text:
Booz Allen and Capital CoLAB: Strengthening STEM From Baltimore to Richmond
Oct 11, 2019 7:00 AM ET
How are @GW_Partnership and @BoozAllen working together to strengthen #STEM in the Capital Region? http://bit.ly/2Ox7MCu
Stretching from Baltimore, MD, to Richmond, VA, the Capital Region surrounding Washington, D.C. has the third largest economy in the United States, with 53 Fortune 1000 companies and 115 federal labs and federally funded R&D centers, and is ranked third among the country's top tech hubs based in employment. Yet digital technology workers only make up 6.2 percent of the region's workforce – and there is more growth coming.
To help build and strengthen the region's tech talent pipeline, Booz Allen has joined a pioneering collaboration: Capital CoLAB (Collaboration of Leaders in Academia and Business). CoLAB is an initiative of the Greater Washington Partnership that brings together the area's top academic institutions and businesses to develop the talent needed for the future and keep the Capital Region a leading global hub for innovation.
"As a longtime technology leader in the Capital Region and one of its largest employers, Booz Allen recognizes the importance of building our STEM workforce and expanding access to the career opportunities created by digital transformation," said Booz Allen Vice President Patricia Porter. "We're proud to be a part of a program that brings our community together toward these goals."
Digital education with a career-building certification
The Capital Region is one of the nation's leading hubs for digital tech employment and is expected to add more than 130,000 digital tech job opportunities over the next five years. The CoLAB Digital Technology "Generalist" Credential program introduces non-STEM students to data analysis, visualization and security and helps create a pathway to highly skilled jobs at some of the region's most prestigious employers. The credential is currently being offered at George Mason University, Virginia Tech, the University of Richmond, American University, Virginia Commonwealth University, and Georgetown University.
A national model for public-private partnership
As undergraduates in HR, finance, liberal arts, and logistics gain digital skills, they create a broader talent pipeline for employers across the region. To strengthen this pipeline even further, CoLAB's TalentReady program is partnering with five school districts and community colleges in the region to develop IT career pathways for students, targeting those who would not typically attend four-year institutions.
"The CoLAB has become a national model for collaboration between businesses and educational institutions," said Capital CoLAB Inaugural Chair Wes Bush. "Through this effort, we will transform the talent landscape in the Capital Region for years to come."
Learn more about Capital CoLAB and about innovation at Booz Allen.
NYSE: BAH
More from Booz Allen Hamilton
New Study Underwritten by Booz Allen Details How AI Is Transforming the San Diego Workforce and Economy
Jan 8, 2021 8:00 AM ET
DevOps, Data, and More: How Booz Allen and Federal Agencies are Modernizing Health IT During COVID and Beyond
Booz Allen's Powerful Year of Giving Capped Off with Washington Business Journal Recognition for Corporate Philanthropy Efforts
Dec 22, 2020 8:00 AM ET
Washington Business Journal Names Booz Allen CEO Horacio Rozanski a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Champion
Booz Allen's Nancy Laben on Creating a More Diverse, Flexible Workplace


text:
Episode 135: The Darren Young Interview
Episode 135 is Tom's exclusive interview with former WWE Superstar Fred Dosser, also known as Darren Young. Young talks about his life after pro wrestling, which includes his recent Vanguard award from the OUTshine Film Festival, as well as his desire to be a superhero for the LBGTQ community. Darren also talks about his run in WWE and whether or not he's considering a return to the industry, whether it's for Vince McMahon, AEW or possibly even New Japan
Tom Clark on Pro Wrestling

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
"""Cloud TPU Estimator workflow with RevNet train on CIFAR-10."""

from __future__ import absolute_import
from __future__ import division
from __future__ import print_function

import os
import time

from absl import flags
import tensorflow as tf
from tensorflow.contrib.eager.python.examples.revnet import cifar_input
from tensorflow.contrib.eager.python.examples.revnet import main as main_
from tensorflow.contrib.eager.python.examples.revnet import revnet
from tensorflow.contrib.training.python.training import evaluation
from tensorflow.python.estimator import estimator as estimator_

def model_fn(features, labels, mode, params):
  """Model function required by the `tf.contrib.tpu.TPUEstimator` API.

  Args:
    features: Input images
    labels: Labels of images
    mode: One of `ModeKeys.TRAIN`, `ModeKeys.EVAL` or 'ModeKeys.PREDICT'
    params: A dictionary of extra parameter that might be passed

  Returns:
    An instance of `tf.contrib.tpu.TPUEstimatorSpec`
  """

  inputs = features
  if isinstance(inputs, dict):
    inputs = features["image"]

  FLAGS = params["FLAGS"]  # pylint:disable=invalid-name,redefined-outer-name
  config = params["config"]
  model = revnet.RevNet(config=config)

  if mode == tf.estimator.ModeKeys.TRAIN:
    global_step = tf.train.get_or_create_global_step()
    learning_rate = tf.train.piecewise_constant(
        global_step, config.lr_decay_steps, config.lr_list)
    optimizer = tf.train.MomentumOptimizer(
        learning_rate, momentum=config.momentum)

    if FLAGS.use_tpu:
      optimizer = tf.contrib.tpu.CrossShardOptimizer(optimizer)

    # Define gradients
    grads, vars_, logits, loss = model.compute_gradients(
        inputs, labels, training=True)
    train_op = optimizer.apply_gradients(
        zip(grads, vars_), global_step=global_step)

    names = [v.name for v in model.variables]
    tf.logging.warn("{}".format(names))

    return tf.contrib.tpu.TPUEstimatorSpec(
        mode=tf.estimator.ModeKeys.TRAIN, loss=loss, train_op=train_op)

  elif mode == tf.estimator.ModeKeys.EVAL:
    logits, _ = model(inputs, training=False)
    loss = model.compute_loss(labels=labels, logits=logits)

    def metric_fn(labels, logits):
      predictions = tf.argmax(logits, axis=1)
      accuracy = tf.metrics.accuracy(labels=labels, predictions=predictions)
      return {
          "accuracy": accuracy,
      }

    return tf.contrib.tpu.TPUEstimatorSpec(
        mode=mode, loss=loss, eval_metrics=(metric_fn, [labels, logits]))

  else:  # Predict or export
    logits, _ = model(inputs, training=False)
    predictions = {
        "classes": tf.argmax(logits, axis=1),
        "probabilities": tf.nn.softmax(logits),
    }

    return tf.contrib.tpu.TPUEstimatorSpec(
        mode=mode,
        predictions=predictions,
        export_outputs={
            "classify": tf.estimator.export.PredictOutput(predictions)
        })

def get_input_fn(config, data_dir, split):
  """Get the input function required by the `tf.contrib.tpu.TPUEstimator` API.

  Args:
    config: Customized hyperparameters
    data_dir: Directory where the data is stored
    split: One of `train`, `validation`, `train_all`, and `test`

  Returns:
    Input function required by the `tf.contrib.tpu.TPUEstimator` API
  """

  data_dir = os.path.join(data_dir, config.dataset)
  # Fix split-dependent hyperparameters
  if split == "train_all" or split == "train":
    data_aug = True
    epochs = config.tpu_epochs
    shuffle = True
  else:
    data_aug = False
    epochs = 1
    shuffle = False

  def input_fn(params):
    """Input function required by the `tf.contrib.tpu.TPUEstimator` API."""
    batch_size = params["batch_size"]
    return cifar_input.get_ds_from_tfrecords(
        data_dir=data_dir,
        split=split,
        data_aug=data_aug,
        batch_size=batch_size,  # per-shard batch size
        epochs=epochs,
        shuffle=shuffle,
        prefetch=batch_size,  # per-shard batch size
        data_format=config.data_format)

  return input_fn

def main(argv):
  FLAGS = argv[0]  # pylint:disable=invalid-name,redefined-outer-name
  tf.logging.set_verbosity(tf.logging.INFO)

  # RevNet specific configuration
  config = main_.get_config(config_name=FLAGS.config, dataset=FLAGS.dataset)

  if FLAGS.use_tpu:
    tf.logging.info("Using TPU.")
    tpu_cluster_resolver = tf.contrib.cluster_resolver.TPUClusterResolver(
        FLAGS.tpu, zone=FLAGS.tpu_zone, project=FLAGS.gcp_project)
  else:
    tpu_cluster_resolver = None

  # TPU specific configuration
  tpu_config = tf.contrib.tpu.TPUConfig(
      # Recommended to be set as number of global steps for next checkpoint
      iterations_per_loop=FLAGS.iterations_per_loop,
      num_shards=FLAGS.num_shards)

  # Estimator specific configuration
  run_config = tf.contrib.tpu.RunConfig(
      cluster=tpu_cluster_resolver,
      model_dir=FLAGS.model_dir,
      session_config=tf.ConfigProto(
          allow_soft_placement=True, log_device_placement=False),
      tpu_config=tpu_config,
  )

  # Construct TPU Estimator
  estimator = tf.contrib.tpu.TPUEstimator(
      model_fn=model_fn,
      use_tpu=FLAGS.use_tpu,
      train_batch_size=config.tpu_batch_size,
      eval_batch_size=config.tpu_eval_batch_size,
      config=run_config,
      params={
          "FLAGS": FLAGS,
          "config": config,
      })

  # Construct input functions
  train_input_fn = get_input_fn(
      config=config, data_dir=FLAGS.data_dir, split="train_all")
  eval_input_fn = get_input_fn(
      config=config, data_dir=FLAGS.data_dir, split="test")

  # Disabling a range within an else block currently doesn't work
  # due to https://github.com/PyCQA/pylint/issues/872
  # pylint: disable=protected-access
  if FLAGS.mode == "eval":
    # TPUEstimator.evaluate *requires* a steps argument.
    # Note that the number of examples used during evaluation is
    # --eval_steps * --batch_size.
    # So if you change --batch_size then change --eval_steps too.
    eval_steps = 10000 // config.tpu_eval_batch_size

    # Run evaluation when there's a new checkpoint
    for ckpt in evaluation.checkpoints_iterator(
        FLAGS.model_dir, timeout=FLAGS.eval_timeout):
      tf.logging.info("Starting to evaluate.")
      try:
        start_timestamp = time.time()  # This time will include compilation time
        eval_results = estimator.evaluate(
            input_fn=eval_input_fn, steps=eval_steps, checkpoint_path=ckpt)
        elapsed_time = int(time.time() - start_timestamp)
        tf.logging.info("Eval results: %s. Elapsed seconds: %d" %
                        (eval_results, elapsed_time))

        # Terminate eval job when final checkpoint is reached
        current_step = int(os.path.basename(ckpt).split("-")[1])
        if current_step >= config.max_train_iter:
          tf.logging.info(
              "Evaluation finished after training step %d" % current_step)
          break

      except tf.errors.NotFoundError:
        # Since the coordinator is on a different job than the TPU worker,
        # sometimes the TPU worker does not finish initializing until long after
        # the CPU job tells it to start evaluating. In this case, the checkpoint
        # file could have been deleted already.
        tf.logging.info(
            "Checkpoint %s no longer exists, skipping checkpoint" % ckpt)

  else:  # FLAGS.mode == 'train' or FLAGS.mode == 'train_and_eval'
    current_step = estimator_._load_global_step_from_checkpoint_dir(
        FLAGS.model_dir)
    tf.logging.info("Training for %d steps . Current"
                    " step %d." % (config.max_train_iter, current_step))

    start_timestamp = time.time()  # This time will include compilation time
    if FLAGS.mode == "train":
      estimator.train(input_fn=train_input_fn, max_steps=config.max_train_iter)
    else:
      eval_steps = 10000 // config.tpu_eval_batch_size
      assert FLAGS.mode == "train_and_eval"
      while current_step < config.max_train_iter:
        # Train for up to steps_per_eval number of steps.
        # At the end of training, a checkpoint will be written to --model_dir.
        next_checkpoint = min(current_step + FLAGS.steps_per_eval,
                              config.max_train_iter)
        estimator.train(input_fn=train_input_fn, max_steps=next_checkpoint)
        current_step = next_checkpoint

        # Evaluate the model on the most recent model in --model_dir.
        # Since evaluation happens in batches of --eval_batch_size, some images
        # may be consistently excluded modulo the batch size.
        tf.logging.info("Starting to evaluate.")
        eval_results = estimator.evaluate(
            input_fn=eval_input_fn, steps=eval_steps)
        tf.logging.info("Eval results: %s" % eval_results)

    elapsed_time = int(time.time() - start_timestamp)
    tf.logging.info("Finished training up to step %d. Elapsed seconds %d." %
                    (config.max_train_iter, elapsed_time))
  # pylint: enable=protected-access

if __name__ == "__main__":
  # Cloud TPU Cluster Resolver flags
  flags.DEFINE_string(
      "tpu",
      default=None,
      help="The Cloud TPU to use for training. This should be either the name "
      "used when creating the Cloud TPU, or a grpc://ip.address.of.tpu:8470 "
      "url.")
  flags.DEFINE_string(
      "tpu_zone",
      default=None,
      help="[Optional] GCE zone where the Cloud TPU is located in. If not "
      "specified, we will attempt to automatically detect the GCE project from "
      "metadata.")
  flags.DEFINE_string(
      "gcp_project",
      default=None,
      help="[Optional] Project name for the Cloud TPU-enabled project. If not "
      "specified, we will attempt to automatically detect the GCE project from "
      "metadata.")

  # Model specific parameters
  flags.DEFINE_string(
      "data_dir", default=None, help="Directory to load tfrecords")
  flags.DEFINE_string(
      "model_dir",
      default=None,
      help="[Optional] Directory to store the model information")
  flags.DEFINE_string(
      "dataset",
      default="cifar-10",
      help="[Optional] The dataset used; either `cifar-10` or `cifar-100`")
  flags.DEFINE_string(
      "config",
      default="revnet-38",
      help="[Optional] Architecture of network. "
      "Other options include `revnet-110` and `revnet-164`")
  flags.DEFINE_boolean(
      "use_tpu", default=True, help="[Optional] Whether to use TPU")
  flags.DEFINE_integer(
      "num_shards", default=8, help="Number of shards (TPU chips).")
  flags.DEFINE_integer(
      "iterations_per_loop",
      default=100,
      help=(
          "Number of steps to run on TPU before feeding metrics to the CPU."
          " If the number of iterations in the loop would exceed the number of"
          " train steps, the loop will exit before reaching"
          " --iterations_per_loop. The larger this value is, the higher the"
          " utilization on the TPU."))
  flags.DEFINE_string(
      "mode",
      default="train_and_eval",
      help="[Optional] Mode to run: train, eval, train_and_eval")
  flags.DEFINE_integer(
      "eval_timeout", 60 * 60 * 24,
      "Maximum seconds between checkpoints before evaluation terminates.")
  flags.DEFINE_integer(
      "steps_per_eval",
      default=1000,
      help=(
          "Controls how often evaluation is performed. Since evaluation is"
          " fairly expensive, it is advised to evaluate as infrequently as"
          " possible (i.e. up to --train_steps, which evaluates the model only"
          " after finishing the entire training regime)."))
  FLAGS = flags.FLAGS
  tf.app.run(main=main, argv=[FLAGS])

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Publi Terenci Varró (en llatí Publius Terentius Varro) va ser un poeta romà força cèlebre, anomenat Varró Atací per distingir-lo de Varró Reatí, o Marc Terenci Varró. El seu malnom, Atací, derivava d'Atax, el riu de la Gàl·lia Narbonense, prop del qual havia nascut l'any 82 aC. Quan tenia 25 anys es va dedicar a l'estudi de la literatura grega. De la seva vida personal no se'n sap res més.

Obra
De la seva obra resten considerables fragments encara que alguns són dubtosos per la dificultat de distingir entre els dos Varró, especialment quan només es menciona com a referència el cognom Varro o Terentius Varro.

Algunes obres seves van ser:
 Traducció de l'Argonautica, o Corpus Argonautarum, una traducció lliure i sembla que amb variants de l'obra d'Apol·loni Rodi
 Bellum Sequanicum, un poema heroic en almenys dos llibres sobre la guerra de Juli Cèsar contra Vercingetòrix.
 Chorographia s. Cosmographia, de vegades anomenat Varronis iter, que sembla una descripció geogràfica i astronòmica. L'obra va ser usada per Plini el Vell a la Naturalis Historia.

Referències

Varro, Publi Terenci
Poetes romans
Narbonesos
Poetes francesos
Escriptors de la regió d'Occitània
Escriptors occitans

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Do you follow the herd?
This week I'm talking house prices, GDP, capital gains tax (CGT) developments and the ethics of property investment. I'll look back at the experts' predictions from the start of the year, and we've evaluated how they're faring. You might be surprised at how altogether 'un'expert they are.
We'll also delve in some depth at what's hot for property investors considering to tippy-toe back into the market. The property is back on everyone's lips, and the dull roar of the herd is beginning to be heard off in the distance. You know what this means if you haven't got a plan you'll be the one left behind.
As always, if you have any questions, give the team a call that number again is +44 (0)207 923 6100.


A perfect swirl of whipped cream can be the crowning gem atop your dessert—if you have a good cream whipper.
There are few desserts that aren't improved by a swirl of fresh whipped cream. But if you want to make your own, you have to haul out a mixer or, worse, whisk until your arm goes numb. Luckily, there is an easier way to make homemade whipped cream: Use a cream whipper, a pressurized canister powered by nitrous oxide. You simply fill the canister with heavy cream, twist on a single-use nitrous oxide charger (sold separately for about $0.50 a pop), shake to distribute the gas, and press a lever to pipe out swirls and rosettes. Beauty doesn't come cheap, however—many cream whippers retail for upwards of $100.00. Are cream whippers worth the expense?
Eager to find out, we rounded up nine cream whippers, priced from about $30.00 to about $115.00, and used each to pipe a pint's worth of 2-inch whipped cream rosettes using every included decorating tip. We also had five testers—men and women, lefties and righties, pros and novices—use and evaluate each whipper. We used branded chargers if a product's manual specified to do so; otherwise, we stuck with generic chargers.
Testers immediately zeroed in on the appearance of the whipped cream. Only a few whippers made swirls that were uniform, fluffy, and detailed; most produced misshapen, gloppy rosettes that looked jagged, uneven, and almost curdled. At first we suspected that the decorating tips were the culprit. Each whipper came with between one and three (most had three) tips of varying widths for producing swirls of different designs. While a few models had tips with narrow openings that clogged and sputtered when we used them, most had tips that appeared so similar in shape and size that they could almost be interchangeable.
Instead, we found that the unattractive, blobby rosettes were a result of testers having trouble gripping the canisters and using the dispensing mechanisms. Testers of all sizes preferred shorter canisters, which were easier to move and angle when dispensing the cream. Our favorite whippers were 7.5 and 8.3 inches from top to bottom—as much as 2 inches shorter than some of the more unwieldy canisters.
Testers also disliked whippers with levers that were difficult to push or hard to reach. One model with a button instead of a lever was immediately singled out as hard to control. To use the rest of the whippers, you wrap your hand around the head of the canister and press a lever with your fingers to dispense the cream. The distance of this grip ranged from 3.6 to 4.2 inches, depending on the whipper. And while ½ inch might seem insignificant, for some testers it made the difference between complete control and grasping by their fingertips. Testers struggled to control hard-to-grip, heavy, or sticky levers; this lack of control resulted in blobby, unattractive rosettes. Top-performing products had smaller, more secure grips that allowed more leverage to dispense cream slowly and evenly and make perfect, detailed swirls. Our favorite whippers also had rubber grips for an even sturdier, slip-free hold.
Finally, we evaluated how easy each model was to load, charge with gas, empty, and clean and how easy it was to change tips. Some whippers had finicky inner pieces that moved around when we changed tips or slippery, hard-to-turn handles that made recharging difficult. We preferred products with grippy rubber or plastic handles, sturdy gaskets that stayed in place, and tips that easily screwed onto the nozzle. We also gave an edge to whippers that were dishwasher-safe.
Ultimately, we concluded that the convenience of a good cream whipper is worth paying more for: It not only makes it easy to create professional swirls and dollops of whipped cream but can also can hold cream for several days in the refrigerator. Our top two options are priced at roughly $100.00 and roughly $70.00, but they were the only models that produced consistent, flawless results. Our favorite, the iSi Gourmet Whip (about $100.00), made perfect, restaurant-worthy rosettes and was sturdy and comfortable for pros and novices alike (note that iSi also makes our lowest-ranked whipper, so check the model numbers when purchasing).
We tested nine 1-pint cream whippers, following manufacturers' instructions for loading, charging, and dispensing whipped cream and for cleaning. We used generic nitrous oxide chargers unless the product's manual specified to use branded chargers. Each whipper was rated on its comfort, control, dispensing, and ease of use. Prices shown were paid online, and products appear in order of preference.
COMFORT: Testers of different sizes, genders, and dominant hands evaluated how comfortable and sturdy the whippers were to hold and maneuver. Products lost points if they were slippery, awkwardly designed, or had hard-to-reach levers.
CONTROL: We observed the sensitivity and responsiveness of each product's levers or buttons. Whippers received full points if they dispensed in slow, even, steady streams.
DISPENSING: Testers evaluated the appearance of the cream after dispensing, noting how easily each whipper made attractive, uniform 2-inch rosettes. Products lost points for cream that looked curdled, messy, or inconsistent.
EASE OF SETUP: We assessed how easy the whippers were to load with cream, charge, change tips, and empty. Top scores went to products that were intuitive and quick to set up and disassemble.


text:
Свен Форсман (; 12 сентября 1882, Гётеборг — 1 марта 1919, Гётеборг) — шведский гимнаст, чемпион летних Олимпийских игр 1908.

На Играх 1908 в Лондоне Форсман участвовал только в командном первенстве, в котором его сборная заняла первое место.

Ссылки
 Свен Форсман на sports-reference.com

Персоналии по алфавиту
Родившиеся в 1882 году
Родившиеся 12 сентября
Родившиеся в Гётеборге
Умершие в 1919 году
Умершие 1 марта
Умершие в Гётеборге
Чемпионы летних Олимпийских игр 1908 года
Гимнасты Швеции
Гимнасты на летних Олимпийских играх 1908 года
Олимпийские чемпионы от Швеции
Олимпийские чемпионы по спортивной гимнастике


Just $20 gets you entry into The Jolly Goblin's Ravnica Allegiance Magic League! Magic League is a four-week program for fun, on demand magic play, at any skill level.
Players build 30-card minimum deck from three booster packs, and then each week (and after 3 losses) have the option to add another booster pack to their card pool! At the end of the 4 week run there will be fabulous prizes such as free boosters and more! The prize pool increases by 4 booster packs for every person who joins, so tell your friends to sign up at JGG!
Rewards will be issued based on several accomplishments, such as get 10+ wins or achievements such as "longest win streak" or "Most games played." Come on by and join the fun, games can be played at your leisure at JGG!


Where are the basal ganglia?
basal ganglia (within red square).
The basal ganglia are a group of structures found deep within the cerebral hemispheres. The structures generally included in the basal ganglia are the caudate, putamen, and globus pallidus in the cerebrum, the substantia nigra in the midbrain, and the subthalamic nucleus in the diencephalon. Despite the name, the basal ganglia are not actually ganglia.
What are the basal ganglia and what do they do?
The separate nuclei of the basal ganglia all have extensive roles of their own in the brain, but when referring to them as one network the function most frequently associated with the basal ganglia involves movement.
The basal ganglia receive information from the cortex, much of which is sent first to the caudate and putamen (which together are often referred to as the striatum). After the information is processed by the basal ganglia, it is sent back to the cortex by way of the thalamus. Thus, the pathway from the cortex to the basal ganglia and then back to the cortex via the thalamus forms a loop.
Watch this 2-Minute Neuroscience video to learn more about the basal ganglia.
In simplistic terms, the functions of the basal ganglia in motor control are to facilitate movement and inhibit competing movements. For example, when someone tries to make an intentional movement like reaching for a pencil, the basal ganglia help to facilitate the movement by allowing motor plans associated with that movement (reaching and grasping in this case) to be activated. At the same time, the basal ganglia cause motor plans that might counteract the movement (perhaps flexing in this case) to be inhibited. The result is a smooth and fluid movement.
Although exactly how the basal ganglia achieve this fluidity of movement is not completely understood, we can see the importance of the basal ganglia to smooth movement when we look at cases where the basal ganglia are damaged. In Parkinson's disease, for example, dopaminergic neurons of the substantia nigra degenerate. When this happens, the ability of the basal ganglia to inhibit contradictory movements is affected. This causes individuals with Parkinson's disease to have difficulty initiating movements, and results in some of the symptoms associated with Parkinson's disease like rigidity and slow movement.
On the other hand, in a disorder like Huntington's disease, neurons that project to the globus pallidus degenerate, causing the globus pallidus to become unusually active. This leads to excessive activation of movement-related circuits and results in the jerky and writhing involuntary movements seen in Huntington's disease.
A balance between the ability to inhibit and facilitate movement is critical to making normal, smooth movements, and the proper functioning of the basal ganglia is essential to maintaining that balance. The basal ganglia, however, are also thought to have roles in habitual behavior, emotion, and cognition. Thus, in addition to movement disorders, the basal ganglia are now being investigated in attempts to understand disorders like Tourette's syndrome, schizophrenia, and obsessive-compulsive disorder.


TL COMPANY ESSENTIAL OILS ARE USED FOR RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES, RITUALS AND AROMATHERAPY.
ALL TL COMPANY OILS ARE FOR EXTERNAL USE ONLY.
NOT TO BE ORALLY CONSUMED!
Lavender essential oil is used to refresh indoor air and used in healing and purifying rituals, and also to arouse sexual desire in men.
The essential oil of peppermint has the strong, spicy smell we associate with the herb and peppermint flavored candy. Used to create changes within one's life. Also used to relax and allow one to unwind.
Used in aromatherapy, the sedative scent stimulates the release of pleasure hormones, namely serotonin, and dopamine, thereby improving negative moods and enhancing the feeling of relaxation. It is believed to work as an aphrodisiac by stimulating sensual energy and boosting the libido. When diffused at night, Patchouli Essential Oil can encourage restful sleep, which can, in turn, improve mood, cognitive function, and metabolism. Associated with love, wealth, and sexual power, patchouli can be used in a variety of magical workings. To make someone feel an attraction to you, wear patchouli oil – the scent is well-known as an aphrodisiac. There are some traditions of modern magic in which patchouli is valued for its repelling power. Anoint your doors or windows with either patchouli oil, or the scattered leaves, and use it to keep negative influences at bay or for magical self-defense.
A high-vibration oil, used for personal protection. It is also a sexual stimulant in the female. Added to any incense, it increases its powers. Mixed with powdered sandalwood, it makes an incense suitable for all religious or spiritual magic. Good for meditation, illumination, and so on.
To make a person in the mood for marriage, wear this oil. Many women add it to their daily baths to build up their attractiveness. Sometimes known as mantrap.
Protective, very healing, this oil is used to anoint. It also aids one in seeing past incarnations. Try anointing the forehead to promote the Sight.
One of the most sacred of all oils, used to anoint magical tools, the altar, etc. A strong purifier used in exorcisms, purification rituals, and blessings.
Wear to attract love. A powerful feminine magnetic oil. Protective.
An aid to the psychic powers. Wear on the forehead. Spiritualists and mediums use it, for it helps make contact with spirits.
A vitalizing oil, said to be sexually arousing in women. Use as an energy restorer. Sometimes used to gain extra power during magical ceremonies.
The oil is used in love operations and is sometimes sexually exciting. Once thought to be sacred. Very healing, added to baths.
Symbol of the Moon, and of the mysteries of the night. Jasmin oil is used to attract love. The scent helps one relax, sleep, and also facilitates childbirth. It is sometimes used for meditation and general anointing purposes.
A purification, protection and hex-breaking oil. Possesses a high vibratory rate, making it excellent for the more religious rituals of magic. Anoint the house every morning and evening as part of any protection ritual.
Strengthens confidence and inner resolve; heightens sexual allure.
Attracts success, good fortune, and favorable circumstances.


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ASU vs. California: Complete Game Preview and TV Schedule
Your complete guide to Arizona State's Pac-12 opener against the Golden Bears.
By Shane Theodore@shane_writes Sep 23, 2016, 9:01am MST
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Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports
Arizona State Sun Devils (3-0, 0-0 Pac-12) vs. California Golden Bears (2-1, 0-0 Pac-12)
Kickoff: Saturday, September 23 - 7:00 p.m. PT/10:00 p.m. ET
Television: ESPN2 (Mike Patrick, Ed Cunningham, and Dr. Jerry Punch)
Radio: ESPN Phoenix 620/TuneIn App (Tim Healey, Jeff Van Raaphorst, and Derek Hagan)
What ASU is Wearing: Going with the Maroon Monsoon theme for its Pac-12 opener, the Arizona State is sporting maroon from head to toe, a look that dates back to the Nike days. Adidas fitted ASU with the large pitchfork and numbers on the helmets for last year's edition of the game, but the Sun Devils are going back to the regular-sized pitchfork for this Saturday's game.
Series History: California leads 17-15. Arizona State's last period of dominance over the Golden Bears came under Bruce Snyder in the 1990's, but under Jeff Tedford's watch the Bears from Berkeley ran off eight wins in ten games against the Sun Devils from 2002-12. After missing each other on the schedule for a pair of seasons, Sonny Dykes beat ASU in his first try in the final regular season game of 2015, winning 48-46.
California in 2016: Adjusting to life without Jared Goff, the Golden Bears have enjoyed the luxury of not having to break in a quarterback who's completely new to playing at the college level. Senior transfer Davis Webb has lit up each defense he's faced and is on an initial pace to break 5,000 yards on the season, but the Bears have been abysmal defending the run and has put Cal in compromising positions against teams that won't match up with the caliber of the schools they'll be facing over the course of the conference season. Sitting at 2-1, losing a shootout to San Diego after allowing 281 yards to Donnel Pumphrey and beating Texas 50-43 while allowing two 100+ yard rushers for the Longhorns.
ASU on Offense: The Sun Devils did just enough to fly out of San Antonio as winners over UTSA, but the hangover from putting up 68 on Texas Tech was real. The ground game that carved out 137 yards and eight touchdowns for Kalen Ballage to go with Demario Richard's 109 yards and against the Red Raiders only amassed 157 between the two against UTSA. Careless play from the Sun Devils on special teams gifted the Roadrunners two separate scoring opportunities, both of which they took advantage of.
"It's a long time since I've been minus-3 and been successful in a game," Graham said. "So we overcame some adversity, but we really need to take care of the football. Going into (California), it's going to be vital, the turnover ratio."
With the ground game struggling and the passing game missing the dynamic athleticism of Tim White, freshman receiver N'Keal Harry continued to perform at an absurd level for a true freshman, catching five balls for 78 yards and a one-handed touchdown that gave the Sun Devils a much-needed score to end the first half. Cam Smith - whose junior season has stuttered out of the gates, pulled in three balls for 88 yards against the Roadrunners.
"He's really doing a good job for us," said Harry. "He's continuing to get better. I think he's staying very humble and very hungry. And obviously, he's a very gifted young man. I think coach (Jay) Norvell is doing a great job in developing him. He's definitely a threat for us. And a guy that's not only getting it done catching the ball, but he's doing a great job blocking, he's learning and he's getting better at everything he's doing. He's a guy that is definitely a playmaker for us."
Center Zach Robertson, who missed the last two games with injury, is expected to return and fill out an offensive line that has protected Wilkins well through the early portion of the season. Arizona State also expects White back healthy, and his return should open things up immensely for the Sun Devils.
WR Jalen Harvey: Saturday night is expected to be a high-scoring affair, and if it is the Sun Devils will need all the reinforcements they need to outpace California and the electric Air Raid offense. Way back when Manny Wilkins was a four-star recruit, he played a notable role in convincing fellow four-star prospect Harvey to switch his commitment away from Sonny Dykes' California Bears and come to Tempe. He caught his first career touchdown last year against Arizona but with only four catches for 39 yards so far this season, will be chomping at the bit to make an impact Saturday.
QB Manny Wilkins: As Wilkins goes, the Sun Devils will go. He sparkled against Texas Tech, but his completion percentage dipped below 50% and he was picked off once against UTSA. In a game that could get out of hand if one team is turnover-prone and the other capitalizes, taking care of the ball against Cal is of the utmost importance. But if Wilkins is on his game like he was a couple weeks ago in Sun Devil Stadium, it's going to be a long night for the Golden Bear defense.
ASU on Defense: It's still not sunshine and rainbows for the Sun Devil defense, but they shut out UTSA in the fourth quarter that enabled the offense's eventual comeback. But the final score doesn't tell the entire story for the Sun Devils, as the defense missed 22 tackles against the Roadrunners.
"We've gotta get better fundamentally," Graham said. "We've gotta get better at tackling, especially in space. A lot of that is controlling our energy and just really working on our fundamentals. Our tracking kind of stuff."
Arizona State welcomes back Salamo Fiso and George Lea for the tilt against the Golden Bears, but may be without Christian Sam as he walked during stretches in Thursday's practice and appears doubtful for Saturday. The standouts on the defense through the first three weeks of the season are defensive linemen Tashon Smallwood and Viliami Latu,
Key Players and Units
Joseph Wicker: After opening eyes during his true freshman season, Wicker's sophomore year has been tempered by Smallwood and Latu's surge and the pass-happy nature of Arizona State's opponents. But Wicker might have the brightest future of all of the Maroon and Gold's defensive linemen, and when he's on his game he's a forced to be reckoned with. Strong enough to create pressure and fast enough to chase down Davis Webb and finish off sacks, Wicker is in position to make a difference-making impact against California.
The No Fly Zone: If Wicker and the defensive line do their job and stifle California's running game, the secondary's going to be bombarded with a flurry of Webb passes. Their bread and butter is the vertical passing game though, and Arizona State isn't going to chock up a ton of points without the Golden Bears doing their best to keep up with them. But in their loss to San Diego State and their narrow win over Texas, Webb threw five interceptions. If ASU's defensive backs can withstand the barrage and take advantage of the occasional opportunities he'll give them for turnovers, the Sun Devils can take control of the game.
ASU 56, California 52


text:
Some basic steps to protect your Facebook account after hack hits 50 million users
Closing the barn door.
Image: JOSH EDELSON / getty
By Jack Morse 2018-09-28 21:09:44 UTC
So Facebook just got pwned. Like, badly.
The company announced today that hackers obtained access to 50 million users' accounts, and could use them as if the accounts were their own. But what does that mean for you? Was your account one of the ones affected, and, if so, what can you do to protect your account going forward?
SEE ALSO: Facebook uncovers a new plot to manipulate its users — and proves they'll always be a target
While there remain a lot of unanswered questions about what data was stolen, and who is responsible, there are thankfully a few clear steps you can take to stop the bleeding. Whether it's too late to really matter, well, that's a different question.
Find out if your account was affected
To determine how badly you should panic, it's worth first finding out if your account was one of the 50 million in question. Unfortunately, there's at present not a 100 percent sure way to know.
While Facebook logged out all the accounts that were hit, finding yourself suddenly booted out of Facebook apps and browser sessions isn't a surefire way to know if a hacker was digging around in your profile. That's because the company also logged out another 40 million accounts as a precautionary measure.
If you've been logged out of your account and asked to sign back in, it's because we've discovered a security issue and are taking immediate action to protect people on Facebook. Learn more https://t.co/XLcHGYFBu2
— Facebook (@facebook) September 28, 2018
So, in other words, if you tried to log into Facebook this morning only to find that you strangely had to renter your password where before it had been saved, you might have been hit. But maybe not. If you didn't have to do that, you're probably safe.
Either way, there are some basic precautions you should consider.
Log out everywhere
The first thing you can do is log out of your Facebook account, everywhere. Like, every single place that it's logged in — your web browser, the app on your phone, your iPad — everywhere. Facebook may have already done this for you, but, if it hasn't, you should probably do this for yourself.
Why? Well, according to the company, hackers stole so-called access tokens — "the equivalent of digital keys that keep people logged in to Facebook so they don't need to re-enter their password every time they use the app" — and used those to access victims' accounts. Facebook has reset these tokens, but still suggests as a "precautionary action" people go ahead and log out everywhere.
Oh, also, the "investigation is still in its early stages." So, in other words, there's probably a lot that the Facebook security team doesn't know at this point. Better to log out just to be safe.
To do so, head to the "Security and Login" section found in settings. There you will find an option to log out of all your sessions. Click it.
Your password and 2FA
Importantly, Facebook explicitly says there is no need for you to change your password. And the company is probably correct. Again, though, the investigation of the hack isn't yet complete.
So while you likely don't need to change your password, this might be a great time to make sure you have a password unique to Facebook. This means that if your password is ever compromised on Facebook, none of your non-Facebook accounts will be vulnerable as a result.
What's more, having a unique Facebook password means that if someone manages to get your email or, say, Twitter password, that person won't then be able to automatically use it to log into your Facebook account.
And, for good measure, turn on Facebook's two-factor authentication. Use an authenticator app.
Delete your account
Sick of all this Facebook garbage? Why not delete your account. After all, it's pretty hard to hack your Facebook account if you don't have one.
Mark Zuckerberg famously said that "we have a responsibility to protect your data, and if we can't then we don't deserve to serve you."
Maybe, just this once, he was right.
WATCH: Watch Zuckerberg's face freeze after a far-right politician credited Facebook for Trump's win and Brexit
Topics: Facebook, hack, Tech


text:
package com.github.dreamhead.moco.parser;

import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.JsonMappingException;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.Module;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.exc.UnrecognizedPropertyException;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.type.CollectionType;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.type.TypeFactory;
import com.github.dreamhead.moco.HttpServer;
import com.google.common.collect.ImmutableList;
import org.slf4j.Logger;
import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;

import java.io.IOException;
import java.io.InputStream;
import java.io.InputStreamReader;
import java.nio.charset.Charset;
import java.util.List;

import static com.google.common.collect.ImmutableList.copyOf;
import static java.lang.String.format;

public class CollectionReader {
    private static Logger logger = LoggerFactory.getLogger(HttpServer.class);

    private final ObjectMapper mapper = new ObjectMapper();
    private final TypeFactory factory = TypeFactory.defaultInstance();

    public CollectionReader(Module... modules) {
        for (Module module : modules) {
            mapper.registerModule(module);
        }
    }

    public <T> ImmutableList<T> read(InputStream is, Class<T> elementClass) {
        try {
            CollectionType type = factory.constructCollectionType(List.class, elementClass);
            List<T> sessionSettings = mapper.readValue(new InputStreamReader(is, Charset.defaultCharset()), type);
            return copyOf(sessionSettings);
        } catch (UnrecognizedPropertyException e) {
            logger.info("Unrecognized field: {}", e.getMessage());
            throw new RuntimeException(format("Unrecognized field [ %s ], please check!", e.getPropertyName()));
        } catch (JsonMappingException e) {
            logger.info("{} {}", e.getMessage(), e.getPathReference());
            throw new RuntimeException(e);
        } catch (IOException e) {
            throw new RuntimeException(e);
        }
    }
}


text:
Q: Styling input label to align inside input box to float right I am trying to align my input label inside the input box and float right
The input boxes are extended from b4.
Here is what it looks like now (arrow showing what I want to do)

Here is the layout (It's in vue but just ignore. Only showing for how I am arranging my elements.
    {{ label }}

        <input v-if="form !== false"
                type="text"
                v-validate="validation"
                v-model="current"
                :id="index"
                :name="index"
               :disabled="disabled"
                :placeholder="label"
                class="form-control"
                :class="{ 'is-invalid': form.errors.has(index) }" @input="triggerEvent">

And here is my attempt at css:
f.input-icon {
    position: relative;
}
.input-icon input {
    text-indent: 30px;
}
.input-icon span {
    position: absolute;
    top: 50px;
    left: 15px;
    font-size: 20px;
}
.input-label {
    color: blue;
}
label {
    float: right;
    width: 10em;
    position: relative;
    margin-right: 1em;
}

A: I have created this pen, which I believe answers your question. See Form input with right aligned label pen on CodePen. I have included my stripped down code below for quick reference.
HTML

  Test
  <input type="text" placeholder="label">

CSS
* {
  box-sizing: border-box;
}
.form-control {
  padding: 0.625rem;
  position: relative;
}
label {
  position: absolute;
  top: 1.7rem;
  right: 1.625rem;
  color: blue;
}
input[type="text"] {
  display: block;
  width: 100%;
  padding: 1rem;
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
A few things you might have missed from the Mueller report
By Eric Tucker
Published: April 20, 2019 8:35 am
Jon Elswick
Special counsel Robert Mueller's redacted report on the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election is photographed Thursday, April 18, 2019, in Washington. The pages refer to former campaign chairman Paul Manafort. (AP Photo/Jon Elswick)
Utah Sen. Mitt Romney says he's 'sickened' by President Trump's conduct detailed in Mueller report
Democrats subpoena Mueller report amid calls for impeachment
WASHINGTON — Special counsel Robert Mueller's report focuses on the seminal questions of whether President Donald Trump's campaign colluded with the Russians and whether the president sought to illegally obstruct the investigation.
But tucked into the 448-page document are vivid anecdotes and meaningful revelations about a colorful cast of characters entangled in Mueller's investigation.
THE EMAIL HUNT
Even as Russians hacked Democratic email accounts, a haphazard group of Americans launched a parallel effort of their own: to find tens of thousands of emails deleted from Hillary Clinton's personal email server.
It had become an object of fascination for Trump, who asked multiple people around the campaign to find the missing emails.
Among them was Trump's future national security adviser Michael Flynn, who enlisted the help of a former Senate staffer named Barbara Ledeen and Peter Smith, an investment adviser who'd been active in Republican politics.
The report documents multiple steps the two took to find the emails. Smith, for instance, recruited security experts and business associates and claimed to those he was seeking funding from that he was in contact with Russia-linked hackers.
It's not clear the bluster amounted to anything as Mueller found no evidence that any of the Americans were actually in touch with any Russian hackers or had any connection to them.
SESSIONS INVESTIGATED
Mueller confirmed that his office investigated whether Attorney General Jeff Sessions committed perjury at his January 2017 confirmation hearing by saying that he "did not have communications with the Russians" during the campaign.
The statement was false because Sessions did in fact have two separate encounters with the then-Russian ambassador to the United States — once during the week of the Republican National Convention in July 2016 and again in his Senate office two months later.
Sessions would later explain that he understood the question to be narrowly focused on whether he had exchanged campaign information with Russians as opposed to having more routine interactions with them.
Mueller's report said prosecutors accepted that assertion as plausible and closed the case without prosecution.
"WE'LL BE TAKEN CARE OF"
Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his business partner Rick Gates were among the first of the president's aides to be charged by Mueller, accused of a broad array of financial crimes.
For months, they stood united as co-defendants but that relationship was severed in February 2018 when Gates agreed to plead guilty and cooperate with the investigation.
The report reveals a curious encounter one month earlier when Manafort sought to dissuade Gates from cutting a deal. He told Gates that he had spoken with the president's own lawyers and that "we'll be taken care of," according to the report.
Gates went ahead and pleaded guilty, testifying against Manafort in his trial. Manafort followed suit months later by pleading guilty and was recently sentenced to more than seven years in prison.
COUNTLESS FBI AGENTS
The day after Trump fired FBI Director James Comey, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders made a claim that even at the time rang false.
Turns out, it was.
Sanders, pressed on the president's decision to fire Comey, said the White House had "heard from countless members of the FBI" complaining about Comey's leadership and contradicting the conventional narrative that the rank-and-file was devastated by his termination. The next day, she again stood by her claim that she personally had been in touch "between emails and text messages" with a large number of FBI personnel who said they were very happy with the president's decision.
The assertion during a White House press briefing was so baffling that an exasperated reporter at one point proclaimed, "I mean, really?"
But when questioned by Mueller's team, Sanders changed her tune, saying her reference to "countless members" of the FBI was a "slip of the tongue." She acknowledged that she had no basis for a separate statement that rank-and-file agents had lost confidence in Comey.
Sanders claimed in a series of television interviews on Friday that the "countless" comment was a "slip of the tongue" and not a scripted talking point but that she stood behind her general sentiment.
"I'm sorry I wasn't a robot," she said in one of the interviews.
In the summer of 2016, the WikiLeaks founder took an unusual interest in the Washington, D.C., murder of a former Democratic National Committee staffer.
News reports had already correctly attributed the hack of DNC servers to Russia, but Assange — whose anti-secrecy website had come in possession of stolen emails — wanted to "obscure the source of the materials" that it was releasing.
To do so, Mueller says, Assange seized on false conspiracy theories that linked the hacks to Seth Rich, the slain DNC staffer.
Even though, WikiLeaks had already been in touch with Guccifer 2.0, a fictitious Russian intelligence persona masquerading as a lone hacker, Assange promoted the idea that Rich may actually have been the source of stolen emails and connected to the DNC hack.
At one point, he announced a $20,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Rich's killer.
In an August 25, 2016 interview, Assange said, "If there's someone who's potentially connected to our publication, and that person has been murdered in suspicious circumstances, it doesn't necessarily mean that the two are connected. But it is a very serious matter ... that type of allegation is very serious, as it's taken very seriously by us."
In an unrelated case, the Justice Department last week unsealed an indictment accusing Assange of conspiring with former intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to crack a U.S. government password.
SANCTIONS TALK
The report sheds new light on the aftermath of Flynn's discussion on sanctions with Sergey Kislyak, the then-Russian ambassador to the United States, during the presidential transition period.
After a Washington Post columnist disclosed in January 2017 that Flynn and Kislyak had indeed discussed sanctions, Flynn — under pressure from the president-elect — directed K.T. McFarland, who served as deputy national security adviser, to contact the newspaper and deny that sanctions had ever been talked about.
McFarland made the call even though she knew she was relaying false information, the report said.
The following month, after Flynn was ousted from the White House, Trump sought to have McFarland draft an internal letter stating that he had not directed Flynn to discuss sanctions with Kislyak. But McFarland refused because she didn't know whether that was true, the report says.
Flynn's sanctions discussions with Kislyak were central to the investigation and he pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about it.
Associated Press writer Chad Day contributed to this report.
U.S. & World yesterday Hong Kong police fight with protesters amid rising tensions


text:
With the 2020 campaign season in full swing, and concerns that election results could be compromised, Straus News undertook an extensive review of what voting machines are in use in our communities and talked with local election officials and cyber security experts to hear their views.
At an August gathering of cyber security experts and hackers, called DEFCON Voting Village, attendees spent two and a half days exploring and exploiting the vulnerabilities of voting machines.
The report of their findings, released Sept. 26, revealed that the voting machines currently in use in Sussex, Pike and Orange counties are hackable.
Marge McCabe's stance when it comes to the voting machines used in Sussex County is if it ain't broke, don't fix it. As the Board of Elections Administrator, McCabe said the county has been using the same machines for the past 18 years.
"It's my opinion that if something is working well, you don't change it," she said. "Our machines are still working well."
The machines in question are iVotronic direct-recording electronic machines, made by Election Systems & Software (ES&S).
With iVotronic machines, voters make their choices on a touchscreen which records and tabulate votes in the machines' internal memory.
While acknowledging that electronic machines have fallen out of favor because of hacking concerns, McCabe said that the ones used in Sussex are stand-alone machines and are not connected to each other or to the internet.
"I think there's a lot of misinformation out there," she said. "We test an election to such an extreme that we know, without a shadow of a doubt, that those machines are tabulating correctly. We test tens of thousands of ballots to make sure that the data we put in is the data that comes out."
"Whatever happens, we have a process that deals with it because voter confidence is our number one goal," she said. "I think we really bend over backwards to make sure that our voters are confident when they go into a booth."
ES&S, the company that makes the machines stopped making them several years ago, although it continues to service and support them, according to Katina Granger, public relations manager for the company.
"ES&S no longer manufactures and sells paperless voting equipment as a primary voting device," Granger said. "Our current line of voting systems produces a voter-verifiable paper trail which jurisdictions can use to perform post-election audits."
This year's report from Voting Village, as well as its report from 2017, cited vulnerabilities of the iVotronic, used in Sussex County and the Dominion Voting Systems' ImageCast Precinct used by both Pike and Orange counties.
Pike County's new voting machines were rolled out just in time for this year's May 21 primary election, making Pike one of only a few Pennsylvania counties to meet the state-wide mandate to upgrade early, according to Pike County Director of Elections Nadeen Manzoni.
Manzoni said the county's new ImageCast Precinct machines combine voter-marked paper ballots with an optical scanner that tabulates the votes.
At the DEFCON convention, attendees working on the ImageCast Precinct said that, by bringing a simple screwdriver and a CF card into the voting area, an attacker could use the screwdriver to access the machine's intended CF card and swap it with their own card, allowing them to boot a different operating system and take control of the machine.
To illustrate their point, attendees reported they were able to boot a different operating system on the machine and play video games, including the popular game "Pong."
In Orange County, a voter-verifiable paper trail has been the norm since 2005, according to Board of Elections Commissioner Louise Vandemark.
Vandemark said Orange County also uses the ImageCast Precinct machines and that she thinks voter-marked paper ballots contribute to a sense of confidence in the results.
"The process is much more secure this way," she said. "After every election we do a random audit to make sure that the machine has read the ballots properly."
"Most people were pleased," Manzoni said of voter reaction. "They liked the fact that we had the paper record of their vote on hand that we can use to audit the results if we had to."
"My confidence level in the old machines was 100 percent," she said. "I know that they were given a bad rap with hacking, but they're stand-alone inside the polling place and the only way to hack into those machines and be able to program it to flip votes or alter the result in any way was to physically break in."
The old machines had no wireless capabilities, Manzoni said, which made hacking into them remotely an unlikely scenario.
New Jersey Republican State Committeeman, Don Katz, who serves on his county's Board of Elections, said that most counties in New Jersey use electronic touchscreen voting machines.
"There's a lot of pressure towards new machines because of security," he said. "Whether it's justified or not, there's enough yelling and screaming that it's happening."
According to Katz, the likelihood of foreign actors hacking into voting machines to change the outcome of an election seems farfetched.
"I mean, I can't say that if enough people are bribed that they can't undo the programs that are downloaded onto each machine, but that posits a major conspiracy that involves any number of different election officials in different offices," he said. "It's extremely unlikely."
There are a number of security measures in place in the state to safeguard the integrity of voting machines, Katz said.
Don't get him wrong: Katz has no problem with voter-verifiable paper trail backups on electronic machines.
While the old electronic machines performed accurately during previous years in Pike County, Manzoni said, there's something to be said for having a paper trail that can be audited post-election.
"We can actually prove now that the results are accurate because we have that paper ballot written in the voter's own hand that we can then compare to the electronic results," she said. "And that's something that we didn't have before."
CLICK HERE to see the interactive map
- Pike County Director of Elections Nadeen Manzoni
A shift in the national consciousness
Electronic voting machines quickly became the new standard in the early 2000s, ushering in an era of perceived electoral progress – that is, until the 2016 presidential election.
Fears of foreign meddling in that election have helped push the pendulum back toward hard copy paper ballots.
To combat the possibility of foreign influence in our elections, DEFCON's Voting Village recommends mandatory post-election audits nationwide, the use of voter-marked paper ballot systems and dramatically increased funding and other resources to help local election officials protect their IT infrastructure from foreign state actors and other threats.
Our voting machines' vulnerabilities as found by DEFCON's Voting Village from 2017-2019:
ImageCast Precinct
• Voters fill out a paper ballot and feed it into an optical scanner, which tabulates the votes. Once scanned, the ballot passes into a locked ballot box.
Vulnerabilities:
• The locking mechanism on the ballot box can be picked using common items like a standard trash picker and ballots could easily be stolen
• Easy access to the USB, RJ45 and CF ports on the machine, which would give an attacker entry to the machine
• File system was unencrypted and unprotected
• Machine runs Busybox Linux 1.7.4 as its operating system, which has 20 medium to high risk vulnerabilities, including the ability to allow remote access to the machine
iVotronic
• A poll worker uses a device called a Personalized Electronic Ballot to turn the machine on and set it up for each voter. Voters make their selections using a touch screen.
• Personalized Electronic Ballots, which are used to allow each voter to vote, are able to be attacked. These devices are also used to store and aggregate final vote tallies from each machine. If exploited, this vulnerability means that voters could potentially not be able to cast their vote or could have their vote changed.
1 Don Katz
2 Katina Granger
3 Louise Vandemark
4 Marge McCabe
5 Nadeen Manzoni
7 Nicole M. Wells
8 Orange County
9 Pennsylvania
10 Pike County


The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy was established by the California State Legislature in 1980. Since that time, it has helped to preserve over 73,000 acres of parkland in both wilderness and urban settings, and has improved more than 114 public recreational facilities throughout Southern California.
Through direct action, alliances, partnerships, and joint powers authorities, the Conservancy's mission is to strategically buy back, preserve, protect, restore, and enhance treasured pieces of Southern California to form an interlinking system of urban, rural and river parks, open space, trails, and wildlife habitats that are easily accessible to the general public.


Douglas Schwartz graduated from the University of Georgia with a Bachelor of Business Administration in banking and finance. Upon graduating, he gained 5 years of experience in finance, stocks, and bonds as a Trader. With his spare time, Douglas dedicated his time to learning about technology. While working as a trader, Douglas dreamed of making the next "big app". His inspiration came from a trip to China, where he studied and learned about technology for 3 weeks.
Bitcoin really sparked an interest in Douglas, which triggered him to learning about blockchain. He found it very difficult to learn because not until recently did blockchain and bitcoin become popularized. Years later, Douglas withdrew from the finance industry, to pursue and fully dedicate his time to creating the Dove Network.
While working on the Dove Network, Douglas and his colleagues traveled to exotic destinations, and has seen the "rich of the rich and the poor of the poor". Some of the locations that inspired him were India, Moscow, Dubai, and the Arctic Circle. He expressed that "if it wasn't for my experience abroad, seeing that the 5% of the United States is not what the other 95% are, I wouldn't have seen the opportunity for the Dove Network".
When Douglas first started the Dove Network, he hired many Indian engineers, but there was a huge communication barrier, which affected work productivity. To combat this issue, he traveled to India to submerge himself in their country, to better understand their language, culture, and work ethic.
While traveling around, Douglas had a realization that many parts of the world are still without internet. With his knowledge in finance, trials in technology, and understandings gained abroad, Douglas determined his life into creating the Dove Network. Dove Network seeks to bring affordable internet access to the world by allowing peers to trade their unused data capacity. "This is all possible with Blockchain technology and mesh networks. Dove's blockchain powered application uses a peer-to-peer network to allow people and Wi-Fi enabled devices to seamlessly trade unused data capacity anonymously and automatically".
Recently, Expert Dojo (https://expertdojo.com) held an Investor Festival, where the Dove Network interacted with many investors. Within the interview we conducted, Douglas stated that with the help of the Investor Festival, he has had a few follow up meetings, as well as some possible leads for investors. Also, Douglas aspires to find investors that will help his venture grow while providing many guidelines on succeeding.
PreviousPrevious post:Gary Vaynerchuk at Expert DojoNextNext post:How to Choose the Right Accelerator, To Ensure That the Time and Money Spent is Valuable?


NORTH CHELMSFORD, Mass. – February 21, 2013 – Bare Bones Software today announced the release and immediate availability of TextWrangler™ 4.5, a significant update to its high performance, general purpose text editor for Mac OS X.
TextWrangler 4.5 now looks sharp on Macs with high-resolution Retina displays. In addition, TextWrangler 4.5 introduces a Go menu, a new Compare Against Previous Version command, and more.
The new Go menu provides convenient access to Jump Point, Function, Line Number and Center Line locations for easier navigation within a document. The new Compare Against Previous Version command leverages OS X's file versioning to quickly access and compare the active document's current contents with previously stored versions. TextWrangler now requires Mac OS X 10.6.8 or later, with the new Compare Against Previous Version command requiring Mac OS X 10.7 or later.


Our pick for a handful of the best weapons you should use in Blackout.
Black Ops 4 Blackout's best guns are always going to be a contentious topic, especially as there are no hard, datamined stats to go from just yet in Blackout mode - meaning so far it's good old fashioned personal experience and taste that decides that list.
That said, we do have some stats from the community for weapons in multiplayer, and so we've listed those full Black Ops 4 weapon damage stats for multiplayer below.
For Blackout meanwhile, we've put some time into both the beta and the full launch of the Black Ops 4 battle royale mode, and scoured the community for their opinions on personal favourites, too. Below, you'll find our picks for the best weapons and guns in Blackout so far, and why.
As we mentioned above there aren't any hard stats for Blackout mode just yet, but we do have these stats below for regular Multiplayer mode, thanks to the hard work of community members like Kitsunekinder on the Black Ops 4 reddit, for instance, who was one of our sources for the info below.
While Black Ops 4's weapons can seem pretty similar at first, at least compared to most other battle royales, there are of course plenty of things that make one weapon stand out over another.
Below, we've plucked out a selection of weapons that we think are generally the best for you to build around when kitting up in battle royale. That means they're not crate or zombie exclusive - they're all available to just be picked up in the standard way, albeit at differring levels of rarity - and using them won't leave you too heavily skewed towards one specialism like long or close-range damage.
As a DMR, the SDM can't be used as a fully automatic weapon, but that doesn't mean it isn't still useful in medium range encounters. In fact, it's fantastic, with a higher damage than the already satisfaying Auger and a solid rate of fire if you fast-tap the fire button.
It's particularly effective at medium-to-long range, where you'd be tying to single-tap your assault rifles anyway, and with solid attachments its a fantastic, flexible alternative to a sniper rifle.
Great for coupling with a DMR or Assault Rifle, the Spitfire is our pick of Blackout's SMGs. It has the highest rate of fire out of all of them, but still a good amount of damage per bullet. There's some recoil, but in close-quarters play at the start or very end of a game that's less of an issue than at longer distances - plus, Call of Duty's recoil is considerably lower than in other battle royales in general.
It's not so hot at anything but short ranges though, so only use it in gunfights at less than about 80 metres' range.
Arguably the best Assault Rifle, and with Assault Rifles being the most versatile weapons that makes it arguably one of the best all-round weapons too. It's had a damage nerf from the beta, it seems, but still kicks out a solid punch and handles very nicely. Our pick of the games various ARs.
An alternative Assault Rifle, the KN-57 is Call of Duty's version of an AK-47. If you're used to the AKM of PUBG you'll know what that means - a slower rate of fire than most ARs, but higher damage per hit. It's noticably higher in the KN-57's case, so if you prefer a harder-hitting but slower-firing rifle this is the one for you, and a very solid option all-round.
Sniper Rifles are extremely reliant on your own skill - but if you're good, they're the best you can get. The Paladin is the community's choice for the best of the bunch, and ours too, with its slow bolt action more than made up for with enormous damage and minimal drop-off at range. The bullet speed also seems to be extremely fast - we don't have official numbers, but the amount you need to 'lead' your shots by at range doesn't seem to be as far as Sniping in other battle royales, which again makes your life easier.
It's rare though, and you'll need to couple it with something more flexible like an Assault Rifle, but it's worth it if you can make your shots count.


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Find out more about Bachelor of Science in Business Administration / General Management
Home Online Degrees Bachelor of Science in Business Administration / General Management
Degree: Bachelor of Science in Business Administration / General Management
School: Thomas Edison State University
The Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (BSBA) degree program in General Management is a 120-credit program designed for students interested in having exposure to a number of business areas rather than focusing in depth on just one.
What You Will Learn in the BSBA Degree in General Management
The BSBA in General Management degree is composed of a minimum of three of the four traditional areas of business:
Program Accreditation & Licensing
Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP)
Thomas Edison State University is accredited by:
Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE)
Be 21 years of age or older, or 18 years or older and an active member of the United States military


Vivo recently launched the Vivo NEX in India, a smartphone which revolutionizes the Android landscape with its truly bezel-less design and an innovative pop-up selfie camera. Priced at Rs. 44,990, the smartphone directly competes with the OnePlus 6 and it does manage to offer some genuine perks which might sway users into buying the device. One of the perks which really makes the Vivo NEX a compelling buy is its battery life. The smartphone packs in a 4,000mAh battery with support for Qualcomm's Quick Charge 3.0 fast charging technology. However, if you're wondering how the battery performs in real-world use, then you've come to the right place as we've done the testing for you.
The Vivo NEX which fall in the flagship category and features all the hardware specifications you'd expect from a flagship in 2018. The device packs in a Snapdragon 845 processor coupled with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage. What's weird about this smartphone, however, is the fact that it comes with support for Quick Charge 3.0, instead of Quick Charge 4, which the Snapdragon 845 offers. Nonetheless, the charging performance of the Vivo NEX is rather impressive and in our testing, the device charged up rather quickly.
Vivo has packed in a Quick Charge 3.0 compliant charging brick in the package and using the same I was able to charge the device from 10 percent to 60 percent in just 30 minutes, reaching 80 percent charge in 45 minutes. Now that's pretty fast and considering the fact that it packs in a larger 4,000mAh battery it probably even beats OnePlus 6's Dash Charging (or Warp Charging) technology. Charging up to 100 percent takes a little while longer, with the smartphone taking another 45 minutes to cover the remaining 20 percent, but that mechanism might have been intentionally set in place to make the smartphone's battery more durable in the long run. I was pretty impressed with Vivo's dual-engine charging technology, which might sound gimmicky but it is pretty effective.
Since the Vivo NEX packs in an impressive 4,000mAh battery, it's battery life is much better than most other flagship smartphones out there and despite the fact that it has a much larger display, it lasts a significant while longer. However, since Vivo's Funtouch OS doesn't offer detailed battery statistics like most other Android smartphones, I wasn't able to find out the actual screen-on time delivered in my use.
While testing the battery life of the Vivo NEX with light usage, I started off the day with a full 100 percent charge and throughout the day I just used the phone for some web browsing, light casual gaming, calls, social media and toying with the pop-up camera (I just couldn't help it!). With that kind of usage, I was left with about 58 percent of battery left at the end of the day. I was genuinely impressed with the performance and to test it even further I didn't charge up the device that night. Overnight, the smartphone only lost 2 percent charge on standby and I started off the next day with 56 percent of the battery remaining. Over the course of the next day I maintained the light usage and ended the day amazed, as the smartphone still had about 4 percent charge left.
Next, I tested the smartphone's battery with heavy usage which included playing several games of PUBG Mobile, taking a lot of pictures and videos, and keeping the Vivo NEX on mobile data at all times. To my surprise, the smartphone fared really well with that kind of usage and I ended the day with about 42 percent battery left. The next day, I started off with about 40 percent battery left and with the same kind of usage, the Vivo NEX died at around 4 PM. I was genuinely impressed with the battery life and I will definitely recommend the device to anyone who prioritizes exceptional battery life over other features in a smartphone.
In conclusion, the Vivo NEX's battery life is just top notch and it might as well be the best performer in the flagship segment. On top of that, Vivo's Quick Charge 3.0-based dual-engine charging technology works very effectively in charging up the device, adding on to the device's merits. I would like to reiterate that if you're in the market for a flagship smartphone that offers great battery life along with impressive fast charging, it just doesn't get better than the Vivo NEX. Priced at Rs. 44,990, the Vivo NEX is a compelling buy and I believe that it will pose stiff competition to most other flagship devices in the market today.


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Q: Custom UIView Class - Swift I've builded a view which appears from the bottom and hides after sometime and it works well,but i want to make it in UIView class as a modal, i looked over the internet but i couldn't get or understand how to do that.
snake = UIView(frame: CGRect(x: 0 , y: self.view.frame.size.height-66, width: self.view.frame.size.width, height: 66))
snake.backgroundColor = UIColor(red: 50/255, green: 50/255, blue: 50/255, alpha: 1.0)

let label = UILabel(frame: CGRect(x: 12, y: 8, width: snake.frame.size.width-90, height: 50))
label.text = "Connection error please try again later!!"
label.textColor = UIColor.whiteColor()
label.numberOfLines = 0
label.font = UIFont.systemFontOfSize(14)
snake.addSubview(label)

let button = UIButton(frame: CGRect(x: snake.frame.size.width-87, y: 8, width: 86, height: 50))
button.setTitle("OK", forState: UIControlState.Normal)
button.setTitleColor(UIColor(red: 76/255, green: 175/255, blue: 80/255, alpha: 1.0), forState: UIControlState.Normal)
button.addTarget(self, action: "hideSnackBar:", forControlEvents: UIControlEvents.TouchUpInside)
snake.addSubview(button)
self.view.addSubview(snake)

How to start with this class I've no idea, i am creating the view programmatically with its frame and i need to set properties for the button for example or the label and create the view from any class.
class snake: UIView {

    override init (frame : CGRect) {
        super.init(frame : frame)

    }

    convenience init () {
        self.init(frame:CGRect.zero)
    }

    required init(coder aDecoder: NSCoder) {
        fatalError("This class does not support NSCoding")
    }

}

A: code:
 var label:UILabel!
var button:UIButton!

override init (frame : CGRect) {
    super.init(frame : frame)
    self.backgroundColor = UIColor(red: 50/255, green: 50/255, blue: 50/255, alpha: 1.0)

    label = UILabel(frame: CGRect(x: 12, y: 8, width: self.frame.size.width-90, height: 50))
    label.text = "Connection error please try again later!!"
    label.textColor = UIColor.whiteColor()
    label.numberOfLines = 0
    label.font = UIFont.systemFontOfSize(14)
    self.addSubview(label)

    button = UIButton(frame: CGRect(x: self.frame.size.width-87, y: 8, width: 86, height: 50))
    button.setTitle("OK", forState: UIControlState.Normal)
    button.setTitleColor(UIColor(red: 76/255, green: 175/255, blue: 80/255, alpha: 1.0), forState: UIControlState.Normal)
    button.addTarget(self, action: "hideSnackBar:", forControlEvents: UIControlEvents.TouchUpInside)
    self.addSubview(button)
}

and use it:
let snakeView = snake(frame: CGRectMake(0 ,self.view.frame.size.height-66, self.view.frame.size.width, 66)))

and set data for snakeview:
snakeView.label.text = "hello"

But usually i 'll create a function to update data for view:
func updateData(title:String){
    self.label.text = title
}

and call it when need:
snake.updateData("hello")

P/s: if you use xib, you must to implement awakeFromNib instead of init. And create snake with xib(remember set identifier for xib : "snakeView"):
let snakeView = NSBundle.mainBundle().loadNibNamed("snakeView", owner: nil, options: nil)[0] as snakeView


the way the owner of BetBright treated his customers.
by doing nothing to correct the BetBright problem.
its latest move is a cluster-twitter.
who is the mother of all twit-heads.
Last edited by vtyunby65; 29 March 2019 at 2:06 pm.


text:
Tectonic 160
Tectonic 300 is a prime distribution facility situated on Stakehill Industrial Estate, Middleton, 7 miles to the north east of central Manchester. The estate is highly accessible being approximately 1 mile to the south of J20 of the M62 with direct access to the A627(M) and 3.25 miles north of Junctions 19 and 20 of the M60 orbital.
Manchester is in the centre of the UK with direct connection to the national motorway network to the North, South, East & West. 20 Million people and over 200 million sq ft of retail floor space can be reached within a 2.5 hour drive time. Over 50 million people and 525 million sq ft of retail floor space can be reached within 4.5 hours' drive. (source: PMA)
Manchester is on the West Coast Mainline and benefits from rapid, frequent and direct services from Manchester Piccadilly to Liverpool (50 minutes), Leeds (55 minutes), Birmingham (90 minutes) and London Euston (125 minutes).
Manchester City Centre 9
Manchester Airport 22
Leeds 35
Leeds Bradford International Airport 36
Port of Liverpool & L2 45
Liverpool John Lennon Airport 41
Birmingham 100
London 217
Hull Port 87
Distances shown are shortest drive distances. Source: Google maps


No ryview today, but I want to remind everyone that Amazon is having a huge digital game sale right now!
Titanfall, Battlefield 4, Injustice: Gods Among Us, Civilization V, and much, much more!
Check it out, they only last through the end of Labor Day!
Groupon is also running a big 10% off deal with coupon code LABOR10!
It includes Xbox One and Playstation 4 Console deals!


text:
Why the Belt and Road Initiative Won't be Derailed by the Ukraine Crisis
Chinese Ambassador to Syria Feng Biao shakes hands with Khaled Hboubati, the head of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC), after signing an agreement for China to send food aid to Syria on Jan 16, 2022. (Credit: Xinhua)
Ukraine has been at the center of a massive geopolitical and economic whirlwind. But the turmoil caused by the U.S.-instigated conflict shouldn't cause problems for the Belt and Road Initiative.
This article was originally published on the author's blog "The Chronicles of Haiphong."
These edited remarks were given at an event titled "The Challenges and Opportunities for BRI Under the Background of the Ukraine crisis." The full event can be viewed here, and my pre-recording has been posted to the Left Lens YouTube Channel and be found at the end of the article.
Thank you to all the organizers of this event, including the Belt and Road Initiative Quarterly Journal, the Russian Cultural House in Ankara, the Friends of Socialist China platform which I co-edit, the Turkish Student's Union, and Kent University. My discussion centers on the politics of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and how they ensure that the development plan won't be derailed by the monumental crisis underway in Ukraine.
The Ukraine crisis has revealed quite starkly that there is a huge divergence between the path that's being taken by the United States, NATO, the EU, and that of China. The former, perhaps more aptly called the Western imperialist sphere, has poured gasoline onto the fire that is the Ukraine crisis. The consequences have been enormous. Sanctions on Russia have sent shockwaves throughout the global economy. Economic growth has declined and inflation skyrocketed. The IMF's economic forecast is dimmer now than it was prior to the Ukraine crisis and much of this is due to Western imperialist policy.
On the other hand, for China and the BRI, the situation is quite different. A commitment to peace and neutrality, cooperation, and robust and quality growth characterizes the partnerships within the BRI. It is clear that the massive trade and infrastructure project is not a prisoner of the moment. The BRI is not just about a single region or a particular country but rather an overall vision for global development that seeks to harness the present to brighten the future. The BRI does what Western-led economies such as the United States and its allies cannot and will not do, which is to offer opportunities for economic progress and true investment in all areas social and economic development.
The BRI, as Xi Jinping remarked, began in China but its achievements belong to the world. There are 140 countries and 30 international organizations that have already signed on to the BRI since 2013. Thus far, 8 trillion USD in trade and investment has been directed toward the BRI to cover the cost of more than 2,500 projects worldwide. The size and scope of the BRI demonstrates that it is not dependent upon the whims and the interests of the U.S. and the West. The BRI operates almost entirely independent of from Western imperialism, with the exception of the European countries which have accepted China's invitation to join the project.
It is also worth noting that China is no stranger to operating in conflict zones. The world has been engaged in a war against the COVID-19 pandemic over the past several years and yet China has not only been able to extend solidarity and cooperation over this period but also advance the aims of the BRI. China has adjusted its own economic and political development in a way that takes into account the challenges of the global pandemic. That's why China has achieved so much success in containing the pandemic and led the way in providing critical solidarity in the form of vaccines and protective equipment to Asia, Africa, and Latin America. The pandemic has been a flashpoint for a people's war to protect human life and this war is inextricably linked to the BRI's overall vision.
China has also prioritized Belt and Road Initiative relationships with countries such as Pakistan that have been embattled with external and internal conflict. Pakistan has been subject to numerous conflicts over the past decade alone, whether in the form of the U.S.'s drone strikes killing thousands of civilians or the ongoing struggle in Kashmir. While these sensitive issues have inevitably caused economic difficulty, Pakistan and China's cooperation in the BRI through the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has only grown. The BRI has already brought about significant achievements in Pakistan such as the launch of the first transit system in Lahore in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
No matter what is happening internally in Pakistan, the BRI's vision of development which emphasizes win-win cooperation rather than political interference or influencing the politics internally of any one country has been a major reason as to why these two nations have been able to build such a strong friendship despite internal and external threats to Pakistan's stability. This includes a recent change in political administration just in the last few months.
The Biden administration recently completed his first trip to Asia, visiting South Korea and Japan in an attempt to organize the Southeast Asia into a conflict with China. The region has quickly become the most important flashpoint in the U.S.'s New Cold War and has been flooded with hundreds of U.S. military bases and hundreds of thousands of U.S. military personnel. Still, China has been able to build even stronger relations with the region that have led to remarkable achievements in the last few years alone. In 2021, the Sino-Laos high-speed railway was launched and is projected to increase economic growth for Laos by several percentage points. Laos is a country that was bombed by the U.S. more times than the entire number dropped in World War II during the U.S. invasion of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia in the 1960s and 1970s.
In January 2022, Syria joined the BRI as a major step in its own rebuilding process from the U.S.-led war on the country. The U.S. currently occupies 30 percent of Syria's territory. Despite being engaged in a deadly conflict that has displaced millions and killed more than 300,000 people, the Syrian government is committed to rebuild the country through the BRI.
Of course, the Ukraine crisis has indeed inflicted damage on the global economy. Mainstream media reports have emphasized disruptions in rail traffic that have slowed global trade to Europe. While these short-term challenges will delay certain aspects of the BRI, particularly the Eurasia rail link, the vision of the BRI is more than a century long and remains an incredibly attractive project for development. The Ukraine crisis does not take away from the BRI's global advantages. In fact, the Ukraine crisis is likely to make the BRI even more attractive to countries around the world, including Ukraine.
For one, the United States and its allies offer few alternatives in the form of financial and economic arrangements to help rebuild from conflict and war. Furthermore, the United States and the West is pursuing a policy that will make the Ukraine's economy "scream," to paraphrase Henry Kissinger's description of Chile in 1970s during the U.S.-backed coup there. The U.S. has provided predatory loans to Ukraine since the war began. In addition, the U.S.-sponsored lend-lease program has provided Ukraine billions in military aid, $40 billion of which was just passed in the U.S. Congress. Ukraine will be expected to pay back what it has received in conditional aid, making these arrangements detrimental to Ukraine's long-term economic stability and growth.
The neoliberal policies of the U.S. and the West are laying the foundations for the BRI to become an even more important feature of Ukraine's economic future. Ukraine is one of the earliest member of the BRI. China's capacity to maintain a stable relationship with Ukraine and strengthen the Russia-China partnership at the same time has demonstrated what it means to place narrow and selfish interests to the background and the interests of humanity in the foreground. Whatever short term difficulties arise from the Ukraine crisis will not derail Latin America, Africa, and Central Asia's desire to adhere to the BRI's principles of creating a win-win model of infrastructure and economic development that addresses the need for real South-South cooperation, decreases extreme poverty, and reduces dependency on external lenders.
The BRI is already doing just that. The World Bank has acknowledged that the BRI offers a path forward out of extreme poverty. Monumental achievements have already come out of the BRI in countries such as Pakistan and Laos. Though the Ukraine crisis is a warning shot about the dangers of war and the neoliberal path led by Western imperialism, China's approach to global development as manifested in the BRI will not just remain consistent but is also likely to strengthen its influence within the international order in the coming period.
Belt and Road Initiative
Merkel Reveals West's Duplicity
Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel admitted that the collective west never had any intention of honest dealings with Russia.
Western media are waging a systematic propaganda campaign against China, to manufacture consent for the US-led new cold war.
Europe Under Control of the U.S. Mafia
Who benefits from the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines which connect Germany to natural gas in Russia? The U.S.
On the International Day of Peace September 21st, The U.S./EU/NATO Axis of Domination Reaffirmed Its' Commitment to the Weapon of War
"End Racism: Build Peace" was the theme of the 2022 International Day of Peace.
Camila Escalante
Latin Americans Reject Resource Plundering by Same NATO Countries Fueling Military Conflict in Ukraine
Liberals in the U.S.
Fact Find Mission to Donbass Part 3
John Parker is the Socialist Unity Party candidate for U.S. Senate in California on the Peace and Freedom Party ticket.
Ukraine and the Politics of Permanent War
The Ukraine crisis makes clear that permanent war requires permanent state censorship.
Nancy Pelosi, White Supremacy, and China
White supremacist arrogance was the order of the day when Nancy Pelosi ignored a red line set by the Chinese government and visited Taiwan.
For the American Empire, Hypocrisy and War Go Hand in Hand
American exceptionalist hypocrisy was on full display during Nancy Pelosi's provocative trip to Taiwan.
Fact Finding Mission to Donbass Part 2
John Parker continues reporting from his trip to Russia and Ukraine earlier this year. His perspective is rarely seen in U.S. media.


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Bob Moore Construction Completes Building for Motorcycle Dealership
Wed October 31, 2007 - West Edition
When Alfred and Maritia Keeling purchased the Longhorn Harley-Davidson dealership in 2005, they had big plans to make the Grand Prairie, Texas, store a success. Their plans have paid off; in only their second year of ownership Alfred and Maritia received the Harley-Davidson Motor Company 2007 Vehicle Sales Dealer of the Year for the Plains Region, besting other dealerships across central United States.
As part of their dealership purchase, Alfred and Maritia agreed to locate in a more suitable property. Their 15,000 sq. ft. existing building was jammed with motorcycles and products, with no room to grow. The storage and service areas for the motorcycles were extremely limited as well.
"We looked into expanding the store first," said Alfred Keeling. "But we quickly realized that it would be better in the long run if we moved to a new location altogether."
As of July 4, Longhorn's new home is a 38,000 sq. ft. custom-designed building just 0.25-mi. down the road from its previous dealership. Bob Moore Construction was the design-build contractor for the new Longhorn Harley-Davidson dealership. The architect was Avant Design Group Inc.
The building's interior is finished in a rustic Texas design, with stone, wood and chemically-distressed corrugated metal accents and Lone Star décor throughout the building. Enhancing the rustic feel, the wood used for interior design accents came from a 100 year-old barn in Wisconsin.
While the décor is old, the building features the newest in retail technologies. The main showroom features multiple LCD panels that show video clips and product information that are downloaded by satellite from Harley-Davidson's corporate offices every day. The main sales area provides twice the space of the previous building for the display of motorcycles, sportswear and gifts and collectibles. Sales offices line the front of the main showroom and a large parts display space showcases various customization options for bike owners.
Next to the sales area is the service center with a parts warehouse and 25 independent service bays. The service area includes a wash rack and a dynometer, a computerized diagnostics system that provides the most detailed and accurate readings for engine tuning in the industry.
A second floor showroom offers a more private shopping opportunity, an enclosed setting with windows overlooking the main showroom and space for dozens more motorcycles on display. Also on the second floor are several storage rooms, administrative offices, employee break room and the HOG room, a relaxation area for Harley Owners Guild members, complete with pool table and sofa. The two floors are connected with an elevator and a grand staircase in the center of the store.
"We have received so many comments about the building, our customers saying how fabulous it is," said Alfred Keeling. "There were many aspects of the building that were important to us. We wanted to stick with the Texas theme for the décor. We wanted to make sure we had maintenance free flooring that would last. I want this building to look as good ten years from now as it does now. It was important to make sure the layout flowed well and we used the space efficiently. One of our main priorities is service and the new service area is tremendous. I'm ecstatic with it and the employees think it's a dream come true."
"You can't help but be excited about a project when you're working with enthusiastic clients like Alfred and Maritia," said Curt Hellen, senior project manager of Bob Moore Construction. "I think their excitement was a motivator for everyone who worked on the project. That was important because we really needed everyone to pull together to complete this job on time. Longhorn had a very specific date they had to move out of their old facility by. Unfortunately, we experienced one of the rainiest springs in local history, which caused us to lose 20 percent of our working days to weather. Our Site Superintendent Greg Dalhaug did an excellent job of leading the subcontractors to overcome the rains. With their hard work we hit every project milestone set during the design phase and completed the building in 125 working days, in time for Longhorn to meet their deadline."
"We couldn't be happier with Bob Moore Construction," said Alfred. "Curt is very detail-oriented and he has the respect of his subcontractors. Ed McGuire [vice president of construction] and Greg Dalhaug both did a great job as well. We had to move in on time and they made it happen. This building was a dream of mine and I'm very proud of how it turned out. The ultimate compliment I can give is that in two years when we get ready to build another new dealership, I already know that Bob Moore Construction will be doing it for us." CEG


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Sci-Fi TV Shows
Comic Book TV Shows
The Three New TV Spots for 'Alien: Covenant' Are Terrifying
Matthew Loffhagen
Monday, 03 April 2017 - 12:14PM
Image credit: 20th Century Fox
No matter your stance on previous movies from the Alien franchise, it's hard to deny that Alien: Covenant looks pretty promising—as much as watching a disgusting monster slowly murder a team of likeable humans can be described as "promising".
A large part of the appeal is the fact that the majority of Covenant's promotional materials thus far have been leaning heavily on familiar tropes for the franchise, attempting to evoke the slow, quiet, tense atmosphere of the original 1979 space horror classic. This is a trend which has been continued with three new TV spots for the film, which show off the movie's many glistening alien eggs, eerie spaceship corridors, and screaming women.
That's some classic Alien action right there.
The aim here is to shake off as much of the Prometheus stench as possible. Considering how unpopular Ridley Scott's last movie in this universe proved, it's clear that Covenant wants you to forget about Prometheus amid promises that the series is returning to its roots.
But that's a tough claim to make, considering Covenant is believed to continue many threads established by Prometheus, bringing back the psychotic android David among other plot points. This isn't to say that a follow-up film is going to be inherently bad, but it's hard to trust Ridley Scott isn't pulling a bait and switch and taking a second shot at the mess that was Prometheus. Until Covenant hits theaters, we should take these fifteen-second trailers with a grain of salt.
Prometheus Movie Info
Trailers, Posters, Actors, and More.
'Alien: Covenant' Was Originally a Completely Different Movie
Ridley Scott Finally Admits 'Prometheus' Was a Mistake
The New 'Alien Day' Prologue Video Just Bridged the Gap Between 'Prometheus' and 'Alien: Covenant'
'Alien: Covenant' Characters Say Goodbye to Earth in Found-Footage Promo Videos
Michael Fassbender Says Alien: Covenant Is "Much Scarier Than Prometheus"
New Alien: Covenant Set Photo Released as Filming Wraps
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