Required Disclosure: My name is Donald Braden. I am the founder of The Full Slate Project and Full Slate Consulting. I am presently under contract with Friends of Kimberly Anne Tucker, candidate for Virginia Beach District 81.
Important campaigns this fall and Democratic women are leading the way!
Virginia is the epicenter of the political fight this year. It's proximity to DC means it is a hotbed of activism from all sides. The witnessed first-hand most of the flood of people that poured into the capital for the Women's March on Washington.
Well, women in Virginia have kept the march going right into the fall campaign for the Virginia House of Delegates campaign. What is happening is truly inspiring to see.
Fifty-five of the sixty-six Republican-held seats are being contested by Democrats. Thirty Women make up more than half of these challenges to Republican incumbents.
See below the fold to learn about these candidates. Click the District number for links to district profiles, click on their name to connect with some element of the candidate's web presence. Most of all, learn about and support these women leading the way in Virginia. We all need to follow their example.
-Southwest Virginia means everything to me. I value the love and respect we have for each other, and the hard work we do to support our families. I like the fact that we Southwest Virginians are proud, but also not afraid to let our soft side show.
Here in the mountains—our home—we have our own unique art and culture, inspired by animals, wildflowers, beautiful sunny days, and rolling thunderstorms we can hear for miles. There's a beauty to this life that can stand out because of some good old-fashioned peace and quiet.
Currently, I am a public defender. I represent some of the Commonwealth's most vulnerable citizens including adolescents, the indigent and the mentally ill. I am also an adjunct professor at Northern Virginia Community College.
I was born and raised in Petersburg, Virginia. While at Petersburg High School, I earned a full scholarship to Virginia Military Institute and enrolled in the third class of female cadets to attend the historically all-male college. One of the reasons I decided to attend VMI was because I believe that women should be afforded the same educational opportunities as men.
Flo Ketner is the Democratic candidate for the 7th District of the Virginia House of Delegates. A stay-at-home mother of three children, Flo felt compelled to become civically engaged after last year's elections by joining the New River Valley, Virginia chapter of the Indivisible Project and participating in the Women's March in Washington. After discovering that the current incumbent was going to be running for reelection unopposed, Flo decided to throw her hat into the ring and provide a voice for the disenchanted voters of the district.
Stephanie is a community activist and a public school teacher. After graduating from Franklin County High School she moved to Florida to attend college. But her love for Virginia and the area brought her back home in 2012. Stephanie has has faced massive student loan debt, worked 60+ hour work weeks in a local factory, married and transitioned to teaching while raising three children. She knows firsthand the plight of Virginia's working families and has remained dedicated to helping others through her volunteer work with local churches and nursing homes.
Like millions of other Americans in 2017, Wendy decided that she had to get off the sidelines. She co-founded an Indivisible chapter in the predominantly red Clarke County, and grew the organization to over 300 members. Now, she's running for the Virginia House of Delegates to take her wide-ranging experiences and two decades in the district to advocate for us in Richmond.
She believes that our government should give everyone a fair shot. Virginia should be a place with job opportunities, safe roads, clean air, and equal opportunity. Wendy has the experience, perspective, and heart to represent District 10 in the Virginia House of Delegates.
After a while, mine did too. In fact, I ended up majoring in journalism and spent the last 10.5 years reporting the news, including nine years in Prince William County, my lifelong home area as a resident of Manassas.
Djuna Osborne is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with her BA in English and an MSW from the University of South Carolina. She has an 11 year career in community mental health treating impoverished individuals with chronic medical and mental health issues, substance abuse, and acute crisis in hospitals, jails and clinics. She currently has a private practice in Roanoke County serving a variety of clients throughout the Roanoke Valley. Her profession has taught her the importance of affordable, accessible health care and the consequences of not having adequate funding for mental health services or our schools. Djuna chose social work as her career path because her goal in life is to provide a voice for the voiceless.
Running to represent Virginia 20th House District including the Cities of Staunton and Waynesboro and Augusta, Highland, and Nelson Counties.
Kelly Fowler is a Virginia Beach local running for the Virginia House of Delegates in the 21st District. Kelly and her husband Dave were raised in the 21st District in military families and are now raising their two daugthers here as well. Kelly is a former Virginia Beach public school teacher who now leads a team of real estate agents who specialize in military relocation. Dave is a deputy with the Virginia Beach Sheriff's Department.
My husband and I moved our family to Lynchburg almost 4 years ago and fell in love with this area and how beautiful it is here. We are thrilled to be raising our two children in a place where everyone we met was so warm and welcoming. In our time here I have really been able to learn a lot about our community and what some of the needs are.
Through my work registering voters with a non-partisan non-profit last year, I consistently found that many people's voices were not being heard and needs were not being represented in Richmond.
This is a decisive moment in our Commonwealth. We need assertive leadership with the courage to stand up to entrenched interests in Richmond and do what is right for Virginia.
I'm running for the General Assembly because I believe I can provide that leadership. As our government today gerrymanders the state to ensure their own power, and education and health care are at risk for our most vulnerable, we need representatives in government who understand our needs and will fight for the interests of the community.
Elizabeth came to the United States from Peru as a single mom, looking for a better future for her oldest daughter. She remembers those early years; working three jobs in order to afford a one-bedroom apartment for her and her daughter. Despite graduating with honors from high school in Peru, Elizabeth's parents could not afford to send her to college. With her love of learning Elizabeth persevered, and enrolled at Northern Virginia Community College, obtaining her degree in Office Administration and Management. Elizabeth also holds a Bachelor's in Public Safety from Capella University, a Master's in Public Administration from American University, and a Master's in Social Work from the University of Southern California.
Tia Walbridge is a farmer and small businesswoman, a mom to two fantastic daughters, Evey and Mirabel, and a wife to Nate, a disabled veteran who now serves his country at the Department of Defense.
Kathy Tran and her parents fled Vietnam as boat refugees when she was just seven months old. Although many other countries offered them asylum, they waited 13 months for the United States to accept their application. For Kathy's family, this country has always represented hope, opportunity and freedom. Now, she's running for the House of Delegates because she couldn't just stand by while Donald Trump and Virginia Republicans dismantle the ideals that brought her family here.
Kathy has devoted her career to ensuring that all Americans have the opportunity to achieve the American Dream.
As the Delegate for the 55th District I will be responsive to all of my constituents, not just the ones that share my party affiliation.
I will seek out information and opinions from the residents of the 55th District to make decisions that are informed from all sides of an issue. We need legislators that listen to the people affected by their legislation.
I will work to move us away from the "us vs. them" mentality that has brought government to a standstill. We need a General Assembly that can work together in order to best serve the people of Virginia.
My decision to run for the House of Delegates was a natural extension of the volunteering and activism which has been a constant thread throughout my life. My husband, James and I met while volunteer tutoring adult literacy students at The READ Center. Once our children were born, I was able to engage in our community by becoming the President of the Rainbow Station Parent Board. After attending a community meeting this fall at the University of Richmond, I felt called to work with current students as they proposed policy changes around the handling of campus sexual assault.
Sheila Bynum-Coleman is a native of Chesterfield County, where she graduated from Monacan High School where she was a member of the track and basketball teams. Sheila attended Virginia Commonwealth University, where she received her B.A. from the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs, with a major in Political Science and a minor in International Studies.
Sheila Bynum-Coleman is a wife and mother of five. Her children attend Chesterfield County Public Schools, with her oldest child received her B.A. from Virginia Wesleyan College and will be attending Eastern Virginia Medical School in the fall.
I am a retired U.S. Air Force Officer and a Gulf War Veteran. I now run a law firm in Suffolk, Virginia. I am a proven leader with the knowledge, experience, and guts to represent our district in Richmond.
I'm running for office because I believe that the General Assembly should serve the farmers, wage earners, small business owners, and families of Virginia. We don't want big government handouts, but we want the fruits of our hard work and sacrifice to be enough to afford basic necessities such as health care, safe homes, effective schools, and a chance to succeed.
Katie Sponsler was born in 1980 in the rustbelt town of Warren, Ohio, the fifth of seven children. Her father, David, was an assembly line worker at Lordstown's General Motors plant and a member of the United Automobile Workers. Her mother, Mary Beth, was the secretary at St. Vincent De Paul Catholic Church where the family attended daily and Sunday services.
In 2001, Katie joined the United States Air Force. After a year of training, her first post was Spangdahlem Air Base in Germany. Katie and her young daughter, Demetria, spent the next five years in Spangdahlem.
As a leader, she knows the importance of growing Northern Virginia's economy to create more jobs and protecting our tax dollars from being misspent. As a mother, she also knows that giving our kids the best possible education should be a top priority.
The daughter of a U.S. Army veteran, Karrie saw firsthand the importance of supporting our returning heroes. Her dad came home from Korea in the late 1950's to get his GED and a good-paying job in a VA Hospital. We need to make sure that the opportunities for meaningful work that supports a family are there for today's returning veterans, too.
Dr. Dawn Adams has been an advocate for healthy communities for over 30 years. After receiving her Bachelors of Nursing degree from James Madison University, Dawn positioned herself in the center of Virginia's healthcare system as a Critical Care Registered Nurse (RN). As an RN, Dawn saw first-hand how our state's most vulnerable citizens continually fell through the cracks as a result of limited healthcare access and coverage.
As a resident of the 68th District for over two decades, Dr. Dawn Adams understands the concerns and issues that Virginians currently face. Limited access to healthcare, crushing student debt, and job loss have negatively impacted our community for too long. Dawn's comprehensive background in healthcare coupled with her career in public education, makes her not only the best choice for Delegate of the 68thDistrict, but it makes her the right choice.
Debra Rodman is an Associate Professor of Anthropology and Women's Studies and Director of Women's Studies at Randolph-Macon College. She regularly serves as an expert witness for U.S. Federal immigration courts for families seeking political asylum, mostly women and children, and LGBT individuals. Named as one of Richmond Style Weekly's Top 40 Under 40, Dr. Rodman is a former Fulbright Scholar and fluent Spanish speaker.
Debra is a mom to two beautiful boys and the wife to Darryl Lowery, a Richmond native and member of the Lumbee tribe of North Carolina.
Kimberly Anne is a retired educator, a cancer survivor, a military wife and mother, and a grassroots organizer. As a teacher and Assistant Principal, Kimberly had a firsthand look at our public school system, the impact it has on students' lives, and the vital role it plays in our communities. That experience fostered her commitment to protecting and strengthening our public school system.
But it was a journey through our healthcare system that inspired the cornerstone of her campaign for the House of Delegates. Kimberly was successful in a battle against cancer but understood that there might have been a very different outcome if it weren't for the excellent medical coverage she was fortunate enough to have.
Here's a promise upon which the LGBTQ community can actually rely: I, Leigh Anne Bowling, promise to fight for you as a future Virginia Delegate for the 82nd District. Many of you are my clients and my friends. Thank you to all of you who are currently serving and who have already served in the U.S. military. You have made us a stronger and better nation, and we appreciate your service!!
Dr. Veronica Coleman is the Pastor of New Jerusalem Ministries, a community focused ministry that she founded in 2010. New Jerusalem Ministries' work in the community is so widely recognized that in 2015, it received the Model Partnership Award from the Virginia Beach City Public Schools. in recognition of its Mentoring Program and its other outreach efforts conducted on behalf of the students in the city.
A recognized leader in the community, Dr. Coleman is the immediate Past President of the Virginia Beach Interdenominational Ministers Conference and has served in leadership capacities with other civic and religious organizations.
Cheryl grew up in an active military family. After serving in the Army for 23 years, Cheryl's father retired from service and her family resided in Fairfax County, Virginia. For the past 18 years, Cheryl's family has called the Kempsville area of Virginia Beach home. Her two adult daughters – Ellison and Patricia – attended Virginia Beach City Public Schools and are graduates of Kempsville High School.
In 2016, Cheryl was nominated for the prestigious honor of Teacher of the Year by her fellow teachers at Frank W. Cox High School. Cheryl has served her community for many years offering her leadership in a diverse range of organizations.
DeLucia is a Hampton Roads native raised in Yorktown, where she now resides with her wife and two sons. Like many who hear the call, Kelly entered politics resolved to make a difference. She has been cast into leadership and recognized for excellence throughout her life. Competition, with herself and others, has made her into an intense, resilient, future-focused leader with a deep desire to serve her community in the Virginia House of Delegates. Kelly is ready for the challenge.
The LGBT Democrats of Virginia in Richmond Saturday. Kelly, along with Danica Roem, Dawn Adams, Ben Hixon and Rebecca Colzar all were honored by the Democratic Party's LGBT caucus.
Cori Johnson is a middle-class working mother and wife with a history of public service and a willingness to roll up her sleeves.
Her time as a paramedic and firefighter taught her to persist when things get tough and never leave her fellow-man behind.
In her spare time, Cori enjoys singing and playing Johnny Cash tunes on her guitar, gardening, knitting and drawing.
Let's bring back our government of the people, by the people and for the people by electing a delegate who will be as affected by their actions as the rest of us.
I am Sheila Crowley and I am running for the Virginia House of Delegates. I hope you will vote for me on November 7th this year.
I am not a politician. I have never run for office. In fact, I never intended to run for office. But like many people in our community and nation, the results of the 2016 election shocked my conscience. This is a moment in our nation's history when each of us must do everything we can to advance progressive ideas and reject the politics of greed, fear, and division. We must pursue every avenue to express traditional values of caring, community, and the common good.
Support these wonderful candidates. We need to flip the Virginia House of Delegates Blue this fall.
Click here for a complete Index of Republican-held House of Delegates districts in Virginia with links to their Democratic challengers.
I forgot to mention another woman running to flip a red seat. Fairfax County, the county by DC is having a special election for the School board in August. Two of the women running for House of Delegates, Kathy Tran and Karrie Delaney have Fairfax County in their Districts and this is a great way to build support and flip another red seat blue.
"Ms. Keys-Gamarra also has broad experience in the Fairfax community where she serves as a Fairfax County Planning Commissioner and volunteers for such organizations as the NAACP and CASA.
So, let's keep our DC area for sure, but let's make sure not to let this great opportunity to flip a Republican seat at the local level slide by either.


'The Specials' have been announced as support for The Rolling Stones at their Ricoh Stadium June 2nd.
One band well passed their sell by date trading on past glories. The other band is The Rolling Stones.
Did anyone go on Saturday , it was a great concert , specials got the crowd going , Stones just awesome , where does Mick get his energy from ?
So apparently there is a photo of the Stones & the Specials backstage? I've never seen it published anywhere so if anyone has it please share. A nice little moment in time.


Find out which law firms are representing which Real estate and construction clients in Luxembourg using The Legal 500's new comprehensive database of law firm/client relationships. Instantly search over 925,000 relationships, including over 83,000 Fortune 500, 46,000 FTSE350 and 13,000 DAX 30 relationships globally. Access is free for in-house lawyers, and by subscription for law firms. For more information, contact david.burgess@legal500.com.
Allen & Overy Luxembourg handles a range of real estate matters for a wide spectrum of clients, including developers, real estate funds and end-users. Counsel Serge Hoffman has handled numerous real estate projects for Fonds d'Urbanisation et d'Aménagement du Plateau de Kirchberg and is a core member of the team that also includes André Marc.
The 'flexible and supportive' team at KLEYR GRASSO has a strong reputation in the real estate sector across both funds-related corporate matters and "bricks and mortar" mandates, including advice on lease agreements. Real estate investment firm Corestate Capital is a client. Yasmine Poos is regarded as 'an expert on commercial tenant law', and is a key member of the team that also includes the 'reliable and proactive' François Collot. Patrick Chantrain left the firm.
Effectively tapping into specialist industry knowledge, in addition to strengths across banking, funds and corporate, Linklaters LLP's multi-disciplinary real estate team is well hedged across the gamut of work in the sector. Counsel Anton Cox and Patrick Geortay recently advised Fidelity International on the acquisition, from Seshat Capital, of all the shares in Seshat airport (which owns the Atoz "Aerogold Center" 13,400 square meter building). Hermann Beythan handles structuring work for real estate funds as part of his broad-ranging investment fund practice; he recently advised CBRE on the establishment of a new closed-end value added real estate investment vehicle, investing in European markets.
DSM Avocats A La Cour advises a wide range of stakeholders, including funds, banks, developers and contractors, on corporate real estate, zoning and planning, and real estate acquisition projects. Mario Di Stefano is well-versed in local real estate development matters and heads the two-partner team that also includes the 'responsive and knowledgeable' Renaud Le Squeren , who regularly employs sophisticated financing structures to facilitate transactions in the sector.
Utilising the expertise of lawyers within the firm's tax, funds, litigation and banking teams, in particular, Loyens & Loeff's multi-disciplinary team handles broad-ranging contentious and non-contentious work in the real estate space for public authorities, investors and multinational corporates. 'Client-oriented' team head Véronique Hoffeld's diverse workload has recently included reviewing and updating lease agreements on behalf of a major multinational corporate with offices in Luxembourg, and representing an international bank on the sale of an office building in the center of the country's financial district.
Benefiting from 'deep knowledge of the Luxembourg real estate industry and legal framework', Thewes & Reuter is particularly accomplished in relation to litigation arising in the sector, as well as on any public law related matters, including planning and building permits. Marc Thewes is an 'excellent business partner for any issue in relation to real estate'.


Gill Garden News How to Keep Your Christmas Tree Fresh and Beautiful!
It's a wonderful crazy time each year as we ready for the arrival of Christmas trees. This year they are extra pretty and fresh! We look forward to helping you find your perfect tree!
Our Noble Firs come from the state of Washington. They were discovered by Scottish Botanical Explorer, David Douglas, and are the tallest of the true firs. They have dark green upturned needles, exposing the lower branches. The tree is outstanding in its beauty, has a long cut life and its stiff branch holds heavy ornaments well.
Our Fraser Firs come from North Carolina. They are a native southern fir and naturally grow at elevations above 5,000 ft. The tree has excellent needle retention along with a wonderful scent. The 2-toned green and silver color and branches full to the trunk are excellent for lights and ornaments. Fraser Fir was named for Scot botanist John Fraser, who explored the Southern Appalachians in the late 1700's.
1. Keep water in your tree reservoir at all times.
When we deliver your tree, or if you pick it up, we'll make a fresh cut. It's a good idea to make a fresh cut on your tree if it's out of water for more than 15 minutes. If you can't put your tree in your home right away, keep it in a cool shady area outside in water. Use a watering elf for easier watering.
Avoid letting your tree dry out by placing your tree away from the heater or AC vents and keep out of direct sunlight. Also, unplug lights when not at home; this reduces dry conditions and protects from fire hazard.
Use our tree preservative to keep your tree as fresh as possible – 1 oz. per gallon of water.
4. Use a Disposal Bag for easy removal.
Place disposal bag between the base of your tree and stand. At the end of the season, just pull the bag up over your tree and haul out – no needle mess!
We buy the Turkish or Nordman trees and their needles stay soft and pliable for weeks. After a fresh cut, we heat bottled water to a fairly high temperature (not boiling) and add 1 & 1/2 tablespoons of Miracle Grow to a gallon of water and use that as the first water for the tree. After that, we continue to use unheated bottled water, adding 1 & 1/2 tablespoons of Miracle Grow to each gallon. The trees REALLY soak up the water. You have to add water daily for the first week or so and they take about 1/3 to 1/2 gal. each time…but the tree stays beautiful and the needles stay pliable, green and don't fall off. We have been doing this for years and are sold on it. The initial hot water and Miracle Grow would probably work on any tree.


Alissa Hamilton interviewed on CBC.
Maybe we should just stay away from anything and anyone named O.J.
Alissa Hamilton, interviewed here on CBC, recently published a book called "Squeezed: What You Don't Know About Orange Juice," and it looks like a juicy read; it could do for the orange juice industry what Eric Schlosser did for the meat industry with Fast Food Nation, which is: gross you out by exposing its dirty secrets.
Hamilton says the term "not from concentrate" is an advertising and PR success story, because in people's minds, it implies that the juice is fresh and better than other juices. In fact it's just the opposite.
Orange juice needs to be available all year long, even when no one is growing oranges. To increase its shelf-life, you need some rancid chemical goop, which is undrinkable until it's mixed with stuff that includes the sweet, sweet smell of "orange." Voila! We gulp the stuff down by the gallon, under the illusion that we're guzzling fresh, tasty, and healthy orange juice from Florida. Even that's not true: it's actually Brazil that grows them.
Say it ain't so, Bing.
She lost me around the two minute mark. Blah, blah, blah... Whoopee! Another product that we consume is bad for us and just another lie perpetuated upon us by big business. I'm sure her book will sell well, and give people yet another reason to be paranoid. And that will bring us one step closer to consuming all our food and drink through supplement caplets, like some sci-fi colony.
I prefer blissful ignorance when it comes to these things. I find that eating what you want and living how you want is far easier than dying the slow death of a stressed-out, worrisome existence. The stress a story like this may cause in the mind of an easily worried person is likely to create more health issues than if they didn't "know the truth" in the first place and just kept on consuimg the product.
Should have used one of the delightful Anita Bryant commercials instead of Bing.
She's also a lesson in spokespeople gone bad in terms of their outside brand life effecting the product.
It was a toss-up between Bing, Anita, and Mrs. Brady.
I just like the name "Bing."
Please allow us to share further information.
By law, 100% orange juice is made only from oranges with no added sugars or preservatives. When oranges are processed, natural components such as orange aroma, orange oil from the peel, and pulp may be separated from the orange juice. After the juice is pasteurized, these natural orange components may be added back to the orange juice for optimal flavor.
Approximately 68 percent of Canadian orange juice comes from the United States. This orange juice is processed in strict compliance with all Canadian Food Inspection Agency regulations. By utilizing state-of-the-art technology, Florida is able to provide a consistent supply of high quality, nutritious orange juice year round.
Please visit www.OrangeJuiceFacts.com for more information about orange juice.
Wow! An official response from Florida Citrus. Good job Kenton!
I'm a huge fan of Tropicana Grovestand OJ (the one with lots of pulp)and I think it's the best OJ out there. I don't care what someone claims, because it's still damn good juice.


How about some synth-pop to brighten up your weekend? Protip: Listen to their other stuff to get jazz/blues/latin vibes this song doesn't feature.
Mutemath is a Grammy-nominated American alternative rock band from New Orleans that formed in 2003.
These guys have been at it for over a decade, with millions of listens across platforms, TV & movie soundtrack features, and extensive touring.


text:
Liam Gallagher reacts to Oasis tribute band being trapped in pub due to snow: 'I'm jealous'
Louis Chilton
Watch: Liam Gallagher left shaken after staying in a haunted mansion
Liam Gallagher has reacted to the news that an Oasis tribute band have been trapped in a Yorkshire pub for days due to extreme weather conditions.
The band, known as Noasis, were stuck in the Yorkshire Dales' Tan Hill Inn along with customers and staff, due to the effects of Storm Arwen.
Noasis had been booked for a gig at the venue on Friday (26 November), but heavy snow forced them to remain inside the premises until Monday (29 November).
The situation wasn't all bleak, however, as staff hosted karaoke, a quiz, showed films and provided free Sunday lunches during the unexpected shut-in.
Today (1 December), former Oasis star Gallagher was asked what he would say to the other band amid their troubles.
"I'm actually jealous," he replied. "I'm always trying to get a lock inn [sic]."
Upon leaving the pub earlier this week, Noasis expressed their thanks to staff and to the Kendal Mountain Rescue service.
I'm actually jealous im always trying to get a lock inn
— Liam Gallagher (@liamgallagher) December 1, 2021
"Thanks to everyone for the camaraderie within the venue," wrote the band on Twitter. "It's been emotional! #Snowasis"
The group's Twitter page describes them as "the nation's favourite Oasis tribute band".
Watch: Robbie Williams looking for actors to play Liam Gallagher and Take That
Billie Eilish urges people to stop being 'selfish' and get vaccinated
John Mayer records his own version of viral TikTok video mocking his music
'Valuable' hard drive with rare Tupac songs and 'intimate' photos up for auction
Another 27 coronavirus deaths and more than 8,200 cases recorded
There were 1,514 people in hospital on Wednesday with recently confirmed Covid-19, with 43 of them in intensive care.
'I Will Bring Every Single Gun': Virginia Parent Threatens School Board Over Mask Mandate
A parent in Virginia's Page County told a school board on Thursday, January 20, that she would "bring every single gun, loaded and ready" if the board did not abandon their mask mandate for students."No mask mandates. My children will not come to school Monday with a mask on. I will bring every single gun, loaded and ready," the woman said as she ended her speech to the Page County Public Schools board, after being told she had exceeded her allotted time. "I'll see y'all on Monday," she said as she walked toward the exit.The woman identified herself at the start of her speech as Amelia King of Luray, Virginia, and told the board she was "not always able to say" what she wanted "in the appropriate way." She also complained how she was almost arrested the last time she spoke at a board meeting after exceeding her allotted time.King told the board she was "fighting for transparency" and said they should respect "the wishes of parents."Page County Public Schools (PCPS) issued a statement on Friday morning saying that during Thursday's meeting "there were comments made that referenced weapons and were perceived by many to be threatening in nature."Page County Public Schools does not take these kinds of statements lightly," the board wrote. "Not only do comments such as these go against everything we wish to model for our students, they go against the very nature of how we as a community should interact with each other. Violence and threats are never acceptable or appropriate."The school board said the Luray Police Department was investigating the incident, and said both Luray police and the Page County Sheriff's Office were providing increased police presence at schools across the county on Friday. Credit: Page County Public Schools via Storyful
Energy crisis: Aquind cross-Channel power cable project rejected by government
A cross-Channel power cable project has been rejected by the government despite pressure to bolster energy supplies in the face of an unprecedented surge in prices.
Covid news - live: New BA.2 variant 'under investigation' as ministers 'consider delaying' NHS vaccine mandate
Cases of Omicron sub-variant have tripled in England
Coalition accuses suppliers of misleading customers over 'missing' rapid antigen tests
Greg Hunt says government is being blamed when overcommitted suppliers can't deliver, and false RAT claims will be reported to ACCC
Universal Studios sued by Ana de Armas fans over cut Yesterday scenes
Lawsuit claims that Universal used the actor's 'fame, radiance and brilliance to promote the film' under false pretences
Kyle Rittenhouse wants gun he used to shoot dead two protesters and wound a third
Motion is filed requesting the return of the AR-15 style rifle to the 19-year-old so that it can be destroyed
Martha Stewart says she dumped Anthony Hopkins as she couldn't stop thinking of Hannibal Lecter
Businesswoman was too creeped out to bring him back to her house
US grill company apologises for mistimed Meat Loaf recipe-of-the-week email
Weber said it was 'unaware' of the news of the US rock star's death when the recipe was sent out.
French politicians worry about surge in pre-election violence
French ruling party lawmaker Pascal Bois was at home asleep a few days after Christmas when firefighters banged on his front door to tell him his garage was in flames.
Bullet Strikes 11-Month-Old Girl During Shooting on Bronx Street
An 11-month-old girl is in critical but stable condition after suffering a gunshot wound to the face from a stray bullet fired on a Bronx street on January 19.Footage shows the suspected shooter running from Valentine Avenue onto East 198th Street before turning around and running back onto Valentine Avenue. A police statement said two shots were fired, one which entered a vehicle and struck the infant.The NYPD released the footage and appealed to the public for help in identifying the suspect, who was believed to be chasing another individual when the shots were fired. Credit: NYPD via Storyful
Chris Boardman inspired to improve travel after daughter unable to ride safely
The Olympic cycling gold medallist has been appointed interim commissioner of the new Active Travel England (ATE) by the Department for Transport.
Video resurfaces capturing Republicans praising Manchin and Sinema on filibuster
A killer app for the metaverse? Fill it with AI avatars of ourselves – so we don't need to go there
Many people are talking about this coming virtual world, but many others would rather stay where they are.
'Croydon - this has to stop': Community unites to rid itself of being 'London's knife crime capital'
The people of Croydon hate this label - and they're doing everything they can to get rid of it. Last year was the worst on record for teenage murders in London. There were 30 in total, and five happened in Croydon - more than any other borough in the capital.
David Dimbleby suggests council tax link for BBC licence fee alternative
The Government has announced that the licence fee is to be frozen at £159 a year until 2024.
Alice Cooper remembers close friend Meat Loaf in touching tribute
The singer has died aged 74.
Yahoo Entertainment UK Shopping
Don't miss out: Amazon's most popular Alexa speaker has 45% off
It's easy to see why the Echo Dot is Amazon's most popular smart speaker.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


It is sadly true that there are people in this country who are sentenced to prison, and even death, for crimes they did not commit. Some have been exonerated and released, largely as the result of innocence projects that have helped prisoners assemble DNA evidence that shows they were not the perpetrators. Some have been exonerated years after they died in prison. Many others are no doubt never exonerated. For a wrongfully convicted person, exoneration is the end of one road but only the beginning of another. Unbelievably, exonerees starting out on the road back to society find that they get little to no help from the justice system. Offenders on parole and convicts who complete their sentences may receive more services than released persons who committed no crime at all. This Article is based on the premise that states must pay compensation to innocent persons who have suffered wrongful imprisonment. The Article explains why exoneration is not enough. It then discusses theoretical justifications that support the payment of compensation and refutes objections to making such payments. Finally, it lays out concrete ways in which states may budget for wrongful-conviction compensation statutes. Although monetary compensation can hardly make up for years of wrongful imprisonment, providing compensation is the least a state can do after an innocent person is exonerated.
Part I of this Article explains wrongful conviction terminology. Part II explains how the very same reasons that make it easy for innocent people to be convicted also make it difficult for them to be exonerated. Part III explains why governments must compensate the wrongfully incarcerated when they win their freedom. It discusses the reasons for and against government compensation, rejecting the argument that imprisoning and even executing innocent persons is a harsh but necessary cost of doing business. Part IV deals with the hard question of how to pay for wrongful-conviction compensation statutes. To ensure that wrongfully imprisoned persons actually obtain compensation, the Article makes concrete suggestions for funding compensation statutes. Wrongfully convicted persons who win their freedom deserve compensation statutes, and states can afford them.


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Let's Keep an Eye on Sean Manaea
by Neil Weinberg
After two starts and one week of baseball, Sean Manaea has the seventh-worst ERA among qualified pitchers at 7.15. That's a pretty useless sentence for about five different reasons, but I'm going to rely on it briefly because it's April and being a baseball writer is very difficult in April. In early April, we're on the hunt for indicators. Other than health and velocity, it's hard to find anything that happens in week one that will meaningfully shift your opinion, but we're all keeping our eyes open for signs of things to come. The data points from April matter, it's just too early to know if they're representative of anything.
Typically, if a promising young pitcher like Manaea recorded two starts during which he allowed 10 runs over 11.1 innings, we would either brush it aside as a product of growing pains or consider it as a possible indication that something is wrong. In general, it's not good to give up a lot of runs, even if we're all in agreement that pitchers don't have complete control over how many runs they allow.
But what's so interesting about Manaea is that, in addition to what appear to be a couple of rough starts in the outcome department, he's excelling in two of the pitching statistics that become reliable most quickly. Any reasonably astute fan can take a look at Manaea's strikeout rate (28.6%), walk rate (8.2 %), home-run rate (0.79 HR/9), and BABIP (.259) to determine that his opponents have stacked all their success into just a couple of weird innings. But while those indicators look good enough to chalk this up to sequencing, there are actually two deeper measures that are quite interesting.
The first is Manaea's ground-ball rate. Manaea has faced 49 batters, inducing 28 batted balls. Of those 28 batted balls, 18 have been hit into the ground (64.3%). Now 28 batted balls isn't a super large sample, but ground-ball and fly-ball rates are two of the least noisy pitching statistics. You usually have a pretty good idea after about five starts. No one's betting on Manaea actually maintaining a 65% ground-ball rate, but his early-season performance merits attenion. I'll be watching to see if this is an indication that his ground-ball rate is going up. Ground balls turn into hits at a higher rate than fly balls, but ground balls don't leave the ballpark.
The other statistic of note is Manaea's contact rate. He's thrown 178 pitches in 2017. Batters have swung 88 times. They've missed 34 times (37 if you count foul tips). That's a contact rate of 62% or 58% depending on which number you prefer. In 2016, his contact rate was 77%, just a tick below league average. Similarly, we don't want to make too much of his actual numeric contact rate after two starts, but it's another statistic that settles in relatively quickly. The fact that he's induced so many swinging strikes this early is an indication that something might be different. He's certainly not going to get four whiffs per 10 pitches all season, but the fact that he's done it over the first two starts makes you wonder if he's done something to improve his approach.
An initial look tells you Manaea has gone to his slider more often so far this season, using it about 18% of the time compared 14% of the time last year, per Brooks Baseball. But the contact rate decrease has occurred against all his pitches and against both lefties and righties. It's a small sample size, anyway, so I don't want to parse the data very much, but this simply serves as a sign that it's not as simple as "slider = unhittable."
One thing does jump out from his pitching data — namely, Manaea appears to have adopted a new strategy against right-handed hitters. So far this year, he's been working them away quite aggressively. Here's his heat map against right-handers from 2016 and 2017, from the pitcher's viewpoint.
Again, it's too early to say this represents a fundamental change in Manaea's game plan. It might just be that the situations in which he's found himself have called for pitches away — or, alternatively, that he happens to be missing away for some reason — but it's an indicator. Manaea is getting more ground balls and more whiffs. Those are two really good improvements if they're durable, even if so far he's found himself allowing a ton of runs. He's throwing more sliders and has been working away from right-handers more deliberately so far.
Ryan Pollack made the case this winter that Manaea was poised for a strong season. Jeff Sullivan has pointed out that Kendall Graveman is starting to look quite interesting. We know about Sonny Gray. Jharel Cotton is a Cistulli favorite. We aren't deep enough into the season to sort everything out, but we might be talking about the A's as having one of the most interesting rotations before long. I won't make any declarations that Manaea has turned a corner and is heading for an All-Star appearance, but he's done enough to grab my attention during the season's first week. Short of adding 2 mph to his fastball or otherwise shredding his UCL, that's just about the best he can do.
Miguel Sano's Little Adjustment Could Mean Big Things
Eric Longenhagen Prospects Chat, Extended Spring Edition
Neil Weinberg is the Site Educator at FanGraphs and can be found writing enthusiastically about the Detroit Tigers at New English D. Follow and interact with him on Twitter @NeilWeinberg44.
Brad Johnsonmember
Andrew Triggs is also quite well-regarded among those hunting for breakout starters.


The Digital Almshouse Project captures the experiences of Irish-born patients admitted to New York's Bellevue Almshouse between 1845 and 1852.
What happened to the residents of city houses-turned-museums after they moved out?
NewYorkScapes is hosting an informal happy hour discussion about scholarly writing in online environments.
A discussion session dedicated to exploring the reponsibilities of public historians in interpreting relationship between present-day landscapes and historic sites.
Come join NewYorkScapes for a historical data catalog building event co-sponsored by the Digital Culture/s Colloquium. We'll be searching open-access digital libraries and data sources high and low for undiscovered data documenting the history of the city of New York.
The House of Genius Project is part of a group digital project on Washington Square and Greenwich Village conducted by librarians in the Humanities and Social Sciences department of NYU's Bobst Library.


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A brief e-mail message in April alerted a dozen of Denise Long's co-workers at WakeMed that her husband had fallen seriously ill.
Michael Long, who worked in another department at WakeMed, had melanoma. One cancerous tumor as large as a golf ball would be removed from his brain that week, but the prognosis wasn't good. Another massive cancer growth on his kidney could not be operated on, and doctors offered little hope for his survival. Within days, word had spread throughout the large hospital. Soon phones began ringing in the information services department where Denise works. Employees from all corners of the hospital were calling to ask how they could help. Someone mentioned collecting money. Another co-worker suggested buying food. The consensus was that though Denise and Michael and their two teen-age sons, Steven and Justin, would have to come to terms with this terrible news, they shouldn't have to worry about the basics. ''It absolutely snowballed from there,'' recalls Holly Trull, who has worked with Denise for the past five years. ''Dee Weaver in our department had mentioned that maybe we could go to Sam's Club and buy a bunch of food for them, and then Susan Hertz who works in financial services asked where we were going to put all this food. So I said, 'Perhaps we can buy an extra freezer for them.' " As the food-and-freezer plans were taking shape, other WakeMed employees contacted the hospital's human-resources department about donating paid days off to Michael to keep him from going on disability with reduced pay. Many offered their time anonymously so his wife wouldn't feel indebted. So far, more than 650 hours (more than 16 weeks' worth of sick time, holidays and vacation time) have been contributed, and the donations are still coming in. ''You help people as they need it, and you don't worry so much about how it will affect you later on,'' said Weaver, who has worked with Denise for eight years and donated several days of her own time. ''I just feel that what you do for others you'll get back.'' Several people have also donated time to Denise, urging her to take a break from her full-time job during the final few months of her husband's life. But she says working helps her stay strong. Still on chemotherapy drugs to try to slow the cancer that ravages his body, Michael now spends most days drifting in and out of sleep, his memory slowly slipping away. Hospice of Wake County, which assists terminally ill patients, comes to the house twice a week. The family is also getting help from Michael's parents, who live in Winston-Salem, and members of the church they attend. But it is the support from work that has impressed the Longs the most. Michael's disease has galvanized WakeMed employees, prompting them to help out in ways that he and his wife had never envisioned. Co-workers whom they considered friends but may rarely have seen outside of work have become their second family, showing up with home-cooked dinners, running errands, even cleaning the house and mowing the lawn. Denise, who was dealt a second blow when her mother was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer shortly after Michael fell ill, says she couldn't have made it through this time without the support from work. ''I've just been in awe,'' she says, leaning back in a rocker on her front porch one evening as her husband rested on the living room couch inside. ''This really gives you more faith in people.'' On a recent night, Denise fed her family lasagna that she had pulled from the new 15-cubic foot freezer that co-workers had installed in the garage and filled with $400 worth of precooked meals and other easy-to-prepare groceries. That weekend, she was expecting her manager, Art Harris, to show up with a few other people from WakeMed to mow the lawn that surrounds the two-story home the family bought two years ago in a new subdivision. ''I'm not one to cook and I'm not really a handy guy around the house, so this was my way of helping out,'' Harris explains. ''I'm just grateful to be able to be part of this. We do this because we love Denise, and because we look at her as a friend.'' Unlike his 46-year-old wife, who is talkative and makes friends easily, Michael, 49, is known as a quiet, reserved man who brought to work an obsession with detail. Davis recalls him studying rigorously for the test he had to take before starting his new job in the heart monitor unit, and then discussing the one question he missed. ''I had been doing that work eight years longer than he had, and he picked up things that I might have missed,'' Davis says. ''When he took an interest in something, he took it to the very end.'' Over time, that conscientiousness earned Michael his co-workers' respect, Davis says. So did his patience and his even temper in stressful situations. ''With him not here, it's a different atmosphere,'' Davis says. Those who know Denise say they want to help because she has been such a good friend herself since she came to WakeMed 22 years ago. A programmer analyst, she worked with people throughout the hospital, impressing them with her thoroughness, her cheerfulness and her eagerness to help, co-workers say. ''I've worked with her for 10 years and she's like a sister to me,'' says Diane Jewett, another WakeMed programmer analyst who helped organize the food-and-freezer drive. ''People tend to stay a long time here, developing these friendships and these relationships. Everybody tries to help each other out. I think we're doing it for ourselves as much as we're doing it for her.''
COMPANY POLICIES ON SICK LEAVE Most U.S. employers offer some paid leave, but time banks, paternity leave and other innovative programs remain rare, according to a recent survey of 2,610 human resource managers. Paid bereavement leave: 88 percent Paid vacation: 84 percent Long-term disability: 84 percent Paid sick leave: 76 percent Short-term disability: 75 percent Paid personal days (plus sick or vacation days): 44 percent Paid maternity leave (plus short-term disability): 18 percent Paid paternity leave: 14 percent Vacation time bank (donate vacation to co-workers): 11 percent Sick leave time bank (donate time to co-workers): 8 percent


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Pew: Liberals most intolerant online
Ed Morrissey Mar 13, 2012 11:00 AM ET
It's a well-known fact that liberals are more tolerant than conservatives or moderates. Superior liberal tolerance is such a fact that they will scream at you if you dare to disagree or debate them, demand that your advertisers bail on you, and pressure the FCC to get you banned from the airwaves. Does that sound like tolerance to you? A new survey from Pew confirms that liberals are the least tolerant of differing opinions, at least on line (emphasis mine):
Politics can be a sensitive subject and a number of SNS [social networking sites] users have decided to block, unfriend, or hide someone because of their politics or posting activities. In all, 18% of social networking site users have taken one of those steps by doing at least one of the following:
10% of SNS users have blocked, unfriended, or hidden someone on the site because that person posted too frequently about political subjects
9% of SNS users have blocked, unfriended, or hidden someone on the site because they posted something about politics or issues that they disagreed with or found offensive
8% of SNS users have blocked, unfriended, or hidden someone on the site because they argued about political issues on the site with the user or someone the user knows
5% of SNS users have blocked, unfriended, or hidden someone on the site because they posted something about politics that the user worried would offend other friends
4% of SNS users have blocked, unfriended, or hidden someone on the site because they disagreed with something the user posted about politics
Of course, that means that 82% of SNS users have not taken any steps to ignore or disconnect from someone whose views are different – or have not encountered any views that would prompt such a move.
Liberals are the most likely to have taken each of these steps to block, unfriend, or hide. In all, 28% of liberals have blocked, unfriended, or hidden someone on SNS because of one of these reasons, compared with 16% of conservatives and 14% of moderates.
It's not even all that close, as their chart shows:
Andrew Malcolm has some fun with the implications:
Not exactly shocking news for those exposed to them for years, but the respected Pew Research Center has determined that political liberals are far less tolerant of opposing views than regular Americans.
In a new study, the Pew Center for the Internet and American Life Project confirmed what most intelligent Americans had long sensed. That is, whenever they are challenged or confronted on the hollow falsity of their orthodoxy — such as, say, uniting diverse Americans — liberals tend to respond defensively with anger, even trying to shut off or silence critics. (i.e. photo above of President Obama reacting to Boston hecklers.)
The new research found that instead of engaging in civil discourse or debate, fully 16% of liberals admitted to blocking, unfriending or overtly hiding someone on a social networking site because that person expressed views they disagreed with. That's double the percentage of conservatives and more than twice the percentage of political moderates who behaved like that.
For some full disclosure, I've blocked more than a few people on Twitter. I didn't do it for disagreements, but for being unpleasant about disagreements. I consider Twitter to be a true social network; I don't hang out with unpleasant people in real life, and so I see no need to do so in virtual life. Twitter is my water cooler, my hangout in slack time between bursts of writing. I'm happy to have a debate, but when it gets insulting, unpleasant, and intellectually dishonest, I take a pass.
Even if that counts in the Pew poll (and I'd argue that it doesn't), I'd be in a small minority among conservatives — and to be fair, it's a small minority among liberals too. It's just that it's a statistically significant larger minority among liberals. While Gloria Steinem and Jane Fonda demand that the government act to silence Rush Limbaugh for challenging their orthodoxy, Forbes' Dave Serchuk points out the irony, the hypocrisy — and the unintended consequences:
Imagine this scenario: you are a lifelong liberal. You pretty much hate everything Rush Limbaugh stands for, and says. You are really glad that the times have finally seemed to have caught up to him, and that people are outraged by his callous, gross comments. So what do you do next? You do theone thing that will make him a sympathetic figure. You call on the FCC to remove him.
Think this is just not-very-good satire? If only. Nope, I draw from this example because in an opinion piece just published on CNN.com Jane Fonda, Gloria Steinem, and Robin Morgan did exactly this. In the process they seem to have played into the exact stereotype of the thin-skinned, hypocritical liberal. One who supports the First Amendment and freedom of speech … except for when they don't.
Here is the lame excuse they offered for why the heavy hand of government sponsored censorship should come down on Limbaugh, a guy who seemed to be doing a pretty good imitation of a man hoist on his own petard anyway.
"Radio broadcasters are obligated to act in the public interest and serve their respective communities of license. In keeping with this obligation, individual radio listeners may complain to the FCC that Limbaugh's radio station (and those syndicating his show) are not acting in the public interest or serving their respective communities of license by permitting such dehumanizing speech."
Umm, okay. But isn't there something called ratings that are a truer indication of what these respective communities already want? And shouldn't that count the most? Don't ratings (i.e. "popularity") in fact tell the FCC just whom the public thinks serves their interest? Whether we like it or not?
Why do they go for the block rather than provide an alternative? Michael Medved says they can't compete — and need government to intervene:
Limbaugh's critics seem unable to accept the fact that many of their fellow citizens actually appreciate the opportunity to listen to his opinions on a regular basis, so rather than persuade those poor benighted souls to listen to something else, they mean to take away the broadcast that they enjoy.
Why not try to build an eager new audience for liberal opinion leaders and steal listeners from Rush and the rest of us who host right-leaning shows? How about recruiting the most outrageous and opinionated voices on the left, syndicating their shows in major markets, and promoting these fresh, progressive voices with a catchy moniker like "Air America"?
Oh wait, that's been tried, starting in 2004 and proceeding (intermittently) till 2010 when chronically low ratings and bankruptcy court performed a belated mercy killing on the ill-fated experiment. It's true that some of the Air America "stars" ultimately found their way to other opportunities—with Rachel Maddow hosting a successful TV program on MSNBC, and the insufferable Al Franken enjoying an unlikely career in the U.S. Senate.
But attempts to create viable radio alternatives to Rush and other right wingers have never gained traction, so rather than continuing to compete in the open market place, lefties merely yearn to shut down the other side with sponsor boycotts, public pressure or, most obnoxiously, the so-called Fairness Doctrine. Fortunately, Barack Obama has consistently opposed the Fairness Doctrine, but many of the Democratic colleagues have promoted it for years, with Al Gore, Nancy Pelosi, John Kerry, and—most adamantly—that heroic public servant John Edwards providing support.
Well, it's not exactly news that the Intolerant Tolerance Hysterics are all about choices that they want to dictate to people, too, even if (or especially if) it involved the use of "an oppressive, invidious authoritarian relic" like the Fairness doctrine. Don't expect them to understand that irony, Mssrs. Serchuk and Medved, but thank you for pointing it out. They can unfriend and block all they want on social networking, because those are personal choices not to listen to differing opinions, and every American has that choice. The problem is when they want government to unfriend and block so that no one has that choice — and that's the kind of intolerance that's much more dangerous than humorous.
Tags: RUSH LIMBAUGH PEW POLL TOLERANCE
Report: Biden was warned of collapse of Afghan Air Force eight months before withdrawal


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Glenn Dyer's TV Ratings
Last night was a tale of two markets.
Glenn Dyer
A tale of two very different markets in TV last night. In the metros Seven edged Nine in total people and the main channels. Nine (thanks to The Block) did much better in the demos), with Ten also competitive. But in the regions, it was Seven first and daylight second and third.
In the metros Seven had an overall share of 29.5% to Nine's 27.1% and a main channel share of 19.8% to Nine's 19.5%. In the regions Seven had a total share of 37.2% and a main channel share of 23.9%. Nine's overall share was 23.9%, with a main channel share of just 15.8%).
To further emphasise the split nature of the market, in the metros the ABC had a bigger total people share of Ten, which pipped the ABC for third in the main channels. But in the regions Ten was a clear (but narrow) third overall and in the main channels, pushing the ABC to fourth. It was a confusing night for anyone looking for a 'trend'.
We also saw this with the most watched programs in the regions. The top 5 were all Seven programs. Seven News, 585,000, The Secret Daughter, 558,000, Home and Away, 583,000, Seven News/Today Tonight, 483,000, The X Factor, 475,000. This dominance boosted the national figures for The Secret Daughter to 1.394 in million and third place across the country. The X Factor's audience was boosted to 1.231 million nationally from the weak 756,000 in the metros, Home and Away saw its audience jump to 1.207 million nationally and Seven News's audience in the metros of 1.017 million and number 1, was boosted to 1.602 million (and tops) nationally). Nine's The Block hung in there with 1.320 million on a normally weak Monday night. Australian Survivor finally gained the million viewer mark the night before its finale tonight with 1.039 nationally (and 750,000 in the metros).
Seven's News from 6 to 7pm was again dominant (thanks especially to Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth and the regions). Nine is under pressure, especially in Sydney and Melbourne. Don't be surprised at changes at Nine at 6 pm, and in the 5.30 lead in, Millionaire Hot Seat. Time to 'bone' Eddie McGuire?
Now here's news all networks will be watching closely. If this works and satisfies the demands of broadcast media and their advertising and market clients, TV ratings at all levels are about to undergo a revolution in the US – and eventually in Australia (but not for some time). Nielsen, the company that does US and Australian ratings (here for Oztam, owned by Seven, Nine and Ten) is about to start measuring out of home viewing- a development that will eventually boost the size of audiences of live events by tens of millions of people, especially sport (NRL and AFL and cricket in Australia for instance) and gridiron, baseball, hockey and basketball in the US).
Subscribers to the service will receive audience estimates that combine in-home TV viewing, based on Nielsen's national TV ratings panel, with out-of-home viewing based on use of its Portable People Meter technology and panelists (more than 75,000 of them which are currently used for radio ratings). The company says it expects to launch the National TV Out-of-Home Measurement Service next April, with data effective in January. Data back to September 2016 will be added shortly after launch. The new offering will launch as a stand-alone service, but Nielsen plans to incorporate out-of-home viewing directly into its national television ratings in the future.
The big brawl will come as TV and cable companies use the data in the next couple of years to try and force advertisers to pay more for higher audiences. Marketing companies and their advisers in the US at least, claim current ad costs on TV and cable assume a large number of viewers of events such as live sport, outside the home. This year's SuperBowl game in the US had a measured audience estimated at 114 million. But some analysts claim the real figure is over 150 million. This new system will eventually provide an estimated national audience in the US from all venues(not counting streaming). Advertisers say the $US4.5 million to $US5 million cost for a broadcast during the game itself, already includes estimated out of home viewing. But until we have a more accurate figure for out of home viewing, this argument is moot. — Click here to read Glenn Dyer's full TV Ratings.
Glenn Dyer is Crikey's business and media commentator.


My name is Jonathan. I am a window cleaner from Sydney, Australia. I have been washing windows professionally since 1997 (I started young!). I seem to be constantly busy, cleaning residential homes, strata blocks, shop front windows and other small-medium rise commercial buildings.
You can contact me on 1300 567 862 if you would like to arrange to have your windows cleaned.
I'm often asked about tips on getting a good result. "What's the secret to getting the windows looking so clean?" my clients commonly ask. So, this web page (and the next one on cleaning small windows) answers a lot of those questions - to help both householders and the professionals.
To get off to a good start with cleaning your windows, it's important to have good quality equipment. Some of this may be a little more specialised, but you should be able to find it all at a large hardware store, or a cleaning supplies shop - just type "cleaning supplies" into a search engine to find one close to you.
Preferably wide enough to fit the squeegee and mop in. This one on the right is great for professionals, but a little over the top for householders.
There are huge differences in quality available, and this is probably the most crucial tool of all. So I suggest purchasing a good one, not like the ones you find at petrol stations. Unger, Ettore, Sorbo are recommended brands. Wagtail is also a good brand and it's Australian, but the swivelling handle takes a little more getting used to.
I have various sizes from 4 inches to 24 inches, but I use the 14 inch squeegee about 90% of the time.
This comes in two pieces: the plastic t-bar and thesleeve. When the sleeve gets dirty, you can detach it from the t-bar and put it in the washing machine. It's usually attached by Velcro or buttons. 14 inches is a good length.
The sleeves come in different versions: Porcupine - with little plastic bits throughout it to help scrub off tough marks, Regular, Scourer - with a scouring strip on one side. But my favourite is definitely the Water Retention one. It's handy not to have to return to the bucket so much to dab more water on it.
This comes with replaceable metal blades and is useful to get tough marks off, such as paint, varnish or stubborn insect marks. A little one inch, pocket scrapper (as seen to the right) is usually enough for most maintenance jobs, but larger 3 and 6 inch ones that fit onto the end of the pole are good for scraping larger areas.
Take care using scrapers on glass! If you don't know the correct methods, you could cause permanent damage! Check point 2 in 'How to do it' below.
I hate to be the one that lets the cat out of the bag since there are a lot of window cleaners who jealously guard their secret formula, but I don't see any point in not telling. 'Morning Fresh' and 'Palmolive' are probably the most popular detergents. At the cleaning supplies shop you can spend a lot of money on all kinds of window cleaning detergents. I've tried a lot of them, and seem to always come back to Palmolive (soft on the hands and does a great job).
Some people recommend vinegar in warm water. The biggest problem with this is that it doesn't sud up. The suds are important to lubricate the rubber as it passes over the glass, making it a lot easier to turn the squeegee. They also make it easier to see any water marks that need wiping off. In fact, they help to show up areas that need more scrubbing because the pattern of the bubbles separate more where there is a finger mark or some other dirt.
This could just be an old towel (old is best as the lint and fluff would have worn away). I usually carry a towel and a micro-fibre cloth. More about how to use them later.
I carry a short one that extends. It is 1.5m closed, 2.3m opened. This can be very handy for certain windows - but you need to know how to use it. I also use a 4 section pole that extends to 3 storeys high - though it is nearly impossible to clean accurately at that length. 2 storeys is about the limit for squeegees on a pole (even that is pretty tricky!).
I find a three step step-ladder is very useful, and the extension ladder that reaches about 2.5 storeys high - not advised for anyone not confident being at heights.
This supports a side bucket and is a good place to easily access your scrapper and rags.
This is really just for the professionals. It is a small bucket that hangs down one leg off a belt around the waist. It is a great place to easily stash you mop and squeegee, saving them from dripping all over the place, and also giving you two free hands while walking up the ladder, on the roof etc.
Rub the wet mop (that has detergent on it) onto the window. Give it a good rub to make sure all the dirt is lifted. This is the time to scrape any stubborn marks off with the scrapper. If you need to use the scrapper, make sure to only pass the blade in the forward direction, i.e. don't scrape backwards - this could drag the dirt, cement etc across the glass causing scratches.
Now get the squeegee ready. Let's assume you're right-handed. Hold the handle of the squeegee in your right hand with your thumb half way between the top and side. When you place it on the glass, you want to have it at the correct angle.
To work this out, say the angle when the handle is touching the glass is 0 degrees, and the angle when lifting it off the glass is 90 degrees (with the rubber still on the glass). You want the angle in between those two - about 45 degrees. Try to maintain that angle for the next step.
Now you are ready to clean the water off the glass with the squeegee. Start at the top left corner and snake you way down the window. Make sure to go right to the edges. With a little practise, you will be able to manage this with no water marks left in the middle of the window.
It is nearly impossible to do a window without having to wipe the edges. Even the pros normally have to do this! That's where the micro-fibre cloth comes in. This is great for getting rid of those water marks anywhere on the glass. Use it dry. You can just put it in the washing machine when it's too wet or dirty. I go through one or two per house, but beginners will normally need a few more.
Hint - I generally don't use micro-fiber cloths to wipe along the bottom of the window frame because this is going to dirty it very quickly. Use the towel for that area.
If there are any other marks, such as little insect marks or grubby finger marks that didn't quite come off, give it a rub with a clean part of the micro-fibre cloth, or start again with the mop. That's it! Your windows will look fantastic!
So there you have the inside knowledge on how to get a perfect finish to your windows. My next free tips page discusses how to approach cleaning small sized windows - French Colonial, Lead lights and Louvers.


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Corporate branding for global insulation manufacturer
The Rockwool Group is the world's largest maker of stone wool insulation. Its products are geared for the future, offering consumers thermal comfort, energy savings, fire safety and noise absorbing benefits.
The Group recently concluded their acquisition of CSR Ltd's Asian unit. CSR is Australia's second largest stone wool producer. This created the new entity of Rockwool Asia, now the largest stone wool producer in Asia. With a brand name, legal entity and company names thrown into the mix, management needed to clarify the Rockwool architecture to partners and customers, and very quickly integrate them into the new Rockwool Asia.
Brand360° was selected to manage part of the Asia-wide launch of the new Rockwool Asia brand. We worked quickly to develop a corporate branding launch strategy, to ensure that the Roxul brand was strengthened and increase customer confidence that the acquisition strengthened the Rockwool Group's presence in Asia.
The highlight was the brand launch event, which enabled partners and suppliers to see the strength in the unity of the two companies. The 'Rock The Globe' theme was showcased with a specially choreographed rock 'n roll dance repertoire, which appealed to both employees and suppliers. The brand was also internally launched employees.
Product Rebranding
Brand Repositioning


Among all the new smartphones tablet and wearables on show at IFA Wacom has launched two new styli to help you get the most out of your trusty Apple iPad. The new members of the Bamboo range of styli are the Wacom Bamboo Stylus Fineline and Wacom Intuos Creative Stylus 2.
As you might guess from the name its unique selling point is to do with its new 'Fineline' tip. Wacom says that the new Fineline smart stylus contains a new 'thin tip' technology to make "navigating, writing, sketching and sharing on an iPad feel effortless". It features 1024 levels of pressure sensitivity and palm rejection technology whilst providing more accuracy and fluidity. Wacom says this improves your user experience and increases the note taking and writing capabilities of the iPad.
This is an active, powered, stylus and uses Bluetooth 4 to communicate with your iPad. The battery in the "elegant and premium" designed stylus provides about 26 hours of activity and is easily rechargeable via a USB cable.
Buyers of the Wacom Bamboo Stylus Fineline will benefit from a suite of apps including Wacom's own Bamboo Paper app, Noteshelf, Notes Plus, INKredible and GoodReader. The Bamboo Paper app will recognise the stylus capabilities in this new device and offer free access to the 'Fineline Pack' which includes "an additional pencil and the Writer or Maker type notebooks," great for your notes, ideas, visuals and sketches.
The Bamboo Stylus Fineline is available today in Europe at various retailers for £49.99 or equivalent. You can read more about this new stylus at the official Wacom product page.
This is the premium creative stylus offering for iPad users from Wacom. Like the Fineline it includes a more precise realistic pen tip. This lets users make the most of the pressure sensitivity on offer for sketching in a very realistic way. Your ideas will show through better with more precise control and response.
The Wacom Creative Stylus 2 offers users a thinner tip, palm rejection and 2048 levels of pressure sensitivity. This premium iPad stylus is built with a soft touch grip and designed to avoid hand fatigue.
Like its cheaper brother this stylus communicates with your iPad via Bluetooth 4 and offers about 26 hours of active use between (USB) charges. It weighs 19g and is 141mm long and 10mm in diameter.
The Creative Stylus 2 is available today in Europe at various retailers for £64.99 or equivalent. You can read more about this new stylus at its official Wacom product page.


Tractatus Blogico-Philosophicus: Hey, free book!
I think the form of a blog is better suited to this kind of content, but it is always nice to have these things in a more compact (discrete, tangible etc.) format as well. Keep up the good work and thanks for making the draft available.
Thanks. I think both formats have their uses, and the content is slightly different in each. I should make it the same, but I haven't got around to that yet.
Thanks a lot for putting all that together. Looks great!
Sorry about that. All my web pages have been either moved or deleted. I hope the link works now.
BTW. You might find my two recent blog posts interesting.
great tool ! i think 'Tractatus Elucidated' would be a perfect title. Too Ostrow title, of course. thanks.
This is really awesome. I have been using Norman Melchiert's (sic?) chapter from the Great Conversation to make the TLP a bit less un-teachable to lower-level undergrads, and am also very happy with Ray Monk's latest, but I may very well use this next year in my class if you'll allow it!
Thank you for gathering your notes in a book, this is really helpful for us.I tried to download the book but It seems the link is not working for some reason, and a message appears that: "You are not authorized to view this page".
Thanks for the comment, Ahmad. It turns out I'm not authorized to view it either! I'll try to move it somewhere else and post a working link.


To continue to have strong sales and to stay profitable - that's really all that the 2,500 or so retailers who handle Pontiac and GMC want, says John Wiesner, chairman of the Pontiac-GMC Divisional Dealer Council.
Wiesner, owner of John Wiesner Inc. (Buick-Pontiac-GMC-Isuzu-Hyundai) in Conroe, Texas, north of Houston, says factory support is a key reason why dealers had a prosperous 2002 and are looking for another good year in 2003.
"They have helped us tremendously," he said of General Motors, "with contests, with incentives, and product to the best of their ability."
Wiesner's two sons work with him at his five dealerships, where at least 35 percent of the vehicles he sells each month are trucks.
Texans - even famous ones that don't get to drive anymore - love trucks. In December, Wiesner took a few hours off to deliver a GMC Sonoma pickup to former President George Bush at his Houston office.
"I didn't sell it to him; a friend of mine sold it from up in Fort Wayne, Ind.," Wiesner said. "He wanted to meet me because we'd delivered two or three" other GMC trucks to him.
The former president probably won't be spotted behind the wheel anytime soon. "He said he hadn't driven a car (himself) since the 1980s, I think," Wiesner said. "I think (the pickup) was for a granddaughter. He didn't say."
Wiesner, two of his grandchildren and one of his sons spent about 25 minutes with Bush, who Wiesner says is "a very, very personable individual."
Wiesner hadn't met Bush before, even though his store services the former president's vehicles.
Wiesner says he and his family got some nice pictures with Bush. "My two grandkids really got a kick out of him," he said. "He was so gracious to them. You can't believe a guy like that would be so down to earth. He really was."
Wiesner spoke with Special Correspondent Karen Passino about issues facing GMC and Pontiac dealers.
How would you sum up the past year for Pontiac and GMC?
It was a good year; it wasn't as good as 2001, but it was a good year. I think the dealers overall were pretty profitable in the Pontiac and GMC lines. Sales were very good.
Pontiac passenger cars were a little tough, but trucks did great.
As far as I am concerned, we didn't have a slowdown until the end of year, and then it picked up in December.
What are the prospects for 2003?
I am very bullish on 2003; I think it could be as good as 2002 or 2001.
I think we'll have another good year. I think we'll continue this upward trend.
We'll have a lot of new products coming out. And I think the market will be up.
I think we'll have the war situation settled, hopefully in the first quarter of this year. By the third and fourth quarter, we'll be riding high.
We have the (Pontiac) GTO and the new Grand Prix coming out, which will really help Pontiac car sales; they've been a little bit weak.
The GTO is really the reincarnation of the old GTO, back in the '60s. The GTO will bring a lot of people into the market - not that sales will be that high, but I think it will get Pontiac the visibility and the recognition that it once had.
Same as what the Corvette has continued to do for Chevrolet?
When do you expect to see GTOs in the showroom?
I think it will be this spring. Hopefully, the Pontiac Grand Prix will be out by May or June.
GTO production will be very limited: 15,000 to 18,000. They'll spread them around so that everybody will get a few.
How many you get will depend on the size of the dealership and its sales.
When you have 2,500 dealers, that 15,000 to 18,000 cars is not so many, (especially) with the larger dealers taking the larger share. That doesn't leave a lot to go around.
Does the present plethora of incentives worry Pontiac and GMC dealers?
No. I've always said that you have to have something out there to lure the customers in. You go to any mall, any retail business, they've got signs in the windows saying 25, 30, 40, 50 percent discounts.
We're in an age of discounting, a discounting society. Not many people will come in and just say, "I'm going to lie down and pay retail."
You've got to have incentives in this market. I don't know how long this will continue - whether it will be from now on, or six months or a year or two years.
But incentives have to be part of the sales process.
Is that as true for the high-line trucks as it is for cars?
Yes. You have to give discounts on trucks also.
And you're not worried about 0 percent financing either?
Oh, I'd like to see the zero go away, but it is bringing people in. It's just another way to attract customers.
Have you seen any anti-sport-utility sentiment?
No. We're practically out of (GMC) Envoys and Yukons. We're really short on short wheelbases. I think we sold 85 sport-utilities in December.
Is that typical for you?
Close to it, depending on availability.
Is GM trying to fix the Vehicle Order Management System?
They have committees trying to upgrade and enhance it, but it's still not right. The system just doesn't work for our type of selling.
Do you normally have trouble getting vehicles?
VOMS has been a real problem with us and trying to get the right mix (of models), the right numbers to do promotions.
It has been difficult working the system, but it is what we have to work with.
It sounds like dealers have let GM know that.
They're aware of it. As far as they're concerned, they think it's fixed. We've just got to live with it.
What are the hot Pontiac and GMC products?
I guess it would be the Grand Am for Pontiac and the Envoy for GMC. That has been one of the hottest products we've had in a long time. The demand is high and the supply is short.
The (Pontiac) Bonneville has slowed down tremendously. Of course, it has been around a long time. It's a great car still, but the styling is a bit antique-ish.
Besides the GTO and Grand Prix, what new products are on the way?
We'll have a half-ton crew cab four-door (with) a small wheelbase. That will be a real addition to the GMC line.
We've kind of fallen behind by not having that truck before now; it has cost us a lot of sales.
Well, they do, but it's a heavy-duty half ton, not the short wheelbase, like Ford and Dodge have.
The Crew Cab is more of a family car down here in Texas and in this region: Oklahoma, Louisiana and Texas.
There are a lot of trucks sold here, and it's been a big seller with Ford and Dodge.
They can use it to haul; they can use it for a passenger car; it's a utility vehicle. It has a lot of utility for a lot of people.
What are the top priorities for the dealer council this year?
Product and advertising and promotions - they are all that we need to move product.
And that's what we are looking for, how to move product and make more money.
How satisfied are Pontiac and GMC dealers?
Our dealers are more satisfied now than they've ever been. The factory CSI is going up tremendously. There's very little discontent that I can see. I'm not getting any complaints from dealers.
The communication with the factory has been much better. Everything is put on the dealer Internet so (dealers) can find out almost anything they want to find out from General Motors. They can communicate pretty well, almost to the top.
Dealers really don't have much to complain about right now. Product - there are a few things we'd like to see in product enhancements, but they're coming, just a little slower than we'd like to see.
Are most dealers making money on new-vehicles sales?
I don't know if all of them are making profits on new-vehicle sales. They are probably making more money on used cars and service and parts and the body shop. Profit on new cars is tough right now. But I would say that most dealers are profitable (overall).
In what I've seen in the last 60 to 90 days, it's really improved over what we've had before. They are getting a lot of input from dealers. I think they are trying to give the dealers what they want, and I think it's becoming more effective.
Oh, the satisfaction that I'm contributing and working with the people. I try to represent all dealers to the best of my ability, and not for my own interests.
Quote: "We're in an age of discounting, a discounting society Not many people will come in and just say, 'I'm going to lie down and pay retail.' You've got to have incentives in this market. I don't know how long this will continue - whether it will be from now on, or six months or a year or two years. But incentives have to be part of the sales process."
Have you had any big disappointments?
I guess my biggest disappointment is that we haven't been able to get the Crew Cab truck out sooner. I think they have speeded up some, but there hasn't been a great deal of progress in moving it forward. I think they could have come out with it a lot sooner, but I'm sure there are reasons why they didn't.


Today's weather is turning out to be moderate or heavy rain shower. The visibility is going to be around 18 km i.e. 10 miles and an atmospheric pressure of 1017 mb . The daytime temperature is going to reach 23 °c and the temperature is going to dip to 9 °c at night. We expect around 4.9 mm of precipitation to fall and cloud covering 34% of the sky, the humidity will be around 74%.
Tomorrow weather is forecasted to be thundery outbreaks possible. The visibility is going to be around 18 km i.e. 10 miles and an atmospheric pressure of 1011 mb. The daytime temperature is going to reach 23 °c and the temperature is going to dip to 14 °c at night. We expect around 22.4 mm of precipitation to fall and cloud covering 62% of the sky, the humidity will be around 72%.
On Sunday weather will be patchy rain possible with daytime temperature reaching 17 °c. Night time temperature are expected to be 13 °c.We expect around 19.6 mm of precipitation to fall. The visibility is going to be around 16 km i.e. 10 miles and an atmospheric pressure of 1009 mb. We expect around 19.6 mm of precipitation to fall and cloud covering 91% of the sky, the humidity will be around 90%.
Monday seems to be light rain shower. Kopychintse, Ukraine visibility is going to be around 15 km i.e. 9 miles and an atmospheric pressure of 1008 mb. The daytime temperature is going to reach 17 °c and the temperature is going to dip to 11 °c at night. We expect around 10.0 mm of precipitation to fall and cloud covering 78% of the sky, the humidity will be around 88%.
Light rain shower will be the weather pattern for the Tuesday. The visibility is going to be around 15 km i.e. 9 miles and an atmospheric pressure of 1008 mb. The daytime temperature is going to reach 15 °c and the temperature is going to dip to 9 °c at night. We expect around 7.2 mm of precipitation to fall and cloud covering 95% of the sky, the humidity will be around 90%.
Looking at the weather in Kopychintse, Ukraine over the next 7 days, the maximum temperature will be 23℃ (or 74℉) on Saturday 27th April at around 2 pm. In the same week the minimum temperature will be 5℃ (or 41℉) on Thursday 2nd May at around 5 am.
The national weather service for Kopychintse, Ukraine is reporting Saturday 27th April to be the wettest day in the coming week with around 10.80mm (or 0.4 inches) of rainfall. Make sure to carry an umbrella if you are out and about in Kopychintse, Ukraine.
The windiest of all days will be Tuesday 30th April as wind will reach 14mph (or 23kmph) at around 2 pm.


Archaeologists have found remains believed to be the biggest mass sacrifice of children in human history. The remnant that was found shows the rituals that killed more than 140 children at the same time in the northern coastal area of Peru, 550 years ago.
The researchers discovered the remnant near the present city of Trujillo, which extends in the heart of ancient Chimo civilization, and the remains of 200 llamas were found along with the children who were all killed in the same ritual. The excavation was funded by the National Geographic Society, which published the findings on its site.
"I never expected this, and I do not think anyone would have expected it," said senior researcher John Ferrano.
The last such discovery such as these human slaughters in the area was in 2011 when researchers found 40 victims and 74 llamas during the excavation in a 3,500-year-old temple.
According to the National Geographic report, the age of children in this latest discovery ranges from 5 to 14 years, although most of them are between 8 and 12 years old.
The researchers suggest that children are human sacrifices given the fractures in their bones, including the rib cage bone, and ribs, which also means that their hearts have been displaced. And the bodies of many children were painted with light-colored violets, which might be part of the ritual. Also Llamas were subjected to the same operations, less than 18 months old, and buried in the Andes mountains in the east.
"When people hear about what happened and the size of it, the first question that comes to mind is why," says Gabriel Britto, the chief researcher.
The researchers have been alerted to an indicator of the excavation process that may help to understand the conditions of the slaughters, which is the existence of layers of mud that in it buried human sacrifices, and this is believed to be due to "heavy rains and floods" fell in the area known as drought.
Archaeologist Hagen Klaus said that these tribes had sought to offer children, after adult offerings had failed to stop floods and heavy rains.
The technique of determining the history of radioactive carbon showed that the accident occurred between 1400 and 1450 (AD). And the Chimu worshiped the moon, and the Inca took control of them. Fifty years later, South America was invaded by Spain.


Summer's essential, the espadrille gets a dose of signature Dolce & Gabbana flair. A print of daisies and poppies covers the jacquard upper for a carefree feel. Add them to skinny denim for a playful final note.


text:
Q: Jenkinsfile maven plugin inside a docker container I'm using Jenkins with a Jenkinsfile that runs my builds inside a docker container. I have a simple Java application that I'd like to build and deploy to artifactory using the Jenkins Artifactory plugin.
My Jenkinsfile is below -
node {
  def server = Artifactory.server "my-artifactory"
  def rtMaven = Artifactory.newMavenBuild()

  stage("Prepare environment"){
    docker.image('driv/docker-maven-java-oracle').inside {

      checkout scm

      stage("Artifactory configuration") {
        rtMaven.deployer releaseRepo:'libs-release-local', snapshotRepo:'libs-snapshot-local', server: server
        rtMaven.resolver releaseRepo:'libs-release', snapshotRepo:'libs-snapshot', server: server
      }

      stage("Maven build") {
        def buildInfo = rtMaven.run pom: 'pom.xml', goals: 'clean install'
      }
    }
  }
}

However, when I run builds with the above Jenkinsfile I get the error -
java.lang.RuntimeException: Couldn't find maven installation

I know that I can add a line to my Jenkinsfile like this -
rtMaven.tool = MAVEN_TOOL

...that I can use to specify a pre-configured Jenkins Tool to point the Artifactory plugin at Maven. However, it seems to me that such a pre-configured tool would have to be on the Jenkins machine, or a build node, and not inside my docker container.
So, is it possible to point the Artifactory plugin at a maven installation inside my docker container?
Thanks.

A: This should probably be fixed in their jenkins plugin itself but as "Christopher Orr" suggested mapping environment vars at the pipeline stage level to the same ones set in the container work
For example
stage('mystage') {
    environment {
        // If your using the official maven image, these are probably where it puts it
        MAVEN_HOME = '/usr/share/maven'
        JAVA_HOME= '/usr/local/openjdk-8'
    }
    steps {
        sh """
            # confirm location of MAVEN_HOME and JAVA_HOME in container and set in environment directive
            printenv
        """
        ...
        // call rtMavenRun()

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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