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Tag: Pokemon Shuffle
Have you ever had the desire to play a puzzle game?
There are many varieties to get hooked on. Some of the most popular are grid-based matching games like Bejeweled or Candy Crush; fast-paced luck and skill games like Tetris or Puyo Puyo; and logic-driven games like Sudoku or crossword puzzles.
I like myself some Tetris and played Pokémon Shuffle for a long time, but my puzzle game crack is undoubtedly Picross.
Or Nonogram. Or Griddlers. Or whatever other term exists for the game.
Picross is similar to Sudoku, but moves its numbers outside of the grid so that each puzzle is filled with colored squares.
Via Research Gate
The numbers indicate how many squares are filled in and in what order, with blanks required between each separate number's filled squares.
It's somewhat complicated to explain without playing. If you're interested in trying the game, there are plenty of free online versions available.
I personally discovered Picross years ago with:
Because I'm nothing if not a shill for Pokémon spin-off games.
In the 3DS's Pokémon Picross, every puzzle creates a different Pokémon.
There were only about 300, and the game had a number of other restrictions including a stamina bar that depleted for each square filled and the requirement for an obscene amount of in-game currency (calls Picrites) to buy upgrades and access new areas.
Both of which were obvious ways to "encourage" spending money.
Even so I fully completed all of the Pokémon puzzles.
And the Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire tie-in Primal Reversion murals.
The game featured a daily challenge to gain meager amounts of Picrites for players who did not want to spend money, and I opened that sucked up every day for months to get enough.
It was worth it for me. Not only was Picross incredibly relaxing, but I wanted to see all of the Pokémon — including Mega Evolutions and Legendaries.
They had different skills based on their typing to help players complete puzzles faster. A neat idea that kept me coming back.
At the end I gave up on Pokémon Picross when it wanted me to enter the "Alt-World," which cost 300 Picrites and used a weird mechanic I could never understand.
Didn't think much of Picross for a couple years after.
Then I watched SpikeVegeta's 2018 run of Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze for GDQx. He played Picross during some technical difficulties and gave me a strong urge to join in.
But I didn't want to buy a game for the Switch. Or bother with Alt-World stuff in Pokémon Picross.
So I turned to the iPhone app store.
My first attempt was a game simply called Nonogram.
This version is good for quick games. You pick a difficulty level and solve one puzzle. Lather, rinse, repeat.
The puzzles themselves were fine, but the game had issues. First, it gives you three incorrect moves before prematurely ending the session. Second, you cannot re-examine the puzzles you complete or use them in any significant way.
That second point sounds like a nitpick born out of high expectations from Pokémon Picross… And it is.
But the second game I found did fill that niche.
Picture Cross is a Picross game with amazingly worthwhile art direction. The sprites used for menus and worlds are insanely detailed and charmingly reminiscent of the Habbo social networking site.
Each world has a large amount of puzzles that cover up an image you slowly reveal.
Puzzles will often depict the objects they are covering up and can be re-completed, giving them a bit more value in my book.
So far I'm about 50 puzzles into the first of 12 maps, fueled by a combination of my feverish Picross addiction and other completion-driving elements like achievements.
It also helps that the puzzles look pretty good while varying in difficulty.
I really only have a few problems with Picture Cross.
First, the fact that it's absolutely chock full of advertisements. The game's free so I can't complain, but they are long and show up after every puzzle. They're also often necessary to view if you want to collect more tokens.
Speaking of: Tokens (the game's main microtransactions) are required to unlock new puzzles. Players can hold 10 tokens that individually recharge every five minutes as a baseline, and more can be gathered via advertisements or awarded after a puzzle.
So far I haven't run into any problems collecting tokens, but I can foresee Pokémon Picross levels of daily grinding in my future.
Picture Cross also falls behind Nonogram in at least one major category. Nonogram crosses out each individual number in a row or column as they are placed:
See the six on the fourth column.
Only entire rows are blacked out in Picture Cross, which can make things harder to track on a number-by-number level.
Frankly all of those are relatively minor complains to me. I enjoy the game a lot, and I can see it being a nice brain-teasing time-killer.
Plus… Downloading the game gave me stickers in iMessage based on its cute sprites.
So I'd wager it's worth every cent I didn't pay.
Bejeweled
Games Done Quick
GDQ
Habbo Hotel
Liouh
Nonogram
Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire
Picrites
Picross
Pokemon Picross
Pokemon Shuffle
SpikeVegeta
Why I hate Funko Pops
Remember the other day when I got meta about the human brain and talked about money? In that post I mentioned the fact that my trip to the mall with Juan inspired some other ideas I was hoping to talk about.
Welcome to the post talking about the other things I was referring to there.
Yeah I bet you weren't expecting a conversation about Funko Pops, were you? They don't exactly seem like the kind of thing in my area of interest.
I'll admit that they aren't for the most part. In fact, I don't necessarily hate Funko Pops overall as my clickbait-y title might suggest.
If anything I'm willing to admit they're rather cute for the most part. Plus I have been known to collect a somewhat useless series of plastic figurines in the past myself.
At least I only collect the Smash Bros. Amiibo…
So really there's no reason I should hate this fairly harmless Hot Topic-stuffing collectible mogul, right?
See I don't necessarily hate Funko Pops as an inherit object that exists. What I absolutely abhor is the corporate design mentality surrounding Funko Pops.
As anyone who knows anything about Funko Pops must know, there are Funko Pops that exist for literally anything AND everything.
You like anime? Pick your favorite, there's a series of Pops to go with them.
You like HBO television series like Westworld? God knows I do, and there's a series of Pops to go with them.
You like the Marvel Cinematic Universe? You like video games? You like football? Actual real life football?
Because there are pops for all of those things and an infinite amount of other things I won't bother to go into because look at this catalog. It's nuts.
That's 213 pages not even counting the 'discontinued' models
Especially the whole sports side of things. Side-rant I get being in love with sports and following, say, the Yankees or the Dodgers if you're super into baseball. It's just bizarre to have a series of collectible figurines representing actual real people that you can stick in your house.
But okay you get the point. If you've got an interest, Funko has a Pop to fit it.
Inherently I don't have a problem with this business model. The fact that this company has invented a series of figurines so simple that literally any form of media can be molded into it is genius, and something the whole world probably wishes they figured out first.
The marketing possibilities are also inherently genius. Did you know there are exclusive Funko Pops that are first available at places like large-scale conventions?
As someone who has played many video games to 100 percent completion, and thrives on games like Monster Hunter where the whole idea is to collect exclusive bits and pieces of monsters to create new specialty armor, I can understand the itch many collectors have when it comes to Funko.
So yeah, if you want to go out and collect Funko Pops, more power to you. My family certainly does, and there are series I'd probably be more than willing to pay for a full collection of.
But that's only considering the 'first edition' idea of these Pops. My problem comes with the alternate forms.
"Wow Jason, that's ironic. You don't like Funko Pops for producing alternate versions of characters when you talk endlessly about rare variants of characters in Fire Emblem Heroes like they're the second coming. What a hypocrite."
Lord knows I'm still after Tana…
Yeah I hear you audience, I know.
It's no secret that I appreciate 'special editions' as much as the next guy. But Fire Emblem Heroes and Funko Pops are a little different at their core.
In FEH, the special variant units are just as free-to-start as every other unit in the game. Sure there are practices under the surface that encourage players to eventually spend money, like releasing five valuable banners in a row with few orb giveaways in between, but still.
You could just as easily start the game when a holiday banner is running and be just as likely to receive that unit with free orbs as anyone else.
With Funko Pops, every single one costs money. Just as much, if not more money in fact.
Do you like Deadpool? Okay, here's a Deadpool figurine. That'll be a nice little thing to display to show off your interest in the character.
But wait, why not also buy Deadpool in his pajamas? That's cute right?
How about Deadpool on a scooter?
Deadpool except he's Bob Ross? He did that in a 30 second T.V. spot you know.
Okay but imagine this. Deadpool. Except he's a variant from a spin-off Marvel gotcha game that may or may not be in any real canon.
That's something you can buy.
Too expensive for you? I can understand that, perhaps you'd just like the OG Deadpool figurine, and maybe some smaller accessories to continue to show your Deadpool love.
Well, would you like the Deadpool keychain with his swords out? Or perhaps the one with the rubber duck and bath cap on?
Aren't old memes just the best?
"Alright, alright we get it," I hear you in the audience say.
I sure hope you do. With the simplicity of the Funko Pop formula, any single character can be given infinite minor modifications and be considered a special variant.
But unlike the model in FEH, where you could theoretically earn the special version for free, every single Funko costs real life money.
Now there are arguments to be made that these are physical objects rather than digital characters in a video, and thus there's more value to collecting them over time in terms of things like eventual trading or simply selling collections much like with comic books and vinyl records.
There's validity to that idea. But that isn't really what I'm here to discuss.
What I'm here to discuss is the fact that a business model allowing for infinite cash cow-ing on the same property over and over and over again, rather than keeping to a finite cap of collectability, is inherently infuriating.
I would be more than happy to spend 60 bucks over the course of a few months to collect five Deadpool figurines based on characters from the movies if I enjoyed them that much. What I wouldn't be happy doing is spending literally all of my money for forever to keep up with every 'left hand raised 60 degrees' variation that can be squeezed out.
That's not even just for Deadpool too, as much as I keep harping on him. He just happens to be a good example of a character that lends himself to more ridiculous, outlandish variations and repeated re-releases. Any character can have a variant where they wear a different outfit or hold a new pose.
Funko Pops certainly aren't the first to abuse this model, but they abuse it pretty hard. It's probably rather petty to be bashing them so hard for it out of nowhere, but I've seen similar ideas ruin things I've loved in the past.
Does anyone remember Pokémon Shuffle?
Still have that jingle stuck in my head.
Shuffle was a spin-off game released first on the Nintendo 3DS and then on mobile devices in 2015. It was something of a continuation of the Trozei and Battle Trozei series that became a free-to-start microtransaction-laden title. And I adored it.
Seriously, for the longest time if you had asked me what game handles the microtransaction system most fairly, it would have been Pokémon Shuffle. I played this damn game on my 3DS for years, and I have distinct memories of doing so both on my high school and college campuses.
The game ran on an 'energy' system, where you could play five games at a time before needing to wait for everything to recharge. Unless you spent gems, the in-game currency you could buy with real life currency.
It has been forever since I played this game, opening it up for this was wild.
There are also a bunch of other details related to items you can either grind out or purchase, but the energy was the important thing to me. See those five hearts of energy recharged at a rate of a half hour per heart.
In other words, you could play a full set of games every two-and-a-half hours. Compared to a lot of other games with energy or stamina caps, this was insanely generous.
For a student like me, it essentially meant I could play out my games, go to whatever class I had, then get out to find a full set of energy hearts waiting to be used. Combine this with the semi-regular updates (though eventually the levels got kind of ridiculously difficult) and frequent special in-game events, and I was more than happy to play for years.
But then I stopped. You know why I stopped?
Character.
Variants.
Image courtesy of Serebii.net
Just look at this insanity.
My screenshot here hasn't even captured half of the special variants for Pikachu alone. There are Pikachu wearing every cap that Ash ever wore in the anime. Pikachu wearing costumes modeled after Legendary Pokémon. Hell there's a Rayquaza costume Pikachu AND a shiny Rayquaza costume Pikachu.
Again, Pikachu isn't the only problem, but he's emblematic of it. Everything technically started with the 'winking' starter Pokémon line.
This ridiculous cash cow, the infinite special variant system, is what burned me out of Pokémon Shuffle in the end. I was more than happy to keep playing to collect all 700+ Pokémon as a mark of personal completion should they have gotten that far.
But because the game's creators wanted a way to keep the game going forever and come up with more challenging ways of potentially forcing players to spend money on limited time only extra special dudes, I didn't feel like it was worth keeping up anymore.
Funko Pops embody the same problem, in my opinion. If you're going to release the same figures over and over and over again with slight variations just to squeeze out as much money as possible, then why should anyone bother trying to collect them all in the first place?
I'm sure other people will have their justifications for it, but that's a path I can't see myself going down. I'd much rather stick with collecting something finite in my real world collectibles. Something I can eventually look at and say 'this is a complete set.'
That's my rant for the day. What do you think? Is the idea of infinite variation healthy for a brand like Funko? Or is it detrimental in their long-term viability as a reasonable company, as I'm more inclined to believe.
Though obviously I'm probably in the wrong since, let's be real, people will continue to buy those things no matter what I say. So the more they can print up the more money they'll make.
God bless capitalism.
Pokemon Battle Trozei
Pokemon Trozei
Saying Sayonara to 2016
As the holiday season and the year 2016 come to a close (very conveniently at the same time in this case), I feel like I can't help but take a moment to reflect on some things. As I mentioned in my last post about Carrie Fisher's passing, the general attitude seems to be that 2016 can't end soon enough. Globally, the world is a bit of a mess. In the United States, the incredibly divisive presidential election we just completed left everything feeling a little bit fractured and not-so-unified. In the world of popular culture lots of people who were well-known and highly adored by the general public passed away.
It's understandable why people feel the year was so bad, and admittedly there's some of that I've gotten bogged in too over the last couple months. However, for me personally, the year really hasn't been all that awful. In fact, it's been a fairly great year all things considered.
One thing I always find interesting as a gamer is reflecting on what games "defined my year," as it were. Granted I didn't necessarily diversify my interests a whole lot, but that doesn't mean there weren't a lot of things I played.
Toward the beginning of the year, I was still riding some of my Wii U hype. I just got my system as a present last Hanukah, in fact, so games like Super Mario Maker were still huge time sucks, moreso than they are now.
Image provided by Wikimedia Commons
Another thing that I'd gotten for Hanukah in 2015 also continued to take up my time, and that was The Legend of Zelda: Triforce Heroes.
While the game wasn't a traditional Zelda game like we'd all been waiting for in the relatively soon-to-be-announced Breath of the Wild, it was still a blast to play. The game had some awesome multiplayer functionality both with friends and with strangers, and to this day I don't think I'm over how hilarious it is to spam the cheerleader pom-pom Link emoji.
On top of that, you could literally dress Link up as a cheerleader and it was one of the most viable costumes in that game. Not sure I ever thought I'd be so gung-ho to get Link to cross dress in all honesty, but I was.
Also earlier on in the year, while I was still getting into the swing of the Spring semester, I remember binging every Shantae game that's been released thus far.
Image provided by WayForward
Not only did I play the original Shantae for the Game Boy, I played Shantae: Risky's Revenge and Shantae and the Pirate's Curse. I fell in love with the series fast thanks to the lovable characters, the quirky and fun writing, the beautiful animation style and of course the music (composed by Jake Kaufman, who also produced the music for another one of my favorite games in the same general style: Shovel Knight). I literally played through all three in a row and loved every minute of it, even if none of the games were necessarily all that beefy.
I do know that I can thank MowtenDoo for really sparking my interest in the series thanks to his indescribably wonderful rendition of one of the game's songs, "The Nightmare Woods (Run Run Rottytops!)" in a way that's truly unforgettable and continues to be one of my favorite videos on YouTube. Seriously, I listened to this way too many times this year I'm sure. But it was worth it.
Doing a little bit of research, it looks like the latest installment in the series, Shantae: Half-Genie Hero, has been released just recently, but it apparently slipped under my radar somehow. I'm wholeheartedly Ret-2-Go with that game as soon as I can pick it up, as there are a few too many games in 2016 that I unfortunately missed despite wanting to play them. Didn't have quite as much time to devote to these things as I would have liked.
Next on the list of my year's rundown is the first in what I would consider my 'return of old gaming loves' trilogy. That, of course, was Fire Emblem Fates. All three together technically, but Birthright was undoubtedly my personal favorite.
There's a few things I'll never forget just leading up to the games being released. First, I'll never forget the hunt my friends and I went on trying to find some of the special edition three-in-one game cartridges for Fates that was a resounding failure but had some great moments. Like getting literally laughed at by a guy in a Game Stop one time. That was awesome.
I'll also never forget getting the first game, Birthright, as it was actually a gift that was given to me by the editors of the News section on the Daily Titan, Micah and Brianna, as thanks for being their assistant for the Fall 2015 semester. Seriously, check it out, I still have the note here:
It was really awesome, especially considering it apparently took a lot of work to build up to the reveal, including using my friend Kaleb as a spy to figure out which version of the game I wanted more.
Fire Emblem took up a huge chunk of my life from there on out, as I went on to play all three versions. In a row. In hindsight, admittedly not the best idea, but I'm really into the games so it was the decision I made at the time. Birthright was incredible, rose-colored glasses or not, Conquest literally made my just about cry on multiple occasions from how unnecessarily difficult it got to be at times (Seriously, screw the port level. If I never play that game again, the port level is to blame) and Revelations was… Admittedly underwhelming.
I meant to talk about it on here a little bit, but beyond just being burnt out on the games by the time I hit the third, there were a few things that really sort of killed the experience for me unfortunately. First, I padded it out too much for myself. I tried to grind all the characters up to have a ton of diverse skills rather than planning ahead what I would've wanted, and it wound up being far more effort than I was honestly willing to put in. Second, they killed off my favorite character in what was literally the worst possible way in my opinion. I have a huge, huge rant still built up about it because the moment was so caustic for me, but this isn't really the time or the place, so perhaps I'll still come back to it later. Third, there was another game coming on the horizon that left me rushing to finish, which took away a lot of my enjoyment toward the latter half of the storyline. Who knows, maybe if I go back to it now I'll have a better time, but for now Birthright will continue to be the high point of my memories for Fire Emblem Fates.
The second game in my personal trilogy was Monster Hunter Generations.
I talked about it on here a bit, so I don't think I need to go into too much detail, but this game sucked away quite a bit of my time as well. Though I've only been playing Monster Hunter since the last major release, Monster Hunter 4U, it has quickly become one of my favorite franchises.
The seemingly near infinite levels of customization thanks to a wide range of monsters and a progression-based-on-skill system is something almost totally unique to Monster Hunter in my gaming experience, and it ticks boxes like crazy for me. There are very few games that I get super in depth about building sets and doing hours of research into said sets and also things like lore, but Monster Hunter is definitely one of them. It's also one of the favorite games of my friend Juan, so we always have a good time going on extravagant hunts as a super powered duo, Hunting Horn and Charge Blade in hands.
Granted, I'll admit that the game wasn't quite as invigorating as MH4U for me, since that was the game where I truly had a skill curve to learn and overcome so I could truly become a master, but Generations was still a blast to play through and through.
Last, but certainly not least, comes what must be an obvious entry on this list. Hell, there's only one game that really defined not only the latter half of my year, but also most of what I've built my blogging experience on so far.
And that game is, of course, Pokémon Sun and Moon. Because technically they go together even if they're two separate games. Because Pokémon works like that.
Pokémon Sun Box Art
Pokémon Moon Box Art
Images provided by Serebii.net
Really I've said more than enough about these games in many, many posts over the last year, so I don't think I need to waste too much time on it right now. Not only were the games beautiful and fun experiences in themselves, surpassing what I consider to be some of my favorite and some of the best constructed games in the series thus far, they reinvigorated the love of competitive Pokémon breeding that I fostered in Alpha Sapphire and got me back into the Pokémon YouTube communities I followed around the same time.
I have been and will continue to do some breeding in the games, especially once the Pokébank opens in January, and I've considered doing more competitive battling in 2017. There's an official battle competition coming up pretty soon that I'm pretty sure I'll be entering, so I'm sure there will be plenty more posts in the future on the subject as well.
Beyond those massive entries that took up my time, there are a few other games that permeated my year's experiences. The 20th Anniversary of Pokémon for me included the continued playing of Pokémon Shuffle and Pokémon Picross on my 3DS, which were my puzzle game obsessions that I've only recently seemed to kick.
Images provided by Serebii.net (here and here)
The summer was undoubtedly defined by Niantic's Pokémon GO, the game which really felt the most universally unifying during the sub-par situations of the year surrounding it.
My whole family was playing the game together and I still remember wandering El Camino College hatching eggs after my summer classes there. Though I wound up a little disillusioned with the game, and still haven't jumped in to catch the start of the Generation 2 Pokédex, I still can't imagine Pokémon GO won't hold a place in history in some way or another.
Also hitting the mobile gaming scene this year was Super Mario Run.
I gave my thoughts on the game in depth a little while ago, and as a small follow-up I will say that having spent money on the full game has made the experience even better for me. I've gotten really into collecting all the colored coins in single player on long road trips and I have a pretty well developed town so far. As a first jump into the mobile scene for Nintendo, I can personally say that Super Mario Run has been a success, and I'm looking forward to seeing more.
I also replayed quite a few older Steam games that I adore but haven't touched in some time this year.
My friend Samantha and I played Terraria for a long stretch of time together, progressively getting better and better as we learned and built more complicated structures and items together. The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth ate up huge chunks of my time in brief intervals throughout the year, as it's always an addictive rogue-like experience that I'll never get tired of. The same could be said for FTL, which I can only describe as a real-time rogue-like spaceship command and battle simulator. For anyone who hasn't heard of the game it can be hard to explain, but it's one of my favorite games of all time.
My 2016 was defined by more than just the video games I played, however. It marked the end of my first year at college. It also included my first semester as an editor for a college paper, one which I feel went really well considering all the crazy things that happened politically while I was in charge of the News page.
2016 was where I really feel like I got into the rhythm of driving and being able to get myself places. It was also the first year where I got to vote for a serious election – despite how divisive it might have been as far as an election went.
However, because of my time as a journalist, I felt like this was the first time I really got to apply what I was doing and learning to a real-world event. Literally the more I learned, the more prepared I felt to vote in November.
On top of that, I feel like I really learned a lot just in general. Two semesters and a summer intersession at college had me taking classes all over the proverbial spectrum at two different schools: Cal State Fullerton and El Camino College. Not only was the subject matter of the things I learned interesting, I also got to explore more places at the same time, which I also enjoy doing.
I got my first few relatively well-paying jobs in 2016 between being an editor on the Daily Titan and working for Boom: A Journal of California. Thanks to that, I've felt more independent than I ever really have before.
In 2016, I went to New York for the first time in I honestly don't know how long.
I used to have a lot of family living out there, but now most of my close relatives live here in California, so I rarely ever get to go out to the East Coast anywhere that isn't Florida. The trip was amazing and so much fun, and I really felt like I got close to a lot of my friends and colleagues in the newsroom that went with me.
While I was there, not only did I get to visit the Nintendo store inNew York (an experience you can read more about in one of my earliest posts):
I also got to relive a part of my Dad's childhood by finding his old high school.
So, all and all, I'd say that trip was probably one of the most memorable parts of the year for me.
I got to visit SpaceX for the first time this year, and though I wasn't allowed to take any pictures inside, it was still a phenomenal place to see. Seriously, some of the stuff they have going on in there is incredible.
In my opinion, I really started to come out of my shell a little bit more in 2016, and that helped me meet and interact with some people who I can really see myself continuing to talk to for a long time to come. Both those in and out of the newsroom.
2016 was also the first year I've let my beard grow out. It started as a No Shave November thing we did for the Daily Titan, but in the end I wound up getting such a positive reception that I kept the hair grown out.
Seriously, what a difference a little bit of hair will make. I look totally different from one picture to the other, if you ask me. Probably helps that I had more hair on top of my head to cover my forehead in the first picture too… But that's another story.
Finally, 2016 was where I really got into blogging. Yeah, seems like a silly thing to cap this whole list off with, but you are literally reading this on my blog. I started this blog back on February 18, a day after my birthday, thanks to some school assignments I had to do. My Communications 233 class required us to have a blog that we posted 20 things on of any subject we chose. Naturally, I chose to make this a blog about video games and about my journalism experience.
Though it started as an assignment, one that I literally had to come up with ways to finish by coming up with admittedly silly things to post, I've come to really love doing this. Writing is a passion of mine, and getting the chance to write more often has been wonderful. It's also been a way to voice my opinions and thoughts on various subjects, which I don't tend to do in a largely public forum like this very often. I may be a relatively small blog still, but I feel like I've found somewhat of a rhythm thanks to Pokémon Sun and Moon, and I'm looking forward to writing more on whatever comes up in 2017. As goofy as it might be to say it, one of my New Year's Resolutions is to try and write more next year, so I hope you all stick around to see whatever it is I come up with to write about.
Really, from the bottom of my heart thank you to everyone who's following my blog, everyone who's read anything I've wrote and to all my family and friends who have helped me explore, encouraged my writing ambitions, and worked to make sure I put my best foot forward. If you have any of your own favorite memories from 2016, or if you just want to send a good riddance sendoff to the year, feel free to share them down in the comments below.
I hope everyone has a Happy New Year, and here's to 2017 being a happier time overall than 2016 seems to have been!
Boom Magazine
Jake Kaufman
Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate
Monster Hunter Generations
MowtenDoo
New Year's Eve 2016
Nintendo NY
Nintendo of America
Pokemon Sun & Moon
Shantae and the Pirate's Curse
Shantae: Risky's Revenge
The Legen of Zelda: Triforce Heroes
WayForward


Well, it's obvious that I am a work in progress. Thank the Lord that He hasn't given up on me, but continues to perfect me through His Spirit. One way that He perfects us, is by allowing us to discern what God's will is, and better understanding of His Word. I have really grown a lot this year, and find so much more fulfillment in His Word than I ever have before. Jesus wants us all to dig deep in His Word and let it change our lives. Are you letting Him? Do you spend intentional time studying God's Word?
When I read "to live is Christ, to die is gain", I asked myself- are these my words too? Do I honestly desire to be with Jesus more than life on this earth? How much do I treasure this earthly life? How much do I love Jesus? I can honestly say that a year or two ago, I would have had a check in my heart about how much I treasured this life, rather than the eternal life I will inherit. But today, I can say that my life here is meaningless without Jesus, and my only purpose here is to glorify Him and share Him with the people around me.
In verse 27, we have the reminder that our, "manner of life (should) be worthy of the gospel of Christ". Does my life reflect Jesus? Does your life reflect Jesus?


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Q: saving the path of the picture in MYSQL database using visual basic 2010 I try to save the "path" on MYSQL database but I get the error
the datatype of photo is BLOB
database is imageupload
table is student
hope someone can help me to fix my error and order to save the path on database
thanks a lot more power to us!!!
My error is that
"The connection cannot be used to perform this operation. It is either closed or invalid in this context."
My connection in module
Module Module1
    Public cn As New ADODB.Connection
    Public rs As New ADODB.Recordset

    Sub konek()
        With cn
            .ConnectionString = "DRIVER={MY SQL ODBC 5.1 driver};SERVER=localhost;PWD=;UID=root;database=imageupload"
        End With
    End Sub
End Module

======================================================================
My form in Visual Basic 2010
Public Class Form1
    Private Sub btnbrowsepic_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles btnbrowsepic.Click
        OpenFileDialog1.FileName = ""

        With OpenFileDialog1
            .InitialDirectory = "C:\"
            .Filter = "All Files|*.*|Bitmaps|*.bmp|GIFs|*.gif|JPEGs|*.jpg"
            .FilterIndex = 2
        End With

        If OpenFileDialog1.ShowDialog() = DialogResult.OK Then
            With PictureBox1
                .Image = Image.FromFile(Me.OpenFileDialog1.FileName)
                .SizeMode = PictureBoxSizeMode.StretchImage
            End With
        End If
        Me.lblpath.Text = Me.OpenFileDialog1.FileName.ToString
    End Sub

    Private Sub btnsavepic_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles btnsavepic.Click
        rs = New ADODB.Recordset
        rs.Open("select * from student", cn, 3, 3)----- error is here when i save the path on my database
        With rs
            .AddNew()
            .Fields("photo").Value = "" & lblpath.Text
            .Update()
            MsgBox("Data has been saved")
        End With
    End Sub
End Class

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


The Scottish Chapter provides interested women and men from Scotland and the Borders easy access to the WISTA network and the benefits of support, education and inspiration that the WISTA membership provides, locally, regionally and internationally.
The local WISTA Scotland team is under the leadership of Fiona Rush MNI.
The WISTA UK Scotland team are hoping to welcome many new members to their chapter, from management to cadet level, both women and men.


text:
Q: How to do multilevel indexing on array of structs in Matlab? Let's say I create an array of structs in matlab using:
mystruct = repmat(struct('field1',1, 'field2', ones(10,1)), 10, 1 );

For my purposes (simple example aside), I would find it very useful to get a vector output from using:
myvector = mystruct(:).field2(1)

However this gives me the error:
'Scalar index required for this type of multi-level indexing.'

EDIT: What I expect to get is the first element of the ones vector, from each struct in the array, hence a 10x1 vector of '1'.
I could easily manually using a for loop go through each value in my struct and assign to myvector but that seems incredibly cumbersome and also slow. Any thoughts?

A: I'm assuming you're trying to collect all of the field2 vectors into myvector:
myvector = [mystruct(:).field2];

Returns:
myvector =

     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1
     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1
     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1
     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1
     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1
     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1
     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1
     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1
     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1
     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1

EDIT: Per your comment, you can use the above and throw out the data you don't want (myvector(2:end,:) = []; in this case). This is a pretty memory intensive way to do it though. There may be a way to pull what you want using structfun or similar but I'd need to think about how to do it.
EDIT2: Try arrayfun(@(x) x.field2(1), mystruct) and see if this returns what you're looking for.

A: In two step you can:

*

*get your struct filed2 as a matrix:
foo = [mystruct.field2];

*get the first row (that contains the first indices of the field2)
myvector = foo(1, :);


text:
Contractor at Enbridge Line 3 pipeline site dies in accident
Disaster_Accident
Enbridge Energy
By Associated Press - Monday, December 21, 2020
HILL CITY, Minn. (AP) - A contractor working on the Enbridge Energy Line 3 pipeline project in northern Minnesota has died in a fatal accident.
Enbridge Energy spokeswoman Juli Kellner said the accident happened Friday at a construction yard in Hill City. Kellner said work in the area was stopped Friday and safety standards and protocols were reinforced during a "safety stand down." Work on the project resumed Saturday.
Few other details were released and Kellner said no more information would be shared while the investigation continues.
"Our hearts go out to the worker's family, friends and co-workers," Kellner said. "Grief counseling is being made available for workers and members of the team."
More than 4,000 workers are expected in northern Minnesota over the next couple weeks to build the Line 3 oil pipeline replacement. Construction has ramped up quickly since Enbridge Energy received its final state and federal permits late last month.
Opponents of the pipeline have been protesting the project, and several have been arrested in recent weeks.
Line 3 begins in Alberta, Canada, and clips a corner of North Dakota before crossing Minnesota on its way to Enbridge's terminal in Superior, Wisconsin. The replacement segments in Canada, North Dakota and Wisconsin are already complete, leaving only the 337-mile (542-kilometer) stretch in Minnesota.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Uncompleted STARS university building
INVESTIGATION: How ex-lawmaker, Ned Nwoko, grabbed community's land, dislodged poor farmers
The billionaire former lawmaker grabbed massive pieces of land collectively and has relentlessly used security personnel to intimidate inhabitants of the community who dared to challenge him.
Ninety-year-old Oghedo Osodi inherited four acres of farmland from her husband but that land, which was her only means of sustenance, was grabbed by Ned Nwoko, a billionaire former lawmaker from Delta State.
Mrs Osodi's four acres of land was part of vast pieces of land, including those collectively owned by indigenes of Idume-Ugboko community, controversially acquired by Mr Nwoko to build his proposed Sports, Technology, and Arts (STARS) University.
Mr Nwoko, a member of the royal family of the community, represented the Aniocha North-South and Oshimili North-South federal constituency in the House of Representative between 1999 and 2003.
Mrs Osodi said she watched with terror as a bulldozer, guarded by heavily armed policemen, uprooted and cleared palm trees, rubber trees and other cash and food crops on her land.
The nonagenarian said she fled for her life after the policemen started shooting sporadically to disperse an angry crowd from the village.
Like Mrs Osodi, 67 years old Sunday Kainebi, suffered a similar fate. On January 14, 2017, Mr Kainebi said, some associates of Mr Nwoko took over his land.
"I was at home that afternoon and I was informed that a bulldozer was on my farmland. I met them. They were more than 50, including policemen. When I asked one of them, He said it was their oga that sent them. He said Ned Nwoko."
Unlike Mr Kainebi and Mrs Osodi, Jude Isonye said he confronted Mr Nwoko for trespassing on his land and the former lawmaker promised to compensate him. Mr Isonye said he turned down the ex-lawmaker's offer.
"They started creating a narrow way. They destroyed parts of my farm. It was at the boundary between Ugboko and Onicha-Ugbo. I met Ned himself… He said I should leave and that he would pay. I told him: see, you are taking us for a ride," said Mr Isonye.
Benedict Dungu said associates of Mr Nwoko destroyed his ready-to-harvest cassava on his farm last August.
Other stories of how the former lawmaker is using strong-arm tactics to grab land in the community abound.
A PREMIUM TIMES investigation into the allegations against the lawmaker has now revealed that Mr Nwoko did not only bully individual landowners in order to take over their properties, he also hoodwinked the community before acquiring the land for STAR University.
According to the guideline of the National University Commission, promoters of universities must first show that they have acquired enough land before they are granted the statutory approval of setting up the university.
The stillborn dairy farm
PREMIUM TIMES's findings revealed that the former lawmaker's hawkish acquisition of the community's land began In 2000.
While he was serving in the House of Representatives, Mr Nwoko requested 33 hectares of the community land for a dairy farm and factory. He convinced the community that the dairy farm would provide jobs for the youth and ultimately improve the economy of the agrarian community.
However, some members of the community, such as Uche Aligbe, the then president-general of the Idumuje Ugboko Development Union (IUDU), thought that Mr Nwoko's proposed dairy farm was dead on arrival. They argued that the environment of the town was not conducive for rearing cattle.
One agriculturist who spoke to this newspaper echoed the view of Mr Nwoko's kinsmen. Philips Aniagwu, an animal scientist, said a dairy farm can barely survive in a rainforest area such as that of the lawmaker's hometown.
"Rainforest zones like Delta State breeds Tsetse fly more during the rainy season which is a pest of the Cattle, it causes sleeping illness in them and thereby reducing their productivity. They also contribute to deforestation by feeding on vegetation," Mr Aniagwu said.
Mr Nwoko's request was, however, granted and the land allotted to him. But instead of setting up the dairy farm, the former lawmaker built a lodge on the land and a tourist site he called Mount Ned.
Posing as a tourist, this reporter visited the facility located on the outskirts of the village last September. Mount Ned has a 9-hole golf course within its premises. Behind the green area of the golf course, is the lodge, where the former lawmaker stays and receives guests when in the village.
Also, on the property are a commercial-sized fishpond, one commercial-sized poultry farm for birds and a zoo with two ostriches, one monkey, a donkey, a few lambs and two Arabian hens but there was no dairy farm.
Chukwugo, the tour guide, told this reporter that there was a dairy farm on the property but when asked to take this reporter to the site of the farm, Chukwugo said the cattle had been herded out to eat.
Chukwugo's claim that the animals were being herded in the bush is spurious as Mr Nwoko and his ally, Walters Eziashi, a former president-general of the IUDU, had claimed that about 500 cattle bought for the dairy farm have all died.
"Unfortunately, he (Ned) was ill-advised. A dairy farm could not survive with the Idumuje-Ugboko climate. They brought in over 500 cows. Every Ugboko people, including myself, saw it," Mr Eziashi said on a Channels TV programme in August.
"There is no dairy farm there but a commercial fish pond and poultry is there. Part of that land is part of what we use for the University project," Mr Nwoko told PREMIUM TIMES when asked about the dairy farm in September.
Land tussle
Idumuje Ugboko has a structured process for land acquisition which discourages land grabbing.
According to the tradition, all requests for land are made to the monarch of the community. The king will then consult the Obi-in council, a group of chiefs for approval.
If the request sails through this stage, it is passed to the Izu Ani, a group of representatives of Idumuje Ugboko adults and the highest decision-making organ of the community. The Izu-Ani is chaired by the king.
After the approval of the assembly, the king instructs the land allocation committee chaired by one of the palace chiefs, the Odogwu, to take over the process.
For arbitration on land matters, the Onotu, headed by the Iyase, the prime minister of the kingdom, wades in. He is also assisted by the Odogwu.
According to the tradition, any community land awarded but not used for the purpose for which it was awarded will be withdrawn after three years, PREMIUM TIMES learnt.
It was through the process that Mr Nwoko secured the original 33 hectares, which he claimed was meant to set up a dairy farm. Despite not utilising the 33 hectares for the purpose for which it was awarded, Mr Nwoko soon became thirsty for more land. On March 16, 2015, through his company, Linas International Limited, he requested another 90 hectares of land for an international-standard golf course from the now late traditional ruler of the community, Albert Nwoko.
An international standard golf course has at least 18 holes and can occupy up to 60 hectares of land.
The ex-lawmaker was not done. A week later, he sent out another letter requesting a two-miles-by-two miles land for the construction of STARS University.
Some members of the community, led by his kin from the royal family, kicked against these fresh demands. They argued that Mr Nwoko did not use the original 33 hectares he was allotted for what he requested it for. They argued that he should first exhaust the land before requesting additional land.
However, Mr Nwoko argued that he has a rightful claim to the land. He claimed he secured the approval of the additional 90 hectares from the late monarch, who he claimed also directed the land allocation committee to map out the land while another conducted a feasibility assessment for his golf course project.
To back his claim, he presented a letter dated April 10, 2015, signed by the monarch, Albert Nwoko, who died in 2017.
In the letter, the monarch indicated that the village was going into a partnership with the politician and he set up a committee led by the Iyase, Christopher Ogwu, to determine the investment ratio and the feasibility of the project.
"The town will go into partnership with your company by investing the capitalized value of the land at the appropriate rate in the Golf Course. The land for the University will be donated by the village," the letter read.
"I hereby instruct the land allocation committee and the committee established by the Izu Ani that held last month to determine the current value of the land and capitalize it for the purpose of the investment at the appropriate rate for the course," the letter added.
Mr Nwoko also claimed that the monarch's directive was approved by the Izu-Ani on April 25, 2015.
However, the then crowned prince of the community (he has since been named the substantive monarch after the passing of his father Albert Nwoko), Chukwunonso Nwoko, countered the politician's claim, stating that the king did not approve of the request.
He told PREMIUM TIMES that he had questioned the rationale behind Mr Nwoko's request for additional land even before it became public knowledge.
He said he first sighted a copy of the approval letter paraded by the ex-lawmaker on April 11, 2015, a day after it was written. He said the letter had been pre-written and did not have the signature of his father at the time.
"Akaba Nwoko, the special assistant to my Dad, was holding a paper. It was a document. It turned out to be an approval based on his application. That document was on the letterhead of the Obi. All that was needed was my father's signature."
He said he threw out the letter and summoned a family meeting the following day when it was decided to sack the secretary and expel him from the palace.
The next day, a Monday, at a meeting of the elders, the same document resurfaced, and he said he objected to it again.
"I showed up at the meeting with Ned. The same letter I threw out was the main thing that they used for the deliberation. I was surprised.
"The elders did not counter it. At that point, I raised my hand to ask a question. For me, this man was given over thirty hectares. What did he do with the land? None of them could answer.
"Since as the heir to the throne, I was not in support, the elders could not proceed with the request."
PREMIUM TIMES could not reach Akaba for comment. He could not be reached via his phone number and he did not respond to a text message sent to him requesting comment.
Controversy deepens
The controversy surrounding the approval of the 90 hectares deepened when Chukwunonso and his brothers presented letters they claimed were signed by their deceased father debunking the approval letter, presented by Mr Nwoko, starting from May 2015.
The three different letters were signed by the monarch.
According to copies of the letters obtained by PREMIUM TIMES, the king stated that Mr Nwoko's activities should be restricted to the 33 hectares allocated in 2000, restating that he has not approved of the additional land requested.
"With reference to the umu-omorhusi (royal family) meeting held on the 21 of May 2015 in the royal palace Idumuje – Ugboko in respect of the above subject matter. The following decisions were taken:
1. I, His Royal Majesty hereby order that all activities on the said and should cease with immediate effect.
2. I, His Royal – Majesty also hereby order that you should restrict your activities to the parcel of land already allocated to you in the past by the town. Please be informed that the Izu – Ani held 25 April 2015 was not authorized by I, His Royal Majesty and therefore all decisions taken at the said meeting are null and void. Please note that failure to comply with the above directives will attract very severe sanctions from the palace," the letter dated May 21, 2015, addressed to Mr Nwoko stated.
Another letter dated August 12, 2015, which was addressed to the community, read:
"On the Linas International Ltd, application for additional 90 hectares of land in addition to the allocated 33 hectares, for an International Standard Golf course Idumuje-Ugboko, I, His Royal Majesty wish to state as follows:
"NO additional land has been approved or signed for by me. I have NOT ordered or delegated any of my Chiefs or Agents to allocate or (ii) sign for any additional land. (iii) Any document purported to have been signed by me approving additional land for the said company is fraudulent and therefore illegal."
"I am aware of recent happenings and disruption in Idumuje Ugboko caused by some confusionists concerning land allocation. I want to state that we have always supported development in Idumuje Ugboko but we have to be sure that the development is genuine before giving out our people's precious land.
"As regards the recent Prince Ned Nwoko's (and his company, Linas International Ltd) request for additional land for the golf course and university, I, his majesty wish to state categorically as follows;
"That no additional land has been approved or signed by me, I have not delegated any of my Chiefs or agents to allocate or sign for additional land," the third letter dated January 18, 2016, which was addressed to leaders of different groups, read.
But Mr Eziashi, Mr Nwoko's ally, later petitioned the police to investigate the veracity of the signatures on the letters arguing that the signature of the late monarch was forged on the letters.
A forensic examination carried out by the Forensic and Crime division of the police in Lagos, established that none of the signatures on the letters were forged and that they were signed by the king.
This was communicated via a forensic report dated November 25.
But the police charged Chukwunonso and some of his brothers to court for allegedly using their intimate relationship with the king to 'procure their father's signature' for the rebuttal.
"That you, Nwoko Justin Oreze Nonso "m", Prince Ejimofor Nwoko, Prince Richard Obiajulo Nwoko sometime in the month of August 2015 at Idumuje-Ugboko in the Issele-Uku Magisterial district did conspire amongst yourselves to commit felony to wit: procuring the execution of documents by false pretences and thereby committed an offence punishable Section Steie??? Criminal code law. Cap C21. Vol.I Laws of Delta State of Nigeria 2006," the charge sheet read.
While the case is still subsisting in court, Chukwunonso and his brothers have denied the allegations.
Destruction of farmlands
However, even before any committee started deliberating on Mr Nwoko's new request, the former lawmaker had begun to destroy people's farmlands, PREMIUM TIMES learnt.
Apart from the testimonies of the community members, Mr Nwoko was indicted for destroying farmlands in a report issued by the committee saddled with the feasibility assessment of the golf course project.
According to the report dated "June 4, 2015", some of the affected farmlands belong to farmers in Owu, one of the federating units in the village.
The committee said it looked into Owu farmers' complaints and assessed the damages done to various crops during the grading of the land and recommended adequate compensation to each individual farmer for damaged crops.
Mr Nwoko told PREMIUM TIMES that he had complied with the recommendation of the committee and had compensated 17 families whose land were affected.
He promised to send this reporter receipts of payment but he failed to do so despite being reminded multiple times.
This newspaper's review of the land documents and approval letter presented by Mr Nwoko shows that they contain contradictory and Inconsistent information.
For instance, the two pages of the controversial approval letter contained different dates, April 10 and June 2, 2015.
Also, the date of the Izu Ani meeting referenced in the approval letter by the king negates the one referenced in the committee's report.
The approval letter says there was a meeting of the Izu Ani held in March, which approved the land. Whereas, the only Izu Ani meeting held and referenced in the feasibility committee's report was on April 25.
A further review of the documents revealed that the signed copy of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Mr Nwoko's company and the community did not contain any date, signature of the king, who was alive then, and any clear-cut percentage of shares.
When presented with these inconsistencies, Mr Nwoko and two of his allies involved could not give satisfactory explanations.
Sunday Edemodu, the Odogwu and the head of the land allocation committee, said: "I don't know."
Chris Ogwu, the Iyase, the prime minister and the head of the Onotu, said he was sure they carried out their duties as expected but kept mum when posed with the questions.
"What is the contradiction?" Mr Nwoko replied PREMIUM TIMES's enquiries. He then told the reporter to focus on the security crisis that erupted after the demise of the king.
More Revelations
Mr Nwoko has since diverted the 90 hectares he requested for the building an international golf course as the land for the construction of STAR University. This negates the feasibility assessment committee's report.
For instance, none of the documents provided by Mr Nwoko indicated that the 2-miles-by-2-miles land initially requested for the university project has been approved.
In fact, it has not been deliberated upon not to mention being allocated.
Also, the undated Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Linas International Limited and some members of the community indicated that the 90 hectares requested was for the golf course project and not STAR University
As part of its recommendations, the feasibility committee suggested that the golf course should be incorporated and some stakeholders in the village should be appointed as directors.
"It was on this basis of this agreement, other documents and approvals that we are moving ahead for the request for the size of land (90 hectares) for the Golf Course to be managed by Linas International Ltd and Idumuje-Ugboko community. The proposed name for the Golf Course subject to availability at Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) is Royal Golf Club idumuje-Ugboko," the report of the committee read.
In what appears to be a breach of agreement, Mr Nwoko has commenced the construction of a university on the disputed land.
Also, while the conditions entrenched in the MoU have not been met, Mr Nwoko applied for the Customary Rights of Occupancy for the 90 hectares at the local government office, which he eventually got.
According to Section 6 of the land use Act, a customary right of occupancy includes the right of a person or community lawfully using or occupying land in accordance with customary law.
In the document obtained by PREMIUM TIMES, which he later presented to the Nigerian University Commission (NUC), STARS University was named as the owner of the land.
The university was also named as the owner of another 58 hectares, which is a combination of the 33 hectares allocated for commercial farming in 2000 and other portions bought from members of Onicha-Ugbo in another Right of Occupancy.
A property law expert based in Ibadan, Dayo Oyewumi, told PREMIUM TIMES that the name on the R of O is the only owner recognised by the law.
This implies that the community or the Royal Golf Club if later incorporated, has no legal rights on the land. "The community or any other entity, in this case, cannot lay claim to the land except through a fiat," Mr Oyewumi added.
Chukwunonso, however, said there is a subsisting case in court challenging the action of the local government for the issuance of the R of O.
"The MoU had a lot of errors. My father cannot give out 90 hectares of land without signing on the MoU. In fact, the MoU was signed by some members of the community who had been compromised by Ned," he alleged.
Reacting to PREMIUM TIMES's findings, Mr Nwoko blamed his action on a requirement of the Nigeria University Commission (NUC), which stipulates that the land documents must carry the name of the proposed university.
Checks by this paper revealed that the former lawmaker lied as such a requirement does not exist.
"It must bear the name of the Proprietor and not the University's name," the NUC spokesperson, Ibrahim Yakasai, also said in response to PREMIUM TIMES' enquiries.
When Mr Nwoko was probed further and confronted with the fact that the land is being used against what it was approved for, he said that the golf course cannot be differentiated from the university project.
Asked if the community has a share in the university since he claims the golf course project is the same as the university, Mr Nwoko said "No".
He argued that the university project overrides the interest of commercial farming or a dairy farm. He also announced that there were plans for an expansion of the university in future.
This new development, he said, had been discussed with stakeholders and had been assented to but he failed to support this claim with any contractual documents. He promised to send the documents but several reminder messages sent were ignored.
Rather than send the necessary documents requested, Mr Nwoko advised PREMIUM TIMES to be interested in the resolution of the crisis and not in the documents.
"This is what I think you guys should be doing too. This is what the governor and the kings are also doing," he stated.
NUC reaction
The NUC has said it is not worried about the crisis if necessary land documents are submitted.
"We have visited them once. We are waiting for them to invite us for the next visit. We don't give licence without land documents duly certified by authorities," Ibrahim Yakasai, its spokesperson told PREMIUM TIMES.
"Proposed STARS university is known to the commission. It is a university that has applied to us for licensing. We are processing them for licensing."
Speaking on the crisis, Mr Yakasai said: "If he (Ned) has issues with the community that is his problem. If he comes to us with proper land documents. Duly approved by the land authorities there, it is not our problem. We'll give him a licence.
Union's stance
Okey Ifejoku, the incumbent IUDU President, sued for a peaceful settlement and Mr Nwoko's compliance with the due process, rather than using force on the people.
He noted that the community is not against the university or any similar development projects proposed by Mr Nwoko.
Sympathising with those who had lost their crops, he demanded that adequate compensation be paid to the farmers and a settlement be reached.
"The community is not against the university. Before this crisis reached this stage, I volunteered that one of my houses be used for the Vice-Chancellor's lodge. All we want is peace and due process," he said.
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Air Emissions from Animal Feeding Operations: present wisdom, destiny wishes discusses the necessity for the U.S. Environmental safeguard supplier to enforce a brand new technique for estimating the quantity of ammonia, nitrous oxide, methane, and different pollution emitted from cattle and fowl farms, and for opting for how those emissions are dispersed within the surroundings. The committee demands the EPA and the U.S. division of Agriculture to set up a joint council to coordinate and oversee brief - and long term study to estimate emissions from animal feeding operations properly and to increase mitigation options. Their suggestion was once for the joint council to concentration its efforts first on these toxins that pose the best hazard to the surroundings and public healthiness.
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FINDING 13. Setting priorities for both short- and long-term research on estimating air emission rates, concentrations, and dispersion requires weighing the potential severity of adverse impacts, the extent of current scientific knowledge about them, the potential for advancing scientific knowledge, and the potential for developing successful mitigation and control strategies. RECOMMENDATIONS: • Short-term research priorities should improve estimates of emissions from individual AFOs including the effects of different control technologies: • Priority research for emissions important on a local scale should be conducted on odor, PM, and H2S (also see Finding 2).
STRUCTURE OF THE FINAL REPORT Chapter 2 describes in broad terms the economics and operating practices of the animal feeding industry and its major sectors (dairy, beef cattle, swine, and poultry). This chapter, along with Chapter 6 on government regulations and programs, sets the stage for the other chapters, which address more directly air emissions and the scientific bases for estimating their rates, concentration, and distribution. Chapter 3 describes the kinds of air emissions produced by animal feeding operations and their potential impacts on the environment and human health.


Punch out and pin up these durable, pre-cut letters for attention-getting messages. Each set of 4" letters contains 59 uppercase letters, 20 numerals from 0 to 9, 36 punctuation marks and 18 Spanish marks. Ready Letters offer a fade-resistant finish for long-lasting use. Letters are ideal for teaching students in pre-kindergarten to 12th-grade (ages 3 to 18).


text:
Genesis of TDU
Why TDU?
Our Green Campus
Research Hospital
Centre for Ayurveda Biology and Holistic Nutrition
Centre for Clinical Research & Education
Centre for Conservation of Natural Resources
Centre for Ethno-Veterinary Science & Practice
Centre for Functional Genomics and Bio-informatics
Centre for Local Health Traditions & Policy
Centre for Traditional Knowledge, Data Sciences & Informatics
TDU Knowledge Course
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Dr. Sriram awarded the "Tata Innovation Fellowship"
March 1, 2019 News0 comments
We are pleased to share the good news that Dr. Sriram Padmanabhan, Professor, TDU has been selected as one of only 5 scientists from all over India to be awarded the "Tata Innovation Fellowship", a highly competitive scheme, instituted by the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Ministry of Science & Technology, Govt. of India.
The prestigious Tata Innovation Fellowship recognizes and rewards scientists with outstanding track record in biological sciences with a deep commitment to find innovative solutions to major problems in health care, agriculture and other areas related to life sciences and biotechnology. It is aimed at rewarding scientists with outstanding contribution and publication on products or ideas based on innovation and translational research with a potential towards commercialisation and the award carries a monthly fellowship and a fixed contingency grant for a period of three years.
Dr. Sriram's major achievements are related to his efforts to launch recombinant granulocyte colony stimulating factor (rhGCSF) the first biosimilar drug in India in the year 2000. Also, he is the innovator of a novel bacteriophage derived protein- P128 that kills all strains of Staphylococcus aureus including the multi-drug resistant S. aureus, and is now a clinical stage molecule. The latter work has yielded several US patents to his credit. Dr. Sriram from Lupin Biotechnology Ltd, Pune developed several biosimilars, expressed in proprietary microbial systems and MAbs in mammalian expression systems, of which GCSF, PEG-GCSF and Etanercept are in the market, on date.
Currently, Dr. Sriram is interested to bring traditional Indian (Ayurveda) treatments for diseases such as Autism, Alzheimer's, bacterial infections, and cancer, into mainstream medical practice, through the use of modern analytical methodologies in research and PoC studies.
TDU joins the community of scientists in congratulating Dr Sriram for this achievement and wishes him more such honours in the future. Dr Sriram can be contacted at sripad@tdu.edu.in or padsriram@gmail.com
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text:
The 2005 Supercupa României was the 8th edition of Romania's season opener cup competition. The match was played in Bucharest at Stadionul Cotroceni on 31 July 2005, and was contested between Divizia A title holders, Steaua and Cupa României champions, Dinamo. Dinamo won the trophy.

Match

Details

References

External links
Romania - List of Super Cup Finals, RSSSF.com

Super
2005
Supercupa României
Supercupa Romaniei 2006

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Finally, a Russia Story that won't bore you to tears.
And unlike that OTHER Russia story, it raises questions you'd actually want the answers to.
This would only happen in Russia…????????
Like why does he have a bear as a pet?
What does he feed it?
Why the hell is it in the sidecar?
Does it go in the woods?
And back to the sidecar question.
What would YOU do if you saw this coming down the street?
And here we were thinking 'Russian Bear' was just a metaphor.
Share if you thought this was awesome!


MU Cheese is a new range of delicious cheddar cheese. It's available in Tesco and starts from £2.49. It's available in re - seal able blocks, handy already grated packs and pre sliced packs. All of which are great for a busy mum like me.
I was sent two lovely blocks of MU Cheese to try out and I was very pleased with what I was sent. One block was Mature Cheddar which comes in an eye catching red coloured packet. It's not too strong or over powering really. I quite enjoyed the taste. The other block was a Mature Lighter Cheese which again was very nice but with that extra added bonus of being 30% lighter.
I've used my cheese to make yummy cheese sandwiches, mouth watering cheese on toast but my favourite of all was using it to top off my lasagna the other night, Mmm - It was delicious.
I gave the MU Cheese blocks a very well deserved 4/5 - I think next time I may like the pre - grated packs but that's just because I'm lazy hehe.


There is a bullish momentum pattern in The Cooper Companies Inc (NYSE:COO) stock 3 trading days before earnings. Further, we use moving averages as a safety valve to try to avoid opening a bullish position while a stock is in a technical break down, like the fourth quarter of 2018.
The logic behind the option trading test is easy to understand -- in a any market there can be a stock rise ahead of earnings on optimism, or upward momentum, that sets in just 3-trading days before an earnings date. That phenomenon has been well documented by Capital market Laboratories in our seminal webinar on market patterns. Now we can see it in The Cooper Companies Inc.
We will examine the outcome of getting long a weekly call option in The Cooper Companies Inc 3-days before earnings (using trading days) and selling the call before the earnings announcement if and only if the stock price is above the 50-day simple moving average.
We see a 101.3% return, testing this over the last 7 earnings dates in The Cooper Companies Inc. That's a total of just 21 days (3-days for each earnings date, over 7 earnings dates). This has been the results of following the trend of bullish sentiment into earnings while avoiding the actual earnings result.
We can also see that this strategy hasn't been a winner all the time, rather it has won 5 times and lost 2 times, for a 71% win-rate and again, that 101.3% return in less than six-full months of trading.
➡ The average percent return per trade was 15.9%.
You can check to see if the 50-day MA for COO is above or below the current stock price by using the Pivot Points tab on www.CMLviz.com.
We're now looking at 65.8% returns, on 2 winning trades and 1 losing trades.
➡ The average percent return over the last year per trade was 23.65%.


Hyperlipid: Collateral damage from saturophobia. People really do get hurt.
Collateral damage from saturophobia. People really do get hurt.
I've spent the last few posts talking about the parlous state of research in to NAFLD and the techniques for justifying saturophobia. This current post is one I wrote a few months ago but never got round to putting up. It's still fairly current, so here it is.
The president of the AHA had a heart attack at an AHA scientific conference recently. This is almost, but not quite, funny. After all, no-one got hurt (much), a little money changed hands and the president is still alive and as healthy as any other cardiologist, still able to go on promoting the ideas which led to his brief trip to the cath lab.
Not everyone is so lucky. I recently finished reading the (very depressing) biography of Tina Mokotoff, written by her husband and documenting her descent in to alcoholism and her subsequent death from alcoholic liver disease at the age of 45.
Mrs Mokotoff had an unremitting need for alcohol. It was the primary drug which allowed her to cope with the emotional scars from her childhood abuse injuries. Her husband, a interventional cardiologist, watched with palpable frustration at the failure of the gastroenterologists to manage her cirrhosis and the failure of repeated rehabs to control her need for alcohol.
WARNING: Epidemiology and rodent studies ahead.
Mortality from cirrhosis in a population can range from 80% less than predicted (ie two cirrhosis deaths per 100,000 when the alcohol intake predicts 10 per 100,000) through to over 80% more deaths than predicted (ie over 18 per 100,000). That's a nine fold difference between lowest and highest risk, at the same alcohol intake. Something is real here.
In this epidemiological study, animal protein intake is associated with a markedly reduced cirrhosis death rate. The animal protein may be protective per se but I tend towards thinking of it as being a marker for saturated fat intake. But then I would.
To support this biased mindset we know that, in rodent models at least, saturated fat is either completely protective against alcoholic liver disease or shows a dose response in its protective effect up to near complete protection at 30% of calories from saturated fat, even when the other 15% of calories in the 45% calories-from-fat-diet are still PUFA. We also know that even mice fed a low carbohydrate diet derive no protection from ALD when the carbohydrate is replaced by PUFA from corn oil. I doubt anyone would argue that PUFA are good for your liver. Hepatologists have known for decades that lipid peroxides are the drivers of cirrhosis and these only come from damaged PUFA.
Through the 1990s, during his wife's descent in to cirrhosis, Dr Mokotoff worked tirelessly in the cath lab placing stents and "curing" people of occlusive coronary artery disease. His life must have been very simple. Here is a blocked artery. Here is a bit of pipework to open it. Let's put this in there and the patient is fixed. Just occasionally he might even have done some good (though far from as often as he might have thought he had done). During this period the cardiological community was deeply under the influence of the "obvious" benefits from a low fat, low saturated fat and low cholesterol diet.
Unless you are going to indulge in some weird Ornisheque low fat diet, eating a saturated fat depleted diet will will undoubtedly involve a significant intake of PUFA. This should never, under any circumstances, be combined with alcohol. Would the Morokoffs have avoided saturated fat? Dr Mokotoff was an interventional cardiologist. Just guess.
Having a cardiologist, the president of the AHA, inflict a minor injury on himself, without getting really hurt, is ironic. Reading an account of a real human being being driven to a very unpleasant death through cirrhosis is not funny. Inflicting a population wide epidemic of assorted PUFA induced diseases is, absolutely, not funny either.
we do not even need Ethanol to destroy the Liver.
PUFA can do the job alone!
"I doubt anyone would argue that PUFA are good for your liver."
JW, I've had that one on my hard drive for some time. The Protons concept makes it more comprehensible but I think the generic response will be that swilling PUFA will deplete liver fat, visceral fat and (probably, from other the group's other study) make you ripped. Not so good for the long term health of the sheeple [ref raphi's comment].
Not sure if there will be time to post on this one. We'll see. It's along the same old lines.
The real interesting part begins at "What We Do and Don't Know About Veggie Oils and Fatty Liver".
Chris M has no Protons concept to provide any sort of logical explanation. We have no shared terminology. I have convinced myself that I have a valid concept here, with explanatory power. That's hard to let go of.
Chris does have lots of facts.
PUFA are also not a food for gram +ve microbiota, and in the absence of SFA and presence of alcohol and PUFA gram -ve microbes will thrive. Their LPS will tigger hepatis via TLR4 in a fatty liver (which has become acutely sensitive to LPS).
This is the tipping point at which alcoholic steatosis, viral steatosis, NAFLD become alcoholic or viral hepatitis, NASH and so on, leading to cirrhosis.
Think about it - what do you make yogurt from? The two highest SFA foods in the diet - milk (and you can culture cream and butter), or, if unfortunate, coconut milk or cream.
Not so far as I know nut milk and I've never seen cultured peanut butter though no doubt the KGB tried.
Good bacteria like good fats. Kirpich et al, the heirs of Nanji and French, have worked this out from - drum roll - a 1930's citation.
Kodicek, E. The effect of unsaturated fatty acids on Lactobacillus helveticus and other Gram-positive micro-organisms. Biochem J. 1945;39:78–85.
It's a basic question - what fatty acids can sour milk microbes metabolise? If more people had thought to ask it they wouldn't have made fools of themselves wittering on about "fatty" diets and the microbiome.
From the look of it gram +ve microbes might lack saturase enzymes in their beta-oxidation pathways.
Reference in here; this, not the one I linked to, is the team that dug it up.
The papers in question are correlative diet surveys - in other words junk science. There are papers that show that the diet surveys don't work - people don't remember, lie, and it is impossible to do a proper multivariate study.
When people eat more PUFA they almost always are eating other bits as well - in order to make this point one would have to do the other part of science - a controlled study.


I am trying to reverse engineer / research a black box system, this is, a system for which there is no public information at all. Let's say the system is a modern handheld console.
RAM contents are unencrypted. Using a hardware set-up, I have memory dumps.
So, I have the memory dumps. What would be an efficient approach?
First I believe loading it with IDA (or r2) could be helpful. But I don't know how to set up a raw dump in IDA, do i have to load it manually? am i missing something?
Secondly. The dump is not encrypted. I can find strings, references to strings of programs that run in the system, etc... I guess I can also find code (like .text sections in PC but whatever are called in this system) which I should be able to reverse. Is this theory right? if so, how to put it in practice? how can I find pieces of code? I have tried entropy, which seems to be quite useful; code tends to have high entropy. Technically speaking, how would I load that code in IDA properly?
IDA directly handles raw image, all you have to do is specify the ARM little-endian [ARM] in the processor type. Once it's loaded, your first challenge is to identify the memory layout.
Secondly. The dump is not encrypted. I can find strings, references to programs that run in the system, etc... I guess I can also find code (like .text sections in PC but whatever are called in this system) which I should be able to reverse. Is this theory right? if so, how to put it in practice? how can I find pieces of code? I have tried entropy, which seems to be quite useful; code tends to have high entropy. Technically speaking, how would I load that code in IDA properly?
The information requires is to know what kind of dump do you have, if you dump memory from a vulnerability, or from a JTAG, or whatever. The layout might be different.
If this is a raw dump, I would suggest to start with the address 0x0 and look for the Arm exception vector.
If you dump it from a flash memory, you might find files embedded inside with binwalker.
If there's a MMU, you could retrieve the page tables and recreate the virtual layout.
You could look for strings which are used by open source software (e.g. u-Boot, linux, ...) and retrieve function pointers to start to reconstruct the image.
Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged binary-analysis static-analysis exploit binary rop or ask your own question.
Can anyone make much sense of this binary for an embedded system?


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Jessica Mimi Porfiri (born 13 October 1994), who performs as Kota Banks, is an Australian pop singer-songwriter and musician. She signed to Nina Las Vegas's label, NLV Records, in May 2017, which released Banks' ten-track extended play, Prize (styled as PRIZE), as a mix tape in mid-2018. Banks has co-written songs for fellow Australian artists. She supported What So Not on his national tour. By November 2017, her music had accumulated over 20 million plays on Spotify.

Early life
Kota Banks was born in 1994 in Sydney, Australia, as Jessica Mimi Porfiri, in Sydney. She spent her late childhood and teens in Florence, a formative time that shaped her identity and connection to her heritage. Banks has been singing since the age of 9. She returned to Sydney.

Personal life
Banks is a Christian. She prays every time she writes music. In an article with The Daily Telegraph, she said:"I just feel like it [praying] gives me more depth to my songwriting and opens my mind."

Career
Banks' debut single, "N.F.F.A.", was issued in 2016 and was co-written by Banks with Lee Chew (or Toby Chew-Lee) and Cameron Nacson. It was produced by the duo as MOZA. Troy Mutton of Pile Rats described how she, "dabbles in some seriously fun electronic-pop", and described her single as a "bold track both production-wise and lyrically, catchy as and slotting right alongside artists such as Nicole Millar, Jess Kent and Danish artist MØ."

Her second single, "Holiday", appeared in 2017, which was co-written with Danny Omerhodic, who produced the track for NLV Records, as Swick. "Empty Streets" featuring MOZA, was her next single in that year, which was also co-written with Chew and Nacson. For the Junior Eurovision Song Contest of 2017, Banks, Chew and Nacson, with Chloe Papandrea, co-wrote Australia's entry, "Speak Up". It was performed by Isabella Clarke in Tbilisi, where Clarke finished third.

For the FOMO Festival in Adelaide, Banks joined Nina Las Vegas (a.k.a. Nina Agzarian) on-stage to perform "Holiday" in January 2018. The pair co-wrote "Alibrandi" with Omerhodic, which Las Vegas performs using Banks on vocals. In March her single, "Zoom", was premiered on Triple J's Good Nights and subsequently received high rotation on the national youth radio station. Triple J's Al Newstead declared, "this [track] has grown on us hard. It's a fun, flirty mix of dancehall and pop elevated by the fanciful production."

Banks released her debut extended play, Prize (styled as PRIZE), in mid-2018, as a ten-track mix tape. It was produced by Omerhodic, who shared the song writing with Banks on most of its tracks. AltMedias Jamie Apps rated it at three-and-a-half stars and explained, "[she] is not just a one hit wonder though as throughout the remainder of the record Banks carries the momentum forward as she celebrate feminine strength and empowerment." Following the release of PRIZE, Banks announced her debut national headline tour, selling out her hometown show.

From July 2019, Banks began releasing her music under Sony Music Entertainment Australia.

Discography

Mixtapes

Extended plays

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

Notes

Music videos

References

1994 births
21st-century Australian singers
21st-century Australian women singers
Australian women pop singers
Australian musicians
Living people
Sony Music Australia artists


Everybody's favorite actress Anne Curtis won her first Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences (FAMAS) Best Actress Award in ceremonies held Tuesday night at Manila Hotel.
The Kapamilya star received her trophy for playing one of the lead roles in the box-office hit "No Other Woman". Anne bested the likes of Angel Locsin, Kris Aquino, and Cristine Reyes for the best actress category. Bongga! Congrats Anne!
She thanked also the board members and jurors for choosing her as the best actress.
"I'm so happy I was under your wing and guidance whilst portraying the role as Kara Zalderiaga. There is No Other Director like YOU. Love you. Thank you!" she added.
Anne Curtis won her first Best Actress award at the 34th Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) for the period drama "Baler." She was also named Best Supporting Actress at the 29th Luna Awards for "In Your Eyes." Just this year, she tied with Angel Locsin for Best Actress at the 14th Gawad Pasado Awards.


Facial lotion for mixed-condition skin – balancing and refreshing. Chlorine and calcium residues a regently removed, and the skin's structure is refined. The skin is left feeling wonderfully fresh.
Facial lotion for mixed condition skin.


A quick scan post-debate makes it a win for Sarah Palin in terms of restoring her convention personna as the perky outsider from the frontier. A mind-changer for undecided voters? Not likely.
Also: personality alone doesn't address ability and knowledge, a point that Dana Milbank's commentary underscores. He notes the format allowed her to speak generally, to ignore questions and otherwise work from a script well-suited to her talents. Tom Shales, too, while generally complimentary, noted her dodge-the-question strategy.
Politico's lead writers said she performed well enough, but still fell short.
.. it is hard to count any objective measures by which Biden did not clearly win the encounter. She looked like she was trying to get people to take her seriously. He looked like he was running for vice president. His answers were more responsive to the questions, far more detailed and less rhetorical.
Reporting notes that Palin was wrong and Biden right in remarks about Afghanistan. (Biden was too polite to note she got the name of the U.S. commander in Afghanistan wrong.) Video above notes her support of equal legal rights for gay couples, which will surprise some of the base, I'd guess.
In short, Palin 'won by not losing.' But does she change the trajectory of the race? No. As one writer put it: the vice presidential sideshow is over. It's back to McCain v. Obama and, for the moment at least, Obama leads.
UPDATE: Here's a good commentariat roundup.
And, IN A NUTSHELL, James Fallows.


KLM Boeing 747-400 flight from Toronto to Amsterdam Schiphol Airport in Economy Comfort Class (extra leg room).
KLM Boeing 777-300ER flight from Jakarta to Kuala Lumpur in World Economy Class.
KLM Boeing 737-700 flight from Amsterdam Schiphol to London Heathrow in Economy Class (missed connection).
KLM Boeing 737-800 flight from Berlin Tegel Airport (TXL) to Amsterdam Schiphol (AMS) in Economy Class (More Leg Room Seat).
More Trip Reports including the Boeing 777-300ER, 787-9 Dreamliner, 747-400 and Embraer E190 will follow soon. All classes included (Economy, Economy Comfort and Business class)!


> >Actually no. Polymorphic methods are not inferred, but declared.
> >begin with. It clearly results in a wrong internal type.
I agree this is not a very intuitive solution.
definition, which in this case is too late.
You can also see this as bug, and not so easy to fix.
> Can you explain in more details your answer ?
> simulteanously defined types ?
to be really hard to avoid.
I was unaware of this problem until it was posted on this list.


News, Culture and Current Events Coverage for the LGBTQ Community - them.
Nigel Shelby's story is a tragic reminder of how we're failing our most at-risk youth. We need to do more, and that starts with destigmatizing suicidality and challenging myths about it in the media.
The GLAAD Media Institute explains why the most valuable demographic for queer messaging lays between the left and the right.
Art After Stonewall: 1969-1989 is a new exhibition surveying how the art world responded to the night that sparked LGBTQ+ liberation.
As well as employment discrimination protections for women, gender non-conforming people, and many others.
Ballez is a ballet company opening dance to people of all gender expressions. Starting today, you can join their movement wherever you are in the world.
Those captured in Ethan James Green's Young New York dismantle gender norms and stylistic conventions to striking, beautiful effect.
The 60s theatrical genre's influence is still widely felt today (it even birthed glam punk and glitter rock). The story of its own birth is no less fascinating.
On Internet Arms, Diane Coffee (the alter ego of musician Shaun Fleming) delivers theatrical, infectious songs about technology, state oppression, resistance, identity, and community.
From Lucy Liu and Cameron Diaz in Charlie's Angels to Uma Thurman in Kill Bill, female-fronted action movies have attracted queer fans for ages — often because Hollywood gives them little else to love.
He plays Larry in the Broadway revival of Burn This, bringing a rich level of humanity to an iconic gay character.
But Steven Rowley's The Editor is for everyone else, too, and its tale of family secrets and befriending Jackie O, set against 90s New York City, is winning critical acclaim.
Mina Gerges' recreations of celebrity portraits earned him viral fame in 2015 — and outed him to his parents in the process. Today, he's using his platform to help everyone feel part of the gay community, regardless of what they look like.
How the filmmaker rose to his throne as the Pope of Trash and reinvented camp filmmaking forever.
She's been a rock for the Rose family since the beginning, but watching her blossom this season — especially on tomorrow's finale — has been oh so gratifying.


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Minnesota State Patrol Reports Another Pedestrian Has Been Killed
Kim David Published: October 29, 2021
welcomia
Hibbing, MN (KROC AM News) - Minnesota has averaged more than one pedestrian-related traffic fatality per week this year and another was reported Thursday in Hibbing.
The Minnesota State Patrol says the victim was trying to cross Highway 169 around 6:30 pm when he was struck by a small SUV. The State Patrol says the driver "was unable to avoid the collision and struck the pedestrian."
The victim was identified as 28-year-old Chris Ozzello of Hibbing. He died at the scene. The vehicle was driven by 18-year-old Ethan Lund of Hibbing.
According to state public safety officials, at least 48 pedestrians have been killed in Minnesota so far this year.
News update: Rochester triple murder suspect ruled competent.
Why do cats have whiskers? Why do they meow? Why do they nap so much? And answers to 47 other kitty questions:
Why do they meow? Why do they nap so much? Why do they have whiskers? Cats, and their undeniably adorable babies known as kittens, are mysterious creatures. Their larger relatives, after all, are some of the most mystical and lethal animals on the planet. Many questions related to domestic felines, however, have perfectly logical answers. Here's a look at some of the most common questions related to kittens and cats, and the answers cat lovers are looking for.
Source: Minnesota State Patrol Reports Another Pedestrian Has Been Killed
Filed Under: accidents, minnesota, minnesota state patrol


It's the beginning of the 1999 Wimbledon Tennis Championships. Bobbie and girlfriend, June, have avidly followed the championships together for years. But Bobbie and June have just split up after Bobbie slept with best friend Babs. June has gone to Denmark and Bobbie gets a job caring for a difficult old woman. Soon it's not just Wimbledon where the competitive rallies, the lobs and the drop-volleys are being played, as carers fall like seeds, and only those with the deadliest return of serve may survive to the final.


text:
City of Industry pays…
City of Industry pays 'astronomical' costs for employee health insurance
By Jason Henry | jhenry@scng.com and Rebecca Kimitch | Rebecca.Kimitch@sgvn.com | Pasadena Star News
The City of Industry pays more than double the state average for health care benefits for many of its 33 employees.
In 2014, the city paid $57,773 — $4,800 a month — for health, vision and dental insurance for a dozen employees each, according to data provided by Transparent California, which compiles information on public employee compensation.
"It's astronomical," said Robert Fellner, research director for Transparent California. "This is definitely top of the mountain, so to speak."
Industry paid individually between $20,330 and $44,962 for another 15 employees. That brings the average cost of health insurance per employee to $42,770 in 2014. By comparison, Los Angeles paid an average of $13,889 per employee, while Beverly Hills averaged about $23,000.
The recipients of Industry's highest cost health benefits ranged from its top executives to its lowest assistants. Even two planning commissioners, who earned less than $9,000 a year in salary, received the costly benefit, according to a compensation report. Other employees with similar titles or even identical positions received lower contributions, sometimes less than half what their colleagues got.
Some Industry employees also benefit from significantly below-market city housing. The revelations are the just latest in a series of news stories scrutinizing the city, whose $140 million in revenues serve about 400 residents.
City Manager Paul Philips, hired six months ago, offered little explanation for the high health insurance costs.
He said Industry doesn't cover anything unusual or exceptional in its benefits, which are provided through Aetna. City staff are in the process of reviewing the insurance costs, he added.
"We are digging into it. I should know more in a month," he said.
He also questioned the accuracy of the numbers.
Like it does for cities across the state, Transparent California directly requested the compensation and benefit information from Industry through a public records request.
When Fellner saw Industry's numbers, he thought someone had made a mistake. He sent an email to Industry Deputy Clerk Cecelia Dunlap requesting confirmation. In a subsequent email exchange, which included Philips, Dunlap made minor adjustments to the numbers but confirmed their high amount.
Fellner said his organization found that Industry's spending topped every other city in the state — by a lot. The runner-up, Sonoma, had an average nearly $20,000 less than Industry's average, according to their ranking.
"City of Industry is off the map," Fellner said.
The high cost left some experts scratching their heads, too.
Nadereh Pourat, director of research for UCLA's Center for Health Policy Research, called the benefits "very odd."
"It boggles the mind, I don't know what that money could be spent on," she said.
She said an employer's contribution increases when it doesn't split the cost with its employees, when the plan covers specialized services — such as fertility treatments — and when it reduces the out-of-pocket expenses for employees.
"If you don't pass on any of the cost to the employee, then the premium price will go up," she said.
Even then, Industry's contributions were high, she said.
Nationally, the annual premiums for employer-sponsored health coverage cost an average of $16,834 in 2014, including both the employer and the employee's contributions, according to an annual survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation. The survey doesn't include dental and vision, but even when the average is doubled, it's still nearly $10,000 away from Industry's numbers.
California Healthcare Foundation crunches the state's average through its own survey. In 2014, employers contributed an average of $13,109 per employee annually for family plans in California. Employees paid $4,499 of that cost.
"It just seems like a lot for a city," said Robbin Gaines, senior program officer for the California Healthcare Foundation.
Like Pourat, she said an employer's costs rise if they pick up more of the share. Other factors that could raise the price include having high-risk employees, having older employees and just offering better coverage, she said.
As part of the Affordable Care Act, the Obama administration pushed a "Cadillac tax" on expensive healthcare plans, with the aim of discouraging employers from buying overpriced plans. It imposes a 40 percent excise tax on healthcare policies above a certain cap: $10,200 for an individual and $27,500 for a family. The tax was expected to go into effect in 2018, however, the omnibus budget passed in December delayed the implementation until 2020.
Other cities and government agencies in Southern California could also be subject to the tax, according to a recent report by Transparent California.
Jason Henry | Reporter
Jason Henry is an investigative reporter with the Southern California News Group. Raised in Ohio, Jason began his career at a suburban daily near Cleveland before moving to California in 2013. He is a self-identified technophile, data nerd and wannabe drone pilot.
jhenry@scng.com
Follow Jason Henry @JasonMHenry
Rebecca Kimitch