1. This case concerns the offer and sale of over $10 million of bogus limited liability partnership ("LLP") interests over the Internet by four Florida-based individuals.
2. From approximately June 1998 to October 1999, defendants Larry Grabarnick ("Grabarnick") and Marc David Shiner ("Shiner") promoted investments in unregistered LLP units to the public through bulk e-mails and Internet websites. Interested investors responded over the Internet by providing contact information, which Grabarnick and Shiner then sold as "leads" to defendants Donald LaBarre ("LaBarre") and Sarah Jane Peck ("Peck"). LaBarre and Peck used boiler room sales tactics to offer and sell the LLP units. Investors were told they would benefit from the deregulation of the electric service provider market in California. Grabarnick, Shiner, LaBarre and Peck made numerous material misrepresentations and omissions to investors regarding, among other things, the profitability of the investment, its likelihood of success, the risk and safety of the investment, and the need to invest quickly. For example, one investor was told that the only risk was that Los Angeles could fall into the Pacific Ocean. Others were led to believe that President and Hillary Clinton had made money in similar investments.
3. More than 580 people nationwide invested over $10 million by purchasing units, or fractions thereof, in eight LLPs. Each LLP consisted of 80 partnership units, each valued at $19,675, for a total of $1,547,000 per fully funded partnership. Many investors were elderly; many rolled over money from IRA and 401(k) accounts. After all 80 units were sold, or as many as could be, investors were told that the partnerships would not be viable and offered them Over-the-Counter ("OTC") penny stock in exchange for their escrowed funds. Four partnerships acquiesced; trades were executed at approximately $4.00/share, and investors were required to hold their shares for at least two years. None of the partnerships ever became operational electric companies. Investors now hold worthless partnership units and delisted penny stock.
4. Grabarnick and Shiner together were paid $586,340 for selling leads. In addition, Grabarnick and Shiner each received approximately $275,000 in "kickbacks" in connection with the sale of the electric power LLP interests. LaBarre and Peck each received approximately $1.24 million in commissions from the sale of the LLP interests.
5. By engaging in such conduct, Grabarnick, Shiner, LaBarre and Peck violated, and unless enjoined will continue to violate, Sections 5(a), 5(c) and 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 ("Securities Act") [15 U.S.C. §§ 77e(a), 77e(c) and 77q(a)] and Sections 10(b) and 15(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ("Exchange Act") [15 U.S.C. §§ 78j(b) and 78(o)(a)] and Rule 10b-5 [17 C.F.R. § 240.10b-5] promulgated thereunder.
6. This Court has jurisdiction over this action pursuant to Sections 20(b) and 22(a) of the Securities Act [15 U.S.C. §§ 77t(b) and 77v(a)] and Sections 21(e) and 27 of the Exchange Act [15 U.S.C. §§ 78u(e) and 78aa].
7. Defendants have, directly or indirectly, made use of the means or instrumentalities of interstate commerce and/or of the mails in connection with the transactions described in this Complaint.
8. Larry Grabarnick ("Grabarnick"), age 54, is a resident of Avventura, Florida. In 1998 Grabarnick formed a company with Marc Shiner called Internet Media to generate investor leads over the Internet.
9. Marc David Shiner ("Shiner"), age 58, is a resident of Boca Raton, Florida. In 1986, the Commission barred Shiner from association with a broker or dealer, investment company, investment adviser or municipal securities dealer for five years for his failure to disclose a 1984 conviction in Massachusetts for insurance fraud, larceny and attempted larceny (In the Matter of Marc D. Shiner, Barry L. King, Wellesley Financial Management Services, Inc., Admin. Proc. File. 3-6759, Rel. No. 34-23862 (Dec. 3, 1986)). Shiner has not reapplied to become associated with a broker or dealer. In 1998, while promoting the electric power partnerships involved in this matter, Shiner was convicted of federal tax evasion, and served four months in prison and four months of house arrest.
10. Donald LaBarre ("LaBarre"), age 60, is a resident of Boca Raton, Florida. During the relevant period, LaBarre was the President of Electric Choice Investments, a sales office marketing two electric power partnerships.
11. Sara Jane ("Sally") Peck, age 58, is a resident of Avventura, Florida. During the relevant period, Peck was the President of Twenty First Century Power, a sales office marketing two electric power partnerships.
12. Joe Steingold ("Steingold"), who died in 1999, was a resident of San Diego, California. Steingold masterminded numerous intricate racketeering schemes to peddle worthless LLP interests and then took for his personal use money purportedly intended to develop and operate the partnership's business. In each scam, investors were left holding worthless partnership interests. In 1986, Steingold was convicted of mail fraud and sentenced to four years in federal prison for defrauding hundreds of Detroit area mortgage owners and investors of $2.4 million in what Michigan's attorney general called the "biggest mortgage scam" in the state's history.
13. Full Power Corporation ("Full Power"), based in Lakewood, Ohio, was incorporated in Ohio on February 3, 1998 at Steingold's direction to serve as a vehicle for the electric power partnership scheme. Through a reverse-merger with Worldwide Dental Distribution (OTC - WDDD), a Florida corporation, Full Power Corp. became a publicly traded company on September 30, 1998, changing its name to Full Power Group, Inc. and trading on the OTC Bulletin Board under the symbol FPGR. Full Power acquired a license from the California Public Utilities Commission to sell electricity throughout California, which it sublicensed to various LLPs on the basis of geographic area.
14. Defendants have been selling Steingold's bogus LLP interests for the better part of a decade, including, but not limited to, similar fraudulent offerings involving wireless cable television and specialized mobile radio. Wireless cable television and specialized mobile radio were widely-considered hot investment opportunities at the time. The electric power LLP offering was based upon another hot investment opportunity: selling electricity in the newly deregulated California power market.
15. Investors were led to believe that they would become partners in a power company servicing a metropolitan area in California. The securities offered were units in eight Limited Liability Partnerships: (1) Capitol Electric & Light, LLP; (2) Community Electric & Power, LLP; (3) L.A. Power & Light LLP; (4) Reliable Electric & Power, LLP; (5) San Diego Power & Light, LLP; (6) San Jose Power & Electric, LLP; (7) Southern California Power Partners, LLP; and (8) Twin Power & Electric of San Francisco / Oakland, LLP. Each LLP was comprised of 80 partnership units, each valued at $19,675, for a total capitalization of $1,547,000. Investors could purchase a half unit for $10,168, or a quarter unit for $5,425. Many investors purchased more than one unit, many using IRA monies and 401(k) retirement savings to finance the purchase.
16. Investors did not have meaningful managerial control over the LLP's and were in substance passive investors. Most investors lacked the technical expertise or business savvy required to manage any sort of company. Most did not even live in California, where the business was supposed to be located. They were powerless to contribute to the success or failure of the LLP's and expected profits to be derived from the entrepreneurial or managerial efforts of others. Furthermore, as described more fully below, defendants gutted each LLP, leaving investors with insufficient funding to create or run a successful business.
17. Grabarnick was Steingold's "master distributor," responsible for recruiting sales offices, explaining the product and distributing brochures.
18. Each LLP was marketed by a different sales office, called a "Partnership Recruiter," which also served as the "Initial Managing Partner" of the partnership. Investors were told that only 50 units were available to the public and that Full Power and the Initial Managing Partner would each retain 15 non-voting units in each partnership. In actuality, the Partnership Recruiter attempted to sell as many units as possible, and all of the units had voting rights. The Partnership Recruiter received approximately 40% of the sale: $7,750 for the sale of a full unit; $3,875 for a half unit; or $1,938 for a quarter unit.
19. Full Power Corporation received equal percentages for each sale purportedly in exchange for licenses necessary to sell power in California. The actual cost of the license never remotely approached the $620,000 that each fully funded partnership paid Full Power. Under California law, anyone could register as a statewide Electric Service Provider with the California Public Utilities Commission by paying a $100 filing fee and depositing $25,000 toward a company economic viability bond. Moreover, Full Power sublicensed the same statewide license to all eight partnerships under the guise of each sublicense applying to a different geographic location. The end result was that, unbeknownst to investors, Full Power received millions of dollars in fees for the same $100 license.
20. An additional amount of $675 applied to the sale of each unit or fraction thereof for escrow fees and "compliance" expenses. The compliance expenses consisted of a person from Steingold's office calling each investor and walking them through a script in which the "compliance officer" told the investor, among other things, that the LLP interests were not securities. The remaining 18%, or $3,500 of a $19,675 unit, was put in escrow purportedly for future operating costs of the partnership. If a partnership was fully funded, this left $280,000, out of more that $1.5 million invested, to run the business.
21. None of the partnerships ever became operational electric companies. After as many LLP units as possible were sold to the general public, investors were told that the partnership would not be viable and were offered stock in Full Power Corporation's OTC penny stock for their escrowed funds. Trades were executed at approximately $4.00/share, and investors were required to hold their shares for at least two years. Investors are now stuck with worthless partnership units and delisted penny stock.
22. Grabarnick and Shiner formed a joint venture called Internet Media to locate, obtain, evaluate and market leads for the sale of the electric power LLPs interests. They outsourced all computer programming, web design, web hosting, and bulk mailing to various individuals and small companies, but provided all content themselves. Shiner, facing jail time for tax evasion, sold his boiler room operation to LaBarre and focused with Grabarnick on generating leads over the Internet, a relatively passive but potentially lucrative business.
23. In the spring of 1998, Grabarnick and Shiner began designing websites promoting investments in electricity. Their websites included a short video. Because video-streaming was novel in 1998, this impressed many visitors. Grabarnick and Shiner worked closely with a computer programmer over several weeks to design the sites, supplying him with all of the text, the video and graphics.
24. Grabarnick and Shiner's websites contained numerous material misstatements and omissions regarding, among other things, the profitability of the investment, its risk and safety, need to invest quickly, and the partnership's likelihood of success.
Deregulation has created millions of dollars of investor wealth. Just look at the millionaires who took advantage by acting quickly on deregulation in telecommunications, airline, and trucking. You could be one too.
Hillary Clinton invested in the telecommunications industry in the early 80's and sold her shares 5 years later for more than 20 times what she paid for them. You now have the same opportunity!
A few thousand dollars invested in the electrical service industry could return 30 -40 - 50 thousand dollars or more in a very short period of time, plus an income for life. IRA qualified!
As an owner of an Electric Marketing Company offering consumers the ability to buy power for their home and businesses at a discount rate. [sic] You could realize a potential annual return of 50 to 100% on your investment. Every time someone turns on the lights, you profit!!
There are a limited number of openings for partners still available in this IRA qualified program.
You could see your initial capital grow 8 to 12 times in a very short period of time and receive an income for life!!!
26. Grabarnick and Shiner knew, or were reckless in not knowing, that their websites contained numerous material misstatements and omissions regarding, among other things, the profitability of the investment, its risk and safety, need to invest quickly, and the electric power LLP's likelihood of success. Given their prior dealings with Steingold, Grabarnick and Shiner knew, or were reckless in not knowing, that the electric power LLP's were a complete fraud.
27. Grabarnick and Shiner also knew, or were reckless in not knowing, that their websites failed to disclose that over 80% of investor funds applied toward "commissions" and other purported costs, including so-called "licensing fees" and that they sold the potential investor's contact information as leads.
28. Grabarnick and Shiner hired bulk e-mailers to generate up interest in the electric power LLPs and direct potential investors to their website. They targeted America On Line accounts because at the time AOL account holders typically had the highest income demographics and AOL subscriber lists were exploding in 1998 and 1999. For people new to the Internet, e-mail was a novelty, and as a result 1998 and 1999 are widely considered the heyday for promotional bulk e-mailing.
29. Grabarnick and Shiner initially authorized the mailing of approximately 4 million bulk or "spam" e-mails per week, but this number increased as more mailers were hired. Grabarnick and Shiner paid rates ranging from $500 for 1 million e-mails to $2000 for 5 million. Grabarnick and Shiner's e-mail messages generated 200 to 300 leads for every 1 million sent. Grabarnick and Shiner sold leads for rates ranging from $15 to $30 apiece, for a total of $586,340.
30. Every 100 leads resulted in anywhere from two to five sales. In addition to the money they were paid for generating leads, Grabarnick and Shiner each received approximately $275,000 in kickbacks for every unit, or fraction thereof, sold by a boiler room under Grabarnick's distributorship. Together Grabarnick and Shiner received over $1 million of the $10 million taken from investors in the electric power LLP scam.
growth market to general public!
Returns of 40% and more.
32. Grabarnick and Shiner made changes to the spam e-mails frequently, tweaking them to see if the revised message or subject line would invite more website visits and thus generate more leads. The basic material misstatements and omissions, however, remained the same. Potential investors were always promised incredible returns ("a potential 40% or greater yield as well as a lifetime income"), involving no selling or multilevel marketing, in a huge industry ("Be a partner in a 20 billion plus dollar per year industry") in which stable blue chip Wall Street firms were investing ("Know what opportunities in which Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs and other financial giants are currently investing").
33. Grabarnick and Shiner knew, or were reckless in not knowing, that their bulk or "spam" e-mails contained numerous material misstatements and omissions regarding, among other things, the profitability of the investment, its risk and safety, need to invest quickly, and the electric power LLP's likelihood of success. Given their prior dealings with Steingold, Grabarnick and Shiner knew, or were reckless in not knowing, that the electric power LLP's were a complete fraud.
34. Grabarnick and Shiner also knew, or were reckless in not knowing, that their bulk or "spam" e-mails failed to disclose that over 80% of investor funds applied toward "commissions" and other purported costs, including so-called "licensing fees" and that they sold the potential investor's contact information as leads.
35. Once an interested investor responded over the Internet by providing contact information to Grabarnick and Shiner, unbeknownst to him and her that information was sold to a boiler room. The next step was that the investor received a call from a salesperson who, under defendants' direction, used high-pressure sales tactics to close the deal.
36. Grabarnick supervised several of the boiler rooms, including those owned and operated by LaBarre and Peck. LaBarre's sales office was called "Electric Choice" and sold units in L.A. Power & Light and San Diego Power & Light, and possibly other LLPs. Peck's sales office was called "21st Century Power" and sold units in Twin Power & Electric and Reliable Electric & Power. Grabarnick had an office in each of these boiler rooms.
37. LaBarre and Peck employed telemarketers who used boiler-room sales tactics to offer and sell units in at least four electric power LLPs. The telemarketers worked from scripts provided by LaBarre and Peck.
38. Shiner gave sales presentations to the telemarketers to help them pitch the units - explaining the program, how deregulation supposedly worked, and how investors purportedly could make money.
39. At Grabarnick's, Shiner's, LaBarre's and Peck's direction, telemarketers made numerous material misstatements and omissions regarding, among other things, the profitability of the investment, its risk and safety, need to invest quickly, and the electric power LLP's likelihood of success. A school bus driver who invested in Twin Power was told, "It was going to be big. Can't lose. Compare AT&T and MCI." One 58 year-old retiree, who invested $10,000, was told by LaBarre's telemarketers "that people like the Clintons had made similar investments and doubled or tripled their money."
40. LaBarre and Peck and their telemarketers grossly misled investors regarding the risk of an investment, if they discussed risk at all. One of LaBarre's telemarketers told one investor, "This investment wouldn't make money only if Los Angeles fell into the ocean." Although the written offering materials contained disclosures that investing in an electric LLP was a highly speculative venture, the telemarketers contradicted those disclosures by telling the prospective investors that the LLP was "virtually guaranteed" to generate enormous profits. A 46-year-old steamfitter who invested $20,000 in April 1999 was told that he "would be able to retire in two to three years." Another investor said, "They told me everything was up and running. We would get great profits. They provided graphs and told us other LLPs were up and running." According to another investor, "Sally Peck indicated that Reliable would be selling power by 8/99 [and] we would start to realize a profit immediately [and] that Reliable had an exclusive license."
41. After LaBarre and Peck and their telemarketers hyped the investment, sometimes getting the investor to commit over the phone, LaBarre and Peck would send the prospective investor offering materials by overnight delivery if the prospective investor expressed interest in the offering and, more importantly, had funds immediately available. The offering materials were prepared by Steingold and distributed by Grabarnick, and included, among other things, a videotape, subscription documents, payment instructions and a "confidential partner questionnaire." In the videotape, Full Power represented that it was already operational and claimed that investors had the potential to make sudden, dramatic wealth as the company continued to grow.
42. Within a day or two after sending the offering materials, the telemarketers telephoned the prospective investors to make sure they had received the offering materials, to answer any questions and to solicit a final commitment. LaBarre and Peck participated in telephone calls with reluctant investors and often persuaded them to invest. LaBarre and Peck and the telemarketers used hard-sell tactics designed to create a sense of urgency - routinely telling prospects falsely that there were only one or two units left, and that they needed to decide quickly or they would miss out on the opportunity to invest.
43. Grabarnick, Shiner, LaBarre and Peck knew, or were reckless in not knowing, that the representations made to potential investors over the phone and in the written offering materials contained numerous material misstatements and omissions regarding, among other things, the profitability of the investment, its risk and safety, need to invest quickly, and the electric power LLP's likelihood of success. Given their prior dealings with Steingold, Grabarnick, Shiner, LaBarre and Peck knew, or were reckless in not knowing, that the electric power LLP's were a complete fraud.
44. LaBarre and Peck, through their sales offices, each made approximately $1.24 million in commissions from the sale of the LLP interests.
45. Plaintiff SEC hereby incorporates ¶¶ 1 through 44 with the same force and effect as if set out here.
46. In the manner described in ¶¶ 1 through 44, defendants Grabarnick, Shiner, LaBarre and Peck, in the offer or sale of securities, by the use of means or instruments of interstate commerce or by the mails, directly or indirectly (a) employed devices, schemes or artifices to defraud; (b) obtained money or property by means of untrue statements of material facts or omissions of material facts necessary in order to make the statements made, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; or (c) engaged in transactions, practices or courses of business which operated or would operate as a fraud or deceit upon purchasers of securities, in violation of Section 17(a) of the Exchange Act [15 U.S.C. § 77q(a)].
47. Plaintiff SEC hereby incorporates ¶¶ 1 through 44 with the same force and effect as if set out here.
48. In the manner described in ¶¶ 1 through 44, defendants Grabarnick, Shiner, LaBarre and Peck, in connection with the purchase or sale of securities, by the use of means or instrumentalities of interstate commerce or of the mails, directly or indirectly (a) employed devices, schemes or artifices to defraud; (b) made untrue statements of material facts or omissions of material facts necessary in order to make the statements made, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; or (c) engaged in transactions, practices or courses of business which operated or would operate as a fraud or deceit upon persons, in violation of Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act [15 U.S.C § 78j(b)] and Rule 10b-5 [17 C.F.R. § 240.10b-5] promulgated thereunder.
49. Plaintiff SEC hereby incorporates ¶¶ 1 through 44 with the same force and effect as if set out here.
50. In the manner described in ¶¶ 1 through 44, defendants Grabarnick, Shiner, LaBarre and Peck violated 15(a) of the Exchange Act [15 U.S.C. § 78(o)(a)] by making use of the means and instrumentalities of interstate commerce and of the mails to effect, induce, and attempt to induce the purchase and sale of securities without being registered with the SEC as a broker or dealer in accordance with Section 15(b) of the Exchange Act [15 U.S.C. § 78(o)(b)] and when no exemption form registration was available.
51. Plaintiff SEC hereby incorporates ¶¶ 1 through 44 with the same force and effect as if set out here.
52. In the manner described in ¶¶ 1 through 44, defendants Grabarnick, Shiner, LaBarre and Peck, directly or indirectly (a) without a registration statement in effect as to the securities, (i) made use of the means or instruments of transportation or communication or the mails to sell such securities through the use or medium of a prospectus or otherwise, or (ii) carried or caused to be carried through the mails, or in interstate commerce, by any means or instruments of transportation, such securities for the purpose of sale or for delivery after sale, and (b) made use of the means or instruments of transportation or communication in interstate commerce or of the mails to offer to sell or offer to sell through the use or medium of a prospectus or otherwise securities for which a registration statement had not been filed as to such securities, in violation of Sections 5(a) and 5(c) of the Securities Act [15 U.S.C. §§ 77e(a) and 77e(c)].
(i) permanently enjoining defendants Grabarnick, Shiner, LaBarre and Peck, and their agents, servants, employees, attorneys, and those in active concert or participation with them, who receive actual notice by personal service or otherwise, from violating Sections 5(a), 5(c) and 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 ("Securities Act") [15 U.S.C. §§ 77e(a), 77e(c) and 77q(a)] and Sections 10(b) and 15(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ("Exchange Act") [15 U.S.C. §§ 78j(b) and 78(o)(a)] and Rule 10b-5 [17 C.F.R. § 240.10b-5] promulgated thereunder.
(iv) granting such other relief as this Court may deem just and appropriate.


…if I only have eyes to see.
From one window, morning rushes in. Evening lingers long out the other.
Six panes of light are temporarily etched across our path each afternoon.
My grandmother's birds float quietly overhead.
She scatters cupcake plates in my shadow and plans another party.
He appears in the doorway as the sun sinks low.
Eyes ever twinkling, no matter how wearying the day.
Strong arms. For tossing her. For holding me.
We race to fall in.
The days stories unfold in familiar fashion.
We light candles, ladle nourishment, and laugh.
Soap and cinnamon. Scents mingle.
And this unlikely cathedral, in quieter hours – a sanctuary.
And I am being made.
This week has been the perfect mix of rest, work, and play. And I've loved it. I needed time and space to hit the "reset" button on life. Sometimes it just seems that everywhere I turn, things are a bit "off" and the more I dash from one thing to the next trying to right it all, the more maddening it becomes. Such was my feeling at the beginning of this week. But not today. Today, the clutter is cleared, both literally and figuratively. I'm rested…refreshed…at ease.
Over the last five days, I've had a lot of time to think about this space…and about that space. I want both to be an honest reflection, not only of me, but of the current season I'm in. Lately, I've been feeling this internal pressure to create (another craft project…another tutorial…another something) but I think that most days, rather than trying to "invent" beauty, I'm suppose to simply acknowledge the beauty that already surrounds me and give thanks. And then I read this post and began this project and my mind began to clear. Five days into the thirty and I'm in love.
All of that being said, you're likely to see some changes here in the days and weeks to come. There will be days when my post here is simply a series of images…wordless. This will be a challenge for me. I like words. I love words. I need words. But I think I need to exercise my ability to be silent more than I need to speak. And I want to learn to take photographs that need no explanation…images that speak for themselves.
Secondly, this feeling that I MUST post every single day is a prideful, self-imposed rule that is counter-creative in many ways and the surest way to end up in a bloggy burnout. From here on out, I will not be posting every single morning of the week. It will vary. I'm not making a schedule (as my type A personality would prefer) but rather just allowing space for it to happen as it will.
The format of the Solstice Letters project will remain unchanged but I will be posting just a few times per week. Keep those beautiful photographs coming. I'll be using them.
Thank you for reading this rambling of mine. I suppose most of it could have gone entirely unsaid but so many of you frequent here daily and I wanted to let you know that change is on the horizon.
If I disappear from here over the next day or two, know that our power did not survive the first dumping of snow here in the deep South. Yes, I know the weather man said three to five inches but where we live, it might as well be three to five feet. This town is unprepared and giddy with excitement. Well, off I go…there's much to be done this morning. Thank you for listening, as always.
p.s. As soon as I hit "publish" on this post, I hopped over to Shutter Sisters and received this wonderful surprise…more confirmation that I am indeed on the right path.
You can not return, exchange, or repeat it.
I lift the blind and you scatter.
Feather and fluff take flight.
So near, I can almost touch you.
Then far, you flicker and disappear.


text:
Q: Why is a tie in Tic-Tac-Toe called a "Cat's Game?" Back in grade school whenever we played a game of Tic-Tac-Toe (X's and O's) and the result was a tie, we would call it a "Cat's Game." I've never heard this term applied to a tie in any other circumstance and was interested in where this term came from and why it seems to be unique to Tic-Tac-Toe.

A: I always took it as a sort of dismissal of the game. When you think about the games that a cat would play, such as batting around a toy, or chasing its tail, there is no win condition. So basically it is saying, "That is a game that served no purpose".
Apparently on the broader scale tic-tac-toe has always had a connotation with cats in many different cultures; here is an interesting snippet from a podcast discussing the topic.

A: The "best answer" on Yahoo regarding this subject refers to it as a "cat trying to catch its tail."  The analogy is that a cat won't win the game of trying to catch its tail, and you can't win a tied game of Tic Tac Toe.
This seems plausible, but then again, I've seen plenty of cats catch their tails.
An answer on Ask.com suggests that "Tac" spelled backwards is "cat," and cats scratch.  And, since the game is a scratch . . .

A: Early associations of 'cat' with tie games
Dictionary of American Regional English (1985) has this entry for cat's game:

cat's game n Also cat, cat game, cat's tail | A tie game of tick-tack-toe. 1950 W[isconsin] E[nglish] L[anguage] S[urvey] (Neither  "x" no "o" wins {at tick-tack-toe}, you say it's ______) 6 Inf[ormant]s, W[isconsin], The cat's; 6 Infs, Cat's game; 6 Infs. (One) for he cat; 2 Infs, Cat got (or gets) it; 1 Inf, Cat. 1965–70 DARE (Qu[estion] EE38b) 120 Infs, widespread, Cat's game; 18 Infs, scattered, Cat; O[regon]15, Cat game; C[alifornia]37, Cat's tail; {24 Infs, Cat {wins, won, gets it, got it, has it, gets <or got, wins> the game)}

The earliest example of the expression that I have found in print is from Richard Andree, "The Need for Modern Mathematics" (1955) [combined snippets]:

Tic-tac-toe, three in a row, or old cat is a game which almost everybody knows how to play. My five year old son enjoys playing it under the name 'noughts and crosses.' Players soon discover that i[t] isn't very much of a game. The person who goes first can't lose unless he blunders. He doesn't necessarily win--it may be a cat game--but he can't lose unless he blunders, After you discover this, the game loses interest.

And from Edward McCormick, Digital Computer Primer (1959):

Tick-Tack-Toe. An example of logical problems which can be solved on a logical computer is the game of tick-tack-toe (tit-tat-toe, or naughts and crosses). This ancient child's game is simple enough to be thoroughly analyzed, and many devices for playing it have been built. It is played (if anyone need be told) by two people, who alternately place naughts and crosses on a 3 × 3 grid. The game is won by the player who gets three marks in a row. In game-theory parlance, the game is finite (comes to a definite end) and if played rationally will result in a draw (a cat's game).

A related idea appears in Bryng Bryngelson & Esther Glaspey, Speech in the Classroom: Teacher's Manual to Accompany Speech Improvement Cards (1951) [combined snippets]:

Old Cat | A game similar to tick-tack-toe may be played as follows: One Picture Nine Game Card is given to two pupils, and the corresponding small cards are spread out face up on the table. The first player chooses any small card he wishes, names it, and plays it face up over the corresponding picture on the large card. (If he does not name the card correctly, he loses a turn.) The other player chooses a card, names it, and places it on the Picture Nine Game Card face down so as to distinguish it from the other player's. The two players continue, each trying to complete a row (horizontal, vertical, or diagonal) with three of his own cards, as with circles and crosses in tick-tack-toe. If neither player gets three of his cards in a row, the Old Cat wins the game.

A much earlier allusion to a game-winning cat appears in Fred A. Sassé, Rookie Days of a Soldier (1924), where the game itself is referred to as "tit-tat-to":

Next, you walk around to the doctor who vaccinates your left arm by pricking two lines up and down and two lines across, similar to the old Tit-Tat-To game. The cat has the game in a great many cases, for the vaccination doesn't always work."

And earlier still, from Carolym Wells, "The Tit-Tat-Toe Club," in Ainslee's Magazine (1902):

The game [of tit-tat-toe] proceeded. "Be careful," said Miss Pollock, warningly, to her opponents; "some authorities think the second play is the most important of any. And, of course, it is, if one p;lays the Parkington opening. But the conservative opinion of late seems to favor the crackajack opening, followed by oblique second play."
The ladies of the whist club were unable to understand these technical terms, but being skilled in the art of living in a suburban town, they quickly took the cue of thoughtful hesitation, and they pondered over the placing of each nought and cross with faces expressive of most weighty deliberation.
"Cat it! Cat it!" cried Miss Pollock, suddenly, and every member of the whist club jumped involuntarily, but immediately resumed her composure, and glanced reprovingly at her neighbor.
"Cat it!" cried Miss Pollock, again ; "give it to the old cat, don't you know? Draw the game!"
To a few of the ladies present came a dim recollection of two childish heads hidden behind a discreet geography, and bending close above a slate, on which were marked the respective scores of the players, and a large space dedicated to the old cat.
"It is considered equally as clever to cat a game as to win it," Miss Pollock informed her audience. "Indeed our champions cat all their games."

Early associations of other figures with tie games
The cat may not have been the original beneficiary of tie games, however. From Alice Gomme, The Traditional Games of England, Scotland, and Ireland, in A Dictionary of British Folk-lore, part 1, volume 1 (1894):

Noughts and Crosses
This game is played on slates by school-children. The accompanying diagram is drawn on the slate, and a certain figure (generally twenty) is agreed upon as "game." There are two players, one takes naughts {0} and the other takes crosses {×}. The three places drawn on the slate above the diagram are for the players each to put down marks or numbers for the games they win, the centre place being for "Old Nick," or "Old Tom." The object of the game is for each player to occupy three contiguous places in a row or line with wither noughts or crosses, and to prevent his opponent from doing so. The diagram is of course empty when play begins. One player commences by putting his mark into either of the vacant places he prefers, the other player then places his in another, wherever he thinks he has the best opportunity to prevent his opponent from getting a "three," and at the same time to get a three himself; then the first player plays again, and so on alternately until all squares are occupied, or until one of the players has a "three" in line. If neither player gets a "three," the game is won by "Old Nick." Whichever player wins a game adds "Old Nick's" score to his own. In some games "Old Nick" keeps all he wins for himself, and then most frequently wins the game.—London (A.B. Gomme)

And from "Memoir on the Study of Children's Games," in A Dictionary of British Folk-lore, part 1 volume 2 (1898):

Other games of skill are those played by two or more players on diagrams or plans. Many of these diagrams and plans are found scratched or carved on the stone flooring or walls of old churches, cathedrals, and monastic buildings, showing that the boys and men of the Middle Ages played them as a regular amusement—probably monks were not averse to this kind of diversion in the intervals of religious exercise ; plans were also made on the ground, and the games played regularly by shepherds and other people of outdoor occupation. We know this was so with the well-known "Nine Men's Morris" in Shakespeare's time, and there is no reason why this should not be the case with others, although "Nine Men's Morris" appears to have been the favourite. These diagram games are primitive in idea, and simple in form. They consist primarily of two players trying to form a row of three stones in three consecutive places on the plan; the one who first accomplishes this, wins. This is the case with  "Kit-Cat-Cannio" (better known as  "Noughts and Crosses"), "Corsicrown" and "Nine Men's Morris."
Now, in "Noughts and Crosses" the simplest form of making a "row of three," where only two players play, and in another diagram game called "Tit-Tat-Toe," it is possible for neither player to win, and in this case the the result is marked or scored to an unknown or invisible third player, who is called "Old Nick," "Old Tom," or "Old Harry." In some versions this third player is allowed to keep all the marks he registers, and to win the game if possible; in others, the next successful player takes "Old Nick's" score and adds it to his own. Here we have an element which needs explanation, and it is interesting to remind oneself of the primitive custom of assigning a certain portion of the crops or pieces of land to the devil, or other earth spirit, which assignment was made by lot. It seems to me that a game in which an invisible player takes part must come from an era in which unknown spirits were believed to take part in people's lives, the interpretation of such part being obtained by means of divination.

Similarly (but later), from Francis Ross, Reading to Find Out: A Silent Reader for Primary Grades (1923):

Tit-Tat-Toe | This is a game for two people. | Draw four lines across each other like those in the three lower figures on page 34. | One player marks a space with o. The other player marks a space with x. They take turns in playing. | The one who first has three marks in a line wins the game. He says,

"Tit-tat-toe, / Three men in a row."

Look at page 34 to see how to keep the score. Let us pretend that the two children who are playing are called Ruth and John. Those games that neither Ruth nor John wins we will say belong to Jack, who is just a make-believe child.

Assessment
A number of early descriptions of the game refer simply to a "draw game." For example from The American Boy's Book of Sports and Games (1864):

TIT-TAT-TO. This is a game that small boys enjoy, and some big ones who won't own it. A figure is drawn on the slate, as in the cut, and the object of the game is that one shall draw three crosses in a row before the other can draw three naughts in that way ; each to mark but one at a time, somewhere between the bars, and the two to mark in turns. ... If A is smart he will put his cross between those two naughts, though it end in a draw game, for B will put his naught on the opposite side, and then no one can make it [three in a row].

Nevertheless, it is striking that various tic-tac-toe traditions avoid declaring a game in which neither active competitor wins a tie. Instead they assign the victory to a silent third party—old Nick, old Tom, old Harry, the old man, Jack, the old cat, or the cat.
The names "Old Harry," "Old Nick," and "Old Tom" are historically associated with the Devil, which introduces an infernal twist to the silent participant's identity. Whether the cat appeared as a stand-in for the Devil in an effort to make the silent adversary's identity more child-friendly or whether it drew on old associations between cats and devils—or whether, entirely to the contrary, the cat appeared independently of Old Nick and Old Harry simply because cats were common, familiar, and silent observers in many a place where people played games of tic-tac-toe—the sources I've examined don't say.
What they do establish, with some degree of certainty, is that characterizing a draw in tic-tac-toe as a win for old Tom, Nick, or Harry was familiar in parts of Britain by 1894, and that characterizing it as a win for the old cat was familiar in parts of the United States by 1902.

A: Completely winging it here, I'm going to suggest that Tic-Tac-Toe is typically a childrens' pastime, so it's natural to associate it with The Cat's Cradle Game (a "game" which nobody "wins").
It's worth noting that many/most children are fiercly competitive. If two children are playing Cat's Cradle and it "goes wrong", one might well start complaining vociferously that it was the other's fault, and thus that he somehow "lost".
It's easy to imagine a nearby adult stepping in and defusing the situation by pointing out that Cat's Cradle isn't a "win/lose" sort of game. It would thus be quite natural for the children to figuratively refer to that "no winner" game later, when Tic-Tac-Toe ends in a draw.

The earliest reference I can find for this usage is from 1952, and implies it probably wasn't a "recent coinage" at that time.

A: I always figured it was almost a method of keeping score of the tie games, i.e "we were 1 and 1 and then tied this game, so who gets the point? i guess the cat? alright so the cat gets the point for that round, chalk it up as one of the cat's wins, or it was a cat's game"

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text:
Satire in pride and prejudice
Performance of initial public offerings in
A study on the relation between music and math
Writing a recursion definitions of a functions
For instance, the fibonacci sequence is defined recursively. Sample Code for this Chapter It's time to return to function definitions. A Binary search tree is a special case of the binary tree where the data elements of each node are in order.
Implementation issues[ edit ] In actual implementation, rather than a pure recursive function single check for base case, otherwise recursive stepa number of modifications may be made, for purposes of clarity or efficiency.
It is essential for what follows. Now let's implement that in Haskell. Clearly 3 does not match 0, but it does match n: The running of a procedure involves actually following the rules and performing the steps. An empty list reversed equals the empty list itself.
So, the type signature is going to be quicksort:: My guess is that the edge condition is 0 or less. For example, to evaluate factorial 3, we retrieve the definition of factorial, then pattern match the argument against the pattern of each clause.
In the absence of nested functions, auxiliary functions are instead a separate function, if possible private as they are not called directlyand information is shared with the wrapper function by using pass-by-reference. If there is only a single base case, such as in computing the factorial, short-circuiting provides only O 1 savings.
How are applications of recursive value bindings evaluated? To accomplish this, the function must be given a name by which it can refer to itself. When dealing with lists, the edge case is most often the empty list. This is really just a special case of the mathematical definition of recursion.
To understand recursion, one must recognize the distinction between a procedure and the running of a procedure. To accomplish this, the function must be given a name by which it can refer to itself.
Therefore, let's implement it here, even though implementing quicksort in Haskell is considered really cheesy because everyone does it to showcase how elegant Haskell is.
Here, we simply put them out as patterns. However, a recursive procedure is where at least one of its steps calls for a new instance of the very same procedure, like a sourdough recipe calling for some dough left over from the last time the same recipe was made. If we call maximum' on that, the first two patterns won't match.
Below is an example of a recursive function. The maximum value that remains at the end is the result. First, we define the first two fibonacci numbers non-recursively. We then in four steps compute the result, 6, by completing the pending multiplications.
A procedure that goes through recursion is said to be 'recursive'. The extremal clause asserts that unless an object can be shown to be a member of the set by applying the basis and inductive clauses a finite number of times, the object is not a member of the set.
In rough outline the computation of factorial 3 proceeds as follows: So if we have, say [5,1,9,4,6,7,3] and we want to sort it, this algorithm will first take the head, which is 5 and then put it in the middle of two lists that are smaller and bigger than it.
That's the beauty of functional programming! Like the node for linked lists, it is defined in terms of itself, recursively. If you're dealing with trees, the edge case is usually a node that doesn't have any children. The Fibonacci numbers are the numbers of the following sequence of integer values: To do so we retrieve the binding for factorial a second time, and to apply it to 2.
Then we say that for any other natural number, that fibonacci number is the sum of the previous two fibonacci numbers. Recursive Functions in Python Now we come to implement the factorial in Python.
In any case, executing the procedure requires carefully recording all currently explored branching points, and which of their branches have already been exhaustively tried. Well, we get an empty list back then. We know that once the list is sorted completely, the number 5 will stay in the fourth place since there are 3 numbers lower than it and 3 numbers higher than it.
For example, Count 1 would return 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9, Otherwise return a list that has x as the first element and then x replicated n-1 times as the tail.Video: Stages of the Recursive Writing Process To grow as a writer, you should spend time revisiting and reflecting on your work.
When you. Definition of recursive in English: recursive. adjective. 'Kleene's research was on the theory of algorithms and recursive functions.' 'He studied consistency of arithmetic, proving that formal arithmetic with recursive definitions is consistent.'.
reapplying the same formula or algorithm to a number or result in order to generate the next number or result in a series; returning again and again to a point or points already made: a recursive style of writing · See recursion.
· See recursion. Writing recursive template haskell functions. Ask Question.
this question is specifically about writing recursive TH functions is compiled at a later time, so no more infinite recursive definitions. This version of fact looks slightly different than the original.
Tips for Writing Iterative-Style Recursive Functions¶ Writing an iterative-style recursive function is very similar to writing a "head recursive" function, so start by coming up. Writing recursive template haskell functions. Ask Question. this question is specifically about writing recursive TH functions is compiled at a later time, so no more infinite recursive definitions.
This version of fact looks slightly different than the original.
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text:
Bradley "Brad" Schneider
Rep. Bradley "Brad" Schneider
Representative for Illinois's 10th District
pronounced BRAD-lee // SHNĪ-der
Track Him
Schneider's Official Website @repschneider OpenSecrets VoteSmart Bioguide C-SPAN
Schneider is the representative for Illinois's 10th congressional district (view map) and is a Democrat. He has served since Jan 3, 2017. Schneider is next up for reelection in 2022 and serves until Jan 3, 2023.
He was previously the representative for Illinois's 10th congressional district as a Democrat from 2013 to 2014.
Contact Rep. Bradley "Brad" Schneider
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Head over to Rep. Bradley "Brad" Schneider's website. If you are having a problem with a government agency, look for a contact link for casework to submit a request for help. Otherwise, look for a phone number on that website to call his office if you have a question.
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I live elsewhere.
Not all Members of Congress will accept messages from non-constituents. You can try your luck by visiting Schneider's website. Otherwise, try contacting your own representative:
Find Your Representative »
I'm not sure if I live in his district.
You are currently on the website GovTrack.us, which has no affiliation with Schneider and is not a government website. Choose from the options above to find the right way to contact Schneider.
Ideology–Leadership Chart
Schneider is shown as a purple triangle ▲ in our ideology-leadership chart below. Each dot is a member of the House of Representatives positioned according to our ideology score (left to right) and our leadership score (leaders are toward the top).
The chart is based on the bills Schneider has sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 3, 2017 to Jan 15, 2021. See full analysis methodology.
Ratings from Advocacy Organizations
Human Rights Campaign: 100% Planned Parenthood Action Fund: 100% League of Conservation Voters: 91% United States Chamber of Commerce: 73% The Club for Growth: 12%
Enacted Legislation
Schneider was the primary sponsor of 1 bill that was enacted:
H.R. 5681 (115th): Global Engagement Center Authorities Act of 2018
Does 1 not sound like a lot? Very few bills are ever enacted — most legislators sponsor only a handful that are signed into law. But there are other legislative activities that we don't track that are also important, including offering amendments, committee work and oversight of the other branches, and constituent services.
We consider a bill enacted if one of the following is true: a) it is enacted itself, b) it has a companion bill in the other chamber (as identified by Congress) which was enacted, or c) if at least about half of its provisions were incorporated into bills that were enacted (as determined by an automated text analysis, applicable beginning with bills in the 110th Congress).
Bills Sponsored
Schneider sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:
Taxation (19%) Health (19%) International Affairs (16%) Armed Forces and National Security (12%) Crime and Law Enforcement (10%) Commerce (9%) Government Operations and Politics (9%) Science, Technology, Communications (6%)
Recent Bills
Some of Schneider's most recently sponsored bills include...
H.R. 315: To amend the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act to extend the ...
H.R. 316: To direct the President to appoint a Medical Supplies Response Coordinator to coordinate ...
H.R. 212: To require Federal agencies to submit plans for responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, ...
H.R. 8930 (116th): E–QUIP Act
H.R. 8929 (116th): Default Proceed Sale Transparency Act
H.R. 8840 (116th): Medicare Sequester COVID Moratorium Act
H.R. 8805: Retail Revitalization Act of 2020
View All » | View Cosponsors »
Schneider voted Yea
H.R. 133: Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 [Including Coronavirus Stimulus & Relief]
Passed 327/85 on Dec 21, 2020.
This bill became the vehicle for passage of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, a major government funding bill, which also included economic stimulus provisions due ...
H.R. 6395: National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021
Passed 335/78 on Dec 8, 2020.
Schneider voted Aye
H.Res. 879: Providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 3053) to amend the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, and ...
Passed 224/184 on May 9, 2018.
H.Res. 773: Providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 4545) to amend the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council Act of ...
Passed 235/182 on Mar 14, 2018.
H.Res. 682: Providing for consideration of the bill (S. 139) to implement the use of Rapid DNA instruments to inform ...
Passed 233/181 on Jan 10, 2018.
H.Res. 657: Providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 2396) to amend the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act to update the exception for ...
Passed 240/184 on Dec 13, 2017.
H.R. 83 (113th): Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015
This bill became the vehicle for passage of the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015 [pdf], which was approved by the House on December ...
H.J.Res. 124 (113th): Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2015
Passed 319/108 on Sep 17, 2014.
H.R. 3393 (113th): Student and Family Tax Simplification Act
Passed 227/187 on Jul 24, 2014.
H.R. 4414 (113th): Expatriate Health Coverage Clarification Act of 2014
Failed 257/159 on Apr 9, 2014.
H.R. 325 (113th): No Budget, No Pay Act of 2013
From Jan 2013 to Jan 2021, Schneider missed 42 of 3,385 roll call votes, which is 1.2%. This is on par with the median of 2.0% among the lifetime records of representatives currently serving. The chart below reports missed votes over time.
We don't track why legislators miss votes, but it's often due to medical absenses and major life events.
Show the numbers...
Votes Eligible
2013 Jan-Mar 89 0 0.0% 0th
2013 Apr-Jun 215 1 0.5% 22nd
2013 Jul-Sep 200 0 0.0% 0th
2013 Oct-Dec 137 0 0.0% 0th
2014 Jan-Mar 148 22 14.9% 96th
2014 Apr-Jun 219 0 0.0% 0th
2014 Nov-Dec 49 0 0.0% 0th
2017 Jan-Mar 208 0 0.0% 0th
2018 Jan-Mar 129 5 3.9% 64th
2018 Apr-Jun 184 7 3.8% 64th
2020 Apr-Jun 31 0 0.0% 0th
2020 Jul-Sep 80 4 5.0% 77th
2020 Oct-Dec 40 0 0.0% 0th
2021 Jan-Jan 17 0 0.0% 0th
The information on this page is originally sourced from a variety of materials, including:
unitedstates/congress-legislators, a community project gathering congressional information
The House and Senate websites, for committee membership and voting records
GPO Member Guide for the photo
GovInfo.gov, for sponsored bills
Bradley "Brad" Schneider is pronounced:
BRAD-lee // SHNĪ-der
The letters stand for sounds according to the following table:
as in
Capital letters indicate a stressed syllable.


text:
Роуз је измишљени лик из британске серије комедије ситуације -{Keeping Up Appearances}- (значење: Одржавање угледа). У првој сезони је глуми Ширли Стелфокс, док у осталих четири то ради Мери Милар. Роуз је привлачнија, иако остарија сестра помодарне Хајасинт Бакет, односно како је комшија Емет описује: 'Она са питомим ногама'. Живи у дотрајалој државној кући са сестром Дејзи, њеним аљкавим мужем Онзлоуом и својим сенилним оцем, кога Хајасинт у серији зове "Татица". Роуз га обично тако не зове.

Она је промискуитетна, увек носи одећу која открива тело, а вечито је у вези са неким мушкарцем који је обично ожењен. То јој даје углед блуднице и јефтине жене, још једаног нижекласног члана породице да осрамоти Хајасинт Бакет. Као и са осталим сиромашнијим рођацима, Хајасинт је срамота од Роуз и боји се да јој не поквари планове да се успне уз друштвену лествицу. Међутим, када год ова најмлађа од трију сестара постане узрујана или депресивна (најчешће због несрећног догађаја са момком), Хајасинт јој увек притиче у помоћ и јасно показује да јој је стало. Чак је једном и љуби у образ, а то у четвртој епизоди прве сезоне.

Насупрот томе, ова жена кратке сукње никад не оклева да се уплете у Хајасинтин живот, често јурећи њене мушке познанике као што су (ожењени) парох и комшија Емет. Парохова завидна жена Роуз назива 'вампирском сестром'.

Ричард је у трећој сезони описује као "нежну душу" која је само мало "побркана".

Изглед јој значи све, што важи и за Хајасинт, с тим што су им циљеви драстично другачији. Њен провокативни начин живота представља један део хумора серије, а изазива саркастичне Онзлоуове опаске.

Likovi iz serije "Keeping Up Appearances"

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text:
SCS Global Services' Carbon Neutral Certification Added by Amazon to its Climate Pledge Friendly Program
EMERYVILLE, Calif., April 20, 2021
Today, SCS Global Services' Carbon Neutral Certification Program announced that it has been selected by Amazon as one of its newest, trusted, third-party certifications for its Climate Pledge Friendly program, which helps customers discover and shop for more than 75,000 sustainable products in the U.S. and Europe. SCS Global Services (SCS), an international pioneer and leader in sustainability standards development and third-party certification of environmental, social, safety and quality performance, certifies products to multiple internationally recognized carbon neutral standards.
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Companies wishing to explore carbon neutral certification for their products can visit www.scsglobalservices.com to learn more about SCS' Carbon Neutral program.
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SCS was founded to provide global leadership in third-party safety and sustainability certification, auditing, testing and standards development since 1984. Partnering with companies, government agencies, NGOs and stakeholders, SCS is striving to advance sustainable development goals through independent assessment, the application of sound science and innovative solutions. SCS' programs and services span a wide range of industries, recognizing achievements in food and agriculture, natural resources extraction, green building, product manufacturing, consumer goods, energy, climate and much more. Through these services, the company is enabling decision-makers and purchasers to make informed decisions, giving innovators a competitive edge, and helping to drive the development of leadership standards to create a framework for continuous improvement. SCS is a California Benefit Corporation, reflecting its commitment to socially and environmentally responsible business practices. For more information, visit www.scsglobalservices.com.
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Tom Ehart | Corporate Marketing Director
SCS Global Services
To find out more, contact Tom Ehart, or call 510.853.4657.


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text:
Swedish Police Warns Women Not To Go Out At Night
(News Articles from The GATES OF VIENNA and The DAILY MAIL UK in March 2016.)
Women in Östersund Had Better Stay Home at Night, Or Get Used to Being Raped. Whole Sweden is a crime scene and Östersund is a small town in the northern part of Sweden the Muslim Rape Capital of The World. Like most such towns, Östersund has always been a placid, orderly, law-abiding place — that's the Swedish way.
Until recently. Everything has changed since the arrival of "refugees" at asylum centers that are popping up like mushrooms all over the Swedish landscape, even in the most rural areas. In the past few weeks six violent crimes — including rape and attempted rape — have been committed by men of "foreign appearance" against women out alone at night in Östersund.
Sleepy Swedish town rocked by EIGHT sex attacks in just three weeks, including on young children, by MUSLIM migrant men. Two 10-year-old girls were groped at a bus stop by a gang of Muslim migrants who threatened to rape them.
The following day, a woman was punched in the face, splitting her eyebrow, by a Muslim who threatened to kill her after he made a rude comment to her. Just five days later a woman walking on her own was attacked by three men, beaten and pushed to the ground. They held her down, forced their fingers into her mouth while saying offensive, sexual words to her.
And in the latest incident just five days ago, a woman had to use martial arts to elbow her would-be rapist in the head and escape after three men surrounded her and punched to the ground and tried to pull her trousers down.
Now the police are advising women to stay at home at night, or at the very least not go out except in groups. The police chief would obviously prefer not to issue such advice, but he has been forced to acknowledge that his force is unable to protect the women of Östersund. There would have to be a policeman, or possibly several, to accompany each woman when she is away from home.
One of the "New Swedes" might say: "Ah, but there is an easy solution — the women should go out only if accompanied by their husbands, fathers, brothers, or sons!" In other words, the self-enforced practice of sharia law. Are Swedish women unhappy with this de-facto condition of purdah to which they are now being relegated? Yes, probably so.
Are they angry enough about it to vote out the multiculturalist politicians who forced it upon them without their consent? No, apparently not. Not yet, anyway.
Video transcript of The Police Warning to Swedish Women:
00:02 As we see it just now, we recommend that women who go out late at night
00:08 rather not do it without getting a lift, or that they go together as a group.
00:14 In the weekend a rape attempt and an assault was reported in the center of town
00:18 But they are not the only cases.
00:22 Since the 20th of February six types of assaults against women were reported in Östersund.
00:26 I am sorry to say so but I think they need to act out of a "better safe than sorry" principle.
00:30 There was actually a woman on her way to work at 11 in the evening
00:36 who was attacked, so it is not just in the bar environment
00:40 that women are easy prey that they throw themselves over.
00:42 Here was a lone woman and a bit late in the evening
00:44 with nobody else around.
00:48 I think we should act out of a safety principle.
00:50 But it is rather serious that we are asking women to change their behavior.
00:54 Yes, unfortunately that is the way it is,
00:57 but we think it is important.
00:59 We feel a strong concern that this could end with something much worse than an attempted rape.
01:03 The incidents we have had, where women have been assaulted, have been very violent.
01:07 The police have certain leads in the various cases,
01:11 but are also asking the public if they have heard or seen anything
01:14 that could help solve the cases.
01:18 Are the perpetrators lone individuals or are there several?
01:22 In the case of assault and the attempted rape, it has been a group of up to three persons.
01:26 In two other cases it has been individuals.
01:30 What is also curious is that none of the perpetrators
01:34 have been intoxicated.
01:36 According to our knowledge they have been completely sober.
01:41 Which is also odd.
01:44 Have there earlier been similar incidents in Östersund?
01:46 No, there haven't been.
01:48 There have obviously been some cases over the years,
01:52 but it is normally drunken men fighting with each other and stuff like that.
01:58 This is something new; here it is women who are the target.
02:02 A number of them over a short period of time.
Women are warned not to go out alone at night in Swedish town
Women in Östersund, Sweden, warned not to go out alone after dark. Follows spike in assaults in city centre by 'men of foreign appearance'. Police added that attacks are unusual as 'no perpetrators were drunk'.
Women in a town in northern Sweden have been warned not to walk alone at night in the wake of a spike in violent assaults and attempted rapes. Police in Östersund made the unusual move to ask women not to go out unaccompanied after dark, after reports of eight brutal attacks, some by 'men of foreign appearance', in just over two weeks.
Speaking at a press conference on Monday, police said they 'have never seen anything like it in Östersund', a small town in the north of Sweden with a population of just 45,000. All incidents have taken place in Östersund since the 20th of February, and involved outdoor attacks where the perpetrators have been unknown to their female victims.
Sweden is preparing for the expulsion of up to 80,000 people whose asylum bids have been rejected, a cabinet member said 28 January 2016. A record 163,000 people applied for asylum in Sweden in 2015, straining resources and capacity at reception centres and local municipalities. The increase of explusions will be likely only at the beginning of 2017 though, due to the backlog the Swedish Migration Agency was struggeling with.
A police spokesperson added that in addition to the increased frequency, the attacks are also conspicuous as - despite being carried out late at night - none of the perpetrators were drunk. 'The cases of the sexual harassment and attempted rapes have involved groups of up to three people,' regional police chief Stephen Jerand told Sveriges Television. 'What stands out is also that none of these perpetrators have been under the influence,' he adds.
The most recent assault took place in the early hours of Sunday morning, when a woman was became the victim of an attempted rape by three young men in central Östersund. She was brought to the ground by three unknown men shortly after 1am, after which the men tried to rip her trousers off, but the woman fought back and managed to escape. The perpetrators have been described as 'tall, slim, aged 18-25 and speaking Swedish with a foreign accent'.
Just a few hours later, police received another report of a lone woman being attacked by a young man in the same neighbourhood in central Östersund. A police report states that an unknown man in his late 20s 'whose appearance was described as foreign' attacked the woman without provocation. The man had reportedly walked up to her and punched her in the face with his fist, then thrown her to the ground, pushing her head into the asphalt, before running off.
SWEDISH POLICE GIVE DETAILS OF THE BRUTAL ATTACKS
February 20: Two ten-year-old girls were groped by a group of adult men. Police say the men surrounded the girls at a bus station and started to touch them while threatening to rape them. Adults saw what was happening and intervened before the men escaped.
February 21: A women was walking alone at midnight in the town centre when a man passing by made sexual remark. The woman responded by calling him an 'idiot'. He punched her, splitting her eyebrow and threatened to kill her. He was interrupted by passers-by and fled.
February 26: A women walking to work near the university was attacked by three men, beaten and pushed to the ground. They held her down and forced their fingers into her mouth while saying offensive, sexual words to her. Taleb Moafagh, 22, was arrested over the incident.
February 27: Police saw men surround a group of women and grope them outside a nightclub. When police tried to intervene, a drunken brawl broke out between men coming out of the club and the sex attackers fled.
March 2: Two women walking home from a bar were stopped by a group of men who told them: 'Girls should not be out at this time of the night' – before pushing them into a corner and groping them, then wandered off, laughing.
March 5: A woman walking by herself was threatened by a man in passing car, who screamed at her he would get his friends to 'rape and murder' her. When she ran off, he chased her but she managed to get to her apartment before he reached her.
March 6: A women walking home alone was whistled at by a man. When she told him to stop, he hit her in the head with his fist. She fell down and he punched her a second time, pushed her head into the snow and screamed at her he would rape and kill her before fleeing.
March 6: The same day another woman was walking home from a restaurant was attacked by three men. She was hit in the stomach by two of the men and shoved to the ground. A third man began undoing her trousers, but she managed to hit him in the head with her elbow. He started bleeding and fled. She later told police she was trained in martial arts – a skill police say saved her from being raped.
Sweden, which has a population of nearly 10 million, welcomed more than 163,000 migrants and refugees in 2015, more than any other European nation per capita. Police also highlighted an additional four cases in the past two weeks, including a lone woman assaulted by three men, and a report of a group of ten-year-old girls being harassed by men in central Ostersund.
The warning has been widely criticised, including by representatives of the local government, with many arguing that women should not have to 'adapt' to abusers. 'I am adverse to the solution being to tell women and children to sat at home, that can never be the solution for us,' local government commissioner AnnSofie Andersson told Sveriges Radio.
Sweden welcomed nearly 163,000 migrants and refugees in 2015, more than any other European nation per capita. The Scandinavian country, which has a population of nearly 10 million, imposed compulsory border-control ID checks in January to try to curb the influx.
Europe is facing it's biggest wave of immigration since the Second World War, with millions risking their lives to leave war and terror behind, or simply to seek a better life on another continent. The latest UN report shows that in the first two months of 2016, more than 130,000 refugees and migrants crossed the Mediterranean Sea - more than the total number for the first half of 2015.
Ostersund police chief.
Ostersund police are warning women not to go out at night.
900 Muslim men are staying at the Ostersund Refugee Center.
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text:
Q: How do I find a max on separate sheets and indexing the name associated but ignoring a blank? I have several sheets that have a value of a crypto on each sheet and I am trying to find the max value and then print the name of the coin with that maximum value. But if one of the values of F5 is empty, how can I get the formula (below) to ignore an empty F5?
In the cells I am trying to print the name:
=INDEX(FILTERXML(""&TEXTJOIN("",,ADA:XRP!A5)&"","//b"),MATCH(1,FREQUENCY(MAX(ADA:XRP!F5),ADA:XRP!F5),0))

There are several sheets in between ADA and XRP and A5 has the name of the coin associated.
In previous efforts, this has worked. But in this case now, the max comes up as the highest in the sheet to the left of the maximum if one of the sheets has a blank F5. I tried the same with LARGE (2) and the same issue.
How do I fix this?

A: If the maximum value from F5 in those sheets could never occur anywhere within the range A5:E5 in any of those sheets:
=LET(ζ,FILTERXML(""&TEXTJOIN("",0,ADA:XRP!A5:F5)&"","//b"),INDEX(ζ,MATCH(MAX(ADA:XRP!F5),ζ,0)-COLUMNS(A5:F5)+1))
Otherwise:
=VLOOKUP(MAX(ADA:XRP!F5),IF({0,1},FILTERXML(""&TEXTJOIN("",0,ADA:XRP!A5)&"","//b"),FILTERXML(""&TEXTJOIN("",0,ADA:XRP!F5)&"","//b")),2,0)
Or:
=LET(ζ,COLUMNS(A5:F5),FILTERXML(""&TEXTJOIN("",0,ADA:XRP!A5:F5)&"","//b[position() mod "&ζ&" = 1 and following::*["&ζ-1&"]="&MAX(ADA:XRP!F5)&"]"))


Sustainability: it's a much abused word. We could never claim to be sustainable, not in the true sense of having a neutral environmental impact, and we are unlikely to achieve this state. The depressing truth is that in the short-term it would be very challenging for most people to live truly sustainable lives without completely revoking the lifestyles we are all to a lesser or greater extent locked in to (whether we like it or not). Moreover, the public- and private-sector services we rely on make up a large proportion of our unsustainable environmental footprint - this part is largely outside of our direct control. The growing human population is another factor - the more of us there are, the fewer resources there are to go around. If there were only a million people on Earth we could all live like kings sustainably!
That said, at home and at work it is only right and proper that we aim to reduce our environmental impact as far as we reasonably can - not only does this help us to understand how much is achievable in practice, it also gives us the opportunity to try some of the latest products and technologies. We also feel that the best way to learn is to "practice as we preach" - in this way we can better understand the challenges we all face in trying to achieve a sustainable lifestyle, and better be able to understand issues from the client's perspective.
Andy's end-of-terrace home and office is naturally being made as energy-efficient as possible - on top of comprehensive insulation and modern double-glazing, solar PV technology generates twice as much electricity (3400kWh) as is used (around 1700kWh) and a wood-burning stove helps to keep central heating requirements to a minimum (around 1000-2000kWh per annum). Energy-efficient lighting includes the latest LED technology, and modern kitchen appliances also help to minimise electricity consumption.
Food and garden waste (and even old cotton and wool clothing) is composted to help nourish the vegetable patches, and rainwater is captured for watering the garden in drier spells. Everything that can be is reused, repaired, given away to friends, Freecycled or recycled, helping to keep waste to a minimum.
Business travel is kept to a minimum. We use public transport and walk whenever practical - it is easy to work on a train with modern technology, and a bit of exercise keeps us trim! Unfortunately it is inevitable that sometimes a car is the only practical way of reaching more remote locations, but we hire an electric car where practical, and average over 50mpg by using efficient driving techniques and driving a petrol car (Seat Leon) that runs only on two cylinders around half of the time to save fuel.
Much travel can be eliminated altogether by using electronic communication - we sometimes use Skype teleconferencing to avoid the need to travel to a meeting, and of course we use more familiar technology like email and the internet to run our business day in, day out.
This website is hosted on servers in a solar-powered data centre based in the US.
The energy embedded in IT equipment is shocking, so we keep our kit going as long as practical, and buy second-hand where possible. In recognition of the huge environmental impact of manufacturing IT kit, all Pcs, laptops and phones were bought secondhand.
The manufacture of paper has a large environmental impact, so we aim to keep printing to a minimum. In practice this means we concentrate on exploiting IT for our business activities - reports are sent out electronically, and most marketing is carried out online. The paper we do need to use is made from recycled material where possible, and of course recycled itself at the end of its life.
Having said all this, there's still a lot we can (and need to) do to improve our own environmental credentials even further. We look forward to sharing our experiences with you over the coming months and years - if you're interested in reading more then we regularly contribute to the blog on Winchester Action on Climate Change's website.


text:
Home World Africa news Boko Haram Releases Video of Captive Chibok Girls
Boko Haram Releases Video of Captive Chibok Girls
Boko Haram has released a second video showing some of the schoolgirls they abducted from Chibok, northern Nigeria.
The footage released by the Nigerian Islamist group shows some 50 girls and a gunman who demands the release of fighters in return for the girls, and says some girls died in air strikes.
The Nigerian government says it is in touch with the militants behind the video.
Journalist Ahmad Salkida who had contact with Boko Haram has been declared a wanted man by the Nigerian army.
Boko Haram is said to be holding more than 200 of the 276 final-year girls it seized from a school in April 2014.
Non-Muslims were forcibly converted to Islam, and it is feared that many of the schoolgirls have been abused and forced into "marriage" by their captors.
Parents of the missing girls have described their anguish at seeing their daughters in captivity.
The video begins with a shot of a masked man, carrying a gun, speaking to the camera. He says that some of the girls have been wounded and have life-threatening injuries, and that 40 have been "married".
Speaking in the Hausa language, the gunman says the girls on display will "never" be returned if the government does not release Boko Haram fighters who have been "in detention for ages".
The footage concludes with footage of bodies, said to be the victims of air strikes, lying on the ground at another location.
The militant also carries out a staged interview with one of the captives, who calls herself Maida Yakubu, in which she asks parents to appeal to the government.
Maida Yakubu's mother, Esther, is one of several parents of Chibok girls who recently published open letters to their daughters detailing the pain they feel at their children's absence and their hopes for the future.
Another girl among those standing in the background can be seen with a baby. Some of the girls can be seen weeping as Maida speaks.
Boko Haram has waged a violent campaign for years in northern Nigeria in its quest for Islamic rule, and a faction of the group recently pledged loyalty to ISIS.
Thousands of people have been killed or captured by Boko Haram, whose name translates as "Western education is forbidden". Many of the girls abducted in Chibok were Christian.
Nigerian Information Minister Alhaji Mohammed insisted the government was doing everything possible to secure the girls' release.
"We are being extremely careful because the situation has been compounded by the split in the leadership of Boko Haram," he said.
"We are also being guided by the need to ensure the safety of the girls."
The video is the first to be seen since CNN obtained footage in April purportedly showing 15 of the girls.
The Nigerian army declared journalist Ahmad Salkida a wanted man after he published details of the new video before it was released.
Ahmad Salkida, who moved to Dubai a few years ago, has written extensively about the inside operations of the group.
The Chibok girls had been thought to be in a heavily forested area of northern Nigeria.
A girl said to be one of those captured, Amina Ali Nkeki, was found wandering in the Sambisa Forest in May by an army-backed vigilante group.
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Roy Siemens
Roy likes politics. Knowledge is power, Roy constantly says, so he spends nearly all day gathering information and writing articles about the latest events around the globe. He likes history and studying about war techniques, this is why he finds writing his articles a piece of cake. Another hobby of his is horse – riding.
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Delaware County NY Democrats will be hosting a weekly phone bank at campaign headquarters in Delhi. Thursday nights from 5-8pm, October 18 - November 1. Please, show up and reach out to voters to help get all of our candidates get elected and turn NY True Blue!


text:
One Sentence Is Ten Thousand Sentences is a novel written by Liu Zhenyun from 2006 to 2008. It was awarded the Mao Dun Literature Prize in 2011.

The novel has been adapted into a 2016 film Someone to Talk To, directed by Liu Zhenyun's daughter Liu Yulin.

References

2009 Chinese novels
Chinese novels adapted into films
Mao Dun Literature Prize
Novels set in Shanxi
Novels set in Henan
Novels set in Shandong
Novels set in Hebei


text:
A poster for the Alaska World Arts Festival shows some of the musicians, writers, poets and performers who will be appearing both live and virtually during the festival held Sept. 11-24 in Homer, Alaska, and virtually. (Photo courtesy Alaska World Arts Festival)
Alaska World Arts Festival returns
For 2020, most of the festival will be virtual — and sometimes live
by Michael Armstrong
Wednesday, September 9, 2020 11:14pm
LifeArts
After a successful inaugural run in 2019, the Alaska World Arts Festival is back and starts Friday, running through Sept. 24.
In the new normal of the COVID-19 pandemic, it won't include in-person, large-audience events and instead will be mostly virtual.
For director and producer Sally Oberstein, having musicians, dancers, poets, storytellers and comedians not be able to visit Homer physically turned out to have an upside. Alaska World Arts expanded its repertoire to include performers from not just the Lower 48, but New Zealand, Australia, Europe, Africa and Southeast Asia.
"We were able to add international presenters because we didn't have to add the cost and logistics of getting them here," Oberstein said.
Some events are free, but most can be enjoyed at $10 each or included with a $100 festival pass. Scholarships also are available, an option Oberstein said was recently awarded to a rural Alaska school in Akiak.
For more information, the current schedule and to register, visit www.alaskaworldarts.org.
The festival does include a few local events in small venues and with COVID-safe precautions. The opening gala will be at 4 p.m. this Friday at the Homer Council on the Arts and features a reception for the organization's new exhibit, "Halibut Cove Art Clan, Past and Present," with work by cove artists Marian Beck, Annette Bellamy, Jay Greene, Toni Maury and others. The gallery is open with limited capacity and masks will be required.
Outdoors at the arts council, Rosy Kauffman and Daniel Christ of the Homer Youth String Orchestra are set to perform. Speakers include Oberstein, author and literary program director Nancy Lord, Homer Mayor Ken Castner, HCOA director Scott Bartlett and Homer Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center Executive Director Brad Anderson. Masks and social distancing are recommended for outdoors.
Local art galleries from the Homer Spit to Old Town will also be open with exhibits. The Homer Youth String Orchestra Club performers and the Bayside Buskers will play music for "Live-at-Lunch" from noon-1 p.m. Sept. 20 at Land's End Resort,
Most of the events will be held virtually, but almost all will have a live component as well. Music includes the Pipeline Vocal Project from Anchorage, doing an a capella workshop at 6:30 p.m. Friday followed by a concert at 7:30 p.m. That combination of workshops and performances also can be experienced for stand-up comedy — with an international showcase of comedians — acting, writing and storytelling on various dates. There's also a travel writing workshop with Stephanie Elizondo Griest, David Farley and Faith Adiele.
Oberstein said the writing component helps fill the void left this year by the Kachemak Bay Writers Conference, which providentially announced a hiatus in 2020 before the pandemic.
A standout storytelling event, "Global Acts of Kindness," will be hosted at 7 p.m. Saturday by Shirley Mae Singer Staten and includes Elizondo Griest, Peter Aguero, host of the National Public Radio show the Moth, and Bryan Carman, Kelsey Haas, Roger Lusby, Brenda Dolma, and Oberstein.
Other globe-trotting events are "Dance Around the World," held at 7 p.m. on Sept. 16, and "Our Fascinating World," held at 7 p.m. on Sept. 14. Dance Around the World features modern and traditional performances from Alaska, Pacific Island nations, Burundi, Kenya, Cambodia, Argentina, Bulgaria, Spain, Nepal, Ireland and Kyrgyzstan. In Our Fascinating World, people from seven continents share what makes their part of the world special.
A fun event is "Sculpting Imaginations: A Virtual Grand Kinetic Spectacle" at 4:30 p.m. Saturday. Kinetic sculptors Travis Bullock and Constance Titterton show and talk about some of their weird and wonderful creations.
Music can be heard from near and far, with "Icy Grooves" by jazz musicians Rick Zelinsky and YNGVIL of Anchorage, performing at 8 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 18, and Jeffrey Lee Mills, performing live from Berlin at 12:30 p.m. on Sept. 19. YNGVIL also has helped with music production — a challenge in a virtual production, Oberstein said. Most of the virtual events will be held using the Zoom platform, which allows for live broadcast as well as audience participation.
"To get the sound to work, just to get the vibe is rough," she said. "… People just want to be there with it and move around."
YNGVIL worked with Oberstein to make that happen.
"She figure it out," Oberstein said. "… She's the one that — thank goodness — was ahead of us."
Because of technical limitations, many of the performances will be prerecorded, such as the "Dance Around the World." However, all will have a live component, with a host bridging the sets and talking about the work. Some workshops will allow question-and-answer sessions.
That's one deviation from the usual live festival production: people won't just be able to drop in at the last minute. Because Zoom events with public access codes can be crashed, with hackers sometimes making inappropriate videos, the Alaska World Arts Festival events all require registration.
"This has been the biggest challenge," Oberstein said. "Every single person must register. … That protects us from any unwanted crashing."
Like many arts presenters forced to adapt during the pandemic, Oberstein said she's found virtual production offers a new dimension.
"Going virtual, it's like whatever strings were tying us down got lifted," she said. "Now I'm thinking, 'Of course we're doing a live festival next year, but we'll probably have a piece of it virtual.'"
For Oberstein, in 2021 she said she thinks the Alaska World Arts Festival will continue to attract world-class talent. Oberstein also helped organize musical acts for Salmonfest. That experience taught her about the special draw Alaska has for performers.
"Once they've come to it, they want to come back," she said. "Every one of them who is part of this year's festival and last year's festival wants to come back to Homer as soon as they can — as they put it, as soon as we can have them."
Reach Michael Armstrong at marmstrong@homernews.com.
A poster for the Alaska World Arts Festival running Sept. 11-24, 2020, in Homer, Alaska, and virtually. (Photo courtesy Alaska World Arts Festival)
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