiCode Yes Full ASCII This is a “bulls-eye” type 2-D code created and used primarily by UPS. QR Code Yes Full ASCII This is a “matrix” type 2-D code created and used primarily for tracking purposes and is popular for mobile applications. Many readers have to comply with their customer's or industry's bar coding specifications; no choice is possible, just compliance. Look at the following samples of printed bar codes: GS1 DataBar Stacked Data Matrix PDF-417 QR Code The classic bar code type is Code 39, (also called Code 3 of 9) which has 9 bars and spaces; three are wide, and the other 6 are narrow. In Code 39, 3 of 9 total bars and spaces are wide; hence the name, Code 3 of 9. For example, look at the following character representations with Code 39: Notice there are two widths of bars and two widths of spaces. If you wished to print a bar code of ABCD, you would need to start and end it with a special Start/Stop code character - the * (asterisk) is used for Code 39. So to print a bar code of ABCD, it would need to be printed as ABCD. There should be at least 1/4" of white space to the left and right of the code; this helps the reader pick out where a bar code begins and ends. Other bar code types are similarly constructed. UPC and EAN bar codes have four widths of bars and spaces; so does Code 128. Bar Code Selection Recommendations For new bar coding projects that don't have industry or customer standards, Code 39 is the typical non-food standard , because almost all bar code equipment reads/prints Code 39. However, Code 39 produces relatively long bar codes; it is not particularly efficient in bar code density, (the maximum density is 9.4 characters per inch including 2 start/stop characters). Where the label width is an issue and there is numeric data or lower case data, Code 128 is the best alternative; Code 128 also has an extra efficient numeric only packing scheme to produce very dense bar codes, and Code 128 has all 128 ASCII characters. Not all readers read Code 128, so before you settle on it as a standard, be sure that your reader is 128 capable (all Worth Data Readers read Code 128). Code 93 has been promoted by only one vendor; it requires two characters to make Full ASCII; and it doesn't have a numeric packing option. For these reasons, Code 128 is preferable over Code 93. The larger the width of the elements, the more space it takes to print the bar code; therefore, the lower the bar code density. The thinner the bar and spaces, the less space is required and the higher the bar code density. Look at the samples below of different densities: Lower density bar codes are more reliably printed and more consistently read than higher density bar codes, because minor variations (due to printing or damage) are much more serious with high density bar codes - the percentage of distortion is larger. Bar Code Readers There are three basic types of bar code readers: fixed, portable batch, and portable RF. Fixed readers remain attached to their host computer and terminal and transmit one data item at a time as the data is scanned. Portable batch readers are battery operated and store data into memory for later batch transfer to a host computer. Some advanced portable readers can operate in non-portable mode too, often eliminating the need for a separate fixed reader. Portable RF Readers are battery operated and transmit data real-time, on-line. More importantly, the real-time, two-way communication allows the host to instruct the operator what to do next based on what just happened. A basic bar code reader consists of a decoder and a scanner, (a cable is also required to interface the decoder to the computer or terminal). The basic operation of a scanner is to scan a bar code symbol and provide an electrical output that corresponds to the bars and spaces of a bar code. A decoder is usually a separate box which takes the digitized bar space patterns, decodes them to the correct data, and transmits the data to the computer over wires or wireless, immediately or on a batch basis. USB Keyboard Interface Bar Code Readers The standard interface available for bar code reading on a Personal Computer is a USB interface. PC’s with Windows® 10, 8, 7, Vista, or XP, Apple® computers running macOS & Mac OSX, as well as computers running Linux support USB HID keyboard attachment. Data transmitted by the bar code reader to the USB port appears just like data coming from a keyboard; in fact, the USB keyboard interface can be used to input data into the same applications that would typically be used with a keyboard. Worth Data offers USB interface - enumerating as a standard USB HID Keyboard - on all of our Laser Scanner models - LZ165-USB, LZ365-USB, and the 530-2D-USB 2D imaging scanner - as well as the SLV-USB slot badge scanners, and the RF Laser Scanners with a B700 USB Base Station. How Does It Work: Worth Data Keyboard Bar Code Scanners Worth Data also developed a USB interface adapter that allows older legacy keyboard wedge readers from any manufacturer to attach to the USB port as a HID USB Keyboard. The Wedge Saver™ helps the user avoid buying new readers simply for USB interface (some new PC’s don’t have legacy PS/2 6 pin keyboard ports; they only have USB ports). Our TriCoder Portable readers also feature USB, supporting both HID Keyboard mode as well as lighting-fast full speed USB 1.1 uploading (40+ times faster than through the serial port) is supported for uploading of data files and even firmware updates. Personal Computer Keyboard Wedge Readers Keyboard interface readers are nicknamed "wedge readers", because they physically wedge between the keyboard and the computer (or mainframe terminal) and attach as a 2nd keyboard. Original PC's (DOS, Windows 3.1, Windows 98 and older Macintosh computers) used a keyboard port to attach the keyboard and would need a Keyboard Wedge bar code scanner. These ports still exist on modern computers as a purple 6 Pin Mini-Din keyboard connector. The older Mac computers used an 8 pin ADB connector and older IBM compatible PC & AT PC's used 5pin Din connectors for the keyboard. If the bar code reader is attached through the keyboard interface, the bar code reader sends data in key codes, exactly as though the data had been keyed on the keyboard. The great advantage of "wedge readers" is that bar code reading can be added with no software changes necessary; the software thinks that the data received was produced by a fast typist. (Of course the keyboard remains usable too!). With a wedge reader, any program that accepts keyed data will accept bar code data with no change. The following figure shows a keyboard wedge reader attachment. A keyboard wedge reader which emulates all of the keys including function keys, Ctrl, Alt, Page Up, etc. is preferable. You cannot place a keyboard wedge reader more than 10 feet from the computer. For applications where you need to be further away from the computer a cordless radio frequency scanner would be better; the scanner has a transmitter and the base station has a receiver so that the scanner can transmit digitized data to the base station wirelessly instead of over a cord. Worth Data offers a several cordless bar code scanners that transmit up to 500 feet to a USB base station. Serial Bar Code Readers Another older, and long ago abandoned method of data transmission from the bar code reader to older computers is by RS-232 Serial ASCII format. Older multi-user computers, (for example a UNIX system), with serial ASCII terminals for each user, a serial bar code reader could attach between the terminal and host computer, transmitting ASCII data just like the terminal; in fact the bar code data looks just like keyed data. when attached like the following figure: Serial readers could also be placed several hundred feet from the computer, (keyboard wedge readers cannot be placed beyond 10 feet.). Also multiple serial readers could be attached to the same computer, (keyboard wedge readers cannot). The PC runs a program to poll the readers one at a time, thus avoiding the "mish-mash" of data from multiple readers. With advances in modern computers, including USB ports, and RF scanners - serial readers are no longer used. MainFrame Bar Code Readers Mainframe computers often have terminals with unique data connectors and data formats, (different from ASCII or PC key codes). The IBM System 36-38, AS/400, 4300, 9000, etc., have such terminals. To use bar codes with these computer systems, you must use a keyboard wedge reader specifically designed for the terminal to be attached to. . The alternative is to have a PC with a terminal emulation card in it attached to the mainframe; then a less expensive PC bar code reader and laser printer can be used on the PC. Portable Readers Portable readers are handheld battery operated readers which store the data in memory for later uploading. In addition to a bar code scanner, a portable reader usually has an LCD display to prompt the user what to do; and they usually have a keyboard to enter variable data such as quantities. Ease of programmability is a key issue in selecting a portable, and that depends on your programming abilities; lots of vendors say it's easy, (as long as you can program in C++ or go to their two week school). Other variables to consider are: battery life (at least 20,000 scans), ease of reading the display, size/weight of the unit, who repairs it, and where it is to be repaired in the event of a malfunction. Worth Data has pioneered and patented voice prompt messages to supplement the display messages in a portable unit, overcoming lighting, language, and message clarity problems; this unit actually announces when you have entered incorrect data and when to change the batteries or upload data, plus you can customize any or all voice prompts for your applications. Most of you will want a unit that requires no programming for inventory - a unit that has built-in inventory data collection programs - on which you can easily create custom programs like the Worth Data 5000 TriCoder™ shown on the right. Radio Frequency Readers • RF Terminals Radio frequency readers are the ultimate solution to many applications' needs - especially any computer remote application that can benefit from the computer checking and instructing the operator. Warehousing applications such as picking, put-aways, shipping, order fulfillment, and receiving are typically better performed by RF readers because the computer can instruct the operator where to go and what to do, plus the computer files are current as to exact status and location of available inventory. RF Readers are like on-line terminals, but wireless. The user can roam around his local facility scanning and keying data and getting a response from the computer with each entry. Therefore the computer can very carefully edit the data for errors as well as prompt the user for what to do next considering the data that has just been entered. The classic RF applications and associated advantages are: Picking - routing of the picker; computer instructed substitutions; real-time status of the order. - routing of the picker; computer instructed substitutions; real-time status of the order. Put-Aways - inventory is available for sale or for manufacturing immediately. - inventory is available for sale or for manufacturing immediately. Receiving - purchase order shortages can be immediately determined. Critical parts can be routed to manufacturing immediately. - purchase order shortages can be immediately determined. Critical parts can be routed to manufacturing immediately. Shipping - eliminating wrong or incomplete shipments by computer checking before loading or even computer led loading. There are a few basic types of RF Terminals on the market: Readers that emulate terminals or PCs Terminals running an operating system on them, and Simple Host Controlled RF Terminals. RF Readers that Emulate Terminals These readers started out as mainframe terminal emulators such as IBM® 3270 or 5250 terminal emulation. To emulate an IBM mainframe terminal is no easy task, so the cost was very high, (i.e. $10,000 per control unit, $4000 per terminal). There were also units made that emulated PC workstations (i.e., Symbol Technologies and Intermec) on Local Area Networks. RF Terminals Running an Operating System Many modern RF readers are essentially small handheld personal computers running complex operating system like Windows CE, Windows Mobile, Linux, or any other application driven operating system. They require lots of memory for the operating system and to run dedicated software applications that have to be downloaded to each individual unit. They are relatively expensive, often costing over $3000-$4000 per terminal, typically require an already operating LAN or WAN, require larger batteries, have short battery life, and are large in size & weight to accommodate the extra electronics needed to run the complex operating system and the individual programs. Some even work as web based terminals using web browser based applications for data gathering operations. These terminals almost always require a C++ program to be written on the terminals, host programs to be modified or written, plus competent network management IT personnel are also required for each location to integrate the host side software and the terminal side software and make sure it functions on the network correctly. Host Controlled RF Terminals A host controlled RF Terminal is a simpler reader to install and develop applications for, plus it is generally a less expensive piece of electronics since you don't need a powerful operating system with lots of memory to run applications on the individual portable readers - instead you have a much smaller unit with long battery life all using simple host generated commands for real time input that is controlled and directed exclusively by the host computer. All of the power of the host computer is controlling each RF Terminal dynamically. These readers require programming on the host computer only and any application that can read and write to a serial port, USB port or TCP/IP address can control the operation of a host controlled RF Terminal. Such programming is relatively trivial and can be written in almost any language on any computer platform. Existing application packages can be more easily modified to use these simple RF terminal commands. The amount of programming effort is considerably less than with a terminal emulation reader, or even a Windows Mobile or CE based device, because all programming is only done on the host computer; whereas the terminal emulation and Windows mobile based devices require both host programming and programming on the terminals. Plus, with the Worth Data 7000 RF Terminals there are no expensive site surveys, or complex IT integration issues with existing LAN's or WAN's - typically a user will just plug in the B5011 Base Station access point, running their software on the host computer, and they are up and running in a matter of minutes. RF Terminals that are host controlled and communicate to the host by serial port are usually less than half the price of the more complicated "Terminal Emulators", Windows Mobile, and Windows CE based devices; they also often have faster response time due to less software overhead, having no need for a complex operating system running on the handheld terminal, and they don't need dedicated application software running on each reader either - even a slow 1980's 286 PC could easily drive a host controlled terminal system, using a RS-232 COM port, at maximum speed. They are far simpler - thus less costly, BUT they do require some programming to get their full potential. Even though you can run them in "One-Way" mode without programming, that misses the greatest potential of computer-led real time activities, often referred to "Event Driven Applications". Spread Spectrum Terminals vs. Narrow Band Terminals Narrow band refers to radios that operate within a narrow band of radio frequencies. Spread spectrum most commonly refers to radios that jump around on a wide band of frequencies to avoid interference - direct sequence or frequency hopping. Narrow band can be licensed at high power and unlicensed at low power. Spread spectrum is almost always unlicensed at high power. Spread spectrum is superior for both the radio range of the RF terminals plus the amount of terminals that can operate in the same location - 64 terminals in the same building is possible with the 900Mhz radios in the Worth Data 7000 Series RF Terminals, where our older generation 70 series RF Terminal could only have 16 terminals in the same location and had much shorter range since they had a narrow band radio. What you really want to avoid is terminals with a fixed frequency that cannot be changed. More and more devices are going wireless; so, the channel interference is expected to increase substantially in the future. This is where the Worth Data Terminals with our powerful Spread Spectrum 900Mhz radios can solve these problems. 802.11 Wi-Fi RF Terminals 802.11 Wi-Fi is a spread spectrum radio format that operates in the 2.4Ghz band. Worth data offers a Wi-Fi RF Terminal as well to fit into any existing 802.11 Wi-Fi network. In addition, using a web server to talk to the Wi-Fi terminalsn then the 7802 RF Terminals can operate practically anywhere - whenever the operator is out of range, or offline, data collection and processing can continue uninterrupted even in remote locations. 802.11 Wi-Fi 2.4GHz vs. Worth Data 900MHz RF Terminals 802.11 Wi-Fi is a spread spectrum radio format that typically operates in the 2.4GHz & 5 Ghz bands and is very popular around the world. However 802.11 b/g only has around a short 100-300ft range in most applications, plus it requires extensive site surveys and precise locating of the access points to correctly cover a large building or to get more range. Even the more powerful Wi-Fi 802.11n & 802.11ac radios can only cover around 400-500ft. (200m) at best. A RF Terminal bar code scanner will never benefit from the additional bandwidth, speed, and throughput provided by the latest 802.11n & 802.11ac radios. Our 900MHz 7000 Series RF Terminals use a very powerful 900MHz spread spectrum radio that can easily cover many thousands of square feet with a single base station, plus you can expand the coverage even further using relays - in an open area it goes over 3.3 miles! Our radio has 25 times the range of even the best Wi-Fi radios. It is very common for a customer to install just one B5011 Base Station in even a corner of a large warehouse and still get complete coverage. We feel that our 900Mhz 7000 series RF terminal is the best solution for any location that doesn't already have a working Wi-Fi based radio network covering the entire working area required. If you already have endured the expense of surveys, wiring, and installing a working 802.11 Wi-Fi radio network in your location then Worth data does offers a Wi-Fi RF terminal - The 7802 RF Terminals are perfect for use on any existing 802.11 b/g network and can even talk to a 802.11n access point since they also support b/g protocol radios. Worth Data's 7000 R/F Terminal The Worth Data 7000 Series RF Terminal has a very powerful 250mW spread spectrum radio and has 5 user selectable channels available to avoid any interference with other devices that might operate in the same 900mHz band. Because its receiver is so sensitive, and the radio so powerful, the coverage is outstanding - over 3.3 miles outdoors and it can typically cover 2,000,000 square feet indoors without relays, and much more with relays. Each base station can handle 300 transactions per minute, and the new 7000 Radio has a data rate of 115kb! The cost is half of most Spread Spectrum systems. All programming is on the host computer using any platform and language that can read/write to the host's serial port. With one base station the number of terminals per site can easily go up to 64 terminals operating at the same time. The 7000 Series Models are currently available for the US & Canada (911MHz), plus models for Europe (868Mhz). For complete R/F Terminal programming instructions, Click Here. Gun Style Bar Code Scanners CCD/CMOS Bar Code Scanners CCD/CMOS bar code readers are gun style bar code scanners where all you have to do is aim at the barcode and pull the trigger to read. Many older CCD's had to actually be placed on the code for reading but later models offer "laser-like" distance reading of a few inches. Some are trigger-less and some require the trigger or button to be pushed to initiate reading. CCD scanners generally scan around 50-100 times per second; so unsuccessful read attempts go unnoticed. With Laser scanners and CCD scanners are similar, it is important to know the difference between them. Laser scanners use a single spot of light that sweeps across the bar code in a linear fashion this creates a laser line that is placed across the code. In a sense, lasers act like a wand, transmitting the signal for each bar and space as it "scans" across. This "scanned" pattern is then decoded. A CCD scanner on the other hand, uses an LED array to light up the entire scanning zone and has hundreds of CCD "detectors" to receive a linear image of the bar code from the reflected LED light. The LED light pattern of a CCD lights up a larger area of the bar code and is a much less defined when compared with a laser beam. Below is a comparison of the difference between using a laser scanner and using a CCD scanner. With a CCD the bar code "image" is captured and then the array elements are transmitted to form a signal pattern similar to the "scanned" pattern from a laser - it is just a different way of obtaining the bar code optically. There are typically no moving parts in a CCD scanner which could be touted as an advantage by some, however our lasers scanners have a lifetime warranty on the moving element. Traditional CCD scanners have a "depth of field", (how far you can be away from the bar code and still get a read), of only a few inches. Modern CCD scanners have been developed with a depth that is closer to the range of a laser scanner. These CCD scanners are so unique that they have been termed "Linear Imager" scanners. Lasers scan engines in general offer better range, faster scanning, and can decode wider bar codes than CCD's, since the laser beam can be moved over a longer range and it uses the more focused laser light source for picking up bar codes from further away. We are no longer offering LED based CCD scanners as our laser scanners have dropped in price and offer improved performance when compared to the older 1D CCD or CMOS imaging technology. Scanner Comparisons Wand CCD Laser Cost Discontinued Discontinued $179 - $229 Limited on Width of Bar Codes Readability None up to 3-4" for medium density codes (may be larger for low density) 12" Typical Multiple Tries/Second No Yes Yes 48-100 Scans Per Second Distance Reading CONTACT - 0.2" 0.5" - 4" 0" - 18" (Bar Code Dependent) Irregular Surface Reading Capability No Yes Yes Moving Parts No No Yes "Can't Miss Reading" No Yes Yes Integrated Readers Many older bar code readers had separate decoders boxes that a bar code scanner plugged into. All of our bar code scanners have the decoders integrated right into the scanner, usually the handle. An integrated reader is usually less expensive and saves the space of the separate decoder. Laser Scanners Laser scanners have a very precise beam of light which can be reflected accurately several inches to several feet to read bar codes. Almost all laser scanners today have a moving beam which sweeps back and forth, or a beam that automatically spreads across the bar code. Some very low cost laser scanners require the user to move the beam across the bar code much like a wand, there is even one scanner that uses a spring loaded button that the user pushes to make the scan beam move. The advantages of automatic electronic laser beam scanners are: Reading bar codes from a distance - anywhere from 1-18 inches away, or even up to 25+ feet when reading low density retro-reflective bar codes. Reading moving objects on an assembly line. No-hands operation. Some lasers can be mounted to turn on automatically when an object passes under the scanner. Typically used in blood banks, library check out, automated warehouses, shipping docks etc... Reading through glass windows or thick laminates. Reading bar codes on curved surfaces, (bags of parts). Reading bar codes inside difficult to reach enclosures or small confined spaces. Laser scanners emit a laser light beam which sweeps back and forth or is projected across the bar code anywhere from 48 times per second to over 100 times per second. At this rate, unsuccessful reading attempts go unnoticed; you will only be aware of the one successful decode. Once a read has occurred, the laser turns off, requiring you to release and pull the trigger again to reactivate the laser scanner and scan another bar code. The lower the density of the bar code, the further away the laser scanner can read a bar code. The higher the density of the bar code, the closer to the bar code the laser scanner must be. Triggered Laser Scanners Triggered Laser Scanners are virtually "can't miss". Just "point and shoot". Face the bar code so that the bars point up (the laser light will then form a red line across the bar code when the trigger is pulled). Aim the gun scanner at a bar code and pull the trigger; reading is instantaneous. You may have to move the scanner closer to the bar code to get a read, but that's it. Triggered laser scanners are the easiest bar code scanners to use. The standard laser scanners read up to 1-12" distance, depending on the brand of the laser scanner. To the left is the Worth Data LZ365-USB Laser Scanner, which has a 3 year warranty. It reads a standard 100% medium density bar code from 13 inches away. We have tested the Worth Data LZ165-USB & LZ365-USB by hard throwing (not just dropping) them to the floor. They survived every repeated throw. The moving scan element of the LZ365-USB and the LZ165-USB lasers have a lifetime warranty and both scanners use a scan engine which is rated to withstand 2000G's of force on impact. We developed this laser scanner after years of frustration with other laser manufacturers' poor product reliability. Therefore, when we decided to manufacture our own laser scanners we selected the best laser engine components for our laser scanners we could. Being the manufacturer of the entire assembly, we can now more closely control function and reliability. Below is a chart showing the reading range of most of the scanners we sell - including some of our products with laser scanner built right into the units like our TriCoder's and our RF Terminals. Supermarket Slot Scanners These devices are continuously emitting multi-directional light beams to maximize the reading of a bar code regardless of the orientation of the bar code to the scanner. Unless the bar code is on the surface of the item pointing straight up, the bar code reader has a good chance of reading it. These devices are required to be integrated into the sales counter. They typically directly interface with a retail POS terminal. On Counter Scanners These devices are the smaller cousins of the Supermarket Slot Scanner. They were developed for the convenience stores that wanted automation but didn't have the counter space required for a slot scanner installation. They also have a omni directional light source to free the user to present the bar code in any orientation. They sit on a counter, or they sit on a stand that sits on the counter. Items are passed a few inches in front of the scanner to get a successful read. Industrial Scanners There are also a whole line of scanners made just for industrial applications including small under $1000 scanners that read a few inches distance and large $20,000 long range scanners that read twenty feet away. These are typically mounted adjacent to conveyor lines to read bar codes on passing items; the host computer then directs the items to the appropriate branching line. A classic example of such scanners use is airport baggage sorting; (those bar codes that are placed on your luggage are actually used in the large airports to get your luggage to the right place -except Denver). This type of equipment is almost always sold with turnkey hardware (including conveyors) and software by specialty integrators. Sources for industrial laser scanners are: Lazerdata Corp. 407-843-8975 Microscan 206-226-5700 Long Range Laser Guns There are hand held triggered long range laser scanners that can read up to 33 ft. distance, (using retro-reflective low density bar codes) or 17 ft distance using paper low density bar codes. Long range laser scanners are naturally more expensive than the standard laser scanners. Typically they would be used in large warehouses were scanning boxes high up off the floor is impossible or unwieldy with standard laser scanner. 2D Bar Code Scanners The Worth Data 530-2D-USB scanners feature a upgraded high speed scan engine that is designed to read both standard 1D bar codes like UPC, Code 39, and Code 128, plus they read 2D matrix bar codes like PDF-417, DataMatrix, QR Code, MaxiCode, Postnet, IMBC, and many others. The 2D Scanners have a very precise camera and high speed CPU that processes the large amount of date required to decode a 2D bar code instantly. Our 2D Scanners are also omni-directional, which means that they can read a bar code in any orientation. All the operator needs to do is line up the aiming spot inside the bar code and it will read. The 530-2D-USB Scanner operates as a USB keyboard, outputting the data as keyboard entry. The 530-2D-USB is a powerful yet easy to use reader if you need to read 2D bar codes - it even reads postal codes including the IMBC Intelligent Mail bar codes from the USPS®. We also offer the same powerful 2D Scan Engine integrated into our 5200 TriCoders, our 72000 RF Terminals, and the LT7802 Wi-Fi Terminals). We also offer a wireless handheld gun scanner with a 2D engine in our 520-RF 2D Cordless scanner. Wand Scanners Wand Scanners are the oldest, and now outdated, type of hand held bar code scanners. A wand was typically made from 1/2" stainless steel tubing, or from plastic; optics are in the front with a cord out the back. The wand scanner must be moved by the user's hand across and in contact with the bar code. While the wand is moving across the bar code, the reflected light is converted to electrical signals through a photocell in the wand. A wand requires a little technique; it is not a "can't miss" scanner. Even without directions, most people can master the use of a wand in 30-45 seconds; but some need directions and training for a few minutes to learn the proper wanding techniques. Wands can read any length of bar code. Wands typically can read through laminates of thickness up to 1/10" inch. Many wands can read through CD cases and audiocassette cases. Wands have mostly been discontinued in favor of more modern laser scanners. We sold them up until July of 2015, but the only quality manufacturer of wands is no longer producing them due to much lower demand. Slot Badge Scanners Slot badge scanners require only one hand for operation; the user simply slides his badge with a bar code on the bottom edge through the scanner. These are typically used in unattended entry/exit stations for payroll, club membership accounting, school lunch assistance programs, etc... Slot badge scanners are similar to wand scanners, but usually refined so that one resolution can read most types of bar codes with no difficulty; utilizing the additional space for larger optics, a slot badge scanner usually has a vertical aperture to look at the elements, thus allowing a high resolution slot badge scanner to read almost all types of printed bar codes, from dot matrix to high density. Slot badge scanners also come with visible or infrared light sources. Visible can read any bar code which can be seen with the eye including bar codes printed on thermal printers, (infrared cannot read thermal printed bar codes); infrared slot badge scanners would be used for security "black on black" bar codes, (the black bar code is covered by a black window on the badge, but the black window looks clear under infrared light). Cordless Scanners There are only a few RF Scanners currently available on the market. These units have decoder, battery, and transmitter built into the scanner -- allowing cordless scanning back to a base station. Most have a short range varies from 20-30 feet from the base station. Shown here is the Worth Data LZ360-RF Cordless Laser Scanner. It has a range of up to 300 feet. It reads 0-12" away from a typical bar code - but will transmit the bar code up to the 300 foot range of the radio to a B700 USB Base Station. Competitive RF Laser Scanners with this RF range cost considerably more. The laser has a "good read" indicator as well as a confirmation "base received data" beeper in the laser scanner, so you don't have to be near the base station to hear a "good read" received. The B700 USB Base Station connects to a PC or Mac via USB as a keyboard (it can also enumerate as a serial CDC USB device on a Windows machine. Up to 10 scanners per base station are possible - and multiple pairs of units can operate in the same location with an easy setup change by the user if required. Worth Data also offers a more powerful LZ404RF Cordless Laser scanner and a 2D Omni-Directional 520-RF Scanner that uses the same B700 USB Base Station. Printing Bar Codes There are several methods of getting printed bar codes; these are: Buying photo composed bar codes from a label manufacturer. Printing your bar codes with inexpensive labeling software on your personal computer's dot matrix, laser, or inkjet printer. Printing bar codes on a specialized bar code label printer. For manufacturers who need bar codes printed in their product's packaging, use purchased film masters or use bar code fonts suitable for PostScript® film output. Whatever printing source you decide upon, there are a few common sense tips to pass on: Stay away from colored bar codes (use black) and colored backgrounds (use white). Any other colors lower the contrast between bars and spaces and therefore lower readability. Do thorough readability testing on any labels before distribution. Be careful. Don't discover a problem after you have distributed 10,000 labels that need to be recalled. Pre-printed Labels If the only bar code application you are doing is an application such as fixed asset inventory tracking and employee badges, pre-printed serialized labels make a lot of sense. Photo composed labels are usually very high quality and you can buy 5000 for around $500. Libraries typically use pre-printed labels. Why? Because the labels need to last for 25 years and the volume is usually 100,000 per library. High quality, durable, laminated photo composed labels are usually used. Worth Data supplies custom Pre-printed Polyester Bar Code Labels - We can even ship the same day an order is placed! You can also print high quality durable labels on a thermal transfer printer using XT Polyester label stock or on a laser printer with a poly label stock - call Worth Data for our Worth Poly™ Polyester Laser Label stock; such stock is more expensive than paper, but worth it is you need more durability. We also offer our popular LabelRIGHT Ultimate for Windows bar code labeling software so that you can make your own labels on your computer with your printer. Printing on PC Printers With the proper PC software, today’s printers are capable of printing excellent quality bar codes. Ink Jet and Dot Matrix printers cannot print high- density bar codes, but laser printers can. Laser printers actually print the best quality bar codes of any commonly available printing technology. Laser Printing toner gets low; it is obvious and is not subject to interpretation. (When the toner cartridge is changed, it is important to follow the replacement cleaning instructions, including cleaning the corona wire, especially for high density bar code printing.) Laser printers can produce outstanding quality bar codes. The quality is consistent even whentoner gets low; it is obvious and is not subject to interpretation. (When the toner cartridge is changed, it is important to follow the replacement cleaning instructions, including cleaning the corona wire, especially for high density bar code printing.) Labels are sectionalized on a 8 1/2" x 11" page in multiple columns and/or rows. For example, mailing labels (1" by 2.8") appear in 3 columns and 11 rows, 33 labels per page. Since laser printers feed one sheet at a time, it is impractical to print one label at a time. There is an unprintable area 1/4" inch to the left, right, top, and bottom of any form; this makes full labels impossible unless you sacrifice the top row and maybe the bottom row of labels. One trick in laser printing is to use label stock with the laser's unprintable areas cut as a border picture frame around the printable label's area. For example, the previous example of 33 mailing labels per page would be 30 labels per page with the unprintable area isolated as a picture frame border. The top and left margin settings in the program would adjust the labeling program to the picture frame label stock's unprintable borders. Laser printers are great for producing batches of labels, but if you need only one label (where there are multiple labels per page) at a time, dot matrix or thermal transfer printers are required. Laser printing is the best quality of all types. There are several types of label stock available for laser printers. If you need to print durable labels, Worth Data offers a polyester label stock designed especially for laser printers. Worth Poly is made from a special white, matte finish, heat stabilized polyester film designed for laser printers. When printed on a laser printer, the resulting label is heat resistant, water-resistant, light resistant, scuff resistant, smudge resistant, and stain resistant. These labels are ideal for any labels that you want to last through rough handling or harsh environments. The permanent adhesive is designed to keep your label adhered to wood, metal, plastic, or glass for years. You pay a little more, but you get a lot more label for the money Windows programs usually give you rich text fonts, more rotations, and excellent image graphics printing. The labeling programs for Windows often support Postscript printers . Ink Jet Printers These printers are getting better and better. They print pages of labels, so refer to the page label stock discussion below regarding page laser label stock. Also, use label stock specifically meant for inkjet printers – the stock is usually coated to minimize ink bleed. Always test your bar code labels for readability before printing in bulk. Inkjet printers are almost exclusively supported by Windows programs. If you have problems, check to make sure you are using the latest driver version from the printer manufacturer. Also, be sure to select a printer that has a separate black cartridge in addition to the color cartridge. If labels you are printing are going to be exposed to water, don't use the inkjet printers – most inkjet ink is water-soluble. Inkjet printers are NOT the best printer to use to print labels that need to withstand the weather or are subjected to constant scanning. Beware; the inkjet cost per page in color is twice the cost of a black and white print. Thermal Transfer Printing Thermal transfer printers are required when you need either to print one label at a time or when you need to print a roll of labels so that labels can be applied by applicators directly to boxes. Volume industrial printing is done mostly by thermal transfer printers. They are fast and produce excellent quality bar codes. Thermal transfer refers to the printhead heating up and melting a ribbon onto the label surface. Most thermal transfer printers can also produce "direct thermal" labels, but paper instead of a soft ribbon wears out the printhead 10 times faster; another disadvantage of thermal printing is that most thermal labels cannot be read with IR light and deteriorate in sunlight to non-readability over time. The media cost is about the same as laser and direct thermal. Therefore thermal transfer printing is far more popular than thermal printing for serious label production. Beware of the CoStar, Brother and Seiko thermal printers for producing serious bar codes. They have two problems: The bar codes are just a little off. (The naked eye can often see three sizes of bars when only two are supposed to be possible). They are thermal printers producing bar code labels that will deteriorate to un-readability in sunlight. They are inexpensive, so they are very attractive, but beware. Most popular thermal transfer printers can produce labels up to about 4" wide (more expensive models can print at 6" or even 8") and lengths up to 8 inches plus. Smaller widths can of course be accommodated. Popular thermal transfer printers are manufactured by Citizen, Sato, Zebra, and Datamax; these are the major brands. You can get almost any type of label stock imaginable for thermal transfer printers; high temperature, weather proof, surface laminated, jewelry ring stock, card stock, tag stock, etc. The basic paper labels with inexpensive ribbons produce bar codes that can be smeared or smudged with hard rubbing by the fingers. Smudge proof labels can be produced with more expensive synthetic label stock and a ribbon with less wax and more resin (hybrid or P2 Ribbon). Scratch- proof laminated labels can be produced with XT Polyester and a high resin ribbon; when heated, the resin and polyester coating fuse to make a very durable label. These printers generally print from 2" to 12" per second; at any width up to the maximum, the printers print 2" to 12" lengths per second. Find out if the rated speed quoted for the printer you are considering is to be expected when printing bar codes or graphics - for this, many printers slow down to less than 1/2 their quoted speed. The print heads wear out on thermal or thermal transfer printers. To maximize the print head life, clean it between every ribbon change with a cleaning card or with a lint-free q-tip soaked in alcohol - a MUST to avoid continually replacing print heads. Unlike most dot matrix and laser printers, the thermal transfer printers discussed have scalable text fonts and bar code fonts resident in the printers firmware. The software necessary to print the bar codes is a series of special command sequences. So you can add printing on a thermal transfer printer to one of your existing programs, providing there is someone semi-skilled at programming. However, most users want a general purpose design labeling program which requires no programming. Our LabelRIGHT™ Ultimate for Windows label printing software supports many Thermal Transfer Printers that have a Windows print driver. LabelRIGHT Ultimate is very powerful and easy to use. Dot Matrix Printing Dot matrix printers can produce good quality low volume bar code labels. When printing low-medium (3.7cpi or lower for Code 39), the labels can be excellent quality. The Epson®, IBM, and Okidata® printers have adequate graphics capability to yield good quality bar codes. You will need a dot matrix printer with a pin feed platen to successfully print the variety of label sizes. There's one catch though - you must not wait too long to change the ribbon. The printer operator must make a judgment call on when to change the ribbon. It's best to tape a bar code of minimum acceptable darkness on the printer, so the operator can't make a judgment error. Programs that can strike the bar codes multiple times can keep the ribbon expense down. Both 24-pin and 9-pin printers can produce good quality bar codes. The 24- pin printers produce better bar codes than 9-pin printers, especially as the ribbon is getting low on ink. The 24-pins simply put more ink on the paper. Labeling Software Because dot matrix, Inkjet and Laser printers are in such widespread use, labeling software to make these printers capable of printing bar codes has become readily available. There are two general types of bar code printing programs available: Menu-driven programs for operators to design and print labels. Bar code font programs to allow printing of bar codes within other Macintosh or Windows programs; no programming is necessary by the user. Stand-Alone Menu-Driven Programs These programs allow the user to design different label formats and save them to disk for label runs. Usually there is a WYSIWYG design interface to view the label on screen as it is bein g designed, especially Windows programs. These programs usually have most of the following features: scalable fonts, graphic image import, all popular bar codes, data file import, easy custom operator interface, popular data base access, and/or built-in label data base. Look for a program that combines support for laser/dot matrix with thermal transfer printers like our powerful LabelRIGHT Ultimate for Windows software. Besides the ability to design and print labels, you should look for a program with a simple operator interface. The label designer creates custom prompts for a label format; then the operator answers simple questions that lead him to enter the variable data for the labels to be printed. With a label database, you can select which labels to print. You don't want the operator to have to deal with the more complicated label design screens. Font Programs In Windows and Macintosh environments, any font based program can select fonts for printing. This makes it possible to use bar code fonts from such programs (i.e. Word®, Excel®, PageMaker®, Quark®, etc.). Problems which must be overcome are: Scaling - when scaling, Windows and the Mac can make little adjustments that really mess up the bar codes; most programs give you fonts at a certain point size and density that will be very accurate for the point size and printer for which they were designed; however if you change printers or change point sizes, almost anything can happen. Be careful when straying outside the standard point size for printer specific fonts. When printing UPC, a "0" could be represented by four different bar/space patterns, depending on where it is in the code and the computed parity of the data. Therefore it is necessary to have a translator program which you can switch to, enter the data you wish to print, copy it to the clipboard, and then copy the translated strings into your application. At least one program has a "hot-key" sequence which can copy the bar code into your application without having to first translate and then copy from the clipboard; after setting the bar code type and density from the translator, any highlighted data in the application is translated with the "hot key". Using fonts, labels can be printed from your favorite word processing program, or you can add bar codes to a form from almost any font-based Windows program, (provided your program can call our DLL). Our LabelRIGHT Ultimate for Windows software package has a powerful font package called BarFont™ that simplifies using fonts in other Windows software. Bar Codes on Packaging or Film Masters How to Get a UPC Number If you haven't already been assigned your manufacturer's number by the GS1-US (formerly the Uniform Code Council) or appropriate GS1 authority for your country. Call the GS1-US at 937-435-3870 to get a registered UPC number. You will pay a charge to get a manufacturer's number assigned, (digits 2-6 in the UPC code), plus you will get an information packet. You will be assigned unique UPC numbers for all your products. For users who wish to have the bar codes printing as an integral part of their packaging (such as sugar bag) there are three ways: Create your packaging design with a Windows or Mac based program and use a postscript bar code fonts package like LabelRIGHT to add the bar codes to the whole packaging design. The film for the packaging would include the bar code. Order separate film masters from organizations that specialize in bar code film masters (such as Symbology Inc. 1-800-328-2612 or www.symbology.com). Have your printer strip in the bar code film to the packaging film so that the whole packaging prints with the bar code included. A third method that must be done with caution is to print bar codes on paper with a good bar code printing program, photograph or scan the printed bar code, and then use the film as specified above. After printing, the ink in bars tends to bleed slightly into the spaces. Therefore, bars on film should be slightly narrower, (probably 1/1000 inch narrower), to allow for the spreading of the ink in printing. (Turn down the darkness on the laser printer if printing bar codes on paper to be photographed.) Whatever method you use, you should have your printer make test print runs. If you don't use a verifier to test the accuracy of the bar codes, at least: Test them with a bar code reader for readability. You should get 20 out of 20 reads with reasonable attention in scanning. Don't accept any bar code that has less than 100% readability. AND Have your printer (the person doing the printing) microscopically inspect the narrowest bar and narrowest space after printing (wait about 30 minutes to 1 hour for any bleeding of the ink to complete). They should be very close to equal. If they vary by more than 10% from each other, then the exposure on the film must be changed; if the bars are too big, expose less; if the spaces are too big, increase the exposure. Don't forget to leave a 1/4" white space to the left of the leftmost bar and a 1/4" white space to the right of the rightmost bar, (no text or other graphics in these areas). Bar Code Applications Bar Code applications are growing by the day as creative people find ways to enjoy data entry efficiency possible with bar codes. The following is a brief discussion of some major applications: (the key to all of these applications is the software; the software is the steak, the bar code is the sizzle). Data Capture Applications Assembly Checking usually done with custom assemblies, a terminal leads the operator in what to assemble; as the operator scans each part or subassembly added, the computer can monitor for correct specifications. Fixed Asset Inventory Control Large organizations have multitudes of furniture, PC's, fixtures, etc. The exact location for each item determines cost allocations. Bar codes are placed on all items and bar codes are placed on walls of each location. With a portable bar code reader, the location is wanded and then all items in that location are wanded; the data is then uploaded to the computer for accurate depreciation cost allocation. Job Costing and Tracking As item(s) are completed, scanning results into a terminal. (Multiple operators use a single terminal). Labor Distribution Again using employee badges, as employees move from department to another, the employee scans in his badge at the new department's terminal. This allows payroll cost allocation to departments. Library Automation Bar codes on ID cards of patrons and bar codes on books. Automatic check out. Meter Reading Similar to a pick list, but downloading to portable terminal the list of addresses to be read, along with the bar code ID of the meter, so that the terminal checks that the operator is indeed reading the right meter. Order Books Catalogs of items with associated bar codes. Used for order taking, estimating car repair costs, route accounting, etc. Point of Sale At the cash register (or equivalent), scanning the bar code into a computer which looks up the item scanned and displays the description and price plus decreasing the on-hand inventory by the quantity purchased. Records Management For patient records, case records, loan records, etc., a bar code is placed on the folder. Then as the units are checked out, the folder is scanned and the borrower's ID card is scanned. As the unit is passed from one station to another, the item is scanned so that it can be tracked through the organization. Remittance Processing Printing a bar code on the remittance stub or the invoice stub so that when the customer returns the stub with his payment, it can be wanded to bring up the data or to complete full payments. Stock Taking The classic portable bar code reader application. The operator scans the codes of the items (perhaps scanning only one of multiple items and then entering the quantity for that item) and then uploading the stored scanned data to the computer later, thereby correcting the computer's files for what is actually on the floor. Time and Attendance Employee badges with bar codes are read at clock-in and clock-out into a computer or terminal to provide attendance data to the computerized payroll program. Warehouse Picking The computer downloads a table to a portable terminal and the operator is prompted to pick a list of items associated with a specific order. After picking the order, the operator goes back to the terminal to upload the data and receive his next order to pick. As locations are reached or items are picked, the bar codes are scanned and the terminal compares what was scanned to be sure the right location or item is being picked. Warehouse Put-Aways As the operator stores items in a warehouse, the operator scans the items and the location. This data is then uploaded to the computer so it can keep track of the inventory quantity on hand and locations. Warranty and Service Tracking As units are received, the bar code on the case of the unit is scanned, bringing up the computer history for that unit. As the unit is repaired, scanning what failures and what new parts are required to repair for costing and failure analysis. Work-In-Process Inventory Tracking With on-line readers or portable readers, scanning the routing sheets with bar codes on them as parts or subassemblies are completed, often including yield data, so the work-in-process costs and progress can be tracked. (Usually one terminal per operator). Event Time Applications There is now a variety of hand held bar code terminals which are linked by Radio Frequency (RF) back to a host computer. This makes possible portable interactive applications in the stock room, the warehouse, shipping, receiving, etc. Whatever the cost of the hardware, the application software investment is intense for most companies. It is really an extension of MRP II software into the portable hand held terminals. Applications include: Rental Car Check in and Billing Anyone who has rented a car lately has experienced the convenience and speed of RF Terminal check-in at the curb. Massive Table Lookup The simplest application is the computer performing validity checks on data entered from its large up-to-date computer files and notifying the operator of any invalid data. A classic example of this would be grocery price validation. Instead of downloading a 10 MB file into a hand held, the computer does the table lookup and lets the operator know what prices need to be changed on the floor. Any store without prices on the items must have price validation by RF Terminal to be sure the prices on the floor are the same as the price in the computer. Direct Store Delivery by vendors is also a must for RF Terminals, allowing the store to monitor the price being charged by the delivery personnel to the store. The best example is stock taking. Based on the outage or overage, the computer would instruct the operator in different things to do: count again, see supervisor, etc. The counts could be double checked on the spot, yielding a faster more accurate inventory count. Receiving As a purchase order is received, the operator scans and keys what has been received, with the computer pointing out shortages that are double checked on the spot rather than after the items have been moved or partially used. Shipping As items are loaded, they are scanned. Shortages or miss-loads can be detected immediately. Put-Aways As items are put away, the computer has them immediately available for picking to satisfy the next order. Warehouse Picking The computer instructs each picker what to do with up to the second stock status from Put Aways. This would be especially valuable with items in multiple locations and where substitutions are possible.	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
Jimmy Buffett-inspired Margaritaville retirement community coming soon If you are looking for that lost shaker of salt, look no more. -- If you are looking for that lost shaker of salt, look no more. A chain of Jimmy Buffett-inspired Margaritaville senior-living communities are coming soon, obviously aimed at active retirees who like “nibblin’ on sponge cake, watchin’ the sun bake.” Buffett’s Margaritaville company, known for restaurants, hotels and vacation resorts, recently announced it has partnered with Minto Communities, a development and building company in Florida, to build a string of easy, breezy senior neighborhoods. The first has been dubbed Latitude Margaritaville in Daytona Beach, Florida. “It’s going to be a very fun place,” Bill Bullock, senior vice president of Minto Communities, told ABC News. “We expect our first residents to be living in the community by late summer of 2018.” The $1 billion project is expected to create almost 7,000 homes offering fitness facilities, lap pools, spas, live entertainment, personal beachfront access and, of course, booze in the blender that will soon render that frozen concoction that helps residents hang on. Bullock said the 2 or 3-bedroom homes, which feature a den and garages in the golf cart-friendly community, will start in “the very low $200,000s to $350,000.” “It was very important to us to make this as obtainable as possible,” he said. “We have over 10,000 registrations in two weeks. It’s just been amazing.” Residents in Latitude Margaritaville have to be aged “55 and better,” Bullock explained. Seniors -- get ready to throw your fins in the air and wave them to left like you just don’t care!	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
Francois Aure 2019-11-17 21:02:47 The Dow Jones could find its rally stalled by a harrowing report on China's concenctration camps that threaten to derail Trump's trade talks.	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
Fresh Food is a UI Kit for Adobe XD Free Download. Free Download It is inspired by making real food more accessible to everyone. You will get 40+ screens, 40+ icons, and Drak Mode. You can use this UI kit for your food business.Thanks To Author: Daniel White File Type: .XD	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
Bunkhouses ridden with bedbugs and rats. Bathrooms leaking fecal matter. Broken promises, bribes and sometimes beatings. These are among the thousands of concerns raised by Mexican migrants working on Canadian farms under conditions marked by health risks, extreme isolation and even violence — despite participating in a federally regulated program meant to guarantee basic protections. The complaints reveal for the first time a record of living and working conditions made by seasonal agricultural workers, in their own words, to Mexican Ministry of Labour officials at the end of every growing season in Canada. The Star has obtained 3,100 such grievances made since 2009, which describe not just extreme cases of abuse, but serious inadequacies in protecting those experiencing it. The Mexican authorities do not share the vast majority of these complaints with the Canadian government. “The stories that we’ve been hearing literally for decades occur again and again and again,” said Fay Faraday, a human rights lawyer and assistant professor at York University. “Yet there has been no movement to make alterations to the structure (of the program).” Workers’ precarious immigration status is a key part of that structure. While the federal government recently made changes to its migrant caregiver program so that participants can eventually become residents here, seasonal agricultural workers cannot gain permanent residency in Canada — even though many spend decades travelling back and forth from Mexico. Instead, workers are tied to a single employer through an annual contract — making it almost impossible for migrants to leave an abusive workplace. These closed work permits “facilitate employer control and exploitation of workers including working excessive hours without payment for overtime, unpaid hours of work and often less than minimum wage pay, illegal deductions and predatory recruitment fees,” says a submission to the federal government made earlier this year by the Migrant Workers Alliance for Change. All of those issues are repeatedly reflected in the complaints reviewed by the Star. The complaints often raise multiple issues impacting numerous workers on a given farm. On one Ontario farm, a worker said their supervisor demanded a $500 bribe if they wanted to return the next year. In another, a worker said low wage-migrants were promised a bonus if they moved faster but were never paid once the work was complete. “The employer doesn’t want workers to rest and screams vulgarities at them, rushing them,” reads one complaint about a Quebec employer from 2017. “We are not slaves.” More than 450 complaints said when migrants fell ill, the medical treatment they are entitled to as Canadian taxpayers was denied or delayed — sometimes with life and death consequences. In one instance, a worker reported telling his employer he felt ill; the employer, the worker said, ignored him. Eventually he was hospitalized with severe appendicitis. “The doctor said that my life was saved by minutes,” the complaint reads. The Star could not independently verify each of the 3,100 complaints about farms across the country. But some farms had multiple complaints by different workers who testified to witnessing or experiencing similar abuse. Other complaints recorded by Mexican officials noted that workers provided video and photographic evidence to support their claims. Housing was the single biggest issue raised by workers, with more than 1,200 complaints that cite bedbugs, snakes, broken amenities, gas leaks, sewage issues and overcrowding among other problems. “There is a rat infestation and the sink in the bathroom never worked,” says a 2009 complaint about an Ontario farm. “The employer does not let workers talk, sing, laugh or make noise.” At a farm near London that has been the subject of multiple complaints in recent years, the Star saw bunk beds for 50 workers in an unfinished basement. Many of the bottom bunks were curtained off with cardboard or garbage bags for privacy. There was no bathroom or kitchen. Migrants had to bathe, cook and use portable bathrooms outside. The Star is not naming the farm in order to protect workers from possible reprisal. In another part of the same house, 16 workers shared one stove and one bathroom. In total, the Star counted almost 100 beds in the house. Workers said their employer deducted $15 a week off their pay for accommodation, which would net almost $50,000 a year for their employer. Canadian employers are required under the program to provide “clean, adequate” housing to migrant workers at no cost, but are allowed to charge workers up to $2.31 a day for utility expenses. Workers said the Mexican consulate had visited the farm but conditions had not changed. They said they feared complaining to the Mexican authorities because they had colleagues who were not called back to Canada for one or two years after speaking out. “They act like it’s our fault,” one worker told the Star. Mexico is one of 10 countries that have an agreement with Canada to send seasonal agricultural workers; last year, more than 25,000 Mexican workers cycled through Canadian farms. Reporting abuse in Canada can sometimes have consequences for workers, complaints reviewed by the Star suggest. In more than 250 cases, workers reported experiencing retaliation for raising concerns including reports that their employer threatened to send them back to Mexico or replace them with workers from other countries. Martina Garcia Juarez, 51, first came to Canada as a migrant worker in 2002; she needed to support her family after separating from a violent partner. About seven years ago, she was placed on a farm in British Columbia and says she worked 14-hour days and shared a bathroom with eight women. The farm was reported to Mexican authorities, but Juarez then lost her place in the program; she wasn’t selected to participate again until this year. “They would treat us badly with words like ‘f--- you,” said Juarez. “They would throw the (cherry) baskets at us with these words and call us bitches.” Faraday says competition between countries to send temporary workers — and gain from the valuable remittances they generate — puts pressure on workers not to speak out. “If workers from a particular country are too active in pursuing their rights or enforcing their rights, employers can and do shift the country from which they recruit workers,” Faraday said. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... “The employer mistreats new workers psychologically, telling them that they are garbage and worthless and that they will bring Hondurans instead,” says one 2011 complaint by a Mexican worker. (Honduras does not participate in the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program but sends migrants to Canada through a different temporary foreign worker stream that also caters to the agriculture industry.) This summer, the federal government implemented a new provision that will give open work permits to some migrant workers who can document abuse, allowing them to leave their employer without losing their right to work in Canada. But the complaints obtained by the Star illustrate the extreme isolation some workers experience, as well as the high degree of control their employers exercise over their lives — obstacles to reporting violations. In one case, a worker reported that migrants lived in the same house as their employer and were forced to perform unpaid labour to “earn the food the employers provide.” In another from 2016, a migrant reported that their employer would open and read their correspondence. Migrants sometimes reported struggling even to leave the isolated farms where they lived and worked: on at least 150 occasions, workers told Mexican officials their employers did not provide transportation — as is legally required — so migrants could do basic tasks like buying groceries or sending money home. In one case from 2015, a worker reported having to walk eight kilometres to get to the closest Walmart. In another from 2012, a worker reported his supervisor threatened to send him back to Mexico because he did not “ask permission” to go into town to send money to his wife. In order to apply for an open work permit in Canada, migrant workers must file an online application in English or French, and provide documentary evidence translated by a certified translator. The website is also only available in English and French. Most migrant workers from Mexico do not speak English and about 42 per cent have a primary school education or less, data obtained from the Mexican Ministry of Labour shows. Half left school by age 15. This, combined with the need for ready access to a computer, means the open work permit system is “probably almost impossible” for migrants to use, said Santiago Escobar, a national representative with United Food and Commercial Workers of Canada, which assists temporary foreign workers. “To think that migrant workers will be able to apply themselves, I find that to be unrealistic,” Escobar said. “A robust enforcement system needs to first look at how the migration program is structured to facilitate unsafe working and living conditions,” said Jessica Ponting of the Toronto-based legal clinic Industrial Accident Victims Group. “Workers need to be afforded open work permits and permanent residency status on arrival so that employers do not have such unmitigated power.” As for the Canadian government’s enforcement efforts, Faraday describes them as “largely theoretical.” Last year, Employment and Social Development Canada inspected 350 of the 2,600 farms using migrant workers, according to a spokesperson. The hundreds of annual complaints made to the Mexican authorities are sometimes investigated by the five consular officials scattered across Canada, said the Mexican Ministry of Labour’s Enrique Evangelista Cortes. If the information is “verified” by these five officials, it is passed on to the Canadian government. Last year, Canadian authorities received 52 such tips. Provinces also bear responsibility for employers’ compliance with labour laws. In Ontario, the program’s largest user, the Ministry of Labour conducted an inspection blitz of workplaces using temporary foreign workers; over the course of two years, 19 farms were visited. (In one region of the province alone, Niagara, there are more than 480 employers using temporary foreign workers, local authorities told the Star.) The ministry said it had launched a blitz this fall that will include employers of migrant workers, but said it couldn’t provide further details. Last year, the federal government began requiring Canadian employers to submit satisfactory housing inspection reports in order to participate in the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program. In Ontario, these inspections are done by municipal health units. If employers fail to meet any requirements, workers will not be sent to their farms. But the inspections do not occur during the growing season when workers actually inhabit the bunkhouses. Even if they did, health units have no ability to fine employers for shoddy or unsafe housing because there are no legislated standards for farm worker accommodation. “We’re not saying all employers do this,” says Sonia Aviles, a migrant worker organizer in Niagara Region. “But employers do what the system allows them to.” This story was made possible with the financial assistance of the R. James Travers Foreign Corresponding Fellowship.	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
Dog lovers in Memphis, Tennessee, came to the rescue after a picture posted to Facebook showed a helpless pup with its head stuck inside a plastic container. "If someone tied you up and went to go beating you or attacking you, there is nothing you can do. Same thing with that dog," rescuer Jess McClain told local CBS affiliate WREG. "If another dog came up and attacked him he can't do a thing, or eat or drink." McClain and about a dozen other local residents helped in the search for the dog after fellow rescuer Beth Gresham posted a picture of the dog to Facebook last Friday. "Got within 15-20 feet and it raised its head but went into the woods," Gresham wrote on her Facebook page. "Came back out and was able to get this pic (it has been zoomed in) I am leaving jobsite now and going back by." Gresham had tried to help the dog, but she says it was frightened and ran into the nearby woods when she attempted to approach it. No one is sure if the container was placed on the dog's head intentionally or if it accidentally became stuck after looking for food. The small white dog with black spots appeared very thin and was likely one of many dogs abandoned in the nearby woods, according to Gresham. Thankfully, the story has a happy ending. The Examiner reports that the dog, now named Miracle, was found on Saturday night after rescuers used container cutters to free it. The rescue team also found another stray dog during its search, and it looks as if both will find new homes. Miracle's rescue was a heartwarming example of social media being used for good. Gresham's photo was shared by hundreds of local Facebook users and eventually picked up by WREG, which ran a story on the search for the dog. More popular Yahoo! News stories: • 16-year-old boy takes Justin Bieber cardboard cutout to prom (VIDEO) • Orvillecopter: Dead cat becomes flying machine • Missing beagle rescued from Spanish lab sparks public search	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
thetremblingofmyhand: martinfreeman: fucking incredible Escuse u, but the definition of feminism is equality. I believe what you be protesting is feminazism. I need feminism because of the skewed views people like you choose to ignorantly spew.	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
Prompt:This marks the end of another Artist Training Grounds! All in all, it went alright. I think I had a strong start, but gradually got less and less ambitious in my pictures throughout the month. But I still had a good time and learned a great dealThanks to everyone for the supportive comments throughout the event- they really do mean a lot to me <3EDIT: Did some extra refining on the rendering.	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
There are times of the year – the height of the summer holidays or the period between Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve – when city roads become bare and the pavements clear. Queues dwindle. Buses proffer seats. The clicks of heels echo around empty underground stations. Breathing in lifts becomes a thing. Running is to run undisturbed. Living and working in a city is great, but you can’t escape the rat-race cliches: escalators of necks craning over phones and commuters rearranging themselves in a suited Rubik’s cube to allow a train door to close; the struggle to find a space in a pub and the very British request to “perch” at the end of someone else’s table. “Excuse me, is this chair free?” But when the non-native citizens of cities untether themselves from the flat whites, the desk lunches, the club nights, the traffic jams and the naff ads; when the out-of-office responses go on and suitcases are filled with swimming gear, or presents, and rolled on to platforms and stuffed into the boots of taxis: that is the magic. That is the smoothing out of terrain like a new map, revealing things gone unnoticed. Falling in love is the world’s best natural high \| Hannah Jane Parkinson Read more You remember those amazing shots of an empty Westminster Bridge at the beginning of 28 Days Later? Andrew Macdonald, the film’s producer, explained how they achieved those scenes: by filming in July at 4am, waiting for the sun to come up, grabbing an hour or so of emptiness before rush hour. Before the fumes, the flapping newspapers and the cacophonous soundtrack of city life: barriers beeping, doors hissing, exhaust fumes sputtering. I will never forget when I spent an entire journey on public transport by myself. Past 11pm on a bank holiday Monday, I was returning from elsewhere as the rest of the capital moisturised, took out their contact lenses and prepared for the return to work. I, meanwhile, boarded a vacant carriage, then alighted at a station without a single soul in it. A mouse scuttled past, but – did I imagine this? – slower than normal. There are opposites to all of this, of course: the year-round lido swimmer bombarded by fairweather dippers when temperatures hit 27C. The galleries suddenly packed out by a celebrity-endorsed exhibition. The quiet park hosting a funfair. That is when I look forward to time off during school terms and mid-December breaks. What I am saying is this: I encourage you to take a holiday, but my motives are not entirely altruistic.	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
Islamic State crisis: Kurds 'recapture key Kobane hill' Published duration 14 October 2014 Related Topics Syrian civil war image copyright AFP image caption Tall Shair was recaptured after US-led air attacks targeting IS in and around the town of Kobane Kurdish fighters battling Islamic State (IS) say they have recaptured a strategically important hilltop west of Kobane on Syria's border with Turkey. The advance came as the US said it had conducted 21 air strikes near the town, slowing down the IS advance. Tall Shair hill had been captured more than 10 days ago by IS militants. Later on Tuesday, US President Barack Obama will host talks with military chiefs from more than 20 countries on how to combat IS in Syria and Iraq. Correspondents say this is the first time such high-ranking military officials from so many countries have come together since the US-led coalition was formed last month. In a separate development, Turkish warplanes on Monday bombed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) rebel targets in Hakkari province near the Iraqi border, causing "heavy casualties", Turkish media report. If confirmed, this would be the first major air raid by Turkey on the PKK since a ceasefire was reached in March 2013. image copyright Reuters image caption Tens of thousands of Syrians, most of them Kurds, have fled Kobane in the past month On Tuesday sources in the Kurdish Popular Protection Units (YPG) told the BBC that they had regained control of Tall Shair hill-top, about 4km (2.5 miles) to the west and near an informal border crossing. In a statement the US military said Tuesday's air strikes had destroyed IS buildings and military vehicles. The statement said the security situation on the ground "remains fluid with IS attempting to gain territory and Kurdish militia continuing to hold out". media caption One fighter battling IS in Kobane: 'There is no time for sleep' The battle for Kobane, a predominantly Kurdish town, has lasted for a month and emerged as a major test of whether the coalition's air campaign can push back IS. Two weeks of air strikes against IS targets in and around Kobane have allowed Kurdish fighters to slow the jihadists' advance, but Turkish and Western leaders have warned that the town is still likely to fall. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based activist group, reported that IS carried out three separate suicide bomb attacks. image copyright EPA image caption Shia militias have been at the forefront of the fight against IS in Iraq One IS suicide bomber blew up an explosives-filled vehicle in the north of the town, near the border, while the second targeted an eastern area, it said. Later, a third bomber attacked a YPG position in the north-east. The Observatory said it believed IS now controlled about half of Kobane. Capturing the town, from which more than 160,000 people have fled, would give the group unbroken control of a long stretch of the Syrian-Turkish border. Meanwhile at least 10 Syrian soldiers were killed on Tuesday in fighting against IS militants in the oil-rich eastern province of Deir Ezzor, the Syrian Observatory said. The fighting took place near Deir Ezzor military airport, one of the last government-controlled outposts in the province.	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
Gary Glitter has told a jury that he could not have abused schoolgirls backstage because of an elaborate wig-cleaning ritual he always performed alone in his hotel room to hide his baldness. The singer, real name Paul Gadd, is accused of a string of historical child sexual offences on three young girls, two of whom said they were sexually assaulted by him after concerts. Giving evidence, Gadd, 70, told Southwark crown court how his energetic performances during the height of “Glittermania” would leave him “screaming with perspiration,” in need of a shower and some wig maintenance. The singer, who went bald at 18, would don a dressing gown, cover his wig with towels and go to his hotel room, he said. “All I wanted to do was have a shower, get the wig off, clean it … and put it back on” ready for the evening ahead. The procedure of removing his wig, cleaning it with carbon tetrachloride, drying it and securing it back on his head “never took less than an hour and a quarter” he said. “I never had anybody after a performance because I had to deal with this,” he said. “It was a major chore in my life. You had to deal with it.” “Nobody ever saw me without my hair”. “In those days, rock and roll singers had hair.” Two women claim they were abused by Gadd in the 1970s and 1980s after concerts. One alleges that when she was 12 the star plied her with champagne backstage in order to have sex with her. She said she went to his room at the Holiday Inn in Leicester in 1977. Sallie Bennett-Jenkins, QC, for the defence, asked Gadd about her. He said he did not remember her. Bennett-Jenkins asked: “Is there any truth in the allegations that this girl had sex with you in the night and her mother came in in the morning?” “Absolutely not,” Gadd said. He was asked about another fan, who alleged she visited him backstage after he performed at a club called Baileys in Watford and was asked to sit on his lap. The woman claims that she was just 13 when the star slid his hand up her skirt and forcefully kissed her. “Did you ever do that to a young girl in Watford?” asked Bennett-Jenkins. “No I did not,” he said. Gadd was asked about his whereabouts during Easter 1975 and 1976, around the time his first alleged victim said he attempted to rape her as she lay sleeping after a party at a mansion, where there was a “sweet room”. He said he spent Easter 1975 with a relative but could not be sure as he had been touring in 1976. Bennett-Jenkins asked: “Did you sexually assault (the alleged victim)?” Her client replied: “No, I did not.” Gadd, who had a series of chart-topping hits in the 1970s, told the court he was “married to Mistress Rock and Roll”, was always on tour and rarely saw his two children, after a short-lived marriage in the 1960s. He told the court how, at the height of his fame, he could not walk down the street without being recognised, would be greeted by thousands of screaming fans at airports and besieged by hundreds outside his flat in Kensington, London. The court heard how he shared an office with David Bowie and would copy his style of smoking French cigarettes. One of the women who alleges he sexually assaulted her told the court she and Gadd had smoked together when she spent the night at his hotel room in Leicester. But Glitter told the jury that he only briefly smoked but quit after having nodules removed from his larynx in 1974, before the alleged attack. He said that despite going bankrupt, he stayed in Britain unlike his good friend Rod Stewart, who left to go to the United States. Jurors heard how Gadd’s fortunes changed after disco and punk rock became popular and ticket sales dropped off. His manager dreamt up a promotional “Farewell Tour” in 1976, on the false premise that he had given up touring as he had fallen in love with the hairdresser for the band. By 1977, Gadd was declared bankrupt, which he put down to Harold Wilson’s government, the mismanagement of his business affairs and paying tax at 87 pence in the pound. Gadd said he had many relationships with “adult women”, including a Cuban, Yudenia Sosa Martinez, the mother of his second son, Gary Jnr. The musician said that during the 1990s he was taking drugs heavily, due to tiredness on tour. “I was working more concerts than I should have been because I was trying to pay the back off. It just ... it goes into a spiral, once you get into uppers and downers and all that stuff you get kind of addicted to it and I guess that is what happened to me, plus I was missing Yudenia terribly,” he said. The trial continues	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
Amy Volbe and her husband have their hands full taking care of three young daughters, but when she heard Saluck's story through a mutual Facebook friend, her family made the decision to open their home to him and his son.	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
David Carlyle, American Renaissance, March 17, 2017 “How did it happen?” “Two ways. Gradually, and then suddenly.” This dialogue from Hemingway’s The Sun Always Rises comes to mind when I reflect on my own journey from “normie” to “race realist thought criminal.” The character in the novel is describing his bankruptcy. The evolution of my thinking about race was similar: acknowledging, accepting and incorporating into my worldview uncomfortable facts and truths about nature, Man, and the world, even when I accepted them reluctantly. While this process was gradual, I can also more or less point to the moment of satori, the “suddenly” following the “gradually,” after which my view of the world radically changed. Growing up in New York City in the ’70s and ’80s, everyone was aware of race. There were neighborhoods you did not go into, situations where one kept up one’s guard, patterns in who qualified for school merit programs, and so forth. While the racial component of this was clear, very few people talked about it openly; one did not get “the talk” about race from one’s parents. Despite underlying racial awareness, one was almost certainly a liberal — though not strongly ideological — on political matters, which ensured that one was utterly unequipped to make sense of that awareness. Racial tensions and inequalities of outcome existed, but they were unfortunate accidents, attributable to historical circumstances that were improving through education and other policies, after which the underlying equality of all peoples would become evident. In my home, support for left-wing politics was decidedly old school: Politics was fundamentally about class, labor, and economic fairness. To be a Democrat or a liberal meant to be for the working class, period. My family had a visceral aversion to identity politics based on anything other than class. A politics based on race or sex incited nothing less than fury in my father, and he passed that intuition on to me. While it was clear that certain groups had historically been wronged as groups, the solution was not to continue to treat them preferentially as groups. Rather, the solution was to treat people as individuals and ensure that everyone had the same opportunities. As a result, I cannot recall a time when I ever supported race-based affirmative action. Still, I had an unshakable belief in human equality: Once formerly oppressed groups were treated equally, outcomes would eventually equalize. This remained my basic ideological outlook throughout my youth. After college, two developments resulted in a gradual shift in my politics and my understanding of the world: First, I lived abroad in a non-European country for many years, and later I attended graduate school back in the States. Living abroad had the paradoxical effect of both awaking in me a nationalist consciousness while further committing me to a race-blind and egalitarian view of the world. Living abroad in a country that was racially homogeneous, I learned that one could not define oneself for the world: One is inevitably defined by others. No matter how well one learns a foreign language or becomes familiar with a foreign culture, in a highly homogeneous country, you are always viewed as an outsider. I never considered myself particularly patriotic or nationalistic, but being relentlessly treated as an outsider sparked an awareness of, and pride in, being American. At the same time, having mastered the local language and culture, I felt I should be treated as a local. After all, wasn’t that consistent with what I had been taught and believed my entire life? Moving to America, learning English and following local American customs turned everyone — from all races, ethnicities and cultures — into Americans, didn’t it? That was the basis of the Proposition Nation of which I was a part, and in which I wholeheartedly believed. Why was the opposite not true for an American abroad? On balance, however, I was convinced that we Americans had it right: Everyone should be able to become a member of any nation. Thus, my heightened sense of American identity was accompanied by a doubling down on my belief in the superiority of assimilation, race-blindness, and egalitarianism. Graduate school back in the States was my first attempt at a somewhat systematic study of economics, and led me to rethink my previously left-leaning politics on questions of labor and class. As I suspect it is with many liberals, it was ignorance of economics that had enabled me to support left-wing policies. Reading and thinking about incentive structures, the morality of redistribution, systems that were more conducive to human freedom and flourishing, and the complexity of economic systems, I moved towards a free-market, free-trade, capitalist view of economics, although not, I should say, due to any such bias among my professors. This shift in my economic thinking combined with a race-blind, individualistic view of cultural issues and my nascent patriotic bent resulting from my sojourn abroad to bring me mainstream, National Review-style conservatism. I immersed myself in the journals and magazines of the mainstream conservative and libertarian movement. While opening my mind to different points of view on cultural issues that I had never really thought through — abortion, guns, school choice — my encounter with mainstream conservatism did nothing to shake my egalitarian views on race or my belief in the Proposition Nation. And why would it have? No group is more steadfast in its faith in race-blindness, egalitarianism, and anti-racism than the mainstream conservative journals and think-tanks. When 9/11 occurred, I initially supported the wars in Afghanistan and then Iraq, and agreed with the neoconservative premise that the United States should be spreading democracy. Ultimately, the ideological battles and polemics over the Iraq War in the conservative journals made me aware that there was a radically different political point of view out there which was critical of the conservative movement, but from a position further to the right. It was an odd and disconcerting philosophy to me, because it didn’t fit in with the standard taxonomy of Right and Left. I did not initially seek out that strain of thinking, but I knew that it was out there, and that it was associated with shady and disreputable labels like “isolationist,” “populist,” “traditionalist,” “agrarian,” and “racist.” Given my politics, I had a hard time understanding how a group that was anti-war, anti-free trade, anti-free market, anti-egalitarian, and was vocal on certain issues traditionally associated (so I believed) with the Left — such as environmental protection — could be considered of the Right. I ordered an issue of The American Conservative that included an in-depth article on environmentalism and animal welfare. This was in the early days of that publication, when it was still very much Pat Buchanan’s magazine. I eventually subscribed and, from there, immersed myself in paleo-conservatism. I encountered thinkers who were willing to question the Enlightenment, question egalitarianism, and essentially engage in a mode of thinking that was more open than anything on the mainstream Left or Right. They didn’t care about ideological labels or litmus tests, and would write about any issue — including race — with a fearless attitude, free of platitudes. Eventually, my faith in racial equality became untenable. I associate this shift in my thinking with a particular passage in Pat Buchanan’s The Death of the West or State of Emergency (I no longer recall which) in which he critiqued the concept of the Proposition Nation. He argued that America was no different than any other nation. Merely holding certain political tenets did not make one an American. If that were sufficient, why did anyone need to come here at all? America, Buchanan wrote, was created by a particular people, in a particular place, under particular circumstances. No other people could have created it, and no other people would be able to sustain it. I stopped reading, looked up from the page, and said to myself: “He’s right.” Mr. Buchanan is far less racially explicit in his thinking than many people on the alternative, dissident right, and it may be that the passage was not as starkly laid out as I remember. Nevertheless, I mark that moment as the exact point at which I abandoned racial egalitarian beliefs. Around the same time that I was reading Mr. Buchanan’s books, unsurprisingly, I found my way to VDare and American Renaissance, and to writers such as Steve Sailer, Peter Brimelow, Jared Taylor, Lawrence Auster, and other dissident thinkers. Once I became willing to look at the evidence and science concerning race, to then analyze nearly any issue through the lens of race and biology exposed the wrongheadedness of the mainstream explanations, both Left and Right. If racial differences were a matter of biological nature, was it not morally wrong — even evil — to teach people that disparate outcomes in crime, education, test scores, even in such innocuous things as hobbies and cultural activities, were the result of racism and intentional exclusion? Such teachings incited hatred, despair, and misguided resentment in people on the basis of falsehoods. Only honesty about racial differences can result in effective policies and peace among peoples. If there is any lesson I would draw from my own experience, it is that all mainstream American politics are essentially liberal in their values: classical liberal ideas are so pervasive in American culture that it is difficult to see beyond them, even for people who consider themselves conservative. People of all political views are fundamentally informed by liberal ideology. What mainstream conservatism conserves is simply an older form of liberalism. This is unsurprising. The American project traces its ideological sources to Locke, Smith, Montesquieu and other classical liberal thinkers. Almost all American political ideologies derived from that starting point. American “conservatism” was, in its assumptions and basic tenets, a species of liberalism. Its economics is classical liberal economics. Egalitarianism, which is a cornerstone of mainstream conservatism, derives from classical liberalism. Siding with race realism and the alternative right requires escaping from the liberal assumptions underlying almost all American political thought. My gradual — then sudden — journey to the alternative right is likely a familiar one, particularly to those of a certain generation. Today, the younger generation can reach an accurate understanding on race without the convoluted path I followed.	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
What they're playing for: the Europa League trophy Arsenal beat Rennes on Thursday night to join Chelsea in the quarter-final draw of the Europa League. The Gunners were made to work hard for their place in the hat, coming from 3-1 down after the first leg to win 4-3 on aggregate. Chelsea's progress was much smoother, easing their way past Dynamo Kiev and scoring eight goals without reply over the two legs. The two English clubs join Benfica, Frankfurt, Napoli, Valencia, Villarreal and Slavia Prague in the draw after the latter beat Sevilla in extra time. Player ratings from Arsenal vs Rennes Show all 21 1 /21 Player ratings from Arsenal vs Rennes Player ratings from Arsenal vs Rennes Arsenal 3-0 Rennes (4-3 agg) Player ratings from the Emirates... Action Images via Reuters Player ratings from Arsenal vs Rennes Petr Cech 6 Arsenal's goalkeeper Petr Cech runs amid the smoke from flares held by Rennes fans during the Europa League round of 16, 2nd leg, soccer match between Arsenal and Rennes at the Emirates stadium in London, Thursday, March 14, 2019. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant) Alastair Grant AP Player ratings from Arsenal vs Rennes Ainsley Maitland-Niles 8 Soccer Football - Europa League - Round of 16 Second Leg - Arsenal v Stade Rennes - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - March 14, 2019 Arsenal's Ainsley Maitland-Niles celebrates scoring their second goal Action Images via Reuters/Tony O'Brien TONY O'BRIEN Action Images via Reuters Player ratings from Arsenal vs Rennes Shkodran Mustafi 5 Rennes' Clement Grenier, up, is tackled by Arsenal's Shkodran Mustafi during the Europa League round of 16, 2nd leg, soccer match between Arsenal and Rennes at the Emirates stadium in London, Thursday, March 14, 2019. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant) Alastair Grant AP Player ratings from Arsenal vs Rennes Laurent Koscielny 6 Rennes' M'baye Niang, left, fights for the ball with Arsenal's Laurent Koscielny during the Europa League round of 16, 2nd leg, soccer match between Arsenal and Rennes at the Emirates stadium in London, Thursday, March 14, 2019. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant) Alastair Grant AP Player ratings from Arsenal vs Rennes Nacho Monreal 6 LONDON, ENGLAND - MARCH 14: Hamari Traore of Stade Rennais battles for possession with Nacho Monreal of Arsenal during the UEFA Europa League Round of 16 Second Leg match between Arsenal and Stade Rennais at Emirates Stadium on March 14, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Alex Morton/Getty Images) Alex Morton Getty Images Player ratings from Arsenal vs Rennes Sead Kolasinac 7 Soccer Football - Europa League - Round of 16 Second Leg - Arsenal v Stade Rennes - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - March 14, 2019 Stade Rennes' Ismaila Sarr in action with Arsenal's Sead Kolasinac REUTERS/David Klein DAVID KLEIN REUTERS Player ratings from Arsenal vs Rennes Granit Xhaka 6 Soccer Football - Europa League - Round of 16 Second Leg - Arsenal v Stade Rennes - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - March 14, 2019 Arsenal's Granit Xhaka reacts during the match Action Images via Reuters/Tony O'Brien TONY O'BRIEN Action Images via Reuters Player ratings from Arsenal vs Rennes Aaron Ramsey 7 Soccer Football - Europa League - Round of 16 Second Leg - Arsenal v Stade Rennes - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - March 14, 2019 Arsenal's Aaron Ramsey reacts during the match REUTERS/David Klein DAVID KLEIN REUTERS Player ratings from Arsenal vs Rennes Mesut Ozil 6 Soccer Football - Europa League - Round of 16 Second Leg - Arsenal v Stade Rennes - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - March 14, 2019 Stade Rennes' Hamari Traore in action with Arsenal's Mesut Ozil Action Images via Reuters/Tony O'Brien TONY O'BRIEN Action Images via Reuters Player ratings from Arsenal vs Rennes Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang 7 LONDON, ENGLAND - MARCH 14: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang celebrates scoring Arsenal's 1st goal during the UEFA Europa League Round of 16 Second Leg match between Arsenal and Stade Rennais at Emirates Stadium on March 14, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images) David Price Getty Player ratings from Arsenal vs Rennes Alexandre Lacazette 6 Arsenal's Alexandre Lacazette claiming an elbow was used during the Europa League match at the Emirates Stadium, London. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Thursday March 14, 2019. See PA story SOCCER Arsenal. Photo credit should read: Nick Potts/PA Wire Nick Potts PA Player ratings from Arsenal vs Rennes Tomas Koubek 5 Arsenal's Gabonese striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (R) controls the ball past Rennes' Czech goalkeeper Tomas Koubek during the UEFA Europa League Round of 16 second leg football match between Arsenal and Rennes at the Emirates Stadium in London on March 14, 2019. (Photo by Ian KINGTON / AFP)IAN KINGTON/AFP/Getty Images IAN KINGTON AFP/Getty Images Player ratings from Arsenal vs Rennes Damien Da Silva 5 Soccer Football - Europa League - Round of 16 Second Leg - Arsenal v Stade Rennes - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - March 14, 2019 Stade Rennes' Damien Da Silva in action with Arsenal's Alexandre Lacazette REUTERS/David Klein DAVID KLEIN REUTERS Player ratings from Arsenal vs Rennes Mexer 4 Soccer Football - Europa League - Round of 16 Second Leg - Arsenal v Stade Rennes - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - March 14, 2019 Stade Rennes' Mexer is shown a yellow card by referee Andris Treimanis Action Images via Reuters/Tony O'Brien TONY O'BRIEN Action Images via Reuters Player ratings from Arsenal vs Rennes Rami Bensebaini 5 epa07437588 Arsenal's Mesut Ozil (L) and Stade Rennes's Rami Bensebaini (R) in action during the the UEFA Europa League soccer match between Arsenal and Stade Rennes at the Emirates Stadium in London, Britain, 14 March 2019. EPA/NEIL HALL NEIL HALL EPA Player ratings from Arsenal vs Rennes Sarr 6 Sarr Getty Images Player ratings from Arsenal vs Rennes Benjamin Bourigeaud 6 Rennes' Benjamin Bourigeaud, left, eyes the ball past Arsenal's Ainsley Maitland-Niles during the Europa League round of 16, 2nd leg, soccer match between Arsenal and Rennes at the Emirates stadium in London, Thursday, March 14, 2019. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant) Alastair Grant AP Player ratings from Arsenal vs Rennes Benjamin Andre 5 Arsenal's Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, bottom, fights for the ball with Rennes' Benjamin Andre during the Europa League round of 16, 2nd leg, soccer match between Arsenal and Rennes at the Emirates stadium in London, Thursday, March 14, 2019. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant) Alastair Grant AP Player ratings from Arsenal vs Rennes Clement Grenier 4 Arsenal's English midfielder Ainsley Maitland-Niles (L) vies with Rennes' French midfielder Clement Grenier during the UEFA Europa League Round of 16 second leg football match between Arsenal and Rennes at the Emirates Stadium in London on March 14, 2019. (Photo by Ian KINGTON / AFP)IAN KINGTON/AFP/Getty Images IAN KINGTON AFP/Getty Images Player ratings from Arsenal vs Rennes Hatem Ben Arfa 5 epa07437634 Stade Rennes's Hatem Ben Arfa (L) and Arsenal's Ainsley Maitland-Niles (R) in action during the the UEFA Europa League soccer match between Arsenal and Stade Rennes at the Emirates Stadium in London, Britain, 14 March 2019. EPA/NEIL HALL NEIL HALL EPA That result means their will be no romantic meeting for Emery with his former club, but it will be a boost for the other sides left in the competition. When is the Champions League quarter-final draw? The draw will take place on Friday 15 March at 12pm GMT. The semi-final draw will then take place immediately afterwards. As usual, the draw will be held in Nyon, Switzerland – the home of Uefa. How can I watch the draw? The draw will be shown live on BT Sport 2. You will also be able to stream the draw via Uefa.com. And join us at The Independent for the latest news, updates and reaction from Switzerland. Which teams are in the draw? Arsenal (ENG) Benfica (POR) Chelsea (ENG) Frankfurt (GER) Napoli (ITA) Slavia Praha (CZE) Valencia (ESP) Villarreal (ESP) How does the draw work? There is no seeding or country protection in the Europa League quarter-final or semi-final draw. The semi-final draw takes place immediately afterwards, meaning teams will immediately know their potential paths to the final. Please allow a moment for the live blog to load	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
Here's the Email Edward Snowden Sent to the NSA Before Fleeing With Its Secrets	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
Boy Travels 7,500 Miles for Life-Changing Surgery Hadi Alkhadra was born with locked knees and feet facing the wrong way. June 4, 2014 -- A 6-year-old boy has finally taken his first steps, thanks to surgery in Stanford, California, 7,500 miles from his home in Palestine. Hadi Alkhadra was born with arthrogryposis, a mysterious condition that gave him locked knees and feet that were facing the wrong direction. He had to crawl or be carried by his parents until a series of surgeries at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford University allowed him to walk for the first time. Watch these Gaza twins walk for the first time with prosthetics. Read about a man whose exoskeleton device helped him walk again. “All of these people we have met, they have worked so well together to help Hadi,” the boy’s mother, Shireen Alkhadra, said in a statement. With help from the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund, Hadi and his mom traveled from the West Bank for surgery under orthopedic surgeon Dr. Lawrence Rinsky. Now, with special braces, Hadi can wear shoes, stand with flat feet and walk. “This never could have happened without Dr. Rinsky and Stanford,” Shireen Alkhadra said. Hadi is still recovering and undergoing rehab, but said he looks forward to going home to his sister, two brothers and dad later this month. He will also attend school for the first time, and said he wants to “to be a surgeon, just like Dr. Rinsky.” “This is a very bright young man,” Rinsky said of his young patient. “He has a wonderful spirit and is making incredible progress. I think he has a good future ahead of him.”	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
Your automotive is without doubt one of the most valuable luxuries that you own. While you move or relocate, you’ll want to move your automotive to the place of vacation spot as well. Nonetheless you need to choose the mover for you automotive with a lot of care and thought. It could possibly be cumbersome […]	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
There are some companies in the world people love to hate. One can read or hear people rant at the mere mention of the company. One such company is Dell probably coming next only to Microsoft, atleast in the computer world. You just have to look into any Dell related article in Slashdot or Anandtech and see the reader comments to know what I am talking about. What is it about the company that brings fire into people's loins? Some blame it on the decreasing quality of the products attributed to the movement of production to China where as some like to blame it on the technical support that they receive, especially from India. So what is the real story? I am an hardware enthusiast with good knowledge of computer hardware and software. I have been programming since 14 and have been building hardware for quite a long time now. I am an Instrumentation and control systems engineer by background. I presently work for a semiconductor company in India. After graduation and in desperate need of a job, Dell came to my rescue by calling in people for a walk-in interview for technical support. Knowing that the requirements were in my home turf, I decided to give it a shot. I was pretty upbeat about working for the largest hardware manufacturer in the world and quite excited at the prospect of getting to learn more about hardware. I had about 5 rounds of interview and sailed smoothly into the company. However, one thing threw me off. Hardly any technical questions were asked in the interview. I gathered that they were more interested in my communication skills than anything else. Infact, my knowledge of computers, which I tried to establish to them, did not have any effect on the interviewer. Absolutely no advantage of having known anything about computers. I noticed that anyone who had passable English and knew how to click the mouse made through. This was the first indication that the company did not respect technical knowledge much. Thus began my career in Dell which lasted for about 18 months and ended 8 months ago. From the time of selection to the point of training, I wondered about the skill set of the people who would work with me. It bothered me quite a bit that language was the only qualification for making it into the company. I wasn't sure how the company intended to turn freshers and non-computing graduates to computer technicians. So the training began and I was quite surprised by the diversity of the crowd. There I was, sitting in between commerce, literature, arts and environmental science students with a few engineers thrown in. There were even part time MBA students. The training went on for about 3 months and I must say I was quite impressed by some of the trainers. They had complete faith in making good technicians out of commerce students and by the end of the training they were better with computers by a magnitude. As for me, I found the the process of listening to all the computer lectures a boring event. I knew almost everything they were teaching. I even knew more than the trainers because the trainers themselves were not engineers but mostly commerce and arts students who have been doing the technical support job for a long time now and had gotten good at it. I enjoyed those moments of training when I was asked to make presentations and by the end I was regularly called in to cover various technologies because the crowd understood me better. Sitting with them gave me an idea of the level they were in and where the trainer was going wrong. I was doing the trainer's job better than the trainer himself. When I asked if I could move in as a trainer I got a cold shoulder stating that I had to complete a minimum of 2 years in the company if I wanted to be a trainer. This was the second indication of lack of respect for my technical knowledge though it was quite out in the open that I could do that job well. Finally the team of 30 or so finished the training and about 29 cleared the final test and the rest were spread across the many existing teams across the work floor. Only one dropped out of a conscious choice because he believed that he wasn't designed to do such a job. There were about 100 people on a single work floor at any time and easily more than 400 people using the floor in a single day over all the shifts. I took it for granted that everyone in the team I was set to join would know more than me because they have been working in the company for long. I would quite frequently ask questions to my colleagues in my early days. Initially these questions were Dell specific technical questions and most questions were on the policies and procedures of the company. Slowly I realized that my colleagues were not as good with computers as I thought they were. While common issues and policies were handled with breeze, new issues would freak out most of them. As for me, I found common issues boring to handle. I kept looking forward to challenges in new issues. Within a month of being on the floor I had mastered my job and was better than most people in the team. By the end of a call, I made sure that the caller hung up happy with his problem solved. If that didn't happen, I would be quite unhappy with myself. However, when I looked around, I noticed that such was not the attitude in most people. Most of them would be excited to just get done with the call. Not everyone was as enthusiastic as me to fix problems. For many, the job was a simple matter of getting good at using google or searching the database. Many people were frustrated with the job and quite unhappy. The attrition rate in the company was high. The morale was most often low. If someone got a better job he was considered lucky and envied. If someone moved to a similar job in another company, say HP, everyone was curious to know if things were better in the other company. Attrition happened in groups most often. People were constantly quitting the company in huge numbers and equal numbers were moving in to replace them. Within 6 months, only 10 of the original 30 remained in the company. As my tenure in the company increased, the attrition also seemed to be increasing. I tried to figure out the reason and this is what I concluded: lack of interest in the job. Even if you can force a dog to eat rice, it is always happier eating the beef. People who are not interested in something technical can never sustain in such an environment. They have no motivation from new technologies being released or new issues being encountered. The initial motivation is salary and then it moves on to recognition for work. Some get lucky and move up where as many stay back. Most others continue to take calls year over year and don't get anywhere. Sometimes bad luck, sometimes bad work. I noticed that over a period of time the number of employees waiting to move to managerial positions was increasing dramatically and there weren't enough openings in management to move these people. Many of them quit out of frustration due to lack of growth. No one wanted to take calls for ever. So they quit the job or found similar jobs in other companies where a new environment and the training process would give them relief for sometime until they were ready to move to another company. Another factor contributing to the depression was night shifts. Almost the entire technical support center worked nights. If there were 20 teams supporting a segment by night, there would only be one by the day. And shifts changed every month. So one could never plan for more than a month ahead and many longed for a saturday-sunday weekend with the rest of the country. This added to a lack of social life and a lot of frustration. So why do most people take up these jobs in the first place? In a country with population over 1 billion, it is quite an arduous task to find a job, let alone find a job of personal preference. In such a situation, a job that is easy to get and one that pays decently is the easiest route to take. People are willing to give up on their interests and take up a job that has nothing to do with what they studied. It makes me question the purpose of education. And once into a company for technical support, the chances of switching from this line of work to another becomes very difficult. Not every stream pays as much. Not many want to take a job based on their qualification at the cost of earning less money. It is a simple matter of human survival at the cost of compromise. Hence the same people keep jumping from one support company to another until they have possibly supported every other computer model out there in the world. So attrition is not a Dell specific problem but an issue with every company providing technical support service. So that brings up the question? Can a company like Dell afford the attrition. The answer is yes. This is so because the alternative is more expensive. I will be getting back to this later. Almost every aspect of my work at Dell was quantized. Every thing was converted to measurable numbers. Performance appraisals and other benefits were direct reflections of these numbers. There were factors like customer experience - a rating from 1 to 9, 9 being the best and 1 being the least, received from surveys from customers, resolution rate - how much a technician was able to fix problems without having the same customer call back for the next n days, number of calls in a day, average time for a call, number of parts dispatches, number of repeat parts dispatches, cost per dispatch and many more. Each metric had its weightage in the overall scheme of things and this weightage varied depending on company priorities. If the company was in cost cutting mode, part dispatch related metrics would get higher priority. Customer experience was an all time high priority in Dell. This was one aspect of the company I totally liked. The management was genuinely interested in ensuring that customers were satisfied. However the problem lied within how this satisfaction was achieved by misuse of the loop holes in the quantization system. A lot of them were interested in ensuring that they had good surveys from customers. Also of importance is the fact that customer surveys did not go for all calls that were taken. Surveys were random. Not all end users would be happy about having their inbox flooded with surveys each time they called. Hence this turned out to be a weakness in the system. If a technician was to get a survey for say 1 in 10 calls, then he could avoid being low in customer experience rating merely by taking a lot of calls and hoping that very few surveys went and those that went were positive. And in most cases this actually happened. An average technician could keep solving simple issues while not making the effort to resolve complex issues and then ensuring that he took enough calls to make up for the few complex issues which normally took a lot of time. At this time I must also add that a lot of people who call are computer illiterates and almost expect a computer usage tutorial over the phone somtimes. Some of them call for the silliest of issues like computer not powering up which turns out be a disconnected power cable from the wall socket. Such calls are like heaven to many technicians because they don't have to rack their brains and get good surveys and do so over a very short call. As for a technically inclined person like me, the real challenge was in solving complex issue by finding root cause and working on it. I had no satisfaction over getting a call that just required me to explain to the end user how to connect a power cable to the wall socket. This difference in attitude cost me a lot in terms of performance. I would spend a lot of time on my calls trying to ensure that every call issue is resolved while others took many calls. In the end an average technician had equal or better numbers than I did. I always wished surveys went out to on every call so that the numerical data was more reliable and a better indication of the true skill of the technician. Over sometime I developed a resistance to this and ignored the system. I enjoyed my work. I was called in many a times to assist complex issues with others and also had the chance to do a lot many technical training sessoions for the rest of the team. Most of my time was spent trying to learn new technologies. If I thought I was at 85 on 100 in computers before joining Dell, I would say that I reached around 90 by the time I quit Dell and most of this improvement happened in the first 6 months after which things got stale. When as a company you are able to effectively quantize information you can work out mathematical formulae that relate most inputs to outputs and chalk out a plan of action to ensure that the targeted outputs (E.g. financial numbers or sales figures) are achieved by modifying the inputs (E.g. Call metrics from support , quality of the product). But this of course comes at the cost of ignoring other things that are not quantizable which could affect the numbers indirectly. I am sure they have even worked out formulae to match attrition with company growth and revenues and other financial metrics. From the company's point of view, considering the volumes, the break even period for an employee is very low. I am not sure how much but it is very very low. This is evident from the fact that I have not seen much action being taken by the company to curb this attrition. They are willing to let go employees which I suspect is only because they break even their investment in training quickly if on an average an employee works for atleast a couple of months. From what I have seen, it looks like Dell doesn't like keeping people for long because they become a liability in terms of increasing pay. This is mainly because there is no drastic difference between the best and the worst technician due to the quantization loop hole. The difference between the employees lie in the work attitude and motivation which cannot be quantized easily. It might not be possible to keep employee morale high for the simple reason of the massive employee count that Dell has to keep satisifed which translates into spending a lot of money. If employee satisfaction was placed over monetary gains , then the company would spend a lot of money to put into effect methods to achieve the employee satisfaction. And these methods might take a long time to reap benefit. It would be very difficult to revamp the whole system and start over from scratch, atleast in the technical support environment. So unless they stop recruiting non-computer engineers and pay the computer engineers really well, which might not be feasible because of the number of people they need to employ to replace and/or fire existing employees, there is no other remedy that I can think off for the situation. When I look at the overall picture I do agree with my friend who suggested that it is first and foremost a recruitment failure, this whole idea that any Tom, Dick and Harry and can be taken and trained in computer troubleshooting. It is just not possible in most cases. Not everyone can be a successfull convert. One other peculiar thing I noticed in the company is the support levels. There was a point in time in Dell when any issue with the computer would be supported. This would range from hardware issues to operating system issues to third party application issues. During the early days when Dell was not all so popular this was quite feasible. As computers became more and more popular and along with that windows and its problems, most issues that technicians were handling were mostly operating system related issues and security issues like viruses and spyware in the operating system. For a layman who is not aware of the specifics of the computer, it is quite easy to blame everything on the computer and say something like "This computer sucks". One cannot blame the end user most often and not expect him to be aware. The computer is not a life for many and is merely a tool to get the job done. At the same time it is quite easy for the user to blame the manufacturer. Since Dell picks up the operating system for the computer from MIcrosoft for a lower cost than the general public, Microsoft does not support operating system related issues. Dell customers who call on operating system problems on computers that were purchased from Dell are directed by Microsoft to Dell. And Dell has to take the burden of fixing issues with an operating system that they never designed in the first place. Technicians had the additional burden of having to know everything about windows, more than the hardware that was supplied by Dell. And over a period of time as issues became mostly OS and application related, rules were bought in regarding level of support and all OS related support was made paid support. This frustrated a lot of Dell customers who were used to the free support for a long time. All this has added to the bad reputation that Dell has developed in the recent time. I am not sure how the company is going to overcome all these hurdles. But I do know that they need to do something and do it quick. It is the goal of all comapanies to make as much money as possible. With this in mind, it becomes necessary to be as competitive as possible by providing highest performance for the lowest cost while at the same time making profit. Such goals are feasible only by finding cheaper labor and production costs, thereby necessitating the need to move technical support to places like India and production to places like China. This is unavoidable and inevitable in a global economy. There is no point in cribbing over loss of jobs in the United States by thinking that Indians are making merry. It goes beyond such an outlook on the situation. The whole situation needs to be looked into from the perspective of being humans without land barriers. Once again, it needs to be looked in from the perspective that its a question of human survival, wherever in the world the human might be.	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
The FBI says 'going dark' with encryption will cause more harm than good. Reuters The director of the FBI, James Comey, has denied claims the UK and US proposed encryption controls will “destroy” the internet, claiming they are a necessary step in the war on terrorism and crime. Encryption is a security technology that scrambles digital information using specialist mathematics. It makes it so only people in possession of a specific unlock key or password can read the encrypted information. Encryption is used by several technology companies including Microsoft, Facebook, Google and Apple and is often viewed as a key way people can protect their digital privacy. However, Comey attacked the technology in a public op-ed, where he claimed a move towards end-to-end encryption could benefit terrorist groups, more than general web users. “I really am not a maniac (or at least my family says so). But my job is to try to keep people safe. In universal strong encryption, I see something that is with us already and growing every day that will inexorably affect my ability to do that job,” he said. “The logic of encryption will bring us, in the not-too-distant future, to a place where devices and data in motion are protected by universal strong encryption. There are many costs to this.” The FBI director highlighted terrorist groups', such as the Islamic State (ISIS), use of encrypted online services as proof of his claim: “That tension is vividly illustrated by the current ISIL [also known as ISIS] threat, which involves ISIL operators in Syria recruiting and tasking dozens of troubled Americans to kill people, a process that increasingly takes part through mobile messaging apps that are end-to-end encrypted. “There is simply no doubt that bad people can communicate with impunity in a world of universal strong encryption.” Comey’s comments follow widespread concerns about attempts by US government agencies to subvert encryption. Der Spiegel reported the NSA’s specialist Office of Target Pursuit maintains a team of engineers with the aim of cracking into encrypted services in December 2014. The US government is also considering proposals that would let agencies like the NSA and FBI legally collect and decrypt data from smartphones and "other communications devices." A group of 140 companies, including Google, Microsoft, Apple and Facebook sent an open letter to President Obama in May urging him to reject the encryption proposals, fearing they would damage the US economy. UK prime minister David Cameron has also hinted at similar plans to hamper the use of encryption. Cameron told Parliament he wants to "ensure that terrorists do not have a safe space in which to communicate," on June 6. The details of Cameron's plans remain unknown, though many security professionals, including cryptography expert Bruce Schneier, have argued blocking, or controlling the use of encryption, is impossible.	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
AP Explains: How Yemen's rebels increasingly deploy drones AP Explains: In Yemen, where US once owned the sky with its drones, Shiite rebels increasingly deploy them in civil war DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- In Yemen, the high-pitched whine of drones has been a part of life for over 15 years, ever since the first U.S. drone strike here targeting al-Qaida in 2002. On Thursday, an attack on a military base where America once ran its drone program showed that the U.S. is no longer the only force deploying them. The attack by Yemen's Shiite Houthi rebels that killed at least six people shows how the Arab world's poorest country has become one of the world's top battlefields for drones. Both the rebels and the Saudi-led coalition fighting them, as well as the U.S., continue to use them for surveillance and attacks. But while the U.S. uses American-made drones and the coalition has turned to Chinese suppliers, the manufacturer of the Houthis' drones in both the air and the sea has been a contentious question. THE IRAN LINK A 2018 report by a United Nations panel of experts on Yemen looked particularly at the Houthis' Qatef-1 drone. "Although Houthi-aligned media announced that the Sana'a-based ministry of defence manufactured the (drone), in reality they are assembled from components supplied by an outside source and shipped into Yemen," the report said. The Qatef, or "Striker," ''is virtually identical in design, dimensions and capability to that of the Ababil-T, manufactured by the Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Industries." The Ababil-T can deliver up to a 45-kilogram (100-pound) warhead up to 150 kilometers (95 miles) away. The Qatef-2K, which the Houthis said they used in Thursday's attack, similarly resembles the Iranian designs. A research group called Conflict Armament Research, with the permission of the United Arab Emirates' elite Presidential Guard, also examined seized drones used by the Houthis and their allies to crash into Patriot missile batteries in Saudi Arabia. The research group similarly said those drones share "near-identical design and construction characteristics" of Iranian drones. THE DRONE BOAT Coalition forces last year also showed journalists a Houthi "drone boat" filled with explosives that failed to detonate. The officials also shared black-and-white images they said came from the "drone boat." They said the pictures and associated data from the boat's computer showed Iranians building components for its guidance system in eastern Tehran, with a hat in the background of one picture bearing the symbol of Iran's hard-line paramilitary Revolutionary Guard. They said those involved in building the components probably believed it would be destroyed in the blast, so they didn't wipe the computer's hard drive For its part, Iran repeatedly has denied supplying the Houthis with drone or ballistic missile technology. However, Iran would have an interest in seeing Saudi Arabia, its archrival in the region, tied down in a bloody, protracted conflict with no clear end in sight. ——— Follow Jon Gambrell on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jongambrellap .	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
We first reported on this word spinning out of New York Comic Con direct from the bars in question, where we had reporters being briefed on current issues at DC Comics directly from some of the creators involved, over a few beers and shots. And the only thing anyone seemed to want to talk about on the Thursday night was the effect that Batman Damned was having across the line. The media fuss over the appearance of Batman's penis in the comic overshadowed the quality of the comic itself, within the publisher as well as in the public eye. It was considered a perfect storm of PR nightmare, as it coincided with AT&T's buyout of Warners and the appointment of a new President of DC Comics, Pam Lifford. And that, pretty much, this fuss was the first thing to land on her desk. And she had to deal with Stephen Colbert making jokes about how DC is a company that's just crass and trying to sell books by showing full frontal nudity, on national TV. And while voices of outrage were few, voices of embarrassment within the company were legion. And editorial reworking of DC books either as a result, or in anticipation, of demanded changes has infected Since then I have been told by some that it is the Black Label line that is getting the brunt of the changes. Batman Damned was the only one solicited but I have been told to expect delays across that line as editorial standards demanded of the DCU line are now being applied to these mature readers superhero books as well. Black Label was a line that we first ran rumours ahead of San Diego Comic-Con 2017, as a new mature readers superhero imprint from DC Comics headed up by editor Mark Doyle. Then in early 2018, we ran more details, naming it as Black Label, and stating that it would feature Superman, Batman and a Wonder Woman project by Kelly Sue De Connick. A month after that, it went all official. But Doomsday Clock seems to be getting away with it. It is also a superhero comic book featuring Batman and Superman with male full frontal nudity. Of course, that isn't actually Batman or Superman on display, it maintains a previously established tone – including by the movies – and Geoff Johns knows how to play the game, But for everyone else, I am told that it is reminiscent of DC Comics' micromanagement of the Wildstorm line, on Planetary, the Authority and Jenny Sparks, superhero comics aimed at an older-than-traditional audience, and of what happened with The Boys, the comic published by DC Comics that so offended its President Paul Levitz back then, that the comic was cancelled with its first issue and picked up by Dynamite Entertainment – and now a new TV series for Amazon. That won't be possible for Black Label books, as they use DC Comics intellectual properties – unless the serial numbers can be ground off, as they were for Frank Miller's Holy Terror Batman. Either way, there is some hope that a balance in the force can be re-established. Just as no big media fuss is made in the upcoming few months. Basically, keep looking at Stephen Colbert… and see what he does. Apparently, no one really cares about what Seth Meyers said though…	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
AS a professional rugby player who made a high-profile code switch at his peak, Curtis Rona will earn more this season than most of us will in four years. Yet he drives around in a beaten-up car that he’d be lucky to sell for $2000. “I’ve got a Mazda 121, it’s a 1994 model,” Rona said. “I like the simple life. I want to have a good life, but I’m not tied up in luxuries. “Growing up in New Zealand, then moving to Perth as a kid and seeing your parents working two jobs each, we didn’t have much, the struggle was real. “But now I have a beautiful baby girl (15-month-old Sapphire), she lights up my world. And I have a beautiful wife who has been there for me from day one.” And this is the best explanation why Rona — one of the most devastating wingers in the NRL — quit to join the lowliest Super Rugby franchise in Australia. “People still ask me why I did it,” he said. Curtis Rona in action for Western Force. Source: Getty Images But they don’t understand the relationship Rona has with wife Jacinta. “I wouldn’t be where I am today without her,” he said. “I know a lot of people say that, but we were high school sweethearts; she has been the driving force behind me for a long time. I was 15, she was 14 when we met and she has always been there for me.” So, despite being midway through her university degree and with all of her family settled in Perth, Jacinta packed up when Rona moved to Sydney and signed with the Bulldogs. “We were living by ourselves, a young couple, it would have been easier for her to walk away saying, ‘this is a bit too hard for me’,” Rona said. RUGBY CENTRAL: Iain Payten talks with special guest Nick McArdle from FoxSports about Australia’s future in Super Rugby and all the weekend’s action. “She made the toughest decision. She was at uni, she had her family network around her and she gave that all up to support me and my career.” While most people baulked at the idea the NRL’s equal-leading tryscorer of 2015 would consider a move to the Western Force, Rona was always going to do best by his family. Despite strong pressure to remain in league — a code in which he scored 41 tries in 57 games — Rona decided to move back to the city he and Jacinta grew up in and join the Force on a two-year deal. Growing up playing for Wanneroo Districts juniors, it was a huge gamble for Rona, 24, to move from one of the most recognised clubs in the NRL to the Force, who had won just five games in the previous two years. “We did think long and hard about it, this wasn’t a decision made overnight,” Rona said. “But everything in life is a risk. I wanted to back myself and be known for being able to play both codes.” Curtis Rona scores a try for the Bulldogs in the NRL. Picture: Brett Costello Source: News Corp Australia Rona is still a league fan; he watched his former Bulldogs teammates lose to Melbourne last Friday night and also saw his younger brother, Jayden Stephens, make his debut for North Queensland under-20s last Saturday. But Rona is firmly in Camp Force. This is a team not even guaranteed existence beyond 2017 as the ARU considers cutting a franchise. Yet here they were last Thursday, playing their first game of the season at nib Stadium, a venue at which they had not won a match in 663 days. With 11 minutes remaining and trailing 19-18 to Queensland, Rona scored the match-winning try to break one of the most horrid droughts in Australian sport. “We don’t want one superstar, we want to play as a team, for each other,” Rona said. It’s a formula that works as well in marriage as it does in sport.	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
What the fuck Is with all the butthole image comments 135 shares	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
Thursday, June 13, 2013 at 8:29AM "It’s all a numbers game – the dirty little secret of scalable systems" Martin Thompson is a High Performance Computing Specialist with a real mission to teach programmers how to understand the innards of modern computing systems. He has many talks and classes (listed below) on caches, buffers, memory controllers, processor architectures, cache lines, etc. His thought is programmers do not put a proper value on understanding how the underpinnings of our systems work. We gravitate to the shiny and trendy. His approach is not to teach people specific programming strategies, but to teach programmers to fish so they can feed themselves. Without a real understanding strategies are easy to apply wrongly. It's strange how programmers will put a lot of effort into understanding complicated frameworks like Hibernate, but little effort into understanding the underlying hardware on which their programs run. A major tenant of Martin's approach is to "lead by experimental observation rather than what folks just blindly say," so it's no surprise he chose a MythBuster's theme in his talk Mythbusting Modern Hardware to Gain "Mechanical Sympathy." Mechanical Sympathy is term coined by Jackie Stewart, the race car driver, to say you get the best out of a racing car when you have a good understanding of how a car works. A driver must work in harmony with the machine to get the most of out of it. Martin extends this notion to say we need to know how the hardware works to get the most out of our computers. And he thinks normal developers can understand the hardware they are using. If you can understand Hibernate, you can understand just about anything. The structure of the talk is to take a few commonly held myths and go all MythBusters on them by seeing if they are really true. Along the way there's incredible detail on how different systems work, far too much detail to gloss here, but it's an absolute fascinating talk. Martin really knows what he is talking about and he is a good teacher as well. The most surprising part of the talk is the counter intuitive idea that many of the devices we think of as random access, like RAM, HDDs, and SSDs, effectively become serial devices in certain circumstances. A disk, for example, is really just a big tape that's fast. It's not true random access. Myth 1: CPUs are Not Getting Faster The fundamental issue is CPUs can't get hotter, not that they can't get faster. As we run CPUs faster (higher clock speeds) they get hotter and hotter and heat dissipation at these small scales is incredibly difficult. Clock speed isn't everything. Example, word split the text of Alice and Wonderland. Intel Core 2 Duo, 2008, 2.40GHz, 1434 operations per second. Intel Core, 2011, 2.20GHz, 2674 operations per second. Clock speed is down but operations per second have nearly doubled. Trend is continuing. Sandy/Ivy Bridge goes parallel inside instead of going faster. There are 3 ALUs and 6 ports for loading and storing data. More ports are needed to feed the ALUs so you can have up to 6 instructions per cycle happening in parallel. There's only one divide and one jump. Highly branched or code with a lot of division doesn't go as fast as straightforward code using +, -, *. CPUs have counters so they are easy to profile. On Linux access the counters using perf stat. Running perf stat on Nehalem 2.8GHz in the Alice and Wonderland test we notice that the processor is idle about a 1/3rd of the time so a faster processor wouldn't help. On a later Sandy Bridge 2.4GHz the CPU is idle about 25% of the time. The reason CPUs are getting faster is not faster clock speed, but instructions are being fed into the CPU faster. Myth 2: Memory Provides Random Access At the end of the day it's a cost equation. To get to main memory is fairly expensive. We want to feed the CPUs really fast. How do we feed the CPU fast? We need the data to be close to them on something that's very very quick. Modern register to register copies don't cost anything because what is happening is a remapping, it doesn't even move. Layers of caches. Caches get bigger and slower so it's speed versus cost, but also power is important. Power to access a disk is so much more than accessing a L1 cache. Modern processors are starting to transfer data from network cards into cache, skipping memory, to keep the thermals down by not involving the CPU. There's lot of detail on memory ordering and cache structures and coherence. The gist seems to be there's an immensely complicated circuitry between the different layers of memory and the CPU. If you can't make the memory sub-systems, caches, buses fast enough then you can't feed the CPU fast enough so there's no point in making CPUs faster. This means software must be written to access memory in a friendly manner or you are starving the CPU. On Sandy Bridge sequentially walking through memory will take you 3 clocks for L1D, 11 clocks for L2, 14 clocks for L3, and 6ns for memory. In-page random is 3 clocks, 11 clocks, 18 clocks, 22ns. Full random access is 3 clocks, 11 clocks, 38 clocks, 65.8 ns. It's effectively free to walk through memory sequentially. How we access memory really really matters. Writing highly branched code causes more instruction misses because there's too much data to keep track of. Since you can't walk memory sequentially you want to reduce coupling and increase cohesion. Keep things together. Good coupling and good cohesion makes this all just work. If your code branches everywhere and runs all over the heap it will make for slow code. Myth 3: HDDs Provide Random Access Zone bit recording. There's a big difference between writing on the inner and outer parts of the disk. More sectors are put on the outer parts of the disk so you get greater density. For one revolution of the disk you are going to see more sectors so you'll get greater throughput. On a 10K disk when sequentially reading the outer tracks you'll get 220 MB/s and when reading the innter tracks you'll get 140 MB/s. The fastest disks are 15K and they haven't got any faster for many many years. Hardware will prefetch and reorder queues as the head moves over the sectors. A sector is now 4K to get more data on a disk. If you read or write a byte the minimum transferred is 4K. What makes up an operation? Command processing. Subsecond. Seek time. 0-6ms server drive, 0-15ms laptop drive. Rotational latency. For a 10K RPM disk rotation takes 6ms for an average of 3ms. Data transfer. 100-200MB/s. For random access of a 4K block, the random latency is 10ms or 100 IOPS. Throughput at random is less than 1 MB a second, maybe 2 MB a second with really clever hardware. So randomly accessing a disk isn't practical. If you see fantastic transaction numbers then the data isn't going to disk. A disk is really a big tape that's fast. It's not true random access. Myth 4: SSDs Provide Random Access SSDs gernerally have 2MB blocks arranged in an array of cells. SLC - single level, can store a bit. Has voltage or doesn't have a voltage. MLC - multiple voltages, so you can store 2 or 3 bits per cell. Expensive to address individual cells so you can address a row at a time, which is called a page, pages are usually 4K or 8K. Reading or writing a random page sized thing is really fast, there's no moving parts. When you delete you can only erase a whole block at a time. The ways SSDs work is they write every cell to be a one. When you put data into it you turn off the bits you don't want. Turning off a bit is easy because it's draining a cell. Turning on a bit by putting voltage into the cell tends to light up the cells around it so you can't accurately set a single bit. So you must delete a whole block at a time. Bits are marked as deleted because you don't want to erase a whole block at a time because there's a limited number times you can read and write a block. You don't want a disk to wear out. So bits are marked as deleted and the new data is copied to a new block. This has a cost. In time the disk ends up fragmented. Over time you have to garbage collect, compacting blocks. Example SSD can read and write at 200 MB/s. When you starting deleting read performance looks good, but writes slow down because of the garbage collection process. For some disks performance falls off a cliff on writes and you need to reformat. There's also write amplification where small writes end up triggering a lot of copying. Reads have great random and sequential performance. If you only do append only writes then performance could be quite good. At 40K IOPs with 4K random reads and writes, average operation times are 100-300 microseconds with large up to half a second pauses during garbage collection. Mutating in place causes poor performance. Related Articles	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
The duo lobbied the Ministry of Justice for permission to put on the show. “We thought: if we have the opportunity to make a project here, we should think very carefully about how we could do that — not to sensationalize the experience, but to try and bring together a group of artists and writers to whom the place would speak,” said James Lingwood, Artangel’s co-director. “Without exception, the artists that we wanted to be our A List are here.” The exhibition is like a scavenger hunt. It starts in the prison’s tall, domed atrium, from which rows of cells dart out on several floors. There is no suggested itinerary; visitors make their own way through the prison wings. Some of the cells they walk into are empty; others contain artworks by artists including Marlene Dumas and Richard Hamilton, videos by Nan Goldin, and/or headsets with which to listen to readings of texts written and voiced by authors such as Mr. Ai and Jeanette Winterson. Only 100 visitors will be admitted every hour, Mr. Lingwood said. “One of the things that was very important to us was that the soundtrack to the whole experience be silence,” he said. “When Oscar Wilde was here, prisoners were basically kept on their own in their cells almost all the time, and there was almost no sound.” “We want people to be deeply moved, to reflect,” he added. Wilde’s cell is a haunting, narrow space (3.4 meters by 2.15 meters) with painted brick walls, a tall vaulted ceiling, and a high window. There are no artworks to distract visitors inside it. In a neighboring cell are vintage copies of the books that he requested to read while in jail: volumes by Saint Augustine and Pascal, and poetry by Wordsworth, Keats and Hafiz.	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
CryptoBadger Many of you have contacted me recently asking for my opinion of x brand/model of 7950 GPU, given that some of the top choices from my mining hardware guide are sold out everywhere. Thought I’d throw up a quick post with some of the best alternatives for those of you that are looking to build a rig. Yes, the Radeon 7950 is still the best GPU mining platform (and probably will be for quite some time), assuming you don’t have access to free electricity. Click “read more” for the list. Top Tier cards If you can find an MSI TF3 in stock anywhere at a price that isn’t outrageous (a lot of people are trying to sell them for $400-500 given the latest mining rush), absolutely grab it—it’s still the best option. Note that the “BE” (“Boost Edition”) models are not the same cards and will likely result in slightly lower mining speeds than their non-BE counterparts (update: I didn’t mean to give the impression that the BE model is necessarily a bad choice for mining—it’s a fine performer, but given the choice, grab the non-BE model if possible). The Gigabyte WF3 cards are on par with the MSI cards speed-wise, although there are quite a few reports of blown VRMs on these cards (I experienced one myself, but I’ve also used quite a few of them). Gigabyte does offer a 3-year warranty on the card, and the RMA process is relatively painless, so don’t let that stop you if you’re looking for a top-tier mining card (assuming you can find any in stock). The Sapphire Vapor-X is what I’ve been using in the mining rigs that I build for customers lately, given that Amazon seems to get new stock in daily. It offers 99% of the speed of the MSI and Gigabyte cards, while offering near silence (at least in comparison to other top mining GPUs). The extremely low noise of these cards is really nice if your rig will be located within earshot. The Vapor-X cards are also constructed like tanks—they’re significantly heavier than other brands—and it’s the only brand of card that I’ve used that I’ve never had to RMA for any reason. The Sapphire HD 7950 offers the performance of the Vapor-X card without the superior acoustic qualities. It’s also a bit cheaper, so if your rig will be located someplace that you won’t be able to hear it anyway, this might be your best choice. Edit: If you’re looking for cgminer settings for any of these cards, check out my FAQ entry on the subject. Other good options I’ve had several comments from people that are running HIS IceQ cards at 640+ Kh/sec while undervolted without issues, although I haven’t used one myself. The single fan would appear to be a disadvantage when compared to the top tier choices, but the performance of the card seems solid. I’ve also heard favorable things about the PowerColor HD7950, especially given it’s (typically) low price. Avoid Anything by XFX, if you trust the general consensus of the internet mining community. I haven’t used XFX’s cards personally, but there seem to be quite a few people that are unhappy with them. Non-7950 Options Perhaps you have access to free (or extremely cheap) electricity, or mining isn’t your primary concern. Here are some options that aren’t based on the Radeon 7950 GPU. The Radeon R9 280X is probably the best “next generation” GPU choice, although it’s essentially a re-badged 7970. Properly configured, you should see hashrates that are about 10% higher than the 7950 (may improve over time as the drivers mature). You’ll pay for the increased speed with significantly higher power consumption, however. Models from Gigabyte, Sapphire, and MSI should all be good choices. The Radeon 7970, like the 280X, hashes only slightly faster than a well-configured 7950, but it consumes far more power—generally making it a sub-optimal mining GPU. However, for those of you with free electric, there have been some good deals on these cards recently, with some examples selling for as low as ~$220. At similar prices points, there is probably no reason to choose the 7970 over the 280X. I’ll also mention the Radeon 7990, although I’m not a huge fan of it for mining (some people do swear by it, though). This is essentially two 7970 GPUs in a single card package, so you can expect 1300+ Kh/sec per card. Sounds great, until you consider the downsides: the massive levels of heat that these things throw around, the extremely high power consumption, and the high up-front cost of the cards. However, if you’re trying to build a rig with the absolute highest GPU density possible, without regard with other considerations, then this is probably your card. The MSI or Sapphire are good choices here.	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
Is Muscletech VITALIGENIX T10 Your Choice? - Then, Read More User Rating 3.5/5 (15 Reviewer) View Details + In order to live a fulfilled life, it is better to discover ourselves, understand our meaning of life and then, live as per our defined purpose. Well, it is easy to say this line but it is difficult to find purpose and meaning in life. Even as a bodybuilder, you should have a meaning of your new life and routine. Why do you want to be a bodybuilder? Can you cross any limits to be an athlete? Does it add purpose to your life? For making our lives meaningful, we should search our abilities and work on them. Simply joining the best and expensive gym of your city is not working on your abilities. You have to build your confidence, overcome your physical weaknesses and create your own personality. No, you do not have to join any personality development course or seek a mentor. No motivational video watching needed for it. You just have to work from within and accelerate your testosterone. Yes, it is simple as that. In order to work on our abilities, we have to strengthen and nurture ourselves from within. And a healthy supplement can definitely work on that aspect. Let us know about this supplement called MuscleTech VITALIGENIX T10 and read about suitable alternatives for it that can enhance your abilities and add purpose to your life. What Is MuscleTech VITALIGENIX T10? MuscleTech VITALIGENIX T10 is the first-of-its kind free testosterone booster that controls estrogen levels and increases amounts of free testosterone. It is consisted of key ingredients like maca extract, tribulus terrestris and brassica oleracea. Manufacturer Information And Claims About MuscleTech VITALIGENIX T10 The maker states that this product is reliable and effective because several clinical studies have been undertaken on the test subjects. Sufficient quantities of the ingredients were provided to the subjects and results were evaluated after a certain period of time. According to the study outcomes, the bioavailable testosterone in a man’s body increased by 33.8 percent. Hence, this supplement can lead to significant increase in the amounts of testosterone. The maker also claims that this supplement can give you instant results, which is within a day of the consumption of the supplement, this is considerably unique than the other supplements. Just check the other supplements who provide money back guarantee of 60 to 90 days, while this company states that same-day results can be seen. Features and Specifications It is a multifaceted formulation and renders same-day results in a man. Various scientific studies have been conducted to prove the significance of each ingredient. It is also known as a 10 hour testosterone male vitality formulation which has not been previously seen in any other supplements. How Does MuscleTech VITALIGENIX T10 Work? If you check the testosterone boosters that are sold in the market, then those are not supported with a valid clinical study. However, MuscleTech ITALIGENIX T10 is supported by a clinical study which shows that the ingredients have been blended in a unique blend to serve you all the wholesome benefits. This multifaceted formulation is inclusive of a core ingredient that boosts free testosterone and decreases the free estrogens. The test subjects involved in the study experienced this significant change. Ingredients (Research) And Thoughts InstaTest Matrix Fenugreek extract [1] as Trigonella foenum-graecum – seed – standardized for 80 percent apigenin flavonone glycosides as Trigonella foenum-graecum – seed – standardized for 80 percent apigenin flavonone glycosides Maca extract as lepidium meyenii – root Tribulus extract as Tribulus terrestris [2] – fruit – supplying 40 percent saponins – fruit – supplying 40 percent saponins Boron [3] citrate supplying 5 percent boron citrate supplying 5 percent boron Broccoli as Brassica oleracea – whole plant – supplying dilindolymethane Olive extract as olea europaea – leaf – supplying oleuropein Safed musli extract as Chlorophytum borivllianum – root supplying saponins Miscellaneous ingredients included in this supplement are sesame oil and candelilla wax. Capsule ingredients are gelatin and FD&C Red No.4. Dosage: 3 Capsules / day. Pros/Advantages Certain scientific studies are available to prove the vitality of each ingredient in this supplement. Cons/Disadvantages You are required to consume 6 capsules twice a day, which is a huge dosage for any man. In case it exceeds for a particular day without your knowledge, then it may result in side effects such as headache, nausea, excessive hunger or even high temper. We would prefer a supplement that needs smaller amounts of dosage to avoid negative effects. If you are allergic to certain substances like fenugreek or olive, then you cannot consume this supplement. It costs $149.99 currently due to an offer going on. Else, it will cost you $169.99 which is very expensive even trying for the first time. Just imagine, you will require 3 bottles in a month, resulting in a high-cost supplement routine. No other offer or any money-saving package is offered by the company. Hence, it doesn’t attract customers to buy the product immediately. Is MuscleTech VITALIGENIX T10 Safe To Use? Consultation of the family physician is required before opting for any supplement, including MuscleTech VITALIGENIX T10. In case you have some medical concerns and are consuming any medicines, then inform the doctor about the same. Such people have to take necessary precautions before buying any health related product. Before you consume any supplement, always read the information given on the label and use as directed. Do not use it randomly or as your friend or family member tells you. This is because every product might work differently in case of individuals. Your friend might have noticed instant results within a week and you might not even see any difference in your body even after 4 weeks. Such things can happen, please note it in your mind. Never compare yourself with others. Customer Reviews And Ratings (Testimonials) Since it is a brilliant idea to check the product reviews before buying any product, here are some of the genuine opinions of the customers about MuscleTech VITALIGENIX T10. One of the customers was thankful about the return policy of GNC Company. As a result, he could save his money by returning the product. This 41-year-old customer feels that this product is for those who have exhausted their testosterone levels and not for middle-aged men. He could not feel any difference in himself. And he ironically states that he likes to buy from GNC because he can return the products when they do not work for him. We can understand the effectiveness of this supplement through this ironical review of the customer. - Shane N Indianapolis, USA Some of the customers found this product to be working for them but on the same lines, it is expensive for their pocket. Hence, they cannot make repeated purchases as there is no significant money-saving package on the site. Eventually, they switch to other reasonably priced supplements which give similar kind of outcomes. - Eric C Cambridge, Canada The company clearly mentions that this supplement can result in changes in your temperament. Hence, if you are already cranky or irritated in life, then you cannot consume this one and become crankier than the usual. Remember that a supplement should calm your mind and not irritate it. - Harry P Brisbane, Australia Conclusively, it seems difficult to add meaning and purpose to your life with MuscleTech VITALIGENIX T10. As prevention is better than cure, goes the cliché, it is better that you have understood the pros and cons of a supplement beforehand. This will save much of your effort. Now, instead of wasting another minute, learn more about the following nutritional supplements. Recommendation/Best Alternative No need to ponder and wander in search of your dream T-supplement because we have got some of the best ones for you. PrimeMale User Rating 4.8/5 (65 Reviewer) View Details + You do not have to buy a male enhancement pill or go for any weird gadget to increase your sexual arousal. This is because PrimeMale contains all the ingredients that can enhance your sex drive without the use of any gadget. It targets your testosterone levels, makes you lean and attractive and then directly focuses on enhancing your sex drive. Hence, you need not consume supplements for enhancing your libido or sexual organs. You simply can rely on PrimeMale for outstanding results. The team at Propura Limited has done a marvelous job indeed! TestoFuel As the name suggests, this supplement fuels up your body with requisite energy in the form of testosterone. Embrace your new energy and stamina levels and elevate every aspect of your relationship. Research has been carried out that the ingredients in this supplement can definitely help in increasing your masculinity and transforming you into a PRO that you had always dreamed of. User Rating 4.7/5 (62 Reviewer) View Details + TestoTEK User Rating 4.6/5 (59 Reviewer) View Details + A natural supplement that can reduce your anxiety and bring calmness and vitality to your mind as well as your life. Your lean muscle mass increases and you feel a boost in your sex drive. No matter how much you work at the gym or at the office, fatigue will be out of its way. Moreover, this supplement is also proven to enhance the cognitive abilities of your brain. For instance, as you cannot concentrate as you age, TestoTEK irons out this inability. You can be alert all the time and can focus on any given project at office and even at home. So, enrich your life and health with any of these T-supplements recommended.	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
Here is a mobile dashboard with vibrant colors. It contains a lot of elements you can use also for desktop/table dashboards. Great design done by Anh Tus . PSD Repo helps you to find design resources that are offered for free to the community. Remember to Bookmark Did you find this website useful? Like Follow Don’t forget to like Arrow Don’t forget to like Thumbs Up	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
Tomorrow we get to play the Oregon State Beavers, a team that hasn't won a game yet this year. ASU fans know better than to sleep on the Beavs, however -- they've beaten the Sun Devils three years in a row. We sat down with Building The Dam to talk about OSU. We did a Q&A over at their site, too - check it out. How much has your team improved since their unfathomable loss to Sacramento State? It's okay to be brutally honest. Effectively, not very much. Injuries to RB Malcolm Agnew and multiple offensive linemen have defused what initially was a surprisingly good running game post-Jacquizz Rodgers. The passing game had to endure the change of quarterbacks, and the fact that WR James Rodgers and TE Joe Halahuni didn't return until last week. We should see if Sean Mannion gets more comfortable with Rodgers and Halahuni this week. Defensively, its going to take more than a couple of weeks for a secondary that, due in part to the injury to CB Brandon Hardin, had 1 career start amongst 3 of the 4 DBs starting the year, to become consistent enough to be reliable. More after the jump... You lost a tough game to UCLA at home. Can your team get back on the right track before this season is a total disaster? It depends on whose' definition of "total disaster" you use. Many felt a bowl game was the minimum acceptable for this season, and with the 2 most winnable games on the schedule already lost, so to might be any bowl berth. But the Beavers are really only 2 plays away from being 2-1, so its not like they haven't done anything right. If the multitude of young players can keep the long view, and keep working on the details one at a time, its possible that they could still have some good days this year. It's more a mental thing than anything else, but they have to demonstrate to themselves as well as others that they have already hit bottom, and start to rebound, rather than continue to slide downward. James Rodgers is back. What does he bring to the fold at this point? James was a difference maker on the field right away, and he was still being used carefully. He brings the ability to make a big play at any time, and that in turn brings Mannion a much needed security blanket. Which is a huge deal for a redshirt freshman quarterback. Rodgers gives the team someone they know they can trust, both physically and mentally, vs. someone they would like to trust, but they can't be sure can deliver. What is Oregon State's greatest strength? The receiving corp. Rodgers, Marcus Wheaton, Halahuni, and Jordan Bishop can all make plays many can't, and many can't do that much about. Mannion has to figure out how to use all of his passing weapons. You all went with a freshman (Sean Mannion) over seasoned vet Ryan Katz. What's up with that? Is this a long-term play by Mike Riley? Truthfully, Katz did look awful against Sac State... Barring injury, or some other disastrous event, it is a long-term move. Head coach Mike Riley really likes Mannion's basic skill set, and would love to see him develop into an NFL-prototype franchise player. Otherwise, he wouldn't have abandoned Katz half way through his career. Gut check time. What's your Beaver prediction for the remainder of 2011? Will they be back in 2012? Please let us know, as Oregon State always gives us a hell of a time on the football field. We'll know a lot more after this week, but right now, I don't see more than 3 wins tops, with 3 more competitive games, and unfortunately, probably 3 lopsided losses. Real progress is going to require an injection of quality linemen, and that is going to take some time. If the Beavers aren't measurably better in 2012, someone should, and probably will, be fired. But it could well be 2013 before Oregon St. can consistently compete with the best of opponents again, instead of it being extremely match-up dependent, which is the case right now. Best of luck to the Beavers, and thanks to Andy at Building The Dam for his answers.	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
The Ministry of Defense on Sunday reported that the Jaghato district in Ghazni province was retaken after two years under the Taliban’s control. This district in the north of the province was freed in an operation titled “Mobeen,”which utilized the support of airstrikes. The statement said that several mines were defused, and that the Taliban suffered huge casualties in the operation, although numbers were not provided. The re-taking of Jaghato district opens access to the provincial center for the districts of Malestan, Jaghori, Ajristan and Nawur. The statement did not give information about military or civilian causalities. The Taliban did not confirm yet.	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
WASHINGTON — Alex M. Azar II, the secretary of health and human services, said Thursday that doctors and hospitals should tell patients how much their care would cost before patients received treatment. And if they do not do so voluntarily, he said, the government may use its leverage to force them to disclose the information. Mr. Azar, speaking to a conference of health insurance executives, said that such information would give patients more control over their health care. And that, he said, would advance one of the Trump administration’s top priorities: “the value-based transformation of our entire health care system.” “You ought to have the right to know what a health care service will cost — and what it will really cost — before you get that service,” Mr. Azar said. His speech — and similar remarks this week by other federal health officials — amounts to an experiment in jawboning by an administration viscerally opposed to new regulations. It is unclear what President Trump will do if the exhortations fail to produce the desired results. Mr. Azar hinted, at a news briefing on Thursday, that the administration’s policy preferences could be included in Medicare regulations and perhaps, if necessary, in legislative proposals.	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
The UK is facing the loss of its independent movie business, leading film-makers have said. They say that the financing model of the past 20 years is broken and that making Oscar-winning films such as The King’s Speech and Slumdog Millionaire has become all the more difficult. The film-makers believe that, while homegrown casts and crews are working instead on Hollywood and overseas productions, the increasing dominance of US online streaming platforms will drive up costs further and ensure that stars on whom they rely to attract crucial financing are even less available. Last week, in a boost for the UK’s status as a centre for film and TV production, Netflix announced that it was setting up a permanent production base at Shepperton Studios, spending more of its $13bn (£10.3bn) annual production budget in the UK. The news came as Disney joined studios planning rival streaming companies with their own productions. Before launching Disney+, it has pulled all its content, including the Toy Story franchise, from Netflix in the US. The British film industry after Brexit: ‘We’re going to throw it all away’ Read more Andy Paterson, who co-produced The Railway Man, the acclaimed second world war film starring Colin Firth and Nicole Kidman, said others would follow and that, although British film-makers were benefiting from the streamers, there was a limit to the number of subscriptions that the public would buy. He predicted a “streamer war” that would take its toll on the independent sector. Paterson said: “There’s going to be a massive war between those platforms over the next two years and then, inevitably, a consolidation. But, if during that time, we lose the independent film business in this country – which is going to happen unless we make big choices – then in three or four years’ time there will just be a few American-dominated platforms that control all creative content. “We’re all making films and series for the streamers. We’re not for a second saying we don’t love that … It’s an awful lot easier to make movies for Netflix, where they pay for it, than it is to bring 50 different bits of money together to make The Railway Man. But, without some intervention to ensure that the indigenous films still get developed and made, you end up having a new set of studios dominating the world. “I am passionate about producing, but I am horrified at the way this country develops and treats its producing talent. We’re becoming an industry focused only on servicing the colossal range of inward investment films and TV series attracted by the tax credit, the dollar and working here, or making the very low-budget films from emerging directors, which are really all the British Film Institute (BFI) and BBC Films can afford to do.” He said the UK would look back within a few years on how it destroyed the independent film sector, depriving cinema audiences of original and diverse films in which the UK has always excelled. He is calling for a shake-up of the industry in a world after the Brexit vote, where everything is changing, saying: “Are we going to let British creators just work for America?” His concerns were echoed by Rebecca O’Brien, producer of Ken Loach’s films, who said: “I’m quite pessimistic for the independent sector at the moment. “I certainly see a decline … The success of the inward investment business, which of course the industry is delighted to have, because it keeps strong employment is definitely a problem for the independent sector, who can’t pay so well. “When you’re crewing a film, it’s really quite difficult to find people … People that we work with might be employed for up to nine months on a studio production and they have to commit to it because independent productions are rare … So it does begin to drill a hole in our ability to keep the sector going.” Gabrielle Stewart, the managing director of HanWay Films, whose productions include Ralph Fiennes’s Rudolf Nureyev drama, The White Crow, said: “It’s a lot tougher right now.” Beyond tax relief, which provides about 20% of a production budget if the entire film is made in the UK, British producers have traditionally competed for public funds from the BFI and BBC Films and for a UK distributor to put a substantial guarantee against UK revenues. Paterson said: “£11m for BBC Films and about £15m for the BFI. These are pathetic numbers compared to the billions that Netflix and others spend. We don’t need to spend that level of money to compete because we’re really good at making films … Audiences want films in their cinemas that are not just more of the same.” A BBC Films spokeswoman acknowledged that its budget was small, but said it was used judiciously, supporting both new and established film-makers. Ben Roberts, the deputy chief executive of the BFI, said the independent film sector remained buoyant, with plenty of actors wanting to fit those productions into their schedules. Noting “the incredible energy” of the inward investment sector, he said: “I’m naturally more optimistic. We see a lot of work coming into us as an open access funder every year. It would be a shame to paint a picture of negativity.”	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
Image caption Unlike civilians, soldiers are not free to move away from comrades who rape them, plaintiffs said A group of US military veterans who say they were sexually assaulted by fellow servicemen and then neglected by the military have sued to force reform. The plaintiffs say the military is too lax in investigating and prosecuting sex crimes and fosters a culture where victims are afraid to report crimes. The veterans argue too few offences lead to court martial, and hope their case will draw attention to the issue. A Pentagon spokesman said the military had "work to do" to keep members safe. In a statement, Geoff Morrell said sexual assault was a wider problem in American society and that US defence secretary Robert Gates had been working on the issue. "That means providing more money, personnel, training and expertise, including reaching out to other large institutions such as universities to learn best practices," he said. "This is now a command priority, but we clearly still have more work to do in order to ensure all of our service members are safe from abuse." Military 'broken' At a news conference in Washington, attorneys, activists and military veterans who say they have been sexually assaulted by comrades said individual unit commanders had too much discretion about the investigation of specific accusations. American youth should not sacrifice their bodily integrity when they volunteer to serve our country Anuradha Bhagwati, Service Women's Action Network The lawsuit filed on Tuesday by the group, which includes both sexes, names Mr Gates and his predecessor, Donald Rumsfeld. It calls for an objective third party to handle sexual assault complaints. Anuradha Bhagwati, executive director of the Service Women's Action Network, said that official figures showed fewer than one in five service members accused of sexual assault "sees the inside of a courtroom". "Unlike in the civilian world, a military rape survivor cannot quit his or her job," she told reporters on Tuesday. Too often, she said, victims were forced to live and work alongside the perpetrator, because they were not free to move. And people who are raped while serving the US military have no right to sue their attacker, nor to sue the military, Ms Bhagwati said. "The military is broken when it comes to these cases," said Ms Bhagwati, a former captain in the US Marine Corps. "American youth should not sacrifice their bodily integrity when they volunteer to serve our country." 'Videotaped attack' One woman, who was herself a former criminal investigator for the US Army, said she had been raped by a colleague. In another incident, a plaintiff said male comrades had raped her in Iraq, videotaped the attack and circulated the footage. She said her commander had declined to file charges because she "did not act like a rape victim" and "did not struggle enough". Another woman said she was warned that she would herself be prosecuted for lying if she pressed a rape charge against a man who attacked her. Keith Rohman, a lawyer who is working on the case, said the lawsuit was not intended to press for specific reforms, but to draw attention to the issue through the courts. Pentagon spokeswoman Cynthia Smith told the Associated Press news agency she had not seen the lawsuit and could not comment on the allegations. But she said the military planned to open a sexual assault hotline in April and had created a sexual assault prevention office in 2005.	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
Rights activists say a Palestinian university lecturer has been detained on accusations that her Facebook page insulted President Mahmoud Abbas. Hadeel Hneiti of the al-Haq rights group said Monday that Palestinian security forces arrested Ismat Abdul-Khaleq after they found writing on her Facebook page accusing Abbas of being a traitor and demanding he resign. Hneiti said the 37-year-old Abdul-Khaleq was taken into custody Wednesday. Abdul-Khaleq’s detention is the latest in what activists say is growing intolerance of criticism. They say the government has been heavily monitoring Facebook. A newspaper reporter has been held on suspicion of defamation since last week, and two other reporters were briefly interrogated last week over their writings. The public prosecutor has said Abdul-Khaleq’s comments were defamatory. Read more about:	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
The stopgap bill to fund the government was only supposed to end the partial shutdown for a few months, no strings attached -- right? Nope. Despite the bill being tiny by Washington standards -- just 35 pages -- lawmakers still managed to tuck in billions of dollars in additional spending. Already, one item has earned some degree of notoriety. Appropriators included a line increasing the budget for an Ohio River dam project from $775 million to $2.9 billion. Costs for the project, approved in 1998, have soared above the original price tag. Supporters of the Olmsted Locks and Dam funding argue the additional money is necessary to reduce bottlenecking at the crossing of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who along with Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., supported the item, told Fox News that all barge traffic would be suspended if the dam wasn't funded. She said the funding was included in the budget bill because it is the only spending bill moving. The House had earlier approved funding for the dam, though at a lower level. But there are projects all over the country that could have made a similar case. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., earlier this week called the inclusion "disgraceful," saying many lawmakers didn't realize the bill contained additional spending like this until late in the process. Government watchdogs argued that if lawmakers wanted to pursue this spending, they should have done so in the long-term appropriations bill or another more appropriate piece of legislation. The language in the bill itself didn't exactly announce that the dam project was getting extra money, either. The provision said: "SEC. 123. Section 3(a)(6) of Public Law 100-676 is amended by striking both occurrences of '$775,000,000' and inserting in lieu thereof, '$2,918,000,000'." What's public law 100-676? The Water Resources Development Act of 1988. And those "occurrences" of $775 million? That's the dam project. The bill included plenty of other items that some lawmakers have been trying to pass. Among them was a "death gratuity" payment to the widow of the late Sen. Frank Lautenberg. The payment of $174,000, representing a year's salary, is traditional when a member dies -- but was questioned considering Lautenberg was one of the wealthiest members of Congress. The bill also put up another $600 million for firefighters in the Forest Service, who have been dealing with a rash of major blazes this year. Another $36 million was appropriated for Interior Department firefighting. On a related note, the bill authorized $450 million to be spent, via the Federal Highway Administration, on road repairs and other projects in Colorado -- to rebuild after destructive flooding in that state. Fox News' Chad Pergram contributed to this report.	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
India vs Australia 3rd Test Day 5 Live Streaming: When and Where to Watch, Live Coverage on TV and Online cricket Updated: Dec 29, 2018 23:29 IST India came within sniffing distance of a defining victory before a stoic resistance by Australia’s tail delayed the inevitable in the third Test here Saturday. Pat Cummins scored a heroic half-century as Australia finished at 258 for eight at stumps on day four after being reduced to 176 for seven after tea. At end of play, he had scored an unbeaten 61 runs, facing 103 balls and hitting five fours as well as a six, while Nathan Lyon was batting on 6, as they put on 43 runs for the ninth wicket. Australia need another 141 runs for an improbable win, while India are two wickets away from a 2-1 series lead. When is the fifth day of the third Test between India and Australia? The fifth day of the third Test between India and Australia will be played on December 30, 2018. Where is the third Test between India and Australia being played? The third Test between India and Australia match will be played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. What time does the fifth day of the third Test between India and Australia begin? The fifth day of the third Test between India and Australia will begin at 5:00 am IST. Which TV channels will broadcast the Test series? The India-Australia Test series will be shown on the Sony Pictures Network. How do I watch online live streaming of the India-Australia series? The India-Australia Test series live streaming will be available on Sonyliv. You can also catch the live updates on https://www.hindustantimes.com/sports-news/ (With agency inputs)	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
Es ist heiß, sehr heiß. Für Sitten – oder Sion, wie die Walliser Kantonshauptstadt auch heißt – es ist der bisher wärmste Tag des Jahres. Bei 34 Grad hat sich Prominenz aus Politik und Wirtschaft, begleitet von einem Troß Journalisten, in dem malerischen Städtchen eingefunden. Es gibt etwas zu feiern: Den ersten Dauertest eines autonomen Personenbeförderungsmittels im öffentlichen Raum. Die Schweizer sagen stolz: Das ist weltweit einmalig. Merklich aufgeheizt entstieg Bürgermeister Marcel Maurer nach der ersten Runde durch die Straßen und Gassen dem kleinen gelben Gefährt. "Die Klimaanlage im SmartShuttle ist noch nicht so richtig wirksam", sagte Maurer und zog seine Jacke wieder an. Draußen wars dem Stadtchef womöglich etwas kühl, angesichts der Saunatemperaturen in dem mit elf Passagieren auch vollgepackten Minibus. Kleine Notbremsung "Ausgerechnet heute ist es so heiß." Jürg Michel, Projektleiter der PostAuto Schweiz AG, war die Erleichterung über die gelungene Jungfernfahrt anzumerken. "Unter solchen Bedingungen konnten wir den Shuttlebus bisher noch nicht testen." Doch auch alle weiteren Testfahrten verliefen glatt. Fast: Nach einer überraschend abrupten Bremsung hatte eine mitfahrende Kamerafrau Mühe sich auf den Beinen zu halten. Ein etwas zu nah kreuzender Fahrradfahrer hatte die Vollbremsung ausgelöst – ein ungeplanter Reaktionstest für das autonome Fahrzeug. Bevor er auf die Sittener Straßen losgelassen wurde, war "Arma", wie der fahrerlose Elektro-Kleinbus des französischen Herstellers Navya heißt, sechs Monate auf einem Privatgelände unterwegs und musste zahlreiche Tests absolvieren. Nun muss er sich weitere eineinhalb Jahre unter realistischen Bedingungen im Alltag bewähren. Damit das SmartShuttle sicher unterwegs ist, ist es hinten und vorne mit jeweils drei LIDAR-Sensoren ausgestattet (Light Detection and Ranging – auch als Laser- oder 3D-Scanning bekannt). Mit verschiedenen Radien und Blickwinkeln sorgen sie für die 3D-Wahrnehmung der Umgebung, die Kartografierung der Standorte und eine auf 5 Zentimeter genaue Positionsbestimmung. Die exakte Position des Fahrzeugs wird zudem durch einen GPS-Sensor erfasst. Eine Stereo-Vision-Kamera hilft dem Arma, Hindernisse zu erkennen und ihre Position im Verhältnis zum Fahrzeug einzuschätzen. Auch hilft sie bei der Analyse der Verkehrsumgebung (Straßenschilder, Ampeln etc.). Flottenmanagement per Software Das ganze überwacht eine Software, die das Start-up BestMile in enger Zusammenarbeit mit Navya entwickelt. BestMile ist ein Spin-off der Polytechnischen Hochschule Lausanne (EPFL), die an der Weiterentwicklung des Systems mitarbeitet. Das sogenannte Flottenmanagement kümmert sich um die Betriebskontrolle der fahrenden Shuttles und eventuelle Notfallmaßnahmen. Dazu überwacht ein Teleoperator in der Betriebszentrale kontinuierlich den Einsatz der autonomen Shuttles und kann aus der Distanz auch sofort eingreifen und den Bus stoppen. Auch Aufgaben wie Dispatching, Routing, Auflademanagement und die Planung von Wartungsarbeiten werden mit der Software gesteuert. An die Plattform docken verschiedene Passagierinformationssysteme wie Smartphone-App und Haltestellen-Displays an. Darüber hinaus ist bei jeder Fahrt auch ein "Sicherheitsfahrer" mit an Bord des an sich autonomen Shuttles. Diese Mitfahrer oder "Grooms", wie der Betreiber sie nennt, erfüllen die gleich Funktion wie "die Personen, die die ersten Personen-Lifte begleitet haben und damit auch Sinnbild für eine technische Pionierleistung waren", wie Daniel Landolf, Chef von PostAuto Schweiz in seiner Eröffnungsrede erklärt. Die Grooms sind vor Ort verantwortlich für die Einsatzüberwachung, das einwandfreie Funktionieren der Shuttles sowie die Sicherheit der Fahrgäste. Sie können mittels eines der beiden Notfallknöpfe eine Notbremsung einleiten, sie informieren die Fahrgäste und helfen ihnen beim Ein- und Aussteigen (etwa mit Rollstühlen oder Kinderwagen). Mit einem Joystick kann der Sicherheitsfahrer nötigenfalls auch kleinere Korrekturen der Fahrbewegungen vornehmen. Ein Ruhetag pro Woche Bis Herbst 2017 werden die zwei Armas zunächst einen kleinen Rundkurs durch die teils verwinkelte Altstadt von Sitten abfahren, wo sonst kein anderer Bus kreuzt. Allerdings läuft der Betrieb vorerst nur Dienstag bis Sonntag, am Montag hat das Shuttle Ruhetag. Und auch nur jeweils am Nachmittag können Passagiere das clevere Büsslein bei einer derzeitigen Geschwindigkeit von 20 km/h nutzen. Die mögliche Höchstgeschwindigkeit soll laut Navya bei 45 km/h liegen. Je nach Ergebnis des Betriebs überlegt sich PostAuto für eine spätere Phase auch einen ausgebauten Fahrplan, hieß es bei der Eröffnung am Donnerstag. Bild 1 von 6 Jungfernfahrt des autonomen Postbusses in Sitten (6 Bilder) Zwei der kleinen Navya-Busse sind seit dieser Woche auf Sittener Straßen unterwegs. (Bild: heise online/Sperlich) Denn offenbar mit Gemach will man die Bürger und die anderen Verkehrsteilnehmer des 33.000-Seelen-Städtchens an das spezielle Gefährt gewöhnen, das schon am Eröffnungstag des Regel-Testbetriebs für reichlich Aufsehen sorgte. Seit der Ankündigung Ende 2015 wurde einiges verbessert an den Mini-Bussen: eine zweite Batterie sorgt für eine verlängerte Betriebszeit, die derzeit bei etwa zehn Stunden liegt. Es wurde eine Klimaanlage eingebaut und dank einer Rampe können jetzt auch Personen mit eingeschränkter Mobilität die Shuttles nutzen. Die Verbesserungen waren nach dem sechsmonatigen Offroad-Test als nötig erachtet worden. Da die gesetzlichen Bestimmungen für den Einsatz autonomer Fahrzeuge auf öffentlichen Straßen noch nicht abschließend geregelt sind, erteilten die Behörden Sonderbewilligungen für den Testbetrieb. Da man die Verkehrspolitik von morgen verlässlicher auf künftige Entwicklungen und Bedürfnisse ausrichten wolle, seien Versuche wie der in Sitten wichtig, sagte Erwin Wieland, Vizedirektor des Bundesamts für Straßen (Astra). "Und aus verkehrspolitischer Sicht braucht das heutige Verkehrssystem dringend eine Effizienzspritze." "Ganz schlimm für die Verwaltung" "Ein Meilenstein" sei der Versuch wegen der umfangreichen Vorarbeiten auch für die Behörden, sagte Wieland. "Denn im geltenden Straßenverkehrsgesetz kommen Fahrzeuge ohne Gas- und Bremspedal und erst recht ohne ein Lenkrad schlichtweg gar nicht vor." Daher komme noch einiger Regulierungsbedarf auf Politik und Verwaltung zu. Da beim SmartShuttle-Test verschiedene Technologien ineinandergreifen, waren auch "nicht weniger als fünf kantonale und nationale Behörden involviert", zählt der Astra-Vize auf. Und da es weder Erfahrungswerte noch zertifizierte Prozesse gibt, war das "etwas ganz Schlimmes für die Verwaltung. Hier wurde also Neuland in mehrerlei Hinsicht betreten". Mit dem Projekt sollen nicht nur Erfahrungen mit dem Betrieb autonomer Fahrzeuge gesammelt werden. Es geht auch um die Frage, wie die Bevölkerung und insbesondere andere Verkehrsteilnehmer die neue Technik akzeptieren. PostAuto und Partner wollen herausbekommen, ob der Einsatz von autonomen Fahrzeugen im öffentlichen Raum – beispielsweise in Fußgängerzonen und autofreien Ortschaften – oder auf Firmengeländen möglich ist. Als Anbieter von Mobilitätslösungen wolle man eventuell auch Orte erschließen, die bisher vom öffentlichen Verkehr nicht bedient wurden. Dazu gehöre auch die Bedienung der letzten Meile. Es sei jedoch nicht das Ziel, auf den bestehenden Linien Busse durch autonome Fahrzeuge zu ersetzen. Standort des Mobility Labs Dass Sitten als Ort für den Testbetrieb gewählt wurde, hat seinen guten Grund: 2014 wurde hier von fünf Partnern aus der Wirtschaft, Wissenschaft und Politik das Mobility Lab gegründet. Zu Stadt und Kanton gesellten sich die Schweizer Post, die EPFL, die Fachhochschule Westschweiz (HES-SO), alles unter der Koordination der PostAuto Schweiz. Gemeinsam will man ganzheitliche Mobilitätslösungen entwickeln, welche PostAuto als wichtige Institution des Schweizer ÖV anbieten könne. Die Busse der PostAuto befördern mit rund 2200 Fahrzeugen pro Jahr rund 141 Millionen Fahrgäste. Ihre Markenzeichen – das Dreiklanghorn und die gelben Postautos – gehören zur kulturellen Identität der Schweiz, sagt das Unternehmen stolz. (vbr)	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
Preview Clip for the new bb vid with the hungry college bttm. Rimmed his ass good and got him ready for our cocks. Preview Clip for the new bb vid with the hungry college bttm. Rimmed his ass good and got him ready for our cocks.	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
Predictions of good monsoons, the GST regime poised to set in and a host of pre-GST discounts offered by automakers in India has seen an increase in four wheeler sales during the month of May 2017. Maruti Suzuki India, Honda Cars and Mahindra and Mahindra posted double digit domestic sales. Ford India also experienced positive growth though domestic sales of Toyota Motor Corp dipped significantly. Maruti Suzuki Maruti Suzuki India Limited, a leader in passenger vehicles, saw sales surge by 15.5% in May 2017. The company sold a total of 1,36,962 units in the past month of which 1,30,676 units comprised domestic sales while 6,286 units were exported. This was against 1,23,034 units sold in May 2016. It was noted that it was once again entry level models, compact hatchbacks and utility vehicles which were more in demand. Sales of Alto and WagonR increased 18.1% to 39,089 units as against 33,105 units sold in May 2016. Models such as the Swift, Estilo, DZire, Baleno and Ignis also noted an increased demand which was up 10.1% to 51,234 units sold in May 2017 as compared to 46,554 units sold in May 2016. A 66.3% increase was also noted in sales of utility vehicles such as S-Cross and Vitara Brezza with 22,608 units sold. Hyundai Hyundai Motors India Limited, the country’s second largest car maker, posted a marginal rise in sales during the past month to the extent of 1.6%. Sales stood at 42,007 units in May 2017 as against 41,351 units sold in the same month of the previous year. New version of the Elite i20 and Creta contributed to increased sales while the ICOTY winner – Grand i10 and Xcent too received a makeover. Mahindra Mahindra and Mahindra, leading SUV manufacturers, sold 41,895 units in May 2017 as against 40,656 units in May 2016, thus registering a 3% increase in sales. Passenger vehicles which included UVs, cars and vans registered sales to the extent of 20,290 units as compared to 19,635 units in May 2016. Domestic sales stood at 40,602 units while exports were at 1,293 units. Tata Motors Tata Motors reported passenger vehicle sales of 10,855 units in domestic markets, a 27% increase as compared to sales in the same month of the previous year. Sales were exceptionally good where the company’s Tiago, Tigor and Hexa models were concerned. However, taking both passenger and commercial vehicle sales into account which also included exports, the company sold 34,361 units, 4% lower than 40,123 units sold in May 2016. Domestic sales of commercial and passenger vehicles also dipped 3% in May 2017 to 34,461 units as compared to 35,695 units in May 2016. Tata Motors also plans to reduce current 6 platforms to 2 platforms and deliver 7-8 product variants from two platforms for better coverage and economies of scale. The company is set to become the 3rd largest passenger vehicle maker in India after Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai Motors by 2019 and has invested INR 2,500 crores to launch new products in the country. Ford India Ford India noted a 36% increase in total sales in May 2017 to the extent of 23,503 units which included domestic sales and exports. This was against 17,279 units sold in May 2016. Domestic sales were up 16.64% to 6,742 units in May 2017 as compared to 5,780 units sold in May 2016 while exports increased 45.76% to 16,761 units in the past month as against 11,499 units exported in May 2016. Toyota India Toyota Kirloskar Motors has noted decreased sales in May 2017. In the past month, the company sold 12,339 units as against 13,604 units sold in May 2016. Of this total of 12,339 units, domestic sales stood at 10,914 units while exports increased from 990 units in May 2016 to 1,425 units in May 2017. Though model wise sales were not revealed, the company did confirm that sales of Innova Crysta dipped marginally while Innova Touring Sport saw better sales along with the Fortuner which claimed a No.1 position in its segment. The company also predicts a dip in sales in June as well with the GST policy coming into effect. Buyers in India are putting off sales till the 1st of July to see what benefits the rolling in of GST will bring. There could be a downward tax revision specially where larger vehicles and SUVs are concerned which will make Toyota models cheaper from July onwards. Honda Cars Honda Cars India has reported a 13.32% increase in domestic sales which stood at 11,278 units in May 2017 as against 9,954 units in May 2016. 378 units of Brio were sold in the past month along with 1,818 units of Jazz and 1,323 units of Amaze sedan and 4,046 units of City. Honda Cars India also sold 2,814 units of the WR-V compact utility vehicle and 870 units of the BR-V SUV while sales of the CR-V stood at 29 units. The company also exported a total of 498 units and is optimistic about sales in the months ahead following good forecast of monsoon and the timely roll out of GST. Will GST affect sales? The effects of GST will be felt far and wide across the automobile sector from the 1st July 2017. The rate of cess and classification of vehicles under this structure is yet to be disclosed but those looking to buy luxury cars and SUVs in the coming months have reason to rejoice as the GST could bring down rates substantially. Vehicles in this category are now subjected to a tax rate of 55% which post GST implementation could come down to 43% resulting in a 12% reduction in taxes. Announcement from the Government is also awaited where concessions or rebates on hybrids or electric vehicles are concerned.	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
Terms like non-essential, shelter in place and social distancing sound much better than saying 30 million of you will no longer have a job, you may not leave your house except to buy groceries, and stay at least 6 feet from other humans. I wonder what term will be created to help parents explain why Santa may not be coming to town this year. It’s unfortunate President Donald Trump never had to work his way up the corporate ladder. Had he been a nobody he might have learned a few things like knowing when to shut up, and that you will never get in trouble for what you don’t say. Related Articles Letters: Why blame Newsom? \| Success story \| Champion of ethics \| Contradicted column \| Legacy of failure \| Reflecting us all Letters: Time to act \| Skills for council \| Pentin has experience \| Patiño for Union City \| Barr unclear Letters: Slow growth \| Restrictions hurt kids \| No on Prop. 19 \| Exploiting workers \| Triumph buried Letters: Preserving Alameda \| Rejecting Prop. 16 \| Another tax grab \| Absurd ‘policy’ \| Balancing blame Letters: Stalled police reform \| Promoting flexibility \| Climate votes \| Trivial effect \| No more excuses There are two kinds of first responders. Health care workers, law enforcement officers and firefighters run to the scene never thinking of the risks or consequences. Career politicians immediately blame the other team while strategizing how they can use a situation to their advantage. Bill Behan Brentwood Submit your letter to the editor via this form Read more Letters to the Editor	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
La Secretaría de Economía sometió a consulta una lista de cerca de 300 productos para los que la Unión Europea (UE) busca que se reconozca la indicación geográfica, como parte de la ‘guerra de los quesos’ que se libra en las negociaciones con esa región. Es decir que ni Lala, ni Alpura, ni ninguna otra empresa del país podrían producir quesos de origen europeo utilizando en el nombre del producto la región en donde se originaron en un principio. Si quieren producir un queso tipo manchego o parmesano, por ejemplo podrán manufacturarlo, pero bajo un nombre distinto. 300 productos Como mantequilla, vinos, champagne y aceite de oliva tendrían que cambiar de nombre. Si Europa triunfa en su intención de que México reconozca estas indicaciones, que incluyen embutidos y vinos, los consumidores mexicanos ya no podrán comer queso manchego, gruyere, ni parmesano que no esté hecho en las regiones europeas donde se originaron, al menos con esos nombres. Un queso parmesano importado de Estados Unidos u otros país debería también tener otro nombre. México mantiene una negociación dura con la UE por el reconocimiento de indicaciones geográficas de productos como quesos en las rondas que mantienen para modernizar su tratado comercial. La ‘guerra de los quesos’ se explica por la gran producción que los países europeos tienen y que buscan colocar en el extranjero, de acuerdo con Jaime Castañeda, director ejecutivo del Consorcio por los Nombres Comunes de Alimentos. La solución que empresarios del sector buscan en México es que se reconozca esta indicación con “nombre y apellido”, es decir que sólo los productores de la UE puedan vender productos bajo el nombre de “queso manchego de la Mancha” y que los demás lo hagan bajo el nombre de “queso tipo manchego”, como se comercializa actualmente.	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
Around 90 per cent of social housing tenants on the Government’s new Universal Credit benefits system are currently behind with their rent because of the way the scheme is structured, a new report by housing providers has revealed. The research, conducted by two housing industry groups, found that a built-in seven-week wait for tenants before they could receive their first payment meant that nearly everyone on the scheme goes straight into arrears. The extended waiting period blamed for the problems was brought in by Iain Duncan Smith despite explicit advice from the Social Security Advisory Committee in June of this year that it should not proceed for precisely the reasons described by the new research. The National Federation of ALMOs and the Association of Retained Council Housing surveyed 36 social housing providers together covering 386,000 homes: they found that 89 per cent of the 2,000 tenants on Universal Credit in the survey were in arrears. A third of Universal Credit tenants surveyed were also so deep into arrears that they had been put into special measures where their rent is paid directly to their landlord – a provision that is automatically trigged after eight weeks of behind rent payments. The stark findings, first reported by trade publication Inside Housing, reveal an arrears rate three times higher than under the old benefits system. The DWP hopes that all benefit claimants will ultimately be moved to Universal Credit, though the project has been beset by delays. "[Arrears are] structurally built into the system. It’s just too long for people to wait,” Tracy Langton, the welfare reform lead for a Manchester-based council homes management organisation called Northwards, told Inside Housing. In June the Social Security Advisory Committee warned against proceeding with the “waiting days” policy blamed for the arrears problem. “The Committee expressed its concern about the introduction of waiting days into Universal Credit and the length of time claimants would have to wait until their first payment of benefit - in particular because Universal Credit includes the housing element - and recommended the Government reconsidered the policy,” according to a Government account. The Government said it did not accept the Committee’s recommendations and that it wanted to implement the policy in order to limit access to the benefits system for people who were only briefly unemployed. “The fundamental principle behind the waiting days policy is that social security is not designed to provide cover for moving between jobs or brief spells of unemployment,” the Government said in a response. It also noted that the policy would save the Treasury £150m a year. In the most extreme circumstances sustained rent arrears can result in tenants being taken to court, evicted, and made homeless. Heavy household debts, including rent arrears, have also been linked to depression and even suicide. The policy could also have a negative effect on house building at the same time as large parts of the UK face a housing crisis. Social housing providers also rely on the income from rent to build new homes. The lower reliability of rental payments is expected to reduce their ability to increase their stock. The Government’s Office for Budget Responsibility has already calculated that 34,000 fewer social homes will be built over the coming parliament because of other government housing policies that reduce the income of housing associations. A Department for Work and Pensions spokesperson told the Independent: “These figures are highly misleading – our research shows that the vast majority of Universal Credit claimants are confident in managing their budgets and that the number of claimants in rent arrears is falling. “For anyone who is having difficulties, we provide budgeting support and benefit advances, and can arrange for rental payments to be made direct to landlords if needed.	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
Glancing through ads in the Sunday New York Times for pricey real estate I'll never be able to afford , one for the Ritz-Carlton Residences in San Francisco caught my eye. When it talked of being created in "the West Coast's first skyscraper", I immediately thought of Burnham and Root's Mills Building, which I recently wrote about as still surviving on the 100th anniversary of the great San Francisco earthquake. Remarkably, however, the Ritz-Carlton Residences are actually in a second Burnham and Root building, designed for the San Francisco Chronicle. (I say remarkably because the two projects San Francisco has been able to preserve is exactly equal to the number of surviving Burnham & Root structures in downtown Chicago, out of what was once dozens of buildings throughout the greater Loop. Talk about being a prophet without honor in your home town.) According to John Wellborn Root chronicler Donald Hoffman, it was 1887 when Burnham & Root were hired by Michael de Young to design a new headquarters for the Chronicle. It was placed on a sloping, highly eccentric lot on Market between Geary and Kearney. When completed in 1889, the 10 story structure was the tallest building in the city. It followed the model of Chicago's Monadnock Building, where the outer walls are loading-bearing, with cast-iron and steel columns and beams on the interior. Hoffman recalls that it was largely a speculative venture, "two presses in the basement, the paper's business offices on the ground floor and entresol, editorial offices on the ninth floor, and the stereotyping department and composing room on the tenth; the rest of the space was for rent." Hoffman was derisive about the design. "The corbels were inanely repetitive . . . the tourelles were sheated in cold-rolled copper, ringed as though turned on a monstrous lathe, and capped with the most curious spools." The building was topped off by an enormous, four-story clock tower, topping out at 208 feet high, which the paper boasted "deviated only two seconds a month from Lick Observatory." A spiral staircase behind the clocks led up to loggias that must have provided spectacular views of the entire bay area. Diagonal elements were added to give the structure additional strength to withstand a major earthquake, which it did in 1906, but only partially. "Fireproofing and partitions were of hollow tile," Chicago construction magnate Henry Ericsson recalled in his memoirs, Sixty Years a Builder, "This building had a wooden roof, and on its ninth floor were nineteen linotype machines. The burning of the wooden roof together with the contents of this top floor hurtled the linotype machines through the hollow tile floors, wrecking the entire interior of the building." After the fire, architect Willis Polk was brought in to reconstruct the building. The Chronicle moved out in 1924, and in the 1962 the original building disappeared behind a "modernization" that saw a false front of steel panels placed over the original Romanesque facade. (Photo by Jeff Eichfield from the National Trust website.) As part of the $90,000,000 conversion into the Ritz-Carlton Residences, those steel panels are finally being removed. San Francisco Chronicle architecture critic John King tells me the building is still shrouded in scaffolding, but, even though the charmingly goofy, out-of-scale clock tower is long gone and not a part of the restoration, it should be a great coming-out party as Root's 1880's design will again be on view after a four-decade entombment. At least in San Francisco, I guess you can go home again. Join a discussion on this story [email protected] © Copyright 2006 Lynn Becker All rights reserved.	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
Booth #1– A combination of exercise equipment and special water. The exercise equipment was shaped like a stair climber, except it has had the stairs replaced with a flat pad. If you stood on this pad, it would violently vibrate, and shake the pounds right off. Surprisingly, this wasn’t the highlight of this booth. The highlight was the special water, as the poster promoting the water said “the water molecules in this water are 3X smaller, to allow a more effective absorption of the water into bodily tissues. Yes, you read that right, they had shrunken water molecules. (One of the founding scientists of this technology MUST be the one and only Rick Moranis.) Booth #4– I discovered that a monthly alternative medicine publication is written, printed, and distributed right in my hometown of Saskatoon. In this month’s issue, I can discover how to get angels to boost my immune system. (Once again, you read that right.) Booth #5– A man who is selling all natural herbal supplements. Apparently Western medicine treats the symptoms but not the disease itself, and it wasn’t until this man’s son tried the all natural herbal supplements that his depression went away. After some poking and prodding, it was revealed that he is rather anti-government, anti-big phama, and believes the government uses Western medicine to make the general populous lethargic and easier to control. Booth #9– A ex-chiropractor giving a presentation about his new all-natural supplement. Apparently, cancer is caused by anti-cholesterol medication, and people that don’t take anti-cholesterol medication get exposed to it from the waste of people that do take it. Oh, and also, breast cancer exams less than useless, and breast cancer machines are just boobie squishers. His natural supplement lowers cholesterol without causing cancer and squishing boobies, apparently. Booth #13– Three words, Healing Pink Lasers. They were very careful to always use the words “help” and “treat” instead of “cure”, but they were talking about treating and helping cancer, gangrene, arthritis, deformations, and other serious disorders. They even have a demonstration where the laser apparently helped a wilting plant to sprout back to health. The laser is better than regular white light, according to the people at the booth, because it has three focused wavelengths of light. Booth #16– Not really alternative medicine, but a cooking demonstration, but it had some pseudoscience in it anyways. He claimed that since lard does not melt on the back of a person’s hand, that a person should not consume it because your inner body heat won’t be able to melt it either, and it will become stuck in your various tubes and veins. I suppose the same should hold true for bread? For Jube Jube candies? Forget the gut processes that are designed to break down food, IF IT DOESNT MELT ON MY HAND, I WILL NOT EAT IT! Booth #21– Another magnetic bracelet that will balance my energy field and some other vague claims that will result in me “being at my best” when playing sports. Sounds like a lawyer helped with the pitch. The person at the booth tells me more than the written claims will, going into how the magnetic bracelet will simultaneously know to push the blood into my hands for hand-based sports, and into my legs for leg based sports. Wow, high tech or what? Booth #25– A deep purple juice, made from a combination of exotic sounding fruits I have never heard of before. It looks as if I got some on my shirt, no amount of baking soda and scrubbing would ever get the stain out. He claims the juice has helped many people wean off of conventional medications, including anti-epileptic meds, blood pressure meds, insulin, and so on. It taste great, but it’s thirty dollars Canadian for a liter bottle. Booth #26– A woman laying on a table, with a woman waving her hands over her without even touching her. The woman doing the procedure told me that she was smoothing chaotic energy in the woman’s back. She also said people always felt better after they were on her table, I asked “Couldn’t that be because they were lying down relaxing for 20 mins?”. She simply replied “No, people usually feel worse if they just lay down, I make them feel better”. Well, wasn’t expecting that one. She also told me she could teach me how to do the same treatment and have me giving it to other people in fifteen minutes, if only I had loser morals. Booth #31– A natural health food store. Selling tea, nuts, bark, and other various plant parts that are totally so much better than the evil pesticide ridden plant parts at the grocery store. Plus their stuff comes in brown paper bags that say happy “save the earth” related saying on them. How could you resist paying triple the amount for pretty much the same thing, what kind of environmentalist/agriculture industry shill are you? Booth #32– Honey, just honey, with a twist! These bees made the honey beneath big, welded, copper triangles. Giving the honey quantum energy properties that can rid people of cold and flu symptoms. They are also completely toxin free, unlike the non-trangled honey you buy at the grocery store. Booth #34- I don’t know if I can make heads or tails of this one. Okay, you have 32 bars in your head all connected to different energy flow patterns in the universe. Some represent money, some sex, some health and wellness and two of them, above your left eyebrow are the “time and space” bars (that’s right, YOU HAVE A TARDIS IN YOUR HEAD!). All the ladies in this booth were sitting behind people who were reclining in chairs, and nobody was moving, or making any sound. After 10 or so minutes, whatever was happening seemed to have happened, in a sneaky nothing-really-happened-but-I-must-have-missed-it kind of way. The lady told me they were reconnecting pathways to different energy frequencies in the universe, and each energy frequency had a different meaning and a different path into the conscious mind. I back away slowly, nodding. Booth #39– Aroma therapy—sure the lilac smells nice, but will it really help treat my heart disease? Apparently the answer is yes. (Have you noticed the trend, all the booths are very savvy in saying “will help treat” and not saying “will cure”?) Also, orange scents will help treat sleep apnea, vanilla will help with any kind of psychosis and depression, and popcorn extract will help with erectile dysfunction (why she decided to tell me this one makes me worry about how I present myself). Booth #40– Yepp, there it was. A pet psychic. Not labeled that of course, it was described as “talking to a pet’s body”. The looping video in the booth showed the person in the booth holding cats and dogs paws and asking them questions, she would then determine from body language and facial cues what the pet answered. She wasn’t asking any rickety “yes or no” questions, she was asking pets what animal they were in their past life, what was their favorite food, what was making them sad etc. I didn’t want to ask any questions. Booth #42– Another gentleman selling natural herbal supplements. This was actually the booth belonging to the man giving the presentation in booth #9 (the ex-chiropractor). It had his special supplement, along with a few others with the same logo. The guy had apparently heard skeptics were afoot, for as soon as we approached the booth, he asked one of the members who they were and who they were with. I eventually had a chance to talk to the young man, he confidently asked what makes scientific medicine better than natural medicine, I went on to explain the basics of the scientific method and how it is used in the medical field as an appl ied science. He had no further questions and went back to his coworkers. I think he was talking about what I said behind my back, but that could of just been my paranoid imagination running amok. Booth #43– Colonics. Yeahhh, the less I talk about this, the better. She said it will remove old food and toxins from me that have been inside me for years. I don’t think I ever need to be that clean. Booth #45– A man testing the toxin levels in blood. This almost seemed legitimate, as it included a team of nurses with a man in a lab coat. The nurses were taking blood, the doctor-looking man was checking the blood. It wasn’t until I probed that I saw what was beneath. He was a doctor, of Naturopathic Medicine. A degree one can obtain from an accredited Naturopathy University in only two years. Wow! A two year MD? Sounds too good to be true! Well, yes, it is. The man was seeing is the blood was “quantumly aligned”, and was counting the amount of “toxin colonies” in the blood. The man spent two whole years learning about naturopathic medicine after high school, who am I to correct him on whether or not blood is quantumly aligned? Booth #48– A coffee that is caffeine free, and toxin free. It also enriches the brew it produces with an energy pattern that prolongs energy. Coffee with positive vibes eh? No wonder it costs five times as much as regular coffee. Also, regular coffee carries toxins and funguses that cause the body to retain fat and toxins, while this coffee releases those things. Oh, and they have scientific studies to prove it. (Disclaimer: they consider a binder full of testimonials to be scientific studie.s) Booth #52– The last notable booth. A pendant you can wear as an earring, a necklace, hell, even something to hold your zipper up, and it makes you lose weight. Apparently fat wants to escape, but it is blocked from escaping the body by impure energy spikes and signatures. This pendant focuses the energy on itself, and created a portal for the fat to escape from. The fine print says it all, of course—all this weight loss can be yours, in association with proper diet and exercise. So, the tour was over. Some of the booths seemed perfectly legitimate. One was a local Saskatoon magazine that seemed to be in sync with conventional medicine, eat your share of fruits and veggies, exercise 30 minutes a day, and get enough sleep. Another was a group cardio session directed by a certified personal trainer. Another booth was offering lessons on how to quickly cook a balanced and healthy meal. Unfortunately, these kinds of booths were far outnumbered by the semi-woo and full-out woo booths. It is a unfortunate commentary into the kinds of things the public is willing to buy into, support, and choose over conventional medicine.	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
The vCenter Server Appliance (VCSA) 6.5 has significant new features and improvements mentioned here. One area of notice is the installer, which in this release not only has a new look and feel but other improvements. These improvements are not only visible from the ISO, but also during the deployment. The end result is a better experience throughout the VCSA deployment process. Let’s jump in and take a closer look. Pre-Install The VCSA installer is now browser agnostic, which makes it more portable. Along those lines, the Client Integration Plugin (CIP) is no longer needed. CIP provided browser functions such as importing an OVF/ OVA which are now native. Other CIP provided functions that are now native include: Exporting VM or vApp as an OVF / OVA Deploying OVF / OVA from a local file system or URL Exporting and importing from Content Library to the local file system Downloading and uploading files to and from a datastore Connecting remote devices to a VM (CD-ROM, USB, etc.) You may have noticed a couple of items missing from this list. Windows Authentication (SSPI) and Smart Card Authentication will still require a plugin. The Enhanced Authentication Plugin (EAP) will be available to enable these two functions. A couple of things to mention about EAP: EAP will require a Windows operating system to download and install. A CipMsgProxyService is running after the EAP is installed. Finally, the installer now supports use on macOS, Linux, and Windows. As always check the documentation to see supported OS versions. The installer will have the following minimum hardware configuration requirements for best performance: Operating System Version Support Minimum Requirements macOS 10.9 - Mavericks 10.10 - Yosemite 10.11 - El Capitan 1 CPU (2.4 GHz w/ 4 cores) 8GB of RAM 150 GB Storage Linux SUSE 12 Ubuntu 14.04 1 CPU (2.3 GHz w/ 2 cores) 4GB of RAM 16 GB Storage Windows 7 8 & 8.1 10 2 CPU (2.3 GHz w/ 4 cores) 4GB of RAM 32 GB Storage Deployment Up to this point the discussion has been about the exterior installer improvements. Now let’s shift gears and discuss the hotness inside. There is now the flexibility to move backward in the navigation pane on the left side. Moving forward still requires clicking next in the designated section as usual. Don’t worry any information entered will still be available when you move between screens. Previously the VCSA installer only had one stage. This meant any issues that occurred during the deployment would require a complete re-deploy. Of course, this was a pain when starting a deployment and walking away only to come back and find it had failed. Those days are now in the past, the VCSA 6.5 installer is now a two stage deployment process. Stage 1 deploys the OVA, configures basic networking, and starts the VAMI service. Stage 2 is the setup / configuration of the VCSA. After Stage 1 is complete you are presented with two options, to either close the installer or continue on to Stage 2. This ability to close the installer between stages provides a few possibilities. The first is the opportunity to take a snapshot between stages, in case any mistakes occur during Stage 2. Just for the record, taking snapshots between stages while handy is not supported. Second, if you have pressing business to take care of, you can always come back and finish the VCSA configuration later through the VAMI. The VAMI provides the option to continue the setup of the VCSA, starting at Stage2. One benefit to having a two stage deployment is better validation checks. The installer does validation checks at each stage, and in the case of any errors, there is now better error messaging. If there are errors, the installer logs are presented for troubleshooting. Depending on the issue presented there is the possibility of correcting it and proceeding with the installation. Along with the previous deployment sizes of Tiny-Large, this release introduces X-Large. The new X-Large size allows up to 2K hosts and 35K powered on VMs. The new size requires 24 vCPUs, 48GB of RAM, and 980GB of storage. Also, a new addition to the deployment size is the ability to increase the VCSA storage size. Two storage increase options are available to us Large and X-Large. Select one of these options if you want to increase the initial VCSA deployment size for SEAT data. SEAT stands for Stats, Events, Alarms, and Tasks. Changing the VCSA deployment size and storage is possible after deployment as well. A few things to note that have changed from the VCSA 6.0 sizes from the previously mentioned include: External Platform Services Controller size is now 2 vCPU & 4GB of RAM. Embedded deployments (VCSA and PSC on the same VM) are now 2 vCPU and 10GB of RAM Deploy Default Size Large Size X-Large Size Difference Default & Large Difference Default & X-Large Difference Large & X-Large Tiny 250 GB 775 GB 1650 GB 525 GB 1400 GB 875 GB Small 290 GB 820 GB 1700 GB 530 GB 1410 GB 880 GB Medium 425 GB 925 GB 1805 GB 497 GB 1380 GB 883 GB Large 640 GB 990 GB 1870 GB 350 GB 1230 GB 880 GB X-Large 980 GB 1030 GB 1910 GB 50 GB 930 GB 880 GB The VCSA installer has improved significantly from the previous 6.0 release. Shout out to the vCenter team for listening to its customers and providing a better user experience. Related	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
Group of Tory MPs want stakes slashed from £100 to £2 in spite of lobbying by bookmakers Theresa May risks a defeat in the House of Commons unless the government slashes stakes on fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs) from £100 to £2, with a decision expected as early as Thursday. A group of Conservative MPs, led by Iain Duncan Smith and thought to number more than 25, will write to the prime minister at the beginning of next week, urging her not to waver in the face of last-ditch lobbying by bookmakers. A draft version of the letter, seen by the Guardian, says it is the government’s “moral duty” to restrict FOBTs, which they say “are causing many social harms and leading to huge financial losses for those who can least afford it”. Quick guide What you need to know about FOBTs Show Hide What are FOBTs? Fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs) are machines, found largely in bookmakers and betting shops, that allow customers to stake up to £100 every 20 seconds on digital versions of games such as roulette. How many are there? The UK has 33,611 FOBTs, each of which take more than £53,000 from gamblers per year. Why are they considered a problem? Critics of FOBTs say they are particularly addictive, allow gamblers to rack up huge losses within a few hours, and are concentrated in deprived areas. They have also been linked to money laundering. Given the support for a £2 stake from every other political party, the strength of feeling among Conservatives means a more lenient approach would put May at risk of becoming the first prime minister to suffer a defeat on a statutory instrument since James Callaghan 40 years ago. Gambling watchdog fails to curb fixed-odds betting stakes to £2 Read more Matt Hancock, the minister for digital, culture, media and sport, will announce the final decision. Carolyn Harris, a Labour MP and long-time campaigner against FOBTs, said: “We now have a situation where if the government proposes a stake any higher than £2 they face being defeated by their own party in the House of Commons.” Bookmakers, who derive more than half of their revenues from FOBTs, wrote to all cabinet ministers this week to warn of “catastrophic” consequences – including the closure of high street shops with the loss of thousands of jobs – if stakes fall to £2. The eleventh-hour plea came after they lost a key ally in Philip Hammond, the chancellor, who had raised concerns about the impact of a £2 stake on the Treasury’s tax take, but has since dropped his opposition. A senior betting industry source said that bookmakers are also urging the government to allow them a year’s grace to change FOBT software once a decision is made. The source said this was a stalling tactic because bookmakers are more likely to do away with FOBTs altogether and are already preparing to replace them by installing more self-service betting terminals (SSBTs), which automate the process of laying bets on sport. Matt Zarb-Cousin, an anti-FOBT campaigner, said this cast doubt on the bookies’ public statements of concern about the impact of new curbs on staff. “The bookies warn of staff cuts if FOBTs are capped at £2 but with the introduction of more SSBTs they are automating their staff out of a job.” In their letter to MPs, gambling bosses including the chief executives of William Hill, Betfred and GVC which is in the process of a £4bn takeover of Ladbrokes, proposed a series of alternatives to a £2 stake. They suggested a reduction to £30, systems to allow customers to block their own debit card from gambling transactions and “hard stops” limiting losses to £500. Here’s a solution to Britain’s gambling problem – nationalise the industry Read more Figures from the Gambling Commission have previously shown that gamblers are losing up to £14,000 in a day, with 233,000 sessions ending in losses of more than £1,000 in 2015-16. The executives also called for the government to tighten up regulations on gambling advertising. This could do less damage to bookmakers than it would to well-established online rivals, who rely on advertising to build awareness of their brands.	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
A vizsgálat még nem zárult le a Pesti úti Idősek Otthonában - címmel adott ki közleményt Budapest Főváros Kormányhivatala. Ahogy azt szombaton megírtuk, az országos tisztifőorvos utasítására ellenőrzést tartott a Budapesti Kormányhivatal járványügyi hatósága a Pesti úti idősotthonban ahol a legfrissebb adatok szerint 198 igazolt koronavírus-fertőzött és 8 halott van. A járványügyi szakemberek szombaton azzal a céllal érkeztek az intézménybe, hogy ellenőrizzék, hogy a fenntartó fővárosi önkormányzat elkezdte-e végrehajtani azokat az intézkedéseket, amelyekre az országos tisztifőorvos kötelezte az önkormányzatot azután, hogy csütörtökön személyesen is bejárta az intézményt. Vasárnap reggel pedig arról számoltunk be, hogy az ellenőrzés során nem találtak jogsértést, ez derül ki a vizsgálat jegyzőkönyvéből, amit a főpolgármesteri hivatal töltött fel vasárnap délelőtt a honlapjára. Vasárnap délután pedig közleményt adott ki Budapest Főváros Kormányhivatala, amiben leírják, hogy ellenőrzést tartottak a Fővárosi Önkormányzat fenntartásában lévő Pesti úti Idős Otthonban, annak jegyzőkönyvben foglalt eredményéről nem tesznek említést. Hozzáteszik viszont, hogy nincs vége még a vizsgálatnak. "A kormányhivatal szakemberei vizsgálják a korábbi időszakot is, arra vonatkozóan, hogy az intézmény a járvány megjelenését követően betartott-e minden kötelező járványügyi előírást az idős ellátottak védelmében. Mindent megtettek-e a fertőzések terjedésének megakadályozása érdekében, volt-e folyamatos orvosi ellátás és személyzet, betartotta-e az elkülönítésre vonatkozó szabályokat, illetve volt e megfelelő tájékoztatás és védőfelszerelés a fővárosi idősotthonban" - írják, és hozzáteszik, hogy "az ellenőrzés és a vizsgálat eredményét az országos tisztifőorvos értékeli".	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
ODESSA, Texas (AP) — A father suspected of gluing shut the eyes and mouth of his 1-year-old daughter has been arrested in West Texas. El Paso County records show 29-year-old Johnnie Lee Carter is being held Wednesday on a charge of injury to a child causing serious bodily injury. On Sept. 16, Odessa police called to a domestic disturbance found the girl with facial injuries and her mouth and eyes glued. According to an affidavit, the toddler’s mother told police that Carter choked and punched the girl then applied adhesive. A super glue stick was found nearby. Carter had fled. According to Dallas News, an arrest affidavit also showed that Carter had stuffed a 2-month-old infant underneath a pile of pillows and blankets. Carter was arrested Monday at a motel in El Paso by U.S. Marshals after being on the run for 10 days. He faces extradition to Odessa, some 270 miles away. Online records didn’t list an attorney who can speak on Carter’s behalf. Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
The American is enjoying one of her best seasons at an age when most players have retired. How has she come back from injuries and an auto immune disease? It is hard to underestimate someone with seven grand slam and 49 WTA singles titles. But despite this, Venus Williams’ remarkable run at Wimbledon is a surprise not just because of her age – at 37 Williams was the oldest finalist since Martina Navratilova – but because her battle with a chronic health condition nearly forced her out of tennis. Diagnosed with Sjogren’s syndrome, an auto-immune disease whose symptoms include joint pain and fatigue, Williams has struggled in the demanding two week grand slam events since her diagnosis, pulling out of the 2011 US Open after being overwhelmed with fatigue and not reaching a quarter-final in singles at a grand slam tournament in 2012, 2013 or 2014. So how, at an age when most players are long since retired, has Williams enjoyed one of the best years of her career, reaching two grand slam finals (before January’s Australian Open, she had not reached a final at a major since 2009)? One of the most significant reasons lies close to home: the absence of her sister – and the world’s best female player – Serena, who is expecting her first child. But when it comes to Venus herself, it’s hard to say that her physical gifts have eroded with time: playing in the two-week grand slam events involves a much greater workload than a regular one-week tournament if you are to make the final. Venus Williams’ glorious reinvention undaunted by Wimbledon final defeat Read more “Grand slams require maintaining peak level performance in all aspects over a longer period of time,” says Kathleen Stroia, senior vice president of sport sciences and medicine for the Women’s Tennis Association, “maintaining this for two weeks requires focus and sustainability at the highest level of play. Which is why it is so challenging and such an tremendous accomplishment to be a grand slam champion.” Stroia maintains that veteran players, lacking the fresh legs of their younger opponents, have to use experience to their advantage. “Experienced players know the surface, the atmosphere, the culture and the ambience of the event,” she says. Tired legs may have in fact played a part in Venus’ loss to Garbiñe Muguruza in the Wimbledon final on Saturday. But in her earlier matches, Venus was able to conserve energy with shorter points. In her semi-final and quarter-final matches she went out aggressively, and shorter points meant less distance to cover (22 and 20 feet per point respectively). However, in the final, Venus covered a third more distance per point (31 feet per point). Given her past struggles with fatigue, it may explain why Muguruza was able to easily win the second set after a hard fought first. Of course, in many ways, after Sjogren’s syndrome robbed her of several years of her career, it’s a victory simply for Venus to be competitive again in tennis. As she told Health Magazine in January of this year, her newfound energy is in large part due to a radical change in her diet. She now adheres to a raw vegan diet, one that eliminates all animal products — including dairy, meat, and fish — and anything cooked at high temperature. Venus credits the diet for the return of her endurance and strength. “I literally couldn’t play tennis anymore, so it really changed my life,” Williams said. “Thankfully, I was able to find something that helped me get back to doing what I loved.” Diet and nutrition aside, the image of the tennis champion as willowy and slight is a vision of the past. “Now, the physical part is as important as technique,” says Nick Bollettieri, the International Tennis Hall of Fame coach to Andre Agassi, Jim Courier and the Williams sisters. As tennis has evolved, it has been transformed into less of a young person’s game, as top-level performance requires strength and physical maturity. “A lot of youngsters would struggle if they turned pro at 17 or 18, because the game is so physical,” he adds. And then there’s the experience that years on the tour bring – Williams turned pro at the age of 14 in 1994, when Muguruza was three weeks old. Today, Williams is a player who has kept many of the physical gifts of her early career — witness her 118mph serve, clocked at the fifth highest of the tournament — combined with the wisdom of a veteran. Experienced players like Venus understand what they can do offensively and defensively, and play to these strengths. In a game of angles, especially on a fast surface like grass, the experienced player can use this to maximize the court. As an example, in her semi-final against Johanna Konta, displaying confidence and power, Williams unleashed a soul-crushing serve straight at the Konta’s body to win a crucial break point, the equivalent of a dunk and stare down in the NBA. Maintaining that Venus is in great shape physically, Bollettieri believes that one of Venus’ (and Serena’s) strengths is derived from a maxim repeated by her father when they were young players. “The ball is never out,” was a call to run down every drop shot, volley and lob, regardless of where it was placed on the court. While Venus may no longer have the mobility to chase down every ball, her father’s advice speaks to a mentally tough mindset as well. While it has been easy to watch the power of Venus’ serve, admire her well placed forehands and marvel at her physical presence, it’s those intangible aspects that have perhaps taken her so far in 2017. Something that is not lost on Stroia: “She is a professional in every aspect; the way she prepares, the way she trains, who she trains with, the way she studies her opponent, the way she strategies; simply put, she’s a professional.” Because of that, Stroia isn’t surprised about Venus’ success at this year’s Wimbledon. “Her experience on the big stage, experience playing in finals, the fact that she has won numerous grand slam titles all lend to her steadfast results.” Bollettieri is quick to remind us that the world once thought Richard Williams crazy. “Richard introduced me to the girls when they were nine or 10 and told me they were going to be bigger than Michael Jordan.” Though where the Williams sisters belong in the pantheon of great athletes is yet to be determined, one thing now seems certain, we haven’t seen the last of Venus Williams.	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
Delta Air Lines and Bank of America are pulling their sponsorship of New York’s Public Theater’s production of “Julius Caesar,” which features a Donald Trump look-alike in the title role. (Photo: Joan Marcus/The Public Theater via AP) Just two weeks after Kathy Griffin was widely criticized for posing with a decapitated plastic head that resembled President Trump, the Public Theater in New York City began to perform a scene in which a character that strongly resembles Trump is brutally killed. However, unlike Griffin, the Public Theater is refusing to apologize. In its rendition of Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar” that premiered Monday at Central Park’s Delacorte Theater but has been in previews since May, the title character is blond, wears a blue suit, owns a gold bathtub, and is even married to a woman with a Slavic accent. Caesar is stabbed to death by members of his own government who doubt his ability to lead their nation. A storm of controversy ensued since last week when a clip of the death scene was widely circulated online. But the Public Theater sees no reason to apologize. “The Public Theater stands completely behind our production of Julius Caesar,” the nonprofit theater group wrote in a statement on its website. “We understand and respect the right of our sponsors and supporters to allocate their funding in line with their own values. We recognize that our interpretation of the play has provoked heated discussion; audiences, sponsors and supporters have expressed varying viewpoints and opinions.” In the midst of sharp criticism online, both Delta Air Lines and Bank of America withdrew their support for the production. Unlike Delta, Bank of America plans to continue its relationship with the theater group through other productions, but spokeswoman Susan Atran told the New York Times that if Bank of America had known that the play was “intended to provoke and offend,” it would never have supported it. Though Trump himself has not commented on the production, his son questioned its appropriateness on Twitter. I wonder how much of this "art" is funded by taxpayers? Serious question, when does "art" become political speech & does that change things? https://t.co/JfOmLLBJCn — Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) June 11, 2017 Story continues According to the Public Theater, the play was designed to get people talking. “Such discussion is exactly the goal of our civically-engaged theater; this discourse is the basis of a healthy democracy,” it said. “Our production of Julius Caesar in no way advocates violence towards anyone. Shakespeare’s play, and our production, make the opposite point: Those who attempt to defend democracy by undemocratic means pay a terrible price and destroy the very thing they are fighting to save.” Read more from Yahoo News:	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
This item has been removed from the community because it violates Steam Community & Content Guidelines. It is only visible to you. If you believe your item has been removed by mistake, please contact Steam Support This item is incompatible with Star Conflict. Please see the instructions page for reasons why this item might not work within Star Conflict. Current visibility: Hidden This item will only be visible to you, admins, and anyone marked as a creator. Current visibility: Friends-only This item will only be visible in searches to you, your friends, and admins. Caption Such a balanced match. /s Save Cancel Created by FocusedRISK Offline File Size Posted Size 0.350 MB 18 Oct, 2015 @ 12:50pm 1920 x 1080 4 Unique Visitors 0 Current Favorites	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
ESPN's Corey Pronman listed his "Top 50 Prospects at the Midseason Point," and several Red Wings prospects made his Insider-only entry's list: 30. Evgeni Svechnikov, C, Detroit Red Wings (Previous: 21) Age: 19 \| Ht: 6-3 \| Wt: 205 Team: Cape Breton (QMJHL) \| GP: 27 \| G: 17 \| A: 22 Svechnikov has a lot of desirable elements to his game. He's a big, sturdy forward with fantastic puck skills, a good shot, a competitive fire battling for pucks and a lot of offensive creativity. His lackluster WJC exposed some of the areas he needs to work on, such as his foot speed and defensive play. He's a player who bleeds upside, but might need a decent amount of time at the AHL level to round out his game. ... 34. Joe Hicketts, D, Detroit Red Wings (Previous: 53) Age: 19 \| Ht: 5-8 \| Wt: 179 Team: Victoria (WHL) \| GP: 31 \| G: 2 \| A: 30 A prospect of much discussion given his history of being undrafted, playing very well since being signed by Detroit, and because of his small stature. Hicketts has a lot going for him. He's a very good skater, he's tough as nails and very strong for a small player, he moves the puck well, and has quality all-around hockey sense. He doesn't blow you away with skill, which you'd like to see in a smaller player, but he certainly has talent. How he transitions to the pro ranks is a question mark. Holmstrom hasn't followed up his outstanding playoff performance last spring in the SHL into this season, but he has still been pretty solid -- especially for a teenager. He's a big center with above-average hands and great vision. His overall hockey sense is impressive, as he can be trusted to control the puck or play in critical defensive situations. The neutral zone is where he can struggle at times, as his speed is quite poor and he really struggles to push defensemen back. ... 40. Vili Saarijarvi, D, Detroit Red Wings (Previous: Unranked) Age: 18 \| Ht: 5-9 \| Wt: 165 Team: Flint (OHL) \| GP: 30 \| G: 5 \| A: 15 He wasn't fantastic at the WJC, but his performance overall during the past calendar year has caused him to gain a significant bump in prospect value. Small defensemen need to have exceptional skill to be a top NHL prospect, and Saarijarvi certainly has that. His offensive hockey sense is also off the charts. He opens lanes and controls the power play extremely well, and is a very good skater. I'm not sold on his defensive play, although I wouldn't qualify it as horrible, with his puck movement clearly providing the bulk of his value. ... 48. Anthony Mantha, LW, Detroit Red Wings (Previous: 70) Age: 21 \| Ht: 6-5 \| Wt: 214 Team: Grand Rapids (AHL) \| GP: 29 \| G: 10 \| A: 14 Mantha is a another tough player to get a read on. Memories of his dominant QMJHL days still linger, as he has been a good, albeit not great pro. The tools are all there. He's big and quick, with a high skill level and a big shot. He has stepped up this season in terms of showing effort more consistently and improving his defensive coverages. There remain moments that concern you with Mantha; you'll still see him give up on a play, or give a half effort during a board battle, but it's not as common.	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
St. Louis Police declare “We’re in control” as crackdown on protests enters fifth day By Genevieve Leigh 20 September 2017 “We’re in control,” announced the head of the St. Louis, Missouri Police Department, Lawrence O’Toole, at a press conference Monday after a weekend of unrest in the city over the acquittal of a white cop who shot a black man to death in 2011. “This is our city and we’re going to protect it,” O’Toole declared. The escalation of the brutal police crackdown in St. Louis came as the demonstrations entered their fifth day Tuesday. In sharp contrast to the largely peaceful character of the protests, police have displayed alarming levels of belligerence and arrogance in their repression of protesters. Groups of police officers in riot gear were heard early Monday morning marching through areas forcibly cleared of demonstrators chanting, “Whose streets? Our streets!” mocking protesters with a slogan commonly used at rallies. The authoritarian declarations of the police chief and his officers came on the heels of the arrest of 123 protesters in a massive roundup on Sunday night. The arrests were carried out using a highly criticized police technique called “kettling,” in which police surround and trap protesters so they cannot escape. They are then arrested en masse for alleged refusal to disperse. Nearly a day after the mass roundup, police were refusing to release information on how many of the arrested remained in custody. Protesters criticized the police department for keeping many in jail for over 24 hours, despite them having only been charged with misdemeanor crimes, mainly “failure to disperse.” Undeterred by intermittent rain and a heavy police presence, hundreds gathered outside the St. Louis city jail Monday night to show solidarity with those who remained behind bars. They chanted, “Free our people!” outside the jail. Dozens of social media videos have emerged throughout the week showing police dressed in riot gear attacking crowds of unarmed protesters of all ages, races and ethnicities, with mace, pepper spray balls, and tear gas. The situation is so tense that Democratic mayor Lyda Krewson canceled town hall meetings scheduled for Tuesday and Thursday nights. In a statement, she said the kind of comments that would have been heard at the town hall meetings, “are happening in the streets and in my inbox and on social media right now.” While Krewson’s statement offered a toothless threat to investigate intimidation tactics being used by officers against peaceful protesters, she has allowed the police to operate as a law unto themselves. In fact, Krewson praised the police for doing an “excellent job” during the protests. While paying lip service to the protestors, Krewson has continued to be a vocal supporter of the police. “Frankly, I don’t think those two positions are dichotomous,” she told the New York Times. “It shouldn’t be hard to understand what protesters are saying, and also at the same time to support law enforcement.” The upheaval started on Friday after St. Louis Circuit Judge Timothy Wilson found police officer Jason Stockley, 36, not guilty of first-degree murder and armed criminal action in the killing of Anthony Lamar Smith, 24, despite overwhelming evidence of the murder and DNA evidence that Stockley planted evidence at the scene. Immediately following the announcement of the “not guilty” verdict, crowds of more than 500 people took to the streets. Over the weekend, the number of protesters grew to an estimated 1,000 at their high point. The demonstrations have spread throughout the city and into the suburbs, including marches of hundreds of people through two local shopping malls. On Monday, over 100 high school students walked out of classes and held a rally in the suburb of Kirkwood. Another 250 students protested at a high school in Webster Groves. Local officials have offered their full support to the police department through their Twitter and Facebook accounts. Governor Eric Greitens, a Democrat turned Republican and former Navy Seal, made clear he would not tolerate any disturbance. In a Facebook post on Sunday, he wrote, “In the past, our leaders let people break windows, loot, start fires. They let them do it. Not this time.” Greitens has publicly criticized his predecessor’s response to the protests that followed the 2014 police murder of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. At a press conference last month, Greitens cited Ferguson as a reason for having more police to patrol St. Louis. He said that since Ferguson, the police “haven’t felt like they’ve been supported to go out and to proactively police.” Greitens’ concern for the wellbeing of police officers is difficult to stomach. In the three years since the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, more than 3,000 people across the United States have lost their lives to police violence. Not a single officer, including the one who killed Brown, was held accountable by the Obama administration for the thousands of police murders carried out during his presidency, a trend that will continue under Trump. Police officers have been given blanket immunity by the highest levels of the political establishment to terrorize poor and working-class communities for decades. As of Monday, 860 people had been killed by the police in 2017, 13 more than the same time last year. At least eleven people have been killed by police nationwide since the verdict in the Stockley case on Friday. Three people were arrested Monday night during a protest against the killing of Scout Schultz, a white 21-year-old Georgia Tech student. The unfolding events in St. Louis are representative of mounting tensions between the ruling class and masses of workers in the US, and around the world. Today, twenty people own more wealth than the bottom half of all Americans combined. Those in affluent communities live as many as 16 years longer than their neighbors in poor areas. The unprecedented levels of inequality have created an untenable situation and the American ruling class has taken note. The emerging protests against the attacks on the working class—over police violence, immigrant rights and health care—are a prelude to massive social upheavals. These struggles will be met with violent repression by the ruling class, who will use the framework of a police state, laid by the Obama administration, to defend their wealth, power and privileges. The criminality and ruthlessness of the ruling class is embodied in the Presidency of Donald Trump, who has zealously promoted the police and military forces since coming to power. Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
Children in Armenia start thinking about their careers at a very young age — around six months or so. When an infant’s first tooth arrives, typically in four to seven months, a celebration takes place known variously as the “agra hadig” or “atam hatik.” As part of the ritual, objects symbolizing different professions are arrayed in front of a child: a microphone for an entertainer, a stethoscope for a doctor, scissors for a tailor or money for a banker. Whichever object the baby chooses first is thought to be a sign of where the child’s professional aptitude lies. With the appearance of teeth, a child can begin to eat solid food, and the acquisition of this “adult” skill is believed to be a propitious time to foretell what the future holds, said Yulia Antonyan, a professor in the department of cultural studies at Yerevan State University in Armenia’s capital.	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
A former Department of Justice official promised MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” that ousted FBI director James Comey has even more damaging evidence against President Donald Trump. Matthew Miller, a former communications director for the Justice Department and spokesman for former attorney general Eric Holder, warned the Trump administration last week that Comey kept meticulous notes when he believed there was evidence of wrongdoing. ADVERTISEMENT One thing I learned at DOJ about Comey: he leaves a protective paper trail whenever he deems something inappropriate happened. Stay tuned. https://t.co/sENlYyhL5B — Matthew Miller (@matthewamiller) May 12, 2017 That’s why he’s not surprised at reports on Comey’s memo showing Trump privately asked him to end the investigation of disgraced national security adviser Mike Flynn — and Miller anticipates further information about the president’s request for loyalty. “I have to think there’s a memo about that conversation, and I have to think there’s memos about other conversations,” Miller said. “Look, if I were in Jim Comey’s shoes, you probably don’t leak the worst memo first, right? The memo we saw (Tuesday) night may be the least damaging to the president. We may be seeing even more explosive ones to come.” In addition to the underlying Russia probe, was Comey quietly building an obstruction case against Trump, for either DOJ or Congress? — Matthew Miller (@matthewamiller) May 16, 2017	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
Leslie Lee III is a writer and English teacher from Baton Rouge, LA who lives in Yokahama, Japan with his wife, Kelly, and their dog, Taco. His writing ranges from essays and articles on politics and Japanese wrestling, to the novel he is working on with his father about Kentucky’s Black coal miners. But according to some sources, Lee does not actually exist. He’s a figment of the imagination. Because he’s both Black and a supporter of Bernie Sanders. ADVERTISEMENT The nice thing about the notion of the unbearable whiteness of being a Sanders supporter is that it doesn’t need to be based in reality. On Saturday, for example, CNN attributed Sanders’ landslide victories in Alaska, Hawaii and Washington primaries to the whitey-mcwhiteyness of the states: These caucus states — largely white and rural — are the type of places Sanders traditionally does well. In order to win the nomination, he must replicate this success in other, more ethnically diverse states that hold primaries, as he did in Michigan last month. In theory, it’s possible. But the reality is tough. Likewise, in theory, it’s possible to portray these states as white. But the reality is tough. Because they’re not. Washington state is literally the seventh most diverse state in the Nation. Two (if not three) of the five most diverse counties in the country are found in Alaska, which CNN itself described as “the most diverse place in America,” in an article in January. And Hawaii, according the Pew Research Center, stands out… more than any other state… when it comes to its racial and ethnic diversity… The Rainbow State has never had a white majority. In fact, non-Hispanic whites, the largest group in most states, account for only 23% of the population, according to 2013 census figures. But you know the old adage, necessity (to correct irresponsible journalism and media bias) is the mother of (viral) invention. And So, Mr. Lee launched his epic #BernieMadeMeWhite hashtag, mocking the idea that all supporters of Sanders are white. Its debut appearance was: ADVERTISEMENT I decided I would ask Mr. Lee, or @tokyovampires as he’s known on Twitter, about what inspired the hashtag, though merely ignoring it and him would have been a very meta demonstration of the very erasure he’s protesting. ADVERTISEMENT He explained, “The common narrative in this election that Bernie has a ‘minority problem’ or that all his supporters are ‘bros’ is pervasive, and insulting to the POCs [People of Color] and women who support [him].” But, “it hit a peak… when Hawaii, the least white state in the nation, retroactively became white or ‘not diverse’ due to the fact that Bernie won it. So, I started # BernieMadeMeWhite.” And, Lee tweeted to me, “since my real existence as a black person who supports Bernie is ignored… might as well embrace my new whiteness.” Lee was kind enough to answer some more questions over e-mail, probably out of a sense of solidarity, since I’m a female Bernie bro and don’t really exist either. ADVERTISEMENT Katie Halper: What are your feelings on Sanders and Clinton? Why do you support Sanders?” Leslie Lee: I think if you’re a progressive there’s a clear choice in the Democratic primary. There is a candidate who has consistently stood for the things I believe in, and wants to take the country in the direction it needs to go. Sanders isn’t perfect, but he’s the most progressive candidate I’ve seen in my lifetime and has earned my full support. I did not expect I would be participating in this election, but Sanders is such a great candidate I could not sit this out, no matter how dissatisfied I am with the Democratic Party. Hillary Clinton is a deeply flawed candidate. Her history of warmongering, racism, and corruption make it impossible for me to support her. ADVERTISEMENT KH: What are some of the worst examples of the erasure you are responding to with your hashtag? LL: It’s impossible to know where to start. Google “Sanders + race” and you’ll get the impression that Bernie Sanders and all his supporters are white nationalists. Some prominent writers have even said as much in order to paint his campaign as just a mirror image of Trump’s. In reality, Sanders is the only candidate still in the race without a decades long history of racism. Ted Cruz, Donald Trump, and Hillary Clinton are racists, period. Bernie Sanders is not. It’s true that Hillary Clinton has had overwhelming support from older black folk in the early southern states, but there’s more to blackness than that and more to POC than blackness. Women who support Bernie have been erased too, even though he often garners equal support! KH: Have there been any meta responses to your hashtag that only prove just how people refuse to acknowledge the existence of people of color who don’t fit into the model they would like you to fit into? ADVERTISEMENT LL: Someone called the hashtag “tone-deaf” because on the US Census many Hispanics identify as white. I’m still trying to figure out what exactly that means, but he blocked me when I pointed out all the hispanics using the hashtag who did not identify as white. There’s also been a number of late comers to the tag saying, “See, this is exactly how offensive white Bernie supporters are.” I’m sure they didn’t bother looking at the tag before launching an accusation of racism against Bernie supporters. KH: Have you gotten positive responses from other people of color to your hashtag? LL: Many! I knew it would be trending in a few hours because I was just expressing a frustration that every Bernie supporter has to deal with. I’ve pointed out that Bernie supporters may seem aggressive online because their perspectives have been shut out of the media, but that goes even more for female Bernie supporters and POCs. KH: Do you ever think that the alleged Clinton supporters who do things like claim Black or Latino supporters of Bernie Sanders don’t exist are undercover Bernie plants? How could they not get that this would be #PRFail? ADVERTISEMENT LL: If you watch just CNN and MSNBC and read the Washington Post you can create a little bubble for yourself where Bernie Sanders is just some cooky old white guy that a few dumb white guys like. If you encounter something that pierces that bubble, the Jonathan Capeharts and Amanda Marcottes of the world will write a thinkpiece to repair the tear before you log off Facebook. However, women who support Bernie and POC who support Bernie will remember this in November if Hillary is the nominee. Most will be willing to forgive, but a lot won’t. It’s terrible strategy on the part of Clinton and her surrogates to erase us, because they’re going to need us very soon. KH: Do you think the people perpetuating myth that Sanders’ support is all white believe it or are cynically spreading it? LL: It’s always a bit of both. They believe it, people like me call it out, they cynically come up with some reason why a voice like mine doesn’t matter, they go back to believing it.	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
In November 2018, Utah voters passed three ballot initiatives in support of creating a medical cannabis program, expanding Medicaid and establishing an independent advisory commission to make redistricting recommendations to the Legislature. In all three cases the voters have gotten, and will get, what they asked for. Making that happen, however, isn’t always as simple as it may seem. All three initiatives came with legal complications that required modifications. My colleagues in the House and Senate worked with initiative supporters to: align with existing legal realities, consider impacts to state finances, and prevent lengthy, expensive legal challenges. As a member of House leadership, I have been actively involved in the discussions with supporters of each measure as we ironed out the legal wrinkles to the satisfaction of all parties. Let me be clear: Whether lawmakers supported or opposed any of the individual propositions, our sole focus has been and will continue to be enacting the will of the people. Failure to resolve each initiative’s legal issues could result in challenges in court, potentially delaying implementation. That’s not a productive path forward, nor is it the right thing to do for Utah taxpayers. Collaboration and transparency are crucial as we work to make the policies supported by the people fit with existing legal realities. Take a look at each one individually and you will see that, including necessary changes, citizens are getting what they asked for. Proposition 2 — medical cannabis initiative: Lawmakers began discussions with both supporters and opponents of medical cannabis before Election Day, anticipating a divisive campaign and a close vote. All of the parties involved worked out a compromise that was passed in a special session less than a month after voters went to the polls. Subsequent changes to the law were made when counties raised concerns about jeopardizing federal funding by distributing a federally banned substance. Utah voters expressed support for making medical cannabis available to those who will benefit from it, with the proper controls in place to prevent recreational use. The legal issues were resolved and citizens got what they asked for. Proposition 3 — Medicaid expansion initiative: Utah voters expressed their support to extend Medicaid coverage to more Utahns whose income is at or below 138% of the federal poverty line. The funding mechanism — an increase in sales tax — was insufficient to cover the cost of expansion. While Medicaid was designed to help the most vulnerable obtain health care, in reality the initiative incentivized more spending on able-bodied adults than on those in greatest need. Legislators began working through potential compromise scenarios to expand coverage in a fiscally responsible way. During the 2019 general session, a compromise bill was passed that included some limits on eligibility as well as a work requirement, enrollment caps and changes to the funding mechanism. Asking voters if they want something but not asking them if they like the price tag makes it easier to pass. As a state, we live within our means. Necessary changes were put in place to ensure we could extend coverage to more of those in need without compromising our state’s financial well-being. Proposition 4 — independent advisory commission on redistricting initiative: With the U.S. census taking place this year, lawmakers are tasked with redrawing district boundaries for Utah’s representation in the U.S. House of Representatives, as well as for state legislative and state school board districts. After a year of negotiations, the Legislature has committed to fully funding the independent commission’s work, at a cost of $1 million. We agreed the independent commission should be able to establish whatever standards it wants for the purposes of doing its work. The commission is now responsible for making recommendations for consideration by the Legislature. The ultimate responsibility for redistricting decisions lies with the Legislature. The people voted for an outside perspective and we are committed to ensuring the independent commission is able to deliver. Creating good public policy is never easy. Each change has a ripple effect, often with far-reaching ramifications. When the public speaks out through the initiative process, it is important for policymakers to be responsive. Vilifying legislators as we work to preserve the will of the people while staying within existing law erodes public trust in elected officials and doesn’t align with reality. Utah legislators have made necessary improvements to flawed initiatives while finding a way to give the people what they asked for. Francis Gibson is the Utah House majority leader, representing Mapleton in Utah County.	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
By Jeffrey Dastin (Reuters) - A new ban on U.S. travel for nationals of seven Middle Eastern countries caught the airline industry unprepared, with flight crew from those states also barred from entering, the International Air Transport Association said on Saturday. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has briefed the global trade group that passport-holders from states such as Iran and Iraq, including cabin crew, will be barred entry to the United States, IATA said in an email to its member airlines, seen by Reuters. The email underscores airlines' confusion about the situation as well as the challenge some may face from crew scheduling. Airlines also stand to lose business: for instance, around 35,000 travelers from Iran visited the United States in 2015, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. "Much of this development has come over the weekend and at a time when IATA's Facilitation team has been on duty travel. Unfortunately, our response has been slower than we would have preferred," the email said. "A number (of questions) have yet to be resolved." The executive order by President Donald Trump bans travelers with passports from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen for 90 days. IATA was informed that lawful permanent residents of the United States - or green-card holders - from those countries are not included in the ban. However, a Trump administration official told reporters that green-card holders from the countries need to check with a U.S. consulate to see whether they can return, causing some confusion for airlines, which still plan to follow CBP guidance. Gulf airlines Emirates, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways said earlier on their websites that passengers would need a green card or diplomatic visa to enter the United States. An Emirates spokeswoman said "a very small number" of its passengers had been affected by the ban. (Reporting by Jeffrey Dastin in Redwood City, California, Additional reporting by Alexander Cornwell in Dubai; Editing by Stephen Coates)	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Advertisement President Barack Obama has said the US must uphold moral standards when waging wars that are necessary and justified, as he accepted his Nobel Peace Prize. In his speech in Oslo, he defended the US role in Afghanistan, arguing the use of force could bring lasting peace. He also said his accomplishments were slight compared with other laureates. Mr Obama was given the prize in October for his "extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and co-operation between peoples". Thursday's ceremony in the Norwegian capital came days after Mr Obama announced he was sending 30,000 extra US soldiers to the war in Afghanistan. ANALYSIS Paul Reynolds, BBC world affairs correspondent He is careful to say that America respects the cultures and traditions of others - again, trying to project the US as a defender not an aggressor. But he also wants to stand up for "universal values". It is a difficult balancing act. His statement that "America has never fought a war against a democracy" might raise the issue as to whether it has fought on the side of non-democracies. Point-by-point analysis of speech There was a mixed reaction when he was named as the winner of this year's prize, becoming the fourth US president to be given the honour. Mr Obama's elevation to the rank of fellow laureates such as Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa and Martin Luther King, before he has even spent a year in office, has sparked fierce debate. Critics also said it was inappropriate for the honour to go to the commander-in-chief of a country involved in conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Acknowledging the controversy, Mr Obama said he accepted the award with humility, adding: "Compared to some of the giants of history who have received this prize... my accomplishments are slight." He could not argue with those who said many previous laureates were "far more deserving" of the honour than him, he said. US media reaction In pictures: Obama's Nobel Prize Send us your comments Defending his Afghan troop deployment, Mr Obama said there were times when "the use of force [was] not only necessary but morally justified," as long as force was proportionate and civilian casualties minimised. "Instruments of war do have a role to play in preserving the peace", he said. "A non-violent movement could not have halted Hitler's armies," he added. "Negotiations cannot convince al-Qaeda's leaders to lay down their arms." He said the US "must remain a standard bearer in the conduct of war" to differentiate it from "a vicious adversary that abides by no rules". The president of war and peace appears to have pulled off a difficult balancing act, by refusing to bask in the glow of merely being the 'anti-Bush' Mark Mardell, BBC North America editor Read Mark's thoughts in full Mr Obama also emphasised alternatives to violence, stressing the importance of diplomacy and sanctions to confront nations like Iran and North Korea over their nuclear programmes. While Russia and America were working to reduce their nuclear stockpiles, he said the international community must ensure Tehran and Pyongyang did not "game the system". "Let us reach for the world that ought to be," Mr Obama said. "We can understand that there will be war, and still strive for peace." He paid tribute to anti-government demonstrators in Iran, Burma and Zimbabwe, and said the US would always stand on the side of those who sought freedom. Protests Some anti-war demonstrators gathered outside city hall, where the ceremony was held. "We are protesting against him because... we don't think he is a man of peace," one of them told AFP news agency. Amid high security, the US president earlier signed the Nobel Prize book of previous laureates after arriving in Oslo with his wife, Michelle. Indonesia unveils statue of Obama Obama tight schedule irks Norway There has been some disappointment in Norway at Mr Obama's decision to stay only one day, even though Nobel ceremonies are usually held over three, and decline a traditional lunch with the king. At a news conference with Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, Mr Obama said he and his wife wished they could stay longer. In the evening, Mr Obama appeared alongside Michelle on their hotel balcony and waved to a torchlight procession below. The couple were then due to go to the traditional winners' banquet. The Nobel Prizes for chemistry, literature, medicine, physics and economics are also being presented, in the Swedish capital Stockholm. Each laureate, including Mr Obama, receives a diploma, a medal and 10m kroner ($1.4m; £865,000). Coinciding with the Nobel ceremony, a statue of Mr Obama as a young boy was unveiled in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, at a park, near where the president lived between 1967 and 1971. Bookmark with: Delicious Digg reddit Facebook StumbleUpon What are these? E-mail this to a friend Printable version	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
Corporate journalists are triggered over a $9.90 pair of boxer shorts emblazoned with the phrase ‘Fake News’ sold by Forever 21. A local reporter with the Baltimore Sun publicly blasted Forever 21 for selling the shorts, yet her tweet might actually sell more shorts since she’s giving the product more publicity than it likely had before. This is not funny, cute or fashionable, @Forever21. Why are you selling this product? https://t.co/cXs0NeOMfD — Pamela Wood (@pwoodreporter) July 23, 2019 Wow I’m ordering some right now! — FlyoverCountry (@FreedomFlyover) July 23, 2019 Another local journalist – a sports reporter – suggested the shorts expressed “hatred for journalists.” Turns out, all you need to express your hatred for journalists in clothing form is $9.90, to be given to @Forever21! Wow, so affordable! pic.twitter.com/MrcYGjgCoz — Katherine Fominykh (@katfominykh) July 22, 2019 Forever 21 described the biker shorts as “a pair of knit biker shorts featuring an elasticized waist and allover ‘Fake News’ text graphic:” Twitter has made headlines recently as the center of “outrage culture” in which users publicly blast companies over products that usually seem rather innocuous, with the hope that their tweets will force the products from store shelves. Case in point, Macy’s pulled ‘Mom Jeans’ plates from store shelves after Twitter users claimed they promoted “fat shaming.” The plates featured three circles representing portion sizes starting from the smallest ‘Skinny Jeans’ near the middle and expanding outward to the ‘Mom Jeans’ circle. Alex Jones examines the fallout of falling IQs and attention spans, and what people can to to fight it. The Emergency Election Sale is now live! Get 30% to 60% off our most popular products today!	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
New images show what Google’s Seattle campus in South Lake Union will look like. Graphite Design Group released images this week. Plans for the campus show a pair of six-story office buildings that will sit on a block between Terry and Boren avenues north. Above the office space will be eight stories of apartments with 79 units. A design review meeting is set for next week. Construction is expected to begin next year.	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
Kay Bailey Hutchison. Tom DeLay. Rick Perry. Any list of the most powerful politicians to hail from the Lone Star State over the past 50 years would certainly include the three names listed above. Certainly, they are three of the most powerful Republicans to hail from Texas in modern times. Yet former Sen. Hutchison, former House Majority Leader DeLay, and Gov. (seemingly for all of time) Perry also share another thing in common. As of late Friday night, all three have been indicted by grand juries in Travis County, Texas, on so-called “public integrity” charges. I will not rehash the details that lead to Perry’s indictment. For a complete history, I recommend you read Chris Hooks' post over at the Texas Observer. The purpose of this post is to call attention to a troubling trend in Texas politics. Devoid of meaningful power in the legislature or in Congress, Texas liberals have taken to using the criminal courts as political weapons against Texas Republicans, effectively criminalizing the political process. Not only is this trend manifestly unjust, but it is, in fact, actively counterproductive, especially for members of the Left attempting to win over voters in Texas. Making the case that Perry has not been the best governor, even to many Republicans, is not difficult. Now, however, the debate will focus on whether he is a felon. Making that case, especially to a conservative-leaning electorate, is a much, much taller task. To understand how Republican politicians in one of the reddest states in the nation are repeatedly subject to politicized legal harassment by liberals, one must understand a bit of Texas geography. While the majority of the state’s political map is red, Travis County, which includes Austin, is among the 60 most liberal counties in the U.S. What this means is that the Republican-dominated legislature sits in a county governed almost exclusively by liberal Democrats. That's not, by itself, particularly problematic. Most major cities in Texas are run by Democrats, after all. Yet Austin is not like other major Texas cities. It is the capital and seat of government. As a result, the Travis County district attorney oversees something called the Public Integrity Unit, which investigates the ethical breaches of state politicians. Sadly, rather than exercise the power to investigate and prosecute meaningful breaches of the law in a fair and even-handed manner, liberal district attorneys have used the power to try to jail their political opponents on charges that have a history of not holding up in court. The two most prominent examples prior to Perry are the prosecutions of Hutchison and DeLay. In 1993, Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle brought charges against Hutchison for allegedly misusing state telephones and allegedly assaulting a staffer while Hutchison was serving as the state treasurer. After dragging Hutchison’s name through the mud in the media for months, Earle attempted to withdraw the charges on the first day of trial, only to have the court refuse to allow him to do so. The jury returned a “not guilty” verdict that same day. Hutchison emerged from Earle’s overreaching prosecution stronger than ever, and no liberal ever even came close to unseating her from her perch in the Senate. Earle did not learn his lesson, although the next time he did manage to pick a man who fit the villain role a bit better. For more than a decade, DeLay was the most powerful man in the House and a force to be reckoned with in Texas. He ruthlessly doled out favors to his friends and did all he could to punish his enemies. Earle decided to try to take him down. Operating on the theory that DeLay violated Texas campaign finance laws during the 2002 state legislative election, Earle began seeking an indictment. So badly did Earle want to take down DeLay that he convened eight grand juries before one finally returned an indictment. DeLay eventually was convicted (in Travis County), but an appeals court in September overturned that conviction, saying there was no evidence DeLay committed a crime. Weakened by the drunk-driving conviction that precipitated the conflict between her office and Perry, Rosemary Lehmberg, the current Travis County district attorney, was too disgraced and politically feeble to do anything so brazen as attempt to investigate the governor. So a liberal “watchdog group” called Texans for Public Justice was savvy enough to file a complaint last year. A judge appointed a special prosecutor with ties to Democratic U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett to oversee the case and, voila, here we are again. The weakness of the case against Perry may be the least of the worries for Perry's critics (fair-minded and otherwise). Do not underestimate the political consequences of this indictment: Perry may not be a rocket scientist, but he is among the most effective political actors in the country -- just ask Hutchison how easy it is to beat him. By attempting to put him in prison, liberals have made the governor a martyr. He can now bid for the White House as a brave hero fighting the Left. George Fairview is the pseudonym of an attorney working in Austin, Texas.	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
The liberal media honor their celebrity activists as if they are the most compassionate progressive humans on planet Earth. In Sunday's Washington Post, the Arts & Style section carried a big story headlined "The political awakening of Alyssa Milano: Her list of small-screen credits fade against her newly carved role as an A-list social activist." Milano was honored -- yes, honored -- as the current Jane Fonda: She was named one of “The Silence Breakers,” Time’s collective Person of the Year. Outspoken and ubiquitous, Milano went into overdrive. She appeared on Capitol Hill during the Brett Kavanaugh hearings, and protested in front of the White House. She visited Parkland, the border and Flint, Mich., launched an activist collective challenging the NRA’s political influence, campaigned for Democratic candidates and against Georgia’s abortion bill. Of all people, it is a star of anodyne television who became one of MeToo’s leading voices, pushing it to the forefront more than a decade after Tarana Burke founded the movement. Milano gained enduring popularity from that comfort-food programming, and she has harnessed it — and her abundant social media skills — to become an A-list activist. She’s the Jane Fonda of the current era — if Fonda hosted Project Runway All Stars and appeared in a continuous loop of Charmed reruns. You can tell they don't really buy that Milano's as good at acting as Hanoi Jane, noting she's "not once been nominated for an Emmy." But Post feature writer Karen Heller can really produce a progressive puff piece. Naturally, she turned to other liberal heroines for praise: Filming [Netflix series] Insatiable in Atlanta became a political opportunity. “There’s a lot of good trouble to get into in Georgia,” says the actress, who has a professor come to the house monthly to teach her constitutional law. Milano is “a committed, passionate fighter and advocate for reproductive rights in Georgia and nationally,” notes former gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams in an email. “Her activism has centered on the people of Georgia.” The Post didn't mention that Georgia passed the "heartbeat bill" Milano called "so evil" -- which bans abortion after a baby's heartbeat can be detected -- and Brett Kavanaugh is on the Supreme Court, so Milano isn't exactly Winning. But somehow, everything she does helps people (not counting the unborn babies):	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
Minor Mistake Marvin ladying about how nobody in my neighborhood shovels their sidewalk there are no sidewalks in my neighborhood these captions aren't guaranteed to be correct	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }

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