text:
How much money do you spend on diapers in the first year?
How much do you spend on diapers in the first year?
How much money do you spend on a baby the first year?
How many diapers should I buy for the first year?
How much does a baby cost per month in the first year?
How much is a year's supply of diapers?
What does it cost to raise a child to 18?
How much are diapers on average?
How much are baby wipes monthly?
How much should I have saved before having a baby?
What size diaper is a 1 year old?
How many diapers does a 1 year old use in a day?
Why are diapers so expensive?
How much does it cost to have a baby 2021?
How much do diapers and wipes cost a month?
How much do diapers cost per month in Canada?
Your baby needs between 6 and 12 diapers each day, possibly more in the early weeks. The American Academy of Pediatrics shares that families may spend close to $936 on disposable diapers in the first year (about $18 per week).
Diapers: Diapers also vary in cost, but experts advise that you should budget $75 for monthly diapers. Parents who choose to use disposable diapers should expect to go through as many as 3,000 diapers in their child's first year alone. 5.
For newborns, the cost is higher. Some studies show numbers ranging from $20,000 to $50,000 for the child's first year of life, depending on location and household income.
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A baby can go through an average of 2,200 diapers in the first year. That's a lot of wet bums. Your baby shower is a great time to start a diaper stockpile, if you have the space to store them.
Before you make that major life decision, take a careful look at your finances, since you'll need an average of $1,500 a month in your first year. Babies are life changing, and wonderful, and cute as can be, but for something so small, they sure cost a heck of a lot.
The average baby goes through eight to 12 diapers a day, which, according to the National Diaper Bank Network, can set you back $70 to $80 per month, or about $900 a year.
Many new parents make the mistake of underestimating the expenses required to have a child and raise it to the age of 18 or when they go off to college. Having a baby is worth the cost for most, but the price tag of $233,610 or more to raise a child through their teen years can be jarring.
Roughly, the average cost of diapers is about . 20 per diaper. You can expect to spend more or less than that based on brand, coupons used or buying in bulk (we'll go into this in detail below). Here's a helpful chart to show you how many diapers you can expect to go through each day based on diaper size.
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Depending on the wipes brand and size of packaging non-discounted wipes can cost between $0.02 to $0.06. This means a year's supply of baby wipes can cost between $160 and $480. A month's supply is between $13 to $40 a month.
A normal pregnancy typically costs between $30,000 and $50,000 without insurance, and averages $4,500 with coverage. Many costs, such as tests that moms who are at-risk or over age 35 might opt for, aren't totally covered by insurance. Plan to have at least $20,000 in the bank.
Diaper Sizes
Size 1 (8-14 lb) – For larger newborns and infants up to 3 months old. Size 2 (12-18 lb) – For infants from 2 to 6 months old. Size 3 (16-28 lb) – For infants and toddlers from 5 months to 2 years old.
At this age, babies go through six or seven diapers each day, so you'll need about seven or eight boxes, assuming there's 136 diapers per box.
Shipping delays, supply chain disruptions, as well as changes in how we spend our money are causing a lot of manufacturers to raise their prices. That includes things like furniture, electronics and household goods.
The average cost of having a baby varies greatly from state to state. The range for an uncomplicated vaginal delivery is between $5,000 and $11,000. If you require a Cesarean section, the range increases to between $7,500 and $14,500.
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It'll cost you every time your baby goes to the bathroom. As Thomasson says, "You can't live without them, and you sure can't reuse them." Diapers and wipes can cost a whole lot added up over time—about $30 to $60 a month, depending.
This statistic displays how much consumers spend on average on baby diapers per month in Canada in 2018. Some 48.29 percent of respondents surveyed by ProdegeMR stated that they spend between 20 and 79 Canadian dollars monthly on baby diapers.


You probably heard someone using the Italian idiomatic expression "Sono al verde!" and tried to translate wondering what "To be at the green" might mean.
Well, "essere al verde" is a very common idiom which means "to be out of money", even though you would be more likely to associate that expression to the red colour: in Italy the green colour could come from the medieval custom of wearing a green cap after a bankrupt or to the green table at the casino after losing all the chips.
Now, let's see some examples to use this nice idiom!
Volevo comprare quel vestito ma sono al verde! I wanted to buy that dress but I'm broke!
Lisa non può venire al ristorante, mi ha detto che è al verde. Lisa can't come to the restaurant, she told me that she is out of money.
Non posso comprare il regalo di compleanno a Marco, sono completamente al verde! I can't buy the birthday present to Marco, I am completely broke!
Do you know other similar expressions?
Share the post "What Essere Al Verde Means in Italian"


Forming part of this newly completed development, this stunning 8th floor flat boasts outstanding SW views and comprises large open plan living room and kitchen which leads onto a fabulous 22 ft. roof terrace, master bedroom with stunning en suite shower room, a further double bedroom, family bathroom and utility room. The property has under floor heating throughout, all new appliances, secure off street parking, a further 33 ft. balcony, day time concierge and is available immediately.
Tileman House is located in central Putney with Putney Mainline, East Putney Tube and the various shops bars and restaurants on the High Street all within a few minutes' walk.


text:
force="false"
root_dir=`pwd`
roles_subdir="roles"

echo_error()
{
    echo -ne "\e[1;31;40m ERROR:\e[m "$1
}

echo_info()
{
    echo -ne "\e[1;36;40m INFO:\e[m "$1
}

init_base()
{
    pushd `pwd` > /dev/null 2>&1

    if [ -d "$root_dir" ]
    then
        if [ "$force" != "true" ]
        then
            echo_error "Root directory $root_dir already exists and will not be overwritten.\n"
            exit 1
        fi
    else
        echo_info "Creating root directory $root_dir\n"
        mkdir -p $root_dir
    fi

    cd $root_dir

    ## Create empty staging and production hosts file
    touch staging
    touch production

    ## Create group variables directory
    mkdir -p group_vars

    ## Create host variables directory
    mkdir -p host_vars

    ## Create a playbook directory
    mkdir -p playbooks
    pushd `pwd` > /dev/null 2>&1
    cd playbooks
    ln -sf ../$roles_subdir ./
    popd > /dev/null 2>&1

    ## Create top-level role directory
    mkdir -p $roles_subdir

    popd > /dev/null 2>&1
}

init_role()
{
    local role_name=$1

    local roles_dir="$root_dir/$roles_subdir"

    if [ ! -d "$roles_dir" ]
    then
        echo_error "Error! Expected base roles directory $roles_dir does not exist. Cannot proceed.\n"
        exit 1
    fi

    pushd `pwd` > /dev/null 2>&1

    cd $roles_dir

    if [ -d "$role_name" ]
    then
        if [ "$force" != "true" ]
        then
            echo_error "Error! A role named $role_name already exists. Cannot proceed.\n"
            exit 1
        fi
    fi

    echo_info "Creating role [$role_name]\n"

    mkdir -p $role_name
    cd $role_name

    ## Create files directory
    mkdir -p files

    ## Create tasks directory and empty main task file
    mkdir -p tasks
    touch tasks/main.yml

    ## Create templates directory
    mkdir -p templates

    ## Create variables directory and empty main variables file
    mkdir -p vars
    touch vars/main.yml

    popd > /dev/null 2>&1
}

showUsage()
{
    echo "
Arguments:
 --root <root_dir>         : Specify optional root directory (defaults to current directory).
 -b/--base                 : Create base structure.
 -r/--role <name>          : Create skeleton for role named <name>.
 --force                   : Forcibly overwrite existing targets.
"
}

commandline_arguments=`getopt --options br: --longoptions force,root:,base,role: -- $*`
if [ $? != 0 ] || [ -z "$*" ]
then
    showUsage
    exit 1
fi

eval set -- "$commandline_arguments"

while true
do
    ##echo "[$1]"

    case "$1" in

        "--force" )
            force="true"
            ;;
        "--root" )
            root_dir=$2
            shift
            ;;
        "-b"|"--base" )
            init_base
            ;;
        "-r"|"--role" )
            role_name=$2
            shift
            init_role $role_name
            ;;
        "--")
            shift
            break
            ;;
        *)
            echo "Unknown option [$1]"
            showUsage
            exit 1
            ;;
    esac
    shift
done

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Last month I talked about the song, "O Praise the Name (Anástasis)" and I was encouraged to see your response in worship the following Sunday and you sang with all your heart.
Yesterday we sang a new song together. Of course, anyone who is familiar with the great hymns of the faith immediately thinks of the hymn, "O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing". Well, we sang that too! Of course, the hymn inspired the modern song.
Both of these songs speak of Jesus as the focal point of our praise gathering. The "1000 tongues" are us, the church, singing the praise of the Savior. As with so many traditional hymns, the middle verses point us to the good news and how Jesus paid the price for our sin through His death. The modern song does the same in its second verse, declaring the cross as the song that we as a church should constantly sing.
May we as a church always be known as one that preaches Christ crucified. Preaching that life, hope, peace, praise, and love all flow from the Cross of Christ.
I love the lyrics of both. And as a special treat, you will get a double dose of lyrics today. As with many traditional hymns that have transcended denominations, there are MANY verses and variations. So I will give you two videos of the hymn. Which one do you like better?


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Sparklehorse Singer Mark Linkous Remembered
By Joel Rose
Published March 8, 2010 at 3:00 PM EST
Barney Britton/Redferns
Mark Linkous' often pretty melodies contrasted with lyrics that were sometimes dark.
Mark Linkous, founder of the acclaimed alternative rock band Sparklehorse, has died. The singer and multi-instrumentalist took his own life Saturday in Knoxville, Tenn. He was 47.
Linkous was the creative force behind Sparklehorse, his recording moniker and band. He wrote all the songs, played almost all of the instruments, and manipulated his voice like it was just another layer in the mix.
"I started at first trying to disguise my voice 'cause I didn't like it," Linkous told WHYY's Fresh Air in 1999. "But now, I've gotten to really just use it as just another instrument. Seems to make the proximity of a voice seem a lot closer to your ear."
What the Virginia native's voice was saying was often surreal. Yet the music drew the attention of indie-rock giant Radiohead, which invited Sparklehorse to open for it in 1996. During the tour, Linkous overdosed on a cocktail of antidepressants and other drugs. He actually died for several minutes, and suffered permanent damage to his legs.
Still, Linkous' friend and collaborator Wayne Coyne, of the band The Flaming Lips, says that didn't stop him from recording and performing.
"He was always gentle and pleasant," Coyne says. "What made it more pronounced was that I knew he was in pain. He struggled to stand there and sing those gentle, crazy songs."
Coyne and Linkous worked together on last year's Dark Night of the Soul, a music-photography project involving Sparklehorse, Danger Mouse, filmmaker David Lynch and others. The project had been held up for legal matters, but just days before Linkous' death, it was announced that the record was finally going to see official release this summer.
While Linkous seemed happiest working on studio projects like this one, he told Fresh Air that he also enjoyed performing before an audience.
"When they really appreciate the slow songs," Linkous said. "When you can get 500, 200, 2,000 people to be totally silent, and they totally get it, and it's not just like a social situation where everyone's going out to drink and talk and socialize. They're really there to listen to what's going on."
Linkous was in the process of moving his studio to Knoxville, and had almost finished work on a new Sparklehorse album due later this year.
Joel Rose is a correspondent on NPR's National Desk. He covers immigration and breaking news.
See stories by Joel Rose

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
« Death of Teen Marks San Jose's 43rd Homicide Matching Record Set in 1997
City Launches Redesigned Website Offering Easier Access to Information, Services
The City of San Jose has launched a new web site that is cleaner, leaner and easier to use. But before putting the finishing touches on the new portal for San Jose residents, the city wants to hear from more users.
Take a test drive of the new site and then to let communication managers know what you think.
"We want to hear from them, what they like most about the new website and features they'd like to see," said Lenka Wright, the city's communications manager. "Since we began beta testing with the public, we've received very positive comments, as well as areas they'd like us to improve upon."
For example, not all users like the rotating photos in the banner.
"As people use it, we'll get more feedback," Wright said. "Even when it goes live, we'll continue to work on the site."
To be sure, the beta site is easier to navigate, offering many points of entry to find information most useful to residents. A slider feature allows users to click on nine topic areas: Civic Center TV, Community Voice, Green Vision, Envision, Event Services, Citywide Activity Guide, Choose San Jose, Permits Online and Public Improvement Projects.
Several other entry points to the city's vast trove, with city services and activities listed in five categories: Community, Business, Visitors, Government and Environment.
Other new features include:
Calendar: Users can customize the city's Master Calendar so that events and activities are filtered by council district or departments.
Notify me: Allows user to sign up for a "News Flash" feature in any or all city departments to receive the latest news and events in email or text form.
Translation: Through a Google Translate program, most of the website's text can be translated into dozens of languages. But the city also publishes a disclaimer that says it cannot and will not guarantee the accuracy of the translation.
Community Voice: Provides a forum for feedback on the website as well as a way to offer ideas about city challenges. Other residents can then comment or vote on the ideas.
"This is more than a redesign," Wright said. "The city is providing a website that meds the online needs of the public 24/7."
The content management system was designed by CivicPlus, a company that contracted with the city for five years of service at $358,713.
November 15th | Category: Neighborhoods, News


Fourth meeting : Wednesday 19th May 2010, 11 a.m.
Third meeting : Monday 29th March 2010, 11 a.m.
Second meeting : Tuesday 2nd March 2010, 10 a.m.
Shape modelling via phase field higher-order active contours: application to road and river network extraction from remote sensing images.
This talk is twofold. Firstly, I introduce a phase field higher-order active contour (HOAC) model of undirected networks (e.g. roads). The phase field function is a scalar field representing a region (i.e. shape) by its smoothed characteristic function and interacting nonlocally so as to favour network configurations. Secondly, I introduce a phase field HOAC model of *directed networks* (e.g. rivers). Directed networks carry a unidirectional flow in each branch, which leads to characteristic geometric properties. The model contains, in addition to the scalar field, a vector field representing the "flow" through the network branches. The vector field is strongly encouraged to be zero outside, and of unit magnitude inside the region; and to have zero divergence. This prolongs network branches; controls width variation along a branch; and produces asymmetric junctions for which total incoming branch width approximately equals total outgoing branch width. Both models are tested on very high resolution (VHR) Quickbird images for road and river network extraction.
Shape evolutions, as well as shape matchings or image segmentation with shape prior, involve the preliminary choice of a suitable metric in the space of shapes. Instead of choosing a particular one, we propose a framework to learn shape metrics from a set of examples of shapes, designed to be able to handle sparse sets of highly varying shapes, since typical shape datasets, like human silhouettes, are intrinsically high-dimensional and non-dense.
Details: The tangent space of a shape being the set of all infinitesimal deformations that can be applied to it, an inner product in a tangent space can be seen as a deformation prior, and thus as a Gaussian distribution. We formulate the task of finding the optimal metrics, i.e. the inner products in tangent spaces which suit the best a given empirical manifold of shapes, as a classical minimization problem. The energy to be minimized involves the inner product cost of observed local deformations (reliable matchings between close shapes) as well as a regularization term based on transport of deformations and Kullback-Leibler divergence. Surprisingly, the global minimum of this functional on metrics is related to principal component analyses and is easy to compute.
Slides : pdf, movies ; related publication.
This presentation is about the definition, the implementation and the evaluation of statistical models of curves and surfaces based on currents in the context of Computational Anatomy. Currents were introduced in medical imaging to define a metric between curves and surfaces which does not assume point correspondence between structures. This metric was used to drive the registration of anatomical data. In this presentation, we will show how to extend this tool to analyze the variability of anatomical structures via the inference of generative statistical models. Given a set of anatomical structures, we infer a template shape along with the deformation of this template to each subject. This decomposes the anatomical variability into two terms: the geometrical variability captured by the deformations and the "texture" captured by the residuals. We use this approach to infer the variability of the cortex surface from the position of the sulcal lines and to give a description of the variability of white matter fiber bundles of the brain.
Here is the e-mail I sent to announce the creation of this working group.
I would like to know who would be interested in the creation of a "working group" about shapes.
The notion of "shape" is rather intuitive, but usually difficult to model and to deal with, both mathematically and practically (it's not just a parameter in R^n). The concept of "shape" is wide, and can be understood differently by different people, depending on the problem of interest where shapes are involved. For example in computer vision, the word "shape", in its continuous interpretation, can stand for "the surface of the object of interest" (in 3D), or for "the (2D) contour of the object in an image", or a gesture (in a video); in its "patch-based" interpretation, it usually stands for a rough geometric model linking a few characteristic patches; shapes can be represented by polygons, meshes, splines, implicitely by level-sets, as zeros of polynomials, by local shape descriptors or small patches... One may be interested into global properties of the shape (principal modes of deformation), or into local ones (precise small deformations along a cell membrane). The concept of "shape" is not specific to computer vision, for instance in molecular biology, shapes may also be decisive for interaction properties.
The precise definition of shape spaces (What is a shape ?) is often an issue, as well as the metrics to consider (What is the distance between two shapes ?) and shape statistics (What is this object supposed to look like, given these previous examples ?). Comparing, optimizing, detecting or recognizing shapes are also important issues.
The aim of the working group would be to understand better the notion of "shape", to review its different aspects, possibly in order to try to unify them into a single framework.
I suggest starting with an overview of the state of the art, for example with a series of presentations by the participants about their own work, where they would emphasize what they mean by "shape", what the precise quantities of interest are (local/global deformations, patches, patterns, movement, curvature, topology, energy to be optimized, etc.), and of course the theories/algorithms/techniques they use/developped.
So far, a few persons from computer vision teams, namely Ariana, Asclepios and Pulsar, have already agreed to participate, but this working group is open to anyone who has to deal with the concept of "shape". Please e-mail me if you are interested, willing to participate actively or just to attend, so that I build a mailing-list and a presentation schedule.


text:
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Hospital Can Face Oregon Pharma Product Liability Suit
By Matthew Loughran on 18 January 2023
Can a hospital be sued as a seller in a pharmaceutical product liability action?
That may be the case in Oregon as a result of a recent Court of Appeals decision there. Given the strict liability nature of the Oregon law, this is an important determination.
Stephen McConnell has the details in a post on…
Posted in Department of Health and Human Services, Odds & Ends
Regulators increase scrutiny on preserving business communications on messaging apps
By Matthew Loughran on 6 October 2022
Health care and life science companies operating globally should be aware of the increased regulatory scrutiny in the U.S., the UK and Asia-Pacific when considering their obligations to monitor and retain business communications conducted through messaging platforms on employees' personal devices. It is vital for these companies review the effectiveness of their compliance policies and…
Posted in Odds & Ends
Supreme Court overturn of Roe v. Wade could impact drug and device makers
By Matthew Loughran on 2 June 2022
Last month's leaked U.S. Supreme Court draft majority opinion from Justice Alito in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization that would overturn Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey could have long reaching effects for health law beyond the obvious liability for providers who are involved in women's health and abortion. If the opinion…
AdvaMed announces revisions to code of ethics for interactions with health care professionals
By Sarah Cummings Stewart & Katie Pawlitz on 22 March 2022
On March 18, 2022, the Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed) – the world's largest trade organization representing medical technology manufacturers – announced revisions to its Code of Ethics on Interactions with Health Care Professionals (AdvaMed Code). The effective date of the revised AdvaMed Code is June 1, 2022.
The AdvaMed Code was updated to address…
SCOTUS to examine "good faith" defense in criminal opioid prescription cases
By Alexandra Hussey on 10 November 2021
On Nov. 5, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court consolidated and granted certiorari to a pair of cases involving physicians who were criminally prosecuted for prescribing controlled substances (specifically, opioids) in violation of the Section 841(a)(1) of the Controlled Substances Act ("CSA"). The consolidated cases—Ruan v. United States and Kahn v. United States—present questions regarding the requisite state of mind for a jury to convict a prescriber under the CSA and the availability and nature of a "good faith" defense to criminal liability under the statute. By agreeing to hear these cases, the Court positions itself to resolve, or at minimum weigh in on, the current circuit splits regarding these issues.
Under the CSA, as interpreted by the Supreme Court in United States v. Moore, 423 U.S. 122 (1975), practitioners who are registered to legally prescribe controlled substances can nonetheless be found to have violated the CSA if they prescribe in a manner that "fall[s] outside the usual course of professional practice." However, petitioners argue that the state of mind necessary to convict varies by circuit. Judicial willingness to issue a specific jury instruction on the availability of a "good faith" defense similarly varies.…
Continue Reading SCOTUS to examine "good faith" defense in criminal opioid prescription cases
Reed Smith Outlook: U.S. Health Care 2021
By James Segroves & Lesley Reynolds on 3 June 2021
We recently released the 2021 U.S. Health Care Outlook digital white paper, an industry trends report written by numerous lawyers on our health care team. The Health Care Outlook gives an in-depth look at the major regulatory issues that life science and health care companies can expect to face throughout the rest of this year…
What happens when the clock strikes midnight: A Primer on "Midnight Regulations"
By Andrew Lu on 10 February 2021
With another presidential transition in the history books, you may find it unsurprising to hear that many of us at Reed Smith are continuing to closely monitor and track which of the outgoing Trump administration's "midnight regulations" will survive past the early months of the Biden administration. But for those less familiar with the topic…
Posted in Odds & Ends, Other HHS Developments, Other OIG Developments
DME MACs Warn Suppliers Not to Rely on Manufacturer Coding Advice
By Debra A. McCurdy on 1 August 2016
The Durable Medical Equipment Medicare Administrative Contractors (DME MACs) have issued a Correct Coding article on "HCPCS Coding Recommendations from Non-Medicare Sources," which discusses Medicare supplier responsibility for selecting the most appropriate Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) code for furnished medical products. The DME MACs point out that manufacturers and other entities…
Posted in Odds & Ends, Other Health Policy Developments
MedPAC Issues Recommendations on Medicare Drug, Post-Acute Care, and Other Payment Policies
By Debra A. McCurdy on 22 June 2016
MedPAC has released its June 2016 Report to the Congress on Medicare and the Health Care Delivery System. The report includes recommendations for a number of Medicare policy reforms and analyses of various health care market developments. Several chapters address Medicare drug policy, including a review of external factors that influence the prices Medicare pays for prescription drugs. With regard to Medicare Part B drug policy, MedPAC discusses potential modifications to Medicare Part B drug reimbursement, such as reducing dispensing and supplying fees, along with approaches to improving the quality and reducing the costs of oncology care (since more than half of Medicare Part B drug spending is associated with anticancer and related drugs). Likewise, MedPAC examines the Medicare Part D prescription drug program and offers recommendations for giving plan sponsors greater financial incentives and mechanisms to manage the benefits of high-cost enrollees; exclude manufacturer discounts on brand-name drugs from counting as enrollees' true out-of-pocket spending; eliminate beneficiary cost sharing above the catastrophic cap; and increase financial incentives for low-income beneficiaries to use lower-cost drugs and biologicals.
MedPAC also discusses development of a unified Medicare payment system for post-acute care, including its unified prospective payment system (PPS) prototype that it believes accurately predicts resource needs for nearly all patient groups. MedPAC raises various implementation considerations, including the need to develop separate payment models for nontherapy ancillary services and the combination of routine and therapy services; adjustments to recognize lower costs in home health agencies compared to institutional settings; the need for outlier policies and labor cost adjustments; future adjustments to reward high-quality, efficient care; conforming regulatory reforms; and an appropriate transition period, among other policy provisions.
In addition, the report addresses:…
Continue Reading MedPAC Issues Recommendations on Medicare Drug, Post-Acute Care, and Other Payment Policies
MedPAC Releases Annual Recommendations to Congress on Medicare Policy
By Debra A. McCurdy on 23 March 2016
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) has released its annual recommendations to Congress on Medicare policies, including Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) payment updates and a status report on the Medicare Advantage and Medicare Part D programs. The following are highlights of the recommendations for 2017 (some of which were recommended previously):…
Continue Reading MedPAC Releases Annual Recommendations to Congress on Medicare Policy
Donald Trump Offers his Proposal for "Healthcare Reform to Make America Great Again"
By Debra A. McCurdy on 3 March 2016
What would federal health policy look like under a Trump Administration? Donald Trump outlined his plan for "Healthcare Reform to Make America Great Again" on March 2, 2016. The heart of the plan is a call for Congress to repeal the Affordable Care Act (aka "Obamacare") and enact other "free market" policies, including:
Allowing sale
Posted in Legislative Developments, Odds & Ends
Donald Trump Proposes Prescription Drug Importation as Element of Health Reform Plan
By Robert Hill on 3 March 2016
Donald Trump has released his plan for "Healthcare Reform to Make America Great Again", which includes a proposal for allowing importation of cheaper prescription drugs from other countries as one of the reforms he believes should be enacted in connection with repealing and replacing "ObamaCare." Specifically, the plan states that Congress must:
Remove barriers to…
Extensive Medicare & Medicaid Funding and Program Integrity Provisions in Obama's Released FY 2017 Budget Proposal
By Carol Loepere, Paul W. Pitts & Debra A. McCurdy on 17 February 2016
On February 9, 2016, the Obama Administration released its proposed fiscal year (FY) 2017 budget, which contains significant Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement and program integrity legislative proposals – including $419 billion in Medicare savings over 10 years. These proposed policy changes would require action by Congress, and Republican Congressional leaders have already voiced general…
Posted in Department of Health and Human Services, Legislative Developments, Odds & Ends
Medicare and Medicaid Drug Policy Provisions in the Obama Administration's Proposed FY 2017 Budget
By Debra A. McCurdy on 10 February 2016
The Obama Administration's proposed fiscal year (FY) 2017 budget, released on February 9, 2016, includes a number of legislative proposals that would revise Medicare and Medicaid policies to achieve budget savings and make other program reforms. The largest pool of Medicare savings would result from various Medicare prescription drug proposals, including the following (all savings over the 10-year period of FYs 2017-2026): …
Continue Reading Medicare and Medicaid Drug Policy Provisions in the Obama Administration's Proposed FY 2017 Budget
Government Reports Compile Medicaid, Dual Eligible Beneficiary Spending, Enrollment Data
By Debra A. McCurdy on 5 February 2016
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued a report on trends in Medicaid managed care spending, enrollment, and oversight. Notably, the GAO reports that over 10 years (FY 2004 through 2014), federal Medicaid managed care spending grew from $27 billion to $107 billion, representing 38% of total federal Medicaid spending in 2014. The report also…
Posted in Odds & Ends, Other OIG Developments
MedPAC Issues 2015 Medicare Data Book
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) has released its 2015 Data Book on Health Care Spending and the Medicare Program. The publication provides information on national health care and Medicare spending, Medicare and dual-eligible beneficiary demographics, Medicare quality, and Medicare beneficiary liability, along with Medicare Advantage and Medicare Part D drug program data. The report…
MedPAC Report to Congress on Medicare and the Health Care Delivery System
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) has released its June 2015 Report to the Congress on Medicare and the Health Care Delivery System. The report includes a series of recommendations on Medicare hospital short-stay policy, in response in part to hospital concerns about related Medicare Recovery Audit Contractor (RAC) Program audits and appeals and the financial impact on beneficiaries associated with the growing use of outpatient observation day status. Specifically, MedPAC recommends that:
Continue Reading MedPAC Report to Congress on Medicare and the Health Care Delivery System
New Postings on the Reed Smith Health Industry Washington Watch Blog
The Reed Smith Health Industry Washington Watch blog (https://www.healthindustrywashingtonwatch.com) has been updated to report on recent health policy developments, including the following:
— Regulatory Developments. CMS has issued a number of proposed and final rules, including regulations addressing the Medicare Shared Savings Program, Medicaid/CHIP managed care, health insurance summary of benefits and coverage and uniform glossary requirements, and CMS oversight of national accrediting organizations, among others. For details, see https://www.healthindustrywashingtonwatch.com/articles/regulatory-developments/hhs-developments/other-cms-developments/. HHS has released its spring 2015 regulatory agenda and is soliciting comments on the use of the health plan identifier in electronic health care transactions (https://www.healthindustrywashingtonwatch.com/articles/regulatory-developments/hhs-developments/).
— Other CMS Developments. CMS has released updated Medicare drug payment files, guidance on Medicaid/CHIP provider fingerprint-based criminal background checks, Medicare provider payment data, and guidance on beneficiary drug plan disenrollments by long term care facilities. CMS also has announced a new Cardiovascular Risk Reduction Model and policy changes impacting ventilators. See https://www.healthindustrywashingtonwatch.com/articles/other-cms-developments-1/.
— OIG & GAO Developments. The OIG has issued a fraud alert on physician compensation arrangements, and the OIG released its latest semiannual report and an update to its work plan (https://www.healthindustrywashingtonwatch.com/articles/other-oig-developments/). The GAO has issued reports on the Medicare physician payment ratesetting process and Medicaid fraud controls (https://www.healthindustrywashingtonwatch.com/articles/other-gao-developments/).
— Legislative Developments. Congressional panels have approved a series of health policy bills, including repeal of ACA medical device tax and the Independent Payment Advisory Board, changes to Medicare Advantage requirements and Medicare long-term care hospital policy, Medicare appeals reforms, and 21st Century Cures legislation. Congress also has been considering changes to Medicare sequestration policy as part of pending trade legislation. Congressional committees have held hearings on various health policy issues. See https://www.healthindustrywashingtonwatch.com/articles/legislative-developments/.
— Health Industry Events. Upcoming CMS events will focus on the National Partnership to Improve Dementia Care, hospice quality reporting, Hospital Compare ratings, ICD-10 implementation, Medicare clinical laboratory fee schedule payments, and hospital outpatient payments (https://www.healthindustrywashingtonwatch.com/articles/events/).
— Changes Coming to Health Industry Washington Watch. Our blog will soon have a new look and provide our readers with enhanced access to content and optimal readability across the wide variety of devices. We will also have a revised email notification system to alert subscribers to new content. If you don't already receive email alerts from our blog, we invite you to subscribe at https://www.healthindustrywashingtonwatch.com/.
For details on these and other health industry developments, please visit https://www.healthindustrywashingtonwatch.com/.
Continue Reading New Postings on the Reed Smith Health Industry Washington Watch Blog
By Debra A. McCurdy on 20 May 2015
The Reed Smith Health Industry Washington Watch blog has been updated to report on recent health policy developments, including the following:
— Regulatory Developments. Recent CMS regulations have addressed Medicare hospice payments and Part D prescribing regulations, and CMS has published a notice clarifying the FY 2016 IPPS/LTCH proposed rule comment deadline. For details, see https://www.healthindustrywashingtonwatch.com/articles/regulatory-developments/hhs-developments/other-cms-developments/. HRSA has published a final rule to implement the HIV Organ Policy Equity Act, and OMB is reviewing new HRSA 340B omnibus guidelines (https://www.healthindustrywashingtonwatch.com/articles/regulatory-developments/hhs-developments/).
— Other CMS Developments. CMS has announced savings levels for the Pioneer ACO Model, and it is proceeding with the application process for the next round of the Medicare Shared Savings Program. CMS also is soliciting quality measure suggestions for potential use in the PQRS. See https://www.healthindustrywashingtonwatch.com/articles/other-cms-developments-1/.
— OIG & GAO Developments. Recent OIG reports have addressed FDA oversight of generic drug manufacturers, incorrect physician place-of-service coding, home health agency background check policies, and drug rebate policies (https://www.healthindustrywashingtonwatch.com/articles/other-oig-developments/). GAO reports have examined Medicaid payments to hospitals and section 1115 demonstrations (https://www.healthindustrywashingtonwatch.com/articles/other-gao-developments/).
— Legislative Developments. Congress has approved its FY 2016 budget framework, a House panel is marking up the 21st Century Cures Act, and committees have held hearings on various health policy issues. See https://www.healthindustrywashingtonwatch.com/articles/legislative-developments/.
— Health Industry Events. Upcoming CMS events will focus on HCPCS coding applications, potential elimination of CMNs/DIF forms, the National Partnership to Improve Dementia Care, hospice quality reporting, ICD-10 implementation, and Medicare clinical laboratory fee schedule payments (https://www.healthindustrywashingtonwatch.com/articles/events/).
By Debra A. McCurdy on 29 April 2015
— CMS Regulatory Developments. CMS has issued several proposed rules to update Medicare prospective payment systems (PPS) for FY 2016, including the Medicare inpatient PPS, the long-term care hospital PPS, the skilled nursing facility PPS, the inpatient rehabilitation facility PPS, and the inpatient psychiatric facility PPS. CMS has also proposed updating Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Record Incentive program rules, mental health parity rules, and funding for Medicaid eligibility and enrollment systems. For details, see https://www.healthindustrywashingtonwatch.com/articles/regulatory-developments/hhs-developments/other-cms-developments/.
— Other HHS Developments. CMS has released information on Medicare DMEPOS competitive bidding, 2016 Medicare Advantage/Part D rates and policies, and Hospital Compare star ratings (https://www.healthindustrywashingtonwatch.com/articles/other-cms-developments-1/). The ONC has issued updated electronic health information privacy/security guidance (https://www.healthindustrywashingtonwatch.com/articles/other-hhs-developments/). The FDA and CMS are establishing an interagency task force on laboratory-developed test oversight, and FDA draft guidance addresses medical device clinical data from studies conducted abroad (https://www.healthindustrywashingtonwatch.com/articles/other-fda-developments/).
— OIG Developments. The OIG has partnered with industry associations to issue guidance for health care governing boards on compliance oversight, and the OIG has issued its Medicaid Fraud Control Units FY 2014 Annual Report (https://www.healthindustrywashingtonwatch.com/articles/other-oig-developments/).
— Legislative Developments. President Obama has signed legislation to permanently reform the Medicare physician reimbursement framework and make other policy changes. Pending trade legislation would extend Medicare sequestration. The House has approved the "Ensuring Patient Access and Effective Drug Enforcement Act." Congressional panels have held hearings on several health policy issues. See https://www.healthindustrywashingtonwatch.com/articles/legislative-developments/.
— Health Industry Events. Upcoming CMS events will focus on home health star ratings and HCPCS coding applications (https://www.healthindustrywashingtonwatch.com/articles/events/).


Every clock on campus, including this one in Loretto Hall, will be adjusted on March 10 as most of Indiana switches to Daylight Saving Time.
When the time changes (spring forward, remember?) at 2 a.m. on March 10 and most of Indiana goes back to Daylight Saving Time, that will mean dark mornings but later light in the afternoons and evenings.
It also means the school's more than 100 clocks have to be changed. But unlike most of the clocks at your house that have to be adjusted individually, every clock on campus can be changed at once.
That means either Landeros or Vice Principal Mr. Jere Kubuske will have to make a trip to campus on March 10 to make this change, but Landeros said that all the clocks on campus will be correct when students, faculty and staff arrive on the morning of March 11, perhaps even more bleary than usual after they lose an hour of sleep over the weekend.


text:
package javafixes.common.function;

// todo: add javadoc
@FunctionalInterface
public interface ValueHandler<V, T extends Throwable> {
    void handle(V value) throws T;
}


text:
» Spaceflight
Payload Requirements
Last Updated on Wed, 06 Apr 2016	| Spaceflight
As we have already mentioned in Chapter 7, certain payloads may have to be maintained within a strict temperature range to work properly, which will affect how the thermal control subsystem is designed (see Figure 7.1). To illustrate, we can use the example of a spacecraft that has a large imaging payload on board, such as an Earth-observation satellite or a space observatory. In both types of spacecraft the imaging equipment is made up of a variety of mirrors and lenses, and their job is to bring the light entering the payload to a focus in the right place so that the image can be recorded in a way similar to that done by a digital camera. To get the image in focus, the lenses, mirrors, and detectors all need to be kept at the right distance from one another. To do this, the optical components are all firmly mounted on a rigid framework, usually referred to as an optical bench, within the spacecraft. This framework needs to be a robust structure so that the imager still works after the rough ride to orbit on the launch vehicle (see Chapter 5). But another feature of importance is its thermal design. When in orbit, the spacecraft is exposed to extremes of temperature, and if unprotected from these, the optical bench framework will expand and contract in size in response to changes in temperature. From the point of view of the image quality, this small, relative movement among the mirrors, lenses, and detectors is clearly undesirable. Consequently, it is the job of the thermal control engineer to design the spacecraft so that the payload is isolated from these extremes of temperature, in order to ensure that it works. In large observatories, such as the Hubble Space Telescope (see Table 7.5 for details), this job can be challenging.
The In-Orbit Thermal Environment
To keep the temperature of the spacecraft and its components within the required range, the thermal control engineer has to consider the factors that heat the spacecraft and those that cool it. The engineer strives to achieve a balance, so that the spacecraft does not get too hot or too cold. If we focus on a spacecraft in Earth orbit, we can summarize its thermal environment in terms of heat inputs (factors that heat it) and heat outputs (factors that cool it).
Heat Inputs
The mechanisms that heat the spacecraft are shown in Figure 9.16. As we mentioned previously in Chapter 6, the major input is that due to direct solar radiation, that is, the direct electromagnetic radiation from the Sun. This amounts to about 1.4 kW of thermal power for every square meter of spacecraft area that is presented to the Sun. In addition, the spacecraft receives solar radiation that is reflected from Earth's surface. About one third of all the sunlight that falls on Earth is reflected back out into space, mostly from cloud and ocean surfaces. This is referred to as Earth albedo radiation, and this too heats the spacecraft. Another source of heat, referred to as Earth heat radiation, is the infrared radiation (see Figure 6.2) produced by Earth simply because it is a warm body. Sometimes we are very much aware of heat (infrared) radiation, such as when we sit in front of a glowing open fire and feel the heat on our faces. However, such heat radiation is produced by all objects to a greater or lesser extent depending on their temperature. This is true as long as the object's temperature is above absolute zero. On the Celsius temperature scale, absolute zero occurs at -273° and is so called because it is
Spacecraft heat radiation (output)
satellite satellite
Direct solar radiation (input)
Internal power^/"^ dissipation (input)
Figure 9.16: A summary of the spacecraft's thermal environment, in terms of things heating it (inputs) and things cooling it (outputs).
Earth heat F f radiation (input)/ Earth albedo ____ / /radiation (input)
the lowest temperature that is physically possible. At -273°C all physical processes stop.
Objects such as Earth and people give off heat radiation simply because their temperature is above absolute zero. Since Earth is an object with a temperature of around 20°C (on average), it produces a heat radiation field that gently warms the spacecraft. Both of these Earth-generated effects, Earth albedo and Earth heat radiation, provide a heat input to the spacecraft that decreases with the altitude of the spacecraft's orbit in accord with an inverse square law (see Chapter 1). The final mechanism that heats the spacecraft is not an external one but rather an internal effect referred to as internal power dissipation. Typically a spacecraft is packed with electrical and electronic equipment, and most of it is not very efficient in that a significant percentage (between 10% and 50%) of the electrical power that is fed into the equipment to sustain its operation is wasted in producing heat. This is not just a feature of spacecraft components; the same thing happens in domestic electrical equipment. For example, if we leave the television set on for a couple of hours, and then just place our hand (carefully) by the air vents at the back of the set, we can feel that not all the electricity has been used to produce picture and sound. Some of it is being wastefully dissipated as heat. Internally dissipated power is another significant mechanism that acts to heat up the spacecraft.
Heat Outputs
Unless there is some way of getting rid of the heat, the spacecraft is going to become too hot, and the acceptable temperature ranges shown in Table 9.3 will be exceeded. However, as a warm body, the spacecraft itself will give off its own heat radiation, and the intensity of this radiation will increase as the spacecraft's temperature rises. This spacecraft heat radiation (see Figure 9.16) is the only effective thermal output acting to cool the spacecraft down.
Thermal Equilibrium
From the above discussion about the thermal environment, we can see that at a particular temperature, the heat outputs will match the heat inputs, and a kind of thermal equilibrium will be reached where the temperature of the spacecraft remains more or less constant. This temperature is referred to as the equilibrium temperature. It is the job of the thermal control engineer to design the thermal control subsystem to ensure that when thermal equilibrium occurs, the equilibrium temperature is around room temperature. If this can be achieved, then there is a good chance that all of the on-board components will be able to operate reliably for the lifetime of the mission.
Thermal Control Design
How does the thermal control engineer achieve this objective? In the introduction to this section we said that the thermal control subsystem is what you see, and basically this is the clue to how it is done. First we need to discuss the thermal properties of materials, that is, why some surfaces get hot in the Sun, while others stay cool. If we walk barefoot on a beach on a hot summer's day, some surfaces, such as the sand or black tarmac on the seafront promenade, get hot and scold the soles of your feet, whereas others, such as the wooden steps down to the beach, feel quite comfortable.
Along the same theme, I have a friend who used to work as a spacecraft thermal control subsystem engineer, and he had a neighbor who owned a large motor boat. But there was a problem with the boat: parts of the decking were made of stainless steel, and when exposed to the Sun on a hot weekend the temperature of the decking would rise to a level that was hazardous. My friend did a few simple calculations and estimated that the temperature of the stainless steel decking could reach temperatures in excess of 100°C! The solution was an easy one; my friend recommended that the offending parts of the deck be painted white. As we will see below, a white-painted surface is poor at absorbing the Sun's heat but good at giving off heat radiation. As a consequence the temperature of the deck went down to a comfortable room temperature, and the boatman was happy. Obviously, boat builders can learn something from spacecraft engineers!
Some of the spacecraft's surfaces are good at absorbing the Sun's heat, but not good at giving off heat (infrared) radiation when they get hot. An example of this kind of surface is aluminium; it is quite good at absorbing the Sun's heat, but not good at radiating it. An aluminium surface exposed to the Sun in Earth orbit can reach temperatures of around 300° to 400°C. On the other hand, some surfaces are poor at absorbing the Sun's heat, but are good at giving off heat radiation, such as a white-painted surface, which stays cool even when exposed to direct sunlight. If we apply a coat of white paint to our orbiting aluminium surface, its temperature will drop to around, say, 20°C. Obviously, the precise numbers here depend on the orbit, which determines how long the spacecraft is in direct Sun, and how long it is in Earth's shadow. These so-called thermal properties of the surface materials of the spacecraft are used to good effect by the thermal control subsystem engineer to manage the balance between heat inputs and outputs to ensure acceptable local temperatures and an appropriate overall equilibrium temperature—around room temperature—for the spacecraft. This is why spacecraft look the way they do, with various types of surface material to manage this thermal balance.
In Figure 9.15 we can see a white-painted communications dish to ensure it stays cool in direct sun light. However, the main feature of the thermal design in this case is the extensive use of thermal blanket to insulate the spacecraft from the direct heating effect of solar radiation. This often gives the spacecraft its characteristic appearance of being wrapped in gold or silver foil. The blanket, sometimes referred to as multilayered insulation (MLI), is composed of multiple layers of a thin plastic film with a metallic coating of aluminium, silver, or gold. Each individual layer is similar to the survival blankets handed out at the end of marathons to keep the runners warm. Figure 9.17 shows a small section of MLI, which is made up of around 25 such layers. Each layer is perforated with tiny holes, to ensure that the air trapped in the blanket on the ground can escape easily when the spacecraft reaches the vacuum of orbit. Each layer of the MLI is separated from the next by a thin sheet of nylon bridal veil. In orbit, with a vacuum between each separate layer, the effectiveness of the insulation provided by the blanket is maximized.
However, if we were to wrap the spacecraft completely in multilayered insulation, the heat dissipated by the electrical equipment on board would not be able to escape easily, and the interior of the spacecraft would become hot. So sections of MLI in Figure 9.15 are cut away, and instead radiator surfaces are installed, which are usually mirror-like surfaces that are designed to be poor absorbers of the Sun's heat but good at giving off heat (infrared) radiation. As a result they remain cool, even in direct Sun, and encourage the escape of internally dissipated heat. Usually, the electrical
Figure 9.17: A section of multilayered insulation, with one layer folded back to reveal the nylon bridal veil spacer. Each layer is perforated with small holes, spaced at approximately 1-cm intervals, to allow trapped air to escape from the layers.
Secrets of the Deep Sky
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text:
Q: ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'requests' in termux I am facing ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'requests' issue on Android termux terminal stimulator app.
The same code work without any additional configuration or installation on ubuntu except python.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


GAMMA Gut has made a return to the marketplace in 2018. Originally designed over 40 years ago to improve durability, touch and comfort, GAMMA Gut changed the industry by making a premium string accessible to every player.
GAMMA has relaunched this legendary string, creating a more technologically complex and intricate redesign. Our proprietary approach creates an amazing all-around string that maximizes comfort and playability. During play, testers praised the string's touch and depth control as well as the ability to play for extended periods of time without arm pain or soreness.
This GAMMA Gut honors the GAMMA legacy and elevates the level of your play!


text:
Q: Extract params from Jenkinsfile I have a Jenkinsfile that takes a bunch of params ( 50 aprox.), and other 50 for input processing:
pipeline {
    agent { label 'ansible24' }
    parameters {
            string(name: 'NAME', defaultValue: 'Nightly Valid', description: ' instance name')
    // ... x50
    }
    script {
        def filename = "configuration.yml"
        def yaml = readYaml file: filename
       yaml.global.name = "${params.NAME}".toString()
       // ... x50
}

Tomorrow, I will also have a validation for each field.
How could I extract this logic in separated files?
I already saw this: How do you load a groovy file and execute it
but it doesn't help a lot for the case of params and my case is not scripted.
Any idea ?


Your website is your association's number one marketing tool. It's how you not only recruit members, but engage and retain them.
Now a big mistake association professionals often make is removing the event in one or two places, but not everywhere. For example, removing the event from the calendar, but leaving it in the copy of the "upcoming events" page. Just take time to make sure your website copy (particularly in regards to your events) is consistent.
You don't have to constantly overhaul your website for it to be engaging, but a few tweaks here and there every now and then IS important. Static copy gives people an excuse not to come back: They've already seen everything you have to offer. But if you change your copy (update images, add new blog posts, etc.), you're giving people a reason to come back and engage.
This is SUCH a big no-no - for many reasons. 1) It makes your association's website difficult to navigate. People can't get to where they're trying to go. 2) It hinders engagement. If people are stopped dead in their tracks, rather than trying to find another way, they're likely to just abandon your site altogether. 3) Worst of all, it gives off a bit of an "unprofessional" vibe. It drives people to the conclusion that your website is outdated, and by extension, your association. NOT good, and likely, not true! So the big takeaway here: Once a quarter (at least), walk through your website and double check those links.
Like we mentioned earlier, your website serves many purposes: to recruit, engage, and retain. But in order to effectively accomplish all three, the member login area and your association's contact information MUST be easily identifiable (as in, located on just about every page of your website).
The Florida Society of Association Executives' website is a great example. See how the member login is at the top of every page and the organization's contact info is at the bottom of every page? That's KEY for engagement, and by extension, member retention.
If you don't ask people to join, that's a HUGE missed opportunity for your association - and a major no-no to avoid!
Want more tips for ensuring your association's website is top-notch - one people will want to engage with and keep coming back to? Check out our free guide, Membership Websites: The Mothership of Online Member Engagement, below!


Liz is an IT compliance professional with over 18 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry. Prior to joining Suvoda as Director of Compliance & Quality, she spent 12 years as a Senior Manager in IT compliance at AstraZeneca where she led teams specializing in computer validation, agile software development, quality audit and process improvement. As the Vice President of Compliance and Quality, She owns Suvoda's Quality Management System and ensures that Suvoda's processes are compliant with applicable regulations. She is passionate about process improvement and working with new methodologies that shift the regulatory compliance landscape towards improved product development. She is a Certified Software Quality Engineer (CSQE), ISO 9001 Certified Lead Auditor, and she holds certifications in ITIL and CMMI. She holds a BS in Biology from Penn State and an MS in Quality Assurance and Regulatory Affairs from the Temple University School of Pharmacy. Liz enjoys visiting family on the Gulf coast of Florida and relaxing at home in Wayne, Pennsylvania, with her two teenage boys and her two dogs, Woody and Wally.


This Alabama Word Search Worksheet will help familiarize your students about vocabulary words that are important and related to the state of Alabama.
Your students can use this fun word search to learn about the state of Alabama by finding twenty words that relate to it's history, industry, culture, environment, and government.
With this worksheet, your students can work independently or with a partner to locate vocabulary words. Then, challenge them to write sentences to explain why the vocabulary word is important to the state.
Check out this Alabama Worksheet to use as an additional worksheet or to give as homework!
You can use this worksheet as an introduction to your lesson about the state of Alabama or a final activity. Have students find key vocabulary related to the state of Alabama using the word search. If you are using it as an introduction activity, you could use a KWL chart to spark student interest and prior knowledge about Alabama. If you are using it as a final activity, have students write sentences using the key vocabulary to show what they have learned. Or just use for fun!


UPDATED with statement: President Trump's outside counsel Marc Kasowitz on Wednesday issued a statement about former FBI Director James Comey's thermonuclear text of opening remarks he plans to deliver Thursday when he appears before the Senate Intel Committee. The committee asked Comey to testify pursuant to its investigation of Russian election tampering and possible Trump campaign collusion.
Trump was celebrating Infrastructure Week in Cincinnati on Wednesday when the FBI chief Trump sacked last month released his prepared remarks and TV news outlets began broadcasting the headlines to the world.
After announcing he plans to spend $1 trillion to overhaul the country's roads and bridges, boasting about pulling out of the "so-called Paris accord" and meeting with "Obamacare victims," Trump boarded his plane to head back to Washington. During the flight, White House Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Trump was reviewing the testimony, but she remarked eyebrow-raisingly about Comey's timing. This is pretty rich, coming from a rep of the guy who this morning tried to upstage Comey's testimony, and that of senior intel execs before the committee today, when he unveiled his pick to replace Comey in an early-morning tweet. Trump's tweet and pick reportedly blindsided his own White House communications staff and senior staffers.
Comey released the text of what will be his opening statement to the House Intelligence Committee on Thursday. It's a real page turner, and you can read it in its entirety here.
Among revelations, Comey will say Trump called to invite him to dinner. Trump in May told NBC's Lester Holt that Comey asked him for the dinner because Comey wanted to keep his job. In his remarks, Comey will say Trump began that dinner by asking him whether he wanted to stay on as FBI director. Comey will say the one-on-one setting and pretense that this was their first discussion about his post meant the dinner was, at least in part, an effort to have him ask for his job and create some sort of patronage relationship, which Comey found concerning.
"I didn't move, speak or change my facial expression in any way during the awkward silence that followed. We simply looked at each other in silence," Comey will say in his opening remarks.


text:
Q: Divide all values by reference row Although this seems similar to this, I'm looking for a "tidy" solution...
Let's look at the following data (it's rocks compositions for some chemical elements, if you are curious):
# A tibble: 4 x 15
  Rock        La     Ce     Pr     Nd    Sm    Eu    Gd     Tb    Dy     Ho    Er     Tm    Yb     Lu
  <chr>      <dbl>  <dbl>  <dbl>  <dbl> <dbl> <dbl> <dbl>  <dbl> <dbl>  <dbl> <dbl>  <dbl> <dbl>  <dbl>
1 Upper CC  31     63     7.1    27     4.7   1     4     0.7    3.9   0.83   2.3   0.3    1.96  0.31
2 Middle CC 24     53     5.8    25     4.6   1.4   4     0.7    3.8   0.82   2.3   0.32   2.2   0.4
3 Lower CC   8     20     2.4    11     2.8   1.1   3.1   0.48   3.1   0.68   1.9   0.24   1.5   0.25
4 chondrite  0.235  0.603 0.0891  0.452 0.147 0.056 0.197 0.0363 0.243 0.0556 0.159 0.0242 0.162 0.0243

(see at the end for the dput)
This is made of three samples and a reference value (chondrite). I want to normalize the value of each element by the chondrite, for each sample, i.e. get something like that:
# A tibble: 4 x 15
  Rock         La    Ce    Pr    Nd    Sm    Eu    Gd    Tb    Dy    Ho    Er    Tm    Yb    Lu
  <chr>     <dbl> <dbl> <dbl> <dbl> <dbl> <dbl> <dbl> <dbl> <dbl> <dbl> <dbl> <dbl> <dbl> <dbl>
1 Upper CC  132.  104.   79.7  59.7  32.0  17.9  20.3  19.3  16.0  14.9  14.5 12.4  12.1   12.8
2 Middle CC 102.   87.9  65.1  55.3  31.3  25    20.3  19.3  15.6  14.8  14.5 13.2  13.6   16.5
3 Lower CC   34.0  33.2  26.9  24.3  19.0  19.6  15.7  13.2  12.8  12.2  12.0  9.92  9.26  10.3
4 chondrite   1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1    1     1      1

In which, of course, the first 132 for df["Upper CC","La"] comes from 31 / 0.235, i.e. df["Upper CC","La"] / df["chondrite","La"]
This is trivial in excel, and can be done in plain R with something along the lines of
apply(df[,-1],1,FUN=function(z){return(z/df[4,-1])})

Give or take some unlist() and other niceties.
But how do I do this in tidyverse idiom ? I started constructing
df %>% mutate(across( where(is.numeric), ... ? .... ) )

... but could not go further.
Generalize/related question: instead of normalizing by df[4,], normalize by an arbitrary named vector.
dput(df)

structure(list(Rock = c("Upper CC", "Middle CC", "Lower CC",
"chondrite"), La = c(31, 24, 8, 0.2347), Ce = c(63, 53, 20, 0.6032
), Pr = c(7.1, 5.8, 2.4, 0.0891), Nd = c(27, 25, 11, 0.4524),
    Sm = c(4.7, 4.6, 2.8, 0.1471), Eu = c(1, 1.4, 1.1, 0.056),
    Gd = c(4, 4, 3.1, 0.1966), Tb = c(0.7, 0.7, 0.48, 0.0363),
    Dy = c(3.9, 3.8, 3.1, 0.2427), Ho = c(0.83, 0.82, 0.68, 0.0556
    ), Er = c(2.3, 2.3, 1.9, 0.1589), Tm = c(0.3, 0.32, 0.24,
    0.0242), Yb = c(1.96, 2.2, 1.5, 0.1625), Lu = c(0.31, 0.4,
    0.25, 0.0243)), row.names = c(NA, -4L), class = c("tbl_df",
"tbl", "data.frame"))

A: You can use :
library(dplyr)

df %>% mutate(across(where(is.numeric), ~./.[Rock == "chondrite"]))

#   Rock     La    Ce    Pr    Nd    Sm    Eu    Gd    Tb    Dy
#  <chr>   <dbl> <dbl> <dbl> <dbl> <dbl> <dbl> <dbl> <dbl> <dbl>
#1 Upper … 132.  104.   79.7  59.7  32.0  17.9  20.3  19.3  16.1
#2 Middle… 102.   87.9  65.1  55.3  31.3  25.0  20.3  19.3  15.7
#3 Lower …  34.1  33.2  26.9  24.3  19.0  19.6  15.8  13.2  12.8
#4 chondr…   1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1
# … with 5 more variables: Ho <dbl>, Er <dbl>, Tm <dbl>,
#   Yb <dbl>, Lu <dbl>

A: Using matrix calculations.
m <- t(dat[-1])
dat[-1] <- t(m / m[,4])
# Rock        La        Ce       Pr       Nd       Sm       Eu       Gd       Tb       Dy       Ho       Er        Tm        Yb       Lu
# 1  Upper CC 131.91489 104.47761 79.68575 59.73451 31.97279 17.85714 20.30457 19.28375 16.04938 14.92806 14.46541 12.396694 12.098765 12.75720
# 2 Middle CC 102.12766  87.89386 65.09540 55.30973 31.29252 25.00000 20.30457 19.28375 15.63786 14.74820 14.46541 13.223140 13.580247 16.46091
# 3  Lower CC  34.04255  33.16750 26.93603 24.33628 19.04762 19.64286 15.73604 13.22314 12.75720 12.23022 11.94969  9.917355  9.259259 10.28807
# 4 chondrite   1.00000   1.00000  1.00000  1.00000  1.00000  1.00000  1.00000  1.00000  1.00000  1.00000  1.00000  1.000000  1.000000  1.00000

Data
dat <- structure(list(Rock = c("Upper CC", "Middle CC", "Lower CC",
"chondrite"), La = c(31, 24, 8, 0.235), Ce = c(63, 53, 20, 0.603
), Pr = c(7.1, 5.8, 2.4, 0.0891), Nd = c(27, 25, 11, 0.452),
    Sm = c(4.7, 4.6, 2.8, 0.147), Eu = c(1, 1.4, 1.1, 0.056),
    Gd = c(4, 4, 3.1, 0.197), Tb = c(0.7, 0.7, 0.48, 0.0363),
    Dy = c(3.9, 3.8, 3.1, 0.243), Ho = c(0.83, 0.82, 0.68, 0.0556
    ), Er = c(2.3, 2.3, 1.9, 0.159), Tm = c(0.3, 0.32, 0.24,
    0.0242), Yb = c(1.96, 2.2, 1.5, 0.162), Lu = c(0.31, 0.4,
    0.25, 0.0243)), class = "data.frame", row.names = c("1",
"2", "3", "4"))

A: Using data.table
library(data.table)
setDT(df1)[, (names(df1)[-1]) := lapply(.SD, function(x)
       x/x[match( "chondrite", Rock)]), .SDcols = -1]


text:
Print Format
Harlamoff - A Young Girl in Traditional Costume
Alexei Alekseevich Harlamoff (Saratov 1840 - Paris 1922)
A Young Girl in Traditional Costume
signed and dated 'Harlamoff/1881' (lower right)
black ink on paper
46 x 30 cm (18⅛ x 11¾ in)
In this finely depicted ink drawing, a gypsy child stares out at the viewer, entrancing us with her large, round eyes. She meets the viewer's gaze with a neutral but alert expression, as she waits quietly and obediently for her portrait to be drawn; only her fidgeting fingers suggest the natural restlessness of a child. She is dressed in the simple garb of a gypsy: a long shawl, patterned with horizontal stripes over her shoulders, a simple headdress, large hooped earrings, a beaded necklace and shoes that appear to be crudely cobbled together. Alexei Alekseevich Harlamoff depicts the young girl with short sharp pen-strokes, which he has built up to give the portrait a real sense of depth. His careful control endows the sitter with a delicate quality appropriate to her youth.
Born in Russia and educated at the Academy of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg, Harlamoff moved to Paris in 1869, where he spent most of his life. Here he was taught by Léon Bonnat (1833-1922), one of the leading French artists of the day, who was to have a profound influence on Harlamoff's work. He started to exhibit regularly throughout the 1870s, which gained him critical acclaim; his portraits were praised by Émile Zola (1840-1902) as some of the best work of the 1875 Salon.
Harlamoff soon became a highly respected portraitist, with sitters including Tsar Alexander II (1818-1881) and Prince Anatole Demidoff (1830-1870). However, his most successful works were his masterful portraits of young girls, often dressed as peasants, who were painted purely for their beauty. There was a tradition in Russian art for painting this type of anonymous female portrait, dating back to the work of Pietro Antonio Rotari (1707-1762), and the critical and commercial success of Bonnat's works had led to a revival.
In 1880, Harlamoff was accepted as a full member of the Association of Itinerant Art Exhibitions, the most progressive and influential artistic group in Russia in the second half of the nineteenth century. Yet despite this membership his 'art was more appreciated in Europe than in Russia' as Harlamoff was criticised in his homeland for his subject matter, which was said to show an indifference to the problems of Russian society.¹ In contrast his work was well received in Western Europe and charmed many viewers, including Queen Victoria (1819-1901) who admired his work at the Glasgow International Exhibition in 1888.
¹ Sugrobova-Roth, O. & Lingenauber, E., Alexei Harlamoff: Catalogue Raisonné (Düsseldorf, 2007), p. 7.
REF No. KTC1573
Sailing Boats on the Volga
Alexei Alekseevich Harlamoff


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text:
Confessions of a Lady Gamer
your tagline does not define you
About Starla
How I Became Disenchanted by Harry Potter
January 15, 2019 June 5, 2019 | Starla
I went back and forth about whether I want to share this little story or not, mostly because it's something I still feel a bit of bitterness about and I want to inform more than rant, but ultimately I decided it's a nice learning experience for those of us who create things. A cautionary tale, if you will.
As I've mentioned, I started my own company in October 2018. Initially, I set out to create jewelry inspired by fandoms (gaming, books, movies, etc.) because I've had tons of ideas stashed in my mind for a very long time and this was an excellent opportunity to get them out. I'm sure many of you can relate: our ideas never end.
Excited to get started, I jumped in (admittedly without doing much research beforehand), starting an Etsy shop and creating my first five pieces. Each piece was inspired by my favorite franchise of all time: Harry Potter, of course.
There were some pieces that were pretty literal in their interpretations, like a pendant with a quote by Ron Weasley on it, Hedwig in her cage, or this keychain:
Originally called "The Dark Mark"
Then there were some that were more abstract or loosely based, such as a piece featuring pink ombre floral beads inspired by Hermione's Yule Ball gown in Goblet of Fire, or the necklace below – this is important, and you'll see why in a second.
Originally called "The Invisibility Cloak"
The Invisibility Cloak was immediately my favorite piece, and also my first two sales (because my friends are awesome and supportive).
As a relatively new seller on Etsy and as someone who has only ever used or had any connection with Etsy when I'm looking for handcrafted fandom-style items, I didn't think much about what I was calling these items or how I was tagging them, except that I tagged them to ensure they would be found on the site by those who would enjoy them. If you do a search on Etsy for "Harry Potter" you get hundreds of thousands of items as a result, and I wanted to make sure I was one of them. Because Potterheads unite! Or something.
Once I had my Etsy shop up and running, I set out to talk about my stuff and let people know it exists, as many sellers do. Because The Invisibility Cloak was my favorite, it was the main piece I excitedly threw around all over the place. I was so thrilled for this new adventure and I needed EVERYONE to know it.
One night, in giddiness-fueled impulse, I decided I wanted J.K. Rowling to see the necklace, so I tweeted at her (because Twitter is her favorite haunt and all). It said something along the lines of, "I made this necklace, loosely based on Harry's invisibility cloak! What do you think?" It included a picture and a link to its Etsy listing.
But, uh, I guess that's where I made a mistake.
I had heard things – not so great things – about JKR and her team, and how they're pretty crazy about copyrights (and $$$). Disney as well. But I never really took it too seriously. People like to exaggerate, right? JKR is a creator; she understands inspiration. Literally shit-tons of things have been inspired by her work, just as she was inspired by others when she created it. But, haha… this is where my opinion changed.
A week after this tweet was sent, I got an email from Etsy saying the Invisibility Cloak necklace was taken down due to copyright claims by Warner Bros and was not to be put back up.
It would help if they responded to emails.
You guys. My very abstract interpretation of a magical object in a book series, a necklace which sat amongst other more literal Harry Potter listings, was totally ripping off the franchise.
Now, I understand the basics of copyright and ownership, intellectual property and the like. I would never intentionally rip off someone else's work, and I fully support and respect creators in that regard. But this felt so ridiculous. It felt petty, in a way? And I didn't understand, especially when it seemed as if they'd only targeted it because of the tweet. They didn't even take the time to look at the rest of my shop and see all the other Harry Potter themed items. It felt like I'd said, "Hey, JKR, what do you think of my work?!" and she'd responded with, "That's mine. Goodbye." Except with less words and through a legal team.
Etsy gave me the option to email Warner Bros. I'll be honest, initially I was really hurt, so I didn't email them right away. I wanted to do my best to figure out how to fix the situation and not make it worse by getting all emotional because I'd only had my shop for a week and felt like it was already doomed. When I did email them, I politely asked what I needed to change and expressed my apologies for being mistaken in thinking what I was doing was fine. It was very much a tail-between-the-legs email that Starla From The Past, who had serious pride issues, would have scoffed at.
They didn't reply, so I did my own research in the meantime and found that, essentially, it's expected that creators who have made products inspired by specific fandoms should not use tags or titles specific to that fandom unless they have license to do so. You can use tags and titles that hint at what it's supposed to represent, like a generic cereal meant to be similar to Cap'n Crunch. A notebook featuring Hermione Granger, for example, cannot depict a Hogwarts crest or her name, but a notebook featuring a bushy haired girl in a witch hat and a school uniform can be titled Brightest Witch Notebook. Something like that. Maybe they'd still get you for using "Brightest Witch." I really don't know.
After another week of silence on their end, I decided this wasn't even worth it. My shop was meant to be fun, and a place where I can try to make myself feel useful after the year I'd been through, so – pardon me, but – fuck them. I sent another email to Warner Bros, and this time I wasn't as nice. I mentioned that, number one, instead of shutting down an item completely, they could have sent a warning or some sort of message to indicate it wasn't appropriate. Number two, they should shift their focus to shops under the "Harry Potter" search on Etsy that are making thousands of sales off of images, fonts, and characters literally ripped from the books or movies before targeting a very new and small shop. Number three, I don't think JKR owns exclusive rights to the term "invisibility cloak" anyway. And I probably added more sarcasm to finish off with a flourish. As respectfully as possible.
Having said what I felt I needed to, I removed all associations with Harry Potter from my shop and started fresh. To this date, I still haven't heard from Warner Bros and the necklace still sits deactivated in my shop. The Invisibility Cloak necklace has moved to my new site and is now called Multicolored Hematite Arrow Bib Statement Necklace, which, yes, is utterly boring, but I find now that it's worth it to represent myself and not what I thought something else was.
All in all, I'm thankful that I learned this lesson early on from a creator/business perspective, but as a fan it still gets to me sometimes. The one thing that really changed throughout this process is that when I see Harry Potter merchandise now, I keep walking. I think that's what disappoints me the most. The magic is gone.
What do you think? Should Warner Bros have a system of notifying creators prior to shutting them down? Was I being dramatic? LOL, probably. Feel free to share your honest opinions if you'd like.
Thank you for reading <3
Posted in Confessions News, Creating, Real Life	CreatingHarry PotterIntricate DisarrayReal Life
< The End of an Era
Chapter 1: Playing the Guessing Game >
6 thoughts on "How I Became Disenchanted by Harry Potter"
annelieseMB says:
I always try to buy from fans and small creators. JKR and Warner Bros can bugger off. They have enough money. What's so wrong about creating something based on something you love?
Starla says:
I agree! It's a shame that it's come to this. It's not like people are setting out to take over the franchise, they're celebrating it.
missmiserie says:
Its really hard to create anything fan related. If its not """"FREE"""" to the public and if there's any chance a dollar can be attached to it, lawyers will dig their greedy little claws into whatever is gonna make their client another buck. They gotta pay for their multi level yacht somehow.
I'm sorry you had to go through that BS. Maybe you can resell your work under different titles, because those are still some sexy pieces you got. The I*********y C***k piece is really pretty.
HAHA that looks so dirty, not gonna lie. Thank you for your awesome response to this, I am definitely hoping to move forward and create things and my hope is that some day Warner Bros or JKR want something from me and I can be like NO.
gryffindork7 says:
Hey, fellow Etsy seller who's been burned by WB here! I had a moderately successful store for three years, mainly selling fandom-themed Halloween costumes and Christmas ornaments. Harry Potter inspired a good amount of my stock. I had this one popular listing, a fleece Christmas stocking with one of the house crests appliqued on – mind you, I cut these shapes freehand out of felt and painted on detail to the point where they weren't REALLY Hogwarts crests, just fancy lions/snakes/badgers/eagles on a coloured background. This one got shut down within a year, and I felt stupid and embarrassed at the time. Then I saw how many listings were still active with ACTUAL pictures from the movies/books just printed out and stuck on, and I got really indignant. But I didn't have the guts to email them.
Then they deactivated another one of my listings, a broomstick ornament made of clay and tinsel. The stocking I kind of understood, but this one was literally a brown stick with some shiny stuff and a string. Nothing about the shape of it was trademarked and I was selling them for maybe $4 a piece, hardly making a profit. So I waited a week and relisted the item without any tags or references to Firebolts/Quidditch/Whomping Willows. Lo and behold, the listing survived but it also never sold again. Because of the lack of popular tags or because it lost all its views and favourites, I'll never know.
So I don't know what to say about the whole thing. I have strong feelings about intellectual property rights too, but with a franchise this big, it feels so cruel to be stamped out by the big guys. Do hobby crafters with maybe 5-20 sales per month really pose any tangible threat to an empire like Harry Potter? How much do think they are going to lose from a $4 broomstick? If anything, I think independent artists are largely responsible for perpetuating a fandom that might have long ago died out otherwise. If JKR and WB were offering equivalents of these products then it might be more understandable. But customers turn to Etsy for things they can't find from any commercial source.
Anyway, I closed up shop and moved to South Korea so I don't think about it anymore lol. I had a lot more customer-based issues in my last year on Etsy, so I'm done with it on multiple levels. If you manage to keep going then major kudos to you! It's an unfortunately tough business to be in.
Ugh, that is so awful. I'm sorry you had to go through that, it's ridiculous! Etsy fees are crazy and many, many times I've considered closing down. It's a huge learning experience if nothing else!
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Background:Siobhan has been with Clifford Devlin since leaving college in 1983. In 1990 she took over the role of Office Manager, succeeding to Company Secretary in 2013.
Responsibilities:Siobhan oversees the administration, training and accounts teams and works with IT in the development and maintenance of the company's bespoke database systems.
She takes specific responsibilityfor managing the back-office function of the company's Asbestos Division data including record control (manual and electronic storage) and the management of personnel and project records. Legislation requires that some of this information be held safely for a period of 40 years.


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It is not the Speaker's job to adjudicate the PAC's leadership disputes – Parliament
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National Assembly speaker Thandi Modise
By: News24Wire
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Speaker of the National Assembly (NA) Thandi Modise is satisfied that she acted within her powers in informing Mzwanele Nyhontso that he is no longer the Pan African Congress's (PAC's) sole representative in Parliament.
The PAC is embroiled in a factional dispute over who the party's leader is – with one grouping recognising Nyhontso as party leader, and another group, Narius Moloto.
Several court battles have ensued.
In a statement, Parliament's spokesperson Moloto Mothapo pointed out that Modise does not have the authority to adjudicate internal party disputes.
"The PAC has one seat in the NA [National Assembly], which has been filled by the nomination of Mr Mzwanele Nyhontso. The member was sworn in as the party's representative in the NA during the first sitting of the NA," reads the statement.
"Subsequently, a dispute arose within the PAC regarding its leadership. For this reason, there was uncertainty about communicating the membership of Mr Nyhontso to the PAC and, consequently, who should represent the party in the NA and who is authorised by the party to communicate with the Speaker on behalf of the PAC.
"In the present matter, litigation between different leadership structures of the PAC was before the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) and the Speaker, accordingly, waited for the outcome of the legal process, which would have confirmed and provided certainty concerning the legitimate leadership of the PAC."
Informing
Modise received a letter from Phillip Dhlamini, representing the PAC, dated 2 November 2020, informing her that matter has been removed from the SCA's roll by agreement.
"Attached to the correspondence were directions from the court that urged the parties to seek an agreement on the way forward and to settle their differences other than through the pending appeal process.
"The court also advised that decisions made by the PAC leadership elected at the Congress on 24 August 2019 at Tompi Seleka in Limpopo Province and their consequences can only be set aside by a further application to court.
"Included in these decisions was the termination of Mr Nyhontso's membership to the PAC."
Based on legal advice, Modise informed Nyhontso that he has lost his members of the National Assembly in terms of section 47(3)(c) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, with immediate effect.
"Section 47(3)(c) of the Constitution, 1996, deals with the loss of membership to the NA if a person ceases to be a member of the political party that nominated that person. The person would lose membership to the NA by operation of law. Therefore, this provision depends on a final and certain loss of membership to the party.
"It is important to note that the loss of membership to the NA, in terms of this provision, is not a 'decision' taken by the Speaker. It occurs by operation of law. The Speaker merely informs the member of his/her loss of membership to the NA once the final and certain loss of membership to the party is confirmed," reads the statement.
"The Speaker is not authorised in law to adjudicate matters in dispute within the PAC or any other party. Neither the Speaker nor Parliament gets involved in party political matters."It is also neither for the Speaker nor Parliament to decide which is the legitimate leadership structure of the PAC and, similarly, it would be incorrect for either the Speaker or Parliament to recognise one structure as the legitimate leadership of the PAC over another. This position has consistently been communicated to all parties purporting to be the legitimate leadership of the PAC."
The Nyhontso-faction have subsequently criticised Modise, who noted this "with concern".
"The Speaker has a duty to act fairly and impartially to ensure that the rights of all parties, including minority parties, are protected. Further correspondence received from the parties will be responded to accordingly.
"In matters, such as the leadership challenges of the PAC, the Speaker has always acted in terms of the Constitution, on the advice of Parliament's Legal Services and in a manner that is consistent with established practice.
"The Speaker trusts that the PAC will resolve its internal issues and provide certainty on who the candidate is that must be representing the party in the NA."
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Covid-19: SA nears the 40 000 death mark as fatalities rise by 566
By: News24Wire Updated 40 minutes ago
South Africa is edging toward 40 000 confirmed Covid-19-related deaths as 566 new deaths were recorded by Wednesday, bringing the death toll to 38 854. Of the new confirmed deaths, KwaZulu-Natal recorded 218, the Eastern Cape 104, the Western Cape 104, Gauteng 80, the Free State 46, the Northern Cape eight, and Mpumalanga six. →
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text:
Maria Sharapova ESPN Interview Def Marion Bartoli
Bartoli Video clip Score: 5 / five
Tags: Bartoli, ESPN, interview, Maria, Marion, Sharapova
Marion Bartoli Videos | admin | August 23, 2010 3:23 pm
By Trumpetguy95, August 23, 2010 @ 3:39 pm
I remember watching this match live on TV. It was good domination until the end. If only Sharapova had beaten Wozniacki in the US Open! It would have been a much better final because Zvonareva barely put up a fight. Clijsters got to say that she won again, when it should have been Wozniacki's or Sharapova's time. How sad. The WTA tour is rather similar to a train wreck. But oh well, that makes it more exciting in a way. Maria says Roger makes winning look easy. Haha. LOL. She ain't bad herself!
By filipelj, August 23, 2010 @ 4:04 pm
love masha
By kevin12061989, August 23, 2010 @ 4:09 pm
congrats sharapova
By Murraypova, August 23, 2010 @ 4:58 pm
@oobalavivida don't we all lol 🙂
By 928vamoskata, August 23, 2010 @ 5:45 pm
Love Maria! She says some nice things about Mr.Federer too!
By tennislover12, August 23, 2010 @ 5:55 pm
wish serena would have been here. iw ent to go watch on tuesday. oh well see all the stars at the open.
By milot1masha, August 23, 2010 @ 6:40 pm
So many fans!
By oobalavivida, August 23, 2010 @ 7:06 pm
I love her so much
By sidahmed8124, August 23, 2010 @ 7:12 pm
By lyluxxx, August 23, 2010 @ 7:15 pm