text:
Russia may attack Ukraine from multiple directions in early 2022 – intelligence
At the moment, Russia has concentrated more than 92 thousand troops near the borders of Ukraine and can carry out an attack on our country in late January – early February 2022 .
This was stated by the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine Kirill Budanov in an interview with the American edition of Military Times.
According to him, such an attack could include airstrikes, artillery and armored attacks, followed by airborne attacks in eastern Ukraine, amphibious attacks in Odessa and Mariupol, and a smaller invasion from the territory of neighboring Belarus.
As Kirill Budanov said, the recent large-scale Russian-Belarusian military exercises West-2021 demonstrated that the Russian Federation can simultaneously land up to 3,500 paratroopers and servicemen of special operations forces.
As the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense noted, a possible upcoming attack by the Russian Federation will be much more destructive than anything else in the armed conflict that began in 2014 and claimed the lives of about 14 thousand Ukrainians.
Scheme of a possible Russian attack on Ukraine. Photo: Military Times, Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense
On Friday, Ukrainian Defense Minister Alexei Reznikov told the American media that it is not yet clear whether Russian President Vladimir Putin made the final decision to attack Ukraine. p>
At the same time, Kirill Budanov in an interview with the Military Times noted that it is with the aim of the attack that Russia is building up its military potential (the number of troops and weapons) near the Ukrainian borders and in the temporarily occupied Crimea. This is, in particular, about short-range ballistic missiles Iskander.
Budanov rejected suggestions that the Russians may abandon plans to attack due to harsh weather conditions in winter.
"For us and the Russians, this is not a problem," Budanov commented on the possibility of a fight in such weather.
According to the head of the GUR of the Ministry of Defense, the probable attack will be preceded by a series of psychological operations aimed at destabilizing Ukraine and undermining its ability to defend . Budanov stressed that such operations are already being carried out by Moscow.
– They want to stir up unrest through protests and rallies that show that people are opposed to the authorities, – Budanov explained.
He clarified that these protests include anti-vaccine rallies (protests of opponents of Covid-19 vaccination) organized by Russia. In addition, Moscow is trying to foment unrest related to the economic situation in Ukraine and energy supply.
Budanov added that the Russian Federation is also trying to inflame anti-government sentiment among Ukrainians because of the so-called Wagnergate (investigation of the case of disrupting a special operation to detain militants PMC Wagner). As the head of the GUR noted, Russian psychological operations are used to show that & # 8220; the authorities have betrayed the people & # 8221 ;.
The head of intelligence is sure that the migration crisis on the Polish-Belarusian border is also part of Russia's plan .
– They want to make the situation inside the country more and more dangerous and difficult, and create a situation in which we must change the government … If they cannot do this, then their troops will do their job, – stressed Budanov.
He noted that the assessments of American and Ukrainian intelligence in terms of the time of a probable Russian attack on Ukraine are very similar.
"Our assessments are almost the same as those of our American colleagues," he informed.
The Russian Embassy did not respond to the publication's request for comment. The Pentagon also refused to comment on Budanov's statements, but referred to statements by US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on this matter.
Austin recently announced that the United States was monitoring the alarming behavior of the Russian Federation on the border, and also assured of support for the territorial integrity of Ukraine from side of Washington.
US military assistance to Ukraine
In an interview with Military Times, Kirill Budanov also expressed the opinion that the United States would help deter any Russian invasion through additional military assistance, increased sanctions, diplomatic pressure, as well as the arrest and blocking of Russian bank accounts.
Budanov clarified that in addition to the already promised and delivered assistance from the United States, Ukraine needs additional anti-aircraft, anti-missile and unmanned defense systems. We are talking, in particular, about Patriot missile systems, anti-missile, artillery and mortar systems.
– We need more. No country except Ukraine has an open war with Russia. And we have it for seven years. This is why we are confident that the United States should give us everything that we have not received before. And right now. Now is the right time for that. Because after that it may be very late, – summed up Budanov.
Recently, the American media published information about the buildup of Russian troops on the border with Ukraine.
At first, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine denied such data by the media. But later, Deputy Defense Minister Anna Malyar said that Ukraine has no disagreements with the intelligence services of partner countries on the situation on the Ukrainian-Russian border. She assured that the Ukrainian army is in constant combat readiness.
Former Foreign Minister of Ukraine Pavel Klimkin expressed the opinion that Russian President Vladimir Putin could start attacking our country from different directions. According to Klimkin, it may take Putin from two to four months to be able to carry out a large-scale operation against Ukraine.
And the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate, Kirill Budanov, said that Russian military maneuvers near the borders of Ukraine will be at their peak in January 2022.
Defense Minister Alexei Reznikov, in turn, noted that the Russian Federation has two fronts for destabilizing the situation in Ukraine: information and diplomatic. According to Reznikov, the accumulation of Russian weapons near our border is being carried out to build up fear.
Ukraine will not be able to repel the attack of Russia without the support of the West – Head of the Main Intelligence Directorate Budanov Russia opened a criminal case against the head of intelligence of Ukraine Budanov Ukraine, USA and Britain exchange intelligence on Russian troops at border – Reznikov The Pentagon plans to provide Ukraine with intelligence data to repel a Russian attack
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Gazprom commented on accusations of insufficient gas supplies to Europe
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The United States supported the expulsion of Russian diplomats from Slovakia


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Zaffer Calony is an area in Lahore District, Pakistan.

Violence
In March 2015 a former police constable was shot dead in the colony.

References

Samanabad Zone

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


The Seneca County Industrial Development Agency has voted to negotiate a financial assistance package with Waterloo Container for its 37,000-square-foot addition on Mound Road, Seneca Falls.
Meeting Thursday, the IDA voted 5-1 to accept the company's application, name itself as lead agency for the State Environmental Quality Review process and to negotiate a property tax abatement package, a sales tax exemption and a mortgage recording fee exemption.
Opposing the motion was board member Jeff Shipley. Absent were board members Don Trout, Tom Macinski and Steve Wadhams. Voting for the motion were Steve Brusso, Tom Kime, Valerie Bassett, Menzo Case and Erica Paolicelli.
Waterloo Container distributes glass bottles for the wine, spirits and craft beer industry, the largest distributor of those products in the eastern United States. The company was founded 36 years ago by Norman and Bill Lutz.
Thursday's vote came after a presentation by company CEO Rich Swinehart.


Systemic Risk Centre is one the three leading research centres based at LSE that have been awarded transition funding by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) to continue their work. This is as part of a new funding model designed to secure the long-term sustainability of social science research excellence in the UK.
Only eight ESRC research centres in total were granted the transition funding, making the achievement of the three LSE-based centres more notable.
Centre for Macroeconomics: Working towards a stable and sustainable growth path, based at LSE with expertise from Cambridge University, University of Oxford, University College London, the Bank of England and the National Institute of Economic and Social Research.
Systemic Risk Centre at the London School of Economics and Political Science and co-hosted at University College London.
Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy hosted jointly by LSE and the University of Leeds.
ESRC has announced that each of these centres will receive 'transition funding' typically equating to 45% of the full economic costs of their original five-year grant funding. For the first time, this will be co-funded with contributions from ESRC (20%) and their host research organisation (25%).
The new centres' transition funding policy follows a review into how the ESRC could continue to foster and sustain the excellence and impact of its centres over the long term, without reducing investment elsewhere.
Further information is available in the Transition Review Application Guidance and Centres Transition Funding FAQs (both available at http://www.esrc.ac.uk/funding/guidance-for-large-investments/esrc-centres-and-institutes/).


text:
namespace SteamVRInputObservables
{
    public class SystemInputEventTrigger : InputEventsBase
    {
        protected override ulong ButtonMask
        {
            get { return SteamVR_Controller.ButtonMask.System; }
        }
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
REVIEW: Doctor Who Flux Concludes With More Questions Than Answers
We've reached the finale of Flux — the end of a long and complicated narrative. Doctor Who has a proud history of being a serialised show, but it rarely dabbles in long-form stories.
The closest example would be the Sixth Doctor's Trial of a Time Lord, and even that was just four stories with a framing device. So Flux was an experiment with highs and lows across the last five weeks.
Flux has been pitched as a six part story, and so the last episode needs to justify the long and sometimes confusing storytelling. So how does this weeks The Vanquishers hold up?
Doctor Who Flux Pic: BBC
We begin with last week's cliff-hanger, as the Doctor is being menaced by the Swarm. However, soon she finds herself in Joseph Williamson's tunnel, and Karvanista's ship all at the same time.
What follows is a manic caper in which the Doctor (in three places at once) must defeat the invading Sontarans, stop swarm from unleashing the Flux and reunite all the scattered characters from the series.
With so much going on, there are two ways to view this episode: As a yarn with Sontarans, it is decent fun. The extended cast from the series are all utilised in creative ways, and the story moves at a quick pace.
The second way to think of the finale is visually as it is consistently creative and dazzling, from sprawling colourful landscapes and spaceships to bizarre uses of colour and memorable effects.
But, overall, for this reviewer, The Vanquishers is a huge let down. As a conclusion to Flux, it feels like one big missed opportunity, and one that actively devalues the episodes that came before it.
Swarm and Azule are the overarching villains of Flux, upon which the series was built upon, but they are largely left behind by this episode, spending all their time talking about their evil plan and doing… well, very little. This should be the episode that sends them off on a high note, but instead they are largely incidental.
Even more squandered is The Grand Serpent. This series was already overstuffed with villains, but he doesn't really add anything meaningful to the outing.
That just leaves the Sontarans and the Flux itself and while we love the potato warriors from space, it's hard to take them seriously in an episode that also gets them addicted to chocolate.
Really, the disappointing thing about this episode is the time wasted in the first five Flux episodes, which isn't really fair to this one, but how else can we judge it when Flux has been needlessly cryptic about its own storytelling?
We've been wary of Flux's overcrowded storytelling for a while now, but the biggest criticism we can level at it is that Flux isn't really about anything important. It's not the story of Vinder and Bel. It's not about the Division, since, like Swarm, the plot drops that element incredibly quickly. And it's definitely not about Dan, who doesn't really contribute here.
Truthfully, we're struggling to pin down what Flux was about? Why did this story need to be told, and in a sprawling six part epic? What should we feel at the end of this story?
Ultimately, this episode just admits that Flux was never really a narrative about anything, which explains why the previous episodes meandered so much. With only three episodes left in Whittakers tenure, here's hoping she is given one last brilliant story to send off her era on a high note.
Doctor Who will return to the BBC in the New Year and all episodes of Doctor Who Flux are now available on BBC iPlayer and you can read all of our reviews here.
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Cian O Ceallacháin is a Writer and Theatre Director from Dun Laoghaire. He is the creative director of Underdog Theatre Productions and one of the hosts of the Nerd to Know Media Podcast broadcasting on Phoenix FM every Saturday
A Surprising New Contender Has Emerged For Doctor Who
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UK MP Blames Female Versions Of Male Characters For Rising Crime Rates... No Really!
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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The implications of South Sudan's decision to float its currency
Africa in Focus
Amadou Sy Friday, December 18, 2015
The government of South Sudan announced on Tuesday, December 15 the floating of the country's currency. After the announcement, the value of the South Sudanese pound (SSP), which had been pegged to the U.S. dollar at an official rate of 2.96 SSP to the dollar, fell to levels approaching the parallel market rates of 18.50 SSP to the dollar.
Why float the South Sudanese pound?
The South Sudanese pound's previous exchange rate arrangement (a conventional peg to the U.S. dollar according to the IMF Annual Report on Exchange Rate Arrangements and Exchange Restrictions, ARREAR) required the country to maintain an adequate level of foreign exchange reserves and show sufficient fiscal restraint. Recently, South Sudan has increasingly struggled to do this.
Oil revenues represent about 95 percent of the country's foreign currency revenues. However, years of civil war and difficult relations with Khartoum resulting in reduced oil output (a 15-month shutdown in oil production), as well as a drastic fall in oil prices (now under $40 per barrel) have made U.S. dollars increasingly scarce in the country and have depleted foreign exchange reserves at the Bank of South Sudan (with the admirable acronym of BoSS).
The level of the peg (2.96 SSP to the dollar) also made export competitiveness challenging for sectors where South Sudan has great potential, such as agriculture.
The co-existence until now of an official rate (2.96 SSP per dollar) with a parallel market rate in the foreign exchange market (say 18.50 SPP per dollar) was a multiple currency practice in the IMF ARREAR parlance that created distortions in the market. It also reinforced perceptions of corruption. For a long time there has been a significant gap between the two rates, an indicator of the overvaluation of the official exchange rate. Indeed, a common practice was for a selected few and well-connected people to buy cheap U.S. dollars at the official rate and sell them for a hefty profit in the black market.
Why float now?
By Carol Newman, John Page, John Rand, Abebe Shimeles, Måns Söderbom, and Finn Tarp
Africa's Lions
Edited by Haroon Bhorat and Finn Tarp
Advancing the Ugandan Economy
By Ezra Sabiti Suruma
The decision to float the South Sudanese pound should not be a surprise: The government had, in the past, indicated its intention to devalue and unify the exchange rate. Indeed, in November 2013 the BoSS announced a 34 percent devaluation of the currency but reversed the decision immediately because of strong pressure from vested interests. Apparently, this time the government has now mustered the political will to implement this long-time wish. In addition, the price of oil falling below $40 per barrel must have been a factor in the decision. In this sense, South Sudan is following the lead of a number of oil exporters that are scrambling to manage the decline in oil prices. For instance, Kazakhstan also floated its currency in August this year.
What are the potential repercussions of this decision?
Amadou Sy
Assistant Director - African Department, International Monetary Fund (IMF)
Twitter ASYAfrica
There are a number of advantages to this decision: The cheaper South Sudanese pound should help improve the government's fiscal situation as revenues from oil exports (as well as aid flows) increase in local currency. It should also help replenish the BoSS foreign exchange reserves. In addition, corruption in the foreign exchange market will likely reduce. From now on, the BoSS will be able to conduct U.S. dollar auctions, and banks will be able to bid a maximum of 20 percent of the total amount auctioned.
In the medium term, a better functioning foreign exchange market should reduce U.S. dollar shortages and high transaction costs, and support trade. A cheaper local currency should also help improve the competitiveness of exporting sectors (again, such as agriculture) and make foreign direct investment relatively more attractive (there are, of course, other bottlenecks to foreign investment, including the security situation and lack of infrastructure).
Challenges lie in the short term, though: Inflation remains high as South Sudan imports a lot of goods, including food and fuel. Although South Sudan exports oil, the landlocked country still lacks functioning refineries and imports fuel from its neighbors. Now that the SSP is floating, it will be important for the BoSS to develop the capacity to conduct monetary policy and develop the tools to implement such a policy very quickly in order to manage inflation.
In conclusion, floating the currency alone will not solve all the problems of the world's youngest African nation but it should be used as an opportunity to accelerate structural reforms to kick-start the non-oil economy. Depending on oil revenues alone is not sustainable for South Sudan.
More on Sub-Saharan Africa
A policy framework for bridging the gender divide in digital technology courses and careers in Kenya
Anthony Luvanda
Strategic competition for overseas basing in sub-Saharan Africa
Dawn C. Murphy
Nigeria in 2023: Bridging the productivity gap and building economic resilience
Wilson Erumebor


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Right up my street this one, about a bloke threatening to jump off a tall building although I never saw Seren or Costa in the movie.
Well, I've just watched it and it was entertaining but too long. It reminded me of Phonebooth a bit but the ledge part is a cover for a diamond robbery.


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Home / News / ETF investors set to reach two million in 2022
ETF investors set to reach two million in 2022
An additional 275,000 Australians are predicted to invest in ETFs next year, bringing the total number of ETF investors to two million.
This increase is set to be the biggest influx in first-time investors on record according to Australian fund manager BetaShares.
BetaShares released its new industry report - after surveying more than 500 financial advisors and 3,800 exchange-traded fund (ETF) investors - which revealed that said investors increased by 33% from 2020 to 2021.
Currently, 1.73 million Aussies have their money piled into ETFs.
The report showed that 1.46 million or 84% of these existing investors plan to increase their allocation to ETFs in the next 12 months - the highest rate since 2013.
BetaShares CEO Alex Vynokur said the findings show both new and experienced investors are turning to ETFs to build their wealth and achieve their financial goals.
"We're also seeing that ETFs have reached mainstream adoption in Australia, with a notable rise in younger and increasingly female investors, who see value in a simple to-access, transparent and cost-effective way of building their investment portfolios," Mr Vynokur said.
Portfolio diversification front-of-mind
The single biggest reason investors are choosing ETFs is for portfolio diversification according to the report.
For new ETF investors (investing for less than 12 months), avoiding individual stock exposure risk and saving time are their main reasons for investing.
For more experienced ETF investors (five years or more), they are attracted to the convenient access to overseas markets and liquidity benefits ETFs provide.
Additionally, half of the respondents plan to hold their ETF investments for more than 10 years.
"Among more experienced investors - such as those with a self-managed super fund - ETFs are increasingly being used to form the core of their portfolios, and they plan not only to hold onto their investments for longer, but to allocate more to ETFs over the next year," Mr Vynokur said.
"2022 is shaping up for another strong year of growth, and I believe the industry is on track to hit $180 billion in FUM by the end of next year, up from approximately $130 billion today."
Image by Jason Biscoe on Unsplash
Collections: Savings Account News


text:
Dřínek () je zaniklá vesnice v okrese Teplice. Ležela 3,5 kilometru severovýchodně od Hrobčic. Zůstalo po ní katastrální území Dřínek o výměře 1,41 km². Asi 800 metrů jihozápadně od vesnice se nachází přírodní rezervace Dřínek.

Název
Název vesnice je zdrobnělinou slova dřín (staročesky dřien) a německá varianta je odvozena ze tvaru druhého pádu. V písemných pramenech se jméno vyskytuje ve tvarech: in Drzienku (1492), Drzinek (1628–1634), Tržinka (1787) a Třinka (1833).

Historie
První písemná zmínka o vesnici pochází z roku 1492.

Vesnice byla úředně zrušena v letech 1969–1971 kvůli budování Radovesické výsypky povrchových hnědouhelných lomů v okolí Bíliny.

Obyvatelstvo
Při sčítání lidu v roce 1921 zde žilo 124 obyvatel (z toho 53 mužů), z nichž byli čtyři Čechoslováci a 120 Němců. S výjimkou jednoho evangelíka a tří lidí bez vyznání se hlásili k římskokatolické církvi. Podle sčítání lidu z roku 1930 měla vesnice 142 obyvatel: osm Čechoslováků a 134 Němců. Kromě jednoho evangelíka a jednoho člověka bez vyznání byli římskými katolíky.

Reference

Zaniklá sídla v okrese Teplice
Vesnice v okrese Teplice
Hrobčice
Sídla v Českém středohoří


Certified market presenters are train to host small business leadership conferences and investment forums on private yachts and cruise ships. The Market First Presenters' training course is offered by the Campaign to Reimagine the Internet with the addition of the Virtual Video Web, where people with skills learned operating their smartphones can participate. When you earn your market first presentation certification, you may use our Digital Video Speech Guide to play brief video overview clips at teaching and speaking events, even when everyone has a cellphone.


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Chuka Umunna: One in seven company directors should be from BME backgrounds!
Category: Industry News, diversity, ethinic minority, companies
One in seven company directors should be from black or minority ethnic backgrounds, shadow business secretary Chuka Umunna declares today.
In an exclusive interview with the Standard, the rising Labour star reveals he is ready to support the first official target to tackle the diversity deficit in Britain's boardrooms.
He hopes that if Labour wins the election on May 7, a target of 14 per cent — reflecting the national population — will be recommended by a commission to be headed by the former chairman of Standard Chartered, Lord Davies.
It would mirror the successful approach of the 25 per cent target for appointing women in boardrooms, championed by Business Secretary Vince Cable. This has helped boost representation of women from 12.5 per cent in 2011 to 22.8 per cent in October last year.
Mr Umunna said firms stood to benefit by tapping the talent and international contacts of the black and minority ethnic (BME) communities: "We have got to go further and look at not just gender diversity but ethnic diversity in British business leadership. There are hardly any black CEOs.
"We've just lost one in Tidjane Thiam [joining Credit Suisse] who I think is an incredibly impressive guy, and Ivan Menezes, the head of Diageo. If we can tap into the contacts and talent in our diaspora communities, they have direct links to the very emerging markets we want to expand the UK reach into." He added, warmly praising his Liberal Democrat rival: "Vince has really put gender diversity in the boardroom and he can be proud of the legacy he and Mervyn have left."
Simon Walker, head of the Institute of Directors, backed the call: "Voluntary efforts to improve gender diversity on boards are proving to be successful. This ought to be the model to follow when addressing ethnic diversity.
"Any company worth its salt will recognise the benefits of having as diverse a board as possible, in terms of gender, age, background and skill set." A study of the top 10,000 executives last year — co-written by former equality chief Trevor Phillips — found more than half of FTSE 100 firms had no non-whites at board level. Two-thirds had no full-time executive directors from minorities.
Mr Phillips said today: "It's good that Umunna is talking about this before the election and not just afterwards."
Vercida works with over one hundred clients who are committed to creating an inclusive work environment. If you are an employer and interested in working with Vercida to promote your diversity and inclusion initiatives and attract the best candidates, please call 02037405973 or email [email protected] for more information.
We are also officially recommended by Disability Confident as a step on achieving Employer status, please click here for more information.
Tags: clicking on links loads other articles with the selected tagLeadership diversity BME business ethinic
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The Large Quadrille silicone mold is a magnificent, diamond-shaped medallion filled with a floral spray featuring dahlias, daffodils and delicate filler flowers. Dress up your cakes with wondrous beauty when featuring this extraordinary display of blooming flowers as a border accent. Pair Large Quadrille with Small Quadrille and Quadrille Border to create a custom-looking, coordinated floral themed cake. Large Quadrille features the patent pending cutting blades Marvelous Molds is well known for, rendering a pristine decoration every time.


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I like the idea of this map. Players start in a military base on the outskirts of a large middle eastern town. There are 6 piles of crates to destroy and four areas you have to capture. The gameplay is a scavenger hunt to find the objectives and also the four unlockable weapons.
When the map first starts out players spawn in a room with instructions and difficulty voting buttons. Any difficulty higher than the lowest has a cap on respawns and let me say I can not imagine playing this map without infinite respawns. There is an enemy strength multiplier based on how many players are on the map, which is really cool. With two people we had a %62 enemy strength modifier. After voting players are pushed into a desert military base.
Players spawn with no weapons or medkits, instead players must choose from one of four equipment loadouts, medkit and desert eagle, M16, shotgun, and MP5. There are crates with pictures of the four unlockable weapons, uzi, revolver, rocket launcher, and sniper rifle, bringing them back to base unlocks them here and players with any loadout can pick them up. Dropping weapons is disabled.
When this map first started my teammate spotted an osprey in the distance over the town and he insisted we kill it. We had no other weapons unlocked at this time so we brought it down with the M16 and it took quite a while to do. Another osprey spawned in while we were doing it and after the first osprey went down it came back a little while later. Later an apache spawned it. That's two ospreys and one apache in the level and they will respawn if you kill them. There was a point in time that I didn't think we were going to finish this map.
Finding the objectives was tricky. The town is sprawling and labyrinthine with scattered snipers on rooftops, two ospreys dropping off troops, and an apache. Destroying caches was easy if a little tedious. It requires a player have C4, and if a player uses up C4 they must go back to base and pick up another one. Capturing sectors was even trickier because it took a player 10 seconds of standing in the open to take but was retaken immediately the moment an enemy set foot inside. Enemies will spawn the first time a point is taken (we think) and combined with the ospreys there could be a lot of troops moving around at once. We took two control points only to have them both immediately retaken. After a while our strategy was to ignore the control points since we couldn't hold them and focus on getting all the caches, we also desperately needed to find and unlock the rocket launcher to take care of the helicopters.
We finally found the rocket launcher after destroying every cache and unlocking everything else. With that taking out the helicopters was a thousand times easier and eventually we were able to take all the control points without them being retaken. After this the map demands you wipe out any remaining enemies. We were searching the map for quite a while without seeing anybody, and then the objective was complete. Maybe a guy threw a grenade and it killed him, who knows.
Returning to base is not the final objective. The final objective is to defend the mortar in the middle of the base. The objective reads 'defend the base' so I was down in front shotgunning guys away from the entrance. But then the game scolds us and says "You idiots! You let the enemy walk right into our base!". A single enemy was in front of the mortar and the map ended. I guess I should have seen this coming when I saw the enemies take control points back as soon as they touched those, but I had no idea that an enemy walking into our base would be an instant lose. It was not a great end to an otherwise fun experience.
The map had plenty of ammo boxes that would spawn the ammunition for your loadout weapons and it had plenty of armor and health pickups. It was never too much but was always easy to find when you need it.
Overall, I think the difficulty is a tad too high. The difficulty levels clearly state what each level entails. But the easiest difficulty reads 'take control points' and every other one reads 'take and hold control points'. I'm a little confused why that is different in the difficulty descriptions, but in game we still had to hold the control points. It's also recommended for 2 people but early on I didn't think we could do it, and then at the end when victory was near some bullshit happened and we lost. This map is real hard.
I did like playing this map. There was a lot put into it, the spawn areas are great, I think the weapon restrictions and loadouts work well, bringing back weapons to spawn was fun. There were definitely parts I got annoyed, running around looking for the rocket launcher so we could finally do away with these infernal helicopters and capture the control points so we could be done with this map was not very fun.
Interesting and well thought out spawn, map setup, and weapon loadouts
unlocking weapons was very fun
lots of action
plentiful ammo (for loadout weapons)
objectives were always clear and concise, the HUD even kept track of your objectives
The map can get very labyrinthine and it is easy to get lost
capturing control points only to have them instantly recapture was not fun
three respawning helicopters at once and the rocket launcher is the hardest thing to find
during the last defense part, just one enemy in the wrong spot will instantly lose the map
had to backtrack to pick up more C4, returning to the action in general took a long time


text:
Stockholm: Master of the Order
V.2 - Interpol
Runberg Sylvain & Bergting Peter
When Stéphane Mezzona got involved with a group called the Divine Order of the Temple, it was time for his wife to leave him. Trouble is, he got shared custody of their two children... and now they've disappeared. After Mezzona is spotted in Sweden, Interpol agent Eric Valandier is flown in to find the kids. There isn't much to go on and, if the Order is planning what Eric thinks they are, there may not be much time either. But Sweden is an unusual place, and it has an unusual law neither Eric nor the Order knows about...
Volume : 2/3 - Stockholm: Master of the Order
Traffickers
Runberg Sylvain Bergting Peter
Following a series of jewelry store robberies by an armed gang wearing cat masks, Interpol sends Marie Watteau to the scene of their latest raid: Rome. But tracking down the gang is the least of her problems. First, she must rein in the local carabinieri, headed by Major Livia de Angelis, whose resentment of Interpol's interference leads to a clash of wills. But is that the only reason for de Angelis's defiance, or is she following some private agenda? In chasing down the Purple Cats, Watteau soon finds she is merely scratching the surface of a multi-layered intrigue...
V.4 - Hammerfall
As our saga reaches its conclusion, old scores are settled, new lies are told, and the spilling of human (and non-human) blood continues. Each band of travelers engages in battles where victory might mean the difference between love and love lost, life and death, or the recovery of an ancient relic. Deceit and treachery are countered by steadfast honor and promises kept. The clash between the old gods and a new one can be heard in the sounds of swords piercing flesh, and wind whispering past bodies swinging from the trees. In the lands of "Hammerfall," things are rarely as they seem.
Zaroff
V.1 - Jakob Kayne


text:
Q: d3.js ajax default headers/before send I need to set headers for all d3.js xhr calls. I know you can set it for singular calls
d3.json("/path").header('X-Requested-With', 'XMLHttpRequest')
I am looking for something like jQuery's beforeSend method
$.ajaxSetup({
    beforeSend: function(xhr) {
      xhr.setRequestHeader('X-Requested-With', 'XMLHttpRequest');
    }
  });

A: You can check out the d3 source code (look for function d3_xhr), or just take my word for it (I just looked) that there's no way to specify default headers for d3.json()
However, nothing is preventing you from creating and using your own method for this, like
function myJson(args) {
  // call d3's json, passing through any arguments that were
  // passed into myJson(), and then set the headers you want
  return d3.json.apply(null, arguments)
    .header('X-Requested-With', 'XMLHttpRequest');
}

thereby allowing you to make json requests like this
myJson('/path', function(json) {...})

This of course requires you to use myJson() in place of d3.json everywhere. However, if you're sure that you always, always, always want to set those headers by default whenever you call d3.json, then you can go ahead and (gasp) overwrite d3.json with something like the custom myJson above. For example:
// save the originial implementation of d3.json
var d3Json = d3.json;

// define your own implementation of d3.json, which relies on
// the original implementation
d3.json = function() {
  // notice the use of d3Json — NOT d3.json, as shown above
  return d3Json.apply(null, arguments)
    .header('X-Requested-With', 'XMLHttpRequest');
}

And from then on, when you call d3.json(...) from anywhere in your app (and this includes any vendor code that might call d3.json) it will run your custom function, which in turn will call the original d3.json(...) and set the default headers.

A: For some reason, meetamit's d3 suggestion didn't work for me, so I've changed it a little bit as how the d3 documentation suggests to add the header:
// save the originial implementation of d3.json
var d3Json = d3.json;

// define your own implementation of d3.json, which relies on
// the original implementation
d3.json = function(url, handler) {
    // notice the use of d3Json — NOT d3.json, as shown above
    return d3Json(url).header('X-Requested-With', 'XMLHttpRequest').get(handler);
}

A: Now in the distant future of 2021, D3 uses the Fetch API rather than XHR. This means that the method of setting headers on a request is different.
The D3 code for the json() method is as follows:
function json(input, init) {
  return fetch(input, init).then(responseJson);
}

As can be seen, the D3 json() method allows passing through a configuration object directly to the Fetch API. This means that if you call the method in the following way you can set the headers on the request.
d3.json("/some-path-to-call", {headers: {"X-Requested-With": "XMLHttpRequest"}})

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Theory of 5 offers a simplified approach to basic grooming concepts, focused around the five major areas of canine conformation – the head, body, ears, feet and tail. This method of grooming has been tried and tested for over 20 years! This book supplies readers with the skills to create neat, well-balanced trims designed to bring out the best look for your clients. Filled with detailed black and white photos and illustrations throughout to guide you through the grooming techniques.
Please browse our full education website section.


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For Catholics, Lent is the holiest time of the year. Still, many people wonder why those who practice that faith can't eat meat on Good Friday, the day on which Jesus Christ was crucified. That's because Good Friday is a day of holy obligation, one of 10 days during the year (six in the U.S.) that Catholics are required to abstain from work and instead attend mass.
It is important to understand that abstinence, in Catholic practice, is (like fasting) always the avoidance of something that is good in favor of something that is better. In other words, there is nothing inherently wrong with meat, or with foods made with meat; abstinence is different from vegetarianism or veganism, where meat might be avoided for health reasons or out of a moral objection to the killing and eating of animals.
If there is nothing inherently wrong with eating meat, then why does the Church bind Catholics, under pain of mortal sin, not to do so on Good Friday? The answer lies in the greater good that Catholics honor with their sacrifice. Abstinence from meat on Good Friday, Ash Wednesday, and all the Fridays of Lent is a form of penance in honor of the sacrifice that Christ made for our sake on the Cross. (The same is true of the requirement to abstain from meat on every other Friday of the year unless some other form of penance is substituted.) That minor sacrifice—abstaining from meat—is a way of uniting Catholics to the ultimate sacrifice of Christ, when He died to take away our sins.
Is There a Substitute for Abstinence?
While, in the United States and many other countries, the bishops' conference allows Catholics to substitute a different form of penance for their normal Friday abstinence throughout the rest of the year, the requirement to abstain from meat on Good Friday, Ash Wednesday, and the other Fridays of Lent cannot be replaced with another form of penance. During these days, Catholics can instead follow any number of meatless recipes available in books and online.
What Happens If a Catholic Eats Meat?
If a Catholic slips and eats meant because they truly forgot that it was Good Friday, their culpability is lessened. Still, because the requirement to abstain from meat on Good Friday is binding under pain of mortal sin, they should make sure to mention eating meat on Good Friday at their next confession. Catholics who wish to remain as faithful as possible should regularly brush up on their obligations during Lent and other holy days of the year.


Peace of Mind. When replacing or upgrading your Mustang's clutch you have two options, resurfacing your old stock flywheel, or getting a brand new flywheel. A new flywheel is a much better choice than resurfacing, as it will dictate how well your new clutch will perform, as well as how long it will last.
Aluminum Construction. Manufactured from aluminum for light weight, this McLeod Flywheel features a ring gear of 164 teeth, an engine balance of 0 oz, and a eight bolt main pattern. Aluminum flywheels are perfect for force inducted applications where rapid RPM levels are desired.
Application. This McLeod Flywheel fits the 1999-Mid 2001 GT, 1996-2004 Cobra, 2003-2004 Mach 1 and 2011-2014 GT Mustangs with an eight bolt main. This is the perfect companion to your new McLeod Clutch.
Technical Note. This McLeod flywheel has an 8 bolt main that is found in the 1999-mid 01 Mustang GT's with production date ending on 01/01, 1996-2004 Mustang Cobra's, 2003-2004 Mach 1's and 2011-2014 GT's. Please check with your Ford dealer to determine if you have a 6 or an 8 bolt main.


"Soneva Jani is the epitome of 'no shoes, no news' living and the height of Maldives at its most magical. An amazing resort located in Noonu Atoll, it's only 40 minutes away from Malé by seaplane. This property is the proud owner of one of the largest overwater villas in the Maldives, complete with a moveable rooftop so you can see the stars directly above from your villa, and water slides which promise hours of fun for all!"
Soneva Jani, located in the Medhufaru lagoon in the Noonu Atoll, comprises five islands, the largest of which is Medhufaru, which is 150 acres in size. Inspired by a word that means 'wisdom' in Sanskrit, this gorgeous eco-kind property is set within a lagoon of crystal-clear waters, fringed by pristine beaches and blanketed in lush tropical greenery.
The island comprises of 57 villas ranging from one-bedroom villas on the water to four-bedroom villas on the beach. Each are beautifully designed with interiors made from sustainable materials. All villas have an open-air bathroom with bathtub, shower and lagoon access.
Several restaurants serve a variety of cuisines from seafood to international to tapas dishes. The highlight of the island is the 5.6 kilometre private lagoon that surrounds it; an awe-inspiring azure spectacle that inspires a sense of calm. With it comes some of the best dive sites in the world, so jumping in the water is essential!


text:
Breaks down: - I've lied
on Wednesday reported Nicklaes Olsen out that he and Amanda Mogensen, who met each other in realityprogrammet 'Ex on the Beach', is gone from each other. Th
28 May 2020 Thursday 04:19 - 69 reads.
on Wednesday reported Nicklaes Olsen out that he and Amanda Mogensen, who met each other in realityprogrammet 'Ex on the Beach', is gone from each other.
The two were otherwise the any great love story in the latest edition of the Channel 5 programme, and the two continued to be lovers when they came home to Denmark, and moved too fast.
En Ekstra Bladet spoke with Nicklaes Olsen on Wednesday, he was very clear in the saliva about why he and Amanda are not together anymore.
- the Truth is that we are not lovers any more. I have done it in the past with Amanda, and I did it the previous weekend. I did it because I had the right feelings more. I did not feel I was in the right place, and I was honest about over for Amanda. It was super hard, and it is insanely hard now, Amanda is really upset about it, and I'm sorry it over to make Amanda sad, for I have never wanted, he said to Ekstra Bladet and stressed, therefore, that it is him who is gone from her.
See also: Danish kendispar go from each other
Until now, there has been silence from Amanda Mogensen, to Ekstra Bladet has refused to comment on the break several times.
But after Nicklaes' opinions, she has chosen to take the leaf from the mouth in a video on his Instagram profile.
- Then it came out. Nicklaes and I are not lovers. We're talking almost not together. It was him that went from me very suddenly, so it has taken very hard on me, and I live on Amager again, she says in the video.
Here she says also that she, the recent past has alleged on social media that she and Nicklaes were still together. But it was a lie.
I just think, I lied about it, because I was hoping that we could get together again. For I don't want to be the man, where one goes from each other and then together for a week. Therefore, I have lied. I'm sorry about that, but it's jut not. When it is said and done, so I want Nicklaes the best. I hope it goes for him, although I had hoped it was with me, says Amanda, who is clearly affected in the video.
- I can't cry anymore. I turn it to anger now. For I can soon no more.
Here we see the couple together for the premiere of 'Ex on the Beach'. Photo: Linda Johansen
Through the video has Amanda Mogensen very hard to hold the emotions back and finally breaks she completely together.
See also: - Has it hell.
- I think it is a joke. The guys who write that I am a nice girl, and that I should probably clear it. I end up always here anyway. So fuck look, she says and continues tearfully:
I had nightmares in the night. I really thought Nicklaes should be the father to my child. But now he is gone from me. It is to him that dropping the bomb. I would like to have had the time. I'm not ready to be called up by the press, she says and cries. I'm too good to sit and hoot in the morning and evening.
below you can see Amanda Mogensen display a number of very honest pictures of his body.
well-Known Danish realitybabe with cross-border photos


text:
Q: Set the ComboBox value in a Table Cell C# The project that I am doing is kind of like a bot, I grab my application's process (its for some automated q&a testing) and then add values and edit values in the app and see if the output is as expected.
Well, I have gotten the application window (called window) and I'm looking to get a DataGridView item which has been added into the other application. I know it's called "dataGridView1", and the UI interface that I'm using (SpecFlow and White.Core) do not support grabbing the DataGridView item from another application
As a workaround, I grab the DataGridView item as a table.
Now, the problem. I am trying to set a cell value in the data grid view in which that cell
contains a ComboBox, which Table does not support selecting. Everytime I perform a Cell.SetValue(string) it will set the value temporarily until I navigate away on my UI
So basically, my question is, is there any way that I can set the value of a table cell that is supposed to be a DataGridView cell that contains a combobox? I have added a few comments in the code for what I would like to happen
public void InsertValues(String price, String name)
    {

     //actually is the following
     //DataGridView Data = window.Get<DataGridView>("dataGridView1");
     //but this is not supported by the White.Core.UIItems.

        Table Data = window.Get<Table>("dataGridView1");
        int numRows = 0;
        foreach (White.Core.UIItems.TableItems.TableRow tbr in Data.Rows)
            numRows++;

 //get the last row in the table
        White.Core.UIItems.TableItems.TableRow leaseRow = Data.Rows[numRows - 1];

        White.Core.UIItems.TableItems.TableCell PriceCell = leaseRow.Cells["price_val"];
        White.Core.UIItems.TableItems.TableCell NameCell = leaseRow.Cells["name_val"];

//set the values of the various cells in the table
        PriceCell.Click();
        PriceCell.SetValue(pricingFormulaName);
        PriceCell.Enter(pricingFormulaName);

        NameCell.Click();
        NameCell.SetValue(feeScheduleName);
        NameCell.Enter(feeScheduleName);

    }

A: For Q&A automation, I would Highly recommend Selenium...You can make either a html script or in your case a C# application to run threw it and with selenium you can specify
      driver.FindElement(By.XPath("//div[@id='Body']/form/div/div[2]/div[13]/div/div/div/div[2]/button")).Click();

Or
     driver.FindElement(By.XPath("//a[contains(text(),'[add]')]")).Click();

if its in the css or you can call it by ID...And best part is Selenium is open Source...Or Maybe in SpecFlow  you can specify a CSS Selection or XPath like how I did in Selenium


Mumbai, November 22, 2016: Boniface Prabhu – Padam Shri awardee, India's No. 1 wheelchair tennis player for years and the country's first ever Para world-championship medal winner – is on a mission. He is leading the 3,500 KM Thums Up VEER Kashmir to Kanyakumari (K2K) road expedition, to create awareness and sensitize people to the cause of Persons With Disabilities (PWDs). During a stopover at Mumbai, he attended the graduation felicitation ceremony held for VEERs at Carnival Cinemas and awarded the certificates to the students who have successfully completed their training program. These VEERS, who have excelled in their fields in spite of their disabilities, inspired the tennis player and the interaction was an emotional and enlightening experience for both, the VEERs and for Boniface Prabhu.
Later the K2K road expedition was flagged off to its next destination Pune in the presence of representatives from Carnival Cinema, American India Foundation, a leading NGO, and VEERs.
Thums Up along with partners American India Foundation and Being Human, already run the VEER campaign, which trains PWDs to make them employable.
The Thums Up VEER Kashmir to Kanyakumari (K2K) road expedition, was flagged off on November 9, from Jammu and Kashmir. During the two weeks, the expedition has passed through Amritsar, Chandigarh, Delhi, Gurgaon, Jaipur, Ajmer and Ahmedabad before reaching Mumbai. The expedition has covered 2200 KMs over 14 days, stopping at several places to attend events, meetings and sign language training classes, all aimed towards an Accessible India. Over the next three weeks, Boniface will participate in more than 40 events hosted and facilitated by India's largest selling soft drink brand – Thums Up jointly with the American India Foundation.


Halloween has always been one of our favorite holidays. All the beautiful leaves and weather, the fun and spooky decorations, dressing up, eating candy!
Luckily we have friends who enjoy it just as much as we do, and welcome us all to their home every year for an evening of spooky festivity!
Our friend Keith as Jack Skellington.
Neve with Jessie: our two Sallys.
I went with a Dia de los Muertos theme.
Emily went as Prince Zuko from Avatar, The Last Airbender.
Elizabeth's husband Kevin led us all in a rousing game of Mad Scientists vs. Villagers. The villagers had to discover who the scientists were before they killed off the whole village!
As always we had a great time and the kids wore themselves out (always a good thing!).
It's sad that October is flying by so quickly, but at least we still have more Halloween fun to come!
This entry was posted in Kids and tagged food, Seasons. Bookmark the permalink.


This document contains detailed guidance on the expectations for each planning priority. The DHB Planning Priorities are provided to assist DHB and Shared Service Agency staff to meet Ministerial expectations.
As in previous years, the 2015/16 Planning Guidelines include guidance for Annual Plans (APs), Regional Services Plans (RSPs), Māori Health Plans and Public Health Unit Annual Plans. This year, guidelines were also published for Regional Capital Plans. The planning priorities guidance for DHB APs and RSPs was not included in the general guidance for these two plans, but is being presented in this document only in order to encourage greater alignment between the two documents, and to encourage the integration of services at the regional and DHB levels.


For nearly 50 years, the MLA had advocated for expanding research on lobster stocks and developing cooperative research projects in order to integrate fishermen's vast knowledge of the ocean and lobster resource. MLA members have pioneered many collaborative research projects working with university, government and independent scientists on a variety of research projects.
A v-notch survey card from the 2012 survey.
In 1982, the MLA began collecting data on the number of v-notched lobsters present in traps to measure the impact of this conservation program on the lobster population.
The survey takes place in early October each year. During any two days of the survey week, lobstermen record the number of females, eggers, V-notch, short and oversize females on a data card. The results from this survey are used to track the effectiveness of v-notching as a conservation measure to protect lobster brood stock in the Gulf of Maine. The information is kept by the Maine Lobstermen's Association (MLA) and is available to scientists and managers.
The MLA has worked with our sister, non-profit organization, the Maine Lobstermen's Community Alliance (MLCA) on many projects. In April 2016 the MLA and MLCA, along with the Island Institute and the State of Maine, hosted lobster veterinarian Dr. Jean Lavellee as he traveled the coast talking about lobster quality. The Happy Healthy Lobster Tour returned in March of 2017 visiting every zone as well as islands. Sponsored in conjunction with The State of Maine and Stonington Co-op, Swans Island Co-op, Cranberry Isles Co-op, Beals-Jonesport Co-op, Tenents Harbor Co-op and Port Clyde Co-op, the tour reached out to the hundreds of people working the lobster supply chain.
Maine Lobster Leadership Institute returned in 2017 as well. This educational opportunity provided young lobstermen gave them an opportunity to learn about the industry as a whole. Workshops and travel were a big piece of the program with trips to the Boston Seafood Show, Prince Edward Island and aquaculture farms to name a few. The program is expected to run again in 2019.
Past projects with MLCA include Inshore Herring Acoustic Survey, and whale entanglement research.
For more information on the MLCA, visit their website at www.mlcalliance.org.


- Another leading Gundam Suit in HG form, the F91 is the 4th in the All Gundam Project to be reformatted as a modern HG!
- Recreate the open or closed face look through part swapping!
- Recreate the deployed or undeployed radiation fin deployment through part swapping!
- Posable VSBR also included!


Oh. My. Gosh. I am a massive fan of both truffle salt (actually, truffle everything) and popcorn. I need to try this trick with the ghee!! I've never had ghee before.
You should definitely try this! And ghee is great for a lot of things. It has a high smoke point so it is great to cook with.
I LOVE grated Parmesan on popcorn!!! Will definitely be trying this in the near future!! Thanks for sharing!
Truffle + Parmesan + Popcorn?? What a funny combination! I`d love to try!
I've been looking for ways to flavor up my popcorn. I am going to try this one soon. It looks so delicious!


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text:
One of the most difficult things a woman can perhaps experience is the loss of a fetus. But it is an occurrence experienced by many women who conceive. The statistics are sketchy, but most cited references confirm that 10 to 25% of pregnancies result in a miscarriage. But perhaps the more painful experience is to lose an unborn child more than once.
Causes for miscarriage
Anatomical Reasons:Sometimes a woman's uterus is built in a way that makes a successful pregnancy a difficult if not impossible task. Abnormal uterine shape or weak cervixes are predominant anatomical causes that lend to recurrent miscarriages. In some cases, uterine abnormalities may be treated by surgery.
Chromosomal Abnormalities: Doctors are increasingly able to identify chromosomal abnormalities with the fetus that prevent it from developing beyond a certain stage resulting in the miscarriage or abortion of the fetus. These chromosomal abnormalities might be derived from the mother or the father and even though fertilization occurs, this abnormality prevents the fetus from growing beyond a certain stage.
Hormonal Causes: Various hormones including progesterone play a key role in the fertilization process and in the development of the embryo. Low levels of progesterone have been noted to cause recurrent miscarriages. Certain disorders such as Polycystic Ovarian Disease create an imbalance in the body's hormones and have been known to have an adverse effect on fertility and pregnancy. Various thyroid-related disorders may also contribute to recurring pregnancy loss.
Immunological Causes: Our immune system is built to protect our bodies from foreign and harmful elements. Sometimes, this system does not function in out best interest. Recurrent miscarriages have been caused by a woman's immune system that treats a growing fetus as a harmful foreign body and destroys vital tissues in the uterus, resulting in a miscarriage. Also, blood clotting issues due to excessive anti-phospholipid antibodies in the bloodstream contribute to recurring miscarriages.
Other reasons that may contribute to recurrent miscarriages include maternal age, lifestyle choices such as heavy smoking and drinking, drug abuse, diabetes, and exposure to X-rays or chemical/industrial toxins.
Dyslipidemia indicates the presence of increased cholesterol in the blood. In general the cholesterol in the body is categorized as good and bad forms, thus referring to its functionality. Good cholesterol also known as high density lipoproteins are required for the body to carry out regular metabolic activities. Estimation of triglyceride levels in the blood serves as a key factor in identifying the amount of disordered fats in the body or dyslipidemia. Dyslipidemia is one of the important causes for the onset of coronary artery disease.
Clinical evaluations of blood cholesterol levels
Clinical presentation of blood cholesterol levels aids estimation of the onset of conditions such as dyslipidemia which leads to cardio vascular disease. Blood cholesterol determination includes the estimation of high density lipoproteins, triglycerides and low density lipoproteins. Values in the case of dyslipidemia contain increased total cholesterol levels i.e. high LDL levels and decreased HDL levels. These levels are checked on fasting for at least 10 hours. Clinical interventions are recommended in the treatment of dyslipidemia to understand the possibility of cardio vascular disease in a patient and to differentiate the primary and secondary categories of this disease.
Diabetes and dyslipidemia
Type 2 diabetes is an underlying medical condition in which dyslipidemia is often noticed. It is measured by the lipid profile analysis. Insulin resistance is the predominant cause of low serum HDL. Insulin resistance promotes another condition called hypertriglyceridemia. This eventually leads to the increase of LDL or low density lipoproteins in the blood which can initiate the onset of atherosclerosis. Patients suffering diabetes with increased values of LDL and VLDL fall under the risk group for coronary artery disease. In addition to this, the metabolism of lipids is directly associated with the release of thyroid hormone. In patients with diabetes and hypothyroidism, the chance of cardiovascular disease is imminent.
Dyslipidemia can occur because of various factors. Most of them are induced by altered lifestyle patterns affecting the metabolism of a person. Obesity is the predominant cause of cardiovascular disease which is directly associated with the presence of dyslipidemia in the person. Symptoms associated are lethargy, gasping and difficulty in participating in any kind of physical activity. Alcohol consumption is also a major cause for the onset of dyslipidemia as it is related to the damage caused to the liver which produces major enzymes for lipid metabolism and fat emulsification processes. Other caused include Cushing's syndrome, Polycystic ovarian disease and liver cirrhosis.
Dyslipidemia is a condition which is treated with effective counseling about healthy lifestyle choices. Eating right and handling stressful factors can subsequently act on the regulation of metabolism. Patients are advised to exercise regularly to prevent the onset of atherosclerosis caused because of dyslipidemia.
Tags: #Miscarriage #Dyslipidemia


text:
Note - Caching
==============
In order to support caching, we need to build a { plan -> code } map.

However, the current Peloton system doesn't provide plan equality comparison
functionalities.

Therefore, we have to write plan comparison code.

I have listed the expressions and plans that are currently supported by
codegen as well as their major data members.

It looks like that there's no class that can't be compared without a deeper
understanding of Peloton.

So comparison is doable.

Note - Parameterization
=======================
In order to support parameterization, we turn every `ConstantValueExpression`
into a parameter.

During plan equality comparison, we don't compare these parameters.

During codegen, we add new function arguments and pass in these parameters.

Currently supported expressions
===============================

Note that the visitor pattern is supported. We might consider using it.

```
AbstractExpression
|
+- ComparisonExpression (ComparisonTranslator)
|    type  : ExpressionType     # enum
|    left  : AbstractExpression
|    right : AbstractExpression
|
+- OperatorExpression (ArithmeticTranslator)
|    type    : ExpressionType     # enum
|    type_id : type::Type::TypeId # enum
|    left    : AbstractExpression
|    right   : AbstractExpression
|
+- ConstantValueExpression (ConstantTranslator)
|    value : type::Value          # has comparison method
|
+- OperatorUnaryMinusExpression (OperatorUnaryMinusExpression)
|    left : AbstractExpression
|
+- AggregateExpression (Not evaluated, will look into it later)
|    type     : ExpressionType     # enum
|    distinct : bool
|    child    : AbstractExpression
|
+- ConjunctionExpression (ConjunctionTranslator)
|    type  : ExpressionType     # enum
|    left  : AbstractExpression
|    right : AbstractExpression
|
+- TupleValueExpression (TupleValueTranslator)
|    value_idx  : int
|    tuple_idx  : int
|    table_name : string
|    col_name   : string
|    ai         : AttributeInfo # ok
|
+- (Unsupported Expressions)
```

Currently supported plans
=========================

```
AbstractPlan
|
+- AbstractPlan.AbstractScan
|  |
|  +- AbstractPlan.AbstractScan.SeqScanPlan
|  |    table         : DataTable # just compare pointer
|  |    predicate     : AbstractExpression # ok
|  |    column_ids    : [oid_t]
|  |    is_for_update : bool
|  |
|  +- (Unsupported Plans)
|
+- AbstractPlan.OrderByPlan
|    sort_keys         : [oid_t]
|    descend_flags     : [bool]
|    output_column_ids : [oid_t]
|
+- AbstractPlan.AggregatePlan
|    project_info       : ProjectInfo
|                           tl  : TargetList    # need AbstractExpression
|                           dml : DirectMapList # ok
|
|    predicate          : AbstractExpression   # ok
|    unique_agg_terms   : [AggTerm]
|                            et       : Expression Type    # ok
|                            expr     : AbstractExpression # ok
|                            distinct : bool
|    groupby_col_ids    : [oid_t]              # ok
|    output_schema      : Schema               # ok
|    aggregate_strategy : AggregateType        # ok
|
+- AbstractPlan.HashPlan
|    hashkeys : [HashKeyPtrType] # need AbstractExpression
|
+- AbstractPlan.AbstractJoinPlan
|  |
|  +- AbstractPlan.AbstractJoinPlan.HashJoinPlan
|  |    join_type       : JoinType              # ok
|  |    predicate       : AbstractExpression    # ok
|  |    proj_info       : ProjectInfo
|  |                        tl  : TargetList    # need AbstractExpression
|  |                        dml : DirectMapList # ok
|  |    proj_schema     : Schema                # ok
|  |    left_hash_keys  : [AbstractExpression]  # ok
|  |    right_hash_keys : [AbstractExpression]  # ok
|  |
|  +- AbstractPlan.AbstractJoinPlan.(Unsupported Plans)
|
+- AbstractPlan.(Unsupported Plans)
```


text:
City Cuts Contract with Christian College Over Biblical Position on Homosexuality
SALEM, Mass. — The mayor of a city in Massachusetts has ended a contract with an area Christian college because of the institution's biblical beliefs about homosexual behavior.
Salem Mayor Kimberley Driscoll recently sent a letter to Michael Lindsay, the president of Gordon College, advising that the school could no longer manage the Old Town Hall because it opposes sexual activities between those of the same gender.
She stated that her main concern was over the college's behavioral standards policy, which prohibits staff and students from engaging in homosexual behavior. The policy also forbids fornication, drunkenness, profanity, blasphemy, lying and other behaviors that are contrary to biblical law.
"I hope you realize how hurtful and offensive these 'behavioral standards' are to members of the greater Salem LGBT community, some of whom are Gordon alumni, staff and/or students," Driscoll wrote.
She said that Gordon College's policies "fly in the face" of Salem's non-discrimination law, which bars the city from working with entities that "discriminate" against others.
"While I respect your right to embed religious values on a private college campus, religious freedom does not afford you the right to impose those beliefs upon others and cannot be extended into a publicly owned facility or any management contract for a public owned facility, like Old Town Hall," Driscoll wrote.
She told reporters recently that she made the decision to cancel the contract, which was to have expired later this year, when she discovered that Lindsay was among those who signed a letter to Barack Obama requesting that a religious exemption be included in the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which bars the government from contracting with "discriminatory" organizations.
But in an online message to Gordon College students and staff, Lindsay explained that he signed the letter out of his belief that religious entities should not be punished for being faithful to the Scriptures.
"My sole intention in signing this letter was to affirm the College's support of the underlying issue of religious liberty, including the right of faith-based institutions to set and adhere to standards which derive from our shared framework of faith, and which we all have chosen to embrace as members of the Gordon community," he wrote.
Lindsay stated that although there was "confusion, hurt feelings and disappointment" at the college over his support for the exemption, he believed that intentions had been "misconstrued," noting that "Gordon tries to stay out of politically charged issues."
Gordon College has contracted with the city since 1992 to manage and maintain Old Town Hall, a facility used for private events, as well the annual production of "Cry Innocent," a play about the Salem witch trials.
Salem, known as "Witch City," was the location of the 1692 trials and has a long history of witchcraft and paganism that continues to this day. Because of its roots, the city hosts a month-long celebration of Halloween each year called "Haunted Happenings." The events include a costume parade, witch-centered dramas, psychic readings and public fairs and carnivals. On Halloween, the streets of Salem become especially congested with trick-or-treaters and other costumed revelers—numbering upwards in the tens of thousands. A number of occult shops are especially visible during the month of October as well.
Photo: John Phelan
City Cuts Contract with Christian College Over Biblical Position on Homosexuality added by Heather Clark on July 16, 2014


In the past week I have accomplished quite a bit. First up, I completed the box for my printer to help contain the heat and filter out the ABS plastic smell. Here a couple shots of the box. I added a fan, 3D printed some holders for the carbon filter sheets, and painted it all nice and black.
Next up, I got permission from Jackarage (jackarage.deviantart.com) to make use of his SAO sword models. I went ahead and printed out a copy of Asuna's Light Labent hilt guard. It turned out quite well. I plan to clean it up and then get it ready for painting.
The next prop I have spent most of my time on is Kirito's sword. These are all of the 3D parts are printed out and mostly painted. I am very close to being able to glue everything together. I won't explain each pic and will just dump them all here.


text:
Rumäniens herrlandslag i volleyboll representerar Rumänien i volleyboll på herrsidan. Laget blev Europamästare 1963.

Källor

Fotnoter

Volleybollherrarna
Herrlandslaget
Volleybollandslag


Today Booking.com announced the launch of a new accelerator program, Bookingcom Booster, designed to jump start innovation. The new 3-week program gives startups the chance to pitch for grants of up to €500, 000 euro.
The 3-week programme takes place in June 2017 in Amsterdam and is aimed at startups focused on sustainable tourism. For more information about the Booking.com Booster Programme, including details on how to apply, please visit booking.com/booster. Booking.com is accepting applications from interested startups from across the world until March 1, 2017.


text:
using System;
using System.Reflection;
using System.Windows.Forms;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
using System.IO;

namespace VBScripting
{
    ///  Present the Windows Vista-style open file dialog to select a folder. Fall back for older Windows Versions.
    /// <remarks> Adapted from  a stackoverflow post by  EricE. Uses  System.Reflection. </remarks>
    [ProgId( "VBScripting.FolderChooser" ),
        ClassInterface(ClassInterfaceType.None),
        Guid("2650C2AB-B0F8-495F-AB4D-6C61BD463EA4")]
    public class FolderChooser : IFolderChooser
    {
        private string _initialDirectory;
        private string _title;
        private string _fileName = "";

        ///  Gets or sets the initial directory that the folder select dialog opens to. Environment variables are allowed. Relative paths are allowed. Optional. The default value is the current directory.
        public string InitialDirectory
        {
            get { return string.IsNullOrEmpty(_initialDirectory) ? Environment.CurrentDirectory : _initialDirectory; }
            set { _initialDirectory = value; }
        }
        ///  Gets or sets the title/caption of the folder select dialog. Optional. The default value is "Select a folder".
        public string Title
        {
            get { return string.IsNullOrEmpty(_title) ? "Select a folder" : _title; }
            set { _title = value; }
        }
        ///  Opens a dialog and returns the folder selected by the user. Returns an empty string if the user cancels.
        /// <returns> a path </returns>
        public string FolderName
        {
            get { return Show()? _fileName : string.Empty; }
        }

        private bool Show() { return Show(IntPtr.Zero); }

        // <param name="hWndOwner">Handle of the control or window to be the parent of the file dialog</param>
        // <returns>true if the user clicks OK</returns>
        private bool Show(IntPtr hWndOwner)
        {
            var dir1 = Path.GetFullPath(Environment.ExpandEnvironmentVariables(InitialDirectory));
            var result = Environment.OSVersion.Version.Major >= 6
                ? VistaDialog.Show(hWndOwner, dir1, Title)
                : ShowXpDialog(hWndOwner, dir1, Title);
            _fileName = result.FileName;
            return result.Result;
        }

        private struct ShowDialogResult
        {
            public bool Result { get; set; }
            public string FileName { get; set; }
        }

        private static ShowDialogResult ShowXpDialog(IntPtr ownerHandle, string initialDirectory, string title)
        {
            var folderBrowserDialog = new FolderBrowserDialog
            {
                Description = title,
                SelectedPath = initialDirectory,
                ShowNewFolderButton = false
            };
            var dialogResult = new ShowDialogResult();
            if (folderBrowserDialog.ShowDialog(new WindowWrapper(ownerHandle)) == DialogResult.OK)
            {
                dialogResult.Result = true;
                dialogResult.FileName = folderBrowserDialog.SelectedPath;
            }
            return dialogResult;
        }

        private static class VistaDialog
        {
            private const string c_foldersFilter = "Folders|\n";

            private const BindingFlags c_flags = BindingFlags.Instance | BindingFlags.Public | BindingFlags.NonPublic;
            private readonly static Assembly s_windowsFormsAssembly = typeof(FileDialog).Assembly;
            private readonly static Type s_iFileDialogType = s_windowsFormsAssembly.GetType("System.Windows.Forms.FileDialogNative+IFileDialog");
            private readonly static MethodInfo s_createVistaDialogMethodInfo = typeof(OpenFileDialog).GetMethod("CreateVistaDialog", c_flags);
            private readonly static MethodInfo s_onBeforeVistaDialogMethodInfo = typeof(OpenFileDialog).GetMethod("OnBeforeVistaDialog", c_flags);
            private readonly static MethodInfo s_getOptionsMethodInfo = typeof(FileDialog).GetMethod("GetOptions", c_flags);
            private readonly static MethodInfo s_setOptionsMethodInfo = s_iFileDialogType.GetMethod("SetOptions", c_flags);
            private readonly static uint s_fosPickFoldersBitFlag = (uint)s_windowsFormsAssembly
                .GetType("System.Windows.Forms.FileDialogNative+FOS")
                .GetField( "FOS_PICKFOLDERS" )
                .GetValue(null);
            private readonly static ConstructorInfo s_vistaDialogEventsConstructorInfo = s_windowsFormsAssembly
                .GetType("System.Windows.Forms.FileDialog+VistaDialogEvents")
                .GetConstructor(c_flags, null, new[] { typeof(FileDialog) }, null);
            private readonly static MethodInfo s_adviseMethodInfo = s_iFileDialogType.GetMethod( "Advise" );
            private readonly static MethodInfo s_unAdviseMethodInfo = s_iFileDialogType.GetMethod( "Unadvise" );
            private readonly static MethodInfo s_showMethodInfo = s_iFileDialogType.GetMethod( "Show" );

            public static ShowDialogResult Show(IntPtr ownerHandle, string initialDirectory, string title)
            {
                var openFileDialog = new OpenFileDialog
                {
                    AddExtension = false,
                    CheckFileExists = false,
                    DereferenceLinks = true,
                    Filter = c_foldersFilter,
                    InitialDirectory = initialDirectory,
                    Multiselect = false,
                    Title = title
                };

                var iFileDialog = s_createVistaDialogMethodInfo.Invoke(openFileDialog, new object[] { });
                s_onBeforeVistaDialogMethodInfo.Invoke(openFileDialog, new[] { iFileDialog });
                s_setOptionsMethodInfo.Invoke(iFileDialog, new object[] { (uint)s_getOptionsMethodInfo.Invoke(openFileDialog, new object[] { }) | s_fosPickFoldersBitFlag });
                var adviseParametersWithOutputConnectionToken = new[] { s_vistaDialogEventsConstructorInfo.Invoke(new object[] { openFileDialog }), 0U };
                s_adviseMethodInfo.Invoke(iFileDialog, adviseParametersWithOutputConnectionToken);

                try
                {
                    int retVal = (int)s_showMethodInfo.Invoke(iFileDialog, new object[] { ownerHandle });
                    return new ShowDialogResult
                    {
                        Result = retVal == 0,
                        FileName = openFileDialog.FileName
                    };
                }
                finally
                {
                    s_unAdviseMethodInfo.Invoke(iFileDialog, new[] { adviseParametersWithOutputConnectionToken[1] });
                }
            }
        }

        private class WindowWrapper : IWin32Window
        {
            private readonly IntPtr _handle;
            public WindowWrapper(IntPtr handle) { _handle = handle; }
            public IntPtr Handle { get { return _handle; } }
        }
    }

    ///  COM interface for VBScripting.FolderChooser
    [InterfaceType(ComInterfaceType.InterfaceIsIDispatch),
        Guid("2650C2AB-B1F8-495F-AB4D-6C61BD463EA4")]
    public interface IFolderChooser
    {
        ///
        string InitialDirectory { get; set; }
        ///
        string Title { get; set; }
        ///
        string FolderName { get; }
    }
}


text:
Updated September 9, 2017
Bug Maine-ia set for Maine State Museum
Admission on Sept. 12 is free.
AUGUSTA — Bug Maine-ia is scheduled for 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 12, at the Maine State Museum, 230 State St. Twenty-four exhibitors will providing hands-on displays, discoveries, and more for visitors of all ages.
The exhibitors come from throughout the state and include Maine Entomological Society, master Maine fishing guide Sean McCormick, Maine State Beekeepers Association, Maine Department of Agriculture's Agriculture in the Classroom, Edible Insect Marketplace, Maine Forest Service, Maine Department of Environmental Protection, Hudson Museum, Maine State Museum, University of Maine Cooperative Extension, Maine Art Glass Studio/Butterfly and Insect Museum, retired science teacher Jon Wallace, Friends of Edith Patch, Modern Pest Control, United States Department of Agriculture, and the Maine State Library.


text:
Posts tagged 'Penn State'
To have safer schools, where the interests and protection of children aren't afterthoughts, we must demand more from the administrative-union-legislative unholy trinity.
In light of a second school shooting last week – this one in Taft, California – we have all the usual suspects pointing to their pet causes which they claim will prevent the next tragedy.
The need for stricter gun control, more intensive anti-bullying education, fewer violent video games and more psychologists in the schools will make the rounds just as they did after the horrific mass murder at Sandy Hook Elementary School in December. While these "fixes" sound good, there is no empirical evidence that any of them would have stopped the shooters from doing their dastardly deeds.
Interestingly, that which can be done to stop hateful people from harming our children, school officials are unwilling to do. A good case in point is Eileen Blagden's story, which I first wrote about in July of 2012 and updated in City Journal last week.
Blagden's story begins in 2008, when a teacher named Kevin Kirby was arrested for lewd and lascivious behavior and indecent exposure, but not at school. Nevertheless, Kirby's arrest prompted his suspension from teaching at Leal Elementary School in the Southern California city of Cerritos. The following year, while awaiting trial, Kirby pleaded guilty to an unrelated trespassing charge. A jury ultimately found him not guilty on the sex-related charges, though he was required to "stay at least 100 yards away" from schools in Long Beach. In September 2009, the ABC Unified School District transferred Kirby to Blagden's school—Stowers Elementary in Cerritos, where he was assigned as a kindergarten teacher.
Almost immediately, Blagden told me, Kirby began showing signs of irresponsibility and instability. He was absent frequently and would often fall asleep in class. Kirby's fellow kindergarten teachers reportedly feared him, calling him a "ticking time bomb." On January 26, 2010, Kirby had an accident on his motorcycle on his way to work. Despite being bloody and distraught, he refused medical assistance from paramedics and showed up at the school. Blagden had kept a wary eye on Kirby. With the accident, her concern grew into alarm, especially when Kirby began talking about suicide and killing Stowers's other two kindergarten teachers.
Blagden went to her school district and local teachers union with this ominous story and was assured that they would handle it. However after no action whatsoever was taken by the bureaucrats, and worried about her teachers and students, Blagden broke protocol and went to the police. Her reward for doing the right thing was first getting demoted and then losing her job.
This administrative concern for image over children played itself out at Penn State where serial pedophile assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky damaged many young lives during a 14 year period. After this ugly series of events came to light, former FBI director Louis Freeh released a report which stated that these school leaders conspired
… to conceal child sexual abuse allegations against assistant coach Jerry Sandusky for more than a decade, choosing to preserve the university's reputation over protecting the victims of a pedophile….
(They) showed "total disregard" for the abuse victims, concealed crucial information and failed at least twice to act on sexual assault accusations against one of their own because they feared the consequences of bad publicity on the university….
Not to be outdone, California legislators – cowed by their teacher union masters – showed they could be just as prone to turning a blind eye to evil as school administrators. After serial pedophile school teacher Mark Berndt got away with sexually abusing children for years, the Los Angeles Unified School District asked the state legislature to change existing law to speed up the process of removing such teachers. As I wrote in July,
State senator Alex Padilla, a Los Angeles Democrat and former L.A. city councilman, wrote Senate Bill 1530, which would streamline the labyrinthine "dismissal statutes" that require districts to navigate a seemingly endless maze of hearings and appeals. Padilla's bill was actually quite narrow in scope, dealing only with credible claims that a teacher has abused a child with sex, drugs, or violence. Existing law lets local school boards immediately suspend a teacher under "specified conditions, including immoral conduct." Padilla's bill simply would add language allowing a school board to suspend an employee for "serious or egregious unprofessional conduct." Garnering strong bipartisan support, Padilla's bill sailed through the state senate in late May on a vote of 33 to 4.
The state assembly, however, is a stronghold for the California Teachers Association, which strongly opposes SB 1530. Before and during the hearings on Padilla's legislation in the assembly education committee, union leaders and their confederates launched a propaganda effort against the bill, deploying all their standard talking points. The union maintained that SB 1530 was nothing more than a "teacher-bashing bill." It was too cumbersome, too expensive, and would kill due-process rights. It was demoralizing and even "un-American." Though these attacks were transparently unfair, legislators got the message. The bill needed six "yeas" from the 11-member committee to pass; it received only five, with two "nays" and four abstentions.
So while school administrators, union officials and state legislators bluster about the need for more anti-bullying programs, gun control, etc., it would behoove them to repudiate their perverse save-our-butts attitude which places image, teachers' "rights" and protocol over the health and welfare of children.
Tags: Alex Padilla, California Teachers Association, California Teachers Empowerment Network, Eileen Blagden, Jerry Sandusky, Larry Sand, Penn State, Sandy Hook, SB 1530, Taft, teachers union
Damning the Children
Protecting image and turf in the face of evil is unconscionable.
As if the Jerry Sandusky fourteen year long child abuse tragedy hasn't been painful enough, former FBI director Louis Freeh released a report last week that condemned Penn State's legendary football coach Joe Paterno as well as other school leaders for conducting a massive cover-up. The report said that Paterno, University President Graham Spanier et al agreed
Clearly the brunt of the evil lies at the feet of Sandusky, the depraved assistant coach who sodomized young boys. But what can be said of the people who knew about Sandusky's repulsive acts and did nothing? While Sandusky is guaranteed a special place in the ninth circle of Hell, what about Paterno and the others? Sorry, Coach. Your legacy will not be that you were the winningest college coach in history, but that you and others knew that unspeakable things were being done to children and were more concerned about image than responsibility.
While protecting image will push some otherwise decent folks into moral turpitude, the same can be said for protecting turf. A few weeks ago, at the behest of the California Teachers Association, six members of the California State Assembly education committee refused to sign off on a bill that would have shortened the now endless and expensive process for firing a teacher who abuses children with sex, drugs or violence. As an editorial in the San Francisco Chronicle stated,
The influence of the California Teachers Association was rarely more apparent – or more sickening – than in the defeat of SB1530. The union showed its willingness to defend an expensive and cumbersome process for firing bad teachers at almost any cost – even if that means school districts must continue to spend exorbitant sums of time and money to dismiss teachers in cases involving sex, drugs or violence with students.
Even more disturbing than the union's predictable dogma was certain legislators' equally predictable acceptance of it.
These legislators blatantly disregarded their public mandate in order to protect their positions in the legislative body. The teachers union did what it typically does – protect every dues paying member no matter how incompetent, rotten or perverted they are. The union's laughably transparent defense was that if administrators would follow protocol, bills like SB 1530 would not be necessary. While admittedly school administrators dropped the ball in the Mark Berndt case in Los Angeles, it doesn't negate the fact that the system is rigged to protect teachers who should not be allowed to be near kids.
For many reasons – including callous dismissal of children's claims, missing teacher files and operating in a culture of non-accountability – Berndt got away with sexually abusing his students for over 20 years. The system is so perverse that the school district couldn't get rid of Berndt without going through a lengthy appeals process costing over $300,000. So, when his crimes were exposed, Berndt gamed the system by accepting a $40,000 bribe and retired – of course only after racking up another year of credit toward his pension. Writer RiShawn Biddle succinctly and emphatically gets to the heart of the problem,
Yet those education traditionalists, especially AFT officials in L.A., and their counterparts at the statewide affiliate and the NEA's GoldenState unit, who want to simply blame school leaders for the failure to catch Berndt are also essentially refusing to hold their colleagues responsible. Actually, let me go further: If any education traditionalist tries to use the failures of L.A. Unified as a justification for defending their opposition to making it easier to get evil men like Berndt out of their jobs, then they should look in mirrors and ask forgiveness of their Creator. Because their argument is morally repulsive, intellectually dishonest, and abhorrent violation of one's obligation to their fellow men and women. An important reason why Berndt was able to perpetuate educational and criminal abuse on the children in his care for so long lies with state laws that effectively make it almost impossible for L.A. Unified and other Golden State districts to dismiss teachers who don't belong in classrooms.
What happens when an adult does the right thing? Ask seven year veteran principal, Eileen Blagden. In 2010, Kevin Kirby, a teacher who had been suspended from a nearby middle school for lewd and lascivious behavior and trespassing, was sent to Blagden's school – Stowers Elementary, part of the ABC School District in southern Los Angeles County – where he was assigned as a Kindergarten teacher! (Because it is virtually impossible to get rid of a teacher in California, no matter how incompetent or perverted, Kirby had to be placed somewhere.)
Kirby, after his leave of absence, reported to Stowers "disheveled, stressed, and with blood visibly on his body," alleging that he was in a motorcycle accident. He was clearly distraught and began talking about suicide and killing two Kindergarten teachers at the school. When Blagden told Carol Hansen, Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources, of the threats, she was stunned when Hansen told her not to mention it to anyone. But after sending Kirby to the hospital, Blagden did not remain silent. In order to protect the involved teachers and their students, she informed the teachers about Kirby's threats. As Blagden said,
In the wake of the Miramonte Elementary School and Jerry Sandusky sex abuse scandals coupled with the Columbine, Virginia Tech, and Seal Beach tragedies, none of us entrusted with the safety of children can afford to guess at the genuineness of the threat when danger presents itself.
As a result of disobeying a superior, Blagden then was relieved of her duties and eventually "demoted" to the classroom for "poor performance." Unwilling to accept the district's action, Blagden filed a lawsuit alleging retaliation for whistle-blowing.
Then, on July 6th the court ruled that the district fabricated evidence when it said that Blagden was demoted before she went to the police. In what will undoubtedly make it into the deer-in-the-headlights wing of the deposition hall of fame, the former and current ABC Superintendents hem and haw and bob and weave their way through the tough and forthright questioning of Blagden's attorney Ron Wilson.
As these three cases show, when protecting image and turf become paramount, our institutions become nothing more than a Potemkin villages. Until we reach the point where those in positions of authority make morality their number one priority, evil will prevail. When this evil invades our schools, children are the victims. And any society that abuses children on a regular basis is doomed to fail.
Tags: Alex Padilla, California Teachers Association, Eileen Blagden, Jerry Sandusky, Joe Paterno, Mark Berndt, Penn State, RiShawn Biddle, SB 1530


The 10-ft.-wide corridor turns the corner and comes to an end fifteen feet ahead. A sturdy double door bisects the plain stone wall. Both panels sport brass knobs; no lock or keyhole is evident.
While the sinister and leery pass unremarked.
The diviner who met his doom interpreted his divinations correctly and found his glory. The right-hand (righteous) door leads to the beyond (death) in glory while the left-hand (sinister) door allows the cautious to pass alive but unknown. Sadly, the wizard approached the unlocked doors from the wrong side, and opened the wrong panel. A spear through the chest was his reward; the orientation of the blade and shaft through his ribs reveals he was facing the wrong direction when he passed through the panel to his left (but from the far side: the right). Opening the right-hand door as the characters face the portal springs the trap, sending a spear down the right-hand side of the hallway from behind and striking the first creature it encounters.
The left-hand door is completely safe; the components of the trap (including the pressure plate on the party's side of the door, the bypass built into the left panel, and the spear-firing tube located back at the corner) are near impossible to discern but not difficult to disarm once located. If the PCs pass this way when returning, they should take care to open the correct door, as the trap resets.
Forensic Clues: A DC 15 Heal check confirms that the skeleton was facing forward when struck by the spear in the absence of player questioning.
Correctly deducing the facing of the skeleton when spitted by the spear is a DC 15 Intelligence (investigation) or Wisdom (medicine) check. Finding the trap is a DC 30 Wisdom (perception) check. Disarming it requires thieves' tools and a DC 10 Dexterity check. Blocking the firing tube of the spear with a shield or similar object imposes disadvantage on its attack roll as it punches through. The spear makes a +8 attack and deals Dangerous damage on a hit.
Confirming the facing of the skeleton when struck by the spear is a Normal task. Discovering the trap is Ridiculously Hard; disarming it is a Normal Task. The spear makes a Hard attack roll and deals Hard single-target damage.
A dwarf moving carefully down the hall realizes something is strange with the stonework on a 1 in 6, but gets no immediate details. He discovers the pressure plate or firing tube of the spear only with a search on a 2 in 6. Disarming the trap is a delicate tasks check, although it is easy to avoid the trajectory of the spear even if the riddle is not puzzled out. The spear is strong enough to punch through a shield or similar blocking object placed outside the firing tube, but its attack roll is reduced by 5. Unfettered, the spear attacks with a +8 bonus and deals 2d6+2 damage.