text:
Choose Life license plates are specialty license plates available in 33 states in the United States that express an anti-abortion message. The plates are the concept of Choose Life, Inc., an anti-abortion advocacy group based in Ocala, Florida. It was founded in 1997 by Randy Harris, a Marion County commissioner, after being inspired by an environmental license plate on the car in front of him to use specialty license plates as a way to raise funds for crisis pregnancy centers, which are nonprofit organizations established to counsel women against receiving abortions. The plates feature the phrase "Choose Life", a slogan used by the anti-abortion movement, and a Microsoft Paint style drawing of two children.

History
In 1997, Choose Life, Inc. collected the 10,000 signatures and US$30,000 required under Florida law at the time to submit an application for a new specialty plate, and State Senator Tom Lee sponsored a bill in support of the tag's creation. The bill passed both houses of the Florida Legislature in early 1998, but was vetoed by then-Governor Lawton Chiles, who stated that license plates are not the "proper forum for debate" on political issues. While campaigning for the governorship later in 1998, Jeb Bush stated that, if elected, he would sign a Choose Life bill if approved by the legislature. Choose Life, Inc. went forward with the plate application again, and, after passing both houses, Governor Bush signed it into law on June 8, 1999. Since then, Choose Life, Inc. has been active in helping groups in other states pursue "Choose Life" license plates. As of April 30, 2010, Choose Life, Inc. reported that Choose Life license plates had raised over $12 million. On June 21, 2011, Florida Governor Rick Scott signed House Bill 501, which directs the funds from the plates directly to Choose Life, Inc.

Choose Life, Inc. is a non-profit organization, funded by donations and the sale of promotional items, such as T-shirts and neckties. A specialty license plate can cost an additional $25 – $70USD per year.  Allocation of funds varies by state but funds typically go to crisis pregnancy centers, which are nonprofit organizations established to counsel women against receiving abortions.

States with Choose Life license plates
As of 2023, Choose Life license plates are available in 33 states and the District of Columbia:

 Alabama
 Alaska
 Arizona
 Arkansas
 Connecticut
 Delaware
 District of Columbia
 Florida
 Georgia
 Hawaii
 Indiana
 Iowa
 Kansas
 Kentucky
 Louisiana
 Maryland
 Massachusetts
 Mississippi
 Missouri
 Montana
 Nebraska (2017)
 New Jersey
 North Carolina (2016)
 North Dakota
 Ohio
 Oklahoma
 Pennsylvania
 South Carolina
 South Dakota
 Tennessee
 Texas
 Utah
 Virginia
 Wisconsin (2016)

States where Choose Life has been rejected
 Michigan: In 2017, Gov. Rick Snyder vetoed a bill proposing the plates, citing "the potential to bitterly divide millions of Michiganders".
 New York: For several years, litigation occurred between the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) and the Department of Motor Vehicles. The original decision not to offer the specialty plates was overruled, but the issuance of the plates was held back pending an appeal in 2011. After more litigation, in 2015 the New York Department of Motor Vehicles' policy to exclude controversial, politically sensitive messages from plates was "reasonable and viewpoint neutral, which is all that the First Amendment requires" according to the 2nd Circuit majority opinion. After the decision in Walker v. Texas Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans, which gave states the right to determine whatever speech they want or do not want on plates issued by their state, no further appeal of the 2nd District decision was made by the ADF.
 Rhode Island: Gov. Lincoln Chafee vetoed a bill proposing the plates, citing the inappropriateness of using state license plates to fund religious initiatives.

Reaction and criticism
"Choose Life" license plates have been criticized by abortion rights organizations, which have argued that in authorizing them, but not offering plates conveying a pro-abortion rights message at the same time, states have carried out viewpoint discrimination. To this charge, Russ Amerling, Choose Life, Inc.'s publicity coordinator, replied that "[abortion rights groups] have just as much right to have a plate as we do, as long as they go through the same process we did and not try to piggy-back onto the various states' Choose Life bills". He also said that no "[abortion rights groups] have ever applied for a plate of their own in any state, until an [anti-abortion group] applied for a 'Choose Life' plate."

Before June 2015, the United States Supreme Court had not yet clearly spoken on the legality of "Choose Life" specialty plates, and the federal circuits were split on their legality. The 4th Circuit had twice held that issuing an anti-abortion plate but not a pro-abortion rights plate is impermissible viewpoint discrimination, but the 6th Circuit held the opposite. The 2nd and 7th Circuits had ruled that states could refrain from allowing any discussion of abortion on plates. When Walker v. Texas Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans was rendered in June 2015, however, it allowed states to determine whether it wants controversial language on their plates or not, including pro- or anti-abortion rights language, which precluded further litigation in New York against having the plates as had been decided a month earlier in the 2nd District, or further litigation in North Carolina for the plates, where the interpretation of the 4th Circuit that it was viewpoint discrimination to have one and not the other was reversed in 2016 after a review was demanded by the Supreme Court in light of Walker.

, five states currently offer license plates which promote abortion rights: Alaska, Hawaii, Montana, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.

See also

References

External links
 Choose-Life.org
 Choose Life of Missouri, Inc.
 Massachusetts Choose Life, Inc.

Anti-abortion organizations in the United States
Non-profit organizations based in Florida
Organizations established in 1997
Vehicle registration plates of the United States


GRFC Women Win Midwest Title With 1-0 Win!
Grand Rapids FC hosted the Midwest conference playoffs this weekend at Grandville High School, looking to earn a spot in the United Women's Soccer National Finals next weekend, which will also to be played in Grandville.
Entering the playoffs having earned the top spot in the Midwest conference, GRFC played FC Indiana in their opening match. The Girls in Blue showed the fans exactly why they were the top team in the conference during the regular season, dominating from start to finish in an 11-0 rout.
Advancing to the finals on Sunday, Grand Rapids matched up against Detroit Sun. The contest against Detroit was played just like the first two meetings between the teams – physical in nature and with both teams seeing good looks on goal. A first half goal for GRFC proved to be the difference, though, and the hosts claimed a 1-0 win to advance to the National finals.
On Saturday against FC Indiana, the Girls in Blue scored in the opening five minutes, and within a half hour, left no doubt that they would move on to the regional final.
A 4th minute corner kick was played into the box and headed on by captain Michaela Kovacs to Clare Carlson who finished at the back post.
In the 14th minute, Bethany Balcer extended her goal scoring streak to six games, firing a shot from the top of the box into the back of the net.
Grand Rapids FC continued to dominate, adding goals in the 18th minute from Avery Lockwood, the 26th minute from Balcer, the 34th minute from Marti Corby, and a third in the first half for Balcer in the 43rd minute to take a 6-0 lead at halftime.
In the second half, the goals kept coming. Substitute Samantha Maher added another in the 55th minute, while Sagara scored one of her own in the 65th after assisting on Corby's in the first half.
The 73rd minute saw Lizzie Paul add to the goal tally for GRFC, while Stinson scored in the 78th minute to make it double digits at ten for the home side. Paul then completed the scoring in the 83rd minute on a penalty kick to bring the final to 11-0.
The 11 goals were the most in a single game in United Women's Soccer this season. Grand Rapids FC had previously scored 7 in a match, as had the Long Island Rough Riders.
Saturday's match also marked the fifth straight match that GRFC's Bethany Balcer has scored three or more goals.
Sunday's match-up was much more tightly contested. Grand Rapids did not see a strong opportunity on goal until the 18th minute, when a shot from Marti Corby was saved.
Two minutes later, a run from Avery Lockwood into the box resulted in a shot across goal that hit the post but was then cleared by Detroit.
The pressure then culminated in a goal in the 21st minute. On a corner kick, Riko Sagara played the ball into the box to Michaela Kovacs who headed the ball into the goal for a 1-0 Grand Rapids lead.
The visitors nearly equalized in the 35th minute as a shot from a Detroit forward hit off the crossbar, but the ball was cleared from danger as GRFC held onto its 1-0 lead through halftime.
In the second half, Kovacs nearly added a second in the 56th minute as she hit the post with a shot on frame.
The Sun saw their best opportunity to level the scoring in the 67th minute. An offsides trap was misplayed by the Grand Rapids defense, allowing a Detroit attacker to go one-on-one with GRFC keeper Reilly Ott. Fortunately for Grand Rapids, the shot from Detroit was hit over the crossbar, resulting in a harmless goal kick.
Detroit had two more strong chance on goal, one in each of the 70th and 84th minutes, but each time Ott was up to the challenge, keeping the Girls in Blue ahead.
Some solid possession and midfield play then allowed Grand Rapids to close out the match and claim the 1-0 victory and the Midwest conference championship.
With the win, Grand Rapids FC advances to the United Women's Soccer National Finals next weekend, which will be hosted by Grand Rapids at Grandville High School. The winners of each of the East, West, and Midwest conferences advances to the final, with a wildcard added by UWS.


This was a supplement to the Boston Sunday Globe in 1907. This was part of a series of dioramas of various cities throughout the world. This image is larger than printable size. Click on the image above for a printable size in tif format or click here for the full size version.
This is fun to put together! This type of paper cut-out was very popular in the early part of the 20th century. I scanned it in 600ppi if you want to enlarge it. This is the actual color of the original, but you could change the colors to your choice. Click on the image to download the file. Great for assemblage paper art.
Right click on image to download a pdf file. This is larger than a standard sheet of paper, select fit to page in the Adobe Print Dialog Box.
Print on regular inkjet paper and follow directions on the shadowgraph. Reproduced from the original paper toy dated 1906. Click on the image to download the file in tiff format.


text:
Deseret NewsU.S. & World
Ex-astronaut Mark Kelly makes Democratic bid for Senate seat
By Jonathan J. Cooper
Published: February 12, 2019 6:32 am Updated: Feb. 12, 2019 9:55 a.m.
Susan Walsh, Associated Press
FILE- In this Oct. 2, 2017, file photo former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., right, listens as her husband Mark Kelly, left, speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington. Kelly said Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2019, that he's running to finish John McCain's term in the U.S. Senate.
PHOENIX — Retired astronaut Mark Kelly, who became a prominent gun-control advocate after his wife, former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, was shot in a failed assassination attempt, announced Tuesday he will run to finish John McCain's last term in the U.S. Senate.
If he wins the Democratic nomination, Kelly would take on Republican Martha McSally in what is expected to be one of the most closely contested Senate races of the 2020 election.
Kelly described himself as an independent-minded centrist who will take a scientist's data-driven approach to solving problems such as climate change, wage stagnation and health care affordability.
"You see a lot of partisanship in Washington and a lot of polarization, and to some extent we've created that," Kelly told The Associated Press. "It's going to take people who are more independent to fix it. Arizonans value independence."
If Kelly is nominated the race would pit the Navy veteran and astronaut against McSally, a trailblazing Air Force pilot, in the contest to replace McCain, a legendary Navy flyer who was famously shot down and held captive in North Vietnam.
McSally is a former Republican congresswoman who was appointed to McCain's seat after she narrowly lost to Democrat Kyrsten Sinema last November in the race for outgoing Republican Jeff Flake's seat. McSally leaned heavily on her record as the first woman to fly a combat mission, but she was hurt by her embrace of President Donald Trump.
The 2020 election will decide who finishes the last two years of McCain's term. The winner would have to run again for a full six-year term in 2022.
Democrats are eagerly watching the Arizona contest, having already defeated McSally. The party is also gauging whether Arizona could be competitive at the presidential level in 2020, where Trump won in 2016.
Kelly has never held elected office. He flew combat missions during the first Gulf War before becoming an astronaut along with his twin brother, Scott Kelly. He flew four space missions over 10 years and commanded the Space Shuttle Endeavor in 2011.
Kelly and Giffords have pushed Congress to enact gun control measures with little success. They shifted their focus to state legislatures in recent years, helping to strengthen background checks and domestic violence protections.
Giffords was severely wounded in a mass shooting on Jan. 8, 2011. The shooting at a Giffords meet-and-greet event in Tucson left six dead and 13 injured.
Giffords played a prominent role in the four-minute video Tuesday launching Kelly's campaign.
"I thought then that I had the risky job," Kelly says to Giffords. "Turned out, you were the one that had the risky job."
Kelly told the AP Giffords, who has been a rising Democratic star before the shooting, will join him frequently during campaign appearances.
Republican Gov. Doug Ducey appointed McSally to the vacant Senate seat after his first appointee, former Sen. Jon Kyl, resigned after only a few months in office.
Arizona has been a longstanding Republican stronghold, but a growing Latino population and frustration among women with Trump have helped Democrats make inroads.
U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego of Phoenix is also considering a Senate run that would likely position him to Kelly's left politically.
"I've made no secret of the fact that I'm looking seriously at running for the U.S. Senate in 2020, and that hasn't changed," Gallego said on Twitter following Kelly's announcement. "I'll be making a final decision and announcement soon."
Former Attorney General Grant Woods, a lifelong Republican who became a Democrat and a fierce critic of Trump, said last week he will not run for the seat.
McCain, a legendary and beloved Arizona politician, died last year from an aggressive form of brain cancer after more than three decades in the Senate.
May 9, 2019 QUIZ: Are you making the most out of your time to exercise?
U.S. & World 14 hours ago Planned Parenthood president forced out after only 8 months
U.S. & World 18 hours ago Police officer in 'I can't breathe' death won't be charged
U.S. & World yesterday Judge recommends $14M award to neo-Nazi trolling victim
U.S. & World yesterday 'Many people agree with me': Trump digs in on racist tweets
U.S. & World 1 hour ago Emails show Iowa official's Tupac fixation before his ouster

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


This month's recipient is The ACLU of Virginia.
But it's not for the reason you think (kind of). The ACLU is all over the place right now. They are breaking fundraising records left and right. But that's not why we're here.
We're here because of Facebook Live.
I remember the first alert I received when my first friend went "live". A friend of mine was a guest DJ at a nightclub. I clicked to find a bouncy-shaky video of club lights and lots of people dancing. Then, I got a few more alerts. And more. IT WAS MORE ANNOYING THAN AN ALL CAPS EMAIL SUBJECT LINE.
Fast forward to January 2017. I'm still not sold on "Live." But I am sold on keeping tabs on the Virginia General Assembly. The antics in Richmond make what's happening in Washington look like a sideshow. Think the characters of a Dostoevsky novel meets the backstabbing plot twists of a soap opera. And so I've relied on the ACLU of Virginia for years to follow these legislative sessions.
At the end of January, I saw something a little different in their Facebook feed. They conducted several Facebook live sessions of bill discussions in subcommittee. It was a real way for me to see legislation-building (but mostly killing), in action. Fast forward two weeks, and they are at it again. This time they are at Dulles airport, supporting protesters of the recent executive orders.
The ACLU of Virginia – for giving Facebook Live a purpose, you're my donation of the month.
You can also go ahead and donate to the ACLU of Virginia here, and follow them on Facebook. If you don't live in Virginia, go ahead and find your affiliate.


Today I hiked my favorite place, Pere Marquette. I've been trying to get here for two months, but the weather hasn't been agreeable lately. Pere Marquette is located at the confluence of the Illinois and Mississippi rivers both of which are flooding due to insane rain levels. We found the back entrance to the state park, as the main entrance is underwater. In fact the trailhead of Goat's Cliff was under water too. This was the main trail I needed to hike – for the incline work. We took a back trail and aimed for the top. The bugs were beyond insane – but thanks to a likely lethal dose of combining 3 different repellents – we stopped looking like dinner to millions of mosquitoes and buffalo gnats. The day was awesome – we had the entire park to ourselves. 12 miles of intertwining trails – with a few trees to climb over and what we call mud-skiing, we had a blast. I can really tell the strength difference from CrossFit. My pack when fully loaded isn't heavy anymore. The trees we climbed over were more of a playground challenge than a deterrent. If we came to a fork in the trail and one way was up and one way was down – we went up. We zigzagged all over that park. I love that we've reached a point in training that what used to seem laborious – now feels like fun. We'll be lucky to escape the wet trails without malaria, but I am grateful for the day to play outside.
This picture was taken from McAdams Peak. MS River at top, IL River in middle, All the rest is flooding.
Golf without a cart is hiking – right?
At 5,000 feet – shouldn't the view be better?


text:
Q: Edge length of a Dodecahedron Good morning,
If I have a $12$ sided regular pentagonal structure - that is, a Dodecahedron - and the widest point is $3.5m$ in diameter, what is the length of an edge (if they are all the same).
Regards,
Connor

A: The radius $R$ of the spherical surface passing through all 20 identical vertices of a dodecahedron with edges length $a$ is given by generalized formula (derived in HCR's Formula for platonic solids)$$\bbox[4pt, border: 1px solid blue;]{R=\frac{\sqrt{3}(\sqrt{5}+1)a}{4}} $$ $$\implies a=\frac{4R}{\sqrt{3}(\sqrt{5}+1)}$$$$\implies \color{purple}{a=\frac{R(\sqrt{5}-1)}{\sqrt{3}}}$$ Since $R=\frac{3.5}{2}$ hence the edge length of dodecahedron is $$a=\frac{(3.5)(\sqrt{5}-1)}{2\sqrt{3}}$$$$=\frac{R(\sqrt{5}-1)}{\sqrt{3}}\approx 1.248877314 \space m$$

A: All Platonic solids except the tetrahedron are centrally symmetric, meaning they are preserved under reflection through the origin. (ref: wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platonic_solid#Symmetry_groups). So diameter of a dodecahedron = diameter of the circumscribed sphere.
Radius of circumscribed sphere and the side of a pentagon in dodecfahedron are related by $R \approx 1.4 a$. (ref. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodecahedron).
So $a \approx \frac{R}{1.4} = \frac{D}{2.8} = 1.25m$

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


San Luis is among the fastest growing cities in Arizona and is part of Yuma County. It is home to more than 25,000 people. The city is very near San Luis Rio Colorado, California, and Mexico. Explore this quaint city with a bus rental and charter in San Luis, Arizona.
A bus rental and charter in San Luis, Arizona can help you get to the best attractions in the city.
Be sure to attend the 4th of July event at the border where you can have your fill of live music, food, and the best fireworks display in the region.
Shopping in the city takes you to a variety of stores downtown, which is just next to the border. Take advantage of the open air markets at the Mexican border, where you can get Mexican souvenirs and merchandise. Some fo the local retailers you should visit are Linda Fashion, Jewelry Hernandez, Kids Outlet, FP Stores, Lupita's Fashion and La Moda Fashion.
When it comes to food, you should not miss out on the Mexican restaurants in the city. Check out Maricos El Navegante, Tortas Yuri, and Taqueria La Ramada. You can also check out the new American fare at Munchies Bar & Grill, or the tasty treats at Cefeina and Hot Spot. If you are craving for Chinese food, then head out to Li's Restaurant on N Main St., while you can get the best Asian fusion and sushi at Patio Sushi Cafe.
The San Luis Atleticos of the Arizona Winter League play their home games at the Joe Orduno Field in the city and at the Desert Sun Stadium in Yuma.
The city's parks and recreation department maintains the Cesar Chavez Cultural Center, which offers classes such as yoga, zumba, dance, chess and piano, among others. And if you are here in the summer, you can take a dip at the pool at the San Luis Aquatic Center.
On top of that, the city's many parks give you the opportunity to enjoy the outdoors. Have a picnic, enjoy the playgrounds and play structures, play sports, or just enjoy the fresh air outside. For one, you have Eligio Ramirez Park where you have a soccer field, a walking path, a playground, picnic facilities, and pinata poles. Joe Cabello Park has benches, a basketball court, picnic facilities, pinata poles, ramadas and a skate area.
Meanwhile the Joe Orduño Park has an aquatic center, baseball field, grills, a playground, a gym, a youth center and softball and soccer fields. Then you have the Moctezuma Park that has a basketball court, electricity access, RC track, and a volleyball court.
Aside from these parks and retentions, there are also several ramadas in the city.
Get your free online quote for a bus rental and charter in San Luis, Arizona from our Web site or call us.
You can make your day trip even more fun and memorable by getting a bus rental and charter in San Luis, Arizona from BusRental.com. Check out the low prices we offer just by completing a short form and getting a free online quote for one.


But while previous soft markets have led to more uniform falls in premium, today's prices are dipping more than anticipated on some accounts while those on loss-hit lines have remained flat. Rates for loss-making professional lines have stayed relatively stable – in particular for directors' and officers' (D&O) business.
But elsewhere, most property and casualty rates have fallen further over the year. This is largely a reflection of competitive forces at play for the better accounts and the relative profitability of the past three years.
Despite international catastrophe losses – including the Chile earthquake and Deepwater Horizon disaster – local and national catastrophe events, such as the New Zealand earthquake and hail storms in Perth and Melbourne have not had a big enough impact to turn the market. Reinsurance pricing remains soft (see box, right, for the implications of the extensive flooding in Australia).
However, in the commercial insurance sector, there are signs that prices may be getting too soft to bear. According to Marsh's November 2010 Australia Insurance Market Review, it may be difficult to achieve further price improvement in the primary market.
Low rates on line are beginning to affect insurers' returns on an account-by-account basis and there are signs that claims activity is beginning to undermine positive underwriting results. In the third quarter, notes the review, we see "the first signs of incumbent insurers walking away from deals they believe to be underpriced".
Despite the absence of US hurricane losses in 2010, there have been plenty of catastrophe claims at home and abroad to dent Australian and international carriers' earnings. There were up to $38bn of insured natural catastrophe losses over the year, Aon Benfield says.
For international (re)insurers, the Chile earthquake is set to be the most expensive insurance event of the year, prompting up to $8.5bn in insurance claims and $30bn in economic losses. Lloyd's continues to predict a pre-tax loss of $1.4bn, while Swiss Re and Munich Re both upped their loss estimates to $630m and $1bn in the months following the quake.
In the Gulf of Mexico, it was an offshore oil rig rather than a hurricane that stole the headlines this year. While not as huge a loss for the industry as it may have been (had BP bought cover in the commercial market), the Deepwater Horizon disaster is still expected to fetch total claims of up to $3.5bn. This is helping to push up rates in the offshore energy sector, although this may yet prove to be a short-lived spike.
The year's second-biggest earthquake – and one that was much closer to home for Australian (re)insurers – was in Christchurch, New Zealand in September. As proof that earthquake losses are notoriously difficult to assess post-event, four reinsurers (Platinum, Aspen Re, Catlin and PartnerRe) recently raised their loss estimates, with suggestions that total losses – originally expected to bring $3bn to $4.5bn in claims – could go as high as $5.5bn.
Despite rising loss estimates, the New Zealand earthquake is likely to remain a reinsurance event rather than a hit for primary carriers.
The mature Australian insurance market, dominated locally by primary insurers QBE, Insurance Australia Group (IAG) and Suncorp, continues to be big buyers of property catastrophe reinsurance protection. According to Fitch Ratings, IAG and Suncorp-Metway have a combined market share of 60% in New Zealand, but their net exposures to the quake are surprisingly low – NZ$60m (US$45.6m) for Suncorp and a "negligible" exposure for IAG.
Chile, New Zealand and Deepwater were significant events for global carriers, but they occurred in a year without major hurricane losses. "While there has been no singular event of sufficient magnitude to immediately affect the global market, there have been enough significant catastrophe losses during the year to potentially dampen future underwriting profits, particularly in the local market, and contribute to a tempering of further rate reductions," Marsh notes.
Closer to home, hail storms earlier in the year in Melbourne and Perth both resulted in losses in excess of A$1bn (US$988m), while severe storms in western Queensland and flooding in southern New South Wales and Victoria have added to the loss register.
With a higher loss than its peers, Hardy Underwriting Bermuda predicts a gross loss estimate of A$34.6m (US$34.2m) from the hailstorms and has pulled back capacity as a result.
"Our share of the loss in Australia is large compared to our peers and we have considered it appropriate to adjust our underwriting in this region," the insurer revealed in its half-year results.
Meteorologists are continuing to predict an active tropical cyclone season across northern Australia this summer (October to April). Nevertheless, more localised weather events are unlikely to have much influence on global rates.
"You'd expect the New Zealand rate to rise, reflecting the quake, but generally it's not expected that Australia's two major losses will have a material impact on rates," THB's Butler says.
Despite diminishing margins for profit, the Australian insurance sector continues to command attention, attracting new capital to a market that is already carrying too much capacity.
This is conspiring to keep rates low, even on lines where loss activity has been higher than usual in 2010.
"There are different players saying: 'the day the rating environment changes, we'll be in'," Kingaby says.
Insurers such as Zurich, CGU and Lumley have expanded their involvement in the corporate sector, while new entrants to the market in general include Axis, Mobius (Lloyd's capacity) and CV Starr, among others.
Some are trying to replicate the Catlin model. The international and Lloyd's (re)insurer established its Australian subsidiary in 2004 to focus on specialist classes including aviation, casualty insurance and reinsurance, crisis management, facultative reinsurance and general liability and specie.
"You're getting to the point where people can't see the overall return if you're coming into the market as a generalist. But coming in as an absolute specialist is becoming a bit more fashionable," Kingaby says.
The need to maintain underwriting discipline in an already saturated market remains a key challenge. The savvy Australian insurance buyer provides another hurdle.
One area that has maintained steady premium rates over the year is professional lines. Following the financial crisis, this sector experienced a high level of claims – particularly for D&O and errors and omissions lines – with insurance prices rising as a result.
Competition across the class is limited to a few insurers fighting for primary positions on large complex placements. Chubb, Chartis, Lloyd's insurer Novae and HCC are the most dominant players, says Marsh.
For excess layers there is more competition, with new Lloyd's syndicates (such as CV Starr and Barbican) and new company market firms (such as Iron Starr, Alterra, Argo Re and Torus) competing for business. The diversification appeal is evident for Bermuda players seeking to balance their exposure to North American risks.
"In professional lines you are usually seeing 'roll-overs' and sometimes discounts, and that's just a reflection of the market regulating itself," Butler says. "Particularly with the demise of AIG in the Australian market [AIG Australia was rebranded Chartis in 2009 and restructured across three lines], the likes of Chubb and some of the carriers with better quality paper were able to maximise the opportunities.
Reinsurers should bear the brunt of claims resulting from the worst flooding in Queensland in more than 30 years. Three-quarters of the state is a disaster zone after 40 towns and cities were engulfed by floodwater in late December and early January. Catastrophe modelling firm AIR Worldwide has estimated insured losses from the floods could range from A$3bn (US$2.9bn) to A$6bn.
Queensland's two main flood insurance providers – Suncorp and Insurance Australia Group (IAG) – are processing more than 8,000 storm- and flood-related claims lodged since Christmas. Suncorp's preliminary estimate of pre-tax losses is A$130m-A$150m. This cost will be included in the group's half-year result for the period ending 31 December 2010. Suncorp said it would be limited by a reinsurance programme to between A$70m and A$90m. It is also likely to incur additional reinsurance costs of about A$120m to reinstate multiple covers for the remainder of the financial year.
As a consequence of this and other natural hazard events during the first half, Suncorp said it expects to have eroded between A$220m and A$240m of retained costs under its aggregate reinsurance program.
IAG's expectation for December storm damage is that the net claim cost will be A$10m-$30m, taking the total natural peril claim cost for the second half of 2010 to an estimated $120m-$140m.
The insurers said estimates would be included in results for the second half of 2011.
IAG chief executive and managing director Michael Wilkins said the firm's renewed catastrophe reinsurance programme for the year commencing 1 January 2011 was structured similarly to that which operated in 2010. Under the programme, the group's maximum event retention for a first event in calendar year 2011 is $150m.
Reinsurers' eventual payouts will depend heavily on how many loss events the flooding is deemed to constitute. They are currently expected to be classed as two or three events.


text:
Q: The requested container identifier is not permitted by the client's com.apple.developer.ubiquity-container-identifiers entitlement I am facing a few issues and I would think I'm not the only one.
I have an App in the App Store that uses Core Data and iCloud to save user added information across user's devices. There's nothing fancy about that and it works really well. It's an iOS 7 app and it works very well on iOS 8 as well. When I test it on a device with iOS 8. It works very well with Xcode 5.1.1 but it doesn't with Xcode 6.0.1.
It seems like Apple have changed a few things with iCloud in iOS 8. Session 225: "What's new in Core Data" https://developer.apple.com/videos/wwdc/2014/ seems to say nothing much has changed.
Problem
In the Developer Portal, it looked like I had to create new iCloud Containers. (I have no idea what that is or how to get rid of it). It creates this with "iCloud.bundleID" - i.e., the word iCloud at the front.
Before Xcode 6, my entitlements were:
"xxxxxxxx.com.vital.lope" where xxxxxxx is my TeamID.
Now, in the capabilities pane, there's no iCloud Core Data option (but according to https://developer.apple.com/library/prerelease/iOS/documentation/General/Conceptual/iCloudDesignGuide/Chapters/iCloudFundametals.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40012094-CH6-SW28 under the Choose the Proper Storage API, iCloud Documents is used for Core Data as well). That's fine.
I've selected to use Custom Containers:

The reason? Well because in my code now, in the App Delegate, I have:
// Returns the URL to our Ubiquity Folder
- (NSURL *)grabCloudPath:(NSString *)filename {

    NSFileManager *fileManager = [NSFileManager defaultManager];
    NSString *teamID = @"xxxxxxxxx"; // replace with your real Team ID
    NSString *bundleID = [[NSBundle mainBundle]bundleIdentifier];
    NSString *cloudRoot = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"%@.%@", teamID, bundleID];

    NSURL *cloudRootURL = [fileManager URLForUbiquityContainerIdentifier:cloudRoot];

    NSString *pathToCloudFile = [[cloudRootURL path]stringByAppendingPathComponent:@"Documents"];
    pathToCloudFile = [pathToCloudFile stringByAppendingPathComponent:filename];

    return [NSURL fileURLWithPath:pathToCloudFile];
}

Which is called from the persistentStoreCoorindator. Again, this works well before Xcode 6.
If I run my app in Xcode 6.0.1, the user is presented with an option to turn iCloud On. If they do, the app crashes with the following error:
The operation couldn't be completed. (LibrarianErrorDomain error 11 - The requested container identifier is not permitted by the client's com.apple.developer.ubiquity-container-identifiers entitlement.)"
Terminating app due to uncaught exception 'NSInvalidArgumentException', reason: '*** -[NSURL initFileURLWithPath:]: nil string parameter'

If I run an exception breakpoint, it crashes at the return statement in the grabCloudPath code above.
In that method, if I change
NSString *cloudRoot = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"%@.%@", teamID, bundleID];

to
NSString *cloudRoot = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"iCloud.%@.%@", teamID, bundleID];

The app does not crash anymore, but then no iCloud data comes in because it's now a different folder.
Back in the Capabilities Pane, I have:

This shows there are no errors, but this also occurred automatically without me doing anything.
Things I have learnt
After watching the session 225 of WWDC 2014, I can see that I'm supposed to use iCloud Core Data still and there should be no changes. However, that option doesn't exist within the Capabilities pane.

I know I'm not using CloudKit, or supposed to use CloudKit for my application because it's not the same requirement. I learnt that after also watching the CloudKit session in the WWDC videos.
Questions
The main questions are:
1) Do I need iCloud containers?
2) Why can I not just carry on using the same container that I created with my app?
3) IF I need to use iCloud containers, how do I transfer the data from the existing container (xxxxxxx.com.vital.lope) to the new iCloud container (iCloud.xxxxxxx.com.vital.lope).
4) Do I use the CloudKit support or support for Xcode 5 in the Developer Portal for iCloud?

Update
I went back to the Developer Portal, removed the Cloud containers for my App ID and selected to use the Xcode 5. When I re-added my provisioning profiles, my app crashed at the same place. If I changed to use the default container in the Capabilities pane, my app crashed in the same place.
I hope this question makes sense and I cannot imagine I'm the only one facing this issue, but I would appreciate any guidance on this.


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text:
ListenShopInsiders
Is Your Favorite Author A Jerk?
Amanda Nelson 03-13-12
In the summer of last year, V.S. Naipaul made eyes roll worldwide when he claimed that women writers (yes, all of them) are "unequal" to him, partially because a woman "is not a complete master of a house, so that comes over in her writing." I had never read Naipaul before hearing his statements, and unless I forget about them, I probably never will. I suffer from an odd sort of reading quirk- if an author is alive, I am totally susceptible to the influences of his or her personality.
Another example: Orson Scott Card. I learned (from Twitter, natch) that he's quite a homophobe. Anyone who rewrites Shakespeare to expose its purported gay agenda…that person is on a whole other level of delusional hatred. Despite the fact that I love Ender's Game and want to hold it to my heart while singing in the forest accompanied by friendly woodland creatures, I now feel squeamish about buying any of his other books.
One more- Jonathan Franzen. I'm sure we're all tired of talking about him, so I'll just say that every time I read a thing he has said in public, that thing makes me less and less willing to slog through the rest of The Corrections (I mean really, anyone who makes Edith Wharton's writing career all about how she was ugly and suffered from literary penis-envy…do I really want to read 600 pages of that guy's thoughts? I do not.).
This quirktastic impatience I have for high levels of jerkiness from living authors does not, oddly, extend to dead ones. Hemingway was an alcoholic womanizer (see also Anderson, Sherwood) with a love for animal cruelty, but I can and do read The Old Man and the Sea every summer without guilt and have placed Ernest on my list of Authors Whose Entire Backlist I Must Read, Or Perish. Charles Dickens was an anti-Semitic adulterer. Virginia Woolf was also oddly anti-Semitic (despite being married to a Jewish man), and was snah-HOB-bee. W. Somerset Maugham slept with another man's wife and may or may not have paid underage boys to…entertain his party guests (not proven!).
But I love all those dead people. Maybe it's the separation of time that makes the faults of classics authors less actually irritating and more foible-licious. Maybe I'm more forgiving of racism and sexism in authors from times gone by because there's always the excuse of social context- there's no real excuse for homophobia or women-bashing these days. Maybe my dabbling in the locavore food movement during a short-lived hippie phase made me so source-conscious that it's irrationally and illogically bled over into my reading habits.
It could also be because the works of classic authors are in the public domain and I don't want my hard-won book-buying dollars going to someone who says jerky things in a modern literary world. It's probably all those things, plus a dash of "classics are time-tested works of genius and who knows if J. Franz will still be relevant in 50 years."
So that's my idiosyncrasy of the week. It may change in 48 hours. Does who an author is as a person influence your reading choices? Is there some ethical line an author can cross that will make you wary of reading his or her work?
Enter to win a $50 gift card to Barnes and Noble!
Open Thread: March 12, 2012


text:
Home › Entertainment › Paul McCartney Calls Out the Rolling Stones for Being a 'Blues Cover Band' in New Interview
Paul McCartney Calls Out the Rolling Stones for Being a 'Blues Cover Band' in New Interview
by Brianna Vacca October 12, 2021
written by Brianna Vacca October 12, 2021 5:14 pm
(Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)
Former Beatle Paul McCartney is not the biggest fan of The Rolling Stones, it appears. According to the music icon, they're a blues cover band.
In a profile for The New Yorker, the "Let It Be" singer seemingly dissed rivals of his band's. The star had a lot to say about his opponent.
The Beatles drew from several influences during their musical career. They drew from Buddy Holly, Little Richard, and Elvis Presley. But McCartney can't say the same about The Rolling Stones. He says, "I'm not sure I should say it, but they're a blues cover band, that's sort of what the Stones are. I think our net was cast a bit wider than theirs."
It's not the first time that the ex-Beatles member has dismissed The Rolling Stones as a blues band. In April 2020, McCartney told Howard Stern that a lot of The Rolling Stones' tunes embed blues configurations. But, he says, "We had a little more influences. There are a lot of differences, and I love the Stones, but I'm with you. The Beatles were better." However, Stern asked McCartney directly which he thought was the better band. Obviously, he selected The Beatles.
Mick Jagger, seemingly getting no satisfaction from this banter, responded to McCartney. He says, "The real difference between these two bands is that one is unbelievably luckily still playing in stadiums, and the other band doesn't exist." Ouch.
Now now, there's nothing like mild mockery between two living legends.
Paul McCartney Insists He Didn't Breakup The Beatles
Paul McCartney insists that he isn't responsible for The Beatles' split despite the rumors. Instead, he says it was his former bandmate, John Lennon. McCartney told BBC Radio 4 on an episode set to air on October 23rd.
"I didn't instigate the split. That was our Johnny," says the singer. When asked about his decision to leave the band and split, McCartney exclaims, "Stop right there. I am not the person who instigated the split. Oh no, no, no. John walked into a room one day and said, 'I am leaving The Beatles.' Is that instigating the split, or not?"
After the split, Paul McCartney released two solo albums, "McCartney" and "Ram." He then formed his legendary band Wings. John Lennon went on to start the Plastic Ono Band with his wife and embarked on his own solo career. He has ten albums to his name, three of which were experimental with his wife Ono, a half-live album, and a cover LP. He also stayed home to take care of his son Sean.
In 1980, John Lennon was shot and killed by a deranged fan. This week, on October 9th, 2021, he would've turned 81 years old.


Recently I've noticed loads of requests for a simpler guide to getting connected to EON. The "dashcam" device that is capable of running OpenPilot giving supported vehicles the ability to drive semi-autonomously.
Yes, I added those really lame 90's internet gifs to get your attention. If you're on Windows, please follow my guide on installing the tools needed.
I use pretty specific tools in the rest of this article that you may not have installed on your system.
On Mac: CMD+SPACEBAR and type Terminal and press Return.
You will remain in Terminal / PowerShell for the majority of this article series.
Visit the Configuring OpenPilot page on the Comma Wiki.
Select and Copy the entire key from the page and return back here. I'll wait.
Now that you've copied the key, let's add it to a file on your computer.
Type in the following command to create the .ssh directory if it isn't already created.
By the way… ~/ is just a shortcut for your user directory.
Now we need to put the key we copied from the Wiki into a new file.
Paste (CMD+V / CTRL+V) the entire contents of the PRIVATE KEY just like the animation below.
After pasting it, press ESC on your keyboard, then type :wq! to save.
The file should be saved and closed and you should now see the prompt again.
Special note: Mac & Linux: you may have to run the following command so the machine knows the key is safe.
To continue on, we must ensure your EON is connected to the same wifi network as your computer. We also need to obtain the EON's IP address so let's do this.
With your EON in hand, (and hopefully within the comfort of your own home or office… no need to be in the car for this one…) tap the Settings button and scroll down to WiFi Settings.
If you aren't connected to the same Wifi, now is the time to go through the standard WiFi process. You know the drill… RIGHT?
If you find you are connected to the same network, click the ellipsis dots in the top right corner and click Advanced.
Scroll to the bottom of that screen to find the EON's IP address.
Now, back in the shell window on your computer. (PowerShell on Windows, Terminal on Mac / Linux).
If your ping appears successful, hit CTRL+C after about 4 pings (if on Mac). I believe Windows only pings 4 times by default.
After entering this command for the first time, you will likely receive a prompt for adding the unknown host to the known hosts file. Simply type yes and press enter to proceed. See an example in the animation below.
Now that you're connected to SSH, you can do many different tasks within your EON.


text:
namespace ServerSideCharacter
{
	public enum SSCMessageType
	{
		SyncPlayerHealth,
		SyncPlayerMana,
		SyncPlayerBank,
		RequestSaveData,
		RequestRegister,
		RequestSetGroup,
		RequestItem,
		RequestAuth,
		ResetPassword,
		SendLoginPassword,
		SendTimeSet,
		HelpCommand,
		KillCommand,
		ListCommand,
		SummonCommand,
		TPHereCommand,
		ButcherCommand,
		BanItemCommand,
		TPCommand,
		TimeCommand,
		ToggleExpert,
		ToggleHardMode,
		ToggleXmas,
		RegionCreateCommand,
		RegionRemoveCommand,
		RegionShareCommand,
		LockPlayer,
		TeleportPalyer,
		ToggleGodMode,
		SetGodMode,
		ServerSideCharacter,
		GenResources,
		ChestCommand,
		TPProtect
	}

	public enum GenerationType
	{
		Tree,
		Chest,
		Ore,
		Trap
	}
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Many businesses rely on hard-copy documents to keep track of their operations better, as well as other purposes like marketing assets. Some of these may be produced by hand while others are from printer-computer setups. Certain situations in this endeavour, however, may entail the need for a constant support programme through a printer service in Redhill, like Copy Solutions, Ltd.
When you need to acquire or lease a printer for your business, you must account for your immediate operational requirements and how they fit into your prospective unit. For instance, how many sheets of paper do you need to print every day? How many employees need to print documents on a regular basis? If there are images to be used in the documents, should they be black and white or coloured? From there, you can consult a printer sales specialist on which units meet your needs and are in stock.
Laser – Laser printers have been touted for crisp document reproduction and reduced noise while printing. They primarily use a special powder melded into the paper by a laser unit. Look further into the catalogue and analyse the specs – some of the more basic models will only be capable of black-and-white printing against B&W and colour prints for the more advanced models.
Some laser printers are designed for workgroup functions, but be sure to account for the paper volume and the sheet size. For example, certain documentation in your business may need regular A4-size paper but others may require printing on A3-size paper. You may also want to look into printers that boast photocopying capabilities, which can dovetail into whether your functions only require copier leasing instead of buying a printer outright.
Inkjet – Inkjet printers are well-suited for offices that do not need a diverse range of print choices. They also make a great option if you want to reduce the print queue of another printer in the office. Despite the "old-school" technology used, inkjet printers still produce high-quality colour graphics and photos that delight the senses.
Printing out hard-copy materials may not go out of style despite the supposed benefits of the "paperless society" and the widespread use of e-reading devices. If your business must produce a large volume of hard-copy documents, partnering with a company that specialises in printing services like Copy Solutions is a fantastic business advantage. Schedule a consultation now.
Simon Patrick has written 12 post in this blog.