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Home » News » A $1 Billion Solar Plant Was Obsolete Before It Ever Went Online
A $1 Billion Solar Plant Was Obsolete Before It Ever Went Online
Source: By Chris Martin and Nic Querolo, Bloomberg • Posted: Monday, January 6, 2020
SolarReserve's Crescent Dunes received backing from Citigroup and the Obama Energy Department but couldn't keep pace with technological advances.
Aerial photograph of the Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project near Tonopah, Nevada. Photographer: Jamey Stillings
The Crescent Dunes solar plant looks like something out of a sci-fi movie. Ten thousand mirrors form a spiral almost 2 miles wide that winds around a skyscraper rising above the desert between Las Vegas and Reno. The operation soaks up enough heat from the sun's rays to spin steam turbines and store energy in the form of molten salt.
In 2011 the $1 billion project was to be the biggest solar plant of its kind, and it looked like the future of renewable power. Citigroup Inc. and other financiers invested $140 million with its developer, SolarReserve Inc. Steven Chu, the U.S. Department of Energy secretary at the time, offered the company government loan guarantees, and Harry Reid, then the Senate majority leader and senior senator from Nevada, cleared the way for the company to build on public land. At a Washington celebration of SolarReserve's public funding, Chief Executive Officer Kevin Smith told the assembled politicians, "We're proud to be doing our part to win the future."
SolarReserve may have done its part, but today the company doesn't rank among the winners. Instead, it's mired in litigation and accusations of mismanagement at Crescent Dunes, where taxpayers remain on the hook for $737 million in loan guarantees. Late last year, Crescent Dunes lost its only customer, NV Energy Inc., which cited the plant's lack of reliability. It's a victim, ironically, of the solar industry's success over the past decade. The steam generators at Crescent Dunes require custom parts and a staff of dozens to keep things humming and to conduct regular maintenance. By the time the plant opened in 2015, the increased efficiency of cheap solar panels had already surpassed its technology, and today it's obsolete—the latest panels can pump out power at a fraction of the cost for decades with just an occasional hosing-down.
Solar Reserve's Crescent Dunes facility.Source: U.S. Department of Energy
NV Energy, owned by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc., had to wait months to cut ties with SolarReserve. Crescent Dunes has been shut down since April, and the Energy Department took control of it in August, according to a lawsuit SolarReserve filed in Delaware Chancery Court seeking to reverse the takeover. The plant's technology was designed to generate enough power night and day to supply a city the size of nearby Sparks, Nev. (population 100,000), but it never came close. Its power cost NV about $135 per megawatt-hour, compared with less than $30 per MWh today at a new Nevada photovoltaic solar farm, according to BloombergNEF, which researches fossil fuel alternatives.
Almost no one associated with Crescent Dunes will talk about it anymore. That includes the once-friendly politicians and regulators, the financiers, and the executives who've been in place during its failure. (SolarReserve didn't respond to repeated requests for comment for this story, and a lawyer representing the company said he wasn't authorized to comment.) One exception is Bill Gould, a SolarReserve co-founder who retired as its chief technology officer last year. He blames the contractor. "It was a tragedy of mismanagement," he says. Spanish company ACS Cobra, he says, delayed necessary work on Crescent Dunes and designed a salt tank that leaked, crippling the plant. SolarReserve similarly blamed ACS Cobra in its Delaware suit but doesn't appear to have filed any legal claims against the contractor. Grupo Cobra, ACS Cobra's parent company, didn't respond to requests for comment.
The Energy Department estimates that losses represent only 2.9% of its $28 billion in loan guarantees for renewable energy projects, which also funded such successes as the massive farms of thin-film solar cells from the biggest American manufacturer. Advocates of public investment say flops are an inevitable part of seeding a carbon-neutral future, just as they are for venture capitalists seeking the next Google. "You should probably have more than one or two high-profile failures," says Yale economics professor Kenneth Gillingham, who studied energy issues as part of President Barack Obama's White House Council of Economic Advisers. "Otherwise, you haven't invested aggressively enough."
Under the Trump administration, which has mocked the push for fossil fuel alternatives, it's easy to imagine Crescent Dunes being used as a talking point if the White House proposes to eliminate federal subsidies for renewable power, says Timothy Fox, a vice president at researcher ClearView Energy Partners LLC. Chris Edwards, the director of tax policy studies at the libertarian Cato Institute, says the feds shouldn't invest in alternative energy. "There's a long and growing list of failed government projects," says Edwards, a former senior economist on the Republican staff of the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee. He points to the familiar example of Solyndra LLC, a solar company backed by $535 million in loan guarantees that filed for bankruptcy in 2011.
A buyer might try to bring Crescent Dunes back on line, or its owner could sell it for parts. For now, the plant is mostly a punchline in a part of Nevada that's seen its share of booms and busts. The nearest town, Tonopah, was the site of a silver rush in the early 1900s. It's now home to 2,400 people, a motley collection of saloons and casinos, a mining museum, and the Clown Motel, which calls itself "America's scariest motel" because it's close to a cemetery and filled with creepy red-nosed tchotchkes. The solar plant's workers don't boost business like they used to, says Linda Taylor, the motel's manager. "It took our money," she says of the giant mirror matrix up the road. "It's dead. But real pretty, though. You can see it for miles."


The 2013 Major League Baseball got under way on March 31st, as scores of baseball fans were glued to their TV rooting for their favorite teams. As the oldest professional sport in the US, throughout the season and beyond, fans remain deeply loyal to their chosen teams. This commitment continues despite various missteps players and coaches may make throughout the season. Even game-costing mistakes don't tend to sway a fan's loyalty.
Sadly, the data shows bank customers aren't nearly as loyal. A recent survey from PwC found 40% of people shifted business to another bank after a bad experience. On these occasions, there will always be another bank or credit union waiting in the wings.
There's even some evidence that satisfaction with credit unions is growing to the detriment of the largest banks. Credit unions recently outperformed banks in the Tempkin Group's 2013 Experience Ratings in the banking industry category for the 2nd consecutive year. Credit unions received a rating of 79% in the 2013 survey, exceeding ratings received by USAA, with 78%, and the two top-rated banks ING Direct and TD Bank, which both came in at 74%.
The lesson here is that while community banks are extremely customer-centric, you must still need to be vigilant about maintaining the quality of customer relationships because competition is fierce. You might be surprised to know research from Accenture found that while 63% of financial advisers surveyed say they have a "personal relationship" with clients, only 38% of investors described the relationship as "personal." While this study wasn't solely aimed at bank-based financial advisors, the takeaway is nonetheless important. While you may think your customers are satisfied and that you are doing everything you possibly can for them, the question is whether they agree. The key to improvement here is to recognize things continually change and disconnects can surface.
Step two to improve is to take concrete steps to measure customer satisfaction. A survey focused on customer satisfaction, customer service efforts, specific marketing campaigns and more all make sense to do now and again to see how you stack up.
When it comes to improving customer service and increasing satisfaction, there are other notable outtakes from the PwC study cited earlier. For one, 25% of memorable bad experiences involved rates or fees. Another important finding: 50% of customer recommendations are due to good experiences, not discounts or free products. Finally, the human touch still counts, as people said they would typically be willing to pay a 9% price premium for issue resolution with a live representative.
To see how fast things can evolve related to customer interaction and satisfaction; consider the new tablet-like or video ATMs just announced by Wells Fargo, Bank of America and JPMorgan. It is too early to tell how this will work out, but these banks test market things first, so they must have seen something exciting to be rolling them out across the country so quickly. As with airlines, gas stations and many other services, people don't mind self-service if it is intuitive and easy to use in many cases. Banking remains a predominantly people oriented business, so one way to score big with customers is to stay on top of the trends as you continually solicit feedback and refine offerings.
Higher-than-expected Consumer Confidence amidst the recent trend of soft economic news, coupled with Apple's $17B debt offering left yields flat.
Yields are down 2bp following sub-par ADP employment numbers.
ComScore research finds more than half of those surveyed (51%) say they are aware of digital wallets.
To help you keep tabs on what the largest banks are doing, research by Javelin Strategy finds 100% of them now offer the ability for customers to check account balances, view recent transactions, transfer funds between accounts within their bank and pay bills via mobile channels. Other mobile services most of them now offer include: the ability to check credit card balances and transactions (87%); transfer funds between customers at their bank (74%); business mobile banking (70%); transferring funds from other banks (57%); mobile person to person transfers (57%) and mobile deposit capture (52%). Now you know.
Banks seeking to boost deposits down the road might want to target family members of retirees. That is because an AARP survey finds 90% of people 65+ want to live at home for as long as possible, but assisted living costs about $40,000 per year on average. Advertise your targeted savings accounts to boost deposits.
Javelin Strategy reports that while 91% of bank mobile solutions allow customers to transfer funds between accounts in the same bank, only 26% allow customers to transfer funds between banks (P2P).


Solutions are also available in the. Recommended questions from the new are shown below. Solutions are also available in the. Worked solutions are courtesy of Robert Milton, Teacher of Mathematics. Solutions are also available in the. Subscribing to the Online Study Pack may therefore be one of your best ever investments. Recommended questions from the new are shown below.
A part of the highly regarded Maths in Action series, it provides students with a familiar, clear and carefully structured learning experience that encourages them to build confidence and understanding. Questions and answers have been split up by topic for ease of reference. Exam Focused Online Study Pack Through step-by-step worked solutions to exam questions available in the Online Study Pack we cover everything you need to know about Advanced Higher Maths to pass your final exam. Worked solutions are courtesy of Robert Milton, Teacher of Mathematics. . As well as students studying Advanced Higher Mathematics, the resources will benefit young adults studying A-Level Mathematics and undergraduates who need a little extra help.
Please click to view screenshots, examples and instructions on how to subscribe. Recommended questions from the new are shown below. Worked solutions are courtesy of Robert Milton, Teacher of Mathematics. . .


The LIFE program was a strong and healthy experience for my personality, my thinking, my leadership and my own confidence. The program helps you take a deep journey in yourself that will surprise your senses and your intelligence. The program combines pure adrenaline and deep feelings with the superb direction of a great team and valid formula for learning leadership.


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Engel Floor Speech on Congressional Oversight of Military Force
WASHINGTON—Representative Eliot L. Engel, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, today delivered remarks on the House floor in support of a measure to improve congressional oversight over the use of military force abroad:
"I rise in support of an amendment I join with Ranking Member Smith to offer on Niger. Last October, four American servicemembers were killed in an ambush in Niger.
"We still don't fully understand what happened—and for some reason, the zeal for oversight that my majority colleagues used to exhibit has dried up in the last 16 months.
"But here's what we do know: American personnel were in Niger for an advise-and-accompany mission. But some time after these four heroes lost their lives, the Administration said, 'Well, no, they actually fought under the 2001 war authorization.' That's the post-9/11 AUMF.
"So, four Americans are dead, and, it turns out, we're fighting the war on terror in one country after another. There are seemingly no limits, and we have a responsibility to do better.
"This is a scandal screaming out for Congressional oversight—not just in this case, but in so many of the far-flung places where our military is engaged overseas. We need to stay focused on fighting terrorist organizations.
"But the law says Congress decides when and where we fight wars, and the Administration appears to be losing track of what authorities it has and where it is using them.
"So I'm glad to join Ranking Member Smith in offering this amendment that, hopefully, will shed light on our mission in the region."
Permalink: https://foreignaffairs.house.gov/2018/5/engel-floor-speech-congressional-oversight-military-force

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Create a launch teaser and manage all promotional content for Fabrique 1840, a new platform spearheaded by Simons axed at showcasing the hidden creativity of Canadian artisan.
The teaser sheds light on the bright and colorful world of Canadian creators in an eye-catching way. To truly explain the platform, we let Peter Simons and Samuel Lambert – founder of Lambert & Fils, a forward-thinking luminary developer – discuss Fabrique 1840's goals and ambitions for Canadian artists.
Our mandate was to assist and boost the new brands' Instagram and Facebook presence. In only a few months, the brand's following jumped from 0 to 6000.


Following the successful launch of its joint venture, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney today announced it will look to grow its advisor population that focuses on ultra-high net worth clients through a dedicated effort branded under the Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management name.
"The combination of Morgan Stanley's well established Private Wealth Management division and Smith Barney's leading Citi Family Office capabilities creates a strong platform for individuals and families of significant means. These clients have highly specialized wealth management and private banking requirements which we are uniquely positioned to fulfill," said James Gorman, Co-President of Morgan Stanley and Chairman of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney.
Led by Michael Armstrong, Managing Director, Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management will bring together approximately 500 highly trained private wealth advisors who will deliver a unique range of wealth management, asset management, private banking, capital markets and investment banking services to ultra-wealthy individuals and families in the United States, Latin America, Europe, Middle East and Africa, and Asia.
"Both firms have been committed to providing a differentiated client experience, superior market intelligence and access to innovative solutions from leading investment specialists from around the world. Our new, enlarged organization will give us even more resources that we can bring to bear as strategic partners for our clients," Mr. Armstrong said.
Morgan Stanley Smith Barney President and COO Charlie Johnston added, "Since we announced the Morgan Stanley Smith Barney joint venture, we have been excited about the breadth and depth of the relationships, professional expertise and sophisticated offerings of the two organizations, and our ability to be the one-stop source of solutions for ultra-high net worth individuals and their families."
In the United States, Michael Armstrong will partner closely with Andy Saperstein, Managing Director and head of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney's broader wealth management business in the U.S., to deliver a superior service offering to the ultra-high net worth marketplace. "By strengthening the partnership between Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management and Morgan Stanley Smith Barney's Financial Advisors, we will present an exceptional value proposition to our wealthiest clients," Mr. Saperstein said.
Investments and services offered through Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management, a division of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, member SIPC.
Services: Customized wealth management, including investment advice, research and execution, structured solutions, asset management, strategic asset allocation and performance reporting; family office services, including estate planning, family governance, expense management, concierge, art advisory and philanthropic/foundation services; private banking, including tailored lending; investment banking and capital markets services, in partnership with Morgan Stanley's Institutional Securities Group and Citi.


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PZ360
About Mount's Bay Trading Ltd
PZ360 News
Changes at PZ360
Following the departure of Devon and Cornwall Housing from PZ360, TorFX have taken on the ground floor of the building. TorFX, a rapidly-devloping company and one of the largest employers in the Penzance area, is expanding and relocating some of its functions from London to Cornwall. Meanwhile, The Cornishman newspaper has relocated […]
PZ360 Tunes into Penwith Radio
Local volunteer-run community radio station, Penwith Radio has found the right signal at PZ360 for its new transmitter link – 23 metres up on the roof of the building following their recent move from Wharfside Shopping Centre to Parade Street in Penzance. Broadcasting 24/7 on 96.5 FM our roof apparently provides […]
Proposed Facelift for PZ360
Building owners MBT Ltd have submitted plans to give the former Tax Office at PZ360 a much needed facelift. The proposals outlined in a recently submitted planning application to Cornwall Council will see the existing fabric of the building transformed to create a more modern and less austere look to compliment […]
Lunchtime soup service launched from Pz360
By foot, on two and four vehicles members of a Penzance organisation that promotes healthy sustainable living have been out once again offering Flask Group Fridays. Two days ago, Whole Communities Again (WCA), who are also ambassadors for the Jamie Oliver Food Foundation, were out and about in Penzance providing a […]
Penzance BID officer settles in at PZ360
Penzance BID officer settles in at PZ360 The Penzance Business Improvement District (BID) manager Jess Golding has joined PZ360, basing herself at the building with an office in The Workbox on the 4th floor. Jess has started in her new position and if passion and enthusiasm count for anything she should prove […]
Superfast Arrives at PZ360
Superfast Arrives at PZ360 State of the art 'Fibre to the Premises' (FTTP) broadband connectivity is now available to all tenants in the building. Services with speeds of up to 330Mbps can now be ordered from a number of service providers details of which are available at www.superfastcornwall.org/can-you-connect/fttp-ordering. If you have any difficulty […]
PZ360 shortlisted for property awards
PZ360 shortlisted for property awards. PZ360 has been included on the shortlist for the Michelmores and Western Morning News Property Awards. The awards are the region's premier property competition, showcasing the very best in Westcountry property projects, buildings and firms. Among the contenders for the prestigious Commercial Project of the Year award is the […]
A successful launch
A successful launch More than 100 people attended a launch for PZ360,to celebrate the completion of 18 months of hard work and planning. The hoisting of a special flag and the launch of a panoramic rooftop webcam were two of the highlights of the launch event. The building – once dubbed the 4th […]
PZ1964
website 2013: themediarunner.co.uk


Too many people suffer too much stress, often leading to sleeplessness, cravings, anger, poor focus, poor performance, and feeling overwhelmed. TouchPoints aim at reducing stress by delivering haptic microvibrations via wearable devices worn on both sides of the body. The bi-lateral alternating stimulation (BLAST) technology can help reduce stress significantly while the wearer multi-tasks at home, work, or school. The key is that our wearables don't simply give information or cues — they can actually help reduce stress.
The idea evolved over the last decade while I was practicing neuropsychology and therapy. I found out EMDR (eye movement desensitization and reprocessing) therapists who were helping treat PTSD in groups of people as volunteers in conflict areas, and who often reported that after therapy people are less likely to get PTSD a second time. Unfortunately, many people don't get any immediate or ongoing treatment after trauma, as one-on-one therapy is expensive and time consuming.
So I first became an EMDR Therapist myself and then tried to isolate the bi-lateral stimulation in prototypes using available technology. It became my mission to put BLAST into affordable wearables to give everyone access to this. Stress being so pervasive in our lives, I think people deserve tools outside of the doctor's office to improve their lives.
What's your vision for Brain Health in 2025 and how do you envision TouchPoint as part of it?
By 2025 I would like to see everyone living their best by avoiding the detrimental effects of an overactive stress response, and for TouchPoints to be affordable and widely accessible via corporate wellness partnerships, multiple distribution channels, and scholarship programs. By 2025 I hope we will know much more about stress and how to best deal with it.
As a personal note I'd love to be a Brainnovations Judge in 2025. I mean, what's cooler than seeing all those companies at the cutting edge of neuroscience and life improvement?
How are you funding the company so far, and are you planning to raise funds this year?
We have primarily bootstrapped so far, as my co-founder, CEO Vicki Mayo, and I believe in conscious capitalism and wanted to get the company on a solid footing before taking investments. We also raised over $250k via Indiegogo, and are getting $400k as we speak thanks to the Elevator Pitch TV show by Entrepreneur magazine. We may be raising further funds later in the year.
How do you/ will you validate that your solutions do what they are supposed to?
We first created a solid scientific advisory board to guide our research strategy, and have been working on three double-blind placebo-controlled research projects and a variety of collaborations. We are in the process of publishing several papers, and writing grant proposals fir further research.
What are some key roadblocks ahead, and how are you planning to address them?
Our biggest hill to climb is challenging the status quo and educating the public about the stress response and what really works. People think stress is very complicated and something we need to live with, our medical systems tend to use invasive, expensive 'solutions,' and so many companies are creating so many products that there's a lot of confusion and noise in the space.
If you could go back in time to, say, 5–10 years ago, what advice would you have liked to receive?
I use cutting-edge methods from my clinics, like neuromodulation and circadian rhythm regulation, wear TouchPoints and go to EMDR Therapy when needed, eat vegetables almost every morning, workout consistently, maintain positive relationships, express gratitude and kindness, and I never, ever, ever stress about the fact that I'm a total and complete nerd.
Dr. Amy Serin is the President of the Arizona Neuropsychological Society and the Co-Founder & Chief Science Officer at The Touchpoint Solution. She is credited with inventing BLAST (Bi-Lateral Alternating Stimulation delivered Tactile) technology as part of neuroscience research and practice at The Serin Centers. Dr. Serin oversees research partnerships with universities across the globe, and has been named Phoenix Young Woman of The Year and Advocate of The Year, among other recognitions.
Thanks to her great pitch and answers during the 2017 SharpBrains Virtual Summit (slidedeck available below), The TouchPoint Solution was selected as the Top Brainnovation to Boost Workplace Productivity and Resilience.


The "Alligator" wrench – the type is so-called because of its shape, like an "alligators mouth". Others may know it as a Goat Wrench or an Always Ready Wrench. Historically it was used to turn iron and steel pipes and rods which could not be turned with a regular wrench. A pipefitter often used such a tool in fitting or removing air and water-piping from a locomotive.
Today we're reintroducing this versitile tool to the industry with ability to accomodate metric and SAE sizes in hex and square nuts with an automatic ratchet like action. Included on the handle are 3/8 thru 5/8 inch thread restorers and a built in hammer.
• The opening is equivalent to a 9/16 (14mm) thru a 1 1/8 inch (28mm) wrench.
The GMP Alligator Wrench will be the first tool you reach for when you need that "one tool fits all".


Provide emergency financial assistance with rent, utilities, pharmacy, minor car repair and other miscellaneous expenses, depending on availability of funds. Also provides gasoline assistance and HEB transit passes. Assistance available twice within a 12 month period.
Monday - 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.; 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Tuesday - 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Wednesday - 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.; 6:00 p.m. - 8:00p.m.
Thursday - 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.


#TBT: Don't know who Antonio E. Garcia is? You should.
Antonio E. Garcia left Mexico as a teen to escape Pancho Villa's raids and became a significant artist. He even taught himself to paint frescoes.
If the name Antonio E. Garcia is only familiar as the name of a Corpus Christi arts and education center on Agnes Street, read on. You'll learn to appreciate this gifted artist who made South Texas his home.
Antonio Encarnación Garcia was born in Monterrey, Mexico on Dec. 27, 1901. In 1914 his father (Garcia's mother died not long after his birth) sent Garcia and his two sisters to San Diego, Texas to live with their grandfather. Pancho Villa's raids on Monterrey during the Mexican Revolution worried him and he wanted his children out of harm's way.
"We came for a couple of months and stayed; the revolution kept going on and my father felt we were safer in Texas than in Mexico," Garcia told a Caller-Times reporter in 1991.
By that time Garcia was already interested in art. Following graduation from San Diego High School, he worked until he saved enough money to attend the Art Institute of Chicago. He came back to San Diego and married his high school sweetheart, Herminia Gonzalez, in 1929 before returning to Chicago to finish his schooling. The couple moved to Corpus Christi in 1935, where they raised their five children.
Having a working artist as the head of the household isn't always easy. In a 1958 interview Herminia Garcia told the Caller-Times reporter about the erratic hours and income. Sometimes a bill had to wait until a portrait commission was completed. She talked about her worries when he would work until the wee hours of the morning on a church fresco.
Antonio E. Garcia stands before his 1933 painting "Woman Before Mirror," for which his wife Herminia was the model, in April 1991.
While his paintings and portraits (along with his career teaching art) paid the family's bills, many remember him now for his frescoes. Imagine Michelangelo's backbreaking work on the Sistine Chapel ceilings: Garcia taught himself the technique from books of Egyptian, Aztec and Etruscan paintings.
In a May 27, 1976 Corpus Christi Times article, Garcia describes the long, hard work.
Among his works are the fresco "Mexican Annunciation" at Presidio La Bahia in Goliad, five frescoes at Sacred Heart Catholic Church on Comanche Street, the mural "March on Washington" which he painted for the Dallas Museum through the Public Works Administration in 1933. That mural is now on display at the Duval County Historical Museum.
My personal favorite is part of the Art Museum of South Texas' permanent collection. "Juneteenth Revue," which Garcia painted in 1939, shows a stylized pageant at South Bluff Park off Tancahua Street on Juneteenth.
Antonio E. Garcia's "Juneteenth Revue," 1939, oil on canvas, Gift of the Corpus Christi Art Guild to the Art Museum of South Texas Permanent Collection, x.4. Photo courtesy the Art Museum of South Texas.
His family and friends turn up in his artwork frequently. He pointed out likenesses in the Sacred Heart frescoes to the reporter from the 1976 article. The infant Christ in one image is modelled after his younger daughter. His wife's face was the basis of Mary. Sacred Heart's Father Anthony Elsing and the late Diocese of Corpus Christi Bishop Mariano Garriga both make appearances.
In an April 29, 1991 article in Caller-Times, the artist talked of his forced retirement several years earlier because of deteriorating eyesight. At that point he was considered legally blind, a huge blow to an artist who interpreted life through sight.
"Since I'm a painter, it's a natural reaction to life and living conditions," he told the reporters "I have no way of expressing myself; being legally blind is very confining." Garcia died in 1997 in Florida.
This artwork of the Madonna is one of three artworks by Antonio Garcia at the Antonio E. Garcia Arts & Education Center.
Interested in viewing works by this significant South Texas artist? The Nueces County Historical Commission is hosting a historical marker dedication at 10:15 a.m. Sunday, April 29 at Sacred Heart on Comanche Street. See for yourself the finished products of Garcia's long nights that worried Herminia so much.
Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated the year Antonio and Herminia Garcia married.


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2021: The year that imported LNG was established as the fuel for Bangladesh' future?
UNB Report
At the same time that the country's overall daily natural gas production witnessed a fall of 79.2 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) in last one year, the import of liquefied natural gas (LNG) registered a rise by 85.9 mmcfd.
This is revealed in Petrobangla data against the reality that currently 20 percent of the total gas supply has to be met by import while the country is consuming gas of about 2,898.8 mmcfd against a demand for 4610 mmcfd.
A comparison of data from Petrobangla-the state-owned hydrocarbon corporation-shows that the country produced 2,898.8 mmcfd gas on December 2 this year against 2,978.0 mmcfd on the same day in 2020.
The production capacity, however remained static at 3,760 mmcfd as it did not witnessed any fall or rise in last one year against the backdrop of lack of exploration activities.
The data shows the country witnessed only 6.2 mmcfd increase in the gas production at the government-run 18 gas fields as their daily production was recorded at 851.7 mmcfd against 845.5 mmcfd in 2020.
On the other hand, the production at the international oil company-operated 4 gas fields fell by 171.3 mmcfd as they produced 1499.2 mmcfd against the 1670.5 mmcfd in the same period.
The import, however, registered a rise by 85.9 mmcfd to 547.9 mmcfd on December 2 in 2021 from 462.0 mmcfd in the same day 2020 against an import capacity of 1000 mmcfd which was also the same in 2020.
Energy experts have been blaming the government's lack of interest in local hydrocarbon exploration, coupled with a seeming eagerness toward import of LNG, for the current situation.
According to the annual report published by the International Group of LNG Importers (GIIGNL), Bangladesh ranked 15th among the nations in the world that increased their LNG imports most in 2020.
Expressing grave concern over the country's energy situation, energy expert and former professor of Chemical Engineering Department of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet) Dr Ijaz Hossain said Bangladesh is moving towards a dangerous situation as Petrobangla has failed to conduct necessary exploration in hydrocarbon sector.
"Currently, we're importing 20-25 percent of gas as LNG from abroad. If there's no discovery within the next 10 years, we will have to import more than 90 percent gas from foreign sources," he told UNB.
"The government has to ensure at least 15 percent drilling -- 5 drilling by Petrobangla and 10 drilling by foreign companies -- to avert the future crisis.
Dr Ijaz also said there might be the influence of vested interest groups for increasing LNG import, but the government has to take the right decision to increase exploration works.
As per the country's Gas Master Plan 2017, the demand will increase to 5257 MMCFD in 2022-23, 6228 MMCFD in 2024-25 to meet the needs of different sectors, including power and industry, in line with average 7 percent economic growth.
According to a forecast by Petrobangla, the country's gas production from the local fields will be depleting and imports will continue to rise to meet the growing demand in power, industry and other sectors.
Petrobangla's Annual Report 2020 says the country's total initial recoverable proven plus probable gas reserve of 27 fields has been estimated to be at 28.29 trillion cubic feet (TCF). Up to December, 2020, as much as 18.24 TCF gas was produced, leaving only 10.05 TCF of recoverable gas in 2P category. Currently, 20 gas fields are in production with 105 wells on-stream.
Energy expert and professor of the BUET's petroleum and mineral resources engineering department Dr M Tamim said current situation is the result of the Petrobangla's failure to make any initiative for exploration in last 7 years since the country's maritime boundary disputes with neighbours were settled in 2014.
The Petrobangla data reveals that the four gas field operated by US-based company Chevron and UK-based Tullow have been producing about 40 percent of the country's total gas from their four fields-Chevron's Jalalabad (209.8 mmcfd), Maulavibazar (19.6 mmcfd), Bibiyana (1200 mmcfd) and Tullow's Bangora (90.9 mmcfd).
The state-owned Petrobangla has been operating 18 gas fields of which Titas has been producing the highest amount of 396.4 mmcfd which is followed by 158 mmcfd.
LPG Price Soaring: Squeezed Middle Class
Justice Hasan Foez Siddique, a senior judge of the A ...


This question stumbled in from someone irritated by my message last week that was critical of Facebook.
Just because something is popular doesn't mean it is profitable.
Restaurants fail even if they are on busy intersections with plenty of traffic.
You do have to actually offer something people want in order to be successful. Location alone simply isn't enough.
And just because people teach something doesn't mean that it actually works.
Just look at colleges and universities — they teach 'something' but that's no guarantee you'll get a job using any of it.
Happens all the time and is what students (and their parents) worry about constantly.
But it doesn't stop the masses from following along anyway.
You can't stop people from being sheep.
And in the specialty education world (like business and real estate training) there is a lot of empty hype and charlatans as well.
They teach something they think people WANT, even if it isn't what people really NEED.
When you recognize this you'll see what's really happening.
And that's what I see with Facebook.
Perhaps that's why the only people I see making money using Facebook are the people who teach about using Facebook.
It's always the teachers selling courses about using Facebook who are making money, BUT NOT the students doing what they've been taught.
Because with Facebook and other social media each new "friend" feels like you're building towards something, so you think you are making "progress".
But what good are a bunch of followers going to do if you don't have a system to lead them through?
Or if you don't have an end result to sell them?
And has no financial return.
But since it is "progress" that you and see and can measure, people fall for it.
And that's why there are people teaching it.
Because it is immediately do-able.
Even if that road just dead-ends and is pointless.
Now go and do something productive that produces something valuable.
That's how you make money.
Wanna learn how to be valuable, productive, and profitable flipping real estate?


A super stylish mirror can create a beautiful effect in your home.
A beautiful gold framed teardrop shape mirror, the Gold Teardrop Mirror can be used as a make-up mirror in your bedrooms or bathrooms or alternatively as a decorative piece on your picture or gallery wall. For a dazzling effect you could pair the Gold Teardrop Mirror with our Rhombus Eye Mirror and create a lovely geometric display on your walls.
However you choose to style the Gold Teardrop Mirror in your home we can guarantee that it will look quirky and original.


text:
Q: changed variable names causes runtime error I'm really confused as to why the second example is causing a runtime error when the only differences are the variable names.  Could someone please explain why this is happening?
int main (void)
{
    long long ccNumber;
    int ccLength;
    printf("Enter Credit Card Number: ");
    ccNumber = get_long_long();
    ccLength = (int)log10(ccNumber) + 1;
    if (ccLength != 13 && ccLength != 15 && ccLength != 16)
        printf("Invalid Card Number.\n");

    int array[ccLength];
    long long copyCcNumber = ccNumber;
    int loopCounter = 0;

    while (copyCcNumber != 0)
    {
        array[ccLength - 1 - loopCounter] = copyCcNumber % 10;
        copyCcNumber = copyCcNumber / 10;
        loopCounter++;
    }

THIS
    int numberArray2[ccLength/2];
    int k = 2;
    int l = 0;

    while ((ccLength - k) > -1)
    {
        numberArray2[l] = 2 * array[ccLength - k];
        k = k + 2;
    l++;
    }
    return 0;
}

VS
    int array2[ccLength/2];
    int everyOtherDigit = 2;
    int loopCounter2 = 0;

    while ((ccLength - loopCounter2) > -1)
    {
        array2[loopCounter2] = 2 * array[ccLength - everyOtherDigit];
        everyOtherDigit = everyOtherDigit + 2;
        loopCounter2++;
    }
    return 0;
}

A: Well, you suffer from a simple copy & paste error: Inside of the while-loop you did not rename the array to array2 and while ((ccLength - loopCounter2) > -1) should be while ((ccLength - everyOtherDigit ) > -1)
int array2[ccLength/2];
int everyOtherDigit = 2;
int loopCounter2 = 0;

while ((ccLength - everyOtherDigit) > -1)
{
    array2[loopCounter2] = 2 * array2[ccLength - everyOtherDigit];
    everyOtherDigit = everyOtherDigit + 2;
    loopCounter2++;
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Home » September 2021 2021 Uncategorized
The Business of Branding
Written by Pauline Müller
Wrapping up old-fashioned packaging ideas may be more difficult for some industries than others. Difficulties aside, however, the reality is that, as climate change begins to hit home around the world, it is time to get creative and far more benevolent toward our planet. In this feature, we explore several solutions to some urgent packaging issues that some of the world's biggest brands are embracing.
In the seventeen goals listed on the United Nations' sustainability agenda set to be achieved over a fifteen-year timeline, the organization forecasts 9.6 billion humans will inhabit the earth by 2050. Since we already find ourselves in an environmental quandary, becoming a planetary asset as a species, rather than a liability is urgent.
The good news is that North Americans are starting to take the matter of single-use materials seriously, with a March 2020 study by Two Sides North America, a non-profit organization representing the paper-based packaging industry, showing strides in consumer awareness and preferences toward earth-friendly packaging. The study found that nearly two-thirds of American consumers are deliberately reducing their plastic packaging consumption.
Now the goal is to convert the as-yet-unconverted, and, thanks to modern technology, the packaging industry has the opportunity to become more innovative than ever before. Lightening our impact on the earth relies on curbing our consumption of goods and natural resources while producing goods that are not harmful to the environment at the end of their original purpose and can also be transformed into nothing by earth-friendly means.
And, while many people have been working on ways to achieve this, not all packaging that claims to be eco-friendly is equal.
Package fabrication can use sustainable energy derived from alternative resources such as solar, wind, and other types of power to avoid using electricity drawn from the main power grid throughout its entire process. Preferably, materials should be recycled and biodegradable and non-toxic, including the inks used to decorate them. The manufacturing process should also be as lean and as environmentally clean as possible.
Finally, the packaging volume should closely match the size of its content, eliminating or at least minimizing the need for extra layers of wrapping, both of the contents and the final, packaged unit. When this is not possible, additional layers should adhere to the same sustainability standards.
Finally, the goal is to avoid unnecessary transport. The shorter the distance between the client, the packaging manufacturers, and the materials suppliers, the less greenhouse gas is emitted, and fewer natural resources are under pressure during the manufacturing process. And by reducing the weight of the packaging materials, more products can be transported at one time, minimizing emissions even further.
While this does sound like a tall order for smaller brands, one way to ensure that packaging meets all these requirements is by consulting the guidelines set by the Sustainable Packaging Coalition's membership rules. The coalition was founded at the 1992 Earth Summit by architect William McDonough, who was called "the mastermind of sustainable design."
The Sustainable Packaging Coalition even has three cities' recycling departments as members and its website lists an impressive list of sustainable packaging manufacturers, making it easy to find a trustworthy supplier. Bioplastics.com also provides a weighty list of bioplastics companies from raw materials suppliers and traders to service providers and manufacturers to further assist in finding contacts in this field.
Some of the more advanced materials applied to sustainable packaging and the disposable bioplastics field include crystallized polylactic acid (CPLA), a thermoplastic aliphatic polyester derived from cornstarch or sugarcane and, in Asia, parts of the tapioca plant. This is reportedly one of the more cost-effective bioplastics to fabricate as traditional manufacturing equipment for petrochemical plastics can process this material just as successfully as it does old-fashioned plastics.
One of the world's current plastics game changers is Radical Plastics, based in Beverly, Massachusetts. This next-generation innovator recently came up with a patent that adds a natural waste product to traditional polymers, allowing the material to self-destruct at the end of its purpose span. Since last year, this company has been producing a brand new plastic that can easily be recycled alongside non-biodegradable plastics and still break down in nature at the end of its life. The company received a $500,000, 76West Award in 2019 for its invention. Co-founder Kristin Taylor estimates that, at current rates, the planet will have to handle around six million tons of discarded plastic by 2050, a dire picture that her company wants to help prevent.
As with the packaging itself, eco-friendly printing materials rely on the same picture of overall sustainable printing protocols. One contributor which has reached a high level of organic ingredients in its inks is Sun Chemical, an international pigments and ink giant whose website hints at an annual turnover of close to $9 billion. With its headquarters in Parsippany, New Jersey, this American branch of its Dutch-based parent company, DIC Corporation, has aligned its sustainability goals with those of the U.N.'s 2050 global sustainability action plan.
To this end, the company prides itself on fabricating sheet-fed offset inks formulated from generous levels of sustainable plant oils of varying sources. Its SunLit® and SunPak® ranges reportedly shine in C14 tests revealing they contain seventy percent organic content. The C14 test is the same carbon determination method commonly applied to date archaeological artefacts.
To support innovation in this field, several incentive programs exist, amongst which the U.S. Department of Agriculture's BioPreferred® Program focuses on supporting the inclusion of renewable agricultural materials in such applications. Such products must contain little to no heavy metals and release zero to a minimal percentage of volatile organic compounds into the atmosphere.
Sun Chemical also developed a specialized glue that received the Association of Plastic Recyclers' (APR) nod for Responsible Innovation. The product makes it much easier to remove shrink sleeve labels from polyethylene terephthalate (rPET) bottles during the wet cycle – bottles that would otherwise end up in landfills because the label could not be removed. The best part is that the product can be used with existing equipment without the need for upgrades.
While a one-size-fits-all, sustainable packaging solution does not yet exist, it is exciting to discover the incredible number of manufacturers around the world which are applying tremendous resources to solve the issue of sustainable packaging in wholly unexpected and refreshingly creative ways.
Pauline Müller
The Meeting Place for Space Technology


A short film about Hifana sampling sounds around a bustling Tokyo using only iPhone and iPad.
Armed with their Fresh Push Play iPhone App, HIFANA took to the streets of a once again bustling and vibrant Tokyo to sample the city sounds, followed by an electrifying live set at night performed with only iPhone and iPad. We invited a small group of fans to the exclusive Yakatabune boat party on Tokyo Bay and recorded their performance.


Remington left the area after high school to participate in Native American protests across the country.
He marched with Cesar Chavez in support of migrant workers and with Harvey Milk for gay rights, according to an obituary published Wednesday in The Durango Herald.
He also traveled to Denver to help Native Americans register to vote in the general election, Millich said.
"When he came back to the reservation, he was the type of person that tells you what his beliefs were even if they were contrary to what the tribe was doing," Millich said.
Remington worked on numerous local and national boards in attempt to create a better way of life for Southern Ute tribal members, Millich said. He helped create the KSUT radio station in 1976, which provided tribal news and personal messages for those living on the reservation.
In the 1990s, Remington joined the Southern Ute Grassroots Organization in an effort to halt the Animas-La Plata Project, which Congress had authorized in 1968 to provide water storage and water rights for Southern Ute and Ute Mountain Ute tribes.


This stunning room has a wall of contemporary glass which overlooks the majestic cypresses, garden and the Blu Pool. Here we offer a choice of two singles or a king size bed.
The spacious bathroom has a shower or you can indulge yourself in a bathtub next to a door that opens to a spectacular view without sacrificing privacy.


My name is Yilun CHEN. I am from china currently study as a creative Technology student at University of twente.
This is me, Yilun CHEN. I am Chinese and I love to paly basketball and games.Not really good at web designing but I will try mt best to do what I can do.
This is a japanese movie character called kamen rider. I change the style they draw it and this one in more like a metel design style. The interesting thing about this is I only use one element to draw the whole thing, which is a trapzoid.
This is the creature I made for programming, a bb-8 robot from star wars. It will bounce between the edge automatically and if you press the mouse it will update the position to where you clicked. and if you press the keyboard it will be given a radom speed and move with that speed instead.
Build this on a website called tinkercad it is a whistle.
The flow chat for the final project you can check the vedioHERE.
The Expo was really fun I've seen so many good posters and vedio projects. But still in my opinion the best vedio will still be our vedio.You can click the link on top or you can also go to portfolio and check the flowchat.
The link of the page that I reviwed: https://portfolio.cr.utwente.nl/student/portfoliopep/index.html.
I don't know what is going on with his website and this is some kind of website I can finish in 1 hour. Or maybe he forgot to upload it somehow?
The link of the page that I reviwed: https://portfolio.cr.utwente.nl/student/sebastiaanjai/index.html.
hum... this website is very simple. It only contain 3 pages and only the home page have some contents. The other pages are portfolio and others I don't know what are these pages doing here since they don't have anything ... The code is really simple also no style no css only the navigation bar work well.
The link of the page that I reviwed: https://portfolio.cr.utwente.nl/student/ari/#page1.
So in my opinion he or she still have to work harder on this website.
This is the screenshot of out first vedio group project. It is about a cup of coffee and teacher.
Check the new post Here.
I went to the Gogbot at the weekend and I saw lots of interestig staffs. Than it starts raining me and my firend had a dinner together and then we just went back home. The zombie room was very interesting and we both enjoy the afternoon. They also have a robot band which I loved the most so basicly there are four robots standing on the stage and playing instrument even though they didn't actually played but it is fun to watch them dancing on the stage and pretend they are playing.
My site will contain 4 main parts currently which is Home, Portfolio, Blog and contact me. As you can see from the picture the home page is just some basic information about me and has a buttom links to portfolio. Than it goes to portfolio which will have a horizontal showcase that shows my recent work. You are able to click left and right buttom to view more. After that is my blog. You can slide down to see more and the blog will be shown in tansparent blocks. The last one is the contact me. It will contain my personal information and I will leave three blanks for people who want to cantact me. The text on the side will tell you my post address, email and my number.
Please leave your name at the first bar.


ABERDEEN are ready to KO interest in star defender Scott McKenna from Stoke and Middlesbrough.
SunSport can reveal both Championship clubs have expressed a wish to snap up the Scotland centre-half before the transfer deadline.
The two rivals have contacted the Dons this month, with bids of LESS than £5million being discussed for McKenna, 22.
Those figures were immediately kicked into touch by Pittodrie chiefs, who have no intention of selling their prized asset at that price.
Boss Derek McInnes reckons McKenna is good enough to make the move straight to the English Premier League.
And the feeling is that the stopper will attract more interest in the summer, rather than in this transfer window.
Stoke and Boro could test Aberdeen's resolve with bids before Thursday's 11pm deadline.
But unless they up the ante considerably, the Dons won't even consider selling.
Celtic and Aston Villa both tabled £6m bids for McKenna last summer.
The Dons are convinced they could net nearer £10m for McKenna, plus add-ons, and it's believed the player is comfortable with the situation and in no immediate hurry to quit Pittodrie.


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Kotex Tampons Are Being Recalled for Unravelling Inside the Body—Here's What to Do If It Happens to You
We asked an ob-gyn for the facts.
By Samantha Lauriello
Attention, all people with periods: Certain Kotex tampons are being recalled for a quality-related defect none of us want to experience. Consumers reported that their Kotex tampons were falling apart inside of their bodies, leaving pieces behind. Yikes.
Kimberly-Clark, which manufactures the feminine-care products, announced the voluntary recall on Tuesday, explaining that some users had to seek medical attention to have the tampon pieces removed. "There also have been a small number of reports of infections, vaginal irritation, localized vaginal injury, and other symptoms," the statement reads.
RELATED: 5 Tampon Myths That Could Be Messing With Your Health
The company said the recall affects regular absorbency U by Kotex Sleek tampons sold throughout the United States and Canada. The recalled tampons were all manufactured between October 7, 2016, and October 16, 2018, and were distributed between October 17, 2016, and October 23, 2018. Those included are three-, 18-, and 34-count packages, as well as 34-count multipacks that contain 17 regular absorbency tampons.
The recalled lot numbers are listed at the bottom of the statement. If you have regular absorbency U by Kotex Sleek tampons at home (or are planning on buying some), compare the lot number on the bottom of the box to those on this list. You can also type your lot number into the company's online lot checker to see if your specific box is affected.
RELATED: 6 Things Your Period Can Reveal About Your Health
If you do notice that one of your tampons has unraveled when you try to take it out, there are a few steps you can take to avoid infection, Christine Greves, MD, an ob-gyn at the center for obstetrics and gynecology at Orlando Health in Florida, tells Health.
First of all, place your fingers inside of your vagina while in a relaxed position to see if you can get the remaining pieces out yourself, Dr. Greves says. If that doesn't work, or if you think there might still be some left, call your ob-gyn and set up an appointment so she can check if there's anything remaining.
"Don't panic—this isn't something you need to go to the emergency department for at two o'clock in the morning," she says. "If there are concerns, call your doctor the next morning."
RELATED: How Your Period Changes During Your 20s, 30s, and 40s
Of course, you don't want to wait too long. Any time a foreign object is left in the vagina, there's risk of infection and potentially toxic shock syndrome. But Dr. Greves says as long as you call your doctor as soon as possible, you'll likely be fine.
For those who have used regular absorbency U by Kotex Sleek tampons but haven't noticed any unraveling, keep an eye out for symptoms of infection just in case. These include a strong odor, irritation, and abnormal discharge. Any of these symptoms are reason to speak with your doctor.
Bottom line: If you have Kotex in your cabinet, double check that your box hasn't been affected by the recall.
To get our top stories delivered to your inbox, sign up for the Healthy Living newsletter
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Cold flu and sinus


Researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine (MD, USA) recently reported in Cancer Cell that combining the experimental SYK inhibitor fostamatinib (not yet US FDA approved) with paclitaxel (standard chemotherapy) may overcome chemoresistance in ovarian cancer.
In the USA, over 21,000 women are expected to be diagnosed with ovarian cancer this year and over 14,000 will die from it. The majority of patients initially respond to the standard first-line treatments for advanced ovarian cancer – paclitaxel and carboplatin; however, most develop treatment-resistant tumors and, according to study lead Ie-Ming Shih (Johns Hopkins), only 10–15% of these patients survive long term.
The researchers implanted paclitaxel-resistant human ovarian cancer cells into mice, and then tested the power of fostamatinib to reduce tumor size, and found that the combination of paclitaxel and fostamatinib reduced tumor size in six mice by up to 87% in 3 weeks, compared with no shrinkage in six untreated animals. Furthermore, after 5 weeks the combination treatment in the six mice shrunk tumor size by up to 66%, compared with six mice that received paclitaxel only.
The researchers had demonstrated in a previous study that resistance to paclitaxel might occur due to higher levels of the enzyme spleen tyrosine kinase (SYK) in ovarian cancer cells – levels of SYK were shown to be higher in recurrent tumors compared with matched primary tumors – and the team confirmed this result in the current study.
The team analyzed 25 different ovarian cancer cell lines and found that the higher the levels of active SYK, the more resistant the cell lines were to paclitaxel treatment. They discovered that treatment of the resistant cells with fostamatinib increased the cell's sensitivity to paclitaxel.
Paclitaxel stabilizes microtubules, preventing a cell from rapidly growing and dividing. Yu Yu, co-author on the study also of Johns Hopkins, commented that the effect of fostamatinib on microtubules appears to increase the stabilizing effect of paclitaxel, even in resistant cells, which might in turn prevent the proliferation of cancer cells.
Shih commented that, based on what is already known about the toxicity of fostamatinib, the fostamatinib–paclitaxel combination treatment may cause side effects such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and low white blood cell counts.
Owing to these findings, the researchers are now planning a Phase I clinical trial to test the combination therapy in individuals with recurrent advanced ovarian cancer.


In periods of economic upheaval, in periods of economic crisis, wealth is not destroyed, it is merely transferred.
Ihold a beast, anangel and a madmanwithinme, and my enquiry is as to their working, and my problem is their subjugation and victory, downthrow and upheaval, and my effort is their self expression.
— 1938 Letter to HenryTreece.
Nothing is so common as to see a political upheaval pass practically unnoticed merely because the names of the leaders and their parties remain the same.
— "The Revolutionary Situation", p. 31.
...the whole small press movement...[is] the first real upheaval in this country of Comics as a genuine Art - Art being to me a thing which is a lively part of life while commenting on life - as opposed to comics as journalism-cartooning or comics as a collecting-hobby or comics as boys power fantasies.
Many years before, I had left a beautiful country and a rich nation and I returned to that country six years later to find it fundamentally changed and in a state of upheaval, and in great spiritual and material need.
The Hebrew race are my most inveterate enemies at home and abroad; they remain what they are and always were: the forgers of lies and the masterminds governing unrest, revolution, upheaval by spreading infamy with the help of their poisoned, caustic, satyrical spirit. If the world once wakes up it should mete out to them the punishment in store for them, which they deserve.
— Letter to Poultney Bigelow (14 April 1927), quoted in John C. G. Röhl, The Kaiser and his Court: Wilhelm II and the Government of Germany (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996), p. 210.


If you are organising a big party, or event, you are in the right place. At Hog Roast Southport, we offer fantastic food for a great price. When you hire this Southport hog roast caterer, you know that all of your guests are going to go home full and happy.
We make organising the food for any event as easy as picking up the phone. All you need to do is to look through our extensive menu, choose the dishes you like, and contact us with the date of your event. We then give you a quote based on the number of guests you are inviting. The whole ordering process only takes ten or twenty minutes. After you place your order, you can relax. The hog roast Southport team takes care of everything from there. We arrive at the pre-arranged time to cook your spitting pig or other meats. Our team of professional chefs also prepare the side dishes, desserts and salads you have ordered.
You decide how the food is served to your guests. We can lay the side dis hes out on a buffet style table and serve the meat direct from the spit roaster. However, if your event is being held in a more formal setting, and you want to serve your guests a sit-down meal we can arrange that too. All of our waiting staff are professionals, with plenty of experience.
All of the food we provide is of the best quality. We source everything we can locally, and our trained chefs prepare it beautifully.
Whether you order a whole hog, joints of beef, lamb, turkeys or chickens, you know that it will all taste great. When meat is cooked in a modern spit roast machine, it is turned continuously which ensures that it is always succulent and moist.
At hog roast Southport, we offer an amazing range of side dishes. This makes it easy for you to cater for the tastes, and dietary needs, of all your guests. We supply canapés, salads, desserts, sauces and finger foods inspired by cuisines from across the world, as well as a great choice of meats. So, whether you are planning a family party, a wedding or a corporate event please get in touch. At Hog Roast Southport, we have the expertise to make catering for your guests effortless and affordable.
If you prefer to do the cooking yourself, it is also possible to hire a spit roasting machine from us. We show you how to use the roaster and take care of cleaning it once you have finished with it.


In Newport I found three large Japanese Shore Crab.
I put chicken on twine and "fish" for them.
I was down at the beach collecting crabs, when I found a bucket full of these crabs that must be the Japanese Shore Crabs. We looked up online pictures to identify and compared it to the ones we found. It was in a harbor on a rocky beach in Westport, CT.
Thank for reporting your findings! We appreciate your contribution to this educational project!


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Q: Migrate Data from one Riak cluster to another I have a situation where we need to migrate data from one Riak cluster to another and then remove the old cluster. The ring size will be same, even the region will be the same. We need to do this to upgrade the instances to AL2. Is there a clean approach to do so on Prod, without realtime data loss?

A: The answer to this may be tied to your version of Riak KV. If you have the open source version of Riak KV 2.2.3 or earlier, this will require an in-situ upgrade to Riak KV 2.2.6 before progressing. See https://www.tiot.jp/riak-docs/riak/kv/2.2.6/setup/upgrading/version/ with packages at https://files.tiot.jp/riak/kv/2.2/2.2.6/
For an Enterprise Editions of Riak KV 2.2.3 and earlier or the open source edition of Riak KV 2.2.6 or higher, you can use multi-data centre replication (MDC).
Use both of these at the same time for proper replication and to prevent data loss:

*

*fullsync replication will copy across all stored data on its first run and then any missing data on subsequent runs.

*realtime replication will replicate all transactions in almost realtime.

If you then set this up as bidirectional replication (get each cluster to replicate to the other for both fullsync and realtime) then you will be able to seemlessly switch your production environment from one cluster to the other without any issues. Once you are happy everything is working as expected, you can kill the old cluster.
Please see the documentation for replication at https://www.tiot.jp/riak-docs/riak/kv/2.2.6/using/cluster-operations/v3-multi-datacenter/


text:
News First home buyers rush Low Deposit Scheme, but plenty more spots coming
First home buyers rush Low Deposit Scheme, but plenty more spots coming
Jonathan Chancellor
| Feb 18,2020
There's been a rush of applicants from first home buyers seeking to secure a spot to buy with a deposit of as little as 5 percent under the new Federal Government home loan deposit guarantee scheme.
That's not surprising, but there are plenty of spots still available.
Especially as 5000 spots became available on February 1 with the 25 non-bank and regional lenders including the Bendigo Bank, Australian Military Bank and Community First Credit Union.
The number of applicants across Australia is capped at 10,000 every financial year, but as the initiative began on January 1, there will be the double opportunity during 2020, ie from July 1.
It has been reported that most of the opening 3000 spots have been taken, but many of these are really pencilled in reservations that won't ever see an actual purchase.
Those intending buyers already on the list with lenders will next need to get through the still onerous bank approval process.
And then they will need to find a suitably-price property within the ensuing 90 days.
That might just be difficult as it appears fresh 2020 listings are only slowing coming to market.
Even with 20,000 participants in 2020, it was always likely to be a squeeze as some 80,000 other FHBs will still need to find their own borrowing arrangements.
Sydney FHBs will need to find properties costing less than $700,000 under the scheme.
The same price cap will also apply to NSW regional centres with a population of 250,000 plus, namely Newcastle, Lake Macquarie and the Illawarra around Wollongong.
The scheme to be known officially as the First Home Loan Deposit Scheme (FHLDS) will available only to FHBs with an annual income of up to $125,000 or couples with a combined $200,000 per year who haven't saved the standard 20 percent deposit.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Treasurer John Frydenberg announced the scheme just days before the May 2019 election, when the property market was in a downturn.
The Prime Minister expressed concern the time it took to save a home deposit was one of the barriers to home ownership.
There is the real risk that competitive tension will see prices rise as FHBs expeditiously seek out their first step on the property ladder.
The National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation (NHFIC) is overseeing the scheme in a vastly different property market, at least in Sydney and Melbourne.
It needs to wise to market shifts and to smartly recommend adjustments so that its policy objectives are met.
RateCity.com.au recently calculated a person buying a $500,000 property with a 5 per cent deposit instead of a 20 per cent deposit would need $75,000 less initially, but with a larger loan, their monthly mortgage repayments would be $329 extra a month and they would pay $43,000 in extra interest over 30 years, based on the rate of 3.32 per cent.
Corelogic researcher Eliza Owen noted paying more interest on a low deposit loan makes more sense "if property values are going up.
"By accessing a property sooner, the asset has longer to accumulate capital growth that may outweigh the higher level of interest paid."
Sally Tindall, research director at RateCity, says buyers need to "go in with eyes wide open because it's peppered with potential drawbacks."
Meanwhile ME Bank's latest sentiment report, conducted last month, shows FHBs' hopes haven't been crushed by rising prices, with more than half planning to buy this year, compared to the 38 percent who were hopeful in late 2019.
This article first appeared in The Daily Telegraph.
Jonathan Chancellor is one of Australia's most respected property journalists, having been at the top of the game since the early 1980s. Jonathan co-founded the property industry website Property Observer and has written for national and international publications.
Fhb First Home Loan Deposit Scheme


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info@aetherfilms.com
118 Sierra St Unit E El Segundo, CA 90245
BISCHOFF
Recently named one of Filmmaker Magazine's "25 New Faces of Independent Film," Brad Bischoff is an award-winning director whose work has been staff-picked by The Atlantic, Vimeo, Short of the Week, YouTube, and screened throughout film festivals all over the world.
He is an alumni of the Telluride Film Festival student symposium program ('07) and an honors graduate of Columbia College Chicago ('09) with a Bachelor's degree in Film/Video.
His debut feature film, GRASSHOPPERS, stars Saleh Bakri (THE BAND'S VISIT) and Iva Gocheva (EMBERS) as star-crossed immigrant lovers who wander their gated community drink-by-drink in search of the perfect house. It was one of ten films selected to the acclaimed IFP Narrative Labs.
He is a proud father of two children (and since lockdown, a red merle Aussie) and currently resides in Ventura, CA. Notable work includes a national campaign for Oscar Mayer, Michelob, and a viral smash hit music video for Kool-Aid.
BRAD BISCHOFF
FRONT YARD COOKOUT
Oscar Meyer
Michelob Ultra Pure Gold
LIL' JON CHRISTMAS
SAVE BOWLING
FIELD SONG
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I'm a big fan of those feature stories that circulate on writer blogs and The Huffington Post about what famous authors wore. Or the ones about where they lived. Or the ones about the superstitions they had. All the while, as I gaze at the artfully photographed author posing as if in mid-thought, I'm aware of a small jealousy. I know these things are fabricated for mass consumption. I really know it, and yet I still feel, because they had a better desk or cooler shoes, they had a leg up on the ladder of success.
The ones I remember most are the photos of great-looking authors who later went on to commit suicide. I don't know about you, but I'm drawn to studying the demise of celebrity authors–so tragic, so mesmerizing.
I think the real problem is photography. It captures just a moment–a perfect moment. The unreal moment when an author becomes famous. Even for the biggest writers the moments are only small things that happen for a few hours now and again.
It's why reading about what authors do when not writing is so interesting. Are they really human? Are they witty all the time? Are they jerks to family? I know the answers but still need reassurance.
"*****I started this book without bothering to check the length. Had I done that, I may have changed my mind. So many of those books are full of pages that say nothing – or the same thing.
This is not one of those books. This is a piece of art – a story that flows from one page to the next, one year to the next, with absolute beauty. It was painful at times, full of raw emotion, but so beautifully, wonderfully written.
I was elated and grateful, of course.
But then we had to shoot one of our goats.
Yes, my favorite milking doe Kate who loved peanuts and affection has spent the last year barely hanging on. The vet hinted last year that she should be culled as a weak link in our herd, but I adored her and spent the winter injecting her with all sorts of remedies that didn't work. In the thick of blizzards I was in the dark barn running my fingers over Kate's rib cage looking for some fat to stick a needle in twice day.
When spring came on we thought we saw some hope, but then there was none. We researched the most painless, least stress inducing way to put her down: gun to the back of the head while she ate. I milked her one last time (we needed the milk for other goat kids) and brushed her–she liked that–and then I brought her into the big fenced in area to graze until my husband came home from work.
I did what everyone does in the movies–I took that one long look back at her and she at me. A little while later I heard the gunshot and that was it.
The next day my husband and I got into a two day fight about hummus–the stuff you put on crackers. When we spoke to each other again it was about the fact that one of our registered bucks turned out not to be a purebred Nubian. We had foolishly assumed he was and paid a purebred price a few years back but he was just an American Nubian (a step down in breeding circles). A customer of ours knew the breeder and pointed out our mistake after I had advertised and sold a few babies as purebreds! I had to call everyone to apologize and offer to take back the babies or keep them for the $50 deposits they had given me. Luckily everyone was fine with getting great animals for a great price, but still I was mortified.
One of the babies was born with entroption (when eyelids turn under). I spoke with the vet and she assured me it was an easy fix and I could come by the next day and she'd walk me through the procedure. Instead I sat on her porch with a knocked-out baby goat on my lap as the vet with a tiny scalpel sliced off skin. The eyelid was HUGE like the vet had never seen. BTW, both of us humans were in a weird mix of farm clothes and pajamas since we thought we would only be injecting the lid with a tiny bit of penicillin.
I could also go on about our Golden Retriever whose face blew up after having eaten a bee this week, but the goat stories and last week's post on the trials and tribulations of adoption are enough.
It's raining again today. I'm beginning to wonder if there is such a thing as weather manipulation. Photos of famous authors (and not so famous ones) are manipulated. The perfect turtleneck sweater, the relaxed sitting on the porch look, the deep in thought at typewriter pose . . . all fabricated, idealized versions of lives. Lives where writing is the obsession maybe but lives with a lot of mess. My life is no messier than others–it's actually quite good despite goat shootings and bee stings.
I think for today I'll luxuriate in a good review, knowing that for a brief few moments I took someone's mind to another place.
So sorry to hear about the goats and the bee-stings. FYI: I write in a disgusting old set of sweats that might have started out life in the blue family, but have settled for dust-colored. You're welcome.
A set like top and bottom? Now that's a look I haven't seen in a while. LOL.
I am so sorry about the negative stuff, especially the goat you had to euthanize. But congrats on a well-deserved review!
Thanks, Luanne. That's how life is though. Ups and downs and usually at the same time. Animals are real heart breakers (as you know)! But… I love them.
So so so so so so true. Me too.
Thanks, Terry. It's so exciting to think a random stranger entered my world and enjoyed it. Hope all is well with you.
Adrienne, so very sorry about you having to put down a favorite goat. Hard to do, I know.
But congrats on the great review – well deserved. That had to lift your spirits.
As for author poses – my favorite author story is having to tell a close friend that all the books written by famous people are ghost written. She kept mentioning books and celebs who "wrote" them, and I kept telling her, no, not written by the famous person on the cover but by a talented ghost writer. Why do we love to get suckered? Part of the fairy tale, I suppose.


text:
Teorije o uzrocima transseksualizma su skup različitih hipoteza koje su kroz istoriju definisale uzroke nastanka transseksualizma odnosno rodne disforije.

Jedne su uzrok nalazile u psihološkim, druge u sociološkim, treće u biološkim faktorima, dok su četvrte objašnjavale pojavu transseksualizma mešavinom svih navedenih faktora.

Teorija o psihološkim faktorima
Prve teorije su pojavu transseksualizma pripisivale psihološkim faktorima. Mada su se neke pokazale netačnim, druge, poput onih koje su objašnjavale pojavu transseksualizma zbog roditeljskog odgovora na novonastalo unakrsno rodno ponašanje, pokazale su značajnije kliničke i empirijske dokaze.
Frojdova teorija o psihološkim faktorima
Jedan, od prvih, koji je objašnjavao nastanak transseksualizma bio je Sigmund Frojd. On je u svojoj teoriji nastanak muškog transseksualizma povezao dečakom koji je video genitalije svoje majke i shvatio da joj nedostaje penis. Nakon ove situacija moglo je doći do formiranja užasavajuće anksioznosti, proistekle iz straha da će izgubiti svoj penis (kastracioni strah), što je moglo dovesti do pojave transvestitizma ali i transseskualizma, kao i do nekih seksualnih patologija.

Prema Frojdovoj teoriji biti muškarac i muževan je jedno od najvažnijih stanja, kako za muškarce, tako i za žene, jer je biti žena i ženstven manje vredno.
Teorija neodvojivosti od majke
Jedna od teorija uzrok muškog transseksualizma našla je u nemogućnosti dečaka da se odvoji od majke u ranom detinjstvu. Umesto da se identifikuje sa figurom oca, dečak se identifikuje sa figurom majke.
Teorija favorizovanja polova od strane roditelja
Još nekoliko studija je objašnjavalo pojavu kako muškog tako i ženskog transseksualizma kao posledicu roditeljskog favorizovanja oponašanja uloga suprotnog pola od onog sa kojim je rođeno dete. To je dovodilo do velike konfuzije kod dece i nesklada u toku rodne identifikacije. Međutim, ovom teorijom se ne može objasniti pojava transseksualizma u stabilnim i harmoničnim interpersonalnim odnosima unutar porodice.

Biološke teorije
Biološke teorije svoje stavove zasnivaju na uticaju hormona u ranom fetalnom periodu na pojavu transseksualizma. Naime, u prvih šest nedela fetalnog razvoja ne postoje razlike između muškog i ženskog fetusa, jer se one vide tek kasnije. Smatra se da androgeni imaju veliku ulogu u programiranju moždanih polja, a kasnije i na postnatalnu aktivaciju već programiranih funkcionalnih fizionomija mozga.

Dorner je svojevremeno ukazivao da je formiranje polnog identiteta i seksualnog ponašanja u vezi sa dejstvom testosterona na region u hipotalamusu u vreme formiranja gonada.

Prema biološkoj teoriji postoje tri ključna perioda u kojima se ispoljava uticaj polnih hormona na razvoj mozga:
Prvi — u 16. gestacionoj nedelji, kada dolazi do pojave androgenih receptora u mozgu.
Drugi — postnatalni u 6. nedelji, kada  dolazi do pojačane sekretorne funkcije polnih žlezda usled odsustva hormona iz posteljice.
Treći — period puberteta, u kojem dolazi do eksplozije hormonske ekspresije, kada se konačno formira fenotip, kao i tip polnog ponašanja, i kada osoba postaje svesna svoje femininosti odnosno maskulinosti.

Biheviorističke teorije
Biheviorističke teorije objašnjavaју pojavu transseksualizma kao rezultat procesa učenja ponašanja deteta u toku formiranja rodnog identiteta, заснованог na urezivanju и uslovljavanju određenih modela ponašanja (npr favorizovanje da se devojčica ponaša muškobanjasto, ili dečak da bude isfeminiziran).

Multifaktorijalne teorije
Da je razvoj transseksualizma multifaktorijalan, među prvima je taj stav izneo kanadski psihijatar Kenet Cuker. Prema njemu, ključnu ulogu imaju biološki faktori na razvoj mozga, i to genetski i epigenetski kao i prenatalno dejstvo androgena, ali je i uticaj sredine neophodan da bi se transseksualizam zaista i razvio.

U svojoj teoriji on je istakao i uticaji pojedinih delova limbičkog sistema na razvoj šema seksualnog ponašanja kod muškaraca i kod žena, a posthumnim analiziranjem je pokazano da je broj neurona u limbičkim jedrima mnogo manji kod transseksualaca koji vrše rodno usklađivanje u pravcu ženskog pola (transžene).

Opšta razmatranje o navedenim teorijama
Autori svih teorija o razvoju rodnog identiteta se slažu oko činjenice da se jezgro rodnog identiteta može naći kod dece uzrasta od oko tri godine, sa jasnim prepoznavanjem da li je dete dečak ili devojčica.

Istraživanja su pokazala takođe da ovaj koncept pokazuje veliku rezistentnost na menjanje tokom kasnijeg života, iz čega se može izvesti zaključak da je osnova za nastanak transsekualizma zapravo postavljena pre navršene treće godine života.

Ipak, 2002. godine, Švab i saradnici su pretpostavili:

Mnogi autori su takođe tvrdili da se period seksualne diferencijacije ljudskog hipotalamusa javlja između četvrte godine života i odraslog doba, što bi značilo da je to mnogo kasnije nego što se mislilo u ranijim studijama. Prema Švabu, kasna seksualna diferencijacija može ipak, biti zasnovana na procesima koji su već programirani tokom trudnoće ili tokom neonatalnog perioda.

Iz svega navedenog, naučna javnost smatra se da su potrebna dodatna istraživanja da bi se otkrilo pravo poreklo pojave transseksualizma.

Izvori

Spoljašnje veze

Транссексуализам

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Simon has an intimate knowledge of all rivers and streams in the area and will thoughtfully plan your day's fishing to suit the seasonal conditions and your skill level. He is a St John's qualified First Aider.
Over 30 rivers in our area can be accessed by 4WD and we generally travel an hour or more out of the city, where you are unlikely to encounter any other anglers. Our day normally gets under way at 8.30am and we will have you home by around 6pm.
The waters that we fish hold wild Rainbows and Browns and they give an excellent account of themselves. There are no stocked trout and no other fish species in our rivers, so expect some exciting sport amidst superb scenery.
Rotorua Trout Safaris Ltd, Morehu Road, Lake Rotoehu, Rotorua Central, Rotorua, New Zealand.


text:
Q: Eclipse refactoring: move method inside collaborator I have the following scenario:
public class Controller {

  private ModelRepository repository;

  public int getModelCount() {
    int count = 0;
    List<Model> models = repository.getModels();

    for (Model model : models) {
      if (model.somePredicate()) {
        count++;
      }
    }

    return count;
  }
}

Now, I'd like to move the getModelCount method inside ModelRepository by using some automated Eclipse refactoring so that I end up with this in the controller:
public class Controller {

  private ModelRepository repository;

  public int getModelCount() {
    repository.getModelCount();
  }
}

Is this possible in Eclipse Indigo? If yes, how? Thanks!

A: I don't think there is a single-hop refactor, but you can do it in two.
First, highlight the contents of the getModelCount() method and do a refactor->extract method, calling the new method something like countModels.
Secondly, do a refactor->move on the new countModels() method, selecting the repository field as the destination.
This will leave you with a method on the ModelRepository called countModels rather than getModelCount. For completeness you could do a refactor->rename on this, but I prefer countModels anyway.


(INTELLIHUB) — The Alt-Left group MoveOn.org is planning to roll out massive nationwide 'rapid response,' rallies, that "will begin hours after news breaks of a Mueller firing," according to a new event post on the group's official website.
Now the snowflakes at MoveOn.org are saying that it would be a "constitutional crisis" if Trump were to fire Mueller and vow to hold emergency "Nobody Is Above the Law" rallies in all 50 states.
– If Mueller is fired BEFORE 2 P.M. local time —> events will begin @ 5 P.M. local time.
– If Mueller is fired AFTER 2 P.M. local time —> events will begin @ noon local time the following day.


text:
title: "MHRP: World Marshals - Act 3"
author: Austin
date: 2016-10-05
categories: [RPG, MHRP]
tags: [rpg, marvel heroic roleplaying, metal gear solid, world marshals]
---

#### Event:  World Marshals

*In the fall out of the Civil War several events took place as a world-scale practice run for the villains who would later spearhead the events
of Siege and Fear Itself.  The Metal Gear Solid crossover,
[Raiden](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1p-WQgYI7Ct9d_1YGmA7DXQ6TMRv-c2dUVo1vQdtRU7M/edit?usp=sharing), sets out to stop them; making
friends and foes along the way.*

-----

#### Act III:

*So far Green Goblin is trying to make an infantry of cyborg superheroes in cahoots with Sebastian Shaw who is using second hand Stark Tech to
create a calvary of metal gear sentinels.  Loki is scheming somewhere.  Is there another big evildoer tying things together or is this the
crescendo?*

**Doom Pool:  2d8**

| +1 XP | Join a Team |
| +3 XP | Stop the Sentinel Attack |
| +10 XP | Stop the Metal Gear Excelsus |

-----

#### Scene 1:

Returning from the Green Goblin and Loki's lair, Raiden asks Nick Fury how he manage to swin a Helicarrier with Tony Stark still having so much
control over SHIELD.  Fury replies that he still has a lot of string to pull *in the old guard* and has a lot of favors he's calling in
*"because why the hell not at this point."*

Fury asks Raiden if he still uses the alias Mr. Lightningbolt.  When Raiden affirms, Fury opens a door revealing the teammates he has found for
Raiden and remarks; *"The Lightningbolts" has a certain ring to it"*.  The team largely consists of past and future members of The Thunderbolts
and X-Force, adding to the candidacy of the team name.

The Punisher ([Data File](http://marvelheroicdatafiles.wikidot.com/es:punisher)) starts to bicker briefly with Deadpool ([Data File](http://stuffershack.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Deadpool1.png)) becasuse of his
prior Pro-Reistration stance, but Deadpool counters by saying; "Like any other merc, I can bought, bribed, and bamboozled."  Raiden is somewhat skeptical because he has mostly functioned on his own suffered quite a bit of betrayal for FoxHound and other teams.
Before he can give it more thought an alarm sounds that Metal Gear Sentinels ([Data File](http://marvelheroicrp.wikia.com/wiki/Sentinel_Mark_VI_(Watcher_Datafile))) are attacking a small city in the Middle East.  It
looks like the team will get an early test as they're deployed to combat Crossbones (BR37), and three Metal Gears.

There is slight arguing between Raiden and Storm bout leadership, mostly related to Raiden favoring a free-for-all while Storm wants a more
organized approach.  The first Metal Gear Ray attacks Raiden and lands an energy blast, but Raiden is able to seek cover.  The Punisher opens
fire on Corssbones and lands a few blancing shots before Crossbones finds cover.  At the same time Deadpool and Fantomex ([Data
File](http://marvelheroicrp.wikia.com/wiki/Fantomex_(X-Force,_Hero_Datafile))) tag team the other Metal Gear Ray.  Initially Deadpool underestimates it's toughness, but Fantomex is able to confuse it with misdirection; allowing Deadpool to
get another shot that's a critical hit -- incapacitating the second Metal Gear Ray.

Meanwhile Storm (BR92) rallies a ferocious elctro-thunderstorm that severely weakens the first Metal Gear's defenses.  Raiden is then able to
attack and a land a heavy blow though not quite incapacitating the machine.  The Metal Gear fires it's machine guns at Storm, but her agile
flight allows her to avoid serious injury.  She answers with a lightning strike that blows the head off the Metal Gear, putting it to rest.

Crossbones then opens fire on the Punisher which yields a series of narrow misses.  Deadpool then teleports next to Crossbones and small
scuffle ensues.  While Crossbones is distracted with Deadpool, Punisher is able to get close enough to stab Crossbones.  Crossbones is about to
lash out, but Fantomex joins in and tells Crossbones that he's outnumbered and outgunned.  Just then an large explosion (doom pool) is
detonated from within each of the fallen Metal Gears.  This creates a distraction for Crossbones to escape, though the heroes regroup and are
hot on his trail.

-----

#### Scene 2:

The team decides to check for injuries before chasing after Crossbones.  Mostly only minor wounds, except for Raiden, though he knows he still
has yet to tap into his Ripper form during this adventure and the stakes are high.  However, he is trying to forget that he also has Goblin
Serum implants in his brain.  The team decides to push on.  However, Riaden lags a bit behind so that he can try and salvage some energy units
from the fallen Metal Gears.  He's getting low on resources.

They chase Crossbones through a series of allies and find him standing (and waiting) in an open field.  The team finds it suspicious and stalls
before chasing after him.  Good thing too, because suddenly a Metal Gear Excelsus ([Data File](http://marvelheroicrp.wikia.com/wiki/Tri-Sentinel_(Watcher_Datafile))) burrows up from underneath the ground!

Storm quickly begins to charge a weather attack, while Raiden redies his Rail gun.  Deadpool makes a witty remark about *"burrowing metalic
spiders getting erect."*  Jean-Pierre and Punisher head into the thick of things.  All the while, Sebastian Shaw is piloting the Excesus and
going on a rant about Crossbones leading the heroes right to him and that he plans to work through them while the rest of Earth's heroes are
busy fighting each other.

Jean-Pierre is easily able to incapacitate the already wounded Crossbones.  The Punisher throws a grenade that does little damage to a heavily
plated section of the Metal Gear Excelsus.  Storm unleashes a lightning attack, that does no damage, but distracts the Metal Gear.  Raiden then
unloads the rail gun, dealing a stunning hit!  The effects of which temporarily shutdown the Metal Gear's energy shield.
 Deadpool tries to decide on the best measure and settles on singing to himself while he "thinksit over", making supervisial sword scratches on
the underbelly of the Metal Gear.

Fantomex tries to get the attention of the Metal Gear via misdirection, but he fails.  The Metal Gear notices The Punisher running away, but decides
to try and stomp Fantomex who runs infront of it.  It is a crushing blow to Jean-Pierre, but his dampening plates save his life.  Storm unleashes
a fury of electrical attacks that severely damage Excelsus!  Deadpool teleports atop the Metal Gear, planning to attac kthe cockpit.

Raiden then dashes in to close combat in a rage and slashes at the Metal Gear.  He lands a heavy blow, but it causes a huge electrical feedback current
that brings Excelsus's energy sheilds back online and knocks both Storm and Raiden down for one round.  Deadpool then sees The Punisher driving back in
a vehicle and teleports in to join him.  After a brief discussion, Frank jumps out while Deadpoll crashes the vehicle into  the metal gear (since he
has healing factor and Frank does not).  The ensuing explosion shuts down one of the metal gear's legs.

Meanwhile, Raiden tries to free Fantomex from under Excelsus's other leg.  He is unable to lift the heavy machine and Excelsus stomps harder still,
incapacitating Fantomex.  Excelsus then fires an energy blast at Storm which lands a heavy blow.  Raiden yells for Storm to start a rain an lightning storm.
She obliges as Raiden and The Punisher again to lift the Excesus's leg off of Fantomex.  However, they fail and Fantomex is smashed even harder.  As a result
of the ensuing trauma, E.V.A. teleports Jean-Pierre out of the combat area.

Excelsus fires an energy blast at Deadpool which he acrobatically dodges.  Raiden tells The Punisher to stab him so that his *Ripper Mode* will be triggered.
Initially, Frank argues, saying that it may trigger the Goblin Serum as well.  Meanwhile, Excelsus is trying to hit Deadpool with energy blasts, but keeps
missing; whack-a-mole style.  The Punisher readies a knife, but Storm flies in to stop him.

Now angry at Storm, Raiden walks out to point blank range and starts taunting Shaw who is piloting the Metal Gear.  Storm tries to fly after Raiden to stop
him, but The Punisher tackles her.  Just as Excelsus is about to fire an energy blast, Deadpool teleports over and impales Raiden in the midsection from
behind; remarking "This is what you always wanted right?"  Raiden replies, "Thanks Wade.  I hope..."

Raiden is then agonizingly triggered into his *Jack the Ripper* personality.  "Wade! What have you done?!", exclaims Storm.  Raiden looks up, eyes red,
and strongly says, "I am the lightning.  The rain transformed."

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub