Michelle Obama was one of the most influential, open-minded, and quite possibly the strongest First Lady ever. Even after her time in the White House, this juggernaut of justice has continued to inspire and help the American people and many more audiences around the world. Michelle Obama refuses to back down and always chooses to stick to the truth. It's no wonder than, that her new memoir is emotionally revealing, defiant, brave, and challenging.
Becoming has already received critical praise from a wide array of readers. The memoir, although still not available until next Tuesday the 13th, goes over many aspects of her life: from her marriage to Barack, to her time in the White House, and even her criticisms and critiques of the current president and his actions in and towards the media. True, as her newest book, Obama refuses to pull punches; the author has made sure that her voice continues to be heard as well as delivers the message to readers that they also have the power to be heard and recognized.
So far, besides the almost instant fame and positive reviews, Michelle Obama's new memoir has come under minor controversy due to her stance and opprobrium directed at President Trump. Obama brings up many points on her beliefs of the current President and his cabinet; many of which are harsh criticisms or even thorough questioning and condemnation of his acts during and after the 2016 election campaign.
From citing the infamous Access Hollywood tapes of 2005 to observing Trump's actions during debates and interviews, Obama decries his actions as sexist. However, past all of the usual "Trump-controversies" found in books of the same field or genre, Obama gives us a very personal inside look at not only her political life, but her marriage and relationships.
From citing her time in marriage counseling with Barack to discussing how she came to be able to find herself once again through her own tough times and loneliness, Michelle's memoir will find you feeling close to the former First Lady. If you ever thought that Obama was indestructible, this book will make you applaud her even more for her relatability and humanity.


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Newspaper of the Archdiocese of Chicago
Cardinal Blase J. Cupich
Clergy Appointment
Father Donald Senior, CP
Voice of Catholic Charities
Father James F. Keenan, SJ
Don Wycliff
Kerry Robinson
Cardinal George's Column Archive
Renew My Church
Cardinal Cupich
Synod On Amazon
Pope Francis Global Academy
Fr. George J. Dyer
Pastor emeritus
Father George J. Dyer, 90, died Dec. 3 at Condell Hospital, Libertyville.
He was pastor emeritus of St. Patrick Parish, Wadsworth. He also served on the faculty of the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary and was an editor and author for the theological journal, "Chicago Studies."
Born in Chicago, Father Dyer attended Our Lady of Sorrows School, Quigley Preparatory Seminary and the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary before being ordained in 1953. He later earned a doctorate in sacred theology.
He spent the first half of his priesthood at the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary as a librarian, lecturer in patristics and later as dean and professor of theology. While a doctoral student and professor, Father Dyer celebrated Mass at St. Gilbert Parish, Grayslake (1953-1955); Santa Maria del Popolo Parish, Mundelein (1955-1963); and Transfiguration Parish, Wauconda (1964-1966).
In 1966, Father Dyer was named assistant pastor at St. Martin. A year later, he was appointed dean of studies at Mundelein's School of Theology, a position he held until 1978 when he was named pastor of St. Patrick Parish, Wadsworth (1978-1995).
During his first years serving the people of Wadsworth, Father Dyer saw a need for a larger church given the explosion of new housing in the area in the 1980s. The forecast proved to be true, as St. Patrick grew from 350 families to 2,400 families over a decade.
Father Dyer served for 16 years after his retirement as a weekend presider at St. Julian Eymard Parish, Elk Grove Village, and continued to minister to the retirement community of Sedgebrook in Lincolnshire until his health declined.
Father Dyer's contribution to theological reflection was recognized by the Catholic Theological Society of America in 1982 when the society awarded him its highest honor, the John Courtney Murray Award.
Fr. Fred Tomzik
Pastor, fire chaplain
Father Fred W. Tomzik, 59, died Dec. 12. Before retiring for health reasons, Father Tomzik was most recently pastor of St. Monica Church in Chicago.
Born in Chicago, he attended Divine Savior School in Norridge, St. Patrick High School, Triton College in River Grove, Niles College, Loyola University-Chicago and the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary. He was ordained in 1984.
Father Tomzik served as associate pastor at the Nativity of Our Lord (1984-1989), Divine Infant Jesus in Westchester (1989-1996) and St. Eugene (1996-1997). Later, he served as pastor at St. Louise de Marillac in La Grange Park (1997-2010) and St. Monica (2010-2015).
Father Tomzik was also chaplain of the Norwood Park Fire Department and an active member in both the Catholic Committee on Scouting and the Girl Scout Medals Committee.
He is survived by his mother, Beverly, and siblings, John Tomzik, Philip Tomzik, Steven Tomzik, David Tomzik and Janice Vercillo.
Sr. Dorothy Pelt
Educator, missionary
Mercy Sister Dorothy Pelt, 97, died Nov. 27.
Born in Milwaukee, she entered the Sisters of Mercy in 1942. She began her ministry as a teacher, working in Chicago, Des Plaines and Milwaukee for 30 years. After serving as a principal at St. Patrick in Des Plaines, she had her first experience as a missionary in Peru.
She returned after a year when the school she taught at in Peru was closed and went back to teaching at Siena and Mother McAuley high schools in Chicago. During the summers, she volunteered in Honduras. In 1976, she was asked to serve full-time in Honduras, where she stayed for 38 years.
She visited the 54 villages she served no matter the weather, the distance or the terrain, at times living out of her car as she traveled. Because a priest made it to each community only every couple of months, she coordinated teams of lay ministers who could celebrate the Liturgy of the Word on Sundays and other religious holidays, and she trained catechists to teach the children.
She returned to Mercy Circle in Chicago at the age of 94.
Copyright © 2020 Chicago Catholic

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


These sleek bamboo cutting boards will quickly become your favorite meal-prep tools. The set includes three sizes to accommodate all the delicious ingredients youre chopping up. Hand wash onlydry with a cloth.
Large: 15 3/4quotx 12quotx 1/2quotthickmedium: 13quotx 10quotx 1/2quotthicksmall: 9 7/8quotx 7 7/8quotx 1/2quotthick.


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Prime Legal > Blog > Blog > Sub-rule (9) of Rule-6 of the High Court of Orissa (Designation of Senior Advocate) Rules, 2019 is ultra-vires: High Court of Orissa
Sub-rule (9) of Rule-6 of the High Court of Orissa (Designation of Senior Advocate) Rules, 2019 is ultra-vires: High Court of Orissa
Hon'ble the Supreme Court in paragraph- 73.4 of Indira Jaising case has ipse dixit not stated anything about the pick through suo motu source. Such silence in paragraph-73.4, according to our understanding is a conscious silence. Therefore, sub-rule(9) of Rule- 6 of "2019 Rules" is not in consonance with the said Judgment and ultra-vires of the guidelines/norms. This was held in Banshidhar Baug V. Orissa High Court, Represented though its Registrar General and others[W.P.(C) Nos. 17009 and 17110 of 2019] in the High Court of Orissa by the division bench consisting of JUSTICE CHITTA RANJAN DASH AND JUSTICE PRAMATH PATNAIK.
Facts are that the petitioners are four Advocates who aspire to be conferred with the designation of "Senior Advocate". While the process of conferring designation of "Senior Advocate" was on in accordance with Rule-6 of High Court of Orissa Rules, 2019 the Hon'ble Full Court conferred the designation of "Senior Advocate" on five Advocates, who are Opposite Party Nos. 5 to 9, writ petitions have been filed against the same.
The Petitioners appearing in person submitted that the action of the Permanent Committee and the Hon'ble Full Court is violative of Article- 14 of the Constitution of India, "2019 Rules" and Section- 16(2) of the Advocates Act.
The counter affidavit filed by the Orissa High Court questioned the locus standi of the petitioners to file the writ petition and its maintainability. The designation of "Senior Advocate", being not a "bounty", "title" or "office" and the applications of the petitioners for being designated as "Senior Advocate" being still pending the writ petition is not maintainable being premature.
The Court made reference to the judgement of Apex court delivered in the case of Indira Jaising vs. Supreme Court of India, wherein the following observation had been made,"The sole yardstick by which we propose to introduce a set of guidelines to govern the matter is the need for maximum objectivity in the process so as to ensure that it is only and only the most deserving and the very best who would be bestowed the honour and dignity. The credentials of every advocate who seeks to be designated as Senior Advocate or whom the Full Court suo motu decides to confer the honour must be subject to an utmost strict process of scrutiny leaving no scope for any doubt or dissatisfaction in the matter."
The court also made reference to paragraph 73 of the above-mentioned judgement, wherein it was held that, "It is in the above backdrop that we proceed to venture into the exercise and lay down the following norms/guidelines which henceforth would govern the exercise of designation of Senior Advocates by the Supreme Court and all High Courts in the Country. The norms/guidelines, in existence, shall be suitably modified so as to be in accord with the present".
Considering the precedents and the facts of the case the court held that, sub-rule (9) of Rule- 6 of the High Court of Orissa (Designation of Senior Advocate) Rules, 2019 is declared as ultra-vires of the guidelines/norms framed in paragraph- 73 of Indira Jaising case.


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Upłazkowa Koleba – jaskinia, a właściwie schronisko, w Dolinie Kościeliskiej w Tatrach Zachodnich. Wejście do niej znajduje się w Wąwozie Kraków, w ścianie Upłazkowej Turni, w pobliżu Upłazkowej Szczeliny, na wysokości 1460 metrów n.p.m. Długość jaskini wynosi 8,5 metrów, a jej deniwelacja 2,5 metrów.

Opis jaskini
Jaskinię stanowi obszerny korytarz zaczynający się w dużym otworze wejściowym, a kończący, za 2-metrowym progiem, szczelinami nie do przejścia.

Przyroda
W jaskini brak jest nacieków. Na ścianach występuje roślinność zielona, glony, mchy, porosty oraz paprocie.

Historia odkryć
Jaskinia była znana od dawna. Jako pierwsi zbadali ją oraz sporządzili plan i opis  J. Nowak i M. Pindel w 2006 roku.

Przypisy

Jaskinie polskich Tatr
Jaskinie Tatr Zachodnich

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


This is a warning and we all must be concerned about protecting jobs and keeping them in this country. I care deeply about working families hearing this news right now. If we want our auto industry to continue to be the global leader in transforming mobility, federal policy must ensure we keep them at the forefront of innovation and technology. Congress must work together on bipartisan policies that keep manufacturing jobs in this country, develops clean energy, and supports infrastructure to transform our mobility future.


The purpose of Input is to collect actionable feedback from our user base across each channel of our software development process. The application collects feedback and offers a set of analysis methods for looking at the resulting data.
This is my 2014 retrospective for Input.
2014 was a big year for Input. This is the year we hit a point where the project is mature and stable. This is the year we worked on making it easier for new people to start working on Input. This is the year we fixed all the issues that made it difficult for Input to support multiple products. This is the year we created an API that allowed anyone to access the data to let them write their own dashboards. This is the year we implemented a translation infrastructure so that non-English feedback can flow through our tools (previously, it was handled manually). It was a big year.
788597: [research] Should we use a stacked graph on the dashboard?
In 2013, we resolved more bugs than we created partially because we closed a bunch of bugs related to the old Input that weren't relevant anymore.
In 2014, we created more bugs than we closed by 10%. I think that's about what we want.
15 people had git commits. 26 people created bugs. 14 people resolved bugs. 65 people commented on bugs.
One thing I don't have is counts for who helped translate strings which is a really important part of development. My apologies.
Of all those people, only 1 is a "core developer"--that's me. Everyone else contributed their time and energies towards making Input better. I really appreciate that. Thank you!
Site health dashboard: I wrote a site health dashboard that helps me understand how the site is performing before and after deployments as well as after releases and other events.
Client side smoke tests: I wrote smoke tests for the client side. I based it on the defunct input-tests code that QA was maintaining up until we rewrote Input. The smoke tests have been invaluable for reducing/eliminating data-loss bugs.
Vagrant: I took some inspiration from Erik Rose and DXR and wrote a Vagrant provisioning shell script. This includes a docs overhaul as well.
Automated translation system (human and machine): I wrote an automated translation system. It's generalized so that it isn't model/field specific. It's also generalized so that we can add plugins for other translation systems. It's currently got plugins for Dennis, Gengo machine translation and Gengo human translation. We're machine translating most incoming feedback. We're human translating Firefox OS feedback. This was a HUGE project, but it's been immensely valuable.
Better query syntax: We were upgraded to Elasticsearch 0.90.10. I switched the query syntax for the dashboard search field to use Elasticsearch simple_query_string. That allows users to express search queries they weren't previously able to express.
utm_source and utm_campaign handling: I finished the support for handling utm_source and utm_campaign querystring parameters. This allows us to differentiate between organic feedback and non-organic feedback.
More like this: I added a "more like this" section to the response view. This makes it possible for UA analyzers to look at a response and see other responses that are similar.
Dashboards for everyone: We wrote an API and some compelling examples of dashboards you can build using the API. It's being used in a few places now. We'll grow it going forward as needs arise. I'm pretty psyched about this since it makes it possible for people with needs to help themselves and not have to wait for me to get around to their work.
Dashboards for everyone project plan.
Vagrant: We took the work I did last quarter and improved upon it, rewrote the docs and have a decent Vagrant setup now. L. Guruprasad improved on this and the documentation and setting up a Vagrant-based vm for Input development is much easier.
Reduce contributor pain project plan.
Abuse detection: Ian spent his internship working on an abuse classifier so that we can more proactively detect and prevent abusive feedback from littering Input. We gathered some interesting data and the next step is probably to change the approach we used and apply some more complex ML things to the problem. The key here is that we want to detect abuse with confidence and not accidentally catch swaths of non-abuse. Input feedback has some peculiar properties that make this difficult.
Reduce the abuse project plan.
Loop support: Loop is now using Input for user sentiment feedback.
Heartbeat support: User Advocacy is working on a project to give us a better baseline for user sentiment. This project was titled Heartbeat, but I'm not sure whether that'll change or not. Regardless, we added support for the initial prototype.
Data retention policy: We've been talking about a data retention policy for some time. We decided on one, finalized it and codified it in code.
Shed the last vestiges of Playdoh and funfactory: We shed the last bits of Playdoh and funfactory. Input uses the same protections and security decisions those two projects enforced, but without being tied to some of the infrastructure decisions. This made it easier to switch to peep-based requirements management.
Switched to FactoryBoy and overhauled tests: Tests run pretty fast in Fjord now. We switched to FactoryBoy, so writing model-based tests is a lot easier than the stuff we had before.
Python 2.7: Input is now running on Python 2.7. Thank you, Jake!
Remote troubleshooting data capture: The generic feedback form which is hosted on Input now has a section allowing users to opt-in to sending data about their browser along with their feedback. This data is crucial to helping us suss out problems with video playback, graphics cards/drivers and malicious addons.
This code is still "alpha". We'll be finishing it up in 2015q1.
Remote troubleshooting data capture project plan.
Heartbeat v1 and v2: People leave feedback on Input primarily when they're frustrated with something. Because of this, the sentiment numbers we get on Input tilt heavily negative and only represent people who are frustrated and were able to find the feedback form. Heartbeat will give us sentiment data that's more representative of our entire user base.
As a stop-gap to get the project going, Input is the backend collecting all the Heartbeat data. We rewrote the Heartbeat-related code for Heartbeat v2 in 2014q4.
Feedback form overhaul: We rewrote the feedback form to clean up the text, reduce confusion about what data is made public and what data is kept private, reduce the number of steps to leave feedback and improve the form for both desktop and mobile devices.
Feedback form overhaul project plan.
We also fixed the form so it supports multiple products because we're collecting feedback for multiple products on Input now.
Looking at the stats above, it's pretty clear that this is predominantly a one-person project. Ricky, Mike and Rehan do all my code review. Without them, things would be a lot worse.
We maintain a Get Involved page.
We hang out on #input on irc.mozilla.org.
We have an input-dev mailing list.
LGuruprasad found a bug in the script that caused commits-by-author information to be wrong. Fixed the script and updated the stats!


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Saint Anthony to Merriam Park
Minnesota Commercial Railroad from [New Brighton Park and] St. Anthony to Merriam Park
At St. Anthony (MP 1.4), the Minnesota Commercial Railroad connects on the south side of the line, the ex-GN line expands to two tracks, a road bridge passes overhead, and then three tracks, and the MC's main track from the north crosses at grade, not with a flat crossing but with a series of connectors from a track trailing in on the north side as the connector on the south side turns away south, around the northeast side of that curved Minnesota Commercial Midway Yard, with three extra tracks on the east side and a road bridge overhead, to the yard's south end at MC Yard A (MP 0.7).
The Twin Cities "Midway" Amtrak station (MP 0.5), with its 'modern' depot, is on the west side of a north-south leg of the Minnesota Commercial Railroad, across the main track from a yard. There is a west side and an island platform, served by three tracks, and a spur track for private cars on the west side, just north of the station. From the station, the three tracks reduce to one, with yard tracks on the west side, and the line heads south-southwest, bridging over University Avenue to reach the CP (ex-Soo, ex-Milwaukee) at the wye at Merriam Park (MP 0.0), with extra track on the east side of the wye.
The entire line has a speed limit of 15 mph for passenger trains and 10 mph for freight, and is entirely within Yard Limits.


LONDON � A recipe for disaster seemed to be in place for the New England defense early in its game against St. Louis Sunday in Wembley Stadium.
LONDON � A recipe for disaster seemed to be in place for the New England defense early in its game against St. Louis Sunday in Wembley Stadium. Instead, the Patriot defenders cooked up what might have been their best effort yet this season.
After allowing a touchdown on the first possession of the game � St. Louis marched 80 yards in five plays � the Pats defense pitched a shutout over the final 57 minutes to help their team sweep past the Rams, 45-7, at Wembley Stadium.
The work was impressive under any circumstances. But it was all the more special because of the situation the defense faced. The unit came into the game shorthanded with both its starting safeties back on the other side of the Atlantic with injuries that prevented them from even making the trip.
What�s more, two of the co-captains, Wilfork and Jerod Mayo, were feeling less than ideal. Both missed practice time in the days leading up to the game because of illness, a problem that has been making the rounds with the team over the past two weeks.
Then, when the game began, Mayo and cornerback Kyle Arrington collided as they were making a tackle on the first play of the day. Arrington was knocked out with a head injury and never returned.
With players like Sterling Moore and rookies Tavon Wilson, Dont�a Hightower and Chandler Jones stepping into key roles, the Pats defense not only survived, it shut down the Rams.
Mayo could joke about one of the keys to the game, at least for him and Wilfork.
�Pepto Bismol, baby,� he said with a big smile. The medicine obviously helped. He tied for game high in tackles with Brandon Spikes, with eight.
Devin McCourty moved from corner to safety for the second straight week because of the injuries to Chung and Gregory. He was working with a unit that entered the game ranked 30th in the league in pass defense.
�I felt today I did a better job communicating, getting all those guys on the right track,� McCourty said. �Once you have some moving parts back there. it�s important everybody lines up and plays the same defense.
McCourty pointed to Marquice Cole as an example of a player who came through. Cole is a defensive back who came to the Patriots from the Jets this season. Until Sunday, he had been primarily a special teams player. He had to work more because of the shortage in the defensive backfield.
Wilfork spoke about how coach Bill Belichick has been tough on the defense as the Pats went 4-3 in their first seven starts.
�This is a tough football team. I�m talking physically and mentally,� Wilfork said. �The things Bill asks us to do sometimes don�t always work in our favor, and we wonder why we have to do it this way. But he�s the head coach. He knows what�s best for this team.
�It�s just a stepping stone,� Wilfork said. �Guys can see that when we play together and don�t hurt ourselves we can be a dangerous football team. We put up a lot of points, made big stops, guys made interceptions (rookies Alfonzo Dennard and Tavon Wilson) each had one. The kickoff team and special teams always gave us good field position.
�We all helped one another today,� he said.


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The Chosen One – Premiere
by theoneringSep 10, 2001Lord of the Rings (Movies)
by Tom Roston
"It feels like this road could go on endlessly," Elijah Wood says, spinning around and then walking on the flat, cracked earth of a dry lake bed in California's Mojave Desert. "You are chasing something that you are not actually reaching."
We are staring at a mirage, walking toward it as it recedes in the dry heat. Water appears to surround us, reflecting the sage bush and rocks that create a perimeter around this remote, ancient spot a mere two-hour drive from Wood's home in Santa Monica.
"Now, this is spiritual!" he says. "I'll have to make pilgrimages out here." In the distance, a brushfire rages, casting a smoke plume high into the cloudless sky, but Wood focuses on the dusty earth below us, and he flops down on his stomach. "Ahhh, the ground is amazing," he says. "What would be incredible would be to camp out here. Can you imagine seeing the stars?"
He sits up and peers around, looking again at the mirage. "This is so cool," he exclaims. "You can go anywhere."
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with weary feet,
Until it joins some larger way,
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say.
—Frodo Baggins, The Fellowship of the Ring
There was little surprise when, on July 8, 1999, New Line announced that Elijah Wood had been cast as Frodo Baggins, the lead character of J.R.R. Tolkien's legendary fantasy The Lord of the Rings. Sure, there had been talk about finding an unknown to be the chosen one, but Wood was so clearly perfect: At five-foot-six, with otherworldly, wide-set blue eyes and elfin features, as well as a reputation for being one of Young Hollywood's most talented and diligent actors, he was ideal to play the diminutive, hill-dwelling hobbit.""Elijah instinctively understands how to act for the screen. And he has awesome craft and technical ability," says his Rings director, New Zealander Peter Jackson. "It's quite humbling to see so much talent in someone so young.""
Joining Wood is a dream cast: Ian McKellen as the wizard Gandalf, Ian Holm as hobbit Bilbo Baggins, Cate Blanchett as the elf queen Galadriel, and Liv Tyler as the elf Arwen. "It was amazing to be welcomed into a journey that I knew would not only be a journey as an actor but as a person as well," Wood says. "We all signed on to this knowing that we would be taking an adventure that would mirror that of the book." Indeed, New Line's handing the reins over to Jackson—who, though he blew away indie audiences in 1994 with his smart, creepy Heavenly Creatures, had made only one studio film, 1996's commercially disappointing The Frighteners—was an unprecedented gamble. And allowing him to film the entire trilogy in one stretch, in his homeland, over an unheard-of 15 months, at a cost that is now nearing $300 million, was an act of epic, Tolkienesque proportions.
Please click on the link below to read more.
Middle-earth Map Wall Hanging The Lord of the Rings : The One Ring T-Shirt Lord of the Rings Tree of Gondor T-Shirt
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Found in Home 5 News 5 Lord of the Rings (Movies) 5 The Chosen One – Premiere


General Sales Manager Justin Hollenkamp (second from left), eCommerce Director Kelsey Skansgaard and Social Media Manager Jeff Fuller deliver the bounty of school supplies to a very grateful St. Cloud 742 School District Superintendent Willie Jett (far left).
Normally, when touting the exceptional cargo-carrying capacity of the Tundra, salespeople express it in terms of volume or weight. But Jeff Fuller had a different payload in mind.
Fuller contacted officials at the local school district, who welcomed the support and provided a list of commonly needed items. The dealership dressed up a 2015 Tundra with a custom "Tundra of Supplies" wrap and prominently placed it in at the Crossroads Center mall just over a mile away. Then Fuller fired up the social media machine, promoting the month-long campaign on Facebook and Twitter.
Sales consultant Rick Knettel also got in the act, starring in a lighthearted YouTube video, while local radio stations promoted the effort.
It worked! Generous patrons dropped a wide range of school supplies in the Tundra's bed, such as glue sticks, folders, pencils, pens, highlighters, rulers, paper, book covers, markers, paint, crayons, scissors, binders, notebooks and backpacks.


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Working to reopen the economy safely and sooner
Apr. 24, 2020 / Weekly Roundup
Working for the People of PA
Click here to view video.
Lawmakers were back in session this week, continuing our fight for the people of Pennsylvania as we work to safely reopen businesses that can comply with scientific guidelines outlined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) while continuing to protect our citizens, frontline health care providers and first responders from the COVID-19 pandemic.
We passed Senate Bill 613 that would help create clear and consistent guidelines about business closures and give businesses across the Commonwealth the opportunity to reopen ONLY IF they could do so safely. While I am disappointed the governor chose to veto this bill earlier this week, it's clear our vote to start reopening the economy safely using scientific CDC guidelines encouraged the governor to take a step in this direction himself by announcing he would possibly start lifting stay-at-home orders in some areas of the state with minimal COVID-19 cases May 8.
To help keep us moving in the direction of safely reopening the construction industry, we passed House Bill 2400, which would allow all public and private construction activities that can adhere to scientific CDC guidelines to protect workers to resume operations. Pennsylvania is one of the only states that has stopped nearly all construction.
We passed Senate Bill 841 to, among other things, allow online car sales in the Commonwealth. The governor has signed this bill into law. Surrounding states have allowed dealerships to remain open to sell cars in a safe manner, and I believe Pennsylvania should be doing the same, again following scientific CDC guidelines. On Tuesday, we passed House Bill 2388 that would allow all auto dealerships to reopen if they choose to do so, safely.
We passed House Bill 2376, the One Staffer/One Shopper bill, that would allow a retail business staffed by one employee to open for business as long as it allowed only one customer into the store at a time. The bill is designed to enable shoppers to visit smaller venue retailers and avoid the larger crowds often present at big box stores.
We passed House Bill 1822, which would provide protections for workers impacted by COVID-19, ensuring they cannot be terminated or demoted for becoming ill or abiding by a doctor's order to quarantine.
We passed House Bill 1869 that would help ambulance companies meet staffing requirements and continue to serve their communities, as well as ensure benefits for first responders and National Guard members who may be impacted by COVID-19.
Finally, a bill to enhance the availability of telemedicine in the Commonwealth was sent to the governor's desk on Tuesday. If signed into law by the governor, Senate Bill 857 would improve safe access to care in this time of social distancing, as well as boost accessibility and affordability of care in rural and other underserved areas of the Commonwealth.
Wolf Rejects Sensible Bill to Reopen Businesses
Just hours after announcing his version of a "plan" to reopen Pennsylvania businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic, Gov. Tom Wolf vetoed Senate Bill 613, which included my amendment to put federally recognized standards in place to determine life sustaining businesses, which is used utilized by 44 other states, and require those businesses determined to be life sustaining to follow CDC safety guidelines. In response, I issued the following statement:
I am deeply disappointed the governor has once again decided to go it alone in his decision making instead of taking input from the General Assembly. He has once again turned his back on the small businesses – its owners and employees – that are the lifeblood of our economy, while failing to protect essential workers at the same time.
Since the start of the governor's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, he has offered no insight into which businesses he's allowed to operate other than to state they are 'essential.' The waiver process has been ripe with inconsistencies as the governor allowed big box stores to remain open and to sell the exact same products as small businesses that have been closed for more than a month. Desperate business owners are begging for help as they struggle with five weeks of no income, no ability to earn, and delayed assistance from unemployment compensation benefit that won't provide any income for at least another week.
Last week, Pennsylvanians heard the governor say a plan to reopen our economy would be data driven and should be done in a bipartisan fashion. If the governor's veto, which ignores data and the voices of tens of thousands of Pennsylvania business owners and employees, is any indication of what he considers 'bipartisanship,' I have strong fears the status quo of the governor ignoring the General Assembly will continue and elected officials will remain shut out of the decision-making process.
Construction to Resume May 1
You can't rebuild the economy if construction sites are closed. Fortunately, the governor heard our calls, and yours, to reopen this essential industry. Starting May 1, all construction in Pennsylvania will resume. The governor took this action after the House approved House Bill 2400 to reopen construction.
Governor Outlines Plan to Reopen PA
While the stay-at-home order has been extended to May 8 statewide, Gov. Tom Wolf this week also outlined a phased plan he intends to use to reopen the Commonwealth's economy. Areas with fewer confirmed cases of COVID-19 will be the first to move toward reopening with other regions remaining under current orders until they reach a level of fewer than 50 cases per 100,000 people for a period of 14 days.
The governor compared the three phases to a traffic light, with the entire state currently in the red phase. Areas in the northwest and northcentral portions of the state are the most likely candidates to move into the yellow phase, and ultimately the green phase, first. For details about what the governor would permit in each phase, review the chart below.
Unemployment Compensation Update
With so many people left unemployed as a result of the governor's orders to close non-essential businesses, the Department of Labor and Industry has received more than 1.5 million
unemployment claims since mid-March. I am unfortunately well aware of the extreme delays, system crashes and other problems filers have experienced in trying to claim the benefits they need. I continue to stress to administration officials the dire need of so many Pennsylvanians struggling to pay their bills and put food on their tables. For general information about unemployment compensation benefits, click here.
Last weekend, the department opened its online application for the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program to provide benefits to self-employed workers and independent contractors. That system has also had more than a few bugs, but I'm told it is functioning properly at this time. To learn more about how to apply for assistance through PUA, click here.
The Pennsylvania Department of Health is now releasing both county and ZIP code-level information about COVID-19 cases. An interactive map shows the number of confirmed cases and negative tests, as well as the number of deaths if applicable. Click here to check out the map.
Nearly $16 million is on its way to Pennsylvania food banks, which are providing critical assistance to Pennsylvanians during the COVID-19 health crisis. The state received $14.9 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for The Emergency Food Assistance Program to provide critical support and food to Pennsylvania's food banks and emergency food assistance network working to feed the hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians in need. To find a food pantry near you, click here.
The Pennsylvania Department of Aging has launched an online COVID-19 resource guide for older adults, their family members and caregivers. The guide includes information on meals, prescriptions, protective services, scams, and how to stay active and connected. Click here for more information.


text:
require 'spec_helper'

describe LocalImage do

  it_behaves_like 'an api model'

  let(:local_image1) do
    double(:local_image1,
      id: 'abc123',
      info: {
        'VirtualSize' => 111,
        'RepoTags' => [
          'foo/bar:latest',
          'foo/bar:1.0',
          'fizz:latest',
          'private:5000/bizzle:1.5'
        ]
      })
  end

  let(:local_image2) do
    double(:local_image2,
      id: 'xyz789',
      info: {
        'VirtualSize' => 222,
      })
  end

  let(:local_image3) do
    double(:local_image3,
      id: 'efg456',
      info: {
        'VirtualSize' => 333,
        'RepoTags' => ['panamax:latest']
      })
  end

  before do
    allow(Docker::Image).to receive(:all).and_return([local_image1, local_image2, local_image3])
  end

  describe 'attributes' do
    it { should respond_to :id }
    it { should respond_to :virtual_size }
    it { should respond_to :tags }
  end

  describe '#untagged?' do

    it 'returns true when id is <none>' do
      subject.id = described_class::UNTAGGED
      expect(subject).to be_untagged
    end

    it 'returns false when id is NOT <none>' do
      subject.id = 'foo'
      expect(subject).to_not be_untagged
    end
  end

  describe '.all' do

    it 'returns a result for each local image' do
      result = described_class.all

      expect(result).to be_kind_of(Array)
      expect(result.count).to eq 3
    end

    it 'returns LocalImage instances' do
      result = described_class.all.first

      expect(result).to be_kind_of(described_class)
      expect(result.id).to eq local_image1.id
      expect(result.virtual_size).to eq local_image1.info['VirtualSize']
      expect(result.tags).to eq local_image1.info['RepoTags']
    end
  end

  describe '.find' do

    context 'when the image exists' do

      it 'returns the result with the given ID' do
        result = described_class.find(local_image3.id)
        expect(result.id).to eq local_image3.id
      end
    end

    context 'when the image does NOT exist' do

      it 'returns nil' do
        expect(described_class.find('sparky')).to be_nil
      end
    end
  end

  describe '.destroy' do

    let(:id) { '123abc' }
    let(:image) { double(:image, delete: nil) }

    before do
      allow(Docker::Image).to receive(:get).and_return(image)
    end

    it 'retrieves the image' do
      expect(Docker::Image).to receive(:get).with(id)
      described_class.destroy(id)
    end

    it 'deletes the image' do
      expect(image).to receive(:delete)
      described_class.destroy(id)
    end

    it 'returns true' do
      expect(described_class.destroy(id)).to eq true
    end
  end

  describe '.all_by_repo' do

    it 'returns a result for each unique, tagged repo' do
      result = described_class.all_by_repo

      expect(result).to be_kind_of(Array)
      expect(result.count).to eq 4
      expect(result.map(&:id)).to match_array %w(foo/bar fizz panamax private:5000/bizzle)
    end

    it 'returns the tags for each repo' do
      result = described_class.all_by_repo.map(&:tags).flatten

      expect(result.count).to eq 5
      expect(result).to match_array %w(latest latest latest 1.5 1.0)
    end
  end

  describe '.find_by_name' do

    let(:name) { 'foo/bar' }

    it 'returns a LocalImage for the specified name' do
      result = described_class.find_by_name(name)

      expect(result).to be_kind_of(described_class)
      expect(result.id).to eq name
    end

    context 'when the specified name cannot be found' do

      it 'returns nil' do
        result = described_class.find_by_name('doesnotexist')
        expect(result).to be_nil
      end
    end
  end

  describe '.search' do

    let(:query) { 'f' }

    it 'returns LocalImages for all repos matching search' do
      result = described_class.search(query)

      expect(result).to be_kind_of(Array)
      expect(result.count).to eq 2
      expect(result.map(&:id)).to eq %w(foo/bar fizz)
    end

    context 'when a limit is provided' do

      let(:limit) { 1 }

      it 'returns only the specified number of results' do
        result = described_class.search(query, limit)
        expect(result.size).to eq limit
      end
    end
  end

  describe '.find_by_id_or_name' do

    context 'when queried by ID' do

      let(:key) { local_image3.id }

      it 'returns the LocalImage matching the provided ID' do
        result = described_class.find_by_id_or_name(key)
        expect(result).to be_kind_of(described_class)
        expect(result.id).to eq key
      end
    end

    context 'when queried by name' do

      let(:key) { 'foo/bar' }

      it 'returns a LocalImage matching the provided name' do
        result = described_class.find_by_id_or_name(key)
        expect(result).to be_kind_of(described_class)
        expect(result.id).to eq key
      end
    end
  end
end

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Q: How to prove this inequality To following problem,   I can't solve it unfortunately. Prove that for all integer values $n,p,q>1(p>q)$,,
$$\dfrac{p}{q}(n+1)^{\frac{p}{q}-1}\ge (n+1)\cdot\left(\dfrac{1^p+2^p+\cdots+(n+1)^p}{1^q+2^q+\cdots+(n+1)^q}\right)-n\cdot\left(\dfrac{1^p+2^p+\cdots+n^p}{1^q+2^q+\cdots+n^q}\right)$$also I've tried to simplify that expression and I've found that it's equal to this , but I can't move on after that.

A: You cannot prove it because it is wrong! Take $n=2, p=3, q=2$. Then obviously $n,p,q>1\;$ and $p>q.$
Now the LHS is
$\frac{3}{2}\sqrt{3}\approx 2.598$ but the RHS is
$$3\frac{1^3+2^3+3^3}{1^2+2^2+3^2} - 2 \frac{1^3+2^3}{1^2+2^2}
=3\frac{36}{14}-2\frac{9}{5}\approx 4.114$$

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Influence of geographical origin and ethnicity on mortality in patients on antiretroviral therapy in Canada, Europe, and the United States
Background. Our objective was to assess differences in all-cause mortality, as well as AIDS and non-AIDS death rates, among patients started on antiretroviral therapy (ART) according to their geographical origin and ethnicity/race in Europe, Canada, and the United States.Methods. This was a collaboration of 19 cohort studies of human immunodeficiency virus-positive subjects who have initiated ART (ART Cohort Collaboration) between 1998 and 2009. Adjusted mortality hazard ratios (AHRs) were estimated using Cox regression. A competing risk framework was used to estimate adjusted subdistribution hazard ratios for AIDS and non-AIDS mortality.Results. Of 46 648 European patients, 16.3% were from sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), 5.1% Caribbean and Latin America, 1.6% North Africa and Middle East, and 1.7% Asia/West; of 1371 patients from Canada, 14.9% were First Nations and 22.4% migrants, and of 7742 patients from North America, 55.5% were African American and 6.6% Hispanic. Migrants from SSA (AHR, 0.79; 95% confidence interval [CI],. 68-.92) and Asia/West (AHR, 0.62; 95% CI,. 41-.92) had lower mortality than Europeans; these differences appeared mainly attributable to lower non-AIDS mortality. Compared with white Canadians, mortality in Canadian First Nations people (AHR, 1.48; 95% CI,. 96-2.29) was higher, both for AIDS and non-AIDS mortality rates. Among US patients, when compared with whites, African Americans had higher AIDS and non-AIDS mortality, and hazard ratios for all-cause mortality increased with time on ART.Conclusions. The lower mortality observed in migrants suggests "healthy migrant" effects, whereas the higher mortality in First Nations people and African Americans in North America suggests social inequality gaps. © The Author 2013. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. All rights reserved.
Michael Mugavero MD, MHSc
10.1093/cid/cit111
Del Amo J; Jarrin I; May M; Dabis F; Crane H; Podzamczer D; Sterling TR; Abgrall S; Lampe F; Justice A


text:
Teen Arrested in Indiana School Shooting Wrote 'Today Is the Day'
jessica hopper
PlayABCNEWS.com
WATCH Teen Shot at Indiana Middle School
A teenager who wrote on Facebook "today is the day" allegedly shot a student at an Indiana middle school today.
The alleged shooter had been enrolled at the school as recently as Monday, but was either suspended or expelled sometime this week, Indiana State Police Sgt. Curt Durnil said.
"The student that the police have in custody is a former student…this student was no longer a student and should not have been on school property," said Randy Taylor, assistant superintendent of business for the Martinsville School District.
The suspect is a 16-year-old male, ABC News affiliate WRTV reported.
Shots rang out near the doors of the west side of the school building around 7 a.m., 20 minutes before classes begin.
The wounded teen, 15-year-old Chance Jackson, suffered two shots to his stomach and was flown by helicopter to Methodist Hospital.
The family issued a statement saying that Chance is out of surgery and is in stable condition.
"We appreciate all of the thoughts, prayers and support and ask that you also pray for the families of all involved. Please respect our privacy as we focus on Chance's recovery," the statement read.
The victim's mother, Rebecca Jackson, asked the public to pray for the shooter's family, police said.
Police found the 16-year-old suspect two blocks away from the shooting in a wooded area that is near another school, South Elementary School, the Indianapolis Star reported. He was in custody by 8 a.m., police said.
"This was a very coordinated teamwork approach…all known witnesses were interviewed at this time. As much evidence as possible was preserved and processed at the scene... and schools were secured almost immediately," said Robert Cline, prosecutor for Morgan County.
A handgun was recovered in a field near the school, police said. Police are still investigating the motive behind the shooting, but acknowledged that looking at social media will be a key component of the investigation.
"If there is any info out there…or any social media outlet we should be made aware of…we would like to know about that," Sgt. Durnil said.
There are reports that a fight at a school dance last weekend may have led to the shooting.
Alleged School Shooter Posted Foreboding Facebook Message
Police are withholding the alleged gunman's name until he is formally charged, but WRTV reports that on his Facebook page the suspect wrote, "Today is the day." He also wrote, "You will hear about it."
Jamin Shue told WRTV that he knows the teen who was arrested.
"I've never seen him get in this much trouble before," Shue said. "He's just your average teenager. He has fun with his friends. He'll hang out around town."
On March 22, school administrators sent a phone message to all parents warning of a threat that had been made to the high school. It is unclear if the threat made to the high school is at all related to the shooting at the middle school or if the student involved in the shooting made the threat.
Students were released early from school today and will be on spring break next week.
"We all hope a situation like today will never happen but unfortunately it did. We had a plan in place and we carried out that plan…we plan to have counselors available to students upon their return from spring break…we also have increased security in our school system…please pray for the full recovery of our injured student," Assistant Superintendent Taylor said.
Martinsville is a small city about 30 miles southwest of Indianapolis. The Martinsville West Middle School is home to about 578 students according to the school's web site.
ABC Affiliate WRTV and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
Teen Arrested in School Shooting Wrote 'Today Is the Day'
+LA School Shooting Injures Two, Student in Custody
+Arrested at 17: Accused Tucson Shooter Had Run-ins With the Law


A new bitFlyer poll that sampled the opinions of 10,000 respondents across ten countries in Europe revealed a high percentage of Europeans, particularly in Italy and Norway, who say cryptocurrencies aren't a fad.
According to the details of the Google Survey carried out by bitFlyer, 63 percent (more than two-thirds) of Europeans believe cryptocurrencies will still exist by 2029.
Of the ten countries covered in the poll, participants from Norway showed the highest level of confidence in cryptocurrencies as 73 percent believe virtual currencies will still be around in ten years' time.
French responders had the least confidence of the lot with only 55 percent expressing the belief that cryptos will last the next decade.
Only 49 percent of participants said that believed Bitcoin would last the decade. Italy had the highest percentage of Bitcoin believers with 55 percent while France once again occupied the rear with 40 percent.
The fact that Bitcoin is not generating as much support as other cryptocurrencies is in part a symptom of the market's volatility but is also a direct impact of the constant media attention that is associated to its volatility.
On the technical side, Bitcoin continues to process greater value transactions that all altcoins combined and even those with lower transaction fees. Security and network effect reign supreme.
On the whole, the results of bitFlyer's Euro Poll are in line with the emerging sentiment of cryptocurrencies moving from hype to legitimate asset class. Earlier in April, an IMF Twitter poll showed more than half of responders saying that cryptos will become mainstream within the next five years.
Since 2018, there has been a considerable uptick in institutional involvement in the cryptocurrency market. From endowment funds taking investment positions to multinational conglomerates looking to establish vital crypto-based services.
The growing consensus among analysts is that the next crypto bull run will emerge on the back of a strengthened asset class as against the hype-driven speculative play that characterized the 2017 bull market.
These analysts point to the emergence of a robust Bitcoin market and technical fundamentals, as well as the decline of the ICO market.
Do you think Bitcoin will continue to be king of crypto? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.


I remember 10 years ago, social media was considered by some as a fad- soon to pass. A bright new shiny toy, that all the 'kids' used and businesses could not really benefit from. Well, the skeptics were wrong…boy were they ever. There are over 3 Billion internet users, and over 2 billion of them have active social media accounts.
The most popular social platforms have morphed into marketing behemoths, offering your business valuable data about your customers and (for the most part) free way to reach them. The verdict is out: social media for business is no longer optional.
There are many benefits of social media for your business- I've outlined 5 of them below.
Social media provides heaps of data about your customers in real time. Every day there are over 500 million Tweets, 4.5 billion Likes on Facebook and 95 million photos and videos uploaded to Instagram. This means that there will be a treasure trove of information about your customers, allowing you to get a glimpse of – who they are, what they like and how they feel about your brand.
Utilizing daily active engagement and social listening, you can gain relevant customer data and utilize that information to make smarter business decisions.
When your business is present on social media, you make it easier for your customers to find and engage with you. By engaging with your customers on social media, you're likely to raise customer retention and loyalty to your brand. A study published by Convince&Convert found that 53% of Americans who follow brands in social are more loyal to those brands.
With social media monitoring you can gain valuable information about your competition. This will allow you to make strategic business decisions and keep in front.
Social media isn't about blasting your business sales pitch- it's a two way street where you have the opportunity to enhance relationships. Creating dialogue with your customers is something that traditional advertising cant do.
The fact is that when it comes to social media, its not the numbers but the meaning behind them that counts. If social media is about building relationships, then its the authenticity of those relationships that will truly determine their ROI.
Social media is no longer a 'shiny toy' only used by kids, rather its a treasure trove of benefits to help you grow your business-learn about your customers, forge relationships and grow your brand & loyalty.
Are you ready to get started? RevSocialMedia & The Jenkins Group can help you schedule posts, engage with customers and monitor your success.
Previous Post Does Your Marketing Pass This 10-Point Test?


text:
Welcome to Clasen Business Solutions Inc.
Busines Registration
Philippine Working Visa
What made us unique in Sage Implementation and Training?
We use the project approach to ensure that we can meet the objectives of "on time, on budget and on specs." This methodology involves the following phases:
• Assessment – determining the gaps in the policies and procedures (Why and What), hardware and software (How) of the Infrastructure and Organization (Who) and the priorities in their improvement.
• Design – designing the proposed system and developing a work Plan.
• Implementation – Using a work plan to achieve the objective(s) of the project.
• Measurement or Monitoring – Reviewing of the results against objectives and making continuous improvement of the system to increase its efficiency and effectiveness.
The criteria used in ranking priorities in our ASSESSMENT will impact on the organization's operations and processes that could result in financial losses, increase costs and more importantly, affect delivery of services. The problems or risks were rated as HIGH, MEDIUM, and LOW, as defined we will define each rate and will arrive at by the consensus of the assessors. This is to ensure that we are all on the same page when we measure the impact of the problem or issue on the areas examined.
Our initial quick-and-dirty assessment involves the review of the three P's of PROCESS (business and management), PRODUCT (hardware and software) and PEOPLE ("soft" and technical skills).
Our implementer were focus on this OBJECTIVE - to enhance the reporting of the results of the operations and financial condition in an accurate, timely and meaningful manner for management to make informed decisions.
"We support and train like no other..."
Copyright © 2020 CLASEN BUSINESS SOLUTIONS, INC. - All Rights Reserved.


Committing a driving offence, such as dangerous driving or driving without insurance is serious and comes with a number of different penalties and fines. The majority of driving offences will require court appearances.
Seeking legal advice from a Motoring Offence Lawyer early on is essential and may save you from losing your licence and in some cases a prison sentence.


Click here to view 2006-2017 GAAP basis versus ongoing and constant currency basis sales growth comparisons.
Click here to view Reconciliation of 2012-2015 Margins Excluding Amortization of Intangibles.
The company makes use of financial measures that are not calculated in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP") to help in the assessment of ongoing operating performance. These non-GAAP financial measures are reconciled to their most directly comparable GAAP measures in the tables included in the links above.
These non-GAAP financial measures include net sales excluding the impact of foreign exchange. The company analyzes net sales on a constant currency basis to better measure the comparability of results between periods. Because changes in foreign currency exchange rates have a non-operating impact on net sales, the company believes that evaluating growth in net sales on a constant currency basis provides an additional and meaningful assessment of net sales to both management and the company's investors.
In addition, non-GAAP measures used by the company may include, but are not limited to: (1) cost of goods sold and marketing, selling & administrative expense, each excluding charges relating to the discontinued sale of a product or business; (2) research & development expense excluding payments for purchased research and development; (3) other (income) expense, net excluding investment gains, charges for the settlement of legal matters and charges relating to the discontinued sale of a product or business; (4) income tax provision excluding adjustments for tax matters not related to current ongoing operations and the tax effects of each of the items set forth in (1) above through this item (4); (5) net income excluding the items set forth in (1) through (4) above; and (6) diluted earnings per share (EPS) excluding the items set forth in items (1) through (4) above.
The company excludes the examples described above because they may cause certain statement of income categories not to be indicative of ongoing operating results, and therefore affect the comparability of results between periods. The company therefore believes that non-GAAP measures provide an additional and meaningful assessment of the company's ongoing operating performance. Because the company has historically reported non-GAAP results to the investment community, management also believes that the inclusion of non-GAAP measures provides consistency in its financial reporting and facilitates investors' understanding of the company's historic operating trends by providing an additional basis for comparisons to prior periods. Management uses non-GAAP measures (1) to establish financial and operational goals, (2) to monitor the company's actual performance in relation to its business plan and operating budgets, (3) to evaluate the company's core operating performance and understand key trends within the business, and (4) as part of several components it considers in determining incentive compensation.
Management recognizes that the use of non-GAAP measures has limitations, including the fact that they may not be comparable with similar non-GAAP financial measures used by other companies and that management must exercise judgment in determining which types of charges or other items should be excluded from the non-GAAP financial information. Management compensates for these limitations by providing full disclosure of each non-GAAP financial measure and a reconciliation to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure. All non-GAAP financial measures are intended to supplement the applicable GAAP disclosures and should not be considered in isolation from, or as a replacement for, financial information prepared in accordance with GAAP. For a reconciliation of these non-GAAP measures to the most comparable GAAP measures, please see the tables included in the links above.


Productivity is a mathematical equation: Productivity = Output/Input. But if it's really that simple, then why does the construction industry have so much trouble accurately measuring and tracking productivity? The solution lies in Lean thinking. The following example is based on a true story and magnifies the difference that Lean methodology makes in project efficiencies.
The cycle time is 52 minutes – 13.3% better than the estimate of 1 per hour. Using the definition of productivity, that's 1.125 units of output per 1 hour of work. Measured in dollars, let's use 200 door frames x $80.00 per hour in labor costs. That's $90.00 dollars of output produced versus $80.00 of input.
But to accurately understand the rate at which that value is added, we need to apply a few lessons from Lean thinking. Firstly, better understand the process and the implications about how value is produced. The red bars include all the time – waste and value both. This includes waiting for information, dealing with inadequate tools, and trying to install the frame in a stud wall that led to an unnecessary 26- minute delay.
With waste eliminated, the cycle reduces to 16 minutes! Productivity is now 3.75 units of output per labor hour, or $300.00 of output versus $80.00 of input. That is almost a 400% improvement, considering only direct costs and value and not the additional capacity created now that the same work is completed in ¼ the time. Ready to think Lean yet?
For decades, the term "Lean" was applied strictly to manufacturing processes. In recent years, however, the construction industry has begun to adapt Lean principles for their own purposes. This is a positive step forward for an industry that has historically shown flat productivity improvements. How does integrating Lean improve the construction process? Here are five convincing reasons.
Lean Forces Us to Examine Processes. Most construction firms maintain historical data to estimate the time and resources needed to perform certain processes. But how often do we challenge that data? Lean methodology requires us to examine every step in a process, question its value and make improvements as needed. Following where both data and observation take you – instead of using generalized assumptions based on questionable data or no data at all – is essential to collecting measurements that lead to improvements.
Lean Reduces Waste. When we find and eliminate the non-value-added steps in a process, the result is a drastic reduction in waste. This includes physical waste (excess materials, unnecessary tools, etc.); time spent on nonvaluable or redundant tasks, or waiting for others; and the accompanying financial impact of that wasted labor and material.
Lean Establishes Standards. Taiichi Ohno, the driving force behind the Lean manufacturing phenomenon, once said, "Without standards, there can be no improvement." When adopting Lean principles, construction firms establish baseline productivity standards based on realistic, value-focused processes – and measure future processes against those standards.
Lean Addresses Labor Shortages. Lean construction methods improve and maintain productivity without necessarily adding labor resources. With the ongoing challenge to find skilled labor, this is a welcome bonus!
Lean Improves Scheduling. Glenn Ballard, founder of the Lean Construction Institute, observed that most schedules are just "forecasts," which typically have two features: they are inaccurate, and that inaccuracy increases the further out you try to forecast. Lean facilitates the transition from 'scheduling' or 'forecasting' to 'planning' – the purposeful act of making work ready. Emphasis is on developing a detailed understanding of project requirements, which increases a plan's reliability; equal emphasis is on improving the reliability of the commitments required for successful delivery. Lean fosters a collaborative atmosphere where responsibility is distributed to a team, which is much more effective than requiring one project manager to develop and maintain a single, often overgeneralized schedule and bear the burden of understanding by themselves.


The General Overseer of the Latter Rain Assembly, Lagos, Pastor Tunde Bakare, has warned that Nigeria is on the verge of another Civil War following the yet-to-be addressed incessant killings of other Nigerians by herdsmen.
Bakare spoke during his sermon on Sunday, declaring that the "country is moving towards another collapse" with the division among different groups and violence in the country.
Speaking on the topic, "All Things are Ready," the cleric lamented that Nigerians might be forced to retaliate against the rampaging herdsmen.
He said, "We are at the verge of another collapse, if care is not taken. We are pushing ourselves into the (edge of the) precipice of another civil war.
"All these marauders, called herdsmen; if you don't checkmate them quickly, and the people begin retaliation against what they are doing, we will begin to kill ourselves again.


I responded to an article where the poster was morally upset because someone made an "unfair" thing: tried to corner the market, bought all the strange dust, and relisted them for the "too" high 8.5G/stack, 566% of normal price.
My response was mostly: being angry is pointless, one can act by breaking the monopoly. In this case I suggested the mass product ion of strange dust by crafting and disenchanting a cheap tailoring item.
I got strange comments from Druanor. He seems to be a businessman, who use to make such schemes. "I would simply wait for you to tire of the game and then go back to what I was doing before you so rudely intruded into MY market squeeze. Laughing all the while. ... It is dependent on an old psychological trick that you can play on people. A form of manipulation. Basically it amounts to letting the other person think they won, so that they forget about whatever it is your doing and this in turn, lets you go ahead and do what you were doing. So by temporarily withdrawing (ignoring his auctions in this case) he soon looses interest (after a couple of days when he sees your not responding to his ploy) and justifies it with that smug little thought of "I won". Just as soon as I see he isn't interested anymore I would put my auctions (at the inflated prices) back up and probably never hear from him again"
And also he wrote: "Thirdly, did you appoint yourself the offical AH scheme killer on your server? I mean who voted you king and let you decide which schemes get used and which get your disdain appointed to it. Sheesh man, lighten up. You write up all these wonderful schemes and then you say you would go to all that trouble to undermine someone else's? And all that work over Strange Dust. I mean what do you care?"
This businessman (and many other), did not understand the wonderful theory of Adam Smith. He seems to believe that I'm "intruding" his scheme for "winning" mostly motivated by some sick "I'm the king of AH, I decide what happen on this server" idea. No!
Actually, I don't even have to recognize it's someone's scheme. If my auctioneer gets bugged and displays only ?????? as the poster's name, I act exactly the same. I do not fight anyone, just responding to a market situation for my own profit.
Lot of businessmen are bottom-scanning. They seek underpriced stuff, buy them and sell them on median price for profit. I do it too, when I bump into such bargains, but that's not my major workhorse. More of my profit is coming from investing (buying in mass when cheap and selling after a patch when it becomes more interesting), but most of my profit comes from "top-scanning": seeking items that are mostly overpriced.
If the auctions of item X are listed between 150% and 999%, then it's an item with increased demand. I find a way to supply to this increased demand. I find a way to craft the item in need and sell it in this boosting market. I'm not trying to defeat anyone, I'm just selling high.
If the item in question is Strange Dust, the proper action is tailoring-disenchanting. If it's Cobalt Bar (like it was on last saturday), it's buying Cobalt Ore and smelting. If it's Eternal Belt Buckle, it's buying saronite and finding a blacksmith. If it's Infinite Dust, it's buying Eternal Earth, finding a JC for Stoneguard band and disenchant.
As long as there is increased demand, I'll supply making profit. If the reason of the demand was some moron trying to corner the market, and he was not so blatant to relist on 500%+ under one name, I most probably won't even notice that I'm killing his scheme.
If he just ignores my auctions but keeps on buying other auctions (of people who listed around or below the old median price), than my auctions will be the lowest, and people keep buying them, so I keep on selling for profit. This case he keeps on buying up the increased supply coming from the increased farming of the item (as higher price generates more farming). This goes on until he runs out of money or bank space.
He ignores the whole item at all for days. This case the "normal" people listing on the old median undercut me, forcing me to lower my prices and stop the production. I will most probably undercut them to clean the items from my bank. If the wannabe monopolist returns a week later, I will notice the price jump again (I use to check on the items every week that made me profit once), so I start the production again, undercutting him again.
Notice that during the whole thing I responded only to prices in the AH. I did not tried to fight anyone, and most probably don't even notice a person behind the thing. Yes my dear wannabe monopolist, I crush you without even noticing you.
Am I that strong? Am I the king of AH? Am I "turned soft" and protecting the people of my server from evil monopolist? No. I'm just a guy who follows his own profit.
"It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest. We address ourselves, not to their humanity but to their self-love, and never talk to them of our own necessities "
Adam Smith appointed me and everyone else to be scheme killer on my server. The only reason why monopolist schemes can exist, either in WoW or the real world, is that lot of people are unable to follow their profit because they are too ignorant, or lack the seed money for it.
PS: I've already sold 8 Expert Cookbooks from yesterday getting 32G profit for a single flight to Desolace. Thanks Ghoulette, keep up the dumb work!
This is exactly what I said in response to the original WoW Economist article: wherever there exists a way to make things better for the consumer, there is profit to be made.
Whether you make him give up listing or you make him buy up your own auctions is besides the point. Both benefit you and the average person buying stuff on the auction house!
This is happening right now on my realm with low to mid level herbs. One player on several charcters buys up anything below the price that HE sets and he relists them all as 20 stacks for hugely inflated costs.
I assume it is working since he has continued this practice for several weeks now.
Centuri-- Hugely inflated compared to what? As farming low lvl herbs is harder than farming high lvl herbs, given the proper mounts for the area, the natural price were only lvl 80's farming for herbs is actually higher for low lvl herbs. So, that's the elastic portion of the supply curve. But, there's also a relatively inelastic portion of supply from people who are low lvl and herb while questing, or high lvls who switch to herbalism and are leveling.
Perhaps this person is from another server where the low lvl herb prices are much higher, and so he realizes that with a slight nudge to absorb a bit of the inelastic supply, that the market price will rise to follow the elastic demand curve. Or perhaps he just figured this out by trial and error....or yet again it could be that he's just absorbing a loss out of persistence, but I'd wager one of the first two explanations is true. This is what I was talking about with my earlier posts...some markets are bad for cornering attempts, some are good, depending on the underlying supply/demand curves.
@Kurt: I've never thought of that, but you are right. Low level herbs have higher production cost (mostly measured in time) than Outland and Northrend herbs.
However the inelastic supply (the low levels and the profession shifters) usually supply enough for the demand of the low-level herbs, keeping the price low.
However this can change as certain glyphs are desired by lvl 80-s, yet need low level herbs to craft. For example Glyph of Thunderclap needs Mageroyal, Briarthorn, Swiftthistle, Bruiseweed, ore Stranglekelp. If the demand overcomes the inelastic supply, the herb prices can reach the 1-2/piece region.
I've idly wished that the AH was a completely blind auction anyway. Making things personal by listing sellers only introduces silly emotions into the mix.
Atlantica Online and Puzzle Pirates both have blind auctions, and it serves them well.


300 years since humanity was brutally subjugated by the alien race known simply as the Management. Two years since these invaders abandoned Earth to return to their home world. Following her participation in the brutal massacre of human-alien hybrids left behind by the Management, resistance fighter Marta Gonzalez declines to join the new human government and starts her own private detective agency instead. Gonzalez is forced to confront her own bloody past and acknowledge the fact that the transition from oppression to emancipation is anything but clean.


Reversing Time: Throwback Analysis of "Dishonored," Part I.
You might recall that I undertook my first video game research several years ago; a few weeks back, I published the first chapter from that work as part of my series on "Majora's Mask." If you follow "With a Terrible Fate" on Facebook, then you know that I am analyzing "Dishonored" next. What you don't know is that my first research project also had a rather long chapter on "Dishonored." So, prior to releasing my new analysis of the game, I am publishing my older work on the game, in three parts — so stay tuned to see where the analysis ends up.
Note, again, that this older work is not altogether reflective of my current stances on video game theory. It also focuses much more heavily on the phenomenology of games — that is, what it is like to experience playing a particular game — whereas my current work is more focused on the architecture of games as aesthetic objects. Nevertheless, I hope readers will enjoy the piece and get excited for the imminent release of totally up-to-date work on this riveting game.
as it has to the others before you.
but know that I will be watching with great interest.
"Dishonored" chronicles the story of Corvo Attano, the Royal Protector to Empress Jessamine Kaldwin of Dunwall and her daughter, Princess Emily. Dunwall is a city set in the early industrial period, beset by a rat plague that might be likened to the Black Death of the 14th century. Corvo returns from a trip to neighboring cities where he acted as the Empress's proxy in seeking help on the plague outbreak; after delivering his report to the Empress, a group of dark-garbed assassins materialize at the outlook upon which Corvo and Jessamine are conferring, occupying Corvo while their leader kills the Empress. They then disappear, leaving Corvo to be framed for the murder by the traitorous Spy Master Hiram Burrows, who uses the assassination as opportunity to take control of Dunwall's government as the Lord Regent. On the day intended for Corvo's execution, an insurgent group known as the Loyalists, who claim loyalty to the original Kaldwin line, springs him from prison. They enlist Corvo's help in finding Emily, who had been hidden away in a brothel by the Lord Regent; and eventually, they task Corvo with bringing down the Lord Regent himself. Thereafter, the Loyalists betray Corvo, making an attempt on his life so that they may realize their true goal: installing Emily as a figurehead and ruling Dunwall through her. Corvo is saved by the actions of one Loyalist who remains faithful to him; tasked with killing Corvo, this Loyalist instead gives him a nonlethal dose of the intended poison. Corvo eventually finds his way back to the Loyalists, subduing them and rescuing Emily.
Superimposed over this plot is The Outsider: a mysterious God-figure and religious icon who exists outside space, time, and morality. On the first night Corvo spends at the Loyalists' hideout, he is visited in an ethereal dream-like sequence by this entity, which to the entire world appears like a perfectly ordinary man of 22 or 23 years' age. He tells Corvo that he has "chosen" him because of the pivotal role he will play in events to come, and endows him with The Outsider's mark, which enables him to employ the world of magic, of which The Outsider makes him aware. He tells Corvo that how he uses these gifts falls upon him, but that he "will be watching with great interest." The Outsider, in essence, is a supernatural spectator, placing a bet upon Corvo in the form of supernatural ability and watching him play out his quest for reclamation of honor.
In the Bard's classic tragedy, Macbeth, a Scottish lord, encounters three witches who divine him to be the future king of Scotland. Macbeth, goaded on by his wife and his own ambition, uses the weight of this prophecy, endorsed by the acquisition of another noble title the witches foretold (Thane of Cawdor), to murder King Duncan; he is crowned king thereafter in accordance with the prophecy. His brief and bloody reign is spent seeking to suppress all dissent and knowledge of his usurpation, with both him and his wife driven to madness by the ensuing guilt over their actions. The witches, to whom Macbeth returns to seek assurance of further reign, foretell his end, which, as was the case with their earlier predictions, comes to pass.
Here, Freud lays out his classic model for the human psyche. The mind, he says, initially exists in the undifferentiated well of libido known as the id, which is the seat of the pleasure principle and death instincts. The mind's interaction with reality compels differentiation of the id into an ego, which serves as its interface with the external world. Loosely interpreted, the superego develops out of the ego as a result of expectations and societal prohibitions, serving to internally police the activities of the ego in accordance with external expectations. While the psychiatric and psychological communities have largely discredited Freud's theories, they are still useful templates in the domain of literary theory and interpretation. In this treatment, Freud's model of the mind will serve as a template from which to construct our third meta-role model.
One of the most basic aspects governing the nature of player's association with his on-screen avatar is perspective. If we take the time to examine how perspective typically functions in games, we will find an easy way into what makes "Dishonored" theoretically salient.
The way in which the player perceives the avatar's place in the game's reality, as well as the way in which the avatar interacts with that reality, create a two-part framework for the player's understanding of his place within that reality. These two perceptual categories may be broken down into two subcategories, as follows.
The camera, serving as the player's window into the game's reality, is positioned at a location external to the avatar. This is most typically understood with the camera following the avatar from behind, though third-person games typically give the player the capacity to swivel the camera around the avatar at will. When considering the ways in which video games impede mindfulness, this vantage point is high on the list. In many ways, this view tends toward the player having a "god perspective" – that is to say, they understand themselves as manipulating the avatar, rather than directly associating with it. While there are methods by which third-person games draw players in to associate with the avatar, on the whole, this level of separateness will always limit that degree of association.
The camera is made to simulate the visual input of the avatar, creating the impression of the player seeing through the avatar's eyes. This carries with it a level of intimacy which third-person games are hard-pressed to convey: when the player's visual access to the game's reality is limited to the avatar's perceptual field, we might rightly say they are forced to associate with the avatar, because the avatar is their sole point of entry into this reality. This perspective is often associating with shooting games like "Call of Duty," so much so that an entire genre has evolved surrounding the marriage of these two ideas: the FPS, or 'first-person shooter'. The genre, focused more on combat than on character development, may be the most natural implementation of the first-person perspective because it circumvents a major question raised by the first person perspective: given that a game and the characters therein are scripted, how might the player impress his identity on the avatar in the way he is seemingly invited to by the first-person perspective? We explore this difficulty further in consideration of the second perceptual category.
As the name suggests, this subcategory features an avatar which does not speak – at most, the avatar will have very sparse, decision-making scripts, one of which the player is prompted to choose at event junctures in the storyline. Even then, the avatar does not literally speak these scripts; speech is merely implied. This lack of voice and automatic dialogue compels the player to associate more with the avatar because the separation created by an active avatar is not present. Yet the silent avatar goes further in affecting the overall tenor of the game. One might naturally think that a silent avatar is somewhat passive, and this is not far off the mark. For, paradoxically, this very dynamic which allows the player to act in freer association with the avatar also makes the events of the story far more dependent on the world external to the avatar. This, too, underscores the limitations of the medium of video games regarding the player's entry into the reality: the player, one who can actively evaluate situations and adjudicate them in real-time, is hard-pressed to find an organic sense of interaction in a pre-written reality and its chain of events. When his representative (i.e., the avatar) is silent, this allows the player a greater sense of being within the reality, but this also puts in question the avatar's sense of actively bringing about the events within the game's plot. One solution to this paradox, as we shall see in "Dishonored," is modern gaming's introduction of more frequent and multifarious choices to be made by the player.
For a long time, gaming has been more or less focused on linear plotlines: the player's avatar would progress through scripted story events, leading to the predestined conclusion of the game. However, gaming has increasingly trended in recent advancements toward an experience more varied based on the player's choices. The increase of choice has manifested in different ways. At its most superficial, there is the impact-less choice of the order in which one completes story-advancing events; similar is the choice mechanic of allowing players to develop the attributes of their characters in different ways. While both of these undoubtedly affect the way in which the player associates with the game, they are superficial in the sense that they do not alter the game's main plotline globally.
In contrast, some games' choice junctures greatly affect the storyline. "Dishonored" is a prime example of such a choice paradigm: the game has two distinct paths, called "high chaos" and "low chaos." By making more choices that align with one path, the player determines a different ending to the game, along with altering the state of Dunwall later in the game.
The logic of the game's paths proceeds as follows: the more people killed at Corvo's hand, the more chaos is spread and the darker Dunwall becomes because the rat plague is propagated. The presence of more dead bodies means more feed to sustain the diseased rat population. The killing of guards also reduces order and draws resources away from managing plague outbreaks by requiring them to instead be invested in suppressing unrest. In contrast, Corvo's moving in the shadows and achieving his ends with non-lethal means reduces chaos by avoiding the above causal chain.
Accordingly, high- and low-chaos choices are built into virtually every aspect of the game. Main assassination targets can be neutralized either by lethal or nonlethal means – in infiltrating enemy strongholds, Corvo can either slip past guards using stealth, or fight his way through with brute force. Given the way in which choice is integrated into every facet of gameplay, one might understand why game designers would traditionally subscribe to linear, convergent storylines: one thought here is that choice-affected storylines simply require far more work. In crafting "Dishonored," Bethesda essentially created two games in one; the high-chaos and low-chaos options, divergent from one another, each only truly tell half the story. Synthesizing the two paths is the only way of attaining the most holistic view of "Dishonored." This could be one reason why the game is relatively short at a ~10-hour playthrough: the potential divergence of choices at any given moment makes development an intensively integrated process.
It may not seem that much choice is provided by only a bilinear path, but, when combined with the overt presence of more superficial choice (i.e. the capacity to choose different supernatural powers for Corvo to develop, and a multitude of ways to carry out objectives on either of the two paths – particularly the high-chaos path), the amount of choice in "Dishonored" is a solid start in resolving the problems of avatar agency discussed above. The player is able to associate with the avatar and retain a level of responsibility for his actions through the paradigm of choice; in point of fact, responsibility for one's actions is one of the game's main themes.
Enter Corvo Attano, the fallen hero on a mission to clear his name and restore the proper lineage to the throne of Dunwall. As Royal Protector, and thereafter as the Empress's alleged assassin, Corvo is known throughout Dunwall; as Piero, the Loyalists' craftsman, puts it, "everyone knows your face," which is why he takes it upon himself to craft a mask for Corvo to wear on his missions – to wear something that "brings terror to them." Curiously enough, everyone in Dunwall knows Corvo's face except for Corvo. By virtue of the game's being exclusively experienced in a first-person perspective, the player never sees Corvo's face directly. The only times he sees it rendered are on wanted posters following Corvo's initial escape from prison (posters which are quickly updated to instead show his mask), and in several intimate moments along the low-chaos path.
After Corvo saves Emily from the Lord Regent's clutches, she lives with him at the Loyalists' hideout, before Corvo is betrayed and the Loyalists kidnap her for their own purposes. During her stay, she draws many pictures for Corvo, some of which are of him. In the low-chaos story arc, she draws one such picture of the Royal Protector's face, labeled "Daddy." In another large portrait beside Corvo's bed, we see the difference between high- and low-chaos stories: in high-chaos, Emily draws this portrait as a picture of Corvo's dark mask, whereas in low-chaos she draws his actual, smiling face. In point of fact, Emily's identity as Corvo's daughter, a fact heavily implied by external evidence such as the above-mentioned drawing, is only accessible to the player through the perceptions of NPC's – by virtue of the silent avatar, the player fights the entire game to save his daughter, yet only learns that this is the case late in the game.
The player's perception of Corvo is completely dependent upon the way others perceive him – and that perception, in turn, is formed by Corvo's own actions. How does this relationship between internally generated choice and externally impressed self-understanding inform the player's understanding of Corvo, and, by proxy, himself? Furthermore, what role does The Outsider – looming in the background, yet so far unanalyzed – play in this dynamic? In comparing the established framework of "Dishonored" with "Macbeth" and interweaving appropriate psychological precepts, we will formulate the next manifestation of the meta-role: a framework we shall term the 'prophesied meta-role paradigm'.
 Interestingly, the non-lethal means are almost invariably worse than swift execution. For example, the brothers who are eventually found to be holding Emily hostage may either be killed, or sent to a mine owned by a local boss, who cuts out their tongues to prevent their stories ever being told.


The Manroot Vine (AKA wild cucumber) is native to California. It has a massive tuber once used as a food plant by the Native Americans.
Hand cast using bronze metal clay. Each backside has a unique leaf pattern. the pendant measures about 1 7/8" widex 1" tall.


References Go To: , , Data compilation by the U. Select a region with data to zoom. Upper and lower bar line I represents the experimental error range. You could have the X at the 3,6 positions, ortho to one methoxy, ortho to the other methoxy. AceHighTechCity 2-Cha, 25 Seonyu-ro 13-gil, Yeongdeungpo-gu, 07282 Seoul, S.
You could have the X at the 2,3 positions, ortho to both methoxys. You could have the X at the 3,5 positions, both ortho contributors to one of the methoxys. In contrast, what little thermodynamic product is formed will not be dealkylated due to its better stability. The 1,2,4 product is a less stable molecule but it forms much more readily because the alkyl groups electronically activate the molecule to this substitution pattern. Thus the thermodynamic product gradually accumulates as the reaction proceeds; ultimately becoming the major product. In a normal electrophilic aromatic substitution, the kinetic product is the one which dominates.
Alkylating benzene with t-butylchloride will give you the 1,4 t-butyl product. Secretary of Commerce on behalf of the U. Select a region with no data or click the mouse on the plot to revert to the orginal display. The 1,3,5 product is the most thermodynamically stable of the two molecules, as it has less steric repulsion between the bulky alkyl groups. Secretary of Commerce on behalf of the U. © 2018 by the U.
Statistical analysis representing the degree of agreement. It's known as the thermodynamic product. Thus, even though the kinetic product will dominate initially, its instability allows it to be dealkylated back to a disubstituted species. The middle bar shows the portion of the estimated values within the experimental error range. Use or mention of technologies or programs in this web site is not intended to imply recommendation or endorsement by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, nor is it intended to imply that these items are necessarily the best available for the purpose. What actually happens is a series of alkylations and dealkylations which ultimately lead to the most stable molecule, the 1,3,5 t-butyl product. .
This one would be chosen over the others because the others would be too streakily hindered. This is known as the kinetic product. Use this link for bookmarking this species for future reference. However, further alkylating it will not give you the 1,2,4 t-butyl product as you might expect. However, Friedel Crafts alkylation is a special case because it's reversible. Secretary of Commerce on behalf of the United States of America.
Notice: Concentration information is not available for this spectrum and, therefore, molar absorptivity values cannot be derived. The percentage of the middle bar indicates the level of estimation accuracy in general. . . .


Use mini Santa hats and glass vases to create this cute and festive DIY Christmas topiary! This will look amazing on your holiday table.
Looking for an inexpensive holiday table centerpiece? This DIY Christmas topiary is the ticket! It takes dollar store Santa hats and scales them down to fit foam cones . . . making them looking quite Who-villian as far as I'm concerned.
This entire display reminds me of the Grinch Who Stole Christmas, and the stripes and polka dots are key in that sentiment. And interestingly enough, you can get most of these items at the dollar store, so this is a perfect budget craft idea for Christmas.
Here's how this Christmas topiary display is done!
Using the circle stencil, cut out a circle from the adhesive stencil sheet. Use your craft knife to cut the stencil out.
One at a time, place the circle stencil in the center of the glass vase and smooth. Using the 5/8″ dauber, paint the circle with the Enamel lipstick red. Remove the stencil immediately while the paint is wet, wash, and let dry. Then repeat.
When the red is completely dry, stencil "HO" on each of the vases in the center of the circle, using the white enamel paint. Peel the stencil up immediately.
Fill in the letters where the line is broken with a liner brush.
Base-coat the three dowel rods with Wicker White. Let them dry.
Wrap the 1/4″ masking tape around the dowels as shown in photo, making a spiral like on a candy cane. Using the dauber, paint the dowels with Acrylic Lipstick Red.
Remove the tape immediately and let the rods dry.
Our next trick will be to show you how to take three regular Santa hats and make them fit the cones. First, cut the trim off hat.
Measure the foam cones and the sew the sides of the hat so that it will fit snugly on the cone. If you don't have a sewing machine, you can also hot glue it, but this will look better. After you've sew down the hat to make it smaller, trim the excess fabric.
Pick up the trim that you cut off; cut it and open up flat.
Cut a piece of quilt batting to wrap around cone. Hot glue in place.
Place your sewn hat down over the cone and the quilt batting. Hot glue the white trim back around the base of the hat and cut as needed.
Then use your adhesive stencil to make circles on the hat using your Acrylic Lipstick Red paint. Repeat with the other two hats and let dry.
Cut a piece of styrofoam from scraps and glue to the bottom of a vase with hot glue.
Stick dowels into the bottoms of cones – then stick the dowel rod into the foam piece in the vase. Use the candy canes and polyfil to fill the vases as shown in the photo. You're done!
Doesn't this Christmas centerpiece look amazing? Simple . . . though there are a few steps, you'll be surprised at how easy it is to make. If you try this Christmas topiary, let me know in the comments. Happy Holidays!
These are so adorable! Visiting from i heart naptime and pinning – thanks for sharing! Have a happy holiday season!
I have been looking at these and loving them for a year. I was wondering if I could make the hats out of fur stockings I already have?
How do you know how to measure to make the narrow hats?
Hi Katrina! I definitely think you could! And as far as how to measure them – I would do it "manually." Sew a wide triangle with the stockings, place the cone inside and mark how tight you would to sew to with a fabric marker. If all else fails and you don't feel comfortable doing that . . . Just glue the fur stocking fabric onto the cone and keep the seam in the back.


text:
Stavební obklady jsou skládané materiály, které slouží k překrytí stavebních konstrukcí z důvodů funkčních nebo estetických. Lze je dělit na vnitřní a vnější, svislé a vodorovné, podle jejich umístění jsou kladeny nároky např. na jejich odolnost. Mohou být z různých materiálů, nejčastěji jsou keramické, kamenné, dřevěné, skleněné nebo kovové, ale i kompozitní (např. cementotřískové).

Pro obkládání stěn se používají zpravidla obkladačky jinak též kachličky. Stěny (zejména vnější fasády) lze ale obkládat i cihlami. Pro obložení podlah se používají dlaždice či dlaždičky, takový obklad se nazývá dlažba.

Literatura
 VACULA, Miroslav; Zásady správné montáže fasád z cementotřískových desek; in: Materiály pro stavbu 6/2009, str. 64-65

Související články
 Keramický obklad
 Dlaždice

Stavební materiály
Povrchové úpravy


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JOSE MOURINHO has criticised his team's profligacy in front of goal after claiming Chelsea should have been "winning three or four nil" after just 30 minutes.
Mourinho's side took the lead through Andre Schurrle but failed to capitalise on their dominance against Stoke.
The hosts then went 2-1 before Schurrle hit the Blues back on level terms, only for on-loan Liverpool winger Oussama Assaidi to net the winner.
And Mourinho believes his side should have put the game to bed, citing similar performances against Everton and Newcastle this season.
"Yes I could," replied Mourinho when asked if he could see that result coming after 30 minutes at the Britannia Stadium.
"Because at half-an-hour we should be winning three or four nil and we weren't.
"So when you play so well and its so easy and you find spaces and Mata, Schurrle and Hazard were creating so much you have to kill the game.
"But we didn't. It was exactly the same against Everton and Newcastle."


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