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HomeWorld NewsZingman cuts deals on private luxury jet: From Moscow, Minsk, Lusaka to Harare
Zingman cuts deals on private luxury jet: From Moscow, Minsk, Lusaka to Harare
March 27, 2021 Staff Reporter World News 0
DRAMATIC footage of President Emmerson Mnangagwa's shadowy business associate and Belarusian tycoon Alexander Zingman's unexpected arrest in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on 17 March shows the mysterious figure being aggressively shoved around a private jet with its engines still running.
Six plainclothes security details in the southern city of Lubumbashi are seen pushing Zingman, who looks frightened while he tries to resist, away from the plane into the airport terminal building to effect his arrest and detention.
Judging by his behaviour, Zingman had clearly underestimated their resolve.
The pilot looks on helplessly as he advances towards the scene. Outnumbered and cornered, Zingman is whisked away by two security agents who stampede him away from camera view, into the building and an uncertain future.
While the private jet's registration mark and livery are not clear in the footage — only its wing around which Zingman is manoeuvred is visible — a Belarusian freelance journalist Hanna Liubakova, formerly with Belsat TV and Radio Liberty, posted an interesting tweet:
"Unbelievable. Zingman is being detained. One year ago, we wouldn't even imagine this. His plane (most probably) is in the background — M-ABEC".
The NewsHawks spoke to Liubakova from Minsk, the Belarusian capital, about the incident which sent shock waves in the corridors of power in the East European nation and Zingman's company AFTRADE DMCC, which has offices in Minsk and Dubai. We also communicated with AFTRADE to enquire on the issue.
Company executives told The NewsHawks they desperately want him out and are pleading for his release.
Zingman cut some of his best deals while flying his friends and executives in a luxury jet around the world.
The aircraft (registration M-ABEC) is an Embraer ERJ-135 Business Jet Legacy 600, managed by Smart Jet Aviation in Moscow, Russia. Reports say on 25 July 2020, Zingman hosted Mnangagwa on his private jet with Leya Mnangagwa (nee Travis), the President's daughter-in-law – Emmerson Junior's wife.
Mnangagwa and his son Emmerson Junior hobnob with the deal-maker Zingman a lot. In one picture, they were photographed sitting with him in a room at their home with the portrait of First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa, the President's wife and Emmerson Junior's mother, right in from of them.
One revealing report on Zingman's jets says previously unknown flight logs from 2018-2019 for a Russian private jet, including destinations and passenger lists, give a stunning peek into how his private jet apparently flew to and from tax havens and African countries, carrying world leaders, businessmen and, salaciously, escort girls. Zingman has a wide and firm footprint in tough African market terrains. He hobnobs, dines and wines with presidents and executives.
The Embraer jet is owned by Rozelda Investments Ltd, a company listed in the Virgin Islands.
While the identity of its owners is unknown, due to the islands' strict privacy policies, the plane has also been linked to Moscow-based Russian company Smart Jet Aviation in three different company registries: Russia, Cyprus and the Virgin Islands.
Smart Jet provides operational services for private planes, including a hangar and a pilot. Sources say Rozelda, as well as the plane, are owned by US citizen Vitaly Feldman, a businessman and close relative of Zingman — the main person listed for use of the plane. According to its flight history, in March 2018 the plane went from the renowned offshore tax shelter island of Jersey to Burkina Faso, then to Zimbabwe, again to Burkina Faso and then to Egypt, Latvia and Belarus.
On all these trips, one passenger was present in every instance — shadowy businessman Zingman.
Zingman has had meetings with Mnangagwa and Zambian President Edgar Lungu and Russian arms dealer Rosobornexport, resulting in Zambia acquiring two Mil Mi-17 helicopters and five Sukhoi Superjet 100 planes (SSJ100).
Rosobornexport and Mnangagwa as well as top local elites are under United States sanctions, but in January 2019 Zingman, who holds dual American and Belarusian citizenship, was announced Zimbabwe's honorary consul in Belarus.
Mnangagwa attended the ceremony in Minsk where he also met with Belarus' authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko in January 2019. He took a huge business delegation with him and signed co-operation agreements. They also visited Russia. He met Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Zingman, whose jet made six flights to Harare in four months between March and July 2018, has been linked to several high-profile deals in the country: In March 2018, Zimbabwe and Belarus signed US$58 million worth of deals across various economic sectors, including agriculture and forestry equipment, mining and transportation.
Zimbabwean Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga and Chief of Presidential Affairs of Belarus Victor Sheiman signed the memorandum of understanding. Sheiman — Lukashenko's righthand man — has been to Zimbabwe several times. Shieman and Zingman have been linked to arms dealings, although they deny it.
The deals, worth US$350 million, were followed up on later that year, in September. This involves agricultural equipment and buses, which seem to be a cover for other money-spinning deals, especially on mining and possibly arms trade.
Logs also show three flights to Zambia, where the aforementioned arms deal with Rosobornexport was brokered in the past.
Among the passengers found on flight logs are Rene Ndonuei, Cameroonian and prominent UK banker, Nikolai Asaul, deputy minister of Transportation of Russia, Harry Findlay, under US sanctions for drug trafficking, Mabasa Chabarwa, principal administrative officer in the Zimbabwean government, Mnangagwa, Leya Mnangagwa, Lucky Igbinedion, ex-governor of Edo state in Nigeria and top members of the DRC's former ruling People's Party for Reconstruction and Democracy – ex-president Joseph Kabila's movement from 2001-2019 – and others.
A more lascivious detail revealed by the passenger lists: four Russian escorts were onboard the plane in four different instances. All four work for the Queens Palace agency in Moscow, Russia.
So, a Belarusian-American's private jet, owned by a Virgin Islands company and operated by a Russian company, regularly flies African businessmen and leaders to and from the continent. Zingman, as it seems, knows how to party, but also how to close big deals; his brokerage resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of contracts for his homeland of Belarus.
In the United States, questions have been raised as to whether Zingman, being a US citizen, should be trading and dealing with countries, companies and individuals under American sanctions.
This has kept him under scrutiny in the US.
Zingman's flights to Zimbabwe and dealings with Mnangagwa and his close associates are questionable, as well as some of the people who have been flying to Harare with him.
While details of passengers on the jet after 2019 are not available, the aircraft's flight history from November to December 2019 shows that Zingman continued to fly from Minsk to Lusaka and Harare.
In fact, when he was arrested in Lubumbashi on 17 March, he was coming from meetings with Kabila and was on his way to meet Mnangagwa, who recently secretly met the former DRC president in Harare.
The links between Mnangagwa, Lukashenko, Shieman, Zingman and Kabila point to what looks like an underworld network, complete with Eastern European dodgy dealers, pushing shady deals and big money. —The NewsHawks/Kingsmeninternationalgroup.blogspot.com


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package org.apache.asterix.om.base;

import java.util.ArrayList;

import org.apache.asterix.om.types.AUnorderedListType;

public final class AMutableUnorderedList extends AUnorderedList {

    public AMutableUnorderedList(AUnorderedListType type) {
        super(type);
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    public AMutableUnorderedList(AUnorderedListType type, ArrayList<IAObject> sequence) {
        super(type, sequence);
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    public void add(IAObject obj) {
        values.add(obj);
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    public void clear() {
        values.clear();
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}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


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Re: Media and the Fossil Fuel Lobby in Germany (none / 0)
An EU Love Affair with Fossil Fuel | July 27, 2020 |
In this tenth episode, German investigative reporter Harald Schumann describes how and why many EU member states seem to still have a crush on fossil fuels. Despite the overwhelming knowledge and practical evidence of the effects of climate change, governments keep subsidizing the use of fossil fuels. Schumann and his colleagues from the pan-European journalistic platform Investigate Europe just published a series of articles that expose this ridiculous and counter-productive policy of European governments.
The European Green Deal (EGD) could be one of the most important and inspiring EU policy initiatives. It is testimony to civil society and citizens movement's impact. Excluding public investment funds to fossil fuel industries is key to foster a sustainable and just transition. But Investigate Europe's findings show that Europe subsidises its fossil fuel sectors by more than €137 billion per year. In comparison, the total annual budget of the EU is around €155bn.
by Oui (Oui) on Fri Jan 13th, 2023 at 05:56:39 PM EST

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


At the 2017 NBAA show in Las Vegas, Embraer introduced the new $9.45 million Phenom 300E, an update of the Phenom 300, the best-selling business jet for the past four years. The E stands for "Enhanced" and refers to the redesigned cabin and the addition of Lufthansa Technik's Nice HD cabin management and inflight entertainment system. The cabin of the 300E is more spacious, with an inch of additional headroom and a three-inch wider aisle compared with the 300.


An unexpurgated heritage: the chapel of the Armenian Patriarchate in Istanbul. Flickr / John Lubbock. Some rights reserved.
With the centenary of the onset of the Armenian genocide less than two months away, the economically aggrandising but politically repressive Turkish state needs to take stock—for the sake of its international relations as well as its domestic rapport with its minority communities.
Although many Turks now accept that hundreds of thousands of Armenians, Assyrians and Greeks were massacred during the first world war, their government is increasingly unwilling to negotiate with Armenia to establish diplomatic relations and reopen the land border. Reconciliation is a low priority as the executive seeks to increase its authority over the remaining semi-independent state institutions, like the central bank and the judiciary. In the run-up to important elections in June, the ruling AK Party cannot afford to alienate its base of nationalistic, religious Turks or divert its attention from the Kurdish peace process—around 3.5m Kurds vote for it.
The plan which the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, seems to have formulated to deal with the awkward genocide anniversary is to ignore it completely. The commemoration of the Battle of Gallipoli, in which the Ottoman army halted the Allied invasion, has been moved from the usual date of 18 April to 24 April—the day the genocide is marked annually.
Erdoğan even invited the Armenian president, among other world leaders, to the Gallipoli observances. Zaman, the opposition media group influenced by the Cemaat movement of Erdoğan's ally-turned-rival Fethullah Gülen, reported that so few foreign leaders had accepted the offer to attend that the event was being cancelled. This is likely to be an exaggeration, intended to make Erdoğan look bad, but it seems to reflect Turkey's increasing political isolation.
One country Turkey does count as a close ally, Azerbaijan, is more important than any European validation, due to its natural gas reserves and ethnically Turkic population. It is the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia which seems to be the biggest obstacle in Armenian-Turkish relations, though Turkey could be using Azerbaijan as an excuse.
While hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region ended in 1994, tensions have never been resolved and there are periodic border clashes. Last year, the Azerbaijani president, Ilham Aliyev, went on a long Twitter rant about the strength of his army after some of its soldiers had been killed.
The emotive nature of the genocide lends itself to political posturing and exaggeration of all kinds. Armenian media are reporting that Turkey paid the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt to destroy 'Armenian genocide documents kept at an institute'—which it's very unlikely Egypt would have had in the first place. In Turkey, there are still extreme nationalist groups willing to display banners praising their ancestors for the 'cleansing' of 1915. Erdoğan maintains that an 'impartial board of historians' should decide if the Ottoman authorities were guilty at all.
A number of diaspora groups and some Armenian parties are demanding that Turkey provide compensation—including all of 'Western Armenia', in what is now eastern Turkey. Western, or 'Wilsonian', Armenia was granted to the latter in the Treaty of Sevres, which partitioned the Ottoman Empire and large parts of Anatolia among the victorious allies in 1920. Its terms were seen as vindictive and spurred a nationalist rebellion, led by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, which ejected the occupying forces of Britain, Greece and Italy. The treaty was largely unratified and unimplemented, and was replaced by the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923.
The 1920 treaty has given rise to a reflex in Turkish politics so common it has a name: Sevres Syndrome. This manifests itself as a paranoia that outside forces are conspiring against Turkey. Armenian groups demanding that Turkey voluntarily cede territory play perfectly into this fear.
In 2009 a provisional roadmap towards restarting a diplomatic relationship and reopening the border was announced by the two countries, but progress stalled and Armenia withdrew, saying Turkey was imposing preconditions such as a deal with Azerbaijan on Nagorno-Karabakh and the dropping of territorial claims. Armenia has however never officially demanded territorial reparations, though groups like the ARF and Armenia's prosecutor general have done so.
Still at a distance: a broken bridge between Turkey and Armenia. Flickr / Martin Lopatka. Some rights reserved.
Both states look on the complex issue of compensation legalistically. Turkey is intent on securing a legal declaration from Armenia that it does not seek any Turkish territory, while Armenians, many of whose families had property confiscated during the genocide, insist on legal compensation for their losses. What Armenian groups like the ARF are effectively saying is that they are insulted that Turkey wants them to drop legal claims to material compensation—and that that is exactly why they are going to keep making them.
While Erdoğan took the unprecedented step in 2014 of offering 'condolences' to the families of those killed in 1915, the government is reluctant to offer a formal apology. This stems partly from fear that it could be used to support claims for reparations—similar to the reticence of the British Foreign Office about apologising for colonial-era crimes.
A final strand to the complex interplay of national groups within Anatolia and the wider region is the pro-Kurdish HDP, now the only serious left-wing party in Turkey. It has a female as well as a male leader but the latter, Selahattin Demirtaş, is undoubtedly more prominent. He is a respected figure with undeniable charisma, in stark contrast to the old-fashioned and uninspiring leadership of the secular-nationalist (now social-democratic) CHP, founded by Ataturk.
From my conversations with leftist Turks, Armenians and Kurds in Istanbul, the HDP is seen as the only promising trend in Turkish politics. Many wealthier Armenians and Kurds vote for Erdoğan's AKP but those of a more liberal disposition like what the HDP is saying. They hope that, by pushing its support above 10% in June, they will prevent the AKP from winning the 330 seats it needs to pass constitutional amendments giving Erdoğan even more power. This could be a risky strategy, as falling short of the 10% threshold would see the HDP win no seats at all.
The HDP is sponsoring reconciliation projects in eastern Turkey; allowing Armenian churches to be rebuilt and conferences to be held. A new generation of Kurds are talking about the historical guilt felt by the descendants of those who participated in massacres, only to be subsequently persecuted by the Turkish state themselves. Projects such as these, and the social progress promised by the HDP in the areas it administers, offer the best prospect of reconciliation between the Turkish state and its minorities.
Armenians in Istanbul live today much as their ancestors did in the 19th century—economically, socially and culturally integrated in Turkish society. Unless they were to broadcast their ethnic affiliation, nobody would know they were part of any minority, as the ethnic mix of those who today call themselves 'Turks' is drawn from all over the former Ottoman Empire. "Happy is the one who says 'I am a Turk'," said Atatürk, but the reality was that thousands who were not Turks simply kept silent about the fact.
Happy to be a Turk: a memorial to Atatürk in Istanbul with his famous slogan. Flickr / John Lubbock. Some rights reserved.
The AKP's rise to power and its removal of the old Kemalist power structures in the military, government and education was associated with a period of relative freedom of expression in Turkey. Although the authorities attempted to prosecute Orhan Pamuk, the Nobel Prize winning author, for recognising the genocide in 2005, the charges were eventually dropped.
Once the AKP was fully in control, however, it found that it quite liked being in charge. Life has remained difficult for journalists in Turkey, particularly if they are from a minority. If the government continues its slide into 'competitive authoritarianism', things will get worse for poorer Kurds, Alevis, Armenians, Jews and members of other minorities.
The undercurrent of hatred created by the unresolved historical question continues to create violence, such as the murder of the Armenian Turkish journalist Hrant Dink in 2007, who was being prosecuted for 'insulting Turkishness'. His crime, ironically, was to appeal to Armenians to let go of their demand for Turkey to confess its historical guilt, to "replace the poisoned blood associated with the Turk, with fresh blood associated with Armenia". This statement was read by extreme Turkish nationalists as suggesting that Turkish blood was somehow dirty and probably inspired those who commissioned his murder. But his words still stand: both sides must let go of their hatred if there is to be any progress.
Remembering Hrant Dink: a plaque in Istanbul. Flickr / John Lubbock. Some rights reserved.
The centenary of the Armenian genocide is a milestone, to be sure, but it will have little impact on the political direction of the Turkish and Armenian states. If anything, the emotional significance of the anniversary seems to have pushed any possible diplomatic reconciliation further away.
On 24 April in Yerevan, System of a Down, the famous Armenian-American rock band, will play to a crowd including thousands of diaspora Armenians who will be travelling to the country for the first time. They will find an impoverished country in an unstable region, with thousands of new Armenian refugees from the Syria conflict. Meanwhile, in Çanakkale, the nearest town to the site of the Battle of Gallipoli, as well as the historical site of ancient Troy, Turkish officials will be remembering how their ancestors bravely fought off the invading allies, while in the provinces Turkey's minorities were being systematically liquidated.
Away from the international posturing, though, in the newly reconstructed Armenian church of Sourp Giragos in Diyarbakir, eastern Turkey, Armenians and Kurds will hold a remembrance service likely to be attended by many of Turkey's 'hidden Armenians'. While the government's history books still deny that the events of 1915 amount to a genocide, many of the younger generation are looking again at their national mythology and concluding that Turkey is no longer the victim of Western political meddling—but an economic powerhouse which could use its influence to bring greater stability to a troubled region.


Carolina Barbeque opened in Newland, North Carolina, in 2003 as a family-owned and operated business. We feature a casual dining experience in the heart of Western North Carolina and the Appalachian Mountains.
Our goal is to provide quality food, atmosphere, service and experience to every customer, every time.
We specialize in pork barbecue, chicken and ribs. With plenty of homemade sides, our menu accommodates anyone who's hungry for excellent southern food.


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* Banding together with other organizations will help the voice of farmers become louder, says Krista Robinson of Heathsville in Northumberland County.
Robinson's discussion of that position helped her win the title of 1994 Discussion Meet winner during the Young Farmers' breakfast at the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation's 69th annual convention in Richmond.
''The legislature is becoming more and more urbanized and as that happens, farming interests get left behind,'' says the 24-year-old Robinson. ''Agriculture has many spokepersons, but we need to present the positive aspects of farming to the media.''
The topic of this year's Discussion Meet contest was: ''As agriculture's political influence is diminishing, should Farm Bureau seek coalitions with other organizations? How much should we compromise, if any, our positions to build these coalitions?''
The Discussion Meet is an annual competition that encourages farmers to exchange ideas and information to solve a problem.
Robinson's solution to increasing agriculture's political influence is to build coalitions without losing Farm Bureau's identity.
''Special-interest groups should be involved as well as Farm Bureau in agricultural issues,'' Robinson says. ''We should all pull together to recognize the advantages.''
She suggested banding together with non-agriculture groups that could help provide funding.
''Many voices are better than one,'' she says. ''The only way to get the attention of the legislature is through farm and non-farm coalitions.''
Robinson won an all-expense paid trip to the American Farm Bureau annual meeting in St. Louis and the national Young Farmer and Rancher Conference in Atlanta. In addition, she won 50 hours or 60 days use of a CASE IH Maxxum Tractor.
This marriage license was issued in the Gloucester Clerk's office Dec. 1-6:
Walter Aaron Taylor, 23, of Hayes, and Carla Sloan Harris, 23, of Hayes.
These marriage licenses were issued in the Middlesex Clerk's office Dec. 2-7:
Benjamin F. Trevilian, 55, of Urbanna, and Shirley L. Taylor, 47, of Deltaville.
Henry Clay Fields, 39, of Urbanna, and Lucy M. Burroughs, 57, of Urbanna.
LEGER, Jason and Melissa, West Point, Dec. 6, 1994, son at Mary Immaculate Hospital.
MILLER, Michael and Elizabeth, Gloucester, Dec. 6, 1994, daughter at Mary Immaculate Hospital.
SCHAEFER, Clayton and Judy, Gloucester, Dec. 9, 1994, daughter at Mary Immaculate Hospital.


Home/News/What is the Conversion Funnel?
Before a customer converts, he or she goes through various steps from the search system or advertisement to visiting the e-commerce site, navigating through it and finally making a purchase. This journey is referred to as a conversion or e-commerce funnel.
It is called a funnel because it illustrates the gradual decline in the number of potential customers at each step of the conversion journey.
The conversion funnel is divided into three main parts, the upper funnel, middle funnel and lower funnel. The upper funnel is where new visitors are attracted to the e-commerce site, the middle funnel where they are turned into interested shoppers and the lower funnel where conversions are finalized. Each part is crucial in the path to conversion and different marketing tactics are required at each level for conversion optimization.
The process of converting a potential customer can be broken down into 4stages.
All conversion funnels begin with creating awareness. This means making online shoppers aware of your merchandise. There are several ways to create awareness including clickable online advertisements, content marketing campaigns and organic internet searches. The key to effectively create awareness is determining the most effective marketing tactics and platforms for your e-commerce site.
After generating awareness and driving traffic to your site, you need to get your visitors interested in your products. Focus on optimizing your site's user and shopping experience. Improve its aesthetics by employing visually striking designs and engaging content and make it easy to navigate.
Monitor the exits at this point in the funnel and focus on making changes that retain more customers to the next step.
Customers reaching this stage are highly qualified leads who only need a little push to convert. They need to learn more about your brand and be able to trust it. At this level, you can deliver targeted, personalized content through email workflow campaigns to convince potential customers to move down the funnel.
The final step in the conversion funnel is action. This is where your nurturing pays off and the potential customers respond by placing your product in their shopping cart. The only thing to do at this stage is to discourage shopping cart abandonment by streamlining the checkout process. The conversion funnel is complete when the customer makes a purchase.
Any of these stages can significantly influence conversion rate. You need to understand your customer behavior and their reasons for exiting at each stage of the e-commerce funnel to make improvements to it and boost conversion rate.
By editor|2017-04-28T17:47:43+00:00April 17th, 2017|News|Comments Off on What is the Conversion Funnel?


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Prof. Dr. Reinhard Alfred Furrer (25 November 1940 – 9 September 1995) was a German physicist and astronaut.

Furrer was born in Wörgl, Ostmark (now Austria). After the end of World War II, his father was expelled from Austria. The family found a new home in Kempten im Allgäu, Bavaria. Furrer stayed there until he joined the University of Kiel to study physics. He later transferred to the Free University of Berlin, where he received a diploma in 1969, and a doctorate in 1972. During his time as a student in Berlin, he was involved in the building of the 145 m long "Tunnel 57" below the Berlin Wall, which was the escape route of 57 people from East Berlin to the West.

In 1974 he became assistant professor in Stuttgart and in 1979 qualified for full professorship. He spent time during 1980–1981 at the University of Chicago and during 1981 at the Argonne National Laboratory in Chicago, USA.

In 1977 Furrer applied for selection as an astronaut for the first Spacelab mission. He made it into the final round of candidates, although Ulf Merbold was finally selected. In 1982, the astronauts for the first German Spacelab mission were selected from the finalists for the first mission, and Furrer was one of the two chosen. He was a payload specialist on STS-61-A (D1), which was launched on 30 October 1985. The other payload specialists on the flight were Ernst Messerschmid and Wubbo Ockels (Netherlands).

Furrer wore the Sinn (watchmaker) model 140 S on his wrist during the STS-61-A mission in 1985

After his spaceflight he became a professor in 1987 as well as the Director of the Institute of Space Sciences at the Free University of Berlin.

Furrer was an avid pilot. He earned his pilot license in 1974, doing several long-distance trips with one engine planes - including a flight over the inland ice of Greenland in 1979 and a solo flight from Germany to Quito, Ecuador in 1981. His love for planes finally cost him his life, as he died in a plane crash after a flight show on the Johannisthal Air Field (Berlin). He was a passenger of pilot Gerd Kahdemann in a historic Bf 108 when the plane crashed shortly after 6:00 p.m. after performing a roll at low altitude. Both Kahdemann and Furrer were killed instantly.

Checkpoint Charlie Museum
From the files of the GDR State Security Service:
Concerning FURRER it is known that, as a member of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft 13th August e.V. Association(supporting association of the Checkpoint Charlie Museum), he was a close personal friend of the chairman of the anti communism organisation and former head of the "Action Group against Inhumanity" Rainer Hildebrandt. Besides his usual code name "Kurt Jacob" he was also known under the aliases "Reinhard", "Jens", "Heino", "Nikolai" and "Bartmann"... A permanent exhibition, dedicated to Furrer was opened in the Checkpoint Charlie Museum.

References
Julide Tanriverdi, Reinhard Furrer - Das Summen des Universums,

External links
Biography at NASA

1940 births
1995 deaths
European amateur radio operators
Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in Germany
German astronauts
20th-century German physicists
Space Shuttle program astronauts

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Homœopathy is a complete system of medicine developed by German physician and chemist, Dr Samuel Hahnemann (1755-1843), based on the principle of "let likes cure likes". This law or principle is based on a long held belief as far back as Hippocrates, the Father of Medicine, and other ancient healers such as Paracelsus, that substances that produce symptoms in a healthy individual can be used to treat similar symptoms in a sick person. Thus homœopathic treatment is believed to stimulate the body's ability to fight infection and susceptibility to disease.
Homœopathy is now used worldwide, with a 200 year history of clinical experience. It is recognised by the World Health Organisation as a valid form of healthcare.
Homœopathy may be used in the treatment of chronic illness, acute conditions and minor accidents requiring first aid. It is a complementary medicine and can work alongside conventional treatments and medications where applicable or required.
Homœopathy aims to treat the whole person, taking into account personality, lifestyle and hereditary factors as well as the history of the disease. Since all patients are unique, homœopathic medicines are prescribed to treat patients as individuals. For example, headaches in different patients would each be treated with different medicines, according to the patient's individual symptoms.
Acute complaints – coughs, colds, earache, food poisoning, hangover, travel sickness etc.
Chronic complaints – skin conditions, hormone imbalances, depression, headaches, behavioural problems, digestive disturbances, asthma, arthritis etc.
First aid situations – bites, stings, hives, injuries, trauma, shock etc.
Vague symptoms - where there are no identifiable causes of disease, but the person feels far from well.
Healing takes place in different ways and reactions to a medicine vary. Sometimes there is an immediate improvement. Sometimes healing begins with an increased feeling of well being, even though symptoms initially remain. In some cases, old symptoms recur as part of the healing process. Occasionally there is a temporary worsening of the symptoms prior to improvement. You should tell your homœopath if you have any of these reactions.
Your homœopath may also work in consultation with your doctor or other healthcare practitioner if necessary.
Can homœopathic medicines be taken with conventional medicines?
Homœopathic medicines may be taken in conjunction with conventional drugs without any adverse effects; however, it is recommended that the advice of an AROH-registered homœopath be sought regarding this matter. All professional members of the AHA are registered with the Australian Register of Homœopaths (AROH).
This unique blend of Golden Ray healing, Pure Apricot Oil, Pomegranate and Vite E, will bring about skin enhancement.


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FTC Says 1-800 Contacts' Court Victory Threatens Online Competition
by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, August 9, 2021
Online competition will suffer as a result of a recent court decision clearing 1-800 Contacts of antitrust charges involving agreements to restrict search advertising, the Federal Trade Commission says.
"The decision was wrong and will likely have nationwide repercussions," the FTC writes in papers filed Friday with the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals. "Restricting search-based advertising can harm competition by leaving consumers in the dark."
The agency is asking the 2nd Circuit to reconsider its decision and rehear the case.
The dispute between the FTC and contact lens retailer dates to 2016, when the agency alleged in an administrative compliant that 1-800 Contacts violated antitrust law by accusing at least 14 competitors of infringing trademark by using its brand name to trigger paid search ads, and then settling the matter by entering into agreements that restricted the use of its name in paid search advertising. (Lens.com -- which was the only competitor targeted by 1-800 Contacts that fought the trademark allegations in court -- largely prevailed in the case)
An administrative judge found in the FTC's favor. The contact lens retailer appealed that ruling to the FTC, which concluded 4-1 that 1-800 Contacts acted anticompetitively.
The retailer then appealed to the 2nd Circuit, which sided against the FTC in June.
A two-judge panel of that court said in its ruling that courts "owe significant deference" to trademark settlement agreements -- even though they "limit competitors from competing as effectively as they otherwise might."
The judges also said the FTC didn't prove the search agreements resulted in increases prices for consumers, writing that the agency's evidence was "theoretical and anecdotal."
The FTC now argues the decision was incorrect for several reasons, including that the ruling marks an "elevation of trademark policy over antitrust enforcement."
The result, according to the agency, is that online competitors now have "a free pass" to agree that they won't advertise against each other.
"Effective competition in internet-based commerce requires that consumers who search for brand names also learn about rival sellers that may offer lower prices or superior products," the agency writes. "Blocking that information enables companies to charge excessive prices to under-informed consumers. That was 1-800 Contacts' approach here: ensuring that low-priced rivals would withhold their advertisements when consumers search for the term '1-800 Contacts.'"
The FTC also adds that the 2nd Circuit's ruling "provides a roadmap for competitors to cloak an agreement not to compete in the garb of trademark dispute resolution and will lead to anticompetitive outcomes across the e-commerce sector.
In addition to the FTC's lawsuit, 1-800 Contacts and the companies it entered into agreements with were sued by consumers in federal court in Utah. All of those companies settled that matter for $40 million, with 1-800 Contacts agreeing to pay $15 million of that figure.
advertising, digital, ecommerce, ftc, paid search, policy, search, trademark


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/*------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-- SOURCE FILE: CBuff.h - CircularBuffer Class
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-- PROGRAM: COMP4985 A4
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-- FUNCTIONS:
--  PUBLIC:
-- 		CBuff()
-- 		~CBuff()
-- 		void empty()
-- 		void push_back(std::string & str)
-- 		std::string & pop()
-- 		const std::string & peek() const
-- 		std::string & operator[] (int x)
-- 		const std::string & operator[] (int x) const
-- 		unsigned int getCapacity() const
-- 		bool isReadyForRead(double percentage = 0.5) const
--  PRIVATE:
-- 		unsigned int checkFull()
--
-- DATE: MAR. 12, 2016
--
-- REVISIONS:
-- Version 1.0 - [EY] - 2016/MAR/12 - Create Class
--
-- DESIGNER: Eva Yu
--
-- PROGRAMMER: Eva Yu
--
-- NOTES:
-- Circular Buffer class that uses
------------------------------------------------------------------------------*/
#include <array>
#include <mutex>
#include <memory>

#include "Semaphore.h"

#ifndef CBUFF_H
#define CBUFF_H

#define DEFAULT_SIZE 128

class CBuff
{

public:
	CBuff();
	~CBuff();

	void empty();
	void push_back(std::string str);
	std::string & pop();
	const std::string & peek() const;

	std::string & operator[] (int x);
	const std::string & operator[] (int x) const;

	unsigned int getCapacity() const;
	bool isReadyForRead(double percentage = 0.5) const;

private:
	int _buffSize;
	int _maxSize;
	int _capacity;
	std::array<std::string, DEFAULT_SIZE> _buff;
	unsigned int _head;
	unsigned int _tail;
	Semaphore _semHead, _semTail;

	unsigned int checkFull() const;
};

#endif


text:
ASCD Express Home
Write for Express
The Future of Education
February 26, 2015 | Volume 10 | Issue 12
Five Trends That Are Transforming Education
Bill Daggett
In our rapidly changing world, how a school responds to emerging trends often determines that school's future. At the International Center for Leadership in Education, we find and analyze the nation's most rapidly improving schools so that we can learn about—and showcase—what makes these schools flourish. Through this work, we have identified five transformative trends that are changing the face of education.
Impact of Digital Learning
Today's learners are digital natives—yet they come to school and power down their devices. As educators, we need to embrace the power of technology to make learning relevant for all students and adults. Using technology thoughtfully for instructional purposes will allow us to stretch learners' thinking in ways that will lead to success in today's increasingly global economy and rapidly evolving digital environment. Blended learning and microcredentialing are key areas to consider.
Microcredentialing, which often takes the form of digital badging or certificates, provides public recognition of incremental achievements connected to learning. Learners can earn these verifiable credentials by completing an online course or lesson, engaging in professional learning activities, sharing portfolio artifacts, or providing other evidence of mastery. Not only does microcredentialing shift the focus of academic work from seat-time to mastery, it also provides concrete, transportable evidence of marketable skills. In the future, people may carry their "digital backpacks" or online portfolios with them throughout their lives, as a means of demonstrating skills and knowledge.
Heightened Demand for Career Readiness
Preparing a young person for career success today requires a different set of academic skills and knowledge than what is traditionally taught in schools. Thirty-six percent of employers surveyed in the 2014 Manpower Talent Shortage Survey reported a talent shortage. Specifically, they have trouble filling positions because candidates lack both hard and soft skills. We are facing a skills gap. The growing tier of upper-level jobs requires increasingly sophisticated skills and the competencies of a lifelong learner in a technological, information-based environment. Career academies, internships and externships, and rigorous, relevant curricula are critical to helping students survive and thrive in this new professional context.
Increased Emphasis on Application-Based Learning
Relevance drives both student learning and the rigor of that learning. When students are deeply engaged in content that relates to their lives and interests, rigor becomes possible. In excellent schools around the country (such as Daniel Hale Williams Public School 307, The Magnet School for STEM Studies in Brooklyn, New York and Neptune High School in New Jersey), an emphasis on learning through application is transforming how students acquire knowledge and skills. Project-based learning, game-based learning, and high-rigor, high-relevance lesson designs represent a shift from a content-delivery model of schooling to a model that focuses on using knowledge and skills in meaningful and authentic ways.
Use of Data Analysis to Implement Growth Models
American schools are data rich but analysis poor. We have volumes of data but we have not learned how to introduce and monitor effective interventions based on that data. As we develop more sophisticated assessments and use technology in more robust ways, we will see an explosion in the use of data for both formative and summative purposes.
Rapidly improving schools have used data analysis to shift to a continuous improvement model for every student. Schools evaluate students based on individual improvement, rather than by comparison across a group. When implemented effectively, this creates a growth-mindset culture across a school, where each student is appropriately and consistently challenged.
Developing Personal Skills
We know that there is more to life than the core subjects of math, science, English language arts, and social studies. Personal and interpersonal skills—such as responsibility, self-management, integrity, honesty, collaboration, and leadership—are critical for success in college, career, and life. Strong schools build these skills into their curricula and create educational cultures and relationships that value more than just academics (such as South Heights Elementary School in Kentucky and Bettendorf High School in Iowa).
Technological, social, and economic changes in society are driving the need for profound shifts in how we educate our children. Rather than resist these trends, highly effective and rapidly improving schools look closely at the needs and opportunities of the shifting landscape and then address these new realities with some of the intentional, proactive, and systemic ways outlined here.
Bill Daggett worked as a teacher and administrator at the secondary and postsecondary levels and as a director with the New York State Education Department. In 1991, he founded the International Center for Leadership in Education, which partners with schools and districts to make best practices and innovative approaches to instruction and leadership a reality in today's classrooms.
ASCD Express, Vol. 10, No. 12. Copyright 2015 by ASCD. All rights reserved. Visit www.ascd.org/ascdexpress.


text:
package restore

import (
	"context"
	"strings"

	"github.com/docker/go-units"
	"github.com/pingcap/errors"
	"github.com/pingcap/tidb/br/pkg/lightning/config"
	"github.com/pingcap/tidb/br/pkg/storage"
)

const (
	pdStores       = "/pd/api/v1/stores"
	pdReplicate    = "/pd/api/v1/config/replicate"
	pdEmptyRegions = "/pd/api/v1/regions/check/empty-region"

	defaultCSVSize    = 10 * units.GiB
	maxSampleDataSize = 10 * 1024 * 1024
	maxSampleRowCount = 10 * 1024

	warnEmptyRegionCntPerStore  = 500
	errorEmptyRegionCntPerStore = 1000
	warnRegionCntMinMaxRatio    = 0.75
	errorRegionCntMinMaxRatio   = 0.5

	// We only check RegionCntMaxMinRatio when the maximum region count of all stores is larger than this threshold.
	checkRegionCntRatioThreshold = 1000
)

func (rc *Controller) isSourceInLocal() bool {
	return strings.HasPrefix(rc.store.URI(), storage.LocalURIPrefix)
}

func (rc *Controller) doPreCheckOnItem(ctx context.Context, checkItemID CheckItemID) error {
	theChecker, err := rc.precheckItemBuilder.BuildPrecheckItem(checkItemID)
	if err != nil {
		return errors.Trace(err)
	}
	result, err := theChecker.Check(ctx)
	if err != nil {
		return errors.Trace(err)
	}
	if result != nil {
		rc.checkTemplate.Collect(result.Severity, result.Passed, result.Message)
	}
	return nil
}

// clusterResource check cluster has enough resource to import data. this test can be skipped.
func (rc *Controller) clusterResource(ctx context.Context) error {
	checkCtx := ctx
	if rc.taskMgr != nil {
		checkCtx = WithPrecheckKey(ctx, taskManagerKey, rc.taskMgr)
	}
	return rc.doPreCheckOnItem(checkCtx, CheckTargetClusterSize)
}

// ClusterIsAvailable check cluster is available to import data. this test can be skipped.
func (rc *Controller) ClusterIsAvailable(ctx context.Context) error {
	return rc.doPreCheckOnItem(ctx, CheckTargetClusterVersion)
}

func (rc *Controller) checkEmptyRegion(ctx context.Context) error {
	return rc.doPreCheckOnItem(ctx, CheckTargetClusterEmptyRegion)
}

// checkRegionDistribution checks if regions distribution is unbalanced.
func (rc *Controller) checkRegionDistribution(ctx context.Context) error {
	return rc.doPreCheckOnItem(ctx, CheckTargetClusterRegionDist)
}

// checkClusterRegion checks cluster if there are too many empty regions or region distribution is unbalanced.
func (rc *Controller) checkClusterRegion(ctx context.Context) error {
	err := rc.taskMgr.CheckTasksExclusively(ctx, func(tasks []taskMeta) ([]taskMeta, error) {
		restoreStarted := false
		for _, task := range tasks {
			if task.status > taskMetaStatusInitial {
				restoreStarted = true
				break
			}
		}
		if restoreStarted {
			return nil, nil
		}
		if err := rc.checkEmptyRegion(ctx); err != nil {
			return nil, errors.Trace(err)
		}
		if err := rc.checkRegionDistribution(ctx); err != nil {
			return nil, errors.Trace(err)
		}
		return nil, nil
	})
	return errors.Trace(err)
}

// StoragePermission checks whether Lightning has enough permission to storage.
func (rc *Controller) StoragePermission(ctx context.Context) error {
	return rc.doPreCheckOnItem(ctx, CheckSourcePermission)
}

// HasLargeCSV checks whether input csvs is fit for Lightning import.
// If strictFormat is false, and csv file is large. Lightning will have performance issue.
// this test cannot be skipped.
func (rc *Controller) HasLargeCSV(ctx context.Context) error {
	return rc.doPreCheckOnItem(ctx, CheckLargeDataFile)
}

// localResource checks the local node has enough resources for this import when local backend enabled;
func (rc *Controller) localResource(ctx context.Context) error {
	if rc.isSourceInLocal() {
		if err := rc.doPreCheckOnItem(ctx, CheckLocalDiskPlacement); err != nil {
			return errors.Trace(err)
		}
	}

	return rc.doPreCheckOnItem(ctx, CheckLocalTempKVDir)
}

func (rc *Controller) checkCSVHeader(ctx context.Context) error {
	return rc.doPreCheckOnItem(ctx, CheckCSVHeader)
}

func (rc *Controller) checkTableEmpty(ctx context.Context) error {
	if rc.cfg.TikvImporter.Backend == config.BackendTiDB || rc.cfg.TikvImporter.IncrementalImport {
		return nil
	}
	return rc.doPreCheckOnItem(ctx, CheckTargetTableEmpty)
}

func (rc *Controller) checkCheckpoints(ctx context.Context) error {
	if !rc.cfg.Checkpoint.Enable {
		return nil
	}
	return rc.doPreCheckOnItem(ctx, CheckCheckpoints)
}

func (rc *Controller) checkSourceSchema(ctx context.Context) error {
	if rc.cfg.TikvImporter.Backend == config.BackendTiDB {
		return nil
	}
	return rc.doPreCheckOnItem(ctx, CheckSourceSchemaValid)
}