text:
Anarchist vs. Marxist-Leninist Thought on the Organization of Society
Historically, there have been three major forms of socialism -- Libertarian Socialism (Anarchism), Authoritarian Socialism (Marxist Communism), and Democratic Socialism (electoral social democracy). The non-Anarchist Left has echoed the bourgeoisie's portrayal of Anarchism as an ideology of chaos and lunacy. But Anarchism, and especially Anarchist-Communism, has nothing in common with this image. It is false and made up by it's ideological opponents, the Marxist-Leninists.
It is very difficult for the Marxist-Leninists to make an objective criticism of Anarchism as such, because by its very nature it undermines all suppositions basic to Marxism. If Marxism and Leninism (its variant which emerged during the Russian Revolution) is held out to be the working class philosophy and the proletariat cannot owe its emancipation to anyone but the Communist Party, it is hard to go back on it and say that the working class is not yet ready to dispense with authority over it. Lenin came up with the idea of the transitional State, which would 'wither away' over time, to go along with Marx's "dictatorship of the proletariat." The Anarchists expose this line as counter-revolutionary and sheer power-grabbing, and over 75 years of Marxist-Leninist practice have proven us right. These so-called Socialist States produced by Marxist-Leninist doctrine have only produced Stalinist police states, where workers have no rights, and a new ruling class of technocrats and party politicians have emerged, and the class differential between those the State favored over those it didn't created widespread deprivation among the masses and another class struggle. But instead of meeting such criticisms head on, they have concentrated their attacks not on the doctrine of Anarchism, but on particular Anarchist historical figures, especially Bakunin (Marx's main opponent in the First International).
Anarchists are social revolutionaries who seek a stateless, classless, voluntary, cooperative federation of decentralized communities based upon social ownership, individual liberty and autonomous self-management of social and economic life.
The Anarchists differ with the Marxist-Leninists in many areas, but especially in organization building. They differ from the authoritarian socialists in primarily three way: they reject the Marxist-Leninist notions of the vanguard party, democratic centralism, and the dictatorship of the proletariat, and Anarchists have alternatives for each of them. The problem is that almost the entire Left (including some Anarchists) is completely unaware of Anarchism's tangible structural alternatives of the catalyst group, Anarchist consensus, and the mass commune.
The Anarchist alternative to the vanguard party is the catalyst group. The catalyst group is merely an Anarchist-Communist federation of affinity groups in action. The catalyst group, or revolutionary anarchist federation, would meet on a regular basis or only when necessary, depending on the wishes of the membership and the urgency of social conditions. It would be made up of representatives from the affinity group (or the affinity group itself), with full voting rights, privileges, and responsibilities. It would both set policies and future actions to be performed. It would produce both Anarchist-Communist theory and social practice. It believes in the class struggle and the necessity to overthrow Capitalist rule. It organizes in the communities and workplaces. It is democratic and has no authority figures like a party boss or central committee.
In order to make a revolution, large-scale, coordinated movements are necessary, and their formation is in no way counter to Anarchism. What Anarchists are opposed to is hierarchical, power-tripping leadership which suppresses the creative urge of the bulk of those involved, and forces an agenda down their throats. Members of such groups are mere servants and worshippers of the party leadership. But although Anarchists reject this type of domineering leadership, they do recognize that some people are more experienced, articulate, or skilled than others, and these people will play leadership action roles. These persons are not authority figures, and can be removed at the will of the body. There is also a conscious attempt to routinely rotate responsibility and to pass on these skills to each other, especially to women and people of color, who would ordinarily not get the chance. The experience of these persons, who are usually veteran activists or better qualified than most at the moment, can help form and drive forward movements, and even help to crystallize the potential for revolutionary change in the popular movement. What they cannot do is take over the initiative of the movement itself. The members of these groups reject hierarchical positions (anyone having more official authority than others), and unlike the Marxist-Leninist vanguard parties, the Anarchist groups won't be allowed to perpetuate their leadership through a dictatorship after the revolution. Instead, the catalyst group itself will be dissolved and its members, when they are ready, will be absorbed into the new society's collective decision-making process. Therefore, these Anarchists are not leaders, but merely advisors and organizers for a mass movement.
What we don't want or need is a group of authoritarians leading the working class, then establishing themselves as a centralized decision-making command. Instead of "withering away", Marxist-Leninist States have perpetuated authoritarian institutions (the secret police, labor bosses, and the Communist Party) to maintain their power. The apparent effectiveness of such organizations masks the way that revolutionaries who pattern themselves after Capitalist institutions become absorbed by bourgeois values, and completely isolated from the real needs and desires of ordinary people.
The reluctance of Marxist-Leninists to accept revolutionary social change is, however, above all seen in Lenin's conception of the party. It is a prescription to nakedly seize power and put it in the hands of the Communist Party. The party that Leninists create today, they believe, should become the [only] Party of the Proletariat in which that class could organize and seize power. In practice, however, this meant personal and party dictatorship, which they felt gave them the right and duty to wipe out all other parties and political ideologies. Both Lenin (along with Trotsky) and Stalin killed millions of workers and peasants, their Left-wing ideological opponents, and even members of their own Bolshevik Party. This bloody and treacherous history is why there is so much rivalry and hostility between Marxist-Leninist and Trotskyist parties today, and it is why the "worker's states", whether in Cuba, China, Vietnam, or Korea, are such oppressive bureaucracies over their people. It is also why most of the Eastern European Stalinist countries had their governments overthrown by the petty bourgeoisie and ordinary citizens in the 1980's. Maybe we are witnessing the eclipse of State communism entirely, since they have nothing new to say and will never get those governments back again.
While Anarchist groups reach decisions through Anarchist consensus, the Marxist-Leninists organize through so-called democratic centralism. Democratic centralism poses as a form of inner party democracy, but it is really just a hierarchy by which each member of a party -- ultimately of a society -- is subordinate to a higher member until one reaches the all-powerful party central committee and its Chairman. This is a totally undemocratic procedure, which puts the leadership above criticism, even if it is not above reproach. It is a bankrupt, corrupt method of internal operations for a political organization. You have no voice in such a party, and must be afraid to say any unflattering comments to or about the leaders.
In Anarchist groups, proposals are talked about by members (none of whom have authority over another), dissenting minorities are respected, and each individual's participation is voluntary. Everyone has the right to agree or disagree over policy and actions, and everyone's ideas are given equal weight and consideration. No decision may be made until each individual member or affiliated group that will be affected by that decision has had a chance to express their opinion on the issue. Individual members and affiliated groups retain the option to refuse support to specific federation activities. In true democratic fashion, decisions for the federation as a whole must be made by a majority of its members.
In most cases, there is no real need for formal meetings for the making of decisions, what is needed is coordination of the actions of the group. Of course, there are times when a decision has to be made, and sometimes very quickly. This will be rare, but sometimes it is unavoidable. The consensus, in that case, would then have to be among a much smaller circle than the general membership of hundreds or thousands. But ordinarily all that is needed is an exchange of information and trust among parties, and a decision reaffirming the original decision will be reached, if an emergency decision had to be made. Of course, during the discussion, there will be an endeavor to clarify any major differences and explore alternative courses of action. And their will be an attempt to arrive at a mutually agreed upon consensus between conflicting views. As always, if there should be an impasse or dissatisfaction with the consensus, a vote would be taken, and with two-thirds majority, the matter would be accepted, rejected, or rescinded.
This is totally contrary to the practice of Marxist-Leninist parties where the Central Committee unilaterally sets policy for the entire organization, and arbitrary authority reigns. Anarchists reject centralization of authority and the concept of the Central Committee. All groups are free associations formed out of a common need, not revolutionaries disciplined by fear of authority. When the size of the working groups (which could be formed around labor, fundraising, anti-racism, women's rights, food and housing, etc.) becomes cumbersome, the organizations can be decentralized into two or more autonomous organizations, still united in one large federation. This enables the group to expand limitlessly while maintaining its anarchic form of decentralized self-management. It is (sort of) like the scientific theory of the biological cell, dividing and re-dividing, but in a political sense.
However, Anarchist groups aren't necessarily organized loosely; Anarchism is flexible and structure can be practically non-existent or very tight, depending on the type of organization demanded by the social conditions being faced. For instance, organization would tighten during military operations or heightened political repression.
Anarchist-Communists reject the Marxist-Leninist concept of the dictatorship of the proletariat and a so-called "worker's state," in favor of a mass commune. Unlike members of Leninist parties, whose daily lives are generally similar to present bourgeoisie lifestyles, Anarchist organizational structures and lifestyles, through communal living arrangements, affinity groups, squatting, etc., attempt to reflect the liberated society of the future. Anarchists built all kinds of communes and collectives during the Spanish Civil War of the 1930's, but they were crushed by the fascists and the Communists. Since the Marxist-Leninists don't build cooperative structures (the nucleus of the new society) they can only see the world in bourgeois political terms. They want to seize State power and institute their own dictatorship over the people and the workers, instead of crushing State power and replacing it with a free, cooperative society. They insist that the party represents the proletariat, and that there is no need for them to organize themselves outside of the party. Yet, even in the former Soviet Union, the Communist Party membership only represented five percent of the population. This is elitism of the worst sort, and even makes the Capitalist parties look democratic by comparison.
What the Communist Party was intended to represent in terms of worker's power is never made clear, but in true 1984 doublethink fashion, the results are 75 years of political repression and State slavery, instead of an era of glorious Communist rule. They must be held accountable politically for these crimes against the people, and we must reject their revolutionary political theory and practice. They have slandered the names of Socialism and Communism.
We reject the dictatorship of the proletariat, it is unbridled oppression, and the Marxist-Leninists and Stalinists must be made to answer for it. Millions have been murdered by Stalin in the name of fighting an internal class war, and millions more were murdered in China, Poland, Afghanistan, Cambodia, and other countries by Communist movements which followed Stalin's prescription for revolutionary terror. We reject State communism as the worst aberration and tyranny. We can do better than this with the mass commune.
The Anarchist mass commune (sometimes called the Worker's Council, although their are some differences) is a national, continental, or transitional federation of economic and political cooperatives and regional communal formations. Anarchists look to a world and a society in which real decision-making involves everyone who is involved with it -- a mass commune -- not a few discipline freaks pulling the strings on a so-called proletarian dictatorship. Any and all dictatorship is bad, it has no redeeming social features, yet that is what the Leninists tell us will protect us from counter-revolution. While Marxist-Leninists claim that this dictatorship is necessary in order to crush any bourgeois counter-revolutions led by the Capitalist class or right-wing reactionaries. Anarchists feel that this is itself part of the Marxist school of falsification. A centralized apparatus, such as a state, is a much easier target for opponents of the revolution than is an array of decentralized communes. And these communes would remain armed and prepared to defend the revolution against anyone who militarily moves against it. The key is to mobilize the people into defense guards, militias, and other military preparedness units.
The position by the Leninists of the necessity for a dictatorship to protect the revolution was not proven in the Civil War which followed the Russian Revolution; in fact, without the support of the Anarchists and other Left-wing forces, along with the Russian people, the Bolshevik government would have been defeated. And then true to any dictatorship, it turned around and wiped out the Russian and Ukrainian Anarchist movements, along with their Left-wing opponents like the Mensheviks and Social Revolutionaries, and even ideological opponents in the Bolshevik Party were imprisoned and put to death. Millions of Russian citizens were killed by Lenin and Trotsky right after the Civil War, when they were consolidating State power, which preceded Stalin's bloody rule. The lesson is that we should not be tricked into surrendering the grassroots people's power to dictators who pose as our friends and leaders.
We don't need the Marxist-Leninists' solutions, they are dangerous and deluding. There is another way, but to much of the Left and to many ordinary people, the choice has appeared to be Anarchic chaos or the Marxist Communist parties, however dogmatic and dictatorial. This is primarily the result of misunderstanding and propaganda. Anarchism, as an ideology, provides feasible organizational structures, as well as valid alternative revolutionary theory, which, if utilized, could be the basis for organization just as solid as the Marxist-Leninist (or even more so) only these organizations will be egalitarian and really for the benefit of the people, rather than the Communist leaders.
Anarchism is not confined to the ideas of a single theoretician, and it allows individual creativity to develop in collective groupings, instead of the characteristic dogmatism of the Marxist-Leninists. Therefore, not being cultist, it encourages a great deal of innovation and experimentation, prompting its adherents to respond realistically to contemporary conditions. It is the concept of making ideology fit the demands of life, rather than trying to make life fit the demands of ideology.
Therefore, Anarchists build organizations in order to build a new world, not perpetuate domination over the masses of people. We must build an organized, coordinated international movement aimed at transforming the globe into a mass commune. Such would be a great overleap in human evolution and a gigantic revolutionary stride. It would change the world as we know it and end the special problems long plaguing humankind. It would be a new era of freedom and fulfillment.
LET'S GET ON WITH IT, WE'VE GOT A WORLD TO WIN!
Lorenzo Kom'boa Ervin
Ovejarojinegra
Excellent, very concise and well done. Who is the author?
Lorenzo Kom'boa Ervin, this is a chapter from the essay Anarchism and the Black Revolution.
Was it not F. Engels, not Lenin, in his Anti-Duhring, who first wrote of the withering away of the state?
I could not agree more with the criticisms of the historical organised parties of the proletariat, but don't see why such perversions would not arise in the federations of social groups proffered as the alternative. Personally I find it offensive to read that party members must not criticize the party leaders. Sure one does so at one's own risk. I know the leadership gives only lip-service to democratic principles - that goes without saying - but party members are not always obedient puppets.
BTW the link to the "Mollom privacy policy" below is a dead as a dodo. So god only knows what I'm accepting. See how I trust you!


Check your email inbox. A link to the special webinar platform is sent to you the day before the event and the day of the event. The webinar is not accessed through the HealthCMi.com website, instead, use the link provided in the email. This is the same link that can be downloaded at HealthCMi after purchasing the course up to two days prior to the event.
Next, click the "Enter" button to activate the webinar window. By entering your correct name during login, you are automatically registered for attendance.
Please login at least 5 minutes prior to the event. Certificates of completion will be sent via email following the event.
For iPhone and iPad users, please download the Adobe Connect App for viewing the course. This should be done in advance of the event.


Okay let's face it… we don't all feel like spring chickens anymore. I can't pin point exactly when I noticed I was starting to age, but it was in my early 20's. My joints became achey with arthritis and I was getting sick more often than I'd like. It took me a while to realize that through proper health and nutrition that I could reverse some of the effects of aging that were happening in my body. I was not satisfied with the drugs that doctors wanted to give me. The side effects were too extreme. Fortunately, I have found great products that not only can help keep you healthy and in shape, but they are natural and designed to be the safest options for our bodies.
Shaklee's natural Health Solution products carry leading innovative products to help with joint health, memory, health heart and protecting your immune system. If you are dealing with a particular health issue, we likely have the right solution for you.
What Natural Healthy Solutions Does Shaklee Offer?
Shaklee's proprietary blend of natural anti aging goodness is bottled up in Vivix. This blend is made of a rare muscadine grape which delivers to you polyphenols like resveratrol and quercetin. These polyphenols have immense antioxidant power. The taste of Vivix is easy on the tongue and oh so sweet.
Protecting your brain from an early age and later in life is important to your overall health. Feeling forgetful, groggy and struggling to find the right words? You may need the support of Shaklee's great brain boosting nutrition. One of our most popular and revolutionary products for brain health is MindWorks. Studies have shown that Shaklee's MindWorks shows an immediate improvement in cognitive functioning and protects against age-related mental decline.
OmegaGuard is a nutritional staple for me and my family. This blend of full spectrum pharmaceutical grade fish oils has more EPA and DHA than other fish oil supplements on the market. Taking OmegaGuard regularly can help you maintain a healthy heart and cardiovascular system. To protect your arteries from oxidation and promote healthy blood vessel functioning try CoQHeart. If you need support in regulating your blood pressure Shaklee's Blood Pressure and Shaklee's Garlic Complex are a great fit for you.
Daily our immune system is under attack from our environment. It is important to keep our immune system in tip top shape and give it the added boost it needs to help protect our bodies from illness. For a daily dose to protect your immune system, NutriFeron is a good option for you. With natural plant extracts, NutriFeron increases interferon, giving your immune system the support it needs at a cellular level.
If you feel a cold coming on or you are about to get ready to travel, I highly recommend Vitalized Immunity. These tasty tablets are made up of 19 vitamins, minerals and herbs and are easily dissolved in water for a delicious tonic that has as much vitamin C as 16 oranges. As soon as you feel the first tickle of the throat or feel the stuffy nose coming on, Defend & Resist uses black elderberry and echinacea to get your body back on track.
Looking to bring back some joint mobility? Getting ready to get back on the dance floor? With Shaklee's Joint Health Complex you will start to feel relief and improved comfort in your joints within 5 days. What are you waiting for? Get that groove back.
OsteoMatrix works to build your bone density to protect you from developing osteoporosis. This clinically tested supplement has been shown to help your body absorb calcium.
CatoMax has been shown to increase the density of macular pigment, filter UV lights, and promote healthy eye health. Contents include lutein, zeaxanthin, carotenoids, beat-carotene and astaxanthin.
Healthy gut, healthy body! Get your gut health in check with Shaklee's line of digestive support. Whether you are looking for a good probiotic, relief for an upset stomach or support in getting things moving, Shaklee has excellent options for you.
We all need a break and a pick me up sometimes. The great news is that there is a natural solution to help improve your mood and lower your stress levels to help get you on track and in a better mindset.
Get a good nights sleep with this gentle combination of chamomile, valerian and passion flower.
Protect your liver from toxins and promote a healthy bile flow with Liver DTX.
Overdue it? Working that body too hard? Help reduce pain naturally with Shaklee's Pain Relief Complex.
Shaklee's Glucose Regulation Complex works to help regulate your blood sugar levels and makes sure that your glucose is being utilized properly.
Contact us to start taking the best natural supplements available to improve your health. Shaklee products make a HUGE difference in people's lives. Let Shaklee make a difference in your life! Your health is everything.


text:
Dichagyris rhadamanthys is een vlinder uit de familie uilen (Noctuidae). De wetenschappelijke naam is voor het eerst geldig gepubliceerd in 1958 door Reisser.

De soort komt voor in Europa.

rhadamanthys
Dier uit het Palearctisch gebied

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


For other uses, see Greyhound (disambiguation).
Greyhound was a reggae band from Britain.
Greyhound began as The Rudies in the late 1960s, with core members Danny Smith and Freddie Notes. They also released material as The Tilermen and Des All Stars. Under the name The Rudies, they issued a cover of "Patches" by Clarence Carter and also "Montego Bay" by Bobby Bloom. Billed as Freddie Notes and The Rudies, "Montego Bay" peaked at #45 in the UK Singles Chart in October 1970. After Notes's departure, Glenroy Oakley joined the band and they changed their name to Greyhound in 1970. Their first single was an Earl Robinson/David I. Arkin composition, "Black & White", later recorded by artists as diverse as The Maytones, Sammy Davis Jr and Three Dog Night; Greyhound scored a Top Ten hit with the tune in the UK Singles Chart. Two more singles, including a cover of Henry Mancini's "Moon River" followed, before the group's fame faded.
^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 397. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
^ a b c Search for "Greyhound" performed at Everyhit.com Archived 2008-10-12 at the Wayback Machine database on May 19, 2008.
This page was last edited on 29 January 2019, at 02:59 (UTC).


way home. For Serensalia he's bound.
He writes ice messages that melt come spring.
down paths inked on his skin, yes he's got skills.
He's your best bet if north your travels tend.
With him, you'll live to reach your journey's end.
Storm Tamers don't live Shayari. I know; it's shocking. But there's more than one country in my fantasy world. Yes, they get their own book. They're that cool.
What a beautiful poem and photo…almost makes me accept my long winter to come:) it truly is a beautiful season …I don't have a car anymore, so I may enjoy it better, less worries.
Thank you 🙂 I love walking in the snow.
Oh perfect. Thank you for sharing this with me.
You're welcome. 🙂 I hope you enjoy reading it.


Briarwood Golf Club is a Public, 18 hole golf course located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Briarwood Golf Club first opened for play in 1965. The course was designed by Anderson & Williams. Stephan Kay redesigned two holes in 1987.
This course features small greens. Water come into play on several holes. This medium-length layout has 3 sets of teeboxes for a fun, but challenging golfing experience.
The Briarwood Golf Club Golf courses 6,879 yards plays to 6,879 yards from the Blue tees with a rating of 71.2 and a par of 72. The course rating is 71.2 with a slope rating of 121.
Briarwood Golf Club closed in 2008.


text:
BOOK REVIEW: Ever After by Olivia Vieweg
August 30, 2020 admin Comments 0 Comment
by Olivia Vieweg
Lerner Publishing Group
You Like Them
Graphic Universe ™
Comics & Graphic Novels | Teens & YA
Pub Date 1 Sep 2020 | Archive Date 10 Sep 2020
Vivi and Eva are two travelers in a countryside filled with the undead. After a train breaks down, stranding them between safe zones, the young women partner up to stay alive. Vivi is struggling with grief—and guilt—over the loss of her sister. Eva is hiding the start of a horrifying transformation. Together they'll face heat, zombie hordes, and their own inner demons, searching for signs of life in a land of the dead. This graphic novel addition to an enduring genre is thoughtful and emotion-driven, but also full of zombie scares and action.
Hey look it is a zombie horde! Post-Societal collapse scenarios are a staple of YA fiction. Therefore it is not easy to tread new ground and it is equally easy to fall into cliche. Ever After does not manage to avoid these cliches; however, there is enough heart to make you care about the characters and what happens to them.
First to the criticisms. Zombie stories are played out. The zombie lore in Ever After is somewhat muddled. I wasn't sure what the rules to the virus were which left me confused at points. The review copy provided had lettering that bit lower res that the art but I think this is due to the fact it is a translation.
Now the positives. While Veiweg's art style is one that I never really warmed up to, she does a beautiful job of creating both intimate character moments and shocking visuals. There is an injury near the ends of the book that made me wince at the awfulness of it. This is what you want in a Zombie story, gore, and, a sense of building tension as the plight gets worse and worse.
Despite being over 200 pages, the story moved at a fair clip. I read it in one sitting, which perhaps was a disservice to the book.
Like any good road trip movie, our protagonist's relationship develops over time with both ups and downs. The characters are believable, and their relationship with each is one that I wanted to succeed.
Reading this also made me question if I would have enjoyed it more if I weren't in lockdown? Can you separate a book from the circumstances in which you are reading it? I don't know. However, the incongruity of the Vieweg's cartoonish illustration with the subject matter is not something I think I overcame. That and my personal burnout on zombie stories meant I did not enjoy this much. For a younger audience (anyone under 30 years old) I think. There are thrilling moments, genuine scares, and, moments of real emotion in this book. Worth a read if you like your zombie stories with a heart.
BOOK REVIEW: The Stringbags by Garth Ennis & P.J. Holden
The Stringbags
by Written by Garth Ennis; Drawn by P.J. Holden; Colored by Kelly Fitzpatrick; Lettered by Rob Steen
Comics & Graphic Novels | History
Pub Date 20 May 2020 | Archive Date 1 Sep 2020
There is much to admire about The Stringbags, but it missed the mark for me. It left me with the feeling that I should have liked it more than I did. Stringbags follows the adventures of a fighter crew in World War 2 as part of Britain's Royal Navy. Our heroes are not the top guns they are "the other guys" saddled with an outdated Fairey Swordfish biplanes. Garth Ennis writing of characters as always is splendid and especially of the banter between them is humorous. Ennis effortlessly establishes that these guys have been serving together a long time. And that they are looked down upon by colleagues and superiors. They are goofball underdogs determined to do their bit.
Holden does a masterful job of doing both the little and big things exceedingly well. The expressions of joy, frustrations, relief, and, horror on the faces of the characters are depicted with a deft touch. It has a feel of retro war comics. The actions scenes show the chaos, terror, and, excitement of battle. The colours by Fitzpatrick are slickly handled and give a real air of the 1940s to the book.
I think my problem with the book starts with its tone, which I felt was all over the place. At times it feels like an Ealing comedy where our lads are bungling from one scrape to another and then it pulls in another direction entirely by showing the full monstrosity of what humans do to each in battle. I read an interview where Ennis talks about the book, and he mentions that war while awful is also the arena where great acts of bravery are done. I think he tried to walk a line of showing that war is a terrible thing that should not happen and that it is also the arena for acts heroism. He is only partly successful.
My other problem is a minor personal bugbear. Pilots on the Allied side in WW2 stories are almost always portrayed as British or American. The massive contribution that Polish and other European pilots played in the air defence efforts is overlooked. I know this is entirely irrelevant as there probably weren't any Polish pilots in the engagements shown in the book. Irrational, I know, but it bothered me that this wasn't mentioned.
For fans of World War 2 stories, this book is highly recommended. The mixture of historical facts, technical accuracy, and, relatable protagonists works well. For everyone else, this is entertaining enough but fails to really soar.
Book Review: Big Black: Stand at Attica by Frank "Big Black" Smith, Jared Reinmuth, Ameziane
Big Black: Stand at Attica by Frank "Big Black" Smith, Jared Reinmuth, Ameziane
BOOM! Studios / Archaia
A graphic novel memoir from Frank "Big Black" Smith, a prisoner at Attica State Prison in 1971, whose rebellion against the injustices of the prison system remains one of the bloodiest civil rights confrontations in American history.
FOUR DAYS IN 1971 CHANGED THE COURSE OF AMERICAN HISTORY. THIS IS THE TRUE STORY FROM THE MAN AT THE CENTER OF IT ALL.
In the summer of 1971, the New York's Attica State Prison is a symbol of everything broken in America – abused prisoners, rampant racism and a blind eye turned towards the injustices perpetrated on the powerless. But when the guards at Attica overreact to a minor incident, the prisoners decide they've had enough – and revolt against their jailers, taking them hostage and making demands for humane conditions. Frank "Big Black" Smith finds himself at the center of this uprising, struggling to protect hostages, prisoners and negotiators alike. But when the only avenue for justice seems to be negotiating with ambitious Governor Nelson Rockefeller, Big Black soon discovers there may be no hope in finding a peaceful resolution for the prisoners in Attica.
Written by Jared Reinmuth and Frank "Big Black" Smith himself, adapted and illustrated by Ameziane, Big Black: Stand At Attica is an unflinching look at the price of standing up to injustice in what remains one of the bloodiest civil rights confrontations in American history.
Digital review copy provided by NetGalley. My experience was marred by not being able to view the double-page spreads properly.
Attica. Being British it is not an event I knew a lot about. In fact, my knowledge of it comes from films like Dog Day Afternoon and references in popular culture. The state-sanctioned murder of prisoners and the subsequent cover-up are an affront to the rule of law. Some of the panels drawn by Ameziane are sickening. The depictions of torture, in particular, were difficult to read, the desperation and terror felt by the prisoners as the guards take their revenge are brought to life skillfully.
Frank "Big Black" Smith is the focus of the book. He is a magnetic presence, and you get a feel for the charisma he must have had in real life. One does get a sense that he is blowing his own trumpet and the book, in my opinion, glosses over any flaws he has.
It would be impossible to review this book without having BLM in the back of one's mind. The racism, both systemic and outright that caused the kidnappings and riots at Attica all those years ago are still present today.
The dialogue stands out. It is not often in a comic that you get a real sense of a character's personality and goals just from a few lines, but that happens here. Even the minor characters seem well rounded and 3rd dimensional.
My experience was marred by Adobe Digital Edition. I wasn't able to use two-page view mode, and that made sections of the book that relied on two-page spread challenging to read. I enjoyed Big Black: Stand at Attica, but it did make me wonder about the inherent limitations of the graphic novel format. I just felt like there so much more to know. With as many characters as there are some of the talking head sections felt crowded. Maybe with a story like this that has so many strands any art form would have struggled to convey what happened. Frank's story touches on political corruption, a flawed justice system, institutional brutality, and, the media's complicity when the state abuses its power. Heavy themes.
As an introduction to Frank, Attica, and, the events that happened in 1971, Big Black: Stand at Attica serves as a compelling introduction. Ameziane artwork is impressive, and I am eager to get my hands on a hard copy so I can appreciate it fully.
Book Review: Frankie Comics by Rachel Dukes
Frankie Comics by Rachel Dukes
Pub Date 25 Aug 2020
A comic about cat ownership. Some good gags but I struggled to finish the book as I didn't care about the cat or any of the characters. You're getting what you think you're getting. Not for me but it is okay for what it is.
BOOK REVIEW: Eden by Tomek Woroniak
by Script & art by Tomek Woroniak
Pub Date 22 Apr 2020
Once upon a Christmas Eve, animals begin to talk. And they refuse to be muzzled again. Humans aren't going to like what they have to say, and it isn't long before the consequences of the animals' newfound communication turn tragic. Not understanding their pets is no longer a valid excuse for ignorant masters, and shunning those who squeal and chirp ceases to be feasible. The tables are turned, and it's up to humankind to deal with the situation. A smart, thought-provoking book that prompts readers to rethink their habits, and which stands as a superbly crafted, emotion-packed story.
I can't say I enjoyed Eden. Too many of the elements did not work. It is overly long. The black and white art in parts is fantastic but also inconsistent. It would have benefited Woroniak
to have worked with an editor that could chop 20 or 30 pages from the novel.
Eden is set in a world where animals begin to talk and have taken over. I kind of fell at this hurdle. In terms of suspending my disbelief and falling into the world that the author created I just didn't. I just don't believe that with humanities violent capability that this would have happened.
Humans have been relegated to being an underclass, and there are hints that the new animal regime is rife with hypocrisy and abuse.
The themes of veganism, virtue signalling, tyranny, and, how to navigate a brave new world are all explored.
The dialogue is effective. It is in turns sharp and funny when it needs to be, and it also pulls on your heartstrings, especially in the scenes between Simon and his parents. I did a podcast about this book, and I was less harsh on it there but thinking about it now I don't think I can recommend it. The good stuff in here is marred by cliché drug-taking scenes and a protagonist that is hard to root for because he is so passive.
Woroniak is a talented cartoonist, and I'd look forward to reading his future, but for me, this was a miss.
BOOK Review: Beneficio by Michał Kalicki & Gawron
August 4, 2020 admin Comments 0 Comment
Beneficio by Michał Kalicki & Gawron
Not so long ago, humankind did not move as widely as it does today. Few left their native village, and people were left to wonder what lay beyond the next hill or valley. But life was full of storytellers, folklore, performers, nature. These days anyone can buy a ticket to the other side of the world, but what is the purpose? What are we seeking? This poetic work seeks evasive answers to the questions we have all asked ourselves about the mysteries of modern life.
My review is that I didn't get. I felt a bit thick reading this. It felt like it was referencing things that I didn't know about. The art is eerie and the colour palette is gives a sense of strangeness. From my understanding one of the themes explored is loneliness and strangeness of the modern world.
Some of the images lingered with me after I put it down. This book is a surreal and often abstract travelogue that baffled me. The lettering frustrated me and I can't say I enjoyed reading it. I'd say it verges on pretentiousness but I'm not sure that is true.
Not sure who would enjoy this. If I have any Polish readers can you please let me know how it reads in its native language.
BOOK REVIEW: SOON V1 by by Thomas Cadène & Benjamin Adam
Description: The world has changed significantly. Damage caused by climate change and the resurgence of certain deadly diseases has drastically reduced the world's population. Nature has taken back control, and the survivors are spread out over different urban zones. Simone, 50, is an astronaut who has been in training for a controversial one-way space mission. Simone will have to leave her son Youri forever. Before they say goodbye, Simone asks Youri to travel with her to the seven urban zones.
Soon is a strange mix of world-building and intimate family drama. There is a lot of exposition in Soon that is framed through the device of Youri explaining to his mother Simone the things he has learned about the history of the world. Set in a post-collapse future where humanity's population is smaller than that of today as a result of disasters both natural and manmade. Reading Youri recount these events in a time of Covid-19 and Extinction Rebellion feels uncomfortably possible.
The art in Soon is somewhat reminiscent of Titan (one of my favourite books of the year) in that the colour palette is no more than four or five colours depending on what "zone" the characters are in. It also uses the same technique of colouring the speech bubbles of characters. As with Titan, there were occasions where the change in speech bubble colour made it difficult to decipher who was speaking. Some of the explanatory diagrams, while beautiful, were occasionally difficult to follow. The character and world design are magnificent. The simplistic lines convey so much nuanced emotion in the faces of the characters.
Youri is heart-broken. He is about to be abandoned by his mother. The trip that he and Simone go on is about making lasting memories and as a way of Simone justifying the purpose mission not only to Youri but to a sceptical public. One of the conversations that takes place that particular hit home with me is if the resources spent on a risky space mission could be better spent on feeding the hungry. Soon is a coming of age story about a boy who is sure he doesn't want his mother to leave him but not much else. The trip opens up his eyes to the dangerous reality of the world, the avarice of humanity, and, the things we have to give up to reach the goals we have set for ourselves.
Soon verges at points at being preachy but it is redeemed by a wonderfully portrayed mother and son relationship. The dialogue between Youri and Simone brims with old arguments, recriminations, love, and, the reaching need each of the characters has for the others. For Simone, it for Youri to truly understand and accept why she is leaving and for Youri, it is for Simone not to go.
I think at points Soon gets the balance between human drama and backstory wrong. The book truly sings when Youri and Simone are on the same page not saying all the things they genuinely want to say. The diagrams explaining all the history of the world can cause the pace of the story to slow. However, all in all, this is a superb sci-fi story, and I am eagerly awaiting v2.
BOOK REVIEW: Lizard in a Zoot Suit by Marco Finnegan
Lizard in a Zoot Suit
by Marco Finnegan
Pub Date 4 Aug 2020 |
Los Angeles, 1943. It's the era of the Zoot Suit Riots, and Flaca and Cuata have a problem. It's bigger than being grounded by their strict mother. It's bigger than tensions with the soldiers stationed nearby. And it's shaped like a five-foot-tall lizard. When a lost member of an unknown underground species needs help, the sisters must scramble to keep their new friend away from a corrupt military scientist—but they'll do it in style. Cartoonist Marco Finnegan presents Lizard in a Zoot Suit, an outrageous, historical, sci-fi graphic novel.
A ripping adventure comic that has a unique historical setting. Being British, there are periods of American history with which I am not familiar. The novel comes with historical notes explaining the racist beatings dolled out by naval recruits and the societal impacts that they had.
The art here is fluid, and the choice of having a rather simple colour palette is a good one. There is a real sense of place and time. Flaca and Cuata are characters that I as a reader quickly grew fond of and I'd urge the Finnegan to write further stories featuring them.
The spirit of the story reminded of the Back to the Future films. The action is thrilling; the dialogue is tight, and, there is a cast of memorable characters. The good girls are brave, and the villains are nefarious. One of the strongest compliment I can give the book is that made me want to learn more about when it was set and see these characters have further adventures. Great fun.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Iraq in Fragments
Director: James Longley
USA/Iraq • 2006 • 94 mins
This prize-winning documentary is a genuinely awe-inspiring work of cinema verite filmmaking. Longley spent more than two years filming in Iraq, often under extraordinary duress, to create this stunningly photographed, poetically rendered vision of post-War Iraq as seen through the eyes of Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds. This unforgettable film opens a window on the world of the war's casualties that is profoundly haunting and often ravishing. An opus in three parts, Iraq in Fragments offers a portrait of the different faces of war: a fatherless boy is apprenticed to the owner of a Baghdad garage; Sadr followers in two Shiite cities rally for regional elections while enforcing Islamic law at gunpoint; and a family of Kurdish farmers welcomes the US presence, which has allowed them freedom previously denied. Despite the disparity of the stories, the film flows with a wholeness that is both grand and intimate in scale. 'What this movie shows, you will never see on the evening news' – Michael Moore.
Richard Boyd-Barrett of the People Before Profit Alliance will introduce the film.
www.iraqinfragments.com
If you can't see this, try Losers and Winners (Sat 7.00pm)
Festival ticket bundles are available directly from the box office.
€40 for 5. €70 for 10.
Please phone 01 679 3477.


Mr. Bix, my dad said he saw you playing with my new robot dog, "Pooch-o". What's going on?
I was training it to beg.
But it can already beg.
Yes, but it never said "Give it to me, Pimp Masta!" before.
6 I don't like "Pimp Masta" but I like the idea!
5 If I wanted "pimp masta", I'd read Sinfest.


text:
Impact of Your Gifts
SunTrust gift supports VIMS graduate student
Why Support VIMS?
VIMS Foundation
SEAMAP 2012 VIMS Ph.D. student and SunTrust fellow Mark Stratton poses with an Atlantic Cutlassfish (Trichiurus lepturus) during the 2012 SEAMAP cruise. Photo courtesy of Mark Stratton
VIMS Visit Several SunTrust board members traveled to VIMS last week to learn more about the research being done by SunTrust fellow and VIMS graduate student Mark Stratton. L to R: VIMS Associate Dean of Academic Studies Linda Schaffner, Ph.D. student Mark Stratton, SunTrust South Hampton Roads President Charity Volman, and SunTrust Peninsula President David Burris. Photo by Erin Kelly
Fish Stomach VIMS Ph.D. Student Mark Stratton extracts a fish stomach during the 2012 SEAMAP cruise. Photo courtesy of Mark Stratton
Research Presentation During last week's SunTrust board meeting, VIMS Ph.D. student and this year's SunTrust fellow Mark Stratton gave a brief synopsis of his efforts to improve fisheries management by incorporating new environmental and biological information into the assessment of fisheries stocks. Photo by Erin Kelly
Impact of Support VIMS Ph.D. student Mark Stratton discusses the various ways SunTrust's funding will support his research during a meeting last week on the VIMS campus. Photo by Erin Kelly
PDF: Printable Press Release
by Erin Kelly | December 19, 2013
The Virginia Institute of Marine Science recently recognized graduate student Mark Stratton as the recipient of the SunTrust Mid-Atlantic Foundation Fellowship for 2013-2014.
Stratton, a Ph.D. student in the College of William & Mary's School of Marine Science at VIMS, received $2,900 in support of his efforts to improve fisheries management by incorporating new environmental and biological information into the assessment of fisheries stocks.
SunTrust's fellowship endowment—created several years ago in the VIMS Foundation—offers funding for graduate student research at VIMS. This endowment will support VIMS students in perpetuity, and provide annual support to one or more students for many years to come.
"I'm very honored to have received this fellowship," says Stratton. "It reflects the strong emphasis that VIMS and donors like SunTrust place on supporting and enriching the educational experience for me and my fellow students."
Advised by VIMS Professor Robert Latour, Stratton says the overall goal of his research is to "better understand how various environmental and biological factors affect abundance and diversity patterns of demersal fish and invertebrates." He's pursuing his studies in conjunction with two fishery-independent trawl surveys along the eastern U.S. coast, collecting data on fish diets as part of the Southeast Area Monitoring and Assessment Program-South Atlantic, and using existing datasets from SEAMAP-SA and its sister Northeast Area Monitoring and Assessment Program (NEAMAP) to investigate long-term trends.
SunTrust officials visited VIMS last week to hear a brief synopsis of Stratton's research. David Burris, Virginia Peninsula President of SunTrust Bank, says "We're very pleased to provide fellowship support to Mark and other graduate students at VIMS. The training they receive, and the work they do, helps us all to provide better stewardship of Chesapeake Bay and other waterways while enhancing the management of our marine resources. We're fortunate to have this internationally recognized institution in our own backyard helping our community prosper."
Stratton says that results from his research "will hopefully improve the general understanding of fishery-related ecological patterns in the important transition area between estuaries and the coastal ocean," and "help lay a foundation for how we might incorporate environmental and biological factors into the assessment process for certain stocks."
His research will also inform modeling and management efforts by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC), a deliberative body of the Atlantic coastal states that coordinates the conservation and management of 25 near-shore fish species.
SunTrust created the fellowship in the Virginia Institute of Marine Science Foundation, a nonprofit 501 (c) (3) organization that supports the education and research missions of VIMS. SunTrust has now supported a student during each of the past 6 years:
Sikai Peng (2011-12): The role of copepods in food-web dynamics in Chesapeake Bay
Emily Jayne (2008-2010): Field studies of volatile organic compounds and their role in the global and ocean carbon cycle
Andrew Wozniak (2007): The role of aerosols as a source of organic carbon to the York River watershed
SunTrust Bank-Hampton Roads is part of SunTrust Banks, Inc., headquartered in Atlanta and one of the nation's largest banking organizations, serving a broad range of consumer, commercial, corporate, and institutional clients.
VIMS is an independent state agency with a mandate to provide research, education, and advisory service to the Commonwealth. The School of Marine Science at VIMS is a graduate school of the College of William and Mary.
School of Marine Science


Unclogging in Whitehawk-No More Blocked Sewers!
When your pipelines need service, you need 24/7 Drainage UK, where we can provide you with top of the line unclogging services that include draining, cleaning and getting your life back to normal. 24/7 Drainage UK has a flawless reputation earned over the past decade and after your first contact with us, you'll see why our customers appreciate what we do. Unlike our competitors, we are proud to offer a 100 percent money back guarantee on all of our services, just in case we don't meet your expectations. We won't rest until we know that blocked sewers in Whitehawk will never be an issue for you again!
24/7 Drainage UK calls Whitehawk home. We are proud to employ highly experienced professionals that are familiar with the area. We want each job to go as smoothly as possible, which is one of the reasons why all of our plumbers are certified and skilled in their craft. We've always been known as a customer oriented company, mainly because we always put your satisfaction above our own. The thousands of customers that we've served in Whitehawk throughout the years agree on our high standard of trust and flawless reliability.
We're not just all talk; we take our reputation very seriously and personally. We believe that we are truly the best and this is because your satisfaction is number one. You'll love our guarantees, especially because they mean you'll never find yourself in trouble with drain issues. We guarantee the following: 24/7 sewer unblocking services - we know how inconvenient blockages and drain issues can be and that's why we're always around to take your call, anytime.
No worries - we're here to solve your problem! Even in the middle of the night, we'll be there in a flash to get you back on track. We're Insured - Worried that our employees could damage your surroundings, fixtures or environment? You'll be happy to know that all of our services are insured so you're always covered. While we're happy to offer insurance, we don't want you to need to use it. That's why we guarantee that your surroundings, fixtures and equipment will remain unaffected by our work. We'll always discuss any special circumstances with you in advance. True Whitehawk Blocked Sewer Professionals - We would never allow an amateur plumber or engineer to damage your job. We want to make sure that you're satisfied, which is why we only hire certified professionals with plenty of experience. Well-Reputed and Trusted Sewer Unblocking Whitehawk – 24/7 Drainage UK maintains a healthy reputation in the region for being the best service provider in the industry. If our word doesn't suffice, you can ask around the get to know more about us. Rest assured, you will only hear good things. That's a promise!
There's no single reason as to why sewers get blocked. But here are a few to give you an idea, along with our matching services: Broken Pipes: This can be true, especially if your house is older because the pipelines can be damaged, rusty or even collapsed. This can happen because of erosion, shifting soil or even construction, all which damage sewer pipes. In such cases, we perform a thorough inspection using our state of the art equipment to ensure we get to the root of the problem. Lodged Objects: If your pipes are blocked, it could be because of grease, dead animals, plants or garbage. For the most part, professional services are needed to handle these blockages, especially if you want to prevent them from happening again. Broken down pipes: When pipes have been broken for years, collapses and restricted water flow are a certainty. Blocked sewers in Whitehawk occur for a wide variety of reasons, including those already mentioned. We know this and that's why we always bring our inspection tools to each call so that we can properly diagnose the issue.
Our Rated People profile is, without doubt, one of the best of any sewer unblocking company; it has helped us to work on lots of projects. When you review our Rated People profile you will see that we offer reliability, state-of-the-art tech and methods, a high quality service and tremendous value for money. If you need to unblock sewers in Whitehawk, then pop on over to our Rated People profile and discover lots of reasons to call us today!
We'll work around your schedule to make sure that your routine check-up fits into your day and we're always just a few minutes away should an emergency blocked sewer in Whitehawk present itself.


text:
Sandy Hook Victim's Father Criticizes Conspiracy Theorists Who Say Massacre Was a Hoax
by lee December 9, 2016 Leave a Comment
Next week is the 4th anniversary of the deadly shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut which took the lives of 20 children and 6 adults. It was one of the deadliest school shootings in American history and even more tragic because most of the victims were just small children. But as heartbreaking as this incident was, there are actually people who don't even believe it really happened.
Those who believe events like these didn't really happen are called "hoaxers," which are basically conspiracy theorists who think mass killings reported on the news are just staged by the liberal government and media in order to push their gun control agenda. In fact, these hoaxers have gotten so bad that they're actually threatening the parents of the victims from Sandy Hook Elementary.
In a recent interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper, the father of one of the child victims talked with Cooper about these hoaxers and about all the hate that he's gotten from these people who think that he's part of the conspiracy. The father, Len Pozner, told Cooper: "They think whenever they see anything on the web or on television that is a crime or mass casualty event, that it has to be a hoax."
At least one hoaxer has repeatedly called Pozner and left numerous hateful voice mails for him. They've also hated on him online as well. He described the hateful comments as "pretty intense" and that they sent chills down his body when he heard them. Fortunately, the authorities got involved in tracking down the hoaxer who kept calling Pozner. The end result was a federal indictment of a Tampa women who has been charged with 4 counts of making threats against him. However, she is just one of many hoaxers out there and their numbers keep building up by the day.


text:
Review of Image Preprocessing Techniques for OCR
Intelligent Character Recognition (ICR) of Handwritten Text
Recently we have completed a project for a pharmaceutical... read more
Image Pre-processing for OCR of Handwritten Characters
OCR (optical character recognition) is the recognition... read more
Optical Character Recognition of Handwritten Numbers
We live in a world of numbers. But what's the... read more
computer vision image processing OCR OpenCV
This article demonstrates different image preprocessing techniques with textual data which we consider useful for further OCR processing of said images.
These techniques can be easily combined into an image pre-processing system.
It should be noted that this report is mainly a quick review of what can be done. All the demonstrated image preprocessing techniques can be further enhanced for the sake of achieving even greater accuracy/performance.
Our R&D team has developed a Handwritten Text Detection prototype that processes even blurry, grainy and low-resolution images that was later enhanced to a comprehensive Data Extraction algorithm. It retrieves information in the key-value format and transforms documents into business-ready data better prepared for processing, analysis, and storage. You choose which keys to look for and the text recognition algorithm extracts data from all of the documents that contain indicated keys no matter where they are positioned within the document.
Try our demo
Proper image alignment that puts text in the image into position close to upright significantly increases an accuracy of the further OCR processing. Image alignment includes different types of transforms, such as affine transform (rotation and deshearing/deskewing), perspective transform and others. Here we demonstrate an application of the affine transformation to the image as it is the most useful type or preprocessing. Below we demonstrate steps that produce aligned the image with some comments. For further comparison, the source image was taken from ImageMagick website.
Fig. 1. Source image A – an easy case for binarization.
We perform alignment by applying our custom-developed algorithm to the image. Depending on the image resolution, the final rotation of the image differs from the true upright angle by no more than 0.01 rad in the best case.
Fig. 2. Image rotation result.
We then binarize the image (using Otsu algorithm) and remove some small binary noise. Source image A represents an easy case for this step, results are shown below.
Fig. 3. Image A, binarization results.
Source image B has much higher levels of noise of different types caused by non-uniform illumination and scanning artifacts. This image was also taken from ImageMagick examples.
Fig. 4. Source image B – lots of noise.
To remove this noise we must separate the text itself from the background. We developed an algorithm that produces a probability map of every pixel being text (and not noise). Figure 5 demonstrates this in a form of a greyscale map of interest, where we marked all the lightest pixels as a part of the text.
We then use this map to obtain the mask of the text areas, as shown in Figure 6.
Finally, figure 7 demonstrates the result of the application of this text mask to the source image.
Fig. 5. Probability map.
Fig. 6. Text areas mask.
Figure. 7. Source Image B cleaned.
We'd like to note that the text on the source image B is in French and contains a lot of characters with diacritic symbols, preserving which is essential for high-quality OCR. As demonstrated, our approach preserves a very significant percentage of diacritics. As a comparison, we'll provide the result of ImageMagick's denoising of the same image (fig. 8). Note how a lot of diacritics are lost in the process of denoising. As demonstrated, our approach preserves a very significant percentage of diacritics.
Fig. 8. ImageMagick's denoising of source image B
Scan line removal
Scan images usually have scan artefacts in the form of scan lines. To simulate scan lines and other such noise we picked an image (source image C) with non-uniform illumination, moiré and screen-door noise (caused by black areas between display pixels).
Fig. 9. Source image C.
We start by building a map of artefacts that later will be used for precision binarization.
Fig. 10. Map of noise/artefacts.
Fig. 11. Inverted source image C, binarized and aligned.
Upside-down orientation detection
Last but not least, we demonstrate the application of our custom-developed algorithm for upside-down text orientation detection. Fig. 12 shows the result of the application of this algorithm to a set of randomly chosen chunks of text of different origin (different languages and alphabets). Green areas depict proper text orientation, while red ones show the chunks where the text is upside down.
Fig. 12. Upside-down orientation detection.


text:
Draft Bust Jamal Reynolds Registered Just 3 Sacks in 3 Years for the Green Bay Packers
by Bradley Geiser on May 12, 2021
Not all busts are created equal. The NFL is filled with stories of athletes who made a name on the field, only to fail when they entered the NFL. But this isn't always a case of players disappointing the masses. In 2001, the Green Bay Packers drafted Jamal Reynolds with the 10th overall pick. However, they quickly grew to lament the move as injuries held him back from the get-go.
Jamal Reynolds shines in college
Jamal Reynolds had large shoes to fill at #FSU, being given No. 58 after Peter Boulware. He proceeded to have an All-American career and get selected in the top 10 of the 2001 NFL Draft. He also record three sacks in a #Noles national title victory over Virginia Tech. #NoleNation https://t.co/FCWry00hqq
— Mike Ferguson (@MikeWFerguson) July 7, 2018
RELATED: Did Brett Favre Drink on Bourbon Street the Night Before Super Bowl XXXI?
During the latter years of Brett Favre's time in Green Bay, the team hoped to bolster his offensive abilities by adding a hyped defensive juggernaut in Jamal Reynolds. While defensive ends might not get the fame and glory of a quarterback, a good one can change a team on both ends of the field.
During his career at Florida State, Reynolds was an absolute monster on the field's defensive side. Many expected him to end up exactly where he did in the draft. In a sweetly fitting move, had it all worked out, Chippewa.com notes that the lineman received the prestigious 2000 Lombardi award for his play. However, once he got into the highest league, nothing clicked.
According to Madison.com, the Packers were so sold on the defensive end that they sent the 17th pick and backup quarterback Matt Hasselbeck to secure his services. The result is one of the most disappointing careers that a top-ten player ever had in the NFL.
Reynolds' struggles in the NFL
RELATED: NFL Bust Montee Ball Says His Arrest 'Pushed Me Over the Edge in a Good Way'
Nothing worked once Reynolds got to the NFL. He spent most of his career sitting on the bench with several injuries. Furthermore, when he did appear on the field, he looked lost and stagnant. The Power Sweep reported on Reynolds' struggles in 2014. He noted that Reynolds struggled on the field but rarely got a chance to shine genuinely.
He got injured during his first training camp with the Packers. This kicked off the trend that defined his career from there on out. Reynolds showed some talent when he was on the field, but he already played like an injured veteran despite being so young. When all was said and done, he recorded just three sacks in the NFL.
After the Packers traded him to Indianapolis in 2003, a physical derailed his career for good.
Jamal Reynolds' hype train crashes
ESPN reported on how the NFL's physical examinations work. While fans might think teams consider injuries another part of the game, the NFL is thorough and all-encompassing in the way that it breaks down players. Chances are if a player has medical issues, the NFL's process will hunt them out.
"Any looseness in the knee joint, even from an injury that goes back to freshman year, and the orthopedists can order up an MRI exam. You say you haven't had measles yet? They're going to find out why. If a player has a broken bone in his medical history, it's going to translate into a trip to the X-ray room. That funny-looking mole on one lineman's hand is likely to be sectioned and then examined under a microscope," he wrote.
This is part of the reason Jamal Reynolds could not stay on the field. While his play on it never matched the hype that came with his name in college, the injuries didn't help the matter either. When the Colts discovered all of his injury concerns in 2003, they didn't just nix the trade that would have sent him there. They put an end to his career.
Reynolds tried to make a comeback, but it was too late. He may have been the tenth overall pick of his draft class, but his career was a flash in the pan compared to those drafted far after him. Through no fault of his own, Reynold's body gave up on him. It's a cautionary tale of how quickly the hype train can derail if players are unlucky.
Tags:Green Bay Packers NFL Draft NFL players


text:
AROSYN
About Italian
Current News and Events
Current News and Events overview
Archive of News
Postgraduate Italian
Postgraduate Overview
PhD and MPhil
Applications and Funding
Current Postgraduate Students
Current Postgraduate Students overview
Staff Student Liaison
Link to Moodle
AROSYN overview
Staff in Italian
Undergraduate Courses overview
Part Ia overview
ITA1: Use of Italian
ITA2: Translation into English and Oral A
ITA3: Texts and Contexts
ITB1: Use of Italian
ITB2: Translation from Italian and Oral B
IT1: Texts and Contexts
Part Ib overview
ITB3: Translation into Italian
ITAV: Italian through audio visual media
IT2: Structures and Varieties of Italian
IT2: Structures and Varieties of Italian overview
IT2: Reading List
IT3: Italian Cinema
IT4: Autobiography and Self-Representation in Italian Culture
IT4: Autobiography and Self-Representation in Italian Culture overview
IT5: Italian Identities: Place, Language, and Culture
IT5: Italian Identities: Place, Language, and Culture overview
CS1: The Romance languages
ITC1: Translation from and into Italian
ITC2: Text and Culture
IT6: Modern Italian Culture
IT7: Dante and the culture of his age
IT7: Dante and the culture of his age overview
IT7: Reading
IT8: Italian Literature, Thought, and Culture, 1500-1650
IT8: Italian Literature, Thought, and Culture, 1500-1650 overview
IT9: Text and Image
IT9: Text and Image overview
IT9 Reading List
IT10: The Language of Italy
IT10: The Language of Italy overview
IT10: Reading List
Optional Dissertation
About Modern Greek
About Modern Greek overview
GR3: Introduction to Modern Greek Language and Culture
GR3: Introduction to Modern Greek Language and Culture overview
GR3 Reading List
GR6: Myth Matters: Receptions of mythology in Modern Greek literature and culture
Staff in Modern Greek
Modern Greek Events
Modern Greek News
Modern Greek Publications
Research on the argument structure of predicates has shown that intransitive (i.e. one-argument) verbs can be subdivided into unergatives and unaccusatives and that this distinction may be reduced to a single semantic/syntactic difference (the 'Unaccusativity Hypothesis' (Perlmutter 1978)): whereas unaccusatives take a single object argument (typically, a theme/patient), which may become a derived subject (1a), unergatives take a single subject argument (typically, an agent) (1b):
(1) a. È arrivato Giovanni / Giovanni è arrivato.
is arrived Giovanni / Giovanni is arrived
b. Giovanni ha telefonato.
Giovanni has telephoned [Italian]
Reflexive/reciprocal verbs denote an action applied by the Agent to itself, and they have been analysed in the literature as intransitive predicates (Reinhart & Siloni 2004). Within Romance, such verbs are typically marked productively by a reflexive/SE-clitic, which appears in the same position as an accusative clitic. Crosslinguistically, SE-clitics may also appear on predicates that lack a reflexive meaning, such as anti-causatives, impersonals, middles, and passives (Bentley 2006). This systematic morphological fact, along with various syntactic facts (e.g. Past Participle Agreement; BE selection), has led some researchers to propose a common (underlying) unaccusative analysis for all these (semantic) predicates (for discussion, see Reinhart & Siloni 2004). An immediate problem for such an analysis is that true/derived reflexives (i.e. reflexives derived from transitive predicates) seem to pattern with unergatives in certain respects (Reinhart & Siloni 2004). In fact, the problem seems to be more widespread, in that the morphological, syntactic, and semantic aspects of various SE-predicates do not always correlate with each other, contrary to what is expected. For instance, SE-marking does not always correlate with an unaccusative structure (cf. true reflexives), nor does an unaccusative structure always correlate with SE-marking (e.g. Fr. se briser 'break' vs. couler 'sink'). Moreover, SE-marking may correlate with more than one type of semantic predicates (e.g. impersonals vs. reflexives), while sometimes predicates falling into the same semantic class are marked differently (e.g. Fr. (se) briser vs. casser 'break' in their inchoative/intransitive use).
Such 'unaccusativity mismatches' are common crosslinguistically, and they pose important questions regarding the morpho-syntactic vs. semantic and the categorical vs. gradient nature of unaccusativity (Bentley 2006). Despite these mismatches, the presence of SE-clitics in all these structures cannot be accidental. The question, then, that has driven past research is what the necessary and sufficient conditions are for the presence of SE-clitics, and how the rest of the properties of the relevant structures follow. This question, in turn, appears to be related also to the morpho-syntactic nature of SE-clitics, e.g. as (internal/external) arguments, and/or as parts of the verbal predicate.
The linguistic literature abounds with empirical descriptions/generalisations and with theoretical explanations regarding reflexive-clitic marked predicates in Romance and other languages, and the more general question of unaccusativity mismatches. From an empirical point of view (see Dobrovie-Sorin 2005; Medová 2009 for an overview), most analyses are restricted to a single language, or to a limited number of different languages. Often, the same data (from standard varieties) are discussed, as the main purpose is to offer a more adequate analysis. From a theoretical point of view (see Levin & Rappaport-Hovav 2005 for an overview), some researchers have argued in favour of a purely syntactic approach to unaccusativity, others in favour of a purely semantic approach, and others in favour of a mixed syntactic-semantic approach. The latter type is considered to be the most influential, given the common consensus that only such an approach can adequately account for phenomena related to the morpho-syntactic vs. semantic unaccusativity alignment of predicates (although see Bentley 2006). Within this type, several sub-types exist, depending on one's assumptions about the primary role of semantics (projectionist approaches) vs. syntax (constructional approaches). Finally, some approaches focus on the morpho-syntax of SE-clitics across structures, adopting an unificationist or a separationist perspective (see Dobrovie-Sorin 2005 and Medová 2009 for an overview).
Regarding the study of Aromanian spoken in Greece (Beis 2000), and of Aromanian SE-clitics in particular, besides secondary sources (e.g. fairy tale collections) and the extensive and now old, though non-exhaustive, descriptive work by 19th/early 20th century Romanian scholars, more recent and linguistically informed studies focus only on a single grammatical level of description of a 'common' Aromanian (typically, lexical morphology and/or phonology) (e.g. Dinas & Katsanis 1990), or on a few phenomena only, taken from one or few varieties (cf. the works by Hector Campos & Melita Stavrou) (and a similar situation applies to the study of Aromanian outside Greece (Tomić 2006). Beis (2000) is the only systematic description of a single Aromanian variety in Greece (Metsovo village) that is currently available. It includes a (functionalist) morphophonological description of the verbal and nominal paradigm, and very few basic points on syntax, however it does not address the phenomena and questions we aim to examine. This project aims to fill this gap, through the collection (which will be led by solid research questions informed by state-of-the-art research), analysis, and study of novel empirical data from a cluster of Aromanian varieties spoken in North-Western Greece.
Overview of the project
This project aims to contribute to a general theory of reflexive clitics and their relation to argument structure/unaccusativity, by studying the system of SE-clitics in a cluster of south-eastern Aromanian varieties spoken in the Metsovo area, Epirus, North-Western Greece. Aromanian is a highly endangered Eastern Romance variety spoken by clusters of populations dispersed throughout the Balkans (Tomić 2006). Linguistically, it is closely related to other Eastern Romance varieties, namely Romanian, Megleno-Romanian, and Istro-Romanian. In Greece, it is not written, taught, or used for any other purposes besides everyday communication within the family/village (Dinas & Katsanis 1990; Beis 2000). A high degree of micro-variation has been reported for Aromanian, along with a significant influence from Greek (especially in terms of vocabulary and morpho-phonology) (Dinas & Katsanis 1990; Beis 2000; Tomić 2006), as well as several Balkan Sprachbund properties (e.g. avoidance of infinitive) (Tomić 2006).
Aromanian spoken in Greece has a set of accusative/dative SE-clitics, which are syncretic with accusative personal clitics (besides 3rd person sg/pl, which surfaces as si) (Dinas & Katsanis 1990; Beis 2000), contrary e.g. to Romanian, Megleno-Romanian, or Aromanian spoken in fYR Macedonia (Tomić 2006). What is special about these SE-clitics is that: (a) they appear in contexts that resist SE-clitics in standard Romance; (b) they may interact with other clitics in ways not typically found in standard Romance. The general picture that emerges from the available data is that the Aromanian SE-system realises a number of properties which are related to various different systems in the rest of Romance (including Romanian), and which bring it closer to the Greek medio-passive system. Such a 'mixed' system is important from an empirical point of view, especially given the variation found in the rest of Romance, and the plausible influence from Greek. It is also important from a theoretical point of view, as the investigation of the morpho-syntactic features participating in SE-constructions, and their comparison to Romance, will allow us to better understand whether the appearance of SE in Aromanian (and, hence, in Romance more generally) involves the realisation of the same set of morpho-syntactic features across all structures (the null hypothesis), or alternatively whether it is morphologically or semantically conditioned (e.g. via underspecification of syntactic features in the morphological or the semantic representation).
The objectives of this project are both empirical and theoretical, and they are intimately connected. The overall aim is to propose a general theory of SE-clitics in relation to the properties of the argument structures they appear in, based on a solid empirical foundation. In particular, the project aims to document all SE-structures of an undocumented and highly endangered Eastern Romance variety that has been in contact with Greek, and to analyse the variation we find both within the language and across related languages (with a special emphasis on Romanian).
The analysis will allow us to specify which features participate in SE-structures, and how morphology, syntax, and semantics interact. The main empirical objective is to document an important part of the grammar of the Aromanian varieties spoken within the Metsovo municipality (villages Anilio, Metsovo, Milia, Votonosi), probably one of the largest and most dense Aromanian-speaking communities in Greece (Beis 2000).
As noted above, although a significant degree of micro-variation has been reported for these dialects, it has never been documented in a systematic way. Moreover, the morpho-syntax of SE-structures and their argument structure properties have not been documented and investigated systematically. Given that Aromanian faces a genuine risk of extinction, the need for a systematic documentation is urgent. Data collection and documentation will be guided by clear theoretical questions informed by state-of-the-art research, as these only may guarantee solid empirical generalisations.
The main theoretical objective is to use these empirical generalisations to establish which linguistic features (e.g. agent, cause, aspect, case, verbal roots) are sufficient and/or necessary conditions for the presence of SE-clitics in various structures, how any interactions among these features give rise to particular argument structures/properties, how these structures compare to Romanian/Romance, and whether any differences might be related to Greek or some other influence. Such a theoretical approach, which assumes that complex morphosyntactic structures, such as verbs and their arguments, are decomposed into constituent parts (Levin & Rappaport-Hovav 2005), is expected to give rise to a more gradient view of unaccusativity, where particular morpho-syntactic features/feature combinations, possibly in correlation with their semantic and morpho-phonological representations, correspond to 'thresholds' that define higher order categorical distinctions. Although there have been many theoretical hypotheses and tools in the literature, the debate is far from settled, mainly because there is lack of clear evidence about which features/feature interactions are relevant or not, within and across grammatical levels. This study is suited to address such a goal, as Aromanian SE-clitics display uniquely mixed properties within (standard) Romance.
Research methodology and approach
The empirical objectives of the project will be met in two stages: during the first stage, a comprehensive survey of the existing literature on the Aromanian varieties targeted by the project (and any related varieties) will be carried out. This survey, which will also be informed by relevant research outcomes on Romanian and Romance more generally, will include any available scientific work on Aromanian SE-clitics and structures, including information on the different verb types involved, their argument structure, and their morpho-syntactic and semantic properties. The survey will also integrate any relevant secondary sources and non-academic work (such as dictionaries and grammars), as the existing literature does not offer a complete picture.
The second stage will involve fieldwork with native speakers. Fieldwork is indispensable for this type of research, as certain properties of the grammar need to be explicitly tested. The best method is the use of a questionnaire, combined with the freer interview method. A written questionnaire, containing the sentences that need to be translated into the variety, is required, as it allows one to collect and compare coherent and homogenous results across varieties. However, the questionnaire will be compiled together with the researcher, allowing the informant to comment on the proposed translation. Both methods are widely used in dialectological research projects, and are known to provide reliable data. Additionally, an acceptability judgment questionnaire/task will be used, which will allow the researcher to test what the limits of grammar are and whether speakers have preferences (e.g. between active vs. passive structures).
Beis, Stamatis. 2000. 'Le Parler Aroumain de Metsovo. Description d'une langue en voie de disparition'. Unpublished PhD. Dissertation, Université Paris V- René Descartes.
Bentley, Delia. 2006. Split Intransitivity in Italian. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
Dinas, Konstantinos & Nikolaos Katsanis. 1990. Γραμματική της Κοινής Κουτσοβλαχικής [Grammar of the Common Kutsovlach]. Thessaloniki: Archive of Macedonian Studies.
Dobrovie-Sorin, Carmen. 2005. 'The SE-anaphor and its role in argument realization'. In Martin Everaert, and Henk van Riemsdijk (eds.) The Blackwell Companion to Syntax., vol. 4. Oxford: Blackwell, 118–179.
Kayne, Richard. 2005. 'Some notes on comparative Syntax, with Special Reference to English and French', in Guglielmo Cinque and Richard Kayne (eds.) The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Syntax. Oxford: OUP, 3-69.
Levin, Beth & Malka Rappaport-Hovav. 2005. Argument Realization. Cambridge: CUP.
Medová, Lucie. 2009. 'Reflexive Clitics in the Slavic and Romance Languages'. Unpublished PhD. Dissertation, University of Princeton.
Pană-Dindelegan, Gabriela. 2013. The Grammar of Romanian. Oxford: OUP.
Perlmutter, David. 1978. 'Impersonal Passives and the unaccusative hypothesis', in Papers from the Annual Meeting of the Berkeley Linguistic Society, 4: 157-89.
Reinhart, Tania & Tal Siloni. 2004. 'Against an Unaccusative Analysis of Reflexives', in Artemis Alexiadou, Elena Anagnostopoulou, and Martin Everaert (eds.) The Unaccusativity Puzzle. Explorations of the Syntax-Lexicon Interface, Oxford: OUP, 159-80.
Săvescu, Oana. 2012. 'When Syncretism Meets Word Order. On Clitic Order in Romanian'. Probus 24: 233-56.
Tomić, Olga Mišeska. 2006. Balkan Sprachbund. Morpho-syntactic Features. Dordrecht: Springer.
Eleonora Serra (PhD in Italian, 2019), winner of the 2020 Vivien Law Prize for the history of linguistics
Eleonora Serra (PhD in Italian, 2019), winner of the 2020 Vivien Law Prize for the history of linguistics The Italian Section is delighted to congratulate Eleonora Serra (PhD in Italian, 2019) for the award of the 2020 Vivien Law Prize for the best essay on any topic within the history of linguistics by a student within 5...
The Robinson College Sykes Prize 2020
The Robinson College Sykes Prize has been launched for 2020. The winning prize is £1000, with runners-up awards of £500 and £250 also available. More information can be found here: https://www.robinson.cam.ac.uk/college-life/arts-literature-and-theology... All current students are welcome to enter, hopefully having read...
Elena Sottilotta (PhD candidate, Italian) winner of the 2020 Polly Stewart Award 2020
We are delighted to congratulate Elena Sottilotta (PhD candidate, Italian) for winning the 2020 Polly Stewart Award, for her research on women folklorists of Italy and Ireland. The award is given by the Women's Section of the American Folklore Society to support young scholars in the field (further details at: https://www...


text:
The Evolving Electric Power Grid
(Photograph by American Public Power Association)
Jonathan Susser
When we turn on a light or plug in a phone charger, we receive electricity from a complex web-like network of equipment. Power plants, power lines, substations and transformers all communicate and work in tandem to deliver the right amount of energy when and where we need it. Together, these wires, switches and related equipment are known as the electric power grid, or just "the grid."
As the grid was being built in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, electric utilities operated in isolation. The power plants that popped up from coast to coast consisted of large, centrally located generators that delivered electricity in one direction to the communities that needed it.
In time, the grid became more interconnected and efficient. It has provided safe, reliable and affordable electric service for more than a century. Much of the time we don't even notice it is there.
But the grid's equipment and infrastructure are aging, and our needs are changing.
With a growing population, advancements in technology and many new electronic devices, we consume substantially more electricity than we used to. Electricity use today is more than 16 times greater than it was in the 1950s—and we expect more information and feedback about our energy consumption.
We also see new sustainability initiatives and a rise in renewable, more variable, energy sources located closer to their points of use. We also have to combat the threat of mounting physical and cyberattacks, and manage and respond to changing weather patterns.
These developments are pushing the grid to do more than it was designed for and have forced it to evolve and modernize.
Getting Smarter
Similar to phones, thermostats and watches, the grid is getting smarter. Advanced instrumentation and technologies such as relays, sensors and switches have become more affordable and are being added to our grid's existing network, enhancing communication, adaptability and efficiency. The result is a bidirectional system that supports energy consumers, communities and utilities, as well as environmental and economic efforts.
Benefits of a smart grid include:
Increased reliability and resiliency.
Faster restoration after disruptions.
More information and energy management for consumers.
Easier integration of renewable energy.
Enhanced security and protection.
New business opportunities supporting the smart grid supply chain.
The rise of the smart grid has coincided with and been supported by emerging technologies such as battery storage, renewable energy, smart meters and advanced metering infrastructure, self-optimizing networks and electric transportation. Although these technologies are not new—electric vehicles have been around for more than a century—their growth today is especially impactful because they are able to enhance a grid that is now capable of effectively harnessing them.
The arrival of these emerging technologies on the grid also has supported development of custom-designed microgrids: independent electric systems. The miniature grids use local energy resources such as solar arrays and battery storage to control equipment and help power a defined area, such as a building, campus or community.
These systems are becoming more popular, and for good reason: They can increase grid reliability and resiliency; ease periods of peak demand, when consumer demand for electricity is high; act as a testing ground for new technologies; and provide an alternative source of generation and storage to reduce power supply costs.
North Carolina launched a microgrid in electric cooperative territory in 2017 with a diesel generator, Tesla batteries, a rooftop solar array on the diesel plant, thermostats and water heaters that can be coordinated by the cooperative and a controller that pieces it all together.
The combination of supply-side and demand-side components provides flexibility, and can improve performance and speed recovery during a loss of power.
Alaska's cooperatives have deployed dozens of microgrids—many featuring networks of wind turbines—to ensure remote communities have reliable power under the harshest weather conditions. Some communities are so rural a microgrid is the only way to serve them.
It can be easy to take for granted a ready supply of electricity, but the grid is truly a marvel of engineering. It has been able to evolve with the changing needs of society. The transition to a smarter grid with emerging technologies will allow for even more reliable, safe and affordable service.
Jonathan Susser is a writer and editor for Advanced Energy, a nonprofit energy consulting firm.


text:
We brought forward substantial experimental evidence securing the Wittig reaction as a [2+2] cycloaddition (Publications P5/P6), solving one of the long-standing controversies in mechanistic chemistry. The project grew out of some simple observations on anomalous and counterintuitive E/Z ratios of ortho-substituted stilbenes (Tet Lett. 2002, 43, 2449). However it required insight to see that the effect, based in the pentavalent pentacoordinated oxaphosphetane intermediate, might be generalisable to all ylide types, leading to a design for the needed substrates. In contrast to the Appel work, this project involved just myself and a talented co-worker – Dr. Peter Byrne, who subsequently won a von Humboldt Fellowship. An extra bonus: an easy work-up of the Wittig reaction (Org. Biomol. Chem. 2012, 10, 3531). In a follow up (P7), we detected for the first time the pentavalent intermediate of phosphonium salt/ylide hydrolysis & proposed a revised mechanism for the latter.
Unequivocal Experimental Evidence for a Unified Lithium Salt-Free Wittig Reaction Mechanism for All Phosphonium Ylide Types: Reactions with β-Heteroatom-Substituted Aldehydes Are Consistently Selective for cis-Oxaphosphetane-Derived Products
The true course of the lithium salt-free Wittig reaction has long been a contentious issue in organic chemistry. Herein we report an experimental effect that is common to the Wittig reactions of all of the three major phosphonium ylide classes (non-stabilized, semi-stabilized, and stabilized): there is consistently increased selectivity for cis-oxaphosphetane and its derived products (Z-alkene and erythro-β-hydroxyphosphonium salt) in reactions involving aldehydes bearing heteroatom substituents in the β-position. The effect operates with both benzaldehydes and aliphatic aldehydes and is shown not to operate in the absence of the heteroatom substituent on the aldehyde. The discovery of an effect that is common to reactions of all ylide types strongly argues for the operation of a common mechanism in all Li salt-free Wittig reactions. In addition, the results are shown to be most easily explained by the [2+2] cycloaddition mechanism proposed by Vedejs and co-workers as supplemented by Aggarwal, Harvey, and co-workers, thus providing strong confirmatory evidence in support of that mechanism.
Peter A. Byrne, Declan G. Gilheany (2012) Journal of the American Chemical Society, 134 (22), 9225-9239 (link to paper)
First ever observation of the intermediate of phosphonium salt and ylide hydrolysis: P-hydroxytetraorganophosphorane
P-Hydroxytetraorganophosphorane, the long-postulated intermediate in phosphonium salt and ylide hydrolysis, has been observed and characterised by low temperature NMR, finally definitively establishing its involvement in these reactions. The results require modification of the previously accepted mechanism for ylide hydrolysis: P-hydroxytetraorganophosphorane is generated directly by 4-centre reaction of ylide with water.
Peter A. Byrne, Yannick Ortin, Declan G. Gilheany (2015) Chemical Communications, 51 (6), 1147-1150 (Link to paper)


Time to book a massage or do some workout in our gym!
The Valea Verde team has assumed responsibility for the management of "The Prince of Wales House" in Viscri. "The Prince of Wales House" is an enchanting traditional old Saxon farmhouse, with its oldest parts dating back to 1777. In 1998 HRH the Prince of Wales purchased the house via his charitable foundation in the U.K. The purchase was designed to encourage the preservation of Romania's unique architectural heritage.
in Romania". An extensive restoration was completed to enable the premises to serve as a training centre for local communities. When the house is not used for charitable projects, the house is welcoming guests, who by staying and dining in the house support "The Prince of Wales's Foundation".
We can offer our guests a unique experience at"The Prince of Wales House" in the UNESCO village of Viscri.
The house offers accommodation for up to twelve guests comprised of one apartment with a double and a twin room, three delightful double rooms and two attic singles.
Very much like in Cund, we focus on personal hospitality and engaging with the community we work and live in. The delicious breakfast served in the cosy and warm setting of the Food Barn is based on the best of local produce. In the evening our guests can enjoy a small, but carefully selected list of Romanian wines.
We hope we will have the chance to welcome and host you in "The Prince of Wales House" and the amazingly beautiful village of Viscri!


text:
Q: Weird symbol after editing filename through dirent I'm using dirent.h to loop inside dir recursivly.
I want to edit the name of a file then past his data and his new name to a new file.
Here i can loop and edit his name with a new extension (.enc), the only problem is that weird symbol appear between my PATH and my D_NAME (aka "fn" after edit).
Here is my code and an exemple.
while(1)
{
    struct dirent *entry;
    const char *d_name;
    unsigned char d_type;

    entry = readdir(d);
    if(!entry)
    {
        // no more entries in this directory -> break the loop
        break;
    }

    d_name = entry->d_name;
    d_type = entry->d_type;

    if(strcmp(d_name, ".")!=0)
    {
        if(strcmp(d_name, "..")!=0)
        {
            if(d_type == DT_REG)
            {
                if(de_flag=='e')
                {
                    char *fn = NULL;
                    fn = malloc(400*sizeof(char));
                    strcat(fn, d_name);
                    strcat(fn, ".enc");

                    char abs1_path[PATH_MAX];
                    snprintf(abs1_path, PATH_MAX, "%s/%s", name, fn);

                    char ch;
                    char abs_path[PATH_MAX];
                    snprintf(abs_path, PATH_MAX, "%s/%s", name, d_name);

                    printf("%s             %s\n", abs1_path, abs_path);
                    FILE *source, *target;
                    //source = fopen(abs_path, "r");
                    //target = fopen(abs1_path, "w");

As u can see, on the first lap of the loop, there is no problem on the new filename
So i think the problem comes from the malloc() or something like this. (i use free(fn)) after, but dont wanted to show ALL the source code.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Netflix's 'The Haunting of Hill House' cast on how they prepared
Travis Clark
The cast of Netflix's horror hit series "The Haunting of Hill
House" explained how they prepared for their roles in an
interview with Spot.
"I watched a lot of embalming videos and looked at pictures
of dead bodies," said Elizabeth Reaser, who plays Shirley.
"I think in the pre-production phase, we all spent a lot of
time together, got to know each other," said Henry Thomas, who
plays the young Hugh Crain.
Netflix's new horror series, "The Haunting of Hill House," is a
massive hit for the streaming service, and the cast went to great
lengths to bring it to life.
In an interview with Spot, Elizabeth Reaser, who
plays the adult Shirley Crain, explained the unsettling ways she
prepared for her role.
"I play a mortician and a funeral home director, so I worked with
a mortician in Georgia and I watched a lot of embalming videos
and looked at pictures of dead bodies," Reaser said.
Henry Thomas, who plays the father of the family in the past,
Hugh Crain, had a less disturbing answer.
"A lot of it was built between the relationships between the
characters," Thomas said. "So I think in the pre-production
phase, we all spent a lot of time together, got to know each
other. Because the story is told through two timelines with
almost a separate cast for each timeline, it was important for us
to all work together and be on the same page in terms of the
At least he didn't have to look at dead bodies.
Watch the full interview below:
Read more of Business Insider's coverage of Netflix's 'The
Haunting of Hill House':
Virgin Orbit attaches giant Launcher One rocket to a commercial jet
Scooter lawsuit in California accuses startups of causing civil unrest
Technology37 mins ago
Skip the smart diapers — babies don't need them
US heat wave: Photos show people dealing with the hot weather
Trump just found another target at the Federal Reserve
Trump praises supporters who chanted 'send her back' as 'patriots'
Here's how Republicans and Democrats differ on conspiracy theories
Business1 hour ago