SAN ANTONIO, Jan. 23, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The Board of Directors of Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) ("Valero") has approved an increase in the company's regular quarterly cash dividend on common stock from $0.70 per share to $0.80 per share, effective with the quarterly dividend the Board has declared to be payable on March 6, 2018, to holders of record at the close of business on February 13, 2018. The increase in the dividend raises the annualized cash dividend rate on Valero's common stock to $3.20 per share.
The Board of Directors also approved an incremental $2.5 billion share repurchase authorization. Valero has approximately $1.2 billion of repurchase authority available under its previously announced buyback authorization, giving it $3.7 billion available for stock repurchases going forward.
As a reminder, Valero will host a conference call on February 1, 2018, at 10 a.m. ET to discuss fourth quarter and full year 2017 earnings results, which will be released earlier that day, and to provide an update on company operations and strategy. Persons interested in listening to the presentation live via the internet may log on to Valero's website at www.valero.com.
Valero Energy Corporation, through its subsidiaries, is an international manufacturer and marketer of transportation fuels and other petrochemical products. Valero, a Fortune 50 company based in San Antonio, Texas, with approximately 10,000 employees, is an independent petroleum refiner and ethanol producer, and its assets include 15 petroleum refineries with a combined throughput capacity of approximately 3.1 million barrels per day and 11 ethanol plants with a combined production capacity of 1.4 billion gallons per year. The petroleum refineries are located in the United States (U.S.), Canada and the United Kingdom (U.K.), and the ethanol plants are located in the Mid-Continent region of the U.S. In addition, Valero owns the 2 percent general partner interest and a majority limited partner interest in Valero Energy Partners LP, a midstream master limited partnership. Valero sells its products in both the wholesale rack and bulk markets, and approximately 7,400 outlets carry Valero's brand names in the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and Ireland. Please visit www.valero.com for more information.
Statements contained in this release that state the company's or management's expectations or predictions of the future are forward-looking statements intended to be covered by the safe harbor provisions of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The words "believe," "expect," "should," "estimates," "intend," "targeting," and other similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. It is important to note that actual results could differ materially from those projected in such forward-looking statements based on numerous factors, including those outside of the company's control, such as delays in construction timing and other factors. For more information concerning factors that could cause actual results to differ from those expressed or forecasted, see Valero's annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and our other reports filed with the SEC and on Valero's website at www.valero.com, and VLP's annual reports on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q filed with the SEC and on VLP's website at www.valeroenergypartners.com.


A sparse, amazing rendition of Leonard Cohen's "Tower Of Song" opens Tom Jones' latest album, Spirit in the Room. "Hit or Miss" sees things get nice, jumpy and loose. The song is complete with handclaps, as the Welsh crooner once again mines some interesting covers, just as he did on his last album, Praise & Blame with the same producer, Ethan Johns, on board.
Paul Simon's "Love and Blessings" picks up with a good slap-back echo, again seeing Jones taking full-steam-ahead control with his amazing, masculine voice and some great drumming behind him. There's a great low- down version of Blind Willie Johnson's "Soul of a Man." Complete with some jangly electric, nice subliminal keys and Jones on that four-on-the floor beat, this is about as good as it's ever going to get anywhere; see if you can listen and not rub yourself to the edge of your chair.
Things are pretty much Wait-ian, not ironically, on Jones' loud take on Tom Waits' "Bad As Me" and, though fun, I'm not sure this works as well as the others here. Still, it's a competent read. "Dimming of the Day" is, again, sparse, acoustic guitar, drums and soft vocal; a great sweet, soft ballad. Piano leads the cover of Joe Henry's "All Blues Hail Mary." There are lots of spaces on this one especially, seeing Jones really occupying the spaces perfectly.
Spirit in the Room is freaking great, you owe it to yourself to get to know Tom Jones right now!


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Control of morphology, cytoskeleton and migration by syndecan-4
R.L. Longley, A. Woods, A. Fleetwood, G.J. Cowling, J.T. Gallagher, J.R. Couchman
Journal of Cell Science 1999 112: 3421-3431;
R.L. Longley
Department of Cell Biology and Cell Adhesion and Matrix Research Center, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, USA. jrcouchman@cellbio.bhs.uab.edu
For correspondence: jrcouchman@cellbio.bhs.uab.edu
A. Woods
A. Fleetwood
G.J. Cowling
J.T. Gallagher
J.R. Couchman
Syndecan-4 is a widely expressed transmembrane heparan sulfate proteoglycan which localizes to focal adhesions. Previous studies showed that the syndecan-4 cytoplasmic domain can associate with and potentiate the activity of protein kinase C, which is required for focal adhesion formation. To examine further the role of syndecan-4 in cell adhesion, we expressed syndecan-4 cDNA constructs in CHO-K1 cells. Syndecan-2 transfection was used to confirm effects seen were specific for syndecan-4. Cells overexpressing full length syndecan-4 core protein exhibited a more flattened, fibroblastic morphology, with increased focal adhesion formation and decreased cell motility. Expression of a syndecan-4 core protein with either a partial or complete deletion of the cytoplasmic domain or of an antisense construct led to markedly decreased spreading and focal adhesion formation, a more epithelioid morphology, and decreased motility. Overexpression of syndecan-2 changed the adhesive phenotype, but did not markedly alter focal adhesion and microfilament bundle formation. The data suggest that syndecan-4 is a regulator of focal adhesion and stress fiber formation, and influences both morphology and migration.
© 1999 by Company of Biologists
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Journal of Cell Science Editors are going to be out and about in July.
Meet Senior Editor Petra Gross at the 2nd Mechanobiology meeting in Vietnam, Executive Editor Sharon Ahmad at the GRC Molecular membrane biology conference and Editor in Chief Michael Way and Reviews Editor Manuel Breuer at the GRC Motile and contractile systems conference.
New manuscript transfer network between JCS, JCB and MBoC
Journal of Cell Science (JCS), Journal of Cell Biology (JCB) and Molecular Biology of the Cell (MBoC) announce a new manuscript transfer option that will empower authors whose manuscripts have been declined to seamlessly transfer their manuscripts and associated peer review reports between the journals.
Call for papers - Cell Biology of the Immune System
Journal of Cell Science is pleased to welcome submissions for an upcoming special issue on 'Cell Biology of the Immune System' edited by Ana-Maria Lennon-Duménil. We invite you to showcase your breakthrough research on all aspects of cell biology as it relates to the immune system. The articles within this issue will receive extensive exposure to a broad audience of cell biologists and immunologists. Extended submission deadline: 15 August 2019.
preLights - Cytoskeletal tension actively sustains the migratory T cell synaptic contact
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Catch up with other recent preLights selected for the cell science community.
Live imaging of ERK signalling dynamics in differentiating mouse embryonic stem cells
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NASHVILLE – Boko Haram militants are blamed for increased religious persecution in Nigeria, including the murder of 43 Christians and the wounding of many others in several year-end incidents, religious freedom watchdog groups have reported.
In two separate Christmas Eve attacks, 12 Christians including a pastor were killed and numerous others wounded at churches in Borno and Yobe states in Nigeria, according to reports from Christian Solidarity Worldwide, International Christian Concern and Morning Star News.
In the week following Christmas, 10 Christians were killed and five injured in various attacks on villages in Nigeria's Plateau state, Adeniyi Ojutiku, a U.S. associate of the Young Wing Christian Association of Nigeria, told Baptist Press.
Olasupo Ayokunle, president and chief executive officer of the Nigerian Baptist Convention (NBC), said the targeted slaughter of Christians at their homes is unprecedented.
The NBC has spent more than $100,000 on relief efforts for those affected by the violence, the BWA reported.
Many have blamed the violence on the Boko Haram, a militant group that has vowed to eradicate Christianity from Nigeria and impose a strict version of Islamic law.
Boko Haram is also suspected in a Dec. 1 raid on the village of Chibok in northeastern Nigeria, when militants entered private homes and slit the throats of 10 Christians, including a pastor, and in separate attacks setting fire to three churches, a police station and an immigration and customs office, according to the reports.
On Nov. 25, an attack including two suicide bombs at St. Andrew's Military Protestant Church in Jaji killed 11 people and wounded 30 others, Morning Star News reported.
Ojutiku, a member of Providence Baptist Church in Raleigh, N.C., is co-founder of the nonprofit Lift Up Now Foundation, a religious, social, economic and political justice outreach to Nigeria. (See related story.) Lift Up Now, with a Nigerian membership that Ojutiku numbers at 2,500, is among several entities encouraging the U.S. Congress to declare Boko Haram a "designated foreign terrorist organization," aimed at weakening the group's ability to attract money and military weapons.
Already, the U.S. State Department has listed three top Boko Haram leaders as "specially designated global terrorists," which Ojutiku said has had "immediate and sweeping" effects on Nigeria's political leadership.
Lift Up Now compiled in 2001 and continues to update a catalog of Boko Haram attacks. In the past decade, Boko Haram has killed approximately 4,000 people and dismembered or and seriously injured thousands more, according to Lift Up Now's count.


Google has just rolled out a host of new features for it's integrated payments app Google Pay, which was launched in January this year. Although these features were already announced by the company earlier, but Google through a blog post said that these updates were actually going live on the app today.
Sending money and splitting bills with friends now more convenient.
There won't be any use for Google Play send anymore, to request money from a friend, this feature has been added to the main Google Pay App. Gerardo Capiel, Google's Product management director noted that they have now made it even easier to split the bill between people. You can just tap on recent purchases and instantly request money from upto five people.
Users can now save concert tickets and boarding passes directly inside the app. As of now there are only two partners, Ticketmaster and South West although Google has assured more vendors like Eventbrite, Singapore Airlines and Vueling will be available soon.
Further, Google has now made changes to the way you manage your account, making the process easier. Payment information of your account can now be seen in the app or you can visit pay.Google.com. Since this information is now linked to your Google account, any changes will be visible across all devices logged in with your Google Pay account instantly.
Google integrated Android Pay and Google wallet in a single entity earlier this year and launched Google Pay. Now that Google has also added peer-to-peer transfers in it, it seems that Google pay send might be axed soon, although the company didn't confirm the same.
So if you are using Google pay send for peer-to-peer payment transfers, it might be time to shift to Google Pay.


Inspired by the elements that surround us everyday in the Paradise of the mexican caribbean.
Bento the first element of the YOSO Condos line, is a high quality architectural design project with 3 units on the ground floor of 2 bedrooms with terraces, garden and pool. 3 units of 2 bedrooms on the first floor, large terraces with view of green areas and 3 spacious PH of 2 bedrooms with rooftop and pool that create an open space to live.
Bento is designed in 3 towers that allow the breeze to flow among the walkways for the ambiance and enjoyment of the owners surrounded by lush vegetation and a pool in the common área.
A modern design with style. The condos are delivered completely furnished and equipped, offering to the owners a turnkey opportunity from the day of delivery. Everything you need from towels to sheets, kitchen utensils and televisions are provided.
Bento enjoys Premium location within an área that is experiencing a rapid growth and appreciation in Tulum. Bento optimizes the spaces in order to assure a balance. All the apartments has 2 bedrooms.
*Additionally the ground floor apartments have private garden and swimming pool with a jacuzzi. The PH have infinity pool with jacuzzi.
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Control the ball. Find the back of the net. These women's soccer shorts are ready to help you lead the charge. They feature a lightweight, ventilated design that keeps the air moving so you can focus on the ball.


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Kyrie Irving Helps Lead Brooklyn Nets to Comeback Win in His Season Debut
Irving, after missing the first 35 games of the season under the vaccine mandate, scored 22 points
By Mike Gavin	• Published January 5, 2022 • Updated on January 5, 2022 at 11:19 pm
The Brooklyn Nets' newest part-time employee was back to work on Wednesday.
Kyrie Irving made his season debut during the Nets' 129-121 victory over the Indiana Pacers after he missed the first 35 games of the season. Irving scored 10 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter, helping the Nets erase what had been a 19-point deficit.
Irving, who is not vaccinated for COVID-19, is not eligible to play in Brooklyn's home games under the New York City vaccinate mandate. The Nets initially decided to keep Irving away from the team rather than have him play part-time. That changed after the team suffered a COVID outbreak, forcing Kevin Durant and James Harden to play big minutes, leading to the Nets' decision to allow Irving to play road games in cities without a vaccine mandate.
After the game, Irving was asked whether his stance on the vaccine has changed.
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"I'm just taking it one day at a time," Irving said. "Like I said earlier in the season, it's not an ideal situation and I'm always praying that things get figured out and we're able to come to some collective agreement whether it be with the league or just things that are going on that can help kind of ease what we're all dealing with, with COVID and the vaccine. I think everybody's feeling it. So, I don't want to make it simply about me and simply about someone lessening the rules for me. I know what the consequences were, I still know what they are. But right now, I'm just going to take it one day at at time and just enjoy this time that I get to play with my guys. However it looks later in the season then we'll address it then."
It was the just the 15th game that Irving, Durant and Harden were on the court together, and first since June 5, 2021, when the Nets faced the Bucks in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.
It was a slow start for Irving, who took and missed the first shot of the game. He went scoreless in the first after shooting 0-for-3 from the field and had two turnovers in the quarter. It was Pacers guard and Brooklyn native Lance Stephenson, fresh off signing a 10-day contract to return to Indiana, who stole the show early. Stephenson scored 20 straight points for the Pacers over six minutes in the first quarter, helping the Pacers take a 37-32 lead.
Irving's first bucket came on a pull-up jumper in the paint early in the second quarter.
Kyrie Irving's first basket of the game.
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He went on to score eight points over a two-minute span, capped when he grabbed a defensive rebound, pushed the ball down court, split two defenders and hit a runner off glass.
KAI goes coast to coast@KyrieIrving #NBAAllStar pic.twitter.com/YsSXJ9a4fx
— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) January 6, 2022
The Nets trailed by as many as 19 in the third before Irving capped an 8-0 run with a jumper at the buzzer to pull Brooklyn within 101-94 heading into the fourth.
🚨 Buzzer beater! @KyrieIrving #NBAAllStar pic.twitter.com/nVHJwaNXBz
After Patty Mills hit a three to put the Nets in front, Irving drained a pair of jumpers to push the lead to 111-106 with 6:14 remaining. Back-to-back drives by Irving later in the quarter increased the lead to double figures, helping to seal the comeback win.
#13 ➡ #11 pic.twitter.com/fVna2VF6rk
Irving finished with 22 points on 9-for-17 shooting in 32 minutes. He added four assists, three rebounds and three steals.
"I've had a lot of debuts but nothing comes close to this one," Irving said. "It meant a little bit more just because at this stage, taking off eight months or being out of the game for eight months and coming back in, there's so much uncertainty. How many minutes? What's the flow of the game going to be like? How are my teammates going to feel? What's the game flow going to be? You just don't have any idea. So I went in with an open mind set just to ground myself, be present and do whatever it takes to win."
Durant led the Nets with 39 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Harden added 18 points, six assists and five rebounds.
The Nets return home to take on the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday and San Antonio Spurs on Sunday, two games Irving will not be permitted to play in. The next game Irving is eligible to play in is on Monday in Portland against the Trail Blazers.
Kyrie IrvingNBAKevin DurantBrooklyn Nets


Portsmouth � Robert F. �Twig� McManus, 77, of Portsmouth, RI, died Saturday, March 8, 2014, at home surrounded by his family.
He was the husband of Carol (Boiani) McManus for 50 years.
Born on April 25, 1936 in Newport, RI, he was the son of the late Edward and Mary (Rosa) McManus.
Mr. McManus graduated from De La Salle Academy and Providence College.
He served in the Marines during the Korean War. Mr. McManus began a long civil service career working for the Federal Highway Division and finally with HUD (Housing and Urban Development) for 38 years as a real estate appraiser. He enjoyed golf, attending his children�s sporting events and was an avid Red Sox fan. Twig particularly enjoyed spending time at Sandy Point Beach, so much so, the local neighborhood gang nicknamed him the �Senior Lifeguard�. Mr. McManus was a former Post Commander at the VFW in Middletown and also a member of the Elks Lodge in Newport.
Besides his wife, he is survived by his children, Allison McManus of Woonsocket, RI, Edward McManus and Robert McManus both of Portsmouth, RI, his siblings, Elizabeth Bric, Alan Hinds and Carol Nugent, his grandchildren Mariah and Mariana, several nieces and nephews and his best pal, his Pomeranian, Jet Black.
He was the father of the late Veronica McManus and brother of the late Edward McManus.
Donations in his memory may be made to the Portsmouth Fire Department, PO Box 806, Portsmouth, RI 02871, or to the Visiting Nurse Services of Newport and Bristol Counties, 1184 East Main Road, Portsmouth, RI 02871.
Additional information available at: www.memorialfuneralhome.com.


Aluminum sheet mainly includes AA1xxx, AA3xxx, AA5xxx, for instance, 1060, 3003, 3005, 5052, etc.
Sheet thickness: 0.2-3.0mm, Width≤1300mm, coating thickness as per customer's requirements.
through resistance. Therefore, it can avoid dust and is easy to remove.
Electronics/Food/Optical Instrument, Medical Facility and other industries requiring anti-static.


Make a high impact statement by using space saving Showcards to promote your product or message.
We produce our Showcards onto thick display board, which provides an excellent print surface. Showcards can be produced with struts to the rear to allow for a freestanding display.
There are a variety of sizes available with A4 and A3 being the commonly requested sizes. Showcards can be supplied in matt or gloss finish.


Eighty-five percent of self-described middle-class adults say it's more difficult now than a decade ago to maintain their standard of living.
Middle-class incomes have shrunk in size over the past four decades. In the past decade alone, the middle-class median income fell five percent, but median wealth (assets minus debt) fell 28% to $93,150.
The middle class includes 51% of adults who bring in 45% of the nation's income—down from 61% in 1971 who brought in 62% of income.
Sixty-two percent of middle-class Americans said they had to reduce household spending in the past year because money was tight, up from 53% who said the same in the recession year of 2008.
Financial problems of the middle class are part of a long-term wealth distribution shift in America, not simply an outcome of the slow recovery from the recession.
Pricing will therefore continue to be a highly sensitive issue for food retailers. So far operators such as Aldi, Save-A-Lot, dollar stores, and clubs have taken share from traditional supermarkets. The pricing challenge will mount as online food sellers bring new efficiencies and conveniences to shoppers, often for a nominal difference of delivery fees—which Millennials and time-stressed households often willingly pay.
The Lempert Report urges retailers and CPG to find their own pricing sweet spots with consumers—the fair value they can charge while yielding the margins and sales growth they need. RSR Research shows interest in markdown forecast and planning (24% of retailers surveyed), promotion optimization (23%), inventory management (23%), regular price optimization (20%) and price intelligence software (18%).
There's less interest in using price to drive top-line sales (39% in 2013, down from 58% in 2010), and continued greater interest in using price to improve margins (60% in 2013, albeit down from 82% in 2010), finds RSR.
Domestic and international retailers could further fine tune their retail prices, using insights from a Smartling column in the Harvard Business Review. It describes how people from different cultures see some numbers as lucky or unlucky. For example, the Chinese like 666, but many Asian cultures repel from 4, 9, 13 and 17.


text:
Home » Issues & Policy » Digital Resources
Photo credit: Nick Zungoli
Check out some of our videos and presentations!
17Forward86 Panel- 2021 VHV QCC
Incorporating Diversity into Placemaking/ Community Revitalization Panel- 2021 VHV QCC
Destigmatizing Mental Health Panel- 2021 VHV QCC
Cultivating Safer Spaces- 2021 VHV QCC
Regional Trails Development Discussion Panel- 2021 VHV QCC
2017 Placemaking Conference
Mark Fenton- Triple Bottom Line Keynote Presentation
Gary Toth- Placemaking for People, Not Cars
Doug Hovey- Accessibility for All
KT Tobin: Value of Open Spaces Presentation
Sandra Jobson 4/10/19 Presentation
Visit & Subscribe our YouTube Channel!
Connect with fellow area non-profits & agencies
Orange County Planning Department
Orange County Planning Department's website, where links can be found to valuable reports and data.
Community Foundation of Orange & Sullivan Counties
Originally started by The Citizens Foundation in 1998, the Community Foundation of Orange and Sullivan Counties has grown into a flourishing planned giving vehicle.
Leadership Orange
An initiative begun by the Citizens Foundation, the Times Herald-Record, and the Chamber of Commerce in 1994, Leadership Orange is now known as the County's premier leadership training program. Over 400 emerging leaders have participated in the program, and it continues to grow annually.
Orange County Arts Council
The Citizens Foundation and the County of Orange have partnered to develop an Arts Council.
Mid Hudson Pattern for Progress
Regional planning and policy organization for a nine-county region, including Orange.
SUNY Orange
SUNY Orange was founded in 1950. It is the first county-sponsored community college in the State University of New York system.
Orange County Land Trust
The Land Trust had been created to preserve the fields, forests, wetlands, ridgelines, and river corridors in, and around, Orange County, through voluntary land conservation.
Orange County Tourism
Orange County Tourism is the official headquarters for tourism in the county, and also serves as an office of Hudson Valley Tourism, the regional I LOVE NEW YORK organization.
Sugar Loaf Chamber of Commerce
The Citizens Foundation is located on the Seligmann Homestead in the lovely artisan hamlet of Sugar Loaf.
Orange County Partnership
The Orange County Partnership is the County's economic development agency.
Orange County Chamber of Commerce
The Orange County Chamber of Commerce leads the way, creating and supporting an environment in which businesses succeed and quality of life is enhanced. With more than 2,300 members, the Chamber is the largest business and professional organization in the Mid-Hudson region, and one of the 10 largest in New York State.
Orange County Arboretum
The Citizens Foundation worked with former Commissioner of Parks Graham Skea, the Ottaway Family, and the County of Orange, to begin the Orange County Arboretum and the Friends of the Orange County Arboretum in the mid-1990s.
Empire State Future
A statewide coalition of 25 member organizations leading the citizen effort to improve New York's economic and civic potential through Smart Growth.
Historic Photos and Maps of Orange County
Real Estate Solutions has dedicated an area on their website to showcasing historic photos and maps of the region. View these and submit your own.
Orange County Heritage Trail/Orange
Orange Pathways is a non-profit organization founded in 1990 by local residents in cooperation with the Orange County Citizens Foundation. Its purpose is to promote and develop multi-recreational trails in Orange County, New York.
Orange County Parks Department
Learn more about the wonderful recreational opportunities available from the County's Parks Department.
28th Annual Ottaway Medal Dinner
Vision Hudson Valley


text:
Tipton: Another Double signing boost Jan 30, 2018
Sorry but we do not have a video of our new signings playing the piano but we are happy to announce the signing of teenager Connor Farrelly and 22-year-old Alan O'Sullivan who have completed their moves which has been greeted with optimism with the faithful fans.
Manager Matthew Tipton said "We are very excited to have managed to sign Connor Farrelly from Glasgow Celtic. Connor was the most sought after young player in the whole country when he signed for Celtic last summer, unfortunately for Connor he couldn't quite settle in Glasgow & when I heard of his situation from his Cousin Padraig Robinson from our u20 squad I was delighted to be able to get him into training with us for a few sessions.
"During that time I was in contact with Celtic & I must place on record my gratitude & appreciation for the way they helped us to get the signature of Connor.
"Connor whilst only still 16 will be straight into our first team squad & our fans should be excited to see a young hungry forward who possesses excellent movement off the ball, pace & an eye for goal."
"Another player I'm delighted to announce is Alan O'Sullivan from Malahide United. Alan came to my attention a few years ago whilst still a youngster at Aberdeen.
"He's a young player at 22 that has a wealth of experience at LOI level as well as professionally in Scotland & also youth international football for Republic of Ireland."
"Alan actually came to us pre season 2016/17 & played a game v Rathfriland however logistics prevented a deal getting sorted at that time. I've kept my eye on Alan over that period & with him scoring 13 goals in 13 games for Malahide in the very competitive Leinster league as well as finishing with the Silver boot at the World University Games last summer gave me no hesitation in bringing Alan into the club to give us competition for the forward positions.
"In welcoming both players to the football club I would like to thank the continued efforts of the Board members in helping to facilitate these transfers & also the vocal support that you the fans have shown the players over the last few games. It's very much appreciated from the players, staff & myself.
GGWTFC


I was about to leave Florence, when Shoko Matsuoka's shop surfaced at the beginning of an alley. I thought I knew all bespoke shoemakers in Florence, but this one I had never seen before.
There was reason. Shoko Matsuoka has opened her shop just earlier this year. She comes from Maninna close by, where she has had her apprenticeship.
Shoko Matsuoka makes both men's shoes and women's shoes. She builds her shoes around patched plastic lasts instead of wooden lasts. I have noticed this practice has become common among shoemakers. I guess plastic lasts have reached a level that make them just as fine as wooden lasts.
Her price of 1200 Euros for a pair of traditional oxford shoes, which includes trial shoes, is almost a bargain in Florence. Other shoemakers there are in the range of 1500 to 2500 Euros for a pair of classic shoes.
Shoko Matsuoka is located at Ramaglianti 6. She has no website yet.
I am quite certain that the craftsmen who produce Ferraris don't actually arrive at Maranello in cars they produce themselves. And yet, I would still deem the cars they produce to be of very high quality.


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Q: Can I use 'near' method in Geocoder to check two models? I have 2 models: Business and Program.
class Business < ActiveRecord::Base
has_many :programs

class Program < ActiveRecord::Base
belongs_to :business

Businesses have many programs. Both businesses and programs have latitude and longitude columns in their respective tables. Sometimes program is the same address as business, but not always. Right now I only store address for Program in programs table if it is different from business's address, meaning latitude / longitude columns are blank if it is the same. If I do keep address blank for a program instance (latitude & longitude are blank), I would like to use Geocoder .near method call to search also include the address of Business from business table.
In other words, if I do this now:
@programs = Program.near(params....)

I only get programs that have latitude / longitude recorded in the Programs table. Obviously this is expected. Is there any way to change either the near method (without forking the gem) or use scopes to have the call above also check Businesses table if latitude / longitude is blank for a Program instance?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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Thirty New Nieman Fellows Include Many Newspaper Journalists
The Nieman Foundation has named 30 U.S. and international journalists — including many from newspapers — as 2007-2008 Nieman Fellows at Harvard Unversity.
Among them are:
— Alicia Anstead, Bangor (Maine) Daily News, who'll study "the imaginative, political, and historical underpinnings of art in a consumer culture."
— Gaiutra Bahadur, a freelance journalist who has written for The Philadelphia Inquirer, who'll study the consequences of globalization for developing countries.
— Josh Benton, staff reporter at The Dallas Morning News, who'll look at the impact of school-rating systems like No Child Left Behind.
— James Causey, night city editor of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, who'll study the marketing/advertising strategies of the hip-hop industry and their impact on cities.
— Kate Galbraith, a freelancer who has written for publications such as The New York Times and The Boston Globe, who'll explore how government policy fosters or impedes the development of alternative-energy technologies such as solar power or biofuels.
— Jenifer McKim, reporter for the Orange County (Calif.) Register, who'll study the problem of child prostitution and the related issues of gender, family, and sexuality that put young women at risk.
— Dean Miller, executive editor at The Post Register of Idaho Falls, who'll study "the role of faith and pluralism in American communities."
— Mary Newsom, editorial writer at The Charlotte Observer, who'll look into "what lies ahead for cities and metro regions and the media that help provide a sense of identity and a shared sense of mission to these communities."
— Olivera Perkins, staff reporter at The Plain Dealer of Cleveland, who'll study the racial implications of urban sprawl, how policy decisions affect racially-segregated housing patterns, and what role those decisions play in high urban foreclosure rates.
— Dan Vergano, science reporter for USA Today, who'll explore "the troubled marriage of science and society" as it relates to the debate about stem-cell research, evolutionary biology, and climate change.
— Abdul Razzaq al-Saiedi, Iraq, a reporter in The New York Times' Baghdad bureau, who'll study "human-rights law and transitional justice in post-war and post-authoritarian societies as well as examine the role that Islam plays in establishing human-rights laws."
— James Baxter, editorial page editor of the Edmonton Journal, who'll study "the legal, economic, and foreign-policy questions arising from increased international focus on how humans effect the environment."
— Andres Cavelier of Colombia, multimedia manager for El Nuevo Herald, Miami, who'll study how U.S. and Latin American media, especially online operations, increasingly impact the more than 41 million Hispanics living in the U.S. and their families overseas.
— Melanie Gosling, environmental reporter at The Cape Times in South Africa, who'll explore "the nature of the global economy and its role in developing countries."
— Aboubakr Jamai of Morocco, journalist and former publisher of Le Journal in Casablanca, who'll study democratization and economic development.
— Siew Ying Leu of Malaysia, a correspondent for the South China Morning Post, who'll study the role China's rural population will play in the political and economic future of the country.
— Andrew Meldrum, correspondent, The Guardian and Observer, United Kingdom, who'll study the role of the press in Zimbabwe and South Africa to assess how effective it has been in holding political leaders to their pledges of good governance and improved living standards.
— Raul Penaranda of Bolivia, editorial director at La Epoca, who'll study the relationship between a country's economic structure and its living standards.
— Andrew Quinn of the United Kingdom, senior Southern Africa correspondent for Reuters, who'll study the politics, economics, and public-policy implications of AIDS vaccine research.
— Fernando Rodrigues of Brazil, columnist for Fohla de S. Paulo, who'll look into how governments evolve in Third World countries and the different forms democratic governments take.
— Jing Zhao (Michael Anti) of China, a reporter in The New York Times' Beijing bureau, who'll study how the role of the media changes during political transformation in countries such as China, Iran, and Russia.
More than 1,200 journalists from 88 countries have studied at Harvard as Nieman Fellows since the program was established in 1938.
← Hearst D.C. Bureau Reports Second Iraq 'Surge' Planned; Pentagon Denies
Key Bancroft Family Member Nixes Murdoch Dow Jones Bid →


Airbnb dodged a bullet in one of its most popular cities and earliest adopters, San Francisco, when the city's mayor stopped efforts to place greater limits on home sharing there.
Last month, the city's board of supervisors passed a bill in a 6-2 vote that decreased the number of nights that hosts can rent their houses and apartments on Airbnb from 90 days to just 60 days in a year. Currently, they can rent rooms or their entire homes for up to 90 days when they are not present. If hosts are present during the stay of guests, they can lease rooms year round.
"I have concluded that this legislation will make registration and enforcement of our short-term rental regulations more difficult and less effective, and risks driving even more people to illegal rent units," the mayor said in his veto letter.
"Other cities have found balanced solutions, we can too," Lee said in his veto letter, vowing to work with Breed on improving the regulations and enforcement.
Not only did Lee reject the bill, he underscored that this in line with where voters are. Last year, voters rejected a proposal to place a 75-day cap on short-term rentals.
The bill is likely dead since it doesn't have enough votes to override the veto, and lawmakers are upset, but won't give up.
"I'm disappointed, but the mayor has finally agreed to work with me and stakeholders to look at regulations and long-term solutions," [Board of Supervisors President London] Breed told the San Francisco Examiner. "We will develop a working group and make recommendations by the end of February 2017 to address some of the most challenging issues with this industry."
Furthermore, Airbnb has a lawsuit in federal court against San Francisco over fines of as much as $1,000 a day for each listing from hosts not registered with the city. Airbnb contends that enforcing the fines would be onerous and a violation of free speech rights. We'll see if they keep the lawsuit in light of their "win" with the mayor.
Lately, Airbnb has shifted from its stand of defiance against added regulations to one of acquiesce as it has brokered deals with New York City and New Orleans as well as cities overseas.
This is an important turn of events considering the history that Airbnb has with San Francisco. The company launched there just eight years ago and not only is Airbnb headquartered there, but San Francisco was the first to work with Airbnb to legalize short-term rentals. Other cities are looking to San Francisco for cues on how to proceed with Airbnb in the future.
Let's hope the lesson they take away is to embrace common-sense policies that encourage individuals and families to use home sharing options as both a home-away-from-home and a way to generate extra income.


Offer an MVC ActionResult as an alternative to using the HttpModule.
ASP.NET MVC is intrinsically limited (by bad design), and cannot achieve the same performance as an HttpModule can, because it cannot pass a request completely back to IIS for handling.
In addition, an ActionResult cannot control which routes are directed to it, which means the CloudFront, Image404, ImageHandlerSyntax, and ImageFolderSyntax plugins cannot be supported from the ActionResult.
This limitation also means that the developer will be responsible for creating routes for every syntax he wishes to use, every plugin he wishes to use, and every file extension (or lack thereof) he wishes to support. Plugins which will probably need separat routes: Diagnostics, RemoteReader, SqlReader, AzureReader, MongoReader, and Gradient.
And since an ActionResult cannot 'escape' handling a request, even serving static, unmodified images will have to be routed through managed code, adding additional overhead.
The ImageResizer offers .RewriteDefaults, .Rewrite, .PostRewrite, and .AuthorizeImage events that are far more capable and flexible than ASP.NET routes, and offer better performance.
However, it seems that many users are determined to 'take advantage' of MVC, and I've gotten many e-mails from users making their own ActionResult classes that are even worse than they could be, lacking even integration with the disk caching system, proper memory management, or correct caching and content-type headers.
So, it seems that the only thing to do for these folks is provide a proper (yet intrinsically hopeless) implementation so they won't shoot themselves in the foot.
Whats the status of this ?
Is there any examples of how to use ActionResult and still get the benefits of ImageResizing ??
In my case, i want to store the images in a folder, not acceccible by URL, I want them to be located on a Network drive and then let MVC load them dynamically.
@Sam Have you looked at the Pipeline.AuthorizeImage event? What about the HttpModule approach seems difficult?
It's true, I do need to vastly improve the documentation, but I'm even more concerned if you've found limitations with the HttpModule.
The thing is that there are situations where image requests need to hook into the infrastructure of a website. For example usage for a project I've been involved in requires the images being resized to be secured based on user roles and metadata associated with the image record. For this project, it makes sense to route these requests via an MVC controller so the authorisation approach and code is standardised across both views and images.
So, whilst usage of ActionResult may indicate naivety, there are legitimate reasons to deal with image requests via MVC controllers.
Honestly I think that if you wish to discourage use of ActionResult, you need to make the HttpModule approach easier, rather than make ActionResult harder to use and disadvantage those of us who have legitimate reasons for using it.
Just make it hard to do. Many people understand Actions, not many understand HttpModules. They will usually do what they understand, even if it isn't right.


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text:
Right comes full circle
By Paul Jackson
Sunday October 15, 2006 at 9:40 am
Political tome reads like a thriller
Prime Minister Stephen Harper is definitely his own man.
As was Canadian Alliance leader Stockwell Day.
So was Reform party founder Preston Manning.
Prime Minister Brian Mulroney's great strength was also his greatest weakness.
That comes through clearly in a masterful new book Full Circle: Death and Resurrection in Canadian Conservative Politics by Bob Plamondon (Key Porter Books, $36.95).
Mulroney, a close friend of mine going back to 1976, believed if you built friendships and trusted people, you could win over everyone and everything.
For a time, Mulroney did—he won back-to-back huge majority governments.
But he put too much faith in the devious Lucien Bouchard, who went on to lead the Bloc Quebecois.
Then he figured he could bring Reform party leader Preston Manning onside without realizing Manning actually wanted to "reform" Conservatism in Canada, not just win elections.
Yet this enthralling work really isn't a book about simply Mulroney as principal character: Its cover features three photographs, those of Manning, Stephen Harper and Peter MacKay.
However, Mulroney threads his way throughout the pages one after one.
It is now easy to see why Canadian Alliance leader Stockwell Day went to see Mulroney for advice on how to win an election, and why Prime Minister Stephen Harper is a close confidant and friend of Mulroney.
Harper started out on the far right, where philosophically, he likely still is, but under Mulroney's guidance, softened his image.
Winning, as Mulroney knew well, is all that matters.
Manning didn't want to join Mulroney's Progressive Conservative fold, no matter what was offered in a cosmetic way. So Mulroney, the skilled labour lawyer who thought he could bring any two sides together, lost out.
His big faultline—and Reform's big breakthrough—was giving the CF-18 fighter jet maintenance contract to Montreal's Canadair rather than Winnipeg's Bristol Aerospace Company.
Bristol was the low bidder, and the better company, but Mulroney had to appease his Quebec base.
With that, Western alienation took off as the PCs in Western Canada nose-dived.
So, in 1993, Mulroney re-signed and gave up the leadership to the hapless Kim Campbell, who took the party down to just two seats. With the Conservative vote split, Jean Chretien's Liberals had easy wins on their hands.
Canada went into a tailspin. Fortunately, voters started to see through the Liberals' lack of principle, especially when Paul Martin took over the leadership.
That gave Harper an opening, and with Mulroney's advice, he forged an alliance with MacKay's dwindling Progressive Conservatives.
The Liberal game was up.
Plamondon offers so many insights into recent Canadian politics, this book reads like a thriller.
He contends that despite the CF-18 contract fiasco, the Mulroney government was the best friend Western Canada ever had and he unveils the so-called "principled" defection of Belinda Stronach to the Liberals.
Read this and you'll realize why no sane man—MacKay aside—would ever date Belinda.
The split between Manning and Harper is well drawn, too.
Absorbing these pages, it becomes ever more frustrating to realize the "unite the right" movement by Manning, Day and Harper was sabotaged by Joe Clark's ego solely to the benefit of the Chretien/Martin regimes.
Ponder how Clark publicly admitted he preferred Martin to Harper.
In the U.S., books on politics become bestsellers.
It's too bad that's not the case in our own country.
This should be read by every Canadian.
Or, at least, every Canadian who votes.
Latest posts by Paul Jackson (see all)
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Raising Girls That Pimps and Thugs Will Hate: Part 3
Vancouver Sun sticking with story


The Basics Of Wall Framing?
In this wall framing primer we will present to you some very basic information about the components you will be working with when building a garage to frame your garage walls with. For those who are familiar with these basics, it will seem elementary, and you can skip it. For those of you who are not, it will be worth your time to familiarize yourself with this basic information.The main component you will be working with in your garage wall framing stage of building a garage is the 2 x 4 shown below. Notice it doesn't read 2" x 4"! The phrase 2 x 4 is a Call Name for a wall component that actually measures 1-1/2" x 3-1/2".
Prior to World War II, a 2 x 4 measured anywhere from 1-1/2" to 2" x 3-5/8" to 4". Those were the days of plastered wall construction and variations in wall framing thickness were made up with long screed-boards (8') as the three-layers of plaster were applied. It was not very exacting when it came to door and window jamb dimensions, and most were custom cut on the job site for each individual opening.
After World War II, production housing came into play to meet the huge demand of returning veterans and uniform thickness gypsum board replaced plaster walls in wood frame construction in the United States and Canada. This required wall framing components that were very close to uniform, dimensionally.
The new 2 x 4 was born by the process of milling a 2" x 4" (rough-sawn size) into a 2 x 4 call-name component that measured 1-1/2" x 3-1/2". The diagram at the right shows the actual rough-cut 2" x 4" that the 2 x 4 is milled from, within the broken outline.
Following in this wall framing primer, is additional definitive information about the 2 x 4. You need to know these terms, what they mean, and how they relate to each other in the make-up of a wood-framed wall when building a garage.
♦ 2 x 4 Stud 8': The pre-cut stud for an 8' high wall measures 92-5/8" and fits between the 2 x 4 Sole Plate (bottom) and the first Top Plate. It travels from bottom to top undisturbed and is a structural member delivering structural loads to the foundation from above (Ceiling and Roof).
♦ 2 x 4 Stud 9': The pre-cut stud for a 9' high wall measures 104-5/8".
♦ 2 x 4 x 8': A 2 x 4 that measures from 8' to 8' 1" in length. These call lengths have to be cut to whatever exact length you need. This applies to all specified call length lumber except pre-cuts which are usually only studs.
♦ On-Spacing: The term for a 2 x 4 component that falls on the spacing plan such as 16" or 24" on-center (actually "edge-to-edge").
♦ Off-Spacing: The term for a 2 x 4 component that falls off of the spacing plan of 16" or 24" on-center such as a King Stud or Trimmer.
♦ Cripple Stud: A less than full-length 2 x 4 stud that sits over or below a wall opening component such as a Header or Sill Plate, and does not run continuous from the sole plate to the top plate, but is required for continuous on-spacing (see illustration below).
♦ King Stud: A full length pre-cut stud that is the beginning of a rough-opening in the wall. It may be on-spacing or off-spacing. It runs continuous from Sole Plate to the Top Plate. The King Stud is no different from a regular 2 x 4 full-length stud except that it is the beginning and end of a rough opening for a window or door.
♦ Trimmer: A less than full-length 2 x 4 stud that sits inside a King Stud at a rough-opening for a window or door and is the primary structural support for a Header near the top of the rough-opening. Trimmers must be nailed to the King Stud they adjoin with 16d nails every 6" on-center. This aids in transferring some of the structural load they carry to the King Stud.
Study the the Wall Framing Primer diagram below with it's components. Become familiar with the concept of on-spacing and off-spacing. A rough-opening for a door or window can be placed anywhere in the wall. Still, you need your continuous on-spacing component members so that exterior structural sheathing, and interior gypsum board, always have the center of some component to land on for nailing when building a garage.
The spacing scheme at 16" or 24" on-center is designed to accommodate the application of wall materials that are 8' in length. That way, when applying those materials, everything can be cut to fall at the center of a framing component be it a Cripple Stud, King Stud, Stud or Trimmer. Plain Studs and Cripple Studs are always on-spacing. Everything else can be on-spacing or off-spacing, depending upon the layout. A thorough understanding of these wall framing primer elementary basics, will make the wall framing portion of building a garage much easier for the do-it-yourself owner.