text:
CB forecasts growth to pick up to 4-4.5% next year
From left: Governor Prof. W.D. Lakshman and Senior Deputy Governor Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe. Pic by Waruna Wanniarachchi
By Nishel Fernando
The Central Bank (CB) has forecast 4 to 4.5 percent economic growth and below 4 percent inflation for next year, backed by the new government's economic revival programme while meeting estimated US$ 4.8 billion external debt servicing for the year.
"With the revival of economic activity, we expect economic growth to accelerate to around 4 to 4.5 percent and inflation to remain below 4 percent in 2020.
"Beyond 2020, with necessary reforms, annual growth is expected to accelerate to over 6.5 percent while inflation will be managed between 4 to 6 percent," Prof. W.D. Lakshman told at his maiden press conference as the new CB Governor in Colombo last Friday.
Sri Lanka's economic growth is estimated to have hit an 18-year low of 2.7-2.8 percent this year, according to CB.
The new government has announced sweeping tax cuts and debt moratoriums for SMEs anticipating a revival in economic activities.
CB Senior Deputy Governor, Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe revealed that Sri Lanka has around US$ 4.8 billion external debt service payment next year. He said the new government is yet to finalise the short, medium and long term financing plan for the country.
The new government also put on hold Sri Lanka's maiden US$ 500 million Samurai bond issuance scheduled for this month, as it is reviewing the financing plan.
"There are many options available; but it's up to the government to deicide looking at the financing requirements for the year. The new government will have to decide when to go to markets and how much to be raised from commercial markets with different instruments," he said.
However, he pointed out that CB has sufficient buffers to meet debt-servicing requirements for early part of next year. "This year, we raised sufficient amount of money to meet debt servicing requirements for first few months of next year. Therefore, we are in a comfortable position until at least the new parliament commences its activities somewhere in June next year," he added.
Further, he pointed out that the first large debt repayment for next year is only scheduled in October with the maturity of one international sovereign bond (ISB).
The Central Bank expects to end this year with US$ 7.5 billion in foreign reserves similar to the previous year.
Governor Prof. Lakshman ensured that Sri Lanka would continue to engage with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) while remaining within the national policy framework.
The Fitch Ratings recently revised the Outlook on Sri Lanka's 'B' rating to 'Negative' from 'Stable' over debt repayment concerns arising from the recent economic stimulus, which is likely to increase the country's borrowing cost from international capital markets.
However, Dr. Weerasinghe stressed that the decision on the outlook revision was premature and the new government should have been given more time to clarify on their policies.
"We requested them to provide sometime for the new government, because if they are wrong, it will take 6-12 months to reverse the outlook downgrade," he said.
In terms of monetary aggregates, the CB projects the private sector credit growth to rebound to 12-13 percent year-on-year next year backed by tax cuts, announced capital moratorium for SMEs and falling lending rates.
In absolute terms, the private sector credit grew by Rs.149.3 billion cumulatively from August to November contributing to much of the Rs.191.8 billion cumulative increase during the 11 months of the year.
In November, private sector credit recorded an increase of Rs.47.1 billion following an increase of Rs.26.2 billion in October in absolute terms.
However, private sector credit growth slowed down to 4.4 percent YoY in November from 5.1 percent YoY growth in October.
Driven by low credit expansion, the broad money supply also slowed down to 6.1 percent YoY in November from 6.7 percent in October.
"In the monetary sector, we have seen credit flows coming virtually to a standstill. Monetary and regulatory measures taken so far, as well as the measures that are being contemplated by the government, including the moratorium on capital repayments of bank loans by SMEs, supported by improving business confidence will result in an acceleration of credit flows in the period ahead. This will also help address the increased NPL ratios of the financial sector," Prof. Lakshman said.
← A promotion instead of punishment!
Jarring music banned in buses from tomorrow →


text:
Home Research Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Treated with a Diode Laser A Controlled Treatment of the Transverse Carpal Li
Laser Therapy Research
Laser Therapy U's online research portal houses an extensive collection of published studies, articles and abstracts from around the world.
Sort through our entire research database using the filter tool above.
Be sure to check back frequently…new items are added weekly!
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Treated with a Diode Laser: A Controlled Treatment of the Transverse Carpal Ligament
Photomed Laser Surg.
Wen-Dien Chang, Jih-Huah Wu, Joe-Air Jiang, Chun-Yu Yeh, Chien-Tsung Tsai.
12/1/2008 - Photomed Laser Surg. 2008 Dec;26(6):551-7. doi: 10.1089/pho.2007.2234.
The purpose of this placebo-controlled study was to investigate the therapeutic effects of the 830-nm diode laser on carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS).
BACKGROUND DATA:
Many articles in the literature have demonstrated that low-level laser therapy (LLLT) may help to alleviate various types of nerve pain, especially for CTS treatment. We placed an 830-nm laser directly above the transverse carpal ligament, which is between the pisiform and navicular bones of the tested patients, to determine the therapeutic effect of LLLT.
Thirty-six patients with mild to moderate degree of CTS were randomly divided into two groups. The laser group received laser treatment (10 Hz, 50% duty cycle, 60 mW, 9.7 J/cm(2), at 830 nm), and the placebo group received sham laser treatment. Both groups received treatment for 2 wk consisting of a 10-min laser irradiation session each day, 5 d a week. The therapeutic effects were assessed on symptoms and functional changes, and with nerve conduction studies (NCS), grip strength assessment, and with a visual analogue scale (VAS), soon after treatment and at 2-wk follow-up.
Before treatment, there were no significant differences between the two groups for all assessments (p > 0.05). The VAS scores were significantly lower in the laser group than the placebo group after treatment and at follow-up (p < 0.05). After 2 wk of treatment, no significant differences were found in grip strengths or for symptoms and functional assessments (p > 0.05). However, there were statistically significant differences in these variables at 2-wk follow-up (p < 0.05). Regarding the findings of NCS, there was no statistically significant difference between groups after treatment and at 2-wk follow-up.
LLLT was effective in alleviating pain and symptoms, and in improving functional ability and finger and hand strength for mild and moderate CTS patients with no side effects.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Q: glob pattern matching in .NET Is there a built-in mechanism in .NET to match patterns other than Regular Expressions?  I'd like to match using UNIX style (glob) wildcards (* = any number of any character).
I'd like to use this for a end-user facing control.  I fear that permitting all RegEx capabilities will be very confusing.

A: I like my code a little more semantic, so I wrote this extension method:
using System.Text.RegularExpressions;

namespace Whatever
{
    public static class StringExtensions
    {
        /// <summary>
        /// Compares the string against a given pattern.
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="str">The string.</param>
        /// <param name="pattern">The pattern to match, where "*" means any sequence of characters, and "?" means any single character.</param>
        /// <returns><c>true</c> if the string matches the given pattern; otherwise <c>false</c>.</returns>
        public static bool Like(this string str, string pattern)
        {
            return new Regex(
                "^" + Regex.Escape(pattern).Replace(@"\*", ".*").Replace(@"\?", ".") + "$",
                RegexOptions.IgnoreCase | RegexOptions.Singleline
            ).IsMatch(str);
        }
    }
}

(change the namespace and/or copy the extension method to your own string extensions class)
Using this extension, you can write statements like this:
if (File.Name.Like("*.jpg"))
{
   ....
}

Just sugar to make your code a little more legible :-)

A: If you want to avoid regular expressions this is a basic glob implementation:
public static class Globber
{
    public static bool Glob(this string value, string pattern)
    {
        int pos = 0;

        while (pattern.Length != pos)
        {
            switch (pattern[pos])
            {
                case '?':
                    break;

                case '*':
                    for (int i = value.Length; i >= pos; i--)
                    {
                        if (Glob(value.Substring(i), pattern.Substring(pos + 1)))
                        {
                            return true;
                        }
                    }
                    return false;

                default:
                    if (value.Length == pos || char.ToUpper(pattern[pos]) != char.ToUpper(value[pos]))
                    {
                        return false;
                    }
                    break;
            }

            pos++;
        }

        return value.Length == pos;
    }
}

Use it like this:
Assert.IsTrue("text.txt".Glob("*.txt"));

A: If you use VB.Net, you can use the Like statement, which has Glob like syntax.
http://www.getdotnetcode.com/gdncstore/free/Articles/Intoduction%20to%20the%20VB%20NET%20Like%20Operator.htm

A: I have written a globbing library for .NETStandard, with tests and benchmarks. My goal was to produce a library for .NET, with minimal dependencies, that doesn't use Regex, and outperforms Regex.
You can find it here:

*

*github.com/dazinator/DotNet.Glob

*https://www.nuget.org/packages/DotNet.Glob/

A: Just for the sake of completeness. Since 2016 in dotnet core there is a new nuget package called Microsoft.Extensions.FileSystemGlobbing that supports advanced globing paths. (Nuget Package)
some examples might be, searching for wildcard nested folder structures and files which is very common in web development scenarios.

*

*wwwroot/app/**/*.module.js

*wwwroot/app/**/*.js
This works somewhat similar with what .gitignore files use to determine which files to exclude from source control.

A: I found the actual code for you:
Regex.Escape( wildcardExpression ).Replace( @"\*", ".*" ).Replace( @"\?", "." );

A: I wrote a FileSelector class that does selection of files based on filenames.  It also selects files based on time, size, and attributes. If you just want filename globbing then you express the name in forms like "*.txt" and similar.  If you want the other parameters then you specify a boolean logic statement like "name = *.xls and ctime < 2009-01-01"  - implying an .xls file created before January 1st 2009.  You can also select based on the negative: "name != *.xls" means all files that are not xls.
Check it out.
Open source. Liberal license.
Free to use elsewhere.

A: Based on previous posts, I threw together a C# class:
using System;
using System.Text.RegularExpressions;

public class FileWildcard
{
    Regex mRegex;

    public FileWildcard(string wildcard)
    {
        string pattern = string.Format("^{0}$", Regex.Escape(wildcard)
            .Replace(@"\*", ".*").Replace(@"\?", "."));
        mRegex = new Regex(pattern, RegexOptions.IgnoreCase | RegexOptions.Singleline);
    }
    public bool IsMatch(string filenameToCompare)
    {
        return mRegex.IsMatch(filenameToCompare);
    }
}

Using it would go something like this:
FileWildcard w = new FileWildcard("*.txt");
if (w.IsMatch("Doug.Txt"))
   Console.WriteLine("We have a match");

The matching is NOT the same as the System.IO.Directory.GetFiles() method, so don't use them together.

A: From C# you can use .NET's LikeOperator.LikeString method.  That's the backing implementation for VB's LIKE operator. It supports patterns using *, ?, #, [charlist], and [!charlist].
You can use the LikeString method from C# by adding a reference to the Microsoft.VisualBasic.dll assembly, which is included with every version of the .NET Framework.  Then you invoke the LikeString method just like any other static .NET method:
using Microsoft.VisualBasic;
using Microsoft.VisualBasic.CompilerServices;
...
bool isMatch = LikeOperator.LikeString("I love .NET!", "I love *", CompareMethod.Text);
// isMatch should be true.

A: https://www.nuget.org/packages/Glob.cs
https://github.com/mganss/Glob.cs
A GNU Glob for .NET.
You can get rid of the package reference after installing and just compile the single Glob.cs source file.
And as it's an implementation of GNU Glob it's cross platform and cross language once you find another similar implementation enjoy!

A: The 2- and 3-argument variants of the listing methods like GetFiles() and EnumerateDirectories() take a search string as their second argument that supports filename globbing, with both * and ?.
class GlobTestMain
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        string[] exes = Directory.GetFiles(Environment.CurrentDirectory, "*.exe");
        foreach (string file in exes)
        {
            Console.WriteLine(Path.GetFileName(file));
        }
    }
}

would yield
GlobTest.exe
GlobTest.vshost.exe

The docs state that there are some caveats with matching extensions.  It also states that 8.3 file names are matched (which may be generated automatically behind the scenes), which can result in "duplicate" matches in given some patterns.
The methods that support this are GetFiles(), GetDirectories(), and GetFileSystemEntries().  The Enumerate variants also support this.

A: I don't know if the .NET framework has glob matching, but couldn't you replace the * with .*? and use regexes?

A: Just out of curiosity I've glanced into Microsoft.Extensions.FileSystemGlobbing - and it was dragging quite huge dependencies on quite many libraries - I've decided why I cannot try to write something similar?
Well - easy to say than done, I've quickly noticed that it was not so trivial function after all - for example "*.txt" should match for files only in current directly, while "**.txt" should also harvest sub folders.
Microsoft also tests some odd matching pattern sequences like "./*.txt" - I'm not sure who actually needs "./" kind of string - since they are removed anyway while processing.
(https://github.com/aspnet/FileSystem/blob/dev/test/Microsoft.Extensions.FileSystemGlobbing.Tests/PatternMatchingTests.cs)
Anyway, I've coded my own function - and there will be two copies of it - one in svn (I might bugfix it later on) - and I'll copy one sample here as well for demo purposes. I recommend to copy paste from svn link.
SVN Link:
https://sourceforge.net/p/syncproj/code/HEAD/tree/SolutionProjectBuilder.cs#l800
(Search for matchFiles function if not jumped correctly).
And here is also local function copy:
/// <summary>
/// Matches files from folder _dir using glob file pattern.
/// In glob file pattern matching * reflects to any file or folder name, ** refers to any path (including sub-folders).
/// ? refers to any character.
///
/// There exists also 3-rd party library for performing similar matching - 'Microsoft.Extensions.FileSystemGlobbing'
/// but it was dragging a lot of dependencies, I've decided to survive without it.
/// </summary>
/// <returns>List of files matches your selection</returns>
static public String[] matchFiles( String _dir, String filePattern )
{
    if (filePattern.IndexOfAny(new char[] { '*', '?' }) == -1)      // Speed up matching, if no asterisk / widlcard, then it can be simply file path.
    {
        String path = Path.Combine(_dir, filePattern);
        if (File.Exists(path))
            return new String[] { filePattern };
        return new String[] { };
    }

    String dir = Path.GetFullPath(_dir);        // Make it absolute, just so we can extract relative path'es later on.
    String[] pattParts = filePattern.Replace("/", "\\").Split('\\');
    List<String> scanDirs = new List<string>();
    scanDirs.Add(dir);

    //
    //  By default glob pattern matching specifies "*" to any file / folder name,
    //  which corresponds to any character except folder separator - in regex that's "[^\\]*"
    //  glob matching also allow double astrisk "**" which also recurses into subfolders.
    //  We split here each part of match pattern and match it separately.
    //
    for (int iPatt = 0; iPatt < pattParts.Length; iPatt++)
    {
        bool bIsLast = iPatt == (pattParts.Length - 1);
        bool bRecurse = false;

        String regex1 = Regex.Escape(pattParts[iPatt]);         // Escape special regex control characters ("*" => "\*", "." => "\.")
        String pattern = Regex.Replace(regex1, @"\\\*(\\\*)?", delegate (Match m)
            {
                if (m.ToString().Length == 4)   // "**" => "\*\*" (escaped) - we need to recurse into sub-folders.
                {
                    bRecurse = true;
                    return ".*";
                }
                else
                    return @"[^\\]*";
            }).Replace(@"\?", ".");

        if (pattParts[iPatt] == "..")                           // Special kind of control, just to scan upper folder.
        {
            for (int i = 0; i < scanDirs.Count; i++)
                scanDirs[i] = scanDirs[i] + "\\..";

            continue;
        }

        Regex re = new Regex(pattern, RegexOptions.Compiled | RegexOptions.IgnoreCase);
        int nScanItems = scanDirs.Count;
        for (int i = 0; i < nScanItems; i++)
        {
            String[] items;
            if (!bIsLast)
                items = Directory.GetDirectories(scanDirs[i], "*", (bRecurse) ? SearchOption.AllDirectories : SearchOption.TopDirectoryOnly);
            else
                items = Directory.GetFiles(scanDirs[i], "*", (bRecurse) ? SearchOption.AllDirectories : SearchOption.TopDirectoryOnly);

            foreach (String path in items)
            {
                String matchSubPath = path.Substring(scanDirs[i].Length + 1);
                if (re.Match(matchSubPath).Success)
                    scanDirs.Add(path);
            }
        }
        scanDirs.RemoveRange(0, nScanItems);    // Remove items what we have just scanned.
    } //for

    //  Make relative and return.
    return scanDirs.Select( x => x.Substring(dir.Length + 1) ).ToArray();
} //matchFiles

If you find any bugs, I'll be grad to fix them.

A: I wrote a solution that does it. It does not depend on any library and it does not support "!" or "[]" operators. It supports the following search patterns:
C:\Logs\*.txt
C:\Logs\**\*P1?\**\asd*.pdf
    /// <summary>
    /// Finds files for the given glob path. It supports ** * and ? operators. It does not support !, [] or ![] operators
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="path">the path</param>
    /// <returns>The files that match de glob</returns>
    private ICollection<FileInfo> FindFiles(string path)
    {
        List<FileInfo> result = new List<FileInfo>();
        //The name of the file can be any but the following chars '<','>',':','/','\','|','?','*','"'
        const string folderNameCharRegExp = @"[^\<\>:/\\\|\?\*" + "\"]";
        const string folderNameRegExp = folderNameCharRegExp + "+";
        //We obtain the file pattern
        string filePattern = Path.GetFileName(path);
        List<string> pathTokens = new List<string>(Path.GetDirectoryName(path).Split('\\', '/'));
        //We obtain the root path from where the rest of files will obtained
        string rootPath = null;
        bool containsWildcardsInDirectories = false;
        for (int i = 0; i < pathTokens.Count; i++)
        {
            if (!pathTokens[i].Contains("*")
                && !pathTokens[i].Contains("?"))
            {
                if (rootPath != null)
                    rootPath += "\\" + pathTokens[i];
                else
                    rootPath = pathTokens[i];
                pathTokens.RemoveAt(0);
                i--;
            }
            else
            {
                containsWildcardsInDirectories = true;
                break;
            }
        }
        if (Directory.Exists(rootPath))
        {
            //We build the regular expression that the folders should match
            string regularExpression = rootPath.Replace("\\", "\\\\").Replace(":", "\\:").Replace(" ", "\\s");
            foreach (string pathToken in pathTokens)
            {
                if (pathToken == "**")
                {
                    regularExpression += string.Format(CultureInfo.InvariantCulture, @"(\\{0})*", folderNameRegExp);
                }
                else
                {
                    regularExpression += @"\\" + pathToken.Replace("*", folderNameCharRegExp + "*").Replace(" ", "\\s").Replace("?", folderNameCharRegExp);
                }
            }
            Regex globRegEx = new Regex(regularExpression, RegexOptions.Compiled | RegexOptions.CultureInvariant | RegexOptions.IgnoreCase);
            string[] directories = Directory.GetDirectories(rootPath, "*", containsWildcardsInDirectories ? SearchOption.AllDirectories : SearchOption.TopDirectoryOnly);
            foreach (string directory in directories)
            {
                if (globRegEx.Matches(directory).Count > 0)
                {
                    DirectoryInfo directoryInfo = new DirectoryInfo(directory);
                    result.AddRange(directoryInfo.GetFiles(filePattern));
                }
            }

        }
        return result;
    }

A: Unfortunately the accepted answer will not handle escaped input correctly, because string .Replace("\*", ".*") fails to distinguish between "*" and "\*" - it will happily replace "*" in both of these strings, leading to incorrect results.
Instead, a basic tokenizer can be used to convert the glob path into a regex pattern, which can then be matched against a filename using Regex.Match. This is a more robust and flexible solution.
Here is a method to do this. It handles ?, *, and **, and surrounds each of these globs with a capture group, so the values of each glob can be inspected after the Regex has been matched.
static string GlobbedPathToRegex(ReadOnlySpan<char> pattern, ReadOnlySpan<char> dirSeparatorChars)
{
    StringBuilder builder = new StringBuilder();
    builder.Append('^');

    ReadOnlySpan<char> remainder = pattern;

    while (remainder.Length > 0)
    {
        int specialCharIndex = remainder.IndexOfAny('*', '?');

        if (specialCharIndex >= 0)
        {
            ReadOnlySpan<char> segment = remainder.Slice(0, specialCharIndex);

            if (segment.Length > 0)
            {
                string escapedSegment = Regex.Escape(segment.ToString());
                builder.Append(escapedSegment);
            }

            char currentCharacter = remainder[specialCharIndex];
            char nextCharacter = specialCharIndex < remainder.Length - 1 ? remainder[specialCharIndex + 1] : '\0';

            switch (currentCharacter)
            {
                case '*':
                    if (nextCharacter == '*')
                    {
                        // We have a ** glob expression
                        // Match any character, 0 or more times.
                        builder.Append("(.*)");

                        // Skip over **
                        remainder = remainder.Slice(specialCharIndex + 2);
                    }
                    else
                    {
                        // We have a * glob expression
                        // Match any character that isn't a dirSeparatorChar, 0 or more times.
                        if(dirSeparatorChars.Length > 0) {
                            builder.Append($"([^{Regex.Escape(dirSeparatorChars.ToString())}]*)");
                        }
                        else {
                            builder.Append("(.*)");
                        }

                        // Skip over *
                        remainder = remainder.Slice(specialCharIndex + 1);
                    }
                    break;
                case '?':
                    builder.Append("(.)"); // Regex equivalent of ?

                    // Skip over ?
                    remainder = remainder.Slice(specialCharIndex + 1);
                    break;
            }
        }
        else
        {
            // No more special characters, append the rest of the string
            string escapedSegment = Regex.Escape(remainder.ToString());
            builder.Append(escapedSegment);
            remainder = ReadOnlySpan<char>.Empty;
        }
    }

    builder.Append('$');

    return builder.ToString();
}

The to use it:
string testGlobPathInput = "/Hello/Test/Blah/**/test*123.fil?";
string globPathRegex = GlobbedPathToRegex(testGlobPathInput, "/"); // Could use "\\/" directory separator chars on Windows

Console.WriteLine($"Globbed path: {testGlobPathInput}");
Console.WriteLine($"Regex conversion: {globPathRegex}");

string testPath = "/Hello/Test/Blah/All/Hail/The/Hypnotoad/test_somestuff_123.file";
Console.WriteLine($"Test Path: {testPath}");
var regexGlobPathMatch = Regex.Match(testPath, globPathRegex);

Console.WriteLine($"Match: {regexGlobPathMatch.Success}");

for(int i = 0; i < regexGlobPathMatch.Groups.Count; i++) {
    Console.WriteLine($"Group [{i}]: {regexGlobPathMatch.Groups[i]}");
}

Output:
Globbed path: /Hello/Test/Blah/**/test*123.fil?
Regex conversion: ^/Hello/Test/Blah/(.*)/test([^/]*)123\.fil(.)$
Test Path: /Hello/Test/Blah/All/Hail/The/Hypnotoad/test_somestuff_123.file
Match: True
Group [0]: /Hello/Test/Blah/All/Hail/The/Hypnotoad/test_somestuff_123.file
Group [1]: All/Hail/The/Hypnotoad
Group [2]: _somestuff_
Group [3]: e

I have created a gist here as a canonical version of this method:
https://gist.github.com/crozone/9a10156a37c978e098e43d800c6141ad

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


The Nintendo Switch is reportedly selling faster worldwide than Sony's PlayStation 4 with launches aligned, if Ace Research Institute analyst Hideki Yasuda is to be believed.
Last month we already reported that, based NPD sales data, Switch sales surpassed 10.5 million units in the US, and aligned US launch sales for Nintendo's hybrid platform are higher than that of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Despite strong sales in the holiday season, Nintendo lowered its rather ambitious annual Switch sales forecast from 20 million to 17 million. Nintendo's new conservative revised target made some investors to believe that the Switch isn't selling well.
Ace Research Institute analyst Hideki Yasuda has now challenged this assumption in his newly published report. Despite Sony's PS4 being the best-selling console of this year, the Switch is actually selling faster than the PS4 with launches aligned.
The Switch is actually selling quite rapidly, and compared to the PS4, shipments at the 8th quarter of each console's lifetime are higher by three million in favor of Nintendo's hybrid platform.
According to the analyst, Nintendo managed to ship 14.49 million units shipped in the first three quarters of its current fiscal year. In total, 32.28 million Switch units have been shipped since its launch back in March of 2017.
How many Switch units do you think Nintendo will be able to sell before March 31, 2019? Will the Switch become the best-selling Nintendo console so far? Hit the comments below.


Brahma, the four-faced Hindu god of creation. This tapestry symbolizes transition through a sometimes chaotic cosmos. Brahma is shown surrounded by impermanent objects, kindred Buddhas, and mathematical fractals. Despite the uncertainty of manifestation, Brahma remains unwavered, in a zen-like state, balanced between reality and illusion.
This tapestry is a part of the Supreme Beings series and is available for purchase in the Shop.


Four years ago, Doctor McMullan retired from Gilford Health Centre.
He is now holding an exhibition of his art and all proceeds are going to charity - see his letter below.
We wish him continued good health and success in his exhibition.
I have enjoyed painting for the past number of years and have amassed quite a few. So I have decided to have an art exhibition and sell all the pictures.
All the proceeds from the sale will be divided between the "Container ministry" and the Mandeville unit (cancer care) at Craigavon Area Hospital.
For the past 2 years I have been volunteering a couple of days a week with the "Container Ministry" here in Lurgan, which sends educational, medical and vocational equipment and supplies to third world countries. At the moment we are packing a 40 foot container to send to Zambia. This is to the Chivuna mission which was founded by the Jesuits in 1951, which accepts and treats all comers, irrespective of creed or culture. They have a 200 patient clinic with almost nothing at all to treat their patients. We have packed hospital beds, incubators, cots, mattresses, 40 large boxes of medical supplies, wheelchairs... the list goes on.
The Mandeville unit gave me exceptional care and attention during my illness. I was not given any preferential treatment and can only but speak highly for their professionalism and compassion.
I would thus be grateful if this exhibition/sale could be mentioned in your parish news. I would love to see some old familiar faces again .... and if some folk want to buy a piece of art then that will be a bonus. Both recipients of the sale are in my mind very worthy causes.
I have attached a copy of the flier advertising the event and thank you for putting up with my ramblings.


Obesity will soon take the form of a calamity all across the world. The recent researches of WHO (world health organization) has proved the fact that 7 of every 10 people is suffering from the issue of obesity and the more dangerous part of this problem is most of them are not aware about their "problem". In most of the cases, people do not even realize that they have the issue of obesity and need to do something to get rid of that, and unfortunately gradually the problem becomes a serious one.
However, there are lots of ways to lose weight fast without dragging yourself into a monotonous exercise regime or some heavy drugs with lots of side effects. If you want to know the healthy way to lose weight fast then you must open your eyes and get in touch with a professional medical team who are experts of weight loss.
These experts often arrange some medically approved programs that contain various routines of losing weight faster. These routines are personalized as per your health and body condition. These processes involve a thorough planning of losing weight in a healthy manner. It involves lots of drugs, therapies, treatments, and surgical as well as non-surgical procedures. Apart from these there are body wraps where fat cells are shrunk by pulling the toxins from your body. Some of these treatments directly affect your liver and enhance its capability of decreasing fat deposit, some help to obtain effective cellulite reduction through some mechanical process; some are good for the variety of colon condition and help passively to lose weight faster. These professionals even provide you with proper diet and recipes that can help you to lose weight faster without any side effects.
It is true that there is a wide range of process of losing weight within a very short time, but the fact is all of these processes are not good enough for your health. These are neither medically approved nor equally effective for all kind of people with various health and body structures. Hence, they are not able to offer the desired result and in most of the cases they seem harmful as well. Therefore it is important that you must be aware fully about your health condition before you go for any of the above mentioned processes of weight loss.
Knowing the healthy way to lose weight fast will help you to choose the right treatment process for yourself or for your loved ones. This means you can spend your money to get some proper treatment and a good result out of it. There are some treatments and therapies that are costly and time taking. On the other hand, there are techniques that are quite easy to follow, time conserving and cost-effective as well. You should do an adequate research before you choose any of these treatments for yourself and spend your valuable time and money.
Author Bio: Anny Smith is a well known content writer. She has her experience in various types of content writing and editing. If you want to know about the healthy way to lose weight fast then you can read her articles on weight loss topics.


text:
Boxers Lose Close Game to Thundercats
by Jeff | Jul 1, 2012
It was great to be back with the Boxers last night. With the American Ballet Theatre spring season in full swing at the Met, I haven't played with the team since May 19, missing three games in favor of watching some incredible dancing. Yesterday the game was at four, allowing me to be with the team and make the performance at eight.
While it was an intense effort last night, which had us scoring first, we ended up with a 2-1 loss against the Thundercats. That has the Boxers currently with a 5-2 record, which is quite respectable for being nearly half way through the season.
It was a bittersweet game too because it was Leif's last game with us as he is preparing to move to California. I met Lief a few years ago when he joined the NYCGHA and played on the Tigers. We both started on the Boxers when that team started up. He is a great player and a great person. I will definitely miss him and his presence, which was always happy and calm.
In the game itself, I was pleased with my playing, which I was a little conceded about since I hadn't played since Chelsea Challenge two weeks before. Everything fell into place though. Jonathan and I, teamed up on D as usual, played a good game. I like how easily he and I have played together long enough to just know what the other is doing and our teamwork seems to solidify more and more each game. We did have one major lapse last night where I got stuck trying to defend against a 2-on-1 and failed. I don't know what I could've done different–I covered the guy who could've received a pass and let the goalie take the puck carrier, who ultimately shot and scored. Sometimes these things just happen.
I picked up a couple injuries last night, both blocking shots from #77. The first was a close range shot that I took in the front of my skate, right along the laces. It hurt, but it did block the shot. It's swollen still this morning, although it moves pretty well, and I'll continue to ice it on and off through the day. The other was a snapshot sent into our zone from the other side of the blueline, which went into my right quad. The padding in my pants deflected some of the pain, but there's still a lovely reddish/purple mark there. All this while I still have a fading bruise from a snapshot I got in the back of my left leg during the Challenge.
Next week I miss the game for the final ballet of the season. After that though I should be on the ice for the rest of the season.


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text:
Q: How to add or delete custom option in many products in magento 1.9.3.6? is there any feature available in magento to add or remove custom option in many products?
I want to give some free service with product to customer. Customer can select or unselect checkbox whether he wants to get free service with products or not. it's customer choice that's why I want to use custom option. I have added free service in custom option. I want to apply this custom option in many products. How can i do this?
If adding or deleting custom option is not available in magento. is there any other alternative way to achieve this feature?

A: In Magento 1.9.x you can add/remove options only one-by-one. Alternative way will be to use extension. For one-off occasion you can use free version of tool introduced in this video tutorial that possess necessary functionality.


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New Plan to Replace the CF-18 Remains Politicized, But Could It Work?
Edward Tat, Procurement December 13, 2017February 27, 2018 Edward Tat
The Liberal government's long-awaited plan to replace the RCAF's ageing CF-18s, officially announced yesterday, confirms the rumoured purchase of surplus F-18 Hornets from the Australian government while launching a new procurement competition for the legacy Hornet's replacement. But the timeline of this plan is cause for concern, along with the fact that used equipment built during the Cold War is being purchased. Concrete specifics have yet to be put out for the plan and, with a dodgy government record on defence acquisitions, that alone is a worrying detail for Canada's fighter procurement saga.
First and foremost, the deal for the ex-RAAF F-18 Hornets as a stopgap to the CF-18 replacement is now essentially a sure thing. The Australian government have made an offer for 18 flyable Hornets, plus spare parts, that the Canadian government intends to accept pending final negotiations. Planned to be squarely in RCAF hands by January 2019, the deal effectively snubs the American Super Hornet offer from Boeing to work towards addressing the government's alleged "capability gap" in meeting the air force's operational mandate.
Second, an "open and transparent competition" for 88 advanced fighters will be held to permanently replace the CF-18s. Request for Proposals (RFPs) will be released next year once the military's official Specific Operational Requirement (SOR) – which defines the technical requirements that all proposals must satisfy – is released. A contract winner will be announced in 2022 with deliveries beginning in 2025. There will, however, be a contractual obligation for domestic economic development as well as an unknown cost restraint.
Perhaps at first glance, the plan satisfies all involved. The Canadian Forces would, at some point, get the equipment they need to do their job into the future. The Liberal government would not only seemingly fulfil their 2015 election promises before the 2019 federal election, but it would also enhance domestic investment, jobs, and innovation to boot. Finally, with an open competition, international defence giants like Lockheed Martin and Eurofighter as well as the majority of Canadians will be satisfied with a fair selection process.
Not Ideal, But Necessary
Whether the Australian purchase is desirable per se by the Forces is not a question at all. As Chief of the Defence Staff General Johnathan Vance pointed out, the incoming F-18s are a welcome sight in that they eventually help the RCAF fulfil its operational mandate in support of the Canadian government's Strong, Secure, and Engaged defence policy. "Make no mistake, these aircraft will work fine and those aircraft are very much needed," Vance said. This includes Canada's NORAD and NATO commitments as well as other coalition operations.
But, the incoming purchase is not ideal. Multiple governments have had their hand in fumbling the fighter procurement process in such a way that, from now until 2019, a capability gap limits the RCAF's ability to simultaneously exercise Canada's territorial sovereignty, protect North American airspace, and respond to aggression and conflict overseas. Further, until at least 2025, the RCAF must depend on the expanded Hornet fleet, which remain Cold-War-era 4th-generation fighters at their core.
"…the future combat effectiveness and safety of the Canadian fighter pilot depends squarely on the success of a proposed competition without delay."
Ideally, a new and state-of-the-art aircraft should have already been procured by now had a competition or procurement decision kicked off years before. The Harper Conservatives failed to adequately define cost and capability parameters in their botched effort to acquire Lockheed Martin F-35s. The succeeding Liberal government's previous plan to buy Super Hornets from Boeing, having been botched by a trade dispute involving Bombardier, would have also introduced highly-capable fighters long before 2025. Now, the CF-18s have surpassed their service lives and must depend on upgrades to maintain their viability as an effective aircraft.
During the press conference, Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan was questioned over having once adamantly claimed that no used equipment would be purchased – which was said in February when the Super Hornet deal still seemed possible. After the Super Hornet fumble, the Australian acquisition became the only way in which Canada would be able to afford a top-of-the-line replacement while maintaining national policy commitments. The stopgap, at this point, makes sense as a temporary measure. However, this means that the future combat effectiveness and safety of the Canadian fighter pilot depends squarely on the success of a proposed competition without delay.
Competition Doomed from the Start
It would seem, then, that the 2025 delivery timeline of the competition winner's aircraft is not only a product of procurement process failures, but it is also a highly-suspect schedule given the track record of military procurements. Whether the government and the aerospace and defence firms can successfully collaborate within the timeline is anyone's guess, but the schedule's length makes sense given the technical complexity of the process. Nonetheless, a competition will take years to complete while our American and European allies receive their advanced fighters years sooner.
The new contract will seek out 88 aircraft – an arbitrary number considering that different planes offer different levels of force multiplication capabilities in addition to different prices. 88 aircraft of one type could have less combined capabilities compared to 88 of another type. The number seems to be one dictated by politics more than anything else, presumably being authorized by the military simply because it is higher than the 65 F-35s promised by the previous government. Without a better means of sizing up the capability needs of the RCAF, the Canadian military may end up having an inadequate combined force of adequate cost or an adequate combined force that the government cannot afford.
Also, General Vance noted during yesterday's press conference that the new SOR will not include a stealth requirement. While this opens the competition to all current fighters other than the F-35, it obviously opens up the possibility that Canada would end up buying a second-class fighter at a time when adversarial air defence capabilities are becoming more advanced. While the F-35 is not totally invisible to military radars – and no stealth aircraft currently is – it is the only 5th generation stealth fighter available for purchase.
Politicization – An Inevitability
Of note is the government's continued politicization of the procurement process, as evidenced by Minister Sajjan's tone towards the preceding Harper government's mishandling of the F-35 program in yesterday's press conference, the fact that the Australian F-18s will be in the hands of the RCAF by the eve of the next federal election, and the fact that the competition would not be concluded until after the next election – all of which allows the Liberal government to temporarily satisfy the military and the public.
The fact is that the F-35 is still eligible and likely the best contender in the competition. Once derided as underperforming and overly-expensive, it has already reached Initial Operating Capability (IOR) in the US and Israeli air forces. The Norwegian, Danish, and Dutch militaries have held similar competitions and the F-35 has reigned supreme in all of them. Even in the ongoing Belgian competition, the F-35 is the favourite. However, if the F-35 does win the favour of the military, the Liberals would be hurt by their own foolhardy election pledge to avoid buying F-35s.
"The Liberals… can very loosely claim that they have reequipped the RCAF, avoided F-35s, planned to boost economic development, and solved the military procurement problem."
The most clear-cut signal of the highly-politicized nature of the competition, though, is the economic caveats placed by the Liberal government. According to Procurement Minister Carla Qualtrough, those contending firms deemed to be harming Canada's economic interests will be at a "distinct disadvantage" in the competition. Clearly, this was shameless retribution against Boeing Defense, Space & Security (BDS) and their Super Hornets for the US firm's bitter trade dispute against Montreal's Bombardier Inc. over a passenger airliner. "No firm is excluded" in the competition, according to Minister Qualtrough, yet companies that do not meet this economic interest requirement – according to subjective executive decisions – will face discrimination.
Whether the economic caveat violates international trade laws is a major concern, especially given the fact that the current US administration must approve any deal on all American aircraft or avionics. A wider trade dispute and punitive measures may also be taken by the Trump administration. The investments of technological benefits (ITBs) mentioned by Minister Qualtrough as a requirement for any bid may also be complicated. As such, the performance of competing aircraft will not matter as much as cost and economic factors that may, in the end, decide the winner.
The Liberals have conveniently scheduled the competition to conclude after the 2019 election – during which – they can very loosely claim that they have reequipped the RCAF, avoided F-35s, planned to boost economic development, and solved the military procurement problem. At least for the short-run, it shouldn't matter to the military as long as they get the equipment they need. But, since the caveats are something that the government will push for in all future procurement processes, this could affect military procurement in the long run.
Photo: A Canadian CF-18 Hornet takes off for training operations with the iconic Cheile Tuzii in the background in Câmpia Turzii, Romania during Operation REASSURANCE. June 19, 2014. DND photo.
Disclaimer: Any views or opinions expressed in articles are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the NATO Association of Canada.
CF-18, CF-18 Hornet, CF-18 replacement, CF-188 Hornet, CF-18s, Edward Tat, F-35, F-35 Canada, Fighter procurement, RCAF
About Edward Tat
Edward Tat is the Program Editor of Emerging Security at the NATO Association of Canada. He is also an associate of the Canada-Turkey Business Council, the Canada-Albania Business Council, and the Canada-Arab Business Council in addition to being the NATO Association's video production and podcasts director, official copy editor, and cybersecurity expert. Edward holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy, politics, and economics at the University of British Columbia. With an academic concentration in public policy and political economy, his thesis on national offensive and defensive cybersecurity policy is currently pending publication. His work has also been published by the Royal Canadian Military Institute's SITREP and The Phoenix News – a university-wide newspaper. His undergraduate research featured Canadian and American economic policy analysis, Western and Subaltern political thought, statecraft, security intelligence, and hybrid warfare. Edward is an avowed poet and has been involved in debate societies since childhood. In his free time, Edward is an active sports shooter and a vocal member of the National Firearms Association. See his LinkedIn profile HERE.	View all posts by Edward Tat →
#16DaysOfActivism Interview Series: The Honourable Maryam Monsef
The World Needs More Pearson


There are all sorts of ways to engage the Bible. We want to be reading it daily. We hear it preached. Both of these are good things. And, I would even say, they're the most common and frequent habits we want to encourage. But these two disciplines - hearing and reading - aren't the only "tools in the toolbox" for how we engage God's Word.
Here's where the time-tested "word hand" developed by the Navigators is a helpful overview of the various methods we want to use as we get into the Bible. The five methods outlined in this "word hand" are (1) Hear, (2) Read, (3) Study, (4) Memorize, and (5) Meditate. As we engage the Bible over a lifetime, we don't want to limit ourselves to only hearing and reading. We want to discover the benefits that EACH of these habits offers as we follow Jesus.
Based on the number of "hits" each month, here are the top 5 posts here on the Brookside Institute blog for the last six months - July 2017 through December 2017.


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Q: Why does calling indexedDB.deleteDatabase prevent me from making any further transactions? If I go into my browser's console (I'm using Chrome) right now, on this very page, and type
indexedDB.open("MyDB").onsuccess = function(e) { console.log("success"); };

I immediately get a "success" message in my console. I can do this as many times as I like, and it works fine. But then if I type
indexedDB.deleteDatabase("MyDB").onsuccess = function(e) { console.log("success"); };

I get no "success" message back. Not only that, but if I then try and call .open again, I also get no "success" message back. How can I cure this strange illness caused by .deleteDatabase, and what exactly is happening?
(PS: Just as I finished typing this answer, I think the "success" message from the call to .deleteDatabase finally did come through, about two minutes after I made the call - but the question stands).

A: Every time you call indexedDB.open a new connection to the database is established. When you call deleteDatabase all those open connections will get versionchange events. They can each listen for that event and close their connections in response. That is your first option. If they do not, the request returned by indexedDB.deleteDatabase("whatever") will receive a blocked event. This is what is happening in your case. Your second option is to listen to the blocked event and close the connections there:
var request = indexedDB.deleteDatabase("MyDB");
request.onsuccess = function(e) { console.log("success"); };
request.onblocked = function(e) {
  console.log("blocked: " + e);
  // Close connections here
};
request.onerror = function(e) { console.log("error: " + e); };


Qazi Haque Tution Center providing classes for Java Training Classes,Hadoop Classes,Big Data Training.Basically my method of teaching focuses on concepts and understanding along with learning the subject. I am comfortable in English and my main mode of communication will be English, though I am equally comfortable in Hindi and Bengali.
Qazi Haque Tution Center conducts classes in Big Data and Java Training. It is located in Circus Avenue, Kolkata. It takes Online Classes- via online medium.


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Q: How to force output to show only 1 row if multiple values appear I have the following query:
SELECT
    item_code,
    description_global,
    dept_item || class1_item AS division,
    view_year_code AS year,
    ssn AS season
FROM
    us_raw.l_ims_sum_code_master
WHERE
    ssn IN (3,4)
    AND view_year_code = 9
    AND description_global IS NOT NULL
    AND item_code = 418251

Here's what it looks like in the output:

I only want my data to pull with one of those description_global values. I know I can just do LIMIT 1, but I need another way to do it because this is just one example, and I want my output to force only 1 row for each time there are multiple description_global values.
Thank you,
Z

A: You can use window functions:
SELECT *
FROM (SELECT item_code, description_global, dept_item || class1_item AS division,
             view_year_code AS year, ssn AS season,
             ROW_NUMBER() OVER (PARTITION BY item_code ORDER BY item_code) as seqnum
      FROM us_raw.l_ims_sum_code_master
      WHERE ssn IN (3,4) AND
            view_year_code = 9 AND
            description_global IS NOT NULL AND
            item_code = 418251
     ) scm
WHERE seqnum = 1;

A: I was able to resolve this issue by using an Index in Tableau. Here are the steps for anyone that is using SQL+Tableau:
1.) Create a calculated field
2.) Simply enter Index()
3.) Click OK
4.) Drag the newly created field into your rows
5.) Right-click on the Index pill (whatever you had named it) and click compute on
6.) Select whichever field that has multiple values (item description for me)
7.) Right-click again and click filter
8.) Filter to only show 1s
9.) Remove from rows (if you don't want it on your report)
10.) Done

Best,
Z


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Associate Professor of Urban Design
sgray@gsd.harvard.edu
Gund 402
Design & Social Equity
Department of Urban Planning and Design
Stephen Gray is an Associate Professor of Urban Design and founder of Boston-based design firm Grayscale Collaborative. Operating at the intersection of research and practice, Gray's interests center on political and cultural justice in cities, socio-ecological urban design approaches to resilience, and the intersectionality of humanitarian aid and design. His work acknowledges the relationship between race, class, and the production of space, interrogates design's contribution to and complicity with structural and infrastructural racism, and develops methodologies and interventions that address inequity, exclusion, social justice, and precarity at the scales of infrastructures, communities, metropolitans, and the globe.
The design of cities concentrates urban resources in some places, and marginalized communities in others. Still, many designers operate with either formal or social-impact imperatives, ignoring the very real social implications (good, bad, or otherwise) that their designs have for society. In 2015, Gray founded Grayscale Collaborative to work with communities that take on complex urban challenges, reconcile competing interests, forge new and ongoing relationships, and work collaboratively towards better designed and more inclusive built environments. Gray's personal background directly influences his work and allows him to make meaningful contributions in culturally dynamic and sometimes contentious urban settings. Having successfully collaborated on or led more than 25 high-quality community-engaged design projects, Gray was nationally recognized by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) in 2015 with a national AIA Honor Award and then again in 2020 with a national AIA Award for Collaborative Achievement.
Grayscale's current projects include urban design studies for Harvard's campus expansion with the Harvard Allston Land Company, a racially equitable public realm initiative for Boston's Seaport with the Massachusetts Port Authority, engaged design for Boulevard Crossing Park with the Atlanta BeltLine, community engagement for the Franklin Park Master Plan with the Boston Parks Department, and urban design guidelines for Mattapan with the Boston Planning and Development Agency (BPDA). Gray has previously been a cochairman of Boston's 100 Resilient Cities Resilience Collaborative for "Resilient Boston: An Equitable and Connected City". While at Sasaki from 2008-2015 his work ranged variously from strategic reinvestment in downtown Wichita, to parks planning for the City of Bridgeport, advanced online engagement for the GoBoston 2030 mobility master plan, urban design visions for downtown Raleigh and uptown Cincinnati, and resilience planning for South Shore Long Island in post-Sandy New York. Stephen has written on topics race and resilience for the Guardian, the Boston Globe, and Next City.
Gray's academic research includes the Harvard Mellon Urban Initiative foregrounding systemic racism in the socio-spatial development of Boston; process design with the Global Design Initiative for Refugee Children for child-focused spaces; and research with the World Bank examining the interconnectedness of informality, vulnerability, and resilience. He is currently co-leading an Equitable Impacts Framework pilot with the Urban Institute and High Line Network aimed at advancing racial equity agendas for infrastructure reuse projects across North America.
Gray serves on the Harvard Asia Center Council and President Bacow's Initiative on Harvard and the Legacy of Slavery. He is also a Co-Chair of the GSD Diversity Council and the GSD Review Board, and a coordinating faculty member for the GSD's Design Discovery program. He has been a lecturer at MIT School of Architecture + Planning and Northeastern University School of Architecture, Associate Director on the Board of the Boston Society of Architects (BSA), and has been tapped to serve on several Urban Land Institute (ULI) advisory panels. Gray holds a B.Arch. degree from the University of Cincinnati and a Master of Architecture in Urban Design (MAUD) degree with distinction from Harvard University where he received the Thesis Prize for Urban Design and the Award for Outstanding Leadership in Urban Design.
Second Semester Core Urban Planning Studio
Urban Design and the Color-Line
Independent Study by Candidates for Master's Degrees
Elements of Urban Design
Beyond appearances: Community activism and New York City's High Line
By Stephen Gray
Resilient Imaginaries: Socio-Ecological Urban Design in Metro Manila, The Philippines
Stephen F. Gray: "We have a name for the uneven distribution of exposure and risk along racial lines, and it's not COVID-19. It's structural racism."
A radical transformation in building and designing for health is underway—but not everyone will benefit equally
Urban Intermedia
Stephen Gray, Principal Investigator
Global Design Initiative for Refugee Children
The Veronica Rudge Green Prize in Urban Design: The High Line
Stephen Gray, Curator
NOV 1 – DEC 21, 2018
"Harvard in Allston: Perspective and Next Steps" with Marika E. Reuling and Thomas Glynn
Thomas Glynn, Panelist
Stephen Gray, Moderator


Sorry, it's not mini-comics related, but it's still mini.
Anyway, this is our first dog. She's awesome and wiggly. She likes to sleep on laps and run like hell. We got her on Saturday, and I'm already head over heels in love with her.
Sarah Glidden's Small Noises #2 is a journal comic stuffed with stories and dreams. She rents The Wicker Man and predictably gets creeped out. The next day she sees the freaky animal masks from the movie on random people in the street. She drinks so much one night that she wakes up exclaiming, "I think I drank so much last night that I skipped my hangover!" "You're probably just still drunk," answers a friend.
Sarah plays fast and loose with the art. It's a journal comic, so she simply draws to suit her mood. Some of the pages are sketched and devoid of background, while other others are more carefully lined and shaded.
Small Noises is 40 pages.
Sarah's The Reader is a twelve page fantasy. She begins by waking in a boat, no clue where she is and how she got there. She manages to row to the shore of a seaside shipping town. As she wanders the streets, she recognizes signs and names of buildings. She's in a fictional town from a recently read book. Soon she stumbles into characters from the book.
The art is a little tighter here, but still loose. It kind of reminds you of Gabrielle Bell's mini-comics.
Contact Sarah at sarahglidden@gmail.com for prices and availability. I also found a blog of Sarah's that features a lot of her art and comic pages.
Jacob Steingroot does pretty much everything right in ZOD. The covers are distinctive and fun. The first page of each issue features a cast of characters. Issue 8, which picks up where issue 7 leaves off, has a story so far, and his minis are priced perfectly. It's been some time since I've stumbled upon a full color mini for $2.00. Both of these are priced at $2, weighing in at 12 (issue 7) and 18 (issue 8) pages.
ZOD is fun as well - Underdog fun if you remember that cartoon. Intergalactic adventure, family strife, and romance propel the story along at a quick pace. All of the characters are animals and aliens, humans are only featured as characters in movies watched by Odysseus and Lloyd.
Pick up these issues and others at Jacob's website. ZOD issues 7 and 8 will only set you back $2 each.


text:
Nepal Mountain Focus
Five-star hotel with multi attractions to be built at an elevation of 3000 m
Surendra Paudyal 4 settembre 2013, 09:33 4 settembre 2013 0
A spectacular view of Rara Lake. Photo: rara-lake.com
KATHMANDU, Nepal- A modern five-star hotel is all set to be built in the western bank area of Rara Lake, Mugu at an elevation of about 3000 meters.
Rara Project Private Limited, the company that wants to invest in the hotel, has started a fresh environmental impact study to this effect.
The company has proposed to build the hotel at Upper Milichour in Rara National Park (RNP) 2,990 m above sea level investing Rs 4 billion.
On Sunday, Rara Project held a meeting regarding the environmental impact with the officials of RNP and the communities concerned.
Though the area has high tourism potential due to its natural beauty and the lake, that is largest in the country, only few domestic and foreign tourists made their way up to the place since there is no infrastructure to attract tourists.
According to the company, it will begin the hotel construction soon after it get permission from the Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation.
As per the plan of the Rara Project, the hotel will be built on 200 hectares of land and will have a total of 10 modern buildings that will be three to four storeys. In the first phase, the company will build seven buildings and three will be built in the second phase. It is estimated that the hotel will offer employment opportunities to 300 individuals.
Facilities such as a Scottish golf course, biking, jogging and hiking are anticipated beside the plan for bird watching and wildlife tours.
The company has proposed to generate electricity using the water of Rara Lake for the use of the hotel. The proposal of the company has showed that it would provide a paragliding service in Lower Milichour and build a route for cycling from Talchha Airport to the hotel. It has also targeted to install a cable car from the hotel to Murma hilltop to attract tourists.
hotelLakes in NepalNepal TourismSurendra
Articolo precedenteUeli Steck al Monte Bianco: l'integrale di Peuterey in 16 ore e 9 minutiArticolo successivoPiemonte, creato il primo sentiero per non vedenti della regione
Sport Hotel Panorama: San Valentino, tra Amore & Eros nelle Dolomiti dal 14 al 17 febbraio
Cambiamenti climatici, una nuova ricerca lancia l'allarme: gli orsi polari stanno morendo di fame
Verso il Nuptse, Diario di Hervé Barmasse
Una montagna di talento: i corsi di pittura dell'Hotel Bergschlössl
Gustav Thoeni: oggi 40 anni dalla sua quarta coppa del mondo
Il Cristallo Hotel di Cortina inaugura la pista di ghiaccio ecologica
Inizio stagione invernale, gratis skipass da 3 giorni per Aprica-Corteno Golgi


text:
Permanent Visas
Family-Based Immigration
Tag Archives: Treaty Investor
E-2 Treaty Investor Visa Available to Citizens of Israel
On May 1, 2019, the E-2 visa will be extended to Israeli citizens for the first time. The E-2 Treaty Investor is a nonimmigrant visa that allows an individual to invest in a U.S. business and then enter the U.S. to develop and direct the business. The E-2 visa holder must demonstrate a minimum of 50% ownership of the enterprise or "operational control through a managerial position or other corporate device."
While roughly the same size as the U.S. state of New Hampshire, Israel boasts a successful high-tech industry. According to the U.S. Embassy website for Israel:
"U.S. firms have been a big part of the Start-Up Nation story, with U.S. companies establishing two-thirds of the more than 300 foreign-invested research and development centers in Israel. Israeli firms, meanwhile, represent the second-largest source of foreign listings on the NASDAQ after China – and more than Indian, Japanese, and South Korean firms combined."
Similar to the EB-5 investment requirements, the E-2 requires the investor's funds to be "at risk" or subject to loss if the investment is not successful. Unlike the EB-5 Immigrant Investor visa, the E-1 and E-2 visas allow foreign nationals of certain treaty countries to invest in the United States without a set minimum investment, as long as the investment meets several criteria to determine if it is substantial.
In addition to the substantiality test, the enterprise must exceed the marginality test and the E-2 visa applicant must be in a position to develop and direct the enterprise, through special qualifications that make the employee's services essential to the efficient operation of the business.
Visit our website for an introduction to the E-2 Treaty Investor visa and determine if your intended U.S. investment plan meets the E-2 requirements. Contact us at info@challalaw.com if you have any questions.
An Introduction to the E-2 Treaty Investor Visa: Marginality, Substantiality, Essentiality & Other Key Tests
The E-2 Treaty Investor visa allows an individual to invest in a U.S. business and then enter the U.S. to develop and direct the business. The E-2 visa holder must demonstrate a minimum of 50% ownership of the enterprise or "operational control through a managerial position or other corporate device." Similar to the EB-5 investment requirements, the E-2 requires the investor's funds to be "at risk" or subject to loss if the investment is not successful.
Essentiality of E-2 Employee
The E-2 visa also emphasizes that an applicant should have "special qualifications" or "skills which make the employee's services essential to the efficient operation of the business." The application must demonstrate that the individual not only that possesses the necessary special qualifications, but also establishes the length of time those skills may be needed for the successful and efficient operation of the U.S. enterprise. This essentiality of the potential E-2 employee may be measured by:
The degree of proven expertise in the employee's area of operations
Whether others possess the employee's specific skills
The salary that the special qualifications can command
Whether the skills and qualifications are readily available in the United States.
Impact of U.S. Workers
While the E-2 visa does not require a labor certification from the Department of Labor, USCIS does take into consideration the availability of U.S. workers when determining the degree of specialization and essentiality of the employee to the business. For example, an individual bringing a new technology to the U.S. may have specialized skills directly relating to the manufacturing, sales, and distribution of that technology, qualifying him or her for an E-2 visa. Additional evidence to support this narrative could be requested from U.S. labor organizations, industry trade groups, local or state chambers of commerce or other organizations with access to data on labor availability. It is important to note that there is no regulatory requirement that an essential employee have previously worked with the E-2 treaty enterprise. The only instance that previous employment has an affect on the application, is if the claim is being made that the necessary skills can only be obtained through that particular employment.
Short Term vs. Long Term Essentiality
When crafting the narrative of your E-2 visa application, we will consider your intended involvement in the ongoing operations of the U.S. entity. There may only be a need for the E-2 employee to come to the U.S. for a short period of time to direct the start-up operations or to train and supervise employees with specialized functions. For a short term need, the application might demonstrate that an employee is essential based on his or her knowledge with overseas operations or technologies. Evidence should demonstrate that these short-term employees are initially involved in the effort to train U.S. workers within a year or two as their own replacements.
The E-2 visa can be granted at a maximum initial stay of two years, but is renewable in various time increments depending on the nature of the underlying treaty with the country of the visa holder. Since there is no maximum limit to the number of extensions that can be granted, many business owners utilize the E-2 for a longer-term stay to continue to direct the enterprise. As long as the application demonstrates the individual has special qualifications that require his or her continuous presence in business activities, such as product development or providing a service not commonly available from U.S. workers, there is no requirement for training a U.S. worker replacement.
Case Study: Matter of Walsh and Pollard
In the 1980s, General Motors needed automotive engineers to design a new fleet of vehicles. After first attempting to meet their labor needs within the U.S., the company realized an additional need for engineers and turned to overseas for help. A British contractor made an investment as part of a strategy to open a U.S. office and then funnel designers for GM's temporary labor needs using E-2 visas and establishing the designers' essential skills. After the visas were approved, the then-INS (Immigration and Naturalization Service, now part of USCIS or United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) denied the engineers when they attempted to enter the U.S. The case made it to the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), which ruled on two key aspects of the E-2 visa:
A small investment does not preclude the issuance of an E-2 visa as long as it is sufficient to "establish a viable enterprise of the nature contemplated" and
The applicants whom were "highly trained, specially qualified, and essential to the corporation's efficient operation" were qualified for the E-2 visa despite the fact they were not involved in "developing and directing the qualifying investment."
The BIA determined that the automotive engineers had essential skills necessary to the long-term success of the enterprise and that the employees were not replacing U.S. workers in the near future, due to the extensive training that would be required to match the designers' level of specialized skills.
Substantiality of the Business
The Foreign Affairs Manual points out some key aspects of the case when determining whether the business might meet the substantiality test, stating that "sometimes an investment of only a small amount of money might meet the requirement." There is no standard investment amount, but the investment must meet the following:
(1) Substantial in a proportional sense, as determined through the application of the proportionality test outlined below;
(2) Sufficient to ensure the treaty investor's financial commitment to the successful operation of the enterprise; and
(3) Of a magnitude to support the likelihood that the treaty investor will successfully develop and direct the enterprise.
Proportionality of the Business
The substantiality of the business is partly determined by using the proportionality test by weighing the amount of funds invested against the total cost of the business. The Foreign Affairs Manual describes the appropriate investment as an inverted sliding sale, with lower cost business requiring a higher percentage of the investment and a higher cost business requiring a lower percentage of qualifying investment. The manual also defines the cost of an established business as its purchase price and the cost of a new business is the sum of costs required to establish an operational business. When applying for the E-2 visa, this figure includes the investments already made and the estimates for the additional assets needed to run the business.
Marginality of the Business
The EB-5 visa clearly outlines the required job creation for visa attainment, but the E-2 visa applicant must prove that the investment is not in a "marginal" enterprise, i.e. the business must have the present or future capacity to generate income above that for the treaty investor and his or her family. This capacity to make a "significant economic contribution" should be "realizable within five years from the date the alien commences normal business activity of the enterprise," according to the Foreign Affairs Manual.
Contributions of E-2 Visa Holders
As with any nonimmigrant or immigrant visa, the fundamental premise of the E-2 visa is that individuals who are granted these visas will provide value to the United States. For investment-type visas, often this value is quantified by the number of jobs created or the monetary contribution to the U.S. economy. While there are no specific numeric requirements for job creation or continued investment levels, an E-2 renewal application that demonstrates these accomplishments is more likely to establish the essentiality of not only the employee to the enterprise, but of the enterprise to the continued economic health and growth of the United States economy.
Request a copy of the E-2 qualifying countries by emailing us at info@challalaw.com.
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text:
A new golden age for airships?
Apr 01, 2016, 12:25 PM EDT
(Source: lazzo51/flickr)
It has been almost 80 years since the hydrogen-filled Hindenburg airship blew up, but the world is now on the cusp of another golden age for safer and improved airships. On Wednesday, Lockheed Martin sealed its first contract to sell up to 12 of its hybrid LMH-1 airships, valued at $480 million, to Straightline Aviation (SLA). The LMH-1 is part blimp, part helicopter, part cargo plane, and part hovercraft, and it is much more fuel efficient, environmentally friendly, and quieter than conventional aircraft. According to Bob Boyd, program manager for hybrid airships at Lockheed Martin, when the LMH-1 enters commercial service in about three years it will be a whole new class of aircraft.
The LMH-1's innovative design avoids the problems that led to the Hindenburg's demise. It is heavier than air, meaning that it doesn't need mooring like a traditional blimp. Thus by using its own movable engines it can land on any unimproved surface, including mud, sand, snow, ice, and water. And for much of its buoyancy it uses helium -- an inert gas that won't ignite in a leak. Even puncturing the hull won't cause deflation. "In fact even if you shoot holes in it, you probably won't notice anything for days and patching is a straightforward process," said Grant Cool, chief operating officer of Hybrid Enterprises (the exclusive reseller of the LMH-1).
According to Mining.com,
The LMH-1 uses a fifth of the fuel of a helicopter (and a third of that of a jet aircraft) on a comparable basis and emits only 0.4kg per tonne mile CO2 compared to 1.2kg per tonne mile for jet aircraft. Keeping things simple was a main priority in the design process according to Boyd which keeps parts, maintenance and running costs low.
SLA's CEO Mike Kendrick said oil, gas, and mining are the "low hanging fruit," for the LMH-1 to start with, whether it's delivering cargo by air to the "soft sands" of the Middle East, or removing the need to build annual ice roads in northern Canada (which can cost $20 million a year to construct). He added, "You don't have to build ice roads ... and wait for the environmentalists to give you permission. You can just land on ice."
"There is a real need for this. It can cost up to $1 billion to put all the infrastructure in for an oil well," Kendrick noted. (For the same reasons, the LMH-1 would also lower cleanup costs at remote sites.) He claimed falling commodity prices have actually increased interest in the airships and their cost savings, and that his firm has four or five customers ready to try them out once they are available.
And the LMH-1 could have many other uses. It could bring humanitarian relief during natural disasters (including being configured as "flying hospitals"), conduct search and rescue operations (including at sea), and monitor infrastructure. It also has major tourist potential, since its flight is low, slow, and quiet, and it can carry up to 19 passengers in "business-class style." (Plus, there is always the easy add-on of display advertising.)
The LHM-1 will face competition though. Its closest rival is the U.K.'s Airlander 10, which is the world's largest aircraft. Unveiled on March 21, the lighter-than-air hybrid airship is capable of carrying 10 tons, and blueprints have already been drawn for a larger version that could carry five times as much.
For Lockheed, next on the drawing board is a 90 ton-payload hybrid airship to compete with jumbo jet cargo planes, followed by a 500 ton concept -- which would probably be the size of a sports stadium.
The sky's no longer the limit of what can be done.
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Paranoia involves intense anxious or fearful feelings and thoughts, often related to persecution, threat, or conspiracy.
Paranoia can develop into delusions, when irrational thoughts and beliefs become so fixed that nothing (including contrary evidence) can convince a person that what they think or feel is not true.
When a person has paranoia or delusions, but no other symptoms (like hearing or seeing things that aren't there), they might have what is called a delusional disorder. Because only thoughts are impacted, a person with delusions can usually work and function in everyday life, however, their lives may be limited and isolated.
Paranoia occurs in many mental disorders, but is most often present in psychotic disorders.