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The Monday Morning Afternoon Vent
UNC lost on Saturday which means weeping and gnashing of teeth among the fans. Let me talk you off the ledge with with The Monday Morning Afternoon Vent
By Brian Barbour Nov 12, 2012, 2:34pm EST
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Let's cut right to it, the defense is horrible beyond words.
Yes it is. Heel to the End noted in the comments section that is was the worst defense he had seen played on any level of football. I almost have to agree with him, which is really saying something since I went to South Johnston High School. The defense was beyond words awful. It was not just Georgia Tech scored on every drive but two. It was not even the Jackets converting 3rd downs at ease. It was the complete balance in which Georgia Tech took UNC apart. This was, more or less, like watching a game of Madden where one team has all the attributes set to 99 and the other team doesn't. While not every play Georgia Tech ran worked it felt like it did. Not only did they work but usually for copious yards. The phrase "Georgia Tech did anything they wanted" is actually an understatement of sorts. The only way the Yellow Jackets were not going to score is because they chose not to or someone did something stupid like throw a pick six or drop a pass. UNC defenders were just 11 bystanders on the field or so it seemed.
So who is to blame for this debacle?
Good question, I wrote on Saturday that a failure of this magnitude really falls on everyone and everything. The coaches are at fault. The players are at fault. The scheme is garbage and quite possiblly the turf at Kenan Stadium. The problem with blaming everyone and everything is that doesn't provide a solution. Something clearly has to change unless it is simply a function of it being the first season with a new scheme at which point you hope Virginia and Maryland play putrid on the offensive end to close out the season. Since that is not the best option, let's take a look at the individual parts.
Anyone who is a long time reader of THB know that I am loathed to cast too many aspersions on players, especially when it comes to talking about less than tangible things like effort, intensity and focus. The good news here is I don't think any of those aspects are in question. I have no doubt, UNC defensive players are doing everything they can to stop opposing teams. That being said, I do wonder if they either don't have a grasp of the defense and lack an understanding of what they are supposed to be doing out there. Over and over from Rick Steinbacher on the Tar Heel Sports Network to TV to media folks on Twitter and yes even the players themselves I hear "missed assignments" given as the reason for UNC's many defensive failings. The general consensus seems to be that UNC defensive players are simply not where they need to be or are executing poorly. A close second behind "missed assignments" is "missed tackles" as the Tar Heels have been wholly incapable of wrapping up opposing players and stopping plays before they do serious damage.
Now, we should be clear about one thing. I am hard pressed to believe UNC lacks the talent on the defensive side of the ball to stop opposing teams. Butch Davis was known for many things and recruiting talented players is one of them. You could argue he didn't quite know what to do when they showed up but there isn't much argument the players Davis brought in were likely talented enough to be successful. Unfortunately it simply isn't showing up since they have trouble doing the most basic thing a defensive player is asked to do and that is tackle the guy with the football. They also appear to be struggling with knowing where they should be on the field which could mean a lack of football IQ but also could mean the scheme and coaching is at fault.
The Scheme
UNC plays a 4-2-5 which is considered a novelty defense of sorts and has its share of backers and critics. Larry Fedora favors it because it provides a level of versatility since it employs two hybrid positions in the Ram and Bandit. He also believe in being aggressive and forcing turnovers which is far more opportunistic than is healthy for a solid defense. At this point, Fedora is going to be hard pressed to find anyone among the Tar Heel fan base who doesn't think the scheme is complete crap. That assertion is going to find a lot of backing in this piece from IC's Greg Barnes which basically says Fedora's teams have always fallen short on defense. The primary culprit? A dependency on turnovers as opposed to good ol' stops on third down and what not.
In other words, it is not the scheme as much as it is the intention. If the point is to attack and force turnovers then there is a good chance assignments will be missed and gaps open all over the field. That doesn't explain the tackling issues but it certainly does give us a clue as to why perhaps assignments get missed. Players are trying to do too much in an effort to fulfill Fedora's stated goal of being aggressive and forcing opposing teams to make mistakes. The problem is Georgia Tech didn't make mistakes except for one interception Tim Scott returned for a touchdown. Against NC State, the Wolfpack obliged with their share of miscues and UNC got one big defensive play in Kevin Reddick's sack of Mike Glennon that set off the chain of events leading to Giovani Bernard's punt return. If a team plays a clean offensive game, UNC is really sort of screwed because the Heels don't seem to be able to make conventional stops adequately enough.
The Coaching
In essence while the players and the scheme certainly play a big part in UNC's inability to stop a runny nose, in the end the coaches own all of this. Granted the coaches can't tackle for anyone and I don't think players are being coached to screw up their assignments. However, I do think questions about whether the players fit the scheme and whether everyone is being utilized in the right way are legitimate. Most of the players UNC has were not recruited to play in a 4-2-5 so the change to a new scheme is a shock to the system. More than that, you have to wonder things like is the scheme too complicated with little time to truly internalize it? Are there issues with the fact UNC has essentially two defensive coordinators? Dan Disch is the defensive coordinator and Vic Koenning the associate head coach for defense. Who is calling the shots on game day? Are the conflicts between the two on how things should be done leading to confusion for the players? Koenning came to UNC with the reputation of being a top-notched defensive coordinator. It was a home run hire hailed by most as a crucial move that would give UNC a solid defense to go with the points happy offense.
However, Fedora also decided to bring his defensive coordinator from Southern Miss with him to Chapel Hill in the person of Dan Disch. This move birthed the two-headed monster running the Tar Heel defense. The issue? Disch and Koenning have history and it isn't all that rosy. From 2005-2009, Disch was an assistant coach at Illinois and from 2007-2009 held the position of Co-Defensive Coordinator and Linebacker Coach. In 2010, Disch lost his co-DC title but remained the linebacker coach. Who replaced Disch at defensive coordinator? Koenning did having been hired from Kansas State by head coach Ron Zook. Disch ended up leaving a year later to become defensive coordinator at Southern Miss under Fedora whom he knew from when they both were on staff at Florida.
Basically, Disch lost his co-DC title when Zook demoted him and brought in Koenning. To do my best Dan Kane impersonation, I am not saying, I'm just saying. I don't have any inside information about the relationship between the coaches under Fedora so this is really nothing more than an interesting footnote. If the defense had not been performing in such an abysmal manner all season, said footnote would not matter. Since it has to the point of giving up 68 points in one game, everything gets placed on the table, including potential chemistry issues on the coaching staff.
So what's the answer?
I am sad to say what after 1300+ words I don't really have one. Despite what fans may think, in college football, coaches rarely get fired in a head coach's first season with two games left. I know fans love to call for coaches to be fired(as though that would solve anything) but heads will roll. Fedora saves that care for year three or four if the program is stuck in neutral. I also would not expect the scheme to change because the worst thing you can do with a group of players who openly admit they don't understand their assignments is change the system.
The answer at this stage is to ride the bad defense out and plead like mad for improvement next season. UNC has two games left and the only real hope for the Tar Heels defense is for Virginia and Maryland to both commit egregious errors, preferably resulting in UNC scoring points. Absent that, I think the fear that Maryland fifth string quarterback might throw for five touchdowns and run for two more is legitimate.
UNC 72, Syracuse 68: Three Things Learned Some reflections on a hectic, pretty ugly road win
UNC Basketball: NC State HC Kevin Keatts calls Leaky Black's foul on Terquavion Smith a "basketball play" It's really good to know that there's a level-headed person in Raleigh.
UNC vs. Syracuse - Player of the Game: Armando Bacot It was an adventure of a game on Tuesday night


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Enthusiastic skateboarders were joined Tuesday by Mayor Donald Voss, LCUSD Board President Susan Boyd and members of the city's Parks and Recreation Commission for the dedication of the La Cañada Flintridge Skate Park's new half-pipe — a 20-foot long, roughly 5-foot deep concave metal platform boarders use to launch themselves into jumps and other tricks.
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Having a smooth metal surface with regular contours to skate along makes the new half-pipe less challenging for boarders to navigate, especially younger ones, said Tim Shepard, a St. Francis High School graduate who owns Billy's Board Shop in Montrose. Shepard also teaches La Cañada Community Center-sponsored youth skateboarding classes on Saturdays at the skate park.
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The skate park, said Shepard, "is able to stay positive because it's well-managed. This is probably one of the better facilities I've come across in my experience, and I'm proud to be a part of it."
Voss attributed the skate park's success to ongoing facility joint-use agreements that include the skate park, Lanterman Auditorium, playing fields, La Cañada High School's library and tennis courts, and even Memorial Park.
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Faith or Action in a World Hurtling Toward Oblivion?
by Louis Proyect
Still from "First Reformed."
For most film buffs, the movie "Taxi Driver" and the name Martin Scorsese are inextricably linked. But for me, the essence of a film is the screenplay. It all goes back to Aristotle who in defining tragedy in "Poetics" placed plot and character at the top of the six necessary ingredients (the other four are diction, thought, spectacle, and melody). Martin Scorsese did not write the screenplay for "Taxi Driver". It was written by Paul Schrader, who also wrote "Raging Bull". If there is anything that defines these masterpieces, it is the brilliant storytelling (plot) and character development of the screenplay (think Travis Bickle and Jake LaMotta). Scorsese deserves credit for helping Robert De Niro fully realize two memorable characters and creating the spellbinding background against which they stand (think of spectacle as cinematography and melody as film score) but without Schrader's screenplay, it would have been all for naught.
In addition to being a screenwriter, Schrader was also a director—sometimes with mixed results. I am pleased to report that his latest film that opens nationwide today is not only his greatest achievement but one of the great American films of the decade. "First Reformed" tells the story of Toller (Ethan Hawke), the grief-stricken pastor of the eponymous upstate N.Y. Protestant church who delivers sermons to less than ten people on an average Sunday. The drawing card for the church is not spirituality, but its status as a landmark building that draws tourists, including some that can be persuaded to buy a coffee cup, baseball cap or t-shirt from the church's tiny souvenir shop.
Toller is a reclamation project for Pastor Jeffers (Cedric the Entertainer) who runs a nearby megachurch called Abundant Life. In contrast to the austere life led by Toller and the threadbare church he serves, Abundant Life—as the name implies—is one of those prosperity gospel outlets that comfort the abundantly wealthy. Jeffers has taken Toller under his wing because he felt sorry for him. As a one-time army chaplain from a family with deep roots in the military, Toller encouraged his son to enlist. Not long after his training is complete, he is sent to Iraq where he died in combat. Toller has never forgiven himself for being responsible for his son's death and drowns his sorrows each day in whiskey.
Among the sparse attendees at First Reformed is Mary (Amanda Seyfried), the young pregnant wife of an environmental activist named Michael (Philip Ettinger) who only sits beside her out of a sense of matrimonial duty. His faith is not placed in an invisible and evidently non-existent deity but in the sanctity of nature. So deep is his conviction that he has spent time in jail for a recent protest.
Mary has contacted Toller to help counsel her husband who is in such a state of despair about the planet that he is putting pressure on her to have an abortion. He simply does not want to bring new life into a dying planet. In a scene that epitomizes Schrader's bold defiance of Hollywood convention and his commitment to serious art, we see Toller and Michael in a conversation that lasts at least ten minutes, about five times longer than the average scene in a commercial film.
But that is barely the time that is needed for two men to discuss the big questions of our day. What can future generations, including the life taking shape in his wife's womb, expect from a world that his hurdling toward oblivion? All Toller can do is repeat the importance of choosing life as a way of standing against evil. For Michael, such advice rings hollow since it is action rather than faith that will block the polluters that are destroying all life on earth.
Some days later, Mary calls Toller with a desperate tone in her voice. He must come immediately to see what she has discovered. Upon arrival in his dusty and aged sedan, she ushers him into the shed behind their house and opens a box concealed beneath others. Toller is shocked to see a suicide bomb vest of the sort that jihadists use. It is obvious that Michael has become so angry and frustrated about the corporate rape of the planet that he is ready to die for the cause, including the men who profit from that rape. He tells Mary that he will take the vest with him and to leave it to him to minister to Michael.
A day later, he receives a message from Michael to meet him at a nearby park to discuss matters but when he arrives, he sees his dead body. He has taken his life with a hunting rifle and left Mary to fend for herself. As he draws closer to Mary in her time of need, Toller begins to obsess over the same issues that Michael did and to even think about ways that he can take action on behalf of God's creation even if that involves abandoning his priestly ways. A combination of long-suffering guilt over his son's senseless death and anger over corporate despoliation of the environment is driving him toward nihilistic conclusions.
Made forty-two years after "Taxi Driver", "First Reformed" depicts the inner turmoil of men upset with the state of the world, at least the world that confronts them respectively. For Travis Bickle, New York was a Sodom and Gomorrah that impelled him to rain down destruction on its sinners since it was clear that no supernatural being could do much about 13-year old girls working as prostitutes. For Father Toller, it a different kind of degradation that must be confronted. At one point, we see him looking balefully at a lake polluted by the toxic waste flowing from Balq Industries, the largest donor to Abundant Life. The incestuous ties between corporate mammon and the prosperity gospel are staring Toller in the face.
Now seventy-one, Paul Schrader has made a film that is not only the pinnacle of a long career but one that reflects his deepest worries about the future of the planet–the same ones of his characters. In an interview with Variety, Schrader explained why he chose to make a film about the environmental crisis:
We have this contemporary crisis of ecology, which takes all the historic, philosophic questions of meaning and puts them in boldface. Man has always wondered whether life has any meaning and what comes after death. Now that we can sort of see the end of the role in the physical world the questions have an added urgency.
A follow-up question is about Hurricanes Irma and Harvey. His reply:
I wouldn't isolate these events. They're part of the new normal. It's not just hurricanes. The icebergs are falling into the seas. California's on fire. It's an accelerating process.
I would think that homo sapiens as we know them will not outlive this century. When they create a great museum of the animal world, hopefully the filmmakers will get a room.
Don't expect any pat answers from Paul Schrader who is pessimistic about our future. Indeed, Toller's redemption has much more to do with love than it does with exemplary action. The director's primary interest is in how men and women can live ethical and fulfilled lives in an epoch when the entirety of social and economic relations militates against that.
One of the keys to understanding Schrader's worldview is the fleeting reference to Toller's fondness for the writings of Thomas Merton, a Catholic monk who had much more of a presence in the 1960s as a peace activist and advocate of spiritual universalism. His autobiography The Seven Story Mountain evoked the lives of both Travis Bickle and Father Toller, as well as St. Augustine whose Confessions I read as an undergraduate in the same spirit I read Herman Hesse's Steppenwolf. This was a time of deep political and spiritual reflection, after all.
Like the sixties radicals, Merton lived a life of excess in the 1930s. When he was at Cambridge University, he spent more time getting drunk at pubs than studying. Later on, he enrolled at Columbia University and joined the Communist Party but only long enough to figure out after one meeting that it wasn't for him. (I wish I had been as smart when it came to joining the Trotskyist movement.)
But that did not limit his activism. In October 1935, Merton joined a picket of the Casa Italiana to protest Mussolini's invasion of Ethiopia. Funded by wealthy Italian-American businessman and the Italian government, Casa Italiana, was just another sign of my former employer's friendly relations with fascism. In a 1962 letter to the priest and future Sandinista leader Ernesto Cardenal, Merton wrote: "The world is full of great criminals with enormous power, and they are in a death struggle with each other. It is a huge gang battle, using well-meaning lawyers and policemen and clergymen as their front, controlling papers, means of communication, and enrolling everybody in their armies." This sounds like it was ripped from this morning's headlines, doesn't it?
Louis Proyect blogs at Louisproyect.org and is the moderator of the Marxism mailing list. In his spare time, he reviews films for CounterPunch.

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text:
Give Them Some of Our Stars
The Finesse Center started because I didn't really know what else to do. After my brother passed, one of my friends from Webster University was like, "Hey, I have someone that wants to donate money. Where should they donate?" I was like, "I don't know. To the family?" And they said, "You know what? We're going to start an art center." So, I started talking to other friends about starting an art center to have somewhere to hang his artwork. A day or two after he passed, we started a GoFundMe and developed the Finesse Center idea.
Those who use the space now are artists, mostly his friends who would work out of his loft down the street. The idea came from taking the community he built in his home and bringing it into a space so people don't lose that work environment they had. I'd go to his house and he'd be having a party while some people would be doing graphic design and some would be painting. Then some would be dancing to music, talking, or cooking.
"How do you describe your brother's artwork?"
I saw my brother paint some of these. I would be like, 'You're nasty,' because they're so explicit. He didn't really have a reason. He liked Power Rangers since we were kids. He has this picture with my cousin when he was six years old and they dressed up as Power Rangers for Halloween. So, he would paint urban Power Rangers. Most of them are actual people like Future, the rapper; or Michael Jordan; or 2 Chainz. Some of them are his friends he just put Power Ranger helmets on.
He used to win art shows in elementary school. I guess his inspiration was the world around him. I was fascinated with how he could just draw something from memory. He wouldn't be looking at a picture or anything, but he'd just start painting. He did graphic design in high school, and he designed all of his friends' mixtape covers. They would come to our house and have photoshoots. He didn't start painting until after our dad passed. That was therapeutic for him.
Kayla Thompson, photos by Lindy Drew
What's heartbreaking is that when my brother passed away, it happened close to my home. I was up playing an Xbox game with my friend. I remember looking up like, "Were those gunshots?" My friend asked, "Is that what those were?" Then we just kept playing the game. The next day I heard he died around the same time we heard the gunshots.
He was killed in an attempted robbery in the Central West End. It was shocking because in 2010 my dad died the same way, in an attempted robbery. He was shot and killed June 5th. My brother was killed on June 9th. We had just celebrated my dad's anniversary. I was over at my brother's house, and we were talking about it. Talking about what our dad would want us doing now. Then, four days later, the same thing happened down the street. My dad was killed down the street from our house from where we used to live in our childhood home. It just happened to happen where I was again. To have two men in your family pass away in similar ways in the same city? Death doesn't happen like this. It can't happen like this. But it did. We didn't really believe it until we went to the hospital. I was the first one to arrive. I had to identify his body. No one in my family knew.
I had to tell everyone. But I couldn't tell my mom. When I called her I said, "Something happened to Tyrell. You need to get to the hospital." When she got there, she was like, "What's going on?" "Just go in there. I'll park your car." I couldn't break the news to her. I left the task up to my best friends that were there with me. They told her what happened. I walked into her being hysterical and apologized, "I'm sorry," sorry I couldn't tell her.
A couple days after my brother passed, I started blogging about it because I didn't really know what else to do. I wrote a three-part series called Making Sense of Losing My Brother. The first one was a blog piece about losing my dad, and the first paragraph about my brother was almost the same as the first paragraph about losing my dad. "My dad was shot and killed when I was 19 years old just down the street from my house." Then, "My brother was shot and killed down the street from my house." It hurt.
My brother didn't have anything. The most they could've taken from him was his phone. He was with a female friend and they were going to a reggae night at Club Viva to go dancing. Someone pulled up on them, pulled a gun out, tried to rob them, and my brother started fighting them. She was able to get away and live. With my dad, he was going out with his friend, he was in his car, and someone 17 or 18 years old tried to rob them. I don't know much because they didn't really talk to us about it. And we didn't hear that much news about my brother beside me going to the news to talk about what we're doing as a result of his death. They still don't know who killed him.
After my dad died, my family said, "We want you to be closer to home. We think y'all should be home at least for a while." So we both came home, got an apartment together, and went to Webster University. He was at school at the Art Institute of Santa Monica, California. I was at Hampton University in Virginia. He never finished school at Webster because he was a terrible student. At LockerDome, he had celebrated his one-year anniversary as a graphic designer, doing exactly what he'd been doing since high school. To him, the job meant he made it because he spent most of his life being a struggling artist. He never had a real job. He didn't want one. We would tell him, "You need to get a job. What are you doing? You're grown. You're going to keep hopping from house to house." He would live with me, he would live with my mom, he would live with my aunt, and just couch-surf. He was living with me when he got that job. He called me one night crying at four in the morning from the grief from losing our dad. I drove and got him.
We used to have an office in this building. So, he slept in this building on this floor. We started a clothing line business our first year in college. We actually grew up in this building. My uncle owns this building. When we were kids my dad used to work here. We didn't know what he did. He was the utility player. He did everything. At that time, there was nothing on Washington. This was the only building that was renovated. There was a club on the first floor that my aunt and uncle owned. It was really popular in the '90s and early 2000s. The building's named after my grandfather.
"Why did you decide to call it the Finesse Center?"
His artist name was Rell Finesse. It fit him because it was like you make a way out of no way. He was struggling at Webster. We were living together for a brief time, and we were struggling, but we all made a way. Through grief, we made a way. Through not having money, we made a way. Through him failing out of college, he made a way. The Finesse Center is a place for artists to make a way no matter what you do, no matter what your art is. You will always have a space here to make a way out of no way. There are a lot of young artists in St. Louis that are doing their thing. This space is something my brother would have wanted to create if he was still here because this is what he did in his home. I hope it grows. My big idea is to buy one of those schools that have been abandoned and have the Finesse Center in a school with office spaces, a computer lab, a gym for people to hang out or play basketball, have spaces like this where people can just sit.
"What's your position here? When you started, how did your life get re-routed by doing this now?"
I'm the founder and CEO, but I don't feel like I deserve that title. I was a teacher. I taught in St. Louis Public School District for three years. I quit my job the last day of school, like, "I'm going to just figure out what I'm going to do." My brother passed a couple days later. Then it was like, "Okay, now I got the Finesse Center." I didn't have a job all summer. I was just getting this together. Now I work at the Boys and Girls Club as a Site Coordinator because I feel like working with children is what I would do even if I didn't make money from it.
At Webster University I was the President of our Black Student Union by my senior year. I started a mentoring program at Ashland Elementary School. About 20 of us would go to Ashland every Friday to mentor and tutor. As a senior, I thought, 'I want to teach.' I did Teach For America, and just happened to get placed in St. Louis. I told them, 'I want to go to Ashland. I don't want to go anywhere else.' So I started teaching at the school where I started the mentor program.
I was committed to that neighborhood — not just the school but that whole community, because my part-time job during the summer — because teachers don't get paid during summer vacation — was the Boys and Girls Club at O'Fallon Park at the YMCA down the street. That Boys and Girls Club serviced a lot of kids from that neighborhood because it's down the street from Ashland. Then I stayed after school when the new year started. I would go there and tutor. I was passionate about changing the lives of children in that neighborhood at that school because I saw they needed it the most. I stayed after my two-year Teach For America commitment because I felt like, 'This is where I'm going to be.'
Unfortunately, I know a lot of people that know somebody that's been killed by gunfire. That's a lot of my friends' reality. I guess it's just being Black in St. Louis. I remember being at my brother's funeral and all my brother's coworkers came. Most of them are white. My cousin was like, "They don't even understand that this happens to us all the time. Why isn't this their reality? We live in the same area, we live in the same city, but this just does not happen to white people." Even I lived in the County when my dad was killed. My brother was killed in the Central West End. I was just like, "I don't get it, either." It's about opportunities. We've got to give people better lives.
I was always thinking about how the people who took my father's life were still in high school. They were younger than I was. They went to school with my little brother, who was still in high school at the time. It's just mind-blowing. 'You're a child. How can you make a decision to kill somebody?' I can understand that kids steal. But killing someone? That's a whole other level. Throughout college, I was always thinking, 'How can we change people's lives?' You can't expect people to make better choices if you never give them a better choice. Maybe education is the way you can give people options.
I was a Teach For America teacher my second year teaching, and the first day of school was two days after Mike Brown was killed. The first thing we talked about in my sixth-grade class was about that. I was out protesting at night until two in the morning, then waking up at six in the morning, going to teach, going to protest, and going to teach, for months.
A lot of my lessons were about what was happening in St. Louis. We were in the superintendent zone, so the superintendent squad would come in to observe us. They came in when I was teaching Main Idea using an article about the protests in Ferguson. Last year I talked to kids about Flint, Michigan. I just really wanted them to be socially aware of what was going on.
I've been doing Camp Justice every year since I started teaching, but last year I really fleshed it out. Every Friday we dedicated the entire day to Camp Justice. The first day we talked to our fourth graders about the definition of poverty. We talked about what it means and what people think it means. We talked about government assistance and homelessness. They were like, "They're homeless because they're lazy." And these are poor Black kids in the city. They were like, "They don't want to work." We said, "No, the U.S. government defines poverty as …" We told them, "Here's the baseline if you receive government assistance, as in food stamps." I remember seeing the kids' faces like, wait. Then one girl raised her hand and asked, "Am I poor? Because we got food stamps." Then we watched this PBS movie called Poor Kids, chronicling the lives of how poverty looks in different families.
The next day we talked about race. I split the kids up into red, blue, green, and yellow groups and told them I would give them a star if they were part of a certain scenario, and based on the stars they would get to go to college for free or something. I would read different scenarios, starting from the 1800s like, "If you are blue, you were owned by other people and you didn't have rights. You don't get a star. If you were red, you owned other people and you were able to get an education. You get a star." The kids didn't understand until we got to the end when the ones with blue stars asked, "Am I a Black person?" Then the other kids who had all the stars, they were just happy. At the end of the lesson, we talked about it. "How do you feel that you were able to get all of these stars? Do you think it was fair when you didn't really do anything, it's just your circumstances." We had some kids like, "Nah, that's not fair." And other kids were like, "I don't care. It's not my fault they didn't get any stars." I asked them, "So how can we make this fair?" They came to a conclusion together and said, "We can just give them some of our stars."
We did another lesson where I put a chair at the front of the room and said, "This chair is a college education. It's your own business. Or, a nice job. It's a happy life. All you have to do is sit in it." The kids just looked at me. Then one kid ran and sat down in the chair. I was like, "Okay, you won." They were like, "Wait, wait! We weren't ready." We did it again and the kid closest to the chair sat down. So we talked about it. "Was this fair? What could we do to make this fair?" "Move the chair to the middle of the room," they said. "Okay, go." Still, the closest kid sat in the chair. I was like, "How can we make this fair?" They said, "Let's put some more in chairs there." We put some more chairs in there, and then I said, "Go!" Still, not everyone was able to sit.
Then one kid flew and flipped and he still didn't get into a chair. We asked, "Did you work harder?" I asked one of my kids sitting right next to the chair, "Did you work harder than him? Because we saw him do a flip and try to get this chair and all you did was sit down." She was like, "No." I said, "Is that fair that he was running to get to this chair and all you had to do was scoot over?" "No, that wasn't fair." We kept talking about it. "How can we make this fair for everyone?" Eventually, they said, "Let's just get enough chairs for everybody." We got chairs from the other classrooms. When it was time to go again, we had a kid who was on one side of the classroom and the only empty chair was on the other side and he had to run for a while to sit in the chair. I asked them, "Was this fair?" They said, "Yes because everyone had the opportunity to sit down."
This is how society works. Some people are born privileged where they're closer to opportunities so they're able to sit down without working. Some people are able to sit in a chair although they're farther away but they had to work extra hard. And then some people who are closer feel like it's not fair that they were able to sit because they should've been able to sit down because they were closer. I taught them that what we're trying to do is make sure our world is just so everyone has an opportunity to take a seat in a chair. Even if you have to run a little farther, you still have that opportunity at the end of the road. I love the fourth grade. It's my favorite. I taught fourth, fifth, and sixth grade, and fourth has always been my favorite age group.
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Well I want to hello to all the hockey fans and welcome all you puckheads to my weekly review of the NHL.
Lets me start in the Eastern Conference and what can you say about the Bruins they are still the hottest team in the east. Losing players like a Guerin and Dafoe and playing the hockey they are is a great achievement. Keep on eye what they do with McLaren, my sources tell me about 4 teams have had talks with the Bruins about him but nothing serious yet. Also in the East, watch these next 3 teams carefully....they got off to slow starts but are getting back on track. The first one of those teams is the Isles... they got Peca back and they are starting to play the hockey they played last year and it does not hurt to have Osgood playing like he did last year as well. The 2nd team that I noticed starting to play up to their billing is the Maple Leafs. Belfour and his teammates are really playing like a team now and they showed they can beat a top team in the east by spanking the Flyers 6-0. Now we come to my 3rd team that is starting to play as expected Ottawa. I know that is hard to say but only played 18! games least amount in the NHL but when Hossa gets his second Hat Trick in 18 games they are starting to get hot. Some other notes in the East.......Lord Byron Dafoe signed with the Thrashers may be a little late for this year but with best young talent in the NHL this will help secure this team as a legit NHL team. The Bolts home winning streak went out the window this week as well with home loss to the Flyers on Tuesday, and the whistlers were out in full force on Saturday in the Molson Centre as the Canes did it again to the Habs 7-3.
Now for the Western Conference, I want to start out west in British Columbia and start with the Canucks they had a great week and Markus Naslund is on fire with a big week. They capped off their week with a thorough beating of the Defending Stanley Cup Champions Red Wings, 5-1, while chasing Cujo from the nets early in the 2nd Period. The other team in the west that is still rolling is the Wild , they are such a fun to team to watch and the fire they play with shows they are legit NHL team they are not a fluke and Gaborik is a NHL sniper with another hat trick this week. The other hot team in the west is the Stars, they went out and got Guerin and also lost Belfour but they have not missed a beat with Turco and this team getting rid of Eddie may have really helped this team. If they stay healthy and Turco keeps up his hot net goaltending watch out western teams. In the east I gave you ! 3 teams on the rise and in the west I notice 3 teams on the decline. Lets start with the Predators the team that raised their ticket prices and said if they do not make the playoffs they will refund the difference well they may be able to cut those checks by Christmas with only 2 wins in 20 games. My 2nd team on the decline is the Flames.....with their trouble in the front office and rumblings on the job status of Greg Gilbert......the fans of a such a good hockey town in Alberta do not deserve this. My 3rd team on the decline in the West is the San Jose , I know you are saying they got Nabokov back and Brad Stuart but they are not the same team they where last year or as many predicted would be the class of the west. They were a solid team on defense last year but show no sign of that team as of now.
1. Hat Tricks for-Erik Cole,Gaborik,and Hossa. By the way all in one night.
2. Dave Andreychuk- Getting goal number 600 only the 14th player in NHL history to do get that amazing level.
3. Mario Lemieux- just watching him and how he makes those players so much better on his line. This from a guy who has beat cancer and is supposed to be on the down side of his career. Leading the NHL with 41 points.
4. Mark Messier at age 41 having 10 goals shows what a true leader he his and why he will be considering one of the greatest players to put a C on his sweater.
1. The NJ Devils- after Andreychuk scores his 600th goal no mention of it over the public address system and he was a former Devil helped them win a CUP.
2. The Buffalo Sabres- yes they finally won a game but this team is bad shape I feel for good hockey city in Buffalo.
3. Garth Snow, don't get get me wrong I am for fighting in the NHL but come one Snow take off the blocker its not a weapon.
4. The NHL officials- last month the game was called one way and now this month the game is callled different. Must have been a MEMO from Bettman on too many Power Plays must be stopped.
5. Gary Bettman when he steps down as commissioner he will be off this list.
Have a Great Hockey Week and feel free to email me any questions or comments, at sportscompound@yahoo.com. As for the one piece of fan mail I received this week, I am still researching your question and will have an answer for you inside my 3 stars segment sometime early this week.


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Placido Domingo: Opera star faces new accusations of sexual misconduct
Placido Domingo, one of the world's biggest opera stars, is facing new sexual harassment allegations, three years after a string of similar claims curtailed his career.
The accusations against Domingo, 81, were made by an unnamed Spanish singer in a television programme broadcast in Spain on Sunday.
Domingo, a Spanish tenor and baritone, is best known for performing with Jose Carreras and the late Luciano Pavarotti as "The Three Tenors" in the 1990s.
In 2020, an investigation by the American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA) concluded that Domingo had behaved inappropriately.
At the time more than three dozen singers, dancers, musicians, voice teachers and backstage staff said they had witnessed or experienced inappropriate behaviour by Domingo towards women at different opera houses over the last three decades.
Domingo originally disputed the investigation findings, saying he believed that "all of my interactions and relationships were always welcomed and consensual".
He later said he respected the women's decisions to speak out and that he was "truly sorry for the hurt I caused them," adding: "I accept full responsibility for my actions".
The latest claims were made on Spain's La Sexta television channel, with the anonymous singer appearing as a dark figure.
She said Domingo allegedly asked to touch her at a theatre in Spain in the early 2000s. On another occasion, she said he tried to kiss her.
"One of the first things they tell you is don't go up in the lift alone with Placido Domingo," she said.
She added: "The first time that I felt unease was when we were rehearsing. He [Domingo] told me in front of everyone: 'Listen, can I put my hand in one of these lovely pockets of yours?' I was wearing trousers with an embroidered back pocket.
"I had a bad stomach because I thought, 'What can I say to [Domingo] in order to carry on normally? If I tell him no, there will be consequences and if I say yes, I don't even want to think about it'."
She said she did not report Domingo to her bosses or the authorities, explaining: "He is Domingo. He is untouchable. He should not be, but I am in the shadows."
Sky News has contacted Domingo's representatives for comment.
After the 2020 accusations became public, several opera houses around the world cancelled Domingo's appearances.
He also resigned as the general director of Los Angeles Opera and withdrew from performances at New York's Met.
No criminal case was brought to court over any of the claims.
In an interview with the Spanish newspaper El Mundo in January 2022, Domingo said he felt he had been convicted in the court of public opinion because he did not speak out and denied harassing anyone.
After a year and a half away from the spotlight, Domingo performed in a charity concert in Spain in June 2022.
He has performances scheduled across the world throughout the first half of 2023 and will be conducting a sold out special event in Muscat, Oman, this evening.
Ukraine news – live: Russian company offers thousands to destroy UK and US tanks
Ryan Reynolds says Wrexham football adventure is 'greatest experience'
Hollywood star Ryan Reynolds has hailed his involvement with non-league side Wrexham as the "greatest experience" of his life after he jetted in to watch his team in the FA Cup."Genuinely speaking it has been the greatest experience of my entire life," Reynolds told the BBC on Sunday.
Home and Away's Dean faces upsetting police quiz in surprise new story
Home and Away's Dean Thompson faces police questioning on UK screens next week after Bree Cameron gets the wrong idea over his relationship with Ziggy Astoni.
Scottish Government call for 'military assistance' as firefighters vote to strike
THE Scottish Government and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service are set to call in the army after firefighters overwhelmingly voted to strike.
Memories of the BBC's innovative Open Door series
Letters: While producers gave participants control, there were some lines that couldn't be crossed, says David Griffiths, while Tony Laryea emphasises the role of Rowan Ayers
Portrait of Henry VIII remastered for new Royal Mint coins
Some coinage in Henry VIII's era was silver plated and wore away in places; he was often referred to as 'old Coppernose', the Mint said
MPs speak out after school transport scheme scrapped
Oxfordshire's conservative MPs speak out on the county council's decision to withdraw the spare seats scheme on several school transport routes.
Three East Lancs venues named best place to tie the knot after winning awards
Lancashire wedding venues, photographers, DJs, makeup artists, wedding car hires were all praised in the Hitched Wedding Awards 2023.
Claude Bosi and Samyukta Nair talk Socca, the art of the bistro and building the perfect Mayfair
Ahead of their new restaurant together, the chef and the restaurant talk about how they're promising more than glitz and theatrics with their new bistro
Nadhim Zahawi sacking: the questions still facing Rishi Sunak
Decision came out of the blue, say sources, as Tory MPs ask what prime minister knew and when
New York City breaks 50-year record of longest winter without snow
The idea of New York in wintertime conjures up images of Manhattan's Times Square and Central Park shrouded in snow. Not this year. No snow Sunday meant the city broke a 50-year record for the latest first snowfall of the season.It is also close to recording its highest number of consecutive days without any measurable flakes.The snowless streak has New Yorkers puzzled, some questioning their love-hate relationship with the white stuff."It's really sad," said retired teacher Anne Hansen. "Basica


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Big beautiful Caucasian drag queen with lights
Broadway Murder Mysteries Debuts New Virtual Game
Monica Hammond is well known in Broadway circles, serving as the Director of Marketing for Davenport Theatrical Enterprises and handling campaigns for such shows as the Tony Award-winning revival of "Once On This Island." When COVID-19 shut down the theater community earlier this year, she was able to quickly turn to online entertainment with her Broadway Murder Mysteries series. Hammond came up with the idea in March, launched it in April and watched as it quickly took off. More than a thousand people participated in the first game — "Bullets On Broadway" — over a two-week period. Now she has a new mystery: "Drama at Drag Brunch: The Slaying of the Sequin Sisters."
As part of a Halloween party she has been hosting the last seven years, Hammond wrote a murder mystery. It was something she was always passionate about. "I had been toying with the idea of turning this into a business somehow," she says. "I had done some research and saw that there was some potential out there. There are a lot of murder mysteries out there and I found the marketing and branding was unappealing to me. I knew with my expertise I could blow it up. COVID hit and my wife gave birth to a son. I knew I had to do something."
The launch came at a time when everyone was hurting and looking for content. As part of her regular job, she has connections to many actors and reached out to some of them with this. "I knew doing this virtual would give people an outlet to perform and dress up and bring a lot of fun during the pandemic," she says.
"Drama at Drag Brunch: The Slaying of the Sequin Sisters" is the fifth in the Broadway Murder Mystery series and has a marquee star — Ginger Minj of the seventh season of "RuPaul's Drag Race." Minj headlines as Casey Closed, a drag detective. The "location" here is Fortune Fanny's, the "only Drag Brunch and Bingo on Long Island." Two dead bodies show up, and the potential suspects are a colorful lot.
The game is envisioned for as few as three participants and as many as 20 taking on the various characters. Over the course of three rounds, clues are distributed, and in the last round everyone gets a chance to guess the winner.
Hammond admits to being a huge fan of Minj, ever since the two met at Broadway Con a few years ago. "I always thought she was one of the most talented actors I've seen on 'Drag Race', so I knew I had to go for her."
When Minj got a call about the project, the performer didn't really know what to expect, but had a blast filming the segment. "I literally cut my teeth on murder mystery for over 12 years at Sleuths here in Orlando, the longest running murder mystery theater in the world," the performer says. "It holds a near and dear place in my heart."
Minj calls the character of Casey sassy and punny. "She's everything you can imagine a drag detective to be. None of her skills are particularly deft, but she has fun with it."
The performer feels the Murder Mystery series is a nice diversion that allows participants to take their mind off of the craziness of the world. Minj admits that COVID-19 has dramatically shifted how performers keep themselves visible. "We are forced to be as creative as possible with things that are available to us," she said. "It can be strange performing to the red light of the camera. You don't have that live connection to an audience and you don't get that instant gratification, but it is a lot of fun to do. It's something I wouldn't normally do on the road."
The performer isn't tech savvy but jokes that her younger husband is very much so.
The performer grew up in Florida and can't adequately describe what "RuPaul's Drag Race" did for her career. "I worked 15 years of my life to become an overnight sensation. The show opened so many doors for me, knocked them off the hinges. All the irons I put in before were suddenly hot."
For more information on "Drama at Drag Bunch," visit
www.broadwaymurdermysteries.com/drama-at-drag-brunch.
Broadway Murder MysteriesDrama at Drag Brunch: The slaying of the Sequin SistersGinger Minj
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"Belly of the Beast" Explores Intersections of Fatness, Blackness, and Queerness


The Turnbull Government today announced $20.5 million in new funding for McGrath Breast Care Nurses to ensure ongoing support for people being treated for breast cancer.
Breast cancer is estimated to be the third most commonly diagnosed cancer and the most common cancer for Australian women.
It currently affects one in eight Australian women before the age of 85.
This year, it is estimated that more than 16,000 people will be diagnosed - over 15,900 women and 150 men.
The McGrath Breast Care Nurses provide physical, psychological and emotional support to people diagnosed with breast cancer, their families and carers – starting from diagnosis and continuing throughout their treatment.
Breast Care Nurses work in a multidisciplinary setting and act as the main liaison between the patient and the specialists who coordinate their treatment.
Today's announcement is in addition to the Turnbull Government's 2015 listing of Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) medications for secondary breast cancer: pertuzumab (Perjeta®), trastuzumab (Herceptin®) and trastuzumab emtansine (Kadcyla®) for HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer. Without Government subsidy these medicines would cost consumers more than $82,700 per person each year to access.
Last month the Government also listed Tamoxifen (Nolvadex-D) on the PBS as a treatment to reduce the risk of breast cancer in women identified with a moderate to high lifetime risk of developing breast cancer.
In 2012 breast cancer was the most common form of cancer in females (27.3 per cent of female cancer cases) and the second most commonly diagnosed cancer in Australia.
In 2013, it was the fourth most common cancer causing death (2,892). It is estimated that it will remain the fourth most common cause of death from cancer in 2016.
Breast cancer affects one in eight Australian women before the age of 85. Of the 122,093 new cases of cancer diagnosed in Australia in 2012, approximately 15,050 were for breast cancer in women.
With increased five-year relative survival rates in Australia for breast cancer currently at 90 per cent, there is an increasing number of women each year who are diagnosed and treated for breast cancer who are then faced with the consequences of either managing a terminal illness or of surviving the treatment and its side effects.
It is estimated the incidence of breast cancer will increase over the next four years to over 17,000 Australians in 2020.
Jane and Glenn McGrath's much-publicised experience with breast cancer led to the formation of the McGrath Foundation.
The McGrath Foundation also fund, train and place breast care nurses independent of Commonwealth funding.
McGrath Breast Care Nurses provide physical, psychological and emotional support to women diagnosed with breast cancer, their families and carers. The support is provided from diagnosis and throughout treatment within a multidisciplinary setting and is based on an evidence-based model of care.
McGrath Breast Care nurses are specially trained to care for and support patients with breast cancer.
Through the 2013-14 Budget measure, $18.5 million was provided to the McGrath Foundation Breast Care Nurse initiative.
Over 80 per cent of the Commonwealth funded McGrath nurses are employed in rural and regional Australia.
The breast care nurses are employed through state and territory health services which provides for clinical supervision of nurses and good access for patients following diagnosis and treatment.
It is estimated that up to 15,000 people and their families will receive support from a Commonwealth –funded BCN in the current funding period (2013-14 to 2016-17).


Motley Brews founder Brian Chapin says you shouldn't let anybody tell you what's good and what's bad. Taste, and decide for yourself.
April 27, 3-7 p.m., $30.
When Brian Chapin moved to Las Vegas from Arizona five years ago, he found a craft beer scene still in its early stages. There were local breweries making and serving tasty beer in the suburbs, but the Strip was ruled by national heavyweights like Budweiser and Coors, and many smaller breweries that distributed here were pulling out of the Valley. There just wasn't enough demand for handcrafted ales in a city built around mass-produced sin.
As the founder of Motley Brews, Chapin's been part of that growth. His company puts on craft beer festivals that celebrate the art of brewing and introduce drinkers to drafts they've never tasted, from a New Zealand "breakfast beer" to alcoholic ginger beer. Motley Brews' next event is the Great Vegas Festival of Beer April 27 at Sunset Park, an afternoon extravaganza that will feature around 200 brews from more than 50 breweries, including locals like Joseph James and Big Dog's and visitors like Dogfish Head, Full Sail, Uinta and North Coast.
These days, he's far more prepared. Smaller samples are key, and Chapin's hired Designated Drivers to take fest-goers home for free if they have a car with them.
He wants attendees to find their own favorites among the hundreds of brews being served. "Don't let anyone tell you what's good and what's bad," Chapin says. "Try a lot of different things.


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Panelists for National Conversation on Religion and Disaffiliation in America
Report Examining Disaffiliation in Young Catholics Released
Church Called to Listen to Young People [Interview with John Vitek]
John Vitek
John Vitek is president and CEO of Saint Mary's Press and coauthor of the study Going, Going, Gone: The Dynamics of Disaffiliation in Youth Catholics. The study, conducted by Saint Mary's Press in collaboration with the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA), explores the reasons given by young adults for leaving the Catholic Church. He was interviewed about the study, its findings, and how the church might respond.
Isn't this study a bit disruptive for a Catholic organization? How did you get permission to do this?
The study is disruptive in the sense that it's young people telling their stories of why they left the church in their own words, uncensored and unfiltered. They speak with honesty and frankness, sometimes brutal honesty. Some of what they have to say may be unpleasant for the church to hear, even disturbing. For instance, we heard from some that "when I would leave church I would leave feeling judged, and when I'm in nature I feel at peace. Why would I want to stay part of something where I feel judged?"
One of our principal researchers said at the start of the project: "When we are confronted with unpleasant information we tend to do one of two things: we either try to explain it away or we blame someone or something for it." This is a really important caution for the church; to be careful that we don't try to explain these voices away or cast blame. The question is if we think of the stories of disaffiliation as a mirror, what do these stories reflect back to the church that we need to embrace and seriously reflect upon?
As a Lasallian organization—a ministry of the Christian Brothers of De La Salle—whose mission is to provide for the human and Christian education of young people, it is in our marrow to be listeners to the stories and lived experiences of young people. With the rise of religious disaffiliation it is imperative that we listen closely and deeply to the stories of those who disaffiliate from the church so that we can continue to accompany them—however and wherever their searching leads them. That's what we do as Lasallians, as a Catholic order of brothers who believe that God's spirit abides in us regardless where we are on our journey. Our mission—the mission of the church—is to be present to people, as Jesus was, wherever their searching leads them.
What do you think will come out of a candid and honest discussion with church leaders on this topic of disaffiliation?
Truth—that is, we hope to discover an accurate and real understanding of the reasons why young people disaffiliate from the Catholic Church. When you hear a young person tell their story in their own words it's really instructive and clarifying. So clarity, accurateness, truth; these are the keys to authentic insight and understanding. Seeking truth is ultimately deeply freeing, and it's an act of tremendous respect for the personhood of these young people who just want their stories heard and honored.
How do you think organized religion and the Catholic Church ought to respond to those who choose to disaffiliate?
I think organized religion, the Catholic Church in particular, would be well-served by shedding any pessimistic view of the secularization of society or culture it may hold and instead view contemporary society as the new reality in which religion, belief, faith still have an important place and role to play. In other words, instead of seeing disaffiliation as a grave threat, the church could view it as a new and vital reality in which its evangelizing mission must function in wholly new ways.
None of the young people we interviewed, including those who now self-identify as atheists—espoused values that are contrary to the gospel or the Christian message. In fact, the opposite is true. They all spoke of the desire for and importance of living good, ethical lives rooted in what we would describe as the fundamental values of the gospel—some form of the "golden rule." Now, the young people we spoke with may say that they think organized religion has corrupted those fundamental values with nonsensical dogmas and doctrines, and some will say that they actually believe they can live more moral lives without the baggage of religion.
What will Saint Mary's Press do to move the dial on this? Is there a role you can play?
We plan to be relentless stewards of the young people's stories of disaffiliation, and we hope to provide a place where more young people can tell their stories. I was so captivated by one part of the interview process—something I had not expected at all. Regularly the young people would say to us, "Thank you for letting me tell my story. Nobody has ever asked me about it before." That blew me away—that they wanted to tell their story. Somehow in the telling of their story they felt like their decision to disaffiliate was respected and honored. Keep in mind that a significant finding of our study is that this decision involves a thoughtful, conscious, sometimes painful process for young people. They don't make this decision in haste, for the most part, nor do they take it lightly. It means something to them. So, we want to help them tell their story and we want to help the church hear those stories. Then we want to be facilitators of open, honest, candid conversation. The stories are the seedbed for conversation, and the conversation is the seedbed for understanding, compassion, empathy, and insight. Out of this, we can imagine new possibilities for the church's mission in a secular society. It's not the same as in a society where religious affiliation is the social norm.
If there are fewer Catholics, won't your materials be less relevant?
The decline of religiously affiliated Catholics doesn't make our materials less relevant; it makes it even more important for us to be relevant to the lived experience of young people. Our materials can't presume that the young person sitting in a Catholic religious education class or attending a Catholic school is a believer. In fact, it's that presumptiveness that drives young people away. Instead, our materials today have to recognize that young people embrace diversity, and the starting point for many of them is that religion and belief in God are one path among many options they have to pursuing a fulfilled life. How do you make the gospel relevant, meaningful, and captivating to a young person who holds this belief? That's our task today in creating respectful and relevant material for Catholic curriculum and spiritual resources.
Journalist Explores Future of Religion in America
New York Gathering Reviews Disaffiliation Study Findings
Podcast Discusses Young People and Church


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Are you looking for top 10 lists of sports? Here, you'll find timely and all-time best and worst lists from all sports, Sports history, ranking, athletes, unusual and bizarre sports.
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Today football is considered to be the most famous sport on the planet, and with intense worldwide popularity, comes plenty of money. Football is commonly known as soccer, and it is the most broadly played sports on the planet. Skills, strategies, goals, and celebrations are several terms that define the ecstasy of this attractive game. […] More
Top 10 Controversial Boxing Decisions in History
The sweet science, as a competitive sport, is not free from its own share of controversial decisions. Until today, there is no exact science how to score a boxing match. How exactly do you score a tactical match between a brawler and a tactical boxer? Until today, the boxing commissions use the 10 point must […] More
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Top 10 Canadian Athletes in The World Right Now
What comes to mind when you think of Canada and sports? You probably think of hockey and a variety of other winter sports, anything that requires snow and ice. Makes sense, considering the country's climate and geography. Canada does have a strong history of producing great hockey players, skiers, skaters, and athletes who compete in […] More
10 Most Controversial Athletes of All Time
History of sports is full of some controversial athletes. Some athletes create controversy because of their attitude, while other athletes seem to never stay out of trouble with the law. This article featured the top 10 athletes of all time that have created a world of controversy for various indiscretions. Throughout the history of sports, […] More
All Time's Top 10 Hottest Female Tennis Players in The World
Tennis is a worldwide most famous game. It followed by millions around the world. I am a great fan of tennis and have watched almost all the tournaments. It's amazing to see that the girls who play tennis are so hot and sexy! The hottest female tennis players list include some of the best players […] More
Top 10 Most Bizarre Sports That Actually Exist
The wonderful world of sports is mostly limited to the best known, watched or played ones. But taking a closer look at some of the lesser known, yet true, sports of the world will either leave you saying, "Unbelievable" or "I don't believe it". The sports mentioned here are some of the unusual, weirdest, and […] More
Top 10 Hottest Women Figure Skaters
With this list we are going to discus some of hottest ice princesses, Hottest figure skaters. The young beautiful, talented and most stylish female athletes that pleasure our eyes and hearts all the time. A list of the most gorgeous women figure skaters that they keep the world of sports cool every winter, or hot, […] More
10 footballers who tragically lost their lives after suffering on-field injuries
Top 10 Best Female Basketball Players of All Time
Basketball is without a doubt a standout amongst the most took after recreations of all circumstances. Male and female competitors are exceeding expectations at playing this sport. Also, it's one of the most popular sports played around the world. Basketball affiliation, principally NBA has an astounding pattern taking after as we as a whole know. Taking after […] More
10 Gorgeous Sports Women Who Broke All Stereotypes
Woman! This is a word that means different things to different people. A woman is the foundation of any society because she bears the children that will one day grow up to become the society. However women are almost always attached with stereotypes and their efforts are undermined and overshadowed by the men. Women are […] More
10 Most Celebrated Athletes of The Ancient Olympics
Every athlete dreams of participating in the Olympic Games. It is undoubtedly the most prestigious event in the field of sports across the globe with a history of 12 long centuries. The first event is traditionally dated to 776 BC and was held in Olympia, Greece. The Ancient Olympics differed from our Modern Day Olympics […] More
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text:
<?php namespace Shpasser\GaeSupport\Setup;

use Illuminate\Console\Command;

/**
 * Class Configurator
 *
 * @package Shpasser\GaeSupport\Setup
 */

class Configurator {

    protected $myCommand;

    public function __construct(Command $myCommand)
    {
        $this->myCommand = $myCommand;
    }

    /**
     * Configures a Laravel app to be deployed on GAE.
     *
     * @param string $appId the GAE application ID.
     * @param bool $generateConfig if 'true' => generate GAE config files(app.yaml and php.ini).
     */
    public function configure($appId, $generateConfig, $bucketId)
    {
        $start_php     = app_path().'/../bootstrap/start.php';
        $app_php       = app_path().'/config/app.php';
        $productionDir = app_path().'/config/production';
        $global_php    = app_path().'/start/global.php';
        $startDir      = app_path().'/start';

        $this->replaceAppClass($start_php);
        $this->replaceLaravelServiceProviders($app_php);
        $this->generateProductionConfig($productionDir);
        $this->commentOutDefaultLogInit($global_php);
        $this->generateLogInit($startDir);

        if ($generateConfig)
        {
            $app_yaml      = app_path().'/../app.yaml';
            $publicPath    = app_path().'/../public';
            $php_ini       = app_path().'/../php.ini';

            $this->generateAppYaml($appId, $app_yaml, $publicPath);
            $this->generatePhpIni($appId, $bucketId, $php_ini);
        }
    }

    /**
     * Replaces the Laravel application class
     * with the one compatible with GAE.
     *
     * @param string $start_php the 'bootstrap/start.php' file path.
     */
    protected function replaceAppClass($start_php)
    {
        $contents = file_get_contents($start_php);

        $modified = str_replace(
            'Illuminate\Foundation\Application',
            'Shpasser\GaeSupport\Foundation\Application',
            $contents);

        if ($modified === $contents)
        {
            return;
        }

        $this->createBackupFile($start_php);

        file_put_contents($start_php, $modified);

        $this->myCommand->info('Replaced the application class in "start.php".');
    }

    /**
     * Replaces the Laravel service providers
     * with GAE compatible ones.
     *
     * @param string $app_php the Laravel 'app/config/app.php' file path.
     */
    protected function replaceLaravelServiceProviders($app_php)
    {
        $contents = file_get_contents($app_php);

        $strings = [
            'Illuminate\Mail\MailServiceProvider',
            'Illuminate\Queue\QueueServiceProvider'
        ];

		// Replacement to:
		//  - additionally support Google App Engine Queues,
        //  - additionally support Google App Engine Mail.
        $replacements = [
            'Shpasser\GaeSupport\Mail\GaeMailServiceProvider',
            'Shpasser\GaeSupport\Queue\QueueServiceProvider'
        ];

        $modified = str_replace($strings, $replacements, $contents);

        if ($modified === $contents)
        {
            return;
        }

        $this->createBackupFile($app_php);

        file_put_contents($app_php, $modified);

        $this->myCommand->info('Replaced the service providers in "app.php".');
    }

    /**
     * Generates the configuration files
     * for a Laravel GAE app.
     *
     * @param string $productionDir the Laravel 'app/config' dir path.
     */
    protected function generateProductionConfig($productionDir)
    {
        if (file_exists($productionDir))
        {
            $overwrite = $this->myCommand->confirm(
                'Overwrite the existing production config files?', false
            );

            if ( ! $overwrite)
            {
                return;
            }
        }
        else
        {
            mkdir($productionDir);
        }

        $configTemplatesPath = __DIR__.'/templates/config';
        $configFiles = [
            'cache.php',
            'mail.php',
            'queue.php',
            'session.php'
        ];

        foreach ($configFiles as $filename)
        {
            $srcPath = "{$configTemplatesPath}/{$filename}";
            $destPath = "{$productionDir}/{$filename}";
            copy($srcPath, $destPath);
        }

        $this->myCommand->info('Generated production config files.');
    }

    /**
     * Comments out the default log initialization code.
     *
     * @param string $global_php the Laravel 'app/start/global.php' file path.
     */
    protected function commentOutDefaultLogInit($global_php)
    {
        $find = "Log::useFiles(storage_path().'/logs/laravel.log');";
        $replace = "/* Log initialization moved to 'app/start/local.php' and 'app/start/production.php' files. */";

        $contents = file_get_contents($global_php);

        $modified = str_replace($find, $replace, $contents);

        if ($modified === $contents)
        {
            return;
        }

        $this->createBackupFile($global_php);

        file_put_contents($global_php, $modified);

        $this->myCommand->info('Commented out the default log initialization code in "global.php".');
    }

    /**
     * Generates the log initialization
     * for a Laravel GAE app.
     *
     * @param string $startDir the Laravel 'app/start' directory path.
     */
    protected function generateLogInit($startDir)
    {
        $startTemplatesPath = __DIR__.'/templates/start';

        $startFiles = [
            'local.php',
            'production.php'
        ];

        foreach ($startFiles as $filename)
        {
            $srcPath = "{$startTemplatesPath}/{$filename}";
            $destPath = "{$startDir}/{$filename}";

            if (file_exists($destPath))
            {
                $overwrite = $this->myCommand->confirm(
                    "Overwrite the existing {$destPath} file?", false
                );

                if ( ! $overwrite)
                {
                    continue;
                }

                $this->createBackupFile($destPath);
            }

            copy($srcPath, $destPath);
        }

        $this->myCommand->info('Generated the log initialization files.');
    }

    /**
     * Generates a "app.yaml" file for a GAE app.
     *
     * @param string $appId the GAE app id.
     * @param string $filePath the 'app.yaml' file path.
     * @param string $publicPath the application public dir path.
     */
    protected function generateAppYaml($appId, $filePath, $publicPath)
    {
        if (file_exists($filePath))
        {
            $overwrite = $this->myCommand->confirm(
                'Overwrite the existing "app.yaml" file?', false
            );

            if ( ! $overwrite)
            {
                return;
            }
        }

        $contents =
<<<EOT
application:    {$appId}
version:        1
runtime:        php
api_version:    1

handlers:
        - url: /favicon\.ico
          static_files: public/favicon.ico
          upload: public/favicon\.ico

EOT;

        $ending =
<<<EOT
        - url: /.*
          script: public/index.php

skip_files:
        - ^(.*/)?#.*#$
        - ^(.*/)?.*~$
        - ^(.*/)?.*\.py[co]$
        - ^(.*/)?.*/RCS/.*$
        - ^(.*/)?\.(?!env\.php).*$
        - ^(.*/)?node_modules.*$
        - ^(.*/)?_ide_helper\.php$
EOT;

        foreach (new \DirectoryIterator($publicPath) as $fileInfo)
        {
            if($fileInfo->isDot() || ! $fileInfo->isDir())
            {
                continue;
            }

            $dirName = $fileInfo->getFilename();
            $pathMapping =
<<<EOT
        - url: /{$dirName}
          static_dir: public/{$dirName}

EOT;
            $contents .= PHP_EOL.$pathMapping;
        }

        $contents .= PHP_EOL.$ending;

        file_put_contents($filePath, $contents);

        $this->myCommand->info('Generated the "app.yaml" file.');
    }

    /**
     * Generates a "php.ini" file for a GAE app.
     *
     * @param string $appId the GAE app id.
     * @param string bucketId the GAE gs-bucket id.
     * @param string $filePath the 'php.ini' file path.
     */
    protected function generatePhpIni($appId, $bucketId, $filePath)
    {
        if (file_exists($filePath))
        {
            $overwrite = $this->myCommand->confirm(
                'Overwrite the existing "php.ini" file?', false
            );

            if ( ! $overwrite)
            {
                return;
            }
        }

        $storageBucket = "{$appId}.appspot.com";
        if ($bucketId !== null)
        {
            $storageBucket = $bucketId;
        }

        $contents =
<<<EOT
; enable function that are disabled by default in the App Engine PHP runtime
google_app_engine.enable_functions = "php_sapi_name, php_uname, getmypid"
google_app_engine.allow_include_gs_buckets = "{$storageBucket}"
allow_url_include = 1
EOT;
        file_put_contents($filePath, $contents);

        $this->myCommand->info('Generated the "php.ini" file.');
    }

    /**
     * Creates a backup copy of a desired file.
     *
     * @param string $filePath the file path.
     */
    protected function createBackupFile($filePath)
    {
        $sourcePath = $filePath;
        $backupPath = $filePath.'.bak';

        if (file_exists($backupPath))
        {
            $date = new \DateTime();
            $backupPath = "{$filePath}{$date->getTimestamp()}.bak";
        }

        copy($sourcePath, $backupPath);
    }

}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


On February 28, 2019, Alexey Kharyutkin, Deputy General Director of Sokolniki Exhibition and Convention Centre, held a business meeting with a representative of the leading state exhibition company in China, CMEC International Exhibition Co., Ltd.
During the negotiations with Deputy Director, Ms. Amy Zhao, Kharyutkin gave a detailed account of Sokolniki exhibition centre and the projects it implements, particularly speaking about the cultural event designed to unite our two countries – The Great Chinese Calligraphy and Painting exhibition, which aims to celebrate the 70th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relationships between Russia and China. The event is scheduled for September 20-22, 2019.
Kharyutkin also spoke in details about the forthcoming Russian and Chinese conference named Development of Export Opportunities for China through Exhibition Industry, which will run on September 19-20, 2019. The parties discussed various aspects of cooperation, including organization of Chinese events in Moscow, the industrial exhibition RUSSIA-CHINA-MONGOLIA in September 2020 in Sokolniki and many other potential forms of cooperation.


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Charlotte, NC (March 22, 2005) – The latest national survey by the Employment Law Alliance (ELA) reveals a nation deeply divided over regulating appearance in the U.S. workplace – from weight to clothing, hairstyles to body piercing. As the debate intensifies, more than half of those surveyed said their employers had no policy addressing employee personal appearance.
The "America At Work" poll questioned 1,000 Americans on their views on appearance-based discrimination as employer-employee disputes increase and frequently spill over into the courts and government enforcement agencies. The rash of recent cases include an Atlantic City casino sued over a requirement that cocktail waitresses undergo weekly weigh ins; a challenge based on religious beliefs to a national superstore chain's prohibition on "visible facial or tongue jewelry (earrings excepted)"; a $40 million settlement involving a national, trendy clothing retailer accused of appearance-based personnel practices; and an employer's requirement that female employees wear make-up.
Here are the major findings of the poll, which has a confidence interval of +/- 3.1%, and was conducted over a recent weekend by the Media, PA market research firm of Reed, Haldy, McIntosh & Associates of a representative national sample of the adult population.
Of the 39% who said employers should have the right to deny employment based on looks, men outnumbered women 46% to 32%, while whites outnumbered non-whites 41% to 24%.
The workers were not only asked their opinion on this simmering issue, they were asked if they had any relevant personal experience.
33% of those saying they had been discriminated against said it was for some other reason.
Weddington pointed out that the poll found that supervisors and managers are much more likely than non-supervisors to support a policy permitting companies to regulate personal appearance. The survey found that 47% of the supervisors surveyed said employers should have the right to deny employment based on looks, while 35% of the non-supervisors supported that position.
The Employment Law Alliance is the worlds' largest integrated, global practice network and is comprised of premier, independent law firms distinguished for their practice in employment and labor law. There are member firms in every jurisdiction in the United States and major commercial centers throughout the world. For further information, including access to the survey charts and graphs, visit www.employmentlawalliance.com Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein, LLP is North Carolina's exclusive member of the Employment Law Alliance.


Traditionally, before flip chips can be assembled the dies have to be attached with solder bumps. This process involves the deposition of metal layers on the Al pads on the dies and this is called the under bump metallurgy (UBM). In an alternative process, however, Copper (Cu) columns can be used to replace solder bumps and the UBM process may be omitted altogether. After the bumping process, the bumped dies can be assembled on to the printed circuit board (PCB) by using either solder or conductive adhesives. In this work, the reliability issues of flip chips with Cu column bumped dies have been studied. The flip chip lifetime associated with the solder fatigue failure has been modeled for a range of geometric parameters. The relative importance of these parameters is given and solder volume has been identified as the most important design parameter for long-term reliability. Another important problem that has been studied in this work is the dissolution of protection metals on the pad and Cu column in the reflow process. For small solder joints the amount of Cu which dissolves into the molten solder after the protection layers have worn out may significantly affect solder joint properties.