Surprise someone special with a Gift Card! Gift Cards are delivered to the recipient by email and include instructions on how to redeem them at checkout. Our eGift Cards are only for use online, have no additional processing fees, and never expire.


These coming days, the final result of the inter-state negotiations between the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) and Greece about the official and internationally used state's name of the former is to be announced. According to many unofficial sources, most probable new state's name of FYROM is going to be the Republic of North Macedonia but other options like the Republic of Ilinden Macedonia are also circulating in mass media. Here, it is worth to remember some of the aspects of historical disputes over the "Macedonian Question".
The focal Greek accusation of Yugoslav Macedonian policy after the WWII was that the recognition of Yugoslav Macedonians as a separate ethnolinguistic nationality was a tool for the creation of a Greater Yugoslavia of a communist dictator Josip Broz Tito – a country which had to dominate in the Balkan affairs. Yugoslav post-1945 policy of the recognition of Slavo- Macedonians as a separate ethnolinguistic entity was extremely important for Athens as the creation of the separate (socialist) political unit (republic) of Macedonia within a Yugoslav federation had its irredentist implications for the territorial integrity of Greece. The crux of the matter was that Yugoslav authorities as have been ideologically backed by the inter-war Comintern's attitude and politics that Slavo-Macedonians were a separate nation which as such deserved its own united national state claimed after 1945 that a Macedonian diaspora living outside of Yugoslavia (in Greece and Bulgaria) has to be incorporated into the "motherland" – a Yugoslav Macedonia. Therefore, socialist Yugoslavia indirectly claimed parts of Bulgaria and Greece that was seen by both Sofia and Athens as a policy of the creation of a Greater Yugoslavia at the expense of the territorial integrity of Bulgaria and Greece – two countries which never recognized the existence of any "Macedonians" on their state's territory.
Bulgaria, nevertheless, is not recognizing the existence of "Macedonians" at all, treating them as ethnolinguistic Bulgarians and henceforth claiming that a historical-geographical region of Macedonia belongs to Bulgaria. According to an American professor of political sciences, Alex N. Dragnich, Macedonia became a separate Yugoslav republic for the sake to beat Bulgarian irredentist propaganda by Yugoslav authorities but as well as in order to satisfy at least some territorial claims by Macedonian communists within the Communist Party of Yugoslavia. Nevertheless, such Macedonian policy of Yugoslav post-WWII authorities made Yugoslav Slavo-Macedonians to be one of the most satisfied Yugoslav ethnic groups.
It is a matter of fact that а Slavic speaking minority in North Greece is seen by Athens either as the "Slavophone Greeks" or the "Slavic speakers of Bulgarian origin" but surely not as the "Macedonians". According to а Greek point of view, а term "Macedonia" can refer only to the land of North Greece and, therefore, the usе of this term for one of six Yugoslavia's socialist republics after the WWII was a Yugoslav communist plot to annex the region of North Greece to a Greater Tito's Yugoslavia.
For the matter of better clarification of the issue, the term "Macedonia" was used to designate a separate republic as a national state of quasi-ethnolinguistic "Macedonians" when the communist leader of Yugoslavia Josip Broz Tito (1892−1980) established Macedonia as one of six Yugoslav socialist republics in 1945 and, therefore, Macedonia became a separate political-territorial entity for the first time in modern history. It was followed by the official recognition of Macedonians as an independent ethnic, linguistic and national subject, regardless to the very fact that a Macedonian national (self)identity was extremely problematic, disputed and ambivalent. It is true that the population of historical-geographical Macedonia did not always have a Macedonian national consciousness. The Slavs of Macedonia traditionally have been either without some exact ethnonational name or being self-identifying themselves as the Bulgarians. However, from the late-19th century, due to both Bulgarian and Greek political propaganda efforts, a Macedonian regional identity started to be developed but from 1945 became simply transformed into the ethnonational identity within the borders of ex-Yugoslavia. That is how today we have the "Macedonians" as an ethnolinguistic nation which is even internationally recognized as such by many political and academic authorities.
A Macedonian state is fairly young and a Macedonian nationality is recently created in comparison to other Balkan cases. A Macedonian identity is, as all other national identities, a product of imagined community and, therefore, a Macedonian national identity has been constructed in an equal way as, for instance, a Greek national identity, just rather later on. If we accept a leading Western (German) theory of the Slavic origin, the Slavs have been living since the end of the 6th century on the territory of Macedonia while the Macedonian national identity started to be developed only from the late 19th century. It is a historical fact that Slavo-Macedonian populated territories had always been part of other states like Bulgaria, Byzantine Empire, Serbia, and Ottoman Empire. Among all Yugoslavia's provinces, Macedonia was longest occupied by Ottomans – from 1371 to 1912. After the collapse of ancient Kingdom of Macedon, Macedonia as an independent state appeared only in 1991 (like Slovenia as well) but having nothing in common with the previous one except having the same state-name. Subsequently, a modern Macedonians are historically a "stateless ethnic group" (and, therefore, not a nation from the Western point of view) like many other Balkan ethnic groups like Gypsies or Vlachs. For that reason, three Balkan national states rather divided the territory of historical-geographic Macedonia in 1913 than to support the creation of a new Balkan independent state which would not have any historical background of the existence. However, a socialist Yugoslav historiography, for the very political purposes, reinterpreted the Balkan medieval history in order to overcome a very bad reputation of Yugoslav Macedonians as the "stateless ethnic group" but not a historical nation. As a result, a (quasi) Macedonian national state was found in the Empire of Samuel which existed as a state from 976 until 1018 when it was conquered by Byzantine Emperor Basil II.
The foundation for such Yugoslav and present-day Macedonian claim was a self-constructed interpretation that the subjects of Samuel's state were the "Macedonians" regardless on historical fact that all Byzantine and other sources of the time were clearly calling this state as of Bulgarians. Even a Byzantine Emperor Basil II after the final victory over Samuel took for himself an official title of the "Killer of Bulgarians" rather than of Macedonians. Furthermore, after the occupation of the territory of the Empire of Samuel, "Bulgaria once more became an integral part of the Byzantine Empire and was divided into 'themes'" (the Byzantine administrative provinces), but no one of them was named "Macedonia" while the biggest of them, established on the central territory of ex-Empire of Samuel, with its administrative centre in Skopje, was named as Bulgaria.
It is quite understandable, henceforth, that Bulgarians see the Empire of Samuel as a part of the history of Bulgaria and Bulgarian people as their claims that Samuel was a Bulgarian and ruler of a Bulgarian state are founded on the number of historical sources of the time. Nevertheless, FYROM Macedonians base their claim on the Macedonian character of the Empire of Samuel on the fact that the capital of this state was Ohrid, a city located on present-day FYROM (on the very border with Albania), whereas the medieval Bulgarian rulers administered their state traditionally from Preslav in Bulgaria.
 Алекс Н. Драгнић, Титова обећана земља – Југославија, Београд: Задужбина Студеница−Чигоја штампа, 2004, 90−91.
 Victor Roudometof, "Nationalism and Identity Politics in the Balkans: Greece and the Macedonian Question", Journal of Modern Greek Studies, Vol. 14, No. 2, 1996, 253−301.
 Nikolaos Zahariadis, "Nationalism and Small-State Foreign Policy: The Greek Response to the Macedonian Issue", Political Science Quarterly, Vol. 109, No. 4., 1994, 647−667.
 Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism, Revised edition, London: Verso, 2016.
 Looring M. Danforth, "Claims to Macedonian Identity: The Macedonian Question and the Breakup of Yugoslavia", Anthropology Today, Vol. 9, No. 4, 1993, 3−10.
 Historija naroda Jugoslavije, I, Zagreb, 1960, 295−301.
 Ivan Božić, Sima Ćirković, Milorad Ekmečić, Vladimir Dedijer, Istorija Jugoslavije, Drugo izdanje, Beograd: Prosveta, 1973, 38.
 Georges Castellan, History of the Balkans: From Mohammed the Conqueror to Stalin, New York: Columbia University Press, 1992, 23.
 Георгије Острогорски, Историја Византије, Београд: Просвета, 1969, 296−297.
For the matter of illustration, for instance, Greece is so far blocking Macedonia's joining NATO and the EU because of an on-going dispute between the FYROM and Greece. The main disputable issue is the title of "Macedonia" used in the country's Constitution in the form of the official state-name as the Republic of Macedonia. When the ex-Yugoslav Socialist Republic of Macedonia voted for independence on September 8th, 1991 as the Republic of Macedonia that was confirmed as the official constitutional name in November 1991, Greece became with a great reason immediately reluctant of recognising the country under such official name in addition to some other significant disputable issues in regard to the independence of FYROM.
A present-day territory of FYROM was formerly part of the Byzantine, Bulgarian and Serbian Empires until 1371/1395 when it became included into the Ottoman Sultanate followed by the process of Islamization. The Christian population of the land was constantly migrating from Macedonia under the Ottoman rule especially after the Austrian-Ottoman wars and uprisings against the Ottoman rule. After the 1878 Berlin Congress, Bulgaria started to work on annexation of all historical-geographic Macedonia and for that reason it was established in 1893 openly pro-Bulgarian Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (the IMRO).
After the Second Balkan War in 1913 Macedonian territory became partitioned between Greece, Serbia and Bulgaria. During the WWI, Macedonia was a scene of a heavy battles between the forces of the Central Powers and the Entente (the Salonika Front or the Macedonian Front). After the WWI, according to the Treaty of Neuilly, the territorial division of historical-geographical Macedonia between Serbia (now the Yugoslav state), Greece and Bulgaria was confirmed followed in the next years by a large population movement which transformed the ethnic and confessional composition of Macedonia's population primarily due to the population exchange between Greece and Turkey after the Greco-Turkish War of 1919−1922. In the interwar period, despite continued activism by the IMRO terrorists from Bulgaria, the aim to annex the Yugoslav (Vardar) Macedonia became unfulfilled. After WWII, the Vardar Macedonia became transformed into one of six Yugoslav socialist republics (the Socialist Republic of Macedonia) followed by the official recognition of the Macedonian nation, language and alphabet by the Yugoslav communist authorities – a decision which alienated Bulgaria and Greece from Yugoslavia.
The proclamation of state independence of the Yugoslav portion of Macedonia under the official name the Republic of Macedonia immediately created an extremely tense relationship with the neighbouring Greece as Macedonia developed rival claims for ethnicity and statehood followed by the appropriation of the ancient Macedonian history and culture. This Greco-Macedonian rivalry became firstly epitomized in a dispute on Macedonia's official state-name for the very reason that Greece objected to the use of the term Macedonia in any combination of the name of the state of its northern neighbour.
Made a clear constitutional guarantee of having no claims to the Greek territory.
Stop a hostile propaganda against Greece.
Exclude the term "Macedonia" and its derivatives from a new official name of the state.
The first of these three conditions was a Greek reaction to the disputable Article 49 in Macedonia's new Constitution which declared that the Republic of Macedonia cares for the status and rights of those persons belonging to the Macedonian people in all neighbouring countries as well as the Macedonian expatriates, assisting in their cultural development, and promoting links with them. This article was interpreted by Greece as an indirect reference to the (unrecognized) Macedonian minority (i.e. "Slavophile Greeks") in the North Greece (the Aegean Macedonia) and it was perceived as a threat to the territorial sovereignty and integrity of Greece. The EU concerning this matter supported Greece and stated in the same month that it would only recognize a new Macedonian state if it guaranteed to have no territorial claims against any neighbouring EU member state and not to engage in any act against such state, including and the use of a state-name that potentially can imply the territorial claims.
Basically, only under the pressure by Brussels, the Parliament (Sobranie) in Skopje amended Macedonia's Constitution in January 1992 and as the results, the formal constitutional guarantees were provided that the country would not interfere in the internal affairs of other states and would respect the inviolability of the international borders of any state. Macedonia's authorities fulfilled only the minor EU requirements, hopping to be soon recognized by the same organization, but two crucial problem-issues (the state-name of Macedonia and the Article 49 in the Constitution) which caused the fundamental Greek dissatisfaction, still remained unchanged. Therefore, the EU sided with Greece and decided in June 1992 not to recognize the republic if it uses the term Macedonia in its official state title.
In an exchange for the EU support on the Macedonian Question, Greece promised to ratify the Maastricht Treaty (signed in February 1993), to participate in sanctions against Serbia (its traditional ally), and to ratify the EU financial protocol with Turkey.
By taking the same position as Greece, the EU demonstrated its own internal political cohesion and unity, trying at the same time to thwart the use of Greek veto right in order to protect its own national interest within the EU.
A last factor that contributed to the EU support for the Greek case was a fear that the Greek Government might fall if the Republic of Macedonia would be recognized under that name.
A variety of alternative names for ex-Yugoslav Socialist Republic of Macedonia were proposed after 1991 in order to solve the problem and normalize relations with Greece – a most important Macedonia's neighbour and economic partner. It was quite clear that Greece herself would not accept any kind of state-name that includes a term "Macedonia" and therefore a variety of solutions without a term of "Macedonia" were suggested by Athens, ranging from Dardania and Paeonia (used in antiquity to name regions to the north of the ancient Macedonia) to the names of the South Slavia, the Vardar Republic, the Central Balkan Republic and the Republic of Skopje (named after Macedonia's capital). All other name suggestions which used the designation Macedonia, mainly proposed by the Macedonian side, were in no way acceptable to Greece from political, historical and moral reasons.
What Greece could accept as a kind of temporal solution was the state-name of the country with the designation Macedonia but only to make clear difference between Macedonia as a former republic of Yugoslavia and Macedonia that is a region in (the North) Greece. These solutions included names, for instance, the North Macedonia, a New Macedonia or the Slavic Republic of Macedonia. Greece even suggested that a new state of Macedonia could adopt two names: 1. One official for the external use, without mentioning designation Macedonia, and 2. One unofficial for internal use, which could include designation Macedonia. However, all these Greek solutions were rejected by the Macedonian authorities who insisted on the recognition of Macedonia's independence exactly under the constitutional name of the Republic of Macedonia.
The ex-Yugoslav Socialist Republic of Macedonia was gaining the international recognition step by step, although not in majority cases under its constitutional name as the Republic of Macedonia. By early 1993 the new state was able to become a member of the International Monetary Fund (the IMF) under the name the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (the FYROM) and by April 1993 the United Nations (the UN) also admitted Macedonia under such provisional name as a temporal compromise between the Macedonian and the Greek authorities. It was agreed that a permanent state-name of Macedonia that is going to be used in the foreign affairs had to be decided later through a process of mediation by the UN. However, the FYROM was not allowed to fly its original state flag (from 1991) at the UN headquarters as the official state emblem as Greece strongly opposed such idea.
It was an insignia of the ancient Macedonians of the Macedonian Empire.
It was found between two world wars in Vergina that is an ancient town on the territory of the present-day Greece but not of the FYROM.
The Greek authorities is understanding the "Sun of Vergina" as a symbol which has nothing to do either with the territory of the FYROM or with the ethnic Macedonians, or better to say, with Macedonia's Slavs. The Greeks are clear in this matter having a position that the history and culture of the ancient Macedonians does not belong to the historical and ethnic heritage of the FYROM but quite contrary, they belong to the Greek (Hellenic) inheritance. Therefore, the use of the "Sun of Vergina" by the FYROM authorities is seen by Greece as an act of falsification of history and a cultural aggression on the state territory of Greece with unpredictable political consequences in the future. That is the same as well as with the cases of naming certain institutions and public objects with the names of Philip II (national soccer stadium in Skopje) or Alexander the Great (the highway in the FYROM and the Skopje airport) or with erections of the monuments devoted to them (on the main city square in Skopje).
In 1993 several states recognized Macedonia under the official state-name as the FYROM but there were also and those states who recognized the country as the Republic of Macedonia. Macedonia was recognized by six EU members followed by the United States of America (the US) and Australia by early 1994. However, the Greek Government experienced Macedonia's recognition of independence without the final fixing the question of Macedonia's administrative name for the external usage as her own great diplomatic and national defeat, and as a response to such situation, Athens imposed a strict trade embargo to the FYROM on February 17th, 1994 for the sake to more firmly point out its unchanged position regarding several problematic issues in dealing with its northern neighbour. The embargo had a very large, and negative, impact on Macedonia's economy as its export earnings became reduced by 85% and its food supplies dropped by 40%. On the other side, the economic blockade was very much criticised by the international community including and the EU and, therefore, not much later became lifted in 1995, but after successful negotiations between Greece and the FYROM, when these two countries finally recognized each other and established diplomatic relations. The FYROM, as a part of a settlement package with Greece, was also forced to change the official flag of the state on which the "Sun of Vergina" was replaced with the "Macedonian Sun".
However, the negotiations between the FYROM and Greece in regard to a permanent state-name of Macedonia are still being conducted by the UN, and this problem is not solved properly up today on the way that the both sides are going to be fully satisfied. The issue arose several times concerning the FYROM possibility to join both the NATO and the EU as Greece (member state of both organizations) threatened to use a veto right in order to stop Macedonia's admission if previously the problem of Macedonia's state-name is not solved in the Greek favour. Talks between the FYROM and Greece are permanent up to now with some new alternative state-name proposals by both sides as, for instance, the Constitutional Republic of Macedonia, the Democratic Republic of Macedonia, the Independent Republic of Macedonia, the New Republic of Macedonia and the Republic of Upper-Macedonia.
Nevertheless, the talks proved that no one of these proposals is acceptable for both parties. The FYROM proposed as a workable solution to use changed state-name only in relations to Greece, but at the same time to keep its constitutional state-name in all other international relations. However, even this proposal did not lead to a final and sincere solution as Greece insisted that a final deal must be applied internationally. The UN mediator's compromising proposal to rename the state was as the Republic Macedonia-Skopje. Nevertheless, despite all possible efforts that were made to solve the problem, no agreement could be reached so far and, therefore, the NATO and the EU memberships of the FYROM are very problematic as one of the membership requirements is to reach agreements with Greece on all disputable political questions including and the official Macedonia's state-name.
Georges Castellan, History of the Balkans from Mohammed the Conqueror to Stalin, New York: Columbia University Press, 1992.
Loring M. Danforth, "Claims to Macedonian Identity: The Macedonian Question and the Breakup of Yugoslavia", Anthropology Today, 9 (4), 1993, 3−10.
Nicolaos K. Martis, The Falsification of Macedonian History, Athens: Graphic Arts, 1983.
James Pettifer (ed), The New Macedonian Question, New York: Palgrave, 2001.
Hugh Poulton, The Balkans: Minorities and States in Conflict, London: Minority Rights Publications, 1994.
Victor Roudometof, "Nationalism and Identity Politics in the Balkans: Greece and the Macedonian Question", Journal of Modern Greek Studies, 14 (2), 1996, 253−301.
 James Pettifer (ed), The New Macedonian Question, New York: Palgrave, 2001, 15−27.
 The term Macedonia is of the Greek origin.
 This day is celebrated in the FYROM as the Independence Day.
 James Pettifer (ed), The New Macedonian Question, New York: Palgrave, 2001, xxv.
 Bulgaria never recognized separate Macedonian nationality, language and alphabet. For Bulgarians, all Macedonia's Slavs are of the Bulgarian origin. Greece is recognizing only the existence of the Macedonian Slavs but not on its own territory where all Slavs are considered as the Slavophone Greeks [Hugh Poulton, The Balkans: Minorities and States in Conflict, London: Minority Rights Publications, 1994, 175].
 Greece is a member of the EU from 1981.
 The Constitution's day of adopting is November 17th, 1991 and day of entry into force November 20th, 1991.
 At that time it was the European Community which became next year the European Union.
 The territory of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (the FYROM) is also known as the Vardar Macedonia, contrary to the Macedonian territory in Bulgaria – the Pirin Macedonia, and in Greece – the Aegean Macedonia. A geographical-historical territory of Macedonia became divided between Greece, Serbia and Bulgaria as a consequence of the Balkan Wars of 1912−1913: "…Bulgaria who had only a little piece of Macedonia in her share: the Struma Valley between Gorna Dzumaja (Blagoevgrad) and Petric with the Strumica enclave. Greece received all Macedonia south of Lake Ohrid and the coast with Thessalonika and Kavala. Serbia was given Northern Macedonia and the center up to Ohrid, Monastir (Bitola) and the Vardar" [Georges Castellan, History of the Balkans from Mohammed the Conqueror to Stalin, New York: Columbia University Press, 1992, 381]. In essence, Greece received 60%, Serbia 30% and Bulgaria 10% of the geographic-historical territory of Macedonia. A Present-day FYROM is in fact the Vardar Macedonia that became annexed by the Kingdom of Serbia in 1913 known in Titoist Yugoslavia as the Socialist Republic of Macedonia with the capital in Skopje.
 The Greeks are not the Slavs.
 The Greeks in the Aegean Macedonia are using regularly a blue flag with the "Sun of Vergina" which is also in many cases put on the state flag of Greece as a historical amblem of the North Greece.
 The FYROM is currently a candidate state for the EU membership together with Turkey, Serbia and Montenegro.
All images are from the author.
Although the September 30, 2018 name-change referendum in Macedonia, which was supposed to set that ex-Yugoslav federal republic on a path to (certain) NATO and (blithely promised but much less certain) EU membership, failed miserably, with only 36.91% of the voters turning out, well short of the 50% + 1 necessary for it to be valid – one would never know it from the reactions of its Western proponents and impatient beneficiaries. Indeed, a new term may be needed to adequately describe the reactions of the key pillars representing the reliquiae reliquiarum of the Western-led post-Cold War unipolar moment. Fake news simply doesn't do them justice. Fake reality anyone?
EU Commissioner for European Neighborhood and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn wasn't to be outdone in his contempt for the 63% of the Macedonian "deplorables" who stayed home in order to voice their disagreement with renouncing their perceived national identity and country name (it was to become "Northern Macedonia") in exchange for the double joy of a) becoming NATO's cannon-fodder in its increasingly hazardous game of chicken with Russia and b) the EU's newest debt-serfs: "Referendum in Macedonia: I congratulate those citizens who voted in today's consultative referendum and made use of their democratic freedoms. With the very significant "yes" vote, there is broad support to the #Prespa Agreement + to the country's #Euroatlantic path. I now expect all political leaders to respect this decision and take it forward with utmost responsibility and unity across party lines, in the interest of the country." He was seconded the following day, in a joint statement, by Federica Mogherini, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice President of the EU Commission.
Understandably, as the most direct public stakeholder, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg was particularly (hyper)active. As the disappointing results began to roll in, Stoltenberg went into immediate damage control, tweeting: "I welcome the yes vote in Macedonia referendum. I urge all political leaders & parties to engage constructively & responsibly to seize this historic opportunity. #NATO's door is open, but all national procedures have to be completed." He reinforced his delusional missive the next day, releasing a similar statement co-signed by EU President Donald Tusk. And the day after, during a news conference, Stoltenberg even offered lightning-quick NATO accession to the unwilling Macedonians – January 2019, to be exact – if they would just be so kind as to urgently implement the very agreement that they had just so emphatically rejected. When NATO says it promotes democratic values – it means it!
Speaking of Angela Merkel, she also joined her fellow Western democrats' show of unanimous disdain for the Macedonian voters' majority opinion, urging the country to "push ahead" with the implementation of the majority-rejected accord, citing voters' "overwhelming support" [sic], and arguing through the mouth of her spokesman that the required 50% + 1 turnout was actually "very high," as voter registers purportedly included many people who had long since left the country.
Coincidentally (?), the same argument was used by Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias, who opined that the "yes" votes cast in the referendum do, in fact, "represent the majority despite the low turnout because Macedonia does not have the 1.8 million voters entered into its electoral rolls but just 1.2 million since 300,000 people have left the country since the voter lists were last updated 20 years ago." The fallacy of his reality-challenged claim is easily exposed if we just take a glance at the results of Macedonia's last parliamentary elections (December 2016), in which voter turnout was just under 1.2 million (1,191,832 to be exact) or, officially, 66.79%. If we were to believe Kotzias and Merkel (who lodged no objections at the time), that would have meant that the turnout for the 2016 elections had been 99% – a figure that would make any totalitarian dictator blush with envy. On the other hand, since those elections did produce the "desired result," enabling the current heavily pro-NATO/EU government led by Zoran Zaev to be formed, that automatically made them "valid" in the eyes of the high priests of democracy in Brussels, Berlin, London and Washington.
Needless to say, Zaev joined his Western patrons' charade, hailing the referendum as a "democratic success," and announcing that he would seek the Macedonian Parliament's support to amend the constitution and get the agreement with Greece ratified (according to the so-called Prespa Agreement, the Macedonian Parliament must adopt the necessary constitutional amendments by the end of 2018) so that the Greek Parliament can do the same, which would seal the deal. However, Zaev and his Albanian political partners are currently well short of the necessary two-thirds majority (reportedly, they can count on 71 deputies, or 9 short of the needed 80), and will have to call early elections if they don't soon succeed in securing it.
Still, amidst all the faux cheer and public displays of confidence of the pro-NATO/EU crowd, a palpable sense of unease hangs in the air. As a Deutsche Welle opinion piece put it, the "low voter turnout for Macedonia's referendum is a bad starting point for the country's future development." And, according to DW in Serbian, a Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung commentary warned that "politicians who otherwise ceaselessly talk of democracy as a 'special value' should not call on the parliament in Skopje to accept the voting results." In other words, Macedonia's people (read – a large majority of the majority Slavic population) have "voted with their feet" and rejected the agreement, and no new parliamentary election, no matter the results, can change that unpleasant-but-immutable fact. That alone will delegitimize any Western-led effort to "manufacture consent" by ramming the agreement through the present or future Parliament – although, as we know, NATO doesn't put too much stock in referenda anyway, while the EU is not averse to making citizens vote as many times as needed to obtain the "right" result.


There is still the same frame accuracy problem I had in VT2.
When snapping a clip on the timebar, let's say Time bar at 10:00, snap the beginnnig of a clip at it, zoom in at the maximum, the clip is not exactly sitcked to the time bar.
It's somewhere between the 10:00 and 10:01 vertical grid. if the beginning of the clip is on the right area of this "inbetween" it shows up at 10:01.
I've read on other threads about an other type of frame accuracy problem. Seemed different but perhaps caused by the same wrong part of TED's code.
A Clip should never find itself at a fractionnal image, if we had sound editing capabilities in TED I would understand the "more than 25th of seconds precision" (PAL user here) but it's not the case.
I feel your pain but can't duplicate it.
I did as you said in the test and my clips snap right at 10:00 or 10:01 etc..
I can't get them to stick in between no matter how I try.
Keep bugging your problem and let folks know.
This thing happens not every times but it's more often when you snap the clip when the Timeline is zoomed out a lot.
like ~ 30 Sec clip mesure ~ 3 cm on screen.
I had the same problem under VT 2 and another machine.
makes me doubt each time I snap a clip to the timebar I have to zoom in to chek it's at the right TC.
But the video doesn't show at this timecode, it shows at 07:38:21.
Lower Pic: So zoom in, the timebar is closer from 07:38:21 than 07:38:20.
Th'ats the bug ! you read a TC but in fact video in is on frame after.
This thing seldom happens but it never should.
Yep, same thing here. I have been fighting it often. I agree it should snap, drag or razor (c) only at exact whole frame points.
Maybe the thought was to allow field editing?
Basically, it talks about physics, problems in the theory of relativity and a new theory around rings.
You might, and rightly so, wonder what the hell all that has to do with this... You've already touched on the problem: scaling is the key. What you might want to do is go into the prefs and change the snap sensitivity. Far out it sounds like your snap is not sensitive enough for such a thing; in close, it works, right?
The other things I would suggest is that you use the storyboard for such moves as it doesn't deal with snappage and the like.
CSI is coming on; I love that show!
Reguardless of what the snap sensitivity is, shouldn't it snap to either 7:38:20 or 7:38:21 and not in between. I noticed this problem with T2. It needs to be adressed because it is inconsistant and when you have multiple layers they don't always end up at the same time.
Sorry to rise up some old problems but no change there in the third patch.
Ted timeline/timebar still isn't frame accurate.
I find myself fighting this on almost every edit. I zoom down all the way to where you are viewing about two frames across the entire timeline (Backspace, + + + + + ) and dragging the misplaced clip to land properly on the frame then zoom back out (- - - - -). Very annoying. It can cause such irritations as bad edits, CG's or overlays not cutting with background, and perhaps the most annoying, when you are in control tree and setting a node at the very beginning or end of the clip (q or w) the image may not even show up in the Positioner window at all, because the clip actually starts a fraction of a frame later. Uuuuggggg!!!
I feel bad for speaking too soon. I guess I got too excited from my initial investigation and will have to run further tests.
In trying to look at the optimistic side, it appears that there has been some improvement in VT with regards to this little "frame-accuracy" issue.
I just hope it's not an "irresolvable" issue due to the basic code of VT-Edit or something terrifying like that.
I also miss TED's "Snap" options in prefs. On longer timelines, it's a real pain trying to align clips. Often, when trying to snap clips back to back we end up with a slight dissolve or a empty frame between the two.
I never got an answer why it was removed. Maybe it was causing some other issues???


text:
December 16 ~ This Day in Music History
Posted by MaryO on December 16, 2017
Hanukkah Music
Hanukkah Music Lyrics
Hanukkah 2017 began at sunset (4:48 at the O'Connor Music Studio) on Tuesday, December 12 and ends on Wednesday, December 20.
Christmas Music: We Three Kings
1770 ~ Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony was featured in the Walt Disney movie Fantasia and his Symphony Number 5 in Fantasia 2000
Listen to Beethoven's music
More information on Beethoven
If composers had Facebook: Beethoven's profile
1882 ~ Zoltán Kodály, Hungarian composer and collector of folk songs
More information on Kodály
• 1893 ~ Antonin Dvorák attended the first performance of his New World Symphony at Carnegie Hall in New York City.
• 1899 ~ Sir Noel Coward, British composer of musical comedies, actor and producer
• 1905 ~ Sime Silverman published the first issue of Variety, the weekly showbiz magazine. The first issue was 16 pages in length and sold for a nickel. Variety and Daily Variety are still going strong.
• 1907 ~ Eugene H. Farrar became the first singer to broadcast on radio. He sang from the Brooklyn Navy Yard in New York. The song was Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?
• 1940 ~ Bob Crosby and his Bobcats backed up brother Bing as San Antonio Rose was recorded on Decca Records.
• 1960 ~ Lucille Ball took a respite from her weekly TV series to star in the Broadway production of Wildcat, which opened at the Alvin Theatre in New York City. The show ran for 171 performances.
• 1967 ~ The Lemon Pipers released Green Tambourine on an unsuspecting psychedelic world this day. The tune made #1 on February 3, 1968.
• 1971 ~ Melanie (Safka) received a gold record for the single, Brand New Key, about roller skates and love and stuff like that. This one made it to #1 on Christmas Day, 1971.
• 1971 ~ Don McLean's eight-minute-plus (8:32) version of American Pie was released. It became one of the longest songs with some of the most confusing (pick your favorite interpretation) lyrics to ever hit the pop charts. American Pie hit #1 on January 15, 1972.
• 1972 ~ Paul McCartney's single, Hi, Hi, Hi, was released. It peaked at #10 on the top tune tabulation (February 3, 1973).
• 2003 ~ Singer and guitarist Gary Stewart, who had a No. 1 country hit in 1975 with She's Actin' Single (I'm Drinkin' Doubles), died of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was 58. A native of Letcher County, Ky., Stewart was a compelling songwriter and performer of guitar-driven, honky-tonk country. His last album, Live at Billy Bob's Texas, was released in 2003. Besides the 1975 chart-topper, his hits included Drinkin' Thing and Out of Hand. He worked with Southern rock greats Dickie Betts and Gregg Allman of The Allman Brothers Band on the 1980 album Cactus and a Rose.
• 2017 ~ Z'ev, a percussionist, performer, composer, instrument builder, visual artist, poet and theorist who explored visceral and mystical dimensions of sound — becoming a pioneer of industrial music along the way — died in Chicago, where he lived. He was 66.
This entry was posted in Christmas, Composers, Hanukkah, Holidays, musicians, Today in Music History and tagged Antonin Dvorák, Carnegie Hall, Christmas Music, composer, Ludwig Van Beethoven, singer, Today in Music History, video, Zoltán Kodály. Bookmark the permalink.
If composers had Facebook: Beethoven
Christmas Music: Good King Wenceslas

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Q: FInd The (x1,y1) and (x2,y2) values of a text when the text is rotated (90, 270) degree in the PDF page (PDF BOX) Hi I have an Use case to find the (x1, y1) (x2, Y2) values of the text in a page when the text is rotated 90 and 180 degree.
I am able to find these values when the text is at 0 degrees and 180 degrees.
So the idea is to use the PDStreamengine class from the PDFBOX and overriding the method from the same class and using them to find the x1,y1,x2,y2 values ,
For the above code i am getting the values properly when the text is 0 and 180 degree.
for the following pdf
i.e when the text is 0 degree
(x1 =31 , y1 =726 , x2 =122 , y2 = 744 )
when the text is 180 degree
(x1 = 122, y1 = 744, x2 = 31, y2 = 726)
i am getting the above values.
but when i rotate the text to 90 degree, Rotated text PDF,I am getting the values as (x1 =22 , y1 =660 , x2 =22 y2 = 740)
Here we can see Both the x1 and X2 Values are same.
how can we Find the X1 and X2 values of a text when it is rotated 90 degree and 270 Degree ?
I got above mentioned values by using the following code snippet
I have also thought of using the TextPosition "printWord" method so, will that be a solution find the x1,y1,x2,y2 values.
x1 = Double.valueOf(text.getYDirAdj());
y1 = Double.valueOf(text.getXDirAdj());
x2 = x1 - text.getHeight();
y2 = y1 + text.getWidth();

And any code snippet with the example will be helpfull.
Thanks
Tejas

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Magma 79 Editorial
Home » All Issues » Magma 79 » Articles » Magma 79 Editorial
The idea for a special issue on dwelling didn't emerge at a desk or on a computer screen, but in a unique and remarkable place: Kenfig Nature Reserve. These coastal dunes in south Wales conceal a buried medieval castle and a once thriving market town, now lost to the encroaching sands. In that wild sanctuary, questions of climate change as well as our relation to the natural world and to each other, are impossible to ignore.
Back then, the world was a different place. We knew the questions we wanted to ask, but we didn't know how important they would become. We didn't know that this issue would be edited and published during a global pandemic, the like of which has not been seen for 100 years. We didn't foresee lockdown, isolation, turmoil, unrest, protest, loneliness, loss, illness. We didn't know that we would be asked to live differently, more distantly, eschewing touch in order to keep each other safe.
The pandemic has called for huge sacrifices. It has forced us to question how we have been living, and how we will be asked to live in the future. Will we continue to exploit and shrink the 'other-than- human' world? How far are we willing to allow technology to control our lives, our bodies? How can we continue in a society where BIPOC people are terrorized by our institutions? We must imagine something else, something healthier, for us all.
The idea of dwelling poses a possible alternative: of living in a place without possessing, exploiting or dominating it, but treating it as a person in its own right. Can a river be considered a person? Dwelling also speaks to our relationships with others, striving to ensure that people are not treated as objects to be controlled.
In this issue, our writers have risen to the challenge with kaleidoscopic variety. Jen Hadfield's 'Living in Fear' escapes lockdown to explore the Shetland Isle of Foula, confronting the terror of vertigo in mountains on the edge of the world. Polly Atkin challenges what ecological writing might look like from the perspective of writers with disability. An interview with Roger Robinson finds a metaphor for abuse of power via lockdown time spent in his backyard. In our Inspired section, Vidyan Ravinthiran discusses Andrew Marvell, intergenerational trauma, and optimism amid our limitations, among much else.
This issue also features poets from the U.S. whose poems emerged from conversations with environmental scientists. These include established voices in the U.S., and also voices that may be new to U.K. readers: Ruth Awad, Rosebud Ben-Oni, Kathy Fagan and Khaty Xiong.
Since the pandemic began, we three editors – dwelling in the USA, Wales, Scotland – have read thousands of submitted poems, most written in lockdown. Each was a unique and inimitable snapshot of how poets all over the world are striving to make sense of these unprecedented times.
Zoë Brigley, Kristian Evans and Rob A. Mackenzie
Magma 79 — Dwelling
Edited by Zoë Brigley, Kristian Evans and Rob A. Mackenzie
the child's childhood
—Penelope Shuttle
Full Moon in Scorpio
—Rebecca Tamás
Prayer for a Godless City
—John McCullough
The Little Ice Age of Hard Truths
—Ruth Awad
Hymn To Jamaica
—Jenny Mitchell
Trace fossil: coastal furniture
—Michael McKimm
'All the living I have left to do': a disability poetics of dwelling
Isabelle Baafi Reviews Gregory Leadbetter, Sasha Dugdale and Phoebe Stuckes


ELL: Skyhawks and its partnering organizations will make every effort to support English Language Learners.
Skyhawks and its partnering organizations will make every effort to accommodate children with special needs.
Skyhawks and its partnering organizations may be able to provide scholarships or reduced fees to qualifying families upon request.


As you might have noticed, folks with a long gap in their resume get a particularly hard time from HR reps and recruiters.
Because -- rightly or wrongly -- they assume there's something major that stops you from "holding down a job".
So if you find yourself in between jobs, your first priority should be to get *a* job, even if it's not your dream job. Because it stops you from getting a gap in your resume that might come back to haunt you later.
It's easier than most folks realize to get *a* job.
All you need to do is volunteer somewhere.
Every town has at least a few start-ups -- and start-ups are always happy to receive help, especially if it doesn't cost them anything. Or, you can find great volunteer positions on Idealist.org.
But what if you've been out of work for a long time?
Is there a way to make your job gap "magically" disappear?
Well, yes, there is, actually. Two ways actually. But neither are magic.
The first is to only list the years that you were employed for each job. That way, the gap between jobs is shrunk a little -- and, many times, an HR rep or recruiter will give you the benefit of the doubt.
However, there's a second technique, and it's a lot more powerful.
home" or "building my kids a treehouse".
(2) Retroactively create a consulting business for yourself. You don't need to register a corporation. You don't need to register anything. You don't need a website either. You just need to give it a name.
Now, it doesn't matter if you ever worked with real clients or got paid. That's now what we're saying here. What we're saying is that you set up your own consulting company and you did projects for people.
Is this lying? Is it unethical?
No. This is called framing.
We're not saying you did anything that you didn't. We're just giving it a new name and talking about it in a different way.
See? Now you don't have job gap anymore.


Sometimes, when I have a day off, I like to spend the entire day doing absolutely nothing. Given my recent new obsession with Pretty Little Liars, nothing actually equates to watching it on NetFlix all day, maybe sending a few work emails, doing some laundry, just little things that require minimal effort and nothing that requires me getting out of my pjs. If I work out, I'll add a sports bra to my pajama ensemble. Mmmhmm, that's a day off.
When I have the luxury of two days off in a row, I spend the first day doing as much as possible so I can enjoy the day off laziness without feeling too guilty.
Yesterday, I was pretty productive.
The boy is finally feeling better, as evidenced by a.) begging me to go buy him "the winning Powerball ticket" on Saturday night, to which I finally obliged. I asked if they would card me (I know nothing about these lottery things). His response was laughter, the kind that could only come from that of a husband on the mend. b.) seeing a Pizza Hut commercial after the lottery run and subsequently ordering Tuscani Chicken Pasta to be delivered. At 9pm.
Since he was feeling better, I put him to work hanging a couple of curtain rods. We've lived here for nearly three years and we finally have curtains in our living room!
I spent a good portion of my day making this cute dinosaur cupcake cake for a friend's birthday. I followed these instructions.
While the cupcakes were cooling, I took a little time to organize my cupcake liners. By color. Everyone does this, right?
There was sweeping, dusting, vacuuming. There was lunch, courtesy of Culver's.
I took a few breaks from productivity for snuggles with this guy.
Dinner time sort of snuck up on me so I roasted a spaghetti squash while doing other things. Cutting that thing is so darn frustrating!
Yes, I swapped this knife for a serrated knife right after I took the pic. Still, so annoying.
I heated some TJ's Turkey Meatballs with a jar of spaghetti sauce and called it dinner.
There was laundry, of which most is still in a heap on the floor near the dryer, with the exception of clean sheets that we fell into before 10pm. Being productive is hard work!
As for today? Well, so far today looks a little like this.
How do you spend your day off? Get as much done as possible? Or as little as possible? Now that I'm working fewer late nights followed by early mornings, I'm able to get more things done every day, rather than needing to cram everything into one day. I also consider it a luxury to often times have days off during the week so I can get all of my errands run without dealing with the weekend crowds. Huge bonus!
Holy cow, that cupcake cake is fantastic! Very impressive!
Also, that looks like the perfect dippy egg! Yum :).
Your dinosaur cake is so cute!


text:
Q: debug V8 with node-inspector I'm trying to debug my JavaScript scripts, which are running in V8, with node-inspector. On the app side, I just did
v8::Debug::EnableAgent("MyApp", 5858);

Node-inspector connects fine and even is able to pause/unpause and to show the code. However, step-wise execution does not work, neither breakpoints and probably a lot of other things. When I try to do such things, I get these errors from Node-inspector:
Node Inspector v0.7.0
Visit http://127.0.0.1:8080/debug?port=5858 to start debugging.
Received request for a method not implemented: Debugger.setSkipAllPauses
Received request for a method not implemented: Debugger.setSkipAllPauses
Received request for a method not implemented: Debugger.setSkipAllPauses
Received request for a method not implemented: Debugger.setBreakpoint
Received request for a method not implemented: Debugger.setBreakpoint
Received request for a method not implemented: Debugger.setBreakpoint

So I guess I'm missing something.
I'm not sure if what I'm trying to do is even supported - because I guess, node-inspector is meant for Node.js and not for arbitrary V8, right? If so, what would be needed to make it work?

Thanks for the help by Miroslav, esp. to run DEBUG=node-inspector:protocol:*  node-inspector, I got a bit further. Step-wise execution works now, and breakpoints do to in most cases (except when you select the wrong Source file - see below).
I provided a global process object like this:
// process object: http://nodejs.org/api/process.html#process_process
process.stdout = ...
process.stderr = ...
process._baseDir = ...
process.mainModule = {filename: process._baseDir + "/main.js"}
process.argv = ["myapp.exe", process.mainModule.filename]
process.cwd = function() { return process._baseDir; }

Now I get the error Internal error: TypeError: Cannot read property 'line' of null in the console. In node-inspector, I get this:
Wed, 19 Mar 2014 11:58:43 GMT node-inspector:protocol:v8-debug request: {"seq":170,"type":"request","command":"backtrace","arguments":{"inlineRefs":true,"fromFrame":0,"toFrame":50,"maxStringLength":10000}}
Wed, 19 Mar 2014 11:58:43 GMT node-inspector:protocol:devtools frontend: {"method":"Debugger.setOverlayMessage","id":48}
Wed, 19 Mar 2014 11:58:43 GMT node-inspector:protocol:devtools backend: {"id":48}
Wed, 19 Mar 2014 11:58:43 GMT node-inspector:protocol:v8-debug response: {"seq":41,"request_seq":170,"type":"response","success":false,"message":"Internal error: TypeError: Cannot read property 'line' of null"}

Another thing is that the script files are not always correct. On the C++ side, I'm loading them now like this:
ReturnType execJsFile(const std::string& jsSourceDir, const std::string& extfilename) {
    v8::TryCatch try_catch;

    std::string fullfilename = jsSourceDir + "/" + extfilename;
    std::string sourceStr;
    CHECK_RETURN(readFile(fullfilename, sourceStr));

    // The origin is for the debugger, e.g. node-inspector. It expects an URL.
    Local<String> origin = jsStr("file:///" + fullfilename);
    Local<String> source = jsStr(sourceStr);

    Local<v8::Script> script = Script::Compile(source, origin);
    if(script.IsEmpty()) {
        assert(try_catch.HasCaught());
        return "JS compile failed: " + jsReportExceptionToString(Isolate::GetCurrent(), &try_catch);;
    }

    Local<Value> result = script->Run();
    if(result.IsEmpty()) {
        assert(try_catch.HasCaught());
        return "JS script execution failed: " + jsReportExceptionToString(Isolate::GetCurrent(), &try_catch);
    }

    return true;
}

That puts all files under the file:// domain in the Sources list. However, main.js gets an extra entry under (no domain). When I make the change
process.mainModule = {filename: "file:///" + process._baseDir + "/main.js"}

it goes away, however, that is not how I would have expected ìt to be according to the doc.
When I pause/break the execution in main.js, it shows up in yet another Source [VM] main.js and gets a yellow-ish background.
Also, all files in Sources under file:// get the (function (exports, require, module, __filename, __dirname) { prefix added in the first line of the source. That line does not come from my code but from node-inspector. Why does it add that here? It is esp. strange because my code adds a slightly different prefix ( function(module, exports) {.

A: Run DEBUG=node-inspector:protocol:* node-inspector and inspect the messages, you might be able to find more information there. You can also try to use an older version, e.g. 0.1.9, it may have less dependencies on Node-specific stuff.
I'd say 95% of Node Inspector code uses V8 protocol only. Look for usages of DebuggerClient.prototype.evaluateGlobal to find where Node-specific functionality is used.
The first thing to change is getResourceTree in lib/PageAgent.js. Either implement your own way of listing all source files (including those not loaded yet), or return an empty tree.
UPDATE
Try Node's CLI debugger first:
$ node debug localhost:5858

To my best knowledge, the CLI debugger uses only the V8 debugger protocol features, nothing Node specific. When you are able to debug your V8 app using the CLI, you will know that any other problems are in Node Inspector and not in your V8 app.

A: Here is a solution for debugging V8 with node-inspector:
First of all, the latest version (0.12.3) has many extensions for debugging node.js scripts so I used an older version (0.5.0) which has less liability to node.js.
I used the following command to install v0.5.0 in Node.js command prompt:
npm install node-inspector@0.5.0

It is installed in folder "%USERPROFILE%\node_modules" by default.
I added one line of code to %USERPROFILE%\node_modules\node-inspector\lib\PageAgent.js:
getResourceTree: function(params, done) {
    return; //return empty tree
...

This completes the installation.
Here is the guide to debug a javascript file executed by using the ClearScript .NET library:
Open a command prompt and execute the following command:
%USERPROFILE%\node_modules\.bin\node-inspector.cmd
You should see the following lines if node-inspector is running successfully.
Node Inspector v0.5.0
info - socket.io started
Visit http://127.0.0.1:8080/debug?port=5858 to start debugging.

Initialize your V8 engine as in the following code line (VB.NET code):
Dim engine As New V8ScriptEngine("global", V8ScriptEngineFlags.EnableDebugging, 9222)
Put a breakpoint right after this line in your code and run your application to reach this breakpoint.
Make sure you have "debugger;" statement in the first line of your JavaScript code.
Open a Chrome browser and navigate to the following address:
http://127.0.0.1:8080/debug?port=9222
Press "Continue Debugging" button in Vİsual Studio toolbar.
Now you should see your script code stopped at the first "debugger;" line in Chrome browser.
You can continue debugging from here.


The demand for non-invasive diagnostic imaging in cardiology increases with the advancing age of the population. Whilst exercise testing and myocardial perfusion scintigraphy have provided non-invasive functional assessment of coronary artery disease there has been little alternative to invasive coronary angiography for anatomical assessment of the coronary tree.
In recent years technological advances have enabled improvements in both temporal and spatial resolution such that multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT) is now able to reproducibly evaluate cardiac disease. The combination of this improved resolution with more advanced post-processing techniques now means that MDCT has the ability to perform both anatomical and functional assessment from the single study. This technique therefore not only provides a non-invasive alternative to conventional angiography but the same data-set allows concurrent assessment of cardiac function, assessment of aberrant vessels, graft patency studies and assessment of the coronary artery wall.
Cardiac computed tomography (CT) has the potential to provide a much more complete assessment than conventional coronary angiography. It is likely to become the non-invasive imaging modality of choice to exclude significant coronary artery disease in those with intermediate risk of coronary artery disease.
This second part of a two-part article considers the clinical applications and clinical future developments for cardiac CT. The first part considered ECG-gated image reconstruction, image resolution, radiation dose, and post-processing protocols and limitations.
Recent advances in computed tomography (CT) processing technology have focused mainly on multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT) coronary angiography and there has been a rapid evolution from the research setting into clinical practice. The quality and quantity of the 'raw' dataset acquired for each scan allows assessment of anatomy, cardiac function, ventricular mass and volume,2 valvular stenosis assessment3 and identification of areas of fixed hypoperfusion.4 It can therefore offer information above and beyond that of alternative techniques such as the pure lumenography and ventriculography of invasive coronary angiography (ICA). Whilst cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) remains the cardiac modality of choice for the assessment of many of these functional parameters, it still lacks the ability to routinely assess the coronary tree. CT can provide clear delineation of the entire coronary tree including assessment of the vessel wall. With functional assessment it offers a one-test assessment e.g. prior to a valve replacement in a 60-year-old patient who has a low to intermediate risk of coronary artery disease or, alternatively, in a patient with congenital valvular stenosis who may also have aberrant coronary arteries.
Contrast flow is dependant not only on the size and position of the intravenous cannula but also on the underlying cardiac output. During the actual angiogram the patient receives breath hold instructions followed by 70 ml of contrast injected at 4–5 ml per second through a 20-gauge venflon in the antecubital fossa. To achieve adequate contrast delivery speed a double-headed power injector is employed. This initial contrast bolus is immediately followed by a smaller (40–50 ml) pure saline chaser or 50:50 contrast and saline mix to optimise image quality and contrast enhancement throughout the entire coronary tree, push contrast out of the arm veins and to minimise beam attenuation from the excessively dense contrast in the right heart and superior vena cava.16 After the necessary time delay the scan commences and covers the 12–14 cm cranio-caudal scan in a single breath hold of 8–12 seconds on a 64-channel system. Older four- and 16-channel CT systems require significantly longer patient breath holds.
As previously outlined, there are several other factors that must also be optimised prior to scanning for the best chance of clear and diagnostic images. These include a suitable heart rate (50–70 bpm) which may require the use of negative chronotropes as necessary; a regular cardiac rhythm (although anecdotal evidence would suggest that rate-controlled atrial fibrillation does allow for reasonable image quality); no or low coronary calcium burden and no respiratory or patient movement. Very large patients also cause significant degradation of image quality.
MDCT angiography has been compared with ICA at each stage of development. Four-slice MDCT images were not of suitable quality to elucidate stenoses in smaller vessels and had a reported sensitivity of 92–95% and specificity of 86–93%.17,18 These values improved with 16-detector machines19 and the most recent 64-detector data suggest a sensitivity of 99% and specificity of 95% with a negative predictive value of 99% and positive predictive value of 76% in technically adequate studies.20 MDCT coronary angiography has therefore improved significantly with advances in technology but still has a tendency to overestimate coronary artery stenoses (particularly if calcified). It is clear that the major strength of CT coronary angiography (CTCA) lies in its ability to exclude significant coronary artery disease, reflected in the high negative predictive values reported in the majority of studies.21 It is now an accepted alternative in the diagnostic assessment of coronary artery disease.
Table 1 gives the indications and contra-indications for this technique.
those in whom an alternative to myocardial perfusion scintigraphy (MPS) is sought.
MDCT should not be carried out on patients with a high risk of coronary artery disease since ICA can and should lead seamlessly into immediate intervention in this group.
Coronary stents are easily visualised on both contrast-enhanced and non-enhanced CT images due to their high density (figure 1).12 Unfortunately due to their high density, stents produce similar problems to heavily calcified vessels with over projection of high density into the lumen of the vessel making assessment of in-stent restenosis from neo-intimal proliferation problematic even with the 64-detector scanners.22 Some manufacturers have provided dedicated reconstruction algorithms in an attempt to surmount this difficulty. Total occlusion or severe stenosis is generally detectable by MDCT angiography. Stents with thinner struts are more assessable due to their lower overall density23 but MDCT angiography remains of limited usefulness in quantitative assessment of non-significant in-stent restenosis imaging and is only reliable in stents with a diameter in excess of 4 mm.12 Currently MDCT angiography is of benefit in assessment and follow up of left main stem stents but has only moderate sensitivity in other, smaller vessels.24 As with diagnostic MDCT angiography, there is a high negative predictive value and MDCT may be best employed as a gatekeeper to further invasive angiographic investigation.
In contrast to the technical difficulties of stent assessment, graft patency assessment lends itself well to MDCT angiography due to the large diameter, limited calcification and relative immobility of grafts (figure 2). Limitations include artefacts secondary to metallic clips, sutures, surgical markers and the proximity of grafts to sternal wires. Up to 10% of vein grafts may become occluded within the peri-operative period25 rising to 25% at five years and 59% at 10 years. Arterial graft occlusion rises to 17% in the same 10-year period.26 MDCT has been shown to be both highly sensitive and specific in assessment of coronary artery grafts with sensitivities between 95% and 100% and specificity of 94 and 100%.27,28 Given the technical difficulty of graft location during ICA, MDCT has been validated as a robust clinical alternative. A full assessment, however, must also look at the native vessels and this can be more problematic due to the likelihood of severe and diffuse disease with the inherent likelihood of severe calcification.
One of the major potential advantages of MDCT coronary angiography over conventional ICA is the ability to identify not only calcified lesions but also the various other components that make up so-called 'soft' plaques. There is a difference in attenuation between lipid, fibrous and calcified material and this allows not only differentiation of soft plaque from calcified plaques but allows some assessment of plaque composition.29 There has been considerable interest in soft plaques as these may represent high-risk plaques with a higher tendency to rupture.30 It has been shown that in patients presenting with acute coronary syndrome there is a higher prevalence of soft plaque and vascular remodelling identified on MDCT compared to a similar population with stable angina pectoris.31 Soft plaques can also be assessed via intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) but this is expensive and invasive. MDCT has been shown to correlate well with IVUS.32 It is not possible to give absolute figures for these composites of plaques since data suggest that the higher the intra-luminal density of the contrast, the higher the soft plaque density surrounding it33 and further research is required on the interaction of these two factors before these subtle distinctions can be reliably incorporated into clinical practice.
Data obtained during the MDCT coronary scan can also be used to derive left and right ventricular function. Reconstruction of the datasets at multiple phases of the cardiac cycle (usually every 5% or 10%) allows calculation of both end-diastolic and end-systolic volumes of the left ventricle and therefore stroke volume, cardiac output and ejection fraction. Left ventricular volumes can be reconstructed at these phases using dedicated software. With some interaction, left ventricular wall motion, thickening and thickness can also be derived.34 There is good correlation between MDCT, CMR1 and trans-thoracic echocardiography (TTE)34 for ejection fraction. Regional wall abnormality assessment is less favourable when compared to TTE due the lower temporal resolution of MDCT. There is a good correlation between the two techniques for akinetic, dyskinetic and normal segments but only a moderate correlation in the assessment of hypokinetic segments.34 The fact that many patients are also treated with negatively chronotropic agents to facilitate their MDCT angiogram may also impact on their overall cardiac function. Right ventricular function is more difficult to assess due to its complex geometry, but initial preliminary data suggest a good correlation with CMR.35 This functional information comes for 'free' with the MDCT angiographic dataset.
It can be seen that recent advances in MDCT technology have facilitated a rapid emergence of cardiac MDCT into mainstream cardiological practice. It is likely that MDCT angiography will become an increasingly utilised tool in the diagnosis of coronary artery disease, relieving the burden on nuclear medicine and reducing the number of day-case diagnostic angiograms. It has already been utilised in Emergency Rooms both in the USA36 and Israel37 to exclude significant coronary disease and/or pulmonary embolus and dissection (triple rule-out) in patients presenting with acute chest pain. This trend is likely to continue.
Functional analysis is likely to become routinely incorporated into MDCT angiographic reports and will continue to be utilised in patients with contraindications to CMR. Valve assessment by MDCT has been validated in research with good correlation of aortic valve stenosis with TTE3 and transoesophageal echocardiography38 although MDCT data are likely to remain inferior to CMR for the foreseeable future due to the limited temporal resolution of MDCT and the benefit of additional flow data available on CMR. MDCT perfusion imaging is currently under intense investigation and whilst fixed hypoperfusion following acute myocardial infarction has been demonstrated and correlates well with CMR,4 its clinical usefulness remains to be seen. Dynamic perfusion protocols similar to those used in MPS scanning have also been developed and show a good correlation with MPS.39 This involves two scans, one at rest and one during stress, both involving a significant radiation dose and until this dose issue is resolved, MDCT is unlikely to challenge MPS in clinical cardiology. Efforts continue to minimise radiation.40 Many of the technological hindrances that currently limit the clinical utilisation of cardiac MDCT are also likely to be overcome in the forseeable future.
Cardiac CT provides a much more complete cardiac assessment than pure coronary imaging. It provides morphological data comparable with CMR, functional data comparable with echocardiography and the potential for perfusion data comparable with MPS, which all highlight the versatility of cardiac MDCT. Optimal patient selection and preparation is currently the key to high quality imaging. The radiation dose, whilst not irrelevant, must be put in the context of overall lifetime cancer risk and also of the dose from alternative imaging techniques. It is important to acknowledge the reduction in morbidity and mortality from MDCT as compared with ICA when comparing the overall risk between techniques. Patient choice will influence the speed of uptake of cardiac MDCT, but the technique has come of age. The idea of a 'one-stop shop' for cardiac assessment is attractive and these are exciting times in the world of non-invasive cardiac imaging.
The first part of this article which considered ECG-gated image reconstruction, image resolution, radiation dose, and post-processing protocols and limitations was covered in the last issue of the journal (Br J Cardiol 2007:14:143–50).
Jeurgens KU, Grude M, Maintz D et al. Multi-detector row CT of left ventricular function with dedicated analysis software versus MR Imaging: Initial experience. Radiology 2004;203:403–10.
Dirksen MS, Bax JJ, de Roos A et al. Usefulness of dynamic multi-slice computed tomography of left ventricular function in unstable angina pectoris and comparison with echocardiography. Am J Cardiol 2002;90:1157–60.
Poueler A-C, le Poulain de Waroux J-B, Pasquet A, Vanoverschelde J-L, Gerber B. Multidetector row computed tomography accurately estimates aortic valve area as compared to transthoracic and transesophageal echocardiography. Circulation 2005;112:II–466.
Niemen K, Cury R, Nomura CH et al. Contrast-enhanced 64-slice MDCT of acute myocardial infarction – a segmental comparison with MRI. Circulation 2005;112:II–467.
Agatston AS, Janowitz WR, Hildner FJ, Zusmer NR, Viamonte M Jr, Detrano R. Quantification of coronary artery calcium using ultrafast computed tomography. J Am Coll Cardiol 1990;5:827–32.
Hoff JA, Chomka EV, Krainik AJ, Daviglus M, Rich S, Kondos GT. Age and gender distributions of coronary artery calcium detected by electron beam tomography in 35,246 patients. Am J Cardiol 2001;87:1335–9.
Flohr TG, Schoepf UJ, Keuttner A et al. Advances in cardiac imaging with 16-section CT systems. Acad Radiol 2003;10:386–401.
Greenland P, Abrams J, Aurigemma GP et al. Prevention Conference V. Beyond secondary prevention: identifying the high risk patient for primary prevention: non-invasive tests of atherosclerotic burden:Writing Group III. Circulation 2000;101:E16–22.
Ohnesorge B, Flohr T, Becker C et al. Cardiac imaging by means of electrocardiographically gated multisection spiral CT: initial experience. Radiology 2000;217:564–71.
Mollet NR, Cademartiri F, Niemen K. Multislice spiral computed tomography coronary angiography in patients with stable angina pectoris. J Am Coll Cardiol 2004;43:2265–70.
J de Feyter P, Krestin GP. Computed tomography of the coronary arteries. London: Taylor & Francis,2005: 8–11.
Morgan-Hughes GJ, Roobottam CA, Owens PE, Marshall AJ. Highly accurate coronary angiography using sub-millimetre computed tomography. Heart 2005;91:308–13.
Kuettener A, Trabold T, Schroeder S et al. Noninvasive detection of coronary lesions using 16-detector multislice spiral computed tomography technology:initial clinical results. J Am Coll Cardiol 2004;44:1230–7.
Cademartiri F, Nieman K, Raaijmakers R et al. IV contrast administration on a 16-multidetector row helical CT scanner: test bolus vs bolus tracking. Radiology 2004;233:817–23.
Cademartiri F, Nieman K, Raaijmakers R et al. Computed tomography coronary angiography: usefulness of saline chaser. Eur Radiol 2004;14:178–83.
Ropers D, Baum U, Pohle K et al. Detection of coronary artery stenoses with thin-slice multi-detector row spiral computed tomography and multiplanar reconstruction. Circulation 2003;107:664–6.
Nieman K, Cademartiri F, Lemos PA, Raaijmakers R, Pattynama PM, de Feyter PJ. Reliable non-invasive coronary angiography with fast sub-millimetre multislice spiral computed tomography. Circulation 2002;106:2051–4.
Hoffman MHK, Shi H, Schmitz B et al. Noninvasive coronary angiography with multislice computed tomography. JAMA 2005;293:2471–8.
Mollet NR, Cademartiri F, van Mieghem CA et al. High-resolution spiral computed tomography coronary angiography in patients referred for diagnostic conventional coronary angiography. Circulation 2005;112:2318–23.
Becker CR. Coronary CT angiography in symptomatic patients. Eur Radiol 2005;15 (S2):B33–41.
Seifarth H, Ozgun M, Raupach R et al. 64-versus 16-slice CT angiography for coronary artery assessment: in vitro experience. Invest Radiol 2006;41:22–7.
Niemen K, Cademartiri F, Raaijmakers R, Pattynama P, de Feyter PJ. Non-invasive angiographic evaluation of coronary stents with multi-slice spiral computed tomography. Herz 2003;28:136–42.
Gaspar T, Halon DA, Lewis BS et al. Diagnosis of in-stent restenosis with multidetector row spiral computed tomography. J Am Coll Cardiol 2005;18:1573–9.
Bryan AJ, Angelini GD. The biology of saphenous vein occlusion: etiology and strategies for prevention. Curr Opin Cardiol 1994;9:641–9.
Fitzgibbon GM, Kafka HP, Leach AJ, Keon WJ, Hooper GD, Burton JR. Coronary bypass graft fate of 5,065 grafts related to survival and reoperation in 1,388 patients during 25 years. J Am Coll Cardiol 1996;28:616–26.
Ropers D, Ulzheimer S, Wenkel E et al. Investigation of aortocoronary bypass grafts by multislice spiral computed tomography with electrocardiographic-gated images. Am J Cardiol 2001;88:792–5.
Niemen K, Pattynama PN, Rensing BJ, Van Geuns RJ, De Feyer PJ. Evaluation of patients after coronary artery bypass surgery:CT angiographic assessments of grafts and coronary arteries. Radiology 2003;229:749–56.
Schroeder S, Kopp AF, Baumbach A et al. Noninvasive detection and evaluation of coronary plaques with multislice computed tomography. J Am Coll Cardiol 2001;37:1430–5.
Varnava AM, Mills PG, Davies MJ. Relationship between coronary artery remodelling and plaque vunerability. Circulation 2002;105:939–43.
Motoyama S, Kondo T, Anno H et al. Multi-slice CT characteristics of vulnerable coronary lesions. Circulation 2005;112:II–728.
Bruining R, Cademartiri F, Runza G, Mollet N, J de Feyter P, Hamers P. A software prototype for quantitative computed tomography coronary angiography (QMCTA): an in-vivo validation study with intracoronary ultrasound as reference. Circulation 2005;112:II–728.
Cademartiri F, Mollet NR, Guillermo R et al. Influence of intracoronary attenuation on coronary plaque measurements using multislice computed tomography: observations in a ex-vivo model of coronary CT angiography. Eur Radiol 2005;15:1426–31.
Lembecke A, Dohmen PM, Dewey M et al. Multislice computed tomography for preoperative evaluation of right ventricular volumes and function: comparison with magnetic resonance imaging. Ann Thorac Surg 2005;79:1344–51.
Hoffman U, Nagurney TJ, Pena AJ et al. MDCT in early triage of patients with acute chest pain – a comparison to standard care. Circulation 2005;112:II–680.
Rubinshtien R, Halon DA, Gaspar T et al. Triage and management of patients presenting to the emergency room with chest pain of uncertain aetiology using 64-slice CT. Circulation 2005;112:II–680.
Baumert B, Plass A, Bettex D et al. Dynamic cine mode imaging of the normal aortic valve using 16-channel multi-detector row computed tomography. Invest Radiol 2005;40:637–47.
Kurata A, Mochizuki T, Koyama Y et al. Myocardial perfusion imaging using adenosine triphosphate stress multi-slice spiral computed tomography. Circulation 2005;69:550–7.
Hesse B, Murphy RT, Greenberg N, Garcia M. Reducing the effective radiation dose in cardiac multi-detector computed tomographic angiography: utility of tissue Doppler imaging guided tube current modulation. Circulation 2005;112:II–559.


text:
What Good Are UFOs?
Tom Head June 11, 2014
During a recent U.S. congressional hearing on the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI), a conservative member of the House asked UC-Berkerley SETI director Dan Werthimer about UFOs in general, and the History Channel series Ancient Aliens in particular. Werthimer's response was one for the books: "UFOs have nothing to do with extraterrestrials."
There's a great deal of content, here and elsewhere, about UFO visits. No point in hashing that out in much detail. But let's suppose, as a matter of brute fact, that we were able to verify with a high degree of certainty that an alien spacecraft flew the skies over Earth, and all we knew for certain about it was that it was extraterrestrial in origin. What would that tell us?
Well, we can assume to begin with that if the craft serves a primarily scientific purpose, it would probably be an unmanned probe. As we have discovered ourselves, life support systems are not generally an efficient use of spacecraft resources. And if we sent a spacecraft to a world that we knew contained (semi-)intelligent life, we wouldn't needlessly risk the lives of personnel by having them fly around in the flak-filed skies before we'd made contact with the general population. Even if the craft were invincible, it would be a horribly inconvenient trip, and—unless the visitors are tourists who want to spend a vacation on a foreign world—there would be no scientific reason to send them here.
We can also reasonably assume that the entity that sent the craft didn't want to hide it. We've already discovered technology that would allow us in principle to make aircraft invisible, and we can assume that any alien civilization capable of traveling to Earth would be similarly familiar with nanomaterials. Remember those helicopter photos of an uncontacted tribe on the Peruvian border, and how unethical many observers found them to be? This would be (at best) the intergalactic equivalent. If we can see extraterrestrial probes, the civilization sending them is trolling us—and maybe being a little cruel about it.
In other words: if any UFOs really are manned alien spacecraft, I think they're probably full of obnoxious space tourists who don't have enough to do with their time.
Am I being unfair? Do you have any alternative theories to suggest? Share them in the comments below.
Tags astrobiology exobiology SETI UFOs
Tom Head is an author or coauthor of 29 nonfiction books, columnist, scriptwriter, research paralegal, occasional hellraiser, and proud Jackson native. His book Possessions and Exorcisms (Fact or Fiction?) covers the recent demand for exorcists over the past 30 years and demonic possession.
You can follow Tom on and
Arecibo Observatory SETI Telescope to Be Demolished
Could There Be Life on the Sun?
Aliens, Underground Bases, and the Strange Abduction of Christa Tilton
Brent Swancer July 2, 2021
Roswell: When Even the Government Can't Figure Out the Truth


One of the most effective impulse display products retailers have at their disposal is lingerie wash. It's easy to merchandise, catches a customer's eye and leads to more sales.
There are a few brands out there, but in a few weeks retailers have a chance to see Eucalan in person at CURVENEWYORK (DW Schmitt Global booth #351).
For our readers not familiar with the brand, Eucalan makes eco-friendly no-rinse delicate wash for lingerie, baby items, woolens and handmade items.
The company is bringing its' well-known delicate wash and a selection of accessories that retailers may find perfect for their Point of Sales displays in their boutiques and online as a last minute check-out suggestion.
Based on the seductive scent of Jasmine, Wrapture Balm is a first for Eucalan with an eco-friendly balm made from essential oils and is perfect for rough skin, cuticles, dry hair and of course as a perfume. It is a portable, compact handbag essential that won't leak and makes it easy for air travel.
Wrapture's emollient rich formula feels silky and absorbs quickly leaving behind the beautifully intoxicating scent of jasmine with is a natural aphrodisiac. Created in collaboration with Kristin Omdahl.
Eucalan saturated towelettes, individually packaged for On The Go emergencies. Simply blot or rub the wipe on the affected spot as soon as possible for stain treating and garment freshening.
This set of 5 bottles of Eucalan is neatly packaged in a clear re-usable zip bag in each of the brand's scents.
"The Gift Pack is a popular item for gift-giving – include it with a cute baby item, beautiful lingerie or the lovely sweater you've knit." suggests Jennifer.


text:
import { ScreenOwnerType, tappedMainArtworkGrid } from "@artsy/cohesion"
import { SaleArtworkGridItem_saleArtwork$data } from "__generated__/SaleArtworkGridItem_saleArtwork.graphql"
import { filterArtworksParams } from "app/Components/ArtworkFilter/ArtworkFilterHelpers"
import { ArtworksFiltersStore } from "app/Components/ArtworkFilter/ArtworkFilterStore"
import OpaqueImageView from "app/Components/OpaqueImageView/OpaqueImageView"
import {
  PlaceholderBox,
  PlaceholderRaggedText,
  RandomNumberGenerator,
} from "app/utils/placeholders"
import { Box, Flex, Spacer, Text, Touchable } from "palette"
import { StyleSheet, View } from "react-native"
import { createFragmentContainer, graphql } from "react-relay"
import { useTracking } from "react-tracking"
import { navigate } from "../../navigation/navigate"
import { saleMessageOrBidInfo } from "./ArtworkGridItem"

export interface ArtworkProps {
  saleArtwork: SaleArtworkGridItem_saleArtwork$data
  // If it's not provided, then it will push just the one artwork
  // to the switchboard.
  onPress?: (artworkID: string) => void
  trackingFlow?: string
  contextModule?: string
  // Pass Tap to override generic ing, used for home tracking in rails
  trackTap?: (artworkSlug: string, index?: number) => void
  itemIndex?: number
  // By default, we don't track clicks from the grid unless you pass in a contextScreenOwnerType.
  contextScreenOwnerType?: ScreenOwnerType
  contextScreenOwnerId?: string
  contextScreenOwnerSlug?: string
}

export const SaleArtworkGridItem: React.FC<ArtworkProps> = ({
  saleArtwork,
  onPress,
  trackTap,
  itemIndex,
  contextScreenOwnerId,
  contextScreenOwnerSlug,
  contextScreenOwnerType,
}) => {
  const tracking = useTracking()

  const appliedFilters = ArtworksFiltersStore.useStoreState((state) => state.appliedFilters)
  const filterParams = filterArtworksParams(appliedFilters)

  const artwork = saleArtwork.artwork!

  const handleTap = () => {
    trackArtworkTap()
    onPress && artwork.slug ? onPress(artwork.slug) : navigate(artwork.href!)
  }

  const trackArtworkTap = () => {
    // Unless you explicitly pass in a tracking function or provide a contextScreenOwnerType, we won't track
    // taps from the grid.
    if (trackTap || contextScreenOwnerType) {
      const genericTapEvent = tappedMainArtworkGrid({
        contextScreenOwnerType: contextScreenOwnerType!,
        contextScreenOwnerId,
        contextScreenOwnerSlug,
        destinationScreenOwnerId: artwork.internalID,
        destinationScreenOwnerSlug: artwork.slug,
        position: itemIndex,
        // This is always a string; types are incorrect
        sort: String(filterParams?.sort),
      })

      trackTap ? trackTap(artwork.slug, itemIndex) : tracking.trackEvent(genericTapEvent)
    }
  }

  const saleInfo = saleMessageOrBidInfo({
    artwork: {
      sale: saleArtwork.sale,
      saleArtwork,
      saleMessage: saleArtwork.artwork?.saleMessage || null,
      realizedPrice: artwork.realizedPrice,
    },
  })

  return (
    <Touchable onPress={() => handleTap()}>
      <View>
        {!!artwork.image && (
          <OpaqueImageView
            aspectRatio={artwork.image?.aspectRatio ?? 1}
            imageURL={artwork.image?.url}
            style={styles.artworkImage}
          />
        )}
        <Box mt={1}>
          {!!saleArtwork?.lotLabel && (
            <Text variant="sm" color="black60" numberOfLines={1}>
              Lot {saleArtwork.lotLabel}
            </Text>
          )}
          {!!artwork.artistNames && (
            <Text variant="sm" weight="medium" numberOfLines={1}>
              {artwork.artistNames}
            </Text>
          )}
          {!!artwork.title && (
            <Text variant="sm" color="black60" numberOfLines={1}>
              {artwork.title}
              {!!artwork.date && `, ${artwork.date}`}
            </Text>
          )}
          {!!saleInfo && (
            <Text variant="sm" color="black60" numberOfLines={1}>
              {saleInfo}
            </Text>
          )}
        </Box>
      </View>
    </Touchable>
  )
}

const styles = StyleSheet.create({
  artworkImage: {
    justifyContent: "flex-end",
    paddingHorizontal: 5,
    paddingBottom: 5,
  },

  endingDateContainer: {
    backgroundColor: "white",
    borderRadius: 2,
    paddingHorizontal: 5,
    minWidth: 100,
    paddingVertical: 3,
  },
})

export const SaleArtworkGridItemPlaceholder: React.FC<{ seed?: number }> = ({
  seed = Math.random(),
}) => {
  const rng = new RandomNumberGenerator(seed)
  return (
    <Flex>
      <PlaceholderBox height={rng.next({ from: 50, to: 150 })} width="100%" />
      <Spacer mb="1" />
      <PlaceholderRaggedText seed={rng.next()} numLines={2} />
    </Flex>
  )
}

export const SaleArtworkGridItemContainer = createFragmentContainer(SaleArtworkGridItem, {
  saleArtwork: graphql`
    fragment SaleArtworkGridItem_saleArtwork on SaleArtwork {
      artwork {
        internalID
        title
        date
        saleMessage
        slug
        artistNames
        href
        image {
          url(version: "large")
          aspectRatio
        }
        realizedPrice
      }
      counts {
        bidderPositions
      }
      currentBid {
        display
      }
      lotLabel
      sale {
        isAuction
        isClosed
        displayTimelyAt
      }
    }
  `,
})

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Tag Archives | career development
Why A Good Waxing Saves Careers
There's a real message in hot wax to help smooth successful and happy careers. It all starts with self-examination. Take a look, and thrive. Here's how.
In Greek mythology, Daedalus advised his son Icarus to be bold enough to fly but not to fly so high that the sun's heat would melt the wax of the wings he had fashioned for him.
Thrilled by his initial aerobatic successes, Icarus ignored his father's advice and paid the ultimate price – a sobering demonstration of unjustified self confidence and the abuse of power.
He blew his moment in the sun, and fell victim to this wonderful adage:
"…. Today a peacock, tomorrow a feather duster."
The Key To Becoming A Great Leader
Fear, doubt, uncertainty, self-criticism. That's how it feels. Leadership can suck. That's why I am putting my hand up for this. And you can too.
Why I Want You To Play In The Traffic
It's the worst advice for children. But powerful counsel if you want to make your career a huge success, today and tomorrow. Do this and thrive. It's as simple as that.
I caught up with Paul K this week, a hugely talented, inspiring and successful entrepreneur who specialises in leadership work. I'd seen him eight months ago, just after I quit my big job. We'd chatted about my plans. Now I updated him on progress – on all the 'shoe leather' I'd been burning to connect and lift profile- and how my Advisory practice was booming.
"It's no surprise," Paul commented. "You're doing something well that so many forget to do at their peril in their careers. You are……"
Are You Fit Enough For Your Career Marathon?
I gave a speech to 1,000 marketers recently, to a standing ovation. Surprising really, given I'd just told them they faced career extinction. Then I asked them this.
If you retire when you are 65 years old, how many years have you got to go?
Less than 10, between 10 and 20, 20 and 30? More than 30? For most, the answer is startling. They have a long road ahead of them. Given the massive pace of change, that future is uncertain. Here's the brutal reality:
The Secret To Igniting Your Career
"How did you you know you wanted to become a pilot?" I asked Pilot Sam. His response had a twist. It's a message critical for happy, thriving, long-lasting careers. There's magic in this. Read on.
We were dining beside the Bosphorus in Istanbul, sipping raki after a stupendous meal. My guest was Pilot Sam, a senior Turkish Airlines captain with 11,000 flying hours.
I expected a story about his seeing a plane in the sky above as a kid, and his knowing instantly his passion was for flight. How nothing makes him feel as free or inspired as controlling an aircraft through the skies. How sunrises from 30,000 feet make you feel like you can touch the face of God. Okay- I am going on a bit- but you get the idea.
Instead, Pilot Sam told me this story. It has a big message: in fact, this secret to success and career happiness:
Having clarity on your true Purpose is the key to loving what you do: and doing what you love.
Learn This Secret To Fast-Tracking Success
I encourage you, please, to make mistakes. Here's the twist. I only want you to make a very specific style of mistake- the sort smart people make. Here's the magic. Read on.
Good Man Mark was inspiringly positive after a major career setback. I was sharing my experiences of shaping a new career direction. He was most hungry for insights on what not to do. "When I trained as a pilot, my instructor made this one rule: 'You will not have a prang unless it is an original one.'"
I loved that! It reminded me of the advice I got recently from a Sydney business leader:


text:
Carolina Hurricanes Sign Former Laker, News (Huron Perth Lakers)
Carolina Hurricanes Sign Former Laker
Jul 12, 2006 | Shaun Peet | 1107 views
19 year old goaltender Justin Peters, a Lakers' Alumnus, has signed a three-year contract with the NHL's Carolina Hurricanes. The Lakers are extremely proud of Justin, he is an inspiration to many of our Lakers today.
The Blyth native attended the Hurricanes' training camp in 2005 prior to returning to the Ontario Hockey League. In 55 regular-season OHL games with Toronto-St. Michael's and Plymouth, Peters (6' 2", 215 lbs.) recorded a 29-21-4 record and a 3.14 goals-against average. In 13 playoff games with Plymouth, Peters went 6-6-1 with a 3.20 goals-against average before Plymouth lost in the second round to Guelph. In 189 regular-season OHL games from 2002 to 2006, Peters posted a 2.88 goals-against average and a 88-70-16 record. For more information visit the Hurricanes' website at www.CarolinaHurricanes.com .(Photo Courtesy of Carolina Hurricanes.com)


text:
Coutinho 'cannot play for Liverpool' - Klopp
3yGlenn Price
Philippe Coutinho 'cannot play for Liverpool in this moment' - Klopp
Glenn PriceLiverpool correspondent
SINSHEIM, Germany -- Jurgen Klopp says Philippe Coutinho "cannot play for Liverpool in this moment" and labelled the Brazilian's absence from the team as a "blow."
Coutinho did not travel with the Liverpool squad to Germany for the first leg of their Champions League playoff tie against Hoffenheim on Tuesday, as uncertainty around his future remains.
The Brazil international handed in a transfer request on Friday, but Liverpool's owners, Fenway Sports Group, remain adamant the player will not be sold after rejecting two offers from Barcelona.
"Nothing has changed in the last few days -- not on one side or the other side," Klopp told a news conference at the Rhein-Neckar-Arena on Monday. "He's not available for us in the moment -- that's the main issue.
"He cannot play for Liverpool in this moment. How everyone can imagine, that's quite a blow for us. We know a few days about it, so we can prepare this game without him, like we have to prepare the game without Adam Lallana and Daniel Sturridge, who is in a good way -- I had a talk with him this morning, he is really close, but now two more sessions and then he will be available for the weekend."
When asked again about Coutinho, Klopp refused to add to his previous answer, insisting he was only focused on the meeting with Julian Nagelsmann's side.
"I really understand that everybody is interested in this, but I can't say that in this moment I'm thinking about it," he added.
"I'm here and I'll answer questions. In the car on the way to this press conference I didn't think: 'What can I say if they ask?' because I have to think about the team, who have a session in a few minutes. I always was like this.
"I work with the players I have and don't think about players I don't have -- if they are injured or whatever. It's the same situation for me."
However, in speaking to English newspapers, Klopp confirmed that the final decision will come down to Liverpool's owners, not him.
"If, for example, there is an offer for a player and I say 'No' and the owners say, 'Yes, let's ask for a number on how much they want to pay.' And I say, 'I don't want to hear it'. But they say 'We want to hear it, £50 million ... £50 million is cool.' So then they sell the player -- that is how a club works.
"That is how it was with Hans-Joachim Watzke [chief executive] at Dortmund. Do you think I said, 'Sell Nuri Sahin to Real Madrid as quick as possible?' It was not my decision. The player had a contract. They agreed. I am 100 percent, really, 100 percent [when I say] I don't ask for things I can't get and I respect the rules in the game.
"If [FSG] say [Barcelona] will bid whatever and we [FSG] don't want it then it is a clear message. We don't want money, we want to invest in the team and have the best team because we have aims and dreams. That is the message.
"It's not important what I think. I have the player from Aug. 31 latest, again, or when the back issue is sorted. There is nothing else I can say about it. I think I said 'I have bosses', right? I have many bosses, including my wife. I can live with this, it's no problem. [The owners] are 100 percent clear on it. There is nothing else to say."
Philippe Coutinho's absence will be a 'blow' for Liverpool against Hoffenheim. Victor Fraile/Getty Images
Coutinho's captain, Jordan Henderson, says the entire team would want to the No. 10 to stay at Anfield.
"If you asked everyone they'd all want him to stay because he's a world-class player," Henderson said. "It's a difficult situation, but if you ask anyone in the team then of course they'd want him to stay.
"I don't think I can influence the situation, no. But I can have conversations with Phil. He's my teammate and I'm close to him because I've played with him for a number of years. I've got a lot of respect for him. At the end of the day, whatever happens has got nothing to do with me."
He continued: "It's a difficult situation for Phil. Whatever I say probably won't help the situation. As players, [we're] fully focused on the job in hand. As players, you expect in transfer windows things like this to happen -- whether players are going or coming in.
"But you've got to focus on what's important to us as a team and stay together. The game tomorrow is the biggest focus for us as a team. It shouldn't have any effect at all."
Meanwhile, Hoffenheim manager Nagelsmann believes his side go into the two-legged tie as underdogs, but feels his players have the ability to cause an upset.
The 30-year-old coach guided Hoffenheim to a fourth-placed finish in the Bundesliga last term -- their best-ever finish in the club's history.
"We know that Liverpool Football Club is the favourite in this encounter," Nagelsmann said at his prematch news conference. "We know about that.
"We know we can, with a good match, shock our opponent. I don't know if we need to shock them, I don't know if we need to shock the English public, but I can also say that we need a top performance tomorrow in order to do that."


One of the basic categories of pulps, and the one category aimed at women, was the Romance or Love Pulp. They are just about what you might expect, but sometimes the stories and the covers transcend the genre.
Some believe that RANCH ROMANCES had the honor to be the last pulp magazine published in the US, with issues containing new stories still coming out in the late 1960's.
A social mixture of the rare and the incomprehensible.


Learning and Development Manager at Australian College of Kuwait by day, passionate toastmaster by night. A figure that has been twinned with Toastmasters since 2011. She earned her first Distinguished Toastmaster title in 2015 and a second time in 2018. Her leadership quality and willingness to serve members selflessly makes her worthy of her position as a Program Quality Director.
A FIREBRAND and BEAUTY-both inside and out!


I have been trying to put an older embedded Jetty served application onto Java 8. The application's JSP files where, however, not compiling. This delayed having the benefits Java 8 brings to development.
the JSP's compile and the older project now works with Java 8.


text:
Antoine Sylvain Kina (born 13 February 1996) is a Belgian field hockey player who plays as a midfielder or forward for Gantoise and the Belgium national team.

He is the son of Belgian field hockey coach Pascal Kina.

Club career
Kina played for Gantoise until 2017, when he moved to the Waterloo Ducks. After one season with the Waterloo Ducks, he returned to Gantoise.

International career
Kina made his debut for the Belgium under-21 side at the 2014 EuroHockey Junior Championship where they finished fourth. He was a part of the Belgium squad that won the silver medal at the 2016 Junior World Cup. In January 2017, he made his debut for the senior national team in a test match against the Netherlands. He was not selected for the 2017 EuroHockey Championship so he played in the 2017 EuroHockey Junior Championship.

Kina was named as the first reserve for the 2018 World Cup. He was called up during the group stages to replace the injured Manu Stockbroekx. In August 2019, he was selected in the Belgium squad for the 2019 EuroHockey Championship. They won Belgium its first European title by defeating Spain 5-0 in the final. On 25 May 2021, he was selected in the squad for the 2021 EuroHockey Championship.

References

External links

1996 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Ghent
Belgian male field hockey players
Male field hockey midfielders
Male field hockey forwards
2018 Men's Hockey World Cup players
Waterloo Ducks H.C. players
Men's Belgian Hockey League players
Field hockey players at the 2020 Summer Olympics
Olympic field hockey players of Belgium
Olympic gold medalists for Belgium
Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics
Olympic medalists in field hockey
La Gantoise HC players
2023 Men's FIH Hockey World Cup players

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia