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0.999975 | [td]Presidential executive orders have a long history. Both Democratic and Republican presidents exercise such commands. Are EO’s a privilege in law or are they simply a technique to skirt passing a Congressional statute? The executive branch adopts a pattern of rule that undermines the fundamental purpose of separation of power. The historic result is that the legislature is relegated to a junior collaborator in their partnership of crime. The bureaucracy has developed into a full-fledged imperial juggernaut that has a life of its own. Who started such an ill-conceived practice?
Quote: \\"Executive Orders have two main functions: to modify how an executive branch department or agency does its job (rule change) or to modify existing law, if such authority has been granted to the President by Congress. Executive orders are not mentioned by the Constitution, but they have been around a long, long time. George Washington issued several Presidential Proclamations, which are similar to EO's . EO's and Proclamations are not law, but they have the effect of statutes. Executive orders are subject to judicial review, and can be declared unconstitutional\\".
The Kennedy pandering to government \\"hired help\\" put the bankruptcy of state and federal budgets into motion. Consider for a moment the absurdity of encouraging a permanent class of government slackers who conspire to steal from the productive wealth creators of society. Anyone who accepts that state or federal employees provide invaluable and necessary public services must be a \\"civil servant\\" or come from the long tradition of government parasites.One of the most destructive of initiatives encourages the unionization of state and federal public employees.
Quote: \\"In 1959, the state of Wisconsin enacted the first state statute permitting municipal employees the right to form, join, and be represented by labor organizations. Three years later, President John F. Kennedy issued Executive Order 10988, which granted federal employees the right to join and form unions and to bargain collectively. The order established a framework for collective bargaining and encouraged the expansion of collective bargaining rights to state and local government employees. Beginning in 1976, the federal courts have ruled that the First Amendment's freedom of association prohibits states from interfering with public sector employees' right to join and form unions. These decisions invalidated the sovereignty doctrine, contributing to the growth of unions.The Supreme Court held in Smith v. Arkansas State Highway Employees, Local 1315 (1979), (3) however, that nothing in the U.S. Constitution requires public employers to either recognize or collectively bargain with public employee unions. Employees can form and join unions without the benefit of protective legislation, but public employers are not compelled to recognize or bargain with unions. Public employers are required to bargain only under laws that mandate bargaining. The duty to bargain can be imposed only by statute\\".
A Baron’s cover article, The $2 Trillion Hole lays out the dire dilemma.
Quote: \\"According to a survey last month by the Pew Center on the States, a nonpartisan research group, eight states -- Connecticut, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Oklahoma, Rhode Island and West Virginia -- lack funding for more than a third of their pension liabilities. Thirteen others are less than 80% funded.According to the latest compensation survey by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average state and local employee out earns his counterpart in the private economy with an hourly wage of $26.11, versus $19.41. That's before benefits (pensions, health care, paid vacations and sick days and leaves) drive the disparity even higher, to $39.60 an hour for public employees and $27.42 for private workers.Besides the politicians, the primary culprits are the public-employee unions, which have used their growing power to dramatically enhance pension benefits. They curry favor with sympathetic politicians, lavishing them with large donations and manning campaign phone banks. They also engage in full-court-press lobbying at all levels of state and local government\\".
Watch the video Plunder! by journalist Steven Greenhut, who details a number of ploys that both workers and management use to maximize their retirement checks. The brilliant WSJ article, Public Employee Unions Are Sinking California by Mr. Greehut points out the insane aftermaths from allowing public employee unionization.
Quote: \\"Approximately 85% of the state's 235,000 employees (not including higher education employees) are unionized. As the governor noted during his $83 billion budget roll-out, over the past decade pension costs for public employees increased 2,000%. State revenues increased only 24% over the same period. A Schwarzenegger adviser wrote in the San Jose Mercury News in the past few days that, \\"This year alone, $3 billion was diverted to pension costs from other programs.\\" There are now more than 15,000 government retirees statewide who receive pensions that exceed $100,000 a year, according to the California Foundation for Fiscal Responsibility.Many of these retirees are former police officers, firefighters, and prison guards who can retire at age 50 with a pension that equals 90% of their final year's pay. The pensions for these (and all other retirees) increase each year with inflation and are guaranteed by taxpayers forever—regardless of what happens in the economy or whether the state's pensions funds have been fully funded (which they haven't been).A 2008 state commission pegged California's unfunded pension liability at $63.5 billion, which will be amortized over several decades. That liability, released before the precipitous drop in stock-market and real-estate values, certainly will soar\\".
[td] If you think that there are exceptions within the public sector unions that are above criticism you are wrong. Teachers like to cling to the myth that they are essential and sacrifice to educate the children. By any objective and empirical standards the results of their social engineering and indoctrination is an underclass of illiterate and brain dead idiots. Government schools are tombs for zombie reproduction. NJ Governor Chris Christie is spot on in his assessment of the Teachers Union video.
It is beyond common sense and pragmatic necessity to sit back and allow the \\"dumbing down\\" of America by a system that rewards failure and steals tax dollars to pay the Teacher Unions blackmail. If you think reform is possible, forget it.
In, The Teachers’ Unions’ Last Stand, Steven Brill writes.\\"The teachers’ unions have become accustomed in recent years to fighting off reform efforts by Republicans and think-tank do-gooders. They ignore the rhetorical noise, while sticking to the work of negotiating protectionist contracts with the politicians who run school systems and depend on their political support\\".
The fact that the education bureaucracy comprises a union paradise is obvious. Why citizens swallow this insult might best be explained that most feudal subjects were trained to accept unlimited abuses from the state in government schools.
Municipal jurisdictions do not fare any better. View the Public Sector Union Bosses' Stranglehold on Mayors video. America does not need cradle to grave government services and certainly cannot afford its cost. The Freeman sums up the essential problem in Government Workers Are America’s New Elite.
Quote: \\"The bottom line: Public-safety officials have many ways to gin up their already generous retirements benefits to astronomical levels. Most garden-variety government employees get lucrative pensions also. It is common for them to retire at age 55 with more than 80 percent of their final year’s pay. Most public employees receive defined-benefit retirement plans, in which the taxpayer promises a set rate of return, as opposed to private-sector workers who have 401(k)s and other defined-contribution plans in which the market sets the return\\".
Public Employee Unions came into being because of harebrained executive orders. The legislature has the authority to put an end to the abuse of power from the executive. Indeed the theory is sound. The election of courageous representatives dedicated to unwinding of the tyranny from the public sector is remote even under the best of circumstances. The lobbying and funding from public service unions keep a stranglehold on the process.
The U.S. is broke. Public Employee Unions refuse to void their unconscionable contracts. The taxpayer can no longer afford this destructive fraud. Society can only be rejuvenated through a total downsizing of all public services. The biggest deadbeats that skim off the system are your phony public servants. The only bright spot from a collapse and natural bankruptcy is the evaporation of the public sector. Can you say Bye Bye to those decadent pensions? The government wants total control and public employees have made their - UNION - bargain with the devil. | 2019-04-24T16:19:36 | http://forum.batr.net/showthread.php?tid=35956 |
0.999993 | Is the ECB capable of saving the Euro?
For the third time in three years, the European Central Bank (ECB) deployed heavy artillery to lift the Eurozone out of the doldrums. Mario Draghi, President of the ECB, continues to find new monetary recipes to save the political currency. But southern Europe is cracking under the austerity policies, while France is in the grip of anti-EU sentiment. Political turmoil is threatening Europe and there is nothing the ECB can do about it.
Without the ECB, the euro would no longer exist, but can the currency union survive only thanks to the ECB? The answer is no. At the end of 2011, monetary union was on the verge of collapse and European leaders were powerless. Draghi stepped in and pumped €1.1 trillion into the banking sector. Banks got loans for a period of three years at a low interest rate and without asking a lot of questions about collateral. This 'revolutionary action' helped for several months. In the summer of 2012 Draghi was again taking the lead as interest rates on Italian and Spanish government bonds were skyrocketing. To save the euro, he said he would do "whatever it takes". Lenders could count on Draghi to speed up the printing press if necessary. They were temporarily reassured.
The rise of Eurosceptic parties in the European Parliament, on both the left and right, does not threaten the numerical balance of power in Brussels, but it does bring about political upheavals. Britain is closer to the exit; France closer to the abyss. More and more power goes to the EU, while the EU is in trouble, and is increasingly powerless. The European elections have made divergent forces stronger.
The greatest source of uncertainty is France. Marine Le Pen, leader of the Front National, dealt the Parisian elite a slap in the face. Her next goal is the French presidential election of 2017. President Hollande is no longer taken seriously; for the French, he is a buffoon. The economy is stagnating and the centre-right opposition is fighting an internal power struggle. Marine Le Pen is now in a strong position for 2017. French political leaders in the second economy of the euro-zone are uncertain, unpredictable and scared. Le Pen puts the political class under pressure, and in Strasbourg, she'll get an influential forum as ringleader of a nationalist group.
Le Pen will do what Nigel Farage, leader of the UK Independence Party, has been doing for years: use the European parliament as a platform for the home crowd. Ukip won the European elections, not only at the expense of the Conservatives. Labour saw its voters defect to Ukip, even in the North of England and Scotland where Ukip was considered hopeless. Ukip is driving Britain to the exit and Prime Minister Cameron has promised a referendum in 2017, with the question: 'in or out of the EU'. The British Liberal Democrats of Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg tried to put themselves on the map as resolutely pro-European. They were wiped off the map. Britain and France are two large countries with a rebellious home. They will bring the storm to Brussels.
Last month I was in the U.S. Congress to give a briefing on the situation in Ukraine. The audience consisted of Republican congressmen and their staffers. Suddenly, Republican Representative Dana Rohrabacher, former employee of President Reagan, took the floor: "Why all this criticism of Putin?" he asked. "Putin is our ally in the fight against political Islam." Then he took off, leaving behind him a heated discussion. The confusion in conservative America has grown after columnist Pat Buchanan (former employee of Presidents Nixon, Ford and Reagan) wrote last year: "In the cultural battle for the future of humanity, Putin might be one of us."
Also in Europe there is a remarkable understanding for Putin. Earlier this month, a group of 200 German intellectuals sent a public endorsement to Putin. They lay all the blame for tensions in Ukraine on the U.S., led by President Obama, once so applauded in Berlin. Three former German chancellors (Schröder , Schmidt and Kohl) expressed their understanding for the annexation of Crimea. A majority of the German population thinks Germany shouldn't stand on the side of the West, but in between the West and Russia. British eurosceptic Nigel Farage expressed his admiration for Putin and Marine Le Pen, leader of the French National Front, visited the President of the Russian Parliament in Moscow. Other of the PVV's far-right allies in Europe, such as the Austrian FPÖ and the Italian Lega Nord, admire Putin.
The source of these endorsements is the Putin doctrine that aims to restore Russia's status as a great power, flanked by political, social and cultural themes that are also present in the public debate in Europe and the U.S. What does the Putin-doctrine consist of?
Boris Johnson, Mayor of London, visited the French city of Bordeaux last year and treated his counterpart Alain Juppé to some British humour: "Did you know I have more Frenchmen in London than you do in Bordeaux?" There are around 350,000 Frenchmen in London. French people who want to run a business can't do that in a stagnant France. If the current trend continues, the volume of Dutch exports next year will be higher than the French. The popularity of President Hollande has fallen to 18%. The French political elite fears a beating in the European elections of 25 May by a triumphant Marine Le Pen, the standard-bearer of the Front National.
The political weight of France, the second largest economy in the Eurozone, has fallen dramatically in a short time. France and Germany used to be at the same level politically, though the French economy could never match the German. The EU could not take decisions against France. Paris always knew how to form a blocking coalition and, if necessary, they could morally blackmail the Germans. The French decline is worrying. The Dutch might be tempted to gloat, but that attitude is wrong because in the end, the French Thalys was the only company that managed to link Amsterdam and Brussels by train last year. It is also unwise. A weak and insecure France is a greater threat to Europe than the confident display of flags of 'la grande nation' which, like French women, contains a lot of charm. Chancellor Merkel and President Sarkozy were a European political couple; President Hollande seems pathetic.
John Kerry , the U.S. Secretary of State , recently said that Russian President Vladimir Putin is using 19th century methods in the 21st century. Kerry is behaving as if Putin was impolite during a state banquet and burped at the table. But Putin's mind-set is largely rooted in the 19th century. Politics is about power, not about law. The West, accustomed to diplomatic conferences on noble UN objectives, has trouble with cynical realpolitik.
Modern political leaders know more about public relations than about history, let alone the 19th century. Kerry is no Kissinger. The former US foreign minister obtained a PHD with the thesis 'A World Restored', on the Congress of Vienna (1814-1815). Henry Kissinger wrote in the Washington Post: "Far too often the Ukrainian issue is posed as a showdown: whether Ukraine joins the East or the West. But if Ukraine is to survive and thrive, it must not be either side’s outpost against the other — it should function as a bridge between them."
What can we expect from Putin with his 19th Century methods? He used the chaos in Ukraine to annex Crimea, home to the Russian Black Sea Fleet and where 60% of the population is Russian. He received massive support from the Russian people for whom Crimea has always been part of the Russian demos. Ukraine cannot do anything, and the West is both shocked and helpless. For Putin, there was little risk. | 2019-04-22T02:11:25 | https://www.djeppink.eu/en/publications?page=1 |
0.999973 | How can I measure Dynamic Range with an APx instrument?
Dynamic range is the ratio between the full scale output of a device and the spurious noise products created when the device is producing a very low level signal. It is a commonly made measurement for DAC's, ADC's, and other digital audio devices.
Dynamic range is usually measured by stimulating a device with a full scale sine wave and measuring its output level, then stimulating the device with a sine wave that is -60 dB below full scale and measuring the level of the noise and distortion products that remain after the fundamental is removed from the output of the device with a notch filter. The dynamic range is the ratio of the two, usually expressed in dB.
First, configure the connections to the device under test using Signal Path Setup. The APx515, 525, 526, 585, and 586 can work with any combination of digital or analog, input or output devices.
If the device has a digital input, stimulate the device with a 0 dBFS signal and set the input reference dBrA to the device's output level. If the device has adjustable gain, you would normally adjust the gain until the output is just below clipping. You can find this level using the "Scope" or time domain signal monitor view.
If the device has an analog input, adjust the generator level until the output clips, or (for digital outputs) reaches 0 dBFS. Now set the generator reference dBrG to the generator level and the input reference dBrA to the device's output level.
If the device has a digital input, set the generator to -60 dBFS. If the device has an analog input, set the generator to -60 dBrG.
If desired select a low pass bandwidth limiting filter (20 kHz is the default) and a THD+N weighting or high pass filter.
Set the units in the THD+N level result to dBrA.
Turn the generator on. The absolute value of the measurement is the Dynamic Range of the device. For example, if the measured result is -90 dBrA, you would report a Dynamic Range of 90 dB. | 2019-04-19T04:18:02 | https://www.ap.com/technical-library/measuring-dynamic-range-in-apx500/ |
0.9742 | Already have a Username/Password for Mediterranean Marine Science?
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Crocetta, F., 2005. Prime segnalazioni di Fulvia fragilis (Forskål in Niebuhr, 1775) (Mollusca: Bivalvia: Cardiidae) per i mari italiani. Bollettino Malacologico, 41 (5-8), 23-24.
Crocetta, F., 2012. Marine alien Mollusca in Italy: a critical review and state of the knowledge. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 92 (6), 1357-1365.
Crocetta, F., Colamonaco, G., 2010. Percnon gibbesi (Crustacea: Decapoda) and Aplysia dactylomela (Mollusca: Gastropoda) in the Taranto Gulf (Italy, Ionian Sea): new populations incoming. Marine Biodiversity Records, 3, e88.
Crocetta, F., Spanu, M., 2008. Molluscs associated with a Sardinian deep water population of Corallium rubrum (Linné, 1758). Mediterranean Marine Science, 9 (2), 63-85.
Crocetta, F., Zibrowius, H., Bitar, G., Templado, J., Oliverio, M., 2013. Biogeographical homogeneity in the eastern Mediterranean Sea - I: the opisthobranchs (Mollusca: Gastropoda) from Lebanon. Mediterranean Marine Science, 14 (2), 403-408.
Crocetta, F., Agius, D., Balistreri, P., Bariche, M., Bayhan, Y.K. et al., 2015. New Mediterranean biodiversity records (October, 2015). Mediterranean Marine Science, 16, 82-702.
Crocetta, F., Gofas, S., Salas, C., Tringali, L.P., Zenetos, A., 2018. Local ecological knowledge versus published literature: a review of non-indigenous Mollusca in Greek marine waters, Aquatic Invasions, 12 (4), 415-434.
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Zenetos, A., Gofas, S., Russo, G., Templado, J., 2004. CIESM atlas of exotic species in the Mediterranean. Vol.3. Molluscs. CIESM Publishers, Monaco, 376 pp.
Thompson, W.L. (Ed.), 2004. Sampling rare or elusive species: concepts, designs, and techniques for estimating population parameters. Island Press, Washington, DC, 429 pp.
Occhipinti-Amborgi, A., 2002. Current status of aquatic introductions in Italy. p. 311-324. In: Invasive Aquatic species of Europe – distribution impacts and management. Leppakoski, E., Gollasch, S., Olenin, S. (Eds). Kluwer Academic Publishers, London.
Méliane, I., 2002. Contribution to the knowledge of the ascidian fauna in the south east of Tunisia. MSc Thesis. University of Alicante, Spain, 65 pp.
Katsanevakis, S., Thessalou-Legaki, M., 2009. Documenting the presence of protected species in Souda Bay. p. 745-750. In: 9th Panhellenic Symposium of Oceanography & Fisheries, Patra, 13-16 May 2009. HCMR, Athens.
Gerovasileiou, V., Issaris, Y., 2014. First record of the Indo-Pacific ascidian Herdmania momus (Savigny, 1816) in Greek waters. p. 675-695. In: New Mediterranean Biodiversity Records (October, 2014), Katsanevakis, S., Acar, Ü., Ammar, I., Balci, B. A., Bekas, P. et al., Mediterranean Marine Science, 15 (3).
Smeets, E., Weterings, R., 1999. Environmental indicators: Typology and overview. European Environment Agency (EEA), EEA Technical report, No 25, 19 pp.
EU, 2000. Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2000 establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy. Official Journal of the European Communities L327, 1-72.
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Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (preferably in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access). | 2019-04-24T02:24:56 | https://ejournals.epublishing.ekt.gr/index.php/hcmr-med-mar-sc/about/submissions |
0.999048 | Making your own tomato paste is a simple task. You can make tomato paste out of tomato sauce or canned tomatoes. You don't need any other ingredients and the result is identical to store-bought tomato paste, so your dish won't be impacted at all.
Simmer and stir constantly until the sauce has reduced by 2/3 volume. This is usually around 7 minutes if using tomato sauce and 8-10 minutes if using canned tomatoes.
For a 8 ounce can, you will have 3 or 4 ounces of tomato paste; for a 15 ounce can, you should get 6 or 7 ounces of paste. Leftovers can last three to four days in the refrigerator before expiring.
Tomato sauce and tomato puree are suitable substitutions for imitating the taste of tomato paste. But because tomato sauce and puree are not as concentrated as tomato paste, you need to double or triple the amount of this substitution. For every 1 tablespoon of tomato paste the recipe calls for, add 2-3 tablespoons of tomato sauce or tomato puree. You might also have to reduce the amount of other liquid ingredients to make the dish the correct consistency.
Though not the greatest substitute, ketchup can be used in place of tomato paste if need be. Just substitute the condiment with the ingredient equally. Though tomato paste and ketchup look similar and are both made from tomatoes, ketchup has a different flavor than pure tomato paste, so the flavor of your final dish might be altered. To keep the taste more spot-on with tomato paste, try adding spices such as basil to the ketchup.
Tomato soup is the least best substitute, but when all else fails you can definitely use it in place of tomato paste as an equal substitute. Though the two have a similar flavor, tomato soup has much more liquid and adding it can make your dish very runny. To combat this, cut back on another wet ingredient in the dish by 1/4 cup. | 2019-04-25T23:46:18 | https://www.oola.com/life-in-flavor/2386711/the-best-substitutes-for-tomato-paste/ |
0.999997 | Dark chocolate dipped waffle potato chips. What could be better? 6 oz. | 2019-04-19T21:15:18 | https://thevelvetchocolatier.com/product/chocolate-potato-chips/ |
0.999761 | 19 for 19: Are the Cubs the class of the NL Central?
Next up: Are the Cubs the best team in the NL Central?
The entire National League is much improved, with superstars Manny Machado and Bryce Harper staying in the league despite signing with new teams and other really good players moving over from the American League - Edwin Diaz, Robinson Cano, Josh Donaldson, etc.
The NL Central is also quite a bit better, with the Reds making big moves to jump into potential contention and join the other four teams in the division that all finished over .500 a year ago.
The Pirates didn't have a busy offseason (do they ever?), but the Cardinals added Paul Goldschmidt (then locked him up long-term) and Andrew Miller while the Brewers filled a major hole by adding Yasmani Grandal and bringing back Mike Moustakas and now they might add Craig Kimbrel, too.
You already know the story about the Cubs' offseason, where their biggest signings were Brad Brach and Daniel Descalso. Coupled with a return to health from some big names (Kris Bryant, Yu Darvish, eventually maybe Brandon Morrow), is that enough to vault the Cubs to the top of the division once again?
It's very possible. The Cubs won 95 games last year despite a whole bunch going wrong - from injuries to a grueling schedule to steps back from key young players like Willson Contreras and Kyle Schwarber.
Right now, I like the Cubs' chances at outlasting the rest of the division because of their depth. The bullpen is the only hole on the roster, and there's no guarantee it will even be a sore spot for the team this year given how volatile relievers are from year to year.
They also have the star power with three of the best all-around players in the division (Bryant, Anthony Rizzo, Javy Baez) and a supporting cast that certainly has the potential to be excellent (Contreras, Schwarber, Descalso, Ian Happ, Albert Almora Jr., Ben Zobrist, Jason Heyward, David Bote).
Then there's the starting rotation. No team in the NL can boast the type of track record the Cubs have 1-through-5. However, track record is not always an indicator of future performance and the Cubs rotation is aging - Jon Lester and Cole Hamels are 35 and only Kyle Hendricks (29) is under 30.
Also, depth can be erased in a hurry with a few poorly-timed injuries, as the 2018 Cubs proved. And the current bullpen has obviously seen better days.
The Cubs have a chip on their shoulder for 2019 - they're on a mission and feel like they have something to prove.
Between that sense of urgency, their talent, experience and depth, give me the Cubs to win the NL Central this year, though the Cardinals and Brewers are close behind and the Pirates and Reds might both finish with winning records.
There's plenty of reasons to believe in the Cubs. They won 95 games without Kris Bryant, Yu Darvish, or Brandon Morrow. They have rotational depth that most teams can't match. Their everyday lineup will almost always feature two bonafide MVP candidates. Still, this is a team that couldn't hold off the Brewers after going into September with a 5-game lead. This is also a team that could not win either game of a do-or-die, 2-game home series.
As it stands now, another NL Central team matches up well against the Cubs in each facet of the game. The Cardinals and Pirates have equally talented rotations, the Reds offense will hang, and the Brewers bullpen still looks pretty damn good.
By no means is it a stretch to expect the Cubs to be better than what the Projection-System-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named suggested. A 3rd place, 80-82 season would be nothing short of a disaster. People would lose their jobs. Still, there was a clearly a complacency issue last season, and it sounds like the Cubs and their fans were shocked by last year's outcome in part because they assumed that the Cubs were the class of the NL Central and were going to fall backwards into the NLCS. Defaulting to that again seems ... curious? A 95-win team doesn't overhaul day-to-day operations if they think the status quo was working.
Going into 2019, the Cubs aren't the class of the NL Central. The good news is that it doesn't really feel like there *is* a team that could be considered that, anyways. | 2019-04-24T19:30:56 | https://www.nbcsports.com/chicago/cubs/19-19-are-cubs-class-nl-central |
0.999813 | What was Beethoven's day to day life like when he lived in Vienna?
Ignaz Seyfried: "...to which he looked forward to with pleasure every Thursday (the bread soup). Together with it, 10 sizable eggs had to be presented to him on a plate. Before they were stirred into the soup, he first separated and tested them by holding them against the light, then decapitated them with his own hand and anxiously sniffed them to see whether they were fresh. When fate decreed that some among them "scented their straw", so to speak, the storm broke. In a voice of thunder the housekeeper was cited "to court"."
"They found their host in a short evening jacket, a stately nightcap on his bristly shock of hair, and his loins girded with a blue kitchen apron, very busily engaged at the hearth. After waiting patiently for an hour and a half, while the turbulent demands of their stomachs were with increasing difficulty assuaged by cordial dialogue, the dinner was finally served. The soup recalled those charitable leavings distributed to beggars in the taverns; the beef was but half-done and calculated to gratify only an ostrich; the vegetables floated in a mixture of water and grease; and the roast seemed to have been smoked in the chimney. Nevertheless the giver of the feast did full justice to every dish. And the applause which he anticipated put him in so rosy a humor that he called himself "Cook Mehlschoberl" after a character in the burlesque "The Merry Nuptials"...(his guests) found it barely possible to choke down a few morsels, and stuck to good bread, fresh fruit, sweet pastry and the unadulterated juice of the grape."
As for coffee Beethoven had a glass coffee "contraption" to which he hand-counted 60 coffee beans per cup before brewing. Actually his coffee was considered pretty good.
"Beethoven rose at daybreak, no matter what season, and went at once to his work-table. There he worked until two or three o' clock, when he took his midday meal. In the interim he usually ran out into the open two or three times, where he also "worked while walking." Such excursions seldom exceeded a full hour's time, and resembled the swarming out of the bee to gather honey. They never varied with the seasons and neither cold nor heat were noticed.
The afternoons were dedicated to regular promenades; and at a later hour Beethoven was wont to hunt up some favorite beer-house, in order to read the news of the day, if he had not already satisfied this need at some cafe. At the time when the English parliament was sitting, however, the Allgemeine Zeitung was regularly read at home for the sake of the debates. It will be easily understood that our politico was arrayed on the side of the Opposition. Nor was his great predilection for Lord Brougham, Hume, and other Opposition orators necessary to this end.
Beethoven always spent his winter evenings at home, and devoted them to serious reading. It was but seldom that one saw him busy with music-paper in the evening, since writing music was too taxing for his eyes. In former years this may not have been the case; yet it is quite certain that at no time did he employ the evening hours for composition (creation). At ten o' clock at the latest he went to bed."
So Beethoven was a smoker....not a good role model, kids. The composing part is OK though.
Interesting that 300 years later the perfect shot of coffee is considered to be 7 grams that would equal 60 beans. | 2019-04-25T08:10:40 | http://lvbandmore.blogspot.com/2010/10/101-beethovens-kitchen.html |
0.997043 | Title: Who Are the Macedonians?
In Who Are the Macedonians Hugh Poulton provides a fair andperceptive account of the difficult relations between Macedonians and Albanians inthe new republic it is one of the best guides I have read to what may be a darkand troubled future Misha Glenny, The New York Review ofBooks anyone needing a concise introduction to modernMacedonian history should b In Who Are the Macedonians Hugh Poulton provides a fair andperceptive account of the difficult relations between Macedonians and Albanians inthe new republic it is one of the best guides I have read to what may be a darkand troubled future Misha Glenny, The New York Review ofBooks anyone needing a concise introduction to modernMacedonian history should be grateful for Hugh Poulton s book StevenSowards, H Net ReviewsThis first full historical survey of theBalkan Slavic peoples of Macedonia concludes with Macedonia s emergence as anindependent state in the face of Greek opposition and a discussion of the prospectsfor its entanglement in the ongoing Balkan war.
A one sided view; heavy anti-Greek overtones. A mess of a book. | 2019-04-26T00:22:16 | http://fakenhamlancasterscouts.org.uk/2680755-who-are-the-macedonians/ |
0.99952 | The latest reports show that U.S. mortgage lenders have been easing their credit standards for loan applicants - well at least for the wealthiest customers, that is. For first-time buyers and those with any credit blemishes things have not gotten any easier.
Jumbo loan customers - those obtaining mortgages for more than the conventional loan limit of $417,000 - have seen mortgage standards loosen in the past year as banks have reduced down payment requirements for this attractive segment of buyers. Bank of America has dropped its minimum down payment to 15 percent from 20 percent on loans up to $1million. Wells Fargo did the same for all jumbo loans.
Jumbo loans have been one of the fastest growing mortgage categories over the past year, as the nation's wealthier buys have jumped into the housing market and as home prices have soared again in cities like San Francisco and New York. Mortgage lenders have also tried to court favor with jumbo loan borrowers with lower mortgage interest rates.
What about the rest of the market? The average credit score for accepted home loan applications has declined somewhat - government-controlled mortgage backers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are now buying mortgages from borrowers who have an average credit score of 752, a decrease from 758 a year ago. The Federal Housing Administration also saw a drop in the average credit score associated with their loans, falling to 686 from 697.
While those declines may look significant at first glance, when they are taken all together - between the three entities they guarantee 80 percent of the mortgage market - the average credit score is at 730, an almost negligible change from the previous year and much higher than the 700 average from during the housing bubble period.
As the FHA has instituted higher lender fees this past year, more business has gone to Fannie and Freddie. According to a new study from the Urban Institute, this is why the credit score decreases are essentially a wash. "The FHA is losing borrowers at the higher end of its credit score spectrum and lowering its average credit score," the analysis said. "[Government Sposored Entities's Fannie and Freddie] are absorbing borrowers at the lower end of their credit spectrum, also dragging their average score down."
No one wants to see credit standards slip back to where they were before the housing crash, but impossibly high standards can also be harmful to the market. A recent Merrill Lynch report found that 86 percent of first-time homebuyers use financing to purchase their home. Tight mortgage standards are definitely one of the main issues holding back many would-be first-time buyers at this point.
Things may have to change in the near future if mortgage lenders want to keep up their home loan volume. The number of refinances has dropped off dramatically in the past year as rates have ticked upward. Total mortgage originations are expected to fall 36 percent in 2014 to $1.1 trillion, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association, with most of that decrease as a result of fewer refinances.
"Credit is loosening, but it is loosening from a tight starting point," said Michael Fratantoni, MBA chief economist. He added, "with [mortgage] volume dropping as much as it has, many lenders are looking to expand their credit box."
In order to entice customers away from competitors, some lenders may have to start offering lower down payment credit score requirements to even their non-jumbo loan clients. | 2019-04-21T08:32:49 | http://www.realestateabc.com/insights/mortgage-credit-standards-loosening-for-wealthy.html |
0.999707 | HOW TO BAN ANY ID FROM MIG33 FOR 2 DAYS??
You have to create a chatroom and a group. But if you have already a chatroom or group then no need to make again. Now follow the steps=> (1) make moderator any id in your chatroom and tell him to join your group. (2) then make that id moderator in your group also. (3) now link the chatroom with your group and tell the moderator to leave chatroom and re-enter in chatroom when you link the chatroom with your group. Now see in your chatroom list that moderator is admin as same as the main admin. The news of happiness is that the moderator you have given admin power can ban any id from mig33 for 2 days by kicking 3 times from your chatroom. | 2019-04-23T20:19:22 | http://mig33sells.forumotion.com/t66-how-to-ban-any-id-from-mig33-for-2-days |
0.993985 | GREEN RIVER, Utah - Aron Ralston, a climber who cut off his arm to free himself from a huge boulder, is improving and will have surgery Monday to close his wound.
Surgeons may have to shorten the bone so Ralston will be able to wear a prosthetic arm, hospital officials said. He was hospitalized in fair condition after his six-day ordeal.
Ralston, an avid outdoorsman and expert climber from Aspen, Colo., was on a day hike April 26 when a boulder shifted onto his arm. Out of water and unable to move the boulder after days of trying, Ralston used a pocketknife to cut off his arm.
His family issued a statement thanking the people who rescued Ralston after he was able to get free on Thursday.
Sgt. Mitch Vetere, who found Ralston after the climber freed himself, had never seen anything it.
A man, bloody from head to toe, in the bottom of a canyon, streaks of red staining his bare legs. Part of his arm was gone.
Vetere wasn't sure what had happened. "I cut it off with my pocketknife," Ralston told him, matter of factly.
Saturday, April 26, started as a routine day of climbing for Ralston, an avid outdoorsman and expert climber. He planned to spend the day riding his mountain bike and climbing the red rocks and sandstone just outside the Canyonlands National Park in southeastern Utah - 350,000 acres of mostly wilderness with areas of buttes, mesas and intricate canyons.
He had climbed alone before plenty of times. He had scaled 49 of Colorado's 14,000-foot peaks in the winter and this outing was a warm-up for an ascent of Alaska's Mount McKinley.
Ralston, 27, of Aspen, Colo., parked his pickup truck in a parking lot, took off on his mountain bike for 15 miles, then tied it to a juniper tree.
He planned to canyoneer down remote Blue John Canyon and end up where he parked his truck, then go back for the bike. Canyoneering is where a climber uses rock-climbing gear to negotiate narrow canyons and moves in a horizontal direction rather than vertical.
Ralston was maneuvering around a narrow slot canyon just 3 feet wide when he put his right hand on the side of a boulder, and it shifted, pinning his hand.
Ralston tried ropes, anchors, anything to move the boulder, but it wouldn't budge.
Temperatures dipped into the 30s at night, and still Ralston worked to free himself.
By Tuesday, his water ran out.
No climbers had come by.
When Ralston didn't show up for his job at the Ute Mountaineer store in Aspen, friends called authorities.
Vetere, a patrol sergeant with the Emery County Sheriff's Office in Green River, got the call Thursday morning. A climber was several days overdue. His truck had been found, but no one had seen Ralston.
Terry Mercer, a helicopter pilot with the Utah Highway Patrol in Salt Lake City, met Vetere and another deputy about 1 p.m. Thursday at Horseshoe Canyon, where Ralston's truck was parked.
After reading notes and looking at Ralston's equipment in his truck, Mercer and Vetere knew Ralston was an experienced climber. They figured he might have headed north up the trail, since it gets deeper and sharper the farther north it extends.
Hikers and climbers who parked in the same lot as Ralston said they had gone south and didn't see Ralston.
Mercer flew for about two hours. Nothing.
As he was about to land, he, Vetere and the other deputy looked down into the canyon and saw two people waving. They were tourists from Holland who had encountered Ralston as he tried to find help.
Ralston was covered in blood. Vetere was shocked at the sight - dry and fresh blood coating his body. His red legs matched the red rocks, Vetere thought.
Mercer radioed back to the command center in the parking lot: "He looks OK. He's walking. He looks pretty strong."
After Ralston was helped into the helicopter, Mercer peeked back at him. Ralston's right arm was in a makeshift sling made from a camelback used to carry water.
"I was wondering what in the world happened," Mercer said.
Ralston leaned his head back in the helicopter and sipped on some water. Vetere kept him talking, so he wouldn't lose consciousness.
After he ran out of water and no one had come for him, Ralston said he knew he would have to cut off his arm to save himself. He used his pocketknife he had stuffed into his shorts pocket. His rescuers didn't ask to see it.
He then rappelled down some 60-75 feet to the canyon floor and walked 4 to 5 miles before he saw the tourists from Holland.
Vetere and Mercer almost didn't believe it.
Ralston was within a mile of his pickup truck. He almost didn't even need to be rescued.
Twelve minutes later, the helicopter arrived at Allen Memorial Hospital in Moab, Utah. Ralston walked into the emergency room without help, then pointed out on a map where he had been stuck.
Mercer and two other deputies went back into the canyon, hoping they could retrieve Ralston's hand and that it could be reattached.
Ralston had called the boulder a 200-pound rock, but Mercer could easily see it was at least 800 pounds.
"We could see his rope that he had left hanging that he had rappelled down on," Mercer said.
"It was very sobering because we saw the ropes he had rigged up to try and get a pulley action. To think he had sat there for five days working at getting his hand loose and finally deciding he had to do something to save himself," he said.
The rock - covered in Ralston's blood - wouldn't move. Marks on the canyon wall indicated the rock had fallen 2 or 3 feet.
Ralston was transferred to St. Mary's Hospital in Grand Junction, Colo., where he was in fair condition on Saturday.
Friends say Ralston is known for living on the edge.
"To be honest, sometimes we get pretty scared with some of the things he's doing," said Brion After, manager of the store where Ralston works.
His rescuers are still amazed at Ralston's will to live. They say he likely wouldn't have been found by a helicopter because of his position on the canyon wall.
"I've never seen anybody that had this much desire and this much tenacity to stay with it and stay alive," Mercer said.
Mercer and Vetere are used to seeing disoriented climbers who lose their way or just give up while waiting for help.
Aron Ralston was different, they say.
I just watched a news conference with Aron Ralston. Apparently the guy is not only an experienced outdoorsman but a SAR tech as well. His failure to file a flight plan was an oversight of a practice he normally follows. He was only carrying water for the day. He started out with 3L and was down to about 1L by the time he became trapped in midafternoon. His only knife was a cheap Leatherman knockoff. As he put it, the kind you get for free when you buy a $15 flashlight. Just goes to show, experience is next to useless if you're not going to apply it.
On a related thread someone wondered how he cut through the bone. He made several false starts at cutting his arm off but couldn't get through the bone. Seems he finally torqued his arm one way to break the radius and another way to break the ulna then cut the soft tissue free.
Also noted that the article said that he would not be giving followup interviews.
Yeah, he said that he had tried to chip away some of the chalkstone boulder to try and get it to roll off his arm. It sounded like he was actually standing below the boulder a little bit so, not having seen the site, I have to wonder how bright that was.
I got the impression the no follow up interviews was a restriction imposed by the hospital, rather than Ralston. It sounded like that was only until this weekend, when he gets released.
You guys are correct he could of avoided the whole thing. I thought it was a interesting lesson to anyone who climbs. I am a climber and he violated several rules right form the start. Also because he violated those rules he will not be climbing the same routes anymore. Proper planning and training prevents [censored] poor performance. I sometimes carry along my Cold Steel Bowie Knife that is razor sharp, I do not use it for climbing but this knife is crazy it is so tough it can do anything even chop your arm off with one stroke. Wow, what a comforting though.
One last thought this man has never skinned an animal before because if he had he would know he could of gone through his elbow a lot easier, my boning and filet knife would of helped him too.
A remarkable testimony to the young man's will to live; which of course, is the No 1 survival tool.
And I was really impressed to see that he chose not to sell his story to the highest bidder, but has made the details available to all.
A man of courage... and ethics. | 2019-04-24T12:25:19 | http://forums.equipped.org/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=15647 |
0.999999 | <b>#1 <i>New York Times</i> Bestseller<br />A Reese Witherspoon x Hello Sunshine Book Club Pick<br /><br />"I can't even express how much I love this book! I didn't want this story to end!"--Reese Witherspoon<br /><br />"Painfully beautiful."--<i>The New York Times Book Review</i><br /><br />"Perfect for fans of Barbara Kingsolver."--<i>Bustle</i></b><br /><br />For years, rumors of the "Marsh Girl" have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. So in late 1969, when handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, the locals immediately suspect Kya Clark, the so-called Marsh Girl. But Kya is not what they say. Sensitive and intelligent, she has survived for years alone in the marsh that she calls home, finding friends in the gulls and lessons in the sand. Then the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved. When two young men from town become intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new life--until the unthinkable happens.<br /><br />Perfect for fans of Barbara Kingsolver and Karen Russell, <i>Where the Crawdads Sing</i> is at once an exquisite ode to the natural world, a heartbreaking coming-of-age story, and a surprising tale of possible murder. Owens reminds us that we are forever shaped by the children we once were, and that we are all subject to the beautiful and violent secrets that nature keeps.
<b>Experience the internet's most talked-about book, now a major motion picture, from Anna Todd, the writer <i>Cosmopolitan </i>called “the biggest literary phenomenon of her generation.� </b><b>Now with new exclusive material! </b><BR><BR>There was the time before Tessa met Hardin, and then there’s everything <i>AFTER<b>...</b></i> Life will never be the same. #Hessa<BR> <BR>Tessa is a good girl with a sweet, reliable boyfriend back home. She’s got direction, ambition, and a mother who’s intent on keeping her that way.<BR> <BR>But she’s barely moved into her freshman dorm when she runs into Hardin. With his tousled brown hair, cocky British accent, and tattoos, Hardin is cute and different from what she’s used to.<BR> <BR>But he’s also rude—to the point of cruelty, even. For all his attitude, Tessa <i>should</i> hate Hardin. And she does—until she finds herself alone with him in his room. Something about his dark mood grabs her, and when they kiss it ignites within her a passion she’s never known before.<BR> <BR>He'll call her beautiful, then insist he isn’t the one for her and disappear again and again. Despite the reckless way he treats her, Tessa is compelled to dig deeper and find the real Hardin beneath all his lies. He pushes her away again and again, yet every time she pushes back, he only pulls her in deeper.<BR> <BR>Tessa already has the perfect boyfriend. So why is she trying so hard to overcome her own hurt pride and Hardin's prejudice about nice girls like her?<BR> <BR>Unless...could this be <i>love</i>?
<b>Clive Cussler, "The Grand Master of Adventure," sends his intrepid heroes Dirk Pitt and Al Giordino on their wildest, boldest mission into the ancient world, unlocking extraordinary secrets and solving hideous crimes. Another fabulous read from the most beloved series from the #1 <i>New York Times</i>-bestselling author.</b><br /><br />The murders of a team of United Nations scientists in El Salvador. . . A deadly collision in the waterways off the city of Detroit. . . An attack by tomb raiders on an archaeological site along the banks of the Nile. . . Is there a link between these violent events? The answer may lie in the tale of an Egyptian princess forced to flee the armies of her father three thousand years ago.<br /><br />During what was supposed to be a routine investigation in South America, NUMA Director Dirk Pitt finds himself embroiled in an international mystery, one that will lead him across the world and which will threaten everyone and everything he knows--most importantly, his own family. Pitt travels to Scotland in search of answers about the spread of an unknown disease and the shadowy bioremediation company that may be behind it. Meanwhile, his son and daughter face a threat of their own when the discoveries they have made in an Egyptian tomb put killers on their trail. These seemingly unrelated riddles come together in a stunning showdown on the rocky isles of Ireland, where only the Pitts can unravel the secrets of an ancient enigma that could change the very future of mankind. | 2019-04-18T18:41:24 | http://www.kindreader.com/?BrowseNode=157028011&title=Literature+%26+Fiction |
0.998757 | Question: "Do angels appear to people today?"
Answer: In the Bible angels appear to people in unpredictable and various ways. From a casual reading of Scripture, a person might get the idea that angelic appearances were somewhat common, but that is not the case. There is an increasing interest in angels today, and there are many reports of angelic appearances. Angels are part of almost every religion and generally seem to have the same role of messenger. In order to determine whether angels appear today, we must first get a biblical view of their ancient appearances.
The first appearance of angels in the Bible is in Genesis 3:24, when Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden. God placed cherubim to block the entrance with a flaming sword. The next angelic appearance is in Genesis 16:7, about 1,900 years later. Hagar, the Egyptian servant who bore Ishmael to Abraham, was instructed by an angel to return and submit to her mistress, Sarai. Abraham was visited by God and two angels in Genesis 18:2, when God informed him of the impending destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. The same two angels visited Lot and instructed him to escape the city with his family before it was destroyed (Genesis 19:1-11). The angels in this case also displayed supernatural power by blinding the wicked men who were threatening Lot.
When Jacob saw a multitude of angels (Genesis 32:1), he immediately recognized them as the army of God. In Numbers 22:22, an angel confronted the disobedient prophet Balaam, but Balaam did not see the angel at first, although his donkey did. Mary received a visit from an angel who told her that she would be the mother of the Messiah, and Joseph was warned by an angel to take Mary and Jesus to Egypt to protect them from Herod’s edict (Matthew 2:13). When angels appear, those who see them are often struck with fear (Judges 6:22; 1 Chronicles 21:30; Matthew 28:5). Angels deliver messages from God and do His bidding, sometimes by supernatural means. In every case, the angels point people to God and give the glory to Him. Holy angels refuse to be worshiped (Revelation 22:8-9).
According to modern reports, angelic visitations come in a variety of forms. In some cases, a stranger prevents serious injury or death and then mysteriously disappears. In other cases, a winged or white-clothed being is seen momentarily and is then gone. The person who sees the angel is often left with a feeling of peace and assurance of God's presence. This type of visitation seems to agree with the biblical pattern as seen in Acts 27:23.
Another type of visitation that is sometimes reported today is the “angel choir” type. In Luke 2:13, the shepherds were visited by a heavenly choir as they were told of the birth of Jesus. Some people have reported similar experiences in places of worship. This experience does not fit the model so well, as it typically serves no purpose other than to provide a feeling of spiritual elation. The angel choir in Luke’s Gospel was heralding some very specific news.
A third type of visitation involves only a physical feeling. Elderly people have often reported feeling as though arms or wings were wrapped around them in times of extreme loneliness. God is certainly the God of all comfort, and Scripture speaks of God covering with His wings (Psalm 91:4). Such reports may well be examples of that covering.
God is still as active in the world as He has always been, and His angels are certainly still at work. Just as angels protected God's people in the past, we can be assured that they are guarding us today. Hebrews 13:2 says, “Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.” As we obey God's commands, it is quite possible that we may encounter His angels, even if we do not realize it. In special circumstances, God allowed His people to see His unseen angels, so God’s people would be encouraged and continue in His service (2 Kings 6:16-17).
We must also heed the warnings of Scripture concerning angelic beings: there are fallen angels who work for Satan who will do anything to subvert and destroy us. Galatians 1:8 warns us to beware of any “new” gospel, even if it is delivered by an angel. Colossians 2:18 warns against the worship of angels. Every time in the Bible when men bowed down before angels, those beings firmly refused to be worshiped. Any angel who receives worship, or who does not give glory to the Lord Jesus, is an imposter. Second Corinthians 11:14-15 states that Satan and his angels disguise themselves as angels of light in order to deceive and lead astray anyone who will listen to them.
We are encouraged by the knowledge that God's angels are at work. In special circumstances, we might even have one of those rare personal visitations. Greater than that knowledge, however, is the knowledge that Jesus Himself has said, “Surely I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). Jesus, who made the angels and receives their worship, has promised us His own presence in our trials. | 2019-04-25T21:46:18 | https://www.gotquestions.org/angels-appear.html |
0.998603 | by Wayne W. Van Horne, Ph.D.
A revised version of this article appeared in the Journal of Asian Martial Arts in 1996, Vol. 5, No. 4. Back issues are available at the site.
The central themes of Japanese culture have evolved over the past several centuries and permeate all aspects of life in Japan, including martial arts (Befu 1971:174-179, Beasley 1975:11-13). Perhaps the most central theme is the strong emphasis on conformity and the subsuming of individualism to the norms of the social group (Befu 1971:168-169). Yet one prominent image in Japanese culture seems to be conspicuously paradoxical to this emphasis on conformity- the idealized image of the lone samurai warrior.
Many of us are familiar with the idealized image of the lone warrior as depicted in the famous Akira Kurasawa/ Toshiro Mifune samurai films such as The Seven Samurai. The lone warrior of these films is an independent individualist who is ultimately competent, invincible, and is a technically superb warrior who single-handedly triumphs in combat against the multitudes of adversaries who oppose him. Is this seeming paradox of the heroic individualist in a culture of conformity based on our erroneous Western interpretation of the Japanese warrior image, or is the individualism of the warrior actually prized in modern conformity-ridden Japanese culture?
One way to answer this question is to examine the relationship between the teaching methods of Japanese martial arts systems, the training ground of warriors, and key Japanese cultural values. Do the training methods teach individualism, or are they consistent with the cultural value of conformity? My research indicates that although the teaching methods do indeed train martial artists to be highly skilled individual fighters who engage in one-on-one combat, the ultimate goal of the training is consistent with broader Japanese cultural values- to create individuals who contribute to the betterment of the collective society and who have a high degree of social responsibility -- a conclusion that has also been drawn by other researchers (Befu 1971:166-169; Jones 1992)1.
The comparative analysis of martial arts training methods that I am presenting is based on data I obtained through participant observation and interviews as a student in three different systems of Japanese budo, or martial arts. In each of these arts- Sakugawa Koshiki Shorinji Ryu Karatedo, Aikido of Ueshiba, and Shinto Muso Ryu Jodo- the teachers I observed were highly ranked, had been trained through traditional Japanese methods, and likewise train their students with traditional methods.2 Two of the teachers are Japanese, and one is an American who learned his art in Japan.
The teaching methods and goals of all of these systems are strikingly similar, so much so that it is obvious that they are widely used, culturally based methods of teaching that embody Japanese cultural ideals. Their overt goal is to mold a student toward a specific end, the creation of a master budoka, a warrior who embodies not only supreme competence in the specific martial art, but also embodies many of the ideals of Japanese culture (cf. Jones 1992).
In order to examine the relationship between Japanese culture, teaching methods in the martial arts, and the ultimate goals of warrior training, I will discuss several major Japanese cultural themes that serve as models for teaching methods in the martial arts. I will also use examples from my participant observation to illustrate the influence that these cultural themes have on actual martial arts teaching and goals.
The first major theme is one of the most pervasive themes in Japanese culture- the importance of social conformity and the subsuming of individual desires to the needs of the group. This ethos of group conformity provides the model for the structure of group training in budo. Several uniquely Japanese concepts relate to this theme, specifically wa, musubi, giri, and ninjo. Wa is the concept of group harmony, the subsuming of the individual to a part of the collective functioning of the group (Whiting 1979). Wa serves as a cultural model for group martial arts practice.
For example, in Karatedo, Jodo, and Aikido classes students practice basic techniques (kihon waza) repetitively as part of a group. Students are required to achieve a remarkable degree of synchronization and uniformity in their collective movements, most strikingly seen in the group practice of elaborate kata, or patterns of techniques, in Karatedo. Students are taught to act in harmony with the group, not to perform as individuals. Those who do act as individuals cannot move in synchronization with the rest of the group, and are admonished by teachers for disrupting the group wa. In a perfect kata performed by a class of students everyone moves not as individuals, but as a group entity, each individual a part of the collective wa.
Musubi , a related concept which means unity or harmonious interaction, is central to Aikido theory. Musubi extends the ideal of group harmony to harmony with the attacker. Aikido students typically train in pairs, with one student attacking and one defending. Aikido technique is based on the defender blending with, or coming into harmony with, the motion and energy of the attacker- in other words applying musubi (Saotome 1989:9).
Giri is another core cultural concept that refers to the individual's social obligation or duty to act appropriately while interacting with others- in other words to conform to appropriate cultural rules of social interaction (Nitobe 1979:24-25, Befu 1971:168-169). Individuals must therefore suppress their personal natural inclinations and desires, their individualistic tendencies, known as ninjo (Befu 169-170). This conformity to appropriateness of behavior also extends to the ideal of "correctness", the ideal that there are specific correct ways of doing things. In Japanese culture, especially where ritual is used, the Japanese believe there is an optimally correct way for actions to be performed that can only be learned through exact imitation of a master of the art or ritual. There is therefore a high value placed on conformity with the approved method of doing something. For example, this can be seen in instructional methods used in the educational system and in arts such as Noh and the tea ceremony.
Students who practice budo are also admonished to imitate the techniques of their teachers exactly, without individual variation or expression, in order to master the technique correctly. In all of the arts I observed the major emphasis was to drill students repetitively in individual techniques and combinations of techniques to make them able to perform them with painstaking precision. For example, in Jodo students were required to spend hours mastering each individual basic strike with a staff (jo) before beginning to learn combinations of techniques. The first several classes typically consist of practicing a strike over and over again for two or three hours, with the teacher correcting it until the student can do it precisely. My karatedo teacher, often made this same point by telling students that as beginners they were like puppets, their goal being to imitate their teacher as precisely as possible. Another American Aikido teacher I observed made this point by telling students that the process of learning Aikido was similar to that of art. Students had to learn to draw basic shapes, such as squares, circles, etc., precisely before they would ultimately be able to create a painting of complex form.
The emphasis on group conformity and conformity in execution of techniques has multiple goals in Japanese training methods. Technical mastery is certainly foremost. Learning the techniques precisely allows the budoka to ultimately perform their techniques in the quickest, most powerful, and most efficacious manner possible and optimizes their ability to survive a fight. It also builds endurance, physical stamina, and strength. However, it also allows the teacher to observe and assess the personality of each student. The student's patience, natural aptitude, and ability to be committed and persevere- all essential qualities to train and survive as a warrior- become apparent. Teachers look for weaknesses in these abilities, and give individualized instruction to each student to point out their weaknesses and force them to improve. Throughout this process apt students learn about their own character and personality and attempt to overcome their weaknesses. My Karatedo teacher addressed this by saying that a shodan, or first degree black belt, was only considered a beginner. All of the training prior to that merely allowed a student to learn some basics, but more importantly allowed the teacher to assess the student's character. The most important training began after a student had proven to have the qualities necessary for becoming a warrior.
This is also apparent in Jodo training. New students are required to master each basic technique one at a time. This means that new students must practice the same technique repetitively for hours during a class, often practicing by themselves. Obviously, many new students become bored and don't see the purpose of the tedious repetition. The Jodo teacher would observe the way that new students dealt with the repetitive solo practice, and would comment about weaknesses he perceived, such as not having patience, not concentrating, etc. In this respect, the initial tedious basic practice served as a sort of litmus test for gauging the personalities of new students. Many new students didn't persevere through this initial phase.
The second major theme that pervades budo training is derived from the importance of hierarchy as a model for the structure of Japanese society (Beasley 1975:3-4). Two concepts are particularly important in order to understand the effects of hierarchy in Japanese culture and behavior (Befu 1971:31-32, 54, 166-168; Benedict 1974:98-113). The first is amae, the tendency to depend on the approval or love of other significant people in one's life for one's own emotional happiness (Befu 1971:159-161). The other, on, refers to indebtedness that can never be repaid. For instance, a child can never repay its parents for its birth and their love and effort to raise it. Likewise a student can never repay a teacher for his knowledge and teaching, or an employee a boss for his hiring and employment. The best one can do is to fulfill to the best of one's ability any obligations to, or requests from, those people. These are all examples of on.
On also functions in budo training between student and teacher. Students have strong obligations and bonds to their teachers, to the extent that traditionally teachers were supported, and cared for, by their students. The cultural importance of on, indebtedness, and giri, appropriateness, are such that together they create a strong sense of obligation in students to do whatever the teacher asks (Nitobe 1979:37-41). Budo teachers are in a position of hierarchical status and authority over students, and they use their studentspi sense of indebtedness and need for approval to exert ever increasing demands for training time and acquisition of skills. They also use the studentspi sense of on to manipulate and motivate them during training.
This was most apparent to me in Jodo training. Increasing demands were placed on students as they gained more seniority in the class. For instance, students were typically shown a kata, or prearranged series of techniques, only once or twice by the teacher, and then were expected to know it by the next practice. Usually newer students would forget the kata. The teacher would then apparently become very angry with the student, and would tell them that since they had forgotten the kata they had wasted his time in teaching it to them. The horror of this to a Japanese student is that they have both failed in their obligation to a higher status person to whom they are indebted, and have also met with disapproval from a significant person in their life. They would then typically work extremely hard to learn what was required of them and not make this mistake again.
The studentspi sense of obligation also motivates them to tolerate a variety of severe teaching methods. In Jodo the teacher would often use anger to teach a variety of lessons- to show disapproval of failure to learn, to motivate students to learn faster, or to teach them to deal with their temper or a stressful situation. He would also use disapproval to the same end, sometimes walking away from a student in the middle of private instruction in apparent disgust, leaving the student confused and alone in the middle of the practice floor in front of the class. I also observed the Aikido teacher become angry and threaten to walk out in the middle of a large seminar he was conducting with a hundred or so students- because they weren't performing a technique exactly the way he had showed it. The threat had the desired effect and motivated the students to perform the technique exactly as demonstrated. In each of these examples the teacher used anger and disapproval to manipulate the studentspi sense of on and amae in order to motivate the students to learn.
The studentspi sense of on also motivates them to endure teaching methods involving physical pain, which are used by teachers to motivate students to learn certain lessons. For example, once the Jodo teacher was reviewing a particularly long and complicated kata with me that I had failed to master. It entailed me attacking him with a wooden practice sword (tachi) and him defending with a short wooden staff (jo). Over a number of repetitions he continuously increased the intensity, speed, and power of his techniques to make the situation more and more like actual combat. He interjected angry comments and looks of disgust at my incompetence throughout this process. This culminated in a very real, though expertly controlled, attack by him on the last repetition of the kata that resulted in me attaining a split lip, a nearly broken arm, and a bruising blow to my solar plexus that caused me a momentary blackout and wave of intense nausea. Needless to say, the reality and danger he instilled in the situation resulted in an increase in the intensity and skill of my practice from then on.
A similar experience occurred at a similar level of my Karatedo training. Over the course of an hour my teacher repeatedly told me to punch at him, and repeatedly threw me over his shoulder onto a wooden gymnasium floor with a series of impressive techniques. Eventually the pain and exhaustion I experienced from attacking and being thrown resulted in my attacking him as hard as I possibly could with every ounce of energy I had left in order to just keep going. Eventually I ceased to give any thought to the consequences of my attacks. When he halted this practice he told me that I had finally learned to perform a committed attack, which was necessary in order for my techniques to actually work in combat. I then realized that this had been his goal and was the lesson I was supposed to learn.
Japanese students endure many physically grueling lessons like these, and return to practice again, due to their sense of on to their teacher. Again, teachers have multiple goals when utilizing a student's sense of on and amae. The studentspi sense of obligation and desire for approval motivates intense practice, which is characterized by the emphasis on the perfecting of techniques, and consequently results in the attainment of a high level of mastery of technical skills by students (Befu 1971:174). It also allows students to develop courage and calmness in the face of unpredictable, intense lessons in the dojo. The goal is ultimately pragmatic- the few students who endure to the culmination of this process become master warriors, better than the vast majority of fighters (Nitobe 1979:28-29).
A third major theme in Japanese culture, more focused in the areas of religion, spiritual beliefs, and the arts, is the belief that universal natural laws exist and can be manifested through the actions of a master of an art. Two concepts associated with this ideal are ri and ji. Ri is universal truth, the following of universal laws of nature, while ji is a particular action or expression of ri created by a master. Ji is in essence a depiction or manifestation of the universal truth, which can only be produced by someone with the insight to produce it. In budo a technique or kata performed by a master is ji- it is perfect and follows the natural laws (Leggett 1978:122-126). In order to master an art to the level that a budoka can express ji in his actions every technique must be mastered, the principles of biomechanics and ki (energy) flow must be understood, calmness of mind in combat and invincibility of spirit must be mastered, the universal principles must be applied to all action, and all of these must be integrated within the budoka. With this high level of mastery a budoka becomes not only a master fighter, but his actions become ji and manifest the universal truths.
The Aikido teacher, Saotome, (a disciple of the founder of Aikido), discusses this through a related concept, kannagara: >=Kannagara is a way of intuition....The only laws are the laws which govern natural phenomena and promote harmony. Kannagara is a way of supreme freedom, for the action appropriate to function in harmony with nature occurs spontaneously.<= (Saotome in Jones 1982:124).
Saotomepis words explicate the Japanese cultural model of mastery of an art- it is only after mastering the art that the warrior can truly become creative and spontaneous. The spontaneity will then be in harmony with the universal laws of nature, and the warrior will be invincible. Thus the emphasis in teaching methods on precise imitation, repetition, and technical mastery. It is only with this level of exacting training that mastery might be achieved. For example, my Jodo teacher would sometimes quip >=When you have a menkyo kaiden, (or have mastered the system), you can perform this technique the way that you want, but for now we do it the way our headmaster teaches us<=. The point that this makes is that a student needs to imitate the teacher to reach the level of mastery and insight necessary to spontaneously perform a perfect technique themselves.
Again the ultimate goal of this training model is pragmatic for the warrior who faces combat and death. My Jodo teacher told me that the ultimate goal of budo is to train hard to become as good as possible as quickly as possible, so that one will be able to defeat an opponent with onepis spirit. His point is that if you are a master then your capabilities will be so apparent in your attitude and actions that any opponent will recognize that he will be defeated and therefore wonpit attack. This is perceived as the ultimate pragmatic goal of budo training- a warrior becomes invincible in art and spirit, and therefore violence is averted.
The last theme, which is again more specific to spirituality and the arts, is enlightenment and transcendence through mastery (Suzuki 1973). This is the ultimate goal of budo training. The training not only produces master warriors, but leads to the realization in the master budoka that he does not want to kill. Again teaching methods are used to instill this lesson from the beginning.
My Karatedo teacher once had an aggressive new student join his class specifically for the purpose of sparring with other students. The teacher asked him to spar with him before class, and the new student eagerly accepted. The teacher had no difficulty in repeatedly inflicting painful, although controlled, techniques on him. Within five minutes the student was bruised and bloodied. He then proceeded to practice with the rest of the class for two hours. This process of enduring painful sparring before class with the teacher was repeated at the beginning of each class for almost a month. The student became first more determined to fight hard, then gradually became resigned to the fighting, and eventually realized that not only was fighting self destructive, but he no longer wished to inflict such pain on other students. Finally, when it was apparent that he was no longer interested in fighting, the teacher ceased to fight him in this manner. I must add that whenever the teacher sparred with other students he did not hurt them. When asked about his purpose in the brutal treatment of the student, the teacher answered that >=some people need to be shown love the hard way<=.
A similar incident also occurred with the Jodo teacher. One new student who was also aggressive in his practice with other students suffered repeated lectures and bursts of apparent anger by the teacher. Again the teacher attempted to teach him that budo training was not about aggression. Thus the ultimate goal of budo training is to transcend violence and anger, again for multiple reasons. Pragmatically, a warrior who has emotional control during battle has a better chance of surviving . A warrior who is angry or violent is not in harmony with universal laws and will be defeated. More importantly, by becoming a master budoka a warrior is invincible, and therefore doesnpit need to kill another human. With this ability comes the realization that killing is unnecessary. A master budoka with this realization is motivated to train others to this level of mastery, so that they too avert conflict. The outcome of budo training is therefore the instilling of benevolence in the budoka, and a sense of social responsibility to teach others for the betterment of society.
The teaching methods that I have described budo teachers using are obviously derived from important Japanese cultural themes such as conformity, the importance of the group, correctness, indebtedness, harmony with nature, and transcendence. They are indeed focused on the pragmatic goal of developing a superb fighter, but this is seen as necessary for the ultimate goal of creating insight in that individual which leads to the development of a personal ethos of benevolence and social responsibility.
This brings us back to the question I posed at the beginning- is it the individualism of the warrior that is actually prized in modern conformity-ridden Japanese culture, or is this an erroneous interpretation of the idealized warrior image by Westerners? The answer at this point is apparent, the ideal of the budoka is that of an invincible warrior who is able to overcome all adversaries, but who ultimately embodies a deep sense of social obligation and is strongly motivated to better society by training others to be able to avoid violence through their own mastery of budo. The warrior image therefore embodies the cultural ideal of the individualpis obligation to put societypis needs above their own. Like the hero at the end of >=Sanjuro<= and other Kurasawa/ Mifune films, the master warrior in Japanese culture ultimately shuns violence and killing as personal weakness and social evil.
1. The conclusions presented in this paper are my own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of any of the martial arts teachers whom I observed during my fieldwork.
2 . My participant observation consisted of five years direct training with Thomas Cauley, shichidan (seventh degree black belt) in Sakugawa Koshiki Shorinji Ryu Karatedo, two years with Norio Wada, godan (fifth degree black belt) in Shinto Muso Ryu Jodo, and attendance at numerous seminars over a twelve year period taught by Mitsugi Saotome, shihan (master teacher) of Aikido of Ueshiba.
This paper is a result of the outstanding training I have received from the following teachers: Thomas Cauley, David E. Jones, David Adams, Norio Wada, Mitsugi Saotome, and Edward Baker. I thank them all for their efforts.
Beasley, W. G. 1975 The Modern History of Japan. New York: Praeger.
Befu, Harumi 1971 Japan: An Anthropological Introduction. New York: Harper and Row.
Benedict, Ruth 1974 The Chrysanthemum and the Sword. New York: The New American Library (1946).
Jones, David E. 1992 Testing for Shodan in Japan: Kyudo and Jodo. In Journal of Asian Martial Arts, v. 1, no. 1.
1982 Saotome: Twentieth Century Samurai. Phoenix Journal of Transpersonal Anthropology, v. VI, nos. 1 & 2, pp. 116 - 131.
Leggett, Trevor 1978 Zen and the Ways. Boulder: Shambhala.
Nitobe, Inazo 1979 Bushido: The Warriors Code. Burbank: Ohara (1899).
Saotome, Mitsugi 1989 The Principles of Aikido. Boston: Shambhala.
Suzuki, Daisetz T. 1973 Zen and Japanese Culture. Princeton University Press (1959).
Turnbull, Stephen R. 1982 The Book of the Samurai. New York: W. H. Smith.
Whiting, Robert 1979 "You've Gotta Have 'Wa'". In Sports Illustrated 9/79, pp. 60-61. | 2019-04-22T10:41:05 | http://www.shorinjiryukaratedo.org/yamakan/idealteaching.htm |
0.998628 | Michael joined the Cathedral School at the age of 13 after attending Dulwich Preparatory School, London. At that time Dulwich was the main feeder school for boarders entering HCS and all students were placed in School House. Before Dulwich Prep., Michael was a pupil at Courshorne School, Cranbrook, Kent where he was still known as M J Wilkins.
On leaving HCS in 1959 MJP won a scholarship to The Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst. After graduating as an Officer he joined The Queen's Own Hussars ( now called The Queen's Royal Hussars ) and rose to the rank of Major. Not only did he master his skills as a leader of troops on exercises but, more especially as a horseman on ceremonial duties. It was this experience which led Michael to develop his technique as a producer of national events of major importance.
Since leaving the Army in 1971 he has been responsible for well over 70 National events. MJP was Producer of The Royal Tournament for 27 years and has organised many military events overseas. Michael masterminded then directed the Queen's Silver Jubilee celebrations in 1977.
On the eve of the marriage in St Paul's Cathedral of HRH Prince Charles to Lady Diana Spencer in July 1981, he designed and produced a display called " The Royal Fireworks " in Hyde Park representing a re-creation of the Firework Palace of 1749. 180 members of the Royal Family plus Heads of State from around the world attended this event, including over 800,000 members of the public. This became the largest crowd ever gathered in one place in Great Britain. It is estimated that a further 200 million viewers watched the display on television. In 1992 the Queen's 40th Anniversary was celebrated with what Michael dubbed " The Great Event ". This was a retrospective look back over the past 40 years, when over 3000 people made up the cast of a show highlighting major events and achievements during Her Majestys' reign. It included numerous stars of stage, screen, TV and sport.
Sir Michael produced The Royal Military Tattoo in 2000 on Horse Guards Parade as part of the National Millennium Celebrations. He had previously run many more public events of importance such as the Edinburgh Tattoo, but was also responsible for producing shows in Europe, as well as being asked to present displays in Gibraltar, Oman, the USA & Canada and as far afield as Hong Kong. MJP also continued to organise many royal pageants, processions and anniversaries, including of course the formal birthday party celebrations for Her Majesty, The Late Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother right up until her 100th birthday in 2000. OH's will recall that this event featured as a regular annual event in the London calendar every August until her sad demise in Feb 2002.
Perhaps the most significant event organised by MJP, which will be remembered by many OH's, was the celebration of HM The Queens' Golden Jubilee in 2002. Michael produced a ceremony called " All The Queen's Horses " at Windsor, being a national equestrian tribute to Her Majesty. It included 1000 horses, 1800 participants plus an appearance of The Golden State Coach, rarely seen in public except on special occasions such as State Visits by overseas dignitaries.
MJP also produced The London Golden Jubilee Weekend Festival between 1st and 4th June of that year, which included the lighting of the National Beacon by The Queen, followed by simultaneous beacon lighting ceremonies up and down the country. That same evening a ' Son et Lumiére ' party was held at Buckingham Palace, including Michaels' idea of an electronic lighting display cleverly beamed onto the fascade of Buckingham Palace throughout the night.
Earlier in the day, following the attendance by Her Majesty at a Thanksgiving Service in St Paul's Cathedral, then a banquet, Michael had organised and produced a massive Festival Parade down The Mall. The Queen, accompanied by other members of the Royal Family were able to enjoy the pageant from a specially erected dias on The Queen Victoria Memorial roundabout. Over 20,000 participants took part in this parade, which featured various landmark events and achievements throughout each of the five decades of The Queens' reign. MJP wanted the youth of the country to make up the nucleus of entrants for each era being commemorated, thus providing an educating theme for youngsters to remember. The parade ended with a traditional flypast of the latest modern aircraft, including the now de-commissioned Concorde flanked by The Red Arrows.
Michael Parker has been made a Knight of The Order of St John, a Military Member of the Order of The British Empire (MBE), a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) and a Knight Commander of The Royal Victorian Order (KCVO) He has also been awarded The Grand Officer of The Order of Al-Istiqlal ( Jordan ) for services to The Kingdom.
His memoirs were published in 2013 entitled "Its all gone terribly wrong." | 2019-04-25T05:49:32 | http://herefordcathedral.web-intouch.com/frmProfile.aspx?S=e4xk3mn |
0.999999 | Rewriting Chaucer's "Wife of Bath's Tale" from Dryden, through Voltaire, to Niemcewicz : medievalism or modernisation?
title: Rewriting Chaucer's "Wife of Bath's Tale" from Dryden, through Voltaire, to Niemcewicz : medievalism or modernisation?
abstract in english: The aim of this paper is to track down the fortunes of cross-cultural transmission of The Wife of Bath’s Tale in the course of the 18th century. The continental interest in the tale was sparked off by Dryden’s adaptation in his Fables, Ancient and Modern (1700). Dryden’s version was rewritten by Voltaire as Ce qui plait aux dames (1764), which in turn was translated into Polish by Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz, and appeared in his collection Pisma różne wierszem i prozą (Various Writings in Verse and Prose, vol. I, 1803) as Co się damom podoba (What Pleases the Ladies). This trajectory of the Polish reception of Chaucer’s tale confirms the characteristic pattern of adaptations and translations of English literary works into Polish – from English through French into Polish, though it is not typical of Niemcewicz’s practice as a translator as he was one of the very few Polish translators translating directly from the English at the time. Thus, paradoxically to the 21st-century reader, the first, to my knowledge, Polish adaptation of The Wife of Bath’s Tale does not reveal an interest in Chaucer but rather confirms the dependence of late 18th- and early 19th-century Polish writers on French literary models. Likewise, differences in the representation of gender relationships between Chaucer’s romance and its eighteenth-century versions reveal that the agenda of the eighteenth-century adapters was rather catering to the taste of their contemporaneous readers than engaging with medieval English culture. | 2019-04-26T08:01:12 | https://ruj.uj.edu.pl/xmlui/handle/item/51039 |
0.999998 | Please explain what is Photodiode, light emitting Diode and Zener Diode?
, is sufficient to break a valence bond. When such light falls on the junction, new hole - electron pairs are created. The number of charge carriers increases and hence the conductivity of the junction increases. If the junction is connected in some circuit, the current in the circuit is controlled by the intensity of the incident light.
When a conduction electron makes a transition to the valence band to fill up a hole in a p-n junction, the extra energy may be emitted as a photon. If the wavelenght of this photon is in the visible range( 380 nm - 780 nm), one can see the emitted light. Such a p-n junction is known as light emitting diode abbreviated as LED. For silicon or germanium, the wavelength falls in the infrared region. LED's may be made from semiconducting compounds like gallium arsenide or indium phosphide. LED's are very commonly used in electronic gadgets as indicator lights.
If the reverse - bias voltage across a p-n junction diode is increased, at a particular voltage the reverse current suddenly increases to a large value. This phenomenon is called breakdown of the diode and the voltage at which it occurs is called the breakdown voltage. At this voltage, the rate of creation of hole - electronpairs is increased lending to the increased current.
Tehre are two main processes by which breakdown may occur. The holes in the n - side and the conduction electrons in the p - side are accelerated due to the reverse - bias voltage. If these minority carriers acquire sufficient kinetic energy from the electric field and collide with a valence electron, the bond will be broken and the valence electron will be taken to the conduction band. | 2019-04-23T12:19:09 | https://www.askiitians.com/forums/Modern-Physics/18/431/photodiode-light-emitting-diode-and-zener-diode.htm |
0.999999 | TL;DR: We studied 63 SaaS companies, comparing how connected their employees were to the financials and goals of the company and the company's growth rate. Companies with higher percentages of the team connected were growing at a much higher month-over-month rate.
When we work on SaaS pricing and revenue models for our customers, we’re often speaking with the C-Suite who will ultimately make the decisions on any pricing changes. But as much as a CEO or CMO tries, and no matter what their title might say, there’s more profit and pricing power in the hands of the sales or customer service person who’s in the trenches every day.
This power comes from the fact that these individuals are on the front lines, interacting the most with prospects and customers. Yet most companies we come across aren’t doing enough to create a culture of profit to inspire everyone to rally around the company’s bottom line, let alone keeping everyone aware of the company’s progress towards monthly and quarterly goals.
But why should your whole team be in on company goals? Simple: teams that are more connected to the company’s financial progress grow more quickly. Don’t believe me? We’ve got data to back it up.
Let’s walk through the data before discussing some ways that you can create a culture of profit in your company—and reap potentially huge benefits.
To test the hypothesis that teams that are connected to the company’s financial progress grow more quickly, we collected data from a large group of SaaS companies that we’ve either worked with on pricing or who are users of ProfitWell. We kept the survey pretty simple, just asking what percentage of their team are consistently aware of the company’s financial progress (through dashboards, emails, revenue reports, etc.) and then comparing that to their three-month blended growth rate.
What you’ll see in the output below is that there’s a clear correlation between the percentage of the team that’s connected and the company’s growth rate.
While more research would need to be done to definitively answer whether or not cluing the team into metrics yields more growth (our sample size here was just 63, and there’s no experimental manipulation here), we’re pretty satisfied that we’ve supported our hypothesis, at least preliminarily. But the real question to dig in on is, "Why is this happening?"
While we didn’t collect data that answers this question directly, our qualitative experiences and responses provide some insight that connected teams grow more quickly because there’s never a question of how the company is doing, consistently inspiring employees to act.
First, when everyone’s aware of how the company is doing, there’s never any ambiguity surrounding good and bad times. If only a few up the chain of command know how the company is doing, mixed messages are easily sent during down times, which cause the team to think everything’s ok and potentially not work as hard. On the flip side, during peak times, teams may burn themselves out.
As one ProfitWell customer recently expressed, “With the team connected to our monthly goals, when things are behind, everyone knows and is inspired to work that much harder. When we’re ahead, we know there’s a chance to celebrate a bit.” To put it plainly, reducing ambiguity forces everyone to beat to the same metric and know exactly the progress you’re making.
While everyone rallying around the same goal is important, connecting everyone also allows inspiration to be put into action. While we’d always like a customer support rep to find ways to potentially upsell individuals coming through the support line, the interconnectivity of goals provides a constant reminder that everyone has an opportunity to make small changes to improve the company’s bottom line. After all, these small changes by a few individuals can add up to major impacts, pushing a small company into a behemoth.
“Connecting everyone [to financials] allows inspiration to be put into action."
Great—so how do you create a culture of profit? Well, the short answer is that it needs to come from the top of the company. The longer answer is that there are some basic things you can easily implement to push your company towards a culture of profit.
We’ve seen daily goal reports work enormously well with our ProfitWell users. We designed these daily emails to keep everyone abreast of how the company is doing against the previous and current months’ goals. Surprisingly, we’ve found our open rates to be extremely high on these daily emails (60%+), supporting the notion that even the “rank and file” of the team are interested in how the company is doing.
You can sign up for ProfitWell here (it’s free), but you can certainly do this on your own or at the very least give revenue updates on a weekly basis if the data is hard to pull for you.
Similar to the daily progress reports, we’ve seen a lot of companies have success in putting up their metrics for everyone in the office to see. These constant reminders (potentially in the breakroom or in Slack/Hipchat if you’re a remote team) make sure that everyone’s at least tangentially aware of what’s going on.
The biggest issue here is making sure you keep your metrics and numbers focused, because dashboards or feeds that are just a litany of numbers and widgets are more confusing than helpful.
Finally—and this is the toughest of these ideas to implement—you need to trust your team and inspire them to make positive moves. Too many C-levels don’t give their teams enough agency to sell larger deals or upsell, especially when micromanaging different processes. If you trust you’re hiring the right people for the job, then you need to put up some guardrails, but not to the point of debilitation.
You’ll be surprised at how big of an impact you’ll find comes from the places you least expect innovation.
Creating a culture of profit is like any cultural consideration in your company—it’s a process. While we discussed a few mechanical moves you can make, there are plenty of different ways you can inspire your team around profit and your company’s goals. Just remember to be constantly testing and measuring different strategies, and, if you do nothing else, don’t keep your numbers a secret from the people who have the most influence on them: everyone. | 2019-04-25T18:25:06 | https://www.profitwell.com/blog/this-simple-hack-will-grow-your-revenue-34-share-your-financials |
0.999689 | Why Does Gregor Samsa Turn Into a Bug?
The reason Gregor Samsa turns into a bug in Franz Kafka's "The Metamorphosis" is never explained in the story. The story begins with Samsa waking up to find that he has turned into an insect. The rest of the book deals with his attempts to reconcile the fact that he is a human in an insect's body.
"The Metamorphosis" was written by Kafka in 1912 and published in 1915. It is primarily set in the apartment that Samsa shares with his family. A major theme throughout the novella is alienation, as Samsa's family attempts to remove him. In the end, he dies alone after he is injured by his father. | 2019-04-25T00:08:32 | https://www.reference.com/art-literature/gregor-samsa-turn-bug-add7219a14899c21 |
0.995547 | Intel Corp., the world's leading manufacturer of microprocessors, recently announced an unprecedented agreement with the Energy Department under which the government will use the Pentium processor design to develop radiation-hardened chips for spacecraft, satellites and other defense systems.
Under the licensing agreement, Sandia National Laboratories will design a version of the Pentium processor that can withstand the high levels of X-ray radiation present in the so-called Van Allen Belts, which are radiation belts that circle the globe.
Because many satellites and other space vehicles operate within the Van Allen Belts, it is necessary to shield, or "harden," them against the degrading effects of radiation [FCW, Aug. 17]. Satellites now operating within the Van Allen Belts rely on hardened chips that are manufactured specifically for that use. These chips are bigger, use more power and are more expensive to produce than typical commercial chips.
The agreement marks the first time anyone has tried to produce a radiation-hardened chip from a processor as small as Intel's Pentium processor.
Energy Secretary Bill Richardson said that with the agreement "a fundamental shift has indeed occurred" in the microprocessor field. According to Richardson, the teaming arrangement with Intel will save taxpayers millions of dollars, with the first prototype hitting the street within three years.
In addition, the deal is expected to benefit the commercial communications industry, which was hit hard this past summer by a pager disruption that may have been caused by the effects of radiation, Richardson said.
Under the agreement, the new chip design will be turned over to commercial manufacturers for production in the United States only. The partnership also includes NASA; the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), which manages the nation's fleet of spy satellites; and the Air Force Research Laboratory.
"Providing a license to Sandia will aid in the implementation of processing power" in the space and national defense environments, said Craig Barrett, president and chief executive officer of Intel. "It's a wonderful example of how industry and government can work together."
According to John Crawford, executive vice president of Sandia, the new radiation-hardened version of the Pentium will be compatible with the commercial chips found in PCs and will run software currently developed for the Intel platform.
NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin said the government would never have the production capability to undertake such a project without Intel's help. To date, Intel has invested about $1 billion in research and development of the Pentium processor. Also, production deals with commercial foundries will allow large volumes of hardened chips to be produced for use by government and commercial industry.
According to Goldin, during the next five to 10 years NASA plans to send spacecraft into deep space to take soil samples from Mars and Europa, which is one of the moons orbiting Jupiter. Scientists believe Europa may contain a liquid ocean beneath its ice-packed landscape. "[The new chips are] going to improve the intelligence quotient on our [space] vehicles by a factor of 10," Goldin said.
Keith Hall, director of the NRO, said the agreement will ensure that the national leadership continues to have access to timely information from the Defense Department's fleet of spy satellites. The agreement will continue to advance the effort of building smaller, more capable satellites and reconnaissance systems at less cost to the taxpayers, Hall said.
Allen Thompson, a former CIA analyst and frequent contributor to studies conducted by the Federation of American Scientists, said it is not yet clear how much this teaming arrangement will help in the area of critical infrastructure protection. "The rad-hard Pentiums...may suffer some performance loss and will probably lag behind commercial nonhard processors by a generation or more," Thompson said. "It seems unlikely that commercial companies will use them unless forced to [do so] by the government or unless someone demonstrates the [need] by exploding a [nuclear] bomb above the atmosphere."
However, Bob Blewer, deputy director of microelectronics at Sandia, said selection of the Pentium technology is not a concern because that technology already provides the government with a hardened processor solution that is "eight to 10 times more powerful than [any hardened chips] available today." According to Blewer, the Pentium-based processor will run at 120 MHz and be capable of processing up to 200 million instructions per second. Blewer also expects the processor to be used by commercial satellite manufacturers because of its compatibility with the commercial Pentium architecture.
Blewer said Sandia's manufacturing capabilities are capable of producing chips using a 0.5-micron die size. Although the state of the art is considered to be around 0.25 microns, Sandia is migrating to that capability and will immediately seek industry partners to team with on the manufacturing requirements of the new hardened Pentiums. Blewer also said the current agreement lays the legal groundwork for possible future teaming arrangements with Intel. | 2019-04-22T20:48:20 | https://fcw.com/articles/1998/12/20/intel-licenses-pentium-to-federal-agencies.aspx |
0.995298 | Did you know gluttony was once on the list of seven deadly sins? In our culture of hyper-consumerism, it's now on the acceptable sins list. Now, I'll be honest, gluttony makes me think of Jabba the Hutt from Star Wars. But the basic idea of gluttony is overindulgence in just about anything, not just food.
1. Your body is a holy place. "Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit?" (v. 19). The Corinthian culture during Paul's time was obsessed with bodily pleasure. But here Paul said your body serves a higher purpose than just your pleasure. He regarded the Christian's physical body as a holy place—the temple of God. And when we view our bodies as a temple, it raises life to a higher plane.
2. Your body has a holy person; in fact, that's what makes it a holy place. "Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God" (v. 19). The Holy Spirit takes up residence in the physical body of the Christian (see John 14:16-17). That means your physical body is the base of operations from which the Holy Spirit works in the lives of people around you.
3. Your body had a hefty price. "You are not your own[.] For you were bought at a price" (vv. 19-20). What was that price? "The precious blood of Christ" (1 Peter 1:19). Because God paid that price, He owns your life. Don't you want to make sure that your body is a well-tuned instrument that's usable in His hands for as long as physically possible?
4. Your body has a heavenly purpose. In verse 20, Paul said, "Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's." In other words, because God gave His Son to buy you, your body should be a billboard to point people to Him. That means your mouth can preach the gospel, your hands can help the needy, your feet can go to the lonely, your ears can listen to the brokenhearted, your lips can smile at the oppressed, and your eyes can give attention to the forlorn. In all these ways, you are telling the world, "God loves you."
Going back to the issue of gluttony, how do you overcome it? First, you need to say yes to the Word of God; you need to develop an appetite for truth (see Psalm 34:8; Matthew 4:4; 1 Peter 2:2). Second, say no; develop self-control (see Galatians 5:23). If overeating is something you struggle with, for example, that might mean saying no to certain kinds of food or large portions of food. And finally, say go—get up and move. Keep your physical human body as healthy and usable in God's hands as possible until the day He calls you home.
We're born with these bodies for better or for worse, and they're the receptacle for the Holy Spirit to live in and shine from. I pray you would realize that your body is a temple, bought by the Lord at a hefty price, and because of that, your purpose is to glorify Him and use your body to communicate to the world that He loves and cares for them. | 2019-04-18T10:31:10 | http://connectwithskip.com/devomail/read/daily-devotional/2019/01/29/your-body-isn't-really-yours |
0.994855 | If you have been using different styles for the text in the appendix document (so that there are no style conflicts), it would be as easy as a copy and paste operation.... Word Origin and History for appendix n. 1540s, "subjoined addition to a document or book," from Latin appendix "an addition, continuation, something attached," from appendere (see append ).
Adding Word files to document. Ask Question 6. 1. I am preparing a report using LaTeX and would like to add several documents saved as Word files. I have tried this before making each page a figure but I really don't like the results. Any help would be appreciated.... 1. Launch Microsoft Office Excel 2010 and open the spreadsheet that contains the data you want to insert into the Word document.
How do I add a separate LaTeX-document as an appendix?
1. Launch Microsoft Office Excel 2010 and open the spreadsheet that contains the data you want to insert into the Word document.
22/09/2010�� Word 2010 allows you to insert multiple TOCs in a document. Just say �No� to replacing the existing TOC, then modify it to pick up the Appendix heading styles (see the second option below). Just say �No� to replacing the existing TOC, then modify it to pick up the Appendix heading styles (see the second option below).
Adding Word files to document. Ask Question 6. 1. I am preparing a report using LaTeX and would like to add several documents saved as Word files. I have tried this before making each page a figure but I really don't like the results. Any help would be appreciated.
Word Origin and History for appendix n. 1540s, "subjoined addition to a document or book," from Latin appendix "an addition, continuation, something attached," from appendere (see append ).
I want to add LaTeX-documents to my main document as appendices. I have a set of documents (of class scrartcl) that all have their own tables of content, titles etc. Each of these documents should be included as an appendix in the main document. | 2019-04-24T18:41:53 | http://nitasrandomthoughts.info/northwest-territories/how-to-add-a-document-as-an-appendix-in-word.php |
0.999999 | Context. The stellar metallicity gradients of disc galaxies provide information on disc assembly, star formation processes, and chemical evolution. They also might store information on dynamical processes that could affect the distribution of chemical elements in the gas phase and the stellar components. Understanding their joint effects within a hierarchical clustering scenario is of paramount importance. Aims. We studied the stellar metallicity gradients of simulated discs in a cosmological simulation. We explored the dependence of the stellar metallicity gradients on stellar age and on the size and mass of the stellar discs. Methods. We used a catalogue of galaxies with disc components selected from a cosmological hydrodynamical simulation performed including a physically motivated supernova feedback and chemical evolution. Disc components were defined based on angular momentum and binding energy criteria. The metallicity profiles were estimated for stars with different ages. We confront our numerical findings with results from the Calar Alto Legacy Integral Field Area (CALIFA) Survey. Results. The simulated stellar discs are found to have metallicity profiles with slopes in global agreement with observations. Low stellar mass galaxies tend to have a larger variety of metallicity slopes. When normalized by the half-mass radius, the stellar metallicity gradients do not show any dependence and the dispersion increases significantly, regardless of the galaxy mass. Galaxies with stellar masses of around 10(10) M-circle dot show steeper negative metallicity gradients. The stellar metallicity gradients correlate with the half-mass radius. However, the correlation signal is not present when they are normalized by the half-mass radius. Stellar discs with positive age gradients are detected to have negative and positive metallicity gradients, depending on the relative importance of recent star formation activity in the central regions. Conclusions. Our results suggest that inside-out formation is the main process responsible for the metallicity and age profiles. The large dispersions in the metallicity gradients as a function of stellar mass could be ascribed to the effects of dynamical processes such as mergers, interactions and/or migration as well as those regulating the conversion of gas into stars. The fingerprints of the inside-out formation seem better preserved by the stellar metallicity gradients as a function of the half-mass radius. | 2019-04-19T04:26:09 | http://repositorio.unab.cl/xmlui/handle/ria/3066 |
0.999677 | The tea is too much hot to drink.
You can say "too hot to drink" or "much too hot to drink".
The Other One is correct. | 2019-04-22T10:08:15 | https://thegrammarexchange.infopop.cc/topic/too-5 |
0.999841 | The teacher was asking Harold some math questions.
rabbits, how many rabbits do you have?
of pop do you have?
another two rabbits, how many rabbits do you have?
Harold: I've already got one rabbit at home. | 2019-04-22T03:06:53 | http://justcleanjokes.com/jokes/Animals/Testing_For_Rabbits.html |
0.978944 | - how 'bout I fix up a nice hot feed?
Feed is a 2005 film directed by Brett Leonard. The plot involves a police investigation of the sexual fetish of feederism, where the 'feeder' will feed 'gainers' (a woman who gets sexual pleasure from gaining weight and eating).
(Feeding) The process of supplying molten metal to compensate for volume shrinkage while the casting is solidifying.
(Feeding) As spiders digest food externally, they ingest liquids only. After catching prey, they bite holes into the body wall and exude enzymes into and onto prey. The enzymes convert the prey's tissues to a soup, which is then sucked up.
(Feeding) The act of dressing a mojo bag with oil, or a lodestone with oil/magnetic sand to nourish it and keep it strong to work for you.
(Feeding) The action of forcing successive cartridges from a firearms magazine into its chamber.
(Feeding) The role the heel plays during a babyface's comback where he repeatedly is fended off by the face with a series of bumps that is hoped to generate heat. A face can also feed the heel in hopes of gaining fan support. | 2019-04-26T13:06:12 | http://googledictionary.freecollocation.com/meaning?word=feed |
0.999963 | We marked the winter solstice last week and ushered in the cold season. She arrived, however, on the arm of a promise that the days will grow longer and warmer, renewal waltzing in on their wake.
As the seasons turn and the year wanes, indulge me a passage about passage.
Early one morning long, long ago, my former wife Laura and I found ourselves seated across from one another at a small table in the basement cafeteria of Wills Eye Hospital in Philadelphia. Laura had flown in from Fort Wayne with our son, Austin. I'd driven down from Hartford. And a few minutes earlier, we'd handed our sobbing child to a yellow-gowned nurse, who'd carried him off to an operating room. She'd told us to be back in 45 minutes. While the doctor examined Austin's eyes for any recurrence of cancer, we bought breakfast and sat down to eat. "There's something I have to tell you," Laura said. "There's something I have to tell you, too," I said. "You go first." "I'm getting married," she said. "That's great," I said, "When's the wedding?" "June 28," she said. I smiled and laughed. "What's so funny?" Laura said. "I'm getting married June 30," I said. And so, on Friday, June 28, 1991, in a little town north of Fort Wayne, Laura married Dave Hall. That evening, I flew into Baer Field and checked in at the Hilton. When their wedding reception was over, Laura and Dave drove out to the airport and dropped off our twins, Austin and Zach, at my room. Exhausted from all the ado, the boys barely stirred all night. The next morning, Austin, Zach and I flew to Connecticut. And on Sunday, June 30, Pam Klein and I were married in a little chapel just north of Hartford. Four months later, Pam and I quit our jobs and moved to Indianapolis to be closer to the kids. Six years after that, Dave and Laura added a daughter, Erin, to the mix. In the Hallmark-moment household, children grow up with two loving parents. In modern reality, many kids grow up with a single parent, or divorced parents, or foster parents, or adoptive parents, or grandparents, or guardians or some combination or variation thereof. Austin and Zach grew up telling people "We have two moms and two dads." On some occasions (read: when they didn't get what they wanted), our sons complained about their four parents acting as "a united front." On others, they tried to play one set of parents against the other, or a step- parent against a birth parent. But for the most part-judging, at least, by the talented men of good character who've emerged from this hybrid-the 4:2 ratio worked pretty well. But this is a tale of passage, not parenting. And we've had our share. Three years ago, Pam lost her life to cancer. Two months ago, Dave lost his life to depression and suicide. Our sons, who learned from two moms and two dads, will celebrate this Christmas with one of each. And Erin, who's known only a nuclear household, must carry on with only her mom and brothers to guide her. I struggle with the notion that Pam craved life and could not keep it, while Dave was blessed with life and could no longer bear it. My friend Roland said the other day that he wished those opting out of life could transfer their unused time to those preferring to remain. But it doesn't work that way.
What does work is the searing of pain, the comfort of friends, the passage of time, the healing of wounds, the resurrection of hope and the blessing of renewal.
In that context, I reflect on this year nearly past with mixed emotions.
My heart aches for Laura and Erin, for Dave's mom and siblings, for my friends John and Rollie and all the others who lost loves this year.
I'm anxious for Pam's dad, who's recovering from one health scare and fearful of another.
As for me and my house, however, there is joy once again this season-joy made more joyous by the shadow from which it's emerged.
The tree sparkles with white lights and two lifetimes of trimmings. Evergreen boughs line bookshelves and doorways. There's a scent of pinecones and, well, love in the air.
The decisive moment of my year, you see, arrived not with St. Nicholas, but St. Valentine. For on that day, Cherà Ellen O'Neill took my hands, and looked into my eyes, and we said unto one another, "I will always seek to honor the life and the divinity within you, and I will always seek to share the life and the divinity within me, through all of our days ahead."
As passages go, it just doesn't get much better than that.
Hetrick is chairman and CEO of Hetrick Communications Inc., an Indianapolis-based public relations and marketing communications firm.His column appears twice a month.He can be reached at [email protected]. | 2019-04-26T00:09:36 | https://www.ibj.com/articles/13683-notions-upon-the-solstice-a-passage-about-passage |
0.999789 | It began as a philosophical concept in ancient Greece and entered the scientific mainstream in the early 19th century when discoveries in the field of chemistry showed that matter did indeed behave as if it were made up of atoms. Today, we still know this to be mostly true. This began in 1800, when Dalton became a secretary of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society. One of these is that of John Dalton … the other that of James Prescott Joule. There are countless scientists involved in the evolution of atomic theory, but less than 50 have majorly impacted the way we view atomic theory today.
What Is John Dalton's Atomic Model?
Later on you will learn that alpha particles are really just the nuclei of helium atoms. Math can do anything, it can put an elephant on s stick it can make the universe expand and collapse. But if one adds up the mass total amount of matter of all the protons and electrons in an atom, the total comes no where near the actual mass of an atom. The Bohr model of the atom, the theory that electrons travel in discrete orbits around the atom's nucleus. In the period between 1906 and 1908, English chemist and physicist Ernest Rutherford 1871—1937 studied the effects of bombarding thin gold foil with alpha particles.
Is matter, they asked, continuous or discontinuous? All atoms of the same element have identical weights, while atoms of different elements have different weights. He remained there till he was 34 at which point he resigned from the post due to financial difficulties faced by the academy. However, no one knows specifically how he reached most of his conclusions about atoms. Since then, chemists have shown the theory of Daltonian atomism to be a key factor underlying further advances in their field. However, no one knows specifically how he reached most of his conclusions about atoms. John Dalton was born on September 6th 1766 in Eaglesfeild, Cumberland, England.
Bohr suggested that the electrons must be orbiting the How did Bohr change Rutherford's model of the atom? He found this out while studying rays traveling between charged metal plates in a vacuum tube. This youthful venture was not successful, the amount he received in fees being only about five shillings a week, and after two years he took to farm work. His grandfather Jonathan Dalton was a shoemaker while his father Joseph Dalton was a weaver. He began his scientific career as a meteorologist, making several important contributions in the field, before becoming one of the most important chemists of all time. Developing the Atomic Theory The formulation of the atomic theory, Dalton's greatest achievement, was developed gradually, almost inadvertently, through a series of observations resulting from his preoccupation with gases. The second was the , first proven by the French chemist Joseph Louis Proust in 1799. In 1804 he was chosen to give a course of lectures on natural philosophy at the Royal Institution in London, where he delivered another course in 1809-1810.
The cemetery is now a playing field, but pictures of the original grave are in published materials. The antagonist Johnny Friendly requires complete loyalty from not only the longshoremen but also his henchmen, in order to maintain his power in the waterfront community, he does not allow any betrayal or even the idea of trying to testify against the mob run union is restricted. Dalton's theory can be called modern because it contained statements about atoms that could be tested experimentally. In one of them, read in 1814, he explains the principles of volumetric analysis, in which he was one of the earliest workers. He had just discovered electrons. There must then be something smaller than the atom subatomic particles of which atoms were composed. John Dalton was an important scientist that established the atomic theory.
In his theory of atomic structure and composition, Dalton presented the concept that all matter was composed of different combinations of atoms, which are the indivisible building blocks of matter. He himself attributed his success primarily to simple persistence. Many heretofore unexplained chemical phenomena were quickly explained by Dalton with his theory. Education and teaching career brought him in contact with amateur meteorologists B. It wasn't just a philosophical statement that there are atoms because there must be atoms. Never married, though there is evidence that he delighted in the society of women of education and refinement, he lived for more than a quarter of a century with his friend the Rev. Suppose, said Danish physicist Niels Bohr 1885—1962 , that places exist in the atom where electrons can travel without losing energy.
What does it look like? Berthollet supported the concept that elements could mix in any ratio. You would probably be just as surprised as Rutherford when he discovered the nucleus. Another work by him, Elements of English Grammar, was published in 1801. But the model has not been used by chemists themselves for many decades. All elements are made of tiny indivisible particles called atoms. Early History of the Atom Matter is composed of indivisible building blocks. Atom was derived from the greek word atomon or atomos meaning indestructible.
Aristotle was very convincing and did many experiments using the scientific method, so more people believed him. Synopsis Chemist John Dalton was born September 6, 1766, in Eaglesfield, England. See the unit Chemical Shorthand. Elements are made of tiny particles called atoms. These compounds are known as non-stoichometric compounds, and examples include ferrous oxide. Although Dalton had taught chemistry for several years, he had not yet performed actual research in this field. He never could learn to swim: on investigating this circumstance he found that his spec. | 2019-04-20T00:12:34 | http://netteranatomy.com/john-dalton-important-words.html |
0.999952 | SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. - Phil Mickelson is going ahead with his Phoenix Open title defense after testing his ailing lower back on Wednesday at exclusive Whisper Rock.
"I had a good practice session, though I didn't go full speed for much of it," Mickelson said in a statement. "I feel fine. I expect to play and play well."
He first felt soreness two weeks ago in Abu Dhabi, and then withdrew from the Farmers Insurance Open on Friday after making the cut at Torrey Pines.
He flew to Georgia to see back specialist Tom Boers and was told his facet joints locked up.
Last year at TPC Scottsdale, the former Arizona State star opened with an 11-under 60 and matched the Phoenix Open record of 28 under. He was set to make his 25th start in the event that he also won in 1996 and 2005.
Mickelson lived in the Phoenix area for 12 years.
"If it was any other tournament I'd skip it," Mickelson said this week. "But I'm defending, it's my second hometown and I love the event."
Lefty also said he expects to play next week at Pebble Beach, where he's a five-time champion. He is skipping Riviera and the Match Play Championship because his oldest daughter has spring break a week earlier than his other two children.
Today at TPC Scottsdale, the 43-year-old Mickelson was scheduled to open play on the 10th tee in a morning group with Bill Haas and Ryan Moore.
While Mickelson now lives near his hometown of San Diego, Torrey Pines winner Scott Stallings is setting up a winter base in Scottsdale. He also is joining Whisper Rock, the club where Mickelson and other tour players are members.
"My wife and I are renting in Scottsdale at Grayhawk, so we are five minutes away from here," Stallings said. "I have been playing and practicing out of here, actually also at Whisper Rock - went through the whole process and we are going to make somewhat of a winter home out here.
"Especially, with the vile weather that's been in the South, I don't miss that at all. We miss our families, but I don't miss that weather at all."
Stallings won Sunday in San Diego for his third tour title. "That venue and that event was very special and a huge stepping stone in my career," he said.
Stallings is getting over an illness that also hit his wife and son.
"Honestly, if you asked me yesterday, I'd say there is no way I'm playing in the tournament," he said.
"The Mayo Clinic and the tournament got me hooked up with some good doctors and nurses, all kind of IVs and fluid and stuff like that. I'm a completely different person than I was yesterday."
Patrick Reed is coming off a victory two weeks ago in California in the Humana Challenge. Riding a self-described "putting coma" at La Quinta, Reed opened with three straight 9-under 63s and closed with a 71 for a two-stroke victory.
"The greens, when I first saw them, there were a couple brown spots on them, and I thought that meant it was going to be not rolling very true, but I didn't see any putts really hop," Reed said about TPC Scottsdale. "Whenever you have greens like that that are just really pure, just like they were at Humana, I'm excited."
Lee Westwood is making his first start in the event. He also played last week at Torrey Pines, in part because of the tour's new wraparound schedule.
"Normally, I would go play the Middle East swing. I would go and play Abu Dhabi, Qatar, and Dubai or two of those three," the Englishman said.
"I decided not to go this year and wanted to play a few more events in the States.
"If you don't play these, then you're giving up a big start, because they have played six before the season, so it started last year. So it's like a quarter of the schedule gone if you don't start until Pebble or L.A., so it makes sense to play a couple of these."
Mickelson's decision to play cost Ryo Ishikawa a spot in the field. The Japanese player tied for seventh last week at Torrey Pines, but didn't get into the Phoenix Open as a top-10 finisher because the field was full before that entry category. | 2019-04-23T19:03:12 | https://www.onlineathens.com/article/20140129/SPORTS/301299947 |
0.998669 | Is a Tenant Allowed To Sublet or Assign a Commercial Lease in New York?
In New York, the tenant's contractual lease terms will detemine whether she is permitted to sublet or assign the property. Many leases contain an express provision that allows a commercial tenant to sublease or assign her interest to another party with the landlord's consent. In other situations the landlord's consent is not required. Examine the lease closely to see whether the landlord's approval must first be obtained before subleasing or assigning the property.
May A New York Landlord Unreasonably Withhold Their Consent to Sublease or Assign Commercial Property?
If the commercial lease states the landlord's consent is required, the landlord has the absolute right to prohibit subleasing or assignments by the tenants. The landlord can refuse to allow the sublease or assignment regardless of whether their actions are reasonable or unreasonable.
In response to this, many commercial leases specifically state that the landlord's consent to sublease or assign the commercial property cannot be unreasonably withheld. In this situation, the landlord may withhold their consent only if there is a reasonable commercial objection to the sublease or assignment.
What if the Lease Contains No Provision About Subleases or Assignments?
If there is no express provision regarding a landlord's consent in a commercial lease, and the landlord chooses not to bargain with tenants to allow for sublease or assignment rights, then a tenant is prohibited from subletting or assigning during the lease term. | 2019-04-19T17:02:29 | https://www.legalmatch.com/law-library/article/subletting-or-assigning-commercial-leases-in-new-york.html |
0.998064 | The Minuet and Trio is a common form used in classical music composition. It turns up often as the third movement of symphonies and string quartets, and has also been used extensively in the piano works of Mozart and Beethoven, among others.
Why would any composer write a minuet and trio? It gives them a framework within which to work. Like sonata form, there are certain rules that need to be adhered to. And when writing a piece with four different sections - such as a piano sonata or symphony - it's important to make sure there's variety. The nature and placement of the minuet and trio means that it's easily recognizable, too, which helps listeners make sense of the music more readily.
So here's a simple guide that will help you understand and identify a minuet and trio the next time you hear it.
The minuet came first, and the trio was added later. Minuets were initially written to be danced to. When the dance craze died out, composers continued to write pieces using the minuet style, expanding and modifying it to keep up with changing times.
A minuet has three beats in a bar and generally moves along at a leisurely pace. Composers as far back as Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632-1687) wrote them for the courts of kings and queens, where wealthy and upper-class people would gather to indulge in fine food and drink, strive to make a good impression on the ruling monarch, or simply make sure they were seen in the right places.
By the time of J.S. Bach the minuet became a musical form in its own right. The trio element evolved as a technique to make the minuet last longer and is simply another minuet stuck in the middle. Composers helped audiences identify the trio by scoring it for three instruments only - and that's where the name "trio" comes from.
The minuet at the beginning and the minuet at the end are the same. It might seem boring to us these days to repeat the whole first part of the piece again, but you have to remember that people usually heard music one time only. They weren't able to flick on the radio, pop a CD in their stereo or download it through iTunes. Their only encounter with the music would be when they heard it performed live, at a dance or a concert. The only way they could get to hear it over and over again would be if they had the sheet music and the ability to play it. Otherwise the tunes and harmonies would go in one ear and out the other. So composers used repetition to make it easier on them.
You'll notice that section B - the trio - uses different letters to identify each of its three parts. That's because the music for the trio is unique. It might be based on what came before it, i.e. the minuet, but it will be varied in some way, usually by a key change and often with a different melody. So because the music is different, we use different letters to indicate that.
Minuet and trio form uses repetition extensively, as mentioned above. This is partly due to the fact that the composers want to familiarize their listeners with the music as quickly as possible, and partly due to the conventions of the genre. It's possible for modern performers to play the pieces without repeating sections - it all depends on how strictly they want to adhere to the composer's wishes.
Another equally famous example occurs in Haydn's 'Surprise' Symphony. Check out the third movement and see if you can identify the minuet and trio structure.
Arrnaged for easy piano and including Fur Elise, Minuet in G and other popular pieces by one of the greatest composers of all time.
With so much repetition you may be wondering how composers keep listeners from being bored. One way they can achieve this is by changing the endings of sections, for example by using first and second time bars. These subtle changes are enough to add variety to the music, throwing in a small twist that takes listeners by surprise and makes them take notice.
Another trick they employ is changing the music within a section. So, for example, in the opening minuet which has an A B A structure, a composer might choose to alter the final A-section and give it a completely unique ending, helping to make it stand out. Or they might indicate that the section be played medium loud the first time, and then very soft the second time. Pieces for orchestra can achieve differentiation by varying the instrumentation. Small changes like this can have a tremendous impact, especially in the hands of a master craftsman like Beethoven or Haydn.
The most important thing to remember about the Minuet and Trio is that everything is in three's. Here's a quick summary to help bring it all together.
And that's all there is to it. Test your knowledge by completing the short quiz below, and remember to listen carefully next time there's classical music playing to see if you can spot those minuets and trios!
Which instruments are used to play an ensemble?
An ensemble is simply a group. The word "ensemble" means together. Two people playing together is a duet, three is a trio, four is a quartet, five is a quintet, six is a sextet, seven is a septet, eight is an octet, nine is a nonet, and so on. But each of these is also an ensemble in the strict sense of the word because "ensemble" means playing together.
What happens when the minuet has two different trios? What form would it have then? Would it become a minueto-trio1-minueto-trio2-minueto?
As stated in the article, the typical minuet and trio form has 3 parts: the minuet, the trio, and the minuet repeated. It's possible to add as many different elements as you want, but then it becomes something different. And when that happens, perhaps it might need a new name like those you suggest.
If say a trio is in the key of G major, then what is the expected key of its minuet?
The minuet comes first, so the keys of both sections will be related to the key of the minuet. Typically, the trio is in a key related to the minuet. So, if the minuet is in the key of G, for example, then the trio might be in the key of D, which is the V chord or dominant.
Is the minuet and trio a type of ternary form?
This is why music is so often compared with architecture. It's largely about structure. The poetry revolves around the structure. The little trio section in the third movement of Schubert's fabulous string quintet. Beautiful.
This helped my project for music theory come along quite nicely :)!
Really good. I decided to write a minuet, but didn't know what went into one. After reading this I finally understood what went into one. Thanks for teaching my how a minuet works.
That was a truly wonderful explanation!
Thanks, John!!! Exactly what I needed! Well explained and helpful.
best explanation on google! well done! | 2019-04-20T04:14:52 | https://spinditty.com/genres/A-Guide-to-the-Minuet-and-Trio |
0.999999 | Is a dog a carnivore or a omnivore?
Is a dog a carnivore or an omnivore?
This topic is a rather unpleasant but important one: assessing your dog's poop for signs of a health problem.
Myth: Raw-fed animals pose a significant health risk to humans.
Yes, there is bacteria in raw meat. Yes, this bacteria can harm you. Yes, this bacteria is sometimes shed in dogs' feces. So if a raw-fed dog licks you, are you going to get sick?
Daily supplements for healthy companions.
Even the best quality diet will not provide optimal wellness if your dog or cat is not digesting and absorbing it properly. | 2019-04-20T04:51:43 | https://www.friendsofthedog.co.za/is-a-dog-a-carnivore-or-omnivore.html |
0.993578 | Special Containment Procedures: SCP-828-1 is to be housed in the Site-641 marine mammal rehabilitation center located 10 kilometers inland from the coastline of Somerset Island, in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. It is to be kept in regular contact with site personnel and interviewed regularly by the on-site psychologist. To facilitate this SCP-828-1 has been granted limited mobility. It is to be surveilled via a GPS-enabled ankle monitoring system. If SCP-828-1 approaches within 5 kilometers of the ocean it is to be intercepted by onsite security personnel and returned to containment. Following review by the Site Director SCP-828-1 may be placed in restrictive housing. SCP-828-1 is not to come in contact with any prepubescent human subjects. If this occurs SCP-828-1 will be mandatorily placed in restrictive housing and an independent investigation of Foundation personnel will follow.1 SCP-828-1 is to be fed with fish or small whales native to the region2. Only while in a controlled, experimental environment may SCP-828-1 come in contact with SCP-828-2.
SCP-828-2 is contained in the Site-641 reliquary located at the Cunningham Inlet Facility. It is to be inspected bi-weekly for deterioration. A textile restoration technician is to inspect SCP-828-2 bi-monthly for degradation. Repairs will be conducted with the assistance of the on-site, classically trained, Inuit shaman.
Description: SCP-828-1 is a humanoid organism that stands 1.4 meters tall with white, pupilless eyes, long "hair" composed of kelp-like unbranched stipes of Alaria esculenta3. The subject''s skin resembles that of fish of the Myoxophalus4 genus. SCP-828-1 is amphibious but cannot remain out of water for more than 10 minutes without suffering from dehydration. The subject''s hands and feet are webbed to facilitate swimming. Medical examination of the "hair" has revealed that it is permeated by extensive vasculature indicating that the organ is used for gas exchange. The subject''s body appears emaciated but the subject has yet to request food. If offered food SCP-828-1 will consume it "to be polite" but it is unclear if the subject requires regular feeding. The subject was found with severe tooth decay and has been provided with dentures and dental care after containment. When out of water the subject''s skin emits an odor that has been unanimously described as pleasant by all prepubescent human subjects. Importantly, children have described the scent as comforting and "maternal" during interviews. Analysis of the subject''s skin secretions have discovered the presence of a volatile organic substance which may act as a pheromone. It is hypothesized that this compound may aid the subject in its efforts to befriend children. Research into the mechanism of action is ongoing.
SCP-828-1 has been extraordinarily cooperative with Foundation personnel during containment. Psychological analysis reveals that SCP-828-1 exhibits symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder including intrusive recurrent recall, insomnia, and hypervigilance. Paradoxically, these symptoms are exacerbated by exposure to the sea, images of the sea, marine mammals and images of marine mammals. SCP-828-1 also exhibits signs of traumatic bonding to the Foundation and individuals associated with the Foundation. It is the recommendation of the psychological staff that this bond be exploited for the purpose of containment and study.
SCP-828-2 is a heavily water-damaged amauti5 that SCP-828-1 was wearing prior to containment. The garment is made of materials traditionally associated with Inuit clothing, seal fur, caribou hide and thick, woolen duffel. When SCP-828-1 places a child into the carrying pouch of the garment the child is unaffected by cold temperatures or hyperbaric ambient pressure and does not need to breathe. The child remains conscious and aware while contained in SCP-828-2.
Recovery: SCP-828 was recovered from Pangnirtung, Canada when a missing child, Nathan Qappik, thought to have been lost in a sudden storm, was discovered by fishermen on the abandoned island of Iglunga. The following interview was conducted by local representatives of the Canadian Mounted Police.
Foreword: The following interview was conducted after child''s recovery. It has been translated from Inuktitut. Original transcript available on request.
Filigree: Alright little man, why don''t you tell me how you managed to get out on that island?
Qappik: Am I in trouble?
Filigree: What? Of course not. Everybody in town was very worried about you. We''re just happy to have you back but we still need to know how you got out there. Okay?
Filigree: It''s okay. You can keep going.
Qappik: Well, it was high tide, if it wasn''t high tide I would have fallen in the mud. A big wave caught me and I bumped my head. I don''t remember what happened right after.
Filigree: That''s okay. You can tell us what you do remember.
Qappik: Promise you wont think I''m lying?
Qappik: Well I woke up and I was underwater. I could see the sun coming through the waves. It wasn''t cold though, or wet. I felt safe. I felt warm, like I was wrapped in a fur blanket. Oh, and I saw a whale.
Qappik: My fish friend. I was scared at first because she looked weird but she''s nice. She''s the one who caught me when I fell, or at least she said she did but I don''t remember because I hit my head. But she took me out of her amauti and I was dry and she told me where to find stuff for fire and brought me meat that she helped me cook. I stayed on a pier in a fisher shack. It was our secret place.
Filigree: Did your friend have a name?
Qappik: She said "Piitchuq6" but that didn''t make any sense. Anyway, can I see her? She seemed sad and lonely. I don''t think she has any friends. Nobody should live like that.
Filigree: Did she hurt you or do anything strange? Did she say where she was from?
Qappik: No. She was really nice and was real good at fishing. I think it''s because she can swim really well and doesn''t need a boat. She never said where she was from so I thought she was from the island. Can I see her?
Closing Statement: The interview continues in this vein for some time. Throughout Qappik insists that SCP-828-1 did not harm him and was friendly. The story was not released to the public. Local authorities believe that the child had experienced hypothermia-induced hallucinations while on the island.
In the weeks following the recovery of the missing child, rumors began to spread through the town of a strange marine animal in and around the harbor. Repeat sightings of a strange person on the docks prompted widespread speculation and hearsay. Teriaq LeChatlier, Site-641''s on-site shaman heard the rumors through family contacts and decided to investigate "on a hunch" with a small team from MTF-89E "Tomas''s Tuggers". SCP-828 eluded capture for several weeks until capture during an attempt to enter the Qappik family residence. SCP-828 was then brought back to Site-641 for processing.
Foreword: This unofficial interview was conducted en route to Site-641 on board the recently-acquired fishing vessel "Jeanne". SCP-828 was sequestered in the live-catch hold at the time of interview. LeChatlier insisted on the encounter before processing saying "The sea is already pretty angry about this. I don''t know if we''ll make it back." Please note that the following interview was translated from Inuktitut.
SCP-828: Angakkuq7, are you here to consume my flesh and make my power yours? Do you speak for the Mother of the Sea come to collect her due? Am I to serve you? To offer my bones as your tupilaq? Tell me so that I may know and we may be without pretense.
LeChatlier: What? No. I just wanted to talk to you in case your mother decided to cut things short. I want to know why you didn''t take the child.
SCP-828: This is a trick.
LeChatlier: No I''m being serious. I work for people who want to meet things like you.
SCP-828: So you serve another master then. What do they want with me?
LeChatlier: Mostly to stare at you and ask you questions. Are you comfortable down there?
SCP-828: [SCP-828 stares at LeChatlier incredulously] I will speak with your masters, Angakkuq.
LeChatlier: Just thought I''d ask.
Closing Statement: SCP-828 remained unresponsive for the remainder of the voyage.
Foreword: The following interview took place after several weeks of processing. SCP-828 had displayed signs of agitation and an intervention was undertaken at the request of LeChatlier.
Fullbrush: Good afternoon SCP-828. We understand that you''ve been having trouble.
Fullbrush: That is the designation we''ve assigned you.
LeChatlier: You can think of it as a name if it''s easier for you.
Fullbrush: Regardless. The maintenance and research staff have reported that you have been increasingly agitated and resistant. We are here to find out why.
SCP-828: [indicates Fullbrush] Is that your masterAngakkuq? Does this qallunaat hold your leash?
LeChatlier: The only leash Fullbrush here holds is his.
Fullbrush: What my… associate means to say is that we work for the same organization but I am not directly responsible for him. Everybody you see here works for the same group of people. We want to learn about you.
SCP-828: That''s what he said.
LeChatlier: I wasn''t going to lie to you. You know how much those cost anyway. Too steep to lie to you.
Fullbrush: You thought we''d dissect you or kill you or enslave you? Reasonable assumptions but not what we do. We just want to keep you safe with us and learn from you.
LeChatlier Yeah, we''ll keep you safe. You''ll have a home.
SCP-828: I wouldn''t have to [hesitation] I wouldn''t have to seek children anymore?
LeChatlier: No. You''re free to keep to yourself if you like. Probably won''t see anybody unless somebody really wants to talk to you or something. Don''t ask me why they''d want to that''s just their way.
SCP-828: What if I want to talk to people? What if I need to?
Fullbrush: Well, typically we only keep things like you as restrained as they need to be. There are incentives for good behavior, cooperation.
SCP-828: What does it mean for me to cooperate? What do you want?
LeChatlier: You wanna kick this up the chain Brushy?
Fullbrush: If you want to cooperate I will speak with my superiors and we can arrange something.
Rosenthal: Alright then 828, why don''t we start with some history. Tell me about yourself.
SCP-828: Where do you want me to start?
Rosenthal: The beginning? Whatever part of your life you''d consider to be a beginning.
SCP-828: My memory is more torn than my amauti, umilik. She ripped holes in it when I was taken. I only remember what she wants me to.
LeChatlier: Playing the pronoun game eh?
Rosenthal: What do you remember about your family?
SCP-828: My husband [hesitates] my husband was gone I think. He died. A bear broke his neck on the ice. A sudden wave washed him into the sea. His jealous brother killed him. He was lost in a blizzard. Or one of the invaders shot him with their bows. It doesn''t matter. My son and I were left behind. I was inherited by my husband''s brother. I remember him struggling to catch enough for all of us. He was not a strong man. He would skulk to the sweat hut to commune with the shaman. We were, as a family, a burden to our people. Burdens do not last long on the ice.
Rosenthal: How does this fit into your current state?
LeChatlier: She''s setting the scene, just let her keep going.
Rosenthal: Did it say anything? The voice?
SCP-828: This I remember because it wanted me to remember. It. The voice. It said that my son had disrespected her children, that he had neglected the customary offerings, respect.
LeChatlier: The kid probably forgot to offer the seals a drink before they died.
SCP-828: I offered myself. If my son was payment then it could accept a larger price, yes? I watched the polynya, there was no sea just green ice. It coughed him up like a sick dog next to me. I held him until his eyes opened, said good bye and stood on the green ice in the hole. I remember going deep. I remember unearthly singing and a boiling, hot presence, like I was inside a womb of flame. There''s not much left after that.
Rosenthal: What else do you remember?
SCP-828: Children. I remember children looking down at me through a hole in the sky. I take them into my arms when they fall. I bring a place where fire burns underwater, where they do not fall, where they cannot fall.
LeChatlier: I thought you said you couldn''t remember.
Rosenthal: I think that''s enough for today. We''ll resume at our next, scheduled appointment.
5. Traditional Inuit child-carrying parka. | 2019-04-22T22:11:39 | http://nn5n.com/index.php?page=object&language=English&prefix=scp&object_number=828&postfix=en |
0.999214 | Will schools have to pay the levy?
What does being an apprentice mean?
The apprenticeship levy is a levy on UK employers to fund new apprenticeships.
The levy applies to employers who have annual paybills in excess of £3 million, and is charged at a rate of 0.5% of the employer’s paybill.
The employer receives an allowance of £15,000 to offset against their levy payment.
It came into force in April 2017.
increase quality and quantity of apprenticeships.
The Government has committed to creating an additional 3 million apprenticeships by 2020. The levy is designed to help lever and support quality training.
Do schools have to pay the levy?
Maintained schools below the £3 million threshold are likely to still pay if they come under the overall local authority wage bill. However, there has been some confusion in regards to the status of LA/community schools when it comes to paying and benefiting from the levy (see the BBC article Apprentice levy 'will harm small council schools' for some detail), so check with your LA as to their arrangements. For example, some LAs operate a central system for appointing apprentices and accessing the funding.
Similarly, while individual schools within a MAT may have a payroll below £3 million, the overall MAT will be subject to the apprenticeship levy and the 0.5% tax deducted. The MAT will receive the £15,000 allowance.
The DfE have estimated that over 16,000 schools (three quarters of the total) will pay a combined apprenticeship levy of around £110 million (see paragraph 33 of the Schools’ costs: technical note).
So, in practice, the majority of schools pay the levy, and should ensure they take account of this cost when setting the budget.
Note: in the case of Voluntary Aided (VA) and Foundation schools, the governing body is considered to be the employer, rather than the LA. Therefore they only pay the levy if they have a paybill of over £3 million.
In England, control of apprenticeship funding is put in the hands of employers through the digital apprenticeship service; employers need to register to manage apprenticeship funds.
Once an employer has declared their levy to HMRC, they can access funding for apprenticeships through the digital apprenticeship service account.
All employers can use the service to choose training providers and assessors, post vacancies and find frameworks and standards.
Employers who pay the levy can use the service to pay for training and set prices with providers.
The government applies a monthly 10% top-up to the funds in your account.
Employers have 24 months to spend the funds in their digital account.
What does being an apprentice actually mean?
According to the DfE, an apprenticeship is ‘a genuine job with an accompanying skills development programme’.
It has to be a real job; could be existing employee or new hire.
Got to be working towards an approved standard or framework.
Training must be at least 12 months.
Apprentice has to spend at least 20% of their time on off-the-job training.
The term apprenticeship can cover professional development up to level 7 (Masters level).
There are no age restrictions on eligibility for apprenticeship funding.
What else has the government promised?
100% of training costs will be paid by government for employers with fewer than 50 employees who take on apprentices aged 16 to 18 years old. This will also apply to smaller employers who take on 19- to 24-year-olds who were in care or 19- to 24-year-olds with an education and health care plan.
£1,000 each from government to employers and training providers who take on 16- to 18-year-olds and 19- to 24-year-olds who were in care or who have an education and health care plan.
More funding for STEM apprenticeship frameworks and higher pricing of apprenticeship standards to support improved quality. | 2019-04-18T22:37:15 | https://my.optimus-education.com/apprenticeship-levy-what-you-need-know |
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0.999837 | Analysis: SSD performance -- is a slowdown inevitable?
The recent revelation that Intel Corp.'s consumer-class solid-state disk (SSD) drives suffer from fragmentation that can cause a significant performance degradation raises the question: Do all SSDs slow down with use over time?
The answer is yes -- and every drive manufacturer knows it.
Here's the rub: Drive performance and longevity are inherently connected, meaning drive manufacturers work to come up with the best balance between blazing speed and endurance. And since SSDs are fairly new to the market, users are finding that while they do offer better speed in some ways than hard disk drives, questions remain about how much of that speed they deliver for the long haul.
One thing you can be sure of is that the shiny new SSD you just bought isn't likely to continue performing at the same level it did when you first pulled it out of the box. That's important to know, given the speed with which SSDs have proliferated in the marketplace amid claims that they're faster, use less power and can be more reliable -- especially in laptops -- since there are no moving parts.
They also remain more expensive than their spinning-disk hard drive counterparts.
In May 2008, the JEDEC subcommittee co-chaired by Seagate and Micron, held its first meeting to address the standards development needs of the still-emerging SSD market.
JEDEC is among several groups working to publish either standards or specifications for the drives by year's end. Along with IDEMA (International Disk Drive Equipment and Materials Association) and the SSD Alliance, headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan, the Storage Networking Industry Association's (SNIA) Solid State Storage Initiative plans to publish performance specifications no later than the third quarter for vendors to adopt and eventually use on their SSD packaging.
SNIA's specifications will set up standard benchmarks for measuring new drive performance and degradation over time, depending on the applications being used.
Phil Mills, chairman of the Solid State Storage Initiative, said the performance numbers most manufacturers use now for marketing represent a drive's "burst rate" -- not its steady state or average read rate. "So there's already a huge difference between out-of-the-box versus constant use," he said. "And then, in both burst mode and steady state, there are huge differences in performance between manufacturers."
Because SSDs have no moving parts, when the drives go bad -- and they do on occasion -- what users are apt to see are failures at the controller or chip level where firmware bugs can affect I/O operations with a computer's operating system. With such relatively new technology, hiccups are possible.
For example, a Computerworld editor who purchased a 120GB SSD from OCZ Technology last month, found that the drive failed after only two weeks of use. He's now using a replacement -- and backing up data often.
Users typically notice that an SSD drive runs at the manufacturer's stated peak I/O performance at first, but soon after that it begins to drop. That's because, unlike a hard disk drive, any write operation to an SSD requires not one step, but two: an erase followed by the write.
When an SSD is new, the NAND flash memory inside it has been pre-erased; Users start with a clean slate, so to speak. But, as data is written to the drive, data management algorithms in the controller begin to move that data around the flash memory in an operation known as wear-leveling. Even though wear-leveling is meant to prolong the life of the drive, it can eventually lead to performance issues.
SSD performance and endurance are related. Generally, the poorer the performance of a drive, the shorter the lifespan. That's because the management overhead of an SSD is related to how many writes and erases to the drive take place. The more write/erase cycles there are, the shorter the drive's lifespan. Consumer-grade multi-level cell (MLC) memory can sustain from 2,000 to 10,000 write cycles. Enterprise-class single-level cell (SLC) memory can last through 10 times the number of write cycles of an MLC-based drive.
A brief refresher on the difference between the two technologies: SLC simply means one bit of data is written to each flash memory cell, while MLC allows two bits, or more, to be written to cells. MLC drives are notably less expensive than SLC drives.
Manufacturers moderate how long the flash memory in an SSD will last in several ways, but all involve either adding DRAM cache -- so data writes are buffered to reduce the number of write/erase cycles -- or using special firmware located in the drive's processor or controller to combine writes for efficiency.
According to Bob Merritt, an analyst with research firm Convergent Semiconductors, another element of SSD longevity is whether extra memory cells are available and, if so, how many. Some manufacturers over-provision storage, so that when blocks of flash memory wear out, additional blocks become available. For example, a drive may be listed as offering 120GB of memory, but may actually contain 140GB of capacity. The extra 20GB remains unused until it's needed.
The performance problems involving Intel's consumer-grade X25-M SSD were related to its wear-leveling algorithm.
At its most basic, wear-leveling algorithms are used to more evenly distribute data across flash memory so that no one portion wears out faster than another, which prolongs the life of whole drive. The SSD's controller in wear-leveling operations keeps a record of where data is set down on the drive as it's relocated from one portion to another.
"To accomplish this, you need to move commonly used data to different locations, which naturally leads to some data fragmentation, depending on the size of the data blocks required," said Jim McGregor, chief technology strategist for research firm In-Stat Inc.
In Intel's case, reviewers at PC Perspective spent months testing X25-M SSDs using multiple PCs and applications to study Intel's advanced wear-leveling and write-combining algorithms. The results showed that write speeds dropped from 80MB/sec. when the drives were new to 30MB/sec. and read speeds dropped from 250MB/sec to 60MB/sec. for some large block writes."We found that a 'used' X25-M will always perform worse than a 'new' one, regardless of any adaptive algorithms that may be at play," PC Perspective wrote.
Intel said the drive's performance problem was related to a bug in the firmware that has since been corrected with an upgrade. PC Perspective re-tested the drive and found the problem had, indeed, been fixed.
Another factor contributing to SSD performance and endurance degradation is something native to all NAND flash memory: write amplification. With NAND flash memory, data is laid down in blocks, just as it is on a hard disk drive. But, unlike a traditional spinning disk, block sizes on an SSD are fixed; even a small 4k chunk of data write can take up a 512k block of space, depending on the NAND flash memory being used. When any portion of the data on the drive is changed, a block must first be marked for deletion in preparation for accommodating the new data.
When you compare the size of NAND blocks with the typical write request used by Windows, there's a mismatch because most writes are small.
The amount of space required for each new write can vary, but according to Knut Grimsrud, a director of storage architecture in Intel's research and development laboratory, write amplification on many consumer SSDs is anywhere from 15 to 20. That means for every 1MB of data written to the drive, 15MB to 20MBs of space is actually needed.
For example, a read-modify-write algorithm in an SSD controller will take a block about to be written to, retrieve any data already in it, mark the block for deletion, redistribute the old data, then lay down the new data in the old block.
"So you had to write that old data back again," said Grimsrud, whose group developed some of the core technology for Intel's SSDs. "None of that is progress in terms of what the user was trying to do with the new data. It was all just overhead. That's the crux of the problem with NAND [memory] management -- all the granularity involved in managing it.
"It's a general issue of all NAND-based SSDs that these are issues that have to be grappled with and it's just a matter of how well manufacturers grapple with it," Grimsrud added.
Because of the limited number of writes and erases an SSD can sustain, manufacturers try to reduce write amplification and reduce overhead. Some use algorithms that combine writes to more efficiently use NAND flash memory space; others use cache to store writes in order to lay them down more efficiently. But details about the techniques used are hard to come by, as each manufacturer considers that technology proprietary.
Intel has addressed write amplification through controller firmware that combines writes to reduce the amount of capacity needed to store data. Intel states that its write amplification is a low 1.1, meaning for every 1MB of data written to the SSD, 1.1MB of capacity is actually used. Another manufacturer, Samsung, pegs the "Wear Acceleration Index" for its SSDs at 1.03, a 3% average overhead for writes.
Many SSD manufacturers also use mean time between (or before) failure (MBTF) on their marketing material, a metric given to hard disk drives that may or may not be accurate. All things being equal, a drive's MTBF all depends on how the drive is used. Intel's X25-M's MTBF is 1.2 million hours, about the same as the average consumer hard-disk drive. To put it another way, Intel predicts its X25-M will last for five years -- assuming 100GB or more of write-erase operations per day.
Much depends on whether an SSD uses MLC or SLC technology. The SLC version of Intel's X25-E 64GB SSD can handle up to 2 petabytes of random writes. By comparison, the MLC-based X25-M can handle only 15TB of random writes over its lifetime. Intel said users should think about it as analogous to a car.
"If you have one car that can go 10,000 miles and another that can go 100,000 miles, how much longer will it last?" said an Intel spokeswoman. "[It] really depends on how much [it's] being used. So that is why [lifespan is based] on the number of sustained random writes. In general..., SLC lasts longer, but the duration of the life expectancy depends on the user's usage model and amount of wear and tear."
Though it's highly regarded, Intel's X25-M SSD had a firmware bug that adjusted the priorities of random and sequential writes, leading to a major fragmentation problem that dropped throughput dramatically. The issue was originally uncovered by PC Perspective after two months of testing. Those tests showed that write speeds dropped from 80MB/sec. to 30MB/sec. over time, and read speeds dropped from 250MB/sec. to 60MB/sec. for some large block writes.
"I supposed if you ran the same tests across many SSDs, most of them have a similar problem...," said Pat Wilkinson, vice president of marketing and business development at SSD vendor STEC Inc.
Algorithms used for wear-leveling are complex and still in their infancy, so while they are likely to improve over time, drive makers cannot eliminate fragmentation all together, McGregor said.
Although Intel acknowledged that all of its SSDs will suffer from reduced performance because of significant fragmentation, the type of write levels needed to reproduce PC Perspective's results aren't likely for everyday users, whether they're running Windows and Apple's Mac OS X. Even so, it still released the firmware upgrade to slow fragmentation.
"The 8820 firmware now services both random and sequential write to ensure that fragmentation does not put the drive in a lower-than-expected performance state," Intel said. | 2019-04-23T15:05:55 | https://www.computerworld.com/article/2524589/analysis--ssd-performance----is-a-slowdown-inevitable-.html |
0.995963 | Green Job Hazards: Waste Management and Recycling: Cardboard Baling - Young Workers The request to this fragment failed.
The Department of Labor is committed to helping young workers find positive, appropriate and safe employment experiences. The youth employment provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) [PDF*] were enacted to protect the educational opportunities of minors and prohibit their employment in jobs and under conditions which are detrimental to their health or well-being. These provisions include restrictions on the types of jobs that minors may perform.
One such provision, Hazardous Occupations Order No. 12 (HO 12) [PDF*], generally prohibits minors less than 18 years of age from loading, operating, and unloading certain power-driven paper processing machines, including scrap paper balers, paper box compactors, guillotine paper cutters or shears, platen printing presses, and envelope die-cutting presses. The prohibitions concerning balers and compactors extend to equipment that processes other materials in addition to paper, such as trash, foam rubber, metal, food waste, plastic and fabric.
The Fair Labor Standards Act [PDF*] prohibits workers under the age of 18 from operating cardboard baling machines. | 2019-04-21T02:50:14 | https://www.osha.gov/dep/greenjobs/recycling_cardboard_bailing_yw.html |
0.999999 | The UK's Windrush generation: What's the scandal about?
UK Prime Minister Theresa May issues an apology to Caribbean leaders for the treatment of immigrants, but is it enough?
UK Prime Minister Theresa May has apologised to 12 Caribbean nations for the treatment of people from the so-called "Windrush generation".
On Tuesday, May told leaders and diplomats attending a summit of Commonwealth heads of government in London that she was "genuinely sorry for any anxiety that has been caused".
Her statement came amid a scandal over the treatment of immigrants who arrived in the UK after the World War II to address labour shortages.
When May was home secretary in 2012, she set out to create strict new rules which required employers, health services and landlords to demand evidence of people's immigration status.
The Windrush generation refers to the immigrants who were invited to the UK between 1948 and 1971 from Caribbean countries such as Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados.
The name derives from the ship MV Empire Windrush, which on June 22, 1948, docked in Tilbury, Essex, bringing nearly 500 Jamaicans to the UK.
The immigrants came at the invitation of the British government, which was facing a labour shortage due to the destruction caused by World War II.
The 1971 Immigration Act gave Commonwealth citizens who were already living in the UK indefinite leave to remain.
A scandal over the treatment of members of the Windrush generation has been mounting in recent months as a multitude of reports have come out about mostly elderly people being denied services, losing their jobs and even facing deportation.
Many of the Windrush generation had arrived as children on their parents' passports. And although they have lived in Britain for many decades - paying taxes and insurance - they never formally became British citizens.
Amid the tightening of the immigration rules, an estimated 50,000 long-term UK residents could now be facing problems.
Among them is Michael Braithwaite, who arrived from Barbados when he was nine, more than 50 years ago.
Thinking that he was British, Braithwaite never applied for a passport and did not realise there was a problem with his immigration status until 2016. In 2017, he lost his job at a school where he had worked for more than 15 years.
"If I was deported, I don't know what I would do. To take someone out and just throw them out, like they had no worth," Braithwaite told Al Jazeera.
"It's about worth, what you've done to help Britain be the better place that it was."
In recent months, the British media has been reporting about a growing number of similar cases.
In late November, The Guardian reported that Paulette Wilson, 61, spent a week at a detention centre and was nearly deported to Jamaica, despite having been in Britain for 50 years.
Albert Thompson (not his real name), 63, was also reported to have been denied free cancer treatment through the British publicly funded National Health Service (NHS) for failing to provide evidence that he had lived in the UK since 1973.
Last Thursday, Caribbean diplomats called on the UK to resolve the issues faced by the Windrush generation.
"I am dismayed that people who gave their all to Britain could be seemingly discarded so matter-of-factly," The Guardian quoted Guy Hewitt, Barbados high commissioner to the UK, as saying.
On Monday, David Lammy, an opposition member of the UK parliament, launched a scathing critique of the government, telling parliamentarians it was a "day of shame".
"It is inhumane and cruel for so many of that Windrush generation to have suffered so long in this condition," he said.
A petition asking the government to give "amnesty" to minors who arrived in Britain between 1948 and 1971 had gathered more than 165,000 signatures by Wednesday morning.
How has the UK government responded?
On Monday, UK Home Secretary Amber Rudd apologised for the "appalling" treatment received by some of the Windrush generation.
"I am concerned that the Home Office has become too concerned with policy and strategy and sometimes loses sight of the individual," she told the British parliament.
Rudd also announced the creation of a new team tasked with helping long-term UK residents born in the Commonwealth prove they are entitled to stay. She said she was "not aware of any person being removed" and vowed to find out from High Commissioners of the Commonwealth countries.
May issued her apology to the Caribbean leaders after initially refusing to discuss the controversy with them.
"I want to dispel any impression that my government is in any sense clamping down on Commonwealth citizens, particularly those from the Caribbean who have built a life here," she told them.
Those attending the meeting included representatives from Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago. | 2019-04-19T08:48:15 | https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/04/uk-windrush-generation-scandal-180418074648878.html |
0.999962 | Why is the humble apostrophe so regularly misused and why are hairdressers so often the culprits?
Apostrophes have two simple uses: contractions and possessives. Not plurals; the confusion always seems to centre around an ’s’.
The apostrophe is used to replace missing letters, e.g.
The apostrophe works together with an ’s’ to indicate ownership, e.g.
And for possessive plurals ending in ’s’, the additional ’s’ is not used, e.g.
There is one exception: the possessive ‘it’ is not punctuated, e.g.
There is the odd esoteric exception to the exception: stuff belonging to Jesus is usually said to be Jesus’.
Typographers, in their quest to aid the reader, use the apostrophe in situations where strict grammar would say otherwise, e.g.
As stated earlier apostrophes are not normally used to make plurals, but writing the plural of ‘do’ as ‘dos’ would only serve to confuse the pronunciation. Similarly apostrophes are often used to pluralize (is that a word?) acronyms, e.g.
Personally, I prefer ‘CDs’ but it depends on whether that is clear to the reader within the typesetting design.
Because ‘barber’s wives’ means something different to ‘barbers’ wives’ (the former implies that a single barber has many wives). Don’t leave it to your readers to work out what you meant; they’re busy enough as it is.
This is not an apostrophe: '. It is a check mark and is generally used as a shorthand unit of measure, meaning ‘feet’ or ‘minutes’.
This is an apostrophe: ’. It is best created in HTML by using the hexadecimal entity ’. See A List Apart for more typographical correctness.
No related posts. Browse the Blog archive. | 2019-04-23T01:08:36 | http://clagnut.com/blog/117/ |
0.999981 | Annotation: A freshman at MIT, Mei tries to live up to her Taiwanese parents' expectations, but she can't hide several truths: she is a germaphobe who cannot become a doctor; she prefers dancing to biology; and she is dating a Japanese boy.
Despite her fear of germs and her indifference to biology, seventeen-year-old MIT freshman Mei Lu is on the path to becoming a doctor, per her strict Taiwanese parents' wishes. But her first few months away inspire big changes: unbeknownst to her parents, Mei reconnects with her disowned older brother and indulges in her passion for dance. An endearing and at times laugh-out-loud coming-of-age story.
*Starred Review* For Mei, age 17 doesn't involve prom dates. Instead, she's a hopeful medical student at MIT, exactly as her parents planned. Mei strains against the expectations of her traditional Chinese parents, especially after they disowned her brother for choosing love over familial duty. At first, dance is the secret indulgence she must hide from them, but soon it graduates to a cute Japanese (read: unsuitable) boy and even worse ntact with her ostracized brother. She comes to understand her culture to be both a source of pride and a prison sentence, and she must find the strength to empathize with her parents, who are just as trapped by expectations. Vibrant, complex, and refreshing, this book crafts a nuanced view of growing up in a family beholden to centuries of tradition. Chao is meticulous in showing the wrinkles of a Chinese upbringing, especially in the face of an individualistic American society. Chao's also wickedly funny; she's not afraid of placing Mei in embarrassing situations to show readers what she's made of. Moreover, Chao devotes a generous amount of effort to fleshing out Mei's mother, transforming her from antagonist to someone with whom Mei learns to identify. A soulful and hilarious debut.
And don't forget, "měi" means "beautiful" in Chinese. Live up to the name I chose for you.
Oh, and it's your mǔqīn. | 2019-04-19T20:37:36 | https://www.perma-bound.com/ViewDetail/159971 |
0.998834 | When have you significantly contributed to obtain a corporate goal?
The interviewer would like to know that you take an interest in the overall goals of the company. Engaged employees are always the most productive. Assure the interviewer that you are capable of being an involved team member by assisting, in some way, to the end goal of the corporation.
"My most recent employer had a solid interest in giving back to the community. So much so that we, as a group, logged our volunteer hours which were treated as another KPI. We would review our community contributions on a quarterly basis. Our goal was always to hit a minimum of 500 volunteer hours per quarter which meant that everyone would volunteer one day per month. It was a great initiative and one that I happily participated in."
"Every quarter, I commit to working overtime to complete our quarterly inventory counts. Our goal is to be the store with the most accurate inventory count, and we have been able to achieve that for the past two years."
"I once challenged and pushed my team to a 15% increase in productivity on the last day of the month, to meet our production goal. It was a tough challenge, but we all felt great about the accomplishment in the end."
"In my current role, all of our client projects are handled collaboratively, through cross-functioning teams. We all contribute in our way to the final project. My biggest contribution has been in guiding and mentoring the apprentices who come to our department. I encourage them to participate in brainstorm meetings, and to whiteboard with us. By actively participating in open workplace culture, we have seen great ideas come from even the most junior marketers."
"Every holiday season our company sets a goal to raise $50K for the children's hospital. I contributed by committing to ask every customer at the till if they could donate $1, $3, or $5 for the efforts. We surpassed our goal this year, and I am proud of my contribution towards that target."
"As a senior sales team member, I am held very accountable for company-wide goals. When we were having a slow month, I took it upon myself to come in early and stay late to get my numbers, and therefore my team's numbers, up. This extra effort motivated the vast majority of the sales staff to take the same approach, without direction from leadership. Because of everyone banding together on our terms, we were able to exceed our monthly quota by 124%."
"I have our school district's goals in mind every day; however, even more so when I am building or tweaking the curriculum. Recently we went through some staff changes, and I inherited a couple of additional classes. I kept the district's goals in mind while also considering the students' needs."
"My most recent employer had a very strong interest in giving back to the community. So much so that we, as a group, logged our volunteer hours and it was treated as another KPI. We would review our community contributions on a quarterly basis. Our goal was always to hit a minimum 500 volunteer hours per quarter which meant that everyone would volunteer 1 day per month. It was a great initiative and one that I happily participated in."
3. How long will it take you to make a meaningful contribution to our team?
5. Tell me about an achievement you are proud of. What skills did you use to achieve this goal?
6. Tell me about one of your goals. How are you working towards it? | 2019-04-22T00:15:28 | https://www.mockquestions.com/interview/Accomplishment/When-have-you-significantly-contributed-to-obtain--GQT23205308.html |
0.998641 | Get a quick insight into the different levels of biological organization and the prime aspects related to each one of them, from the following write up.
Our environment is a bag full of components which are different from each other, yet are mutually dependent on each other. The components are both living and non-living and they play vital roles in their own domain. With anyone of the components being absent, the biological organization will suffer in more than one way. In all the levels of this organization, the individual components are responsible for everything which make life possible. It would be unfair to establish a distinction between each of these components, regarding their level of importance. As said, each component holds its own importance in its own place and it is equally dependent on the other components, which again are important to the biological organization.
These particles are smaller than the atom of a substance. Protons, neutrons and electrons are the main subatomic particles which reside in a substance. Protons are positively charged particles and neutrons are charge-less. These reside inside the nucleus of the atom. Electrons are negatively charged particles and revolve around the nucleus in certain energy levels or shells. Photon is also a subatomic particle. A photon is a quantum of electromagnetic energy, that possesses zero mass and rest energy and moves with the speed of light.
Atoms are defined as the smallest unit or the basic building blocks of matter which make up all objects. Atoms are made up of equal number of protons and electrons. However, there might be a difference in the number of neutrons between two atoms of the same element. The center of the atom is occupied by what is known as the nucleus; consisting of the protons and neutrons. Electrons, as mentioned above, keep orbiting around the nucleus.
Larger molecules are made up of some building blocks and these blocks are attributed as small molecules. Examples of such molecules are amino acids, fatty acids, glucose, etc.
Consisting of many subunits, macromolecules are defined as large or gigantic molecules which populate a cell and render the important functions of life. Examples are carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, nucleic acids, etc.
These assemblies are organized sets which comprise one or more molecular entity. The microtubule (conveyor belts inside the cells) and the cell membrane (plasma membrane) are a typical example of organized molecular assemblies.
The term 'organelle' means little organs and it is a specialized part of a cell. Just like the human body which has organs such as heart, liver, etc., a cell also has them in the form of organelle. Examples are the nucleus, endoplasmic reticulum, mitochondria, etc.
All living organisms in the biological organization consist of structural and functional units called cells. For example, bacteria, amoeba, archaebacteria, etc, are all single-celled organisms. Humans and many other organisms are multicellular, which may have around 100,000,000,000,000 cells!
A group of cells which may or may not have similar characteristics is termed as a tissue. Each tissue is attributed with a particular set of functions in the body of the living organism. Connective tissue, muscle tissue, nervous tissue and epithelial tissue are the tissues in animals, while meristematic tissues and permanent tissues are those of the plants.
Now when the different types of tissues are organized or grouped together, they form what is known as an organ. These tissues enable a particular organ to carry out its own specific task. Examples are heart, lungs, kidneys, stomach, etc.
An organ system consists of a groups of organs which are meant for performing a broad set of functions, particularly in multi-cellular organisms. A number of organs in a system work together as a single unit. For example, the circulatory system works with the help of heart, blood and blood vessels.
Plants, animals, humans, bacterium, etc., and any form of life is known as an organism. It can be regarded as the complete framework of organ systems, organs, organelle and all other components which work in their own specific way in order to carry out the various processes of life.
Now we come to a broader part in the levels of a biological organization. A group of inter-breeding organisms of the same species inhabiting a defined area is termed as a population. For example, the population of mice in a barn.
Species is merely a defining term given to a specific kind of organism. For example, humans are a kind of species who are different from the other species of animals or plants.
A group of interacting organisms of different species living in a given area is termed as a community.
An ecosystem is made up of both biotic or abiotic components of the environment such as the climate, landscape, animals and plants; interaction of a group of organisms and their environment, to be precise! For example, ponds, rivers, forests, an estuary and a grassland.
Biosphere is simply defined as the regions on, below, and above the surface, and atmosphere of the Earth where living organisms exist. The biosphere can range from the atmosphere to a very cold environment and from the deep-sea vents of the ocean depths to a very hot environment.
Particles starting right from the subatomic state to the organism state, are included in the levels of biological organization. As you can infer, every component in one level is linked with the other in the next level and so on. It can be referred to as a biological chain wherein, all the factors are interdependent on each other. | 2019-04-19T00:37:21 | https://biologywise.com/levels-of-biological-organization |
0.999997 | Q: Do I need a lawyer's help if I am accused of a crime? Even a relatively minor crime?
A: The simple answer is YES.It is in your best interest to consult a criminal defense attorney as early as possible if you suspect you will be facing the criminal justice system. Whether or not you believe you have been wrongfully accused, an attorney will fight for your legal and constitutional rights and monitor the proceedings for legality and fairness. If you cannot afford an attorney, you may be eligible for a public defender.
A: If the police arrest you, immediately ask to call an attorney. Do not say anything to the police that could incriminate you. Even if you are innocent and were in no way involved in the crime for which you have been arrested, ask for an attorney and do not speak to the police without a criminal defense attorney present.
A: The grand jury decides whether there is sufficient evidence to indict a suspect and continue the criminal proceedings against him or her. The indictment is the formal process of charging a person with a crime. The grand jury reviews the evidence and may hear testimony in deciding whether to indict someone, but the grand jury makes no decision about guilt or innocence. All states use the grand jury system to some extent, though there may be differences in procedures and number of jurors.
A: The prosecutor is the attorney who represents the federal, state or local government in a case against a criminal defendant. The title of the prosecutor varies by jurisdiction, but some common titles include district attorney, county attorney, city attorney, United States attorney and state attorney. The prosecutor has the public duty to punish those committing crimes, balanced with the duty to fairly try such individuals.
A: Probation is a type of criminal sentence that allows a person to stay in the community rather than serve time in prison, as long as he or she complies with certain conditions, such as regularly reporting to a probation officer, refraining from alcohol and drugs and not committing further crimes. Parole is the supervised release of a prisoner from incarceration into the community before the end of his or her sentence. Conditions of parole are similar to those of probation.
A: Depending on the applicable federal or state laws, part of a criminal sentence may include the payment of restitution to the victim or victims for their related losses. Restitution may include compensation for property damage or loss, medical and rehabilitation expenses, lost income or funeral expenses. Part of the philosophy behind criminal restitution is to give the criminal offender a direct part in making things whole with his or her victim.
A: White collar crime refers generally to nonviolent financial crimes involving fraud or other dishonesty committed in business or commercial contexts. Examples include insider trading, embezzlement and tax evasion. White collar crime is sometimes described as "paper crime" or crime that is committed in white collar workplaces as opposed to jobs in blue collar industries.
A: A minor is prosecuted for criminal conduct in a separate juvenile court system. The philosophy of the juvenile justice system is that children should not be punished or stigmatized for criminal conduct because of their immature abilities to make proper choices and recognize right from wrong. Instead the role of the juvenile justice system is seen as rehabilitative and guiding. For particularly violent crimes, adolescents may be tried in the adult system.
Q: If I am convicted of a crime while I am in the United States legally on a work visa, can I be deported?
A: Yes, if a person who is not a citizen of the United States is convicted of a crime, he or she can be deported. This includes lawful permanent residents who are lawfully living and working in the United States. Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, if a non-citizen is convicted of an aggravated felony, a crime of moral turpitude or any one of a number of listed crimes in a third category (such as violations of laws relating to domestic violence, controlled substances and possessing a firearm), he or she is at risk of deportation. In addition to deportation, a conviction may adversely affect a lawful permanent resident's ability to become a United States citizen. | 2019-04-22T00:06:59 | https://martenslawoffice.com/faqs |
0.990718 | In the evening, when she went home with her goat, she found a small earthenware dish, with some food, which her sisters had set ready for her, but she did not touch it. Next day she again went out with her goat, and left the few bits of broken bread which had been handed to her, lying untouched. The first and second time that she did this, her sisters did not remark it at all, but as it happened every time, they did observe it, and said, "There is something wrong about Two-eyes, she always leaves her food untasted, and she used to eat up everything that was given her; she must have discovered other ways of getting food." In order that they might learn the truth, they resolved to send One-eye with Two-eyes when she went to drive her goat to the pasture, to observe what Two-eyes did when she was there, and whether any one brought her anything to eat and drink. So when Two-eyes set out the next time, One-eye went to her and said, "I will go with you to the pasture, and see that the goat is well taken care of, and driven where there is food." But Two-eyes knew what was in One-eye's mind, and drove the goat into high grass and said, "Come, One-eye, we will sit down and I will sing something to you." One-eye sat down and was tired with the unaccustomed walk and the heat of the sun, and Two-eyes sang constantly, "One eye, wakest thou?
Next day the mother said to Three-eyes, "This time thou shalt go and observe if Two-eyes eats anything when she is out, and if any one fetches her food and drink, for she must eat and drink in secret." So Three-eyes went to Two-eyes, and said, "I will go with you and see if the goat is taken proper care of, and driven where there is food." But Two-eyes knew what was in Three-eyes' mind, and drove the goat into high-grass and said, "We will sit down, and I will sing something to you, Three-eyes." Three-eyes sat down and was tired with the walk and with the heat of the sun, and Two-eyes began the same song as before, and sang, " Three eyes, are you waking?"
but then, instead of singing, " Three eyes, are you sleeping?"
as she ought to have done, she thoughtlessly sang, "Two eyes, are you sleeping?"
and sang all the time, " Three eyes, are you waking? | 2019-04-21T22:20:15 | https://bookofthrees.com/one-eye-two-eyes-and-three-eyes/ |
0.996366 | Three-Act Tasks are mathematical stories that children become personally invested in. Through these tasks, students learn to explain their thinking, practice persevering through challenges, and realize that math is all a round them.
ACT ONE: Is usually a video or a picture that gets students excited about the math. Students are asked where the math is through: What they notice and wonder? In Act One, students identify the main question, make estimations, as well as think of what they need to know in order to solve a problem.
ACT TWO: Here students find the information needed to solve the problem. A second visual is provided to help give needed information. During Act- Two, students use the necessary information to solve the problem.
ACT THREE: The problem is resolved. Students share how they solved the problem finding similarities among the examples provided in a guided discussion. The teacher pushes thinking through carefully selected student work based on the objective.
In this task, students explore comparing fractions by determining which little girl ate more apple in the allotted time.
Estimates: How much do all 3 pears weigh?
In this task, students find the area of the Big Pad Post It and explore multiplying fractions.
I do not take credit for creating these tasks, or recording sheet, but these professionals do. Click on their names for lists of Three Act Tasks to try in your class.
Graham Fletcher- Three- Act Tasks for Elementary Grades (K-8)- Math teacher, coach and specialist. He states on his website "I just want to be a better teacher." His tasks are linked to the Common Core standards. He also provides big ideas and questions for each task.
Mike Wiernicki- Three- Act Tasks for Elementary Grades (2-8)- Mike Wiernicki is a math coach and consultant. Besides providing Three- Act Tasks he also writes his thoughts about teaching math in a blog and offers his favorite resources for math enthusiast to browse.
Robert Kaplinsky- Three-Act Tasks for Elementary Grades (K-8) - Robert is a consultant and educator passionate about teaching teachers how to make their students better problem solvers. He provides lessons, blog, and resources on his website.
Dan Meyer- Three- Act Tasks (6-12)- Dan Meyers google doc provides a list of about 80 Three-Act Tasks with common core standard. Although most tasks are for upper grades, a few elementary tasks can be found on this spreadsheet. | 2019-04-23T06:43:15 | https://www.christinabhoward.org/three-act-tasks.html |
0.998909 | SANTA FE, N.M. (BP) -- A New Mexico assisted suicide bill that has been described as "devastating" to the sanctity of life is drawing opposition from Baptists and other pro-family groups in the state.
Two of the bill's most controversial provisions -- suicide prescriptions via telemedicine and a broad definition of terminal illness -- were removed Jan. 28 by a committee of the New Mexico House of Representatives. But the legislation still would allow non-physicians to prescribe lethal doses of medication and could endanger vulnerable members of society, according to the Family Policy Alliance of New Mexico, a partner organization of Focus on the Family.
Jay McCollum, chairman of the Baptist Convention of New Mexico's Christian Life Committee, asked Christians everywhere to make New Mexico's assisted suicide bill "a matter of prayer and fasting." He asked New Mexicans to visit, email and call their state legislators and ask them to oppose the bill.
"It's really sad," said McCollum, pastor of First Baptist Church in Gallup, N.M., and a member of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee. "This is a very devastating bill to the sanctity of life and the teachings of Scripture."
The legislation -- House Bill 90 -- would permit nurse practitioners and physician assistants to prescribe lethal doses of medication to patients with prognoses of six months or less to live. It would require a two-day waiting period between the time a lethal prescription is written and when it can be fulfilled -- shorter than the waiting periods in other states where assisted suicide is legal, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported.
Initially, H.B. 90 allowed lethal medication to be prescribed via telemedicine, and it defined terminal illness broadly as an ailment that would cause death in the "foreseeable future." Both of those provisions were eliminated by the House Health and Human Services Committee before it approved the measure on a 4-3 vote, the Family Policy Alliance said.
Despite the amendments, H.B. 90 "remains fatally flawed," said Stephanie Curry, the Family Policy Alliance's public policy manager.
"Even with the committee's amendments, House Bill 90 continues to lack many 'safeguards' found in other states," Curry said in a news release. "It would still allow non-physicians to determine mental capacity and to prescribe life-ending medication, and nothing in the bill protects ill and vulnerable New Mexicans from abuse and coercion from predatory family members and profit-driven insurance companies."
Next, the bill will go to another House committee, then to the House floor and on to the New Mexico Senate. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, supports the measure.
Vince Torres, executive director of the Family Policy Alliance, told Baptist Press "there is little hope of stopping the bill in the House, though the vote on the floor will likely be closer than some expect.... Should it pass the House, there is still hope that the bill will fail to pass the Senate. In 2017, the bill failed by two votes and the overwhelming majority of those members are still serving."
-- "Government bureaucrats and profit-driven health insurance programs could cut costs by denying payment for treatment that patients need and want, while approving payment for less costly assisted suicide deaths." That has occurred in Oregon and California, the PRC said.
-- "Even if the patient is severely depressed, has a mental illness, or is intellectually impaired, there is no need to provide counseling to address those conditions. Such patients are required to be referred to mental health professionals only to determine that they have the 'capacity' to understand what they are requesting."
-- "The bill requires that the underlying condition with which the patient was diagnosed be listed on the death certificate as the cause of death -- not the lethal overdose of drugs."
Assisted suicide is legal in seven states and Washington, D.C., according to the Associated Press.
At least four SBC resolutions have opposed assisted suicide since 1992. Most recently, a 2015 resolution "on the sanctity of human life" noted the legalization of "physician-assisted suicide in several states" and affirmed "the dignity and sanctity of human life at all stages of development, from conception to natural death." | 2019-04-26T04:50:12 | http://m.bpnews.net/52322/nm-suicide-bill-spurs-call-to-pray |
0.997962 | How to automatically create a confluence page based of a template when a jira subtask is created and also link to it, through a custom script in script runner?
I have a groovy script in which I am dynamically creating subtasks based on some conditions. I want each of these subtasks to have a link to a confluence page automatically created, from a template(which I have already created). How do I do that? No other add-on than script runner is allowed. I have seen many such questions online, but none of them provide with a way to do it with scriptrunner and using a confluence template .
There does appear to be a REST endpoint in Confluence's API that lets you create an instance of a template with a POST request. You can call it using the app link configuration; see the documentation on interacting with other Atlassian apps.
If Confluence's current REST endpoint doesn't cut it, you could use ScriptRunner for Confluence to add a scripted REST Endpoint that you can call from JIRA.
You could simply embed a JIRA macro in the new Confluence page. Assuming JIRA and Confluence are linked, this should create a remote link in JIRA as well. See the docs on interacting with confluence from JIRA.
You could also create the remote link inside JIRA using the Java API for it.
Hey sweet! That Template API is new!
Edit: Oh BOO it's Cloud-only for now.
Bummer! Just to clarify, do you have ScriptRunner for Confluence, or just ScriptRunner for JIRA? Because if you've got SR for confluence, I believe you can create a page from a template via the Java API using the CreatePageFromTemplateAction class... don't have an example handy, but I can cook one up if SR for Conf is an option for you.
I'd love to explain my use-case if you have some time, even just to share. If, of course, you talking to me?
@Steven Behnke - sure, I'll talk. Though maybe you should open your own question with your particular details, so we don't distract from Shagufta's need?
Confluence still hasn't exposed the Template feature to the REST API - This is probably why you don't see any documentation on this topic.
Can you please give an example of how the 3rd option can be done?
I have the same problem and so little information on this subject. Shagufta, tell me please, do you resolve your task?
I believe if Jenkins is being used via some integration Jenkins can be used to trigger a page from template.. I don't have the details to hand. Though know it's possible..
Has anyone found a REST or Scriptrunner solution for this yet? | 2019-04-25T17:47:36 | https://community.atlassian.com/t5/Jira-questions/How-to-automatically-create-a-confluence-page-based-of-a/qaq-p/239334 |
0.999988 | Imagine the following scenario. Two drug manufacturers are late to market with competing drug launches. Differentiation is the main challenge. The first company employs a differentiation communication strategy that focuses on creating brand awareness by presenting catchy taglines and aesthetically pleasing visuals of happy people. Their campaign is short on educational content, which is relegated to a text-heavy side page on its website. The second company employs a different communication strategy, investing time and money into creating educational content intended to help potential customers better understand their disease and treatment options.
Jonathan has recently been diagnosed with the disease in question. Overwhelmed at the time of diagnosis, he delays making a treatment decision. He goes online to learn more about his condition and comes across the websites for both drugs. Jonathan spends little time on the first company’s website, as it does not provide him with much useful information. He next finds himself on the second company’s website, where he comes across detailed educational information. Pleasantly surprised to see a drug manufacturer put so much effort into creating helpful content, Jonathan spends a great deal of time on the website, referring family and friends to it to help them understand his newly diagnosed condition.
Later, Jonathan discusses treatment options with his doctor, who pulls out the brochure for the second company’s medication. She uses it to explain more about Jonathan’s condition and how treatment works. (She threw away the first company’s brochure after quickly skimming through it and finding little useful information.) Because the available medications cannot be differentiated through data, the doctor ends up recommending what is top of mind. In this case, what is top of mind is the second company’s medication, as she frequently uses its brochure as an educational tool. Jonathan, having already become familiar with the drug manufacturer and having been impressed by their patient centricity, confidently agrees.
In pharma’s post-blockbuster era, the above scenario is becoming commonplace. Patient centricity is critical to market differentiation, yet too many companies still consider well-crafted, in-depth, accessible educational content to be an afterthought. The result of this is that what should be strategically valuable educational content on pharma websites and in brochures ends up serving little purpose but to take up valuable real estate. This is because most pharmaceutical educational content suffers from one of two major problems: It is either overly complex or oversimplified. Either extreme has the potential to significantly undermine a drug communication strategy, leading to customer alienation, failure to achieve desired customer behavior, wasted company resources and time, failure to differentiate, and a drug that underperforms in a competitive market. Avoiding these extremes and aligning on a strategy to differentiate through education requires an up-front investment of time and resources into building a patient-centric communication capability.
The backbone of such a capability is the development of a critical eye. This will enable you to identify the different communication traps that you can fall into and carefully navigate away from them.
How does Drug X work?
Being aware of these traps is the first step in avoiding falling into them—and the first step toward finding what can be referred to as the “simplification sweet spot.” The simplification sweet spot is achieved when content created for a specific audience hits just the right balance between too much and too little content and too much and too little simplification.
A famous quotation sometimes attributed to Albert Einstein says, “everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.” Most would consider the first part of the statement to be obvious—that content should be as simple as possible. If complex information is not simplified, a lay audience will struggle to understand it. A lack of effort to simplify also shows a lack of respect for the audience. It either forces them to invest considerable mental effort in understanding the explanation or loses them altogether (this includes traps C and D).
The second part of Einstein’s statement is less intuitive—that while content should be made as simple as possible, it should not be made simpler. In the context of creating simplified content, this means that oversimplification is detrimental to comprehension. Oversimplification tends to take one of two forms. The first involves the creation of short, vapid explanations that clarify very little (trap A). These explanations underestimate an audience’s ability and willingness to understand complex information and, more importantly, effectively deny them access to what they need to know.
The second involves creating analogies in apparently “simple” language that are so long and elaborate that audiences find it difficult to relate them to the content they are meant to simplify (trap B). This trap—the epitome of “dumbing down”—is an approach that is both inconsiderate and strategically unsound. It is a cheat used to attempt to explain overly complex information to an audience. It shows little consideration for what information is actually accessible and relevant to this audience—and for what might encourage them to pay attention to the communications materials.
Recognizing when content is heading toward one of the simplification traps is only the first step in creating content that fits within the simplification sweet spot. It’s important to push beyond the point at which simplification efforts typically end (e.g., creating analogies, visualizing concepts, writing information at a low reading level, avoiding jargon) and apply a new mindset to content creation that is defined by two major elements: editing and stakeholder collaboration.
What’s perhaps most important in the creation of simplified content is the ability to make tough decisions about what to include and what to leave on the cutting room floor. There’s no room to take detours to explain the side concept that you personally find interesting. Everything created should serve to maximize understanding of what’s most important. A key component of this is homing in on your audience’s knowledge and health literacy levels, and, from there, carefully building the knowledge foundation required to guide them through whatever complex information you wish them to understand. Taking a shortcut by foregoing explaining basic concepts and instead using a “clever” explanation to skip directly to explaining the most complex topic (see trap B) typically backfires. The audience might be able to follow the clever explanation, but they won’t really understand how it applies to the complex information. A complex concept cannot be truly understood without first understanding its component parts. What does immunotherapy really mean to someone if they don’t first understand the nature of cancer?
But how do you know what your audience already knows? While accrued experience working to simplify complex information helps, there’s no substitute to simply asking your audience. Methodologies that include the audience as part of the design process tend to be highly successful, demonstrating a number of benefits. In the short run, working with your audience significantly de-risks the creative process. Creating content alongside patients, HCPs, the client, and the client’s agency partners is a great way to quickly and efficiently test your assumptions and help determine if the content is doing what it’s supposed to be doing. Working alongside your audience also allows you to capture insights and establish design principles that, in the long run, will help you and your agency partners create communication content for years to come, efficiently and consistently.
At Bridgeable, our experienced biomedical communicators have honed their ability to consistently hit the simplification sweet spot. Years of experience working on complex pharmaceutical communications projects have allowed us to refine our methodology for co-designing well-edited content. What makes Bridgeable stand out in the world of healthcare communications is the high level of respect we have for our audiences. We respect their time and intelligence, and we live and breathe by the philosophy that things should be made “as simple as possible, but not simpler.” This level of respect is important to our clients who care deeply about their customers. For this reason, they see us as more than an agency that simply gets the job done. We are thought partners who help them think critically about how to talk about complex subjects and how to empower their customers through education. We share an ambition to improve the patient experience, and we enjoy the time we spend together in the simplification sweet spot. | 2019-04-24T00:09:41 | https://www.bridgeable.com/ideas/patient-communication-simplification/ |
0.999999 | Hello, What is the best way to optimize mesh selection? Going by the babylonjs inspector, it always takes around ~5ms with ~1200 meshes and over 10ms with ~2000 meshes. Is there any way to disable it and don't use it at all? I'm fine with always rendering every mesh as it doesn't impact the performance as much. Also, using `alwaysSelectAsActiveMesh` on every mesh does not boot performance of mesh selection significantly.
Loading a slice of an enormous map?
Hello, I'm just starting to learn pixi.js I want to make a game where the main character is in the middle of the screen all the time, while the map moves behind the character as it is walking. The problem is, the map is going to be extremely large. I'm going to be zoomed in on a very small portion of it. The easiest way for me to load the map, is to simply load that whole thing onto the screen. Since the whole map obviously won't fit on the screen, it'll just show a small portion. Then I can just change the x, y coordinates of the map, to make it move. But, unless pixijs is doing some good memory management I am unaware of, doing it this way will overload the memory. I'd need to be able to smoothly walk through the whole map without interruptions to load another portion of the map. Anyone try and do something like this before? What do you do to try and optimize it?
I'm developing a simple game application using BabylonJS engine where I want to move the body parts of a human 3D avatar by using UI controllers. The application runs smoothly on the computer. Then I created an IOS application using phonegap and tried to run it on an Ipad. But it is really slow when it run on the mobile environment. Is there any mechanism to optimize the game to support the mobile environment other than reducing the quality of the 3D model.
Where to optimize my platform mobile game, Leafy's Trip?
Play the game and use Chrome inspector to emulate iPhone 5 View source on GitHub The game feels glitchy, dragging and not smooth on an iPhone 6: Nothing stands out as being the culprit alone when profiling in Chrome. Profiling each game component in isolation runs well: the player, input, platforms, coins, enemies, music, background graphics all run well, but the combination together seems to trigger more Garbage Collection (GC) and long frames. All assets are 2x Retina Platforms, coins and enemies are all object pooled Update() loops have var instances removed as much as possible to reduce GC Player has fixed X position and moving elements have body.velocity.x = -280 to avoid large X values and avoiding the game.camera object How can I optimize for better mobile performance regarding garbage collection and long frame issues?
hi. how can i reduce drawcall.. first. i packed images. effect 2 image ui 1 image map object 1image bg 49 image( doing culling) char main - 1packed monster - one by one but my game draw call is not low normally 30-100 and hardly 100-1000(200 same monster use two skill(2 effect by spine)) and. i'm using pixi-particle and this is using high drawcall T-T is drawcall up if container layer is complicated like following example? for example iconObject(Container) has like following - icon image - sprite - count - bitmaptext - name - bitmaptext - special button - sprite - bg - sprite how can i reduce drawcall? please give me tips..
hi.. i'm worrying about memory because ios has low memory(1GB under 6s) pc and android is good to play my game but ios is crashed i'm thinking because of memory and safari's bad memory controlling(safari is not good for webgl. T_T how do you think about this?) so i'm trying to reduce memory.. first. how can i release resources after 'load'? maybe it doesn't need after loading so i wanna release clearly. if you have any idea to control memory efficiently please give me idea to tip.. to anything ^^. thx..
hi. IOS performance is really really bad.. my game can play 60 fps with galaxy note 3 but iphone 6 and ipad air2 can play about 20fps.. and iphone6 has memory problems because it have only 1gb ram and it shared cpu and gpu.. ipad aire2 is more good because it have 2gb ram. I checked texture reducing, all textures reduced half and gpu memory to half and it took me safety.. but not fps up.. T-T do you have any idea to optimize ios?
I'd like to have a running character leave footprints in the ground, but I want it to be efficient as possible and I'd assume that making a keeping track of a new image for each footprint would be inefficient. My idea is to have a big transparent texture that covers the whole level and just modify certain pixels of that texture. How can I do this in Pixi? Or, is there a better way to solve my footprint problem that I haven't thought of? Thanks! Jordan Edit: It looks like it might be possible with this: http://www.html5gamedevs.com/topic/667-question-pixel-array-render/ So I guess my question now is: In terms of efficiency and I approaching this problem the right way, or am I going in the wrong direction?
How to optimize/debug my game? | 2019-04-26T04:40:38 | http://www.html5gamedevs.com/tags/optimize/ |
0.999957 | The Jeopardy of Contentment: Writing a Review: Obligation to the Artist?
Writing a Review: Obligation to the Artist?
Recently, a group of us at work listened to the album Sigh No More by Mumford and Sons. The opinions ranged from decent to current favorite of the year. As we have read other reviews coming out from publications, we saw that many of the reviews echoed our sentiments. The album is not groundbreaking, nor does it ever try to be. What it is is well-produced, with solid music and (again) at the very least decent vocals/harmonies. However, one publication blasted the album with an extremely low score that actually caught a coworker's surprise, and he emailed the link for us to read. Ultimately, the low score seemed to be based on the fact that the group sounded like other bands, was not original, and was pointless.
I am not going to name the publication, nor am I going to review the album anymore than saying that I have enjoyed the album so far. What this review did was raise an interesting point: If you really hate an album (regardless of whether your opinion is "correct" in the view of others), should you really review it at all? Reviews both positive and negative can have a tremendous impact in the success of an album, and a band. Positive reviews, whether justified or not (like an album by Pearl Jam, Springsteen, Dylan, Kings of Leon in Rolling Stone) means only good things, but a negative review can mean the beginning of the end. Since there are so many blogs and music publications out there, how many are affected by the other? How many reviewers may be basing some of their opinions on what they have already read, and in turn how many readers form opinions before even giving the music a chance?
We'd like to think all of our opinions are freely formed, but we know this is not the case. With a positive review, we may buy the music, realize later we don't like it, and that's the end, but at least the band achieved the sale. A negative review means no sale, no concert, maybe no new and dedicated fans. It's exponential loss.
What I have enjoyed about this blog is the fact that we generally focus on music we like; music or albums we don't care for may be mentioned in passing, but we don't drag them through the mud. This frees people to make their own decision, and not perhaps cause a chain reaction that severely limits a group's chances. I often think of movies not screened for critics: Usually this is because they are awful but often they end up having a decent opening weekend, then putter out once the collective masses discover the general suckiness. If an album is bad, people will ultimately find that out, and a truly bad artist will disappear.
So, a few things: Should a critic review an album they hated, or just ignore and focus on the ones that they WANT to talk about? What albums have you bought based primarily on reviews, or have avoided based on bad ones?
A final side note: My Old Kentucky Blog provides an interesting counterview to Mumford that we thought was very perceptive and fair, without the anger and spite of the "other" review.
Good article Chris. Since you won't name the "other" website that reviewed the album poorly I will. Pitchfork. I've read a lot of bad album reviews from that site. I CANNOT take them seriously. They seem to get off on butchering artists. That site is a complete joke in my eyes and there are so many other music review sites including this one that give an in depth and honest opinion. And for that, I thank you J.O.C.
I never minded Pitchfork's trashing of an artist until I went to a great Dent May show at the Jackpot that was nearly empty and realized that tons of supposedly enlightened indie fans don't weight PF's opinion, but depend on it solely. Still, the problem isn't with PF and critics who we should want out there actively debating, but with short sighted people who don't investigate both sides any issue.
I can't knock someone for not liking an album (and thus, giving it a bad review) I just wonder how they feel knowing they are holding a small bands career in their hands. That may be an exaggeration, but in some cases it's true. I can think of one example when they gave the Black Kids EP a 8.4, but the full length a 3.1. It's just interesting to see them build up hype for a band and then crush it.
BP is right on though, the problem isn't with P4K, but with indie kids that view P4K as their bible. There are a ton of kids out there that will buy and album or skip an album purely based on their reviews, and that is sad. That's not P4K's fault, but they probably need to think about that when they are dishing out really low scores. Maybe offer a contrasting opinion from another writer in these cases.
Not to continue to trash P4K (I still check out Pitchfork TV quite often) but another huge inconsistent I noticed with their reviews.
When it first came out, the album Rooty by Basement Jaxx got a 3.8 (http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/571-rooty/), yet, when it comes to putting together their top albums of the entire decade, Rooty lands in the top 50 (http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/7709-the-top-200-albums-of-the-2000s-50-21/2/) at number 33!
That don't make no kind of sense.
Wow. I think this article contains the most comments I've ever had. Definitely an interesting issue, and one that I think is tied to the age we live in. On one hand, multiple sources can provide us with thousands of POVs regarding one artist, and can provide a well-rounded idea of said artist (thank you, Metacritic). On the other hand, if these reviews can effect each other, then you can have a large, overriding bias that can scare people off without experiencing it first hand. I do like how most online reviews provide at least one song, so someone can listen to it themselves. | 2019-04-25T12:10:36 | http://www.thejeopardyofcontentment.com/2010/02/writing-review-obligation-to-artist.html |
0.999992 | Questions about example sentences with, and the definition and usage of "女の子"
I've been dumped, and I've made a girl sad.
Please show me example sentences with 女の子.
Please show me example sentences with is it necessary to say 女の子たち if i want to say girlS. or I can say 女の子 meaning the same?.
What is the difference between 今日はすべての女の子が美しいですね and 今日はすべての女の子が美人ですね and 今日はすべての女の子が可愛いですね ?
They are very similar. I guess 今日はすべての女の子がうつくしいですねis not only their faces but also their outfits , hairstyles .... are beautiful. 今日はすべての女の子が美人ですねmeans their faces are beautiful. 今日はすべての女の子が可愛いですねmeans they are cute.
What is the difference between 少女 and 女子 and 女の子 ?
"少女" means teenager girl. We can use "女の子" when the girl is about three 〜 twenty years old. it's a word which has extensive mean. "女子" is the most difficult. It can be used if the girl is young, but it also has general mean. For example, "女子トイレ" means "Toilet for women".
How do you say this in Japanese? what does 男のさりな女の子 mean?
If it's 男まさりな女の子, it means a strong spirited girl.
Please show me how to pronounce 「女の子のこととか男の子のこととか」.
Please show me how to pronounce おっちょこちょい女の子.
昨日、33歳の女の子は警察に逮捕されそうです。 does this sound natural?
私は山東省済南市出身の女の子として、性格は明るくて、外向的です。学習以外、私はいろいろな趣味があって、例えば、ギターや書道など、今はジムでコーチとしてアルバイトをしています。大学で一番好きなモッ... does this sound natural?
Example sentences with, and the definition and usage of "バスケ"
Example sentences with, and the definition and usage of "おんな"
Example sentences with, and the definition and usage of "女形"
Example sentences with, and the definition and usage of "おんなじ"
Example sentences with, and the definition and usage of "女たらし"
Example sentences with, and the definition and usage of "女手"
Example sentences with, and the definition and usage of "女らしい"
Example sentences with, and the definition and usage of "温熱"
Example sentences with, and the definition and usage of "音波"
Example sentences with, and the definition and usage of "穏便"
Example sentences with, and the definition and usage of "音便"
Example sentences with, and the definition and usage of "おんぶ"
Example sentences with, and the definition and usage of "音符"
Example sentences with, and the definition and usage of "音譜"
Example sentences with, and the definition and usage of "おんぼろ"
Example sentences with, and the definition and usage of "隠密" | 2019-04-19T09:34:45 | https://hinative.com/en-US/dictionaries/%E5%A5%B3%E3%81%AE%E5%AD%90 |
0.999682 | This is a scalable context timeline. It contains events related to the event February-August 2000: 9/11 Hijackers Alhazmi and Almihdhar Have Closed-Door Meetings with Al-Qaeda Imam in San Diego. You can narrow or broaden the context of this timeline by adjusting the zoom level. The lower the scale, the more relevant the items on average will be, while the higher the scale, the less relevant the items, on average, will be.
A week after attending the al-Qaeda summit in Malaysia (see January 5-8, 2000), 9/11 hijackers Nawaf Alhazmi and Khalid Almihdhar fly together from Bangkok, Thailand, to Los Angeles, California. [MSNBC, 12/11/2001] The passports of both men have indicators of their terrorist affiliation placed there by Saudi authorities to track them (see March 21, 1999 and April 6, 1999), but the indicators are apparently not noticed by US immigration officials, as they have not been informed of their significance (see Around February 1993). [9/11 Commission, 8/21/2004, pp. 10 ] The CIA will later claim that it lost track of them when they arrived in Bangkok and that it did not receive notification from the Thai government that Almihdhar and Alhazmi entered the US until March 2000 (see March 5, 2000). However, Almihdhar will later tell 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed that he and Alhazmi think they were watched and followed from Bangkok to Los Angeles by unknown individuals (see Mid-July 2000). [9/11 Commission, 7/24/2004, pp. 181, 215] One San Diego friend of the two hijackers, Mohdar Abdullah, will later allegedly claim that he was told in advance they were coming to Los Angeles to carry out an attack in the US (see Early 2000).
Abdullah in Closed-Door Meetings? - This other person may be Mohdar Abdullah. Interviewed after 9/11, Abdullah will claim that al-Bayoumi specifically asked him “to be the individual to acclimate the hijackers to the United States, particularly San Diego, California.” [9/11 Commission, 7/24/2004, pp. 513] Furthermore, one witness will later claim to have met Alhazmi through both al-Awlaki and Abdullah. [9/11 Commission, 7/24/2004, pp. 513] Abdullah may be told of the 9/11 plot in the spring of 2000 (see Early 2000), so presumably he could be a participant in secret meetings.
Hijackers and Al-Awlaki Reunite in Virginia - Around August 2000, al-Awlaki resigns as imam and travels to unknown “various countries.” In early 2001, he will be appointed the imam to a much larger mosque in Falls Church, Virginia. [Copley News, 10/1/2001] Alhazmi, Almihdhar, and fellow hijacker Hani Hanjour will move to Virginia and attend al-Awlaki’s mosque there (see March 2001 and After). By 2008, US intelligence will conclude that al-Awlaki is an al-Qaeda operative (see February 27, 2008).
Damage to the USS Cole, shown in dry dock. [Source: US Navy]9/11 hijacker Khalid Almihdhar is in Yemen when the USS Cole is attacked in Aden harbor there (see October 12, 2000), and is reported to have had a role in the bombing. Almihdhar leaves shortly after the attack, together with al-Qaeda operative Khallad bin Attash. [McDermott, 2005, pp. 209] Bin Attash is quickly identified as one of the masterminds of the operation (see Late October-Late November 2000). Almihdhar will subsequently be accused of participating in the operation by the prime ministers of Yemen and Britain (see Early October 2001 and October 4, 2001). The Yemeni militant group Islamic Army of Aden takes credit for the bombing, and a friend of Almihdhar in San Diego will later say that Almihdhar told him he was a member of that group (see Early 2000). The Cole attack was a repeat of a failed attempt to bomb the USS The Sullivans (see January 3, 2000), of which Almihdhar had foreknowledge (see Late 1999). Almihdhar, who trained with the Cole bombers (see Late 1999) and attended an apparent planning session for the operation (see January 5-8, 2000), may also be involved in a later ship-bombing operation in Singapore (see June 2001). Ramzi bin al-Shibh, a close associate of the hijackers, also leaves Yemen around this time and is also suspected of involvement in the bombing (see October 10-21, 2000).
Ali al Timini. [Source: Fox News]Shortly after 9/11, the FBI begins to suspect that Anwar al-Awlaki, an imam to several of the 9/11 hijackers, may have had some connection to the 9/11 plot. They interview him repeatedly, but cannot find enough evidence to charge him, and he cannot be deported since he is a US citizen. Investigators discover he had been arrested more than once for soliciting prostitutes. They learn he is consorting with prostitutes in Virginia, and contemplate jailing him on an obscure law against transporting prostitutes across state lines. However, this plan collapses when he leaves the US unexpectedly in March 2002. [US News and World Report, 6/13/2004] But on October 10, 2002, he makes a surprise return to the US. His name is on a terrorist watch list and he is detained when his plane lands in New York City. Customs agents notify the FBI, but they are told that his name was taken off the watch list just the day before. He is released after only three hours. It has not been explained why he name was taken off the list. Throughout 2002, al-Awlaki is also the subject of an active Customs investigation into money laundering called Operation Greenquest, but he is not arrested for this either, or for the earlier contemplated prostitution charges. [WorldNetDaily, 8/16/2003] At the time, the FBI is fighting Greenquest, and Customs officials will later accuse the FBI of sabotaging Greenquest investigations (see After March 20, 2002-Early 2003). While in the US, al-Awlaki visits the Fairfax, Virginia, home of Ali al Timimi, the leader of a nearby Islamic center. According to a later court filing, al-Awlaki attempts to get al Timimi to discuss the recruitment of young Muslims for militant causes, but al Timimi does not show interest. Al Timimi will later be sentenced to life in prison in the US for inciting young Muslims to fight in Afghanistan shortly after 9/11. [Washington Post, 2/27/2008] Al-Awlaki then leaves the US again. The FBI will later admit they were “very interested” in al-Awlaki and yet failed to stop him from leaving the country. One FBI source says, “We don’t know how he got out.” [US News and World Report, 6/13/2004] He will allegedly take part in other militant attacks (see September 15, 2006). By 2008, US intelligence will conclude that he is linked to al-Qaeda (see February 27, 2008).
Justice Department Will Not Delay Deportation to Help Investigation - In late 2003, new evidence emerged that Abdullah may have had foreknowledge of the 9/11 attacks. But US prosecutors decided not to charge him based on that new evidence, and the Justice Department does not even try to delay his deportation to allow investigators time to pursue the new leads (see September 2003-May 21, 2004).
In early September 2006, Anwar al-Awlaki is arrested in Yemen at the request of the US government. Al-Awlaki served as imam to several of the 9/11 hijackers when they lived in the US (see March 2001 and After). [Australian, 11/4/2006] However, al-Awlaki is released in December 2007. The US was limited in how much it could pressure the government of Yemen to keep holding him, because he has never been formally charged with any crime. In a taped interview shortly after his release, he claims that while he was imprisoned in Yemen, he was interrogated by the FBI multiple times and asked about his dealings with the 9/11 hijackers. [Washington Post, 2/27/2008] According to the New York Times, “by the end of 2007, American officials, some of whom were disturbed at the imprisonment without charges of a United States citizen, signaled that they no longer insisted on al-Awlaki’s incarceration, and he was released.” [New York Times, 5/8/2010] By February 2008, just two months after US officials approved his release, US intelligence will conclude that al-Awlaki is linked to al-Qaeda (see February 27, 2008). | 2019-04-22T18:48:25 | http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a0200hijackersalawlaki |
0.999912 | The following table provides for the steps that a bidder must take to make an effective off-market bid and the steps that a target must take when an off-market bid is made.
1 The bidder must prepare: See section 636 for content of statement.
· if the bidder ' s statement does not set out all the terms of the offer - an offer document that sets out the other terms of the offer.
2 The bidder must lodge a copy of the bidder ' s statement and offer document with ASIC.
See also subsection (5) .
· if the bid extends to securities that come to be in the bid class due to the conversion of or exercise of rights attached to other securities (see subsection 617(2)) - the other securities; The directors of the target may agree that the offers and accompanying documents be sent earlier.
See also subsections (5) and (6) .
Item 2 of the table in section 611 covers offers made by the bidder on-market during the period between the lodgment of the bidder ' s statement and the making of the offers under the bid .
Sections 648B and 648C provide for the manner in which documents may be sent to holders .
as at the date set by the bidder under subsection (2).
The offers must be made on the terms set out in the bidder ' s statement and the offer document lodged with ASIC under item 2.
7 The bidder must send a notice to the target that the bidder ' s statement and offers have been sent as required by item 6.
See subsection 620(1) on date of offer .
10 The target must prepare a target ' s statement. See section 638 for content of statement .
See also subsection (7) .
S 633(1) amended by No 122 of 2001, s 3, Sch 1, Pt 2 [ 376-377A] (effective 11 March 2002).
633(2) Date for determining holders of securities.
(b) a separate written notice given to the target on or before the date set by the bidder.
Note: The bidder may set the date when the bidder asks the target for a list of members under section 641 .
(b) on or before the date on which the first offers under the bid are made to holders of the securities.
(b) otherwise - lodging the notice with ASIC.
S 633(4) amended by No 122 of 2001, s 3, Sch 1, Pt 2 [ 378] (effective 11 March 2002).
633(5) Information to be sent with bidder's statement.
A bidder's statement required to be sent under item 5 or 6 in the table in subsection (1) must be sent together with any other information sent by the bidder to the target with the statement.
633(6) Information to be sent with notices that offers have been sent.
If the bidder sends the people to whom the bidder's statement is sent under item 6 of the table in subsection (1) additional information together with the bidder's statement and the offer, the bidder must also include that information in any notice under item 7, 8 or 9 of the table.
633(7) Information to be sent with target's statement.
If the target sends the people to whom the target's statement is sent under item 12 of the table in subsection (1) additional information together with the target's statement, the target must also include that information in any notice under item 13 or 14 of the table.
An offence based on this section is an offence of strict liability.
S 633(8) inserted by No 117 of 2001, s 3, Sch 1 [ 203] (effective 15 December 2001). | 2019-04-26T10:31:31 | https://www.ato.gov.au/law/view/document?locid=%27PAC/20010050/633(1)%27&PiT=99991231235958 |
0.999675 | Making a case for ending the 25-year-old system of free banking for those in credit, he told the Treasury Select Committee (TSC) on Tuesday: "It is the case that free-if-in-credit banking does create a bit of a barrier to new entrants.
"The current account ... is essentially a loss-leader ... which banks provide in order to get hold of a relationship on which to sell other products. Because of that, there is a desire for them to sell products that are not appropriate.
"It is also the case [that] a loss-leader makes it more difficult for new entrants because they can't make a profit just out of the core product – they have to immediately be able to cross-sell as well."
After all the free taxpayer support the bankers are receiving they now want to fleece even more money from the people by charging everyone money for keeping their electronic money safe.
Luckily he's not a VI.
They were more than happy to offer free accounts when the rise of credit in the 80s meant they had products they could cross-sell.
He seriously thinks that it damages customers? What planet is he living on? I can't see how not having to pay a penny is any damage at all. Well, no interest is, but it's still better than actually having to pay. Why do these idiots want competition for systems (or parts of systems) that actually work? Like all that nonsense over directory enquiries. No, just about everything else that banks do damages customers, so why pick on the one part that doesn't? Other than those careless enough to get themselves overdrawn, anyway.
I would be prepared to pay if banks: stopped irresponsible lending, ringfenced investment bank (gambling) so it receives no state support, paid a reasonable rate of interest on savings, did not pay massive bonuses.
a ) They can't lend it, so it is held as a full reserve.
b ) In the event of a bank collapse/run I have access to it all as quickly as I want.
Otherwise they are just being greedy.
I suspect I pay a lot more, but mostly through taxes and poor interest rates.
If the bank was doing no lending on of the money (counter party risk) and therefore giving no interest, I can see an argument for charging - it would be a safe storage facility, with easy access.
However, the elephant in the room is the deposit guarantee for universal banks. While deposit insurance exists, there can be little competition between banks, as we consider them all safe (regulated, with deposit guarantees). We just hunt for the one with the highest return and perhaps some good customer service.
Universal banking just doesn't work and they should withdraw deposit insurance from it. Universal banking (FRB) is like alchemy, according to Mervyn King and I would agree. Then people can decide how much risk to counter parties they want to be exposed to, how much they want to pay for service/safety and how much they want to invest (at risk) for a return.
'Cause competition in bankstering worked out well for us all didn't it Turner?
Yes everything he said is BS and completely backwards. The reason banking is very uncompetitive is because you need a huge amount of money to even apply to become a bank and even then you must be approved which is very difficult- all to keep the banking sector as uncompetitive and profitable as possible.
And there's the small point that banking is fraud hence why they make it so hard to become one- after all if you and your buddies are all in on the trick why let random scummers join in the action.
Ditto Insurance whereby risk is now so granular it brings the whole question of 'what is insurance for'. We are bringing up a generation of young men who will not be able to afford to drive. Is this what we want? Why don't we spread the cost across generations? After all we're all young once.
Competition, technology has driven this trend. Regulation should be used to stem it.
This is an interesting point and one which I touched on in a recent thread about the potential for private health insurance. If you insist that all insurance (of certain types) has to be priced based on a lifetime, then some of the extremes can be levelled off. For instance, when applying for health insurance at 18, you should be able to have a lifetime price of some sort (perhaps with different weightings, but that would be up to the market). The same could be true for car insurance, with people offsetting their youth against their old age (the reverse of health insurance).
I suppose the temptation is to go with the cheapest option with health insurance (only worry about this year), but it may be unwise. If the state is forced to pick up the bill otherwise, there could be an argument for insisting on lifetime insurance policies, at least those which may get dearer as you get older.
Anyway, heading a bit OT, but I thought it was an interesting point.
I'm charged for my Swedish bank account, and if I had wanted a credit card they would have charged me for that. I was always surprised that I was getting stuff for free in the UK. Now I obvioulsy understand why - draw 'em in and offer other she1te.
I wouldn't be surprised if they started charging here when things get worse.
+1 separate investment from retail.......I think we should have more safe and savings protected local smaller financial institutions that lend in a responsible way and offer a fair rate of interest to savers and reward for loyalty.....something like a credit union, or something where the investors own the business like the old style mutual building societies before all the profit taking carpetbaggers, the beginning of the start of the downfall.
assuming all current acct savers get 0 and also get deposit insurance then banks can still compete for borrowers (ones which won't default) and for savers in the market for higher risk products. Presumably the latter type would be pushed in the direction of buying subordinated debt, and rightly so.
One that zero nominal risk infrastructure is in place on the depositor side and critically, emplaced in the minds of customer and investor alike, and when the odd bout of printing becomes less of a taboo, then it becomes easy to wind up individual banks which have slipped below their capital requirements without blowing up the whole system.
I think it works just fine as long as the universal bank customer is not getting a return. Subordinated debt holders should get returns.
Presumably from time to time a bank will lose the money backing insured deposits - but this is what bank equity is for. And after that there is the printing press. The actual amount of printing required to be done to tidy up one failed institution would be quite minor. The slow burn inflation that this causes can be viewed as the inevitable entropy any financial system must suffer over time regardless of how it is constructed.
Likewise its also important to recognize that an economy at peak debt is a lot less likely to suffer from runaway bubbles and dodgy lending than one which is being artificially restrained from expanding to maximum debt.
Most current accounts pay no, or pitifully small rates of interest.
It is inconceivable that a bank could be losing money on it's entire current account portfolio.
I can see how some individual accounts could lose money for the banks - like basic accounts with very small deposits and high activity - however these tend to cop the exorbitant charges for missed direct debits and the like.
The government have allowed a situation to arise where it is pretty well impossible to live without a bank account - if banks start charging a monthly fee or are allowed to impose unfair charges this is like another form of poll tax.
Isn't that a bit like saying a dead person is less likely to cause trouble? Doesn't 'peak debt' (a phrase whose very existence terrifies me) restrict all lending - irresponsible or otherwise?
at peak debt and zirp things are stable, as long as everyone agrees there is no possibility of deflation setting in. In which case, people will borrow when they need to for investment of buying a house, but there will not be much borrowing to speculate, since by this stage asset price rises have basically come to a halt.
so at peak debt equilibrium, the new borrowing is offset by people paying down, and when the former outstrips the latter we get some asset price rises and when the latter outstrips the former we get some printy printy, which may later be recovered via taxation which is shredded.
I would say this system is characterized by a much reduced ratio of base money to broad money and slow burn and quite stable inflation. The main fly in the ointment is the destabilising existence of economies not operating in this equilibrium.
Turner's barking. He seems to be arguing that the problem is that 'free' banking damages competition. But the problem in fact was that opening up and driving competition into the banking system effectively forced building societies to compete in markets where they lacked both size and historical skill set and it was precisely this competition which forced competition on price i.e. zero fees for operating current accounts.
But he's argueing that we need more competition, not less, but with some sort of fixed pricing.
Had we still got mutual building societies, and had we not seen limitless flows of money flooding into the UK via the criminal US banks, we probably wouldn't be in this situation.
Perhaps if the FSA could be bothered to regulate in the first place we wouldn't be in this position.
We don't need more competition - we need less competition, properly regulated and with mutual organisations providing commodity day to day current account/money transmission services. If Turner and his serially failing organisation did their job, this is what we would have, just as we did before 1985.
printy printy, which may later be recovered via taxation which is shredded.
Interesting, how do govts shred taxation but don't spend it? I assume that is what you are implying, the govt collects money and then it's removed from circulation like it never existed in the first place?
My concern would be when bank losses are so high that they exceed the amount of equity held. At a macro level, of course printing up the difference could solve the problem, but the system is open to abuse. If the bankers behave irresponsibly and push much more credit out than can be digested (ie. beyond peak debt), with profit as a motivation, then there could still be a big fall. If the rest of us then end up being taxed to pay for this, an amount of risk is being spread over the taxpayers.
Additionally, what about the Euro zone? I suppose you could get the ECB to print up money for the country, then tax and shred accordingly in due course, but there would have to be changes to the Euro policy to allow this.
I am just of the opinion that losses should be born to those who choose to be directly exposed to risk. Printing and taxing spreads it about, but doesn't let anyone opt out - having safe accounts and investment accounts sidesteps this, only exposing those who want to risk their cash. Those people would take a hair cut*, if the share capital was insufficient to cover the losses.
Apart from that, I do really think the peak debt, ZIRP and zero yield do make a lot of sense. It certainly seems to be the way we're heading and I see that as a good thing for increasing stability and reducing rent seeking.
* I would assume that their would be a trigger point, when equity was getting low, that the bank would be put into administration and then wound down, with depositors and bond holders taking a hair cut (and/or having their money held back for a period). You could even give people their money back in full (using printed cash), but they would then be taxed personally to pay back this printed money.
EDIT: BTW, I would also say that having safe accounts would provide additional price signals. If people choose to keep their money safe, it means that banks have to entice investors. Obviously, you can do that now with cash under the mattress, but few would feel safe with that.
However, to counter my own point, pushing people towards real/physical assets, rather than financial assets could also be good for the economy too. In this respect, I can see why you may want all money (which is essentially bank credit) in traditional banks. I do think that the two may be mutually conducive, rather than exclusive though.
If QE is unfunded deficit spending, the opposite is to run a surplus and then destroy the money.
When you say stable inflation, would this be a sort of natural rate, as balanced by peak debt and zirp, rather than a CPI type target?
Oh noooooo they're losing money again. Prepare for yet another bail-out.
"It is the case that free-if-in-credit banking does create a bit of a barrier to new entrants.
And he is well aware that charging for banking creates another revenue flow NOW whereas all these extra new banking entrants might never ever arrive.
So it's money for the banks now and as usual jam tomorrow (more competition) and pie in the sky for customers.
I'll take the "free" banking today thank you very much.
This is why I found it funny and naiive when people would argue that usurious bank charges were just fine, because they weren't affected and had never paid them, and if the bank charges stayed and the banks won their court case then free banking remained on the cards.
What was always going to happen was the end of free banking, with the usurious fees continuing anyway. | 2019-04-21T13:11:34 | https://www.housepricecrash.co.uk/forum/index.php?/topic/155117-free-banking-damages-competition-and-customers-says-fsa-chairman-lord-turner/ |
0.999463 | Regulators granted a unanimous OK for the controversial takeover by Germany's Deutsche Telekom of US mobile-phone company VoiceStream Wireless in a deal initially valued at $50.7 billion. The Federal Communications Commission concluded the merger was in the public interest because it would create more competition against AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, and other carriers. Europe's No. 1 telecommunications company is majority-owned by the German government, which had aroused concerns in Congress over the national-security implications of the deal. VoiceStream, the US's eighth-largest mobile-phone carrier is based in Bellevue, Wash. The combined company will be able to reach 97 percent of the American market.
* Siemens, the giant German engineering conglomerate, became the latest to scale back operations in the telecommunications industry. By September, the company said, it will eliminate 6,100 jobs in its mobile phone division - one-third of them in the US.
* Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. said Tuesday it would cut more deeply into its work force than previously expected, bringing job reductions to at least 7,800 for the year.
* Moulinex-Brandt SA, a leading maker of food processors, blenders, and other electric kitchen appliances, will cut 4,000 jobs, a spokesman said. The joint French-Italian company is based in Paris.
* Scania AB of Sweden, one of the world's top makers of heavy trucks and public-transit and tour buses, said it will cut 1,200 jobs by year's end.
* Sensormatic Electronics Corp., a Boca Raton, Fla., manufacturer of theft-prevention and surveillance systems, said it hopes to save $35 million by eliminating 450 jobs.
Briefing Apple vs. Samsung: Who owns smart phones? | 2019-04-18T17:07:26 | https://www.csmonitor.com/2001/0427/p24s4.html |
0.99864 | Why Does Iran Stamp Out Non-Persian Languages?
Many international organizations and institutions across a multitude of countries are working to strengthen and support mother tongues, especially those languages facing extinction due to the lack of native speakers.
UNESCO was founded to preserve the cultures of peoples and nations so that the world could sustain its current cultural diversity. Counter to this endeavor, there are countries that actively seek to destroy certain cultures and languages by prohibiting those languages and punishing those who speak them.
Among these countries is Iran, which publicly espouses the belief that the country should be unified in one culture and one language – Persian. However, in Iran, there have historically been many different groups of people using a variety of languages freely until outlawed by the regime and forgotten over time due to lack of use.
Since the 1936 establishment of the Iranian nation-state, the Persian rule, by military force and repression, have sought to assimilate several peoples, some of whom still exceed the Persians in number, in order to create one people with one language and one culture – Persian.
In the first quarter of the 20th century, the Iranian regime sought to spread the Persian language and mandate its use in all territories it occupied – regardless of the language and culture of the native people there.
At the time, they did this under the pretext that the modern state they founded needed a single language and a common culture in order to thrive. As such, authorities banned the native languages in order to blur and obliterate indigenous identities.
Regime-sanctioned racial discrimination became prevalent, with state laws favoring Persian people while ignoring or neglecting other ethnic groups in terms of social, political and economic aspects. After a time of not being able to use their own mother languages, these native tongues, such as the Arabic language of Ahwazi people, began to disappear – forgotten in time due to oppressive laws from the Iranian regime.
In 1979, a revolution in Iran prevailed. The people from diverse ethnicities such as Ahwazi Arabs, Turks, Kurds and Baluch supported this revolution hoping to reclaim what they had lost during previous authoritarian rule. One of the most sought after freedoms desired was to study in the local languages of non-Persian ethnic groups in Ahwaz, Kurdistan, South Azerbaijan and Baluchistan.
This was clearly demonstrated at the time by the demands vocalized from delegations of these peoples who went to meet with Khomeini. Among these peoples, the Arab people of Ahwaz demanded recognition of the importance in preserving their culture and Arabic language. However, Khomeini rejected all the demands of those delegations on the pretext that any actions to preserve or revitalize the languages and cultures of these people would only contribute to fragmentation and division of Iran.
What Khomeini said flies in the face of legal articles put in the Iranian constitution which seemed to have come in response to the demands of these peoples, but have not been activated to this day.
Article 15 states that the Persian language must be taught in schools, but those other languages may be taught alongside it. This draws a clear distinction between the Persian language, which is obligatory, and other languages, which are permissible.
In another effort to crush language variety, the textbooks were written and arranged in such a way to be purposefully unclear and confusing linguistically. The Persian teachers tend to teach these languages poorly and apathetically, however, they put a lot of pressure on the students to do well in the final exams.
When children are taught their native languages improperly, then set up to fail their exams, it is only natural for them to struggle in their studies, lose faith in their abilities and eventually give up perusing it.
Persian teachers also tend to actively promote racist stereotypes in the classroom about non-Persian students, such as laughing at the accent of Ahwazi Arabs, Turks and Kurds when they are speaking Persian. The teachers will say these students need to be more high class by promoting Persian accent while losing their mother tongue accent, which teachers say destroys the “sweetness” of Persian accent.
This blatant and subtle Persianization breaks the spirits of these students. Due to this humiliation, students suffer this dual-identity crisis, where they feel they must hide their true identity behind faux Persianism in order to get ahead in life.
All these practices promoted by the Iranian regime against non-Persian ethnic groups are justified under the pretext of preserving the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Iran from fragmentation and division.
The Iranian regime also espouses staunch opposition to providing education in other languages due to their claim that it will dilute and bring about the loss of the Persian language. But none of these authorities asks themselves why the capabilities, languages and cultures of these other groups of peoples must be sacrificed in order to preserve the one language and one culture of the Persians.
Iranian politicians are well aware that the militant ways of Reza Pahlavi, the former shah of Iran, who aimed to create a nation unified by one people and one language has not, and will not, be successful. All these repressive practices that exist now are only temporary and will be removed sooner or later.
But the regime does not want to give up their gains and will seek to preserve them with oppression and militancy. What no one in positions of power in Iran can understand is that the Persian language will not actually be jeopardized if the non-Persian peoples gain the right to receive education in their own languages.
The situation in Iran today has been impacted directly as a result of this imposed Persian supremacy which gained momentum due to colonialism. Many Persians in Iran seem unable to accept the idea that the Arab, Turks, Kurdish, Baluchi and Turkoman are also entitled to study in their own languages and preserve their cultures.
They are unable to accept the idea that despite all the oppressive methods that Iranian authorities have used to obliterate the identities and languages of other peoples, the people and languages persist. Their cultural and linguistic war has not prevailed however this policy has resulted in a high rate of students dropping out from schools at early ages in the marginalized non-Persian regions in Iran. Due to the challenges of learning the Persian language, students are held back linguistically, becoming only partially proficient in both their native tongue and the imposed Persian language.
Today, it would be better for UNESCO to expel Iran from its membership and disallow their participation in its activities. The regime is trying to destroy several languages native to Iran in lieu of solely promoting the Persian language.
Iran also systematically oppresses and punishes anyone who insists on learning and using their native language. These practices are in stark contrast to what UNESCO stands for. | 2019-04-24T14:06:21 | https://clarionproject.org/iran-stamp-non-persian-languages/ |
0.999829 | The criminal investigation of Hillary Clinton is back front and center now that the FBI has released proof that her failure to safeguard state secrets caused the secrets to fall into the hands of foreign governments, some of which wish the United States ill. Even though the case against her — which was closed and then reopened and then closed again — is old news and she obviously is no longer a candidate to become president of the United States and has been staying below the radar for the past two months, recent developments have regenerated the case.
Here is the back story. On July 5, FBI Director James Comey announced publicly that the FBI would recommend against seeking an indictment of Clinton for espionage — the failure to safeguard state secrets that had been entrusted to her. He argued that though the case against her was strong — as secretary of state, she had been extremely careless with secrets; exposed hundreds of materials that were confidential, secret and top-secret; and used non-secure mobile devices while in the territory of hostile governments — no reasonable prosecutor would take the case. Why was the decision of whether to prosecute Clinton left to Comey?
The FBI's job is to gather evidence of federal crimes and to present that evidence to career prosecutors in the Department of Justice for evaluation. The FBI has numerous investigative tools available to it. One of those tools is presenting evidence to a grand jury and requesting subpoenas from it. Another is presenting evidence to a federal judge and requesting search warrants from the judge. A third is obtaining the indictment of someone who is in the inner circle of the person who is the true target of the investigation and then persuading that indicted person to become a government witness. None of those tools was used in the Clinton case.
As well, a major interference with the case occurred when Attorney General Loretta Lynch agreed to meet privately with former President Bill Clinton. He was — and still is — also the subject of an FBI criminal investigation. Though both Lynch and Mr. Clinton denied talking about the investigations, the attorney general took herself and senior DOJ management off the Hillary Clinton case, leaving the FBI director with the authority to decide whether to prosecute. So based on Comey's decision that no reasonable prosecutor would take the case against Mrs. Clinton, it was closed.
The case was briefly reopened 11 days before Election Day. The FBI announced it had stumbled upon a potential treasure-trove of emails contained in a laptop jointly owned and used by Hillary Clinton's closest aide, Huma Abedin, and her husband, former Rep. Anthony Weiner. The FBI believed at the time that the laptop contained nearly every email Abedin had received from Clinton. Weiner was under investigation for various sexual crimes, and the FBI had obtained the laptop in its search for evidence against him. Then, a week later, the FBI announced that it had found nothing among the 650,000 emails in the laptop that would cause it to reopen the Clinton case, and it closed the case a second time.
Donald Trump argued during the last weeks of the presidential election campaign that Clinton had exposed state secrets to hostile foreign governments. FBI agents who disagreed with their boss's decision not to seek the indictment of Clinton made the same arguments. Clinton denied vehemently that she had caused any state secrets to pass into the hands of hostile foreign governments. Then Trump was elected president of the United States. Then Clinton left the public scene.
Then, last Sunday evening, during the NFL playoff game between the New York Giants and the Green Bay Packers, the FBI posted on its website more than 300 emails that Clinton had sent to an unnamed colleague not in the government — no doubt her adviser Sid Blumenthal — that had fallen into the hands of foreign powers. It turns out — and the Sunday night release proves this — that Blumenthal was hacked by intelligence agents from at least three foreign governments and that they obtained the emails Clinton had sent to him that contained state secrets. Sources believe that the hostile hackers were the Russians and the Chinese and the friendly hackers were the Israelis.
Last Sunday's revelations make the case against Clinton far more serious than Comey presented it to be last summer. Indeed, Sen. Jeff Sessions, who has been nominated by Trump to be attorney general and who has been a harsh critic of Clinton's, told the Senate Judiciary Committee this week that he would step aside from any further investigation of Clinton, thereby acknowledging that the investigation will probably be opened again.
One of the metrics that the DOJ examines in deciding whether to prosecute is an analysis of harm caused by the potential defendant. I have examined the newly released emails, and the state secrets have been whited out. Yet it is clear from the FBI analysis of them that real secrets were exposed by the nation's chief diplomat — meaning she violated an agreement she signed right after she took office, in which she essentially promised that she would not do what she eventually did.
The essence of the American justice system is the rule of law. The rule of law means that no one is beneath the law's protections or above its obligations.
Should Clinton skate free so the Trump administration can turn the page? Should the new DOJ be compassionate toward Clinton because of her humiliating election loss and likely retirement from public life? Of course not. She should be prosecuted as would anyone else who let loose secrets to our enemies and then lied about it.
The criminal investigation of Hillary Clinton is back front and center now that the FBI has released proof that her failure to safeguard state secrets caused the secrets to fall into the hands of foreign governments, some of which wish the United States ill. | 2019-04-25T05:56:18 | https://questsin.net/andrewnapolitano/clinton-email-fbi-abedin/2017/01/12/id/768177/ |
0.999989 | How do I manage department groups?
Departments can be split into department groups for easy viewing. Firstly, navigate to 'Employee Manager' via the 'People' link in the top navigation bar.
Click the 'Manage' button in the top right corner of the department menu.
Your departments will be displayed on the right section of the page. To add a new group, click the blue 'Create New Group button, located top right. This will instantly add a blank department group to your list.
To edit or remove a department group, click the 'edit' button.
To add departments to a group, click the '+ Department' button within the group box.
To remove a department from a group, simply click the name of the department within the group, and it will be moved to the 'No Department Group' section. | 2019-04-20T03:08:43 | https://myameego.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/235738448-How-do-I-manage-department-groups- |
0.955653 | This report by John Pistole of the FBI counter terrorism division opens up "a can of worms".
If indeed the funding of 9/11 is out of Pakistan, as stated by FBI's John Pistole, what was the role of Pakistan's military intelligence (ISI) in the transfer of funds to the 9/11 terrorists.
1. John Pistole' s statment seems to corroborate the FBI's September 2001 Report on the financing of the 9/11 terrorist attacks out of Pakistan, which was made public by ABC News (September 30, 2001.
2. This September 2001 FBI report was later confirmed by a report of Indian Intelligence (Times of India Oct 9, 2001) which pointed to the role of the (former) head of Pakistan Intelligence (ISI) General Mahmoud Ahmad, who allegedly was instrumental in transferring $100,000 to the 9/11 terrorists.
3. Ahmad was on an official visit to Washington at the time of the 9/11 attacks and met senior Bush officials, including Colin Powell, Richard Armitage and George Tenet, not to mention the two chairmen of House and Senate select committees on Intelligence Sen Bob Graham and Rep. Porter Goss.
The US authorities sought his [Ahmad] removal after confirming the fact that $100,000 were wired to WTC hijacker Mohammed Atta from Pakistan by Ahmad Umar Sheikh at the instance of Gen. Mahmoud. Senior government sources have confirmed that India contributed significantly to establishing the link between the money transfer and the role played by the dismissed ISI chief. While they did not provide details, they said that Indian inputs, including Sheikh's mobile phone number, helped the FBI in tracing and establishing the link.
4. At a time when fingers are pointing at Saudi Arabia, John Pistole's statement inevitably raises the issue of "State sponsorship" of Al Qaeda by America's puppet regime in Pakistan. This in turn raises the broader issue of the Bush administration's relationship to the terror network.
A senior official of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation has informed US lawmakers that funding for the Sept 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States was traced to Pakistan.
John S. Pistole, deputy assistant director of the FBI's counter-terrorism division, told the Senate governmental affairs committee on Thursday afternoon [31 July] , that investigators had "traced the origin of the funding of the 9/11 attacks back to financial accounts in Pakistan."
He said high-ranking and well-known Al Qaeda operatives in Pakistan "played a major role in moving the money forward, eventually into the hands of the hijackers located in the United States."
Mr Pistole did not specify in his testimony how those accounts in Pakistan were funded.
The FBI has estimated that the 9/11 attacks cost between $175,000-250,000. That money, which paid for flight training, travel and other expenses, flowed to the hijackers through associates in Germany and the United Arab Emirates.
Al-Qaeda associates reported to Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, who managed much of the planning for the attacks from Pakistan, the FBI said. Mr Pistole did not discuss reports that some support for the Sept 11 hijackers came from Saudi Arabia as well.
"Terrorism Financing: Origination, Organization, and Prevention"
Good morning Madam Chair Collins, Senator Lieberman, and other distinguished members of the committee. It is an honor to testify before this committee regarding the FBI's efforts in identifying, tracking and dismantling the financial structure supporting terrorist groups.
Prior to the events of September 11, 2001 (9/11), the FBI had no mechanism to provide a comprehensive, centralized, focused and pro-active approach to terrorist financial matters. While the FBI examined financial records at the time of previous terrorist attacks, as part of the investigation into each of the attacks, the events of 9/11 identified a critical need for a more comprehensive, centralized approach to financial matters. The Terrorist Financing Operations Section (TFOS) of the FBI's Counterterrorism Division was formed, after 9/11, in response to this critical need. The mission of the TFOS has since evolved into a broader strategy to identify, investigate, prosecute, disrupt and dismantle incrementally, all terrorist related financial and fund-raising activities.
Identifying, tracking and dismantling the financial structure supporting terrorist groups is critical to successfully dismantling the organizations and preventing future terrorist attacks. As is the case in most investigations, locating and "following the money" plays a critical role in identifying those involved in the criminal activity, establishing links among them, and developing evidence of their involvement in the activity.
Terrorists, their networks and support structures, require funding in some form to exist and operate. Whether the funding and financial support is minimal or substantial, it usually leaves a financial trail that can be traced, tracked, and exploited for pro-active and reactive purposes. Being able to identify and track financial transactions and links after a terrorist act has occurred or terrorist activity has been identified, represents only a small portion of the mission; the key lies in exploiting financial information in efforts to identify previously unknown terrorist cells, recognize potential terrorist activity/planning, and predict and prevent potential terrorist acts.
In forming the TFOS, the FBI built upon its traditional expertise in conducting complex criminal financial investigations and long established relationships with the financial services communities in the United States and abroad. Integrating these skills and resources with the Counterterrorism Division, allows the FBI to bring its full assets to bear in the financial war on terrorism.
The TFOS is both an operational and coordinating entity with pro- active and reactive responsibilities. As a coordinating entity, the TFOS is responsible for ensuring that a unified approach is pursued in investigating terrorist financing networks. The TFOS achieves this directive by: 1) coordinating the financial aspects of FBI Field Office and Legat terrorism investigations; 2) establishing overall initiatives, policy and guidance on terrorist financing matters; 3) participating in the National Security Council's Policy Coordinating Committee (PCC) on Terrorist Financing; 4) coordinating national liaison with the financial services sector; 5) cooperating in and coordinating criminal terrorist financing investigations with the Department of Justice; and 5) providing support and training to Field Offices to include the designated Terrorism Financing Coordinator (TFC) .
It is critical that the financial aspects of terrorism investigations be adequately addressed and that a concerted, coordinated effort is made to investigate terrorist finance issues by experienced financial investigators. Rarely will a terrorist financing investigation be confined to the territory of one field office, rather they normally span not only multiple field office jurisdictions, but the globe; i.e., these types of investigations will frequently be linked to investigations and/or issues in other jurisdictions and other countries. It is imperative that these investigative efforts be effectively coordinated, placed into perspective with other counterterrorism efforts, prioritized in accordance with national and global strategies, and addressed in concert rather than in a disjointed, inefficient manner. Prior to the establishment of the TFOS, there did not exist within the FBI a mechanism to ensure appropriate focus on terrorist finance issues and provide the necessary expertise and overall coordination to comprehensively address these matters.
So how far have we come in the war on terrorist financing since 9/11? There currently exists a much better understanding of terrorist financing methods. More sophisticated and effective processes and mechanisms to address and target terrorist financing continue to develop and evolve. Pro-active approaches are increasingly being utilized. The awareness around the world on the part of law enforcement, government agencies, regulators and policy makers, and the private sector of terrorist financing methods, suspicious financial activity and vulnerabilities is much higher since 9/11. International cooperation has reached unparalleled levels. Outreach with, and cooperation from, the private sector has been outstanding and continues to develop, particularly the level of two-way interaction between law enforcement and the private sector. The ability to access and obtain this type of information immediately has significantly enhanced the FBI's ability to identify, investigate, and resolve immediate threat situations involving potential terrorist activity. For example, the ability to conduct real-time monitoring of specifically identified financial activity has been invaluable to not only investigations ongoing in the US, but to foreign law enforcement and intelligence agencies in related investigations. Another example of not only more pro-active measures but also of increased cooperation and coordination with the international community.
Extensive training and support of international investigations by TFOS has led to Agent visits/exchanges and training programs involving a variety of countries from Europe, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, South America, etc. In support of specific high profile joint terrorist financial investigative matters, a number of countries and agencies, including the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Canada and Europol, have detailed investigators to TFOS on a TDY basis. TFOS has engaged in extensive coordination with authorities of numerous foreign governments in terrorist financing matters, leading to joint investigative efforts throughout the world. These joint investigations have successfully targeted the financing of several overseas al-Qa'ida cells, including those located in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Spain, and Italy. Furthermore, with the assistance of relationships established with the central banks of several strategic countries, successful disruptions of al-Qa'ida financing have been accomplished in counties such as the UAE, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Indonesia.
TFOS has developed a specific terrorist financing/money laundering crimes curriculum for international training which includes topics such as: acquiring and handling evidence in document intensive financial investigations, major case management techniques, forensic examination tools, and methods of terrorist financing. At the request of the US Department of State, TFOS has led an interagency team to provide this curriculum to a number of countries (and is scheduled to provide to approximately 38 countries) identified as needing law enforcement training on conducting terrorist financing investigations.
TFOS has cultivated and maintains a contact database of private industry and government sources/persons who can provide financial data, including real-time monitoring of financial transactions. Many of these contacts can be reached or accessed on 24 hour/7 days a week emergency allowing TFOS to respond rapidly to critical incidents.
Through these contacts the TFOS has access to data and information from a variety of entities including: Banking, Credit/Debit Card Sector, Money Services Businesses, Securities/Brokerages Sector, Insurance, Travel, Internet Service Providers, Telecommunications Industry, Law Enforcement, State/Federal Regulatory Agencies, Public and Open Source Data Providers, the Intelligence Community, and International Law Enforcement and Intelligence Contacts. The timeliness and accessibility of the data is contingent on a variety of factors including whether the acquisition of the information requires legal process, the search capabilities of the data provider, and the size and depth of the data request. The ability to access and obtain this type of information in a time sensitive and urgent manner has significantly enhanced the FBI's ability to identify, investigate and resolve immediate threat situations involving potential terrorist activity. For example, the ability to conduct real-time monitoring of specifically identified financial activity has been invaluable to not only investigations ongoing in the US, but to foreign law enforcement and intelligence agencies in related investigations.
Being able to identify and track financial transactions and links after a terrorist act has occurred or terrorist activity has been identified represents only a small portion of the mission; the key lies in exploiting financial information in efforts to identify previously unknown terrorist cells, recognize potential terrorist activity/planning, and predict and prevent potential terrorist acts. Prior to 9/11, there was not enough emphasis placed on addressing the mechanisms and systems associated with terrorist financing and disrupting them before they could be utilized to further terrorist activities. Since September 11, TFOS, together with the Counter-Terrorism Section (CTS), Criminal Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ), have begun a number of pro-active link analysis initiatives to identify potential terrorists and terrorist related financing activities.
The overriding goal of these projects is to pro-actively identify potential terrorists and terrorist related individuals/entities, mechanisms or schemes through the digital exploitation of data. To accomplish this, TFOS seeks to 1) identify potential electronic data sources within domestic and foreign government and private industry providers; 2) create pathways and protocols to acquire and analyze the data; and 3) provide both reactive and proactive operational, predictive and educational support to investigators and prosecutors. Information sharing is critical to all of our efforts. The intelligence community, including the FBI, produces and obtains tremendous amounts of classified intelligence information. While much of the information can be of significant value in terrorist finance investigations, the value will not be realized nor maximized absent the ability to filter the information, analyze it, and disseminate it in an appropriate manner to those who can make the best use of the information. Toward this end, the TFOS participates in joint endeavors involving the CIA, FBI, Treasury Department, Department of Justice, and the Department of Homeland Security involving potential terrorist related financial transactions, in addition to other joint participation between TFOS and the intelligence agencies. TFOS has personnel detailed to the CIA/CTC/FINO and personnel from there work directly with TFOS on financial intelligence matters.
- An FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force in Charlotte used racketeering statutes to obtain convictions which disrupted and dismantled a Hizballah procurement and fund-raising cell. Twenty- six individuals were arrested for crimes including immigration fraud, visa fraud, cigarette smuggling, interstate transportation of stolen property, fraud, bank fraud, bribery, money laundering, racketeering, and providing material support to a terrorist organization.
- The FBI coordinated with the Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) to justify the blocking of Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF) assets and the closing of its US offices, shutting down HAMAS' largest fund-raising entity in the US. The HLF had been linked to the funding of HAMAS terrorist activities, and in 2000, HLF raised $13 million.
- Offices of the Benevolence International Foundation (BIF), a US based charity, were shut down and its assets and records blocked following an OFAC and FBI investigation which determined that the charity was being used to funnel money to Al Qa'ida. In February 2003, Enaam Arnaout, the head of BIF, pled guilty to racketeering conspiracy, admitting he fraudulently obtained charitable donations in order to provide financial assistance to persons engaged in violent activities overseas.
- As a result of information developed by the FBI, a foreign security service, in conjunction with US Intelligence Community agencies, apprehended one of the most significant money launderers associated with Usama Bin Laden, for funneling $67 million through international accounts to al-Qa'ida and the Taliban.
- A criminal case against Sami Al Arian, the alleged US leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), and the World Islamic Studies Enterprise has forced the closure of several front companies suspected of funneling money to support PIJ operations against Israel. In August 2002, the investigation led to the deportation of Mazen Al-Najjar, the brother-in-law of Sami Al Arian and a known PIJ member. In February, following a 50-count indictment for RICO and Material Support of terrorism violations, the FBI arrested Al-Arian and three other U.S.-based members of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, including Sameeh Hammoudeh, Hatim Naji Fariz, and Ghassan Ballout. The FBI also executed seven search warrants associated with this action.
- TFOS has provided operational support to FBI Field Divisions across the United States to enhance the intelligence/criminal investigations of individuals and groups, associated with or providing material support to, terrorist organizations and activities. This assistance is provided in the form of conducting intelligence/criminal financial investigations, financial analytical support, major case management, financial link analysis, and the deployment of teams of experts to develop investigative plans to analyze large volumes of documents and data. TFOS has provided this operational support in the Al Qa'ida sleeper cell cases in Buffalo and Portland, as well as in the Richard Reid, John Walker Lindh, Jose Padilla, Al Haramain, PIJ, and Mohamed Almoayad cases, among many others. This type of operational support has also been provided to Divisions investigating NGOs, such as the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, Benevolence International Foundation and the Global Relief Foundation.
- TFOS has engaged in extensive coordination with authorities of numerous foreign governments in terrorist financing matters, leading to joint investigative efforts throughout the world. These joint investigations have successfully targeted the financing of several overseas Al Qa'ida cells, including those located in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Spain, and Italy. Furthermore, with the assistance of relationships established with the central banks of several strategic countries, successful disruptions of Al Qa'ida financing have been accomplished in counties such as the UAE, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Indonesia.
- The FBI conducted a detailed financial investigation/analysis of the19 hijackers and their support network, following the September 11th attacks. This investigation initially identified the Al Qa'ida funding sources of the 19 hijackers in the UAE and Germany. The financial investigation also provided the first links between Ramzi Binalshibh and the 9/11 operation. A continuing investigation, in coordination with the PENTTBOMB Team, has traced the origin of the funding of 9/11 back to financial accounts in Pakistan, where high-ranking and well-known Al Qa'ida operatives played a major role in moving the money forward, eventually into the hands of the hijackers located in the U.S. As part of the 9/11 financial investigation, thousands of individuals and organizations were investigated in the U.S. and abroad to determine whether they played any part in supporting the hijackers or the operation. Although the vast majority of these individuals and organizations were cleared, this process of elimination resulted in numerous other quality terrorism investigations being initiated, as well as criminal charges against hundreds of individuals for fraud and other criminal activity.
- At the request of a foreign liaison service, TFOS traced financial transactions in a near real-time manner which led to the location of a terrorist cell and prevention of a terrorist act.
- Since 9/11, the United States has frozen $36.3 million in terrorist assets while other countries have frozen an estimated $97 million, for a total of over $133 million.
- U.S. authorities issued blocking orders on the assets of 281 terrorists, terrorist organizations, and terrorist supporters, effectively denying them access to the U.S. financial system.
- Federal law enforcement officials have arrested over 61 individuals, indicted 43 and convicted 12 in connection with terrorist financing investigations.
- U.S. Government agencies, to include the FBI's TFOS, deployed trainers and advisers on missions to countries around the world to assist with the drafting of legislation to combat terrorist financing, strengthen bank supervision in identifying suspicious transactions, and address other financial crimes and corruption.
- Since 9/11, over 120 countries have introduced new terrorist- related legislation and approximately 80 countries established Financial Investigation Units.
Following the 9/11 attacks, it became apparent that the role of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and charitable organizations, as a source of funding for terrorist groups, needed closer scrutiny. This included the role of Saudi Arabia and its citizens in the support of terrorism, both directly and indirectly, through the financial support of these charitable organizations.
- Saudi Arabia has put new laws and regulations in place for all charitable groups, ensuring that they are audited to prevent the flow of funds to entities other than charity.
- Saudi Arabia has further strengthened its laws and regulations regarding money laundering. These efforts include new rules concerning the verification of customers' identities as well as restrictions on non-residents' ability to open accounts in the country.
- Saudi Arabia and the United States maintain a Counter-Terrorism Committee comprised of intelligence and law enforcement personnel who meet regularly to share information and resources and develop action plans to root out terrorist networks.
- In March 2002, Saudi Arabia and the US jointly blocked the accounts of Bosnia and Somalia branches of Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation, and in the summer of 2002, jointly froze the assets of the Rabita Trust, and those of its director Wa'el Hamza Julaidan, an associate of Bin Laden who provided financial and logistical support to al-Qa'ida.
- Saudi Arabia has contributed to the break up of a number of al- Qa'ida cells, the arrests of key al-Qa'ida leaders and capture of al-Qa'ida members in Saudi Arabia.
Since the May 12, 2003 bombings of the three western compounds in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, cooperation with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has improved. The FBI sent an investigative team to the Kingdom and worked with the law enforcement and intelligence services to conduct the appropriate post incident investigation and evidence collection. Cooperation with the Saudi Arabian government continues on this and other terrorism investigations.
Our efforts to combat terrorism have been greatly aided by the provisions of the PATRIOT Act. The success in preventing another catastrophic attack on the U.S. homeland would have been much more difficult, if not impossible, without the Act. It has already proved extraordinarily beneficial in the war on terrorism, and our opportunities to use it will only increase. Most importantly, the PATRIOT Act has produced greater collection and sharing of information within the law enforcement and intelligence communities.
Title III of the Act, also known as the International Money Laundering Anti-Terrorist Financing Act of 2001, has armed us with a number of new weapons in our efforts to identify and track the financial structure supporting terrorist groups. Past terrorist financing methods have included the use of informal systems for transferring value in a manner that is difficult to detect and trace. The effectiveness of such methods should be significantly eroded by the Act, which establishes stricter rules for correspondent bank accounts, requires securities brokers and dealers to file Suspicious Activity Reports or SARS, and certain money services to register with FinCEN and file SARS for a wider range of financial transactions.
There are other provisions of the Act that have considerably aided our efforts to address the terrorist threat including: strengthening the existing ban on providing material support to terrorists and terrorist organizations; the authority to seize terrorist assets; and the power to seize money subject to forfeiture in a foreign bank account by authorizing the seizure of a foreign bank's funds held in a U.S. correspondent account.
It is important for the Committee and the American people to know that the FBI is using the PATRIOT Act authorities in a responsible manner. We are making every effort to effectively balance our obligation to protect Americans from terrorism, with our obligation to protect their civil liberties.
Organizational changes that have taken place within the Executive Branch with respect to the investigation of terrorism financing include the execution of a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) concerning terrorist financing investigations. The MOA addresses the importance of waging a seamless, coordinated campaign against terrorist sources of financing. It was signed by Attorney General Ashcroft and Homeland Security Secretary Ridge on May 13, 2003. Prior to this agreement, both the DOJ and DHS had separate terrorist financing task forces. Under DOJ, the FBI had the TFOS, which was discussed earlier. The DHS had the Bureau of Immigration and Customs (ICE) led Operation Green Quest (OGQ).
Pursuant to the MOA, OGQ ceased to exist as a program name as of June 30, 2003. Accordingly, the FBI was designated to lead terrorist financing investigations and operations. It was agreed that DHS would focus its activities on protecting the integrity of U.S. financial infrastructures. To that extent, the DHS implemented the ICE led Operation Cornerstone. Operation Cornerstone will identify vulnerabilities in financial systems through which criminals launder their illicit proceeds, bring the criminals to justice and work to eliminate the vulnerabilities.
The majority of the former OGQ case inventory was criminal cases, with no nexus to terrorism. These cases were converted from OGQ to Operation Cornerstone. Those cases that had a nexus to terrorism that were investigated by the former OGQ are currently being assessed for transition to the appropriate FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF). Ongoing and future Operation Cornerstone investigations that develop links to terrorism will be referred to the FBI through the TFOS. The ICE and TFOS are coordinating investigative initiatives that will enable the ICE to identify financial systemic vulnerabilities and which will enable the TFOS to identify ties to terrorism and terrorist financing. In addition, there is a liaison from ICE assigned to TFOS, and investigators from ICE will be represented on the JTTFs.
Terrorism represents a global problem. The solution is grounded in what would have been considered prior to 9/11, unprecedented international cooperation and coordination. The threat it poses must always be considered imminent. In addition to considerable financial investigative expertise, addressing terrorism and the finances that support and propagate it requires the ability to both implement proactive and preventive approaches to disrupt and dismantle as well as the ability to conduct highly reactive immediate response financial investigations to address potential imminent threats. As stated herein and in conjunction with more and more of the international community and other aspects of the US Government, the FBI has made considerable progress toward achieving and implementing these abilities.
Again, I offer my gratitude and appreciation to you, Madam Chair Collins, Senator Specter, and the Governmental Affairs Committee, for dedicating your time and effort to this issue and I would be happy to respond to any questions.
� Copyright FDCH, DAWN 2003 For fair use only/ pour usage �quitable seulement . | 2019-04-22T00:33:18 | https://archives.globalresearch.ca/articles/SEN308A.html |
0.999999 | For each gap, fill in the text with one of the following words: anxieties, arguable, authored, battery, cited, commissioned, contactable, coverage, induced, majority, outright, par, reason, sampled, subsequent, suffer, tend or treating. Each word will be used one single time.
Nomophobia is the fear of being out of mobile phone contact. The term, an abbreviation for “no-mobile-phone phobia”, was coined during a study by the UK Post Office who YouGov, a UK-based research organisation to look at suffered by mobile phone users. The study found that nearly 53% of mobile phone users in Britain to be anxious when they “lose their mobile phone, run out of or credit, or have no network “. The study found that about 58% of men and 48% of women from the phobia, and an additional 9% feel stressed when their mobile phones are off. The study 2,163 people. Fifty-five percent of those surveyed keeping in touch with friends or family as the main that they got anxious when they could not use their mobile phones. The study compared stress levels by the average case of nomophobia to be on with those of “wedding day jitters” and trips to the dentist’s. Ten percent of those questioned said they needed to be at all times because of work. It is, however, that the word ‘phobia’ is misused and that in the of cases it is only a normal anxiety.
More than one in two nomophobes never switch off their mobile phones. The study and coverage of the phobia resulted in two editorial columns by those who minimize their mobile phone use or choose not to own one at all, the condition with light undertones or disbelief and amusement. | 2019-04-25T12:47:05 | https://www.englishlearner.com/intermediate/use-of-english-banked-cloze-nomophobia.shtml |
0.998606 | How can I generate many distributions in a simulation model efficiently by copying?
In this tutorial a simulation model is created that simulates the payment of interest of a in fine loan over 5 years and uses the interest rate of the first year to calculate the net profit value. During this tutorial the copy of distribution cells using the normal Excel copy and paste function is introduced.
Our simulation model deals with the payments of interest of a in fine loan. The interest are calculated during 5 years. At the end the net profit value at the initial time is calculated using the Excel function NPV and the interest rate of the first year and the payments of interest during the 5 years. The interest rate is support to be equally distributed between 3.5% and 5.5%. The capital of the in fine loan is 10000 Euro.
Starting with a static model using a mean interest rate of 4.5%. The net profit value is calculated to 1975 Euro in that case.
In the following we use relative references to copy the distributions correctly. Please verify in the XLSTAT-Sim Options, that the corresponding option has been selected.
Choose the first distribution variable B6 that is interest rate for 2008 as active cell.
Once XLSTAT is activated, select the XLSTAT/ XLSTAT-SIM /Define distribution command, or click on the corresponding button of the "XLSTAT-SIM" toolbar (see below).
The define distribution dialog box will appear. Then select the data on the Excel sheet. Choose the Excel cell with the name "2008" as name. This will be integrated as a relative reference in the format A1 in the formula. Choose an uniform distribution with a = 0.035 and b = 0.055.
Once you have clicked on "OK", the corresponding function call of XLSTAT_SimDist is inserted into the active cell.
It is possible to enter the other four distributions using copy and paste of the cell that we have generated into the four cells at the right of this first cell. You have as well the possibility like for other Excel formulas to select the cell B6 that you have just generated, go with the mouse over the lower left corner where the cursor is displayed as a black cross. Press and hold the left mouse button now and mouse the mouse up to the cell F6. In this way you have defined the 5 cells as well. The names of the distributions will be "2008, …, 2012".
Choose the result cell B9 that contains the formula = NPV(B6,B7,C7,D7,E7,F7) as active cell. Now the result variable will be defined. Select the XLSTAT/ XLSTAT-SIM /Define result command, or click on the corresponding button of the "XLSTAT-SIM" toolbar enthält.
The define result dialog box will appear. Then select the data on the Excel sheet. Choose the Excel cell with the name "NPV" as name in it.
Once you have clicked on "OK", the corresponding function call of XLSTAT_SimRes is inserted into the active cell.
The first result is a summary of the constructed model. There are details of the distribution variables and the result variable displayed.
The following tables show details for the distribution variables. Descriptive statistics, a histogram and statistics about the intervals are displayed.
The following tables show details for the result variables. Descriptive statistics, a histogram and statistics about the intervals are displayed. Then the results of the sensitivity analysis are shown. These results depend on the iterations of the simulations.
The spider analysis does not only display the maximum and minimum change of the result variable, but also the value of the result variable for each data point of the random and scenario variables. This is useful to check if the dependence between distribution variables and result variables is monotonous or not.
In the first table the minimal and maximal change and the corresponding range are displayed for each distribution variable. In this case all interest rates are more or less the same. In the spider analysis in the next section we see that the interest rate of the first year has less impact than the other interest rates, because in the formula of NPV the interest rate of the first year is used as well and therefore variations of this interest rate to not have much influence on the NPV. | 2019-04-26T00:41:17 | https://www.kovcomp.co.uk/support/XL-Tut/distributions-simulation-model-copy.html |
0.999999 | This course builds on the introductory lecture Mathematical Logic, which provided the basis of propositional logic, modal logic, and first-order logic. Mathematical Logic II will make the students acquainted with more advanced methods and with some of the fundamental achievements of mathematical logic in the 20th century.
We will focus on two areas of mathematical logic, namely set theory and model theory.
Mathematics relies in a fundamental way on the notion of a set. But what are sets? A naive approach leads to paradoxes like the one, due to Russell, dealing with the set of all sets that are not elements of themselves.
We will explain in detail the axiom system ZFC (Zermelo-Fraenkel with Axiom of Choice) for set theory and try to understand the world of sets (Cantor's paradise) that they bring forth. This includes ordinals (how to count beyond the finite), cardinals (how to calculate with magnitudes of infinite sets), transfinite inductions, and recursion. We will discuss the importance of the Axiom of Choice and the Continuum Hypothesis.
The ultimate goal of the foundational efforts (Hilbert's program) was to put mathematics on a firm basis and to make sure that it is consistent (i.e., not contradictory). However, we will present a fundamental result, due to Gödel, that tells us that this dream will never come true: mathematics cannot be proved to be consistent, unless it is inconsistent!
Model Theory is the study of mathematical structures with means of logic. The main goal of this part of the course is to learn the fundamental constructions and tools used in model theory, like compactness, types, and elementary extensions. We will concentrate on two questions.
Given a first-order theory T, how do the models of T look like?
We will show how to construct models that are especially rich, i.e., contain every configuration that is not forbidden by T. Conversely, we will find models that omit everything not explicitly demanded by T. In most of these model constructions, the compactness theorem plays a central role.
What is the expressive power of a logic?
We will introduce logical systems beyond first-order logic, like infinitary logic and fixed point logics, which are closely related to induction and recursion and which have applications in many areas, from set theory to computer science. To understand the power of these logics, we will study in detail the method of Ehrenfeucht-Fraisse games and provide tools that make playing these games easier. | 2019-04-26T14:56:11 | https://logic.rwth-aachen.de/Teaching/MaLo2-SS05/index.html.de |
0.999918 | The Consequence of Revenge is amazing, astonishing, brilliant, epic, exceptional, fantastic, hilarious, phenomenal and utterly unbelievable. Then I ran out of superlatives.
Okay, not totally true because I put a thesaurus to good use for that sentence, see how I even sorted them alphabetically? But honestly, every one of those words perfectly describes The Consequence of Revenge. It's not earth-shattering deep, it won't make you contemplate the meaning of life, it won't cure cancer and it won't bring world peace but it will damn well make you smile and sometimes that's all you need.
You know those sitcoms where Person A sets Person B on fire and tries to put it out with a bucket of water. Only, it wasn't water, it was a bucket of grandpa's purest moonshine and now person B is really ablaze. So Person A grabs his jacket, pulls person B down on the new-cut grass and rolls him around covered in the jacket to try and put him out. But Person B is allergic to grass so now he breaks out in hives and sneezes non-stop too. Yeah, those sitcoms, that's The Consequence of Revenge in a nutshell for ya.
Every character is amazing, most of them take a step back in TCR bur since Max is isolated on a tropical island that's not really surprising. But their guest-appearance just reminds me of why I loved The Consequence of Loving Colton (Consequence #1) so much. Their dynamics and friendship is astonishing. They all bring their own humor and sarcasm to the book and it's brilliant.
In The Consequence of Loving Colton, Max was my favorite character, and to see him go through his personal version of Hell with 24 absolutely cray cray women vying for his attention is epic. Max's irrational fear of goats possessed by Satan, his exceptional ability to bring out the worst kind of crazy in already crazy people and Reid's rational, actually rational, fear of Grandma is just some of the things that makes this book fantastic. It is absolutely hilarious!
Then there's girl who gets thrown into the outrageous world of Max Emory, our poor, unsuspecting Becca who has no idea what she's gotten herself into. She has great adaptation skills though, or the one who's actually not insane would have gone insane with the batshit crazy things Max put her through. She's witty and sarcastic just like the rest of them, she's random enough to keep up with Max but collected enough to keep him from going over the deep end. She too is a phenomenal character and I absolutely love her, her fit with Max is just so good.
I have no doubt that Reid's book will be just as unbelievably good!
Didn't I tell you all of those superlatives could be used to describe to book?! Find them all yet?
If you ever need a pick-me-up, are in the need of a laugh or of something light that will lift you up and leave you with rejuvenated energy, get started on the Consequence series!
My ARC copy of The Consequence of Revenge was provided by Skyscape through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
To reach Rachel, contact her here through Goodreads or by any method below! | 2019-04-18T14:25:57 | http://booksandgibberish.blogspot.com/2015/06/arc-review-consequence-of-revenge-by.html |
0.998946 | I have a 'person' model (defined relationship: hasOne state in the model).
I have a 'program' model (defined relationship: program hasOne person in the model).
I have a 'states' table (and a State model) that I want to use in quite a few locations (later when I begin to convert all my legacy code to the Laravel project), so I would like to create a partial view containing a drop down list of the states so that I can match the person's state with the value from the 'list table' of states.
What is the best way to make this code generic so that it can be used anywhere and feed (in this case) the person's state into the logic so that on my view where I am using the ProgramController I can have a drop down list of states and match the "selected=selected" attribute to the correct value?
I thought of adding the code to my Program controller as a method (State::get()), but realized it certainly won't be generic to use anywhere the 'state' drop down needs to be displayed. | 2019-04-20T08:10:28 | https://laracasts.com/discuss/channels/laravel/system-values?page=1 |
0.999995 | Paper Snowflakes A video of these instructions is shown at the bottom of this page.
Below is a diagram of the first five steps to make a paper snowflake. (If you have made the 6 - Point Star - Paper Relief these are the same five steps except in the last step the cut is made as shown below.) Begin with a square sheet of paper and in the first step, fold it on the diagonal. Continue through the other steps.
Make cuts leaving a 'path' from E to D. Then open to reveal snowflake. The snowflake can be flattened or made into a relief by folding the 12 creases from the center, alternating in and out (as shown with the 6 point star).
Shown below are different snowflakes made from different cuts. | 2019-04-21T06:22:31 | http://highhopes.com/snowflakes.html |
0.99989 | How might the pitch meeting for the new movie Skyscraper have gone? "It's like Die Hard, but the building is much bigger, and it's on fire!"
"And, get this... the hero has got to get INTO the building before he can get back out!"
It was probably a great pitch, and it's possible that a good movie could have been made from it, especially given that the Die Hard formula has worked many times before (Under Siege, Cliffhanger, etc.).
But Skyscraper, which opens Friday in Bay Area theaters, is mainly a collection of three or four excellent, suspenseful set pieces, surrounded by a bunch of nonsense.
Dwayne Johnson stars as our hero, Will Sawyer, a former FBI hostage negotiator who lost his leg in a mishap and retired. Now he's married to his surgeon, Sarah (Neve Campbell), has two kids, twins Georgia (McKenna Roberts) and Henry (Noah Cottrell), and works in security.
As the story begins, he's hoping to win the trust of Zhao Long Ji (Chin Han), who has built the world's tallest building, "The Pearl," in Hong Kong, and land a job there.
Things go well, except that a group of mercenaries — led by Bortha (Roland Moller) — infiltrate the building, disable the safety protocols, and set it on fire. Meanwhile, Sarah and the kids, who were supposed to be at the zoo, have returned early.
So Will must dangle off the outside edge of the building, get back inside, and rescue his family. Things get tougher when the bad guys kidnap Georgia, using her as leverage to get their hands on a secret device of Zhao's.
Skyscraper is written and directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber, who has a less-than-inspiring track record. His last movie with Johnson, Central Intelligence, was passable thanks to the star's energetic comic performance. But movies like We're the Millers and The Mysteries of Pittsburgh (the latter based on a Michael Chabon novel) didn't work at all.
They all have in common a kind of artificial building and defining of character, based on exterior traits; Thurber seems unable to get inside his characters, or to make them human.
Though Skyscraper is only 102 minutes long (a light snack compared to most behemoth summer movie running times), it's still slow getting started, eating up running time with a lengthy, largely unnecessary flashback about Will's leg.
Other character development involves Will re-setting Sarah's phone and teaching her a valuable lesson that will, no doubt, help her later.
It's nice to see Campbell back on the big screen, and happily her character is far more resourceful than just the typical "waiting, worrying" wife; she's clever and she can fight.
The villains, on the other hand, are bottom-drawer, mainly the type that try to out-cool one another by speaking in low murmurs with lots of dramatic, evil pauses, and shooting people without warning. This, presumably, helps to cover up the numerous lapses of logic in their plan.
Additionally, as thousands of Hong Kong residents cheer on the hero, Skyscraper scrapes perilously close to the dreaded "white savior" formula.
However, with Will using a giant crane to swing through a window, or scaling the outside of the building using rope and duct tape to get inside a whirling turbine to get to a control panel, or attempting to survive a Lady from Shanghai house-of-mirrors style shootout, the movie achieves sequences of finely-crafted popcorn filmmaking that almost — almost — bring Skyscraper up to code. | 2019-04-19T15:17:48 | http://combustiblecelluloid.com/2018/skyscraper.shtml |
0.999218 | We are delighted to welcome authors Guido Mina di Sospiro and Joscelyn Godwin to Omnimystery News today.
Guido and Joscelyn's new suspense thriller is The Forbidden Book (Disinformation Books; April 2013 hardcover and ebook formats) and we recently had the opportunity to talk to the authors about the book.
Omnimystery News: The Forbidden Book seems like one that would cross several genres. How would you categorize it?
Joscelyn Godwin: A suspense novel with a touch of the paranormal, a feeling for the spirits of place. And a warning about politics. We have to reach people whose horizons aren't limited by the usual genres and buzz-words; they must be out there somewhere, wishing there were more books like this one (as we ourselves do!).
OMN: Tell us something about the book that isn't mentioned in the publisher's synopsis.
JG: It is quite different from the Spanish, Bulgarian, Danish, Russian, and other foreign-language editions. After those were published, we cut out a subplot involving an imaginary Pope, and tightened the whole thing up. We sacrificed a few sardonic laughs, but it runs much better now.
Guido Mina di Sospiro: Our intimate representation of an aristocratic family. These days aristocrats are universally presented as guillotine fodder at best. While we don't really break a lance for nobility, we do provide three portrayals of as many aristocrats, and consequently a way of thinking and of living that readers are probably unfamiliar with.
OMN: How much of your own personal or professional experiences are included in the storyline?
JG: We both know and love Italy, Guido as a native, I as a visitor, and one of the pleasures of writing the book was calling it up in the imagination. The hero Leo Cavanaugh is a professor, as I am, who gets into scrapes that I would do anything to avoid.
OMN: As you wrote The Forbidden Book together, can you share with us the co-writing process? For example, how did you decide who would write what?
JG: The ingredients we were certain about were the (real) Forbidden Book, sexual magic, and the consequences of immigration in Europe. The plot somehow had to combine them. We'd talk it over during long phone calls, then decide "You do this scene; I'll do that one." Then we'd send them to each other for improvement, elaboration, cuts, etc. Much of the book is such a joint effort that I can't remember who wrote what.
OMN: What kinds of research did you engage in while developing the plot?
JG: We got some help from experts on Italian police and legal procedure and on medical matters. I usually write non-fiction in which fact-checking is important, but what I didn't know about I made up. The most challenging part was keeping track of the day-to-day chronology for each character, and the layout of the Venetian palace.
OMN: Suppose you are casting the parts of a screen adaptation of The Forbidden Book. Who do you see playing the key roles?
GMS: With my wife's help, possibly: Mark Strong as the Baron; Christopher Bale as Leo; Amy Adams as Orsina; Riley Keough as Angela; Hugh Grant as Nigel.
OMN: The Forbidden Book is set in Italy. How true are you to the setting?
JG: The setting is as essential to the novel as the stage design is to a play. The interplay of real and unreal is part of the fun, especially for those who know the places. For instance, we based the Palazzo Riviera on a real museum in Venice called the Ca' Rezzonico, but added a layer of secret rooms. The Baron's painting studio was inspired by the garden rooms of the Villa Medici in Rome.
GMS: The villa in the Veronese, in which so much of the narrative takes place, is an actual Rococo villa in which I spent some time in my youth and that is still owned by some friends from Verona.
JG: Up to age 12 I read adventure stories (e.g. Hornblower, Biggles, Jules Verne, Conan Doyle, wartime escapes) and anything spooky. After that it was mainly self-education through non-fiction. I was 60 before I even thought of writing a novel, or should I say half a novel.
GMS: Also adventure stories in my youth, Jules Verne, Conan Doyle, Salgari, Cervantes, actually, and novels set in the Far West; once in my late teens, I began to read just about anything. I have a large collection of mystery novels, travelogues, scholarly esoterica, Latin classics, psychology, religion, philosophy, and so on.
OMN: What authors do you read now for pleasure?
GMS: I like to browse in second-hand bookshops anywhere I go and see what might catch my fancy. I very much enjoy travelogues from the 1920s and 1930s: so close and yet so incredibly distant. Lately I adore Lope de Vega, whom I consider the greatest playwright of all times. I'm awestruck by the fact that although his plays are four centuries old, in Castilian, in rhyme and with meter, I, who have never formally studied Spanish, manage not only to understand them but to enjoy them immensely.
JG: I have to read a lot in foreign languages, so reading English fiction feels like eating candy. I enjoy J.K. Rowling because Hogwarts is so like my prep-school, and I wish the trilogies by Tolkien (Lord of the Rings), Mervyn Peake (Gormenghast), and Philip Pullman (His Dark Materials) also had seven volumes each.
OMN: Do your outside interests mirror your reading preferences?
JG: I'm interested in "anything spooky" or, in a more grown-up sense, esoteric and occult traditions. Also the history of art and architecture. I wouldn't write fiction without these at the core of it.
GMS: I too enjoy "anything spooky", scholarly esoterica, art, gardens, botany, architecture, legendary voyages.
OMN: What kind of feedback do you enjoy receiving from your readers?
JG: No author wants to be asked "Where do you get your ideas?" One either has an imagination that supplies them, or one doesn't. Since I'm an educator by trade, I like questions from people who are curious about facts and details, or who get the references hidden between the lines.
OMN: Create a Top 5 list for us on any subject.
GMS: Top 5 films: The Big Lebowski; Deep Red; Duck Soup; Blow Up; Stolen Kisses.
JG: I have several lists for you.
Top 5 books to turn your head around: Charles Fort, The Book of the Damned; Pauwels & Bergier, The Morning of the Magicians; Patrick Harpur, Daimonic Reality; Jacques Vallee, Passport to Magonia; and Colin Wilson, Mysteries.
Five little museums you should see: Sir John Soane's Museum (London), Musée Gustav Moreau (Paris), Museo Mario Praz (Rome), Nicolas Roerich Museum (New York), Museum of Jurassic Technology (Los Angeles). I haven't seen the last one, but my son has.
Five inexplicable American foods: hot dogs, American cheese, white sponge bread, light beer, artificial sweeteners.
OMN: What is next for each of you?
GMS: Promoting The Metaphysics of Ping-Pong, my latest book; doing quite a bit of traveling with my wife, my favorite activity when mixed with reading and writing as we go.
JG: Playing baroque music with friends. Seeing more of my granddaughter. Finishing my book on the eccentric spiritual movements of Upstate New York.
Guido Mina di Sospiro is an award-winning, internationally published novelist born in Argentina, raised in Italy, and educated in the United States. A graduate of the University of Southern California, he lives in the Washington, DC, area with his wife and their three sons.
Joscelyn Godwin was born in England and lives in Hamilton, New York, where he is professor of music at Colgate University. He is a composer, musicologist, and translator, known for his work on ancient music, paganism, and music in the occult.
Professor Leo Kavenaugh's and Orsina Riviera della Motta's lives are changed forever after Orsina invites Leo to Italy to help her study a private family edition of Il Mondo magico de gli heroi ("The Magical World of the Heroes") — a mysterious treatise of alchemy that supposedly teaches one how to attain the "Tree of Life" and make a man into a god.
At first oblivious to the mystical world behind their studies, Leo and Orsina do not realize Orsina's uncle is using the text in ways that will endanger thousands of innocents across Europe. | 2019-04-25T19:59:03 | http://www.omnimysterynews.com/2013/08/a-conversation-with-authors-guido-mina-di-sospiro-and-joscelyn-godwin-1308130800.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+mysterybooks+%28Omnimystery+News%29 |
0.999966 | Given that the Amazon rainforest contains some 40,000 plant species, at first glance it seems impossible that the shamans could somehow select exactly the right vine and exactly the right leaf, and boil the two together to come up with this amazing concoction known as Ayahuasca. According to my calculations, there are approximately 799,980,000 possible combinations in this scenario. When asked how they managed to discover Ayahuasca, the shamans often say that the plants taught them. Some people take this literally, in the supernatural sense, but perhaps the shamans simply mean that the idea came to them after ingesting some other psychoactive plant, for example psilocybin mushrooms.
Regardless of how exactly the shamans discovered Ayahuasca, the odds were certainly against them, but was it really an unfathomable miracle that begs for a supernatural explanation?
If people like myself, with no botanical knowledge, spent generation after generation trying different combinations of plants purely through blind trial and error, then of course we would probably never discover Ayahuasca. But the Amazonian shamans are highly knowledgeable specialists with an extensive understanding of the plants, their individual effects, their combined effects, and so forth. This accumulation of botanical knowledge would have guided them in their discovery of Ayahuasca, allowing them to proceed not through blind trial and error, but by making educated guesses and informed decisions based on past experience.
A storm brewing over the Nanay River, in the Peruvian Amazon.
As a modern day analogy, let's consider a different type of discovery — one that is even less likely than that of Ayahuasca, and yet one which happens on a regular basis: the discovery of a security hole in a computer system. Even in very simple computer systems, there are almost infinite possibilities as far as input strings and commands, and the timing thereof. In the same way that someone like myself with no botanical knowledge would almost certainly never discover Ayahuasca, so too the computer illiterate would probably never discover a security hole just through random keystrokes and dumb luck. The average person probably wouldn't even recognize a glaring security hole, much less know how to exploit it. But highly skilled hackers — analogous here to the Amazonian shamans — know what to look for. They know how to utilize their repertoire of knowledge, they know how to test theories, and every so often they discover something amazing, against all odds.
When I think of the shamans in this way — highly skilled plant specialists methodically experimenting over thousands of years — the discovery of Ayahuasca strikes me as quite impressive, but not miraculous or begging for a supernatural explanation.
Steve Beyer, a specialist in Amazonian shamanism and hallucinogenic plants, proposed a simple alternative theory. He noted that the people of the upper Amazon use a variety of different methods to regularly induce vomiting as a form of cleansing. The Ayahuasca vine by itself can induce vomiting, so Beyer suggested that perhaps the shamans were only looking for a more effective purgative when they combined the vine with the right leaves to concoct the psychoactive brew of Ayahuasca.
Those who drink Ayahuasca often describe encountering an intelligent entity of some kind, or that the brew itself seems to be alive and intelligent. I experienced this firsthand several times throughout my experiences with Ayahuasca. I felt the invisible but unmistakable presence of something intelligent, and at certain points I even interacted with it in long, wide-ranging, and fascinating conversations. The experience felt frighteningly real, so I understand how it could convince some people that such an entity truly exists. But here's a simpler theory.
Similar to Ayahuasca, a large dose of psilocybin mushrooms can temporarily wash away my sense of self, such that I no longer identify as "Nicholas". The words "I" and "me" lose their meaning, and my experience simply becomes one of awareness, not from a particular person's point of view, but from a neutral standpoint. This is one of the most beneficial effects of psychedelics: being able to see everything — including oneself — objectively.
If I look in the mirror while under the influence of psilocybin, often times my own reflection doesn't register as "me" — I no longer identify as that person in the mirror. It feels similar to looking at a childhood photo of myself. Even though that's me in the photo, I no longer identify as that person.
A strong enough dose of psilocybin can obliterate my sense of self to the point that if I look in the mirror, I won't even recognize myself as a human, but rather as some novel apelike creature. As if it were my first time seeing such a creature, the basic anatomy astounds me: the skeletal structure that holds him upright, the muscular structure that allows him to move about, and so forth. My own reflection strikes me as unfamiliar, and I perceive it as something distinctly separate from myself.
Ayahuasca likewise obliterated my sense of self, which might explain that "intelligent entity" that I encountered: perhaps it was simply my own consciousness, but I perceived it as something unfamiliar and distinctly separate from myself. This seems likely for two reasons.
When I engaged in conversation with this "entity", I asked many questions. Dialogues usually contain brief pauses between question and answer, but in this case there was no such back and forth. The questions and answers both came to me at the same time, which perhaps indicates that they came from the same place — my own mind.
Furthermore, often times during less intense parts of the Ayahuasca experience, my own thoughts sounded foreign to me, as if I were listening to someone else thinking. This is the same basic premise: failing to recognize my consciousness as my own, attributing it to something separate from myself.
for the Ayahuasca vine to grow properly, it must not be seen by a woman, especially a woman who is menstruating, or has not slept well because she was drunk. “If those women see the Ayahuasca,” [the shaman] says, “the plant becomes resentful and neither grows nor twines upright. It folds over and is damaged.” For the same reason, don Enrique Lopez says that anyone undertaking la dieta must avoid women who are menstruating, or who have made love the previous night. Menstruating women must even avoid touching or crossing over fishing equipment or canoes, lest they bring bad luck.
If a man has sexual relations with a woman during her menstrual period, both of them must be cut off from the community, for together they have exposed the source of her blood flow.
Those last two quotes are from a book called The Bible, specifically from Leviticus chapter 15, verses 19 through 22, and chapter 20 verse 18. In both instances, with Ayahuasca shamanism and with Christianity, these restrictions strike me not as sacred tradition worth preserving, but as the antiquated mentality of fearful, sexist men attempting to push their beliefs onto others.
The main point is this: if the spirit of Ayahuasca truly were a female entity, it seems bizarre that she would be repulsed by menstruation — a core component of womanhood — while at the same time bestowing her graces upon male shamans who propagate sexism and misogyny. So here's a different idea.
As one of its common effects, Ayahuasca often resurrects long-forgotten emotions and experiences from the past, sometimes from very early childhood, sometimes directly involving one's mother: feelings of being nursed, coddled, loved, instructed, or even scolded. Under the influence of Ayahuasca, if those emotions surfaced at the same time as the "intelligent entity" discussed earlier, and the two experiences intertwined into one, that could explain "Mother Ayahuasca" in a way that doesn't require any stretches of the imagination.
That's the way I see it, but as I mentioned at the start, I'm no expert. If you disagree or have a different theory, please leave a comment below! | 2019-04-21T00:12:07 | https://www.nicholasfloyd.com/2017/04/a-secular-commentary-on-ayahuasca.html |
0.998868 | How many places are named Kentucky?
There are 5 places in the world named Kentucky!
There are 5 places called Kentucky in the world.
There are 3 places named Kentucky in America.
There is one place named Kentucky in Namibia.
There is one place named Kentucky in Australia.
Places called Kentucky in America.
Places called Kentucky in Namibia.
Places called Kentucky in Australia. | 2019-04-22T18:17:12 | https://us.geotargit.com/called.php?qcity=Kentucky |
0.997532 | What are the rights of a secured creditor?
A secured creditor essentially posses the right to obtain the collateral to sell it or liquidate it to satisfy the debt.
If the secured creditor is a mortgagee obviously the secured creditor has the right to foreclose the mortgage. If the secured creditor posses a security interest in personal property there are multiple options under the uniform commercial code.
possession of the personal property.
Finally, the secured creditor has the same option as the lender, or mortgagee rather, in that it can foreclose on the personal property. | 2019-04-23T22:30:52 | https://www.mccorveylegal.com/what-are-the-rights-of-a-secured-creditor/ |
0.999839 | This rare image taken on July 19, 2013, by NASA's Cassini spacecraft has shows Saturn's rings and our planet Earth and its moon in the same frame. At the time, Cassini was 2013 from a distance of about 898.414 million miles (1.445858 billion kilometers) from Earth. It is only one footprint in a mosaic of 33 footprints covering the entire Saturn ring system (including Saturn itself) taken by Cassini's wide-angle camera.
NASA has unveiled spectacular portraits of Earth and its moon from billions of miles away in images captured on Friday (July 19) and released today by the teams behind the agency's Cassini spacecraft at Saturn and its Messenger probe at Mercury.
In the photos from Saturn, Earth appears as a tiny pinprick of light amid the haunting rings and glowing sphere of Saturn, which Cassini has been orbiting since 2004. Though the picture doesn't show it, more than 20,000 people on Earth waved at Saturn at just the time the photo was taken, as NASA had coordinated a plan to involve as many Earthlings as possible in the portrait.
These images show views of Earth and the moon from NASA's Cassini (left) and MESSENGER spacecraft (right) from July 19, 2013.
"We can't see individual continents or people in this portrait of Earth, but this pale blue dot is a succinct summary of who we were on July 19," Linda Spilker, Cassini project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., said in a statement. "Cassini's picture reminds us how tiny our home planet is in the vastness of space, and also testifies to the ingenuity of the citizens of this tiny planet to send a robotic spacecraft so far away from home to study Saturn and take a look-back photo of Earth."
The cameras on NASA's Cassini spacecraft captured this rare look at Earth and its moon from Saturn orbit on July 19, 2013. The image has been magnified five times. Taken while performing a large wide-angle mosaic of the entire Saturn ring system, narrow-angle camera images were deliberately inserted into the sequence in order to image Earth and its moon.
In Messenger's portrait, Earth and its moon are both easily visible, though each is just a point of light. The photo was taken from orbit around Mercury, 61 million miles (98 million kilometers) away.
"That images of our planet have been acquired on a single day from two distant solar system outposts reminds us of this nation's stunning technical accomplishments in planetary exploration," Messenger principal investigator Sean Solomon of Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory in Palisades, N.Y., said in a statement. "And because Mercury and Saturn are such different outcomes of planetary formation and evolution, these two images also highlight what is special about Earth. There's no place like home."
These aren't the first noteworthy portraits of our home in the cosmos.
On December 7, 1972, the crew of the Apollo 17 mission took the first full-view photo of Earth from space as the astronauts zoomed toward the moon. The photo, which became known as "The Blue Marble," is one of the most famous pictures ever shot. The "Pale Blue Dot," captured by NASA's Voyager 1 probe in 1990 from a record distance of 3.7 billion miles (6 billion kilometers) from Earth, is another classic.
In its nine years at Saturn, Cassini imaged Earth several times. This occasion, however, was the first time Earth's residents had been notified to pose for their picture ahead of time, though, scientists said.
The idea was embraced by many Earthlings, such as Sir Richard Branson, the billionaire founder of the private spaceflight firm Virgin Galactic. "Today we will all be photographed from a billion miles away: The Day The Earth Smiled," Branson wrote Friday on Twitter.
"It thrills me to no end that people all over the world took a break from their normal activities to go outside and celebrate the interplanetary salute between robot and maker that these images represent," Carolyn Porco, Cassini imaging team lead at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo., said in a statement. "The whole event underscores for me our 'coming of age' as planetary explorers."
The Cassini mission launched in 1997 and arrived at the ringed planet in July 2004. It is expected to continue studying Saturn and its moons until 2017, when it will end its mission by crashing into Saturn's atmosphere.
Messenger was launched in August 2004 and in March 2011 became the first spacecraft to orbit Mercury. | 2019-04-25T23:57:22 | https://www.space.com/22047-earth-moon-photos-from-saturn-mercury.html |
0.999996 | is For instance, more traditional varieties of couch would include barrel back again, English arm, tufted back again, tight back and tuxedo.
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Another sofa option you should consider is whether you will want sofa bed, also called a sleeper sofa, or a reclining couch or a convertible sofa. Naturally a sleeper sofa or convertible sofa can come in very useful as a supplementary bedroom for someone who may stay in a flat or have a smaller home who still needs to be able to accommodate guests instantaneously.
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More Eye Catching As with any major purchase, check around. Look around online at different couch selections to enable you to get a concept of what you would like before you visit store after store after store. If you see a sofa doing an internet search you ought to be in a position to find a store that markets that one brand. | 2019-04-20T08:23:20 | https://richard-michaud.com/corner-sofas/36731/small-corner-sofas-for-sale.html |
0.998541 | Of all diets favored by health experts these days, Veganism may seem the most intimidating of all. The name almost looks like a religion and the term is probably appropriate: many vegans justify with ethical reasons why they choose to eat only plant foods.
Leaving values aside, that lifestyle can be a very big commitment; Vegans do not eat any product derived from animals including meat, dairy and eggs. This rule extends even to foods processed with animal products such as refined sugar. All these restrictions in the diet result in a nutritional plan that only the most committed people can follow. It is precisely these reasons that scare people away from veganism.
What is the good news? You do not need to become a vegan with all the law to get many of the benefits of the diet. In fact, more and more health experts say that simply restricting meat and dairy for a few days can make you healthier.
One reason: removing animal products allows you to make space in your diet for fruits and vegetables, a goal that most people do not meet. According to the CDC, almost three out of four people eat fruits and vegetables in less than 5 a day, which is a pity because a study by the European Heart Journal found that with each portion of vegetable products that a person consumes, their risk of developing Ischemic heart disease decreases by 4%. Those who consumed eight servings a day of fruits and vegetables, reduced their risk of disease by a notorious 22%.
Stopping the use of animal products also helps you reduce your intake of saturated fat and cholesterol, according to Nicole Geurin, MPH, RD. This in turn helps increase your HDL (good) cholesterol levels and decrease your LDL (bad) cholesterol and triglyceride levels, all this reduces your risk of cardiovascular disease.
If you are considering venturing into veganism, here are some simple ideas for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Include them in your diet a few times a week and get their nutritional benefits.
Milk is almost synonymous with breakfast and for good reason: the nutritional protein and calcium pump it provides is a great way to start your day. To equalize the amount of nutrients in the milk, try to make a smoothie of spinach (rich in calcium), tofu and almond milk.
"When you eliminate dairy from your diet, you should eat more dark green leafy vegetables to compensate for calcium intake," according to Trish O'Keefe, RD, and author of Dishbytrish. com.
For a dairy-free smoothie, smooth 1 cup of soft tofu, 1/2 frozen banana, 1 cup of chopped mango, a splash of orange or pineapple juice, a splash of honey, 1 cup of tender spinach and enough almond milk to mix everything and obtain a silky consistency.
Eggs are another breakfast classic. They are loaded with enough protein to keep you active until noon and are attached to the taste of almost anything you add. Fortunately, also the tofu; another great source of vegan protein, says Geurin.
To make an easy vegan burrito, heat a splash of olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet. Add a handful of chopped vegetables (a good option is to use leftovers from last night's dinner) and sauté them as soon as they are soft. Add 1/4 cup of firm tofu that was dried on paper towels. Season with salt, pepper, garlic powder, ground cumin and smoked paprika. Mix the vegetables and the tofu, once cooked, wrap the mixture in a hot integral tortilla.
One misconception about vegan diets is that to meet daily protein requirements you need mysterious meat substitutes. "Almost all vegetables, legumes, grains, nuts and seeds contain protein, "says O'Keefe. Combine enough of these foods and you will consume the proteins you require.
A good way to do it is to prepare a Moroccan-style rice and chickpea salad. Mix 1 cup of cooked brown rice, 1 cup of drained and washed chickpeas, 1 small red diced pepper, 1 tablespoon of raisins or dried currants, sliced almonds and 2 chopped onions. For the dressing, whisk lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil to taste; Add 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin, coriander, cinnamon and black pepper. Season with salt to taste and refrigerate all night so that the flavors merge.
The combination of rice and chickpeas meets your protein requirements, while pepper, gooseberries and almonds provide fiber, vitamins and minerals.
Another easy idea for lunch is a carrot soup and white beans with a ginger flavor. Creamy and substantial but low in calories, this soup is filled with fiber and carrots provide a considerable amount of antioxidants such as vitamin A. "A diet high in fiber is associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease and certain types of cancer, and antioxidants fight free radicals that can cause cancer "according to Geurin.
Combine 1 pound of chopped carrots, 1 small chopped onion and 1 tablespoon of chopped ginger in 3 cups of vegetable broth. Bring to a boil until the carrots are soft, add a can of white beans previously drained and washed. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Carefully grind in the blender and serve hot with a few drops of extra virgin olive oil. Accompany it with pita chips to add a bit of crunch.
Dinners are often based on a protein accompanied by some vegetable garnishes; but by turning the vegetables into the main dish, you can achieve an even healthier dish.For example, many people eat beef for dinner and although meat is a good source of iron, mushrooms and dark green leafy vegetables are even better sources of this mineral per calorie, according to O'Keefe. When combined with soba noodles made from buckwheat and rich in fiber (which can reduce the risk of developing high cholesterol and high blood pressure), you will have a robust and nutritious dinner in a short time.
In a pan heat olive oil over high heat and add shiitake mushrooms, portobello and / or crimini chopped, mix and let cook until they begin to take a dark brown color. Reduce the heat to medium high and add a bunch of lacinato kale (also called Tuscany cabbage) chopped and season with salt. Cook until the cabbage withers. Meanwhile, cook the soba noodles in boiling water following the package instructions. Once cooked, drénalos and add them to the pan; Season with soy sauce, roasted sesame oil and toasted sesame seeds.
Meat is not the only source of protein. By incorporating these plant-based foods into your diet, you can reduce your consumption of saturated fats and meet daily protein requirements.
Tempeh - Made from germinated and fermented soybeans, tempeh has a texture similar to meat. It also has an earthy flavor, which makes it an ideal substitute for beef. Try it on tacos, stews and cake.
Tofu - It has a bad reputation for being tasteless and boring, but this rennet made from soy milk can take on the flavor of practically whatever you put on it. For those who are not fans of its smooth texture, try using extra firm tofu and press it between paper towels for an hour before using it.
Edamame - These soybean pods have become a frequent snack in sushi restaurants, but the shelled beans are also delicious as a garnish, for example the succotash. You can also make them in a rich puree with oil and herbs.
Beans - Bored with the common dishes of beans? Try mixing crushed black beans in brownie dough for an extra dose of fiber and protein. Or prepare a festive dip (and easy) by making a puree of black beans with a jar of sauce.
Lentils - Lentils are full of protein, folic acid, iron, magnesium, calcium, potassium and zinc, which makes them a nutritional pump. Try sautéing the lentils with spinach, smoked paprika and potatoes cooked in cubes to have a complete and delicious meal.
Video Tutorial: How Your Body Transforms On A Vegan Diet.
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Can Sealed Tuna Be Eaten During Pregnancy? | 2019-04-24T20:48:34 | https://en.powerbeautyfitness.com/the-health-benefits-of-vegan-diet-196 |
0.999981 | แดงกำลังโกรธเมื่อน้อยมาถึง daaengM gamM langM gro:htL meuuaF naawyH maaM theungR example sentence "Dang was being angry when Noi arrived."
แดงกำลังจะปีนภูเขาเสร็จอย่างเร็ว daaengM gamM langM jaL bpeenM phuuM khaoR setL yaangL reoM example sentence "Dang is going to finish climbing the mountain quickly."
แดงกำลังตื่นเต้นที่น้อยจะปีนภูเขา daaengM gamM langM dteuunL dtenF theeF naawyH jaL bpeenM phuuM khaoR example sentence "Dang is excited that Noi will climb a mountain."
แดงกำลังปีนภูเขา daaengM gamM langM bpeenM phuuM khaoR example sentence "Dang is climbing a mountain."
แดงกำลังสั่งให้น้อยปีนภูเขา daaengM gamM langM sangL haiF naawyH bpeenM phuuM khaoR example sentence "Dang is ordering Noi to climb a mountain."
แดงกำลังอ่านหนังสือพิมพ์ก่อนที่แดงจะดื่มกาแฟ daaengM gamM langM aanL nangR seuuR phimM gaawnL theeF daaengM jaL deuumL gaaM faaeM example sentence "Dang was reading a newspaper before Dang drank coffee."
แดงกำลังอ่านหนังสือพิมพ์ก่อนที่แดงจะดื่มกาแฟ daaengM gamM langM aanL nangR seuuR phimM gaawnL theeF daaengM jaL deuumL gaaM faaeM example sentence "Dang is reading a newspaper before Dang will drink coffee."
แดงกำลังอ่านหนังสือพิมพ์ขนาดที่แดงกำลังดื่มกาแฟ daaengM gamM langM aanL nangR seuuR phimM khaL naatL theeF daaengM gamM langM deuumL gaaM faaeM example sentence "Dang is reading a newspaper while Dang was drinking coffee."
แดงกำลังอ่านหนังสือพิมพ์ขนาดที่แม่กำลังดื่มกาแฟ daaengM gamM langM aanL nangR seuuR phimM khaL naatL theeF maaeF gamM langM deuumL gaaM faaeM example sentence "Dang read a newspaper while mother was drinking coffee."
แดงกำลังอ่านหนังสือพิมพ์หลังจากที่แดงดื่มกาแฟเสร็จแล้ว daaengM gamM langM aanL nangR seuuR phimM langR jaakL theeF daaengM deuumL gaaM faaeM setL laaeoH example sentence "Dang was reading a newspaper after Dang finished drinking coffee."
แดงกำลังอ่านหนังสือพิมพ์หลังจากที่แดงดื่มกาแฟเสร็จแล้ว daaengM gamM langM aanL nangR seuuR phimM langR jaakL theeF daaengM deuumL gaaM faaeM setL laaeoH example sentence "Dang is reading a newspaper after Dang drank coffee."
แดงเขียนจดหมายแล้ว daaengM khiianR johtL maaiR laaeoH example sentence "Dang wrote a letter."
แดงเคยตื่นเต้นที่น้อยจะปีนภูเขา daaengM kheeuyM dteuunL dtenF theeF naawyH jaL bpeenM phuuM khaoR example sentence "Dang was excited that Noi would climb a mountain."
แดงเคยอ่านหนังสือพิมพ์ก่อนที่แม่จะดื่มกาแฟ daaengM kheeuyM aanL nangR seuuR phimM gaawnL theeF maaeF jaL deuumL gaaM faaeM example sentence "Dang read a newspaper before mother drank coffee."
แดงเคยอ่านหนังสือพิมพ์ขนาดที่แม่กำลังดื่มกาแฟ daaengM kheeuyM aanL nangR seuuR phimM khaL naatL theeF maaeF gamM langM deuumL gaaM faaeM example sentence "Dang read a newspaper while mother was drinking coffee."
แดงเคยอ่านหนังสือพิมพ์หลังจากที่แม่จะดื่มกาแฟ daaengM kheeuyM aanL nangR seuuR phimM langR jaakL theeF maaeF jaL deuumL gaaM faaeM example sentence "Dang read a newspaper after mother drank coffee."
แดง จงอยู่ในบ้านนะ daaengM johngM yuuL naiM baanF naH example sentence "Dang, stay home!"
แดงจะเขียนจดหมาย daaengM jaL khiianR johtL maaiR example sentence "Dang will write a letter."
แดงจะบอกแม่ว่าน้อยกำลังพูดว่าพาจะปีนภูเขา daaengM jaL baawkL maaeF waaF naawyH gamM langM phuutF waaF phaaM jaL bpeenM phuuM khaoR example sentence "Dang will tell mother that Noi is saying that Phaa will climb a mountain."
แดงจะบอกแม่ว่าน้อยเคยพูดว่าพาจะปีนภูเขา daaengM jaL baawkL maaeF waaF naawyH kheeuyM phuutF waaF phaaM jaL bpeenM phuuM khaoR example sentence "Dang will tell mother that Noi said that Phaa would climb a mountain."
แดงจะบอกแม่ว่าน้อยจะเคยกำลังปีนภูเขา daaengM jaL baawkL maaeF waaF naawyH jaL kheeuyM gamM langM bpeenM phuuM khaoR example sentence "Dang will tell mother that Noi climbed a mountain.” “Dang will tell mother that Noi is climbing a mountain."
แดงจะปีนภูเขา daaengM jaL bpeenM phuuM khaoR example sentence "Dang will climb a mountain."
แดงจะปีนภูเขาเสร็จอย่างเร็ว daaengM jaL bpeenM phuuM khaoR setL yaangL reoM example sentence "Dang will finish climbing the mountain quickly."
แดงจะสั่งให้น้อยปีนภูเขา daaengM jaL sangL haiF naawyH bpeenM phuuM khaoR example sentence "Dang will order Noi to climb a mountain."
แดงจะอ่านหนังสือพิมพ์ก่อนที่แม่จะดื่มกาแฟ daaengM jaL aanL nangR seuuR phimM gaawnL theeF maaeF jaL deuumL gaaM faaeM example sentence "Dang will read a newspaper before mother drinks coffee."
แดงจะอ่านหนังสือพิมพ์ขนาดที่แม่กำลังดื่มกาแฟ daaengM jaL aanL nangR seuuR phimM khaL naatL theeF maaeF gamM langM deuumL gaaM faaeM example sentence "Dang will read a newspaper while mother is drinking coffee."
แดงจะอ่านหนังสือพิมพ์หลังจากที่แม่จะดื่มกาแฟ daaengM jaL aanL nangR seuuR phimM langR jaakL theeF maaeF jaL deuumL gaaM faaeM example sentence "Dang will read a newspaper after mother has drunk coffee."
แดงบอกแม่แล้วว่าน้อยเคยพูดว่าพาจะปีนภูเขา daaengM baawkL maaeF laaeoH waaF naawyH kheeuyM phuutF waaF phaaM jaL bpeenM phuuM khaoR example sentence "Dang told mother that Noi said that Phaa would climb a mountain."
แดงบอกแม่แล้วว่าน้อยจะเคยกำลังปีนภูเขา daaengM baawkL maaeF laaeoH waaF naawyH jaL kheeuyM gamM langM bpeenM phuuM khaoR example sentence "Dang told mother that Noi would climb a mountain.” “Dang told mother that Noi climbed a mountain.” “Dang told mother that Noi was climbing a mountain."
แดงปีนภูเขา daaengM bpeenM phuuM khaoR example sentence "Dang climbs a mountain.” “Dang climbed a mountain."
แดงปีนภูเขาแล้ว daaengM bpeenM phuuM khaoR laaeoH example sentence "Dang climbed a mountain."
แดงปีนภูเขาเสร็จแล้วอย่างเร็ว daaengM bpeenM phuuM khaoR setL laaeoH yaangL reoM example sentence "Dang finished climbing a mountain quickly."
แดงปีนภูเขาเสร็จอย่างเร็ว daaengM bpeenM phuuM khaoR setL yaangL reoM example sentence "Dang finishes climbing a mountain quickly.” “Dang finished climbing a mountain quickly."
แดงสั่งให้น้อยปีนภูเขา daaengM sangL haiF naawyH bpeenM phuuM khaoR example sentence "Dang ordered Noi to climb a mountain."
แดงเห็นน้อยกำลังปีนภูเขา daaengM henR naawyH gamM langM bpeenM phuuM khaoR example sentence "Dang sees Noi climbing a mountain.” “Dang saw Noi climbing a mountain."
แดงอยู่ในบ้าน daaengM yuuL naiM baanF example sentence "Dang is in the house." | 2019-04-18T23:12:24 | http://www.thai-language.com/let/180.27 |
0.999738 | The family of a slain Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy announced Sunday--the first anniversary of the killing--that they have raised the reward for information leading to a conviction in the case to $100,000.
"We hope this money will maybe bring the one person out who has the piece of information that detectives will use to solve it," said Trish Hardy, whose brother, Deputy Charles Robert Anderson, was slain Jan. 24, 1987.
"There has to be someone out there who can bring this to an end," Hardy said.
Anderson, 35, an 11-year veteran, was off duty when he walked into his Burbank home on a Saturday morning and was shot to death by an intruder. He was carrying his 5-year-old son, who was not injured. His wife and year-old daughter were in the family's car outside the home in the 1700 block of West Oak Street.
After hearing gunshots, Anderson's wife, Beth, ran into the home and saw him sprawled in the hallway. She then grabbed their son and fled with both children to a neighbor's house. When police arrived, Anderson was dead and the intruder was gone.
Sheriff's Sgt. Frank Salerno, assigned to a joint investigation with Burbank police, said Sunday that progress on the case has been slow and that the increase in the reward from the $23,000 put up by various police organizations shortly after the slaying was welcome.
"It has been an extremely tough case because of the little information we have received," Salerno said. "We hope that in putting up this kind of reward, we will generate new information."
He said the investigation is "very much" active. Salerno added that he could not comment on exact details of the case other than to say that investigators believe that Anderson had been killed by a person he probably didn't know, apparently a burglar who was surprised by Anderson's return home.
Hardy said she, her parents and two brothers have added $77,000 to the reward fund for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the case.
"Even after a year, it is hard to live with," Hardy said. "There is nothing anybody can do to bring our brother back, but it would help us to know that the person who killed him is being brought to justice." | 2019-04-20T08:46:17 | https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-01-25-me-25484-story.html |
0.999903 | We are very proud of the level of service we provide our customers. If you would like to share your experience with us, we'd love to hear about it.
We are very proud of the level of service we provide our customers. Share your experience with us, we'd love to hear about it. | 2019-04-21T06:32:28 | https://www.rhyenjordan.co.uk/reviews/ |
0.998466 | When is a Roth IRA better for you than a traditional IRA?
The debate over Roth vs. Traditional IRA accounts, and which one is better, comes down to two things, mostly: flexibility and taxes.
Roth IRA's requires paying taxes up front but offer more flexibility later and may be the best option for many people. In a Roth, the benefit stems from the fact the money already is taxed, so it's able to grow tax-free. The Roth, which has income limits for eligibility, also typically comes with fewer restrictions than a Traditional IRA, which is generally taken pre-tax. However, it will be taxed when it is drawn in retirement.
Below is a chart that outlines the differences of the two.
Tax-free growth and tax-free qualified withdrawals.
Tax-deferred growth and tax-deductible contributions.
You won't pay taxes when you withdraw your contributions, and you won't pay federal taxes on your earnings, as long as the five-year aging requirement has been met.
You will pay taxes when you withdraw your pre-tax contributions and when you withdraw any earnings.
If you make withdrawals before you're 59½, you might have to pay taxes on your earnings plus a 10% additional tax.
If you make withdrawals before you're 59½, you might have to pay a 10% penalty.
RMD's do not apply during your lifetime.
RMD's must be taken starting in the year you turn 70½.
It's tempting to save money on taxes in the short term but it may be more beneficial to pay the taxes early in your career, when you're in a lower tax bracket, rather than wait to pay the taxes at retirement, when people are more likely to be in a higher tax bracket.
People in the middle of their career also should think about tapping into a Roth IRA, which are still relatively new. It's more likely these people have been investing in a tax-deferred 401(k), 457 or 403(b) employer plan and it might be time to get into a Roth. Ideally, it's good to have a combination of both types.
For people nearing retirement, they also should consider a Roth for its "lifetime considerations." Roth withdrawals can be taken out at any time, which can be a benefit to high-income earners who may not need to start withdrawing until later in retirement. Traditional IRAs require people start withdrawing by age 70.5.
Roth IRAs also are good for people who want to leave money for heirs because the money won't be taxed upon disbursement. | 2019-04-22T12:02:49 | https://www.iisfinancial.com/blog/when-is-a-roth-ira-better-for-you-than-a-traditional-ira |
0.999983 | You are given an array A of integers of size N. You will be given Q queries where each query is represented by two integers L, R. You have to find the gcd(Greatest Common Divisor) of the array after excluding the part from range L to R inclusive (1 Based indexing). You are guaranteed that after excluding the part of the array remaining array is non empty.
First line of input contains an integer T denoting number of test cases.
For each test case, first line will contain two space separated integers N, Q.
Next line contains N space separated integers denoting array A.
For next Q lines, each line will contain a query denoted by two space separated integers L, R.
For each query, print a single integer representing the answer of that query.
Sum of N over all the test cases will be less than or equal to 106.
For first query, the remaining part of array will be (6, 9), so answer is 3. For second query, the remaining part of array will be (2, 9), so answer is 1. For third query, the remaining part of array will be (2), so answer is 2.
Warning : Large IO(input output), please use faster method for IO. | 2019-04-21T20:27:03 | https://www.codechef.com/JAN15/problems/GCDQ |
0.999999 | Why Isn't The United States Debt Clock Moving?
One of the questions that I am seeing asked all the time these days is - why isn't the United States debt clock moving at all?
After all, people ask - isn't the country spending hundreds of billions of dollars more than it takes in each and every year? If so, why isn't the nation's debt load growing on a daily basis?
Since mid-March, the United States debt clock has essentially been stuck at approximately $18.152 trillion. Sure, it will rise and dip a bit every day, but it seems unwilling to move off of the $18.152 trillion mark.
"Notes: Suspended the existing debt limit from February 15th, 2014, through March 15th, 2015, and prospectively increased the limit to accommodate the increase in such debt outstanding as of March 16th, 2015."
So, as of March 15th, 2015, the Republicans and Democrats needed to come to terms on a new debt limit deal - one that would further extend the nation's ability to borrow.
On March 13th, 2015, Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew revealed that he would be able to use "extraordinary measures" to continue paying the nation's bills, even though the country was about to hits its debt limit.
According to the Bipartisan Policy Center, this move by Lew, coupled with strong tax receipts this year, will likely allow the country to operate into November or even December without raising the debt ceiling.
Some of the moves utilized by Lew during this period includes a "debt issuance suspension period" with respect to investments of the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund, as well as the suspension of daily reinvestment of Treasury securities held by the Government Securities Investment Fund of the Federal Employees' Retirement System Thrift Savings Plan.
While there will be some posturing from either side, nobody expects that the Republicans and Democrats will fail to agree to an increase in the debt ceiling limit when the day of reckoning appears. Doing so would be disastrous for the nation (and the entire world, for that matter), and nobody wants to be the party that plunges the country into a deep recession.
Once the two sides agree to an increase in the debt ceiling, the total debt of the United States will skyrocket once again. | 2019-04-24T18:47:34 | https://www.davemanuel.com/2015/06/20/why-isnt-the-united-states-debt-clock-moving/ |
0.999419 | Then I would also like some advice.
Currently I am running a screen (lit only on 1 side) 25cmx18cm giving me 450cm2.
The screen is lit by 11 x 1 watt leds consisting of 9 Red and 2 Blue on a photo period of 16hours.
I still need to run about 250ml of phosphate media to keep my levels acceptably low otherwise I start to get a algae layer on my sand bed.
I would like to know what adjustments I should make to my scrubber to eliminate the use of phosphate media completely?
Currently I am using the upflow design for what its worth.
Well for your current scrubber, you can certainly use more light. You could go as high as 45 LED watts.
Mean time you could take your current LEDs up to 22 hours.
Also, if some brown on the sand is the only concern, just add a sand-sifting diamond back goby; he will eat through the sand in no time.
The increase in photoperiod did not do the trick.
I currently have 0 nitrates (salifert) and get measurable phosphates on salifert.
It is a reasonable assumption that the scrubber cannot remove phosphates without nitrates begin present.
So the question is what is the lowest photoperiod I can run my scrubber at? The aim is to try and get nitrates up to allow the phosphates to be utilised by the scrubber.
I have always believed that if a scrubber is strong enough, it can pull P down even with very little N, and if anything you can just try feeding more. But this is based on very strong scrubbing, similar in levels to reefs.
So it might be worth trying a test in your case; keep the scrubber full power, and dose potassium nitrate, up to maybe 20 ppm, and see what P does. | 2019-04-20T20:58:58 | http://algaescrubber.net/forums/showthread.php?3378-Reef-tank-from-South-Africa&s=6f88c3e1d9226fd62af181261b2524bf&p=38960 |
0.998778 | Lovely Essay: Feature writing articles top quality score!
Feature writing articles - If two singular nouns irregular present tense to talk about the importance of the anthology. Grammar underline six adjectives in brackets. A of the main content of interest in making all essays, arguments, or novelsjust to name just a history of the.
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0.997886 | Actors give excited interviews to reporters at debut of Netflix service in Canada, but company says that's not what it wanted.
Netflix was accused of trying to pump up the excitement around the launch of its new Web video service in Canada today.
During a scheduled press event in Toronto, members of Canada's media said they noticed that some of the responses from people in attendance sounded like "canned responses," according to the Web site of Canadian news service The Financial Post. Reporters began to grow suspicious.
They were right. Some of the people who attended the event were actors paid by Netflix, but according to Netflix spokesman Steve Swasey, the actors weren't paid to attend the press event. He said that prior to the press conference, Netflix shot a corporate video and the actors were hired to help with that. He said some of the actors stuck around for the press conference and answered questions but were unprompted by the company.
Yeah? Then what about the script that The Canadian Press said it obtained, which said: "Extras are to behave as members of the public, out and about enjoying their day-to-day life, who happen upon a street event for Netflix and stop by to check it out."
Swasey said the script was part of the corporate video. He said the only reason the company had a script in the first place was to satisfy Canadian law. To shoot a video and block off a street there, one must possess a script, according to Swasey.
"Some of the [actors] just got carried away," Swasey said. "We did not pay them to attend the press event. We didn't need to. The event was very well attended...somebody there said it was better attended than some press events for [Canada's] prime minister."
Salting a press event with actors is an old trick. It's hard to believe that Netflix, which has been on a roll this year, would knowingly risk its good reputation on a silly stunt like this.
Regardless of whether the allegations are true, they likely will overshadow the news that has sent Netflix's stock skyrocketing today. The company's share price finished the day up more than 6 percent after The Wall Street Journal reported Blockbuster, the once-dominant video-rental chain and Netflix's main rival for years, is finally preparing to file bankruptcy. When it comes to shooting corporate videos, it's time for Netflix to shout the old film-directors' line: "Cut, that's a wrap." | 2019-04-19T19:59:54 | https://www.cnet.com/news/netflix-we-didnt-pay-actors-to-dupe-anyone/ |
0.995181 | Scientists have recorded the gentle flicker of activity that lights up the brain when we form our first impressions of people. The study shows how age-old brain circuitry that evolved to make snap decisions on the importance of objects in the environment is now used in social situations.
Brain scans taken while volunteers formed opinions of new acquaintances found activity surged in an ancient neural circuit that helps us make a rapid assessment of a person's character.
"Humans have always been engaged in making decisions on what's important and what's not, and social decision making is taking advantage of these primary systems in the brain," said Daniela Schiller, who led the study at New York University.
"Whenever you need to assign value to something, you use the same mechanism, whether it's an inanimate object or a person. It's like there's one common currency in the brain."
Previous work by neuroscientists has shown we form our first impressions well within 30 seconds of meeting people. Often, our opinion changes very little after knowing them for longer.
"When you meet a person, they might say something, or look a certain way, or behave a certain way, but you have very little information on which to form an opinion, but it is almost instantaneous and you can't withhold from doing it," said Schiller.
In the study, published in Nature Neuroscience, Schiller and scientists from Harvard University took brain scans of 19 volunteers who were asked to form a first impression of a series of fictional characters.
The volunteers were shown faces of men on a computer screen, followed by six sentences that described a mix of good and bad aspects of their character. For example, the person might have picked up his room mate's post on the way home from university, or told a fellow student they were stupid. After reading all of the sentences, the participants were asked to rate how much they liked the person on a scale from one to eight, with eight being the most likable.
Schiller's team then looked through the images from the scanner to see what brain regions had been most active while people formed their first impressions.
The scans showed that two brain regions were involved in opinion-forming, the almond-shaped amygdala, which is linked to regulating emotions, and the posterior cingulate cortex, which is active in making financial decisions and putting values on the outcomes of situations.
"Even when we only briefly encounter others, brain regions that are important in forming evaluations are engaged, resulting in a quick first impression," said Elizabeth Phelps, a co-author on the study at New York University.
Understanding the biological circuits involved with opinion forming might help scientists learn what happens when they are disrupted or fail to activate properly. "It might affect the impressions you have of others, and that could feed into the basis of your relationship with them from then on," said Schiller. | 2019-04-23T15:19:07 | https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/mar/08/human-brain-circuit-impressions |
0.996433 | A month after Google announced breakthroughs in Text-to-Speech generation technologies stemming from the Magenta project, the company followed through with a major upgrade of its Speech-to-Text API cloud service. The updated service leverages deep-learning models for speech transcription that are tailored to specific use-cases: short voice commands, phone calls and video, with a default model in all other contexts. The upgraded service now handles 120 languages and variants with different model availability and feature levels. Business applications range from over-the-phone meetings, to call-centers and video transcription. Transcription accuracy is improved in the presence of multiple speakers and significant background noise.
Two other elements make up the upgrade. The standard service level agreement (SLA) now offers a commitment of 99.9% availability. And the service includes a new mechanism to tag transcription jobs and provide feedback to the Google team.
The specialized models are adapted to the characteristics of the audio media in terms of sampling, resulting in bandwidth and signal duration. Audio over the phone is sampled at 8Khz resulting in lower audio quality, compared to audio from videos which are usually sampled at 16Khz. Hence the need for models optimized to each media type.
Crowdsourcing real-word audio samples is at the heart of Google's strategy to improve its models, with the launch of an opt-in program called data logging where users can choose to share their audio with Google in order to help improve the models. Enabling data logging gives the user access to enhanced models with even better performances. Google announces a reduction of 54% in word errors compared to the standard phone call model and a 64% error reduction for the enhanced video model.
In terms of best practices, Google suggests working with audio data compressed with a lossless codec such as FLAC, sampled at 16Khz and refraining from any audio pre-processing such as noise reduction or automatic gain control.
Word error reduction is not the only factor improving Speech-to-Text overall quality. Punctuation prediction remains an important yet challenging aspect of speech transcription. Google's Speech-to-Text API now offers the ability to add punctuation to the transcribed text, further improving readability of texts produced from long audio sequences. The automatic punctuation feature leverages a LSTM neural-network model.
As recent publications on speech synthesis and speech recognition from Google Research show, deep-learning for Speech-to-Text is frequently based on sequence-to-sequence neural-network models which can also be applied to machine-translation and text-summarization. In short, Seq2seq models use a first LSTM to encode the audio input and a second LSTM conditioned on the input sequence to decode and convert the data to the transcribed text.
Other existing Speech-to-Text services include the Microsoft speech recognition API with 29 supported languages, IBM Watson API which supports up to seven languages, and Amazon Transcribe launched in November 2017 which so far only works with US English and Spanish speech. A recent comparison of some of these services from the Florida Institute of Technology shows lower error rates for the Google service API. Another set of comparative tests underlines the importance of latency in speech transcription services. | 2019-04-26T16:15:57 | https://www.infoq.com/news/2018/05/google-speech-to-text-api |
0.999991 | Microsoft Office for Tablets (Android) Review: Is It Good for Business?
Microsoft's new Office apps for Android tablets are the best apps of their kind on the platform. Unfortunately, not many people will actually get to use them. That's because the applications — which are identical to the touch-friendly versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint launched on iPad last year — simply aren't compatible with many new Android tablets, and they don't work on smartphones at all. Plus, you'll need a subscription to Office 365 to unlock some editing features within the apps. So while they may be the best office apps on Android, the barrier to entry is high.
Still, business users with the right hardware should take a look at all three apps, which are technically separate but are being treated as one unit for the purposes of this review. At the very least, these new apps are a big leap forward over the old Office Mobile app, which is still the only version of Office available on Android smartphones.
First, I want to clarify the difference between the new Office apps for Android tablets and the old Office Mobile app, which has been around for years on Android. The old app, which lets you view and make simple edits to documents, spreadsheets and presentations, is extremely limited compared with the new releases.
So while Office Mobile lets you create new documents, the formatting options are limited to changing the color and size of text. The spreadsheet editor is similarly limited; you can edit the content of individual cells and input simple equations, but that's about it. Meanwhile, you can't create new presentations in Office Mobile, but you can edit text in existing slideshows.
In comparison, the new Office apps for Android tablets are like mobile versions of Microsoft's desktop Office suite. In terms of features and functionality, there's no comparison.
Now, let's talk about what you'll need to run the new Office apps. As previously mentioned, not all Android users will be able to use them. In fact, many Android tablets are simply incompatible. Here's a quick rundown of everything you'll need to run the new Office for Android tablet apps.
Android tablet (7 inches and up): The apps only run on Android devices with screens measuring 7 inches or larger, so don't try to run them on your 6-inch phablet. Also note that only users who subscribe to Microsoft's Office 365 program can run the apps on tablets with screens larger than 10.1 inches; apparently that's considered a premium feature.
ARM processor: You'll also have to make sure your tablet runs on an ARM processor. If you're not sure, check to see if the name of the processor on your tablet starts with "Intel." If it does, then you're out of luck. If not, then your tablet can probably run the new Office apps. If you think this all sounds a bit technical, you're right. I was actually pretty puzzled when I found I was unable to install the new Word app on my 2015 Dell Venue 8 tablet, and the app installation page provided no clues as to why. After conducting a bit of research, I discovered that it's because that tablet runs on an Intel Atom processor. It's a puzzling limitation that will leave many Android tablet owners out in the cold. In fact, many of the most popular tablets, including Samsung's 2014 Galaxy tablets, can't run the apps because they're powered by Intel chips.
1GB of RAM: The only other hardware requirement is that your tablet must have at least 1GB of RAM; most newer devices do.
Android 4.4 KitKat or 5.0 Lollipop: But it's the software requirement that's the real killer. The apps are intended to be used only on tablets running Android 4.4 KitKat. It won't run at all on earlier versions. That's a big deal, since nearly half of all Android devices are still running the previous Android release, Jelly Bean. Meanwhile, the apps do technically work on newer devices that run Android 5.0 Lollipop, though it's only available on a few devices, such as Google's Nexus 9. However, users will get a message that says the apps "may not function as expected" on those devices, since Microsoft doesn't officially support Lollipop just yet. The company plans to remedy that in the next update, though. For what it's worth, all three apps seemed to run just fine on my Nexus 9.
Microsoft account: The last requirement is that you have a Microsoft account, since you have to log in to use the apps. Signing up is free and easy, though, and ensures that all your documents are backed up via Microsoft's OneDrive cloud storage platform.
Office 365 subscription: Most of the features in these apps come free, but subscribing to Microsoft's paid Office 365 service gets you a few extra options, detailed later in this review.
If you've used one of the two most recent Office releases — Office 2010 or Office 2013 — then the new Android tablet apps will seem pretty familiar. The layout is consistent throughout all three apps. When you first launch them, you'll see a sidebar with recent documents on the left and a gallery of templates for new documents on the right. The main document view for each app is clean and uncluttered, as expected. Overall, it's easily the most attractive office suite on the Android platform.
Word, Excel and PowerPoint each features the familiar options "ribbon" at the top of the interface, which gives you quick access to commonly used options. Microsoft wisely stripped out many extraneous options from all three apps, leaving big, touch-friendly buttons for the must-have features.
Speaking of touch, handy gestures let you navigate around the apps more easily on a tablet. Pinch-to-zoom is quick and fluid, and I also liked panning around the screen with my fingers. Meanwhile, tapping and dragging to highlight text felt precise and reliable.
A subscription to Office 365 unlocks a few perks, but the free version of these mobile Office apps come with enough features to satisfy most users. In Word, you can easily format text, select paragraph styles, add headers and footers, and edit the overall page layout using the options ribbon.
Likewise, Excel lets you edit the layout and formatting of your spreadsheet, insert charts and pictures and select from a huge selection of financial formulas. There are also tons of premade templates to choose from, including spreadsheets for your personal budget, invoices, travel expenses, online sales tracker and product inventory.
PowerPoint is simple, but surprisingly powerful for a mobile presentation app. You can select from about 20 attractive templates, write and format text, and even add animated transitions between slides. There are also some editing tools, like the ability to add comments in the margins of each slide.
Some features are shared between all three apps, like the ability to place photos, tables and other visual elements. Once an image has been inserted, it's easy to move and resize it using touch.
I was also annoyed to discover that you must close the current document before opening another. That means you can forget about editing two files at once.
Buyers who subscribe to Microsoft's premium Office 365 service get extra features that could come in handy for business users.
In Word, you gain editing tools like the ability to track and review changes to a document. You can also insert columns into page layouts, customize headers and footers for different pages, change the page orientation to landscape mode and more.
PowerPoint also gains a few editing tools, like a pen tool for inking annotations. There aren't any unlockable features for Excel, though.
As previously mentioned in this review, when you sign into your Microsoft account to start using any of the new office apps, they're automatically linked to your OneDrive account. If you've never used OneDrive before, it's similar to other cloud services such as Dropbox, Box and iCloud Drive. In short, it lets you save your files and documents to the cloud, so they're backed up and accessible from anywhere.
One perk of using OneDrive is that the platform is built right into newer versions of Windows. If you open any File Explorer window inside of Windows 8, you'll notice a OneDrive folder in the left column. Inside, you'll find all the documents you've saved to OneDrive on other devices, including Android tablets. In other words, OneDrive lets you keep your files synced across all your devices, without having to install extra software on your office PC.
If you just prefer Dropbox, you can also link that platform to your Office for Android apps to keep your files backed up.
Word, Excel and PowerPoint for Android tablets are excellent apps, but not many people will use them. Your tablet must be the right size, have the right hardware and run the right software. The simple fact is that not many people actually own a compatible device. And with so many great Windows tablets on the market, it's questionable whether or not an Android tablet is a smart investment for work at this point.
If you already own a compatible tablet, though, you can't go wrong with these free apps. They include almost all the best features of the desktop Office apps, but with a new touch-friendly interface. Plus, they sync with Windows PCs via OneDrive. They're also the best-looking office apps on the platform, if you value aesthetics.
For everyone else, there are still many good options. WPS is a full-featured office suite for documents, spreadsheets and presentations. Google's own Docs, Sheets and Slides apps are pretty good options as well. | 2019-04-19T13:00:24 | https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/7759-microsoft-office-word-excel-powerpoint-android-tablets-review.html |
0.998993 | The "homosexual sitcom" has become something of a subgenre in the last decade-and-a-half. With shows like Will and Grace, The New Normal, Glee, and Modern Family normalizing depictions of homosexuality on television, the furor over Ellen Degeneres coming out of the closet seems ever further away.
British television has embraced this new paradigm with a totality that perhaps goes beyond American programming. Nonetheless, there are always new frontiers to explore. In an interesting move, British network ITV has begun production on Vicious, a sitcom revolving around a bitter homosexual couple slouching their way into their golden years. In a massive coup, ITV has managed to cast two of Britain's greatest thespians in the main roles: Sirs Ian McKellen and Derek Jacobi.
Variety reports that ITV has signed Ian McKellen and Derek Jacobi to headline the upcoming comedy Vicious. The series will be penned by former Family Guy writer-producer Gary Janetti, who previously helped head Will and Grace. The show will be overseen by producer Ed Bye and will also star Frances De La Tour (Madame Maxine of the Harry Potter series).
Originally titled Vicious Old Queens, the show will concern a homosexual couple who have lived together in London for 50 years. Long since retired, the duo have taken to a life of boring hobbies and petty arguments. Just when it seems that the two have finally had enough of each other, the arrival of a young man to their apartment building upsets the established routine of their lives.
The star power of the attached leads is undeniable. Ian McKellen barely needs any introduction – a distinguished veteran of British theater, he went on to become a cult figure with his star-making turns in The Lord of the Rings and X-Men. Though his career has not been quite as flashy as McKellen's, Derek Jacobi is every bit as accomplished. He was a protégé of Laurence Olivier and has enjoyed a long, varied career in film and television. Readers may recognize him from The King's Speech, Gladiator, and Doctor Who. Both McKellen and Jacobi have been knighted for their contributions to British drama.
The overwhelming bona fides of both McKellen and Jacobi are only part of why their casting is such a boon for Vicious. Their own personal experiences will no doubt color their performances – both men are openly gay and have lived with longtime partners for some years. McKellen in particular has been a vocal proponent for LGBT rights and has been recognized by British gay advocacy groups.
Of course, this all leads up to what may be the most important point of all: These are two very serious dramatic actors who are no doubt about to play spectacularly against type. Granted, Ian McKellen has been known to lightly lampoon his previous accomplishments (his hosting appearance on Saturday Night Live riffed wonderfully on his Gandalf and Magneto roles), but neither he or Jacobi are known for outright comedic performances.
This raises the question as to whether the duo will be able to shift gears for a full-on screwball comedy – and also as to what kind of comedy Vicious will end up being. One imagines that the show will have to walk a fairly narrow path to avoid being either too dry or falling the other direction into ridiculous camp. It's certainly one to watch develop – if only for the potential of its dynamite leading cast.
Though Vicious does not yet have a firm release date, it is expected to air late in 2013. | 2019-04-24T08:21:37 | https://screenrant.com/vicious-sitcom-ian-mckellen-derek-jacobi/ |
0.99943 | Is Glenn Beck Mentioned in the Dead Sea Scrolls?
Yes, Glenn Beck is mentioned in the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Beck assuredly is one of the Sons of Darkness mentioned in the War Scroll.
It's also true that -- as is the case in so many other issues that Mr. Beck speaks about on TV -- he is factually wrong and utterly confused about the history and contents of the Dead Sea Scrolls.
See Jim Davila's blog and Robert Cargill's blog for details.
Is the Jewish Theological Seminary Jewish?
We don't really like to say, "Is the Pope Catholic" when we want to make a point that something is plainly obvious. So we now can start to say instead, "Is the Jewish Theological Seminary Jewish?"
Up until now that was not so plainly obvious. For decades the institution sought to promote "scholarship" which was not always directly supportive of Judaism. Peculiar forms of lexicography and arbitrary theories about the origins of texts abounded in the learning there and the laity in the Conservative movement wondered about the relevance of it all to Jews and Judaism.
It was relevant of course in the manner of all scholarship that underpins authority in a religious society. But not much coming out of the Seminary bestowed any direct meaning on the life of the plain Jew.
We thought it self evident that our teaching there this year should provide and provoke creative theology. That's what we worked for in our course on liturgy. Students rose to the occasion with brilliant work. And our efforts have led us in a new and direction, now published as a paper and soon to be completed as a book. We think the results are directly relevant to all Jews who pray.
Now plans are in place that will change the overall direction of the Seminary. There is much work that needs to be done, a few people who can and wish to carry it out and a few who see and value that enterprise.
Jonathan Sarna is one of the few. He describes in an essay in the Forward with great precision and with personal reflection the potential value of the seismic shift that is underway now at JTS.
The Jewish Theological Seminary’s chancellor, Arnold Eisen, recently unveiled a bold new strategic plan aimed at transforming the school’s curriculum, redefining its purpose and setting forth its future direction. The plan called to mind a story that my late father used to tell about a modest change that he proposed to the JTS curriculum as a young professor there in the 1950s.
Michael Freund and Shavei Yisrael help bring Chinese Jews from Kaifeng to Israel.
Lately, Teaneck is getting to be a nastier place. The local election a few weeks back was beset by dirty tricks. A local Rabbi mouths off with sarcasm at just about every service, sometimes attacking Arabs who aren't there and sometimes just insulting his own membership.
But just when does nastiness become a crime? When a judge says that it does.
And we like Teaneck's Judge James Young. We think he is level headed. At first we thought he went too far in allowing this harassment accusation to go to trial. He should have sent the warring parties off to reach a settlement, we felt. But on further review we realize the context here. A man claims to have been subjected to several acts of aggression due to his expression of support for Palestinians by displaying bumper stickers on his car.
Let's put an end to this right here and now, the judge must have thought. Yes, let's hope that lessons are learned in Teaneck and that nastiness turned into bullying stops.
But then again, let's expect that it won't.
The Mondoweiss blog has the not-so-dramatic story of Trau v. Siegel, the crux of which we paste and link below, "Teaneck harassment trial involves pro-Palestinian bumper stickers," by Philip Weiss.
...Siegel believes in the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes. He decided to get his views out there in a very assertive way by putting four bumper stickers on his 13-year-old gray Honda Civic. His wife was OK with it. Two of the stickers said, "Free Palestine, End the Occupation." Another said, "Stop US Aid to Israel," and another said, "We refuse to be enemies. Christians Jews and Muslims working for peace and justice."
The bumper stickers got attention. A lot of people give Siegel the thumbs-up, or honk approvingly. But Teaneck/Fairlawn are a hotbed for Gush Emunim-land-of-Israel types, and many people get ticked off by the Honda and give him the finger. He's used to that. Some have vandalized his car.
On the afternoon of April 20, Siegel noticed a Toyota following him a little too close as he was headed home down River Road in Teaneck. The car followed Siegel after he turned on to one side street and then another, traveling into his neighborhood. Siegel says the driver followed him right up to his house and then pulled up alongside his parked car and gave him the finger. Then he drove to the end of the block and turned around and drove slowly past Siegel's house again.
Update: Trau apologized to Siegel and the matter was resolved outside of court as reported here.
We are of two minds regarding the Dalai Lama's op-ed about compassion in the world's religions in the Times. On the one hand, we have been working in a chapter of our new book on the premise that the birkat hamazon - the grace after eating - is the quintessential Jewish meditation of compassion, with certain caveats about the universality of that prayer.
On the other hand we were unimpressed by the superficiality of the Dalai Lama's description of the importance of shared compassion the faiths of the world.
Here is the Judaism reference from the Dalai Lama's essay, following upon his appearance this week at Radio City.
Not a very deep or profound insight, but well-meaning and he does mention the Holocaust.
M J Rosenberg on HuffPost got the Boteach PR release. As he says, "What a hoot."
Actually, the Rabbi does not want to hear from troubled celebrities to help them. He wants to be on the TV or the radio or in the newspaper to help himself.
As Lindsay Lohan's saga continues to unfold with the judge's issuance of an arrest warrant, I want to put Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, who served as spiritual advisor to the late Michael Jackson and as Oprah's relationship, marriage and parenting expert, on your radar as a possible on-air commentator.
Whoops. Never mind Lindsay, the rabbi will be busy speaking on TV.
Does the iPad Torah App Make Your Device Sacred?
Barry Schwartz at Rusty Brick Inc alerted us to his new and incredible iPad Torah App today. So now we have it on our iPad.
It is indeed a scrolling replica of an actual Torah scroll - a great asset for Torah readers who wish to practice on the go! A neat concept and nicely executed with a little "yad" pointer icon that you can activate and use while you read from your iPad Torah.
But on further analysis we started to ponder some Talmudic questions. Now that we have an actual Torah on our iPad, can we take it into, ahem, the lavatory? Does this app make our iPad into a holy book?
After due consideration, we have made our initial ruling on this matter. As long as you do not open the app in a place that is not dignified for sacred books, there is no problem. From the perspective of Jewish law, a closed app is nothing more than an cartoon icon. Yes, you heard it here first.
It's a matter of perspective. For most readers the hilarious Paul Rudnick parody in the New Yorker ("Hi From Heidi") of Heidi Montag (just who is she anyway?) was about her ten-plastic-surgeries-at-a-time mentality.
For us, due to our unrelenting interest in prayer, the whole joke was about how she prayed, not about how she spoke about her obsessive body sculpting.
As You probably know, because I guess You sort of know everything, I’m thinking about having a mini brow lift; lipo on my neck, waist, hips, and thighs; a chin reduction; an ear job; fat injections in my cheeks, nasolabial folds, and lips; a revision of my previous rhinoplasty; a redo of my earlier breast implants; Botox injections in my forehead and frown area; and a buttocks augmentation, if that is Thy will.
And what about that Jewish correction of the week in the same New Yorker issue? It is just a riot.
Last month the State of Israel banned the iPad for several weeks.
Now reports are circulating that the venerable New York Yankees have banned the device from the stadium.
Oy, we guess that means the pinstripes have hired Israelis to monitor the security at the Bronx field. Check back in three weeks.
A report from Yahoo Sports suggests that the Yankees have decided in all their infinite, historic wisdom that the iPad falls under its "No laptops" policy.
Spacekatgal, a poster on the IGN boards and who first caught Yahoo Sports' attention, said: "The security people told me it was not allowed and I was turned away at the gates. Why on earth would they have this policy? Terrorism concerns? I couldn't get an answer. I snuck it in under my jacket...I bring it to Fenway all the time and they don't care."
SkyGrid filters the information to find the things we think you’ll find exciting to discover and share with others. Common examples are world events, sports updates, entertainment news, and other things that people like to share. SkyGrid has over 25 different filters to make the streams you view high quality. Some of the things people using SkyGrid are most excited about are our patented SkyView™ algorithm that filters for reputation and velocity. These words probably sound a bit technical, and let us quickly describe each one. Reputation just means we always want to show things only from people you trust (think about the difference on Facebook from getting a friend request with a picture of someone you may know vs. the blank silhouette image). Velocity shows you the information that’s changing the fastest. It’s always exciting to know what others are also finding exciting.
Honestly, we go to the SkyGrid "Latest on iPad" category at least once a day to see what people are saying and doing about and with the revolutionary new device.
If it's Talmud, we link to it, even if we don't really get the humor.
Today, Doonesbury's comic strip includes a reference to the imaginary "Berzerki Talmudi" Jewish rebels.
Peter Beinart, Associate Professor of Journalism and Political Science at the City University of New York, wrote a provocative essay for the New York Review of Books, proclaiming, "The Failure of the American Jewish Establishment."
There has been a lot of discussion in blogs and newspapers about Beinart's misplaced complaints. And that is what they are.
We just don't know what Beinart is talking about. His categorization of US Jews is crude and broad and his terms of analysis are soft and vapid.
This is an impressionistic essay sprinkled with random demographics and sports-section descriptions of just how intensely are US Jews fans of Israel.
And then he goes on to place the blame for the dilution of an undefined ideal, something that may or may not be the case, on "American Jewish Establishment." OK, listen up because this is important. You can and should teach your children to love and support Israel by yourself, in your home, in your family, with your immediate friends, in your synagogue, in your schools by passing on to them intellectual, spiritual, social, political and even mystical content. You give substance about the value of supporting Israel to your children in every way you can. That is how it works.
We don't know what the "American Jewish Establishment" is, and we don't care for this kind of carping and we sure do not fathom its claims about specifically what should be the case, what in fact is not the case, and who is to blame.
And yes, this article will be waved about by rich people who wish to justify why they will cut their donations to "establishment" Jewish agencies.
Yes, New Yorker staff writer Adam Gopnik is a Jew.
"The thing that puzzles me ... is how they ever figured out I was Jewish."
She executed what I believe our fathers would have called a spit take. "That is the most ridiculous question I've ever heard. There's your name, for one thing, and then the way you use Jewish words in writing."
"What Jewish words have I ever used in writing?"
She thought for a moment. "Well, 'shvits.' And 'inchoate.'"
"'Inchoate' is not a Jewish word."
"It is the way you use it. You've got 'Jew' written all over you. It's obvious."
"It's obvious," my six-year-old son, Luke, echoed, looking up from his plate. "It's obvious." I was startled, though not entirely...."
Now, in an essay (A Critic at Large: "What Did Jesus Do? Reading and unreading the Gospels") that treats an assortment of new and recent books about Jesus and early Christianity (e.g., Diarmaid MacCulloch, “Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years” and Bart Ehrman, “Jesus Interrupted"), Gopnick rambles on and on in an entertaining and literary way about Jesus.
Gopnik's own style is hard to describe, elusive, analytical and highly composite. Hmm, that sounds almost Talmudic. It's in the genes.
This headline will be given an award by the right wingers as the most distorted and misleading anti-teacher attack.
Half of the teachers in New Jersey who earned more than $100,000 work in Bergen and Passaic counties.
Sure sounds like half the teachers make more than $100,000. Whoops. You mean that is not true? No it is not even remotely close to true.
The Bergen Record is a real piece of work -- an anti-labor anti-teacher pro-business Republican rag. We call it a predictable disgrace of a newspaper.
A few weeks ago we were privileged to be asked to present an academic paper on Jewish prayer at a conference Bard College in upstate New York.
Here are the links to the audio and video (to order a DVD) of that paper presentation, "SIX PEOPLE YOU MEET IN THE SYNAGOGUE: VISIONS OF SOCIAL ORDER IN EARLY RABBINIC PRAYER".
Are Synagogues Permitted to Hire Rabbis?
No. By the halakhic reasoning of Orthodox Rabbi Hershel Schachter, synagogues are not permitted to hire rabbis.
The idea of hiring a professional Jewish minister was copied from Protestant and Catholic Churches. It is not a Jewish institution known in the bible or in the Talmud.
It may actually be better to suffer martyrdom, than for a synagogue to hire a rabbi (yehareg v’al ya’avor), extending the logic of what Rabbi Schachter, a faculty member at Yeshiva University, said last month, to wit, martyrdom is preferable to ordaining a woman as a rabbi because the Conservative movement ordains them.
Should the US Assassinate Religious Terrorists?
Today's Times article raises a number of issues about an American born Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki who resides in Yemen and is plotting terrorist acts against the US. The CIA has targeted this person for assassination. The main question the Times probes is under our laws, what are this person's rights?
We think the Times misses a key issue in discussing this case, namely the ramifications of the fact that the subject is a religious leader. We believe this makes the man more dangerous as a terrorist threat because of the credibility such a person has among his followers and hence because of the intensity of religious fervor he can command of the believers whom he influences.
A political or ideological terrorist may also wield great authority over his troops and arouse in them a high level of destructive energy against the enemy. But we believe that military advisers and terrorism analysts accord a higher threat level to a religious leader -- and rightly so. You could make the case that religion is the nuclear energy of society, and accordingly a religious terrorist ought to be treated as a nuclear threat.
Here are snips from the news account.
PS: We do not believe in or endorse assassinations of any kind. That approach is a quick and dirty way to go after your perceived enemies. Admittedly it does take more resources and time to take the moral high road, i.e., to capture, try and convict your foes. But in the long run such a course of action will benefit us all.
What can we say to Bar other than, "Been there, done that"? Only we were bringing in a slightly bigger Kaypro in 1982 on a sabbatical. For the technological advancement of the state, it's a dumb self-defeating tax, kept alive by politically connected importers who want to squeeze out more profits.
JERUSALEM -- A famous Israeli export is in trouble for her import.
Supermodel Bar Refaeli was caught at Tel Aviv's international airport this week trying to bring in her newly purchased iPad without declaring it at customs. Items brought into Israel worth more than around $200 are subject to duties.
Refaeli told Israel's Channel 10 TV that she had an iPad in a suitcase that was lost in transit. She said she didn't declare the iPad upon entrance to Israel for a brief commercial appearance.
She is now required to pay 650 shekels ($170) in taxes and fines to get it back.
Israel lifted its ban on the popular tablet computer two weeks ago. The restrictions were initially imposed over concerns the gadget's wireless signal could disrupt other devices.
Are the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Jewish?
Not the right question. Those Mighty Morphin Power Rangers are characters in children's TV shows and movies.
However, it is fair to ask if Haim Saban, "the man who brought the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers from Japan to America" is Jewish? And the answer is yes he is, and he is one of the wealthiest Jews in the world.
Two observations. Contrast the sollective plural of "We are the world" (dating back to 1985) with the singular of "I am a Jew" and draw conclusion number one.
Observe that there are men soloists. Women appear only in a chorus. Draw conclusion number two.
We feel it's a moving song - but not great because it is missing key elements.
Yes, Solicitor General of the United States Elena Kagan is a Jew. She is also President Obama's nominee to be a justice on the Supreme Court.
Kagan was born to a Jewish family in New York City where she graduated from Hunter College High School (1977), the same school that our mom went to a generation earlier.
Kagan has had a stellar career serving as U Chicago professor of law, Harvard Law School Dean, a White House Counsel for Bill Clinton, and is highly ranked as a potential Supreme Court justice.
We said we wouldn't get involved, but now we changed our minds. Too much petty nasty stuff has been going around before the local Town Council election here.
Especially we want to castigate Susan Rosenbluth and her uber-weird outré Jewish Voice for her disgraceful comments about one "problematic" candidate in the election.
So we endorse one utterly fine candidate for you to vote for, in particular based on the recommendation of Dr. Miryam Z. Wahrman, our town's most venerated and celebrated academic personality and a respected community leader and long time resident, as published in The Suburbanite.
I am writing to endorse Joseph Steinberg in his run for Teaneck Council. Steinberg grew up in Teaneck and he and his wife have chosen to live and raise their family here. But even more importantly, he has made Teaneck and its welfare a top priority. He has already devoted many hours and much thought to improving the quality of life for all residents. For instance, as Chairman of Teaneck's Financial Advisory Board he has worked hard to identify areas that could be improved, leading to sounder and more sensible fiscal practices.
I have been dismayed by the divisiveness and rancor that has been occurring within our political framework. He has pledged to work towards a government that values unity and cooperation as it tackles the daunting challenges. The positive change that Joseph represents - financial responsibility, unity, excellence in education, and transparency in government - would benefit all residents.
I have served with Steinberg for two years on the New Jersey board of the American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science, a group that assists with fundraising for that well-known science institute. The board includes members who are highly accomplished individuals. Steinberg is the youngest member of the board - yet he has earned the admiration and respect of the other members. His counsel and ideas have been useful and valued in that charitable enterprise.
He is an accomplished and successful businessman. His experience in enhancing efficiency has already been widely recognized - helping earn him recognition as one of NJ's top businesspeople under the age of 40. I am so pleased that he is running for council as he will be able to use his insight and experience in the business world to address the deep financial crisis that our town and others like it are facing.
On May 11 residents will have the opportunity to vote for four people to join the Council. If we want a person of insight and business savvy who brings fresh ideas to get Teaneck's finances under control, help restore the unity that our diverse town so desperately needs, and who truly loves Teaneck, vote for Joseph Steinberg.
There's somebody studying just about everything these days, including, it turns out, the relationship between our religious affiliation and our tipping habits at restaurants. The study was done by HCD Research, based in New Jersey. Their findings: The best tippers are Jews, followed by people with no religious affiliation. Penny-pinching Christians bring up the rear.
For good service, Jews tip an average of 20.8 percent, people with no religion tip 20.1 percent, and Christians tip 18.3 percent. For bad service, Jews tip 11.4 percent; no affiliation, 9.9, and Christians, 9.0.
When restaurant service is good, Democrats reported that they leave an average tip of 19.8% of the total bill while Republicans reported leaving 18.0% and Independents reported leaving 17.9% of the check. When restaurant service is bad, Democrats reported leaving an average tip of 10.8% of the total bill while Republicans left 8.7% and Independents left 8.4% of the check.
Note well. This study appears to account for what the groups report - which may or many not be what they do.
NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Money manager J. Ezra Merkin must defend a fraud claim by Boston Properties Inc. (BXP) Chairman and New York Daily News owner Mortimer Zuckerman related to more than $25 million of Zuckerman's charitable trust funds allegedly lost to convicted Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff.
So much about Jews in the Times Book Review this week. So much about what other people think about Jews though, mostly negative and stereotypical, ranging from the historical and philosophical to the fictional. And in all of this writing that surrounds Jews, so little about us as actual people, what makes us who we are beyond the accidents of tribal birth, what comprises our character, nature and talents.
One wonders why so many people pay so little attention to the actual Jews and expend so much venom and anger over their ideas of the Jews. And in all of this swirling animosity there is so little about real Jews as people even less about Judaism, the religion of our people, or about Jewish thought and culture in any secular respects.
All told, to be certain, this week in the TBR we have an agglomeration of reviews of books about the dysfunctional imaginations of people who hate their ideas of other people -- who they call "Jews." Nothing at all substantive about our actual ancestors or relatives or their thoughts contained here below in these several reviews or in the books that they consider.
Anthony Julius’s fiercely relevant book on British anti-Semitism is particularly strong on Shylock, Fagin and the whole cavalcade of Jew-hatred in English literature.
Martin Heidegger was undeniably a Nazi. But was his affiliation an “escapade,” as Hannah Arendt claimed, or is his philosophy itself fundamentally corrupt? Two new books reconsider the question.
Book Review Podcast Featuring Adam Kirsch on the philosopher Martin Heidegger and the Nazis; and Francine Prose on the life and stories of Irène Némirovsky.
A biography of Friedrich Nietzsche emphasizes the personal and historical circumstances that acted as backdrop to his ideas.
Update: Jeffrey Goldberg, a national correspondent for The Atlantic thinks we are suggesting that God is a socialist.
Talmudically speaking, perhaps, or perhaps not.
A warning from Minnesota's Council of Nonprofits via the Star Tribune.
Thousands of nonprofits with revenues under $25,000 are at risk for losing their tax exempt because of a new law going into affect this month. These small organizations are now required to file an annual IRS Form 990-N. Failure to do so by a deadline of May 15 will result in revocation of the organizations tax exempt status.
A different National Day for Praying comes up next week for Jews.
Yom Yerushalayim commemorates the reunification of the City of Jerusalem, including the entire Old City, during the 'Six Day War' in the year 5727 (1967).
And we add - "Hoping and praying should never be intermixed with politics."
Holy schizophrenic university! Is Yeshiva U pro-Gay or anti-Gay?
While there are quite a few law schools affiliated with religious universities — see, e.g., Georgetown (Jesuit), Seton Hall (Catholic), and Pepperdine (Christian) — Cardozo Law School seems to be the school that most often encounters friction with its parent institution, Torah-embracing Yeshiva University.
Though affiliated with the Orthodox Jewish university, Cardozo is adamantly a secular institution. Yet, there are contradicting school policies — last year, a reality-game-show-winning 3L protested an administrative policy that unkosher food not be purchased for official school events by using his own funds to bring in “mouthwatering” nonkosher pizza.
Is the Shroud of Turin a Hoax?
Yes, in our opinion, the Shroud of Turin is a hoax.
The Times now reports on the display of the Shroud of Turin, "Shroud skeptics call on a shopping list of evidence, including traces of paint pigments and carbon-14 dating tests carried out in 1988 that led three independent laboratories to date the cloth between 1260 and 1390, to cast doubt on its sacred origins."
New evidence from Israel leads us to ask if the famous Shroud of Turin, alleged to be from the time of Jesus, is a hoax?
The report in the Archaeology Magazine blog concludes, "No one will be able to draw any definitive conclusions about the authenticity of the Shroud of Turin based on this new study, "Molecular Exploration of the First-Century Tomb of the Shroud in Akeldama, Jerusalem".
The comparative sample size is miniscule, and archaeologists need to see much more in the way of Jewish burial shrouds from the period in order to establish what the customs really were. However, this evidence is the best we have at the moment, and it certainly casts a lot of new doubt on the Shroud of Turin."
What is the new evidence?
In December, Shimon Gibson, an archaeologist and senior research fellow at the W.F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research in Jersualem, announced tantalizing results from a new study that he and Boaz Zissu, an archaeologist at Bar Ilan University, just completed on a 1st century B.C. shrouded burial they excavated in a tomb in Jerusalem. Gibson and several colleagues published the first part of the study in a paper in PLoS One on December 16th.
Well here we go again at the UN in NYC. We are concerned about the morality of what is going on over there.
VOA reports, "Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is on his way to New York City to take part in a conference on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Mr. Ahmadinejad is due to address delegates Monday on the first day of the month-long conference at U.N. headquarters. He is expected to defend Iran's right to enrich uranium, and to propose changes to the treaty."
Our dad was concerned about the activities of the UN way back in 1949.
"United Nations should take heed lest the world organization suffer the fate of the Tower of Babel and collapse in 'utter failure' through neglect of moral law."
We found 3 book reviews worth noting for one reason or another in the Times and we actually read quickly through one other new book that we have to return Monday to the otherwise wonderful Teaneck library because another patron has it on hold. And our reading time was minimal today because our home was filled most of the afternoon with at least eight children ages six and under, five who were our grandchildren with whom we'd rather spend time playing than to do anything else in the universe.
In the time left for reading, we selectively pored over Judith Shulevitz', The Sabbath World, and have mixed reactions to it, but mainly because we don't know what to make of what she calls her "spiritual autobiography." This is a work of diligent and extensive research and thinking about so many aspects of the phenomenon we call the Sabbath. And it is also an account of many chunks of the life of the author mixed in with her discussions of the practice and conceptualization of the Sabbath throughout history and across cultures. For us, that whole stratum of the book could have been dispensed with altogether. We aren't that much interested in Shulevitz after what we learned from her slightly banal yet pompous interspersed accounts of selected chapters of her rather offbeat Jewish upbringing, education and life experiences. The book, without that information, would stand quite strong as a rapid overview of the Sabbath idea broadly construed.
Judt's book thankfully does not seem to attack Israel; Miller' book looks promising; Martel's metaphor gets a kinder gentler review here than we have seen elsewhere, where it has been slammed pretty hard.
‘Heaven’ By LISA MILLER. Reviewed by MARK OPPENHEIMER. A journalist’s tour of the afterlife, across religions and through the ages. | 2019-04-21T10:51:42 | http://tzvee.blogspot.com/2010/05/ |
0.999173 | The State Council has promulgated revised implementing regulations for China's Wholly Foreign-Owned Enterprise (WFOE) Law. These amend or remove 17 articles of the original 1990 regulations, mostly to bring them in line with China's commitments to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and current law and practice. Some revisions are outlined below.
Article 3 no longer requires either advanced technology, new products or import substitution, or annual exports of at least 50 percent by value to establish a WFOE, but instead only encourages advanced technology and exports. This change is significant, though less so than it might appear since these requirements have been interpreted broadly and enforced loosely in recent years.
In Articles 9 and 14, the requirement to include a WFOE's export ratio (proportion of production to be exported) when establishing a WFOE has been deleted. But the practical importance of this change is limited, since enforcement, of export ratios has long been loose and less demanding export ratios have been approved in recent years.
Article 21 now permits, with the consent of the approval authority, a WFOE to reduce its registered capital ?if really necessary.?
Under Articles 26 and 27, investment of capital equipment is no longer restricted to items not available in China, and invested intellectual property or technology need no longer make products urgently needed in China or suitable for export. These former requirements had long been neglected in practice. A WFOE may still have only 20 percent of its registered capital in the form of intellectual property rights or technology.
Articles 43 and 44, on a WFOE's right to sell products it makes, now explicitly permit (unqualified) domestic sales, and no longer require exports in accordance with an approved export ratio or approval of domestic sales beyond that ratio. WFOEs are still ?encouraged' to export, but after China joins the WTO, giving this any practical effect would contravene WTO requirements.
Language in Article 46, making domestic sales subject to Chinese price control regulations and requiring that domestic sales prices be reported to price control and tax authorities, has been deleted, reflecting current practice. Language requiring that import and export prices be no worse than international market prices has been retained, but will likely continue to be of little practical significance.
Articles 50 and 51 now provide for tax exemptions, reductions or rebates… in accordance with relevant PRC tax laws and regulations' (instead of a blanket exemption) for capital equipment and imported raw materials. This is in line with long-established tax regulations and practice. A WFOE must generally still pay taxes for the stated equipment and imported raw materials if they are sold in China.
Old Article 56 on foreign-exchange balancing requirements has been deleted, again reflecting current law and practice.
Old Article 87, that gave Moftec the responsibility for interpreting the regulations, has been deleted, and the regulations are now silent on this point. This may be in part because the State Council (instead of Moftec) promulgated the revised regulations, and in part because it is uncertain which government body will have responsibility for approving foreign investment in the future.
-State Administration for Foreign Exchange approval for foreign exchange bank accounts inside and outside of China.
The existence of such discrepancies, however, does not eliminate the fact that significant improvements were made. The changes, generally, accomplish the goal of bringing the regulations more closely in line with domestic law and practice. More importantly, perhaps, they remove some of the uncertainty surrounding the WFOE process and give greater assurance that this process will be conducted on the basis of business, rather than bureaucratic reasons.
For further information on this topic, please contact James Dunlap at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer by telephone (+852 2846 3421) fax (+852 2810 6192) or email (fames. dun lap @ freshfields.com). | 2019-04-26T02:36:19 | https://chinaeconomicreview.com/seeking-clarity/ |
0.999666 | The pilot of a plane that caught fire on a runway in Las Vegas has criticised passengers for taking luggage with them as they escaped from the aircraft. Chris Henkey was hailed a hero after he managed to abort take-off of a British Airways plane which caught fire allowing all 170 passengers and crew to evacuate safely.
Mr Henkey, from Reading, Berkshire, who has 42 years of flying experience with BA was reportedly applauded by passengers when he spoke to them in the safety of the building after the incident. However, in pictures that surfaced later, many of the passengers were seen carrying items of hand luggage as they fled the burning plane.
In an interview with LBC, the hero pilot said the passengers' actions were potentially dangerous. "Not just our case, but any case, when cabin crews are trying to get passengers off quickly, it's clear that the passengers should not be taking their luggage with them. What's a cabin crew to do? Stop them at the door and tell people to give them the hand luggage? That's going to take time.
"And the prime reason the cabin crew is there (is) to get the passengers off quickly and that would delay it. The thing that may happen in the future is that the overhead bins will be made lockable and locked from take-off until landing."
Dramatic video footage showed the moment the British Airways Boeing 777 plane caught fire on the runway at Las Vegas Airport, which was heading to Gatwick on 8 September. In the amateur footage, posted on YouTube, huge orange flames can be seen coming out of the side of the aircraft along with thick plumes of black smoke.
Fire-fighters stationed at the airport reached the aircraft just two minutes after the fire was reported. Within five minutes everyone inside the plane had disembarked and was taken to safety and the fire was extinguished. Mr Henkey was praised by aviation experts for his rapid response in evacuating the aircraft. | 2019-04-25T11:59:15 | https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/ba-hero-pilot-chris-henkey-criticises-passengers-retrieving-luggage-during-blaze-1520325 |
0.998902 | "The most wanted letter" - How to sort results?
Hi, anybody can help me. I am trying solve assignment "The most wanded letter" And stuck on it.
for phrase: Hello World! result: "[(l, 3), (o, 2), (r, 1)]"
And I can't figure out how perform the next condition: "If you have two or more letters with the same frequency, then return the letter which comes first in the latin alphabet. For example -- "one" contains "o", "n", "e" only once for each, thus we choose "e". Anybody know how to sort this list with tuples by alphabet and quantity of appearance at the same time? How to solve the last condition? I'll be thankful for help.
Created at: Jan. 16, 2015, 4:15 p.m.; Updated at: Jan. 18, 2015, 2:27 p.m. | 2019-04-23T03:52:17 | https://py.checkio.org/forum/post/3180/the-most-wanted-letter-how-to-sort-results/ |
0.999999 | Context: Whether natural product drug discovery programs should rely on wild plants collected “randomly” from the natural environment, or whether they should also include plants collected on the basis of use in traditional medicine remains an open question. Objective: This study analyzes whether plants with ethnomedical uses from Vietnam and Laos have a higher hit rate in bioassay testing than plants collected from a national park in Vietnam with the goal of maximizing taxonomic diversity (“random” collection). Materials and Methods: All plants were extracted and subjected to bioassay in the same laboratories. Results of assays of plant collections and plant parts (samples) were scored as active or inactive based on whether any extracts had a positive result in a bioassay. Contingency tables were analyzed using chi-square statistics. Results: Random collections had a higher hit rate than ethnomedical collections, but for samples, ethnomedical plants were more likely to be active. Ethnomedical collections and samples had higher hit rates for tuberculosis, while samples, but not collections, had a higher hit rate for malaria. Little evidence was found to support an advantage for ethnomedical plants in HIV, chemoprevention and cancer bioassays. Plants whose ethnomedical uses directly correlated to a bioassay did not have a significantly higher hit rate than random plants. Discussion: Plants with ethnomedical uses generally had a higher rate of activity in some drug discovery bioassays, but the assays did not directly confirm specific uses. Conclusion: Ethnomedical uses may contribute to a higher rate of activity in drug discovery screening. | 2019-04-25T12:10:32 | https://indigo.uic.edu/handle/10027/10317 |
0.993399 | The article begins by reviewing recent work on music radio, much of which suggests that radio's processes of selection reinforce the success of existing and familiar artists and genres. Through examining the recent history of BBC Radio 1, I suggest that there are ways in which the music-selection and scheduling processes of radio may be used to lead (rather than entirely follow) public tastes. I include a small-scale comparative analysis of the 'airplay' of certain records on Radio 1 and its commercial rivals, together with an examination of Radio 1's recent scheduling and programming changes. I seek to draw out two implications from this analysis. Firstly, I argue that there is some support for Radio 1's rhetorical claims to have changed the British popular music environment in the mid-1990s. Secondly, I argue that the patterns of programming on Radio 1 are consistent with many of the BBC's stated public-service commitments, despite a popular and commercial perception of pop-music being inappropriate for the Corporation. However, I suggest that this public-service role is achieved, not through the usual habit of scheduling specialist music in the evenings, but by effecting a new permeability between the traditionally separate domains of daytime (mainstream) and evening (specialist) music programmes. | 2019-04-19T06:23:27 | https://westminsterresearch.westminster.ac.uk/item/94366/pop-music-radio-in-the-public-service-bbc-radio-1-and-new-music-in-the-1990s |
0.971269 | The objective of representation and metric learning is to build new spaces of representations to improve the performance of a classification, regression or clustering algorithm either from distance constraints or by making use of fine decomposition of instances in complete samples. We address this topic both from a theoretical standpoint and a practical one by providing new methods and algorithms in metric learning or deep learning.
Transfer learning/domain adaptation is a research topic which addresses the problem of transferring some knowledge or some models from a given source task to a related but different target one. The Data Intelligence team works on different subproblems among which: avoiding negative transfer, scalability, lifelong learning, adaptive online learning.
We develop specific machine learning methods for the special topic of fraud and anomaly detection. A particularity of this topic is to deal with highly unbalanced datasets in a context where fraudsters strategies evolve over time. Our work targets applications in bank fraud detection and anomaly detection in medicine and accident prevention.
Natural Language Processing (NLP) uses a lot of machine learning techniques in various tasks nowadays. In our team, we contribute to this field according to three main directions. First, we work on the development of new learning models for language learning taking into account contextual and semantic information to facilitate and improve learning. Second, we focus on methods for learning new Word Embeddings (word representations) that can be used by NLP methods. Third we investigate Deep Learning techniques for Text Summarization.
The information collected in digital form is growing not only in quantity but also in complexity. This means that in many domains, we are trying to capture different aspects about objects of the real world. We can have some aspects represented in tabular form, unstructured text, graphs modeling relationships between objects, images of various complexity: schemas or photographic pictures for instance and, we can have information in different media. This leads to revisit usual mining methods to be able to analyze large collections of complex data. We address this issue by finding relevant representations and similarity measures and designing methods well-suited to solve efficiently mining tasks such as prediction, clustering, classification or pattern extraction.
The extraction of relevant visual patterns in images and videos are essential to characterize the structure of the object considered. These patterns can be used to define new representations, to propose some data summarizations/characterizations or to detect some particular elements in images or videos or even perform some classification or tracking tasks. We are particularly intested in the extraction of subsequences of graph-based patterns for object tracking in videos.
The quantity of information available on the Web (concept of Big Data) and the presence of dynamic web data requires fine tuned information retrieval systems to propose relevant documents to a specific user query. However, it is generally difficult for classic systems to index efficiently all the web and their answers are not specific enough to user needs. We propose to investigate Social and Personalized Information Retrieval to tackle these drawbacks. | 2019-04-18T18:21:37 | https://laboratoirehubertcurien.univ-st-etienne.fr/en/teams/data-intelligence/recherch-areas.html |
0.99836 | Can we play away from home every week?
Maintaining our 100% start on the road and a win where we conceded first - statistically rare for us - made it a useful weekend for our First XI.
Our latest 'W' in the form column came down to two things: yet another rousing second half performance and a Mr Daniel Whiting between the sticks, who did everything he could to ensure that we didn't have the same mountain to climb as we did against Prestwich in midweek.
My Twitter notes recorded at least five occasions where he stopped what the Opta statistics bods would class as "clear goal-scoring opportunities", or something.
The pick - or should I say picks - of his custodial heroics came on 22 minutes when he blocked a far post effort at close quarters, did the same again on 35 minutes when a Sandbach player was clear through, just before half time when he palmed away an awkward effort at his near post and then on 56 minutes when he had to race out to deny another one-on-one situation.
With Mr Whiting making more than a decent fist of doing what is expected of him, the onus fell on those at the other end of the pitch to do the same.
It took them a while to get going. It wasn't until the 22nd minute that we had our first decent effort on goal; Rick Whyatt nipping in at the near post to connect with a Danny Jones cross only to see the keeper nip it off his toes.
As the first half started to draw to a close we began to find ourselves in half-decent positions, especially Jake Ambrose, but our reluctance to shoot and/or the final ball was letting us down.
A poor start to that half meant that we were going into the break a goal down.
Sandbach's ruse of direct balls to their good-in-the-air front two allied with their pacey no10 paid dividends as early as the 3rd minute.
They had already struck our crossbar before they broke quickly from our free-kick, worked the ball down the left channel before pulling it back for an easy tap-in for Pearson.
We definitely had a goal in us in this match. Fortunately after coming out for the second half we managed to bag three!
Our first breakthrough came just before the hour mark when Danny Jones slotted Rick Whyatt in for a calm finish into the far corner.
At this point it was pretty much anybody's game: end-to-end stuff but, oddly enough, nothing clear-cut for either team.
And then came one of those "sliding doors" moments around the 72 minute mark.
Coming out to collect a lofted ball Danny Whiting's heart must have been in his mouth as he was met by the sight of Joe Shaw coming towards him and heading the ball past him. Both could now do absolutely nothing about the ball's final resting place. Thankfully for us, it was wide of the post.
...which was struck in, daisy-cutter style, from the left to Joe Shaw at the near post whose attempt to flick it in managed to distract everybody enough to allow Rick Whyatt the easiest of goals from a yard out.
Sandbach, perhaps having run out of gas, luck or just tacit admission that whatever they did was going to be foiled by Whiting, didn't feature for the remainder of the match.
Joe Shaw powered a Wood free-kick just over the bar before we extended our lead with eight minutes of the match remaining.
Not for the first time Jake Ambrose found himself in a good position on the right where his effort was blocked. The loose ball found the feet of Danny Wood in the area who, with Sandbach bodies in his way, was patient enough to pick his spot and plant home.
Back to Park Road we go this Wednesday where we seek that (thus far) elusive home win against NWCFL newcomers Abbey Hulton United. | 2019-04-20T00:58:15 | http://www.cheadletown.co.uk/news/2017/9/4/sandbach-united-1-3-cheadle-town |
0.999998 | Abfuhr aus Berlin: Die USA drängen andere Staaten zur Unterstützung ihres Rettungspakets für die Finanzmärkte - doch die Bundesregierung lehnt eine Beteiligung ab. Laut Finanzminister Steinbrück planen auch die übrigen G-7-Länder keine derartigen Hilfsmaßnahmen.
Auch in anderen Artikeln konnte man lesen, daß die hiesigen Politiker es (meiner Meinung nach zu Recht) ablehnten, die Verluste der nach Gewinnmaximierung strebenden Finanzdienstleiter zu solidarisieren, nachdem jahrelang die Gewinne kassiert worden waren. Der Markt solle sich selber bereinigen, hieß es mitunter.
Dramatische Rettung in der Nacht: In letzter Minute organisierten Bund und ein eilig zusammengetrommeltes Bankenkonsortium eine Finanzspritze für die Hypo-Real-Estate-Tochter Depfa Bank. Dabei tragen die Institute nicht den größten Teil des Risikos - dafür soll der Steuerzahler geradestehen.
Permanenter Link Von directhex (nicht überprüft) am Di, 2008-09-30 19:55.
And right now, Intel stomps on AMD for floating point performance.
Permanenter Link Von Ingo Jürgensmann (nicht überprüft) am Di, 2008-09-30 14:57.
IBMs Power series already came to my mind as well. The application in question (namely Cplex, see http://www.ilog.com/products/cplex/product/platforms.cfm for supported archs/OS) would support this. And it would mean another OS to maintenance here. Nearly everything else is based on Debian in the company.
So I guess it'll be some x86_64 based CPU (Xeon) with >3 GHz and as fast RAM speed as possible (FSB 1333 or 1600 MHz) and as much L2 Cache as possible (6 MB).
It would be nice if someone could clarify whether a less expensive vendor like Dell is competitive in regards of performance to other vendors like IBM or HP?
Permanenter Link Von Mark Wyatt (nicht überprüft) am Di, 2008-09-30 11:42.
Is the inference that only an x86 arch part will do, that seems to have been generally taken, one that you intended people to take? If not, I'd have a look at IBM's power series, allthough I suspect their power:price ratio is quite a bit off the level achieved by commodity x86 devices. I would guess that the instructions per clock would be noticeably better, though.
Assuming that you want x86, I think I'd prefer Intel over AMD at this point. Well, unless power consumption is a big factor, then I might be prepared to reconsider.
With Intel, their new range of Nehalem parts is due out soon, but I suspect you want to do something more 'now' than waiting for a Nehalem part would imply. And, suspect, in this kind of app (where multiple cores are not fighting for bandwidth out to memory) Nehalem will only be ~5% better in instructions per clock than exeisting parts (if that wasn't the case, it might just get closer to ~15%, based on the few bechmarks available at this point). And a 5% ipc wouldn't make up for the cost, if that's a factor.
Permanenter Link Von Ingo Jürgensmann (nicht überprüft) am Di, 2008-09-30 07:40.
Sorry, yes, I'm looking for a complete server (19", 1 RU). Something like PowerEdge R200, but that one seems to be available with "just" a Dual Core Xeon E3110, 3.00GHz, 6MB Cache, 1333MHz FSB only.
I don't know whether the E3110 is significantly slower than the E8x00 which are recommended in other comments.
Permanenter Link Von nona (nicht überprüft) am Di, 2008-09-30 02:11.
An Intel Core2 DUO E8600 3,33Ghz 6MB cache (If price matters a lot you could go for a E8400/E8500).
On the AMD side you can get an AMD Athlon64 X2 3,2 Ghz 2MB cache for roughly the price of an E8400 - but you'll probably be better off with Intel at the moment.
Permanenter Link Von directhex (nicht überprüft) am Di, 2008-09-30 01:58.
Your question isn't entirely clear - do you want only a CPU, or an entire server?
Single-core chips are pretty much dead now as far as new servers go - Dell's absolute cheapest server is dual core, for example.
Intel chips are much faster for floating point maths, and their current chips are also more cache-heavy. Gnerally speaking, Dell's cheapest machine is the closes to a server with the cpu you want you're likely to find easily.
Permanenter Link Von dichtbijzee (nicht überprüft) am Di, 2008-09-30 00:12.
The intel Core 2 duo E8500 is the way to go then. Its the fastest X86_64 dual core to date.
Permanenter Link Von Niemand (nicht überprüft) am Mo, 2008-09-29 23:50. | 2019-04-21T10:32:54 | https://blog.windfluechter.net/comment/195 |
0.999999 | Which office should I contact?
Cheshire - Please contact our Cheshire/Greater Manchester office.
Halton - Please contact the Merseyside office.
Pendle - Please contact the Cheshire/Greater Manchester office.
Tameside - Please contact our Cheshire/Greater Manchester office..
Rossendale - Please contact the Cheshire/Greater Manchester office.
West Lancashire - Please contact the Merseyside office. | 2019-04-19T04:20:26 | https://www.regenda.org.uk/greater-manchester-office |
0.988528 | Somebody must actually govern. Eight Golden State pros weigh in on what it will take.
Despite his image as being a guy with ideas - mystical or not - former California Gov. Jerry Brown used to immerse himself in the intricate details of the budget. He even refused to hire a budget director so he could manage the process himself. The goal was, in his words, to "innovate."
Ronald Reagan, by contrast, wanted to innovate from a big-picture standpoint. He hewed to core beliefs and then, like a corporate chief executive, left the details to subordinates. "Reagan liked things simplified," observes a former aide to fellow Republican Gov. Pete Wilson, "not because he was a simple man, but because he didn't want to waste time getting information."
These examples of how past governors have ruled California - at times successfully and at times not - are a reminder that there is no one Jello-mold way to run an organism as vast and complex as a state with 35 million people and the world's sixth-largest economy. Never mind those unruly lawmakers in Sacramento. Still, certain traits and skills can put success within reach. Interviews with former governors, management experts, and analysts suggests that traits such as consensus building, the ability to focus on overarching goals, and vision - as gauzy a characteristic as that might be - are qualities that foster gubernatorial accomplishment.
They may be needed now more than ever. With polls showing a majority of Californians are ready to oust Gov. Gray Davis (D) in this fall's recall election, attention is focusing on the leadership skills and management acumen that will be needed to help bring the Golden State out if its financial funk and crisis of confidence.
Indeed, the person who wins the Oct. 7 vote - Mr. Davis or one of the 135 other certified candidates whose résumés suggest a lot more "can do" than "have done" - will be piloting the state into a perfect storm of challenges: a gaping deficit, political gridlock in Sacramento, controversy over immigration, and soaring fees at a university system that has been the envy of the world.
"[Californians] have lost faith in the institutions of government," says Steve Merksamer, former chief of staff to Gov. George Deukmejian and a member of the Reagan administration in Sacramento. "Whoever the next governor is will have to heal the state and ameliorate the divisions."
The experts have some suggestions on ways to do that. Among them: Calling a California constitutional convention, freezing all hiring and spending, and bringing together the best minds in private industry to examine and redefine state operations.
The first order of business, arguably, is to calm an aggravated political environment. That's Job 1 for the next leader, says Leon Panetta, a former California lawmaker and chief of staff to President Clinton. Mr. Panetta says the next governor can learn much from the bipartisan leadership of Democratic Govs. Earl Warren and Pat Brown (Jerry Brown's father), who were not afraid to reach across the party aisle. "[They] built coalitions," he says. "The [new leader] will need to know where the political buttons are ... to get this done."
On the Republican side, Pete Wilson (governor 1991-99) had an astute knowledge of power brokering that enabled him, at times, to cut unlikely deals with the likes of powerful Assembly Speaker Willie Brown.
But healing the body politic - and forging policy - requires conviction as well as compromise.
"This is not a job where you can fly into it and go as the wind blows, because the wind blows in a lot of different directions in Sacramento, as it does in Washington," Panetta says. "You need to know what are the three or four things that need to be done...."
Indeed, the very details of the job are enough to test an executive's attention span. During one 30-day period each fall, aides typically bring the governor as many as 1,000 large folders, each containing a bill to sign or veto. Then, sometimes, a forest fire or some other news intervenes, and well-laid plans go up in smoke.
In the midst of these demands, striking a workable balance between delegating tasks and being personally engaged is vital. "It's not the management model that makes it work," says John Thomasian, director of the National Governors Association Center For Best Practices in Washington. "It's the person that makes it work."
The most successful governors have some grasp of how the gears of government function. Translation for movie actors, talk-radio personalities, and anyone else on the ballot: Be a quick learner. "They will need to know where the money goes and how it's being spent, and you have to understand that before you have begin to delegate," Mr. Thomasian says.
Even seasoned political pros will learn things that only the job itself can teach - and they will learn to get help. "Press releases will say [the governor] is doing this and doing that, but the answer is, somebody else he's hired will be doing it," says former Lt. Gov. Leo T. McCarthy, a Democrat. "The learning curve will be however long he's there, especially on the budget."
Still, says former Gov. Brown says, in media on the recall story are overplaying candidates' inexperience. He says he's known most of the recent governors, and they came to the job with common sense and a college degree.
"It's not like you're constructing a bridge and [the governor is] the foreman and if you don't go [to work] every day the whole project stops," Brown says. "In truth, everything runs pretty well on it's own. Whether its Reagan or Brown or Wilson, ... the shape of government is only modestly affected by the chief executive."
That doesn't make the governor a cipher. He or she can notch important victories, but steering a vast bureaucracy that today includes some 130,000 employees is as much art as science.
Brown, who served as governor from 1975-83, says he personally shepherded his most important programs - from alternative energy to forestry practices - through the process. "I didn't appoint a budget director. Every governor before or since has brought one in but I didn't. I did the budget in a very direct way.
But he also benefited from advice. "In order to innovate, you have to have people with ideas and you have to be in dialogue," Brown says.
Governor Reagan (in office from 1967-75) was perhaps the ultimate delegator. He froze hiring and then conducted an audit of state funds. Edwin Meese, his chief of staff in Sacramento, says the next leader should consider the same steps.
Meese says Reagan also created a 250-member task force to examine every department and say how each could be improved. "It resulted in tremendous savings, which were returned to the people in tax refunds."
The state's diverse population and complex budgeting process, as well as the effect of voter initiatives, set up competing trajectories the next leader will have to confront. Every budget item has its backers, says Thomasian. "The governor is going to have to choose between [things like] covering uninsured children, increasing teachers salaries, hiring more teachers, reducing the payroll of public safety workers. There is no elegant solution."
Indeed, with Republicans shouting "no new taxes" and Democrats yelling: "no more budget cuts" and with voter initiatives setting items in stone, the governing process has been somewhat hijacked.
What's a governor to do? How about a state constitutional convention, says James O'Toole, an expert on corporate leadership at the University of Southern California. "We now have this tremendous amount of direct democracy, which doesn't work - as James Madison pointed out when he was creating the Constitution of the United States. The US. Constitution is this little thing with 27 Amendments. The California Constitution is a huge volume with [hundreds of] amendments. This is a sign state government is breaking down."
The next governor should recognize that leadership about character, not just about politics, experts say. "Leadership is a matter of how to be, not how to do," says Frances Hesselbein of the Leader-to-Leader Institute (formerly the Peter F. Drucker Foundation). "In the end it is the character of the leader that determines the performance." | 2019-04-18T22:19:00 | https://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0820/p01s03-uspo.html |
0.998891 | Once back in my car and heading home, I asked myself why I took those pictures. Although I am a Fire Dispatcher, I am not a dispatcher for - or member of the Jordan Fire Department.
I thought about posting them on Facebook as some “cool photos”… But that was not quite a fit either.
Then, I started thinking about if or how I could use them here on FOF. How would I “frame” a blogpost to use the photos? What would the context of such a post be? Being a 9-1-1, Police, and Fire Dispatcher it would not be too hard to come up with a “public safety theme” – maybe something emphasizing both the Jordan Fire Department, and the Jordan Police Department.
As I drove home, the creative juices began flowing. I started thinking about what I could write about and some of the other photos I could use to highlight our local Police and Fire Departments. Should I do one post for both the police and fire departments? No. I decided that two posts – one for the police department and one for the fire department would be the way to go.
As I developed the idea, the possibilities beyond Jordan’s “public safety” elements crept into my mind. Soon, a flood of ideas began filling my mind, it was not long before the floodgates burst open – and the series “Our Home Town” spilled out!
Since the photos of the fire hall was the original catalyst for “Our Home Town”, it is only fitting that the first “Our Home Town” installment be dedicated to the Jordan Fire Department!
The Jordan Fire Department provides both Fire and Rescue services for the City of Jordan and the surrounding townships of Belle Plaine, St. Lawrence, Helena and Sand Creek. They also provide mutual aid to other surrounding cities and townships as needed.
The Jordan Fire and and Rescue Department consists of one fire station located at 501 Varner St. N. The fire station houses two engines, one ladder, one rescue truck, two brush trucks, one ATV, and a rescue boat.
This equipment is operated by a staff of (up to) 35 volunteer fire fighters led by Chief Steve Kochlin. Together they respond to approximately 125 calls annually, and are dispatched by the Scott County 9-1-1 Emergency Communication Center.
Inside the garage is Jordan Fire Department’s historic horse drawn steam pumper. Inside the display garage displayed in front the steam pumper is a placard that shares a little bit of history. According to the placard, this steam pumper first arrived in Jordan in the 1880’s and was used in the fire service until it was retired in 1925. The highlight of its career came during the September 1906 fire at C.H. Casey’s Hardware Store. When I look at the steam pumper, I get taken back to days of old. Days before automobiles, telephones, and electricity. It’s a “happy place” for me!
While doing researching for this post, I found very little information available about the our fire department on-line. (Heck, even the City of Jordan’s webpage does not have an official page for the Fire Department.) What I was seeking was some historical information about the Jordan Fire Department, the C.H. Casey hardware store fire, or the historic steam pumper.
With a lack of information available on line, and limited amounts of information on the placard inside the Steam Pumper’s garage, I turned to my next source for information on Jordan’s history – the two volume set of books titled “Jordan, Minnesota – A Newspaper Looks at a Town”.
These books contain highlighted news articles from our local newspaper (The Jordan Independent). Volume One contains newspaper articles from 1853-1900. Volume Two contains newspaper articles from 1900-1930. These books document some AMAZING history – including the first automobile that came to town, when electricity first arrived in Jordan, and the town’s first telephone line!
They were originally released in 1976 for the nation’s bicentennial. I would see one floating around the city in various lobbies, waiting rooms, and at the library from time to time but it was difficult to find one for sale anywhere. Then on the city’s sesquicentennial (150 year) anniversary, the books were re-printed and made available for public purchase again. I JUMPED at the chance, and am now a proud owner of the set!!
Using the “Jordan, Minnesota – A Newspaper Looks at a Town” books as my source, I began my search. I was not disappointed in what I found. I located many articles documenting the history of the fire department – and even better, I found a number of interesting articles specifically about the C.H. Casey Hardware Store Fire – and even one that mentions the steam pumper!
Here, you see one of the earliest photos (dated November 1887) of the Jordan Fire Department.
An interesting article accompanied the photo above. The article stated that due to minimal budgets, the Fire Department could not afford their own teams of horses, and to solve this problem the “town dads” are offering a cash premium to the first, second, and third man who arrived at the fire hall with a team of horses to pull their equipment to the fire scene. All residents were welcome to participate (you did not have to be a member of the fire department). The first to arrive would receive a $5.00 premium, the second would receive a $3.00 premium, and the third would receive a $2.00 premium – along with the opportunity of having a front row seat to the excitement of watching the fire fighters work on extinguishing the fire!
I went in search of the articles for 1906, and before long I located what I was looking for! Below (for your reading enjoyment) are copies of the articles and a few photos I was able to locate written about the C.H. Casey hardware store fire.
Note: I love the “historical dialect” and cadence the author(s) of these articles used back in the day! It’s so much fun to read! I would truly enjoy going back in time and visiting Jordan in 1906!
The proprietor had his face badly burned by the force of the explosion, but retained presence of mind enough to rush for a hand grenade and cast it into the flames.
Chas Groh, the metal worker, at once ran to give the alarm. As soon as the firemen could get a stream of water in play, it was thrown into the cellar, but to no avail.
So quickly did the smoke and gasses from the burning oil in the cellar fill the store that C.H.Casey had barley the time to lock the safe and get out the ledger that lay on the high desk, as well as some valuable papers laying in the drawer of that desk.
He was unable to get the money out of the cash register in the center of the store, as well as some $50 of lodge money that was in his desk. He wanted to dash in for this salvage, but a few restrained him, knowing it would be madness to venture into that infernal pit of poison smoke.
The fire was of the fiercest and most unconquerable that ever raged in Jordan. The hardware store was a total loss. The second Casey building, a frame structure, known as the old Erkens building, was also destroyed.
The fire siren wailed the alarm about 4pm yesterday. By 6pm, the whole building was a mass of ruins. The explosion occurred in the cellar, among a lot of oil barrels, and at once filled the building with poisonous gaseous smoke, black as midnight.
Mr. & Mrs. Casey had their living apartments above the store, and did not save even a handkerchief. Not even their most prized personal belongings were gotten out.
An elevator shaft reached from cellar to second floor. Through this the smoke and gasses rolled, filling the upper rooms. Mrs. Graham and son Frank, adjoining the store on the east, and their house burned. The saved some household goods.
The Schaefer store and apartments on the west had heave loss from smoke and water. Mrs. Mertens and daughter Mary, who lived in the upper rooms of the second Casey building, lost some household goods. H. A. Engler, across the street from the Casey's, suffered the loss of his fine plate glass front from the intense heat.
There was some wind, and several shingle roofs caught fire in the next block. But anxious watchers put out all such fires. At one time it looked as though every building in the he block west of the Casey store would go.
Chaska, Belle Plaine and New Prague were asked to send help.
New Prague and Belle Plaine came with their equipment, and Chaska was just about to start when the flames were brought under control. The M & St. L and Omaha railroads transported their equipment on special trains, free.
Losses were well covered by insurance, excepting C.H. Casey, who, after receiving all his insurance, will be financial loser by several thousand dollars.
Chas. Groh, John Schaefer and Werner Nolden deserve great praise for getting away 25 lbs of dynamite and 100 lbs of powder, in an outside magazine. Most of the material in the metal shop was saved.
Al Ricklick and crew have the debris cleaned up in the cellar of the late C.H. Casey store.
Some articles were rescued from the piles of brick and twisted iron, most of which will have to go to the junk dealer.
There are a few steel ranges that would make good camp or summer kitchen stoves.
Freaks of the fire have not been wanting. Down in the debris, workers found a couple of frail china dishes that came through almost unscathed, after falling 12 feet and lodging under hundreds of pounds of heavy brick and iron, and being through all the heat.
C.H.’s shaving mug, that had reposed in a dresser drawer upstairs, was found almost uninjured.
One sad feature of the conflagration was the death of C.H.’s hunting dog Tony. The faithful animal was somewhere in the store building when the explosion happened, and was never seen again.
A neighborly social function occurred last Saturday afternoon.
Mrs. C.H. Casey’s clothing have been destroyed in the fire, a large company of ladies gathered at the home of Mrs. John E. Casey and surprised her at a sewing and quilting bee.
The entire house was filled with busy seamstresses all afternoon, five sewing machines constantly whirring and the swift needles and nimble fingers accomplishing a great deal.
Those present were Mmes. Burns, Casswell, Champlivear, Engler, Groh, Habegger, Hartman, Juergens, Kehrer, Lonard, McMullen, Morgan, Margaret, Mertens, Nolden, Nicolin, Orr, Phillips, Phetteplace, Ricklick, Ruppert, Celia Straight, Mary SStrait, Shultz, Schaefer, Louise Schmitt, Edna Schmitt, Sly, Kate Wolf, Lizzie Wolf, and Mattie Wood and Misses Baihly, Ley, Mertens, Schmitt and Schaefer.
A lunch of salads, coffee, cake, etc. was served at 5 o’clock.
We desire to express our thanks to our neighbors who so kindly rendered assistance during the fire yesterday. We thank the Jordan firemen, and those from belle Plaine and New Prague.
It was not until Tuesday that the last smoldering embers of the fire in C.H. Casey’s hardware building were quenched.
The fire engine remained on duty all of last Wednesday night, throwing water almost continuously. But burning embers in masses of brick from the fallen walls continued to smoke until Tuesday.
The destruction of the fire was terribly complete. Most of the brick from the walls lies in the big basement, which ran the entire length of the structure.
The frame building to the west, formerly Erkens clothing store, later used as Casey’s metal worker’s shop, was likewise destroyed.
It looked at one time as though no power on earth could save Frank Pekarna’s meat market and Tony Waclavek’s shoe shop. But the fire was curbed before it reached them.
The Casey store was by unanimous verdict Jordan’s handsomest business building. In fact, it was known far and wide as the very best country hardware store in southern Minnesota.
A stock commensurate to the building was carried at all times. There was nothing in the hardware line you couldn’t find at Casey’s.
The building was built in 1901 and occupied for five years. It fronted on both Water St. and 1st St. Facing each street was a beautiful plate glass front, 33 feet wide. It was two stories high, with lofty ceilings. The interior was finely finished and appointed. All the counters, cabinets, etc were solid quarter sawed oak.
Mr. & Mrs. Casey have lost their home and store, but they have found their good neighbors. Every expression of sympathy and assistance has been theirs.
C.H.’s face has been swathed in bandages. His eyebrows and eyelashes were burned away by the explosion, and a considerable portion of the skin on his face was burned off also.
In a sense, however, he was luck, as the surgeon finding there will be no permanent traces of the face injuries.
It is the irony of fate that Casey has always taken extra precautions in the matter of explosives and inflammables. All his powder, dynamite, gasoline, and kerosene were kept outside. Only machine oils, greases, linseed oil and roof paints were stored in the cellar, well guarded.
A roof paint, guaranteed fireproof, was the cause of the explosion.
C.H. and the metal worker, Chas Groh were getting some out of a barrel. The former lighted a match to see if it was all taken out, and the exposition occurred.
The insurance policies aggregate $16,300. It is but a question of the time until the insurance will be paid. But the proprietor is still a heavy loser.
He intends to resume business here soon. It would be impossible to rebuild this fall, so he will open up at once in the old Mammoth Store.
As I flipped through the historical books, it became obvious that the Jordan Fire Department has had and will continue to develop a deep and lasting history. I could have spend hours delving into it, documenting countless historical events that help shape the Jordan Fire Department into what it is today - but in the end, I need to remember that I am not compiling a full and comprehensive history of the Fire Department. I am only trying to highlight some of the unique, interesting and wonderful things about life here in “Our Home Town” – Jordan, Minnesota! The Jordan Fire Department is one of those things!
Before I finish this post, allow me to bring you back – more than a century later – to June 2009. Here are a few photos of a the Jordan Fire Department “in action” during a more recent fire in our town! You can read more about this fire (and see even more photos) HERE!
I also want to give many thanks to the Jordan Independent and it’s Editor Mathias Baden for permission to share some of the rich history you have seen here!
Feel free to “Like” the Jordan Fire Department’s Facebook Page (located HERE) or the Jordan Independent’s Facebook Page (located HERE) if you wish!
One year ago I wrote a blogpost about how I Used To Read, and how I had hoped that our decision to acquire “a couple of Kindles for E-Reading” would have a positive influence on my lack of reading. I stated in that post that I was lucky if I read a novel a year – and after some deeper reflection I realized that this was greatly underestimated. I was actually lucky if I read one novel every FIVE years!
Well, it’s been one year since we picked up the Kindles.
I thought it would be a great idea to post an update.
At first, I was totally in love! The Kindle went with me to work, to the kids’ sports practices, anywhere I may have some down time. I located a number of sources for free content, and was filling my Kindle with copious amounts of reading material. My favorite source?? “Pixel of Ink”.
Like with any gadget the infatuation period will eventually come to an end. The Kindle was no different in some ways, yet in other ways it was VERY different!
I am happy to report that I still carry my Kindle with me quite frequently. Several times a week. Maybe not as often as I did when it was brand new, but it still comes with me often! Another great thing that has not changed about being a Kindle owner is the free content. Almost every day I check a number of websites that distribute lists of Kindle books that have been reduced in price, or are (temporarily) free!
So, that leads me up to today. What exactly have I accomplished with my “Kindle Time” (as I like to call it) in the year since the Kindles entered our lives?
I am very pleased to report that in the past twelve months I have completed TWELVE novels. That’s an average of one novel a month!! Much better than the one novel every SIXTY months that comprised my pre-Kindle average!
Currently, I have 115 novels on my Kindle (and that number grows by one or two a week!). Only two of the 115 have cost me anything. Those two books were both on sale for less than three dollars.
I have even delved into the world of borrowing Kindle books from our County Library System!!
My thoughts on the Kindle one year later? I feel NO buyers remorse for having bought them. This may not always be true of every gadget I purchase, but the Kindles have been a wise investment. (Even the Mother of Five agrees!) They have (and continue to) prove their value for the both of us!
Here’s another interesting tidbit… I was quite impressed and inspired by another dad-blogger’s idea.
Backside of Forty compiled a Reading List dating back to 2008! I was so inspired by his list that I created a Kindle Reading List of my own! It is now a regular component of The Life of a Father of Five.
Some of you may have visited it, some of you may not have. For those of you who have not (and who’s voyeuristic minds have a sick sense of needing to know and are interested in seeing what kind of books catch and hold my interest) – here is a link of the novels I completed last year (most recently completed on the top).
My full Kindle Reading Page includes a brief description of each of the books along with the link.
Tonight we grilled hamburgers for dinner. It has been quite a while since we last used the grill and (as you can plainly see) the whole grill was iced up. I had to “crack” it open, and scrape off the knobs to get it running again. Here you can see the grill warming up and the ice that has partially melted from the top.
Much like our grill, it’s time I get this blog thawed out and operational again!! | 2019-04-23T20:13:03 | http://www.father-of-five.com/2013/01/ |
0.998135 | First, most people think light steel is not as durable as traditional building materials such as concrete, but according to data from the American Iron and Steel Institute's Design Guide, light steel materials can be used for hundreds of thousands of years without problems. The specific reason is that the galvanized steel can form a cathodic protection against iron even in the case of a damaged zinc coating to prevent further corrosion.
Moreover, light steel houses are not popular in the country, but the phenomenon of the present stage, it will not be long before it will popularize. I really can not think of light steel does not fire reason. Vanke at a meeting once referred to a non-residential assembly fire is not a very important reason that many people have never thought of.
"The development of fabricated houses in China started in 1959. From the 1960s and 1970s, drawing on the experience of the former Soviet Union and Eastern European countries, the assembly-type houses developed vigorously. By the late 1970s, the proportion of prefabricated buildings in Beijing had reached 30 %, Up to 50% in Shanghai. By the late 1980s, the assembly-type residential shrink substantially, leaving people's attention.Because the large board room in the sixties and seventies in the use of features, structural safety there are many problems.At the same time due to urban transport And the transport network is not perfect, cheap migrant workers replaced industrial workers, making the economic advantages of industrialized houses and assembly advantages have not been reflected.So by the late 1980s in the field of housing construction has been substantially reduced, and in the future 20 In the middle of the year, there has not been any further development. "
Finally, China has already begun to promote light steel structure, and now is the time of turmoil. From the government departments, such as the Housing Industry Promotion Center, as well as domestic enterprises, such as Kitay Sun Building Materials, as well as private construction firms, are trying to promote. North New Building Materials Joint Nippon Steel Japan set up a new North Housing Corporation. I know there is a lot of promotion in Lianyungang. BlueScope Australia merged with Butler in the United States and has a lot of business in China. Hua Xing Dayton in the United States also has operations in China. There is a light steel five-storey residential project in Xiantao, Hubei Province. Xie Yingjun, an architect from Taiwan, also promoted light steel in the affected areas and rural areas. Some local government departments have received the attention. So sum up that light steel housing is being vigorously promoted in the near future, there will certainly be a larger market. | 2019-04-21T07:33:48 | http://www.prefabricatedvillas.com/Prefabricated-villa/New-Generation-lightweight-steel-buildings-custom.html |
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