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This article was written by long-time builder Morpheus, and was posted on Oct 16, 2008.
You enter the world naked, confused and scared as you did once long ago. The surrounding walls are of stone and several items lie on the ground. Taking what you will and leaving that which is unusable, you proceed down the corridor. You find a door and open it. Golems and obstacles block your way, but you pass and defeat each new challenge. After each battle you claim your prizes, wearing all that you find useful and leaving the rest.
Each challenge gets harder, each successive golem becomes more aggressive. Finally you stand before the final golem, tired and slightly injured. You realize you must sleep to heal your wounds and to recover your stamina again. After a short time, you rise and prepare for the final battle.
You leap into action, but the challenge is tough and at times it feels hopeless. Then suddenly it is over and the final golem lies defeated at your feet. Although you're tired and in need of healing, you reach down and claim your prize from the crumbled remains.
So ends your introduction to the vast world known as Alter Aeon.
As a new player in this huge world you will find you must learn many things. It can be overwhelming at times, but stay calm and never forget about the 'help' command. Simply typing help and the name of the thing you wish to do will normally give you hints on accomplishing it. For example, if trying to figure out how to use a weapon, typing 'help weapons' would give you a variety of ideas.
There are help files on a huge number of subjects. I personally suggest when you need to regenerate or heal, take time to look through the help files. Some suggestions might be rules, commands, socials, quest, train, skills, spells and stats. If you're feeling lucky try 'help random' to get a random help page.
If all else fails, you can always ask for help on the newbie channel by using the 'newbie' command. Just remember this channel is supposed to be for new player question and answer, not normal chat.
As a new player you will need to find ways of gaining experience points, so you can level and increase your stats, skills and spells. At first you may gather wood, try your hand at fishing, or hunt local game, and sell the meat or skins.
Later, you may accept quests to defeat nearby monsters or perform tasks; be sure to talk to all the characters that you meet, for this is how you will find quests and new things to do.
As you begin to rise in levels, you will need to find other ways of gaining experience. There are many different ways of doing this - brewing potions and poisons, stealing gold and shoplifting, disarming your enemies, rescuing others in battle, backstabbing or turning away the undead are only a few examples. No matter what class you pick, there are myriad different ways of gaining experience. It is the only way you will grow stronger, gain more skills and spells or to be able to use better equipment.
You will find that grouping with others can have many advantages. Groups can defeat more or larger monsters. Normally it can be done faster and with less regenerating. You will have more skills and spells available as a group then most will by themselves at lower levels. Clerics can heal fighters as they protect the group. Mages can be casting offensive spells at the monsters or casting defensive ones on members of the group. Thieves can backstab your opponent, sneak into unusual places or maybe get the group into locations that would otherwise be very difficult. You will learn to depend on each other, in turn accomplishing far more and gaining even more experience.
I suggest though you occasionally go out on your own and explore the lands. Walking and exploring is the only true way you will learn the many areas of Alter Aeon. From the False Temple on the island of Sloe to the city of Dragon Tooth on the island of Archais, from the Mount of Olympus to the Norse Village, from the Dwarven marketplace to the Oriental city, from the ruins under the Northern continent to the Island of Seriphus - these are just a small sample of the lands of Alter Aeon.
There are several alternate planes as well, such as the Ethereal Plane of Fire, the Outer Planar Ice World, and the planes of shadows, air and earth. In most of these areas you will find a variety of equipment, monsters, scenery and quests to complete.
In closing remember we all come here for different reasons. Many come to have fun and some to escape their mundane life. Others come to get away from the aggravation of the day. No matter the reason we have come to get away whether it's for an hour or for five hours, we are here to have fun. So when someone upsets you, you can't figure out the maze or just get bored, take a break. When feeling better come on back and give it another shot.
Remember to treat others as you wish to be treated and that even the gods are people too. Life is too short and the real world has enough problems, to let the game become one of these as well.
I hope that some will find the above informative and of value. The most important thing to remember is to have fun and that it's only a game.
I hope that one and all enjoy their time in Alter Aeon as much as I have in the last five years.


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My RedState post on Sheldon Silver corruption conviction is up.
Found here. Short version: the man was as guilty of sin, and deserved it. But we have to start pulling up these weeds earlier.
Written by Moe_Lane in: Politics | Tags: corruption, sheldon silver
Kathleen Kane keeps on with keeping Pennsylvania-SEN safe for Pat Toomey.
Here's a question for the ages:
So if there's one question that's come up again and again in the tangled legal surrounding Attorney General Kathleen Kane, it's this one: Exactly how much lawyering can one do when the state Supreme Court has suspended your license to practice law?
The basic problem for Kathleen Kane here is that right now she can't actually say anything (including press releases) that implies that she's a lawyer. Largely because, according to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, she's not actually one. So now she's being forced to write out all of her press releases as being from "Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen G. Kane's office." Which is clumsy, sure – but so is stubbornly refusing to resign after you get caught abusing your power. Oops, did I write that out? I must be part of the conspiracy, then.
No, seriously, I have to be part of the Conspiracy.
Written by Moe_Lane in: Politics | Tags: corruption, kathleen kane
New Hampshire Governor Maggie "I took illegal PAC contributions!" Hassan (D) to run for Senate.
Possibly you may remember the Northern Pass story from last year: in a nutshell, Maggie Hassan's campaign took forty-five thousand in illegally same-day campaign contributions from three Big Labor unions (SEIU, UFCW, and IBEW). This was generally considered to be at least suspicious, as all three unions want New Hampshire's proposed Northern Pass transmission line project to go through, while radical environmentalists of course instead want people in New Hampshire to be cold, hungry, and in the dark. Was it a bribe? Nobody knows! Was it illegal? Well…
After the state Republican Party filed a complaint, Attorney General Joe Foster was tasked with deciding whether the $45,000 in union donations to Hassan's campaign were legal. He decided that a person becomes a candidate at midnight on the day he or she announces. Under that rather creative interpretation, the two $10,000 donations were legal, but the $25,000 contribution was not.
Further complicating the story, the PACs had not registered in New Hampshire, making their donations felonies. Foster ordered the PACs to register, but did not punish them for the violations, which was very lenient of him.
Written by Moe_Lane in: Politics | Tags: corruption, democrats, kelly ayotte, maggie hassan, new hampshire, northern pass
Rep. Mike Honda (D, CA-17) squirms under allegations he mixed campaign business with House business.
When you do politics, you should always read local newspaper reports whenever possible. They often tell you things that you won't hear from the national news organizations. Case in point: Mike Honda (D, CA-17). He had a bad week, from a 'campaign shenanigans' point of view. This is how The Hill described it:
Shown notes from his district office's staff retreat, Rep. Michael M. Honda allegedly acknowledged to ethics investigators that what he was seeing was "open to a lot of interpretation, but it doesn't look good."
The California Democrat's former campaign manager presented official staff with a strategy in which district office events would be used to raise money, according to Office of Congressional Ethics documents released Thursday.
Written by Moe_Lane in: Politics | Tags: California, campaign, corruption, democrats, mike honda
Pennsylvania AG Kathleen Kane (D) claims that a conspiracy is behind her recent indictments.
Alternate title: Kathleen crazies a Kane.
That was a fascinating press conference that embattled Democratic Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane had there, yesterday.
You see, everybody who showed up for this press conference thought, rather naively, that AG Kane would be addressing her being charged with "conspiracy, obstruction, oppression, perjury and false swearing" with regard to her involvement in the leak of a 2009 AG probe of a Philadelphia NAACP official. Instead, she decided to make a no-questions-taken, thirteen minute statement where a sitting state Attorney General repeatedly insisted that all of the allegations were due to a conspiracy against her designed to keep AG Kane from ferreting out the truth behind a nefarious, wicked, and NSFW email chain cabal. She then politely begged her children to stand by her and left the room without taking a question.
I AM NOT MAKING ANY OF THIS UP.
Written by Moe_Lane in: Politics | Tags: attorney general, corruption, indict, kathleen kane, leaking, pennsylvania
Rep. Chaka Fattah (D, PA-02) indicted for all SORTS of political corruption, really.
NAME! THAT! PARTY!!!!!
REP. CHAKA FATTAH INDICTED IN RACKETEERING CASE
…[Five people were] charged today in a 29-count indictment with participating in a racketeering conspiracy and other crimes, including bribery; conspiracy to commit mail, wire and honest services fraud; and multiple counts of mail fraud, falsification of records, bank fraud, making false statements to a financial institution and money laundering, the U.S. Attorney said.
Written by Moe_Lane in: Politics | Tags: chaka fattah, corruption, democrat, pennsylvania, racketeering
Google News is wrong: Gov. Jay Inslee (D, Washington) was not arrested on abuse of power charges.
Dagnabbit, don't tease me like this, Google News.
Yeah, it turns out that that they truncated the quote there:
A Washington State Patrol trooper who worked as a bodyguard for Gov. Jay Inslee was arrested in Olympia, accused of destroying evidence connected to his son's criminal case.
Written by Moe_Lane in: Politics | Tags: arrested, corruption, democrat, jay inslee, washington
Did NY Assemblyman Sheldon Silver (D) give up NY Senator Dean Skelos (R)?
…Mayyyyybe:
Dean G. Skelos, the leader of the New York State Senate, and his son are expected to be arrested on federal corruption charges next week, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
The expected arrests, coming roughly three months after federal bribery and kickback charges led Assemblyman Sheldon Silver to step down as speaker, would signal an extension of the investigation into allegations of political corruption in Albany, and would almost certainly further upend the legislative session.
Written by Moe_Lane in: Politics | Tags: corruption, dean skelos, new york, sheldon silver
Think Progress inadvertently sums why the Clinton Foundation is problematical.
Obviously, they were trying to debunk. The problem is that… well, it's that the Clinton Foundation is a pretty suspect shop. There's no way around it.
Also: I harp on Buzzfeed a lot, but it was pretty helpful of Ben Smith to present this in a nice, concise chunk for later dissemination. I didn't have to do anything except scoop it out of the box, and onto the plate. Thanks, guys!
Intended as a debunking but summarizes some pretty serious allegations re Clinton foundation http://t.co/9PGtENWp58 pic.twitter.com/zCseOLXSBs
— Ben Smith (@BuzzFeedBen) April 21, 2015
Written by Moe_Lane in: Politics | Tags: bribery, clinton foundation, corruption, crony capitalism, war crimes
I hope that Gov. Bruce Rauner (R, Illinois) knows what a blood oath is…
…because, according to George Will, he just took one*.
[Illinois governor Bruce] Rauner [R] hopes to ban, as some states do, public employees unions from making political contributions, whereby they elect the employers with whom they negotiate their compensation. Rauner notes that an owner of a small firm that does business with Illinois's government is forbidden to make political contributions. Rauner also hopes to enable counties and local jurisdictions to adopt right-to-work laws, thereby attracting businesses that will locate only where there are such laws.
He hopes the legislature will empower voters to ratify changes to the state constitutional provision that says public pensions can never be "diminished or impaired." He also proposes shifting state employees from unaffordable defined-benefit plans to a more affordable plan for the state. Furthermore, he hopes to end practices that now have more than 11,000 retirees receiving six-figure pensions.
Written by Moe_Lane in: Politics | Tags: bruce rauner, corruption, illinois

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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College of Engineering students bagged Third prize at "GO 4th" @ Sultan Qaboos University (SQU-AIChE)
margin-left:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'>The Chemical Engineering student gathering "Go 4th" talks about the fourth industrial revolution and its applications in the field of the oil and gas industry and its impact on the work of chemical engineers. Sultan Qaboos University Student Chapter of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (SQU-AIChE) organizes at this gathering several workshops, accompanied by a specialized championship between various universities and colleges in the Sultanate. The gathering targets students and graduates of chemical and Process engineers in the Sultanate and those interested in the field. Through these activities the chapter aims to enhance and sculpture its members and participants skills and talents in addition to demonstrate the creativeness of the members to the public. For this purpose, the Sultan Qaboos University Student Chapter of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (SQU-AIChE) is kindly seeking your valuable participation in the gathering.
Details of the Event/Competition (Chem League Challenge):
margin-left:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'>The Chemical Engineering Student Gathering "Go 4th, was scheduled from 28th February to 3ed March with several fruitful workshops in each day.
margin-left:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'>Introduction to data analysis was covered on the opening day followed by the impact of 4IR on PDO jobs and introduction to pumps, hydraulics, and process safety on the followed days.
margin-left:0in;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'>The 4 days competition has 3 stages/phases, the first stage is the Debate section (1), the second stage is posting a Solution to an Industrial problem (2) and the third stage has general questions round in the area of Chemical Engineering background (3). The following students were participated from Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering under Chemical Engineering program for the competition.
Name of the Student
Wisam Al Hajry
Esraa Ali Alabri
Maathar Mohammed Al-Hinaai
Mallak sultan saif almamari
Malak Said Alsouti
At the end of Chem League Challenge competition, the score points were counted and winners were announced by the SQU-AIChE organizing team. First and second place won by Sultan Qaboos University, and National University team bagged the 3rd place with the Prize money is 100 Omani riyals. Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering take this opprtunity to congratulate the winners.


English Double Gloucester, Rose Crown Stilton, Irish Cheddar and White Stilton with cranberries. Combined with roasted turkey, baked ham, and Genoa hard salami; served with British Cream Crackers.
Deep fried mozzarella served with homemade Marinara sauce.
Beer battered golden fried artichoke hearts served with our homemade ranch.
Beer battered onion rings served with our homemade dipping sauce.
Ale battered, golden fried pickles served with homemade dipping sauce.
Deep fried okra served with homemade ranch.
Crispy tater tots loaded with cheddar-jack cheese, bacon and scallions and topped with sour cream.
Ale battered chicken tenders tossed in your favorite sauce and served with bleu cheese and celery sticks. May substitute grilled or blackened.
10 deep fried crispy chicken wings tossed with your favorite sauce; served with bleu cheese and celery sticks.
Sauces: Mild, Extra Hot, Hot, Honey Hot, Medium, BBQ, Garlic & Butter, Teriyaki.
Fresh Romaine hearts of lettuce tossed with our homemade Caesar dressing and topped with garlic croutons, aged Parmesan cheese with or without anchovies.
A smaller version of our Caesar.
Mixed fresh garden greens with ham, turkey and cheese. Topped with vine ripe tomatoes, hard boiled eggs, red Bermuda onions and black olives.
*Add grilled, blackened or fried chicken tenders to any salad.
*Add grilled or blackened shrimp to any salad.
Dressings: Bleu Cheese, Caesar, Honey Mustard, Ranch, Balsamic Vinaigrette, Vinegar & Oil.


The year 2016 could be described as the year of 'governing the Party strictly' (congyan zhi dang 从严治党)—a slogan and platform promoted by Xi Jinping at the Sixth Plenum of the Eighteenth Party Congress in October. What is both semantically and politically interesting about this phrase is the character zhi 治, a polysemic character (one with multiple, related meanings), which means to govern, regulate, and administer, but is also etymologically associated with zhiliao 治疗, meaning medical treatment, therapy, and cure. This essay explores the implications of viewing governance as a form of medical treatment.
As literary critic and translator Carlos Rojas points out, both Chinese and Western political thought have discursive traditions of 'viewing the body as a model for the political community' and using 'medical metaphors … to comment on a broad range of social phenomena' (Rojas 2015, 9 and 11). In his recent book Homesickness: Culture, Contagion, and National Transformation in Modern China, Rojas documents how advances in science and medicine—and the discovery of the immune system and germs in particular—influenced the language and thinking of China's early twentieth century political reformers, such as Liang Qichao, Lu Xun, and Hu Shi.
Once in power, one of the core missions of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was to heal the wounded and damaged body of the nation. According to the official narrative, national strength, territorial integrity, economic growth, and social harmony ultimately depend on the vitality of the Party 'organism' (jiti 肌体). Inverted, however, this could suggest that the Communist Party is parasitic on its host, depleting resources from society in order to nourish itself.
The CCP conceptualises itself as a living organism that is self-conscious of its own mortality. In 1949, when the Party triumphantly seized state power, Mao soberly wrote: 'The Communist Party of China is no longer a child or a lad in his teens but has become an adult. When a man reaches old age, he will die; the same is true of a party.' Continuing in this vein, Communist Party theory is inflected by an awareness of the inexorable 'rise and decay' (xingwang 兴亡) of all incarnations of political power, itself included. This does not mean that the CCP is resigned to going gently into the night. It views political decay as manageable and treatable despite being stubbornly 'ineradicable' (wanji 顽疾).
Party discourse demands 'vigilance' (jingxi 警惕) in order to 'guard against' (yufang 预防) any 'hidden dangers' (yinhuan 隐患, also translatable as 'hidden but serious diseases') that threaten the survival of the organism. This political logic follows a traditional Chinese conception of preventative medicine that, according to François Jullien, 'invites us to attend to the slightest deviation well in advance of the crisis that will someday result from it … we are surprised by the suddenness of an event only when we fail to perceive the silent transformation by which the malady has logically progressed' (Jullien 2007, 134–135).
According to the Communist Party's political anatomy, each individual Party member (dangyuan 党员) is a 'cell' (xibao 细胞) in the 'Party organism' (dang de jiti党的肌体). In 2016, Xi Jinping's phrase of 'cellular engineering' (xibao gongcheng 细胞工程) entered official parlance as an integral component of 'Party construction' (dang de jianshe党的建设)—the idea that the Party is never a completed or static entity but a work-in-progress. To achieve its goal of 'cellular engineering,' the Communist Party unveiled new norms and standards for 'intra-Party political life in a new era' under the rubric of 'four speaks, four haves' (sijiang siyou 四讲四有). These new standards exhort Party members to: 'Have faith when speaking about politics, have discipline when speaking about norms, have moral conduct when speaking about morality, and have accomplishments when speaking about dedication' (jiang zhengzhi, you xinnian; jiang guiju, you jilü; jiang daode, you pinxing; jiang fengxian, you zuowei 讲政治,有信念;讲规矩,有纪律;讲道德,有品行;讲奉献,有作为). In Xi's vision of a healthy Communist Party, each Party member calibrates their internal thoughts, words, and actions to the standards established in the Party Constitution. Redolent of the monastic exercise of copying scripture, 2016 was also the year when the Party faithful rushed to hand-copy the Constitution, including one couple who spent their wedding night in the ecstasies of transcription.
The Party's cells comprise of three basic typologies: Party member (dangyuan 党员), cadre (ganbu 干部), and leading cadre (lingdao 领导) with a vast number of different functions, ranks, and sub-types. Although the basic cellular unit is the Party member, it is the Party cadre who is responsible for day-to-day governance, policy implementation, economic development, and social control. Due to their structural importance, cadres also pose the greatest risk to the Party organism. When cadres pursue private interests and indulge their appetites with arrant disregard for the health of the organism, they can become rogue, cancerous cells. The demand that 'each cell of the Party becomes healthy' (dang de mei yi ge xibao dou jiankang qilai 党的每一个细胞都健康起来) implicitly acknowledges a pervasive sickness. The scrutiny of individual cells doubles as a form of medical monitoring for abnormal behaviours and patterns.
Since Xi Jinping's rise to power, the CCP has funded research institutes to study the reasons for the collapse of the Soviet Union. According to Beijing's autopsy of the Soviet Union, the cause of death began with 'necrosis of the underlying cellular structure of the Party' (dang de jiceng xibao huai si le 党的基层细胞坏死了) and 'loss of [cellular] functionality' (shiqu gongneng le 失去功能了), which resulted in systemic 'pathological changes' (bingbian 病变) and, ultimately, death. It would seem that Xi Jinping is convinced that the CCP must govern/treat its own malignant cells before they metastasise and spread throughout the Party.
I suggest that Beijing is currently pursuing three different kinds of treatment. The first is preventative—strengthening cadres' political 'ideals and convictions' (lixiang xinnian 理想信念). Here too, Xi Jinping relies heavily on medical metaphors: in 2013, he stated that: 'ideals and convictions are the spiritual calcium of Communist Party members' (lixiang xinnian jiu shi gongchandangren de jingshen shang de gai 理想信念就是共产党人的精神上的钙); without them, a cadre is 'calcium deficient' (quegai 缺钙) and will be afflicted by 'chondropathy' (ruangubing 软骨病, a general term for diseases of the cartilage, such as osteoarthritis; in Chinese, the characters literally mean 'soft bone' disease).
The second form of treatment requires self-examination (jiancha 检查) of one's thoughts for engrained and emerging harmful ideas, stubborn habits, and unruly desires. In the early stages of Party history, it was plausibly assumed that most cadres were contaminated with unhealthy patterns of thinking and behaviour inherited from the old, pre-revolutionary society. Mao believed that it was possible to 'treat the disease in order save the patient' (zhibing jiuren 治病救人). In his 1945 treatise On the Party, the future president Liu Shaoqi further developed this notion, writing: 'As comrade Mao Zedong puts it, we must constantly "sweep the floor and wash our faces" so as to prevent political dust and germs from clouding the minds of our comrades and decaying the body of our Party.' These tropes are permanent features of Party discourse. In a speech at a Politburo Meeting on 18 April 2013, Xi Jinping exhorted cadres to 'look into a mirror, neaten their dress, take a bath, and have their illnesses treated.' The Party's organic composition has evolved since the Mao era (for example, in 2001, the Party began granting membership to 'capitalists'). But the health of the Party organism remains dependent on the maintenance of a hygienic political environment and the practice of penetrating self-examination.
For any examination to be effective, the patient must not hide even the tiniest, most innocuous symptom. Mao also frequently quoted the saying to 'hide a sickness for fear of treatment' (huijijiyi 讳疾忌医) from the classical legal text Han Feizi to make the point that cadres ought to be brave and sincere when confronting and admitting their faults. There is also a striking similarity between Maoist discourse and Michel Foucault's explanation of the role that avowal played in Christianity, which has 'bound the individual to the obligation to search for a secret deep within himself and in spite of everything that might hide this truth—a certain secret that, when brought into the light of day and manifested, must play a decisive role in his path toward salvation' (Foucault 2014, 92). In both conceptual universes, an individual is merely the vessel of a greater truth.
In Maoist China, one of the main instruments to obtain self-knowledge of the secrets (one may not know one kept) lodged deep within was the written 'self-criticism' (ziwo piping 自我批评). It is still used today. In 2013, Xi Jinping warned that the Party 'must not discard the weapons of self-criticism and criticism to protect itself and treat its own illnesses' (bu neng ba women fangshen zhibing de wuqi gei diudiao le 不能把我们防身治病的武器给丢掉了). Under the knife of the self-criticism session, the daily routine of self-examination is elevated to a highly invasive, fraught, and often risky process of 'self-dissection' (ziwo pouxi 自我剖析).
On 25 May 2016, the novelist Yang Jiang passed away at the age of 104. Her novel Baptism (xizao 洗澡, literally, to bathe), translated into English by Judith M. Amory and Yaohua Shi, contains a vivid literary account of self-criticism and ideological disease. The story is set at a literary institute in Beijing in the early years of the People's Republic of China. Its main characters are intellectuals who must perform self-criticisms of their indiscretions and insincerities in order to 'wash off' the dirt from the old society. In the novel, the Party cadre Fan Ertan stipulates the guidelines for self-criticism: 'The first priority is not to fear the shame of revealing those hidden, dirty parts. The second is not to fear the pain of scrubbing those parts clean, or of digging or cutting them out' (Yang 2007, 212). One character describes her attitude as a process of 'cutting my heart open, to encounter the masses sincerely' (Yang 2007, 234). Another flinches from the pain of seeing 'the true nature of his rotten flesh' (Yang 2007, 265). As Yang Jiang's novel suggests, such searing political vivisections left behind permanent somatic and psychic scars.
In the Mao era, self-criticisms were frequently read aloud before an audience of the masses (qunzhong 群众), which could range in size from a few co-workers to a packed stadium. The assembled masses judged the 'sincerity' of the confession and would often prescribe a deeper investigation, involving another ritual of humiliation and control. These days, high-level cadres found guilty of corruption may have to recant their political sins and recite their written repentances in public—before a television camera.
Toward the end of 2016, the Communist Party's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) and CCTV co-produced an eight-part reality TV series called Always on the Road (yongyuan zai lu shang 永远在路上), showing cadre confessions spliced with gritty biographical details. Mediated and disseminated via networked technologies, self-criticisms are now recorded as performances without an audience, such as in TV studio green rooms, courts, and jail cells. The unstable element—the masses—has been removed from the picture. No longer passionately engaged actors in the pageant of revolutionary history, 'the people' have been reduced to passive audiences.
In 2016, the phenomenon of choreographed contrition continued to spread to include 'troublesome' journalists, human rights lawyers, and foreign citizens. On a certain level, whether or not these confessions were coerced or voluntary is beside the point; they are intended as demonstrations of Party control and examples of normatively desirable behaviour.
The third form of treatment is amputation. Party leaders must be willing to 'sacrifice the local [necrotic tissue] in order to protect the whole [organism]' (xisheng jubo, zhaogu quanbu 牺牲局部,照顾全部). In 2014, Xi argued that the Party needed to 'scrape the bone of poison' (guagu liaodu 刮骨疗毒) and even resemble the 'warrior who severed his [poisoned] wrist' (zhuangshi duanwan 壮士断腕). Both of these phrases originate from classic stories in which a warrior severs a limb to prevent poison from spreading throughout his entire body.
Official media have described Xi Jinping's anti-corruption campaign as a prescription of 'harsh medicine' (mengyao 猛药) to cure the Communist Party of its mortal ailments. But it comes with side effects. The 'cells' being targeted by this 'medicine' might react negatively to it. In March 2016, an anonymous letter signed by 'loyal Communist members' called for Xi Jinping to resign from power 'out of consideration for [his] personal safety and that of [his family]'. People believed to be associated with the letter were, in turn, detained by the State Security apparatus.
There is a significant risk that the Party's immune system (mianyi xitong 免疫系统) will begin to act in an auto-immune manner. Auto-immune disorders occur when the immune system goes into over-drive and begins to attack the body's healthy cells and tissues. According to Italian philosopher Roberto Esposito, 'what is certain is that in all these cases [of auto-immunity], an "overactive defence" of the body in seeking to strike at the enemy also causes harm to itself' (Esposito 2011, 163). In both political and medical worlds, the drive to protect life may end up destroying it.
At the end of 2016, the CCP was still undergoing treatment, and had yet to enter a period of remission and recovery. If Xi's anti-corruption campaign continues at such high dosages, it might revitalise the Party organism or substantially weaken it. From an external vantage point, delivering a prognosis would be unreliable at best and irresponsible at worst. There is already enough quack medicine in circulation. What we can do, though, is listen to the words the Party uses to diagnose itself, for they reveal much about the health of China's political world and how those who govern it are feeling.
Download References [PDF]. Photo Credits: Chinese Acupuncture Model, by The Golden Triangle.
This article was originally published in Jane Golley, Linda Jaivin, and Luigi Tomba (eds.), China Story Yearbook 2016: Control, ANU Press, Canberra, 2017. The book is open access and can be downloaded at this link: http://press.anu.edu.au/publications/china-story-yearbook/control.


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Binder Lab
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Research Focus:
Ethylene is a plant hormone that influences many developmental and physiological processes in plants such as growth, senescence, abscission, fruit ripening, and responses to stresses. It is the basis of the saying one bad apple spoils the bunch because of its role in fruit ripening. Research in this lab focuses on ethylene signal transduction with a major focus on understanding the roles and functions of the receptors for ethylene in plants as well as how ethylene receptors function in bacteria. We combine imaging techniques with biochemistry, molecular biology, computational and mathematical modeling, and genetics to unravel the complexities of ethylene signaling. There are several aspects of ethylene signaling we are currently pursuing.
Structure-Function of the Ethylene Binding Domain
One topic of interest is to further define the structure and function of the ethylene binding domain. We have used both mutational and chemical analyses to uncover more information about how ethylene binds to the receptor and transduces the signal through the protein. Interestingly, ethylene receptors are metalloproteins containing copper ions. While copper is the natural co-factor, we have shown that the other group 11 transition metals (silver and gold) support ethylene binding to the receptors, whereas, other metals do not. This observation is of interest because silver, but not gold, blocks ethylene action in the plant. These observations led to the hypothesis that silver may block conformational changes in the receptor because it is larger than copper. Interestingly, silver mainly affects the ETR1 ethylene receptor, but not the other isoforms. Another chemical approach we have used is to analyze ethylene binding and receptor function in the presence of various strained alkenes and other small chemicals in order to better define the ethylene binding pocket, identify how copper is delivered to the receptors, and uncover useful chemicals that can be used agriculturally. Finally, we have used mutagenesis of conserved residues in the binding domain to define regions necessary for ethylene binding, turning the receptor off when ethylene binds, and maintaining a functional receptor. For more information refer to: Rodriguez et al., 1999; Wang et al., 2006; Binder et al., 2007; Pirrung et al., 2008; Binder et al., 2010; McDaniel and Binder, 2012; Li et al. 2017).
Ethylene Growth Response Kinetics and Signaling Network Toplogies
A second area is to uncover new details about the ethylene signal transduction pathway downstream of the receptors. We use a computer-driven, time-lapse image acquisition system to study the kinetics of growth changes in etiolated seedlings of Arabidopsis thaliana. This method has revealed transient and subtle changes due to ethylene that would have otherwise remained unknown (list of lab papers using this technique). Combining this approach with genetics and molecular biology has refined our understanding about ethylene receptor function and down-stream signal transduction components and has provided links between events at the molecular level with those at the organ level. In particular, there appear to be two phases to the ethylene response which can be genetically and pharmacologically distinguished. The second, slower phase response to ethylene is dependent on the EIN3 and EIL1 transcription factors. In contrast, the events leading to the first phase response remain unknown. In collaboration with the lab of Steve Abel, we have mathematically modeled several network topologies to obtain a more refined understanding about how the pathway works and to make predictions about various pathway components (Prescott et al., 2016). We continue to uncover more details about the basis for the two phases of growth inhibition as well as develop more comprehensive network models to explain these properties. For more information refer to: Binder et al., 2004; Binder et al., 2004; Kim et al., 2011; Kim et al., 2012; Binder et al. 2018.
Growth responses in Arabidopsis
(click on image to link to time-lapse movies)
Seed germination during salt stress
Sub-functionalization of Ethylene Receptor Isoforms
A third area of current research is to determine the basis for ethylene receptor sub-functionalization (reviewed in Shakeel et al., 2013) . We have uncovered several instances where the receptors have become sub-functionalized. For instance, ETR1, ETR2, and EIN4 are required for normal growth recovery after removal of ethylene, while ERS1 and ERS2 are not. This function requires ETR1 histidine kinase activity (Binder et al., 2004). ETR1 plays the predominant role in mediating the inhibitory effects of silver ions on ethylene responses (McDaniel and Binder, 2012), in mediating many responses of roots to ethylene (Harkey et al., 2018) and in susceptibility to the cyst nematode Heterodera schactii (Piya et al., 2019). Interestingly, our research has also revealed instances of contrasting roles for certain receptor isoforms. The first instance that we found was that ETR1 is necessary and sufficient for ethylene-stimulated nutational bending (also called circumnutations) of Arabidopsis hypocotyls; by contrast loss of the other four receptor isoforms leads to constitutive nutations (Binder et al., 2006; Kim et al., 2011). Another instance of contrasting roles is that ETR1 (and to a lesser extent EIN4) inhibits and ETR2 stimulates seed germination during salt stress (Wilson et al., 2014a) and in darkness (Wilson et al., 2014b). The receiver domain of ETR1 has an important role during germination under salt stress. We've recently defined regions of the receiver domain important for specific traits (Bakshi et al., 2015). Thus, we have two instances where receptor isoforms have opposite roles in a trait. This is not explained by current models of ethylene signaling, but appears to involve crosstalk (see below). We are now studying the mechanistic basis for these various roles.
Signaling Crosstalk and Non-Canonical Signaling
As part of our interest in receptor sub-functionalization, we are exploring signaling from the ethylene receptors that affects other hormone pathways (reviewed in Binder, 2020). For instance, there appears to be signaling from the ethylene receptors to components of the cytokinin pathway to modulate recovery kinetics (Binder et al. 2018) and susceptibility to the cyst nematode Heterodera schactii (Piya et al., 2019). This signaling is likely to involve phosphorelay from ETR1 to the cytokinin pathway. Interesting, some receptors seem to have ethylene-independent roles. For instance, ETR1 and EIN4 stimulate, and ETR2 inhibits responses to abscisic acid during seed germination; these responses are independent of ethylene and the canonical ethylene signal transduction pathway (Wilson et al., 2014a; Bakshi et al., 2018). Together, these projects are providing new information about the complex web of interactions important for plant survival.
Phototaxing Synechocystis Colonies
(chlorophyll fluorescence image)
Ethylene Receptors in Non-plant Species
It is believed that plants acquired ethylene receptors during the endosymbiotic event that led to chloroplasts. It is still unknown which organism(s) initially evolved ethylene receptors. We are now studying putative ethylene receptors in various bacteria. We have shown that the cyanobacterium Synechocystis PCC 6803 contains a functional ethylene receptor (SynEtr1) that is involved in controlling various physiological processes such as phototaxis and biofilm formation. For instance, disruption of SynEtr1 leads to much faster phototaxis. This signaling pathway seems to have a role in modulating the extracellular surface of the bacterium. SynEtr1 also contains a phytochrome-like domain and has been shown to be a functional light receptor. Thus, SynEtr1 is a bifunctional receptor for both light and ethylene. We are now exploring the mechanism of ethylene signaling by SynEtr1 and characterizing putative ethylene receptors from other microbes. For more information refer to: Rodriguez et al., 1999; Wang et al., 2006; Lacey and Binder, 2016; Henry et al., 2017; Lacey et al. 2018; Papon and Binder, 2019; Allen et al. 2019; Bidon et al. 2020; and Carlew et al. 2020.
Funding for this research is largely provided by the National Science Foundation and USDA-NSF NIFA
Research Opportunities:
Interested in: studying signal transduction? Receptor-ligand interactions? Independent research? Working on a gas?
Contact me about research opportunities in my lab (Contact Dr. Binder).
Graduate students: Generally, students admitted to either the BCMB department or GST program do not directly enter a lab. Rather, students do rotations during their first year. After these rotations, a lab is chosen. I encourage interested students from both programs to rotate in my lab to find out what our research and lab culture are like. Information about admissions to BCMB is here and GST is here.
Undergraduates: There are usually several undergraduates working in the lab (see the list of current lab members). The earlier in your career at UT that you start in a lab, the more you will get out of the research. I generally only take students into my lab who can participate at least 2 semesters. There is also the potential to get credit for your research (BCMB 452).
Outreach:
We have built A Mobile Teaching Resource for Ethylene Kinetics (AMTREK) that can travel to science classrooms. Follow the link to find out more. Contact Dr. Binder if you want to arrange for this to be used by your students.
Some interesting, diverse, sometimes useful, and weird links:
National Center for Science Education
The Complete Works of Charles Darwin
DNA from the Beginning
Today in Science History
American Society of Plant Biologists
American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Tennessee Plant Research Center
Planting Science
The Arabidopsis Book
Photosynthesis Musical Lecture:
Part A, Part B by Glenn Wolkenfeld
NASA Picture of the Day
Hubble Telescope Gallery
Stardate
Scale of the Universe
Stanford Solar Center
Kevin Folta's Illumination Blog
Deric Bownds' MindBlog
Ian Street's The Quiet Branches
David Couper's Police Blog
David Couper's Poetry Blog
Smallest to Biggest Video
Where do college graduates work? (US Census Bureau)
Survivor Library or How to survive when Technology Doesn't
The Method audio podcast from WUOT
Science Nation (from the NSF)
Shortwave (daily science podcast from NPR)
And, now for something different...
Rudner Design Works
Tania Isaac Dance
Paulette Werger Jewelry
Patrice Argant Photography
Aespyre Metals
Humor (or what passes for humor) and entertainment...
Calvin and Hobbes
IFL Science
Walking Eagle
Dudeism
SPAM Haiku Archive
PAgagNINI String Quartet
English Ukulele Orchestra
Comics by Binder
16 Grants, song lyrics by Binder
Wisconsin State Cow Chip Toss & Festival
Grainger County Tomato Festival


One of the worst types of pains you would not wish to experience are those associated with the tooth. However, the ultimate solution is to visit a qualified dentist. By reading this article, you will learn about the various factors you should consider when choosing a dentist.
The first step in identifying the best dentist is by developing a comprehensive list of all the dentists you know. You can also get tips from online reviews of every dentist to know what other people think of them.
The next factor worthy of consideration is the certification of the dentist to know whether the dentist has adequate skills and training. Receiving reliable oral healthcare is possible if you choose a well-trained dentist. You should also make sure that the dentist has no history of disciplinary actions or malpractice claims. You will be guided on choosing the best dentist by checking the dentist's medical school, training hospital and other relevant certifications. Pay attention to what your insurance covers when choosing a dentist. Consider choosing a dentist who is within your insurance cover. The most suitable dentist should have an undisputed history in treating patients with a condition similar to yours.
Ask to find out the rates of complications the dentist has encountered before. Remember to ask your dentist about the procedure they intend to use, to also understand its side effects. Find out more information about the quality of service offered by the hospital where the dentist treats works. Information about the quality of services offered by the hospital where the dentist works should help you choose the most suitable dentist. If you will be required to visit the dentist often, consider the location of the facility. Choosing a dentist who works in a hospital near you is ideal for saving the costs involved in commuting.
The other important factor you should consider is the communication style of the dentist. A dentist who will consider your treatment preferences and respect your decisions is worth paying attention to. Also, consider the gender of the dentist. Oral health procedures may sometimes require open talk and discussion about personal information. Specialization by dentists in treating men and women differently is another factor you should consider.
Again, the best dentist should have the option of bringing you dental services to your home. The price charged for dental services is important in choosing the best dentist.


Instagram is an iPhone app that lets you "share your life through photos" that's picking up ton of steam already. If you've never used or seen Instagram before, think of it as a photo based social network that basically lets you keep a social photo based journal, with features that resemble a mix between Twitter, Twitpic, Foursquare, and Facebook. You post photos you either take or have taken on your iPhone to your Instagram profile. The app helps make your pics stand out with a set of classy and classic filters that you can apply to them. Next you describe the picture with "what" and "where" as tags. Finally you can hook Instagram into your other social accounts like Facebook, Twitter, and Foursquare to post to them all at once.
The app is divided into 5 tabs; Feed, Popular, Share, News and @you. Feed is where you see the new photos from people you follow. Popular is a thumbnail gallery style list of 32 pics that Instagram has dubbed as such, that you can browse. Share is where you go to take pics, apply filters and tag new posts. News will give you heads up when poeple follow you, or interact with your photos by leaving comments or liking them. @you is your profile editor section giving you access to find and invite new friends, and edit your full profile information. You can find new friends via your iPhone contacts or, Facebook, Twitter, or just search by username. Just added Instagram also has Suggested users section for you to get going as a fresh newbie.
On the feed tab you can read user comments on photo posts, leave comments on any photo or hit the heart to like it. As the creator, you have access to Delete, Share, Email or copy the URL to your own uploads. Although this doesn't stop anyone form taking a screenshot of the screen (lock+home button combo), you can't download or share other people's posts, probably for copyright reasons. You do have the ability to flag others' photos. Tap on any username to view their profile/posts page, including your own. Speaking of which, profile pages have the profile thumbnail along with the full name, and 3 numbers: Photos, Followers, and Following on top, along with a follow button.
The location based features of Instagram are also pretty impressive. The "where" option when uploading photos lets you choose a business where the photo was taken. Instagram uses iPhone's GPS to track your location and shows you a list of surrounding businesses to choose from, or you can search for other places by keyword. After uploading, next to your photo you'll see dropped pin icon and a place link. Tapping that link takes you to a location page with all the photos from all Instagram users that were taken at that location. This is a nice Foursquare-like feature for following your friends around town, and with the Foursquare integration built into Instagram, you can now even use Instagram to post to your Foursquare account simultaneously.
You can change your privacy settings in Instagram to set your photo uplaods to either Public or Private. Private basically makes it so that people need verification before they can follow you. This takes place on your entire account and only affect new people not existing followers. It would be great if you could set privacy settings for individual posts as opposed to your entire account.
A few other small gripes with Instagram are as follows. The photo filters in this app are amazingly cool and I wish the app gave users the option to just apply filters to photos without having to post them on our profile. Although you can go through and apply filters to your posts, and cancel half way through, to get this effect, it is not by design. Another missing feature is to search for photos/posts by keyword. I'm sure this is coming sometime in the future. Finally, similar to Path, Instagram is limited to the iPhone, so you can only see it and use it on your iPhone. You can log in from the web but only to edit your Instagram profile, no viewing options are provided via the web.
Instagram photos are cropped into a square, and filters give them a semi Poloaroid like quality. In addition to the normal filter, eleven other amazing filters are included in Instagram, and more seem to be getting added with updates.
Update: The latest version of Instagram adds Radial tiltshift mode as an option. There have also been improvements made in the quality of the image and speed improvements. To get the best results in Tiltshift mode just take a picture then tap the "tilt shift" button the the screen. Two lines are placed over the picture. Pinch to zoom in out on the area and drag the slider to adjust the blur level of the area outside of the tilt-shift box. Hit apply to save your changes. Photos taken from a high vantage point from afar work best with tilt-shift. Image courtesy of MacLife.
Overal, Instagram is a wonderful new social tool that takes things to the next level. The app has a beautiful icon, excellent graphics and a simple to use interface. For these reasons Instagram has been growing like wildfire in no time and only goes to prove the old saying … "a picture is worth a thousand words". Get the free app and start sharing your pics.
AppSafari review of Instagram was written by Joe Seifi on December 20th, 2010 and categorized under App Store, Featured, Fun, GPS, Local, Photos, Social. Page viewed 9568 times, 2 so far today. Need help on using these apps? Please read the Help Page.
Your blog is very good! Congratulations!


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Slain LAPD Officer Juan Diaz Remembered In Special Ceremony At Dodger Stadium
Filed Under:LA Dodgers, Officer Juan Diaz
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — There was a special tribute to slain LAPD officer Juan Diaz by the other "boys in blue" at Dodger Stadium before Saturday's game.
Diaz was killed off-duty in late July in Lincoln Heights after he reportedly spotted a person tagging.
Diaz's father, Candelario, mother, Rocio, and sisters Sarahy and Anahi choked back tears as a picture of Diaz was shown on the video board as public address announcer Todd Leitz read a biographical tribute to Diaz, which described him as "a passionate young officer who chose a career protecting others after growing up around gangs."
"Officer Diaz was dedicated to the betterment of his community and his city and acted in this capacity both on- and off-duty," Leitz said.
Kiko Hernandez, Justin Turner and Walker Buehler were among the players who welcomed the family before the game.
Officer Diaz was a lifelong fan of the team, according to his sister Sarahy Anahi, "He'd been a fan since we were little. It was something we did when we grew up, watching the Dodgers… I think he's looking down from above and giggling and going, … 'This is cool.'"


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Malmo Guide
Malmo, Sweden
Local language Swedish
Sweden's third largest city with a population of just over quarter of a million, Malmo is the capital of Sweden's Scania region. Malmö belonged to Denmark until 1658 and dates back to the 12th century. It's one of Sweden's most popular cities, a small, friendly and pleasant place where almost everything is located within easy walking distance. As the country's most southerly city, Malmo enjoys relatively mild temparatures and is therefore all the more pleasant to explore!
There are various things to do and see, although notable is that despite its long history, the city is probably most famous for two of its more recent structure; the Oresund Bridge which connects it to Denmark and Santiago Calatrava's Turning Torso building.
Once you've viewed the most famous sites, there are canals, parks, zoos, monuments, and impressive architecture still to see. The nightlife of the city is also vibrant, with a huge variety of bars & pubs (probably thanks in part to the large resident student population!)
Going to Malmo?
Assuming you've already seen the Oresund Bridge and the Turning Torso building, then you'll be keen to explore everything else that Malmo has to offer.
West of the old city core, there's Malmohus Castle which is worth a look. It was built in 1437 by Erik of Pomerania, and in the 1500s the kings of Denmark used to live there. Much later it was used as a prison and today it houses a history museum, art museum, aquarium, and terrarium.
South of the centre lies Mollevångstorget Square which has a busy open-air market on weekends. The surrounding neighbourhood is full of cheap Asian and Middle Eastern shops, restaurants and grocery stores. It's the alternative side of the city, a perfect place for people who are tired of mainstream tourist attractions.
Gamla Vaster (Gamla Vaster) west of Lilla Torg square, is a quarter of the city with very low houses and brick buildings in all the colors of the rainbow! Some of the fantastic little buildings which are found there also house cafes and shops.
Folkets Park (People's Park) is a popular amusement park in the city offering families rides and idyllic park atmosphere from April-September. You can also find a mini-zoo, play areas, rides, and even a flea market.
St Peter's Church (St Petri Kyrka) is certainly worth a visit if you're into authentic renaissance architecture. Located behind Stortorget Square, the church is the city's oldest surviving building (it was built in the 14th century).
Malmöhus Castle is Sweden's oldest renaissance castle, and has been rennovated such that it now contains four museums: the Malmo City Museum, Natural History Museum, Konstmuseet (art museum), and Aquarium & Tropicarium. If you've got the Malmo card, then admission is free.
Everything is really within walking distance, but should you be feeling tired (or lazy!) then you're in luck as Malmo also has an excellent public transport system. The whole of Malmo is served by Skanetrafiken buses. There are different colours for interurban and regional transport, but all of them have the same pricing system making them more transparent and simple to use.
Most of the local buses stop at the Gustav Adolfs Torg, and most regional buses stop near the Railway Station. Bus number 20 is a popular bus line for tourists and therefore a good one to commit to memory, as it serves a round tour through the city. Tickets can be bought from the driver.
Recommended places and events to visit in Malmo
Malmö Festival Event


If you are a women who either studied a technical field or now practices one, and are interested in volunteering your time to mentor two students, please apply for next academic year by August 15, 2019. WISMP has two ways to be a mentor: first through our in-person program serving the SF Bay Area, and second as a remote mentor to mentor a student anywhere in the world. If you would like to start an in-person program chapter at your own local university, please reach out to the contact information provided below.
The program works to maximizing outcomes for women students — but there are many benefits to mentors as well: intimate access to a diversity-rich pool of up-and-coming engineers, a community of like-minded alumni, and leadership experiences that translate directly to the work environment.
Matching will happen on a rolling basis between September and October. If you apply before August 1, we'll send a confirmation email in September to make sure you're still interested before matching you (email will come from @wismp.org). We do our best to match students with mentors of similar fields of study, so we cannot guarantee that we'll be able to match you this year. If you are still interested in contributing even if you are not matched, please also join our Allies mailing list.
If you are a women who is currently studying a STEM field at university, and are interested in potentially being matched with a mentor, please apply for this academic year by September 15, 2019. We have campus programs at UC Berkeley, Stanford, and San Jose State University and will do at least one SF Bay Area event during the year. If you are studying at a different school, please also apply!
If you apply before August 1, we will ask for a confirmation via email (from @wismp.org) sometime in September to make sure you still want to be matched. You will only be eligible for matching if you reply to this email. We do our best to match students with mentors of similar fields of study, so we cannot guarantee that we'll be able to match you this year.
If you are an ally to our purpose, join our Allies mailing list and tell us how you can help.
If you are a woman university student studying a STEM field, and would like to make sure you get the latest information whether you get a mentor or not (such as other events), you can join our student mailing list — and we'll be sure to reach out in time.
If you are a student organizer and are interested in bringing WISMP to your university, send an email to hello@wismp.org.
Our organization operates purely on volunteer hours, personal contributions, and company sponsorships. If you are interested in sponsoring an event, please contact sponsors@wismp.org.
Whether you have a specific idea or just want to be an ally, drop us a note at hello@wismp.org.


After sixty-eight-year-old David Granger crashes his BMW, medical tests reveal a brain tumor that he readily attributes to his wartime Agent Orange exposure. He wakes up from surgery repeating a name no one in his civilian life has ever heard – that of a Native American soldier whom he was once ordered to discipline. David decides to return something precious he long ago stole from the man he now calls Clayton Fire Bear. It might be the only way to find closure in a world increasingly at odds with the one he served to protect. It might also help him finally recover from his wife's untimely demise. As David confronts his past to salvage his present, a poignant portrait emerges: that of an opinionated and goodhearted American patriot fighting like hell to stay true to his red, white, and blue heart, even as the country he loves rapidly changes in ways he doesn't always like or understand. Hanging in the balance are Granger's distant art-dealing son, Hank; his adoring seven-year-old granddaughter, Ella; and his best friend, Sue, a Vietnamese-American who respects David's fearless sincerity. Through the controversial, wrenching, and wildly honest David Granger, Matthew Quick offers a no-nonsense but ultimately hopeful view of America's polarized psyche. By turns irascible and hilarious, insightful and inconvenient, David is a complex, wounded, honorable, and ultimately loving man. The Reason You're Alive examines how the secrets and debts we carry from our past define us; it also challenges us to look beyond our own prejudices and search for the good in our supposed enemies.


In the age of Yelp, Angie's List, and a plethora of other consumer information and review sites, simply having a nice website, or being a nice person for that matter, just won't cut it for your business. For real estate agents in particular, this is where having authentic, credible testimonials to help set you apart comes into play. As a realtor, in many ways your portfolio of real estate testimonials is now just as important as your database of prospects.
For better or for worse, testimonials rarely, if ever, occur organically in the real estate space. This is evidenced by the extremely high percentage of '5 star ratings' agents receive on many review sites. Note the distinct lack of negative reviews or objectivity relative to a restaurant search on Yelp (the snapshot below is from a Yelp realtor search in San Diego, CA…. on page 6!). It's also worth noting that many top real estate 'platforms' such as Trulia and Realtor.com allow only recommendations.
Here, it's probably helpful to distinguish between asking a client for a positive, public review or recommendation and a full-blown testimonial that you can use on your personal website and in marketing materials (for the purposes of this post, we'll treat them the same).Regardless of the specific 'ask', you need a system to convert your happy clients into valuable testimonials as they close escrow (strike while the iron is hot!).
Would you recommend me as a real estate agent to your friends and family? If so, why?
In what areas did I excel as your real estate agent?
In what areas could I improve for future business?
Source more valuable testimonials with our free, customizable testimonial instruction template!


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HomeWorldSad record for the 2nd year: 533 journalists imprisoned worldwide
Sad record for the 2nd year: 533 journalists imprisoned worldwide
According to a report by the non-governmental organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF)
The number of journalists held in prisons worldwide broke a record in 2022: They reached 533, in other words, their number increased by 45 from 2021, when a record high was already recorded, reveals a report released today by the government organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
The number of journalists killed (57) also increased (+18.8%), mainly due to the war in Ukraine, after falling to "historically low" levels in 2021 (48) and 2020 (50).
More than half of the journalists imprisoned internationally on December 1 are in five countries: China (110), Myanmar (62), Iran (47), Vietnam (39) and Belarus (31). .
Iran is the only country that was not among the top five last year, said the NGO, which has been publishing this annual tally since 1995.
But the Islamic Republic jailed an "unprecedented" number of media professionals in 20 years after mass protests broke out in September.
Thirty-four journalists were thus added to the thirteen who were already behind bars before the movement to challenge the clerical regime took place.
"Dictatorships" and "authoritarian regimes" seem determined and much more exonerated to throw journalists in prison, said Christophe Delois, the secretary general of the organization defending the freedom of the press.
In its annual report, RSF also highlights the unprecedented number of female journalists who have been jailed: 78 (compared to 60 last year).
"Women journalists now make up almost 15% of prisoners, while they represented less than 7% five years ago," the NGO underlines.
RES-EMP
Death of a 16-year-old Roma: The decision for the policeman is a matter of hours – New episodes in Athens and Thessaloniki
Cup in December turns shirts into potential Christmas presents


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Military Fellowship
Each year, the chiefs of staff of the Army and the Air Force, the chief of naval operations, and the commandants of the Coast Guard and the Marine Corps nominate an outstanding officer from their respective services as a candidate for a Military Fellowship. CFR usually awards five fellowships annually. The program enables the selected officers to broaden their understanding of international relations by spending a year in residence at CFR's headquarters in New York. Fellows expand their knowledge of international relations through a program of individual study, research and reflection, extensive participation in CFR's active program of meetings and events, and interaction with CFR's diverse membership.
CFR's Military Fellowship was an incredible experience, providing a unique opportunity for engagement with world leaders, CFR members, and visionaries. It offered a one-of-a-kind insight into New York City's contributions to business, education, and the international community.
Brigadier General George M. Reynolds, Vice Commander, 25th Air Force, Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland (2017–2018 U.S. Air Force Military Fellow)
Interested candidates from the U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Marine Corps, and U.S. Navy should contact their human resources officer to learn more about the fellowship application process.
2022–23 Fellows
Christa N. Almonte
Military Fellow, U.S. Navy
Timothy J. MacDonald
Military Fellow, U.S. Army
Jeff Randall
Military Fellow, U.S. Coast Guard
Erin M. Staine-Pyne
Military Fellow, U.S. Air Force
Alison J. Thompson
Military Fellow, U.S. Marine Corps
A complete list of former military fellows is available here.
The military fellowship was a professionally enriching and rewarding experience. I'm taking with me new insights, many new friendships, and a renewed appreciation for the importance of healthy debate.
Colonel Erica C. Nelson, Chief of Staff for the Joint Staff (2018–2019 U.S. Army Military Fellow)
For more information, please contact [email protected]


Fits standard 6 ft. banquet table, 30Wx72Lx30H inches.
Every seam is sewn with zigzag overlock stitch to prevent fray and ensure durability.
Each tablecloth has one vertical slit with Velcro attached for ease of access to items that need to be hidden under the table. This 6 foot fitted tablecloth fits rectangular banquet tables measuring 72 inches in length, 30 inches wide and 30 inches tall.


Beth & Adam: Silhouette Giveaway at House of Smith's!
Silhouette Giveaway at House of Smith's!
Last Chance to win a simple starfish necklace!!
Dining Area Light - To Redo or Replace?
Love this BLOG! SYTYC with a new season!
A little Christmas and Happy New Year!


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The Asian Cinema Critic
SDU: Sex Duties Unit
A fun, if sometimes directionless comedy is heightened by a good cast and a host of funny jokes
"We're police officers and SDU members. You're seriously suggesting that we illegally smuggling into Macau looking for prostitutes?"
SDU: Sex Duties Unit is a 2013 comedy centring on the four members of the Special Duties Unit, whose job it is to deal with dangerous situations that street cops can't handle. There's leader Keung (Chapman To), sleazy womaniser Ho (Matt Chow), righteous Fu (Shawn Yue), and the youthful Mai (Derek Tsang), who is teased often by his teammates. At a bar, one night, they decide to shake things up with their lives by going to Macau and sleeping with prostitutes. You know, as you do. They leave their Ids behind, to avoid any scandals, and (illegally) smuggle themselves in. As predicted, the shenanigans start almost immediately.
Choosing to go to a specific brothel to start the night, things quickly go awry when the police raid it – a routine thing apparently – but, with no ID, the guys choose to run. They're quickly arrested though, and while they escape they become the police's most wanted, who mistake them for members of a notorious gang. Along the way they discover one of them is gay, another falls in love, and Keung leans a lesson about what it means to be a good team leader. They also quickly lose their money and their ride home, and the race is on to get back to HQ before they get found out.
Judging a comedy is difficult. Comedy is, after all, entirely subjective so it's difficult to tell somebody to watch something based entirely on whether or not you laughed. I like to judge a comedy based more on how many memorable jokes there are, and SDU manages quite a few. The opening gambit, which introduces the unit, features HK cinema legend Suet Lam robbing a jewellery store and demanding a stuffed crust pizza and a helicopter in exchange for the hostages. When the team arrive, he's already surrendered and they call it a day. Another comes in the form of Derek Tsang's character holding a man at "gunpoint", only to find out he was prodding the guy with his erection. Sure, yeah, the humour isn't always highbrow (or rarely ever is), but it sticks with you. SDU is crammed with little funny moments that stick with you, and that to me is enough to give it a good rating.
Chapman To has evolved, throughout his career, from daft sidekick to leading man capable of carrying entire scenes. While in Men Suddenly in Black he was the young, naive member of the group, now he leads his team through misadventure after misadventure. He still retains a lot of the beats that make him, well, him, but now he has a stronger purpose to fulfil as every action the team makes is from his direction. This means we get a Chapman To that's a bit less of a goober than we're used to. He's always managed to squeeze in a few moments of great acting throughout his films – his last words to Tony Leung's Chan in Infernal Affairs for example – and this is no exception. Of course, they never get too serious, and even in the middle of a heated argument with one of his team, he still manages to shut one guy up by ordering him to carry on masturbating (it makes sense in context).
The rest of the cast are great, and the consistency in their characters within the script means that they all get a chance to really delve into who they are, which results in four very unique performances. Matt Chow's Ka Ho is pretty two dimensional, but he gets a lot of laughs (and even a weird couple of touching moments when he runs into his father). Shawn Yue's stick in the mud is probably one of the least funny parts of the movie, as his story is largely dealing with a breakup, and his blossoming romance with a call girl. Derek Tsang takes after his father Eric in playing loveable goofs who get picked on, and his story is actually one of the more interesting, as he deals with the realisation that he's gay but tries to hide it from his friends. Like characters his Eric Tsang used to play, there's an extra level of self-deprecating humour at play as Tsang has to spend the majority of the film with a (hopefully fake) erection.
You can probably tell that SDU is concerned more with the funny, and it succeeds. Director Gary Mak has few credits to his name, and seems to be primarily an actor, but he operates the camera with some confidence, and while there's nothing outright staggering at play, he does a fine job. Screenwriter Jody Luk is a bit more experienced, having written for similar films in Vulgaria, and Love in the Buff. And at its core, SDU is a funny movie with more than enough jokes to carry it. The story ultimately goes nowhere and everyone's arc is more or less pointless, but they do help flesh the story out a bit more. It can get a bit difficult to make a comedy about four special duties officers, who also happen to be screw-ups. On one hand, they're supposed to be excellent policemen, but at the same time they have to be led by Chapman To, so it means we get a film where they – when necessary – turn into decent ass-kickers. Sometimes this is told through flashback, in Lego form.
Compared to something like Men Suddenly in Black, it doesn't have the same level of heart, instead choosing to focus more on the raunchy stuff. Which is fine. You don't go into a movie called SDU: Sex Duties Unit expecting a thorough character study. That said, I was glad that it was not as predictable that I had thought going in. I had imagined a Super Troopers deal, where the plot would involve more crime-fighting. It doesn't, not really, which means it stays focused on the chemistry between the guys, and their antic. It's a good movie littered with some legitimately laugh-out-loud moments and this means that ultimately, SDU is worth watching, if you're in the mood for this sort of thing.
Verdict: SDU: Sex Duties Unit is hardly Hitchcock, but it's a fun, raunchy jaunt that won't overstay its welcome, and sometimes that's all you want.
The Asian Cinema Critic's Patented Ratings System:
Overall entertainment: 7/10
Laughs: 8/10
Sex: 6/10
Violence: 2/10
Cringe-inducing, terrible joke about underage girls: 1
Snack of choice: Crab congee
Director: Gary Mak
Writer: Jody Lok
Chapman To – Siu Keung
Shawn Yue – Fu
Matt Chow – Ka Ho
Derek Tsang – Hai Mai
Liu Anqi – Lily
Dada Chan – Siu Keung's ex-wife
Jim Chim – Mama-san
Siu Yam-yam – procurer
Simon Lui – boatman
Lam Suet – Robber
June Lam – prostitute
Benz Hui – pharmacy owner
JJ Jia – pharmacy owner's daughter
Lau Kong – Ka Ho's father
Michael Wong – SDU superior
Ten Lo – Thief King To
Joe Tay – jewellery store employee
Lawrence Chou – Macau police sergeant
Ken Wong – Macau police sergeant
Tony Ho – Macau police constable
Published by siibillamlaw
View all posts by siibillamlaw
Comedy, Hong Kong
2013, Benz Hui, Chapman To, Dada Chan, Derek Tsang, Gary Mak, Jim Chim, JJ Jia, Joe Tay, June Lam, Ken Wong, Lam Suet, Lau Kong, Lawrence Chou, Liu Anqi, Matt Chow, Michael Wong, Review, Shawn Yue, Simon Lui, Siu Yam-yam, Ten Lo, Tony Ho
One thought on "SDU: Sex Duties Unit"
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Two Princesses, Journey to the West
No. 7 Cherry Lane
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Chanbara (4)
Kaiju (8)
Slasher (1)


text:
Q: class path resource [java/lang/Object.class] cannot be opened because it does not exist I am having a strange issue with a Spring web application. This is from the Tomcat log:
GRAVE: Exception lors de l'envoi de l'évènement contexte initialisé (context initialized) à l'instance de classe d'écoute (listener) org.springframework.web.context.ContextLoaderListener
org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanDefinitionStoreException: Failed to load bean class: com.jverstry.Configuration.WebConfig; nested exception is java.io.FileNotFoundException: class path resource [java/lang/Object.class] cannot be opened because it does not exist
    at org.springframework.context.annotation.ConfigurationClassPostProcessor.processConfigBeanDefinitions(ConfigurationClassPostProcessor.java:267)
    at org.springframework.context.annotation.ConfigurationClassPostProcessor.postProcessBeanDefinitionRegistry(ConfigurationClassPostProcessor.java:203)
    at org.springframework.context.support.AbstractApplicationContext.invokeBeanFactoryPostProcessors(AbstractApplicationContext.java:622)
    at org.springframework.context.support.AbstractApplicationContext.refresh(AbstractApplicationContext.java:451)
    at org.springframework.web.context.ContextLoader.configureAndRefreshWebApplicationContext(ContextLoader.java:383)
    at org.springframework.web.context.ContextLoader.initWebApplicationContext(ContextLoader.java:283)
    at org.springframework.web.context.ContextLoaderListener.contextInitialized(ContextLoaderListener.java:111)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContext.listenerStart(StandardContext.java:4791)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContext.startInternal(StandardContext.java:5285)
    at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.start(LifecycleBase.java:150)
    at org.apache.catalina.manager.ManagerServlet.start(ManagerServlet.java:1247)
    at org.apache.catalina.manager.HTMLManagerServlet.start(HTMLManagerServlet.java:714)
    at org.apache.catalina.manager.HTMLManagerServlet.doPost(HTMLManagerServlet.java:219)
    at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:641)
    at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:722)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:305)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:210)
    at org.apache.catalina.filters.CsrfPreventionFilter.doFilter(CsrfPreventionFilter.java:186)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:243)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:210)
    at org.apache.catalina.filters.SetCharacterEncodingFilter.doFilter(SetCharacterEncodingFilter.java:108)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:243)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:210)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardWrapperValve.invoke(StandardWrapperValve.java:225)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContextValve.invoke(StandardContextValve.java:123)
    at org.apache.catalina.authenticator.AuthenticatorBase.invoke(AuthenticatorBase.java:581)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardHostValve.invoke(StandardHostValve.java:168)
    at org.apache.catalina.valves.ErrorReportValve.invoke(ErrorReportValve.java:98)
    at org.apache.catalina.valves.AccessLogValve.invoke(AccessLogValve.java:927)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardEngineValve.invoke(StandardEngineValve.java:118)
    at org.apache.catalina.connector.CoyoteAdapter.service(CoyoteAdapter.java:407)
    at org.apache.coyote.http11.AbstractHttp11Processor.process(AbstractHttp11Processor.java:1001)
    at org.apache.coyote.AbstractProtocol$AbstractConnectionHandler.process(AbstractProtocol.java:585)
    at org.apache.tomcat.util.net.AprEndpoint$SocketProcessor.run(AprEndpoint.java:1770)
    at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.runTask(Unknown Source)
    at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(Unknown Source)
    at java.lang.Thread.run(Unknown Source)
Caused by: java.io.FileNotFoundException: class path resource [java/lang/Object.class] cannot be opened because it does not exist
    at org.springframework.core.io.ClassPathResource.getInputStream(ClassPathResource.java:157)
    at org.springframework.core.type.classreading.SimpleMetadataReader.<init>(SimpleMetadataReader.java:49)
    at org.springframework.core.type.classreading.SimpleMetadataReaderFactory.getMetadataReader(SimpleMetadataReaderFactory.java:80)
    at org.springframework.core.type.classreading.CachingMetadataReaderFactory.getMetadataReader(CachingMetadataReaderFactory.java:101)
    at org.springframework.core.type.classreading.SimpleMetadataReaderFactory.getMetadataReader(SimpleMetadataReaderFactory.java:76)
    at org.springframework.context.annotation.ConfigurationClassParser.doProcessConfigurationClass(ConfigurationClassParser.java:257)
    at org.springframework.context.annotation.ConfigurationClassParser.processConfigurationClass(ConfigurationClassParser.java:149)
    at org.springframework.context.annotation.ConfigurationClassParser.parse(ConfigurationClassParser.java:126)
    at org.springframework.context.annotation.ConfigurationClassParser.doProcessConfigurationClass(ConfigurationClassParser.java:219)
    at org.springframework.context.annotation.ConfigurationClassParser.processConfigurationClass(ConfigurationClassParser.java:149)
    at org.springframework.context.annotation.ConfigurationClassParser.parse(ConfigurationClassParser.java:126)
    at org.springframework.context.annotation.ConfigurationClassPostProcessor.processConfigBeanDefinitions(ConfigurationClassPostProcessor.java:263)
    ... 36 more
16-sept.-2012 15:51:56 org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationContext log
INFO: Closing Spring root WebApplicationContext

I have seen similar questions on SO, but none related to java/lang/Object.class. I hae no idea what is causing this.
This is my web.xml:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<web-app version="2.5" xmlns="http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/javaee"
    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
    xsi:schemaLocation="http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/javaee http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/javaee/web-app_2_5.xsd">

    <context-param>
        <param-name>contextClass</param-name>
        <param-value>org.springframework.web.context.support.AnnotationConfigWebApplicationContext</param-value>
    </context-param>

    <context-param>
        <param-name>contextConfigLocation</param-name>
        <param-value>com.jverstry.Configuration</param-value>
    </context-param>

    <listener>
        <listener-class>org.springframework.web.context.ContextLoaderListener</listener-class>
    </listener>

    <filter>
      <filter-name>springSecurityFilterChain</filter-name>
      <filter-class>org.springframework.web.filter.DelegatingFilterProxy</filter-class>
    </filter>

    <filter-mapping>
      <filter-name>springSecurityFilterChain</filter-name>
      <url-pattern>/*</url-pattern>
    </filter-mapping>

    <servlet>
        <servlet-name>mytest</servlet-name>
        <servlet-class>org.springframework.web.servlet.DispatcherServlet</servlet-class>
        <init-param>
            <param-name>contextConfigLocation</param-name>
            <param-value></param-value>
        </init-param>
        <load-on-startup>1</load-on-startup>
    </servlet>

    <servlet-mapping>
        <servlet-name>spring</servlet-name>
        <url-pattern>/mytest/*</url-pattern>
    </servlet-mapping>

    <welcome-file-list>
        <welcome-file></welcome-file>
    </welcome-file-list>

</web-app>

Here is my WebConfig class:
@EnableWebMvc
@Configuration
@ComponentScan(basePackages = {"com.jverstry", "org.krams"})
@ImportResource("WEB-INF/spring-security.xml")
public class WebConfig extends WebMvcConfigurerAdapter {

    @Bean
    public ViewResolver getViewResolver() {

        InternalResourceViewResolver resolver
            = new InternalResourceViewResolver();
        resolver.setPrefix("WEB-INF/pages/");
        resolver.setSuffix(".jsp");

        return resolver;

    }

}

A: That is most peculiar.
Lets start with the what we do know.  The class java.lang.Object and the corresponding java/lang/Object.class file most certainly do exist.  If they didn't then is is highly unlikely that the JVM would have started in the first place.
So how come you get the exception?
My theory it that somewhere in your codebase (or the libraries you are using) there is a classloader that is breaking the rules.  When it is asked to load a resource, a well behaved class loader will first delegate up the class loader chain to see if its parent classloader can load the resource.  I suspect that what is happening is that the broken classloader is skipping the delegation step and just trying to load the resource itself.  If the "rt.jar" is not on its list of JARs, etc (and it normally won't be) then the class loader won't find the Object.class file ... and you will get a FileNotFoundException.

UPDATE
I think I understand.  If your Java installation was corrupted to the extent that it couldn't load java.lang.Object, then the JVM wouldn't boot.  And if it had already booted before the corruption, then it wouldn't be trying to load the Object class.
But it is not trying to do that.  It is actually trying to read the Object.class file.  And the stacktrace seem to be saying that this is occurring in Spring's annotation processing code.
So I think that something has triggered a servlet restart after the Java installation was compromised.  And the restart caused the spring configuration to be done again.  Why it worked when you rebooted is a mystery ... unless the problem was due to a hardware error or stuck device driver that was cleared by the reboot.
(The post you found describes a different scenario ... where the JVM fail during its bootstrap.  Your scenario is more complicated.)

A: It turns out my JRE6 installation was somehow corrupted. I reinstalled it manually and now I don't have an issue anymore. I have also found another post which might explain why the issue would disappear after rebooting.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Q: Grouping objects from multiple arrays? I am grouping child objects with parent objects. I have a short working example on Plunker
It works fine, and I understand the principle of nesting objects in one array. Now I would like to use two different scope arrays.
Company(parent) - workers(child) example:
$scope.parent = [{id: 1, name: "Nike", productOf:"USA"}]
$scope.child = [{ id:1, firstName:"John", lastName:"Doe" },
                { id:2, firstName:"John2", lastName:"Doe2" },
                { id:3, firstName:"John3", lastName:"Doe3" }
]

I've really tried to do this on my own, I read a lot of articles, but I didn't find what I need.
Can somebody give me a hint what to do, or a link for an article?
Thank you!

A: I think you will need a reference parent index in your child scope, something like
$scope.parent = [{id: 1, name: "Nike", productOf:"USA"},
                 {id: 2, name: "Fila", productOf:"CH"},
                 {id: 3, name: "BLA", productOf:"UK"}]
$scope.child = [{ id:1, firstName:"John", lastName:"Doe", pid:1},
                { id:2, firstName:"John2", lastName:"Doe2", pid:2 },
                { id:3, firstName:"John3", lastName:"Doe3", pid:3 }

]

A: Anyway, you must have mapping field to company in workers array, then you can use use filter in ng-repeat.
$scope.workers = [
        { id:1, companyId:1, firstName:"John", lastName:"Doe" },
        { id:2, companyId:2, firstName:"John2", lastName:"Doe2" },
        { id:3, companyId:3, firstName:"John3", lastName:"Doe3" },

Html:

See example on Plunker

A: As per your Plunker:

*

*View File

Click on group

  {{company.name}}-{{company.productOf}}

{{worker.firstName}} {{worker.lastName}}

*Script.JS

angular.module('myApp', ['angular.filter'])
    .controller('myCtrl', function ($scope, $http) {
  $scope.parentObj = [
                 {id: 1, name: "Nike", productOf:"USA"},
                 {id: 2, name: "Fila", productOf:"CH"},
                 {id: 3, name: "BLA", productOf:"UK"}
                 ]

  $scope.childObj = [

            { id:1, firstName:"John", lastName:"Doe", parent:1},
            { id:2, firstName:"John2", lastName:"Doe2", parent:1 },
            { id:3, firstName:"John3", lastName:"Doe3", parent:1 },
            { id:1, firstName:"John4", lastName:"Doe4" , parent:2},
            { id:2, firstName:"John5", lastName:"Doe5", parent:2 },
            { id:3, firstName:"John6", lastName:"Doe6", parent:2 },
             { id:1, firstName:"John7", lastName:"Doe7", parent:3 },
            { id:2, firstName:"John8", lastName:"Doe8", parent:3 },
            { id:3, firstName:"John9", lastName:"Doe9", parent:3 }

            ]

});


The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) was looking into ways to assist suspended prosecutor Glynnis Breytenbach after her car was reportedly shot at, it said on Tuesday.
"We are concerned about her life being at risk but also worried that the matter was never reported to our security and risk unit because she is still an NPA employee although on suspension," spokesperson Mthunzi Mhaga said.
"We'll follow up the matter with the relevant unit to see how best to assist her," he said.
This follows Breytenbach's car being shot at two weeks ago, Beeld reported on Tuesday.
Breytenbach, regional head of the NPA in Gauteng's specialised commercial crime unit, said she was shot at on April 11 on the N14 highway near an off-ramp. She was on her way to her home in Centurion.
Two BMW motorcycles also reportedly tried last Wednesday to force her off the road while she was on her way to the gym.
She reported both incidents to the Hawks but not to the police because she could not see who her assailants were.
"If it was an attempt to intimidate me, it was not successful," she said to the newspaper.
The Hawks' spokesperson Colonel McIntosh Polela confirmed Breytenbach reported the shooting incident immediately after it took place.
She also spoke to one of the specialised crime unit's investigators the next day.
"I'm not sure a case has been opened. We will have to confirm that with her.
Without an open case, it would be difficult for the Hawks to proceed," said Polela.
Breytenbach was issued with a letter of suspension on Monday with the NPA saying the charges "relate to her conduct in handling one of the cases allocated to her".
The NPA has refused to elaborate on the charges.
The ACDP's Steve Swart, a member of Parliament's justice and constitutional development portfolio committee, expressed his outrage at Breytenbach's suspension and attempts to intimidate her.
"It is very clear that this campaign of intimidation is linked to Advocate Breytenbach's involvement in high-profile cases, including her resistance to the dropping of charges against crime intelligence boss, Richard Mdluli and the [Imperial Crown Trading] and [expelled ANC Youth League president Julius] Malema matters," Swart said in a statement.
He said prosecutors must be able to perform their duties without fear, favour or prejudice.
Swart said the ACDP had previously expressed concerns about the safety of prosecutors in high-profile cases.
The party was assured by the NPA that sufficient protection would be provided where necessary.
He said the matter would be pursued in Parliament.
According to reports, Breytenbach was responsible for the NPA's arms deal probe and the fraud case against Mdluli.
Mhaga said at the time there was no link between Breytenbach's suspension and Mdluli.


Decolorizing is an acceptable word in Scrabble with 25 points. Decolorizing is an accepted word in Word with Friends having 29 points. Decolorizing is a 12 letter long Word starting with D and ending with G. Below are Total 565 words made out of this word.
Note There are 5 vowel letters and 7 consonant letters in the word decolorizing. D is 4th, E is 5th, C is 3rd, O is 15th, L is 12th, R is 18th, I is 9th, Z is 26th, N is 14th, G is 7th, Letter of Alphabet series.


There are many anthology films out in the universe, some better than others. It's the better ones that have strong connective tissues tying the various short stories together. Sometimes, those ones are directed by many people, sometimes by the same person. When Damián Szifron realized he'd written a bunch of short stories that were all thematically similar, he thought back to TV anthology shows he loved like "Amazing Stories" or "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" and decided to make an anthology film. Join us as we wrap up our series on Argentinean actor Ricardo Darín with Szifron's 2014 film Wild Tales.
Anyone who has seen a Ricardo Darín film knows he has very expressive eyes. The actors in the 2009 film El Secreto de Sus Ojos, or The Secret in Their Eyes, had to have more than just expressive eyes, though. They had to be able to carry heavy amounts of subtext in their eyes. And while director Juan José Campanella's film is largely a detective story as Darín and his team work to solve a cold case, it's also a story about unrequited love. Luckily, Campanella had worked with Darín before so he knew Darín could do it. And Darín pulls it off effortlessly, along with his costars Soledad Villamil and Guillermo Francella. Join us as we continue our series on actor Ricardo Darín with Campanella's 2009 film The Secret in Their Eyes.
Juan José Campanella had developed a career bouncing back and forth between the US, where he would direct episodes of TV shows, and Argentina, where he was starting his feature film directing career. After his Argentinean feature film debut in 1999, he tapped his leading man – Ricardo Darín – to star in his next feature, El Hijo de la Novia, or The Son of the Bride. With a touching story about a man in a midlife crisis, Campanella created a story that speaks to the honesty of love, of growing older, of the effects of diseases like Alzheimer's, of friendship — of life — and gave us a beautiful film.
Ricardo Darín was pretty much born into acting. Coming from a pair of actor parents, he started on Argentine television when he was just a boy and grew up in the industry, finding lots of success in TV, film, and theatre. But it was his role as con artist Marcos in Fabián Bielinsky's film Nueve Reinas — or Nine Queens — that really cemented his role as one of Argentina's key leading men. Join us as we kick off a new series celebrating the work of the fantastic Ricardo Darín starting with Bielinsky's 2000 film Nine Queens.