We continue to see an attractive margin of safety for investors in wide-moat Microchip Technology (MCHP), thanks to both the U.S. stock market correction in early February and a post-earnings sell-off associated with near-term revenue growth deceleration. We still view the sales growth deceleration as quite normal, in light of looming tough comparisons after a stellar calendar 2017 for Microchip and its peer group, and we can justify our valuation even if the firm were to fall modestly short from its long-term organic midcycle revenue growth target of 7%-9%. We think Microchip has an exemplary management team, and the firm has been especially wise on the M&A front, while we see the potential for additional deals on the horizon. We also maintain our wide moat rating for Microchip, thanks to high customer switching costs for its products and intangible assets based on decades of chip design and manufacturing expertise. With shares trading in the mid-$80 range and dipping even as low as $78 earlier this month, we view shares as attractively valued relative to our unchanged $97 fair value estimate.
Microchip will host an Investor Day on Thursday and we wouldn't be surprised if the company were to update its long-term financial targets at the event. Microchip's existing long-term adjusted operating margin target of 40% is clearly within reach, as higher sales levels and synergies from recent acquisitions of Atmel and Micrel have lifted adjusted operating margins from the low 30% range to 39% in the December quarter. We still model some modest operating leverage from here to the 42% range by fiscal 2022. We are also not purely counting on revenue growth for such leverage, as our midcycle revenue forecasts call for 6% organic growth, slightly short of the firm's target.


This is a large illustrated volume on the work of the legendary master glassmaker Lino Tagliapietra. On the occasion of the seventieth anniversary of his career, this book traces the artist's life, encounters, and works, focusing in particular on his most recent production.
Lino Tagliapietra was already an apprentice in the studio of the renowned glassmaker Archimede Seguso at the age of eleven, and he himself became a master at twenty-one. During his career, he has shown his works in museums such as the Victoria & Albert in London, the Corning Museum in New York, and the Musee des Arts Decoratifs in Paris.


text:
Arlène est un personnage de la bande dessinée Garfield.
 Tempête tropicale Arlene est le nom d'une tempête tropicale (2005).

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Home NBA Denver Nuggets need to get serious about their defense
Denver Nuggets need to get serious about their defense
After a win over the Grizzlies on Tuesday, the Nuggets woke up in first place in the West on Wednesday. This is not totally surprising. Nikola Jokić is making a case for his third straight MVP, the team is the healthiest it's been in years and the offense is humming. What's surprising is how Denver beat Memphis on Tuesday: with a great defensive performance.
The Nuggets held the Grizz to only 91 points, by far their stingiest total of the season. It was only the fourth time Denver held an opponent to under 100 points this year. Memphis's 14 points in the first quarter and 40 points in the first half were also season-bests for the Nuggets.
Unfortunately, these kinds of nights are few and far between for Denver. On one hand, it's promising the team showed the potential to slow down a top-10 offense. On the other, if the Nugs are serious about being title contenders, it doesn't matter where they finish in the West; they need to start defending.
Even after going Bad Boy on the Grizz, Denver is in possession of the sixth-worst defense in the NBA, per Cleaning the Glass, ahead of only a group of tank squads. The Nuggets are keeping ignominious company on that end of the floor, and are in first entirely by virtue of Jokić's offensive genius.
The trick for the Nuggets is building the right scheme around their center. They play more aggressively than most teams to cover up for Joker's lack of rim protection. He's typically hedging on screens, which means Denver is putting two on the ball in pick-and-rolls, creating a lot of pressure for everyone off the ball to rotate between the rim and corners when teams are initiating their actions. Oftentimes, it hasn't been pretty. If guards split the Jokić hedge, they aren't met with much resistance at the rim, and if they are, they can kick out to shooters on the perimeter. Somewhat distressingly, despite adding some better screen navigators in Bruce Brown and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Denver is still vulnerable when Jokić drops, because verticality is not his strength.
Against Memphis, the Nuggets worked in a good amount of zone, something coach Michael Malone has been willing to lean on a little bit more this season. It also helped that the Grizzlies were missing their best shooter in Desmond Bane, which made it easier for Denver to shrink the floor. Ja Morant still went off for 35 and frequently knifed his way into the paint, yet a Memphis team that normally hits nearly 12 threes a night was limited to five with the lack of shooting on the outside.
It's not totally clear how sustainable the performance against the Grizzlies is.
Denver started rookie Christian Braun on Tuesday. The lineup of Brown, Braun, KCP, Jokić and Aaron Gordon has now played 43 minutes together and has a promising 100.0 defensive rating, but it's not a long-term solution. Braun is not going to start over Jamal Murray. And somewhat surprisingly, the group of Murray, Brown, KCP, Gordon and Jokić has a 112.3 defensive rating, not terrible, and slightly better than league average.
Headed into the season, I expected that group to be better on that end of the floor. (I even wrote about the additions of Brown and KCP!) That lineup is the most athleticism and screen navigation the Nuggets have put around Jokić, with shooters to boot. It should be a better group, though to their credit, they have improved over the course of the season.
Denver's true starting five of Jokić, Murray, KCP, Gordon and Michael Porter Jr. has actually been great when MPJ has been healthy. That unit has posted a 101.6 D-rating in 172 minutes, and Porter is expected back soon after missing every game since Nov. 22. Though Porter has never been considered a stopper, he does offer some size on the backline when the team is caught rotating, which helps within the confines of Jokić's chasing around guards.
And while the focus here is on how the team defends with Jokić on the floor, it's worth noting Denver is much worse when he sits. Bench lineups have bled points. Denver has a 112.2 defensive rating with Jokić playing, which is above league average. (The offense is historic when he plays. It's like an All-Star Game.) Per CTG, the defense is 9.4 points per 100 possessions worse when Jokić is on the bench.
Still, I expect better! Before the season, Malone said he wanted a top-five defense. Denver is nowhere close. In Malone's, uh, hm, defense, there are a bunch of new guys playing together this year, and they need time to build both habits and chemistry. Murray also still needs some time to find consistency on both ends of the floor after missing a year with a torn ACL.
It's very rare for teams this poor defensively to win championships, though. And if the Nuggets catch the wrong matchup—cough, Stephen Curry, cough—their aggressive scheme can be exposed very quickly. It takes a variety of styles to win in the playoffs, and individual defenders need to be prepared to be targeted.
It was nice to see the Nuggets win a game without having to score 110 points. (The last time that happened was Nov. 20.) There is definitely potential within this group to do that more often. But if we're really going to take Denver—my preseason Finals pick—seriously as a title contender, then it matters less where the Nuggets wake up in the standings, and more in the defensive rankings.
Watch the Nuggets on Christmas Day: Full NBA Schedule Here.
LeBron, Lakers have bigger problems than missed fouls
CJ McCollum's steady presence amid 'choppy' Pelicans season
76ers' Joel Embiid is always left on the outside

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Chocolate cakes, candies, fudges and other sweet confections float around a chocolate lover's paradise—or something Fairfax- natives know as the annual Chocolate Lover's Festival. From March 2-3 the festival will return to Old Town Historic Fairfax and bring wafts of sugary-sweet cocoa with it.
This year, the main event will be held at Old Town Hall, right off of University Drive, a short walk or CUE bus ride for Mason students. Last year, this event included a wide range of chocolate concoctions, including chocolate-flavored cotton candy and chocolate-covered Twinkies.
One of the committee members from the City of Fairfax, Chris Cohen, believes that the annual Chocolate Lover's Festival caters to more than just the average family or couple— it caters to the student population at Mason as well.
"[The Chocolate Lover's Festival] is a little different than most other festivals. This is more of a community event, where there are multiple organizations that participate in multiple events and bring something fun to the City of Fairfax—and for Mason students to taste and enjoy," Cohen said.
New to the festival this year is a Chik-Fil-A "Spirit Night." On Feb. 28, the Fairfax Circle Chik-Fil-A will donate 20 percent of a person's purchase to the Chocolate Lover's Festival Community Grant when customers mention the "Chocolate Lover's Festival" between 4-9 p.m. The fundraiser will help raise money for local non-profit organizations.
Every year, money is raised and presented to non-profits. This helps the event not only become a community event but a charitable one as well. The 2013 recipients of the Chocolate Lover's Festival Community Grant include: the City of Fairfax Fire Department to support the Citizen's Fire Academy, the City of Fairfax, the Young at Heart Senior Center to help purchase fitness equipment and support a healthy lifestyle and Shelter House Inc. to serve homeless families victims of domestic violence.
Also at the event will be the Fairfax Kiwanis club, who will be collecting non-perishable food items for their Meals for Young Minds program, which supports local students by providing meals for the weekend to those who cannot afford them.
Some of the events at the Chocolate Lover's Festival include a small fee to enter, but many of the events are free and open to the public. The City of Fairfax has even included free direct transportation to and from the various event locations.
"This is not just a Chocolate Lover's Festival, this is an event for everyone to come and enjoy what these chocolate vendors have to offer as a community," Cohen said.


text:
"use strict";

SUI.ToolbarButton = SUI.defineClass(
	/** @lends SUI.ToolbarButton.prototype */{

	/** @ignore */ baseClass: SUI.Box,

	/**
	 * @class
	 * A SUI.ToolbarButton is an icon-button component. Although designed for
	 * use on a toolbar it can be used stand-alone as well. By default it is
	 * a clickable button but you can set it 'pressed' state, and thereby
	 * making it behave like a push-button. The button data (title, icon,
	 * action, etc) can be set directly, but can by supplied through an action
	 * list as well.
	 *
	 * @augments SUI.Box
	 *
	 * @description
	 * Create a toolbar button.
	 *
	 * @constructs
	 * @param see base class
	 * @param {String} arg.actionId Action id if an action in a action list
	 * @param {Function} arg.handler Reference to a function to execute when
	 *     the button is pressed
	 * @param {String} arg.title Mouse over title of the button
	 * @param {String} arg.icon Location of the icon
	 * @param {boolean} arg.disabled The enabled state of the button (true
	 *     to disable)
	 */
	initializer: function(arg) {

		// set the default size for the button
		if (!arg.width) {
			arg.width = this.BUTTON_SIZE;
		}
		if (!arg.height) {
			arg.height = this.BUTTON_SIZE;
		}

		SUI.ToolbarButton.initializeBase(this, arg);

		// set values from arguments
		this._actionId = arg.actionId || null;
		this._handler = arg.handler || null;
		this._title = arg.title || null;
		this._icon = arg.icon || null;

		// set the button's border and padding
		this.border(new SUI.Border(this.BORDER_WIDTH));
		this.padding(new SUI.Padding(
		 (this.clientWidth() - this.ICON_SIZE) / 2 | 0));

		// create the icon and add it to the button
		var img = document.createElement("IMG");
		if (this._icon) {
			img.src = SUI.imgDir + "/" + this._icon;
		}
		this.el().appendChild(img);

		// set the button's title, CSS class and enabled state
		this.el().title = this._title || "";
		this.addClass("sui-tb-button");
		this.enable(arg.disabled ? false : true);

		// add the event listeners
		this._addEventListeners();
	},

	/**
	 * The width and height of the button.
	 */
	BUTTON_SIZE: 26,

	/**
	 * The size (width, height) of the button's icon.
	 */
	ICON_SIZE: 16,

	/**
	 * Border width of the button.
	 */
	BORDER_WIDTH: 1,

	/**
	 * Get the enabled state of the button.
	 * @return {boolean} a The button's enabled state.
	 */
	enabled: function(a) {
		return this._enabled;
	},

	/**
	 * set the enabled state of the button.
	 * @param {boolean} a The button's enabled state.
	 */
	enable: function(a) {
		this._enabled = a;
		if (this._enabled) {
			this.removeClass("sui-tb-button-disabled");
		} else {
			this.addClass("sui-tb-button-disabled");
		}
	},

	/**
	 * Get data from the button so that it can be used to create a menu item
	 * in a PopupMenu
	 * @return {Object} An object with button data.
	 */
	menuItemData: function() {
		return {
			icon: this._icon,
			title: this._title,
			actionId: this._actionId,
			handler: this._handler,
			disabled: !this._enabled
		};
	},

	/**
	 * Show the button in pressed or un-pressed state.
	 * @param {boolean} pr The button's pressed state.
	 */
	select: function(pr) {
	 // set the pressed state ...
		this._selected = pr;
		// ... and show the pressed state
		if (!this._selected) {
		 this._showUnpressed();
		} else {
		 this._showPressed();
		}
	},

	/**
	 * Set button parameters from an action list item if the button's actionId
	 * is an entry in the list.
	 * @param {SUI.ActionList} actionList An action list containing an action
	 *   entry that corresponds with this button's actionId
	 */
	setAction: function(actionList) {
	 // get the action from the list
	 var a = actionList.get(this._actionId);
		// if found ...
	 if (a) {
			// ... set the title from action list data if not title was set ...
			if (!this._title) {
			 this._title = a.title;
				this.el().title = this._title || "";
			}
			// ... set the icon from action list data if no icon was set ...
			if (!this._icon) {
			 this._icon = SUI.imgDir + "/" + a.icon;
				this.el().firstChild.src = this._icon;
			}
			// ... set the enabled state and action handler ...
			this.enable(a.enabled);
			this._handler = a.handler;
			// ... add the button to the list's listener array
			actionList.get(this._actionId).listeners.push(this);
		}
	},

	// the action id of an action list
	_actionId: null,

	// the button's action handler
	_handler: null,

	// the button's icon
	_icon: null,

	// pressed: used to keep the button in pressed state
	_selected: false,

	// the button's title (mouseover)
	_title: null,

	/* Set the event handlers of the button.
	 * On the row-div set:
	 *   onclick => _selectNode
	 *   onmouseover => _addHighlight
	 *   onmouseout => _removeHighlight
	 *   onmousedown => _showPressed
	 *   onmouseup => _showUnpressed
	 */
	_addEventListeners: function() {

		var that = this;

		// do _addHighlight on the mouseover event of a node-row.
		SUI.browser.addEventListener(this.el(), "mouseover",
			function(e) {
				if (!that._addHighlight()) {
					SUI.browser.noPropagation(e);
				}
			}
		);

		// do _removeHighlight on the mouseout event of a node-row.
		SUI.browser.addEventListener(this.el(), "mouseout",
			function(e) {
				if (!that._removeHighlight()) {
					SUI.browser.noPropagation(e);
				}
			}
		);

		// do _showPressed on the mousedown event of a node-row.
		SUI.browser.addEventListener(this.el(), "mousedown",
			function(e) {
			 if (!that._showPressed()) {
					SUI.browser.noPropagation(e);
				}
			}
		);

		// do _showUnpressed on the mouseup event of a node-row.
		SUI.browser.addEventListener(this.el(), "mouseup",
			function(e) {
		   if (!that._showUnpressed()) {
					SUI.browser.noPropagation(e);
				}
			}
		);

		// do _execute on the click event of a node-row.
		SUI.browser.addEventListener(this.el(), "click",
			function(e) {
				if (!that._execute()) {
					SUI.browser.noPropagation(e);
				}
			}
		);

	},

	/* Add the CCS class for highlighting to the button.
	 */
	_addHighlight: function() {
		this.addClass("sui-tb-button-highlight");
	},

	/* Execute the buttons action handler.
	 */
	_execute: function() {
	 // check the button's enabled state
		if (this._enabled) {
		 // 'unpress' the button
			this._selected = false;
			// execute the hander
			if (this._handler) {
			 this._handler();
			}
		}
	},

	/* Remove the CCS class for highlighting from the button.
	 */
	_removeHighlight: function(e) {
	 this.removeClass("sui-tb-button-highlight");
	 this._showUnpressed();
	},

	/* Show the button in pressed state
	 */
	_showPressed: function(e) {
	 this.addClass("sui-tb-button-pressed");
	},

	/* Show the button in normal un-pressed state if (unless its pressed state
	 * is on)
	 */
	_showUnpressed: function(e) {
		if (!this._selected) {
		 this.removeClass("sui-tb-button-pressed");
		}
	}

});

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


An aerodynamics engineer illuminates the dark art of diffusers.
Only basic tools were needed to fabricate this aluminum anti-roll bar bracket: Just a band saw, drill press and belt sander. Easy.
How can you make yours faster on a budget?
Serious enthusiasts know that handling is where it's at, here is how to get your car handling at its peak.
Quite simply, brake vibrations are never a good thing.
Do you know how stiff your anti-roll bars really are?
Learn how to avoid these driving mistakes.
Pro driver Randy Pobst has some tips to make you a faster driver.


X Launcher, or iLauncher, is a stylish, fast and small launcher for your Android Phone that simulates that you have the latest OS 11 design.
- Adaptive to the themes you select, which can bring you smooth interface like OS 11.
- Personalize your phone as the business style or customize your phone with the element of natural landscape.
- You can design a Wallpaper Center to provide various wallpapers, support rich icons for Phone X and give you a comprehensive experience.
- It allows to find local apps and drop them to desktop quickly.
- OS Style Folder, you can drop an app to another to create a folder.
- It provides inner Weather and Time widget, you can long press on screen and drag it to screen.
- It provides left screen on the left of the desktop, some ios style widgets on it, provide a convient way to see time and weather, search apps, etc.
- You can use double-finger zoom to enable hide apps feature to Protect your privacy all around.
- The icon and name of the app can be modified, You can choose a local image and then crop it, use it as an app icon.
This is a good app to simulate that you have an iPhone. Our ApkOnline score is 6.


text:
import Layout.*;

// TODO: 02/07/2017 Offload the functionality to another class so the main isn't cluttered.
public class Main extends MainLayout {

	public static void Main(String[] args) {
		launch(args);
	}

}


These enchiladas ARE delicious enough to incite mama slapping throughout the world. I can't help it. It's really your choice, you understand. Please understand that if you make these enchiladas, it's not MY fault you slapped your mama and I take no legal or personal responsibility as you have been warned.
I've taught my daughters how to make these and it's just sad that even living in Texas–the Tex-Mex capital of the whole stinkin' world–we can't find them this good at our restaurants. They have slapped me on occasion after trying them and I have nobody to blame but myself.


Creativity is the embodiment of human expression, and the creative industries allow us to channel our talent for the benefit of everyone.
At Surrey, you will be immersed in a distinctive working environment that mirrors the professional world, have access to world-class facilities and experience opportunities to collaborate with creative practitioners in the fields of media, games and visual effects production.
Experience the world of digital media arts with a showreel of student work.


text:
Colorado Topics
coronavirus Colorado General Assembly Denver Public Schools English language learners All Topics
Colorado
District liability bill gets initial House approval
By Todd Engdahl
Desiree Davis (center) testifies at the Capitol while husband Michael (left) listens.
Keep track of everything that's happening in schools during the COVID-19 outbreak. Subscribe to our Colorado newsletter for all of the information you need, in one place.
The bill named after a student who died in a school shooting and that would change the liability of school districts for such tragedies won initial floor approval in the Colorado House late Thursday night.
And even later in the evening, the House also gave preliminary approval to a complicated proposal that would allow the state to sell bonds to help shore up the Public Employees' Retirement Association.
A few hours earlier, a House committee passed a just-introduced measure that promises some relief for K-12 and higher education funding in the future. But the measure faces some big hurdles in the 2015 session's closing days.
🔗"Claire Davis Act" moves quickly
Senate Bill 15-213, named in honor of Arapahoe High School student Claire Davis, who was killed in a December 2013 shooting, received preliminary House floor approval after an emotional debate.
Several House Republicans raised questions about the bill. Rep. Yeulin Willett, R-Grand Junction, proposed an amendment that would have set a higher liability standard for districts than the bill proposes. That failed on a 26-38 vote.
"I am more fearful of this bill than I am of PARCC or Common Core," said Willett, a lawyer.
But a speech by Rep. Jim Wilson, R-Salida, drew the most attention. Wilson, a retired rural superintendent, said, "You can't legislate safety folks, you just can't do it." His voice choking up, Wilson said, "Weigh your vote carefully."
Just hours earlier the bill passed out of the House Judiciary Committee on a 10-3 vote. The centerpiece of that hearing was testimony from Claire's parents, Michael and Desiree Davis.
"If this bill becomes law, school districts will have a new responsibility. They will be responsible for protecting kids from foreseeable harm," Michael Davis said. "A vote in favor sends a clear message to public education entities that the status quo is no longer acceptable."
"I am here on behalf of my daughter, Claire," said Desiree Davis. "These bills are not for us, they are for the next family." (A companion measure would create a study committee on school violence and youth mental health.)
The main elements of the bill would allow districts and charter schools to be held liable if they don't use "reasonable care" in protecting students, faculty or staff from "reasonably foreseeable" acts of violence – murder, first-degree assault and sexual assault — that lead to serious bodily injury or death. Damage caps would be set at $350,000 for individuals and $900,000 in cases of multiple victims.
School districts have been nervous about the bill since it was introduced but have had to be careful in lobbying, given that the bill is sponsored by bipartisan leaders in both houses.
But amendments along the way have softened the measure noticeably. A key change gives districts two years to implement new safety policies before they could be held liable for incidents. And individual teachers would be protected from liability. (See this story for more details on the bill.)
"Those amendments have made it a better bill," said House Majority Leader Crisanta Duran, D-Denver and a prime sponsor.
A related measure, House Bill 15-1273, got final House floor approval on 64-0 vote Thursday morning and heads to the Senate. The bill is designed to improve statewide reporting of violent incidents at schools, a system that was criticized in the wake of Claire Davis' death. Among other things, the bill would require marijuana-related incidents and sexual assaults to be reported separately. They're now lumped into other categories. (Get more details in this legislative staff summary.)
🔗Fast-track pension bill moving ahead
The other big education-related issue debated during the House's late-night session was House Bill 15-1388, a complex plan for the state to sell bonds to help reduce the unfunded liabilities of the Public Employees' Retirement Association, or PERA.
Proceeds from bond sales would be deposited in PERA's state and schools trust funds, both beefing them up and giving the pension system more money to invest.
The bill received preliminary approval after 11 p.m. following a relatively short debate.
The bill was introduced only late Tuesday and approved by the House Finance Committee on Wednesday.
The plan has the backing of the Hickenlooper administration, GOP state Treasurer Walker Stapleton, the PERA board and most school districts. It also has bipartisan sponsorship but may face hurdles because of its complexity, the possible risks of such a plan and because it surfaced so late in the session.
If the plan works, supporters estimate the bill would bring PERA to solvency five years sooner than currently projected and would save $4.5 billion.
🔗Heavyweight interests push for change in hospital fee
The House Health, Insurance and Environment Committee spent a long afternoon listening to witnesses urging approval of House Bill 15-1389, another just-introduced measure that could provide future benefits for both K-12 and higher education.
The committee passed the bill 7-6 after hearing from a long parade of supporting witnesses representing K-12 and higher education, state agencies, major hospitals, think tanks and business groups. Committee Republicans, some of whom didn't seem to fully grasp the bill, all voted no.
The bill involves a six-year-old state program called the hospital provider fee, which imposes a charge on hospitals. That revenue provides money the state uses to gain federal Medicaid matching funds, money that couldn't be tapped without the fee.
Even though the charge is a fee, not a tax, the revenues count against the state's spending limit under the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights. Tax and fee revenue has risen fast enough that the state will need to pay TABOR refunds to taxpayers this year and, likely, a couple of years into the future.
That has squeezed the amount of additional money available for K-12 and other programs. The bill, sponsored by Speaker Dickey Lee Hullinghorst, D-Boulder, would reclassify provider fee revenues so that they wouldn't count toward the TABOR limit. The fee program would become what's called an "enterprise," which isn't subject to TABOR. For example, the state's higher education system is classified as an enterprise, so tuition revenue isn't counted against the limit.
There's been chatter for months about reclassifying the provider fee, and Gov. John Hickenlooper belatedly proposed the change a couple of weeks ago.
The bill would "allow us to more fully fund the state's top spending priorities in the coming years," Hullinghorst said.
If the bill passes it won't affect funding of any state programs in 2015-16, nor would it affect TABOR refunds to taxpayers in 2016. But it could free up more than $200 million in revenue for spending in 2016-17, and there wouldn't be taxpayer refunds in 2017.
Without the bill, "There are going to be some big losers in the budget next year," Hullinghorst warned, including transportation funding, higher education and likely K-12 as well.
The bill has some things working against it, including its lateness, its complexity and the fact that any perceived tinkering with TABOR makes Republicans nervous. The measure currently has no GOP sponsors in the Senate, where Republicans hold the majority.
But working in its favor is the phalanx of education, highway, health care and business lobbyists who've combined forces to push the bill.
Get more information about HB 15-1389 in this legislative staff summary.
🔗House avoids school finance fight
The House Thursday, during its morning floor session, backed away from a confrontation with the Senate over the 2015-16 school-funding bill by stripping a controversial amendment from the measure.
The amendment, added on the House floor Thursday, would have resurrected a two-year legislative study of the school finance system. The Senate earlier killed a separate bill that contained the proposal.
Rep. Millie Hamner, D-Dillon, proposed backing off Wednesday's amendment.
While saying she supports the study, "We also have to be the adults in the room. The school finance bill passing in the Senate is really important." Leaving the amendment in the bill "really does put the bill at risk."
The House voted to strip the amendment and then passed Senate Bill 15-267 on a 45-19 vote. The measure returns to the Senate for consideration of non-controversial amendments added in the House earlier.
🔗For the record
Help for rural districts – The Senate Education Committee, after about 90 minutes of wandering testimony and discussion, voted 6-3 to pass House Bill 15-1201. This measure would create a grant program for boards of cooperative educational services to help small school districts consolidate administrative services. The bill was introduced with a $10 million price tag, but it emerged from Senate Ed with only $2 million. And now the measure has to be reviewed by the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Todd Engdahl
More stories in Colorado
A Denver high school student known for her smile has died of COVID-19
By Yesenia Robles
All Colorado schools to remain closed for the rest of the academic year
Emotional needs, instructional support top concerns for Colorado school districts doing remote learning
More stories in Leadership & Management
Even after Indiana schools reopen, it could take time to get back to normal, McCormick says
By Emma Kate Fittes
'A real daughter of Detroit': 5-year-old is youngest in Michigan to die from COVID-19
By Lori Higgins, Koby Levin
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Golshan ARA Eram Co. is a 100% private sector company based in No.2 Industrial estate of Jiroft, Kerman. Our mission is to design, build and operate an export terminal which will provide a complete set of facilities and equipment for collection, cleaning, sorting, packaging and distribution of fruits, vegetables and other greenhouse products for both domestic and export markets and mainly Russian market. Currently the project is in construction phase and this is anticipated to be completed on May 2018.


Make short term goals. Big change does not occur over night. With time, you will notice you have improved and made strides toward your target exercise goal.
Pick a time of day that you feel the best to exercise. Write it down as you would other appointments.
Don't depend on exercise classes to meet your exercise needs. If you miss the class one day, use that time to take a walk outside or in the mall.
If you choose an outside activity, plan for exercise you can do inside on bad weather days. This may require calling a mall, joining a club or community center, or purchasing a piece of indoor equipment.
Write down the type of activity you did, how long you did it, your RPE (rating of perceived exertion) or target heart rate and any comments you would like to write down. After a few weeks, you will be able to see were you started and the progress you have made.
Choose a type of exercise you enjoy.
You may want to rotate activities – walk one day and bike the next.
Listen to music or watch TV during exercise if your activity is indoors.
Find an exercise "buddy" or group to walk or cycle with.
Try new types of exercise. Take a water-walking class or dance exercise. Join a community tennis or golf program. It is a good way to try new activities and meet new friends.
You must follow your exercise program for several months to make it part of your daily routine.
At first, if you do not exercise regularly one week, start again the following week. Soon, you will find you want to exercise or you miss it!
Instead of doing something that requires sitting (watching a movie or TV), you and your family can take a walk or bike-ride. It is a great way to see nature, explore new places and have healthy fun.
To make an appointment with an exercise specialist or to join a cardiac rehabilitation program, contact the Cleveland Clinic Preventive Cardiology - 216.444.9353 or 800.223.2273 ext. 9353.


Google now owns the house and doesn't use it for much. On Thursday, the company announced changes to Google's search product from the garage to commemorate its 15th anniversary.
Google is celebrating its 15th birthday on Friday. Google celebrates its birthday every year on Sept. 27, although the co-founders originally filed for incorporation in the state of California on Sept. 4, 1998.
The Google.com domain name was filed on Sept. 15, 1997. So why is the company birthday on the 27th? Because Google says it is, and who are we to argue?
Susan Wojcicki, now a senior VP at Google, owned the home when the two young men from Stanford came looking for office space. Wojcicki had just finished getting her MBA and was worried about covering her mortgage. "I didn't know I'd be renting it out to a company like Google," she joked on Thursday at a press event at the house.
Wojcicki says that the garage has not changed much since Page and Brin used it in the winter of 1998. Even the blue carpet remains the same. Wojcicki says she put the carpet in to make the boys feel more at home when they first moved in.
Because Page and Brin were using the garage for work, there was always an issue when it came to parking, says Wojcicki. Menlo Park didn't allow street parking at night during that time, she says, so the Google employees and home owners had to get "creative."
Google had a whiteboard in one of the house's back rooms that read: "Google's Worldwide Headquarters." The company stayed in Wojcicki's home until January when it had seven employees. Then both parties decided it was time to relocate.
After the group moved to new offices, Susan decided she wanted to work for Google. (She went through the interview process and everything, she says.) As the company's first marketing manager, she remembers asking the co-founders who they wanted to market to. Their response: "Everybody."
Despite the late nights and daily comings and goings, Wojcicki says that there were never any complaints from neighbors about the company taking up lodging in the house.
For Google's press announcement Thursday, the company rebuilt the co-founders' workstation in the back of the house, complete with original desks and chairs (the monitors are not the originals).
It all started in a garage that you can still find with minimal effort — especially if you're using Google Maps.
Less than one mile off U.S. Route 101, the highway that links San Francisco to the rest of Silicon Valley, you'll come to a quiet neighborhood a stone's throw from Stanford's beautifully manicured campus. It was in Menlo Park, in a single-story home on Santa Margarita Avenue, that Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin rented the garage from Susan Wojcicki, now a Google senior VP, who was fresh out of business school and afraid of missing her mortgage payments.
The duo spent the winter of 1998 in the now famous garage, building the tech company that would change search, and consequently the Internet, forever.
That was 15 years ago, and Google has since become a multi-billion dollar corporation that answers all of our questions and may soon even drive our cars. The company now owns the house, which is no longer lived in, but will always serve as a reminder of where Google started.
To celebrate the company's 15th birthday, Mashable put together a slideshow looking back at the company's earliest days and the garage where it all started.
What is your favorite memory of Google from the past 15 years? Tell us in the comments below.


Nissan celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Skyline GT-R with a one-off, heavily customized creation by Italdesign. In a turn from today's mass-produced cars, Italdesign designed and built the extensive body and interior modifications completely by hand. Watch the process as it goes from clay mockup to finished product by the hands of these Italian craftsmen.


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American Beauty review
By Total Film 2000-01-28T08:00:00.27Z
Don't be deceived by appearances. American Beauty may look like yet another Middle American family drama, with tears, laughter, rifts and reconciliations, but it isn't. Yes, it's a family drama (well, kind of...), yes it's set in Middle America and, yes, there are laughter and tears and rifts (although it soon becomes obvious that there won't be much reconciliation going on).
The first hint you should have that you're going to be watching something different here, something unique, is the fact that this `family drama' is directed by British theatre prodigy Sam Mendes. Mendes won awards for his revival of Cabaret, directed the original stage version of Little Voice and excited tabloids with The Blue Room (which involved roughly 30 seconds of Nicole Kidman peeling her clothes off). So you know you're going to be treated to a far fresher approach than you'd expect from schmaltz-prone Hollywood solids such as Ron Howard or Garry Marshall.
The nearest thing you could compare American Beauty to is Ang Lee's The Ice Storm, which also had an outsider director scrutinising Stateside suburban life. But even that doesn't come close: Beauty is funnier, deeper and - yes - warmer than The Ice Storm.
Mendes allows you to become far more emotionally involved with his characters than Lee did, which isn't difficult with a cast as accomplished as this. Kevin Spacey is flawless as Lester, seamlessly charting his transformation from a crumpled, hunched loser in-to a supremely self-confident forty-something slacker.
Annette Bening, meanwhile, throws all her acting energy into playing the immaculately feathered Carolyn, making her snappy and superficial enough for you to believe that Lester would grow to find her so repellent, yet resisting what could have been an all-too-easy slide into caricature. When she bursts into tears after a comically disastrous day, you can't help but feel guilty for laughing at her.
There's not a single false note struck by any of the actors, even the younger ones. Thora Birch plays the troubled adolescent without resorting to stamp-your-feet theatrics, while Mena Suvari switches to the flip side of her American Pie nice-gal persona, pouting and preening as an oddly fragile, wannabe-model teenie-bitch. Finally, Wes Bentley is ideal as Ricky, the enigmatic boy-next-door with a compulsion for camcorders, blurring the line between unhinged weirdo and artistically inspired genius.
Indeed, blurring the lines is precisely what American Beauty is about. The movie itself is almost impossible to define accurately: it has elements of black comedy, satire and even resembles a crime thriller at times. While the outcome is obvious from the first line of Lester's unintrusive voice-over, you can never work out exactly how you're going to get there. But what is certain is that American Beauty is a profoundly satisfying piece of cinema which works its way inside you, grabs hold of your heart and simply refuses to let go.
Don't miss the first perfect, character-driven movie of the year. Spacey, Bening and Mendes all deserve Oscars, contributing to a film which is bold and subtle, hilarious and weepy, and - most significantly - both critic and crowd-pleasing.
Available platforms Movie


This forum contains 277 topics and 1,026 reply, and was last updated by Wes 4 months, 3 weeks ago.
Optimal 1.3 for Genesis 2.0 / HTML5 is now available!
Portfolio Page – not pulling right size images, they are all different sizes!


Below keys are are based on matchIT SQL, if using matchIT Hub then simply remove the 'mk' prefix from the keys.
In matchIT SQL, if you're using SSIS, then these keys will be chosen for you automatically.
# = Include this only if names have been mapped (but not used during compares). If company instead of name, then use mkOrgName1 instead of mkName1.


text:
RAIN TAXI REVIEW
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A Pound of Steam
Acclaimed as a songwriter, performer, and recording artist, the whirlwind force known as Dessa wears one moniker with particular pride: writer. A Pound of Steam presents seven poems exploring identity and alienation, a philosophical bent that can be found in her song lyrics, but here goes further to unearth truths about the human condition.
Dessa, born and raised in Minneapolis, is a poet, essayist, and musician. She studied philosophy at the University of Minnesota. Before earning her living in the arts, Dessa wrote pacemaker manuals, waited tables, painted faces, and sold knives. In her early twenties, Dessa joined the Doomtree collective. With that group, Dessa published her first literary collection, Spiral Bound, and released more than a dozen recorded projects. She now splits her time between a Minneapolis apartment and an Econoline tour van.
23 pp., perfect bound.
Includes S&H in the U.S. Shipping costs added for overseas shipping.
Rain Taxi, in partnership with Dessa, is a fiscal year 2013 recipient of a Cultural Community Partnership grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board. This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation by the Minnesota State Legislature; and by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.
This entry was posted in Brainstorm Series, chapbooks on October 16, 2013 by admin.
New Chapbook!
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A list of every lit event in town
© Rain Taxi | 1998-2021 | Rain Taxi Review of Books and its authors. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
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Q: Set the display name using memory provider in Symfony2 I am currently trying to create some tests for an application, but I'm stuck on authentication.
In the app I use ldap authentication, which also determines the role of each user. It works well, but to simplify the testing (and to not use real users) I use the in_memory provider in my tests.
The problem is that in my views I use {{ app.user.displayname }}, and the display name is not available with the in_memory provider.
Is there a way to add it ? For example this solution (which does not work) would be perfect :
providers:
    in_memory:
        memory:
            users:
                john:  { password: john, roles: 'ROLE_USER', displayname: 'John Doe' }
                admin:  { password: admin, roles: 'ROLE_ADMIN', displayname: 'Admin' }

A: You could either modify the class
src/Symfony/Component/Security/Core/User/InMemoryUserProvider.php

so it uses the displayname as well or (even better) create your own class which will extend the InMemoryUserProvider and use your own provider (http://symfony.com/doc/current/cookbook/security/custom_provider.html)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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Plan Your Dream Wedding And We'll Give You A Rom-Com Guy To Marry
Time for some self-indulgent fantasizing...
by Jenna Guillaume
BuzzFeed Contributor
BuzzFeed Quiz Party!
Take this quiz with friends in real time and compare results
Pick a style:
How many people are attending?
Fewer than 10
200 or more
How many people are in your bridal party?
What are you wearing?
Image: Via Getty Images
Via Getty Images
Pick a headpiece:
Image: Via asos.com
Via asos.com
Image: Via amazon.com
Pick some shoes:
What is the bridal party wearing?
Pick some flowers:
Pick a ring:
Pick a song for the ceremony:
Pachelbel's Canon in D
Mendelssohn's "Wedding March"
Wagner's "Bridal Chorus"
Christina Perri's "A Thousand Years"
Love Actually's "Glasgow Love Theme"
Train's
"Marry Me"
Elvis Presley's "Can't Help Falling in Love"
Des'ree's
"I'm Kissing You"
Bruno Mars' "Marry You"
Pick a song to dance to:
Lonestar's "Amazed"
Tony Bennett's "The Way You Look Tonight"
Righteous Brothers' "Unchained Melody"
Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On"
Savage Garden's
"Truly Madly Deeply"
BTS's
"Euphoria"
Ed Sheeran's "Perfect"
Beyoncé's "Crazy in Love"
None — there'll be no dancing
Pick a cake:


Papua New Guinea has over many years enthralled and charmed people. This appeal lies with the fact that there are over 800 distinct language groups on the island. From the highlands to the coast, each of these communities has lived for hundreds of years with their unique history, knowledge and cultural practices.
The Highlands as a region is home to numerous cultural groups, well-known for their spectacular headdresses assembled from the iridescent tail plumage from various species of the Bird of Paradise.
Complementary to the Bird of Paradise headdresses are the equally-recogniseable but vastly different Asaro Mud Masks (Holosa). The Asaro community is made up of several tribes and numerous smaller clan groups living at the foot of Mount Daulo and the start of the great Asaro Valley that runs east towards Goroka in the Eastern Highlands Province.
The Asaro headdress is a ball of grey clay. The rich gluey clay, dug up from sites located at nearby creeks, is carefully carried to a clearing in the village centre. In the hands of the expert, the clay is shaped and moulded to remove any impurities and then rolled into small round lengths. A flat surface is created, sometimes on a large flat piece of plank. On the flat surface a round length of clay is placed as a ring. Then another round ring is placed atop the other. The layered rings are smoothed with the fingers and thumb on the inside and outside. An oval shaped head emerges. The end that rests on a flat surface is open. The facial features, including eyes, ears and nose are formed and placed on around the oval-shaped head. The faces of the masks are distorted and disfigured. Grotesque eyes sockets and balls are set in and ears and noses protrude from the sides and front of the face. The gaping mouth, sometimes with a protruding grey tongue has a row of pigs' teeth with large gaps is pressed in on the lips. The forehead and cheeks are occasionally tattooed or patterns are added.
Once complete, the mask is set aside and partially dried in the sun. The mask is quite heavy due to the moisture content of the clay. When the time comes, the dancers (always male) swathe their bodies with the same clay. Long, sharp bamboo tubes are prepared and placed over the fingers. Wearing a basic loincloth, an assistant lifts the mask over the dancer's head.
In very slow motion the grotesque figure gently and deliberately walks forward. The long elongated fingers cackle and move about the air in front of the dancer. It seems flies are being brushed away. There is no singing. No accompanying instrument. Just quietness. Now and again the elongated fingers come together. The numerous dancers (between 5-10 dancers) move up to and around the on-lookers. Children recoil and shrink to hide from the figure. Some cling tightly to their parents as others run away. The Asaro Mudmen amble, meander and drift their way around the space and chase away the nasty, malevolent and wicked.


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The CA Drought Map Has Changed a Lot Since September
We aren't out of the drought yet, and we won't be unless January, February, and March are as ridiculously rainy as December was. But most of California and the Bay Area is officially out of 'exceptional drought' status.
The latest maps are out from the U.S. Drought Monitor, and they show that the picture has improved quite a lot since late September, thanks to the series of rainstorms we've had since October. Still, though, the map shows the Central Valley still in "extreme drought," and the Bay Area and other parts of California remain orange, indicating "severe drought."
But we're going in the right direction!
Maps — Dec. 28 on left, Sept. 28 on right — via U.S. Drought Monitor
The southernmost part of California, including San Diego County, are now in the D1 tier or "moderate drought."
Also, the Sierra snowpack is well above normal, which bodes well for the spring.
"As of Dec. 28, the California statewide average of snow water content is 159% of normal for that date," the Drought Monitor said in a statement. "Given the favorable snowpack and heavy precipitation during December, additional improvements may be warranted for California during subsequent weeks."
Still, though, we will need more rain — a lot more — to escape the drought completely.
"We could not have asked for a better December in terms of Sierra snow and rain," said Karla Nemeth, director of the Department of Water Resources, speaking to ABC7. "But Californians need to be aware that even these big storms may not refill our major reservoirs during the next few months. We need more storms."
'California's Richest City' In Marin Could Get Its First-Ever Mixed-Income Housing, Though It Doesn't Look Too Affordable
Mission District Homicide Is San Francisco's Third of the New Year
PG&E About to Finish Criminal Probation for San Bruno Explosion, Judge Says They're Still a 'Menace to California'
Day Around the Bay: There Was a Massive Elephant Seal Pulled From a Parking Lot at Drakes Beach
A large elephant seal was wrangled from a parking lot near Point Reyes, San Francisco has adopted the CDC's shorter quarantine protocols, and Betty White has died at 99 years old.
Video: 120 MPH Car Chase Ends When Suspect Tries to Swim Away in Bay at Emeryville Chevy's, Does Not Get Far
Fasten your seat belts for a wild, 11-minute California Highway Patrol high-speed car chase video, which ends with the suspect absconding into the bay, but lo, this tactic proves unsuccessful.


UNITED Engineers Ltd (UEL), one of Singapore's most venerable property companies, is said to be on a beauty parade and has pulled in a strong line-up of suitors looking to acquire it. OCBC Bank and Great Eastern Holdings also said they have appointed a financial adviser to review their combined stakes in United Engineers and WBL Corporation. A trading halt in place on Thursday afternoon has been lifted.
GLOBAL Logistic Properties Limited (GLP) confirmed that it was in preliminary discussions with various parties on a possible sale of the company. The discussions are part of the company's strategic review, which was announced on Dec 1, and no definitive transaction has been entered into. The stock, which stopped trading on Thursday afternoon, will resume trading on Friday.
ENGINEERING firm ISOTeam on Thursday said that it plans to acquire Rong Shun Engineering & Construction for S$6.45 million. Rong Shun provides building construction as well as renovation related services and electrical works.
LOWER profit margins due to a different mix of products eroded results for Triyards Holdings in its first quarter despite a higher topline. Net profit nosedived 66 per cent to US$2.1 million from the previous year, while revenue increased 17 per cent to US$91.2 million.
OFFSHORE marine solution provider Vallianz Holdings is streamlining its operations in response to the challenging marketing conditions in the offshore and marine industry. The group has ended its businesses of providing crew management services to external parties and travel services to the offshore oil and gas industry, to focus its resources on the core vessel chartering business.
CACOLA Furniture International on Thursday said that it would place out S$638,000 worth of new shares to four private investors. These refer to 142 million new shares at S$0.0045 apiece, with the subscription price representing a premium of about 12.5 per cent to the volume average weighted price of Cacola shares traded on Thursday.


text:
Binghamton Man and NYPD Officer Fatally Wounded in Bronx Struggle
Bob Joseph
Photo: @NYPDnews/Twitter
Authorities say a New York City police officer and a Broome County man died after a shooting incident in the Bronx.
NYPD officer Brian Mulkeen and Antonio Lavance Williams were involved in a violent struggle around 12:30 a.m. Sunday after a foot pursuit.
Williams, whose last known address was in Binghamton, was pronounced dead at the scene. Mulkeen was rushed to a hospital where he died a short time later.
According to the New York Daily News, Mulkeen was shot by his own gun and possibly by friendly fire from fellow officers.
Police say a .32 caliber revolver Williams had possessed was recovered. They say that gun had not been fired.
The Daily News reported Williams had been sentenced to three years probation after a March 2018 drug arrest in Endicott.
Williams was scheduled to appear in Binghamton City Court this Friday after being arrested August 15. Court records indicate he faced a count of harassment with physical contact. He had pleaded not guilty when he was arraigned.
Contact WNBF News reporter Bob Joseph: bob@wnbf.com
For breaking news and updates on developing stories, follow @BinghamtonNow on Twitter.
Source: Binghamton Man and NYPD Officer Fatally Wounded in Bronx Struggle
Filed Under: Binghamton, Endicott, NYPD


is scheduled to move to Tampa in 2019. Carnival Cruise Line has just announced its intention to add more exciting options for cruise lovers departing from one of Florida's most popular ports.
The Carnival Legend cruise ship will move to her new homeport in October 2019. Before she continues her career in Port Tampa Bay, the liner will take several fantastic voyages, including longer-length sailings from Honolulu, Vancouver, and Los Angeles.
By the way, Carnival Legend is undergoing an extensive two-week renovation at the moment. She'll receive the Carnival's signature Guy's Burger Joint, BlueIguana Cantina, as well as other popular public spaces.
The liner is scheduled to operate Alaska sailings departing from Seattle after she completes her drydock. Then the ship will spend fall and winter in Australia. After spending summer 2019 in Alaska again, Carnival Legend will reposition to Tampa in fall 2019.
Tampa, are you ready for Carnival Legend?


text:
MIDDAY MARKETS: Tech rally continues
Microsoft competitors fueled tech gains at midday Monday, even as the software giant was recovering from its morning lows. The Nasdaq rose 21.02 to 3,123.31, and the Dow Jones industrial average slipped 14.99 to 10,689.49.
The Inter@ctive Week @Net Index leapt 11 to 393.72.
Microsoft was thrown into limbo by the initial news from the government's antitrust trial Friday, but didn't go very low. Microsoft was flexible enough to spring back from a morning bottom of 83 1/2 and shares were down just 3 percent, or 2 7/16 to 89 1/8 at midday.
Microsoft rivals were the real story.
Linux champion Red Hat (Nasdaq: RHAT) jumped 16 1/8 to 102 1/16, or 18 percent because if Microsoft stumbles Linux could take the operating system throne. Be Inc. (Nasdaq: BEOS) shot up 3 5/32 to 6 13/16, or 83 percent on the Microsoft news.
Even Corel Corp. (Nasdaq: CORL), a Linux play and office software play, was up 7/8 to 7 11/16, or 13 percent. Unix and Java cheerleader Sun Microsystems (Nasdaq: SUNW) was up 7 5/8 to 117 5/16 and software maker Oracle Corp (Nasdaq: ORCL) rose 1 5/16 to 60.
In other news, some deals and earners were moving shares Monday. Investors in FlashNet Communications (Nasdaq: FLAS), down 1 7/16 to 8 9/16 weren't too happy, even with news that Prodigy Communications Corp. (Nasdaq: PRGY), down 1/2 to 24 1/4, is buying FlashNet.
Complete Business Solutions, Inc. (Nasdaq: CBSI), up 1 1/4 to 15 1/16, hit earnings estimates for its third quarter Monday, but warned net income will decline in the fourth quarter due to a Y2K-induced slowdown. Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSK), up 9/16 to 41 7/16, also posted earnings.
With its shares plunging, Peapod Inc. (Nasdaq: PPOD) went on the defensive Monday with a statement assuring investors that it had enough operating cash to make it through the third quarter of 2000. It didn't matter as shares fell 10 percent to 10 9/16.
Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN) rose 4 3/16 to 69 1/8 after the company said it will make a significant e-tailing announcement on Tuesday. Yahoo! (Nasdaq: YHOO) jumped 5 1/16 to 188 1/2, and America Online Inc. (NYSE: AOL) grew 4 1/4 to 149 3/4. At Home rose (Nasdaq: ATHM) 3 1/16 to 42 1/4 as rumors of a deal with AOL ricocheted around message boards.
Priceline.Com (Nasdaq: PCLN) was up 4 3/16 to 57 7/16, or 9 percent, after it announced a 3-yr, $18 million deal with Net2Phone (Nasdaq: NTOP), down 1/2 to 47 5/8.
Among other tech bellwethers, Dell Computer Corp. (Nasdaq: DELL) fell 7/16 to 40 5/16, Compaq Computer Corp. (NYSE: CPQ) was down 3/8 to 21 1/2 and IBM Corp. (NYSE: IBM) sank 1 3/16 to 93 5/8. Intel Corp. (Nasdaq: INTC) lost 5/16 to 82 1/16.
Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO) jumped 1 3/8 to 74 13/16 and Lucent Technologies (NYSE: LU) rose added 2 1/2 to 70 following an upgrade from Lehman Brothers that raised its rating to "buy" from "neutral."


The Seychelles is located to the northeast of Madagascar and about 1,600 km east of Kenya. The number of islands in the archipelago is often given as 115 but the Constitution of the Republic of Seychelles lists 155. The islands per the Constitution are divided into various groups: 42 granite based islands. 2 coral sand cays north of the granitics: Denis and Bird. 2 coral islands south of the granitics: Coëtivy and Platte. 29 coral islands in the Amirantes group, west of the granitics. 13 coral islands in the Farquhar group, south-southwest of the Amirantes. 67 raised coral islands in the Aldabra Group, west of the Farquhar Group There are numerous beaches, coral reefs and nature reserves, as well as rare animals such as giant Aldabra tortoises. Mahé's capital, Victoria, is the hub for visiting the other islands. It also has the mountain rainforests of Morne Seychellois National Park and beaches, including Beau Vallon and Anse Takamaka.
The Seychelles were uninhabited throughout most of recorded history. Some scholars assume that Austronesian seafarers and later Maldivian and Arab traders were the first to visit the uninhabited Seychelles. This assumption is based on the discovery of tombs in 1910. As a transit point for trade between Africa and Asia, the islands were occasionally used by pirates until the French began to take control starting in 1756 when a Stone of Possession was laid on Mahé by Captain Nicholas Morphey. The islands were named after Jean Moreau de Séchelles, Louis XV's Minister of Finance. The British controlled the islands between 1794 and 1810 after Jean Baptiste Quéau de Quincy, losing a war, handed over the status of capitulation to Britain which gave the settlers a privileged position of neutrality. Britain eventually assumed full control upon the surrender of Mauritius in 1810, formalised in 1814 at the Treaty of Paris. Seychelles became a crown colony separate from Mauritius in 1903. Elections were held in 1966 and 1970. Independence was granted in 1976 as a republic within the Commonwealth. In the 1970s Seychelles was "the place to be seen, a playground for film stars and the international jet set". In 1977, a coup d'état by France Albert René ousted the first president of the republic, James Mancham. René discouraged over-dependence on tourism and declared that he wanted "to keep the Seychelles for the Seychellois". The 1979 constitution declared a socialist one-party state, which lasted until 1991. In the 1980s there were a series of coup attempts against President René, some of which were supported by South Africa. In 1981, Mike Hoare led a team of 43 South African mercenaries masquerading as holidaying Rugby players in a coup attempt in what is known as the Seychelles affair. There was a gun battle at the airport, and most of the mercenaries later escaped in a hijacked Air India plane. The leader of this hijacking was the infamous German mercenary D. Clodo, a former member of the Rhodesian SAS. Clodo later stood trial in South Africa (where he was acquitted) as well as in his home country Germany for air-piracy. In 1986, an attempted coup led by the Seychelles Minister of Defence, Ogilvy Berlouis, caused President René to request assistance from India. In Operation Flowers are Blooming, the Indian naval vessel INS Vindhyagiri arrived in Port Victoria to help avert the coup. The first draft of a new constitution failed to receive the requisite 60% of voters in 1992, but an amended version was approved in 1993.


I heavily suspect we'll get one soon. Between there being a classic set unrevealed and the dino mech being colored like the Explorer, I really suspect we'll see one this year.
Pretty impressive wave I'll admit. The restaurant is easily the standout. I like the new shopping cart piece, hopefully we'll see that recolored at some point.
Nice build. These are 6 wide? I like the b unit. I'd definitely be interested in the LDD file.
I had hoped that in seeing the final product, that I'd be okay with Hermione's face, but unfortunately I hate it more than I did when it leaked. I get that they had to reuse heads because of the budget, but honestly, it just doesn't work. It makes her look too young, which when paired with Viktor Krum makes it look like he's taking a child to the dance... I'll definitely be swapping the head out. I can live with all of the other head reuses, oddly enough. I love the texture in the builds, it really makes these locations spring to life. All the new arch pieces are used brilliantly. I love pretty much everything about the clocktowers design. The rooms feel better designed this time around too, not as cramped as usual. The tent design is pretty poor though, doesn't look much like a tent. The new pumpkin are awesome! Plus a golden egg! Knight Bus is average! Don't care for it! So close Lego, you almost went an entire wave without including a vehicle. Can't wait to see the Advent Calendar!
So let me ask you guys this: Do you think we'll ever get the Ford Explorer from Jurassic Park as a set? It's really the only Jurassic Park set I'd care about. Part of me thinks it's a huge possibility because of the interest shown in the Lego Ideas. Part of me thinks no because we haven't gotten it yet. I ask because brickdesigners.com has a pretty good design of the Ford Explorer but I don't want to put a large amount down on it if we're going to get an official set someday. What do you guys think?
I am certain that LEGO has done the surveys and crunched the numbers and determined that these brick-built things are more effective promotions than minifigs by some metric. I just have no idea what that metric is, or where all the people are who prefer a microbuild to an exclusive figure. There has to be some demographic that wants that and doesn't post online about it, or else LEGO wouldn't be marketing to them... printing a new figure is obviously expensive, but surely it isn't so many hundreds of times more so that these microbuild sets are cheaper for LEGO to manufacture.
Definitely getting the patronus set and multiples of it for the dementor's and stag. Hagrid's Hut looks great too, I love all the details especially that pumpkin patch. The Buckbeak looks fantastic. The clock tower looks great too, figs look great and interior has some great details. The Horntail is going to get some modding to make it look better. Probably going to wait for the bus to go on sale to buy.
On the fence is how I feel too. If other themes can justify including an exclusive minifig with the microbuild (and I'm going to hazard a guess that Diagon Alley and Avengers Tower were hugely successful promotions for TLG) then I don't see why SW doesn't get the same love? As it stands I'll probably wait until I can get the Tantive IV on deep discount once it shows up in other retail channels. If TLG are truly listening to AFOLs as their press release this week states, then I suspect they suffer selective hearing loss when it comes to Star Wars, based on the number of people I see here and on other forums pleading for the return of the May the fourth minifig.
I'm definitely all for the Patronus set. Hands down a great one; Harry Potter sets always had good small builds. As good as these sets are, there are some WEIRD problems that just don't work. I know everyone's already been commenting on them, but that Horntail's head is an abomination. Weird that the new brick build would be so much worse than a nearly solid, non-posable mold from FOURTEEN years ago. And the normal gold goblet with an unscaled blue flame looks a tad odd for what they were trying to adapt.
Don't really know why that was necessary. Just wanted to share my thoughts for those interested... But I guess I'm sorry for the long post?
That's a great idea, I hadn't even thought of that! I really hope they don't hold back on this set because it might be our only chance to get these builds.
The trend for RC and motors for the 2019 sets are only maybe 2 sets I can think of.. Maybe next year the Power Up technics set might spring up..
I was confused as to how my comment spurred an entire page of discussion. It wasn't exactly a force ghost solo, but you're right about people seeming to take speculation as rumors, and rumors as fact. We make our own force ghost solos. I am so very on the fence about it, as I was hoping to use the profits from selling my old republic frigate and that hasn't sold yet, but that GWP moves me closer to the edge. If the GWP had a minifigure, I'd buy it, but right now I'm still not sure.
Any sets with more then 2000+ pieces would be a bit more challenging!!
Sorry for the late response, that's sick!
Lego is sold extensively in my country, but the two sets I mentioned are harder to get / more expensive on the after-market. I'm also hoping to pick up a Lego souvenir from the US, anyway. Thanks for the replies! I've seen that places like Walmart tend to have big sales - where would I get information on those?
I like all those options and I am glad that LEGO sees fit to offer so many different sets so that hopefully there is something for everyone's taste. I imagine no matter what they do though there will always be some who will be critical of their offerings.


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Jeanette and Eli Reinhard Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence
The Washington Institute's Jeanette and Eli Reinhard Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence serves as Washington's premier center for the study of international terrorism.
The Washington Institute has long focused on terrorism as a critical factor shaping and affecting U.S. Middle East policy. But since the program's founding under director Matthew Levitt in the wake of the September 11 attacks, it has become a leading center for the analysis of terrorist groups, state sponsors, logistical and financial support networks, and counterterrorism policy.
"To inflict devastation on a massive scale, the terrorists only have to succeed once, and we know they are trying every day."
Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of State
Today, terrorism affects all aspects of U.S. Middle East policy: the pursuit of Arab-Israeli peace, U.S.-Saudi relations, Iranian weapons proliferation, political reform, democratization, and a host of other key regional issues. The thorough analysis of ever-changing trends in international terrorism is therefore more critical than ever. The Washington Institute's Reinhard Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence proudly carries out this important role through its research and programming activities as well as through its publications.
The program's associates are frequently sought after and featured in the media to explain current events and trends. They participate in a wide array of academic and policy-oriented conferences, provide congressional and expert court testimony in terrorism cases, and publish timely analysis in support of regional security interests and sound U.S. counterterrorism policy. Since 2007, the Reinhard Program has hosted an ongoing series of counterterrorism lectures featuring senior policymakers from federal and local agencies and key foreign governments.
Past visiting fellows include Ely Karmon, senior researcher at the International Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism; Rohan Gunaratna, author of the best-selling Inside Al-Qaeda: Global Network of Terror; and Emily Hunt, a terrorism analyst for the U.S. Congress and the private security firm Aegis Defence Services in London.


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More about author
Christina Grasso is the social media editor at STYLECASTER. Over the past 5 years she has worked with Nylon, Huffington Post, Bullett, P.S. I made this, Oscar de la Renta, Nanette Lepore, I Am That Girl, and Beauty is Boring, and appeared on Season 18 of Law & Order: SVU. In addition to her work in fashion and beauty, she serves as a board member for Project HEAL and the Glam4Good Foundation. In 2016 she created Project HEAL's highly successful #WhatMakesMeBeautiful body diversity campaign shot by photographer Arthur Belebeau. She is a frequent speaker on eating disorder awareness and recovery, and an active volunteer with New York Cares. She lives in Manhattan with her cat, Betty Littlepiddles, where she entertains her hobbies as a retired ballerina, professional sun-avoider, and serial plant killer.
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