text:
Weighing the pen and the sword
admin on April 20, 2005, 12:00 am79 Comments | Readers 4
Jude Collins and Ed Moloney have ended up in a bit of a public barney about an almost blog style debunking of Anthony McIntyre's LA Times Op Ed piece on how he believes the IRA is morphing into a criminal gang.
Professor invites Adams and Ervine to debate punishment beatings
New Pope here…
79 thoughts on "Weighing the pen and the sword"
tom luby
game, set and match to moloney, no doubt about it!
Davros
Jude is an OK guy in my book. I y=think Ed Moloney has got it wrong here.
sean west
Mcintyre's story is poorly written rubbish.
"British Empire" there has not been one since 1945
or even 1919.Always embarrasing to hear that old claptrap.
to davros:
but you would, wouldn't you? – you're a provo and collins is your party's latest pet hack
Ed Moloney's letter to Jude Collins was well out of order.
Reading Collin's riposte to McIntyre's LA piece, it is difficult to see what caused offence to Maloney. More telling, it is imposssible to read anything into Collin's piece that could be interpreted as putting McIntyre in any danger. If Ed Moloney really wanted to do McIntyre a favour he would have been better served talking to McIntyre himself. It can hardly be his intention to despatch threatening letters to everyone who disagrees with McIntyre, that would be a full time job in itself. It's quite clear that Moloney's intention was to 'soften up' a fellow commentator for nor following 'group-think' doctrines. His despicable ploy was to make Collins feel in some way responsible for McIntyre's well being, inventing a danger in the process.
to barney:
see message to davros, same applies to you
LOL. Davros, you've been caught out being reasonable. Don't let it happen again.
there was no need to put me and Davros in the same insult. We both have reputations to think of, Davros more than me.
Chris Gaskin
I see Luby has started to crack again
Ball not man please Mr Luby.
DerryTerry
Given some of the material that Anthony McIntyre has written over the years I wonder if Ed has penned any letters to the Blanket.
Much of the personalised abuse and allegations made by him would strike me as much more worrying than the piece written by Collins.
And before tom luby says it, yes i did sink the Titanic, sell out Ireland 3 times a day and am currently rewriting Irish history.
Oilbhéar Chromaill
TL is completely off the mark when he describes Davros as 'a provo' and his comment re Jude Collins is libellous. But then again, given that he thinks Ed Moloney got the better of that argument, his judgement is such that would land him a part in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest".
Tom, see Chris's remark. This site can only sustain dialogue on respect for the individual, if not their point of view.
You're playing the man here, indiscriminately and (as it happens) inaccurately. Have a go at what Collins says or any of the Republican respondents have to say, by all means!
But simply accusing people of a political allegience, whether accurately or otherwise, is not playing the ball!
Moloney comes out of this with his integrity intact.
PaddyCanuck
I do not see any menace in Judes debunking of what was a purely blog style article in the first place by mister McIntyre.
Anthony has the right to write what ever he wishes, and Jude has the right to critique whatever he wishes.
Ed Malony seems to be right of the richter scale here, to insinuate Jude Collins would be in some way responsible, if Anthony McIntyre, was attacked is scandalous.
By the way does he call Martin McGuinness for comment every time he names him as being the Chief of Staff.
Go and have a pint with your security sources Ed, and give the whinging a rest.
The Obscure
What a ridiculous episode from all concerned. First Collins over-reacted to McIntyre (jealous, perhaps, of his LA Times gig?) Then Maloney over-reacted to Collins (what is a man of Maloney's calibre doing even reading JC's ceasefire-soldier witterings?) Then Collins over-reacted to Maloney's letter (perhaps he's just grateful to have received any response from anyone at all). Then Maloney over-reacted to Collins again, which clearly shows he has way too much time on his hands.
Finally, Dreary Ireland over-reacted to the whole thing by treating what is essentuially journalistic office politics as a serious news event.
Which only leaves one question for all concerned: how far up your own hole can you get?
Interesting exchange.
Moloney is, I think, trying to point out that spinning things in certain ways in NI can result in reprisals (I also note he is now in New York). It's a fair point.
But it also makes clear that he thinks republicanism should be singled out for special scrutiny: he clearly doesn't like a journalist "giving the Provos serious coverage." (and exactly what does "serious" mean here?)
So, the message does seem to be that even though one must be careful in spinning things certain ways in NI, whatever you do, don't treat the Provos (presumably he means "SF/IRA" as some people like to call it now) seriously. Taking republicanism "seriously" warrants public and private rebuke from both Moloney and "lots of people" who have the ability to be "career-threatening" if they so choose.
That's the bit I have difficulty with.
Except… that DI was using exactly the same tactic against its own critics before it was even launched. Didn't they accuse their critics of setting them up for loyalist assassination?
Jimmy_Sands
I can't see that anyone threatened anyone here. The DI has now managed to spin three articles out of a handbag fight between two journalists.
Mick Hall
I think 'the obscure' has got this about right, although all Moloney was doing was privately showing solidarity with a fellow journalist. On reading Judes article when he first mentioned the email, he did imply that it had more meat than it had. i e Moloney's email was some sort of threat.
PaddyCanuck posted the following,
Paddy,
I would be interested if you are implying something here. Ed Moloney throughout the course of the 'troubles' has been one of the better journalists covering the North. He only became persona non gratia with Mr Adams and his crew after he wrote his book. Prior to this he was so much in the loop VOs were sent to him to visit senior Republicans in the Maze. I just find it amazing and pretty pathetic that when a journalist writes something as he sees it, that is unflattering to a certain SF leader, all the other mini Shinners take it as read they have been given a green light to attack and smear the journalist. McIntrye was faultless in defending Moloney when this happened, as he saw it as his duty as a trade unionist to defend a fellow NUJ member when they found themself under attack for something they have written. Something we trade unionists call solidarity! long may it be so.
Even the most dim witted republican should understand the work of people like Moloney has been vital down the years in exposing the British governments behaviour when they have over stepped the mark. To have turned on him as many SF members did is not only counterproductive but dishonourable. The more so for all there howling about Moloney telling lies, the main thread of the book has gone unchallenged. There is a difference between a party propagandist and a good journalist, some just do not seem to understand this.
Lutta continua
Quite. The real mystery is why they took Maloney's umbrage seriously enough to print a full news page to undermining the only columnist they have that anyone has ever heard of.
Clearly the thought of Maloney on the warpath worries the Daily Miller far more than pulling the rug out from under Collins. The man is now a complete laughing stock.
"but you are also contributing to an atmosphere in which violence against McIntyre."
A scurrilous and unfounded allegation from Mr.Maloney, that is deserving of publication.
Over the top on Maloney's part, I agree – although you can be quite sure that McIntyre is very near the top of the West Belfast brigade's current shit-list.
Still the point that Collins is out of his depth must be acknowledged. He is not tucked away in the bottom corner of the Vatican Beano any more. He is writing for the in-house daily of the republican movement and has thus been promoted from fellow-traveller to baggage handler.
The Irish News had the right idea replacing him with Jim Gibney. If you're going to hire a provo, hire a real one.
I can't see that anyone threatened anyone here.
It does have a ring of pleather handbags at dawn.
However, Moloney's letter explicitly links taking the "provos" "seriously" with "career-threatening" journalistic behaviour. The only place where he develops that point in in the last paragraph of his letter where he says that he and "a lot of people" won't hesitate to blame Collins if/ when McIntyre is harmed.
Schadenfreude awaiting political violence, then?
hensosn
The same book which winks and nods it way through accusing adams and co of setting up the likes of the loughgall team.
and then he has the gall to accuse another journalist of being reckless with his writing.
1) by his view that his book would put him in danger and 2) by his email which is even worse than what collins alluded to.
IIRC Moloney's stated reason for abandoning NI was boredom.
My recollection is that it was more the sectarian reductionism that bored him. I don't think he expressed any nostalgia for cordite.
Perhaps the prospects of promulgating his own journalistic reductionism might tempt him back?
I'm not sure I understand the hostility. My impression of his book was that Moloney was something of an admirer of Brownie.
middle-class taig
20 April 2005 at 10:32 pm
"He only became persona non gratia with Mr Adams and his crew after he wrote his book."
I imagine you're much better informed about this stuff than me, and you seem like a pretty smart lad, but I'm not convinced that you have the order of who fell out with who correct there.
The Loughgall thing is simply too implausible for words – it's a product of the fact that Shinners have no chance of getting libel cases off the ground, so you can write whatever pops into your head about them – shinner pipe bombs in Jenin, Bankovski Shinnerov in Bulgaria, Gerry Kelly and Martha Pope, etc, etc, etc, etc. I've never met a nationalist (including in East Tyrone) who believes the Loughgall thing for a second.
I have to say that Moloney has dropped immeasurably in my estimation because of this. The McCarthyite/BigBrother approach is detestable? It smacks of a "we know where you live" attitude to people of other views. There are few enough journalists prepared to pen an article supportive of a republican analysis (certainly not McIntyre or Moloney) – it's not fair that people be threatened for it. In the journalistic firmament, Jude is (I feel unfairly) out of Moloney's league. He put Jude the position where he simply had to put this in the public domain (lest something did happen to McI). I think Jude is the only person who comes out of it with his honour and dignity intact.
As an aside, for the last three or four years, Jude Collins' articles have been mirroring my views. I think he has his finger on the pulse of the nationalist electorate. He's the funny man to Brian Feeney's straight man. I think he's a gifted communicator. I bet SF are gutted he left the Irish News, where he reached (and, I believe, helped convert) a huge number of constitutional nationalists.
Moloney seems, to this ingenue at least, to now be wandering around in something of a journalistic wilderness. He panders obliquely and transparently to the overcrowded Harris/Cruiser/Dudley-E market. His stock-in-trade has now become thinly veiled smear masquerading as hagiography – ("Gerry's so smart he's shafted South Armagh and East Tyrone"; Gerry shoulda gotta Nobel for killing off the RA at the behest of the Brits"; Gerry's beard is so nasty and disgusting that it's actually contributing materially to Irish biodiversity, blah, blah). In intellectual terms, there's no green grass there. In creative terms, what a cul-de-sac! How the mighty have fallen!
Perhaps Adams' call to the RA to "open up a space for movement on all sides" ("Thanks lads, but that's yer lot!") might rekindle Moloney's objectivity again. Alternatively, he could become an advisor to the unionist parties…
One last point; am I wrong in thinking that Anthony McIntyre still lives in the heart of West Belfast, has done so ever since he started writing unkind things about SF and has not faced any physical attacks on his person? I only ask because this endless background drone about SF ruling nationalist areas "with an iron fist", and "permitting no local dissent" and dealing harshly with those who "break from the tribe" is getting on my wick.
It has to be seen as a pile of oul cobblers when you think that Alex Attwood, Anthony McIntyre, Malachi O'Doherty, and various other much-vaunted opponents of Sinn Fein sleep contentedly at night clutched to the warm and gentle bosom of Gerry Adams Your MP in West Belfast.
As the single most criticised organisation in Irish print and other media, Sinn Fein obviously aren't much good at this "stifling dissent" business. Not so much "iron fist" as "limp wrist"!!
Or maybe, now go with me on this one, maybe the elephant in the room with us is that, (drum roll) SF don't stifle debate at all!!! No, no, it can't be that……
And while I'm at it…
The obscure – (I've only just got that)
"If you're going to hire a provo, hire a real one."
Fascinating that you don't consider the coiner of that celebrated bon mot, "armalite and ballot-box" to be "a real one". I bet he wishes he'd had you on his defence team.
Fact is, Daily Ireland don't need to capture the republican consituency; they need to capture the soft, wet, candy-ass nationalists, the Good Friday soldiers, the "Truce-iliers" (as I think Mr McIntyre once said on H&M).
That's people like me. And sorry, but I'm diggin' it.
"The real mystery is why they took Maloney's umbrage seriously enough to print a full news page to undermining the only columnist they have that anyone has ever heard of."
Let me draw you a picture:
"Top Gerry-Hating Journo Seeks to Censor Daily Ireland"
"Why "THEY" don't want YOU reading Jude Collins"
"The nationalist the THOUGHT-POLICE tried to gag"
"Hey Jude, the minute you're getting under their skin"
Undermine him? Au contraire, mon ami!
MCT,
So to sum up, the level of tolerance displayed by provisionalism should be assessed not by reference to those whom they have killed but to those whom they have not (correct at time of going to press – subs please check). The real threat to free expression lies in the fact that Ed Moloney sent Jude Collins a rude e-mail.
As a matter of interest, does anyone know how many journalists and politicians the PRM have done away with?
Jim Bob
Or indeed, how many solicitors, journalists and politicians the British Army and their Loyalist friends have done away with.
Stuff the politics. Let's play the numbers game again.
Let's play the numbers game again.
I'm not interested in any numbers game (IMO no-one wins that one). I'm asking because I genuinely can't remember if there were any.
IIRC there weren't any journalists killed by the IRA but there were certainly politicians.
I know how many they've done away with since the first ceasefire.
J_S
My problem in all of this is I get the feeling that some people would be delighted if there was an attack on McIntyre, so long as it was entirely unsuccesful. There's nothing so galling as being proved wrong every day.
Much more interesting to me is whether you think that people such as McIntyre (and yourself? I don't know) are lost to "the republican movement", and whether there is anything a new generation of shinners could do to bring people of their energy and talent back into the broader family.
Is it a problem of ideology, strategy or mere tactics? My concern is that some of those guys perhaps rather like writing for the Daily Telegraph, etc, and wouldn't stop it now even if they agreed with Connolly House on every aspect of its manifesto. I just wonder if they haven't now become what they formerly most despised. Useful idiots.
McIntyre complained of intimidation and people coming to his house and all around the time of the ceasefire IIRC
Indeed, MCT.
Thanks Jim Bob.
I ask about numbers because according to CAIN figures, there were 27 "political activists" killed by republican paramilitaries, 27 by loyalist paramilitaries and 3 by British security forces. I'm just not sure if any of them were journos or if journos are just included under the civilian category. The CAIN categorisation speaks volumes in itself.
However, I can't find a list of the political activist names.
afaik there were only two jornos killed during the 30 years. one is the sunday world (o hagen?)guy shot by some loyalists a few years back – don't know the other.
MCT – well put.
McIntyre on Adams: "it shoulda been me"?
Collins: "Anthony McIntyre deserves to be heard when he speaks of politics."
On the basis of having been an effective or enthusiastic footsoldier?
Worrying that Collins could not or would not raise his analysis or humour up high enough to slap McIntyre down properly without "nationalist ireland"? having to get "fed up" with him.
When speech is free some content must be dismissed, ridiculed, or ignored to conserve bandwidth, but when prose is paid for some words can come too easily.
"That's people like me. And sorry, but I'm diggin' it." – Middle-Class Taig
What a shame MCT, you were doing so well until you wrote the above. The only Daily Ireland is 'diggin' is a £20k/week hole in the RM's pocket.
I'm not sure what your question is. Certainly a contempt for the provisionals is something which would unite a number of people who would have little else in common. I doubt anyone needs to have that pointed out.
Didn't the provos do in the bloke who, can't remember his name, wrote Killing Rage and was also penning a lot of Blanket like articles in the papers. I believe his offence was speaking out and appearing for the Sunday Times in a libel case.
With A Mct and others they won't be touched because there would be far too much heat. Plus after a while the provos will have gotten bored with the indirect intimidiation when its clear that its not working.
Eamon Collins, killed 1999 ( after GFA).
As with Mr O'Hagan, may have been killed because of
past rather than current activities.
"revealed yourself as yet another bloody SF drone."
Hold one a second! That's just not good enough. I certainly am not a SF drone. I happen to have been convinced of the bona fides of the republican movement after having previously voted SDLP. Isn't that what political parties are supposed to do? I now find myself in agreement with much of RM's analysis. If that makes me, in your eyes, "a SF drone", you need to consider who really is dismissive of other people's opinions.
And if the republican movement willing to pay £20k/week for my online entertainment, fabulous!
I don't see how my question could have been any clearer? "Much more interesting to me is whether you think that people such as McIntyre (and yourself? I don't know) are lost to "the republican movement", and whether there is anything a new generation of shinners could do to bring people of their energy and talent back into the broader family. Is it a problem of ideology, strategy or mere tactics?"
You duck it, say "contempt for the provisionals is something which would unite a number of people who would have little else in common." So, is it a case of simple, unthinking contempt for members fo the "provisional" republican movement – no matter what they say, what they do and how much they're prepared to listen? That marks you guys out as pure contrarians, and justifies the shinners ignoring your concerns. I think the broad nationalist family should be able to do better than that.
"With A Mct (sic) and others they won't be touched because there would be far too much heat. Plus after a while the provos will have gotten bored with the indirect intimidiation when its clear that its not working."
So you agree that this stuff about SF ruling with an iron fist and stifling dissent is nonsense?
I dissagree – he had been living openly for years in Newry, I think it probably had rather a lot to do with not keeping his head down and appearing for the Sunday Times in the libel case. Plus it was at a boom time for the peace process when Molan was in full flight so there was more scope to do away with people.
Not exactly, I'm not saying that its an Orwellian state but look at the whispering campaign against the McCatheys. What is very clear is that people who have been outspoken critics have been killed by the rupublican movement and that people who have looked the wrong way at individual members of the RM have been murdered by individuals with the institutional collusion of the RM.
You don't have to murder that many people to get people to not exactly live in fear but to think twice about doing things.
The logic is flawed MCT. Just because DCB argues that visibility protects a few "celebrity" dissidenting writers doesn't mean that Joe public isn't under the jackboot. Flip side is it also dosen't mean they are 😉
DCB – I think we may be arguing at cross purposes. The point I was trying to make is that both writers/Journalists murdered were more than professional writers. They both had pasts.
Hasten to add doesn't in any way excuse their murders, but I'm not aware of an "ordinary" journalist having been killed because of their work here.
Jim Campbell was an ordinary journalist whom Loyalists attempted to murder.
Marty O Hagan was investigating Loyalists at the time he was murdered.
Just how many "celebrity" anti-republicans do there have to be before one arrives at the conclusion that the jackboot is in the imagination of the RM's opponents and that people in republican areas are free to say what they want?
Between McIntyre, Luby, Darkie, Price, O'Hanlon, Gorman, Malachi, and others too legion to mention the candidates for the role of pantomime hero to Gerry's pantomime villain is stretching into thousands. I marvel at these people proclaiming loudly, forthrightly and regularly from the Irish Independent, the LA Times, the Daily Telegraph, the Irish News, the Belfast Telegraph, Hearts & Minds, Spotlight, Let's Talk, Fortnight, Magill, the Irish Times, Sky News, the blogosphere and some of their own websites about how their voices are being silenced. I mean how long before we point out that the Emperor isn't just naked, he's a compulsive exhibitionist?
Despairing
Martin O Hagan had been kidnapped by the IRA previously.
Am I the only reader who thinks this conversation is macabre?
Level of threat fluctuates with the political flow.
McIntyre has been under varying threat as the politics have moved. He was threatened directly by the IRA, picketed by them, and has been physically attacked. Would those of you who dislike him feel better if he were actually dead? It is probably because he is able to highlight the level of threat he is under that he is not dead or has not been done worse than what he has lived with.
Other people as was noted by DCB are not so lucky or do not have the ability to highlight the intimidation and threats they are under. Should McIntyre or others like him not highlight their safety? Does their highlighting of intimidation when it occurs help or hinder others who are also threatened? I am inclined to believe it helps others. Light shown in darkness gives pause to those who operate better in obscurity.
It is gruesome in the extreme that the prevailing logic is that as someone has not yet been killed the threat does not exist.
A moral compass has been smashed somewhere and people are adrift from their humanity that they can hate so much.
Doesn't alter the fact that he had a past Jim Bob.
That may or may not have been relevent.
I don't know and neither do you.
As far as I know no "ordinary" journalist has been killed.
MCT- your logic doesn't hold. I'm not saying that you are wrong in what you write, just that you cannot say that because people like AM haven;t been killed doesn't mean that Joe Public aren't expected to bow the knee. The McCartney case is yet another horrible example. The McCloskey/McBrearty case in Derry was another one.
His "past" wasn't worth talking about in terms of this.
He was investigating Loyalists at the time he was murdered by them.
Their lack of success on that occasion doesn't undermine the intent.
"your logic doesn't hold. I'm not saying that you are wrong in what you write, just that you cannot say that because people like AM haven;t been killed doesn't mean that Joe Public aren't expected to bow the knee."
With respect, I believe my logic does follow. These people claim that they are under threat, but their actions suggest otherwise. Are they crying wolf or are they all simply toweringly, superhumanly brave?
Your logic, on the other hand, is essentially that the fact that these people proclaim themselves to be under threat (while taking none of the actions one might expect from someone genuinely anticipating imminent personal harm) is to be taken as evidence of the existence of the threat not merely to them, but a generalised threat against every member of society outside the RM (your notional Joe Public).
Again with respect, logic is anathema to that analysis.
Joe Public doesn't bend the knee. If he's "expected" to, he's clearly unaware of that fact.
The McCartney case wasn't a case of the RM stifling debate. It was a barbaric murder after a pub fight. It is an example of nothing other than that, and should be prosecuted as such.
MCT – the McCartney Murder as with the attacks on McCloskey and McBrearty illustrate perfectly what we are discussing. The IRA/RM attacks ordinary people who don't accept their authority. That's been going on for 30 years. Another illustration- Rathenraw.
Solzhenytzin wasn't killed. Does that mean that the average Russian wasn't living under a repressive and murderous regime ?
This is the problem Davros. You can't accept that there can be rows and crimes and murders committed within catholic and nationalist communities without the guiding hand of Gerry being behind it all.
Had SF been the most open organisation in the World, would it have prevented the row that killed Robert McCartney? Was he murdered over some point of abstruse republican doctrine? Was it a row over revolutionary strategy? No. It was a pub fight.
How does Rathenraw differ from the recent unionist branch dissolutions? People fall out over politics.
"Solzhenytzin wasn't killed."
He was imprisoned, ostracised and exiled for life to Kazakhstan. Anthony McIntyre lives in West Belfast.
No one should gain any credit for not killing or assaulting journalists going about their work. This is how it should be in a civilised society. The fact of the matter is far to many journalists are murdered around the world for practising their trade. The UDA/UVF and the PIRA could kill any working journalist in Ireland tomorrow if they so wished and nothing could stop them. Thus it is imperative, even if we disagree with what some journalists write, we defend their right to do so with the utmost vigour. We may well be approaching a period when the PIRA is to be stood down, history has taught us (SA etc) this can be a very dangerous time for some journalists, as old scores may be settled. I have no doubt the leadership of the Provisional Republican Movement will do their best to maintain discipline to stop this sort of thing happening. However every organisation has its loose cannons, plus there may well be outside organisations who may wish to disrupt the process. We should all be conscious of what we say and defend the right of all journalist to go about their work without fear of interference of violence.
To answer your question about former Provisional Republicans returning to the fold, one of the tactics which has created much bitterness is when the Shinners find argument and debate is not getting them anywhere, smear and innuendo to often kicks in. Myself I have never heard McIntyre or any of the other people you mentioned complain their voices have been silenced, indeed what most have done is to go out and find another avenue to get their point of view across. Even their opponents would admit they have been quite successful at doing this.
As to any of these people returning to the PRM, myself I would like to think this is still possible. Almost all of them still regard themselves as provisional republicans, with a small p, which is why the debate is so sharp, when families fall out it often is. Whether any reconciliation is possible only time will tell. I believe this group are honourable people as to are the majority of people around Mr Adams, (I agree with you on Tyrone) I just find it sad, some Republicans cannot disagree with each other politically, without one side or the other calling their opponents turncoats, etc. Still at least things have moved on from what often happened in the past and long may it be so.
Do you think that the (inevitable if not imminent) change of leadership will help?
"No one should gain any credit for not killing or assaulting journalists going about their work."
Just to be clear. No-one is suggesting that they should.
What happens to those who don't bow the knee disproves your case. McCloskey/ McBrearty that you pointedly refuse to acknowledge.
How does Rathenraw differ from the recent unionist branch dissolutions?
Crikey! if you are going to be this disingenuous I'm off for my siesta.
McCloskey/McBrearty – dunno enough about it to comment. But clearly, you're picking and choosing which individual case studies suit your purposes, without looking at the broad thrust.
Nor do I know much about Rathenraw. Storm in a teacup I thought.
I'm still not entirely clear. You seem to be making the mistake of assuming that all opponents of the provisionals fall into a simple monolithic group. I would not for a moment presume to speak for Anthony McIntyre. Not having been in the movement to begin with, your question probably doesn't apply to me.
Your intimidation point is silly. Very few of the people you list claim to be intimidated. There are those who say they have and given the history of the organisation these claims are hardly implausible. You have a deep seated wish to believe that these claims are fabricated but provide no reason for this claim save the fact that in some cases the attempt to intimidate has clearly failed.
How many individual cases do you need before it becomes a broad thrust?
Fact is the Provos have a virtual licence to kill or engage in what Mowlan called "internal housekeeping".
"You have a deep seated wish to believe that these claims are fabricated but provide no reason for this claim save the fact that in some cases the attempt to intimidate has clearly failed."
Jimmy that's just not the case. The truth would do me. Fat chance of that. I would, however, like to cast the light of realism on this "iron fist" nonsense about nationalist areas. I've personally witnessed no such intimidation, nor have I heard of any other than through press sources I distrust.
Isn't the fact that a number of the people who complain about censorship haven't themselves been intimidated kind of proof of my point?
"You seem to be making the mistake of assuming that all opponents of the provisionals fall into a simple monolithic group."
My mistake. So many axes; only one grinding stone.
DCB, Frankly, one clear one would be persuasive.
I'm afraid the logic of that proposition completely escapes me.
they're the ones complaining loudest about SF intimidation of critics, but nobody's intimidating them
It certainly isn't. The fact that A is not intimidated is not proof that B is not.
When A is doing what she says B is being intimidated for doing, but A acknowledges that she herself is not being intimidated for it, it rather takes the wind out of her sails.
And frankly, if this level of abstraction characterises the argument on intimidation, people in nationalist areas will make their own sensible judgment on the veracity of the claims.
Jimmy, so MCT's suggesting that the critics of SF who claim intimidation have been left alone, and you're saying some haven't been.
Which ones have you in mind? Are you talking about Eamonn Collins?


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She moved to Calgary Alberta in 2015 to pursue BFA degree in Alberta with major in printmaking and minor in illustration.
Ekaterina works in several printmaking techniques, such as etching, drypoint, aquatint, relief print, silkscreen and lithography.
She also has an interest in painting and illustration. Her works respond to the culture of consumption and social problems, such as gender inequality and environmental issues.
Here are my series of Lingerie silkscreen prints. I was using actual objects to create an image. I was interested in the process of transforming 3d physical objects into 2d prints. I was exploring themes of gender, sexuality, and fashion in this project.
This series of prints is telling a story about invisible labour. I want to make an accent on house chores, which historically supposed to be done by women. In 2007, researchers at Cambridge University looked into the average working week. For women in full time employment they worked an average of 68 hours (including commuting, domestic work and child care). The average working week for a man was 55 hours (including commuting and domestic work). This mentality of men being the breadwinners and women doing the housework most likely originated from how women were historically discouraged from working outside of the home. What then when both partners work full-time jobs nowadays? Often the women are still pushed to work a "second" or "third" shift when they return home. This isn't to mean that these jobs aren't important or that some women don't dislike doing it. However there is an inequality in the work done at home, especially with things such as childcare.
Here are some my prints which I've made other the last 3 years. Some of them come by series and I could come back to them eventually (Memento Mori Playing Cards, Botanical Drawings). Some of them are standing by themselves (such as DoppelGanger, Plague Doctor).
29 May 2018. I am currently collecting "shoes stories" for my upcoming project and show. If you want to participate, please send me a photo of your shoes and a story (could be anything, somehow connected to your experience in this pair of shoes). The final piece will be a collection of shoes boxes, and the story and the image will be printed inside (some boxes are ready). As a reward you will get a professional print on paper of your shoes.
Ask me about my current, past or upcoming projects, collaborations, purchasing prints, commissions or anything else!


text:
A J __, English philosopher whose works include Language, Truth and Logic
Now we are looking on the crossword clue for: A J __, English philosopher whose works include Language, Truth and Logic.
Next time, try using the search term "A J __, English philosopher whose works include Language, Truth and Logic crossword" or "A J __, English philosopher whose works include Language, Truth and Logic crossword clue" when searching for help with your puzzle on the web. See the possible answers for A J __, English philosopher whose works include Language, Truth and Logic below.
Possible Answers: AYER.
Last seen on: Mirror Quiz – March 8 2018 Crossword Answers
2006 novel by Douglas Coupland
Enjoyment of food

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Q: integration of $\int_{0}^{\infty}\frac{2\sin x-\sin2x}{x^n}dx$ How to find $$\int_{0}^{\infty}\cfrac{2\sin x-\sin2x}{x^n}dx$$? Any suggestion will be very helpful.

A: Given the integral:
$$I := \int_0^{+\infty} \frac{2\,\sin x - \sin 2x}{x^n}\,\text{d}x = \int_0^{+\infty} \frac{2\,\sin x\,(1 - \cos x)}{x^n}\,\text{d}x$$
with $n \in \mathbb{Z}$, you get:
$$ I = \begin{cases} 2\left(1-2^{n-2}\right)\cos\left(\frac{\pi}{2}\,n\right)(-n)! & \text{if} \; \; n \le 0 \\ \left\{\frac{\pi}{2},\,\log 4,\,\frac{\pi}{2}\right\} & \text{if} \; \; n = \{1,\,2,\,3\} \\ +\infty & \text{if} \; \; n \ge 4 \end{cases}$$

A: For $n=3$ we have
$$\int\limits_{0}^{\infty}\cfrac{2\sin x-\sin2x}{x^n}dx=4\int\limits_{0}^{\infty}\left(\frac{\sin{x}}{x}\cdot\frac{\sin\frac{x}{2}}{x}\cdot\frac{\sin\frac{x}{2}}{x}\right)dx=4\cdot\frac{\pi}{2}\cdot1\cdot\frac{1}{2}\cdot\frac{1}{2}=\frac{\pi}{2}.$$
There is the following result.
If $a_k>0$ and $a_0>\sum\limits_{k=1}^na_k$ then
$$\int\limits_0^{+\infty}\prod_{k=0}^n\frac{\sin{a_kx}}{x}dx=\frac{\pi}{2}\prod_{k=0}^na_k$$

A: I suspect a problem with some $n$'s since, around $x=0$
$$\cfrac{2\sin x-\sin2x}{x^n}=\frac{x^3-\frac{x^5}{4}+O\left(x^7\right) }{x^n}\approx x^{3-n}$$ So, $n<4$ is a requirement.
Effectively, a CAS gives $$I_n= \int_0^{+\infty} \frac{2\,\sin x - \sin 2x}{x^n}\,\,dx =-\frac{1}{2} \left(2^n-4\right) \cos \left(\frac{\pi  n}{2}\right) \Gamma (1-n)$$ $n$ being or not an integer.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Furnished Upper East Side 1 bedroom, with eat-in kitchen and washer/dryer. Quiet private retreat (wireless internet, cable, air conditioning. Two-flight walk-up in residential building. Conveniently located to #6 train and new Q train 1/2 block to all buses. Just blocks from Central Park, Gracie Mansion, Metropolitan Museum/Museum Mile, East River Esplanade. Groceries, Restaurants/Bars and Shopping. Safe spotless apartment. No smoking No children No pets. No additional furnishings allowed.
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text:
package com.google.cloud.teleport.spanner;

import static com.google.cloud.teleport.spanner.SpannerTableFilter.getFilteredTables;
import static com.google.cloud.teleport.util.ValueProviderUtils.eitherOrValueProvider;

import com.google.cloud.spanner.Dialect;
import com.google.cloud.spanner.Struct;
import com.google.cloud.spanner.TimestampBound;
import com.google.cloud.teleport.spanner.ddl.ChangeStream;
import com.google.cloud.teleport.spanner.ddl.Ddl;
import com.google.cloud.teleport.spanner.ddl.Table;
import com.google.cloud.teleport.spanner.proto.ExportProtos;
import com.google.cloud.teleport.spanner.proto.ExportProtos.Export;
import com.google.cloud.teleport.spanner.proto.ExportProtos.ProtoDialect;
import com.google.cloud.teleport.spanner.proto.ExportProtos.TableManifest;
import com.google.cloud.teleport.templates.common.SpannerConverters.CreateTransactionFnWithTimestamp;
import com.google.common.annotations.VisibleForTesting;
import com.google.common.base.Strings;
import com.google.common.base.Supplier;
import com.google.common.collect.Iterables;
import com.google.protobuf.InvalidProtocolBufferException;
import com.google.protobuf.util.JsonFormat;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.io.OutputStream;
import java.io.Serializable;
import java.nio.channels.Channels;
import java.nio.channels.WritableByteChannel;
import java.nio.file.Files;
import java.nio.file.Path;
import java.nio.file.Paths;
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.Arrays;
import java.util.Collection;
import java.util.Collections;
import java.util.Iterator;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.Map;
import java.util.Objects;
import java.util.stream.Collectors;
import org.apache.avro.Schema;
import org.apache.avro.SchemaBuilder;
import org.apache.avro.file.DataFileWriter;
import org.apache.avro.generic.GenericDatumWriter;
import org.apache.avro.generic.GenericRecord;
import org.apache.avro.io.DatumWriter;
import org.apache.beam.runners.dataflow.options.DataflowWorkerHarnessOptions;
import org.apache.beam.sdk.Pipeline;
import org.apache.beam.sdk.coders.StringUtf8Coder;
import org.apache.beam.sdk.extensions.gcp.options.GcsOptions;
import org.apache.beam.sdk.extensions.gcp.util.gcsfs.GcsPath;
import org.apache.beam.sdk.io.AvroIO;
import org.apache.beam.sdk.io.DefaultFilenamePolicy;
import org.apache.beam.sdk.io.DynamicAvroDestinations;
import org.apache.beam.sdk.io.FileBasedSink;
import org.apache.beam.sdk.io.FileIO;
import org.apache.beam.sdk.io.FileSystems;
import org.apache.beam.sdk.io.TextIO;
import org.apache.beam.sdk.io.WriteFilesResult;
import org.apache.beam.sdk.io.fs.ResolveOptions;
import org.apache.beam.sdk.io.fs.ResourceId;
import org.apache.beam.sdk.io.gcp.spanner.LocalSpannerIO;
import org.apache.beam.sdk.io.gcp.spanner.ReadOperation;
import org.apache.beam.sdk.io.gcp.spanner.SpannerConfig;
import org.apache.beam.sdk.io.gcp.spanner.Transaction;
import org.apache.beam.sdk.options.ValueProvider;
import org.apache.beam.sdk.transforms.Combine;
import org.apache.beam.sdk.transforms.Combine.CombineFn;
import org.apache.beam.sdk.transforms.Contextful;
import org.apache.beam.sdk.transforms.Create;
import org.apache.beam.sdk.transforms.DoFn;
import org.apache.beam.sdk.transforms.Flatten;
import org.apache.beam.sdk.transforms.GroupByKey;
import org.apache.beam.sdk.transforms.PTransform;
import org.apache.beam.sdk.transforms.ParDo;
import org.apache.beam.sdk.transforms.Requirements;
import org.apache.beam.sdk.transforms.SerializableFunction;
import org.apache.beam.sdk.transforms.SerializableFunctions;
import org.apache.beam.sdk.transforms.View;
import org.apache.beam.sdk.transforms.join.CoGbkResult;
import org.apache.beam.sdk.transforms.join.CoGroupByKey;
import org.apache.beam.sdk.transforms.join.KeyedPCollectionTuple;
import org.apache.beam.sdk.values.KV;
import org.apache.beam.sdk.values.PBegin;
import org.apache.beam.sdk.values.PCollection;
import org.apache.beam.sdk.values.PCollectionList;
import org.apache.beam.sdk.values.PCollectionView;
import org.apache.beam.sdk.values.TupleTag;
import org.slf4j.Logger;
import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;

/**
 * This pipeline exports the complete contents of a Cloud Spanner database to GCS. Each table is
 * exported as a set of Avro files. In addition to Avro files the pipeline also exports a
 * manifest.json file per table, and an export summary file 'spanner-export.json'.
 *
 *
For example, for a database with two tables Users and Singers, the pipeline will export the
 * following file set.
 *  Singers-manifest.json
 *  Singers.avro-00000-of-00002
 *  Singers.avro-00001-of-00002
 *  Users-manifest.json
 *  Users.avro-00000-of-00003
 *  Users.avro-00001-of-00003
 *  Users.avro-00002-of-00003
 *  spanner-export.json
 *
 */
public class ExportTransform extends PTransform<PBegin, WriteFilesResult<String>> {
  private static final Logger LOG = LoggerFactory.getLogger(ExportTransform.class);

  private static final String EMPTY_EXPORT_FILE = "empty-cloud-spanner-export";

  private final SpannerConfig spannerConfig;
  private final ValueProvider<String> outputDir;
  private final ValueProvider<String> testJobId;
  private final ValueProvider<String> snapshotTime;
  private final ValueProvider<String> tableNames;
  private final ValueProvider<Boolean> exportRelatedTables;
  private final ValueProvider<Boolean> shouldExportTimestampAsLogicalType;
  private final ValueProvider<String> avroTempDirectory;

  public ExportTransform(
      SpannerConfig spannerConfig,
      ValueProvider<String> outputDir,
      ValueProvider<String> testJobId) {
    this(
        spannerConfig,
        outputDir,
        testJobId,
        /*snapshotTime=*/ ValueProvider.StaticValueProvider.of(""),
        /*tableNames=*/ ValueProvider.StaticValueProvider.of(""),
        /*exportRelatedTables=*/ ValueProvider.StaticValueProvider.of(false),
        /*shouldExportTimestampAsLogicalType=*/ ValueProvider.StaticValueProvider.of(false),
        outputDir);
  }

  public ExportTransform(
      SpannerConfig spannerConfig,
      ValueProvider<String> outputDir,
      ValueProvider<String> testJobId,
      ValueProvider<String> snapshotTime,
      ValueProvider<String> tableNames,
      ValueProvider<Boolean> exportRelatedTables,
      ValueProvider<Boolean> shouldExportTimestampAsLogicalType,
      ValueProvider<String> avroTempDirectory) {
    this.spannerConfig = spannerConfig;
    this.outputDir = outputDir;
    this.testJobId = testJobId;
    this.snapshotTime = snapshotTime;
    this.tableNames = tableNames;
    this.exportRelatedTables = exportRelatedTables;
    this.shouldExportTimestampAsLogicalType = shouldExportTimestampAsLogicalType;
    this.avroTempDirectory = avroTempDirectory;
  }

  /**
   * Read the Cloud Spanner schema and all the rows in all the tables of the database. Create and
   * write the exported Avro files to GCS.
   */
  @Override
  public WriteFilesResult<String> expand(PBegin begin) {
    Pipeline p = begin.getPipeline();

    /*
     * Allow users to specify read timestamp.
     * CreateTransaction and CreateTransactionFn classes in LocalSpannerIO
     * only take a timestamp object for exact staleness which works when
     * parameters are provided during template compile time. They do not work with
     * a Timestamp valueProvider which can take parameters at runtime. Hence a new
     * ParDo class CreateTransactionFnWithTimestamp had to be created for this
     * purpose.
     */
    PCollectionView<Transaction> tx =
        p.apply("CreateTransaction", Create.of(1))
            .apply(
                "Create transaction",
                ParDo.of(new CreateTransactionFnWithTimestamp(spannerConfig, snapshotTime)))
            .apply("Tx As PCollectionView", View.asSingleton());

    PCollectionView<Dialect> dialectView =
        p.apply("Read Dialect", new ReadDialect(spannerConfig))
            .apply("Dialect As PCollectionView", View.asSingleton());

    PCollection<Ddl> ddl =
        p.apply(
            "Read Information Schema", new ReadInformationSchema(spannerConfig, tx, dialectView));

    PCollection<Ddl> exportState =
        ddl.apply(
            "Check export conditions",
            ParDo.of(
                new DoFn<Ddl, Ddl>() {

                  @ProcessElement
                  public void processElement(ProcessContext c) throws Exception {
                    Ddl ddl = c.element();
                    List<String> tablesList = Collections.emptyList();

                    // If the user sets shouldRelatedTables to true without providing
                    // a list of export tables, throw an exception.
                    if (tableNames.get().trim().isEmpty() && exportRelatedTables.get()) {
                      throw new Exception(
                          "Invalid usage of --tableNames and --shouldExportRelatedTables. Set"
                              + " --shouldExportRelatedTables=true only if --tableNames is given"
                              + " selected tables for export.");
                    }

                    // If the user provides a comma-separated list of strings, parse it into a List
                    if (!tableNames.get().trim().isEmpty()) {
                      tablesList = Arrays.asList(tableNames.get().split(",\\s*"));
                    }

                    // If the user provided any invalid table names, throw an exception.
                    List<String> allSpannerTables =
                        ddl.allTables().stream().map(t -> t.name()).collect(Collectors.toList());

                    List<String> invalidTables =
                        tablesList.stream()
                            .distinct()
                            .filter(t -> !allSpannerTables.contains(t))
                            .collect(Collectors.toList());

                    if (invalidTables.size() != 0) {
                      throw new Exception(
                          "INVALID_ARGUMENT: Table(s) not found: "
                              + String.join(", ", invalidTables)
                              + ".");
                    }

                    List<String> filteredTables =
                        getFilteredTables(ddl, tablesList).stream()
                            .map(t -> t.name())
                            .collect(Collectors.toList());

                    // Save any missing necessary export table names; save a copy of the original
                    // table list to bypass 'final or effectively final' condition of the lambda
                    // expression below.
                    List<String> usersTables = tablesList.stream().collect(Collectors.toList());
                    List<String> missingTables =
                        filteredTables.stream()
                            .distinct()
                            .filter(t -> !usersTables.contains(t))
                            .collect(Collectors.toList());
                    Collections.sort(missingTables);

                    // If user has specified a list of tables without including required
                    // related tables, and not explicitly set shouldExportRelatedTables,
                    // throw an exception.
                    if (tablesList.size() != 0
                        && !(tablesList.equals(filteredTables))
                        && !exportRelatedTables.get()) {
                      throw new Exception(
                          "Attempted to export table(s) requiring parent and/or foreign keys tables"
                              + " without setting the shouldExportRelatedTables parameter. Set"
                              + " --shouldExportRelatedTables=true to export all necessary"
                              + " tables, or add "
                              + String.join(", ", missingTables)
                              + " to --tableNames.");
                    }
                    c.output(ddl);
                  }
                }));
    PCollection<ReadOperation> tables =
        ddl.apply("Build table read operations", new BuildReadFromTableOperations(tableNames));

    PCollection<KV<String, Void>> allTableAndViewNames =
        ddl.apply(
            "List all table and view names",
            ParDo.of(
                new DoFn<Ddl, KV<String, Void>>() {

                  @ProcessElement
                  public void processElement(ProcessContext c) {
                    Ddl ddl = c.element();
                    for (Table t : ddl.allTables()) {
                      c.output(KV.of(t.name(), null));
                    }
                    // We want the resulting collection to contain the names of all entities that
                    // need to be exported, both tables and views.  Ddl holds these separately, so
                    // we need to add the names of all views separately here.
                    for (com.google.cloud.teleport.spanner.ddl.View v : ddl.views()) {
                      c.output(KV.of(v.name(), null));
                    }
                  }
                }));

    PCollection<String> allChangeStreamNames =
        ddl.apply(
            "List all change stream names",
            ParDo.of(
                new DoFn<Ddl, String>() {

                  @ProcessElement
                  public void processElement(ProcessContext c) {
                    Ddl ddl = c.element();
                    for (ChangeStream changeStream : ddl.changeStreams()) {
                      c.output(changeStream.name());
                    }
                  }
                }));

    // Generate a unique output directory name.
    final PCollectionView<String> outputDirectoryName =
        p.apply(Create.of(1))
            .apply(
                "Create Avro output folder",
                ParDo.of(
                    new DoFn<Integer, String>() {

                      @ProcessElement
                      public void processElement(ProcessContext c) {
                        String instanceId = spannerConfig.getInstanceId().get();
                        String dbId = spannerConfig.getDatabaseId().get();
                        // For direct runner or tests we need a deterministic jobId.
                        String testJobId = ExportTransform.this.testJobId.get();
                        if (!Strings.isNullOrEmpty(testJobId)) {
                          c.output(testJobId);
                          return;
                        }
                        try {
                          DataflowWorkerHarnessOptions workerHarnessOptions =
                              c.getPipelineOptions().as(DataflowWorkerHarnessOptions.class);
                          String jobId = workerHarnessOptions.getJobId();
                          c.output(instanceId + "-" + dbId + "-" + jobId);
                        } catch (Exception e) {
                          throw new IllegalStateException(
                              "Please specify --testJobId to run with non-dataflow runner");
                        }
                      }
                    }))
            .apply(View.asSingleton());

    final PCollectionView<Map<String, SerializableSchemaSupplier>> avroSchemas =
        ddl.apply(
                "Build Avro schemas from DDL",
                ParDo.of(
                    new DoFn<Ddl, KV<String, SerializableSchemaSupplier>>() {

                      @ProcessElement
                      public void processElement(ProcessContext c) {
                        Collection<Schema> avroSchemas =
                            new DdlToAvroSchemaConverter(
                                    "spannerexport",
                                    "1.0.0",
                                    shouldExportTimestampAsLogicalType.get())
                                .convert(c.element());
                        for (Schema schema : avroSchemas) {
                          c.output(KV.of(schema.getName(), new SerializableSchemaSupplier(schema)));
                        }
                      }
                    }))
            .apply("As view", View.asMap());

    PCollection<Struct> rows =
        tables.apply(
            "Read all rows from Spanner",
            LocalSpannerIO.readAll().withTransaction(tx).withSpannerConfig(spannerConfig));

    ValueProvider<ResourceId> resource =
        ValueProvider.NestedValueProvider.of(
            outputDir,
            (SerializableFunction<String, ResourceId>) s -> FileSystems.matchNewResource(s, true));

    ValueProvider<ResourceId> tempResource =
        ValueProvider.NestedValueProvider.of(
            eitherOrValueProvider(avroTempDirectory, outputDir),
            (SerializableFunction<String, ResourceId>) s -> FileSystems.matchNewResource(s, true));

    WriteFilesResult<String> fileWriteResults =
        rows.apply(
            "Store Avro files",
            AvroIO.<Struct>writeCustomTypeToGenericRecords()
                .to(
                    new SchemaBasedDynamicDestinations(
                        avroSchemas, outputDirectoryName, dialectView, resource))
                .withTempDirectory(tempResource));

    // Generate the manifest file.
    PCollection<KV<String, Iterable<String>>> tableFiles =
        fileWriteResults.getPerDestinationOutputFilenames().apply(GroupByKey.create());

    final TupleTag<Void> allTables = new TupleTag<>();
    final TupleTag<Iterable<String>> nonEmptyTables = new TupleTag<>();

    PCollection<KV<String, CoGbkResult>> groupedTables =
        KeyedPCollectionTuple.of(allTables, allTableAndViewNames)
            .and(nonEmptyTables, tableFiles)
            .apply("Group with all tables", CoGroupByKey.create());

    // The following is to export empty tables and views from the database.  Empty tables and views
    // are handled together because we do not export any rows for views, only their metadata,
    // including the queries defining them.
    PCollection<KV<String, Iterable<String>>> emptyTablesAndViews =
        groupedTables.apply(
            "Export empty tables and views",
            ParDo.of(
                new DoFn<KV<String, CoGbkResult>, KV<String, Iterable<String>>>() {

                  @ProcessElement
                  public void processElement(ProcessContext c) {
                    KV<String, CoGbkResult> kv = c.element();
                    String table = kv.getKey();
                    CoGbkResult coGbkResult = kv.getValue();
                    Iterable<String> only = coGbkResult.getOnly(nonEmptyTables, null);
                    if (only == null) {
                      LOG.info("Exporting empty table or view: " + table);
                      // This file will contain the schema definition: column definitions for empty
                      // tables or defining queries for views.
                      c.output(KV.of(table, Collections.singleton(table + ".avro-00000-of-00001")));
                    }
                  }
                }));

    PCollection<KV<String, Iterable<String>>> changeStreams =
        allChangeStreamNames.apply(
            "Export change streams",
            ParDo.of(
                new DoFn<String, KV<String, Iterable<String>>>() {

                  @ProcessElement
                  public void processElement(ProcessContext c) {
                    String changeStreamName = c.element();
                    LOG.info("Exporting change stream: " + changeStreamName);
                    // This file will contain the schema definition for the change stream.
                    c.output(
                        KV.of(
                            changeStreamName,
                            Collections.singleton(changeStreamName + ".avro-00000-of-00001")));
                  }
                }));

    // Empty tables, views and change streams are handled together, because we export them as empty
    // Avro files that only contain the Avro schemas.
    PCollection<KV<String, Iterable<String>>> emptySchemaFiles =
        PCollectionList.of(emptyTablesAndViews)
            .and(changeStreams)
            .apply("Combine all empty schema files", Flatten.pCollections());

    emptySchemaFiles =
        emptySchemaFiles.apply(
            "Save empty schema files",
            ParDo.of(
                    new DoFn<KV<String, Iterable<String>>, KV<String, Iterable<String>>>() {

                      @ProcessElement
                      public void processElement(ProcessContext c) {
                        Map<String, SerializableSchemaSupplier> schemaMap =
                            c.sideInput(avroSchemas);
                        KV<String, Iterable<String>> kv = c.element();
                        String objectName = kv.getKey();
                        String fileName = kv.getValue().iterator().next();

                        Schema schema = schemaMap.get(objectName).get();

                        DatumWriter<GenericRecord> datumWriter = new GenericDatumWriter<>(schema);

                        Path fullPath =
                            createOutputPath(
                                outputDir.get(), c.sideInput(outputDirectoryName), fileName);

                        try (DataFileWriter<GenericRecord> dataFileWriter =
                            new DataFileWriter<>(datumWriter)) {
                          dataFileWriter.create(schema, createOutputStream(fullPath, c));
                        } catch (IOException e) {
                          throw new RuntimeException(e);
                        }
                        c.output(KV.of(objectName, Collections.singleton(fullPath.toString())));
                      }

                      /**
                       * Resolves the complete path name for Avro files for both GCS and local FS
                       * (for testing).
                       *
                       * @param outputDirectoryPath Initial directory path for the file.
                       * @param outputDirectoryName Terminal directory for the file.
                       * @param fileName Name of the Avro file
                       * @return The full {@link Path} of the output Avro file.
                       */
                      private Path createOutputPath(
                          String outputDirectoryPath, String outputDirectoryName, String fileName) {
                        if (GcsPath.GCS_URI.matcher(outputDirectoryPath).matches()) {
                          // Avro file path in GCS.
                          return GcsPath.fromUri(outputDirectoryPath)
                              .resolve(outputDirectoryName)
                              .resolve(fileName);
                        } else {
                          // Avro file path in local filesystem
                          return Paths.get(outputDirectoryPath, outputDirectoryName, fileName);
                        }
                      }

                      /**
                       * Creates the {@link OutputStream} for the output file either on GCS or on
                       * local FS (for testing).
                       *
                       * @param outputPath The full path of the output file.
                       * @param c The {@link org.apache.beam.sdk.transforms.DoFn.ProcessContext}
                       * @return An {@link OutputStream} for the opened output file.
                       * @throws IOException if the output file cannot be opened.
                       */
                      private OutputStream createOutputStream(Path outputPath, ProcessContext c)
                          throws IOException {
                        if (GcsPath.GCS_URI.matcher(outputPath.toString()).matches()) {
                          // Writing the Avro file to GCS.
                          org.apache.beam.sdk.extensions.gcp.util.GcsUtil gcsUtil =
                              c.getPipelineOptions().as(GcsOptions.class).getGcsUtil();
                          String gcsType = "application/octet-stream";
                          WritableByteChannel gcsChannel =
                              gcsUtil.create((GcsPath) outputPath, gcsType);
                          return Channels.newOutputStream(gcsChannel);
                        } else {
                          // Avro file is created on local filesystem (for testing).
                          Files.createDirectories(outputPath.getParent());
                          return Files.newOutputStream(outputPath);
                        }
                      }
                    })
                .withSideInputs(avroSchemas, outputDirectoryName));

    PCollection<KV<String, Iterable<String>>> allFiles =
        PCollectionList.of(tableFiles)
            .and(emptySchemaFiles)
            .apply("Combine all files", Flatten.pCollections());

    PCollection<KV<String, String>> tableManifests =
        allFiles.apply("Build table manifests", ParDo.of(new BuildTableManifests()));

    Contextful.Fn<String, FileIO.Write.FileNaming> tableManifestNaming =
        (element, c) ->
            (window, pane, numShards, shardIndex, compression) ->
                GcsUtil.joinPath(
                    outputDir.get(),
                    c.sideInput(outputDirectoryName),
                    tableManifestFileName(element));

    tableManifests.apply(
        "Store table manifests",
        FileIO.<String, KV<String, String>>writeDynamic()
            .by(KV::getKey)
            .withDestinationCoder(StringUtf8Coder.of())
            .withNaming(
                Contextful.of(
                    tableManifestNaming, Requirements.requiresSideInputs(outputDirectoryName)))
            .via(Contextful.fn(KV::getValue), TextIO.sink())
            .withTempDirectory(eitherOrValueProvider(avroTempDirectory, outputDir)));

    PCollection<List<Export.Table>> metadataTables =
        tableManifests.apply(
            "Combine table metadata", Combine.globally(new CombineTableMetadata()));

    PCollectionView<Ddl> ddlView = ddl.apply("Cloud Spanner DDL as view", View.asSingleton());

    PCollection<String> metadataContent =
        metadataTables.apply(
            "Create database manifest",
            ParDo.of(new CreateDatabaseManifest(ddlView, dialectView))
                .withSideInputs(ddlView, dialectView));

    Contextful.Fn<String, FileIO.Write.FileNaming> manifestNaming =
        (element, c) ->
            (window, pane, numShards, shardIndex, compression) ->
                GcsUtil.joinPath(
                    outputDir.get(), c.sideInput(outputDirectoryName), "spanner-export.json");

    metadataContent.apply(
        "Store the database manifest",
        FileIO.<String, String>writeDynamic()
            .by(SerializableFunctions.constant(""))
            .withDestinationCoder(StringUtf8Coder.of())
            .via(TextIO.sink())
            .withNaming(
                Contextful.of(manifestNaming, Requirements.requiresSideInputs(outputDirectoryName)))
            .withTempDirectory(eitherOrValueProvider(avroTempDirectory, outputDir)));
    return fileWriteResults;
  }

  /** Saves {@link Struct} elements (rows from Spanner) to destination Avro files. */
  @VisibleForTesting
  static class SchemaBasedDynamicDestinations
      extends DynamicAvroDestinations<Struct, String, GenericRecord> {

    private final PCollectionView<Map<String, SerializableSchemaSupplier>> avroSchemas;
    private final PCollectionView<String> uniqueIdView;
    private final PCollectionView<Dialect> dialectView;
    private final ValueProvider<ResourceId> baseDir;

    SchemaBasedDynamicDestinations(
        PCollectionView<Map<String, SerializableSchemaSupplier>> avroSchemas,
        PCollectionView<String> uniqueIdView,
        PCollectionView<Dialect> dialectView,
        ValueProvider<ResourceId> baseDir) {
      this.avroSchemas = avroSchemas;
      this.uniqueIdView = uniqueIdView;
      this.dialectView = dialectView;
      this.baseDir = baseDir;
    }

    @Override
    public Schema getSchema(String tableName) {
      Map<String, SerializableSchemaSupplier> si = sideInput(avroSchemas);
      // Check if there are any schemas available or if the table it is EMPTY_EXPORT_FILE
      if (si.isEmpty() || tableName.equals(EMPTY_EXPORT_FILE)) {
        // The EMPTY_EXPORT_FILE still needs to have a rudimentary schema for it to be created.
        return SchemaBuilder.record("Empty").fields().endRecord();
      }
      return si.get(tableName).get();
    }

    @Override
    public String getDestination(Struct element) {
      // The input is a PCollection of rows from all tables.
      // That has to be demultiplexed into a separate destination for each table.
      // This is done using the first element of each table that is the table name.
      return element.getString(0);
    }

    @Override
    public String getDefaultDestination() {
      // Create a default file if there is absolutely no tables in the exported database.
      return EMPTY_EXPORT_FILE;
    }

    @Override
    public FileBasedSink.FilenamePolicy getFilenamePolicy(final String destination) {
      final String uniqueId = sideInput(uniqueIdView);
      return DefaultFilenamePolicy.fromStandardParameters(
          ValueProvider.NestedValueProvider.of(
              baseDir,
              (SerializableFunction<ResourceId, ResourceId>)
                  r ->
                      r.resolve(
                          GcsUtil.joinPath(uniqueId, destination + ".avro"),
                          ResolveOptions.StandardResolveOptions.RESOLVE_FILE)),
          null,
          null,
          false);
    }

    @Override
    public List<PCollectionView<?>> getSideInputs() {
      return Arrays.asList(avroSchemas, uniqueIdView, dialectView);
    }

    @Override
    public GenericRecord formatRecord(Struct record) {
      String table = record.getString(0);
      Schema schema = sideInput(avroSchemas).get(table).get();
      Dialect dialect = sideInput(dialectView);
      return new SpannerRecordConverter(schema, dialect).convert(record);
    }
  }

  // TODO: use AvroUtils.serializableSchemaSupplier once it is public
  @VisibleForTesting
  static class SerializableSchemaString implements Serializable {

    private final String schema;

    SerializableSchemaString(String schema) {
      this.schema = schema;
    }

    Object readResolve() throws IOException, ClassNotFoundException {
      return new SerializableSchemaSupplier(Schema.parse(schema));
    }
  }

  @VisibleForTesting
  static class SerializableSchemaSupplier implements Serializable, Supplier<Schema> {

    private final Schema schema;

    SerializableSchemaSupplier(Schema schema) {
      this.schema = schema;
    }

    Object writeReplace() {
      return new SerializableSchemaString(schema.toString());
    }

    @Override
    public Schema get() {
      return schema;
    }

    @Override
    public boolean equals(Object o) {
      if (this == o) {
        return true;
      }
      if (o == null || getClass() != o.getClass()) {
        return false;
      }

      SerializableSchemaSupplier that = (SerializableSchemaSupplier) o;

      return schema != null ? schema.equals(that.schema) : that.schema == null;
    }

    @Override
    public int hashCode() {
      return schema != null ? schema.hashCode() : 0;
    }
  }

  /** Given map of table names, create the database manifest contents. */
  static class CombineTableMetadata
      extends CombineFn<KV<String, String>, List<Export.Table>, List<Export.Table>> {

    @Override
    public List<Export.Table> createAccumulator() {
      return new ArrayList<>();
    }

    @Override
    public List<Export.Table> addInput(List<Export.Table> accumulator, KV<String, String> input) {
      ExportProtos.Export.Table.Builder tablesBuilder = ExportProtos.Export.Table.newBuilder();

      String tableName = input.getKey();
      tablesBuilder.setName(tableName);
      tablesBuilder.setManifestFile(tableManifestFileName(tableName));

      accumulator.add(tablesBuilder.build());
      return accumulator;
    }

    @Override
    public List<Export.Table> mergeAccumulators(Iterable<List<Export.Table>> accumulators) {
      List<Export.Table> result = new ArrayList<>();
      for (List<Export.Table> acc : accumulators) {
        result.addAll(acc);
      }
      return result;
    }

    @Override
    public List<Export.Table> extractOutput(List<Export.Table> accumulator) {
      return accumulator;
    }
  }

  @VisibleForTesting
  static class CreateDatabaseManifest extends DoFn<List<Export.Table>, String> {

    private final PCollectionView<Ddl> ddlView;
    private final PCollectionView<Dialect> dialectView;

    public CreateDatabaseManifest(
        PCollectionView<Ddl> ddlView, PCollectionView<Dialect> dialectView) {
      this.ddlView = ddlView;
      this.dialectView = dialectView;
    }

    @ProcessElement
    public void processElement(
        @Element List<Export.Table> exportMetadata, OutputReceiver<String> out, ProcessContext c) {
      Ddl ddl = c.sideInput(ddlView);
      Dialect dialect = c.sideInput(dialectView);
      ExportProtos.Export.Builder exportManifest = ExportProtos.Export.newBuilder();
      for (Export.Table obj : exportMetadata) {
        if (ddl.changeStream(obj.getName()) != null) {
          exportManifest.addChangeStreams(obj);
        } else {
          exportManifest.addTables(obj);
        }
      }
      exportManifest.addAllDatabaseOptions(ddl.databaseOptions());
      exportManifest.setDialect(ProtoDialect.valueOf(dialect.name()));
      try {
        out.output(JsonFormat.printer().print(exportManifest.build()));
      } catch (InvalidProtocolBufferException e) {
        throw new RuntimeException(e);
      }
    }
  }

  private static String tableManifestFileName(String tableName) {
    return tableName + "-manifest.json";
  }

  @VisibleForTesting
  static TimestampBound createTimestampBound(String timestamp) {
    if ("".equals(timestamp)) {
      /* If no timestamp is specified, read latest data */
      return TimestampBound.strong();
    } else {
      /* Else try to read data in the timestamp specified. */
      com.google.cloud.Timestamp tsVal;
      try {
        tsVal = com.google.cloud.Timestamp.parseTimestamp(timestamp);
      } catch (Exception e) {
        throw new IllegalStateException("Invalid timestamp specified " + timestamp);
      }

      /*
       * If timestamp specified is in the future, spanner read will wait
       * till the time has passed. Abort the job and complain early.
       */
      if (tsVal.compareTo(com.google.cloud.Timestamp.now()) > 0) {
        throw new IllegalStateException("Timestamp specified is in future " + timestamp);
      }

      /*
       * Export jobs with Timestamps which are older than
       * maximum staleness time (one hour) fail with the FAILED_PRECONDITION
       * error - https://cloud.google.com/spanner/docs/timestamp-bounds
       * Hence we do not handle the case.
       */

      return TimestampBound.ofReadTimestamp(tsVal);
    }
  }

  /**
   * Given a list of Avro file names for each table, create the JSON string representing the
   * manifest for each table.
   */
  static class BuildTableManifests extends DoFn<KV<String, Iterable<String>>, KV<String, String>> {

    @ProcessElement
    public void processElement(ProcessContext c) {
      if (Objects.equals(c.element().getKey(), EMPTY_EXPORT_FILE)) {
        return;
      }
      Iterable<String> files = c.element().getValue();
      Iterator<String> it = files.iterator();
      boolean gcs = it.hasNext() && GcsPath.GCS_URI.matcher(it.next()).matches();
      TableManifest proto;
      if (gcs) {
        Iterable<GcsPath> gcsPaths = Iterables.transform(files, s -> GcsPath.fromUri(s));
        proto = buildGcsManifest(c, gcsPaths);
      } else {
        Iterable<Path> paths = Iterables.transform(files, s -> Paths.get(s));
        proto = buildLocalManifest(paths);
      }
      try {
        c.output(KV.of(c.element().getKey(), JsonFormat.printer().print(proto)));
      } catch (InvalidProtocolBufferException e) {
        throw new RuntimeException(e);
      }
    }

    private TableManifest buildLocalManifest(Iterable<Path> files) {
      TableManifest.Builder result = TableManifest.newBuilder();
      for (Path filePath : files) {
        String hash = FileChecksum.getLocalFileChecksum(filePath);
        result.addFilesBuilder().setName(filePath.getFileName().toString()).setMd5(hash);
      }
      return result.build();
    }

    private TableManifest buildGcsManifest(ProcessContext c, Iterable<GcsPath> files) {
      org.apache.beam.sdk.extensions.gcp.util.GcsUtil gcsUtil =
          c.getPipelineOptions().as(GcsOptions.class).getGcsUtil();
      TableManifest.Builder result = TableManifest.newBuilder();

      List<GcsPath> gcsPaths = new ArrayList<>();
      files.forEach(gcsPaths::add);

      // Fetch object metadata from GCS
      List<String> checksums = FileChecksum.getGcsFileChecksums(gcsUtil, gcsPaths);
      for (int i = 0; i < gcsPaths.size(); i++) {
        String fileName = gcsPaths.get(i).getFileName().getObject();
        String hash = checksums.get(i);
        result.addFilesBuilder().setName(fileName).setMd5(hash);
      }
      return result.build();
    }
  }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Nobody wants a newly planted plant to die within the first month. That plant should last as long as it is designed to. Proper installation practices need to be integrated into the process of establishing your dream yard. We can do that for you. From sod to garden flowers to trees, we can get the right plant in the right spot to make your dream yard come to life.
To properly give you an estimate on what it will cost for an installation, we are going to have to come out and evaluate your yard and see what it is going to take to do such. There is too big of a range to state. Some jobs take more time than others.


text:
175 years ago today - Mar 21, 1843
William Miller, who had visited Joseph Smith, predicts the earth would end sometime between Mar 21, 1843 and March 21, 1844. Joseph Smith responded with his own predictions.
[Source: Brooke, John L. The Refiner's Fire: The Making of Mormon Cosmology, 1644-1844. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1994.]
75 years ago today - Mar 30, 1943
130 years ago today - Mar 30, 1888 • Friday
155 years ago today - Mar 30, 1863 • Monday
180 years ago today - Late March 1838
70 years ago today - March 28? 1948
115 years ago today - Thursday, Mar 26, 1903
130 years ago today - Mar 26, 1888 (Monday)
135 years ago today - Monday, Mar 26, 1883
165 years ago today - Mar 23, 1853 • Wednesday
155 years ago today - Mar 22, 1863 (Sunday)
160 years ago today - Mar 21, 1858 (Morning)
160 years ago today - Mar 21, 1858 (Afternoon)
5 years ago today - 2013-03-17
175 years ago today - Mar 17, 1843 - Friday
165 years ago today - Mar 16, 1853 (Wednesday)
175 years ago today - Mar 15, 1843 - Wednesday


RHA representatives will meet with administrators Wednesday to finalize a proposal to restrict construction in residence halls undergoing technology upgrades during reading and final exams weeks. They also will look into alternative study spaces for students during that time.
A preliminary compromise was reached at the RHA meeting last Wednesday, during which the administration agreed to stay out of student rooms from April 30 to May 10, making special exceptions to those students with finals after May 10.
"We're investigating opportunities to have additional rooms in various buildings for study space," said Michael Peller, executive director of Student and Academic Support Services Administrative Services.
Peller said SASS is working with the registrar's office to secure the accessory rooms, including the possibility of the fifth floor Marvin Center classrooms.
The administration has not fully determined whether or not it will continue with the work on schedule if RHA does not approve the compromise.
"I don't think there will be a complete close down of operations, but if students don't support the compromise, there will be additional discussion," said Al Ingle, GW's associate vice president for business affairs.
About 400 students sang "Rubber Ducky," "These Are the People in Your Neighborhood" and "C is for Cookie," at Sesame Street's 30th anniversary celebration in the Marvin Center Ballroom Friday.
The event was organized "because it's fun, educational and people have very fond, nostalgic memories of `Sesame Street,' " said Heidi Wicker, Program Board arts chair.
Sesame Street producer Pam Green said "Sesame Street Unpaved" was a way of saying thank you to loyal viewers.
"By the end of this year, we will have toured 10 colleges in celebration of Sesame Street's 30th (anniversary)," Green said.
The event was a behind-the-scenes look at Sesame Street. Students participated in a question-and-answer session with the producers, writers and cast members of the show and watched video segments.
The Theta Delta Chi Fraternity presented Ambassador Thomas Pickering, undersecretary of state for political affairs, the 1998 John Hay Award for distinguished public service during a reception at the University Club Friday.
Each year, the John Hay award is given to an alumni of Theta Delta Chi in recognition of service to their community and country.
Pickering was chosen for his work, which includes being U.S. ambassador to numerous countries and U.S. representative to the United Nations.
Pickering started his career attending Bowdoin College, where he joined the Theta Delta Chi fraternity and then joined the U.S. Foreign Service in 1959.
GW President Stephen Joel Trachtenberg presented Pickering with the award.
"(Pickering) has held positions requiring the highest of diplomatic skills," he said.


Pippet, Joseph J, age 82 of N Cape May, passed away on Tuesday, February 5. Formerly of Philadelphia, Joseph has been an area resident since 1985. He is a Korean War Veteran, serving with the US Marines. Joseph was a parishioner of St. John Neumann Parish, and received the title of Senior Citizen of the Year (2001) from Cape May County Chamber of Commerce. Joseph is survived by his children Joseph "Butch" James Jr., Dianne (Jerry) Rosenberg, and Christopher, 5 grandchildren Lauren (Rob), Crystal, Nina, Julia and Sean, and 1 great-grandson Logan Witkowsky. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11am on Monday, February 11th, 2019 at St. John Neumann Parish, St. John Of God Church, 680 Townbank Rd, N Cape May. Interment will immediately follow service at the Cape May County Veterans Cemetery. Condolences can be shared at www.EvoyFuneralHome.com.


text:
The Haredi Revolution
The ultra-Orthodox are becoming increasingly integrated into mainstream Israeli society the author argues. But will it be enough for secularites, and for the media?
By Jonathan Rosenblum	May 29, 2012, 12:00 am Edit
Noah Efron, a young American-born graduate student at Tel Aviv University, was standing in the cafeteria line, just before the outbreak of the first Iraq War, when he overheard one female student say to another, "The best thing for the country would be if there was a chemical attack on Bnei Brak [the largest haredi population center] before they get new gas masks [for bearded men]." The Silver Spring, Md., native had never before experienced anti-Semitism, and was shocked to hear a Jew talk about the salutary effect of gassing other Jews.
More than a decade later, Efron, today a Tel Aviv City Council member and professor at Bar Ilan University, wrote "Real Jews: Secular vs. Orthodox and the Struggle for Jewish Identity in Israel," on the depth of the hatred felt by secular Israelis for the haredim. Efron knows the reasons that Israelis give for that hatred — they don't serve in the army; they don't work — and largely agrees with them. Yet, he finds in the book that the hatred expressed in the media is far in excess of anything that can be explained by the reasons given. For instance, why did explicitly anti-haredi parties capture seven out of 13 city council seats in Modiin's first municipal elections, at a time when not a single haredi lived in Modiin?
"The image of haredim in Israel's popular culture," Efron concludes, "bears a striking resemblance to European anti-Semitic stereotypes of Jews."
That is not as surprising as it may sound, as the early Zionist thinkers tended to accept the Enlightenment critique of Jewish "degradation," in pursuit of their goal of creating a "new Jew." As a positive Zionist identity has waned, writes Efron, hatred of haredim has become "the defining element of Israeli identity," the measuring rod against which secular Israelis determine how far they "have evolved," compared to the haredi "fossils from a time when Jews were weak, primitive and pathetic."
Haredim occupy a similar position in Israeli society to that once held by Jews in Christian Europe: They deny the central value of the dominant society. "Haredi traits of voluntary poverty, anti-macho quietism, pasty-faced bookishness, and learning-uber-alles, unnerve the rest of us," suggests Efron, "because they stand as a genuine challenge to the mall-above-all values we tend to take for granted."
That discomfort is fanned by a media composed of the most secular elements in Israeli society, Efron says. Israelis habitually "overspend the windfall they imagine would result if the haredim were put in their place," by attributing every budgetary shortfall to monies allocated to haredi institutions.
The last few months have been rife with media incitement. In January, on the eve of Yair Lapid's entrance into politics at the head of a new anti-haredi party, the Channel Two anchor showed a documentary from Ramat Beit Shemesh, detailing the harassment of an 8-year-old Modern Orthodox girl on the way to school by a group of self-described haredi "zealots." The video sickened all who saw it, and the perpetrators were repeatedly denounced in the best-selling magazine in the haredi community (by myself among others).
What viewers were not told, however, was that the events in question had taken place four months earlier, and that an end to the strife had largely been brokered. Nor did they learn that the zealots are a tiny minority even within the overflow from Meah Shearim populating that particular neighborhood.
Around the same time, a young female journalist became an instant celebrity when she boarded a "mehadrin" (separate seating) bus in a haredi neighborhood in Ashdod bound for exclusively haredi neighborhoods of Jerusalem, and sought to create her own reality show by sitting and singing in the men's section, until the bus driver asked her to get off and summoned the police.
The mehadrin buses were created by Egged to prevent private haredi companies from competing for passengers, and they are supposed to be only for inter-city travel between haredi population centers and intra-city travel between haredi neighborhoods.
Meanwhile media outlets from around the world called to ask me about reports of haredim insisting that men and women walk on separate sides of the street in their neighborhoods. Yet the only example of that was during the week of Sukkot, when throngs flocking to the nighttime Simchas Bais HaShoeva celebrations fill the narrow main street of Meah Shearim. The separation was to prevent men and women being crushed against strangers of the opposite sex — something desired by both the haredi male and female visitors.
Beneath the surface, there is another story that the media seldom tells, and about which American Jews know nothing. According to Guttman Institute surveys of Jewish observance and belief, even self-described "secular" Israelis keep far more traditional Jewish rituals than Reform and Conservative Jews in America. In recent years, secular and traditional parents have registered over 10,000 of their children in haredi-sponsored educational programs. A cable station that provides 24/6 of religious programming is widely watched, and close to 10,000 non-religious Jews learn weekly over the phone with haredi study partners. Over 20 percent of Israeli Jews say that they have come closer to their Judaism in recent years.
Though tradition-based haredi society is by nature evolutionary and not revolutionary, it is undergoing rapid change, fulfilling economist Glen Yago's observation: "Trends that can't go on forever, won't."
Many haredim can no longer feed their families, and as a consequence, they are entering the workforce or training to do so and even joining special programs created by the IDF.
The changes in haredi society offer the possibility for reconciliation between the haredim and the general population over the two issues that have most divided them: army service and economic productivity. Today there are close to 3,000 haredi young men and women in academic degree programs. On their campuses in Jerusalem and Bnei Brak, Israel's leading universities offer courses to over 1,000 haredi students, and colleges have established programs for haredim in a number of professions, such as law and accounting.
Mercaz Chareidi Institute of Technology, the largest group of vocational training centers, has more than doubled its enrollment to close to 2,000 over the past four years. These are not rinky-dink programs; they offer training in architecture, civil engineering, computer programming and networking, with national exams.
Much of this expansion has been made possible by the infusion of millions of dollars annually from abroad to provide scholarships for haredim — mostly men — pursuing academic or vocational degrees.
The second area of rapid change has been in army service, both in the number of 18-year-olds entering Nahal Haredi, which is now over battalion strength (1,000 troops) and will soon have its first reserve unit, and in the number of older, married men entering special programs developed primarily by the air force and IDF intelligence. The growth of the latter has been rapid and offers the greatest possibility for expansion. In return for sophisticated training in an environment that takes careful account of the religious needs of the haredi enlistees, haredim are helping the IDF meet some of its most critical manpower needs. The re-enlistment rate of married haredi men in these programs has been the highest in the IDF.
The more haredim in uniform, the less military service will be viewed by the community as somehow not a proper haredi activity, and the easier it will be for younger, unmarried haredim, who do not see themselves pursuing 12-hour-a-day yeshiva learning schedules, to join combat units within Nahal Haredi.
Whether these trends continue or are reversed will depend to a large extent on the wisdom of the secular leadership. If it focuses on incentives for entry into the workforce, like a negative income tax, and develops frameworks within the IDF to accommodate haredi religious needs, the trends will continue.
But if in the name of "fairness" or "equality," secular leaders try to speed the process through highly coercive efforts at social engineering, they will only reinforce the most conservative elements within the haredi community and provide ammunition for those who claim that the real agenda is to destroy the citadels of Torah learning. If that happens, the haredi community will circle the wagons more tightly and stubbornly resist, perhaps setting back current trends by a decade or more.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's new broad governing coalition, which can pretty much do what it wants, must decide whether it wants to cut off its nose to spite its face.
Jonathan Rosenblum is director of Jewish Media Resources and a columnist with the Jerusalem Post and Mispacha Magazine. He is also the author of eight biographies of modern Torah leaders.
Haredim
haredization


The second bar we visited, the first one we stopped for only a sip of beer, was called the Reggae Bar. Reggae music playing, a few Japanese already there, drinking their beers. I was quickly impressed by their vinyl collection. The whole wall beside the bar was filled with LPs. Row after row after row, from floor to ceiling. And much more than reggae it seemed.
This entry was posted in Japan and tagged bar, music, Shimokitazawa, vinyl on September 29, 2016 by Traveltorgeir.
The girl working at the record store was extremely helpful, following me through the store, finding all the records I asked for. I did not know what bands to get, only asked for certain categories. I ended up with six LPs with Japanese bands. Some rock, both old and new, and some older jazz. If I only had an LP-player in Japan, I wanted to listen to the records straight away, would have to wait almost two weeks before I got.
This entry was posted in Japan and tagged bar, sightseeing, tokyo, vinyl on September 26, 2016 by Traveltorgeir.
The chef's choice of apparel, those words written on the back of his denim vest, made us laugh, but not expect much when it came to the food. As soon as we bit into our burgers we were proven wrong.
This entry was posted in Japan and tagged food, Nagoya on September 19, 2016 by Traveltorgeir.
Coin Locker Babies is a novel by Ryu Murakami, first published in 1980 in Japan, and translated into English in 1995.
Murakami is known for his dark, gritty books, and Coin Locker Babies does not disappoint. The book introduces us to Toxitown, a neighboorhood in Tokyo known both for its toxicity and its black market, where everything is for sale. Drawn to this place are the two orphans, Hashi and Kiku, coin locker babies who were left by their mothers in coin lockers at a train station. Growing up in an orphanage they then move to fosterparents in Kyushu before running away to Tokyo when they turn 16.
This entry was posted in Book Review, Japan and tagged literature, Ryu Murakami, tokyo on September 4, 2016 by Traveltorgeir.


Coleman 4 Instant Tent Footprint / Groundsheet is a groundsheet for your Coleman 4 Instant Tent. Your Coleman tent for camping is a valuable asset and the last thing you want is for your Coleman Instant Tent to be damaged on a tent site by stones or ripped. So the way to protect it is to buy a groundsheet specifically designed and made by Coleman to fit under your Coleman Tent. The Coleman footprint groundsheet helps to prevent wear and abrasion on your Coleman Tent.


TV replays showed that the bails had not fallen off when MS Dhoni made it to the crease.
Indians continued to be generous hosts in the crucial third Test against England on Monday.
Skipper Rahul Dravid allowed the visitors to seize the initiative by inviting them to bat first on day one. India has continued to be on the backfoot since.
In a decision that may have a crucial bearing on the match, K Hariharan, the third umpire, dealt a big blow to the Indian team by declaring Mahendra Singh Dhoni run out when he was taking the England attack by the scruff, having top scored with 64.
Dhoni on-drove Andrew Flintoff to mid on and scampered for a sharp single and James Anderson's throw hit the stumps at the non-striker's end even as the Indian wicketkeeper was running full steam to complete the run.
The ground umpire Darrell Hair referred the run out appeal to the third umpire and repeated replays showed that the bails had not fallen off, as is required under the rules, when Dhoni made it to the crease.
Hariharan is said to have watched the replay six times, but to the utter surprise of many, including England's former captains David Gower and Michael Atherton, ruled Dhoni out.
Earlier on in the series too, at Nagpur, Indian umpire I Shivaram wrongly gave Kevin Pietersen not out when a caught and bowled appeal against the England batsman was referred to him by the on-field umpires.
Anil Kumble had caught and bowled the batsman cleanly but Shivram wrongly concluded after seeing the replays that the ball had hit the ground before being caught by the Indian leg spinner.


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Xoom Energy is one of many retailers offering competitive prices and plans for electricity supply. The retailer operates in seven Texas utilities: AEP (Central and North), CenterPoint Energy, Oncor, Sharyland Utilities (and Sharyland Utilities McAllen) and Texas New Mexico Power. Consumers can find variable-rate, fixed-rate and renewable energy supply plans in all service areas.
Consumers in areas of energy choice have many options for electric or natural gas supply. Xoom Energy offers different plans such as variable rates, fixed rates, pre-paid rates and renewable energy options.
Fixed: The retailer offers fixed-rate supply plans to consumers, giving them peace of mind with a rate per kWh that remains the same for a term agreement. This type of plan allows people to have a predictable monthly supply rate for up to three years.
Variable: Xoom Energy also offers variable-rate supply plans that do not require long-term commitment and allow consumers to change plans whenever they choose. Variable supply plans have a rate per kWh that can change every month, which could lead to higher or lower monthly bills – depending on current market prices.
Pre-pay: For those who wish to skip a credit check or deposit, the retailer offers prepaid supply plans with a variable-rate pricing structure. The rate per kWh varies per month, and you get usage updates via text messages and emails to let you know how much energy you have used.
Renewable: Consumers can be green by enrolling in a renewable energy plan that matches up to 50 percent of a home's energy usage with renewable energy generation.


writing | Life as I know it. Today.
Life as I know it. Today.
Joy, Laughter, Pain, Fear, Humor in Abundance, just not all at the same time.
There's a warmth in the air around me, as if transition is happening once again. It feels radiant and clear.
Celebrating my mom's birthday this week has somehow released more fear, sadness and anxiety; replaced with renewed hope, peace and an extra dose of gratitude. I seriously believe I would not be where I am today if mom hadn't died over 2 years ago. And it wasn't until this week I feel her with me. Sincerely feel her embrace me. People kept telling me "she's right there with you" but there was nothing. I talked to her yet couldn't feel her presence. This new awakening has made me pause, reflect and become lighter.
Let's face it, most of this journal is dismal at best. I write as I feel and at the beginning of my journey here, there was a women in such pain with herself, she decided to express some of her disconnect in words. Unfortunately, that pain was also directed in completely unhealthy ways as well. Once I was so determined to accept my unhealthy behavior of looking to other guys for validation when all along, it's always been about me. Only me. Not my father, mother, ex-husband, children, long-term friends, family or any one man can make me feel I'm worthy and a good person. I was willing to accept that I could not change, that this part of me was truly broken. I believed I was broken. In many ways I was. I accept that. Though I was not broken, I was sick. I was depressed. I didn't know how much deeper that depression would get, had no idea the extent of pain of what was to come.
Today, if I start sounding a little more like a Hallmark card, perhaps I'll understand why. Pain is as real as breathing, yet so is joy. I have lived both in tandem and separately. Let there be more beauty to express, the yin to my yang, the joy to my sorrow, the sometimes cheesy platitudes to my over analytical mind and blubbering heart. I'm still here, in my journal. This is my story. I am alive.