text:
Children Indulging in Iraqi Violence to the Level of Suicide
Assa'ad and Omran are almost the same age of eighteen. They share a cell at the Juveniles' prison in Baghdad, away from their families that live in Dawrah, south of the capital. Both boys joined armed groups and participated in bloody acts of violence in 2006. What distinguishes them is that they are members in opposing groups that kill based on identity.
Prison may be the best destiny for the two boys. Hundreds of their peers were killed in battles or were blown to pieces in suicide bombings for which they were recruited by armed organizations.
Asa'ad Husam Eddin prefers to stay in jail so that he does not become subject to a tribal judgment that condemns him to death for participating in four members of one family. During his childhood, Asa'ad was known by the name "Al-'Allas", a term in Iraqi dialect describing children recruited as informers for armed groups. Among his duties was to select a target and monitors its movements so that the armed group could abduct and execute him.
According to his confessions, Asa'ad was active in monitoring people in his neighborhood, and informing Al-Qa'eda elements about their moves, in return for $200 per person.
Omran Abbas has a similar record, except that he used to work for the opposing group. He is spending a sentence of 15 years in jail after being convicted of committing acts of violence in Abu Dsheir area, one street from Al-Daourah. Residents of the two areas belong to two different confessions. Abbas was fourteen when he joined armed groups opposing Al-Qa'eda. He participated in acts of violence during the peak of confessional violence in 2006. Shortly before that, his father was kidnapped by Al-Qa'eda, and was later found beheaded in the 'no-man's-land" separating the two "fighting" areas.
As an act of revenge for a lost relative, or to follow in someone's footsteps, many boys whom we met at the Juvenile Prison, such as Nathem Jabbar, Mahdi Hassan and Sa'doun, and hundreds of others, fell victim to the phenomenon of recruiting children by armed groups that emerged after the battles of the spring and summer of 2004 in Al-Fallujah and Al-Najaf.
A number of armed groups emerged in Iraq after those brutal battles, and spread between Sunni and Shi'ite affiliations. Most of these organizations, however, participated in battles over time, but the major part ended after the spring of 2008.
The most dangerous organization, which continued practicing violence with a steady methodology, was Al-Qa'eda that concentrated its operations after 2003 in Al-Anbar region. It then managed to control a number of cities and governorates such as Salaheddin, Ninawa, South Kirkuk, South Baghdad and North Bael (see Link number 1 – Map showing the spread of Al-Qa'eda).
The phenomenon of recruiting children by Al-Qa'eda developed form training them in monitoring, collection of information and transferring messages among combatants, to planting explosive devices and participating in killings, to carrying out suicide bombings, in the peak of sectarian violence between 2006 and 2007.
Suicide, Revenge and Kidnap
Before that, recruiting children in suicide bombings was rare and rather erratic. The first operation was carried out by a child of ten years in the fall of 2005, targeting the chief of Kirkuk police (250 kilometers north of Baghdad). After about two months, two children carried out two suicide bombings against the American forces in Al-Fallujah, Al-Anbar province (110 kilometers northwest of the capital, and Al-Huwijeh of the Kirkuk governorate. In the summer of 2008, a child of ten years, disguised as a peddler, followed one of the most prominent leaders of Al-Sahwah in Tarmiyyeh area, Sheikh Emad Jassem, for three consecutive days, after which he succeeded in detonating himself near the Sheikh, whose leg was amputated as a result of the explosion. In the same year, a girl of thirteen carried out a suicide bombing in Ba'quba, the central city of Deyala governorate (57 kilometers east of Baghdad) resulting in the death of a number of Al-Sahwah followers.
The military leader who investigated that operation, as well as a number of child suicide bombings in Deyala, points out that most operations carried out by children are "revengeful" in nature and mostly take place in areas where Al-Qa'eda influence has subsided in favor of Al-Sahwah.
The Media official in Al-Anbar police headquarters, however, sees that "some suicide bombings were not vengeful in nature. The last of these operations were carried out by two children, one of whom had been sedated and the other was mentally unstable." The two children were fit with explosive belts and sent to checkpoints. However, a mistake in the timing of the explosive belts enabled the security forces to dismantle them, according to the media official. He further explains that "fitting explosive belts around children's bodies is a tactic used by Al-Qa'eda over the past years." Another method used was to send closed explosive packages by hand with children, and to detonate them from a distance the minute the children are in close proximity to security forces or when they board civilian cars or arrive in markets."
The father of the mentally deranged suicide bomber child says that his son Ghazi was kidnapped from in front of the family house in Al-Khaldiyyah area of Al-Anbar, a former stronghold of Al-Qa'eda. His fate was unknown until he was found near the checkpoint with an explosive belt around his waist. Ghazi's father is now very worried because his younger son was also kidnapped at the beginning of last October, and might be used in the same manner unless he pays the ransom the kidnappers demand.
Dirgham, a mongoloid child was booby-trapped by elements from Al-Qa'eda after he was tempted to buy sweets from a shop near a security center where elements from the police force shop during their break. The child was killed, and with him a number of policemen and shoppers. Despite this, the child's father refuses to criticize Al-Qa'eda in fear that they might return one day.
Fathers Fear Children
Fear from Al-Qa'eda's revenge is not restricted to Dirgham's father, but extends to many people with whom this report-writer talked. They refrained from telling their experiences with the process their children were recruited.
A high-ranking officer from Al-Anbar says that sleeping Al-Qa'eda cells become active during certain periods, then go back to sleep, which indicates that risking the exposure of details may not be liked by the organization, and may mean paying with lives. This officer tells the story of three children who burnt their father to death. The father was a moderate religious man. They placed him between old rubber tires and set them on fire, simply because he criticized Al-Qa'eda.
We asked one of the fathers if he had made any effort to prevent his children from joining Al-Qa'eda. He answered: "I lived for years hesitating to take any step such as this, afraid that they may kill me if I went too far."Although the son left Iraq to a neighboring country after the defeats Al-Qa'eda received, the father continues to be careful that the son may one day return.
Faris Al-Obeidi summarizes children's motives in joining armed groups in two words: "poverty" and "revenge."
An official in research at the Juveniles' Prison, however, believes that "unemployment and family disintegration" are the main reasons, in addition to some sort of "ideological thought" that prevails at home, as the first incubator that attracts children to the circle of violence. Iraq is "eligible for its children to pursue violence, because it lived for decades in a state of conflict and continuous wars."
Fawwaz Ibrahim, the social researcher relates this phenomenon to the period preceding 2003; the date of the American invasion of Baghdad. Years before that date, "children, named 'Saddam's Cubs' participated in operations of killing and cutting hands and tongues in many areas. Militarization of children was part of the militarization of society which the last century witnessed." At that time, "Al-Tala'e organization, which was part of the Ba'ath party used to recruit children in groups affiliated with the authority, to monitor the neighbor, street, the school and even the home, reporting periodically about anybody suspected of opposing the regime."
The researcher connects between the practices of the followers of Al-Tala'e and the specialty of most recruited children in reporting to armed organizations about all details going on in their vicinity.
He is joined in this rhetoric the researcher Al-Obaidi: "For a person to be a hero in an ideological army is something like a dream that children have when living in a society dominated by violence." Hence, Al-Obaidi sees that "recruitment will not be difficult in a society where children boast about flaunting their power, that starts with carrying plastic toy weapons and forming groups to launch imaginary attacks from one street to another, declaring allegiance to armed groups that have a strong grip on areas, attending their events and military parades."
Going Along with the Party in Power
Ali Al-Massoudi, the activist specializing in armed groups' thought has documented a number of the features of children joining armed groups. He sees that recruitment depends basically on "the recruited child's environment". In most cases, the child gets carried away with the prevailing beliefs prevailing in his home, street and neighborhood where he lives. Al-Massoudi divides this phenomenon into four levels: Information collection or monitoring (less than ten years), carrying firearms, participating in guard duties and checkpoints (13 – 18 years) and getting involved in violent operations such as kidnapping, killing and participating in street fights (15 – 18 years). The more dangerous level, according to Al-Massoudi, is carrying out suicide operations, normally connected to Al-Qa'eda organization.
The first level prevails in "areas that are closed ideologically, especially during the period of confessional violence when armed groups enjoyed the sympathy of the area residents." Children grouping t crossroads were active in informing armed men about the arrival of American troops, preparing to detonate explosives near them.
One specialist at the Ministry of Interior says that recruiting children is not restricted to one armed group and not the other, "despite variation in the level of their concentration." This specialist saw for himself large numbers of children carrying arms at the "Jund El-Sama'a (Soldiers of Heaven) camp in the Zarka area, 13 kilometers north east of the holy city of Al-Najaf, holy to Shi'ite Muslims (160 kilometers south of Baghdad), during confrontations that took place between them and Iraqi forces in early 2007. But he believes that the more dangerous organization for children is Al-Qa'eda, which established organizations specializing in enticing children under soft names like "birds of heaven, youth of heaven and cubs of heaven."
The expert mentioned that the "Birds of Heaven" organization, which was active in Al-Anbar and Deyala when Al-Qa'eda controlled them was for the "children of the leadership and elements of Al-Qa'eda in Iraq." The Cubs and Children of heaven organizations were used to "lure children with certain specifications that qualify them to indulge in battles and carry out suicide bombings."Camps for Brainwashing
After a raid in November of 2006 on a 'hideout' for Al-Qa'eda north of Baghdad, the American forces discovered an electronic storage device that had information on children's sleeping cells, in addition to details regarding recruiting them and training them for armed operations.
The Director of Operations at the Ministry of Interior Colonel Abdul Kareem Khalaf asserts that Al-Qa'eda organization is "the major party that depended on child recruitment from poor families, and those who were subjected to intellectual changes towards extremism through religious training courses organized in mosques without censorship."
The most important areas where Al-Qa'eda trained children on armed operations is Al-Mukhaiseh remote area, which falls within the Humrain hills band in Deyala governorate, according to Colonel Khalaf. "Hundreds of children from both genders were exposed to brainwashing and continuous training under the supervision of experts from Al-Qa'eda, some of whom arrived from outside Iraq for this purpose."
According to Colonel Khalaf, recruitment did not target poor families and those transformed to extremism only. There were remnants from those who were known as Saddam's Cubs. These form a large group that entered continuous training camps until 2003.
The most dangerous children who were involved in armed operations and the most vicious were the children and brothers of activists in Al-Qa'eda. All these, according to Colonel Khalaf, were trained in areas with winding roads and orchards with thick trees and vegetation that are difficult to access, in addition to the remote areas extending deep into the desert.
Child training camps spread in areas under the control of Al-Qa'eda for years. There are camps in Deyala, Al-Anbar and Al-Mada'en south of Baghdad, in addition to border areas adjacent to Syria in the west and Iran in the east.
A New Generation of Al-Qa'eda
One of the former Al-Qa'eda theorists told the report writer at a detention center run by the Ministry of Interior that recruiting children "is carried out
One of Al-Qa'eda's former theoreticians tells the report writer from his Interior Ministry prison cell that the recruitment of children is "done under the direct supervision of Al-Qa'eda leaderships." The first step begins by "encouraging the children to take Quran memorization classes," especially those who have specific characteristics, such a good build and excessive obedience. Hikmat adds: "We take into consideration the family they belong to, whether it is known for radicalism or not. Then we join them to groups older of age to nourish them intellectually in preparation for giving them assignments, like moving cash and publications for the organization's members." After that, "they are assigned to transport explosive devices and sometimes planting them in certain areas, then we put them in armed operations that sometimes require them to engage in direct confrontations."
One of the dissents of Al-Qa'eda gives an expanded description of the stages of building the children's networks by specialists in Al-Qa'eda who succeeded in brainwashing the brains of a large number of children whose fathers or brothers had been killed. Abul Waleed is a nickname that a man in his late forties gave himself who previously worked with Al-Qa'eda, then moved to Al-Sahwah forces before he ultimately abandoned both and secluded himself in a house he rented in a area on the outreaches of southern Baghdad. Abul Waleed says: "The first cells specializing in child recruitment launched after the battles of 2004 south of the capital city and included nearly 100 children who were carefully selected to ensure that they fulfill dangerous duties, foremost suicide bombings."
Abul Waleed summarizes Al-Qa'eda's strategy for recruiting this youth by saying that children are registered in religious classes that focus on "Quranic verses and sayings by the Prophet that encourage fighting the enemies, the infidels and the renegades." After that, says Abul Waleed, they are shown videos of suicide operations previously executed by the organization's members in Iraq and Afghanistan against foreign forces. Experts seek to convince the youth that they can do this to preserve the faith and that they will be heroes of Islam and remembered by future generations. This thought in particular "was the obsession that the experts use to influence the thoughts of most of the youth and ensures that the spirit of bravery and courage is raised within them."
The majority of those selected for the child recruitment cells, Abul Waleed discloses, are the offspring of Al-Qa'eda members or who known for their hard-line tendencies at an early age. Some "begin the recruitment stage with enthusiasm but soon try to backtrack, and therefore Al-Qa'eda is forced to make them continue by threatening to tell their parents or the authorities about their participation in the training or threaten to kill them or liquidate their families if they change their minds."
The most dangerous, says Abul Waleed, are "those that have lost their parents at the hands of the American or Iraqi forces or even as a result of internal strife." These "do not need much effort to be encouraged to execute combat and even suicide operations. It is enough to concentrate on the idea that they will be avenging their murdered family if they execute suicide operations."
Child recruitment serves four purposes:
– Ensuring that there are new combatant generation that expand the presence of the organization, increase its power and assault and make up for the deficit of combatants, which the organization suffered from after losing the areas near Syria to Al-Sahwah forces and the security forces.
– Taking advantage of children's easy movement and that the security authorities do not pay attention to them or doubt them when they cross check points.
– Maintaining the momentum of suicide operations that kill more people and give the organization attention in the media, thus increasing the terror it spreads.
– Bring in more combatants by promoting the idea that children are braver than men who failed to join Al-Qa'eda to fight for the sake of God.
Abul Waleed states here that the leader of Al-Qa'eda in Iraq, Abu Mos'ab Al-Zarqawi, who was killed in American air raid in mid 2006, addressed an audio message chastising the men who did not join the organization after a woman executed a suicide operation in Deyala (see link 2).
The Young Instead of the Old
A high level security source in Al-Anbar province adds a fifth reason that he says he had seen up close and personal. The majority of children's suicide attacks were directed at Al-Sahwah men, which means that Al-Qa'eda wanted to terrorize the Al-Sahwah men and tell them they are "killed at the hands of their children."
Researcher Faris Al-Obeidi confirms what Abul Waleed says and adds that Al-Qa'eda did not keep the recruitment of children secret, but rather promoted them and featured trainings on websites and YouTube.
Al-Obeidi refers to a videotape of children between 10-12 years of age wearing black clothes and covering their faces with masks as Al-Qa'eda members do, and training on weapons, make-belief kidnapping, breaking into a house after climbing its walls. The videotape was shown extensively (see link 3) after Al-Qa'eda lost much of its popularity in its home environment, believes Al-Obeidi, and after the process of recruiting local combatants became difficult and bringing in foreign combatants even more difficult because of the control of the Iraqi forces on most of the border line with Syria.
The sheikh and speaker of one of the mosques in the city of Ramadi in the center of Al-Anbar province pointed to a "jurisprudence dispute about the dividing line between childhood and manhood", and believed that "this dispute helped Al-Qa'eda penetrate into the minds of targeted people and facilitated the consideration of children's recruitment as a legitimate matter."
The sheikh, who is considered one of the leading moderate men of religion in Al-Ramadi city, reminded that Islam "banned the use of children and women in the execution of any acts that anger God and their recruitment for the purpose of executing suicide actions that lead to the killing of innocent people, whether civilians or even policemen, and it is prohibited."
While religious scholars agree that Jihad is a duty of every Muslim, but it is "within conditions specified in the Islamic Sharia Law, most important of which that it must be based on wrong jurisprudence, such as rendering another an apostate or deciding that he has violated religion because he disagreed on jurisprudence issues, as Al-Qa'eda does and which has rendered everyone an apostate, including the followers of the Sunni sects that do not support it."
The sheikh expresses regret that hard-line ideas calling for killing are spreading mostly in the rigid tribal communities, where the level of education is low and the culture of violence is prolific, unlike the moderate environment that is considered strongholds for moderate men of religion who cannot guarantee the security of their lives if they propose their ideas outside of this environment.
The word "Jihad" captivated the young boy, Yaser Thanoun, and encouraged him to work with Al-Qa'eda. His elder brother was killed in Al-Fallujah battles in 2004. Yaser completely believes that resisting the occupation is a duty for every Muslim, and says: "I did not join Al-Qa'eda in search of money, as some of my friends have." He settled for an income of 70,000 to 100,000 Dinars (around $80) to cover his expenses after blowing up every explosive or carrying out a combat operation against the government forces. After the death of his combatant brother, Yaser had to join the organization on a full time basis and left his work as a smith that was providing for his family. "The money was not my objective, but rather the Jihad against the occupiers," says Yaser, who was captured after he engaged in battle against Iraqi police personnel in Fallujah in 2008.
The situation is different for Nuseir. His belief in the necessity of Jihad was not the thing that pushed him to join the armed groups. His friends were the ones that convinced him to take part in the armed operations with them under the command of Al-Qa'eda.
Nuseir's father spoke proudly with a tone of sadness of his son. After Nuseir trained to use weapons and launch rockets, his father says, "he participated in the bombing of American forces in Al-Mazra'a area in the east of Fallujah, then the joint check point at the city's entrance." After that, Nuseir joined the armed factions in battle in the city, and was arrested in 2007 and was transported to Boca prison. He remained in prison for one year and a half until he was released under the general pardon. He was soon killed by an unknown group when he was walking in the city.
The bereaved father refuses to talk about his son's movements after he got out of prison. Yet he confirms that "he received threats from groups that the opponents of the group he belonged to," in an indication that he was back with his initial group.
The mourning father criticizes "the government for releasing so many of the prisoners before they were able to reform them and convince them to abandon the violence." He demands the government to monitor "the mosques which have become in their majority lairs that attract the youth."
The responsibility of the family
Senior Secretary General of the Interior Ministry, Adnan Al-Asadi, however, accuses the children's families of being the first to bring harm to them because they left them unobserved.
Al-Asadi says: "The boys who got involved in armed groups found the easy money and social influence an earning worth the risk by working with Al-Qa'eda members." Al-Asadi however believes, and according to the results of investigations with a large number of the "Birds of Heaven" children and "the boys of heaven", that the number of suicide operations executed by children is "small" compared to other types of operations such as "monitoring and logistical support for the militants."
The idea of killing, believes Al-Asadi, "is no longer receiving response from the children, especially after the decline of the influence of Al-Qa'eda's and the armed groups that have lost their strongholds in Al-Anbar, Deyala, Salaheddin, Ninawa and areas south of Baghdad."
Researcher Faris Al-Obeidi believes that rehabilitating hundreds of children who engaged in militant work requires "a great deal of social and government effort and this is difficult to achieve in view of the economic, security and political instability in Iraq."
In the final outcome, these are part of a mobile social system, and if they do not have a sound environment to help them integrate in their societies, "they will definitely go back to the armed groups that had provided them with a sense of belonging."
Juvenile rehabilitation plans currently adopted are not convincing to the prison director, who complains that the building cannot accommodate "the large number of juveniles, given that the current building is a temporary alternative for the original prison that was overtaken by refugees refusing so far to leave it despite all official attempts."
The juvenile prison building is similar to an elementary school. It is nothing more than a yard surrounded by four prison cells and a few small rooms for the guards, as well as a caravan for the prison director to do his job.
The research unit chief in prison that the lack of entertainment facilities and training workshops have not helped the prison staff to lower the number of medical cases that usually accompany imprisonment, such as the depression that many prisoners suffer from because they feel neglected by their own families.
The research chief believes that terrorism prisoners are inherently "good" people, but have been exploited and taken advantage of because of their difficult life conditions.
A field study by a researcher in the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs indicates that family disintegration is responsible for half of the reasons that lead children's integration in registered organizations.
Field study shows the reasons behind children joining armed groups.
"Family disintegration was the cause that led to the recruitment of 47% of child prisoners into armed groups." The researcher attributes this to their residing outside the family home with relatives or friends or in workplaces. The study found that 63% of those convicted of terrorism have engaged in armed work under influence of friends.
The study, which was based on a sample of 80 prisoners convicted of terrorism according to Article 4, indicates that murder represents 56% of the types of crimes committed by children, while 18% of the sample planted and exploded explosive devices, and 15% executed kidnappings.
The low educational level was prevalent among the sample. Half of them did not pass elementary education, and 55% of the sample justified their engagement in armed operation with their belief in the resistance. Meanwhile, political convictions and affiliations were the cause of 28% joining the armed groups.
More than half of the children convicted of terrorism according to Article 4 and are imprisoned in the juvenile prison were sentence to more than ten years. These are "major" sentences, believes the researcher who criticizes the fact the judges rely on Law number 111 for 1996, which places terrorism crimes under the definition of crimes, stipulating sentences to be five or more years.
Indications however show that the rate of children's engagement in armed groups receded a great deal in the past two years because of improving security conditions in many areas that were previously considered "hot zones."
This improvement, according to researcher Faris Al-Obeidi, "led to economic movement in the country, which in turn contributed to the movement of the majority of youth towards profitable professions and abandoning armed organizations where the work has become dangerous with the increase of the power of security forces. Moreover, the ideas on which the armed groups were based "receded in a major way and do not have a standing except with religious hard-liners."
Interior Minister Jawad Al-Bolani confirms that Al-Qa'eda's influence in Iraq was "broken and it has lost control over its old strongholds, which put it in a critical situation that prevents from continuing to recruit children in the manner it has been doing in past years." The stage of recruiting children, Al-Bolani says, "is over now, and although there are a few sleeper cells, the intelligence efforts will continue to pursue them and eliminate them in the end, sooner or later."
Researchers Al-Obeidi, Fawwaz Ibrahim, and Al-Massoudi, along with the research chief at the juvenile prison and the researcher in the Labor Ministry, believe that the receding phenomenon of child recruitment is not the end of the story, and that intelligence efforts, no matter how strong it is, will not be able to eliminate this phenomenon completely. There is always a chance for it to come back if rehabilitation plans that can fortify children and protect them against extremist thinking, which continues to look for an opportunity to prevail once again in Iraq, are not implemented.


In this article I describe the Linux capabilities feature of Firejail security sandbox. Firejail allows the user to start programs with a specified set of capabilities. The set is applied to all processes running inside the sandbox, thus restricting what processes can do, and somehow reducing the attack surface of the kernel.
# firejail --caps.keep=setgid,setuid,net_bind_service "/etc/init.d/nginx start && sleep inf"
# firejail --caps.keep=setgid,setuid,net_bind_service,chown "/etc/init.d/nginx start && sleep inf"
# firejail --caps.keep=chown,net_bind_service,setgid,setuid --seccomp "/etc/init.d/nginx start && sleep inf"
# firejail --caps.keep=chown,sys_resource,net_bind_service,setuid,setgid --seccomp "/etc/init.d/apache2 start && sleep inf"
# firejail --caps.keep=net_bind_service,setuid,setgid --seccomp "/etc/init.d/snmpd start && sleep inf"
# firejail --caps.keep=net_bind_service,setuid,setgid --seccomp "/usr/sbin/snmptrapd start && sleep inf"
# firejail --caps.keep=net_bind_service,net_raw --seccomp "/etc/init.d/isc-dhcp-server start && sleep inf"
For more information about Firejail, visit the project webpage.
This entry was posted in Projects and tagged Firejail on March 16, 2015 by netblue30.
Why firejail is not in Fedora or Ubuntu repos?
Because it is a new project, under one year old. It will get into Ubuntu/Fedora at some point if there is enough user interest.
Okay. Thanks for developing this software. It has been very useful for me.
Very good article and a swell project.
Do you still intend to implement user namespacing?
I think is coming in next release, or the one after – one or two months maximum.


text:
London earns title of UNESCO City of Music
Savannah Bisaillon Culture November 19, 2021
Credit: DYLAN CHARETTE
London is Canada's first city to receive the honour of being a City of Music.
The City of London alongside with the Canadian Commission for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has announced that London has been designated as a UNESCO City of Music. London is Canada's first city to receive this honour.
Grammy-nominated Fanshawe professor Dan Brodbeck, coordinator of the music industry arts (MIA) program, was one of the consultants who contributed to the pitch put forward by London's Chamber of Commerce CEO Graham Henderson to bid for the designation.
Fanshawe's MIA and audio post-production programs have contributed to the music scene in London over the years, through events like Share the Land and Fanshawe Live.
"The program [has] been a large part of the London music scene for many, many, many years," said Brodbeck. "So it kind of goes under the radar a little bit. And a lot of people don't even know that just many established artists, singers, engineers, producers, writers have gone through and went through MIA for two years."
The City of London is developing award-winning talent recognized internationally from artists to producers to engineers, through post-secondary institutions like Fanshawe and Western University, as well as Ontario's Institute of Audio Recording Technology (OIART). In 2014, London was the second municipality in Canada to approve a Music Strategy and hired the London Music Industry Development Officer in 2015.
Brodbeck said one of the reasons he's excited about the UNESCO designation is the potential networking opportunities.
"There's art cities, multimedia cities, there's film cities and we're the first music city," he said. "So, I think a lot of it is also going to be working with those other cities. There could be bands or artists or festivals that run it from both places. So, we can actually do things back and forth with some of these cities. So, the networking with all these other cities is amazing, too."
Brodbeck added that the new designation will help the MIA program at Fanshawe be seen and appreciated by a broader audience.
"I think that's what this has been [about], to really help expose," he said. "Because the outward stuff everybody sees, [like] a concert coming through a live music venue, a big award show, those kinds of things. Everybody sees them, and they come and go. But when you see artists, producers, writers, all these people come through a place like Fanshawe….which is known throughout the country, this is the best program of its kind in the country."
London now joins 259 existing member cities and 59 other Cities of Music in UNESCO's Creative Cities Network (UCCN) across 90 countries. Members have made a commitment to being part of the network to share best practices and development partnerships to promote creativity.
London News	Music	Music Industry Arts
Savannah Bisaillon
Savannah is currently studying Broadcast-Television and Film at Fanshawe College. She wrote various articles and reviews for Interrobang in the summer of 2019 and 2021.
MIA alumni band, New Friends, win nation-wide contest
Album review: Justin Bieber, Changes
Big year ahead for growing Fanshawe 'family'
Music Review: Selena Gomez Rare
Why is financial literacy not prioritized in high school?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Tune in every Saturday as Africa and Africans speak. It is the biggest Pan Afrika debate that is very heated …smoking television on sky 182 at 10am …the true African debate has just started. Whither to Africa?
Why is it that Africa seems unable to pick itself up from the rubbles of Slavery, Colonialism & Oppression?…Or is it that the Ethics & Values of our Great Pan-Africans gone by, also evaporated when they passed?..Maybe it's simply that we don't care as much as the Great Pan-Africans did?
Hrh Muzvare Muzvare-Princess Betty Makoni ~ Gender Activist, Social Commentator & Ayo Solarin ~ Intellectual Property Lawyer & Entertainment Business Specialist…They all have their personal Experiences as Professionals and as New Generation Pan-Africanists.
Theme:"WHAT CHANGES CAN THE SPIRIT OF TRUE PAN-AFRICANISM BRING TO OUR WORLD?"…Make sure you tune in for an Awesome time with us, Trust me this Episode is SMOKIN!!
…….but ends with a dance party with Africans mixing and mingling as well as networking and building partnerships.


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Explore the biggest fleet of luxury day boats and yachts for charter in Saint Tropez. Daily and weekly charters available.
Your boat rental St Tropez experience is flexible. You can spend your day how you want to! If you do not know where you want to go or would like advice from 212 Yachts team and your captain, we will be more than happy to help you plan the perfect day!
Many guests rent a boat from St Tropez to Pampelonne Beach. Pampelonne Beach is world-famous and synonymous with Saint Tropez, even though it is located just West of Saint Tropez in Ramatuelle. This golden sandy beach stretches for nearly 5 miles, and hosts some of the most popular beach clubs on the French Riviera. In total there are 26 beach clubs here! With 212 Yachts, from St Tropez you can rent a boat to Club 55, Nikki Beach and Bagatelle – perfect for a real Mediterranean lunch in the sunshine! Pampellone Beach is also great for those who want to drop anchor and watch the world go by, attracting stunning yachts and vibrant visitors through the Summer months. A real must-see!
Boat rental St Tropez guests also love the Porquerolles (Iles des Porquerolles). The Porquerolles is the largest of the 3 Iles des Hyères, located 10 minutes off of the coast of Hyères and a short, leisurely cruise from Saint Tropez. The Southern side of the Porquerolles feature impressive cliffs and deserted creeks. On the Northern side are stunning sandy beaches and calm, turquoise waters. The landscape is truly exotic and feels a world away from the chic modernism found across the French Riviera. A trip to the Porquerolles is perhaps the highlight of any day yacht charter from St Tropez!
If you want to do some more exploring, you can also reach Cannes, the Cannes Islands and the famed Cap D'Antibes by boat rental from St Tropez. The journey along the bright red Esterel coastline is truly remarkable. Once in Cannes, drop anchor in the bay of Cannes, soaking in the famous Palais des Festival and the perfect palm tree lined Croisette. The grand façades of the Carlton Cannes, the Martinez and the Grand-Hotel are easily recognizable, and the roar of supercars often travels through the air. Next, the Cannes Islands are a popular stop for day yacht charter St Tropez guests. The Lérin Islands consist of 4 small islands within easy reach of Cannes. Vehicles and property development is forbidden on the island, meaning the islands offer a welcome escape from the hustle and bustle of the busy nearby resorts. The only buildings within sight are interesting attractions, including the Fort of St Marguerite that held the Man with the Iron Mask captive, Saint Honoratus' Monastery and a number of defensive military installations spanning the eras of World War Two to Napoleon. A gorgeous channel is found between the islands, with a great party atmosphere in the Summer. Yacht owners, yacht charter guests and luxury motor boat rental clients all flock to the channel, enjoying the Summer sun, their toys and even pizza and ice cream sold by vendors from small tenders. Finally, the beautiful Cap D'Antibes with its bell époque villas is a treat, as is the medieval village of Antibes which can be enjoyed from a picture-perfect bay with a glass of your favorite beverage.
212 Yachts have hundreds of luxury boat rentals and day yacht charters from St Tropez. We are the industry leaders in day boat rental in the region, and have an additional team that are experts in longer yacht charters on the Mediterranean. With our team, you can rent boats for a day from Saint Tropez or charter a yacht for a week from Saint Tropez or longer.
The below day boats are some of the most popular St Tropez day yacht charter options, but please note that we have lots more options to offer.
To discuss Day yacht Charter St Tropez or boat rental St Tropez, please contact our team.


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City Wards
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Welcome to Košice!
The metropolis of the East, the second largest city in Slovakia, the city of rich history and promising future welcomes thousands of visitors annually.
Košice has always been an natural centre of business, culture and education. The business routes leading from the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean have been crossing here ever since the Middle Ages. There are numerous rich archaeological localities that have been preserved in the surroundings of the city and prove the settlement of the Košice Basin even in the Stone Age. "Villa Cassa" gradually transformed into a city thanks to its favorable location, royal privileges, immigrants, and flourishing crafts.
May 7th 1369 has become a very significant date for the city. King Louis the Great issued a royal armorial warrant granting Košice, as the first city in Europe, its coat of arms. We have been celebrating this event as "Days of Košice" on the very day since 1995.
Growing strategic, economic, cultural, and social significance of Košice in the Middle Ages reinforced the city's prominent position in the entire Hungarian empire. Thanks to the favor and attention of many kings, who generously supported the city, we can admire the architectural uniqueness of Košice. It can be specially observed in the lens-shaped Hlavná Street that is lined with remarkable historical and cultural monuments. Each of them has its individual story. For centuries one of them guarded a real treasure that consisted of 2920 coins made of fine gold, 3 gold medals and a 2-meter long chain - the Gold Treasure of Košice, which contains altogether 11 kgs of gold.
The dominant feature of Hlavná Street is Europe's easternmost gothic cathedral - St. Elizabeth's Cathedral, interior of which contains some unique pieces of European art. The most beautiful of them is undoubtedly the wooden altar dedicated to the patron of Košice - St. Elizabeth. In 2007 we celebrated 800th anniversary of her birthday. The crypt of Ferenc II Rákoczi, a person of high importance to the city, is situated in the basement of the cathedral. Among other notable monuments we can find St. Michael's Chapel, Urban's Tower, the State Theatre and other palaces and church buildings.
Košice had preserved the status of the second most important city in the Hungarian empire until the beginning of 18th century. The industrial revolution came to Košice with the Modern Age and the face of the city changed at this point in history. Medieval fortifications were removed and new suburbs with residential and industrial quarters were established. Also, the nationality structure changed and Košice became a city of 3 languages - Slovak, German and Hungarian. The changes all over Europe influenced the Košice citizens, as well. Over the years, Košice has been part of different state formations. After the Slovak Republic gained its independence in 1993, the city has become the metropolis of the East.
At the beginning of the 3rd millennium, Košice is a home to almost 240,000 inhabitants who live and work here. In the city of tolerance and peace, they help form its history and contribute to its development. They accomplish changes and participate in creating its image. And that is not to be overlooked.
The Ukrainian days will bring us the best and not only from the cross-border cooperation of the cities of Košice and Uzhgorod
In the Centre of Košice we will have soon a two meter high Easter Egg from Croatia
Valentine´s Day Skating
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© 2016 - 2023 Municipality of Košice. All rights reserved.


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Tag: Panos Pavlakis
BCFC: Division and Change
Birmingham City sank further into the mire on Good Friday, conceding a late equaliser to Rotherham pulling them closer to the relegation mix. The match was marred by fights between fans in the stand and between players on the pitch after the final whistle. Surely, surely, something has to change?
Editorial: What is the Answer?
It's been a while since I last wrote a piece on this blog. Being busy with work hasn't helped, but I must confess I've got to the point where I'm just repeating myself. I know some see me as a voice of doom but I hate being negative – especially when I can't see a solution.
BCFC Board: This is Fine
Communications has moved on a long way in the last few years for football clubs. With the plethora of social media that has become available it's much easier for clubs to communicate directly with their fans without the need for the press. However, the flip-side is that it's much easier for fans to air their disgruntlement right back as Blues are finding.
Editorial: Learning from Mistakes
Defeat to Wigan Athletic left Birmingham City in 17th place, nervously looking over their shoulder at the positions below them. Judging by social media, fans who were up in arms are now rendered speechless by the calamity that has befallen the club. Once more, the club looks like a basket case.
Big Brother Is Watching Blues
Saturday saw the first victory for Birmingham City under the stewardship of Gianfranco Zola. A solitary goal by Lukas Jutkiewicz was enough to see Blues beat 10 man Fulham and finally get the winless monkey off Zola's back.
Editorial: Learning Lessons from the Past
Last night's defeat to Reading left Gianfranco Zola winless in ten games since taking the hotseat at St Andrew's. Predictably, it's added fuel to the fire in the bellies of those who want the Italian removed. Where do we go from here?
Editorial: Winter of Discontent
It's sixteen days into January and Birmingham City are still winless under Gianfranco Zola. That fact coupled with a lack of action in the transfer market has seemingly amplified the continued grumblings since the Rowett sacking. Is this the winter of our discontent?
BCFC Board: January a Key Month for Decisions
A second defeat in two games for Birmingham City under Gianfranco Zola has magnified pressure on owners Trillion Trophy Asia. With the transfer window opening in a matter of days the onus is now on the Blues board to provide funding to reinvigorate the Blues squad.
Rowett Sacking: The Fallout
The fallout surrounding the controversial sacking of Gary Rowett by Birmingham City's owners Trillion Trophy Asia seems no sign of abating four days on. Two late goals turning a winning position to a last-minute defeat to Brighton in Gianfranco Zola's first game in charge hasn't helped matters as the club tries to calm the emotional outpouring on social media.
Birmingham City News 24/7
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BCFC: Play Jude?
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Wrap yourself up in mountain scenery, put on your sunglasses and conquer the highest motorable roads in the world on this spectacular ride along the Manali Leh Highway in the Indian Himalayas! We cross five high passes between the lush Kullu Valley in Himachal Pradesh and the remote mountain town of Leh, the capital of Ladakh. After a rest day exploring Leh we tackle Khardung La, the self-proclaimed highest motorable road in the world. The tour ends with a stunning flight back over the Himalayas to Delhi.


People always love to earn money without any kind of hard work but it is not an easy job to attain. If you need to earn money just by sitting in your sofa then you must depend on the internet communication. It is offering a numerous options for earning money and you can get the money into your pocket just by having fun. As the entire world is now ruled by the internet communication, the online space is going to be the bets option for you in this regard.
The online poker site judi poker qq indonesia is ruling the world and it is now very easy to find someone in the internet without nay hassles. Due to this kind of comfort, we people are almost addicted to the internet communication and without the help of this kind of technology. In addition, people want to do everything just by sitting inform t of their laptop and they do not want to get out of the home. In such cases, you may get the offers from the online space and it is your own duty to choose the one that is going to work wonders for you.
The first and foremost thing that an individual need to understand about the online poker is that it is very easy for player to access the poker with unlimited options. In a real time casino table you can access only a limited number of options and the speed of the game is really going to bore you in the table. However, in the internet you can find huge number of options with a great speed that you have never imagined. It is a great boon to us that we have the money in our pocket along with the entertainment and fun that we get from the games. While betting you may choose any kind of game that you really like and there are free spins, where there is no need to spend the initial amount as deposit. The casino firms in order to attract the new customers led this opportunity to be used so that you can learn the details of game without paying any money and you can have fun because there is no need to worry about the result.
If you are entering into the online world then you may find the judi poker qq indonesia that is capable of making you rich within a short period. For the same all you need to have is just an internet connection and a computer. In the olden days in order t play poker the individuals need to find a real time casino that needs high cost and you may need more time to spend on the travelling. So these kind of poker are only meant for rich people in the olden days and it is not accessible others easily. Internet pokers offer a wide range of options to the user and let me explain a few in order to help the individual to take a decision in this matter.


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Michigan legalizes sales of Self-driving cars
Home/Posts/TECHNOLOGY/Vehicles/Michigan legalizes sales of Self-driving cars
This is a first: Michigan legalizes the sales of self-driving cars, with no steering wheels or pedals required.
The State of Michigan just announced the most progressive autonomous driving laws in the U.S.
Governor of the State Rick Snyder signed the new laws, backed by Toyota, Google, Uber and Lyft.
Governor Snyder explained:
"By establishing guidelines and standards for self-driving vehicles, we're continuing that tradition of excellence in a way that protects the public's safety while at the same time allows the mobility industry to grow without overly burdensome regulations."
Michigan's laws allow companies to test vehicles without steering wheels or pedals.
The bill, number 996 (PDF), says that a company can test the cars in Michigan if they are a "motor vehicle manufacturer."
Florida had also passed a legislation allowing autonomous cars to be tested on roads, but require them to have steering wheels and other operating functions.
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By Agis F|2017-02-01T19:39:46+02:00Dec 12, 2016|Categories: Vehicles|Tags: Autonomous, Self-driving|
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Since the chat box occupies a huge space on the forum, I decided to make a toggle one and now this is a guide how to use the chat box.
into the chat box, simply view the left hand screen inside the chat box. To close the chat box, just simply click anywhere that is gold surrounding the actual chat box- but this will not log you out. Lastly, to log out, simply click the text that says Log out.


Magnetic Whiteboard 900 x 1200mm in glass, fixed with chrome edge fixings to wall. Factory 2nd version.
Magnetic Glass Whiteboard 900 x 1200mm. Chrome edge fixing brackets included.
• Factory 2nd - white paint is a little thin and shows very faintly a few glue lines - not easily recognised and wont affect the workability.


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thaliasecretDalilaHunterLoveKatesBeautyRebecaDivine .jenniferdumasEdenGlamMarionetteOfCumhugeirishdick .AngietvXSilliLouAlanaRilleymadhuhope .SlowGoGirlsMaggieCarterAsianHottieCockNikkiRayne .benuxDalilaHunterLoveAngietvKymHardcore .TatarpinaLizaDijenniferdumasEylaKlum .TheSEXXQUEENTsRemiRoseRemiRoseAzazelvsAmara .TatarpinaPrincessKsuCARADEMENINOWildLittleKittie .AlanaRilleyjenniferdumasKisaaXXXAngietv .GabbiSweetLovelyMirraAliyssaCARADEMENINO .NikkiRaynePawlFleshSweetAmayaXLovelyWildAngel .


Intro: How many of you like to be taken care of? Staying in a hotel or going to a restaurant is sometimes the closest we get right? No dinner to cook or dishes to do, someone clears the table for you. In a hotel someone else cleans your room and makes your bed. We dread going home because know we have to do all the work again. Laundry from the vacation has to be done, grocery shopping back to normal life. Our stress levels go up when we think things are not going the way we think they should be or maybe when you have no one else is going to do it for you. And we make decisions accordingly. Sometimes they are good and sometimes. They are not.
But how do we act when we know someone else is taking care of us? Does is give you more confidence knowing that God is there with the plan and we are living in his plan? We are not robots but he has things already known so he is not surprised at your actions. God takes care of the details and he is taking care of us.
Explanation: Chapter 16 can be summed up pretty easily. Abram and Sarai take matters into their own and when it comes to having a child, specifically h a male child. So Sarai tells Abram to take Hagar one of her servants and see if you can produce a child with her. This was somewhat common. There was no fertility doctor to go to get checked out or get fertility medicine so you had to use someone else asa surrogate. If a child was born than Sarai could essentially raise him or her as her own thus securing an heir.
If there was no heir between Abram and Sarai Abraham could have asked for a divorce after ten years of not having a child. By Sarai gets jealous of Hagar because it seems like from the narrative,that Hagar becomes pregnant fairly quickly, when Sarai had been trying for years. This causes a rift in Abram's household and Sarai ends up abusing Hagar and Hagar runs away.
In verse 7 Hagar is visited by an angel of the Lord and he confirms her pregnancy in verse 11 and says that he shall be a wild donkey of man, his hand against everyone and everyone' hand against him. In verse 9 tough the angel tells Hagar to go back to Sarai, to submit to her.
She is given a similar promise concerning her son that Ishmael will be have a multitude of offspring as well. Ishmael is the Boys name and the Muslims through Mohammed trace their lineage to Abraham through Ishmael and Hagar.
God has a plan. Ishmael is born when Abram was 86, which is interesting if you see that abrams father was 70 when he had Abram. So he may have a family track record of having kids later in life.
Illustration:"Patience on the part of young Clyde Tombaugh is what led him finally to discover the planet Pluto. Astronomers had already calculated a probable orbit for this "suspected" heavenly body, which they had never seen. Tombaugh took up the search in March 1929. He examined scores of telescopic photographs, each showing tens of thousands of star images in pairs under the blink comparator, or dual microscope. It often took three days to scan a single pair of photographs. It was exhausting, eye-cracking work, in Tombaugh's own words, "brutal, tediousness." The search went on for months. Star by star, Tombaugh examined twenty million images. Finally, on February 18, 1930, as he was blinking a pair of photographs in the constellation Gemini, "I suddenly came upon the image of Pluto!" It was the most dramatic astronomic discovery in nearly one hundred years and it was made possible by patience."
Charles Spurgeon said, Patience! patience! You are always in a hurry, but God is not.
However, It is not easy to wait because we have a finite amount of time.
How much waiting do you do in your life? Avengers End Game comes out in less than a month. High School Graduation is in about two months. Star Wars 9 comes out December 20th so it is about 265 days. There are 270 days until Christmas.
When we are kids, we can't wait to graduate and move out. Then if we go o college we can't wait to graduate.if you join the military, depending on how you enlistment goes, you can't wait to get out, or you cant wait to retire.
In terms of growing up, or working toward retirement or the next job, a lot of things happen.You develop skills that will help you in your next job or the next phase of your life.
"Let patience have her perfect work that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing."—.
The angel of the Lord tell Hagar to go back to Sarai. That may sound crazy to go back to someone who deals harshly with you,but sometimes that is what God is teaching you.
We have to do what Andrew fuller, who is a southern Baptist theologian, in waiting on God, patience consists in quietly waiting for God's mercy. When we go to the DMV, or a restaurant we are at the mercy of other humans to do their job and we go and we wait. We may complain,but we wait. But sometimes the waiting turns to Worry and worry leads to taking matters into your own hands like Sarai and Abram.
Andrew fuller also points out Let not your anxiety to avoid trouble lead you into sin.
If we are willing to wait on people to do something, then why don't we want to wait on Go who is the perfect one, who built and runs the universe to work things out for us and if it si for us,then we will get what he has promised us?
Christ Connection: What has he promised us ultimately? Freedom from his punishment and wrath through his grace. Next week we will be covering because these verses that Paul Explains to the church at Rome is that God, through the blood of Jesus, as a gift of grace Jesus is a propitiation for the sins committed against God.
Transition: When you accept His gift, you enter into the covenant with God.
Explanation: The first half of chapter 17 is a reaffirmation of the covenant and an expansion or finalization of Abraham's legacy ad promises. In verse 5 and 6 God changes abram's name from Abram which just means father to Abraham because now he is the father of a multitude of nations.
God repeats his promise or covenant about his offspring will be exceedingly fruitful. In chapter 15 God made a covenant with Abram and Abram was not required to. Put anything into the deal, because like the theme of this eels sermon is, God takes care to everything.
But it is hard to know who is part of the deal and who submits to God, so God is requiring a sign that demonstrates who is in and who is out. You will have to pardon the pun, but God requires Abraham to put some skin in the game.
God expects all males who wish to follow God to be circumcised. Circumcising is not new other cultures, like the Egyptians did this ad actually Christians are not required to perform circumcision as a part of our faith. It is not an ordinance. For the Hebrews, God requires this action as verse 13 says,so shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant.
Illustration: When our son Austin was younger he had done something so we were pulsing him by taking away his PlayStation and the games.when I went to pick up one of his games and he told me that I could not take that one because he had earned the money to buy it.all the other games had been given to him or bought for him. But this one, this one was his. He paid for this so he had an interest in keepig his game.
We also have to put skin in the game and God does expect us to do so, but he is after the most important part of your body, your heart.
says If you return,Israel— this is the Lord's declaration—you will return to me, if you remove your abhorrent idols from my presence and do not waver, 2 then you can swear, "As the Lord lives," in truth, in justice, and in righteousness, then the nations will be blessed by him and will pride themselves in him. 3 For this is what the Lord says to the men of Judah and Jerusalem: Break up the unplowed ground; do not sow among the thorns. 4 Circumcise yourselves to the Lord; remove the foreskin of your hearts, men of Judah and residents of Jerusalem. Otherwise, my wrath will break out like fire and burn with no one to extinguish it because of your evil deeds.
Returning to him is what God desires the most. Ligonier ministries explains that Verses 1–2 link circumcision of the heart with the salvation of Israel and the salvation of the Gentile nations. If the people would have turned from idolatry and honored their covenant with the Lord, Israel would have fulfilled its vocation to be a light to the world that illumined the path to the only redeemer God (; ).
So if you say you are a Christian but do not have faith or do not act in Christlike fashion, your heart my still not be completely circumcised. The old parts of the flesh may still be there and need to be cut off.
Whatever your idol is, God is cutting it off from you through the trials he puts us through.
Christ Connection: Christ expects us to circumcise our hearts. We cut out the old person, the flesh and God replaces it with heart aligned with the Spirit.
God never expected Abraham to keep his end of the deal. In fact he already proved that he could not consistently obey and trust God. So he sent His son down to complete our end and God's end of the covenant.
Transition: Like the first point of patience,the trials will be a lot to handle, the world may seem a little too big and God may at times, seems too small to handle what we think is too big. But God takes care of you when you doubt Him.
Explanation: In verse 15 Sarah's name is changed as well to Sarah. Both means princess but as Abraham's rightful wife she will be the mother of kings. In order fro this to happen, she wlil bear Abraham a son.
Abraham laughs because he is 100 years old and she is 90, so the natural limitation of age seems too big of a hurdle for God to get over. Later in chapter 18 Sarah laughs when she hears that she will give birth to a boy.
God instructs Abraham that his son's name will be Isaac. God also says that he will take care of Ishmael but His covenant will be with Isaac Whom Sarah will bear to you this time next year.
Abraham doubts God, even though everything that has happened has happened because of God or when Abraham trusted God.
Illustration: the illustration from the Bible is doubting Thomas from Thomas was told about the resurrection but said he wouldn't believe unless I see in His hands the mark of the nails and place my finger into the hands of the nails and place my hand into his side. Thomas wants proof. And many times we want roof about things too. And that is not always a bad thing.
We see all of this here, Abraham dobs God because what he has experienced so far is contrary to what God is saying. But his doubt will ultimately lead tire faith because at the end of this chapter, abraham and his house are all circumcised, thus demonstrating their faith in God.
Abraham talks to God, so let your doubts lead to prayer. Use prayer to tal its God. Ask him questions. Don't be afraid. We seeJob ask God questions and he is open to answers. Because even though we are doubtful, God is faithful.
This faithfulness is what makes the covenant work.
Here is the headline from an article in Christianity today An MIT Professor Meets the Author of All Knowledge the author of the article says I used to think religious people were ignoramuses. Then I got smart and took a chance on God. She doubted God but she kept reading th Bible and attending church and accepted Christ.
James 1:58 says 5 Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God—who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly—and it will be given to him. 6 But let him ask in faith without doubting.For the doubter is like the surging sea, driven and tossed by the wind. 7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord, 8 being double-minded and unstable in all his ways.
Christ Connection: Jesus had no doubts when he went to the cross. He trusted the father to get him through He took everything to God and he is exalted at the right hand of the father for God's glory.
Transition: If you put your trust and faith in God, you will be more at peace because god is taking care of everything he needs to take care of.
Examine how you deal with waiting. Is it patient or do you do your own thing and hope God will catch up with you?
Look for the idols and see what surgery you need to remove them from your life.
If you find yourself doubting r laughing at what God wants you to do, talk to God, pray to him. Talk to other Christians because God can use them to communicate with you.
Perform Lords Supper. Use the manual.


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Many of us are as ardent about preserving the Fourth Amendment protection against unwarranted search and seizure by the state as others are about the Second Amendment right to bear arms. It could be argued that if Fourth Amendment protections are honored, those who claim to fear the government will find it less important to arm themselves.
One of us has more than 50 years' experience in national security matters, including unheeded warnings of terrorist attacks on America. The other is currently the public prosecutor for Manhattan, one of the world's premier terror targets. Yet we yield to no one, including Apple executives, in our commitment to the privacy protected by the Fourth Amendment.
If law enforcement is required to show probable cause to a judge that a crime has been committed or is being planned in order to execute a search, that burden -- not warrant-proof encryption -- is the strongest protection of our privacy from state intrusion.
It is within the context of this inalienable Constitutional right that the current controversy over encryption of an Apple iPhone, used by a deceased terrorist in San Bernardino, arises. A federal magistrate has ordered Apple to provide unique software code to help disable a security feature on this phone so that federal investigators can determine if the perpetrator was communicating with others in a network -- others who might themselves be plotting similar attacks.
Supported by other companies in the communications technology industry, Apple is resisting the court order on the grounds that providing sworn federal agents with secret software code to assist in their unlocking of one device will jeopardize the privacy of its millions of customers.
Apple and its peers care about selling electronic devices. We care about the rigor of the Fourth Amendment and the security of the American people. Protecting security and privacy, as it has been endlessly pointed out, requires a delicate balance of interests. But the case under discussion rests on its own facts, and those facts are that the privacy of the owner of this phone is not at issue. He is dead. He committed a brutal act of terrorism. And he may, or may not, have been part of a network. If he was, the security of the people remains at risk. Data on his phone -- this particular phone -- may help protect that security.
Apple and privacy advocates see this case as a dangerous slippery slope jeopardizing the privacy of millions of smartphone users. This is a false argument. The Fourth Amendment will require any future law enforcement agency to establish probable cause that a crime has been committed or is being planned before the unlocking of any future smartphone can be ordered.
It is the Constitution of the United States, not the commercial interests of Apple, that protects our privacy. It protects our security as well. Our judiciary is required by that Constitution to demand that the government establish probable cause case-by-case and phone-by-phone. That requirement, not the encryption technology of a private company, is our best protection from abuse.


An edit by Jacob Wester during a session with his friends the few last days on the big jump at windell's, mt.hood, oregon. Josh Bishop, Tom Walisch, Andrew Holson, Dane Tudor, Sammy Carlson, Ben Moxham, Parker White, Collin Collins, Liam Downey, Tosh Peters, Max Peters, Dania Assaly, Tyler Barnes, Banks Gilberti, Sean Jordan and the young camper Anna Drew throwing 1080's.
Sammy Carlson, Dane Tudor, and Mike Henitiuk are in Niseko, Japan challenging what's possible on skis in pillows and powder. Dane steps onto the 'Stairway to Hell', one of the boldest lines we've ever seen.


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Q: best practice to store mixed type of numbers (percents and flat values) I faced a dilemma and very reluctant on which way to go, and if there is a better way to do this.
I have a wildcard input - if you can call it that - which may have these type of inputs

*

*+0.77

*+0.5%

*-0.51%

The flat values are always positive and the percentage ones can be either.
What is the best practice to store these values? As string or as 2 columns one with value and other for bool for value type?
I'm confused since if I go with the easiest path I face an other problem in some case I need to multiply these said values by an integer and thought about trim($value, '%') and then check if it have it to add it in result

A: This might seems a little bit overkill, but I would definitely go for objects here.
Two classes, one that offset by an absolute value, the other by percentage value. Define a factory method to parse the input string and instantiate either class.
Then, have both classes extends a common interface, which will contains a method like getAjustedValue(initialValue):ajustedValue. This will make usage of these ajustment values much easier and cleaner.
Updated after OP comment
As for storage in the database, I would store both type of ajustements in distinct columns. It make it very easy to write a SELECT statement that compute the ajusted value, as in:  SELECT (original_value * ajustement_ratio + ajustement_absolute) as adjusted_value FROM ....
Obviously, I expect that ajustements and original_value wouldn't come from the same table, but that give you the big picture.

A: Why wouldn't you just store -0.51% as -0.0051?

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Zen Pinball 2: Aliens Vs. Pinball Review
By Brad Gallaway on May 28, 2016 in Reviews
Game over, man! Game over!
HIGH The Aliens table is an instant classic.
LOW The hacking minigame is way too hard.
WTF I forgot (until now) there was an Aliens film I hadn't seen.
The wizards at Zen Studios have released another pack of tables for Zen Pinball 2, and it comes as no surprise that they're (mostly) pretty great. The star of the show this time? Everyone's favorite acid-dripping xenomorph, the Alien.
Aliens vs Pinball is a package of three tables, the first of which is based on the seminal James Cameron film from 1986, Aliens, and this one is unquestionably the star of the show. Not only does it prominently feature an animated figure of Ellen Ripley packing heat (as played by Sigourney Weaver) there's also a large queen alien at the top of the board that will occasionally snatch the ball off of the playfield and eat it. I was quite glad to hear that the voice samples were taken directly from the movie and all of the most memorable lines are here, so stop your grinnin' and drop your linen.
The table itself is of fantastic design—it's a joy to play and has a good kinetic rhythm to it, not to mention loads of little features which pay homage to the film. The unforgettable beeping motion tracker device is present, the boxy APC rolls up and pops the ball out like a soldier, the hallway-clearing sentry gun pops up on the left of the field, and a swarm of aliens will occasionally rush the flippers when certain conditions are met.
Aliens is an absolutely fantastic table, and it ranks among the best they've ever done. It's also worth noting that the game will pause when the 'story' mode switches, giving the player absolutely clear information about what's going on and what they should be shooting for—this is a feature I've been wanting from Zen for a long time, and I'm glad to see it finally implemented, even if it's only in this one table.
The second table is based on the Aliens Versus Predator. I'm a little embarrassed to say that I've never seen the film so I can't say how much of the table is taken from that source, but of the three in this pack, it's the one I find least interesting. The playfield itself is just average, and the bonus features are a bit dull—things like matching symbols on a stone temple or spinning a wheel to catch pinballs shooting in from all directions. It's not terrible by any means, but I felt little desire to come back to it.
The last table is based on the critically-acclaimed 2014 game Alien: Isolation. This one in particular is quite interesting because it takes elements from the source game and blends them into this one in unexpected ways.
Those who spent time with the original Isolation may recall that there was one alien stalking the main character throughout a space station, and the same premise is featured here. The alien can be seen prowling the top of the board. If it spots the player, they have a limited time to shoot the ball into a hiding place. If they succeed, the creature moves on. If they fail, it leaps down to attack, hitting the player for "damage" which affects the score multiplier.
It's neat twist and a great interpretation of the source material, bringing unique only-in-video-game-pinball characteristics to this table. On the other hand, it feels a bit too busy with slightly cramped features at the top, and there are a few snag points on corners when trying to shoot some of the tougher shots with the ball.
While I'd say that the Aliens vs. Pinball pack delivers great value for money overall, the Aliens table all by itself is an absolute knockout. For fans of Aliens or of Zen Pinball 2, picking this one is the definition of a no-brainer. Rating: 8.5 out of 10
Disclosures: This game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the PS4. Approximately 3 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and no time was spent in local multiplayer modes, although my scores were uploaded to online leaderboards.
Parents: According to the ESRB, this game contains fantasy violence and mild language. That said, it's hard for me to find anything offensive here. If you ask me, it's 100% safe for kids. It's pinball!
Deaf & Hard of Hearing: Although you may miss out on the voice samples, they're not necessary for successful play and there's no story. It's fully accessible.
Remappable Controls: Certain functions are able to be changed, like assigning the flippers to the shoulders, bumpers, or both, but the controls overall are not fully remappable.
Brad Gallaway
Senior Editor of GameCritics.com and co-host of the So Videogames Podcast.
Latest posts by Brad Gallaway (see all)
So Videogames Ep. 320: Spirit Of Certainty - January 21, 2023
OddBallers Accessibility Spotlight - January 20, 2023
So Videogames Ep. 319: Buddies On A Boat - January 15, 2023
Tags: Arcade Everyone 10+ Game Reviews PC PS3 PS4 Self Published Vita Zen Pinball 2 Zen Studios
Written by Brad Gallaway


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Ivanka Trump's new Chinese trademark applications raise fresh concerns over family's business interests
UncategorisedBy Super User 5th June 2017 Leave a comment
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Police show black drivers less respect than white drivers – body-cam study
WORLD NEWSBy Super User 5th June 2017 Leave a comment
Shocking police body-cam footage of shootings and other violent incidents is the source of outrage but a new study, which looks at hundreds of hours of the footage, finds black people are also treated differently during more mundane interactions with police.
France's Macron set for biggest majority since De Gaulle: poll
PARIS Emmanuel Macron's party is set to win the biggest parliamentary majority for a French president since Charles de Gaulle's 1968 landslide, a survey of voter intentions for the coming legislative elections showed on Tuesday.
Labour's Diane Abbott pulls out of radio show after yet another car-crash TV interview
As all parties cranked up their messages on investment in police numbers following Saturday's terrorist attack in London, Abbott was once again left red-faced, unable to point out which recommendations from a recent counterterrorism report she did not feel comfortable with.
Kuwait seeks to mediate Arab crisis over Qatar
DOHA/DUBAI Kuwait's ruler will travel to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, hoping to heal a damaging rift between Qatar and powerful Arab states over the former' s alleged support of Islamist militants and of political and religious rival Iran.
Qatar seeks Kuwaiti mediation after major Arab League states cut ties
Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani postponed an address to his country on the recent crisis on Tuesday in order to give Kuwait time to mediate in the ongoing crisis, Qatar's foreign minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani told Doha-based Al Jazeera.
Almost half UK millennials want to do their financial planning on a smartphone
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Tory candidate's cringey low-budget election campaign video goes viral (VIDEO)
The video is shot entirely in what is presumably Knight's constituency office in East Yorkshire. It opens with Knight in an ill-fitting jacket speaking awkwardly to a shaky camera, reading from a cue-card just to the left of the lens.
U.S.-backed Syrian force starts battle to capture Raqqa from Islamic State
HUKOUMIYA, Syria The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said on Tuesday it had launched a battle to capture Raqqa, Islamic State's de facto Syrian capital, piling pressure on the jihadists whose self-declared caliphate is in retreat across Syria and Iraq.
LISTEN: Sky Sports Golf podcast
GOLFBy Super User 5th June 2017 Leave a comment
John Hawksworth and Jamie Weir feature on this week's Sky Sports Golf podcast, looking back at another action-packed week in the sport.
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An age-old adage states: "Friends and business don't mix." The problem is that many people look for the same attributes in a business partner that they look for in a friend. Friendships and partnerships are both built on trust, common interests, and common goals, and both tend to fail when any of those three factors diverge. Going into business with your friends is natural and has led to some very successful enterprises as well as some epic implosions. Properly organizing your business from the outset will help you successfully address partnership disputes in the future and avoid a scorched-earth dissolution of your business and friendship.
Formalize Your Business Relationship. Many of the worst partnership disputes started with a handshake. "Handshake deals" are a trial lawyer's dream because they inevitably lead to some confusion or discrepancy. We've all had that moment when we're positive we're right, and our spouse / friend / sibling is positive (s)he's right. Neither person is trying to deceive the other but someone is simply wrong. The same thing happens in business and sometimes the stakes are much higher. These disputes can be avoided simply by formalizing your agreements in writing. "Handshake deals" may have been the Way of the West, but so were duels. Avoid duels.
Another important reason to formalize your partnership is that, if you don't, the law might do it for you. In Nevada, legal partnerships can be created unintentionally: if two or more persons carry-on as co-owners of a business for profit, they have created a legal partnership. Something as simple as pooling your money to buy and flip houses can create a legal partnership with a wide range of legal implications. Formalizing your business relationship will ensure that you remain in control of your partnership without unknown and unintended legal consequences.
Address the Tough Questions Early. Entrepreneurs are inherently optimistic people who sometimes have difficulty considering the possibility of getting into a major dispute with their friend and partner. This can lead to some partners never discussing the uncomfortable topic of what to do when something goes wrong.
A common problem arises when a mentor offers his/her apprentice a great partnership opportunity. Often the apprentice feels awkward addressing the mechanics of the arrangement or formalizing the relationship, fearing the mentor will take offense and withdraw the offer. This concern is often misplaced – a good mentor will appreciate your business savvy and be encouraged that you can handle the responsibility you've been given.
If your partner still resists, it may be time to reconsider the business relationship. Partners with fundamentally different views on how a business should operate cannot run a successful business. Addressing and understanding these differences before it's too late may save you both substantial frustration and money.
Decide How to Resolve Disputes Before they Happen. Most business partners get along when the business starts and friends like to form 50/50 partnerships to give both partners equal rights and authority. However, 50/50 arrangements lead to stalemates: for example, your partner wants to sell now, but you want to hold for six more months. Absent some method to break the deadlock, this type of dispute can destroy an otherwise successful business.
Ideally, business partners should avoid 50/50 relationships altogether. However, if you're adamant about maintaining equal interests, establish a procedure early on for how disputes will be resolved. It is much easier to formulate a dispute resolution plan while all parties get along than to wait for a dispute to arise. Consider agreeing upon a mutually respected third-party (or group of people) whom is willing to informally hear both sides of your dispute and act as the tiebreaker.
No partnership begins with disagreeable, untrusting partners, but some end with them. Planning for disputes before they happen will save substantial grief and money. If you don't plan ahead, someone else (possible a judge) might end up making your decisions for you.
Formulate Multiple Exit Strategies. All good business plans begin with an exit strategy, but things get much more complicated when partners are involved. What if your partner wants out before you do? Will you buy him out, or can he sell his interest to someone else? What if you don't have the cash to buy him out? What if your partner dies? Will his children inherit his interest? If so, do you want to be partners with his children?
Including clear and detailed buy-out provisions will help you prepare for unexpected contingencies, allowing one partner to smoothly exit the partnership without ending a longtime personal friendship. Create a "right of first refusal" to ensure that your partner's share of the company does not get transferred to someone you do not want to do business with. Establish a payment plan in the event that you do not have the cash available to buy-out your partner's interest. Be very clear about how the business will be valued and how payments will be made.
Always have a primary exit strategy and operate your business with that goal in mind. However, preparing for the unexpected contingencies that come with adding partners to your business might save your business and your friendship down the road.
Know When Enough Is Enough. Ugly partnership dissolutions are like bitter divorces: both parties get emotional and take unreasonably stubborn positions on objectively silly issues. Like divorces, many of these disputes arise from minor disagreements that fester, grow, and eventually consume both sides. If you feel this downward spiral begin, simply utilize your well-planned exit strategy and get out before irreparable damage is done, either to your business or your friendship.
Austin Sweet is an attorney at Gunderson Law Firm, practicing business law directed at helping business owners stay protected and prosper. He can be contacted at (775) 829-1222 or asweet@gundersonlaw.com.
Courtney Forster Voted Among the "Best Of Northern Nevada" by Reno News & Review Readers!
To read the full list, click here.
Nevada is a great place to do business for a number of reasons. Notably, Nevada has favorable tax laws and flexible corporate restrictions to encourage business men and women from across the world to form their businesses under our laws. Unfortunately, this flexibility leads to a wide range of options, which can be overwhelming for an entrepreneur trying to decide what type of business entity is right for them.
This article outlines the legal pros and cons of the most common types of business entities to help you determine the best fit for your business. It is important to note, however, that different business entities are taxed differently. For more information about how taxes might affect your decision, consult with your tax advisor.
The most common reason people form business entities is for liability protection. In general terms, some business entities shield the company's owners from personal liability from the company's debts. For example, if the company enters into a contract and the company breaks that contract, the owner is not necessarily personally liable for damages.
Not all entity types offer liability protection. Those that do are generally more expensive to form and operate and business owners are required to comply with various rules and requirements to maintain that liability protection. However, the benefits of doing so often vastly outweigh these costs and administrative burdens.
Sole Proprietorship. The most basic form for a business is a sole proprietorship. A sole proprietorship requires no paperwork (other than necessary licensing), no filing fees, and no annual maintenance. It is very inexpensive but offers few benefits; most importantly, sole proprietorships offer no liability protection. Unless your business consists of selling homemade pottery on www.etsy.com, a sole proprietorship is probably not your best choice.
General Partnership. A general partnership is essentially a multi-person sole proprietorship. It also requires no official paperwork and offers no liability protection. Like sole proprietorships, the primary benefit of a general partnership is that it is an inexpensive way to legally operate a business.
Be aware that general partnerships can be created unintentionally. If you have an "informal" business venture with another person, such as co-owning a rental property, a court of law might consider that to be a legal general partnership. This can lead to problematic and unintended legal consequences results. If you have an "informal" business relationship with another person, it is time to formalize your partnership into a legal entity and make sure you are protected.
Limited-Liability Company. A limited-liability company ("LLC") is probably the most common form of business entity used by small businesses in Nevada. An LLC offers its owners liability protection, but is more expensive to form and operate than a sole proprietorship or general partnership. The terms "LLC," "Ltd.," and "Co." often identify limited-liability companies.
LLCs offer the most flexible corporate structures, allowing the entity to adapt and change as your business grows. LLCs can be simple for owner-operated small businesses, complex for large businesses with multiple owners and officers, or anything in between. However, LLCs do not lend themselves to businesses involving numerous owners in varying capacities and levels of involvement.
The LLC's flexibility makes it a great option for companies owned and operated by a small group of people, regardless of the company's revenue. An LLC is a great fit for most businesses and tends to be an appropriate "default" choice unless you need the options presented by another business entity.
Corporation. Like LLCs, corporations offer their shareholders liability protection at the price of increased costs of formation and maintenance. The terms "Inc." and "Corp." generally refer to a corporation. "C Corp" and "S Corp" identify different tax designations for corporations; they do not identify different types of legal entities.
Corporations are slightly less flexible than LLCs but provide more options for complex ownership schemes. Corporations are ideal for business owners that intend to eventually take their business public or offer their employees stock options. Business owners seeking to bring in equity investors with any range of ownership interest and/or management control will also benefit from a corporation.
Professional Entities. Professional corporations and professional limited-liability companies are available for certain professions that are prohibited from conducting business through traditional corporate forms. For example, lawyers, accountants, doctors, and architects are some of the professions who may not seek the liability protection offered by an LLC or a corporation.
Generally speaking, a "professional" may not use a liability shield to protect himself from liability for professional negligence. However, professionals may still seek liability protection for the non-professional debts of the company, such as breaching a lease. Professional corporations and professional limited-liability companies allows this balance. Aside from this restriction on the liability shield, professional corporations and professional limited-liability companies operate much like standard corporations and LLCs.
Other Specialty Entities. There are a number of other business entities available in Nevada for more limited purposes. Non-profit corporations offer excellent tax benefits, but are strictly regulated to prevent abuse. If your business qualifies as a non-profit, the tax benefits generaly outweigh the added administrative burdens.
Limited partnerships and limited-liability partnerships offer more liability protection than general partnerships but less flexibility than LLCs or corporations. These business types can be enticing because they are generally cheaper to form than an LLC or corporation, but their ability to adapt and change is very limited.
Whatever business type you choose, put in the time and effort at the outset to ensure that your company is organized in a way that best fits your needs. Start-ups are already time consuming and expensive, but the organization of your business entity is a critical element that will follow your business throughout its life. Proper planning now will save you time and money down the road.