text:
To love being American
Being an American is a messy business because nobody watches the mediocre or the boring. The whole world has better things to do than sing about Scotland, and none of the African states are very interesting unless they're on fire. The more power and prestige a nation has, the more attention it gets; and even the worst of nations at least is forgotten for a while unless you're living in it, or it happens to be disrupting the price of oil. The greater something is, the more it invites our censure. The greater the power the greater the corruption. The greater the corruption the greater the envy. First the nation becomes big and then other other nations try to make it small. Whether you live inside or outside a great nation, praise will be skimpy and the compliments scanty.
And so being an American is difficult. We're constantly hearing about our failures and nobody is talking about our successes. We hear lots about our spying, meddling, murdering, cheating, blundering and not playing nice in general, and whatever it is that makes us great is practically invisible. Adding to this difficulty, a common virtue is a forgotten virtue. Unless a person goes above and beyond everyone else, his virtues are believed to be nonexistent simply because they're common. Thus a person born and raised in the USA is doubly blind to his greatness: first, because he hears more about American faults than virtues, and second, because those American virtues which are plainly obvious are ignored. Our virtues seem so natural that they're taken for granted -- like eyebrows. You don't notice them when they're there, and they're all you can think about when they're not.
Thus an American who wants to know about the greatness of Americans has got to go outside America. He's got to read things written by foreigners. Not the malicious foreign press or anyone else who's jealous, or has an anti-American agenda, though; and this means looking for people who are attracted to us for one reason or another. And I believe the most honest accounts given of American culture, in this case, are those found in travel guides.
We can count on the travel writer because writing about us accurately is his whole business. If he tells our differences he has to do it accurately or his whole readership suffers; and the differences between cultures abroad gives us different contrasts and highlights we wouldn't have noticed before. Reading a Russian travel guide, for instance, shows that Americans hate and are suspicious of bribery, that we believe acts of kindness should be reciprocated, and that we see opportunity and triumph where others see failure and misery — perhaps most importantly of all that we loathe a whiner. I've heard many Americans say that Russians are manlier than we are; but what could be more manly than incorruptibility, justice, and a masculine optimism? This ignores even the fact that Russian men are advised not to ogle our women, and that doing so could land a visitor in serious trouble. We complain that in America, chivalry is dead. Perhaps this is only because we haven't been to Russia.
Reading a Japanese travel guide is equally flattering. Few would have guessed the minor victories of American civilization, such as our skillfull and tasteful driving, our passion for playing and working on the same days, and that Americans think of holding their liquor not as drinking in excess, but as controlling our consumption. Fewer still would have guessed that Americans are hearty laughers and heavily sarcastic: when reading a Japanese perspective, you could almost be led to think we were Germans (except, of course, for our moderate drinking habits). And yet again — almost as though that old American stereotype were the most or only true thing about us — the Japanese guide says we make mistakes and rise again, almost as though Americans were the only invincible people on the planet. In Japan, the travel guide says they're afraid to lose. In America, it says we know we have to be ready to lose before we can win.
The most insightful, eloquent, and flattering account ever given of Americans, though, has got to be Tocqueville's Democracy in America. Its age does little to hamper its usefulness: we see the greatness of American culture explained in great detail by a French aristocrat, its vices and its virtues and its manners laid bare, and that germ of hearty and indomitable spirit explained. In it we have both a description of what we were, and what we can be — oftentimes what we still are. I once heard an old, well-traveled African man say that nothing was really American because we've "only existed 200 years." He should read Tocqueville explain, right after the Revolution, the differences between English and American manners. Then suddenly the TEA Party makes sense, and the rugged mountain man and the railroad tycoon find themselves united: in fierce independence and self-reliance and unusual manners; perhaps never as religious or as educated or mannered as when we were Puritans, and never quite as equal as during the Revolutionary era, but perhaps always only steps away from reclaiming it. America has changed, but it's still America: it has yet to be seen whether we love our nation enough to remember who we are.
Perhaps we've been going about multicultural education all wrong. Perhaps instead of teaching the virtues of other nations, which is nearly always what happens, we should be showing our children how other people advise their friends and clients to behave around us. Perhaps some patriot will take this suggestion seriously and write a new textbook. Not every man can afford to travel to a foreign nation, and fewer still can visit multiple. But every student can examine himself through the lens of another nation, and know that if other nations are special, we are too — and in many ways, one might even call us exceptional.
By J at May 16, 2015
Labels: history, race
How to fake the presence of God
Should women be allowed to drink?
Summoning the Prince of Darkness


A tie in more ways than one!
The triangular series game between India and Sri Lanka was a tie on more than one count.
Both the teams finished their quota of 50 overs with their scores reading 236 for nine, making it the first tie in an India-Sri Lanka ODI.
The teams also hit the same number of fours (15) and sixes (2) and, hold your breath, conceded the same number of extras (8) as well!
In terms of maiden overs too, there was little to separate the teams, with India and Sri Lanka bowling two each in their quota of 50. A tie in every sense of the word!


text:
\section{Introduction}

Pose-graph SLAM is the de facto standard framework for constructing large-scale maps from a sequence of relative landmark and odometry observations during visual robot navigations \cite{iSAM,DS4,PCM}. A pose-graph is a graph with the viewpoints of the robot as nodes and with two types of edges: landmark and odometry. An odometry edge represents the relative movement from the viewpoint of the robot at time $t$ to the next viewpoint at time $t+1$. A landmark edge represents the relative pose of a pair of viewpoints from which the identical landmark is observed. Given such a pose graph, pose-graph optimization is performed to determine an optimal pose configuration that explains all landmark and odometry edges with the smallest explanation error. The task is typically formulated as a nonlinear incremental optimization to address the incremental addition/deletion of pose nodes and landmark/odometry edges during the robot navigations \cite{iSAM}.

One remaining challenge is the misrecognition of landmark edges, which can have catastrophic effects on the inferred pose-graph map (Fig. \ref{fig:C}) \cite{DS4}. In a typical implementation that uses image features detected by an onboard camera as landmarks, landmark misrecognition often occurs \cite{FABMAP}. This landmark misrecognition causes incorrect landmark edges in the pose-graph map. Pose-graph optimization of such an incorrect pose graph results in catastrophic errors in the inferred pose-graph map. To address this problem, robust landmark recognition methods have been developed by several researchers. In \cite{FABMAP}, high-speed retrieval of landmark correspondence candidates using a bag-of-words model and subsequent geometric verification was presented. In
\cite{island}, error removal was further performed via multiframe landmark correspondences. In
\cite{PCM}, a criterion of pairwise consistency was introduced to detect errors from multiple robot experiences in a computationally tractable manner.

\editage{
\figC
}{}

In this study, we present a unified graph-cut (GC) framework for determining maximally consistent subsets in a given pose graph (Fig. \ref{fig:E}). Our key idea is to formulate the problem as a minimum-cost multicut \cite{MCMC}. Unlike the commonly used spectral clustering formulation, the minimum cost multicut formulation gives a natural rise to optimization not only for landmark correspondences but also for the number of landmarks while allowing for a varying number of landmarks. This is a desirable property for pose-graph applications, in which the number of valid landmarks is a-priori unknown. Specifically, we implemented a new consistency metric that relies only on the order of the observed landmarks, and that is invariant against the type of landmark measurement, graph topology, and metric information, such as the speed of the robot motion. Our approach for pose-graph robustification has the same format for input and output pose-graphs, and works with minimum assumptions on the error rate of landmark edges. Thus, it is orthogonal to the aforementioned outlier removal methods (e.g., \cite{FABMAP, island, PCM}) and can be combined with them to improve the overall performance. Experiments using the public NCLT dataset \cite{NCLT} validated that the proposed approach could boost the state-of-the-art method.

\figE

\editage{
\figA
}{}

\section{Graph Neural SLAM}

The graph neural SLAM framework is briefly introduced in this section (Fig. \ref{fig:A}). It is a deep learning extension of the scalable pose graph SLAM using the deep graph neural networks. The system comprises three modules: localization, mapping, and planning. The localization module localizes and tracks the robot's viewpoint using a multiple-hypothesis tracker. The mapping module builds and updates an environment map using pose graph construction and optimization. The planning module predicts the robot's next-best-view action from the recognized state of the robot's surroundings using a pre-trained state-to-action regressor. Notably, the visual place recognition (VPR) submodule is used commonly in all the aforementioned three modules for hypothesizing the viewpoint in localization, constructing landmark edges in mapping, and recognizing the state in planning. That is, the core of the SLAM system is the VPR module. In \cite{icra21takeda}, the development of robust VPR algorithm was explored by using the scene graph model and graph convolutional neural network, which could actually boost the state-of-the-art VPR. In the current study, we focus on the VPR task in the context of the mapping module and present a new method for mitigating the effects of landmark misrecognition in that module.

\section{Mapping Algorithm}

The proposed mapping algorithm (``Mapping" in Fig. \ref{fig:A}) consists of four steps. The pose-graph construction (``PGC") step acquires sensor data, updates landmark and odometry edges with landmark observations, searches for landmark correspondence, and extends the pose graph (Fig. \ref{fig:E}). The outlier rejection (``OR") step checks the local graph consistency to reject spurious landmark edges, which may be caused by perceptual aliasing. The graph cut (``GC") step, which we aim to introduce in this study, checks the global graph consistency to minimize the global inconsistency in the pose graph. The pose-graph optimization (``PGO") step searches for the optimal pose configuration that explains all landmark and odometry edges with the smallest explanation error. These steps are detailed in the following subsections, \ref{sec:construct}, \ref{sec:outlier}, \ref{sec:cut}, and \ref{sec:optimize}.

\subsection{Pose-graph Construction}\label{sec:construct}

The pose-graph construction step is responsible for estimating the robot's trajectory given a sequence of landmark and odometry edges. The trajectory of a robot is represented as a discrete set of poses, describing the position and orientation of the on-board camera at each keyframe. We denote the trajectory of the robot's $j-$th experience as $x$ = $[x_0^j, \cdots, x_i^j, \cdots ]$, where $x_i^j$ = $[R_i^j, t_i^j]\in$ SE(3). $R_i^j\in$ SO(3) and $t_i^j\in$ $\mathbb{R}^3$ respectively represent the rotation and translation of the pose associated with the  $i$-th viewpoint of the $j$-th experience.

\subsection{Outlier Rejection}\label{sec:outlier}

The outlier rejection step rejects spurious landmark edges, which may be caused by near-duplicate landmarks and by perceptual aliasing. We adopted the pairwise consistent measurement set maximization (PCM) technique proposed in \cite{PCM} for outlier rejection. The key insight behind PCM is to check whether or not pairs of landmark edge constraints are consistent with each other and then search for a large set of mutually consistent landmark edges (as shown in \cite{PCM}, the largest set of pairwise consistent measurements can be determined as a maximum clique). Although PCM does not check for the joint consistency of all measurements, the approach typically ensures that gross outliers are rejected. After pairwise consistency checks are performed, the maximum clique of the measurements for each of its neighbors is computed to determine inlier landmark edges.

\subsection{Pose-graph Cut}\label{sec:cut}

We formulated the problem of a pose-graph cut as an instance of a minimum-cost multicut \cite{MCMC}. Minimum cost multicut aims to decompose graph $G=(V, E)$ into the optimal number of segments to minimize the overall cost of edge weight $c_e$. This node-labeling problem can be formulated as a binary edge-labeling problem as follows:
\begin{equation}
\min_{y\in\{0, 1\}^E} \sum_{e\in E} c_e y_e
\end{equation}
\[
\mbox{subject to $y\in$MC},
\]
where MC denotes a set of all the multicut characteristic functions of $G$. That is, all $y\in \{0,1\}^E$ form a closed boundary and represent a valid decomposition of the graph. Formally, these characteristic functions are described by cycle inequalities \cite{MCMC15}. To avoid trivial solutions, edge weights are usually chosen negative for edges that should be cut and positive for connected nodes that should be joined.

We introduced the concept of {\it support edges} to evaluate the reliability of the edges of interest. The idea is that some grouping often exists in edge data for spatially similar pose nodes. For example, visually similar landmarks are often detected in images taken from spatially near viewpoints, which causes edges with spatially similar pose nodes. Importantly, this phenomenon often occurs only on the correct landmark edges and not on incorrect edges. Therefore, the presence or absence of such a group of mutually support edges can be used as an indicator of the correctness of each membership edge in the group.

The idea of using measurement groups for reliability evaluation is common in the field of robust estimation, such as RANSAC \cite{RANSAC}. In our new application, pose-graph cut, a support edge for an edge of interest consists of a pair of nodes with frame IDs that differ by at most $\Delta (=1)$ from the frame ID of one of the endpoint nodes of the edge of interest. Evidently, there were at most $4\Delta(\Delta+1)$ support edges. For a particular edge of interest, weight $c_e$ of that edge of interest is set to +1 if there is a support edge and to -1 otherwise.

\subsection{Pose-graph Optimization}\label{sec:optimize}

Pose-graph optimization was performed as a post-processing step of the aforementioned outlier removal and graph cuts. iSAM \cite{iSAM} was applied as a solver for pose-graph optimization because it is a general, easy-to-use, and incremental optimizer that allows the addition/removal of nodes/edges, making it suitable for map maintenance during real-time robot navigations.

\figD

\section{Experiments}

\figB

\tabA

We used the public NCLT dataset \cite{NCLT}. The NCLT dataset is a dataset collected by the Segway robot approximately every two weeks from January 8, 2012 to April 5, 2013 at the North Campus of the University of Michigan. Specifically, we used four image sequences from the NCLT dataset:  ``2012/1/22," ``2012/3/31," ``2012/8/4," and ``2012/11/17".
 Image data from front-facing camera and IMU data measured by the route shown in Fig. \ref{fig:D} were used in this study.

In the multi-experience scenario, we considered a simple setting in which the number of the experiences was two. Each of the four sequences was divided into two part of experience trajectories, in the first and the second halves. Then, two corresponding pose-graphs are computed from these two trajectories. Then, they are connected each other with correct landmark edges, which are defined by a pair of nodes that have spatially similar ground-truth poses. Then, a collection of incorrect edges is randomly added. The rate of incorrect edges over all landmark edges was empirically set to 10\%, considering the typical probability of landmark misrecognition caused in the graph neural SLAM framework \cite{icra21takeda}.

We found that there exist non-empty set of correct edges for all of the four datasets. Notably, such an overlapping part is often called ``revisit place" or ``loop closing" and plays a key role in robotic mapping \cite{LoopClosing}. Then, landmark correspondences were searched between each node of the submap, and all candidate correspondences were added as landmark edges to the pose-graph. To make the computational cost tractable, image frames in the original sequence in the NCLT dataset were down-sampled to 1/10.

\editage{

}{}

Figure \ref{fig:5} shows example results for pose-graph optimization with and without the proposed graph-cuts. Notably, the quality of the pose-graph could be actually improved by using the proposed method, and the resulted pose-graph was often similar to the ground-truth pose-graph.

For performance evaluation, the root mean square error (RMSE) over all poses in a pose graph of interest was used. First, a pseudo ground-truth pose-graph was computed for each pose-graph in the dataset by sending the input sequence without incorrect edges to a pose-graph optimization process, for which the same PCM software as in Section \ref{sec:optimize} was reused. Then, an inferred pose graph was evaluated in terms of the minimum RMSE over all possible coordinate transformations between the input and the ground-truth pose graphs.

Table \ref{table:2} lists the RMSE errors [m] with the correct map data for each of the results with and without the proposed graph-cuts.
The results confirmed that the RMSE of the PCM method was
104.6 m on average
and that of the proposed method was
	23.9 m,
which was more than
four times higher in accuracy.

\section{Conclusions}

In this study, the problem of detecting landmark misrecognition in multisession pose-graph SLAM was reformulated as a minimum-cost multicut task. Our approach for pose-graph robustification had the same format for input and output pose-graphs and worked with minimum assumptions on the error rate of landmark edges. Thus, it is orthogonal to the existing methods for outlier removal (e.g., PCM \cite{PCM}) and can be combined with them to improve the overall performance. Experiments using the public NCLT dataset validated that the proposed approach could boost the state-of-the-art method.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaArXiv


text:
Added on May 8, 2013 LPM Staff
Ah … los tamales y las tortillas
Art of food preparation offers life lessons to children. Book cover courtesy of the author
Albert Monreal Quihuis released his first children's book in 2011. Sofía's Awesome Tamale Day is a tribute to the author's parents and their tamale-making tradition.
The Chandler resident, who is a financial planner by training and a storyteller at heart, tells LPM that he never thought he'd venture into writing children's literature, much less a book series, but felt compelled to capture the camaraderie and bonding that occur when a family gathers around the kitchen to prepare food. "I want to inspire young and old readers to discover their history, culture and heritage so they can be proud of who they are."
His latest book, In Search of the Lost Art of Making Tortillas, follows the travails of Sofía and her talkative parrot, Pepe (characters from his debut story) as they help Abuelita, travel to the Festival of Zapopan, and follow the path of the Jaguar looking for answers and The Lost Art.
Sure, Sofía and Pepe could buy a packet of tortillas at the supermarket for under two dollars, but there's no fun in that!
In Search of the Lost Art of Making Tortillas
$16.95, paperback; 38 pages
Illustrated by Susan Klecka
Perfect Bound Marketing + Press, 2012
To contact the author for the purchase of a single book or bulk sales, visit aquihuis@msn.com
See this story in print here:
Click here for iPad optimized version
by LPM Staff

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Eines der fundamentalen Konzepte hinter Darwins Evolutionstheorie ist die "Abstammung mit Veränderungen". Das heisst, dass – ausgehend von einem gemeinsamen Vorfahren - Populationen sich im Verlauf der Evolution langsam auseinander entwickeln können. Diese Aufspaltung führt schliesslich zur Entstehung von neuen Arten. Der Mechanismus, mit dem Darwin diesen Prozess erklärte, ist Natürliche Selektion. Anschaulich darstellen lässt sich dieser in Form eines "Evolutions-Baumes". Die Struktur solcher Bäume und die biologischen Folgerungen daraus werden in der Evolutionsbiologie rege untersucht.
One of the fundamental concepts behind Darwin's theory of evolution is "descent with modification". This means that populations can start with a common ancestor, but can slowly diverge from each other during the course of evolution. This divergence eventually leads to the evolution of new species. The mechanism that Darwin proposed for causing this change was Natural Selection. An effective way to envision this process is through an "evolutionary tree." The topology of such trees and their biological implication is one of the areas of active research in evolutionary biology.


Louisiana REALTORS® joined with NAR political advocacy resources in a year-long campaign to win a permanent statewide ban on transfer taxes. In November 2011, the REALTOR® -supported measure won approval by 81 percent of the voters, making Louisiana the fourth state to amend its constitution prohibiting transfer taxes. Funding and technical support from NAR combined with extensive grassroots involvement to make this campaign successful.


Lorie Wilkins Furniture, 2018-12-27 21:15:20. Another tip you can try is entering the company's name in search engines like Google and Yahoo!. You may find some feedback people have posted on them on various forums. You can also post a question asking if anyone has ever used this company. Finally, check the references he or she gives you as well, talk to a few of his past clients and go see the work he or she did for them.
Tabitha Sanders Furniture, 2019-01-02 23:29:52. Have you recently made the decision to undergo a kitchen renovation? Before you get started, you might be wondering what some of the current trends in kitchen design are so that you can make sure your renovation incorporates some of these up-to-the-minute ideas.
Glenna Cobb Kitchen Countertop, 2018-10-04 00:08:08. The kitchen, being the contemporary centerpiece of every home, requires a countertop which (1.) meets the functional needs of daily cooking preparations and (2.) complements the beauty of the entire area.
Beatrice Mclaughlin Kitchen Ideas, 2018-10-03 00:27:36. You love cooking out of doors and do it as often as possible. Now you have decided that it is time to have your own outdoor kitchen. But where do you start? Just how do you find those great ideas?
Lesa Fisher Kitchen Countertop, 2018-10-04 00:07:30. He or she may recommend adjusting these locations sometimes, as cutouts make the stone very fragile. There should be at least 50 mm clearance between the nearest edge of the slab and the lip of the cutout. In some cases, the installer may even require to place it with seams.
Francine Wolfe Kitchen Countertop, 2018-10-07 18:57:48. You can build your kitchen from various materials. SAM's or Home Depot can carry materials for new counters. They have a varieties such as marble, which is always a little more expensive, wood and other materials hand crafted steel. With these available materials you can build up a nice kitchen fairly inexpensive. Steel may not always be a good choice because it can absorb the heat of pans and other hot objects placed on them. This can be potentially dangerous you are cooking and others are in the kitchen at the same time. If you choose steel, it needs to be a thin layer so the heat will dissipate fast.
Elvira Webb Furniture, 2018-10-06 00:52:50. The main thrust of a practical kitchen layout has traditionally been focused on the working triangle design. This was typically where the stove (oven), sink and fridge formed the three points of a triangle.
Elisa Wynn Kitchen Ideas, 2018-10-11 01:01:54. One thing that may be a big help is visiting show rooms that have different kitchen layouts on display. This will give you some outdoor kitchen ideas of your own even if you take bits and pieces of several layouts.


You are here: Home / NLRB / NLRB Posting Requirement – Final Deadline?
NLRB Posting Requirement – Final Deadline?
– essentially all private businesses (there are a few exceptions, based upon annual revenue) are required to post the new notice; this portion was upheld.
– some of the sanctions against employers were voided. The sanction providing that an employer's failure to post the notice extends or "tolls" the NLRA's six-month statute of limitations for filing an unfair labor practice charge, as well as the sanction defining any failure to post the notice as a per se unfair labor practice, were invalidated. The court's reasoning was that these sanctions were an impermissible expansion of the NLRA's scope.
The NLRB site will also have translations of the Notice available in a number of languages. If 20% or more of your workforce is not proficient in English, then you must post the Notice in that language.
https://hopkinshr.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Logo_Name-239x300.png 0 0 admin https://hopkinshr.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Logo_Name-239x300.png admin2012-04-12 18:35:002013-10-08 14:57:49NLRB Posting Requirement - Final Deadline?


Clyde Outboard Services are pleased to be Tohatsu Outboard Dealers. Tohastu are a very up and coming marine company in the UK market and they have been making engines for nearly 100 years for many Japanese fisherman.
Offer the same five year warranty as Yamaha, Mariner, Mercury and Suzuki.
Due to this we feel that Tohatsu outboards are well worth purchasing and are becoming increasingly more popular.
We are also pleased to take used Tohatsu Outboard motors as a trade in against new engines.
Tohatsu 25hp Outboard, Tohatsu MFS25 EPT, Power Tilt, Electric Start, Remote Control, 15 amp Charging System, Control Box.
Tohatsu 30hp Outboard, Tohatsu MFS30 EPT, Power Tilt, Electric Start, Remote Control, 15 amp Charging System, Control Box.


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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


The Magnus is the name of one of the legendary male skin outfits for the game Fortnite Battle Royale. Outfits change the appearance of the player, but do not have any added function or benefit except for aesthetical.
The Magnus is a Viking inspired outfit that will turn your character into a bearded Viking warrior with a Viking helmet, and Nordic raider armor suit. This legendary costume also features some Nordic tattoos, fur-coated armor, and a long yellow beard. The Magnus comes complete with an included fur cape back bling called Enduring Cape.
The costume is part of the Norse Set. This back bling comes with the legendary back bling called Enduring Cape.
This legendary outfit can be purchased in the Cash Shop during its random rotation.
Magnus high-quality PNG images with transparent background to use them as you wish (YouTube thumbnails, skin concept and so on).
Magnus rotation history in the Fortnite Shop. Below you can see the first and last time when Magnus could be bought from Item Shop, also how many days it was seen and the dates list. This cosmetic item can be re-added in the future, so check the store regularly.
This skin needs to come back to the item shop. I was on vacation when it was available.
It only came out once this year! Might be rare,eskitt it!
Please put this skin back in the item shop I've been waiting for this skin for so long now.


text:
SANTA MONICA, Calif., May 12, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Macerich Company (NYSE: MAC) today announced results of operations for the quarter ended March 31, 2020, which included net income attributable to the Company of $7.5 million or $.05 per share-diluted for the quarter ended March 31, 2020 compared to net income of $7.8 million or $.05 per share-diluted attributable to the Company for the quarter ended March 31, 2019. For the first quarter 2020, funds from operations ("FFO")-diluted, excluding financing expense in connection with Chandler Freehold and loss on extinguishment of debt was $122.7 million or $.81 per share-diluted compared to $122.3 million or $.81 per share-diluted for the quarter ended March 31, 2019. A description and reconciliation of earnings per share ("EPS")-diluted to FFO per share-diluted, excluding financing expense in connection with Chandler Freehold and loss on extinguishment of debt is included within the financial tables accompanying this press release.
Mall tenant annual sales per square foot for the portfolio increased by 7.4% to $801 for the twelve months ended February 29, 2020, compared to $746 for the twelve months ended March 31, 2019. Given the widespread closures of a majority of the Company's tenants during March 2020 as a result of COVID-19, tenant sales reporting is reflected as of February 29, 2020.
Mall portfolio occupancy was 93.1% at March 31, 2020, compared to 94.0% at December 31, 2019 and 94.7% at March 31, 2019.
Re-leasing spreads for the twelve months ended March 31, 2020 were up 6.5%. This represented a sequential improvement compared to re-leasing spreads for the twelve months ended December 31, 2019, which were up 4.7%.
Leasing volumes remained strong during the first quarter, with nearly 200 leases signed for 739,000 square feet totaling $38 million of rent.
Average rent per square foot increased 2.8% to $62.44 at March 31, 2020, compared to $60.74 at March 31, 2019.
"While we are certainly pleased by the first quarter operating metrics and financial results, which exceeded our original first quarter expectations, our world is facing an unprecedented health crisis in the form of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). It is a crisis that is impacting our way of life and touching almost every facet of the global economy. We are fortifying our Company and re-shaping our strategic plans to help withstand this unprecedented event. We are closely monitoring the situation and working with local and national authorities and our number one priority is the health and safety of our employees, our tenants, our service providers, and our community shoppers," said the Company's Chief Executive Officer, Thomas O'Hern. "I am confident that we have built a resilient business model, a high quality portfolio and a team of top professionals to weather this crisis and to ensure we remain well-positioned going forward."
During the trough of the COVID-19 pandemic, all but a few of the Company's malls had shuttered, except for the continued operation of essential retail and services, and approximately 74% of the gross leasable area, which was previously occupied prior to the COVID-19 closures, had closed. Many of those stores that remained open did so on a limited-hours basis. The Company is now actively planning for the re-opening of its real estate in all facets. Within the past two weeks, The Company has re-opened 13 assets located in Texas, Colorado, Missouri, Iowa, Indiana and Arizona. By the end of May, the Company anticipates being able to open, as permitted, approximately 35 properties. While still uncertain given the myriad of state and local ordinances, at this time, it is reasonable to assume that the vast majority of the Company's properties will be open by mid-June. The Company is prepared and ready for re-opening, when permitted to do so.
Community Outreach:
During this period, the Company engaged in numerous community initiatives, including to name just a few:
Donated food and supplies to support first responders and hospitals
Donated its real estate for essential functions, drive-through testing facilities, first responder parking and food drives
Donated to local non-profit charities
Made Company billboards and other media available for stay-at-home campaigns, healthy hygiene protocols and blood drives
Donated iPads to New York area hospitals for use by terminal patients requiring connection to family and friends
Liquidity Measures:
During this period of disrupted rent collections due to COVID-19, the Company has taken numerous measures to preserve its liquidity, including among others:
As previously reported, the Company has drawn the majority of the remaining capacity on its $1.5 billion revolving line of credit. As of March 31, 2020, the Company had $735 million of cash on its balance sheet, including joint ventures at the Company's share.
The Company's Board of Directors recently approved a reduction in the quarterly dividend to $.50 per share, payable 20% in cash and 80% in common stock for the upcoming dividend. The dividend reduction preserves approximately $150 million of cash annually. For each quarter that the board chooses to pay the dividend in stock, an additional $60 million in cash will be preserved. The Company's next dividend payment is on June 3, 2020 to shareholders of record at market close on April 22, 2020.
The Company's redevelopment pipeline has been significantly reduced for the remainder of 2020. The Company anticipates spending $60 million in the last three quarters of 2020 on redevelopment, which represents a 60% reduction in previously estimated 2020 redevelopment expenditures for that period of time. This reduction excludes the joint venture owned project at One Westside, Google's new Class A creative office campus in West Los Angeles. Work continues on that project during the pandemic, which is fully funded by a non-recourse construction facility.
The Company has reduced its controllable shopping center expenses by approximately 45% during the period that its properties are substantially closed, except for essential retail and services.
On March 27, 2020, given the complex and rapidly evolving circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, the Company withdrew its previously published 2020 Guidance, and is not providing an updated outlook at this time.
The Company will provide an online Web simulcast and rebroadcast of its quarterly earnings conference call. The call will be available on The Macerich Company's website at www.macerich.com (Investors Section). The call begins on May 12, 2020 at 10:00 AM Pacific Time. To listen to the call, please go to the website at least 15 minutes prior to the call in order to register and download audio software if needed. An online replay at www.macerich.com (Investors Section) will be available for one year after the call.
Note: This release contains statements that constitute forward-looking statements which can be identified by the use of words, such as "expects," "anticipates," "assumes," "projects," "estimated" and "scheduled" and similar expressions that do not relate to historical matters. Stockholders are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to vary materially from those anticipated, expected or projected. Such factors include, among others, general industry, as well as national, regional and local economic and business conditions, which will, among other things, affect demand for retail space or retail goods, availability and creditworthiness of current and prospective tenants, anchor or tenant bankruptcies, closures, mergers or consolidations, lease rates, terms and payments, interest rate fluctuations, availability, terms and cost of financing and operating expenses; adverse changes in the real estate markets including, among other things, competition from other companies, retail formats and technology, risks of real estate development and redevelopment, and acquisitions and dispositions; the adverse impact of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) on the U.S., regional and global economies and the financial condition and results of operations of the Company and its tenants; the liquidity of real estate investments; governmental actions and initiatives (including legislative and regulatory changes); environmental and safety requirements; and terrorist activities or other acts of violence which could adversely affect all of the above factors. The reader is directed to the Company's various filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019 and our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2020 for a discussion of such risks and uncertainties, which discussion is incorporated herein by reference. The Company does not intend, and undertakes no obligation, to update any forward-looking information to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this release or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events unless required by law to do so.
Ended March 31,
Equity in income of unconsolidated joint ventures
Less net income attributable to noncontrolling interests
Net income attributable to the Company
Dividend declared per share
FFO - basic and diluted, excluding financing expense in connection with Chandler Freehold (b) (c)
FFO - basic and diluted, excluding financing expense in connection with Chandler Freehold and loss on extinguishment of debt (b) (c)
FFO per share - basic and diluted, excluding financing expense in connection with Chandler Freehold (b) (c)
FFO per share - basic and diluted, excluding financing expense in connection with Chandler Freehold and loss on extinguishment of debt (b) (c)
The Company accounts for its investment in the Chandler Fashion Center and Freehold Raceway Mall ("Chandler Freehold") joint venture as a financing arrangement. As a result, the Company has included in interest expense (i) a credit of $48,385 and $14,265 to adjust for the change in the fair value of the financing arrangement obligation during the three months ended March 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively; (ii) distributions of $1,464 and $1,897 to its partner representing the partner's share of net income for the three months ended March 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively; and (iii) distributions of $2,678 and $1,921 to its partner in excess of the partner's share of net income for the three months ended March 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively.
Beginning in the first quarter of 2018, the Company revised its definition of FFO so that FFO excluded the impact of the financing expense in connection with Chandler Freehold. Beginning in the third quarter of 2019, the Company presented a separate non-GAAP measure - FFO excluding financing expense in connection with Chandler Freehold. The Company has revised the FFO presentation for the three months ended March 31, 2019to conform to the current presentation. The Company accounts for its joint venture in Chandler Freehold as a financing arrangement. In connection with this treatment, the Company recognizes financing expense on (i) the changes in fair value of the financing arrangement, (ii) any payments to such joint venture partner equal to their pro rata share of net income and (iii) any payments to such joint venture partner less than or in excess of their pro rata share of net income. The Company excludes the noted expenses related to the changes in fair value and for the payments to such joint venture partner less than or in excess of their pro rata share of net income.
Reconciliation of net income attributable to the Company to FFO attributable to
Adjustments to reconcile net income attributable to the Company to FFO attributable to common stockholders and unit holders - basic and diluted:
Less depreciation and amortization allocable to noncontrolling interests in consolidated joint ventures
FFO attributable to common stockholders and unit holders, excluding financing expense in connection with Chandler Freehold - basic and diluted
FFO attributable to common stockholders and unit holders, excluding financing expense in connection with Chandler Freehold and loss on extinguishment of debt - diluted
FFO per share - basic and diluted, excluding financing expense in connection with Chandler Freehold and loss on extinguishment of debt
Reconciliation of Net income attributable to the Company to Adjusted EBITDA:
Less: Interest expense and depreciation and amortization allocable to noncontrolling interests in consolidated joint ventures
SOURCE The Macerich Company


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Home / Archive / featured / Royal Wedding and FA Cup Final gets viewers streaming
Royal Wedding and FA Cup Final gets viewers streaming Reviewed by RXTV-newsdesk on May 22, 2018 Rating: 5
Royal Wedding and FA Cup Final gets viewers streaming
May 22, 2018 Archive , featured Edit
A combination of the Royal Wedding and the FA Cup Final resulted in the BBC smashing online records.
Saturday 19th May 2018 became the biggest day for BBC Online to date, with 11.9 petabytes (11.9 million gigabytes) of data, peaking at midday as Meghan Markle's dress was first revealed.
Overall, the Royal Wedding became the second most popular live event on the BBC iPlayer with 1.9 million live requests.
Full data for May 2018 will be released by the BBC in the coming weeks.
Meanwhile, the BBC conducted a further Ultra HD test on the iPlayer over the weekend, with part of the FA Cup Final being streamed using the latest UHD technology.


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FishEaters
FishEaters Traditional Catholic Forums › Church › Catholicism
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Why was England so interested in conquering Ireland?
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Tobri
I have been reading up on English history (bought a book about the Civil War not too long ago), and I am curious to see opinions. Why exactly was England practically from her unification until the early 20th century so hell bent on conquering Ireland? Heck they still own 1/4 of the place in the 21st century - but I suppose all those centuries of English plantations and Scottish refugees arriving Northern Ireland is more of it's own entity now when compared to the rest of Ireland.
Is the soil there good or something or is it simply because England was power thirsty and France was too powerful so they settled for their neighbor? I can't see any other practical reason for England (medieval to empire) to want to own an economically poor Island with inhabitants hostile to foreign occupation. Especially post reformation which like tripled the Irish dislike of England when they shut down the Irish monasteries and suppressed the Church there etc... what benefit did England gain?
didishroom
Because they were Douche Bags....
matthew_talbot
(07-24-2009, 07:52 PM)didishroom Wrote: Because they were Douche Bags....
The English?
(07-24-2009, 08:41 PM)matthew_talbot Wrote:
You're damn right the English. >:(
devotedknuckles
inferiority complex about the wee men u know what i mean. English lassies were always better satisfied with us Irish. so the English couldn't out love us they tried to out fight us which for the last 800 years they haven't succeeded. we do everything better besides imperialism and the limeys are not good at that no more either.
sip sip
The_Harlequin_King
I have to admit, though being of English descent myself, the English have been pretty douche-y throughout history, from the Hundred Years' War at the least. Ireland was nearby and easy to pick on. After a while, they felt obligated to subjugate the entire island because the King of England also had the title of Lord of Ireland (then Henry VIII claimed King). This title of "Lord of Ireland" was given to King Henry II of England by Pope Adrian IV in a bull called Laudabiliter. The pretext was on reforming the Irish church. Not surprisingly, Adrian IV was an English pope....
As further proof of their douche-iness, you have the English forcing drugs on the Chinese in the Opium Wars of the mid-19th century.
DK lol +1
What I find fascinating is that in 55 years they went from a cultural, military, and especially economic superpower controlling 1/4 of the world to loosing all of their Empire - even Scotland - and becoming an almost bankrupt high inflation welfare state that is more socialist than Communist China with a rapidly decaying culture that is sex crazy and either athiest or neo-pagan/new age (Church of England not surprisingly fits both categories).
I think though the cost of having two world wars with in 20 years is what did them in financially - and America's Vietnam era cultural revolution spread over there which combined with collapse of industry finished their culture as it did the with the USA. But I guess perhaps it is not unusual for empires to collapse quickly - the USA was on top of the world 7 years ago and now look...
well its a highly complex issue. they were done the minute they revolted against the True church. see once the church of England ceased to be the brit state religion it was over for them heretics. the brit empire did a fairly well job of controlling its descent. but they are done as a culture and as a state. they have been extremely short sighted. i doubt they will ever again be able to field a professional army when it counts. No! there done.
no tears here.
sadly there culture has ravaged Ireland and yes many many many tears for that. well bombs to i suppose.
BRITS OUT! TIOCFAIDH AR LA!
I mostly know about Englands Tudor era and at that time it was because they were afraid Ireland being Catholic would be a launching pad for a Spanish Invasion and this continued to be a reason for about 150 years but the biggest reason is that England is full of ass clowns.
07-25-2009, 12:15 AM (This post was last modified: 07-25-2009, 07:18 AM by Bonifacius.)
I think that the question is somewhat anachronistic. The conquest of Ireland in the 1100s wasn't really "English" -- it was Norman. The Normans were a group of Vikings who first conquered Normandy in France and then England, Wales, Sicily, parts of Italy, parts of the Byzantine Empire, and then Ireland. The Cambro-Normans (Normans based in Wales) were especially prominent in the conquest of Ireland. Their Norwegian and Danish cousins had already conquered parts of Ireland (and founded Dublin, Wexford, etc.) centuries earlier. The Hiberno-Normans (Normans in Ireland) eventually became "more Irish than the Irish" and were quite Catholic. It was only in the 1500s that English nationalism per se became a major issue, and Protestantism too. Anyone with "Fitz-" in his surname is of Hiberno-Norman ancestry. They "went native" long, long ago, just as the Normans who conquered England eventually went native. The second, Protestant conquest was a rather different phenomenon.
It should be remembered that the initial Norman conquest was the result of an inner Irish conflict in which a banished Irish king hired Norman, Welsh, and Flemish mercenaries to help him regain his throne and seek revenge upon his enemies. Then St. Lawrence O'Toole, the Archbishop of Dublin (he was the first ethnically Irish bishop of this Norse town), helped negotiate the terms by which Henry II, who ruled half of France in addition to England, would be Lord of Ireland.
So it's somewhat inaccurate to speak of "the English" conquering or ruling Ireland before the 1500s. For most of the High Middle Ages, the rulers were local Hiberno-Norman rulers who were being assimilated to the general population.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_English_(Ireland)
This article explains issues of ethnic identity, cultural friction, and religion prior to the Tudor conquest:
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In this video, Sara Meeks, P.T., M.S., G.C.S., K.Y.T.*, -- an award-winning physical therapist, yoga teacher, and internationally renowned specialist on S.A.F.E.** Movement and Exercise for Better Bone Health -- demonstrates The Mermaid Series, a sequence of yoga-inspired movements that invite safe, active spinal rotation and enhance spinal flexibility and core strength. Practice this challenging sequence along with Sara, and enjoy!


Home Michelle's Blog Why Does Slowing Down Feel Shameful?
And I want to add quickly it's not all been holiday! I have been doing some work, but the crucial thing is I have been doing considerably less work than I have ever done before. In fact the last time I took this amount of down time from work I had to give birth part way through!
It would seem that my unconscious programming is still set to busy = good, working hard and therefore successful, not busy = lazy, self-indulgent and not successful.
I hesitated even to write this blog, as all I could imagine was being pelted with rotten tomatoes for bragging about my good fortune at being able to take this time out to slow down.
yet it is so easy to collapse "fulfilling potential" only with career success rather than seeing a wider perspective.
I want to really remember that exploring our potential for being healthier, happier and going slower is just as relevant to the WDF "inspiring female potential" mission as keeping our noses to the grindstone.


Shakespeare's life, theatre, and Elizabethan Age.
12. William Shakespeare Have you heard these phrases?• I couldn't sleep a wink.• He was dead as a doornail.• She's a tower of strength.• They hoodwinked us.• We'd better lie low for awhile.• I am constant as the Northern Star.• It's all Greek to me.
14. William Shakespeare Later Years• Returned to Stratford around 1610 where he lived as a country gentleman• Wealthy-Owned one of the largest homes in town• Died in Stratford in 1616 at the age of 52. His death was a mystery. It is rumored that he drank too much and contracted a fever or that he died from a cerebral hemorrhage.
29. A white flag indicates that there is a play today.
30. Plays were . performed during the day.
31. The groundlings stood by the stage.
32. The wealthy sat in the upper decks.
33. Young men dressed up to play the female roles.
40. Globe Theater…just as they would have done 400 years ago!


I have all the same credentials as you. But that is not neither here nor there. You are not explaining to me how he is going to get left handed batters out. You as well as I know, as a right handed pitcher your best weapon to getting lefties out is a great change up. He does not have that. So what else is he going to do get away with getting them out? Changing eye levels and pin pointing his fastball? That could work but he is going to make more mistakes with it as hitters pick up on the tendencies. I am just not sold in seeing anything he has in his arsenal that will be a great tool at getting left handed batters out. And as a right handed starter that is usually what seperates front line starters from back end starters, ability to get lefties out/have a reliable change up/offspeed option.
All I know is he got Brett Wallace to chase a couple of high fastballs in his first start this season. That was enough to convince me. We're talking about one of the best left-handed hitters in the league and Straily just blew him away.
Still never got an answer on how he will get left handed batters out. He told someone to explain why they were skeptical on Straily. I did, and I got a long drawn out reply that mentioned nothing to the point I made. ?????
in fairness to foulline, he did say he had lessons lined up that would start within an hr of the discussion posts. i don't think he's deliberately ignoring your call for info. and i do hope he remembers to come back into this thread as i'm thoroughly enjoying the discussion.
Well I made the post for the 2nd time at 9:24 my time, then Brewcrew made a post at 9:25, then he came in and replied to him at 9:33. So he had time in between to make other posts but chose to reply to personal posts, instead of the posts discussing the actual topic at hand.
Haha! I think sometimes in these arguments we get too wrapped up in ceiling/floor, breakouts, etc, and the arguments take a stance that if you like a player you love him and think he's a hall of famer, andif youre the slightest critical you hate him. In the case of someone like Straily it's really about how useful he is to your situation, league size, etc. I like him fine, and he can be very useful, I just don't believe he'll ever be an "ace".
It's weird how polarizing this guy is. Maybe because he came out of nowhere, I don't know. But the numbers say he has a shot to be good, maybe even very good. He's dominating the PCL, which is a norotiriously tough league for pitchers. So he's getting righties and lefties out at the highest level of the minor leagues. And he did it last year, too. Not to mention his start against the Astros this year (I know, it's the Astros, but he K'd 11 in 6 innings). Scouts get it wrong all the time. Maybe they got it wrong with this guy. Maybe they didn't. We'll see. But I think he's a guy worth taking a shot on, particularly in that ballpark.
There are many ways to get hitters weather they are lefty or right.
There isn't some magic pitch that will just get a specific type of hitter out. Even if there was, it wouldn't be long until the league adjusted and took that away from you.
It's all about location and the sequence of an at bat. That is how you get any hitter out.
His change up is plenty good and much better than you are giving it credit for.
His slider is already more than MLB ready and is improving at a rapid rate. As I said before he will be back dooring many lefties with it this year.
You did nothing to sell me, or the board on how he is a "future cy young contender" so you should probably just stop making those proclamations if you don't have the courage of your conviction in explaining what he has in his arsenal that will get him to that point. There are certain ways to get left handed hitters out for right handed pitchers. The change up is the highest % pitch that gives a right handed starter the best chance at keeping them off balance. If you are a right hand starter you need a very good change up, or an elite level, pin point controlled slider that can get in on the hitters hands. Why do we have to annoint all these young players so early? Why can't we just leave it at he has a good chance to be successful at the majors due to being in a big time pitchers park and on a very good team? Why do we have to label all these young guys before they really have a chance to get there feet wet?
I've been burning a roster spot for him since the start of the season and will continue to do so until he's called up. I didn't like to see Parker pitch a gem yesterday lol, seemed he was a couple bad outings away from a demotion, oh well. Maybe Tubby will start imploding soon, one can only hope. Can't wait till i have 3/5ths of this rotation!
tubby wont implode. Hs been solid for 3 straight years now.
Please get off of the personal level. There's too much you, you, you, in your post. YOU need to stop talking about ME and start addressing the topic at hand. Why is Anderson better than Straily? Why is Straily's arsenal so bad that he will never get a left handed hitter out?
Reread your above post. What about your post is specific to Daniel Straily???
All you did was post some B.S. blanket statement that you heard over the years and are trying to apply it to a specific case that you really don't know much about. Let's be real here. "If you are a right hand starter you need a very good change up, or an elite level, pin point controlled slider that can get in on the hitters hands."
If you are a STARTING PITCHER in the MAJOR LEAGUES you need a CHANGEUP. Period, exclamation point.
Tell me what the best quality of a change up is because I have a feeling you have no idea. You keep acting like Straily's changeup is garbage. When it is in fact very good and keep in mind it only has to be good enough for the way HE pitches. No one else. I'm sure I'll end up explaining this statement later as well but right now I don't have time too.
You need to calm the f*** down. I made zero personal attacks on you. I said you need to have the courage of your conviction. That is being brave enough to stand up for what you believe in. You have danced around my question numerous times and given zero answers to what he has in his arsenal to get left handed batters out. All you said was his change up is good, you are wrong. The pitch got absolutely destroyed by left handed batters last season when he was up at the big leagues. It was rated as a -2.2 on the fangraphs scale because it generated zero swings and misses and almsot everytime he threw it, it got crushed. So maybe that is small sample size fluke, I am not sure but that is all we have to go off of right now. So you are going to have to articulate to me why we should believe he was something in his arsenal that can get left handed batters out at an above average clip. That is all I am asking you to explain to us. I don't make personal attacks on posters, I am here to talk baseball. So I would appreciate it if you would not go down that avenue with me.
And this is about YOU. "You" are the one who told this board he is a future Cy Young contender. So I am challenging you to back it up. If all you have is he was great in the minors in 2012 then lets cut our losses and say agree to disagree and let the results play out.
Incorrect, Alexei Ogando does not have a change up. And he posted a great season in 2011 with his fastball/slider combination. But he has one of the best sliders in the league, and an elite 95+ MPH so he is able to get away with that. There are other pitchers like that too. Obviously, most elite starting pitchers who are a 1-2 in this league have a change up that is very good. But its not the end all. You are starting to go down the pound my chest, and make loud noises avenue of basically saying "I know more than you, you are dumb". That s*** won't fly with me. So I would suggest not ever alluding to that in the future in our debates. I have been studying this game for a long time. Some people have different philosophies on baseball. Why do you think the prospect rankings are different for every site? Different scouts have different tools on how to judge players. There is not one right way of analyzing players. So get off your high horse. I have never taken jabs at you, simply just trying to challenge you to explain something and instead of explaining it you are getting all offended and taking this off course.
It was a personal attack and I think I handled it appropriately. Cause it really take so much courage and conviction to post fairly anonymously on a message board.
Obviously fangraphs numbers are wrong. I am a huge supporter in fangraphs and love the site as much as the next fantasy nut. But they got it wrong in this case.
Yes very small sample size and as I have said earlier Dan Straily was very unlucky last year with the HR rate. Extremely unlucky. Even factoring that his OPS against last year (vs lefties) was .768, slightly above league average OPS. Which amazes me. Imagine if the ball wasn't carrying so hard in almost all of his starts last year and the a few of those balls didn't leave the park. His OPS against lefties would have been close to dominate.
There's always an exception to the rule. This is baseball.
But here's the real point, you're just arguing with me now. Not trying to make or defend your case, or make your case, but just prove me wrong on anything I say. Because Ogando is a case that would actually disprove you're whole theory of how Straily won't be able to get lefties out.


text:
Home » WORLD NEWS » University students fleeing for fear of terrorist attack in #Kenya
University students fleeing for fear of terrorist attack in #Kenya
Members of the Red Cross help a relative of one of the students massacred by Al Shabaab
Eldoret, Kenya (AP + DIPLOMAT.SO) — Hundreds of students at Moi University in western Kenya are fleeing the school's dorms, fearing a deadly extremist attack by some of their previous colleagues, a student leader said Friday.
Students were seeking accommodation outside the campus in the town of Eldoret after it was revealed that four missing students allegedly joined the Somali Islamic extremist group al-Shabab, which has claimed responsibility for the April 2 gun attack on Garissa University that killed 148 people, student leader Alex Mbugua said.
University Vice Chancellor Richard Mibey said rumors that the four missing students had threatened to come back to attack the institution were causing the panic. Heavily armed policemen were deployed to the campus, which has about 30,000 people, but students still were not confident about their security.
"If the Garissa case was reported to authorities but it still happened, we cannot be guaranteed security here at all," said Jane Tomno, a third-year engineering student who was among those moving out.
Kenya police earlier this month warned of the threat of an attack by al-Shabab, which has vowed retribution for Kenya's troop presence in Somalia.
Kenyan troops are part of the African Union forces bolstering Somalia's weak U.N.-backed government, which is struggling to rebuild the war-torn country amid an al-Shabab insurgency.
Al Shabaab militants surround a hideout for Mukhtar Robow Ali in Bakool before handing him over to the Somali national army
Mukhtar Robow Ali "Abu Mansur" former Al Shabaab spokesman, sitting next to him, Ali Mohamud Rage
Mukhtar Robow Ali " Abu Mansur"
Somali National Army (SNA)


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Mother of Naples man who died tragically hopes aviation foundation will be his legacy
Michael Braun
Laura Swaggerty would like to see her son's legacy live through others and turn the tragedy of his death into a triumph for life.
Justin Swaggerty died June 6, 2020, in a skydiving accident in Chester, South Carolina.
The Naples resident and Barron Collier High School graduate was 20 when he died while parachuting with Skydive Carolina. News reports in South Carolina said the tragedy happened June 6 during the landing sequence of a skydive, when he collided with a grounded aircraft.
Laura Swaggerty, a struggling single mother, waded through the tragic death and, spurred by her son's friends, began thinking how to honor him.
"Honestly, right after he passed away," she said was when she began making plans. "Because the kids were like down at the airport, put a gold plate on the bench and then I thought to myself, I was always helped along the way ... I was always the recipient of people being kind. We had a very blessed life."
She was astounded when more than 600 people showed up at a local beach during a memorial for her son.
"I didn't realize how much influence he had on his peers," she said.
She realized that could be a foundation for his memory.
"I can build on this and I can do something great so that his legacy lives on," she said.
That has since segued into an announcement Laura Swaggerty will make during a media briefing at the Naples Hilton on Thursday to announce the Justin Swaggerty Aviation Foundation.
"I wanted to help others in unfortunate circumstances," she said. "He left a legacy and a passion for flying ... we are launching an aviation foundation in his honor."
The idea was rooted in her son's love for flying and the fact that he was just weeks from obtaining his commercial pilot's license.
She said it was older brother Joseph Camberato who influenced Justin, however.
"My older son ... financed a plane to the Academy of Aviation in Farmingdale, New York," Swaggerty said. "The owner asked him If anyone in his family needed a career….also stated that there is a shortage of pilots."
The owner allowed Justin to come up ]when he was 18, in his senior year, and fly a Cessna.
"I asked Justin if he was nervous and he said it felt like a new beginning," she said. "He fell in love with flying at that moment"
The foundation plans to offer scholarships for Collier and Lee county students who are studying for a private or commercial pilot's license.
In memoriam:'The man had life': Naples man killed in South Carolina skydiving accident
Dream fulfilled:Naples man killed in crash honored with his dream: to be a firefighter
Tragic end:Slain 18-year-old Naples Park teen remembered as athlete, animal lover, faithful
It can cost from $3,000 for a sport pilot license, up to $15,000 for a private pilot license and up to $30,000 for a commercial pilot license, depending on the school.
Laura Swaggerty is working with local flight operators Paragon Aviation Group to coordinate the scholarship but said the funds could go to help students at any flight school.
She is also working to have Agape Flights, which operates missionary flights, conduct an annual flight in her son's name to bring food and supplies where needed around the world.
"I know what it's like to want to do something, but you don't have the financial means to do it," she said.
She said her son went to flight school in North Carolina and the family received financial help for him to attend and help with subsequent licensing.
"He flew a Cessna into Naples Airport for Mother's Day right before he passed," she said. "We were thrilled. He was from a single-parent household; he made it out of Naples and he was pursuing his dream and doing it in record-breaking time."
The loss of her son hurt deeply; at 20 he was the baby of the family with older siblings Joseph, 39, and Loren, 37.
"He was my change-of-life child," Laura Swaggerty, 65, said. "He was always smiling. He never had a bad word to say to anyone. He was such a good kid."
There were a variety of poignant comments from those who knew him.
"It shows how good of a person he was," Charles Weber, a longtime family friend, said, pointing to the positivity Swaggerty carried with him everywhere he went. "That was just his call sign."
And Mary Avenatti Beatty, who led him in a local ministry program when he was a middle school student, said Justin Swaggerty had "kind eyes."
"He drew you in ... you could see his gentle, loving soul," she wrote shortly after his death in a text message. "Everyone he met was a friend to him and felt loved by him. He touched so many lives wherever he went. Our community is heartbroken and will have a large void without his presence."
Laura Swaggerty hopes that as the foundation grows she can even have paying positions to help run operations.
A gofundme set up by friends for Justin Swaggerty quickly exceeded its $25,000 goal.
"I stopped it because it was supposed to be for funeral expense," she said, expressing amazement on how fast the fundraiser grew. "People were like, oh, why would you stop?"
She said that clamor to help made her realize that there were a lot of caring, giving people who loved her son and she could build on that via a foundation in his name that would continue to give help to others.
More information on the foundation is available at jswagaviation.org.
Connect with breaking news reporter Michael Braun: MichaelBraunNP (Facebook), @MichaelBraunNP (Twitter) or mbraun@news-press.com.


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Q: LightGbm in r 3.5.2 I am trying to install Lightgbm library in r 3.5.2.after millions of try i can do so. if anyone know how to install it?
I have try these methods to install lightgbm but always an error occur of such type.
1.

Error in i.p(...) :
    (converted from warning) installation of package 'C:/Users/MUHAMM~1/AppData/Local/Temp/Rtmp4EX73g/file7d81a401a17/lightgbm_2.2.3.tar.gz' had non-zero exit status
  In addition: Warning messages:
  1: In untar2(tarfile, files, list, exdir) :
    skipping pax global extended headers
  2: In untar2(tarfile, files, list, exdir) :
    skipping pax global extended headers

2.

Error in lgb.dl(commit = "master", compiler = "vs", repo = "https://github.com/Microsoft/LightGBM",  :
    could not find function "lgb.dl"

#1
install.packages('devtools')
packageurl <- "http://cran.r-project.org/src/contrib/Archive/lightgbm/lightgbm_3.5.2.tar.gz"
install.packages(packageurl, contriburl=NULL, type="source")

#2
download.file("https://github.com/hadley/lightgbm/archive/master.zip", destfile = "lightgbm.zip")

#3
lgb.dl(commit = "master",libdll = "C:\\xgboost\\LightGBM\\windows\\x64\\DLL\\lib_lightgbm.dll",
  # repo = "https://github.com/Microsoft/LightGBM",cores = 2)

#4
lgb.dl(commit = "master", libdll = "C:\\LightGBM\\windows\\x64\\DLL\\lib_lightgbm.dll", # YOUR PRECOMPILED DLL
   #repo = "https://github.com/Microsoft/LightGBM")

Error in lgb.dl(commit = "master", compiler = "vs", repo = "https://github.com/Microsoft/LightGBM",  :
    could not find function "lgb.dl"

#5
lgb.dl(commit = "master", compiler = "vs", # Remove this for MinGW + GPU installation repo = "https://github.com/Microsoft/LightGBM", use_gpu = TRUE)

#6
lgb.dl(commit = "master", compiler = "vs", # Remove this for MinGW + GPU installation repo = "https://github.com/Microsoft/LightGBM",use_gpu = TRUE)

A: {lgbl.dl} was originally created to make installing {lightgbm} easier, since {lightgbm} had a difficult-to-use installation process.
That package has not kept up with changes in LightGBM, and is no longer necessary to install the R package on Windows, as the original question here mentions.
{lightgbm} is now on CRAN. Run this R code to install it.
install.packages("lightgbm", repos = "https://cloud.r-project.org")

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Q: How to use css selector in Golang In Ruby, I have something like contents = html_doc.css("img + a"). How would I do this in Go?
I am trying to use Goquery but I am unsure of how to convert it. Specifically, I tried doc.find("img") but it doesn't find anything for some reason
Edit: Here is the HTTP I'm trying to parse through:
 convobot-main/                    2022-01-27 13:55    -
 matlab/                           2022-01-31 11:58    -
 test/                             2022-01-27 13:52    -
 test3 - Copy/                     2022-02-09 15:09    -
 test3/                            2022-02-09 10:47    -
 Quadractic.mlx                    2022-01-21 15:02  3.3K

I am looking to get the file names like Quadractic.mlx


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Amazing Mystic Dreams online slot machine has 5 reels, 3 rows, there are 243 ways to win. Look at the Indian ceremony and try a wonderful victory at this casino slot developed by Microgaming!
This game contains an interesting bonus feature that will help you earn a lot of credits. With a totem sign, you can play a free spin game if more than two reels match on the left to right reel. The number of spins depends on the number of totem symbols.
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The Indians had many secrets and mysterious rituals. They talked with biped walking animals in their dreams and asked for help from them. In this game you can touch the old mystery and you can ask for the help of the game. The game is highly designed. Pictures of animals, wigwams, totems, and priest priests are used as symbols of the game. You can hear the melody and sound effects of Nice in the game.


Lincolnton, NC – The Lincoln County Sheriff's Office is asking for the public's help in locating a missing male who walked off from Boger City Rest Home.
Richard Keith Purdue, 53, was last seen on foot leaving Boger City Rest Home on Little Valley Lane in Lincolnton at approximately 8:30pm on 1/22/2018. He is a white male with black hair and blue eyes, stands 5'5" and weighs 135 lbs. He was last seen wearing a royal blue hoodie and black sweat pants. Purdue suffers from autism, schizophrenia, and is bipolar.
Lincoln County Sheriff's Office and Land Search team are currently on the scene attempting to search the area on foot for the subject.
Anyone with information about the missing male's whereabouts is asked the contact the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office at 704-732-9050 or the Lincoln County Communications Center at 704-735-8202.


Advisor (committee chair) Cole, K. C.
Advisor (committee member) Levitt, Pat R.
Abstract Socially assistive robots are not only mechanical helpers but also engage in social interaction with humans. More than 20 robots have been used in experiments with children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, or ASD. Some scientists claim that robots can help children on the spectrum to engage socially, one of the biggest challenges for autistic kids. In the robot experiments, the interaction between children and robots has concentrated around the very basics of human interaction: eye-gaze following, non-verbal communication, and imitation. However, critics of social robotics have voiced concerns about our interactions with machines. As robots grow more prominent, we might start to feel safe in a robotic relationship that lacks the ups and downs of human interaction. The robot researchers working for children with autism argue that social robots are not meant to replace therapists but facilitate communication between the children and other humans.


Kate and Pete married at the beautiful town hall in Lewes. The rain fell momentarily but think you will agree that it made for some atmospheric photos!
Everyone boarded the bus out to Henfield for a reception in the stunning Ginger Fox pub where the sun shone, the wine flowed and the food wowed.