At Elite, we've worked with athletes and teams of all ages, from youth to professional and every level in between. Whether you are in Little League or the Big Leagues, a D1 prospect or a weekend warrior, we can help you maximize your athletic potential and achieve your goals. Our team of nationally-certified Strength & Conditioning Specialists, Personal Trainers and Physical Therapists offers the most comprehensive, sports-specific strength & conditioning programs you will find. Our experienced staff has worked with thousands of athletes at all levels of sport, from youth athletes to Major League MVPs and Olympic Gold Medalists. Whether you are looking to prepare for your upcoming season, improve your performance in your sport, or become the next Major League MVP, our mission is to maximize the performance and potential of all of our athletes regardless of age, gender or skill level through superior training, education, and motivation. Our team of strength & conditioning specialists and sports performance coaches will design a sports-specific program for individual athletes or entire teams that focus on improving the most important attributes to overall performance, including strength, speed, agility, power, and dynamic stability.
Our mission is to maximize the potential, performance, and safety of our athletes through proven training methods based on scientific research, optimal nutrition, quality coaching, and individual attention to the particular needs of each athlete. Our facilities boasts not only some of the best training equipment available, but also a fun, supportive environment for our athletes.
I was able to become a more explosive hitter and also endured a full season of baseball without breaking down. Peter is an asset to anyone looking to improve athletic performance.
Our expert training staff has worked with athletes from most major sports, as well as some less common sports as well! We've had athletes from the following sports train to increase their strength, speed, power, agility, flexibility, endurance, and overall conditioning.
Which location would you like to train at?
Call you tell us about your sports performance goals?
I have been struggling to find a place to enhance my performance for softball. I love Elite! I went from a private session once a week, now I go twice a week for semi-privates. They have such diverse options to choose how to set your workout up. They really cater to you and your sport. I have made so many friends and it is truly a fantastic community.


text:
package com.cloudbees.api;

import com.thoughtworks.xstream.annotations.XStreamAlias;

@XStreamAlias("ApplicationDeleteResponse")
public class ApplicationDeleteResponse {
    private boolean deleted;

    public ApplicationDeleteResponse() {
    }

    public ApplicationDeleteResponse(boolean deleted) {
        this.deleted = deleted;
    }

    public boolean isDeleted() {
        return deleted;
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


This statistic displays the crude death rate in Greece from 2007 to 2016 (per 1,000 inhabitants). Since 2008 the number of deaths per 1,000 inhabitants had increased to 10.6 in 2012, this figure then peaked at 11.2 in 2015.
A crude rate is calculated as the ratio of the number of events to the average population of the respective area in a given year.


The purpose of the day of prayer is for believers to gather in the name of Jesus Christ in order to intercede for those in authority.
Join us for a self-guided PRAYER WALK anytime between 7:30 AM & 11:30 AM. No need to register. Come pray for OUR NATION, NORTH CAROLINA & OUR LEADERS.
PRAYER SERVICE: A Prayer Service will take place 12:00-1:00 PM.
Location of Prayer Walk and Service: On the north end of Bicentennial Mall, located across Jones Street from the Legislative Building.
There is parking near the Museum of History and NC State Capitol.
The parking lot address is 100 East Jones Street.


Looking for current or future work in Atlantic Canada?
A hard working and motivated individual, interested in a dynamic career with opportunities for growth?
At J.D. Irving, Limited , you are part of an energetic team of professionals who lead with integrity and are passionate about achieving results.
With a culture that nurtures talent and creates an inclusive workplace, you can grow your career across our diverse operating divisions.
Founded in 1882, J.D. Irving, Limited (JDI) has operations in Eastern Canada (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Ontario, Newfoundland and Labrador), and the United States.
We are a team of 15,000 dedicated employees.
If you are interested in applying for a current or future Operations career opportunity with JDI, please click the Apply Now button and complete the online application form.
A resume of past experience is required; a cover letter is not.
All applications will be reviewed by one of our recruiters. If the recruiter sees a potential opportunity (current or future) that matches your skills and experience, you will be contacted to discuss your qualifications, desired work location, and fit within the JDI group of companies.
Only those candidates who have the necessary qualifications will be contacted.
We appreciate your interest in our company!


text:
Theater Emory hosts 'Breaking Ground' summer series
By By Emma YarbroughJuly 1, 2014
This summer, more than 50 performers, choreographers, playwrights, theater-makers, students and alumni converge on Emory's campus for Theater Emory's Breaking Ground Series, a four-week residency of new work development in the Schwartz Center for Performing Arts.
Workshop participants practice the Bunraku-style puppetry that will be used in the July 6 production of 'The Boy Who Smiled.' Photo by Erwin Mass.
Now in its second year, the Breaking Ground summer series not only serves as a laboratory for new work, but also provides community members the opportunity to dive into developmental processes with artists from Atlanta and beyond.
During Breaking Ground, each project is given one week in the Theater Lab to develop ideas. At the end of the week, creators open up their process and invite the public to view and discuss their work, giving audiences the opportunity to witness and respond to art in its nascent stage.
One such project, a collaboration between Michael Haverty and Erwin Maas in conjunction with Atlanta's 7 Stages Theatre entitled "The Boy Who Smiled," is a multi-media exploration of the autistic spectrum through a combination of puppetry, live performers, and dynamic use of video technology. The presentation takes place Sunday, July 6, at 3 p.m. in the Theater Lab of the Schwartz Center for Performing Arts
"Breaking Ground provides us with invaluable resources and time to focus on the challenging themes and new technological aspects of our performance," Haverty says.
Inspired by the public's often-misconceived notions about autism, Haverty, a director and playwright currently serving as associate artistic director of 7 Stages Theatre, and Maas, a New York based theater director and teacher, hope to facilitate a dialogue between performers and audience about preconceived notions of special needs individuals, and to address the issue of bullying through a powerful and entertaining theatrical spectacle.
The project's connection to Emory runs deep, with support coming from the Ethics Center, Emory Medical School and the Emory Autism Center.
"The open, effusive, and respectful support of Theater Emory creates a safe and ripe space for creative investigation," Haverty says, noting this is a vital environment for an undertaking as ambitious as "The Boy Who Smiled," which hopes to bring the audience into the mind of a young man with autism, giving voice to the unseen differences in brain function and perception that exist on the autistic spectrum.
In addition to "The Boy Who Smiled," the 2014 Summer Breaking Ground Series features projects from Atlanta artists such as Blake Beckham, Corian Ellisor, Patricia Henritze, and Nicole Livieratos as well as new work from Theater Emory students and alumni.
All Breaking Ground events are free and open to the public and take place in the Theater Lab. For more information, visit Theater Emory on Facebook at www.facebook.com/theateremory or call 404-712-9118.
All events are held in the Theater Lab of the Schwartz Center for Performing Arts.
Thursday, July 3, 8 p.m.
"Fragments – inspired by Sarah Kane"
India Duranthon, TC Kinser and Lizzy Segal
Saturday, July 5, 5 p.m.
"Go-Getters"
Clifford Clark, Leili Kasraie, Frank Lemmon, Caitlin Reeves, Nicholas Surbey and Emma Yarbrough
Sunday, July 6, 3 p.m.
"The Boy Who Smiled"
Michael Haverty and Erwin Maas with 7 Stages Theatre
Wednesday, July 9, 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Workshop: Patricia Henritze and Nicole Livieratos
Drop-ins welcome; contact patriciahenritze@gmail.com
Wednesday & Thursday, July 9-10, 7-9 p.m.
Workshop: Rachel Shuey
Open to all levels; rfshuey@gmail.com
Saturday, July 12, 1:30 p.m.
"Proximity"
Nicole Livieratos and Patricia Henritze
Sunday, July 13, 6 p.m.
"Playing to the Music"
Rachel Shuey
Emory in Atlanta

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
An interview with Alex Marsh, writer of the blog Private Secret Diary and author of the book Sex and Bowls and Rock and Roll, which I like a lot.
Tim Worstall on why self-sufficiency in food is an idiotic idea. It's not just about wanting bananas, pineapples and rice when you live in New Zealand or – god forbid – England, it's about preventing famine.
Chad Taylor on why bookshops in France seem to be OK, perhaps because they sell books. Chad signs off here – I hope he'll be back because I have enjoyed his blogging very much. It is zeitgeisty.
I'm signing off for a bit too. Back next week, with the long-promised Bill Manhire/Dr Feelgood connection. Promise.
A guest post by my friend Chris Bell, who plays bass. We are too shy to have played together, but my impression is that he is rather good. Certainly our musical tastes overlap a bit. He writes about his Twitter list of Top Twenty Solos:
I've favoured great solos in song context rather than solo tunes in their own right. It's a personal list, not intended as definitive. Disclaimer: Many choices are arbitrary (which Monk, Bird, Hendrix solo to choose?) and the ranking and any omissions personal taste. Miles Davis's solo on 'So What' from Kind of Blue was omitted from my highly subjective Top 20 only for space reasons.
1. Ernie Isley, guitar, 'Summer Breeze', The Isley Brothers, 3 + 3
2. Frank Zappa, guitar, 'Watermelon In Easter Hay', Joe's Garage
3. Carlos Santana, guitar, 'Song of the Wind', Santana, Caravanserai
4. Jaco Pastorius, bass, 'Used To Be A Cha Cha', Jaco Pastorius
5. Josef Zawinul, keyboards, 'A Remark You Made', Weather Report, 8.30
6. Chet Baker, trumpet, 'Shipbuilding', Elvis Costello, Punch The Clock
7. Thelonious Monk, piano, 'Ruby My Dear', The Complete Blue Note Thelonious Monk
8. Charlie Parker, alto sax, 'Ko-Ko', The Charlie Parker Story (Savoy Jazz)
9. Jeff 'Skunk' Baxter, guitar, 'My Old School', Steely Dan, Countdown To Ecstasy
10. Jimi Hendrix, guitar, 'Third Stone From The Sun', Jimi Hendrix Experience, Are You Experienced
11. Jimmy T. Zavala, blues harp, 'Missionary Man', Eurythmics, Revenge
12. David Lindley, lap steel guitar, 'Detox Mansion', Warren Zevon, Sentimental Hygiene
13. John Coltrane, tenor sax, 'Giant Steps', Giant Steps
14. John Martyn, guitar, 'Johnny Too Bad', Grace and Danger
15. Steve Gadd, drums, 'Aja', Steely Dan, Aja
16. Wayne Shorter, soprano sax, 'Aja', Steely Dan, Aja
17. Herbie Hancock, piano, 'Kuru/Speak Like A Child', Jaco Pastorius
18. Terry Bozzio, drums, 'The Black Page (New Age Version)', Frank Zappa, Make a Jazz Noise Here
19. Ruth Underwood, marimbas, 'Saint Alphonso's Pancake Breakfast', Frank Zappa, Apostrophe (')
20. Joe Morello, drums, 'Take Five', Dave Brubeck Quartet, Time Out
Personally I'd have some Richard Thompson, Eric Dolphy, Amos Garrett, Lonnie Mack, Cannonball Adderley, Albert King, Robert Fripp and Adrian Belew and possibly Split Enz's Noel Crombie on spoons. But then, what to ditch?
Anyway, Chris expects to be argued with. Feel free to do so in the comments.
This is the Tallis Scholars in Merton College, Oxford, performing the First Lamentation for Maundy Thursday by Tomás Luis de Victoria (1548-1611). This year is the 400th anniversary of his death.
The English version of the Latin text begins:
Here begins the lamentation of the prophet Jeremiah.
How desolate lies the city that was once full of people:
the queen of nations has become as a widow;
the ruler of provinces is now subject to others.
By night she weeps in sorrow
and tears run down her cheeks.
Fergus Barrowman of Victoria University Press tweets at IIML:
Just published a book with Victoria Unversity Press on the title page.
I do sympathise with Fergus, but heh. "Unversity" is such a good word. Think of AUT, and one or two other educational institutions not a million miles away . . .
A note for overseas readers
The best source for news updates on the Christchurch earthquake is on Fairfax's website Stuff, at this page.
The best eyewitness account is this by Vicki Anderson.
Jim Tucker has uploaded a swathe of dramatic photos to Flickr here.
Cash donations can be made through the Red Cross here.
Because New Zealand is so small most of us have friends and/or family in Christchurch who have been directly affected, and we don't yet know how many people are dead – 75 have been confirmed but unofficial reports put the missing at perhaps 300. It is a very sombre time throughout the country.
According to Stuff, "Police say there are 238 people on the missing persons list but say many of these people will simply have left town." Let's hope.
UPDATE 2:
Two more good eyewitness accounts, from Zara Potts and Philip Matthews, and a sequel to Vicki Anderson's one linked to above.
Worst headline of the week
On CNN:
Libyan demonstrators say they'll soldier on despite violent crackdown
There's something wrong with that second verb, isn't there.
Kicking Berlusconi
Paul Whitehouse and Harry Enfield in Harry & Paul on BBC2 suggest that the Italian PM may not be a stranger to corruption:
Monitor: Lindsey Dawson
Happy birthday Barry Humphries
Every 17 February we wish the Greatest Living Australian a happy birthday. Today is his 77th.
One week ago he was named Oldie of the Year by Richard Ingrams' excellent Oldie magazine.
Oldie readers of this blog will remember Ingrams as the editor of Private Eye, which published the Barry McKenzie comic strip written by Humphries and illustrated by the New Zealand-born cartoonist Nicholas Garland. There was later a film or two, but as Wittgenstein put it, "Whereof we cannot speak, let us remain silent." Or as my mother would say, "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all."
In the same Oldie awards Prince Philip was awarded Consort of the Year. Phil the Greek, as Private Eye dubbed him, may be an appalling racist and all-round shit but he is also a good sport – he accepted.
The big four banks
Banks face downgrade
The big banks look set to lose their prized Aa2 credit ratings after ratings agency Moody's Investment Services said it was considering a downgrade of them.
I am not surprised. These people are idiots. Three of them keep sending me emails saying that my account with them has been frozen due to unauthorised access, and can I please log on again to confirm my identity, when I don't even have an account with them. This is no way to run a business in the modern world.
Ruby Heartbreaker
Until Silvio Berlusconi's trial – which, amusingly, will be before three women judges – we will not know for sure what he got up to with the teenage pole dancer Karima el-Mahroug, otherwise known as Ruby Heartbreaker or Ruby Heartstealer (depending on your translator), or with the dental hygienist Nicole Minetti. But I think we all have a fair idea.
Berlusconi is a huge embarrassment to Italians – though they did vote for him, so one's sympathy is a bit limited – but OMG he and his harem have been good for my blog stats. As mentioned before, people all over the world – i.e. men, possibly lonely men – come here because I included photos of the comely Ms el-Hahroug and Ms Minetti in a post that I thought would amuse readers. Attracting pervs has never been the purpose of the blog but never mind. One is increasing the sum of human happiness, and that can only be a good thing.
Except that this case is not amusing at all because it shows up the abuse of power that these men indulge in. Frankly, they wouldn't get a shag based on their looks or, one suspects, their charm or sense of humour.
The Economist has had a beady eye on Berlusconi for years and has long been the best place for coverage of his sins – not so much the sex stuff which is trivial, really, compared to the corruption and abuse of power. I'm not sure if non-subscribers can get to this but here is the magazine's interactive guide to Silvio Berlusconi's legal troubles.
A note for NZ authors
Nicky Pellegrino reports on Facebook that the Authors Fund has gone online with its registration forms. What took them so long?
If you want to re-register without adding new titles complete the online re-registration form here.
If you need to register new titles complete the form here – you'll have to print it out, sign it and snail-mail it.
David Thorne advises on Facebook that:
The Black Label Edition of The Internet is a Playground is being permanently removed from the 27b/6 website due to legal/contractual obligations. Last chance to purchase today.
As highly recommended by me last month here.
Chat-up line of the day
From this list of 30 Literary Quotes That Just Might Get You Laid:
"Stuff me in a tutu and let's screen experimental videos all day."
Not saying it would work on me, mind.
Word of the day: "vajazzling". Go on, have a look.
Copyrights and wrongs: the Economist calls JD Salinger "the pre-eminent enemy of open culture in American letters".
Jonny B at Private Secret Diary has mice
A very short planetary history: the four parts are "The Birth of the Moon", "The Late Heavy Bombardment", "The Oxygen Catastrophe" and "Snowball Earth". We are now in the Cenozoic era of the Phanerozoic eon. But you probably knew that.
Kevin Ireland's 1977 collection Literary Cartoons won the NZ Book Award for Poetry. Here is a literally literary cartoon.
B.R. Myers rails against foodie-ism in a review of four new food books and compares them unfavourably with Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx's Heroin Diaries, which he found refreshing by contrast. Money quote:
Johnston and Baumann note that "eating unusual foods is part of what generates foodie status," and indeed, there appears to be no greater point of pride in this set than to eat with the indiscriminate omnivorousness of a rat in a zoo dumpster. Jeffrey Steingarten called his first book The Man Who Ate Everything. Bourdain writes, with equal swagger, "I've eaten raw seal, guinea pig. I've eaten bat." The book Foodies quotes a middle-aged software engineer who says, "Um, it's not something I would be anxious to repeat but. . . it's kind of weird and cool to say I've had goat testicles in rice wine." The taste of these bizarre meals – as researchers of oral fixation will not be surprised to learn – is neither here nor there.
More from Tim Worstall on why speculators in food are doing us all a favour.
A great (if long) piece by Alec Clark on book editing, with additional notes by authors such as Blake Morrison, Diana Athill, Jeanette Winterson and Craig Raine. (I was surprised that Raine regarded the editor of one of his books as exercising "unerring diligence" because she picked up a misquotation from Ulysses. Picking up misquotes and other errors is what we editors do.) Money quote, from literary agent David Miller:
In a world where digital publishing has made a large number of people think that authors can go direct to an audience, publishers have been utterly crap at explaining what they do. And most of what they do is intrinsically invisible.
Monitors: Kottke, Clare McIntosh
Dave Barry reviews a Barry Manilow concert:
Anyway, it was all over in about 90 minutes, and I can honestly say that it was not the worst 90 minutes of my life, because I have had a colonoscopy.
In memory of A.K. Grant
Today is A.K. Grant's birthday. He would have been 70 today.
The 31st in this occasional series of reprints from Quote Unquote the magazine is from the March 1996 issue and reprints five of Alan's poetry parodies. Four more were published in the June issue – they were all collected with other poems in his last, wonderful book Parodies Regained, published in 2000, the year he died.
I didn't know Alan well but every time I went to Christchurch in the 1990s he was always my first port of call. Before I met him I had the privilege of occasionally editing his Listener column in the 1970s, which was a joy. Later, I met him in the 1980s when he was in Auckland struggling with TVNZ's script editors and we would go out for lunch and drinks. Well, I had lunch, Alan had drinks and I had no clue what this meant.
If I have got the story right, when Alan was dying in Christchurch hospital, his doctor was called Fernando. On being introduced, Alan said, "Can you hear the drums, Fernando?" Talk about courage being grace under pressure.
The heading was:
The Rewrite Stuff
If the Troggs could cover Wet Wet Wet's "Love Is All Around", if Otis Redding could cover Michael Bolton's "Dock Of The Bay" – why shouldn't Marvell, Kipling, Rochester, Gray and even Omar Khayyam rewrite a Sam Hunt poem in their own style? AK GRANT recently unearthed these long-lost manuscripts.
This is the Sam Hunt original:
Enough! to count the cars
Sliding by, remember the bars
where women and jokes were shared
Scars smart now, like the stars through tears –
a man and his dog, running scared.
(from Running Scared, 1982)
And here are Alan's parodies in other poets' voices:
Bottle Creek
by Rudyard Kipling
By the DB Paremata, looking lazy at the sea,
There's a green-eyed girl a-settin' and she's settin' next to me;
But the wind is in the toi-toi, and its plumes they seem to speak:
"Come you back, you rovin' poet, come you back to Bottle Creek:
Come you back to Bottle Creek.
You've been gone at least a week:
And the herons all are cryin', Bring Sam back to Bottle Creek!"
I must go to Bottle Creek,
(When my dog has had a leak),
Where the dawn comes up like thunder out of Pae-ae-kak-arik!
The Missed Mistress
by John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester
Pray tapster, fill the flowing bowl
As quickly as you can,
For I must drown my haunted soul
Inside this DB can.
I loved a woman once, but now
I tremble when I shave;
And all that's left's a bow-wow-wow
To guide me to the grave.
I loved for better, loved for worse,
I think, I think, I think.
Oh Christ! I think this sort of verse
May drive a man to drink.
To His Shared Mistress
by Andrew Marvell
Had I but world enough and Time,
I would confront the Great Sublime,
By which I mean the girls I've kissed
In places which I sometimes missed;
Discovering with a sudden start
Myself adjacent to a part,
Though not the one where I'd been heading;
Enough! I brought the bawd to bedding.
But at my back I always hear
A surly barman hurrying near,
To fill my glass and count my cash,
Of which I have a dwindling stash.
Dog! to the window let us go
And count the sliding cars below.
The grave's a dry and crumbling wicket –
Bugger! I think I've got a ticket!
Omar Khayyam Tries To Work It Out
by Edward Fitzgerald
A Book of Verses underneath the Bar
A Jug of Beer, a Georgie Pie – a Car
A Dog! beside me in the Wilderness –
I sometimes wonder who I am – or are!
Elegy Written in a Country Tavern
by Thomas Gray
The barmaid, Nell, is wiping down the bar.
The lowing herd winds slowly out the door.
The ploughman plods towards a distant car.
The Ploughman's Lunch is squashed upon the floor.
Now fades the glimmering pokie on the sight:
Switched off the beacon of the TAB.
Nell says to me, "Will you lock up? Goodnight",
And leaves the pub to darkness and to me.
Full many a gin of purest ray serene
The dark upended spirit bowsers bear
Full many a DB Bitter can of green
Will wash away full many a bitter tear.
Far from the car park's mad ignoble strife,
The sliding cars have sped upon their way.
I count them, as I think about my life
And sing (in noiseless tenor), "Yesterday".
And now my dog's my truest friend on earth,
Though I'm to Fame and Fortune not unknown:
Nothing especially humble in my birth,
But Melancholy marked me for her own.
The dog's not looking cheerful, come to that.
We're running on an empty tank of fear.
Mutely I give the mutt a moody pat,
And pour a Scotch to chase away my beer.
Christo in Cambridge
The Waikato Times reports:
Four pieces of playground equipment, a group of three trees and a picnic table and chairs were all under wraps at the playground on the corner of MacLean St and Thornton Rd in Cambridge this morning.
It is unknown who was behind the cover-up.
More detail in the local newspaper, the Cambridge Edition, whose excellent editor Ann Huston took the photo above:
Waipa District Council did not know why the wrap had been carried out or who had done it and were removing the plastic as the Edition went to print. If anyone has any information on the playground wrap please give us a call on 827 3840.
We live in a small town. If Ann really wants to know more, all she has to do is pop over the road and ask anyone in the New World carpark.
In 1985 I was in Paris and the Pont Neuf looked like this:
In 1995 the Reichstag in Berlin looked like this:
So yes, it has been done before, done bigger and better. But isn't it encouraging to see two local lads emulating Christo's example and wrapping rather than rapping?
I am just going to the sofa and may be some time
My final 2010 Christmas present from my wife has arrived, a copy of Alex Marsh's Sex & Bowls & Rock & Roll. As Jonny B, Marsh writes the brilliant blog Private Secret Diary, which is almost/arguably as funny as this one. The book is, I gather, a sort of bookisation of the blog. (May one verbise "book"? Should it be "bookification"? Discuss.)
The blurb says:
The story of a man who gives up the rock 'n' roll dream. . . to play bowls.
Alex Marsh wanted to be a rock star – but it didn't work out. Instead he toiled away in the big city – only to give up his career, move to rural Norfolk, and become a househusband. But he isn't a very good one. Whilst his pride won't let him admit it, he struggles with the cooking, the housework and the isolation. He hires a cleaner without telling his wife, his repertoire of baked potatoes exhausts quickly. He becomes hooked on daytime television and computer solitaire. He is in danger of becoming weird. So he takes up bowls.
In Sex & Bowls & Rock and Roll we follow a season in the life of the village bowls team, a group of amateur sportsmen and mild eccentrics. In doing so we see this unfashionable pastime in a whole new light, and very funny it is too.
But Alex hasn't quite given up on his dreams of rock stardom. Discovering that some of his mates down the pub are a bit handy with bass and drums he makes one final stab at being in a band, with an eagerly awaited local gig. It is a complete disaster.
Join Alex has he comes to terms with life as a domestic disappointment, attempts to learn the fine art of bowls and finally realises that supporting the Sultans Of Ping at the Pink Toothbrush in Rayleigh really was the highpoint of his musical career.
So it's the story of my life, apart from the bowls. As soon as I have finished reading this and the Thelonious Monk bio I borrowed from Distractions, I promise I will resume proper blogging to reveal the secret connection between Bill Manhire and Dr Feelgood, as previously advertised.
Word of the day: confertisparsison
Dot Wordsworth in the Spectator on the correct use of "between":
That might be an end of it, were it not for hatred of another construction: between each (the notion being that, since each is a singularity, nothing can come between it). A good counter-example comes in a translation made in 1856 by John Williams of a Welsh grammar compiled 600 years earlier by Ederyn the Golden Tongued: 'A syllable that terminates with four consonants, having the obscure pronunciation of the mutescent y between each, is called confertisparsison.'
Dot Wordsworth isn't her real name, and she isn't a real she. But she is very good.
Egypt sentence of the day
This was a couple of days ago but still. Omar Sharif in Cairo, interviewed by the BBC:
You can't get any food or drinks anywhere so I'm going to Spain.
Sir Launchalot on Paul Johnson
The 30th in this occasional series of reprints from Quote Unquote the magazine is from the March 1996 issue.
We started the Sir Launchalot column in the second issue in an attempt to lift the standards of Auckland's book launches. Unity Books would always put on a good show, but elsewhere the standard was variable: publishers are notoriously mean. So we started reviewing them – speeches, food, drink, the works – and it worked. Launches got better.
Full credit for that goes to Denis Edwards, who wrote all 43 Sir Launchalot columns. (At least I think he did – I have a vague memory of writing one myself in his style and finding it a real challenge.) I got a bit of grief from people in a city at the other end of the North Island about this column, which they felt lowered the tone of the magazine. To which I always said, "Yes. That is the point of it. Also, I think it's funny. Now please fuck off."
Paul Johnson, flexible thinker, at the Sheraton
Paul Johnson is one of England's journalistic icons. Author of some 30 books, he did a spectacularly successful turn as editor of the New Statesman in the 60s and 70s. All through those decades he was a leader of the left. Then in the 80s, while on the road to his personal Damascus, he stopped by the burning bush and heard the voice telling him of his new direction. That voice was Margaret Thatcher's.
Naturally Johnson did the only thing a man of principle could do in such circumstances. He flicked the lefties, grabbed at Maggie's coat-tails and has been huffing along in her wake ever since – although he is rapidly letting go of John Major's tails and scrambling to be part of the Tony Blair phenomenon.
Johnson does this from a position of high moral standing and a careful reading of history. If you accuse this fine man of spotting the next bandwagon and hefting his soft, wide buns on board while there is still time, you are quite wrong, and have no appreciation of the concept of Flexible Thinking.
He was in town at the behest of the Business Roundtable, our commercial and moral leaders. Some were there for a little breather from the work of making the country great, now that the winebox inquiry has bollocksed their chances of those refreshing little hols in Rarotonga.
His lunchtime lecture at the Sheraton kicked off with drinkies in the bar. This is cash money, $3.50 for an orange juice and $5 for a "midday sharpener" (a single whisky). This is on top of the $55 for the lunch and speech.
Never, ever go into one of these things hungry, thinking you'll come away thoroughly fed and watered. The Sheraton sets a thinnish table. There's a bit of lamb, half a dozen beans and a spud. Add the bread and butter, a little chocolate and a piece of cheese each. Whip through that lot and you've just lived through the Sheraton's idea of a fifty-buck rib-sticking feed.
Ron Small, the wine chappie, went on about the wine Corbans had kicked in for the event. He told us the charders wasn't closed in at all. This triggered a lot of sage nodding of heads. No one, but no one, likes a closed-in wine.
On Ron rolled. The reds weren't dominated by the wood. More nodding. Lots of these blokes had been to boarding schools, giving them an adolescence dominated by the wood, and they'd had quite enough of that, thank you very much.
Doug Myers sidled up to the mike, to pave the way for Johnson, then dropped back to Lion's ringside table and the four thirtysomething Lionesses seated on Doug's either side. Hey, he could live with it. They had perfect hair, high cheekbones, elegant suits and they were dedicating their MBAs and their lives to making him even richer. Who says you can't have it all?
There was none of that down at the New Zealand Herald table. No sheilas there. Bloke the Herald was, bloke the Herald is and bloke the Herald will stay.
Down on the floor the atmosphere was tensing up. Paul Johnson was at the wicket. Now for the good stuff, right from the very wellspring, Margaret Thatcher's Mother England, about how social welfare was a cancer, how malingerers should be pitched out of their hospital beds to make room for high-producing and stressed business people and, of course, a few considered thoughts on how to tear the nuts off whatever is left of the union movement.
Disappointment all round. Johnson launched into an erudite and boring history lesson, about how the French Revolution created a class of professional politicians. That was in 1789 – what about the welfare bludgers here and now? Nope, Johnson took us on a little spin through the development of American democracy, the rise of democracy in England and a bit on the Whigs who appeared from the west of Ireland. Whigs!
Fortunately things picked up near the end, when he started giving politicians a good barrelling, except for strong leaders like Maggie T and Tony Blair. The real knee-slapper was when he said that the problem with the Labour Party was all the people working for it were "raving lunatics". Boy, that one hit the spot.
Johnson tried to build on this for the big finish. Unfortunately the history lecture had killed any chance of a frothing, screaming berserk, on-their-feet outpouring of adoration. In fact, as soon as he'd finished there was a steady trickle of suits heading for the door.
Naturally, as befits those in the presence of Doug and Paul, no one showed a hint of a cellphone – they're just too, too sales rep – and leaving early implied being answerable to someone else. So those fleeing were all muttering excuses about "Woolworths bladders". Funnily enough, not many of them came back for more.
Sargeson fellows for 2011
The Sargeson Trust has awarded this year's Buddle Findlay Sargeson fellowship to Sue Orr and Mark Broatch. Bloody good result, if you ask me. (Disclosure: I wasn't in the room when the decision was made but I am one of the country members whose opinions are canvassed.)
It's a 50/50 split: each writer gets five months in the flat in Albert Park, over the road from Auckland University, plus a stipend of $20,000 each thanks to our generous sponsor Buddle Findlay. There are also, from memory, borrowing rights at the university library.
Sue Orr has been a full-time fiction writer since 2006 when she completed Victoria University's MA in Creative Writing, aka the Manhire. Her first book, Etiquette for a Dinner Party, made the long-list of the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award (if you haven't read Frank O'Connor, I can't recommend him strongly enough) and was listed in the Listener's Top 100 Books of 2008. Her second collection, From Under the Overcoat (Gogol alert!), is due from Random House this month. And what's a really nice touch is that one of her stories is titled "The Stories of Frank Sargeson".
Mark Broatch was a regular contributor to Quote Unquote the magazine and has had several short stories published. He is currently assistant editor and books editor at the Sunday Star-Times: his most recent book is In a Word. He will use the space and time to finish the first draft of a novel about "contemporary New Zealand society, blokes, journalism and food".
Worst email scam ever
This arrived today, headed "Urgent response needed":
Good-day This--mail--is--to--notify--you--that--your--email--has--won--$500,000--in--the--recent--held--Microsoft--online--promo--for--frequently--online--email--users--you--are--required--to--contact--us--back--with--the--details--below--for--claims.
Your--name--address--age--occupation--country.
Email--micr0soft.unit@live.com:
Is the spelling and punctuation a clue? Why don't they just say "I am a Nigerian crook – give me your money"? Isn't it a bit insulting that they don't even pretend to be plausible?
Anyone who responds to this deserves the epic fail awaiting them. Unless it is [insert name of your least-liked person].
Glamorous, charming and witty
My old friend Deborah McKinlay's debut novel The View From Here has just been published in the UK by Soho Press. It says here that she is "glamorous, charming and witty", which sounds like the Deborah I remember. Like Rachel Hunter, she is from Glenfield.
Her previous books include Love Lies (published in Brazil, Bulgaria, China, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Sweden and Taiwan), Sex Secrets, Bosom Buddies, Getting Gorgeous and Man Handling. You get the idea. For a while she had an advice column in Esquire, and she also wrote for Vogue and Cosmopolitan. Before that, in Auckland, she was a dancer on The Billy T James Show: she used to refer to the troupe as Tits 'n' Teeth.
Deb lives in England now but I am told that the book is available here via Random House. I am very keen to read it so I am now heading into Cambridge to Wrights Bookshop to get a copy. In the unlikely event that they don't have it in stock I fear I shall cause a scene. I have been waiting about 30 years for this.
From Danyl at Dim-Post:
Either Goff has terrible judgement, or his advisers have terrible judgement and he keeps listening to them, which would mean he has terrible judgement.
Charlie Louvin died last week. If it wasn't for the Louvin Brothers (Charlie and Ira), there might not have been the Everly Brothers. And if it wasn't for the Everly Brothers, there might not have been Simon and Garfunkel, Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris – a whole bunch of country/folk harmony acts. Closer to home, I bet the Finn brothers and the Topp Twins know this stuff backwards.
The Gram Parsons-era Byrds covered the Louvins' "The Christian Life" on Sweetheart of the Rodeo; Emmylou Harris covered their "Satan's Jeweled Crown" on Elite Hotel.
So I have been playing the Louvin Brothers' album Satan is Real a lot this week. The children are tolerant – they figure that at least it's not Xenakis, King Crimson or Ligeti. Or – horror of horrors – Palestrina.


Netgear is launching a new router for gamers, showing that the networking company is covering all the bases in gear for all types of gamers. The new Nighthawk Pro Gaming XR300 WiFi Router is a $200 router aimed at reducing lag for console players in particular.
The latest member of the Nighthawk Pro Gaming is aimed at reducing ping and latency on the Xbox One, PlayStation, 4, Nintendo Switch, PCs, and mobile devices when it comes to playing fast-action games.
The XR300 leverages a purpose-built gaming dashboard powered by DumaOS, critical for an enhanced online gaming experience. That dashboard can help you do things like focus your online game matchmaking to smaller geographic areas.
With the explosion in popularity of online games such as Fortnite, Apex Legends, and PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, the Nighthawk Pro Gaming Dashboard prioritizes internet speeds for faster online gaming and smoother streaming, minimizing lag with ultra-low ping rates, and giving gamers a fully personalized experience on the customizable dashboard.
The router lets you reduce lag through geo-filtering. Or you can improve performance by allocating bandwidth to specific apps such as streams or games. You can control the maximum upload and download speeds per device on the network to minimize sudden lag spikes while gaming.
Using the Gaming Dashboard, you can spot bandwidth hogs on your network and remove them as needed. The router has four Gigabit Ethernet LAN ports for maximized wired speeds ideal for fast-paced gaming and high-quality streaming, plus one WAN port. It also has 802.11ac wireless speeds.
It will be available in April for $200.


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Opel Movano 2020 Wallpaper – The Opel Movano 2020 continues to offer top safety scores, remarkable space inside, and all-round versatility; it's still one of the best small SUVs, and a good value for money.
Opel is continuing to execute the PACE! plan product offensive to meet customer needs and ensure compliance with the drastic Europe-wide CO2 guidelines which become effective in 2020. The future portfolio will ensure a sustainable, successful future for both the company and its dealer network. From early 2019 to the end of 2020, the company will launch eight all-new or refreshed models, investing primarily in high-volume and profitable segments. By then, Opel will be offering one of the newest portfolios of all volume manufacturers.


text:
Xi Crowned "Core Leader," but True Strength Disputed
Posted by Samuel Wade | Oct 27, 2016
The 6th Plenum of the 18th Party Central Committee concluded on Thursday. After four days of silence from the PLA's Jingxi Hotel, the Party released a communique detailing its approval of two new sets of regulations aiming to root out evils such as corruption, dishonesty and flattery, and "unrestricted power or any unsupervised Party members." The document also appealed for the Party to "closely unite around the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core," reviving calls that sprang up in January. Xi's ascent to a rank never attained by his immediate predecessor is now being closely scrutinized for clues about the strength of his position ahead of the leadership transition expected at next year's 19th Party Congress. From Xinhua:
A key meeting of the Communist Party of China (CPC) has called on all its members to "closely unite around the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core."
[…] Party members were told to resolutely safeguard the authority of the CPC Central Committee and its central, unified leadership while pushing forward the comprehensive and strict governance of the Party.
The communique also urged them to become more aware of the need to uphold political integrity, keep in mind the bigger picture, follow the CPC as the core of the Chinese leadership and act consistently with CPC Central Committee policy.
"Together we must build a clean and righteous political environment, and ensure that the Party unites and leads the people to continuously open up new prospects for socialism with Chinese characteristics," it said. [Source]
The New York Times' Chris Buckley reports:
Mr. Xi's newest title, carrying echoes of those political strongmen, reinforces his power to shape the new leadership of the party. It is also a warning that officials should fall in line, though some privately fear he has amassed too much control and has eroded traditions of collective leadership, built up to prevent a return to the arbitrary abuses of Mao's final decades.
[…] In China, such titles are a powerful political currency, and Mr. Xi's new status will resonate through the party hierarchy.
"It seems that this plenum really was a victory for Xi," Joseph Fewsmith, a professor at Boston University who studies Chinese leadership politics, said by email. "What exactly that means in terms of personnel changes is hard to say, but it seems that Xi will get what he wants."
[…] Mr. Xi's elevation "shows his colleagues that he is more than willing to ignore past so-called norms, which could have big implications for appointments next fall," when the congress is likely to meet, said Christopher K. Johnson, an expert on Chinese politics at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. It "confirms that he is no first among equals, but just first." [Source]
Assessments of the declaration's significance have been somewhat mixed, however. The University of Freiburg's Daniel Leese told The Wall Street Journal that "collective leadership […] by now seems to be no more than a facade, with Xi's predominance clearly established." But Reuters' Michael Martina and Benjamin Kang Lim noted the communique's insistence that the principle of collective leadership "must always be followed and should not be violated by any organization or individual under any circumstance or for any reason," which "signaled his power would not be absolute." Renmin University's Zhou Xiaosheng told The Washington Post that "it is obvious that all this noise about loyalty is because there is a lack of loyalty," while an unnamed Chinese expert added that although "his notional authority has been established […] how substantial it is has yet to be observed." Xi "may be pleased now to be called the 'core,'" The Economist commented, "but it will make little difference to his authority."
The Economist also argued that Xi's power seems less absolute than widely believed last week, noting the limits of central power in general and the failure of initiatives to rein in steel production, property prices, tobacco consumption, and soil pollution:
Nearly four years into his rule, Mr Xi is commonly described as the most powerful Chinese leader in decades. He has taken charge of all the most important portfolios, cultivated a huge personal following and purged his opponents. Bypassing ministries, he rules through informal "leading small groups", heading so many of them that foreign commentators have labelled him "chairman of everything". Rumours fly (without evidence) that Mr Xi may even try to extend his powers beyond the normally allotted ten years. Given his seeming strength, it would be logical to suppose that he could do almost anything he pleases. The toiling mills of Tangshan, however, suggest how hard the president often finds it to persuade local officials to carry out his wishes. Mr Xi may be chairman of everything, and he may well be stronger than any leader since Deng Xiaoping. But in a country so vast, diverse and with so many entrenched interests, he often seems to be master of nothing.
Mr Xi spars with crusty generals, powerful bureaucracies and large state-owned enterprises controlled by the central government. But an even greater impediment to his power is an age-old one: local authority. This is reflected in a popular saying that refers to the compound in Beijing where China's leaders live and work: "Policies do not go beyond Zhongnanhai."
[…] There will be much speculation about which [of Xi's allies], if any, will succeed him. Some analysts believe he has no successor in mind, and interpret his willingness to flout party convention as a sign of Mr Xi's self-confidence. Yet it may be that he does not want to start grooming an heir (in China, this tends to begin very early). If so, that could suggest something else: that neither at the centre nor in the provinces does Mr Xi feel strong enough. Therefore he cannot trust anyone else with what he calls his "Chinese dream" of the country's "great revival". [Source]
This disconnection between central and local authority has shown itself recently in new ride-sharing regulations and the clash between Guangdong's traditional pragmatism towards labor activism and Beijing's harder line.
Elsewhere, The Economist summed up the challenge facing Xi at next year's 19th Congress:
[Xi] has accumulated enormous power at the top of the pyramid but less down the slopes. He will want the party congress to place his favoured people in positions of power. At the same time he needs to start preparing the ground for a successor of his choosing after the end of his tenure in 2022. It is widely assumed that the next president must come from the so-called "sixth generation" of leaders, born in the 1960s. The trouble is that no member of the sixth generation who is associated with Mr Xi has the record required for the top job. Potential leaders tend to spend five years in a high-ranking job, such as party secretary of a large province, and then another five years on the party's standing committee. It may well take ten years for them to be ready. That means Mr Xi's choice could not take over until 2027—and he himself would probably want to serve an extra five years beyond the ten given to the party leader under existing rules. Such a move would be unprecedented and controversial, and could precipitate a political crisis. The plenum will be the first meeting to deal with the question of whether that risk is acceptable to the party as a whole. [Source]
See Jonathan Brookfield at The Diplomat for a more exhaustive breakdown of the precedents and factional concerns involved in the 2022 transition. Dexter Roberts also examined the succession prospects at greater length at Businessweek late last week, while South China Morning Post has published a stream of reports on likely winners and losers. The former include some of Xi's associates from his brief tenure as Shanghai Party chief, and three provincial Party chiefs and nine governors yet to reach the Party's Central Committee. Other articles have focused on continued uncertainty surrounding the future of former Xinjiang Party chief Zhang Chunxian.
On Sunday, former SCMP editor-in-chief Wang Xiangwei expressed skepticism at the persistent rumors that Xi is planning to extend his term:
As for Xi staying past 2022, there isn't much evidence to support the idea. Changing the rules would be risky, and trigger intense political infighting which goes against Xi's intention to strengthen the party's control and legitimacy.
[…] All this speculation may come from Xi's supporters, who believe their man the best leader to steer the country onward, using foreign media to test the waters.
But more intriguingly, they may also come from his detractors. After all, it has become a fine tradition for different party factions to feed overseas reporters suggestions of some developments they don't want to see, hoping to nip them in the bud. [Source]
Amid this uncertainty and the frustrated policy goals catalogued by The Economist, Xi's signature anti-corruption campaign is becoming even more closely entwined with his personal power as both a legitimizing achievement and a direct political instrument. The public parade of fallen senior officials—including a former energy chief and Party chiefs of Sichuan and Yunnan—picked up before the plenum, as South China Morning Post's Nectar Gan reported:
"The sentencing in relatively major, influential cases like these is surely of political sensitivity and significance," Chen Daoyin, a political scientist at Shanghai University of Political Science and Law, said.
"Therefore, completing the judicial process in cases of provincial-level officials at such a time is definitely not a coincidence, but an intentional arrangement for the sixth plenum, like offering a sacrifice before a battle."
[…] Renmin University political scientist Zhang Ming said the broadcasts were meant to show the achievements of the anti-corruption crackdown and inspire awe in officials to cement Xi's authority.
"Xi has been consolidating power all along, but it seems like so far his authority is not yet enough. He has not achieved many real political achievements and graft busting is probably one of the few – hence the high-profile display of the corruption crackdown results," Zhang said.
Chen from the Shanghai University of Political Science and Law agreed. He said the series was aired with great fanfare to put psychological pressure on members of the Central Committee attending the plenum. "It has a deterrent effect," he said. [Source]
The Wall Street Journal's Chun Han Wong previewed the anticipated strengthening of the anti-corruption regime on Wednesday:
Throughout a campaign that has punished more than a million officials since late 2012, Mr. Xi has called for greater checks on political power—creating a "cage of regulations" that ensures cadres "dare not, cannot and don't want" to be corrupt.
[…] Mr. Xi, who became party leader in late 2012, has during the past year or so imposed new rules targeting negligence or poor performance, and banned intraparty dissent against national policies. He empowered the party's discipline-inspection agencies to police political loyalty, and stoked ideological fervor with campaigns such as encouraging the hand-copying of the party's 15,000-character constitution.
At this week's policy meeting, the party leadership may task its discipline-inspection agencies with more preventive duties in deterring graft and policing a wider range of disciplinary violations, according to Ling Li, a visiting professor of Chinese legal history at the University of Vienna.
Stricter asset-disclosure rules for party members could be in the cards, though such a proposal likely faces internal resistance, other academics say. While the party has steadily toughened disclosure rules over the past two decades, requirements still fall far short of a so-called sunshine law that would require officials to publicly declare all their personal assets. [Source]
As The New York Times' Chris Buckley reported on Sunday, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection has been enforcing ideological orthodoxy alongside its anti-corruption work. The Commission's leader Wang Qishan, a close ally of Xi's, is due to retire next year: an extension of his term may offer clues regarding Xi's own plans.
Best known as the country's anticorruption agency, the commission has lately assumed a growing role as political inquisitor, investigating the loyalty and commitment of cadres to Mr. Xi and his agenda, while cementing the commission's role as his chief political enforcer.
"It's not just anticorruption, but more powerfully about central control," said Jeremy L. Wallace, a political scientist at Cornell University who studies Chinese politics.
[…] At the Ministry of Public Security headquarters in Beijing this month, for instance, hundreds of officers were marched into a cavernous auditorium to listen to investigators excoriate senior ministry officials for lacking "political judgment" and demand greater loyalty to Mr. Xi and the party.
Then their boss, Guo Shengkun, the minister of public security, rose to offer contrition, vowing to make his officers "even more steadfastly and conscientiously" obedient to Mr. Xi and other party leaders. "Loyalty to the party is the top political imperative," he acknowledged. [Source]
Buckley also noted the CCDI's recent scolding of the Central Propaganda Department for its feeble enforcement of Party will on the media. The State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television attracted similar criticism.
At The Washington Post, Simon Denyer places the ongoing political maneuvers in the context of Xi's longstanding determination to save China (and the Party) from the fate of the Soviet Union:
In many ways, Xi faces a set of problems similar to those confronting then-Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in the 1980s, including a slowing economy and a corrupt, truculent party opposed to reform. And the Soviet example is never far from his mind, experts said.
The "Soviet collapse teaches the CPC [Communist Party of China] lessons in Party leadership," the nationalist Global Times tabloid reminded its readers this week, citing Su Wei, a professor at a Communist Party school in Chongqing. It stressed a need for greater discipline.
But while Gorbachev's policy of glasnost tried to harness openness and transparency to clean house, Xi has moved in the opposite direction, clamping down on the media, civil society and the legal profession.
Having seen Gorbachev lose control of the process, leading to the collapse of the Soviet Union, Xi has centralized power and tried to clean house from within. [Source]
The Soviet specter also appeared in a Xinhua commentary on the importance of regulating the Party on Sunday:
To many observers, the CPC is Asia and even the world's most vigorous political Party.
This can be attributed to a serious and meticulous approach to political life taken by the 95-year-old CPC, a fine tradition and political advantage of the CPC.
Strict governance must begin within the Party itself. Over the years, the CPC has formulated basic norms of intra-Party political life, featuring principles such as to "seek truth from facts," linking theory with reality and maintaining close links to the people.
Historical lessons from the former Soviet Union and the CPC's own history highlight the importance of intra-Party political life.
Paralysis through bureaucracy, abandoning democratic centralism and no longer following Marxism as its guiding theory, brought the communist party in the Soviet Union to its end. [Source]
The piece also blamed "abnormal intra-Party political life" for "political mistakes" such as the Cultural Revolution, and noted more recent "negative influences such as money worshipping, hedonism and extreme individualism."
Categories : Level 2 Article,Level 3 Article,Level 4 Article,Politics,Society,Top Article
Tags :19th Party Congress,6th Plenum,Central Commission for Discipline Inspection,communist party,corruption,ideology,leadership transition,party discipline,Soviet Union,succession,Wang Qishan,Xi anti-corruption campaign,Xi Jinping
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Research has shown that our signature pay-per-mile car insurance offering has customers ditching their cars, many for their own two feet. Today, we've announced a new insurance offering to cover you from the disasters you could potentially face on foot: walking insurance.
Metromile's walking insurance functions through its new smart walking app: the Metromile Pace. Several factors will be considered when creating your unique per-step rate, including broken bone history, clumsiness score and type of walking shoes.
It's time to toss your pedometers! Users will see increased benefits with the walking insurance feature, including tracking number of steps, miles logged, shoe health and more. We're especially excited about the "Walk Much?" feature that is able to gauge fall severity based on impact and immediately alerts emergency operators.
We're offering a safe-walker discount for walkers who commit to not walk-and-text, use the handrail when available, and follow the safe route recommended by their Metromile Pace. There is also a bonus offer for adding a foot care package to your walking insurance, which includes a monthly pedicure and new pair of socks.
April Fools'! While we don't actually offer pay-per-step walking insurance, we do offer pay-per-mile car insurance for low-mileage drivers. Get a free quote here.


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2019 Year In Review December 5, 2019
Top 5 2019 WTA Upsets (No.1): Townsend chips, charges to Halep US Open shocker
We're counting down the Top 5 WTA upsets of 2019: wtatennis.com's choice for the No.1 stunner of the season is American Taylor Townsend's hometown glory over former World No.1 Simona Halep, snapping the Romanian's Grand Slam winning streak with a throwback style that left spectators speechless.
By David Kane
To mark the end of a record-setting 2019 season, wtatennis.com is counting down our picks for the best WTA Upsets of the Year. Check out our Top 5 Grand Slam Matches and our Top 5 WTA Matches here.
Coming in at No.1 is Taylor Townsend's unlikely upset over reigning Wimbledon winner Simona Halep, saving a match point to thrill the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd, 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(4).
Top 5 WTA Upsets of 2019:
No.5: Kenin d. Barty, Toronto
No.4: Azarenka d. Svitolina, Rome
No.3: Andreescu d. Kerber, Indian Wells
No.2: Gauff d. V.Williams, Wimbledon
WHAT HAPPENED: Long before Coco Gauff served notice as a talented teen, Taylor Townsend was the young American on the rise, becoming one to watch at the start of the decade when she pushed Laura Robson to three sets at the 2011 US Open qualifying tournament. A few months later, she became the first American since Lindsay Davenport to win the singles and doubles titles of a junior Grand Slam tournament at the Australian Open. Townsend turned heads as much for the way she won as the victories themselves, employing a once ubiquitous - now borderline arcane - style of serve-and-volley tennis replete with a variety of slices and spins.
Competing with the power game that has taken over the WTA tour, Townsend struggled for consistency as she transitioned from the junior rankings, making just one Grand Slam third round appearance at the 2014 French Open. Strong results on the ITF Pro Circuit helped her become a fixture of the Top 100, but the American was lacking a signature result, a statement victory that could reassert her style - last seen by the the likes of Martina Navratilova - towards the top of women's tennis.
Townsend got her chance playing former World No.1 Simona Halep in the second round of this year's US Open. She was two points from defeat in her final round qualifying match against Nina Stojanovic, and rallied from another set down against Kateryna Kozlova to play Halep, against whom she had never won more than three games in any of their previous six sets.
Halep was on a roll at major tournaments, shocking 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams to win Wimbledon, and outbattled Townsend's countrywoman Nicole Gibbs in her first round match.
Read the match report: 'It's been a really long journey' - Qualifier Townsend stuns Wimbledon champ Halep at US Open
Townsend rushed past all the signs pointing towards a quick defeat, and headed straight for the net. The 23-year-old turned her game up to its highest power, approaching the net an absurd 106 times (winning 64 of those points) in what would become a three-set tussle. Even knowing the result, the strategy sounds reckless against a dynamic counterpuncher capable of absorbing the American's pace and redirecting into the open court.
Such skepticism underplays the importance of the stage; where Townsend was playing with the home crowd at her back, Halep was at the epicenter of her least successful Slam. Despite her hardcourt prowess, the two-time major champion has been open about her battle to find peace in the city that never sleeps. Where Townsend was on fire, Halep was uninspired, helping the hometown favorite to slowly turn the tables on the Romanian, emerging from an exchange of breaks in the second set to level the match.
Townsend broke again in the third and held two match points on her hitherto indomitable serve before Halep reversed the deficit to find herself a point from victory. Undaunted by the occasion, Townsend saved the match point and forced a tie-break; from 3-3 in the Sudden Death, she was all but unstoppable to secure two hour and four minute victory.
WHAT THEY SAID: For many, it was a full circle victory. While Townsend validated that premise, she also felt it was a testament to a quick improvement from Wimbledon, where she narrowly lost to another Top 10 player in Kiki Bertens - having held a match point.
"I think for so long that's been my whole thing, just continue to press forward and just realize that I belong on this level," she said after the match. "You know what I mean? I've had a lot of people doubting me being able to 'break through,' quote unquote.
"It's just confirmation more for myself that I'm on the right path, doing the right things. You keep your head down and keep working and you see what happens."
Her audacious style, she explained, was Townsend at her most natural.
"I was always doing weird stuff, chipping middle shots on the forehand side. I was doing crazy stuff. It was what I enjoyed doing. I always enjoyed coming to the net. It's always a fine line, especially as you move up and through the levels, that you have to kind of hone in and have things that you do well. You have strengths, but you have to be solid from a certain point because these players are just too good. The level only gets higher."
She also recalled a conversation with Halep from just a few months earlier, shortly after the pair played a more perfunctory match at the Miami Open.
"Something inside of me was nudging me to, like, ask her. I was, like, 'Screw it, let's see what she felt on the other side of the net.' I know what I felt, but I was curious to see what she felt.
"Honestly, she didn't really tell me anything I didn't know, but it was good to hear it from another player, someone I just played, played a couple of times, and especially someone who is at such a high level, has accomplished so much.
"I'm not saying that everything she said I implemented into my training, but it was definitely in the back of my head to remember what she said and also remember why I asked, what drove me to ask that question, kind of that hunger and desire to get better.
"I think I kind of turned that into more of a positive to say, Hey, you can continue to learn and grow."
Halep also remembered the chat, joking, "Next time I will not say anything," in her post-match press conference.
"I had expectations from myself that I'm confident and I feel the game. But today was different. I was very close. I had match ball. But, you know, sometimes it happens. I have just to look forwards. I'm Wimbledon champion, so I will not ruin that."
WHAT IT MEANT: It would have been easy to expect a letdown from Townsend, especially as she next faced another solid baseliner in Sorana Cirstea, who would surely anticipate the qualifier's net-rushing approach. Instead, Townsend put on a mature display to knock out Halep's compatriot in straight sets and reach her Grand Slam fourth round.
"That Taylor is in the garbage," she said of her old self. "The hair, all of it. Gotta go.
"You never know when things are going to happen. You continue to work and you continue to kind of pluck away. And some people's paths and some people's, ultimately their journey, everyone's journey is different. Some people's happens quicker than others. Mine took, what? Six, seven years? I feel better than ever before. I'm just thankful for where I am now and kind of the things I had to go through in order to be here and appreciate where I am."
Townsend treated the American crowd to one last Arthur Ashe thriller, forcing eventual champion Bianca Andreescu to three sets under the lights.
While Halep shook off the shock ahead of the Asian Swing, an acute injury at the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open stunted her fall schedule, though she ultimately recovered to play one of the best matches of the season at the Shieseido WTA Finals Shenzhen. With just one run to the semifinals back in 2015, the US Open is the lone major tournament where Halep is yet to make the final; whether she can break new ground in the Big Apple will have to wait another year.


Yes, this does begin likewise — with a … in my mind.
I have loved stories ever since I was a child. My father would often tell me small stories, many of which I still remember. He was also the one who inculcated in me the interests of reading and writing.
If I try to walk back to those days and try to remember the stories, the memories that shine most prominently are still plot and character. In particular, Cinderella.
I don't quite know what I liked about Cinderella, but what I remember most is the dresses she wears to the three dances. I practically do not remember or like anything at all about the Prince. Pretty dumb he was, if you ask me. The other thing I liked about the story was – and most of us would – the Fairy Godmother.
I also read Beauty and the Beast – and loved the Beast. On the other hand, I didn't think the Beauty had much brains, at all.
I remember reading a comic strip – The Happy Days – about a girl called Sue Day. She was this common kid, naughty and funny – a trouble-maker. Loved her!
As I grew up, I don't remember much of anything I saw on TV, but I read so many books that hardly a few stand up brighter than others.
I remember Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz. I loved her spirit of never giving up her quest for getting back to her family.
I remember Heidi. Brave, honest, loving – Heidi was a darling! I also remember her friend, Peter. How well he stood by her; equally brave and caring.
I remember Batman! Actually, I remember Bruce Wayne. This intelligent man who has a secret identity he uses to work with police to fight crime. He has no superpowers, except his passion to see victims rescued and criminals paying the price of their deeds. One of the best things I liked about him was that he did not execute judgment himself. He'd hand over the culprit to the police and then his work was done.
I especially liked the 1950s-60s series on the Telly – Adam West, Burt Ward, and the best – Alan Napier. I think I liked the butler more than the batman.
Then, for the longest time, no particular character or story impacted me.
Many years later – I saw The Mummy. The first two minutes had my attention. High Priest Imhotep was one intriguing character. He dared to have an affair with the Pharoah's mistress, Anck-su-namun, whom no one could touch. He dared to kill the Pharoah when he discovered the affair. He dared to go against everything to raise the dead girlfriend to life – even if it meant he'd be killed for it.
And even when he is brought back to life, his first move is to get Anck-su-namun back – the woman who eventually ditches him to save herself.
Perhaps it was the actor and the way he played Imhotep that made all the difference in bringing Imy to life. The character speaks in ancient egyptian and the movie had subtitles for him. I don't think, even the first time I watched it, I needed the sub-titles. The actor's eyes spoke whatever he was saying.
Imhotep's character and story had me hooked for more than a year. Eventually, it wore off.
Almost a year later, I started reading the LOTR series. Although no character was a favorite with me, there were a few that I liked – Aragorn, Gandalf, Gollum, Gimli – of all these I liked Gimli the most for his straightforwardness and fearlessness, and rarely found honesty in friendship.
And then, came Harry Potter.
Hmm… I don't think Harry was my favorite character from this entire world full of fresh characters. Perhaps, the one I really looking forward to seeing in the book and the movie were: Severus Snape, Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, McGonagall, Fred and George, and of course, Voldemort.
There are times, actually, when I cannot stand the main three or even Dumbledore!
It is perhaps JKR's gift that she's perfected the character sketches of even minor characters, such as, Mrs. Figg and Mundungus so well. One remembers them and one remembers what they stood for in the story.
It is hard to relate with Voldemort's desire to cheat death and rule forever – unless you see where he came from and then all is justified. While not many would agree with his approach to live his life, yet he became understandable even in his madness, his insanely cruel desire.
It took some time before the Harry Potter craze died down – and then for many, many years, there was a famine.
In 2011, a TV show began and Arnav Singh Raizada became the new craze for many all over the world. I didn't really see the first few months of it – but when I did – something similar to High Priest Imhotep happened. I didn't really need to hear what the character was saying (he spoke much less than what the audience wanted), his eyes spoke it all.
Following a close second was, Khushi Kumari Gupta, the love of Arnav's life.
There was a time when I was following The Mummy fanclubs, we'd engage in role-play games where a person would take up one (or more) characters and we'd play out fanfiction. Each person was responsible for the dialog and reactions of the character they played. It was fun.
Then, with Harry Potter, there was no fanfiction that would hold my attention against the real thing. However, there were these detective clubs, bent on picking out and solving every little clue that JKR had planted in her books or on her website. I don't know how many certificates I had from there.
With ASR and KKG — I think it is just re-runs of the original show that can ever compete with the original.
What if Arnav Singh Raizada, the businessman, went with his happy-go-lucky associate Khushi Kumari Gupta to Thebes to put on a fashion show.
He hears of Hamunaptra and heads to host a show there instead, in its mystical surroundings, but somehow upsets the undead High Priest Imhotep who now wants to use Khushi's body to bring his dead girlfriend, Anck-su-namun, to life.
The mighty ASR then realizes he needs to save her from a gruesome death, because … of course, he loves her. But ASR initially fails because, of course, he knows neither hokus-pokus nor ancient egyptian hieroglyphics. He is in deepest gloom when, out of the blue, help comes knocking.
Quite unknown to him, Khushi has a Fairy Godmother who pops up to help him rescue her. Sure enough, ASR can strategize the battle royal on his hands, but hokus-pokus can be fought with hokus-pokus. So, the Fairy Godmother calls for Harry Potter's help – who's there to visit Ron's brother who works for Gringotts in Egyptian Pyramids.
Well, Harry is brave but needs Hermione to go through all those books of the dead and the book of amun-ra…. so they together manage to fight off Imhotep's mummy army and strip him of the undead powers – before ASR has a go at him man-to-man and – actually does him a favor by moving him from 'undead' to 'dead'.
Okay.. if someone really pulled that through, they'd have vast fandoms of four different lines of fiction – either panting for more or tearing at each other!
I hope no one tries it.
Absolutely delightful storyline. You must try to write the whole thing.
Tell me something though. Would your interest towards writing this particular story fizzle out after a while? You're highly creative and you've got your own set of characters who're born out of your mind (you're almost like Zeus whose head Athena was born from) who dazzle the readers anyway.
I am surprised that that storyline got attention 🙂 LOL I actually thought that maybe I ought to add one of the villains I liked to Imy's army who's out to get his own benefit. Perhaps someone to match wits with ASR.
Anyhow I think you got it right. My interest might fizzle out after a while. Though there are enough people in the storyline that I like.
and… though mythology interests me a bit, I really didn't know athena was born of zues' head… well, actually that is logical, in a manner of speaking.
Zeus lay with Metis, the goddess of crafty thought and wisdom, but he immediately feared the consequences. It had been prophesied that Metis would bear children more powerful than him. In order to forestall these dire consequences, after lying with Metis, Zeus "put her away inside his own belly; but by then Metis had already conceived.
Eventually Zeus experienced an enormous headache; Prometheus, Hephaestus, Hermes, Ares, cleaved Zeus's head with the double-headed Minoan axe, the labrys. Athena leaped from Zeus's head, fully grown and armed, with a shout— "and pealed to the broad sky her clarion cry of war. Athena is aso called the war goddess(greek; not Roman goddess; her status was of a minor goddess in Roman times-Minerva), goddess of wisdom, philosophy and crafts.
that waz absolutely delightful, i felt like walking through a fictional setting meeting all these characters on my way! some of them my favorites, some totally strangers!


Sentiment and nostalgia are the only reasons the future Hall of Famer remains on the Mariners roster while Heredia isn't.
The Mariners announced a transaction Sunday that was baffling at first glance and, upon further contemplation, a bit troubling.
To create room for starting pitcher Erasmo Ramirez, outfielder Guillermo Heredia — who has contributed to the team with both his glove and his bat — was sent to Tacoma. The demotion of Heredia solidified Ichiro Suzuki's spot on a roster that needed him for a few weeks, and now doesn't.
Manager Scott Servais explained the right-handed hitting Heredia was sent to the minors because of pitching matchups that will find the Mariners likely facing right-handed starters through the duration of their road trip.
Servais managed some pieces against the Rangers on Saturday night, when he called on Heredia to begin the seventh inning as a pinch hitter for left fielder Ben Gamel. Texas was ahead, 6-4, in a game the Mariners never had led. They needed a spark and Heredia provided it by beating out an infield single.
Moments later, he scored the first run of the five-run rally that powered the Mariners' 9-7 victory. Heredia chased down a bases-loaded fly ball on the warning track in left for the final out.
It wasn't a spectacular play, merely one underscoring Heredia's value as a defensive replacement. He's been just as competent at the plate, hitting .310 with two homers and a double.
The demotion of Heredia is temporary, but it was a demotion nonetheless and difficult to justify. He helped the Mariners win a game Saturday night, and Sunday morning he was designated as the odd man out of a roster overcrowded by Gamel's activation from the disabled list.
When first baseman Ryon Healy makes his own return from the DL, general manager Jerry Dipoto will be posed with still another decision regarding the immediate futures of the team's backups. Will Daniel Vogelbach be optioned to the Rainiers? Where does Heredia fit in the picture?
And then there's Ichiro, whose two broken-bat singles and two walks in the series finale against the Rangers improved a batting average/on-base percentage/slugging percentage slash line — .250/.289/.250 — screaming that his phenomenal career has reached the finish line.
Ichiro has yet to connect for an extra-base hit, or steal a base. He's stolen 509 bases in the majors — we're talking about somebody who led the league with 56 steals during his historic 2001 breakthrough from Japan — but the next time he attempts a swipe this season, it will be the first time.
If the extra outfielder on the Mariners roster is a light-hitting, not-especially-daring 44-year old named, say, Joe Doe, there's little consternation about the roster maneuver corresponding with Ramirez' call-up. Joe Doe goes, Guillermo Heredia stays.
But Ichiro is not an average Joe. He's an all-time great awaiting Hall-of-Fame induction in his first year of eligibility. Ichiro's bronze plaque will note that he was a 10-time All-Star with the Seattle Mariners.
How does the Mariners' general manager inform this person that retirement might be a good idea? Are there any words graceful enough to couch what's obvious?
Much easier for Dipoto was to exercise a minor-league option with Heredia, who at 27 is not on an inevitable track to the Hall of Fame.
Dipoto is in a four-corners stall mode, and it's reasonable to wonder about the possibility of ownership meddling with the kind of baseball-personnel decisions ownership would be wise to leave to the general manager.
Obtaining Ichiro as an extra outfielder to compensate for Gamel's absence made sense, but there were risks in bringing back a once-special player who hasn't been special since 2010.
The biggest risk pertained to the temptation of touting Ichiro as relevant in a substantially reduced role. The Mariners couldn't resist. A minute or so after he signed his modest free-agent contract for 2018, the Safeco Field side of First Avenue was adorned with a larger-than-life poster of Ichiro flanking the likes of Robinson Cano and Nelson Cruz.
Fans posed for photos in front of the Ichiro poster on opening night, and last time I walked down First Avenue, this past Thursday, fans still were posing for photos in front of the Ichiro poster.
The time has come to move on, and Sunday, the Mariners moved on. They sent a legitimate big-league player to the minors, in order to preserve a roster spot for a legend.
It's about fans posing for photos before a larger-than-life Ichiro poster, the icon on the wall kindling fond and fun memories of somebody whose baseball life expired years ago.


Bologna, January 30, 2004 – The enthusiasm and fascination expressed by the public from all over the world for these new Ducati concept bikes has convinced the Bologna company to schedule all three "Sport Classic" models for production.
Due to the huge positive response following the presentation of the new Sport Classic family of bikes at the Tokyo Motor Show, Ducati has decided to start production of the motorcycles.
The positive response was also backed up by Internet statistics on Ducati's website, with more than 310,000 page views testifying to the enormous interest in this new Ducati machines.
The website also received more than 16,000 responses to a survey in which visitors were asked to provide feedback and show their preferences regarding the three models.
In addition, endless free discussions about the new machines could be followed in forums on top international motorcycle sites, plus emails and a host of other positive input confirming the huge level of interest generated by the new products.
Ducati, which has always made a point of sharing its commercial and sporting strategies with customers and fans, could hardly remain indifferent to such a tangible display of enthusiasm, so it comes as no surprise that the Italian makers have decided to set up a production program for all three Sport Classic models.
The first bike to roll off the production lines will be the magnificent and exclusive "Paul Smart", which will be in the showrooms from November 2005. This machine will be initially produced in a limited edition of one thousand in the original livery of the bike that inspired this model, i.e. the legendary "750 Imola Racer" with which Paul Smart won the historic Imola race in 1972. This initial limited edition series will feature top level components (including Öhlins rear shock absorber and front forks).
Subsequently the "Sport 1000" will enter production starting from March 2006; handsome, original, fascinating, and keenly aggressive, this bike has all it takes to become a cult icon and trendsetter. A muscular Café Racer style distinguished by the unmistakable Ducati bright yellow colors. Timeless beauty coupled with all the performance that true enthusiasts have come to expect.
And just six months after this initial launch customers will be able to purchase the "GT 1000", scheduled to enter production in September 2006. The new GT 1000 is the perfect expression of a long tradition of stylistic elegance and top-level components, with the ease of handling associated with modern machines.
Orders for the bikes will be accepted from 1 March up to 1 September of this year at the minimum prices specified. Reservations can be made at authorized Ducati dealers in accordance with the normal procedures. Deliveries will strictly reflect production schedules.
Incorporated in 1926, Ducati builds quality motorcycles based on race concepts, characterized by engines with "desmodromic" valve control, innovative design, and cutting edge technology. The Ducati motorcycle range covers five market segments, differentiated in terms of technical and design characteristics and customer category: Superbike, Super Sport, Monster, Sport Touring, and Multistrada. Ducati bikes are sold in more than 40 countries, with the greatest concentration of outlets in European and North American markets. Ducati has won eleven of the last thirteen World Superbike Championships plus more individual victories than all the other competing makes combined. For more information on Ducati, visit our website at http://www.ducati.com.


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text:
Tata Motors sets new record, issues 125 patents, announces investment in emerging technologies
Tata Motors holds the record. In the 2021-22 fiscal year, 125 patents were filed on behalf of the company the highest in Tata's history.
Today, Friday, they officially announced the achievement. Although currently the third largest company in the passenger car market, Tata is at the top in the electric car market. They dominate the hands of electric models like the Nixon EV and Tigor EV.
According to Tata, the patents they have filed are related to innovation and development in new powertrain technology, safety, connected vehicle technology. However, out of 127 patents, Tata has been able to get approval for 56 in the last financial year.
Tata Motors also said that it is constantly investing in new technologies for future ready mobility. Rajendra Patkar, President and Chief Technology Officer of the company, said, "With state-of-the-art technology and features, we have been able to set new standards in product performance and customer experience."
Last month, Tata Motors unveiled two futuristic concept vehicles. One is Tata Curve and the other is Tata Avania. The cars made a lot of noise after the curtain was removed. Because the design is so formidable. There is no pollution in it. Will run on battery. Depending on the future, Tata will bring electric cars to the market.
Yamaha Launches 250cc Sports Bike with Low Pollution Engine and New Features
Oppo A57 (2022) Launches with Affordable 64GB Memory And Powerful Battery


text:
Steering Committee on Avian Influenza updates avian flu precautionary measures (with photo)
The Secretary for Food and Health, Dr York Chow, this morning (June 2) convened an inter-departmental meeting on avian influenza following the confirmation of a case of Influenza A H5 infection by the Centre for Health Protection (CHP) yesterday (June 1) . The meeting reviewed the latest situation and preventive measures being taken by various parties against avian flu.
The inter-departmental meeting was attended by representatives from the Department of Health (DH), the Hospital Authority (HA), the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD), and the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD).
Dr Chow noted that the Government has activated the Serious Response Level under the Government's Preparedness Plan for influenza pandemic. To prevent the spread of the virus, the inter-departmental group had decided to take a series of actions according to the contingency plan for the Serious Response Level.
Accordingly, the CHP under DH has stepped up surveillance and testing. A telephone hotline 2125 1111 has also been set up to answer public enquiries. The CHP will write to all medical practitioners alerting them of the development and has liaised closely with HA to step up surveillance. The department will also send letters to institutions, elderly homes and schools to remind them to be vigilant. The World Health Organization and the Ministry of Health of China as well as the inspection and quarantine authorities have been informed of the case.
For public hospitals, the HA had activated the Serious Response Level to implement a series of measures to enhance surveillance and infection control. Hospital staff at Accident and Emergency Departments and general outpatient clinics will be vigilant to patients. Triage assessment and appropriate segregation at waiting areas would be arranged according to stipulated clinical guidelines.
Under the Serious Response Level, more stringent infection control measures will be enforced in public hospitals, which include no visiting at isolation wards unless on compassionate ground. For all acute hospitals, visiting hours would be not more than 2 hours per day and not more than 2 visitors per visit, and not more than 4 hours per day for all convalescent hospitals. Volunteering service in hospitals would be suspended under "Serious" Level. Visitors to public hospitals and clinics are advised to put on surgical masks if they have respiratory infection symptoms and perform hand hygiene before and after visiting patient areas.
As the patient came from Guangdong province, the Centre for Food Safety (CFS) under the FEHD has liaised with their Mainland counterparts for further actions. Once the CHP has obtained further information on the source of infection, CFS will announce the area within a radius of 13 kilometres of the infected area to be the "import control zone" for temporary suspension of importing live poultry and poultry products to Hong Kong for 21 days. Initially, no registered farm supplying live poultry to Hong Kong is found within the radius of 13 kilometres of the residential place of the patient. The CFS will continue their surveillance on imported live poultry at the import level.
The FEHD will adopt a series of corresponding measures including stepping up inspection at public market stalls and fresh provisions shops, enhancing surveillance and random checking of any incompliance with the prohibition against overnight stocking of live poultry at the retail level and stepping up cleansing and disinfection work at public markets.
In addition, the AFCD will complete the inspection of all 30 local chicken farms within these two days to confirm the health condition of chickens at local farms and ensure that all biosecurity and health measures are followed strictly. Live chickens supply from local farms will not be affected by this incident. The department will continue its inspection of poultry wholesale market, the Yuen Po Street Bird Garden and the pet bird shops to remind traders to stringently implement biosecurity measures. The department will continue its wild bird monitoring and surveillance and remind poultry farmers, wholesalers, pet bird shop owners, Mai Po Nature Reserve and Hong Kong Wetland Park, etc. to remain vigilant and strengthen precautionary measures against avian influenza.
The Government will step up publicity efforts and increase the broadcast of Announcements in the Public Interest (APIs) on avian influenza prevention on television and radio to further advise the public on precautionary measures. In addition, the Education Bureau will issue a letter advising schools to stay alert in preventing the spread of avian influenza on school premises.


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Q: "Could not load file or assembly 'PresentationUI.Aero2' or one of its dependencies." Why not? In my WPF application, I get the following exception on startup:
A first chance exception of type 'System.IO.FileNotFoundException' occurred in mscorlib.dll

Additional information: Could not load file or assembly
'PresentationUI.Aero2, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35'
or one of its dependencies.

EDIT: Using fusion log, I get a little more valuable info than the call stack:
LOG: DisplayName = PresentationUI.Aero2, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35
 (Fully-specified)
LOG: Appbase = file:///[...]/bin/Debug/
LOG: Initial PrivatePath = NULL
LOG: Dynamic Base = NULL
LOG: Cache Base = NULL
LOG: AppName = EngideskLauncher.vshost.exe
Calling assembly : PresentationFramework, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35.
===
LOG: This bind starts in default load context.
LOG: Using application configuration file: [...]\bin\Debug\EngideskLauncher.vshost.exe.Config
LOG: Using host configuration file:
LOG: Using machine configuration file from C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\config\machine.config.
LOG: Post-policy reference: PresentationUI.Aero2, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35
LOG: GAC Lookup was unsuccessful.
LOG: Attempting download of new URL file:///[...]/bin/Debug/PresentationUI.Aero2.DLL.
LOG: Attempting download of new URL file:///file:///[...]/bin/Debug/PresentationUI.Aero2/PresentationUI.Aero2.DLL.
LOG: Attempting download of new URL file:///file:///[...]/bin/Debug/PresentationUI.Aero2.EXE.
LOG: Attempting download of new URL file:///file:///[...]/bin/Debug/PresentationUI.Aero2/PresentationUI.Aero2.EXE.
LOG: All probing URLs attempted and failed.

What I find strange, is that the calling assembly is PresentationFramework, which is a .NET framework assembly, obviously. A .NET Framework assembly wouldn't call an assembly which is not a .NET framework assembly. Anyway, I can't find a PresentationUI.Aero2.DLL anywhere and not even Google seems to know anything about it??
Any ideas?
Additional information:

*

*.NET Framework 4.0

*Windows 8.1

A: I was getting the same error and finally realized that it was simply stopping in the IDE because I had first chance exceptions turned on, the exception doesn't actually matter and you can ignore or continue past it.

A: If you're interested, this is a (benign) bug in WPF. The exception is first-chance and can be ignored.
WPF forgot to add Aero2.NormalColor.xaml to PresentationUI.dll. If you inspect PresentationUI.dll with your favorite reflector/decompiler, you'll find all sorts of themes, such as Aero.NormalColor.baml, etc. but no Aero2.NormalColor.xaml. This causes WPF to try and see if an external assembly exists:
This tries to load Aero2.NormalColor.baml from PresentationUI.dll and returns null:
http://referencesource.microsoft.com/#PresentationFramework/src/Framework/System/Windows/SystemResources.cs,773
This then goes to try an external assembly:
http://referencesource.microsoft.com/#PresentationFramework/src/Framework/System/Windows/SystemResources.cs,554
And this throws the actual exception:
http://referencesource.microsoft.com/#PresentationFramework/src/Framework/System/Windows/SystemResources.cs,706
This exception is commonly observed when using a FlowDocument or a FlowDocumentScrollViewer.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


*WEST BROADWAY DUPLEX*ALL UTILITIES SEPARATE*COMPLETELY UPGRADED/RENOVATED 2007*This property is ideal for an investor looking for a legal duplex which comes with all utilities separate (gas/hydro/water) or for someone looking to owner occupy and have the opportunity to supplement their mortgage. The very spacious main floor unit is equipped with 1 bedroom, kitchen, 4pc bathroom and family room. The upper floor unit comes with 3 bedrooms, 4pc bathroom, kitchen and family room. Both units come with insuite laundry, separate furnaces, separate hot water tanks, parking and 2 private entries. The main floor unit will be vacant on possession giving you the opportunity to set your own rent. This duplex is conveniently located close to public transportation, shopping, Portage Ave, Polo Park, downtown, schools, fantastic restaurants and coffee shops. Great opportunity for an investor to get into West Broadway and take advantage of the growing popularity of this neighbourhood.