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STATE OF THE UNION WITH JOHN KING
Iraq Security Situation; New Dog in the White House; Hopeful Signs for the Economy?
JOHN KING, CNN HOST: I'm John King. And this is our STATE OF THE UNION report for this Sunday, April 12th.
President Obama visits U.S. troops in Baghdad and tells them it's time for Iraqis to take control of their country. But will attacks in big cities like Mosul force a delay in the troop withdrawal timeline? The top U.S. commander in Iraq, General Ray Odierno, joins us for an exclusive interview.
Mr. Obama says he sees glimmer of hopes in the troubled economy. We'll have some serious talk about jobs, and on a lighter note, some breaking news on the first family's new dog, with Democratic strategist Donna Brazile and Republican strategist Kevin Madden.
And we'll head to North Carolina for a firsthand look at what happens when trouble on Wall Street translates into wiping out what no long ago seemed like a secure retirement nest egg. That is all ahead in this hour of STATE OF THE UNION.
An aerial view there of the Pentagon, just across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C., the home of the United States military. During his visit to Iraq last Tuesday, President Obama acknowledged there is still much to be done to stabilize the country, but he emphasized he intends to keep his commitment to withdraw all U.S. troops by 2011.
A big test looms soon, American forces are scheduled to withdraw from Iraq's cities by June 30th this year. That's just eleven weeks from now. And just as American troops are preparing to leave, violence is on the rise in the northern Iraqi cities of Mosul and Baqubah.
Here to talk about the president's visit and the challenges in keeping with the withdrawal schedule is the top U.S. commander in Iraq, General Ray Odierno. He joins us from Camp Victory in Baghdad.
Sir. happy Easter to you, and thank you for joining us. Let me start with the big challenge you face. In just 11 weeks you're supposed to have your troops out of Mosul, out of Baqubah, out of other major cities. And you have an uptick in violence in recent days. Will you meet the deadline or will you have to keep the troops there?
GEN. RAY ODIERNO, COMMANDER, MULTI-NATIONAL FORCE-IRAQ: Well, first, John, if I could, I would like to wish happy Easter to everyone back in the United States, especially to all of the family and friends of our service members who continue to serve over here. It's a real dedication to their great work that has helped our soldiers over here.
John, what I would tell you is overall violence remains at 2003 lows. However, as you have seen over the last week or so, there are still some elements here that are able still to conduct some very serious attacks.
So we will continue to conduct assessments along with the government of Iraq as we move forwards the June 30th deadline. If we believe that we'll need troops to maintain a presence in some of the cities, we'll recommend that, but, ultimately, it will the decision of Prime Minister Maliki.
KING: And when the president was there, sir, just the other day, did you discuss this with him and did you, in fact, maybe ask him to pressure the Iraqi government? You know the political pressures, not only on our president here in the United States, but on Prime Minister Maliki.
Did you ask the president to say, look, if we need more time you need to nudge them to give it to us?
ODIERNO: Well, again, we did have good discussions. We went through all of the major issues facing Iraq now with the president. What we discussed is there is some diplomatic actions that have to be taken.
Listen, Prime Minister Maliki understands the tensions in Mosul. He understands there's an assessment that has to be made. I'm confident that we will make a joint assessment and then he will make a decision. We will tell him what we believe is the right thing to do but ultimately it will up to him to make that decision.
KING: I want to remind our viewers, as we have this conversation, about the timelines and the deadlines you face. June 30th of this year, all U.S. combat troops are supposed to be out of Baghdad and the other major Iraqi cities. It is August 31st, 2010, all U.S. combat troops are supposed to be out of Iraq, leaving about 50,000 behind. And then by December 31st, 2011, all U.S. troops out of Iraq.
Sir, in your conversations with President Obama, how comfortable do you feel that if you go to him at any point, whether it's one of these interim deadlines or the bigger deadline in 2011, you say, sir, I need more time or, sir, I need more troops, that you will get what you need?
ODIERNO: Well, again, he understands, as he has stated, that there is still much work to be done here in Iraq. I believe he has given me the flexibility over the next 18 months in order to adjust the size of the force that I need in order to accomplish the mission. What we're trying to do is set the conditions for Iraq to take over and be able to secure themselves.
And so we'll continue to do that. And I have the flexibility to do that. The president has given that to me. John, if I could make one correction. On August 31st, it is that we will have a change in mission here in Iraq and we will no longer conduct combat operations. It's not necessarily that all combat troops will be out of Iraq by that date.
KING: Thank you for the correction, sir. And it's well noted, because let me follow on that point. Are you concerned at all? The mission went off-track at the beginning, way back, six years ago when there weren't enough troops to do everything that needed to be done. Are you concerned, sir, when you get to that point, when you're looking at 50,000 troops or so that you will have too few troops to do what you need to do or are you confident that if you need more, you'll get them?
ODIERNO: Well, what has changed, John, is that the Iraqi security forces have matured significantly. They now have 250,000, army. They have over 400,000 police. They are continuing to improve in their competency. So that is helping significantly.
So it is not the same as it was in 2004 or 2005 or 2006. So part of the judgment will be how much can they do. They are proving every day that they are becoming more competent, so the decision will be made as how much of U.S. forces are needed in order to continue to support them to keep the stability that we're starting to see here in Iraq.
KING: And, sir, I've walked over to our map so can I show our viewers what has happened over the timeline of the past six years. Back in May 2003, a little over 142,000 troops. And if you follow the timeline over, you see here in October 2007 because of your surge strategy, 170,000 troops on the ground. And we're down now somewhere in the area of 140,000 troops on the ground.
In terms of the pace of operations, the last time I was there and out with troops in the field was a little more than a year ago. And I did a convoy run up from Camp Anaconda up to Baqubah. That was a pretty dicey time, about every other convoy was experiencing an IED attack.
In terms of the reports you get back from the daily operations of the troops, is it as bad as it was then or have things improved significantly?
ODIERNO: Yes, they've improved significantly. And I think you would be surprised if you were here again. Obviously, we still have some very serious incidents, based on one this week.
But, again, it's much safer. In March, our combat fatalities were the lowest they've been since the beginning of the war. The number of incidents in March was the lowest month of incidents we've had since really right back to June of 2003 before the insurgency started.
So there has been a clear improvement of security here. The issue is, can we maintain that -- can the Iraqis maintain it? And that is what we're working through now is we want them to be able to maintain this stability as we pull out.
And that is what we're assessing and constantly doing. I believe we're on track to do that. We have a schedule to reduce our forces. I have flexibility to change that within the next 18 months, and we'll continue to look at that very closely as we move forward.
KING: And you mentioned that March was a relatively good month. I want to, again, play a little timeline here so that our viewers can see it here. This is U.S. troops killed in Iraq and you see the numbers from 2003 moving forward. 2007 at the height of the surge was the highest year and 51 so far, I hesitate to say, only 51 so far in 2009. You mentioned that March was a good month, sir. That was nine Americans killed in March. But already we've hit the number nine 12 days into the month of April because of a few tragic events in recent days.
Why? Are you seeing that this -- is this just random events or are you seeing some coordination of increase in violence?
ODIERNO: Yes. What I see is there are some cells out there who are still capable of conducting suicide attacks. And, unfortunately, had a tragic attack in Mosul this past week of a suicide bomber who killed five of our soldiers. Tragic, tragic event.
They have that capacity still. It's much less than it has ever been. They are very small cells throughout Iraq. We continue to be aggressive at going after them with the Iraqi security forces.
But this is not a significant increase in overall lack of security. There just are still some suicide bombers and those who profess suicide attacks that are still very dangerous.
KING: And help those military families and other Americans watching on this Easter Sunday morning assess where you are now. We talked at the beginning about the potential that you might have to ask for a little bit more time in Mosul, in Baqubah, in other cities.
Is this in part because you're saving the worst, the hardest challenges for last, if you will? That al Qaeda in Iraq and other groups that oppose your being there have concentrated in certain areas and these are the last fronts?
ODIERNO: Well, what we've done is we've driven them there, John, through our operations over the last two years. And we've continued to eliminate areas where they are no longer welcome by the Iraqi people. They are rejected. They are no longer able to conduct operations so they've moved to certain areas.
One is in the desert near Syria between Syria and the city of Mosul, and then inside of Mosul. So we now are working very hard with the Iraqi security forces to finish off this last group of individuals who are still able to conduct some serious attacks.
The same in Baqubah. Although Baquba actually has been extremely safe, areas east of there towards the Iranian border still have some remnants of al Qaeda and other extremists that are still able to do some operations.
So we're in the process of routing them out with the Iraqi security forces.
KING: You just mentioned there, sir, areas near the Syrian border, and areas near the Iranian border which begs the question for the past six years we've had these conversations about Syria letting people back and forth across the border, in fact, maybe even supporting some of them. Iran letting people back and forth, letting weapons across the border, and in fact training some of the people who are trying to kill the men and women who serve under you, sir.
What is the status of Iran and Syria? Are they still as problematic as they were before or have we seen any improvement?
ODIERNO: Well, first, we've been able to significantly limit the ability of them to traffic foreign fighters in through Syria. We have done that through major operations. We made it extremely difficult. The Iraqis have helped significantly in closing their borders and making it more difficult for foreign fighters and suicide attackers to come across.
They are still able to come across in very small numbers. There's still some of a facilitation network that still is in Syria.
In terms of Iran, Iran, although I would -- the support is a bit less than it was, there's still reports that training, funding, and the providing of weapons still goes on. Although it's at a smaller level, it's still very sophisticated and is still trying to impact the stability situation here in Iraq.
KING: More of our conversation with General Ray Odierno in just a moment. And later, also, is President Obama the most polarizing president of recent times? We'll debate that question and more with two of our top political strategists. Our "State of the Union" report will be right back.
KING: We're back with the top U.S. commander in Iraq, General Ray Odierno.
And, General, I want to ask you a bit about what I find fascinating is; that is, your relationship with the new commander in chief, someone who was so vigorously opposed to the war effort you now lead.
And I want to show our viewers a bit of a timeline, here.
It was back in October 2002 when then-Illinois state senator Barack Obama, not even in the United States Senate yet, declared he was against the war in Iraq.
And then, in January of 2007, Senator Barack Obama, a United States senator, at this point, and candidate for the presidency of the United States, spoke out strongly against the surge policy that General Odierno pushed for.
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: The responsible course of action for the United States, for Iraq, and for our troops is to oppose this reckless escalation and to pursue a new policy.
KING: But since winning the election and becoming commander in chief, a decidedly different tone from President Obama, when it comes to the war in Iraq, including his visit to Baghdad just this past Tuesday.
OBAMA: Every mission that's been assigned, from getting rid of Saddam to reducing violence to stabilizing the country, to facilitating elections, you have given Iraq the opportunity to stand on its own as a democratic country. That is an extraordinary achievement, and, for that, you have the thanks of the American people.
General Odierno, you are the father of the surge strategy. You pushed for it when even many of your commanders wanted to get troops out of Iraq.
How hard is it to develop a rapport with a president of the United States who thought your strategy was a reckless escalation?
ODIERNO: Well, first off, he's our commander in chief. And as the commander in chief, we take direction from him. He has -- in all of the meetings I've had with him, he is very attentive; he's very -- he listens. He is incredibly intelligent. He talks through the issues, and -- and we discuss it. He makes a decision and then we execute those decisions.
And that's all you can expect out of your commander in chief. And he's -- I've been very pleased with the interaction that I've been able to have with him.
KING: Has he ever said, General, you know, Ray, you were right; I was wrong about the surge?
ODIERNO: I don't think we talked about that ever.
KING: Let me -- let me ask you -- let me move back to a more serious question, and the idea that, in the previous administration and in your service prior to this administration, you were very clear that you thought these decisions should not be based on political timelines; they should be based on conditions on the ground. I understand you're executing the orders of the commander in chief. I just want to get a sense of, are you concerned at all that the bad guys, the enemy, knows the timeline, too, and they are simply going into hiding, hoarding their resources, gathering their weapons and waiting for you to leave?
ODIERNO: There is always that potential. But, again, let me remind everyone what change was in December when the United States and the government of Iraq signed an agreement, a bilateral agreement that put the timeline in place, that said we would withdraw all our forces by 31 December, 2011.
In my mind, that was historic. It allowed Iraq to prove that it has its own sovereignty. It allows them, now, to move forward and take control, which was always -- it's always been our goal, is that they can control the stability in their country.
So I think I feel comfortable with that timeline. I did back in December. I do now. We continue to work with the government of Iraq so they can meet that timeline, so that they are able to maintain stability once we leave. I still believe we're on track with that, as we talk about this today.
KING: You say you're comfortable with that timeline, sir. I want you to expound on that, a little bit. Because, back in -- I'm holding up a copy of Tom Ricks' book, "The Gamble." It's a fascinating book from the Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post journalist about the war effort in Iraq.
And you told him, in that book -- this is -- he's quoting you in that book. "When asked what sort of U.S. military presence he expected in Iraq around 2014 or 2015, well after Obama's first term, Odierno said, 'I would like to see a force probably around 30,000 or so, 35,000, with many troops training Iraqi forces and others conducting combat operations against Al Qaida in Iraq and its allies.'"
Now, certainly, this was before the agreement with the Iraqi government was negotiated -- and I want to make that clear -- when you made those remarks.
But you have to implement this strategy because it is a signed agreement between the government of Iraq and the United States of America. But do you personally think it would be best that, for the foreseeable future, to leave 30,000 or so behind?
ODIERNO: Well, again, what I would tell you is it really has always been about Iraqi -- Iraqis securing their own country. So the issue becomes, do we think they will be able to do that?
As they continue to improve in the operations they've been able to conduct, I believe that they will be able to do that by the end of 2011.
And so the most important thing for us is to help them now to reduce the risk that will be left with them once we depart at the end of 2011. We will continue to train and advise. We'll continue to assist; we'll continue to conduct combat operations, where we believe it's necessary.
And I do believe, now, that it is probably the right time frame.
KING: And on a scale of 1 to 10, sir, how confident are you, 10 being fully confident, that you will meet that deadline, that all U.S. troops will be gone at the end of 2011?
ODIERNO: As you ask me today, I believe it's a 10 that we will be gone by 2011.
KING: That's a -- that's a bold statement. I want to ask you, a little bit, about your current work. Because a lot of what you're doing requires the Iraqi security forces to get up to speed, and that, of course, is part of your mission.
But the other part of the equation is the Iraqi political environment. And in that environment, you are finding yourself, I'm told, in some meetings that you would prefer that the lead person be the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, and you don't have a U.S. ambassador at the moment. The nomination of Chris Hill is held up at the moment in the United States Senate.
Does that hurt the U.S. effort in Iraq, not having an ambassador on the ground?
ODIERNO: Well, I mean I believe it's important to have an ambassador here. It's important to have an ambassador in all of our key countries. And Iraq is a very important country in our national strategy. So, of course, it would be much better to have our ambassador here. We have a process that we have to go through to get our ambassadors confirmed. We're going through that process. Hopefully we'll have an ambassador out here very soon. It would certainly help to have an ambassador here as quickly as possible.
KING: You work now in an administration that doesn't like the term war on terror. The Bush administration used that term quite frequently. Does that matter to you? The men and women who are risking their lives every day, are they fighting the war on terror in General Odierno's view or something else?
ODIERNO: Well, what they are doing is fighting for the security of United States. So it doesn't matter what you call it. We're here to ensure that we better secure the -- all of the people of our country and that by doing that, by defeating terrorists in Iraq or Afghanistan or anywhere else, we're here to accomplish what we believe is important to maintain security for our country.
KING: I want to ask you, sir, as a general and as a parent of someone who was hurt in Iraq, your son suffered a devastating injury, but, thank God, was not hurt any further than that in Iraq. We have a new policy where they have opened Dover and allowed media coverage of the returning bodies, the caskets of those who suffer the ultimate sacrifice overseas in Iraq and Afghanistan. Do you support that policy? Do you think it helps the American people better understand the price those young men and women are paying, or do you think it's too much?
ODIERNO: I think the most important piece of that was that you give the families the choice. What we care about is the families have their choice. We want to respect the families. So it always comes down to that. So I'm very pleased the families gets to choose whether that coverage happens or not and I think that's the right thing.
KING: I want to ask you lastly, sir, a lot people now watch more troops going into Afghanistan and say well, the surge worked in Iraq, a surge will work in Afghanistan. I want to give you an opportunity to say what you think is similar and importantly what you think is different in Afghanistan than in Iraq.
ODIERNO: Well, I don't really -- I don't want to comment too much on Afghanistan. I've spent an awful lot of time here in Iraq and I consider myself to understand Iraq. I don't consider myself to fully understand Afghanistan. But what I do know, some of the concepts are the same. You have to secure the population. Once you secure the population, it is much easier than to fight the terrorists, because the population then helps you. When they're not secure, when they feel like they are being terrorized, it's much more difficult for them to support any effort to defeat these terrorists. So I think that concept is clearly the same. The only other thing I would say is that it is a civil/military problem. It is not just a military solution. And I know that in Afghanistan, they're working towards a civil/military solution. So I think those are the keys as we move forward.
KING: General Ray Odierno joining us from Baghdad this morning. Sir, we thank you for your time and we thank you and the thousands of men and women under you there in Iraq for their military service and you should know you are in our thoughts and prayers every day as we go forward.
ODIERNO: Thank you very much, John. Once again, Happy Easter to all Americans.
KING: General, one other thing I wanted to mention. I'm sorry, before I do let you go. I'm an old-fashioned kind of guy and thought I had a friend in Ray Odierno on the show but I understand you have launched Facebook site so that you can better communicate with folks back here in the United States and we're showing it on our monitors before we let you go.
I just want you to know my resistance to Facebook has now crumbled thanks to Ray Odierno. Explain why you think this is important.
ODIERNO: Well, I want to -- I think it's important that people can reach out and ask questions and maybe educate them a little bit more on what is going on here in Iraq. And get to know us a little bit better. This is new for me. This is new ground so we'll see how it goes but I'm actually pretty excited about it.
KING: Well, we'll see how many people are watching today by how many friends you get in the next few hours. Again, general, Happy Easter to you and the men and women serving in Iraq and take care, sir.
ODIERNO: Thanks, John. I appreciate it very much.
KING: All right, general. Take care.
And huge factors in getting the U.S. troops out of Iraq on schedule are the abilities of a Iraq military and police forces to step up major security challenges and the willingness of Iraq's political leaders to set aside sectarian and other rivalries. Up next, we discuss those challenges with Iraq's national security adviser.
BARACK OBAMA, U.S. PRESIDENT: It is time for us to transition to the Iraqis. They need to take responsibility for their country and for their sovereignty.
KING: President Obama there addressing U.S. troops in Iraq during a quick visit to the country this past Tuesday. We just heard from General Odierno. Now let's get the Iraqi view of where things stand. In Baghdad bureau, Iraq's national security adviser, Mowaffak al Rubaie. Sir, let me start with the basic premise. President Obama said it's time for Iraq to take over. Are you ready?
MOWAFFAK AL-RUBAIE, IRAQI NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: Well, before I answer your question, let me, through your program, say Happy Easter to all Christians all over the world.
And, number two, I would like to express my gratitude and the big thank you from the Iraqi people and the government of Iraq to the United States of America for things they have done in this country, bringing down the dictatorship and sustaining the security of this country and building, helping us in building our Iraqi security forces and to reach to this least now to a considerable reduction in violence and this security, we believe it's sustainable and we are -- we, the government of Iraq and the security forces in Iraq are much more suited now for this fight. And we believe that now we are leading and we are planning and cutting out most of the combat operations in the country and the United States forces are moving or transitioning to a more support role, more training, more providing more logistical support, rather than engaging in a huge military or kinetic combat operations.
KING: And so, sir, with that progress or despite that progress maybe, you just heard General Odierno. If he comes to you in three or four weeks or six or eight weeks and says, Mr. National Security Adviser, Mr. Prime Minister, I know I have this June 30th deadline to get out of the cities but in Mosul, in Baqubah there are still some problems, I need a little bit more time, I may actually have to send more U.S. troops in in the short term.
KING: Would he get the permission of the Iraqi government to do that if he believes it's necessary?
AL-RUBAIE: See, we're continuing monitoring the situation jointly with the multi-national forces and we're consulting the multi- national forces on a military and we are on daily coordination and cooperation and assessing the situation on daily basis. So I don't think we should answer this hypothetical question now.
KING: OK. I understand that point. And I bring it up in the past, sir, you say you're ready or you will be ready by the deadlines. In the past you have been optimistic and that optimism has turned out not to be so well-founded. I want to bring up something you told "The Washington Post" in June 2006, almost three years ago.
You said, "We envision the U.S. troop presence by year end to be under 100,000 with most of the remaining troops to return home by the end of 2007."
It is now, of course, 2009 and there are 140,000 U.S. troops in Iraq. Why should we believe your optimism now, to put it bluntly, when you were on the record some time ago saying you thought this day would come a lot sooner?
AL-RUBAIE: Well, we are all much more intelligent with hindsight and I believe we have now very, very competent and very well trained and equipped, the Iraqi security forces. The Iraqi security forces are leading and doing most of the combat operation now. What we are requiring. Only the high-end very specialized counterterrorism operation and some logistical support, some air fire support, some navy support, that is what we are requiring. And we are building these as we go along and in the next year or so, we will be in a position to take all -- to take over all of our country. All the security, all over the country.
KING: Mr. al-Rubaie, Let me ask you this question. The White House says when President Obama was there and he had the meetings with your political leaders, he delivered a stern message that the differences between the Kurds and the Shia need to be resolved. Other sectarian issues.
Essentially a push and nudge for the politics of Iraq to become more peaceful and more stable to build confidence going forward. What was the strongest or the most different message you found from President Obama in these meetings?
AL-RUBAIE: See, what we have, we have agreed, the three communities. The three major communities have agreed on a one-term reference and that is the Constitution. And millions of Iraqis have ratified this Constitution. We formed national unity government according to that Constitution. The Sunni, Kurds, the Shia are all in that government. And we are -- if we have any differences, if we have any dispute, we should go back to the Constitution and defer to the one document we have agreed on and that is the Constitution. There's nothing else, other than the Constitution.
KING: Let me ask you, lastly, sir. We're still getting to know our new president here in the United States. You have been in the room with President Bush, his predecessor, and now in the room with President Obama. How is President Obama different than President Bush when it comes to these big diplomatic challenges and conducting the affairs of the United States?
AL-RUBAIE: I don't want to elaborate on differences, but I believe that the President Obama understands the situation in Iraq and I believe he wanted to stick by the Status of Forces Agreement, the withdrawal agreement and what -- his visit to Iraq, it's a very significant visit. Because this is the first Arab country President Obama paid this visit to and it means a lot to us, because it means the United States government is adhering to the Strategic Framework Agreement and shows the commitment of the United States government towards Iraq and towards helping Iraq.
Iraq is definitely and irreversibly and decisively flying west and in return of the United States government is committing itself to helping Iraq and reconstruct -- in the reconstruction and in ensuring its democratic system.
KING: Mowaffak al-Rubaie is the national security adviser of Iraq. Sir, we thank you for your time and your insights this morning.
AL-RUBAIE: Thank you for having me.
KING: Take care, sir.
And up next we turn to the problems back home in this country, including the economy. With so much country still struggling was it the right time for President Obama to say we're starting to see glimmers of hope?
And on a lighter note some important news this morning on the Obama family's new dog. We will talk about it all with Democratic strategist Donna Brazile and Republican strategist Kevin Madden. Stay with us.
KING: I'm John King. And this is STATE OF THE NATION. Here are stories breaking this Sunday morning.
A U.S. official tells CNN authorities have been in touch with a U.S. ship captain held four days now hostage by Somali pirates. Those authorities report Captain Richard Phillips is doing well. His ship and crew are now safely in Kenya briefing FBI agents about the pirate attack. Negotiations to win the captain's release are ongoing.
Christians around the world are celebrating Easter today. At the Vatican, Pope Benedict delivered an Easter mass to thousands gathered at St. Peter's Basilica. He delivered Easter language -- Easter blessings, excuse me, in 63 languages.
And mystery solved. Sources tell CNN the Obamas have chosen six- month-old Portuguese water dog to be the first pet. Sasha and Malia Obama have nicknamed their puppy "Bo". The dog will make its debut at the White House on Tuesday. That and more ahead on STATE OF THE UNION.
Picture of the White House there on a beautiful Sunday, Easter Sunday here in Washington. After weeks of warnings things could get worse before they got better, President Obama is suddenly speaking in a considerably more hopeful tone. For insight into the president's change in message we turn to two seasoned political veterans, Democratic strategist Donna Brazile and Republican strategist Kevin Madden. Welcome. Happy Easter to both of you.
I want to get to the economy in a minute but I want to go back to our conversation with General Odierno. And Donna, I want to start with you.
He is very confident and says 10 on a scale of 10 he will get the troops out by 2011 as President Obama and the Iraqi government have promised in an agreement. But he says it's possible he might need time for the interim deadlines. June 30 is 11 weeks away, supposed to get out of all the big cities. What will happen on the antiwar left of the Democratic Party if one of those preliminary deadlines falls and the general says I need more time in Mosul, I need more time in Baqubah? Will antiwar Democrats give the president that time or will there be an outrage?
DONNA BRAZILE, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: I think they will give the president the amount of time he needs to get our troops out in a responsible way. President Obama this week said when he was in Iraq that we're entering a critical phase. Of course, you know, we have elections -- they have elections a little bit later this year. And the president also emphasized that it was important that the two sides, the Sunnis and the Shias, also begin to mend some of the fences.
So this is a critical phase in the operations in Iraq but, clearly, if the general decides and the president will listen, I'm sure, to this general and other advisers, that they need more time to get the situation under control for the elections, I'm sure the left as well as the right, the country, will give the people of Iraq that time.
KING: Is she overly optimistic, already?
You see some -- and it's a small minority -- I want to make that clear -- but some on the left saying they won't even vote for the money to support the troops.
Now, that happened in the Bush administration, too. There were some who simply said war is a bad idea; I'm not going to support the money. A hiccup? Minor bump?
MADDEN: Well, I think that the -- Donna's right. On the left, as long as there's incremental progress toward the draw-down or a complete withdrawal of the troops, that he'll be fine with that -- with that part of the political equation.
And I think, with Republicans, as long as -- and Donna used the key word, "responsible," making sure that we're meeting our security objections there -- objectives there, and that we're doing the withdrawals responsibly so that we still have a safe and secure Iraq, then I think he's going to have Republican support as well.
KING: Let's come home to the debate about the economy. Previous times on the program, we've talked about the president saying it's going to get worse before it gets better. This past week, he's out there urging Americans to refinance, saying, get in the re-fi business; you can save the family a few bucks in the budget; and also sounding more optimistic.
Let's listen to the president.
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: What you're starting to see is glimmers of hope across the economy. Now, we have always been very cautious about prognosticating, and that's not going to change just because it's Easter.
KING: Smart to be more upbeat?
BRAZILE: Well, I believe he's responding to some of the good news, consumer confidence up just a little bit; the housing market. People are going back in, refinancing, buying up some of the foreclosed properties. Clearly, the credit markets are thawing.
So the president is just expressing what, I'm sure, his advisers have told him, look, is there a bright sign out there. But, look, John, until we can, you know, get jobs back into the communities, until we can provide people with health care, I still believe that we're still in the thick of this recession.
KING: Is it risky, if maybe a lagging indicator, but if unemployment is still on the way up, to have this president saying I see "glimmers of hope," and then next month, the unemployment rate edges up toward 9 percent, maybe even goes higher than that?
Does he risk as seeing, as President Bush was, as out of touch?
MADDEN: No, that is the great peril, here, that he does risk seeming to be talking in very flowery terms when people are still struggling.
There's still a great deal of anxiety out there amongst the American public. And we are going to see a lot more job losses before things gets better.
You know, I grew up in the city, and it was always very easy to see the the green sprouting from bricks and bricks of concrete. And I think that is what is happening here, is that President Obama is trying to point to these signs of life in a very -- you know, in a very barren economy, right now, in an effort to encourage the markets.
The markets, right now, don't need somebody who is a chief executive who is out there talking down the economy. So this is much more geared towards encouraging many of those in the private sector to keep moving in the right direction as the economy starts to...
BRAZILE: ... to rebuild trust in the system. I mean, most Americans are not trust -- we don't trust the banks. We don't trust the system.
KING: I want to bring you both to your thoughts on an essay written by Michael Gerson. He worked for the former President Bush, a thoughtful guy, outside of working in the Bush White House. And he says this about Barack Obama, quite interesting. He says, "Who has been the most polarizing new president of recent times, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush? No, that honor belongs to Barack Obama. Obama has been a unifier, of sorts. He's unified Democrats and united Republicans against each other."
BRAZILE: You know, Mr. Gerson made two mistakes. One, he didn't point out that this is part of a long-term trend, and that's something that the Pew poll talked about. This trend goes back for 30 years.
And the second thing is that the Republican Party itself really has shrunken over the last four years. And in 2004, 33 percent of the American people identified with the Republican Party; today it's 27 percent.
So there has been a 6 percent drop. And so this is part of a long-term trend and has nothing to do with President Obama.
KING: Nothing to do with President Obama? But the numbers don't lie. Among Democrats, Obama has 88 percent approval rating; among Republicans, a 27 percent approval rating.
MADDEN: You know, a lot of Republicans seized on this poll, this week, as evidence that -- you know, of reasons to criticize President Obama.
And I think it has less to do with polarization and more to do with failed expectations. President Obama ran, during this last campaign, as somebody who was going to change the tone and tenor of Washington, who was going to challenge the status quo.
And I think, with both his policies and his rhetoric, he has done neither, and that's why we've seen -- the biggest problem for President Obama, here, is the fact that independents have dropped about 13 points since the inauguration. And he had sizable levels of Republican support, close to 40 percent at the inauguration, and that has now eroded to a record low.
And I think that is a troubling sign, I think, for President Obama, if he is going to try to forge an agenda around unity and bipartisanship for his...
KING: I want to put you both on the spot.
KING: Time-out, time-out. We've got about 20 seconds left. I want to put you both on the spot on the day's biggest breaking news, "The First Puppy Makes a Big Splash."
Bo will be coming to the White House. Sasha and Malia have named their new dog "Bo." He will be there on Tuesday.
That should clearly improve his ratings among independents and Republicans.
I mean, what's not to like about this dog? He's cute. He's adorable, but I hope he's potty-trained.
KING: You hope he's potty-trained.
Is this silly season or does it matter how a president and his new young family go about their business?
MADDEN: You know, I think one of the things that's happened with this president is that Washington, D.C. has become not only the financial and political capital of the world but the cultural capital of the world. What they eat, what they wear, the kind of pets that they have -- that has really, I think, influenced a lot of Americans. Americans are watching Washington in a new way they haven't about before.
I mean, I know that this is going to create problems in the Madden household because when, the debate comes up about getting a dog, now it's...
... well, if, you know, if Sasha and Malia can have one, how come Riley (ph) and Colin (ph) can't?
KING: I had a little conversation with Hannah (ph) King yesterday, and let me just say, I share your pain.
Kevin Madden, Donna Brazile, thanks so much for coming in today.
He played by the rules and made what he thought were safe investments. Up next, you'll find out what forced one man out of retirement and into the classroom. Our "State of the Union" report will be right back.
KING: Earlier in the program, you heard President Obama saying he sees glimmers of hope in the economy. Well, look at this map. If it is an orange color, that means relatively few jobs are being created. This color blue, the teal-ish, is in the middle. The dark blue means that is an area where a significant, or at least a decent number of jobs are being created.
To take a closer look at the strains of this recession, among our stops on the road as we get out of the country was the state of North Carolina. It has an unemployment rate of 10.7 percent. That is the fourth-highest in the country. Nearly 200,000 jobs lost in just the last year.
Many people are losing their jobs and going back to work, but that's not all that's happening out there. Many people who had retired, thought they had a safe nest egg, they find themselves feeling the pain of this recession, too.
DON WITTE, WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.: But it's not easy. And each situation is different.
KING (voice-over): In tough economic times, Don Witte is both the teacher and a painful lesson.
WITTE: You have 150 people applying for 25 jobs.
KING: His job search advice at Forsyth Community College, borne of 35 years of experience helping airlines and other businesses recruit and hire new talent.
WITTE: Now, successful networking, be yourself, always be yourself. Don't try to be somebody you're not.
KING: He loves the work, but he's here because he needs it.
WITTE: I retired about four years ago, had a very enjoyable retirement, until last year. And a lot of the funds we had counted on evaporated.
KING: All the more frustrating because Don Witte did it just like they say: a smaller, more affordable house after his daughter got married, carefully researched investments, a good mix of blue chips, offering consistent dividends.
WITTE: Diversify, diversify, and diversify. I did. But it didn't make any difference. It is the American dream, you work hard for a number of years, and then retire, enjoy yourself, relax, unfortunately, no more.
KING: Career counseling at the college doesn't pay much, but it helps with the bills, and with Witte's understanding of a recession he says is like none other in his lifetime. WITTE: From the senior executive to the middle manager to the nurse to the teacher to the laborer to the unskilled, it's affecting everybody. Each one of them is a little different story, and the common thread is if they haven't looked for a job for 10 years or so, it's the toughest job market that I've seen in my lifetime.
How many of you are on LinkedIn?
KING: Witte sees more evidence here when he volunteers for a nonprofit group called Professionals in Transition, a nice way of saying "out of work."
WITTE: I know a few people in town, and I'll share my contacts with you openly and gladly.
KING: Damien Birkel founded the organization in 1992. Most of that stretch, 10 or 12 people at a meeting. Now, often 40 to 50.
DAMIEN BIRKEL, FOUNDER, PROFESSIONALS IN TRANSITION: Banking, housing, construction. I have never, in the 17 years that I've been doing it, ever seen the economic impact ripple through the America like this. It's your neighbors. It's your friends. It's people that, you know, you would least expect to be impacted.
KING: People like Don Witte, who sees the headlines from Wall Street and believes reckless greed washed out his years of careful investing.
WITTE: Me and many, many other millions of people like me, they were playing with our money, not in a safe, prudent way, and they're not suffering. We are. In contrast to a year ago, we're counting every single penny that goes out, not because we want to, because we have to.
KING: Dinner out is now a splurge, not a weekly ritual. There is less travel, and waiting for sales to buy clothes and other staples. Still, Don Witte is an optimist who believes the economy and the market will bounce back, eventually. It is the uncertainty of just when that leaves him worried and has him back in the workforce.
WITTE: Being 64, is there enough time left in my life to recoup, to get back to where it was? Because I'd like to leave something to my daughter and our grandson and ultimate grandchildren, but at this point, there's very little there.
KING: Our thanks to Don Witte for inviting us into his home. And we want to say good-bye to our international audience for this hour. But coming up for our viewers here in the United States, Howard Kurtz talks about the problem some Democrats have with the media coverage of their party and President Obama.
Our STATE OF THE UNION report will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) KING: I'm John King. And this is our STATE OF THE UNION report for this Sunday, April 12th, 2009. Only days after President Obama visited troops in Iraq, five soldiers are killed in the deadliest attack in more than a year.
And today, another soldier dies. How will the continued violence affect the American withdrawal? We'll get the story straight from the man in charge. An exclusive interview with General Ray Odierno.
With the deadline to file your income taxes just days away, the president says he sees glimmers of hope in the economy. His opponent, well they just see higher taxes and more government spending. Two top political strategists will join me to break down the battle over fiscal policy.
Many Republicans say the media favors President Obama. The strategist who advised Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards disagrees. Howie Kurtz talks to Joe Trippi about media bias at his former boss's sex scandal. That's all ahead in this hour of STATE OF THE UNION.


text:
Alpensia () è una stazione sciistica situata nella località di Daegwallyeong, nella provincia di Gangwon, nella contea di Pyeongchang, Corea del Sud.

Storia
La decisione di costruire la stazione sciistica di Alpensia fu presa nel 2003, nell'ottica dell'ambizione della provincia di Gangwon di poter ospitare i Giochi olimpici invernali. I lavori furono completati nel 2011. Nel 2013, la stazione sciistica è stata la sede dei X Giochi olimpici speciali invernali.

Nel 2018, è stata la sede delle gare di biathlon, combinata nordica, salto con gli sci, bob, slittino e skeleton dei XXIII Giochi olimpici invernali così come delle gare di biathlon e sci di fondo dei XII Giochi paralimpici invernali.

Etimologia
"Alpensia" (알펜시아) è una parola macedonia composta combinando le parole Alpi (알펜시아), Asia (과 아시아) e fantasia (판타지아), cosicché il suo significato letterale è "le fantastiche Alpi dell'Asia".

Caratteristiche
La stazione sciistica dispone di sei piste per sci e snowboard, ognuna con una lunghezza superiore ai 1,4 km, e 9 impianti di risalita.

All'interno della stazione sciistica sono situati anche quattro degli impianti che saranno utilizzati durante i giochi olimpici invernali del 2018: lo stadio del salto, lo stadio del biathlon, lo stadio del fondo e il tracciato per bob, slittino e skeleton, così come uno dei due villaggi olimpici e il centro per i giornalisti.

Note

Altri progetti

Collegamenti esterni

Stazioni e comprensori sciistici sudcoreani
Impianti dei XXIII Giochi olimpici invernali
Daegwallyeong

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Egyptian beauty services booking platform Glamera raises $250,000 to fuel its expansion
Cairo-based beauty services booking platform Glamera has raised $250,000 in a seed round, the startup announced today in a statement to MENAbytes. The startup did not disclose the name of investor but told MENAbytes that it came from a Saudi angel investor.
Founded earlier this year by Mohamed Hassan, Omar Fathy and Zafer Alshehri, Glamera through its mobile app (for iOS and Android) allows users to book appointments for different beauty and health services at beauty salons and clinics, spas, gyms, and dental clinics.
The users have the options to go through the list of services provided by Glamera's different partners, see their prices, book appointments, pay (using different payment options) and then rate their experience afterward right from the app (think Uber for beauty services). There's also an app for partners that they use to manage the bookings.
Mohamed Hassan, the co-founder and CEO of Glamera, in a conversation with MENAbytes said that they currently have over 200 partners in Cairo selling their services on Glamera's platform and have facilitated thousands of bookings since launching earlier this year, with over 20,000 app downloads.
Glamera has plans to (further) expand its services in Cairo and three other governorates in Egypt including Alexandria later this year with the aim to take the number of partners they have to 1,000. The startup also plans to expand its services to Saudi next year.
The startup that currently has a team of 35 employees based in Cairo will use this investment to fuel its expansion.
#Cairo #Egypt

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


The soccer player scored three goals last week including a game winner to help the Cadets go 3-0.
Hilton soccer player Justin Arilotta has been voted the Democrat and Chronicle's Boys Athlete of the Week for the week of Oct. 1-Oct. 6.
Arilotta scored three goals last week including a game-winner over Penfield as he helped the Cadets go 3-0. He finished with 494 votes.
Penn Yan quarterback Will Rogers placed second after throwing for 465 yards and six touchdowns in a 49-21 win over previously undefeated Wayne.
Churchville-Chili volleyball player Griffin Stella was third after leading the Saints to a sweep over Spencerport. Batavia quarterback Ethan Biscaro rounded out the poll with four touchdowns and two interceptions against Wellsville.
A new Athlete of the Week poll will be posted at 10 a.m. every Monday. The poll will stay open until noon Friday. Nominations will be accepted until noon every Sunday.
Nominations can be sent to SJOHNSON1@Gannett.com or can be tweeted out with the #dandcathlete hashtag on Twitter.


We did this proposal project from ground up, it's a stunner of a project we are going to add more capabilities and their is no question that this developer is our number one choice, they were very patients, did all our changes which included performance and layout and it did require some due to the scope of this project, I would definitely recommend them.
Sritechnocrat were appointed because they showed when they quoted to be the most realistic in terms of understanding the scope; and the time frame, of all Freelancers who applied. I'm sure the project was harder than Sritechnocrat envisaged in the beginning; and given this, they rose to the challenge and delivered to a high standard. Things were changed and added during the project and it wasn't a problem for them. Their Communication and service levels are very good - Even while India were hosting and winning the cricket World Cup! I definitely recommend Sritechnocrat and will use them again. Well Done!
Amazing person/programmer. We changed our project scope halfway through our project and without any fuss or headship, he quickly reviewed the new project scope, offered new price and got working on it right away. Their programming skills are amazing! They took a complex idea i had mixed up in my head and brought it to life with little interaction with me. He just asked the right questions. Highly recommended. Great programmer. Less than 24 hour response time on communication.
10 Stars for Sritechnocrat and the work that they have done for me! They took my notes and ideas and created the website that I was dreaming of having! They are extremely organized, professional and creative. They documented all of my questions and responded to all of them until I was completely satisfied. I would 100% recommend using Sritechnocrat!!!


text:
Q: Add functionalities to List in Java I need to add the following functionalities over any implementation of List<>:
 - the resulted object should never show the OutOfBounds Exception for positive indexes
 - when you call get(x), with x=size, it will automatically increase the list up until size x+1, and will fill the newly created spaces with anything the programmer wishes (except NULL) - remember, the List should be a generic type
 - otherwise, it should act like a normal List
I know I need to use the Decorator Pattern, at the very least, to add the functionalities, however, I feel should also use some other Design Patterns - maybe Factory or Template, but I'm not exactly sure how.
Can anyone please give at least some hints as to how I can solve the above mentioned task?

A: class ListImpl<T> extends ArrayList {

    private Class<T> tType;

    public ListImpl(Class<T> tType) {
        this.tType = tType;
    }

    @Override
    public T get(int i) {
        if (i < this.size()) {
            T result = (T) super.get(i);
        } else {
            int resize = 1 + i - this.size();
            // T[] array = (T[]) new Object[resize];
            T[] array
                = (T[]) java.lang.reflect.Array.newInstance(tType, resize);
            this.addAll(Arrays.asList(array));
        }
        return (T) super.get(i);
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


"I am a disabled Navy vet who finds it difficult to get around due to severe mobility problems. I needed a notary and called Donna in the morning. We arranged to meet at my house early in the afternoon. Donna was on time and extremely professional. I found her to be an extremely wonderful person to boot! I will continue to use Donna for all of my notary needs/"
"Donna came to our house to notarize our refinance loan documents She had prepared the documents with different colored sticky notes to make it very clear where to sign and how to sign it. She was very sharp, caught several mistakes and in general paid a lot of attention to detail. She is right on it and very nice as well. We would recommend her to anyone."
"Donna definitely goes the extra mile for her clients. Our Title Company had sent the closing documents over, but they had some corrupt files that made us unable to print them. She worked with me for over an hour to get the problem fixed. She also went to the borrower's house at 9:30 at night to start the signing process. If she hadn't done this, the borrower's lock would have expired which would have been a problem since rates had increased since the lock had been executed. If they had to re-lock the borrower would have lost thousands of dollars in extra closing costs. I can't thank you enough Donna. You are a life saver!"


text:
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发布音乐

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正从网上获取音乐列表:(不要搜索音乐和上传音乐同时添加,音乐列表目前只支持多上传的mp3音乐)

                    正在解析中...

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                <input type="text" name="url" class="form-control" id="exampleInputAmount" placeholder="输入歌手/歌曲/专辑,搜索您感兴趣的音乐!">

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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Blairsville är en kommun av typen borough i Indiana County i Pennsylvania. Vid 2010 års folkräkning hade Blairsville 3 412 invånare.

Källor

Orter i Pennsylvania
Indiana County


text:
glory o'brien's history of the future
Wednesday, February 18, 2015 | Labels: a.s. king, glory o'brien's history of the future, sci-fi, young adult
I've been hearing good things about A.S. King's writing ever since I started blogging back in 2009. Her books are blogger favorites, and though the buzz surrounding them kindled some interest, I was never so overwhelmed by the praise that I felt a need to pick up one of her titles. That changed this winter when I participated in the final round of judging for the 2014 CYBILS awards, in the Young Adult Speculative Fiction category. Glory O'Brien's History of the Future was one of the finalists, so I was required to read it. Reaction: **hands clasped to heart** I loved everything about this weird, wonderful book.
In this masterpiece about freedom, feminism, and destiny, Printz Honor author A.S. King tells the epic story of a girl coping with devastating loss at long last—a girl who has no idea that the future needs her, and that the present needs her even more.
Graduating from high school is a time of limitless possibilities--but not for Glory, who has no plan for what's next. Her mother committed suicide when Glory was only four years old, and she's never stopped wondering if she will eventually go the same way...until a transformative night when she begins to experience an astonishing new power to see a person's infinite past and future. From ancient ancestors to many generations forward, Glory is bombarded with visions—and what she sees ahead of her is terrifying: A tyrannical new leader raises an army. Women's rights disappear. A violent second civil war breaks out. And young girls vanish daily, sold off or interned in camps. Glory makes it her mission to record everything she sees, hoping her notes will somehow make a difference. She may not see a future for herself, but she'll do anything to make sure this one doesn't come to pass.
Glory O'Brien is a soon-to-be high school graduate with no after-graduation plans. Her mother killed herself when Glory was four. Her mother was a gifted photographer, and Glory is a photographer herself. She wonders daily (hourly?) if she'll go the same way. In the meantime, she's trying to figure herself out through her mother's images, playing with perspective, asking hard questions about her family history, and, on a whim, drinking a petrified bat with her best friend (?!). She's pretty sure the bat is what started the visions of the future. Add one more item to the list of things that make Glory question her sanity.
Glory is an isolated deep thinker (because who really asks the big questions anymore, especially fresh out of high school?), and she's examining every part of her life for evidence of insanity. That examination raises many questions: What is normal? Is it okay to be not-normal? Is everything predetermined? What happens when people are confronted with suicide? Are we all mundane? Are we all special? Even with all of these notions swirling around in her head, the story is concrete – Glory is solid. Her story is about finding herself. It's about growing up, in mind and emotion, and letting go of the crutches of childhood. Glory has a glimpse of the future, and it prompts her to look beyond the now, beyond herself, to reach conclusions about society and its inherent conditioning. Glory might be a little weird, but it's the good kind.
This book touched on so many important topics: the philosophical split in American culture, the patriarchy, a fascination with cult life, the societal "machine" that pumps out indebted college graduates, an obsession with sex, and the isolation of the individual. It asked if the future is headed somewhere dark, and if it is, what choices are we making or not making that contribute to that future. And yet, despite all of those issues, heavy as they are, this was not a dark book. It was a quick, funny young adult read with heaps of literary merit.
How did it come together, then? When it might have veered into too-quirky or too-sad territory, Glory and her unique mental dialogue pulled the narrative away from the edge. Her sweet/bittersweet/hilarious take on growing up and away from childhood carried the book. Glory's voice was frank, healthy, and fit together in a way that managed darkly funny rather than horrid or melancholy. I know that the book must have been a bear to piece together, what with flashbacks and bits of the future, but the prose is effortless and evocative, and that is a hallmark of incredible writing.
In all, Glory O'Brien's History of the Future is an odd, intelligent book that manages to be weird as all get-out and awesome and extremely readable at the same time. I foresee a lot of A.S. King books in my reading future.
Recommended for: fans of Francesca Lia Block and Kimberly Pauley's Ask Me, and anyone who enjoys young adult fiction and magical realism.
This is a great review! I haven't attempted to review it yet, because I can't figure out how to talk about it coherently and express all the things that are so great about this book, but you really captured it, and expressed it eloquently.
I haven't read this one yet (and haven't moved it very far up my TBR list to be honest) but your review makes me want to give it a closer look. It sounds like this one is a definite winner.
Nice! I think this sounds like an important read!
It sounds like A.S. King must be an incredibly gifted writer to hit the perfect note with such seemingly dark themes. This is the first I've heard of this book, so thanks for the review!
the winner's curse
princess decomposia and count spatula
2014 cybils awards


text:
Edward James Nuttall (born 15 July 1993) is a fast left-arm bowler. He plays cricket for the Canterbury Kings and represented New Zealand in the 2011 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup. In June 2018, he was awarded a contract with Canterbury for the 2018–19 season. In June 2020, he was offered a contract by Canterbury ahead of the 2020–21 domestic cricket season.

Edward is the son of Andrew Nuttall, who also played first class cricket for Canterbury.

References

1993 births
Living people
New Zealand cricketers
Canterbury cricketers


BSSC 31290 Anchal Nirikshak Recruitment 2019 Apply Online for 31209 Circle Inspector in Revenue Department of Bihar. Latest Bihar Circle Inspector Recruitment 2018. BSSC Survey Amin Recruitment 2018, Bihar Clerk Recruitment 2019.
BSSC Anchal Nirikshak Recruitment 2019 Bihar Revenue & Land Reform Department today we find 31209 Circle Inspector vacancy in Bihar which is most searchable job inn of Inspector in India AND in Bihar. Candidates can apply with 112th pass mark sheet as DEO, Clerk & Vishesh Sarvashan Amin. For more Check Eligibility Criteria to Apply Online Last Date tune in below.
Bihar Revenue & Land Reform Department Recruitment 2018 Latest Update Dated 12.10.2018:- Bihar ssc going to conduct the file of 31000 Posts of Anchal Nirikshak, Clerk, Data Entry Operator, and Vishesh Sarvashan Sahayak.
The Information about the Age Limit of Circle Inspector Bharti in Bihar Will is provided with the Upcoming Official Advertisement.
The Information about the Educational Qualification of Circle Inspector, Amin, Clerk and Sahayak Will is provided in future.
Application Fee : soon updated.
How to Apply : all things we will beam online and syllabus admit card of circle inspector is soon dictated by us.


text:
Man of Steel, Iron Man 3, The Hobbit, Breaking Dawn II, After Earth Coming to Comic-Con 2012
ByJohn Villoch	 June 13, 2012 June 13, 2012
Hollywood studios announce plans to bring their tentpole films to the annual Comic-Con International: San Diego 2012, which runs July 12 – 15 (Preview Night on July 11).
Summit Entertainment is expected to bring the final installment of the popular Twilight film franchise, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2, starring Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner to the Con. Lionsgate will bring Stallone's all-star action sequel The Expendables 2 and possibly its Judge Dredd remake Dredd.
Disney/Marvel Studios is expected to bring Iron Man 3, starring Robert Downey Jr. and Ben Kingsley. Additionally, Walt Disney Pictures will introduce its upcoming 3D animated Wreck-It Ralph, The Wizard of Oz prequel Oz: The Great and Powerful, and possibly The Lone Ranger, starring Johnny Depp.
Warner Bros. Pictures has reserved a three-hour block at Hall H, the biggest room at the Convention, on Saturday, July 14. The studio is expected to present a first-look at next summer's Superman reboot Man of Steel and new footage from Peter Jackson's highly anticipated 3D adventure The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Legendary Pictures plans to join distributor partner Warner Bros. with a preview of Guillermo del Toro's robot jockey adventure Pacific Rim.
Sony Pictures, will likely bring Joseph Gordon-Levitt's bike-messenger action-thriller Premium Rush and director M. Night Shyamalan's post-apocalyptic fantasy After Earth, starring Will and Jaden Smith. Additionally, the studio may possibly give an extended look at the sci-fi remake Total Recall.
Universal Pictures, which still hasn't confirmed its participation, could bring the comic book adaptation R.I.P.D., starring Ryan Reynolds and Jeff Bridges, Bourne spin-off The Bourne Legacy, and Keanu Reeves long-delayed samurai epic 47 Ronin. Source: Variety
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Post Tags:	#After Earth#Comic Con#Man of Steel#The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey#The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2
'The Sopranos' Star James Gandolfini Dies at 51
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Video: Zack Snyder Teases Batman Vs. Superman Details
Director Zack Snyder revealed a few details about his upcoming Man of Steel sequel during a Yahoo! live event promoting the Blu-ray release of his summer blockbuster. Snyder hinted that…
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Sin City 2 Adds Jaime King and Jamie Chung
Jaime King and Jamie Chung have joined the cast of Sin City: A Dame To Kill For, director Robert Rodriguez' highly anticipated follow-up to his 2005's neo-noir crime thriller Sin…
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text:
Guillermo Durán (ur. 6 czerwca 1988 w San Miguel de Tucumán) – argentyński tenisista, olimpijczyk z Rio de Janeiro (2016).

Kariera tenisowa
Status profesjonalny Durán otrzymał w 2009 roku.

W rozgrywkach ATP Tour Brazylijczyk wygrał 4 turnieje w grze podwójnej z pięciu osiągniętych finałów.

W 2016 zagrał w konkurencji gry podwójnej na igrzyskach olimpijskich w Rio de Janeiro odpadając w pierwszej rundzie.

Najwyżej w rankingu gry pojedynczej znajdował się na 385. pozycji (2 kwietnia 2012), a w rankingu gry podwójnej na 48. miejscu (23 maja 2016).

Finały w turniejach ATP Tour

Gra podwójna (4–1)

Bibliografia

Argentyńscy tenisiści
Argentyńscy olimpijczycy
Tenisiści ziemni na Letnich Igrzyskach Olimpijskich 2016
Urodzeni w 1988
Ludzie urodzeni w San Miguel de Tucumán


Poptropica is celebrating its 7th birthday this month in the usual way.
Everyone can get a special 7th birthday balloon in the Poptropica Store. It's a free item that won't cost you any credits. Also, there's a special 7th Birthday costume available in the Common Rooms. To get it, visit any Common Room on Main Street and go inside. You'll see a lot of balloons floating around in the room to celebrate the birthday. If you're lucky, one of them will be blue with a green "7" on it. If you see it, click on that ballon to pop all the balloons in the room and get your special 7th Birthday costume. If you don't see the blue ballon in the room, just exit and re-enter. It's common to have to repeat this several times before the lucky blue 7 balloon appears.


In order to live greener, you must make an effort to be environmentally responsible every day. The changes you make do not have to occur all in one day. As each day passes, you can gradually make small efforts to change your lifestyle. Even the simplest of actions that you take to protect the environment will have a positive impact on the natural world. Listed below are 12 tips on how to live a greener lifestyle.
1. Reduce landfill waste by avoiding the use of Styrofoam containers, plastic and paper bags. When dining out at a restaurant, take along single serving Tupperware containers for leftovers. Carry along reusable canvas tote bags to the grocery store when shopping for groceries.
2. If you must drive your car daily for commuting back and forth to work, keep the vehicle in good running condition to save on fuel mileage. Check the tire pressure frequently, replace the air and oil filters regularly and obey the speed limit while driving to save on the cost of gas.
3. Computers, printers, televisions and radios continue to use electricity even when they are sitting idle. Save energy costs by turning off and unplugging all electronic devices when they are not in use.
4. Lower your electrical bill by replacing the incandescent light bulbs throughout your home with compact fluorescent light bulbs. Fluorescent lighting uses around 75 percent less energy and lasts up to 10 times longer then regular light bulbs.
5. Consider switching to green power, which is renewable energy that is generated by solar and wind power.
6. Reduce the cost of your electrical bill by washing your laundry in cold water. Line dry the clothes to help protect the environment and save on energy cost. An added advantage to line drying is less shrinkage of the clothing, which often occurs from the intense heat generated by dryers.
7. Buy local grown produce instead of foods that are shipped to the supermarket by boat, plane, train or truck. These modes of transportation are all known to emit greenhouse gases, which is harmful to the environment.
8. Purchase snack foods such as cookies and crackers in full size boxes instead of individual packages to prevent more waste from going into the landfill.
9. Reduce energy and water consumption by running only full loads in your major appliances, such as the dishwasher or washing machine. If you are looking to replace a broken appliance, buy an energy efficient model with the label Energy Star on it.
10. Protect the environment by replacing the bottled water you normally drink with water that you have filtered yourself and poured into reusable bottles.
11. Reduce the energy usage of your air conditioning unit in the summer by planting trees around your home that will provide cool shade on hot sunny days.
12. Building and shipping new furniture to warehouses requires both materials and energy. If possible, check the ads in your local newspaper and online for acceptable deals on used furniture.


text:
var get = Ember.get;
var isEmpty = Ember.isEmpty;
var map = Ember.EnumerableUtils.map;

import {
  MapWithDefault
} from "ember-data/system/map";

/**
@module ember-data
*/

/**
  Holds validation errors for a given record organized by attribute names.

  Every DS.Model has an `errors` property that is an instance of
  `DS.Errors`. This can be used to display validation error
  messages returned from the server when a `record.save()` rejects.
  This works automatically with `DS.ActiveModelAdapter`, but you
  can implement [ajaxError](/api/data/classes/DS.RESTAdapter.html#method_ajaxError)
  in other adapters as well.

  For Example, if you had an `User` model that looked like this:

  ```javascript
  App.User = DS.Model.extend({
    username: attr('string'),
    email: attr('string')
  });
  ```
  And you attempted to save a record that did not validate on the backend.

  ```javascript
  var user = store.createRecord('user', {
    username: 'tomster',
    email: 'invalidEmail'
  });
  user.save();
  ```

  Your backend data store might return a response that looks like
  this. This response will be used to populate the error object.

  ```javascript
  {
    "username": ["This username is already taken!"],
    "email": ["Doesn't look like a valid email."]
  }
  ```

  Errors can be displayed to the user by accessing their property name
  to get an array of all the error objects for that property. Each
  error object is a JavaScript object with two keys:

  - `message` A string containing the error message from the backend
  - `attribute` The name of the property associated with this error message

  ```handlebars
  <label>Username: {{input value=username}} </label>
  {{#each model.errors.username as |error|}}
    <div class="error">
      {{error.message}}
    </div>
  {{/each}}

  <label>Email: {{input value=email}} </label>
  {{#each model.errors.email as |error|}}
    <div class="error">
      {{error.message}}
    </div>
  {{/each}}
  ```

  You can also access the special `messages` property on the error
  object to get an array of all the error strings.

  ```handlebars
  {{#each model.errors.messages as |message|}}
    <div class="error">
      {{message}}
    </div>
  {{/each}}
  ```

  @class Errors
  @namespace DS
  @extends Ember.Object
  @uses Ember.Enumerable
  @uses Ember.Evented
 */
export default Ember.Object.extend(Ember.Enumerable, Ember.Evented, {
  /**
    Register with target handler

    @method registerHandlers
    @param {Object} target
    @param {Function} becameInvalid
    @param {Function} becameValid
  */
  registerHandlers: function(target, becameInvalid, becameValid) {
    this.on('becameInvalid', target, becameInvalid);
    this.on('becameValid', target, becameValid);
  },

  /**
    @property errorsByAttributeName
    @type {Ember.MapWithDefault}
    @private
  */
  errorsByAttributeName: Ember.reduceComputed("content", {
    initialValue: function() {
      return MapWithDefault.create({
        defaultValue: function() {
          return Ember.A();
        }
      });
    },

    addedItem: function(errors, error) {
      errors.get(error.attribute).pushObject(error);

      return errors;
    },

    removedItem: function(errors, error) {
      errors.get(error.attribute).removeObject(error);

      return errors;
    }
  }),

  /**
    Returns errors for a given attribute

    ```javascript
    var user = store.createRecord('user', {
      username: 'tomster',
      email: 'invalidEmail'
    });
    user.save().catch(function(){
      user.get('errors').errorsFor('email'); // returns:
      // [{attribute: "email", message: "Doesn't look like a valid email."}]
    });
    ```

    @method errorsFor
    @param {String} attribute
    @return {Array}
  */
  errorsFor: function(attribute) {
    return get(this, 'errorsByAttributeName').get(attribute);
  },

  /**
    An array containing all of the error messages for this
    record. This is useful for displaying all errors to the user.

    ```handlebars
    {{#each model.errors.messages as |message|}}
      <div class="error">
        {{message}}
      </div>
    {{/each}}
    ```

    @property messages
    @type {Array}
  */
  messages: Ember.computed.mapBy('content', 'message'),

  /**
    @property content
    @type {Array}
    @private
  */
  content: Ember.computed(function() {
    return Ember.A();
  }),

  /**
    @method unknownProperty
    @private
  */
  unknownProperty: function(attribute) {
    var errors = this.errorsFor(attribute);
    if (isEmpty(errors)) { return null; }
    return errors;
  },

  /**
    @method nextObject
    @private
  */
  nextObject: function(index, previousObject, context) {
    return get(this, 'content').objectAt(index);
  },

  /**
    Total number of errors.

    @property length
    @type {Number}
    @readOnly
  */
  length: Ember.computed.oneWay('content.length').readOnly(),

  /**
    @property isEmpty
    @type {Boolean}
    @readOnly
  */
  isEmpty: Ember.computed.not('length').readOnly(),

  /**
    Adds error messages to a given attribute and sends
    `becameInvalid` event to the record.

    Example:

    ```javascript
    if (!user.get('username') {
      user.get('errors').add('username', 'This field is required');
    }
    ```

    @method add
    @param {String} attribute
    @param {Array|String} messages
  */
  add: function(attribute, messages) {
    var wasEmpty = get(this, 'isEmpty');

    messages = this._findOrCreateMessages(attribute, messages);
    get(this, 'content').addObjects(messages);

    this.notifyPropertyChange(attribute);
    this.enumerableContentDidChange();

    if (wasEmpty && !get(this, 'isEmpty')) {
      this.trigger('becameInvalid');
    }
  },

  /**
    @method _findOrCreateMessages
    @private
  */
  _findOrCreateMessages: function(attribute, messages) {
    var errors = this.errorsFor(attribute);

    return map(Ember.makeArray(messages), function(message) {
      return errors.findBy('message', message) || {
        attribute: attribute,
        message: message
      };
    });
  },

  /**
    Removes all error messages from the given attribute and sends
    `becameValid` event to the record if there no more errors left.

    Example:

    ```javascript
    App.User = DS.Model.extend({
      email: DS.attr('string'),
      twoFactorAuth: DS.attr('boolean'),
      phone: DS.attr('string')
    });

    App.UserEditRoute = Ember.Route.extend({
      actions: {
        save: function(user) {
           if (!user.get('twoFactorAuth')) {
             user.get('errors').remove('phone');
           }
           user.save();
         }
      }
    });
    ```

    @method remove
    @param {String} attribute
  */
  remove: function(attribute) {
    if (get(this, 'isEmpty')) { return; }

    var content = get(this, 'content').rejectBy('attribute', attribute);
    get(this, 'content').setObjects(content);

    this.notifyPropertyChange(attribute);
    this.enumerableContentDidChange();

    if (get(this, 'isEmpty')) {
      this.trigger('becameValid');
    }
  },

  /**
    Removes all error messages and sends `becameValid` event
    to the record.

    Example:

    ```javascript
    App.UserEditRoute = Ember.Route.extend({
      actions: {
        retrySave: function(user) {
           user.get('errors').clear();
           user.save();
         }
      }
    });
    ```

    @method clear
  */
  clear: function() {
    if (get(this, 'isEmpty')) { return; }

    get(this, 'content').clear();
    this.enumerableContentDidChange();

    this.trigger('becameValid');
  },

  /**
    Checks if there is error messages for the given attribute.

    ```javascript
    App.UserEditRoute = Ember.Route.extend({
      actions: {
        save: function(user) {
           if (user.get('errors').has('email')) {
             return alert('Please update your email before attempting to save.');
           }
           user.save();
         }
      }
    });
    ```

    @method has
    @param {String} attribute
    @return {Boolean} true if there some errors on given attribute
  */
  has: function(attribute) {
    return !isEmpty(this.errorsFor(attribute));
  }
});


text:
Browse: Home / The Road to Hell Has Never Looked So Good: 'Hadestown' Review
The Road to Hell Has Never Looked So Good: 'Hadestown' Review
Posted by mckenzimurphy on April 21, 2019 in Reviews | 207 Views | Leave a response
Photo courtesy of Matthew Murphy
By McKenzi Thi Murphy
Incoming Editor-in-Chief
After over a decade of careful development and refinement, "Hadestown: The Myth. The Musical" officially opened April 17 on Broadway after a successful preview run. The show has run at near-full to standing-room-only capacity at the Walter Kerr Theatre on W 48th Street since opening preview night on April 22. Appropriately, the 900-plus-seat theatre has various depictions of mythological creatures on its historical walls.
Our Ladies of the Underground:
As it stands, this Greek mythology-inspired musical is the only show both directed and written by women this season. Through an enchanting, heartbreaking melding of jazz, folk and blues music, Anaïs Mitchell has gifted audiences with "a tale of a love that never dies." Impressively, Mitchell is the first woman in well over a decade to single-handedly pen the book, music and lyrics of a Broadway show. Both a grand accomplishment and a dismal testament to the lack of female creative representation on Broadway.
Her partner in crime, Rachel Chavkin, has been with the show since 2012 and her stunning direction brings it to a new level. Chavkin had earned a Tony nomination for her direction of "Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812" two years prior and will almost certainly receive another.
A World of Gods and Men:
Greek mythology enthusiasts might recognize the characters from their ancient myths, but Mitchell's adaptation gives them new life. Set in a Great Depression-era/post-apocalyptic setting, Hades (Patrick Page) now runs an underground factory and surrounds himself in machinery. His otherworldly vocal range reaches depths previously inconceivable.
Meanwhile, Persephone (Amber Gray), still bound to spend half the year down below, has long since grown weary of her husband's aspirations and drowns her dissatisfaction in spirits and wine. Gray's unbeatable portrayal gives us the disaster alcoholic goddess we've always wanted and her playfully seductive growl transcends the stage.
Both Page and Gray have followed the show through its many productions across the globe and consistently give stand-out performances.
The story focuses on the myth of Orpheus (Reeve Carney) and Eurydice (Eva Noblezada). In the myth, Eurydice had no agency and simply died from a snake bite on the day of her wedding, but in this story famine and flood threaten her survival and she chooses to go down to Hadestown to stave off hunger. Noblezada gives this version of Eurydice more spunk and bitterness than previous actresses' portrayals and her triumphant vocals in the show's climax are truly magnificent.
As for Orpheus, he is no longer the swaggering and suave man he was before. Instead he is a sweet, simple-minded musician working on crafting a song that can bring the world back into tune. Carney's performance has been heavily criticized in previous runs, and while he still does not quite measure up to his immensely talented castmates, this new characterization proves much more favorable for him.
And what would a myth be without a trickster god to narrate for us? Hermes (André De Shields) remains onstage for nearly the entire two-and-a-half hours, sporting a fabulous silver suit and shoes. Previously singing as a bass and now as a tenor, Hermes has a more cohesive influence on the characters, serving as a morally ambiguous mentor for Orpheus and a confidant to Hades.
Played by Jewelle Blackman, Yvette Gonzales-Nacer and Kay Trinidad, the Fates are absolute perfection. Somehow both malevolent and comedic, often at the same time, the Fates provide the taunting voices of doubt and encouragement for our protagonists. While Hades may be the show's more obvious antagonist and the man in charge, the Fates' chaotic influence prove they are the real puppet masters pulling the show's strings. Quite literally, in the case of the old stories. They deliver arguably the most thought-provoking message to the audience: "You can have your principles when you've got a bellyful. But hunger has a way with you. There's no telling what you're gonna do when the chips are down. Now that the chips are down."
Rounding out the cast are a chorus of workers (Afra Hines, Timothy Hughes, John Krause, Kimberly Marable and Ahmad Simmons) toiling away to build Hades' wall. In the Broadway version, the workers are given their own individualism and we see their realization of what hell has become in real time.
From Concept Album to Broadway:
"Hadestown"'s most well-known beginning came in the form of a concept album back in 2010 and after an additional 15 songs, premiered at New York Theatre Workshop in 2016. The show's live off-Broadway cast recording can be found on most streaming sites, though it has gone through significant changes on the road to Broadway.
In late 2017, the show then opened at the Citadel Theatre in Canada with a mostly-new cast, save for Page and Gray. From there, several of the cast members moved to a West End run at the National Theatre ahead of the Broadway transfer.
And while the Fates insist that "Nothing Changes," "Hadestown" has undergone major renovations even from previews to the official opening. Now there is a more cogent plot to anchor the characters, and the love between Orpheus and Eurydice has more development.
But while most of the lyrical changes are understandable, fans on social media all widely agree the removal of Persephone's verse in "Chant II" is a crime against humanity. The now-dead lyrics had Persephone delivering a cautionary tale of love to Eurydice as a foil to Hades' to Orpheus. An equally devastating loss was the accompanying parallel choreography of the older lovers that showcased the full potential of the stage's turntables.
Why We Build the Wall: Politics and Broadway:
As the closing number of Act I, the cast sings a chilling chant to the purposes of Hades' infamous wall. While it may seem like a blatant analogy to Trump's obsession with building a wall at the Mexican border, "Why We Build the Wall" has existed well before the 2016 election.
In an interview, Mitchell said, "The idea of a wall is a mythic idea." And while the political timing of such a song could not have been better planned, the wall as a symbol of class boundaries is a common occurrence in history.
Since the NYTW production, the show's environmental nod has also grown stronger. Up on top, the planet is in seasonal turmoil and the people near starvation when Persephone leaves for Hadestown each winter. She laments that the plight of humanity and the desecration of her planet "ain't right and it ain't natural."
Of Lighting and Set Design:
So often doing a thankless job, Broadway's technical production teams are usually overshadowed by performers and directors, particularly during the Tony Awards where many of those award presentations are not even televised.
However, there is no forgetting "Hadestown"'s magnificent set and lighting design, created by Rachel Hauck and Bradley King respectively. The two creators worked in tandem to put together the most magnificent musical number I have ever seen in the history of my extensive Broadway experience. As Orpheus journeys down into Hadestown, the 1920-esque speakeasy set splits open to reveal steampunk factory pipes and industrial lighting. It must be seen live to be believed.
Seating Choices and Final Thoughts:
Full disclosure: I have seen this show four times and have tickets to see it twice more. The beauty of the Walter Kerr Theatre is that there is almost no bad seat in the house. Except the balcony. Don't sit in the balcony. It is built so high that the seats are level with the very top of the stage's frame. But for orchestra and mezzanine, even seats on the very ends of the rows get a non-obstructed view. Furthermore, the mezzanine is at such a steep incline even back-row seats are not blocked by the row in front of them. I recommend center-to-front mezzanine for the best experience.
A View From Mid-Orchestra
(c)McKenziThiMurphy
A View From Front-Mezzanine
Anaïs Mitchell and Rachel Chavkin have outdone themselves with "an old tale from way back when." And with the successful ticket sales and positive reviews, it is likely the cast will continue to "sing it again and again and again."
Posted in Reviews | Tagged Broadway, greek mythology, hadestown, Musicals, politics, theatre
mckenzimurphy
McKenzi Thi Murphy is the Executive Editor of the Independent. A student of the J-School, she is currently in her junior year and also pursuing a secondary major in Women's and Gender Studies, as well as a minor in Theatre. She spends any and all free time seeing theatrical productions and lamenting the rising costs of Broadway. Her life goals are to write a play, maybe, and destroy the patriarchy, definitely.
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