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text:
Q: Readline on closed filehandle I'm using this sub for my prgram to wait up to several hours for a task to finish what it's doing on windows.
When the windows task finishes, it updates a string in a text file to let the Linux script know that Windows is done.
I get this error while it's running:
readline() on closed filehandle
Here is the sub
my $numberOfChecks = 28;
my $sleepTime = 900;
my $communicationsFile = "/home/user/ICAhome/Win_To_Linux_ComFile.txt";
my $winBuild = "1";

sub waitForWindowsBuild {
    while ($numberOfChecks-- $$ $winBuild == "1"){
        open (MYFILE, $communicationsFile);

        while (<MYFILE>){
            chomp;
            if ($_ eq $buildValue){
                $winBuild="1";
            }

            sleep($sleepTime);
        }

        close(MYFILE);
    }
}

Could anyone tell me what's going on?
Thanks!

A: Check if the open succeeds. For example,
open (MYFILE, $communicationsFile)
   or die("Can't open $communicationsFile: $!\n");

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Call us +34 927 242 524
Nature and much more
We have Nature
We have a lot and we treat it with care. Because Extremadura is one of those places where Nature is proud but humble. More kilometres of beautiful coast than anywhere else in Spain. Bird-watching paradises and nooks that will teach you that hiding places still exist.
We have Heritage
And not only because UNESCO says so since 1986, but because we take care of it and share it. Whether in the historic centre of Cáceres, in the Roman Theatre and Amphitheatre of Mérida, the Monastery of Santa María de Guadalupe or the Roman city of Cáparra. Many centuries are among us. As are we among them.
We have Culture
We have a lot of art and we love saying it. The Extremadura and Iberoamerican Museum of Contemporary Art in Badajoz, the Romano de Mérida, the Vostell in Malpartida de Cáceres or the brand new Helga de Alvear Foundation with its new building which houses the most significant private collection of Contemporary Art in Spain.
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Map of Cáceres

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


To appear in compliance with its shipments and avoid customs fees, Pure Collection systematically divided U.S. orders into multiple packages for shipping.
The U.S. government has intervened in Constantine Cannon LLP's client's whistleblower case against Pure Collection Ltd., a Harrogate, England-based e-retailer of luxury cashmere and apparel.
The government also brought claims against Pure Collection's current acting CEO, Samantha Harrison. The lawsuit, among the first whistleblower cases brought in the U.S. by a U.K. citizen that the government has joined, alleges that Pure Collection fraudulently evaded the payment of duties to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), giving itself an unfair advantage among U.S. and foreign retailers, while allegedly saving millions of dollars and boosting its own profits.
The complaint, brought by British whistleblower Andrew Patrick of Harrogate, England, alleges that beginning in at least 2010, Pure Collection purposefully avoided paying U.S. customs duties on retail orders worth more than $200 that it shipped to U.S. customers. To attract more U.S.-based customers, Pure Collection advertised on its website "we do our utmost to prevent customs fees," and even reimbursed customers for any customs fees they incurred in the instances where Pure's evasion efforts failed.
Pure Collection did this by engaging in a practice referred to internally as "splitting." During this time, CBP rules exempted commercial goods imported into the U.S. from customs duties if the total order value did not exceed $200, later raising the limit to $800. To appear in compliance with its shipments and avoid customs fees, Pure Collection systematically divided U.S. orders into multiple packages for shipping.
Patrick worked for Pure Collection from 2010 to 2014, first as a sales representative in its U.K. call center and then in its U.K. packaging department. He was trained to systematically split customers' large orders to successfully avoid paying U.S. customs fees, saving the company millions of dollars, according to the whistleblower suit.
Patrick originally brought his allegations to the CBP's attention in 2014 and provided documents to the U.S. Embassy. He later filed a whistleblower submission with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service in 2015. After these three attempts to alert U.S. authorities were unsuccessful, Patrick approached Richard Pike, a solicitor-advocate and partner in Constantine Cannon's London office, which specializes in advising whistleblowers under the American whistleblower programs. After retaining Constantine Cannon, Patrick filed his whistleblower suit in 2016 in federal court in Maine.
Patrick is represented by Constantine Cannon attorneys Molly Knobler, Timothy McCormack and Mary Inman, as well as Maine lawyer Dan Murphy of Bernstein Shur.
"Pure [Collection] arrogantly decided it didn't need to play by the same rules as other retailers, and placed its own interests in profits and access to the U.S. market above the laws of the U.S. government," said Knobler, an associate in Constantine Cannon's Washington, D.C., office. "The government's intervention in Mr. Patrick's case sends a clear message that this behavior will not be tolerated."
"If this case is successful, Mr. Patrick will be among one of the first British whistleblowers to expose a U.K. company for evading U.S. import duties and receive a financial reward under the whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act," said Inman, a partner in Constantine Cannon's London office whose practice focuses on representing U.K. and E.U. whistleblowers under the American whistleblower programs. "As global business expands, European whistleblowers like Mr. Patrick play an increasingly vital role in alerting the U.S. Government to fraud schemes that cross international borders."
The case was brought under the federal False Claims Act, which promotes collaboration among corporate insiders and the government to fight fraud on U.S. taxpayers. The FCA, known as Lincoln's Law, was originally enacted during Abraham Lincoln's presidency to put a stop to purposefully inflated prices and delivery of knowingly inferior products by contractors during the Civil War. This important tool is used to combat government fraud, and incentivize individuals with knowledge of fraud to step forward, and includes legal protections against retaliation toward whistleblowers.
The law encourages whistleblowers of any nationality to expose companies that are defrauding the U.S. government by allowing a private party from any country to file a civil lawsuit on the government's behalf and providing for a reward of 15 to 25 percent of the government's civil recovery if the government joins, or intervenes in, the case, as the government has done here. If this case is successful, Patrick will receive between 15 and 25 percent of the government's recovery.
The case is captioned: United States of America ex rel. Andrew Patrick v. Pure Collection Ltd. et al., Case No. 2:16-cv-00230-GZS, United States District Court for the District of Maine.
NCTO has begun an online customs fraud reporting system and has distributed new customs fraud reporting tools to its member companies and the public at large.
Illegal trade has done immense damage to the Mexican apparel industry's image and competitiveness.


So rather than just have it sitting in my study looking pretty (my god it's been nice to look at) it's time to find it a home where it can be used I think.
Other than the mirror (see below) everything is working correctly. Metering looks accurate too from what I can tell. New seals fitted.
The mirror flips up fine but then gets stuck. A slight bit of pressure with your finger and it flips back down correctly (but I'm afraid it isn't just sticking to the foam). It then fires again no problem, once you've wound on of course.
I've been told it's an easy fix for the professionals (but if you're still reading you know that already).
If there's any interest I can post up photos. It's certainly in good condition but I'll include a more thorough description with the photos.
£95 to include recorded delivery seems fair to me, but if you're interested and think I'm way off, just let me know.
Happy to post overseas subject to us agreeing the price.
Does it have the standard pentaprism?
How silly of me to overlook that!
It has a viewfinder but I'll need to check which when I get home.
Cost I mentioned was to include the viewfinder.
Would consider splitting the body and viewfinder if needs be.


text:
Q: Grouping every 3 items in xslt 1.0 I'm having troubles to figure out a way to group items xslt 1.0.
I have a source xml similar to the one below:
<client name="client A">
    <project name = "project A1"/>
    <project name = "project A2"/>
    <project name = "project A3"/>
    <project name = "project A4"/>
</client>
<client name="client B">
    <project name = "project B1"/>
    <project name = "project B2"/>
</client>
<client name="client C">
    <project name = "project C1"/>
    <project name = "project C2"/>
    <project name = "project C3"/>
</client>

I'd like to select all projects, sort them and then group every 3 project in one boundle as in the example below:
<boundle>
  <project name="project A1">
  <project name="project A2">
  <project name="project A3">
</boundle>
<boundle>
  <project name="project A4">
  <project name="project B1">
  <project name="project B2">
</boundle>
<boundle>
  <project name="project C1">
  <project name="project C2">
  <project name="project C3">
</boundle>

Currently to do so I'm using  to open a boundle tag and close it later.
Can you think about any better solution?

A: No grouping necessary.
<xsl:param name="perGroup" select="3" />

<xsl:variable name="allProjects" select="/client/project" />

<xsl:template match="/">
  <xsl:apply-templates select="$allProjects" mode="counted" />
</xsl:template>

<xsl:template match="project" mode="counted">
  <xsl:if test="position() mod $perGroup = 1">
    <xsl:variable name="pos" select="position()" />
    <boundle>
      <xsl:copy-of select="$allProjects[
        position() >= $pos and position() < ($pos + $perGroup)
      ]" />
    </boundle>
  </xsl:template>
</xsl:template>

A: I can recommend the following link http://www.jenitennison.com/xslt/grouping/ which helped me figuring out how to group various number of elements into some categories based on the contents in the XML document.


text:
Touch Screen Watches – Smart Bluetooth Bracelets
by Liam Anderson | last updated: January 21, 2019
Since the release of the Apple Watch, smart watches with touch screens have exploded in popularity. While the Apple Watch is obviously designed to work with Apple products, the continued development of other smart watches expand their capabilities well beyond a single brand. That is why we have put together a list of the 8 best touch screen watches.
What is touch screen watch
It's a watch that can wirelessly connect to your smartphone. This allows the touch screen watch to provide you some limited functionality that a smartphone would otherwise provide. Moreover, you can access and control these functions through a convenient screen that responds to your touch much like any other modern smartphone.
While a touch screen watch may not be right for everyone, everyone can still benefit from its convenient functions. For one, touch screen watches can make answering the phone while driving safer without the hassle of a phone holder. A number of touch screen watches can also serve as body monitors for both activity and rest. Finally, touch screen watches can sometimes be used in lieu of smartphones altogether.
Arguably the most important consideration when buying a touch screen watch has to be which set of features you require. Someone who wants a touch screen watch for fitness purposes will likely have a very different set of requirements than someone who wants to ditch their smartphone. Other qualities that are more universal include battery life, charging time, and durability.
Best Touch Screen Watches 2019
ASUS ZenWatch 2 AMOLED screen, strong gorilla glass, 4GB, fitness trackers, gesture controls Check Price
X-CHENG OLED screen, fitness trackers, call/sms Check Price
Abandship OLED screen, fitness trackers, call/sms/social media Check Price
Juboury fitness trackers, call/sms notifications Check Price
DBFIT OLED touchscreen, fitness trackers, call/sms/social media, 1 hour to charge Check Price
Weefun 8GB, voice activated recording (148 hrs), 1+ hour to charge Check Price
Lintelek OLED screen, fitness trackers, call/sms updates Check Price
PQMALL 32GB, Nano SIM card or Bluetooth mode, sound recorder, audio player Check Price
1. ASUS ZenWatch 2: Best Quality Touch Screen Watch
ASUS is the only brand on our list that is well-known outside of the online environment for its electronics. That said, the brand is far more renowned for its PC and laptop components as well as tablets than it is for its touch screen watches. In that vein, it is understandable that even though this is the second generation of ASUS touch screen watches, it seems the company still has a ways to go compared to their competition.
On the plus side, this is by far one of the most durable touch screen watches that we saw. This primarily starts with the most important part of any touch screen watch: the screen. While many touch screens are content to simply use a thin film of plastic encasing both sides of a basic piece of glass, ASUS goes above and beyond. ASUS uses top-quality Gorilla Glass made by Corning which is used for most of the top-tier touch screen products on the market. This glass is far more scratch resistant than normal glass and can better handle the customary wear and tear watches deal with.
Beyond the glass itself, the actual screen of the ASUS is also of a superior quality than any other touch screen watch that we reviewed. Whereas most touch screen watches we saw use either LCD, LED, or OLED screens, ASUS was the only brand to once again go a step further and provide an AMOLED screen. The primary difference is that this type of display produces far richer colors, better contrast, and provides much faster refresh rates.
Still, being a large company with an already established brand name that sells in brick-and-mortar stores, one of the biggest downsides of the ZenWatch2 is the price. At over $100, this touch screen watch is more than double the cost of any other product we reviewed. While the durability and screen quality help justify that cost somewhat, another issue makes the price a bit more difficult to swallow: compatibility. Quite simply, this touch screen watch provides some of the fewest number of features that we encountered.
Made from strong gorilla glass
Uses an AMOLED display
Provides a decent size screen
Comes in 8 different styles and 2 sizes
Can change face style
Charges exceptionally fast
Features a great processor
Includes 4GB storage
Can connect via WiFi
Has gesture controls
Offers remote camera shooting
Battery is not the best
Not as good for iPhones
Limited app extensions
2. X-CHENG: Best iPhone Touch Screen Watch
When it comes to touch screen watch manufacturers that seek to undercut the big players in the market, most of them generally fall into one of two camps: either they only make touch screen watches and accessories for their products or they make a wide variety of products that do not have any real focus. The one thing both groups have in common is that they are generally exclusively online sellers. X-CHENG falls into the latter category, which means their lack of specialization will show itself in their features.
That said, X-CHENG is not trying to be like many of the other touch screen watches that we reviewed. Rather than being all things to all people, X-CHENG instead decided to focus on a specific niche market: fitness enthusiasts. For those people looking to find the convenience of a touch screen watch that can also capably serve as a replacement for the expensive Fitbit device, the X-CHENG is an excellent option.
First, this touch screen phone can track more bodily statistics than most. While it offers the expected pedometer and calorie burning monitor, it also provides a heart rate monitor. While it is not the only touch screen watch to offer this feature, it is easily one of the more accurate in terms of its heart rate monitor – a feature that is notably finicky for most other touch screen watches that provide it.
Beyond the basic fitness monitors, this touch screen watch will also keep track of your sedentary habits as well as your sleep cycles, so you can get better sleep and be aware of when your energy levels drop. The X-CHENG also comes with 4 different sports modes that are each specialized for different types of workouts. Whether you are working on cardio, strength training, calisthenics, or core building, the X-CHENG can alter its sports mode to keep track of the data important to your workout.
Connects the best with iPhones
Provides a great sports mode
Provides call and text updates
Has an OLED screen
Sleep and sedentary monitoring
Provides multiple wristbands
Display is rectangular
Charge cable is finicky
Has a short battery life
3. Abandship: Most Compatible Touch Screen Watch
Abandship is a truly unique company, and we suggest that you make sure you are in a comfortable, private location if you look up the company yourself. That is because not only does this brand of touch screen watches not actually specialize in this market, they actually do not have a specialization at all. While that normally is not too much cause for concern, this brand in particular definitely sells more not safe for work products than it does anything else. As such, you may not want a co-worker or neighbor to see what pops up on the screen if you search for this company.
In terms of the watch, however, it is actually pretty good – especially considering the brand's dubious background. Easily the best feature about this touch screen watch has to be its compatibility. In the same way that many touch screen watches do not offer too terribly much in the way of compatibility – including those made by well-known and reputable brands – the Abandship takes the opposite approach. This touch screen watch is compatible with over 200 different phones, though the OS for those phones does need to be fairly up to date – especially in regards to Android phones.
This compatibility continues with its 3rd party app integrations as well. Like most touch screen watches, the Abandship will provide notifications of text messages and phone calls. A number of the other touch screen watches that we saw will also provide alerts for various social media websites and apps. However, the Abandship goes a bit above and beyond when it comes to social media app integration as it will provide notifications for apps that are fairly regional in terms of their user base – including those that are popular primarily in China.
That said, not all is good when it comes to the Abandship and apps. Specifically, the Abandship app required to get the most out of the touch screen watch and effectively use all of the watch's functions is a bit dubious. While the app itself does not contain malware like some of the other apps for touch screen watches that we reviewed, it will force the watch to accept advertisements. While this may not be much of an issue, it can be an annoyance when you are trying to navigate the watch's touch screen.
This is a problem for a couple reasons. First, while it is not the smallest on our list, the screen of the Abandship is a bit on the smaller side. A big part of this has to do with the screen's rectangular shape, though that is normal for fitness-focused touch screen watches. Still, when the size and shape of the watch's touch screen already leave it with a slightly reduced display, advertisements occupying any of the screen's space ultimately reduce the applicable screen size even further.
Another issue with the advertisements is that it can make a touch screen watch which is already somewhat difficult to use and navigate even more frustrating. Granted, once you figure out how everything works and how to navigate the menus, this will not actually cause any real problems. That said, the instructions for this watch are definitely subpar and not written by native English speakers. As such, you are pretty much tossed into the water and expected to figure out how to swim on your own.
Provides call, text, social media notifications
Numerous fitness trackers
Sedentary and sleep tracking
Has OLED screen
Robust app compatibility
Uses Bluetooth 4.0
Screen is a bit small
App adds ads
Not easy to use
4. Juboury: Best Fitness Touch Screen Watch
Like a large number of the other brands that we reviewed, Juboury does not necessarily specialize in touch screen watches in particular or electronics more broadly. While this might sometimes indicate a brand that simply goes through the motions, that is not the case with Juboury for one major reason. While the company may not focus on touch screen watches or electronics, it does sell products that are primarily intended to be used either as accessories to smart devices or for traveling purposes.
Specifically, this brand sells products for people who are looking to explore the great outdoors but wish to do so on a budget. Like most outdoor enthusiasts, fitness is important to the Juboury brand, and this touch screen watch reflects that focus. As such, it should come as no surprise that the Juboury is rated as the best fitness touch screen watch that we reviewed. Keep in mind, most of the touch screen watches on our list aim to provide a solid fitness option to its user, but this watch definitely goes a bit above and beyond.
That said, this feature definitely comes with a pretty big caveat: the app. The app that this touch screen watch uses to monitor all of the different fitness trackers is dubious at best and malicious at worst. By that, we mean that the app is actually flagged in the Apple Store as being potentially dangerous. While the app will not damage the touch screen watch itself, nor will it pose any physical harm to your smart devices, its programming leaves a backdoor open for people to use your Bluetooth connection to gain access to your devices. While this does not seem to be an intentional decision, it does still cause a bit of concern regardless.
That said, if you use this touch screen watch as it was intended – as an outdoor fitness watch – then you should not really have to worry about that. Those issues are generally reserved for densely populated metropolitan regions – not running trails or natural settings. Beyond the backdoor risk, the app provides some of the clearest and most accurate information that we found in a fitness tracker.
Specifically, fitness trackers on touch screen watches are rather notorious for being fairly hit-or-miss. Even Fitbits and other well-known brands are only okay when it comes to tracking the actual fitness information. While the Juboury does not necessarily exceed the best brands in this category, it definitely keeps pace with them and is far better at keeping accurate records of your fitness information than any of the other products that we reviewed. On top of its accuracy, the Juboury will also save the information to be uploaded to a different device later so you can keep track of your fitness over a longer period of time.
Provides call and text notifications
Device tracking features
Provides remote music controls
Comes in 6 different styles
Connectivity is spotty
App has malware
5. DBFIT: Multi-Language Touch Screen Watch
If ever there was a company with a specialization and singular focus, DBFIT is it. In fact, this watch is literally the only product that DBFIT makes or sells. This has the advantage of the brand being able to focus all of its efforts exclusively on this product and this product alone without having to worry about dividing its attention among a wide range of products or markets. Of course, the downside to this kind of focus is that even though this is an exclusively online company, they are not able to sell their product at the rock-bottom prices you would expect from that corporate structure. Still, it is only modestly more expensive than the average cost of the touch screen watches that we reviewed.
When examining the watch, it does not actually stand out in too many ways. That is not to say that it is a poor product. However, there are few features that this watch provides which are not provided by any other touch screen watch on our list. As such, it may be difficult finding a reason to purchase this watch – that is unless of course, you happen to do plenty of traveling.
While many touch screen watches that we reviewed offer a few additional languages, this watch is by far the most impressive in this respect as it can display up to 7 different languages ranging from Europe to America to Asia. While there is a good chance you may not be able to understand all of those languages, it does definitely offer an advantage if you need assistance from locals in any of these countries as they will be able to guide you.
That said there are still plenty of features outside of its use in an international situation that will come in handy. If you are a fitness buff, this watch can provide a number of features that will help you keep track of your fitness goals. For instance, the DBFIT comes 6 different training modes. These include the most common types of training modes like walking, running, and cycling, but it also expands beyond those basic ones to encompass training modes that are a bit more niche. For instance, this was the only touch screen watch that we encountered that has a basketball mode. Similarly, this touch screen watch includes a climbing mode, though that is simply rare and not altogether unique.
Still, this touch screen watch is not without its flaws. Like most touch screen watches positioned as a fitness watch, the screen is a bit small. This is in part due to the fact that the screen is rectangular in shape, but it is also just a bit smaller than some of the other touch screen watches we reviewed anyway. On top of the screen size, this watch also has one of the smaller battery capacities and will need to be charged more often than some of the other watches – thankfully it only takes an hour to charge it.
Provides call, text, and social media notifications
Only 1 hour to charge
Displays in 7 different languages
Low battery capacity
6. Weefun: Best Audio Touch Screen Watch
Weefun does not focus exclusively on touch screen watches, and it shows. This is not to suggest that it is a poor product, but it is definitely far more specialized in its scope and target audience than most of the other touch screen watches that we reviewed. Generally, if a touch screen watch has a focus, it is on fitness but will still often provide a number of features found on their competitors' products.
The Weefun, on the other hand, has an almost laser-sharp focus on audio functions to the veritable exclusion of everything else. This presents the Weefun as more of a niche touch screen watch but an invaluable if you find yourself in that niche. In fact, this touch screen watch is by far the most impressive when it comes to its audio qualities – whether you are using it for playback functions or to record audio. Though, it offers far fewer features outside of the audio realm regardless the comparison.
It is the latter of these two that the Weefun does better than pretty much any other touch screen phone we saw – and even better than many devices explicitly dedicated for that purpose. While not necessarily the most cutting edge, the Weefun's use of 4.1 CSR Bluetooth technology definitely places it a step above most of the other products we reviewed, and this translates to excellent recording quality.
In terms of actual numbers, this touch screen watch produces less than 5 percent total harmonic dissonance, or THD. This means that whether you are listening to a recording or music that you have uploaded into its included 8GB of memory, you will get a clear and true playback. Even better, the microphone is sensitive enough to pick up voices from up to 50' away and features a voice-activated recording function to conserve on battery life. This makes it ideal for taking notes for school, meetings, or interviews and runs on the powerful VLC codec.
Less than 5 percent total harmonic distortion
Can record up to 50' away
Voice activated recording
Provides 8GB of memory
Quick 1+ hour charge time
Provides a large screen
Better speaker than most
Decent battery life
Poor user interface
Watch band is not durable
Does not provide many additional functions
Touch screen is incredibly sensitive
7. Lintelek: Best Budget Touch Screen Watch
Lintelek is another brand that comes with a familiar business model: limited product lineups and an exclusively online outlet. That being said, this is also one of the few companies following this model that will also sell directly to the customer from their own website – though it is often less expensive to order from Amazon. Regardless, this is by far the least expensive touch screen watch that we reviewed.
That said, you are definitely giving up a bit of functionality for that modest reduction in price. While this touch screen watch will provide alerts for phone calls and texts, it does not offer you the option to actually answer the call or send a text. In fairness, this is likely due in a large part because of the touch screen watch's design. This is another product that models itself more similarly to a FitBit in shape an profile than it does an actual watch.
In practical terms, this means that the Lintelek has a somewhat limited screen both in size and due to its elongated, rectangular shape. While this does not actually affect its display, which still uses a quality OLED screen, it does mean that the 0.86" size limits your ability to effectively navigate the touch screen for more advanced features. Thankfully, this touch screen watch sought to emulate the FitBit in more than just design.
For fitness enthusiasts, the Lintelek provides a solid FitBit alternative at a fraction of the cost. This touch screen watch will track your total mileage, calories burned, and steps taken. Oddly, this is one of the few fitness-centric touch screen watches that does not even attempt to track your heart rate. Still, it also provides a sedentary habit tracker and will even remind you when you need to get up and move around to help maintain your health.
Smaller and lighter than most
Provides solid battery life
One of the smaller screens
Strap is not that durable
Does not actually track heart rate
8. PQMALL: Touch Screen Watch with GSM Nano SIM Card
PQMALL makes and manufactures two types of products: touch screen watches and earbuds. This focus provides them a solid ability to put everything they have into their products and achieve satisfactory results.
In terms of qualities that stand out, the PQMALL has a couple. For one, this touch screen watch is tied for being able to accept the largest capacity TF memory card out of the products we reviewed. At 32GB, this touch screen watch can provide more than double the memory of its next closest competitor – though you do have to purchase the TF memory card separately. While this touch screen watch cannot take pictures like some, it can keep pictures sent to it on the memory card.
Another advantage of the PQMALL is its ability to connect with the FunRun app. Designed for fitness enthusiasts, the FunRun app provides one of the more robust third-party options for keeping track of a litany of different exercise data. Beyond providing a pedometer, mileage recorder, and calorie burner, this app also provides a location function that can help you find the watch or your connected smartphone.
That said, this touch screen watch is not for everyone. First, if you intend to use this touch screen watch as a replacement for your smartphone, your service providers are limited to T-Mobile. Beyond that, the compatible GSM Nano SIM cards that will work with the PQMALL are also limited, though there are four that you can buy. Finally, due to the rounded shape of the face, the PQMALL also provides one of the smaller screens compared to the other touch screen watches on our list.
Excellent Android compatibility
Can accept GSM Nano SIM card
Can answer calls and send texts
Can accept 32GB TF memory card
Can record and play audio
Solid FunRun App
Screen is smaller than most
Phone service providers are limited
Is not easy to use


text:
Michael Bisping tells Logan Paul 'I'll rip your head off' after YouTuber claimed he would beat him
'I'll tear your f***ing head off': Retired UFC star Michael Bisping unleashes fury at Logan Paul after the YouTuber said he would beat him in a fight and claims he would be 'arrested for MANSLAUGHTER' if the pair faced off
Former UFC fighter Michael Bisping has unloaded at YouTuber Logan Paul
Paul claimed he would beat the ex-middleweight champion if the pair fought
Bisping took exception to his comments, saying he would 'tear his head off'
The retired star went further, claiming he would be 'arrested for manslaughter'
By Oli Gamp For Mailonline
Published: 03:56 EST, 9 January 2023 | Updated: 04:03 EST, 9 January 2023
Former UFC star Michael Bisping has unleashed his fury at Logan Paul after he claimed he would beat him in a fight – chillingly predicting he would be 'arrested for manslaughter' if they faced off.
Bisping has been retired since 2018 after a 14-year career that saw him become middleweight champion – with his last two bouts coming in defeats to Georges St-Pierre and Kelvin Gastelum in 2017.
However, he threatened to get back in the Octagon after being angered by Paul's bullish claims while speaking to comedian Bobby Lee.
Former UFC star Michael Bisping (L) chillingly said he would be 'arrested for manslaughter' if he ever fought YouTuber Logan Paul (R)
Paul – who faced Floyd Mayweather (R) in 2021 – angered Bisping by claiming he would beat him if they faced off
'Bobby Lee is throwing names at Logan Paul and [asking] whether or not he'd beat them in a fight and he said, 'Yeah, I'd beat Michael Bisping, he's old,' he said on his Believe You Me podcast.
'Logan Paul, man, you don't know what you are talking about. I am not going to sit here and act hard and tough. But the path that we have been on and the path that you have been on… It is a different path.
'You don't want to be f***ing locked down a dark alley with me. I will tear your f***ing head off, Logan. I will be arrested for manslaughter.'
Paul has been making a name for himself during a handful of fights – both professional and exhibition – since 2018, with the 27-year-old twice losing to fellow YouTuber KSI before facing off against Floyd Mayweather in 2021.
Bisping was a middleweight champion in the UFC before retiring from the Octagon in 2018
Despite coming up against one of the greatest fighters off all time who finished his career unbeaten, Paul – the brother of Jake, who is also a boxer, came through the bout relatively unscathed and has been plotting his next big opponent.
His comments about Bisping come less than a year after he warned his brother Jake off from fighting the British fighter, saying he was 'silly' to call him out.
'I thought that was silly,' Logan told the Impaulsive podcast. 'I would have advised Jake to not do that. Just a waste of time.'
Bisping was forced to retire after having problems with his eye following his defeat to Gastelum – and has since been working as a TV pundit for UFC fights.
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Welltech1 invests $400,000 in PopBase, a start-up building a gamified platform that teaches kids how to maintain a healthy lifestyle
Posted on September 2, 2020 by mediasourcetechohio in Innovation News // 0 Comments
Welltech1, the first Israeli VC fund and hub to specialize in wellness-related technologies, today announced that they have invested $400,000 in PopBase, one of two start-ups that beat 152 companies in the international start-up competition that ran in collaboration with the Global Wellness Institute (GWI).
The competition was part of the GWI's The Wellness Moonshot: A World Free of Preventable Disease, the first commitment to eradicate preventable, chronic diseases worldwide. The participating wellness-focused start-ups came from 25 countries around the world, including the US, Canada, Bahrain, Denmark, Australia, India, Hong Kong, Chile and Israel.
PopBase, headquartered in Los Angeles, was founded by Lisa Wong (US), Amit Tishler (Israel), and Richard Weeks (UK), and has developed a patent-protected technology platform that teaches and encourages children to adopt a healthy way of life.
The company has raised $1.8 million to date from Israeli and American investors, including The Brandery, a subsidiary of the American accelerator gener8tor; Queen City Angels, a veteran angel investor group; and Baron VR, an immersive media agency. The funds will be used to expand the PopBase team and speed up product development. Toward the end of this year, PopBase plans to run another fundraising round that will propel it through the product's launch. To prepare for the launch, the company is also recruiting strategic hires in key positions for content production, marketing and quality assurance.
Their product, Woodland Fables, will launch directly to consumers as a monthly subscription service in Autumn 2021.
The PopBase platform brings accessible, age-appropriate information to children through immersive and interactive stories. Designed to encourage the adoption of healthy behaviors (including nutrition, sleep and physical fitness), the stories and gamified features are based on characters whose traits are similar to those of children. In addition, medical practitioners, such as doctors and nutritionists, will be able to vet the content and feed data into the platform. The app is compatible with all end-user devices.
"The development process led us to the realization that we could use our technology to address a major global problem, which affects kids' quality of life on a daily basis. We can teach healthy values via a world of adventure, using storytelling and interactivity to instill and encourage positive habits," said Wong. "We're truly grateful to Welltech1 for their investment and trust in us."
"We built a technology that will drive the next generation of entertainment consumption. It's a medium through which entertainment brands can run a continuous narrative that responds to the needs of its target audience and a platform that combines the immediacy of social media with the interactivity of modern video games," said Tishler.
Research has shown that in the US, 42% of children are overweight and 25% suffer from some sort of chronic condition. Moreover, compliance rates for treatment regimens are unsatisfactory because of a lack of access to and understanding of health-related information for children and/or their families.
Using common gaming and social media practices, the PopBase platform transforms complexity into simplicity, making wellness information easy to understand and apply. Using the product's proprietary tools, the content can be adjusted instantly based on real-time user feedback.
Lisa Wong, who serves as CEO, has more than 25 years of experience as an artist, art tech, researcher and consultant for video games. She has worked on major brand games, such as Star Wars, NBA and Call of Duty, and has worked in R&D in Sony PlayStation, as well as doing consulting work for Google, Apple and Facebook.
Amit Tishler, the company's CCO, began his career as an animator and filmmaker and then moved on to a six-year stint as president of his own production company, working on projects for brands such as Cartoon Network, HBO, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon and Hallmark.
Weeks has worked in the games industry for more than 25 years, specializing in engineering, design and video game programming. Before co-founding PopBase, he worked with brands like Wipeout, Star Wars, Ghostbusters, Spiderman and others.
"We ran a tough competition in which we examined—together with our experts from Facebook, Nike, Harel Insurance and others—more than 150 wellness-related start-ups from across the globe," said Amir Alroy, cofounder, Welltech1. "And we're happy to announce that we've chosen to invest in PopBase."
"PopBase represents the fast-growing trend of linking the worlds of gaming and health," noted Galit Horovitz, cofounder, Welltech1. "The coronavirus pandemic has proven that wellness is a necessity, not a luxury. PopBase's solution resolves an acute problem creatively, effectively and professionally."
About Welltech1: Welltech1, the first wellness fund and innovation hub in Israel, provides its partners with an innovation platform and helps bridge the gap between the Start-up Nation and abroad. The hub's ultimate goal for its members is to increase viability, seek additional investment, and forge links with international partners active in the $4.5 trillion global wellness economy. Rooted in Israel's fertile high-tech ecosystem, Welltech1 optimizes the advantages of the Start-up Nation, home to innovative, ground-breaking technologies across all sectors of wellness. For further information, please see http://www.welltech1.com
About the Global Wellness Institute: The Global Wellness Institute (GWI), a nonprofit 501(c)(3), is considered the leading global research and educational resource for the global wellness industry and is known for introducing major industry initiatives and regional events that bring together leaders to chart the future. GWI positively impacts global health and wellness by educating public institutions, businesses and individuals on how they can work to prevent disease, reduce stress, and enhance the overall quality of life. Its mission is to empower wellness worldwide.


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AKarlin Generalissimo Staff Member
Here is my amateur armchair generalizing, copied from Facebook:
I'm almost certain it won't happen, but it's always fun to consider these what-if military scenarios.
Namely, Ukraine vs. Russia.
In terms of numbers, it will be about 100K vs 150K - Russia has more, of course - 300K in the ground forces - but can only devote a certain percentage of its forces to one theater (so divide by two for air and armor too). Ukraine will of course try to call up reservists, but their military worth is negligible and in any case the reported response rate (1.5% from the Orange provinces) is minimal anyway. Most of Russia's soldiers here will be kontraktniki; most of Ukraine's soldiers are its last crop of conscripts, halfway through their one year draft, and a sprinkling of professionals.
As many people have pointed out, the loyalties of these troops - especially in the east - are questionable. Even a few cases of desertion can wreck morale across the board.
For all intents and purposes Ukraine now has no navy.
It has 120 modern fighters, but of these, only 40 can be classed as active. Russia has 500, of which almost all are active. Due to budget problems, Ukrainian pilots have enjoyed fewer flight hours than Russian ones, and as such will also be less experienced. Russia will have total air superiority after the first few days.
Tanks are the one area in which Ukraine isn't totally outmatched. Ukraine has around 350 of what can be considered active, modern MBT's. Russia has 1,300, plus a further 1,500 upgraded T-72's. Ukraine also has many T-72's, but they are all rusting away in storage and will be unusuable. It does have 700 active upgraded T-64's, yet even upgraded, they are still rather obsolete.
The critical big unknown is Ukraine's air defense. If it holds its own, then Ukrainian and Russian armor can clash on equal ground, at least for some time. Georgia's air defense, likewise Soviet legacy, wracked up an impressive (for their small scope) set of kills in 2008. A lot will depend on whether the Russians have managed to draw lessons from that episode. If however it turns out to be ineffective, then Ukraine's armor will consist of smoking hulks of metal within two weeks, and Russia's entrance into Kiev within the month.
I am assuming no NATO intervention, which is politically very unlikely even in this extreme case. In any case, it will take months to effect the necessary buildup, by which time - even in the best case scenario for Ukraine - the campaign will have been long over.
AKarlin, Mar 9, 2014
In terms of aerial assets, the Ukrainian AF has ~40 frontline fighters as you say, and another ~30 tactical ground attack aircraft. All of these, save for a miniscule amount (4-5 pcs) of upgraded MiG-29's are old.
Russia has many more as you have noted, which holds true even if you only count the (to the Ukraine) neighboring military districts. These are not only more numerous, but also in better condition. But even though they use the same types of aircraft to a large extent, there are other great differences in terms of what exact variants are around. Most of Russias Soviet-legacy combat aircraft have been heavily upgraded, and on top of that there is nowadays a sizable force of newly builts.
Just as an example, look at the most potent fighter Ukraine has, the venerable Su-27:
UkrAF: Roughly 16 legacy Su-27S, Su-27P, Su-27UB in flyable condition at present (1985-1991, rather crude by modern standards).
VVS: Roughly 200 Su-27's, out of which more than half have been heavily upgraded to Su-27SM2-3 standard since 2004. On top of that they have insofar fielded ~35 newly built Su-35S, the ultimate iteration of the Su-27 design.
It's the same situation across the board, plus all the stuff that the VVS has and Ukraine does not (strategical bombers, 4½ generation tactical bombers, dedicated interceptors etc).
If there'd be a war and if it'd be gloves off (i.e. let's march on Kiev), I would guess that Russia would begin with theater ballistic missile strikes (Iskander and what have you) together with cruise missiles, to defeat Ukrainian air defense and destroying most military airfields, before flooding the airspace with air superiority fighters and beginning proper airstrikes on more mobile targets.
Uh, you know, it makes me feel a bit uncomfortable writing about this. De-escalation and peace is what I want to see. I certainly hope this kind of internet speculation stays on the internet.
http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2014_03_11/Two-US-drones-allegedly-shot-down-in-Crimea-5071/
A US unmanned reconnaissance aircraft has allegedly been shot down over Crimea, the Novosti Kryma (News of Crimea) online newspaper reports.
The drone was allegedly surveilling Crimean troop positions over the Turetsky Val block-post, the newspaper quotes a Cossack source as saying.
The unsanctioned aircraft had been spotted by Crimean self-defense forces and Berkut policemen.
Another, heavier, drone, a two-engine one, has been allegedly shot down and fell outside the block-post's area.
José Moreira, Mar 11, 2014
Top 5 Myths About Russia's Invasion of Crimea
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/opini...-about-russias-invasion-of-crimea/495918.html
The Media War Behind the Ukraine Crisis
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/the-media-war-behind-the-ukraine-crisis/495920.html
john smith, Mar 12, 2014
john smith said: ↑
"This is a repeat of Russia's provocation in South Ossetia and Abkhazia weeks before the 2008 Russia-Georgia war broke out." WOW! That is twisted.
Carlo, Mar 12, 2014
Support For The Sovereignty Integrity Democracy And Economic Stability Of Ukraine Act Of 2014
Haven't watch it but reading previous excerpts from Rand Pauls op-ed regarding Putin I can image the tone of the discussion.
EU Investors in Russia to EU representative about proposed sanctions: "It is like a husband who castrates himself to spite his unfaithful wife":
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/busin...against-russian-sanctions-ignored/496238.html
US and EU respond with sanctions:
http://rt.com/news/sanctions-russia-eu-us-338/
Considering that Russia passed recently a law forbidding officials from having assets and properties abroad, these sanctions mean almost nothing - they just won't be able to travel to the US and EU.
From Stratfor:
Several options are now available to Russia.
First, it can do nothing. The government in Kiev is highly fractious, and given the pro-Russian factions' hostility toward moving closer to the West, the probability of paralysis is high. In due course, Russian influence, money and covert activities can recreate the prior neutrality in Ukraine in the form of a stalemate. This was the game Russia played after the 2004 Orange Revolution. The problem with this strategy is that it requires patience at a time when the Russian government must demonstrate its power to its citizens and the world. Moreover, if Crimea does leave Ukraine, it will weaken the pro-Russian bloc in Kiev and remove a large number of ethnic Tartars from Ukraine's political morass. It could be enough of a loss to allow the pro-Russian bloc to lose what electoral power it previously had (Yanukovich beat Yulia Timoshenko by fewer than a million votes in 2010). Thus, by supporting Crimea's independence -- and raising the specter of an aggressive Russia that could bind the other anti-Russian factions together -- Putin could be helping to ensure that a pro-Western Ukraine persists.
Second, it can invade mainland Ukraine. There are three problems with this. First, Ukraine is a large area to seize and pacify. Russia does not need an insurgency on its border, and it cannot guarantee that it wouldn't get one, especially since a significant portion of the population in western Ukraine is pro-West. Second, in order for an invasion of Ukraine to be geopolitically significant, all of Ukraine west of the Dnieper River must be taken. Otherwise, the frontier with Russia remains open, and there would be no anchor to the Russian position. However, this would bring Russian forces to the bank opposite Kiev and create a direct border with NATO and EU members. Finally, if the Russians wish to pursue the first option, pulling eastern Ukrainian voters out of the Ukrainian electoral process would increase the likelihood of an effective anti-Russian government.
Third, it can act along its periphery. In 2008, Russia announced its power with authority by invading Georgia. This changed calculations in Kiev and other capitals in the region by reminding them of two realities. First, Russian power is near. Second, the Europeans have no power, and the Americans are far away. There are three major points where the Russians could apply pressure: the Caucasus countries, Moldova and the Baltics. By using large Russian minority populations within NATO countries, the Russians might be able to create unrest there, driving home the limits of NATO's power.
Fourth, it can offer incentives in Eastern and Central Europe. Eastern and Central European countries, from Poland to Bulgaria, are increasingly aware that they may have to hedge their bets on Europe and the West. The European economic crisis now affects politico-military relations. The sheer fragmentation of European nations makes a coherent response beyond proclamations impossible. Massive cuts in military spending remove most military options. The Central Europeans feel economically and strategically uneasy, particularly as the European crisis is making the European Union's largest political powers focus on the problems of the eurozone, of which most of these countries are not members. The Russians have been conducting what we call commercial imperialism, particularly south of Poland, entering into business dealings that have increased their influence and solved some economic problems. The Russians have sufficient financial reserves to neutralize Central European countries.
Last, it can bring pressure to bear on the United States by creating problems in critical areas. An obvious place is Iran. In recent weeks, the Russians have offered to build two new, non-military reactors for the Iranians. Quietly providing technological support for military nuclear programs could cause the Iranians to end negotiations with the United States and would certainly be detected by U.S. intelligence. The United States has invested a great deal of effort and political capital in its relations with the Iranians. The Russians are in a position to damage them, especially as the Iranians are looking for leverage in their talks with Washington. In more extreme and unlikely examples, the Russians might offer help to Venezuela's weakening regime. There are places that Russia can hurt the United States, and it is now in a position where it will take risks -- as with Iran's nuclear program -- that it would not have taken before.
The most likely strategy Russia will follow is a combination of all of the above: pressure on mainland Ukraine with some limited incursions; working to create unrest in the Baltics, where large Russian-speaking minorities live, and in the Caucasus and Moldova; and pursuing a strategy to prevent Eastern Europe from coalescing into a single entity. Simultaneously, Russia is likely to intervene in areas that are sensitive to the United States while allowing the Ukrainian government to be undermined by its natural divisions.
The full analysis is here:
Russia Examines Its Options for Responding to Ukraine is republished with permission of Stratfor.
Statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan on the referendum in Crimea
With regards to the referendum of 16 March 2014 in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Kazakhstan reiterates its commitment to the fundamental principles of international law in accordance with the United Nations Charter.
The referendum held in Crimea is seen in Kazakhstan as a free expression of will of the Autonomous Republic's population while the decision of the Russian Federation under the existing circumstances is regarded with understanding.
We support peaceful ways of settlement of the crisis in Ukraine and believe it should be done by means of negotiations under the aegis of the United Nations and other reputable international organizations.
It seems that Kazakhstan is taking no stance in the issue - it says that the Crimean referendum is democratic, but also that the settlement of the crisis should come from the UN (where of course the Crimean secession will be vetoed by the US, UK and France). It seems a repetition of the scenario after the South Ossetian war, the former Soviet republics with good relations with Russia (like Armenia, Belarus and Kazakhstan) won't take sides.
I would like to ask everybody in this forum: do you think the annexation of Crimea was a good idea, at least in such a fast manner? In my opinion, it wasn't. That Russia took Crimea out of Kiev's control, and that this region made a referendum, all this is perfectly understandable. But to move so fast towards annexation is something I don't understand: we don't know how much the current Ukrainian government will last (probably not much), and it puts even the mildest pro-Russian politician in a difficult situation, making the possibility of a more East-leaning government in Kiev something way more unlikely now. Except for the very pro-Russian population in the East and South, everybody in Ukraine will probably unite to support the government against Russia. The South Ossetian and Abkhazian declaration of independence was inevitable after the 2008 war, but I can't see the Ukrainian central government trying to take back Crimea by force: despite being bigger, Ukrainian armed forces are way worse equipped and prepared than Georgian, their morale is lower, and they even can expect an important number of desertion in case of an armed conflict with Russia. For me, the most rational would be what Patrick predicted in Anatoly's blog (http://darussophile.com/2014/03/after-the-referendum/), Russia should have taken a few months to answer to Crimea's referendum, claiming how complicated such a move is (integration of political structures, taxes, currency, energy and utilities, etc), and wait for how things would develop in Kiev, before making such a radical and irreversible move. Am I missing something here?
I would like to ask everybody in this forum: do you think the annexation of Crimea was a good idea, at least in such a fast manner?
I think it is a bad idea and a tragedy. And it is not because I am pro-Ukrainian. They would call me ultimate Russian imperialist. The very word Україна (Borderland) is treasonous for me. If there exists Україна then it is in St. Petersburg or in Vladivostok and definitely not in Kiev. If they don't like Малороссія (Little Russia) then let them be called Корінна Русь (Indigenous Rus). I agree with Kuraev http://diak-kuraev.livejournal.com/638851.html on assessment of these events. I have the same questions/problems: Is Rus now loosing Kiev? How does Russia prevents NATO missiles appearing in Chernigov? How does Rus protects its compatriots in Donetsk/Odessa or in Poltava or even in Lvov? Is it really the end of Rus? Who is Mr. Putin, is he not a hidden Western agent? I was very disappointed with this referendum rush and hoping till the end that there will be postponement and negotiations in line with what Patrick suggested. Did not happen. Seems like politicians are trapped in course of unfolding events. Of course I don't have a real feeling of events in Russia, don't even live in Russia (live in Texas) and definitely very far from political circles. But Kuraev noted that Patriarch Kirill did not attend Putin's speech parliament session, ROC sent Metropolitan Juvenaly to such seminal event. So apparently my feelings on these events are shared.
gbordakov, Mar 21, 2014
Perhaps there is a feeling that the longer this drags on the worse the problems with sanctions will become. The USA and EU will have to escalate sanctions to avoid losing face. These sanctions now are meant to avoid annexation. Once the issue is settled there will be less pressure form immediate sanctions and maybe the focus will return to Ukraine and the horde of journalists will return to Kiev.
Bordakov, I think you are right when you say politicians are trapped. There is no way the EU and USA can avoid imposing sanctions. There is no way for Putin to go back now and return Crimea to Ukraine. So all they can to is try to make this as quick and painless as possible.
Personally I have to support the right of the Crimeans to decide. Would they haver had a chance to decide by themselves without this military action? I don't think so.
Was is a fair referendum? Probably not, but I accept the final result as valid anyway. If all legal niceties were respected my country would not be independent today. Most nations got their independence by the force of arms.
I also notice that those who object on several legal grounds are not proposing any alternative that would let the Crimeans exercise their right to self-determination.
gbordakov said: ↑
Who is Mr. Putin, is he not a hidden Western agent?
Putin has undoubtedly always acted in accordance to his country's interests, and he is one of the very few truly sovereigns left in the world. What I fear may happen, perhaps, is hubris: Russia has advanced so much in all aspects in the last 15 years, that the greatest danger is that Putin and his government feel emboldened. The hurried Crimea annexation may be one such act of hubris.
I wonder what is written in Japanese above. Can it be Tymoshenko's threats against Russians?
VICE NEWS: Ukraine Coverage
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLw613M86o5o7DfgzuUCd_PVwbOCDO472B
john smith, May 2, 2014
Ukraine is blocking access to fresh water in Crimea by building a dam in the North Crimean canal:
http://www.c-inform.info/news/id/5084
Carlo, May 7, 2014
"The fascist monkeys shall not pass" -another roadblock near Sevastopol:


5-fluorouracil (5-FU) is a pyrimidine analog that has been successfully employed in anticancer therapy for over forty years. Over the past several decades, researchers have characterized its cellular and clinical pharmacology and uncovered multiple mechanisms of action, which include the inhibition of thymidylate synthase (TS) and incorporation of its metabolites into DNA and RNA. The purpose of this quantitative systemic review was to summarize and evaluate what is known of these mechanisms to determine which are of most significance in the anticancer effects of 5-FU in metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) patients. A literature search of peer-reviewed articles dating back to the discovery of 5-FU did not find evidence to conclusively satisfy this inquiry, mainly due to a lack of relevant research in human models and uncertainty regarding the impact of DNA and RNA repair processes in tumor cells following drug administration. Overall, the literature did not support the current assumption that DNA-based mechanisms are definitively most responsible for the efficacy of 5-FU, and underscores the importance of better understanding how 5-FU promotes cell death and how tumors develop resistance to it. Future research could be directed toward further elucidating the mechanistic details of 5-FU treatment in humans, as well as discovering clinically useful biomarkers to better optimize and personalize metastatic colorectal cancer therapies.
Smits, Nathan, "The Future of 5-Fluorouracil Treatment of Colorectal Cancer: Translating a Better Understanding into Improved Patient Care" (2018). Theses and Graduate Projects. 379.


The Harrisburg International Airport on Terminal Dr and Airport Dr is located near the State Route 3032 and the Harrisburg Pike. There are many great hotels near the airport that are just three miles away like the Best Western Plus Harrisburg Airport Inn and Suites and the Wingate by Wyndham- Harrisburg, both on Eisenhower Blvd. Other hotels that are four miles away are La Quinta Inn Harrisburg Airport- Hershey and the Red Roof Inn- Harrisburg South both on Eisenhower Blvd, and the Seraton Harrisburg-Hershey on Lindle Rd. Some of the hotels offer a convenient shuttle service to and from the Harrisburg International Airport.


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Allen Stone / Lee Fields & the Expressions Nathan Phillips Square, Toronto ON, June 26
Photo: Shane Parent
By Kerry Doole
This Toronto Jazz Festival show featured the intriguing pairing of soul veteran Lee Fields and comparative newcomer Allen Stone. Though termed a double bill, Fields and his band the Expressions opened and played a significantly shorter set than Stone.
In fact, after the obligatory two-song warm-up from his band, Fields was onstage for just 40 minutes, but he used his time well. He is a genuinely old school soul and funk singer, one who has been honest about the stylistic debt he owes James Brown (his nickname is Little JB).
Like Brown, he's quite the showman. Upon making his entrance in a loud Don Cherry-like sports jacket, he declared, "Let's get it started," and instantly had the crowd clapping along to opening cut "Just Can't Win." They joined him in the call and response of "Talk To Somebody," but some of the crowd participation bits eventually got a mite tiresome.
He still has a strong and soulful voice, one equally at home on ballads like "Don't Leave Me This Way," from his latest album Emma Jean, and more uptempo funk-tinged numbers. After removing his jacket on the hot and sultry night, Fields became more physically active, nailing some JB style circle spins. He's certainly expressive, but his six-piece band were rarely more than functional, lacking a truly funky groove that would have taken things higher.
Fields saved the best for last though, serving up a killer version of one of his best-known tunes, "Faithful Man," one that merited the standing ovation it received.
While he's also described as a soul singer, Allen Stone's sound has quite a different vibe from Fields. It's more along the lines of '70s and '80s blue-eyed pop-soul, with some tunes hinting at mid-period Robert Palmer. There was a nod to Prince in a 1999 organ riff at one point, and Stone's occasional falsetto also evokes the late great one.
Stone certainly doesn't look the part, with his ripped jeans, trucker hat and long hair making him appear more like a grunge fan (he is from Washington State) than a soul man. He knows how to work a crowd though, and the audience here were quick to follow his onstage instructions to clap along and make various hand gestures. His beaming smile and infectious charm did go a long way in covering up the at-times banal melodies and lyrics ("love is like freezer burn") of the material.
He accompanied his four-piece band on guitar for much of the set, though put it down for some of his material, as on the strong "American Privilege." Another highlight was "Unaware," perhaps his biggest song to date, and a real crowd favourite. It was punctuated by the sound of torrential rain outside, prompting Stone to launch into a free-wheeling bout of testifying: "This life is crazy… there is crazy rain out there. Thanks for the people who put up this tent to keep us dry. I'm thankful for my ears… my crazy body is full of atoms.."
As the set progressed, songs such as "Your Eyes" turned into lengthier jams, though the tedious drum solo was not a smart move. The audience lapped it up though, and their response to his show suggests Stone is a real contender.
TORONTO JAZZ
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Lee Fields "100 Yard Dash" (Raphael Saadiq cover)
R&B revivalist Raphael Saadiq hasn't put out an album in four years, but we're getting a bit of new music, in a sense, via a cover of the gu...


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Short Circuit: A Roundup of Recent Federal Court Decisions
Confederate monuments, bird handling, and tied houses.
John Ross | 1.10.2020 3:30 PM
Please enjoy the latest edition of Short Circuit, a weekly feature from the Institute for Justice.
State restrictions on selling homemade food items often serve no public health and safety interest and prevent people—disproportionately women from poor and rural areas—from earning an honest living. Read more about North Dakota's recent crackdown on food freedom in USA Today from IJ staffers Jennifer McDonald and Daryl James.
In 2014, a commercial flight en route to Beijing disappears over the southern Indian Ocean. All 239 passengers and crew, including three Americans, presumed dead. An investigation yields little insight as to the cause. And, says the D.C. Circuit, the district court did not err in holding that claims against Boeing and Malaysia Airlines should be brought in Malaysian courts.
In 2002, Congress amended the Animal Welfare Act to make clear that it applied to birds not bred for research, thereby requiring the USDA to promulgate regulations on the humane care and handling of such birds. However, to this day the USDA has issued no regulations. A violation of the Administrative Procedure Act? The case should not have been dismissed, says the D.C. Circuit.
After 30 years in prison for burglary and rape, North Carolina man discovers that prosecutors at his 1976 trial withheld (among other evidence) forensic results that did not link him to the crimes and a sample of the rapist's semen. Fourth Circuit: The state courts reasonably determined that none of the withheld evidence would have had an impact on the man's trial, so his convictions stand. Dissent: That is emphatically wrong. "[T]here is zero doubt in my mind that the cumulative effect of the suppressed evidence in this case" might well have had an impact on the trial.
Fourth Circuit: Virginia environmental officials must reconsider their decision to grant a permit to a pipeline company to build a compressor station (which would burn gas 24/7/365 days a year) in a historic community established by freed slaves after the Civil War. (Per Georgetown's Civil Rights Clinic, it's one of the few remaining Freedmen communities in the country.) Officials failed to properly consider how emissions from the station would impact the community.
After the University of Texas and San Antonio officials decide to remove Confederate monuments, the Sons of Confederate Veterans sue to keep the monuments in place. The claim? Removing the monuments violates our First Amendment rights because we like what the monuments stand for. Fifth Circuit: No standing. The First Amendment lets you sue to prevent suppression of your own speech, not any speech you happen to agree with.
Allegation: El Paso, Tex. woman is arrested on an outstanding warrant less than three days after undergoing leg surgery and while still confined to a wheelchair. Despite her physical therapist's conclusion that she is not a candidate for crutches, jail officials take her wheelchair, require her to use crutches, and force her to carry her own food while using crutches, leading to a fall that aggravates her injuries and requires another surgery. Fifth Circuit: And that may well violate the Americans with Disabilities Act, though it's not egregious enough to violate the Eighth Amendment.
For unknown reasons, unknown individuals jump out of a car and shoot at a Saginaw, Mich. restaurant. Can city officials shut down the restaurant because it was the target of a crime by unknown third parties? Two-thirds of this Sixth Circuit panel thinks maybe not.
Saginaw County, Mich. ordinance forbids all but one ambulance company from operating. "That's unconstitutional!" says a second company, which starts providing services. Rather than enforce the ordinance, county officials wait six years to file a federal lawsuit asking the courts to declare that the monopoly isn't unconstitutional after all. Which, says the Sixth Circuit ever so gently, is not a thing the government can do.
In a bizarre bid to defeat a client's child porn prosecution, expert witness creates more child porn. (He manipulates photos of minors to show them having sex.) Sixth Circuit: This plan was malicious as a matter of law. So bankruptcy does not eliminate the minors' $300k judgment against the expert.
Distasteful though it may be, holds the Sixth Circuit, a high school football coach does not violate Title IX by calling a player a "pussy." (Although, suggests the dissent, he may commit intentional infliction of emotion distress.)
Tennessee state representative sexually harasses at least 22 women, is expelled from the legislature. His lifetime health benefits are terminated. Can he sue the officials who decided to terminate his benefits? His suit is not barred by sovereign immunity, says the Sixth Circuit.
Man spends three decades in prison for a double murder he did not commit after Peoria, Ill. police (allegedly) fabricated evidence and forced his confession when he was just 14 years old. He's paroled in 2006, his sentence is commuted in 2011, and he's pardoned in 2015. He sues the city within two years of the pardon. City: Too late! You should've sued once you were paroled. Seventh Circuit (en banc, over a dissent): Heck no. Central to his claims is that his conviction was invalid, so his conviction had to be invalidated before he could sue over them. And that didn't happen until he was pardoned, so his case is timely.
Missouri, like many states, has a "three-tier system" of alcohol regulation that prohibits alcohol producers and distributors from having any financial interest in an alcohol retailer. Missouri officials interpret the law to prohibit alcohol producers and distributors from retail advertising. A First Amendment violation? Officials: No way! The statute doesn't say anything about speech; it merely bans advertising. Eighth Circuit: … Oh, that's it? We thought you were gonna keep going. No, that's definitely unconstitutional.
Allegation: After meeting with his lawyer, Florida inmate is escorted back to his cell by a prison guard. The guard orders him to sit. Then stand. Then sit. Then stand. When the inmate asks what's up, the guard pepper sprays him, slams him on the ground, pulls down his pants, and forces a finger up his anus. District Court: I don't believe you. Summary judgment for the defendant. Eleventh Circuit: That's the jury's call, not yours. Also, we repudiate an earlier decision that suggested that maybe a little bit of sexual assault in prison is okay.
Then-U.S. congresswoman raises $800k for her charity, disburses only $1.2k for charitable purposes, spending the vast majority on personal expenses. At trial, the district court dismisses a juror who indicated during deliberations that he'd had a divine revelation that the congresswoman was not guilty on all counts. She's convicted. Eleventh Circuit (over a dissent): The judge did not err by dismissing the juror. Dissent: The majority misunderstands "the vernacular of a substantial segment of our citizenry," and its decision will permit eligible jurors who believe God speaks to them to be stricken from jury pools.
And in en banc news: Texas high court denies review of rape conviction, 50-year sentence but inexplicably fails to tell petitioner for eight months, causing him to miss deadline to seek review in federal court. He files his habeas petition eight days after learning of the denial. District court: Tough. You should've pursued your rights more diligently. Fifth Circuit: No, the court error gave rise to more time to pursue his deadline. And there'll be no en banc rehearing, despite the protestations of Judge Smith who finds the state's refusal to seek rehearing "astonishing" and the panel decision full of "obvious flaw[s]" (such as referring to the state as "the government," a term "uniformly reserved" for the feds).
And in task force news: A Third Circuit task force studying the problem of mistaken eyewitnesses and wrongful convictions has issued a report recommending a commendable series of best practices for lineups, interviews, and more. (H/t to the inestimable CA3blog.)
Under the borough's rental inspection ordinance, Pottstown, Penn. officials claim the authority to enter homes to inspect them for housing code violations without individualized probable cause and without consent from tenants or landlords. Which does not sit well with Dottie Rivera, who does not want officials poking through her perfectly well-maintained home, which she rents. So in 2017, Dottie, her husband, and their landlord joined forces with IJ to challenge the ordinance under the state constitution, which provides stronger protections against suspicionless searches and seizures than the U.S. Constitution. And this week, a state appeals court ruled, among other things, that residents need not submit to an inspection before they can challenge the ordinance. Click here to learn more.
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NEXT: Brazilian Judge Blocks Gay Jesus Movie, Supreme Court Reverses
John Ross is a researcher and editor of Short Circuit for the Institute for Justice, and a former Reason intern.
Her Husband Died After Police Hogtied Him for 90 Minutes. Could She Ever Hold Them Accountable?
Billy Binion | 1.14.2022 5:11 PM
Zoning Officials Stop Church From Opening 40-Bed Shelter in Sub-Zero Temperatures
Christian Britschgi | 1.14.2022 4:45 PM


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Sen. John McCain's funeral put Washington's vicious political hypocrisy fully on display
The same politicians and outlets mourning Sen. John McCain's death previously lambasted him. Both Bush and Obama supporters attacked him viciously.
Sen. John McCain's funeral put Washington's vicious political hypocrisy fully on display The same politicians and outlets mourning Sen. John McCain's death previously lambasted him. Both Bush and Obama supporters attacked him viciously. Check out this story on USATODAY.com: https://usat.ly/2LVFTPt
Glenn Harlan Reynolds, Opinion columnist Published 7:00 a.m. ET Sept. 4, 2018 | Updated 4:13 p.m. ET Sept. 4, 2018
Mourners came to the U.S. Naval Academy gates to pay their respects to John McCain as his funeral motorcade passed by. USA TODAY
The same politicians and outlets mourning Sen. John McCain's death previously lambasted him. Bush and Obama supporters both attacked him viciously.
Barack Obama and George W. Bush at a memorial service for Sen. John McCain on Sept. 1, 2018, in the Washington National Cathedral.(Photo: Shawn Thew/epa-EFE)
Hypocrisy, they say, is the tribute that vice pays to virtue. If so, then much tribute was paid this weekend.
I am speaking, of course, of the funeral for Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and the concomitant speechifying by politicians and pundits. And I wasn't the only one to notice. As Tim Alberta wrote in Politico: "There are, after all, disparate realities — one inside the holy halls of the National Cathedral, where powerful people mourn the death of civility; and another in the surrounding city, where many of those same powerful people drive nails ever deeper into its coffin. And there is a greater juxtaposition still — this one between the virtue-signaling, convention-worshipping insiders of Washington and the mad-as-hell, burn-it-down voters in the provinces. This might not be Donald Trump's town, but it's still his country."
McCain's funeral puts hypocrisy on display
Well said. Though some operatives tried to walk it back the next day, the McCain funeral was, despite his absence, all about our current president. As someone said on Twitter, they came not to praise McCain, but to bury Trump. And yet, despite solemn encomia to civility, honor, and integrity from the likes of Barack Obama and Henry Kissinger, amplified by the press's Greek chorus, the notion that we used to live in some golden age of civility and bipartisanship exemplified by the career of Sen. McCain is belied by, among other things, the career of John McCain.
Now that he's dead, McCain is a Good Republican. But when he was alive, and a threat to other people's power, he was treated as a racist, a warmonger, and potentially unstable. He was vilified by the press, and by some of the very politicians who were speaking on his behalf. In the South Carolina primary, George W. Bush's 2000 campaign, for example, used push polling to circulate the (false) rumor that McCain had fathered an illegitimate black child. Bush operatives also, according to a lengthy article in Vanity Fair, spread rumors that Cindy McCain was addicted to painkillers, and that John McCain visited prostitutes and was mentally unstable as a result of his time in a prisoner of war camp. Bush won the primary, and the nomination, and was on hand Saturday to praise McCain's integrity at his funeral.
More: Remembering John McCain: He embodied virtues like humaneness. Donald Trump ... doesn't.
McCain's last lesson in love of country: Eulogies from Bush and Obama, who dashed his dreams
Who will challenge and check the military now that Sen. John McCain is gone?
In 2008, with McCain running for president again, the New York Times ran an unsubstantiated claim that McCain was having an affair with a female lobbyist, only to add a "note to readers" a year later (after the election was over, and Barack Obama was sworn in) disavowing the story: "An article published on February 21, 2008, about Senator John McCain and his record as an ethics reformer who was at times blind to potential conflicts of interest included references to Vicki Iseman, a Washington lobbyist. The article did not state, and The Times did not intend to conclude, that Ms. Iseman had engaged in a romantic affair with Senator McCain or an unethical relationship on behalf of her clients in breach of the public trust."
One need only read the article above the "note to readers" to realize how absurd that claim is.
What happened to comparing McCain to Hitler?
The Atlantic ran a pre-election cover story on McCain, but the cover photo was taken by celebrity photographer Jill Greenberg. It made McCain look like Emperor Palpatine's older, less-attractive brother. This was not by accident, but by design. On her blog, Greenberg actually bragged about her dirty trick of getting him to stand above a strobe placed on the floor to make him look old and scary.
Obama surrogate Congressman John Lewis (D-Georgia) invoked Alabama racist George Wallace in talking about McCain and his running mate Sarah Palin. Jonathan Martin noted in Politico that McCain was being called racist without basis, simply because it was helpful to the Democrats. The Nation weighed in on McCain's wartime use of the term "gook" as evidence of his racism.
Then-famous music star Madonna opened her concert tour by calling McCain Hitler and encouraging people to vote for Obama. And the popular Democratic blog DailyKos, not to be outdone, published a comparison of McCain to both Hitler and Stalin.
And, of course, the treatment was repeated with a different target in 2012, when Mitt Romney was given the same Hitler treatment. It's as if every Republican who is in power, or who might be, is Hitler — but only as a temporary condition. (I'm old enough to remember when George W. Bush was Hitler). As soon as a new Republican target appears, the old Hitler gets rehabilitated, and even employed, by way of comparison, as a way to criticize the new one.
What's all this about? It's certainly not about civility, or decency, or bipartisanship. As David French wrote: "The contrast between the outpouring of love for McCain in his last days and the astonishing vitriol directed at him in 2000 and 2008 demonstrates once again how disingenuous, low, and cheap American politics were well before Trump came on the scene."
And at this point, I suspect the voters are onto the game.
Glenn Harlan Reynolds, a University of Tennessee law professor and the author of "The New School: How the Information Age Will Save American Education from Itself," is a member of USA TODAY's Board of Contributors. Follow him on Twitter: @instapundit.
You can read diverse opinions from our Board of Contributors and other writers on the Opinion front page, on Twitter @usatodayopinion and in our daily Opinion newsletter. To respond to a column, submit a comment to letters@usatoday.com.
Read or Share this story: https://usat.ly/2LVFTPt


Probably no other critic - not even the late William Mann of the Times, with his famous mention of pandiatonic clusters - contributed more to an enlightened enjoyment of the work of the Beatles than Ian MacDonald, who has died aged 54. In his book Revolution In The Head, first published in 1994, MacDonald carefully anatomised every record the Beatles made, drawing attention to broad themes, particular examples of inspiration and moments of human frailty alike.
What could have been a dry task instead produced a volume so engagingly readable, so fresh in its perceptions and so enjoyable to argue with that, in an already overcrowded field, it became an immediate hit. Without a hint of sycophancy, MacDonald had managed to describe the magic created by John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr in such a way as to reacquaint those who were around at the time with their own original enthusiasm, while alerting listeners of later generations to the precise qualities that had made the Beatles so exceptional. Its introduction alone provides something close to a definitive evocation of the factors that turned the 1960s into "the sixties".
It came out of the blue, in the sense that MacDonald had been virtually silent on the subject of popular music for several years before its publication. But its clarity and conviction were wholly characteristic of his critical approach, which had been formed in the mid-1970s while he was a member of the collection of talented writers and editors whose weekly outpourings made the New Musical Express the most compelling music paper of its era.
Four years before the appearance of Revolution In The Head he had attracted similar levels of acclaim from a very different quarter when he published The New Shostakovich, a biographical re-evaluation in which he attacked the KGB's attempts to discredit the composer's own memoirs. MacDonald's scrupulous analysis was illuminated as much by his own deep study of the Soviet system as by his ability to immerse himself totally in whatever music he was thinking about at the time.
Born in London, with the surname MacCormick, he attended Dulwich College, where, at the beginning of the 1960s, he fell under the spell of the kinds of music - the blues, folk music and jazz - that became the dominant influence on those musicians of his own generation who were to create the decade's soundtrack.
At King's College, Cambridge, where he switched from English literature to archaeology and anthropology, he fell among kindred spirits. There may never be a better concise description of that evidently charmed time and place than MacDonald's wry paragraph, with its gathering rhythm and subtle alliteration: "During the academic year of 1968-69, Cambridge University felt an alien influence from beyond its sober curtain walls. Solemn flagstones frowned up at kaftans, wooden beads and waist-length hair. Staid courtyards winced to the sounds of Beggars Banquet, The White Album, Big Pink and Dr John The Night Tripper drifting through leaded windows. The stately air was fragrant with marijuana and no one seemed to be doing a stroke of work."
Despite the obvious attractions of such a world, he dropped out at the end of his first year and for a time involved himself in producing lyrics for Quiet Sun, an experimental rock band which included his brother, Bill MacCormick, and the future guitarist of Roxy Music, Phil Manzanera. In 1972 he joined the staff of the NME, where he remained for several years as an assistant editor. While not as widely celebrated as Nick Kent, Charles Shaar Murray, Mick Farren, Tony Parsons or Julie Burchill, MacDonald was nevertheless one of the most significant figures in the NME's revival under the editorship of Nick Logan.
His own editing skills were a vital element of the formula. This was a time when an NME headline could enter the lexicon, and "Sten Guns in Knightsbridge", attached to a famous early piece on the Clash, was his. So, in a different register, was the decision to hire the brilliant stylist Brian Case to write about jazz.
MacDonald's own byline was a guarantee of a thoughtful, usually provocative piece; his interests ranged from Laura Nyro and Neil Young through Miles Davis and Steely Dan to Terry Riley and John Tavener. By the time he left the paper, its circulation had more than doubled, overtaking its chief rival, the Melody Maker, on the way to selling 220,000 copies a week.
As he lamented in his later writings, in those days music and the values it represented mattered to audience and commentators alike in a way that might seem preposterous to a generation raised amid a marketing-led culture. He and I once met for lunch in a Holland Park bistro for the sole purpose of continuing an argument, begun in print, over the authenticity of Barry White's music.
By 1975 the success of Roxy Music had enabled Phil Manzanera to undertake solo projects, including an occasional band known as the 801. He and MacDonald resumed their collaboration, the latter contributing Orwellian lyrics to a fine album titled Listen. Twenty-five years later, Brian Eno, another member of the original Roxy Music, would help MacDonald produce a solo album of his own songs, Sub Rosa, released on Manzanera's label.
Revolution In The Head was the product of a lengthy period spent living away from London, and its success encouraged him to write for a new generation of music magazines. His exacting, trenchant and sometimes very funny essays appeared first in Mojo and then in Uncut; a collection of them was published earlier this year under the title The People's Music.
The climax of the anthol ogy is a lengthy meditation on the life and work of Nick Drake, the precociously gifted singer-songwriter whom MacDonald had encountered at Cambridge and who committed suicide in 1974, when still in his mid-twenties. Written with an intensity that at times overwhelms its ostensible subject, it can now be seen to have provided clues to MacDonald's own lengthy struggle with profound depression. "Can it be," he asks, apropos of Drake's preoccupation with spiritual transcendence, "that the materialist worldview, in which there is no intrinsic meaning, is slowly murdering our souls?" The decision to commit suicide, at his home in Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucestershire, indicates that he had drawn his own conclusion.


Takeaway: Very cool narrative style. Also, if a horse falls ill after drinking from a stream, stay away from the local water supply.
Takeaway: Well-documented but horrific chapter from Chinese history.
Takeaway: Keep your girl away from your handsome and charismatic brother.
Takeaway: I had no idea so much work went into harvesting pecans.
Takeaway: Definitely reconsidering the wisdom of my high school crushes and the importance of cookie cutters.
Takeaway: Revenge killing is never easy, even when the writing is beautiful.
Takeaway: It's always good to be reminded about who's driving the car of your life.
Takeaway: Good friends are hard to find.
Takeaway: Repeated heart-wrenching breakups were never so funny.
Takeaway: With dreams like these, you should defnitiely sleep more..
Takeaway: There are only two ways a story like this can go. Either he is the long lost son or he isn't. It's always fun to find out.
Takeaway: A lot can change in five years while you're cryogenically frozen waiting for a new body.
Takeaway: The choice between the cute always-reliable next door neighbor or mysterious new boy who's trying to kill you in multiple dimensions made me rethink physics.
Takeaway: Beware of classic novels that you steal from a missing teacher if the text is morphing into a different story.
Takeaway: Maybe don't buy in hundred percent to what a narrator is telling you when the title is screaming at you to proceed with caution.
Takeaway: If a guy shows up on your doorstep with a french fry bouquet, say yes.
Takeaway: There's something to be said for arranged marriages–at least when your betrothed is half horse.
Takeaway:If someone asks you to do a social experiment where you get to stare into a cute boy's eyes for 180 seconds, maybe go ahead and do that.
Takeaway: When an attractive stranger offers to share his carrot cake with you in a café, carefully consider whether the cream cheese frosting is worth the risk.
Takeaway: If at all possible, try to fall in love with only one of the brothers of your close family friends.
Takeaway: When you meet a boy in a toilet at a party who immediately makes you laugh and feel comfortable, try to get his number. At the very least, don't leave the bathroom without knowing his name.
Takeaway: If all the cheerleaders in your town die in a period of a few weeks (or any club or after school group for that matter), it's probably not a coincidence.