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You can make a difference: Erma's House needs supplies for children
By Meredith Moss, Staff Writer
Sept 3, 2021
Keeping children safe has been the mission of Erma's House Family Visitation Center for more than 20 years. A program of Catholic Social Services of the Miami Valley (CSSMV), Erma's House grew out of the community's need for a safe, structured environment where children could have scheduled contact and maintain a relationship with their non-residential parents.
The special facility helps families interact in a safe and appropriate manner in a neutral setting focused on the children, with no interaction between the adult parents or guardians. The program includes both supervised visits and supervised exchanges. During supervised visits, staff or trained volunteers monitor and record the activity between the parent and the child. Supervised exchanges are also monitored, and are provided for parents who don't wish to interact with one another when the child is being exchanged from one household to the other.
ExploreHospice needs volunteers to make blankets for patients
"The mission of Erma's House is to assist and support Montgomery County children and families who have been affected by divorce, separation, abuse or neglect," explains Catholic Social Services CEO Laura Roesch. "Erma's House helps these children and parents to maintain or rebuild their family relationships through a program of safe, structured, and community-based visitation services."
To utilize the services at Erma's House, a family must be referred by a third party such as Montgomery County Children Services, a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA), a guardian ad litem (GAL), a mental health professional or social worker, or the family or criminal courts. At least one of the parents/guardians must live in Montgomery County.
Catholic Social Services of the Miami Valley is celebrating its 100th anniversary. The agency also offers programs to help those who are in need regardless of their religion, ethnic background or socioeconomic condition. Additional CSSMV services include a food pantry, pregnancy and parenting support, professional counseling, refugee resettlement, senior services, and long-term tornado recovery assistance.
ExplorePHOTOS: Step inside a model apartment at the Art Lofts at The Arcade
Here's the wish list for Erma's House:
Individually wrapped snacks like microwave popcorn, goldfish crackers, cookies, fruit snacks, pretzels and chips
Clorox wipes
Craft supplies such as Play-Doh, paint, dry erase markers, drawing paper, coloring books, markers, crayons, glue sticks and poster board
Holiday-themed children's books
Donations can be dropped off between 8:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday at Catholic Social Services' Center for Families, 1046 Brown St. in Dayton. For more information or to arrange a drop-off time, contact Erma's House Program Manager Shannon Wahrhaftig at (937) 586-9586.
With a small staff, Erma's House relies on a crew of well-trained volunteers to monitor weekly visits between children and parents. You can help local children and families by volunteering as a visitation monitor. This position requires a yearlong commitment, monitoring visits for a particular family once a week. For more information about getting involved, call CSSMV's volunteer coordinator, Ashley Clark, at (937) 223-7217 ext. 1130.
Help celebrate!
Catholic Social services is hosting a free daylong Centennial Celebration at Riverscape in downtown Dayton from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 25. The event will include live entertainment, food trucks, a wiffle ball home run derby tournament and Dayton's biggest fish fry. For more information about Erma's House, other Catholic Social Services programs and the celebration, visit www.cssmv.org or call (937) 223-7217.
Meredith Moss writes about Dayton-area nonprofit organizations and their specific needs. If your group has a wish list it would like to share with our readers, contact Meredith: meredith.moss@coxinc.com.
Please include a daytime phone number and a photo that reflects your group's mission.
It is in the cards: We are all connected by 'The Sacred Web'
Fostering, adoption among Clark County woman's greatest blessings
MAKE A DIFFERENCE: Sidewalk Soldiers fight human trafficking
TV chef in Hamilton shares story of losing child, suicide attempt - and...
New year brings new gym-goers
Meredith Moss


Corporate Finance Associates is one of the oldest and largest mid-market financial advisory firms in the world. With 200 leading investment bankers working in 20 offices in North America and 18 affiliate offices in Europe, Asia and South America, CFA provides its clients with international reach and local expertise.
Founded in 1956, CFA has since helped buy, sell or finance over 5,000 businesses. As a proven, trusted advisor, we guide clients through every challenge, advocating on their behalf, and leveraging our wealth of experience and resources to see them through to a successful close.
CFA is ranked among the top ten of mid-market investment banks in North America and top eight in Canada by Thomson Reuters.


text:
title: block - fluentast-core
---

[fluentast-core](../index.html) / [at.hschroedl.fluentast](index.html) / [block](.)

# block

`fun block(): `[`FluentBlock`](../at.hschroedl.fluentast.ast.statement/-fluent-block.html) [(source)](https://github.com/hschroedl/FluentAST/tree/master/core/src/main/kotlin//at.hschroedl.fluentast/Fluentast.kt#L242)
`fun block(vararg statements: `[`FluentStatement`](../at.hschroedl.fluentast.ast.statement/-fluent-statement/index.html)`): `[`FluentBlock`](../at.hschroedl.fluentast.ast.statement/-fluent-block.html) [(source)](https://github.com/hschroedl/FluentAST/tree/master/core/src/main/kotlin//at.hschroedl.fluentast/Fluentast.kt#L246)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Q: Remove a function on an "onclick" event? I am new to javascript and I have a problem with function recalling, please See image Attached

but again i click on apply button it returns like

and repeating. this need to be stopped i have set timeout function  but thing is its not working. So is this possible to destroy RegisterCapcha() and recall RegisterCapcha() in every onclick on apply button ???
this form that show on apply button clicked
<form method="POST" id="careersForm" action="../php/emailsend.php enctype="multipart/form-data" >

        First Name
        <input type="TextBox" name="First_Name" class="applytext" requiredfield= "true" id="First_Name">

        Last Name
        <input type="TextBox" name="Last_Name" class="applytext" required id="Last_Name">

        E-mail
        <input type="email" id="emailid" name="email" class="applytext"  required onblur="validateEmail(this)" />

        Phone
        <input type="text" id="Phone_No" name="Phone_No_No" class="applytext" placeholder="111-111-1111"; pattern="^[0-9]{3}[0-9]{3}[0-9]{4}$" required onfocus="this.placeholder=''" onblur="if(this.placeholder == '') { this.placeholder='(1-111-111-1111)'}" onkeypress="return isNumber(event)"/>

        Attachment
        <input type="file" id="fileUpload" name="attachment" maxlength="50" class="applytext" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">

                                Enter the text shown below:
                                <input type="text" id="captchaText" onkeyup="javascript:EnableApply();" />

         <input type="submit" id="submit" name="button" disabled="disabled" class="send-resume" value="SEND" onclick="return ValidateExtension()" style="margin-left:24%;">
         <input type="reset" value="RESET" onclick="clearForm()" style="margin-left:8%">

      </form>

JS for captcha.

i have set timeout function in
thanks in advance :)

A: you should not use client side captcha... however to answer your question
You may try below
function RegisterCapcha() {
        $("#captcha").html(''); //reset the generated captcha first
        $("#captchaText").val('');
        $("#careersForm").clientSideCaptcha({
            input: "#captchaText",
            display: "#captcha",
            pass: function () { alert("Passed!"); return false; },
            fail: function () { alert("Failed!"); return false; }
        });
    }

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Sam is a licensed R.N. and a licensed Massaged Therapist in the State of Michigan. He is Board Certified in Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork, an Approved Provider of Contiuing Education by the NCBTMB and a member of the American Massage Therapy Association. He has over 20 years of Massage/Bodywork experience and has logged over 26,000 hours of session work.
Sam graduated from Eastern Michigan University with a B.S. in Education and has taught massage classes for the nationally recognized Health Enrichment Center in Lapeer, Michigan and for Kirtland Community College.
Sam is dedicated to the promotion of integrative therapies and brings a wholstic approach to his practice.
Sam Sharp is also an authorized distributor of LaserTouchOne.
Samuel P. Sharp is approved by the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork (NCBTMB) as a continuing education Approved Provider.


FSBO properties can be a positive experience for both buyers and sellers in Maine.
Whether you want to buy or sell a seaside cottage on the Maine coast or an inland residence with scenic mountain views, the FSBO method offers a number of advantages and disadvantages.
Hands down, the greatest advantage of a FSBO sale is saving money that would otherwise be spent on Realtor or broker commissions; usually, this can run between two and six percent of the selling price. For instance, if your house sells for $100,000, a realtor could take up to $6,000 in commission.
One of three homeowners sell their houses without the services of a traditional realtor; in 2011 alone more than 1.5 sellers opted not to use a fully commissioned agent.
While some potential sellers or buyers may balk at the prospect of taking on such responsibilities, others relish the opportunity to control these aspects of a sale. In addition, FSBO transactions eliminate the middle man; you'll be in direct contact with the buyer or seller.
Traditionally, only realtors and brokers could list and access houses listed on the Multiple Listing Service or MLS. However, some discount brokers offer MLS listing servicesfor a flat fee, providing FSBOs with more exposure.
Selling or buying through a traditional realtor or broker offers advantages, as well – namely, decreased work on your part and increased visibility.
Agents can use the MLS to access and list houses across Maine and the country; that way, other agents can see all of a home's details and selling points. Most realtors provide marketing materials as part of their services, such as online listings, newspaper ads, property magazines, signage and flyers.
Traditional agents also do most of the dirty work. They'll guide you in determining whether a price is realistic, screen any potential buyers, take time to show the house, negotiate the details of the sale and complete all of the paperwork.
And, while agents do take a commission, FSBO sellers may end up with a lower selling price. The National Association of Realtors states that, while FSBOs account for about 10 percent of all sales; the average FSBO selling price is $65,000 less than the average selling price in a realtor-assisted sale. This may be good news for FSBO buyers, but not for sellers.
While the Maine real estate market varies widely by region and over time, there are hundreds of FSBO houses available across the state. If you want to sell or buy a vacation home, sites like Very Maine offer a number of listings, from oceanfront homes with deep water frontage to custom-built homes near Sugarloaf Mountain – perfect for ski enthusiasts – to lakefront camps and lodges with stunning views of Maine's many lakes and streams.
Though FSBO properties are sprinkled across all eight of Maine's regions, the majority are concentrated along Maine's 3,500 miles of coastline. Other popular areas include the northeastern edge of Aroostook County and the southwestern border with New Hampshire.
Whether you decide to buy or sell a Maine home on your own or with the help of an agent, you're sure to find your dream house located somewhere in this scenic state. Happy house hunting!


It has been reported by several sources that New York turntablist Roc Raida of X-Men/X-Ecutioners fame has died earlier today. The DMC and ITF DJ battle champ was 37 years of age. The artist had reportedly been hospitalized for a serious spinal injury following a recent accident while kick-boxing training. Along with Rob Swift, Total Eclipse, and Mista Sinista, Roc Raida rounded out the best known line-up of the X-Ecutioners (formerly the X-Men), whose other members had included Steve Dee, DJ Boogie Blind and DJ Precision.
In addition to performing and recording with his DJ crew (in 2002 the X-Ecutioners dropped Built From Scratch on Loud), he also collaborated with numerous hip-hop artists over the years, including Big Pun, Immortal Technique, O.C., Buckshot Lefonque, and Smif N' Wessun. Above is one of Raida's great turntable routines from the 1995 DMC battle that he won in which he displays his typical playful, fun approach to the art of scratching, incorporating ample use of body tricks. Note that at this time his crew was still named X-Men (they eventually were forced to change it due to Marvel Comics sending a cease and desist) and the DJ was known as Roc Raider (with an "R" at the end). I knew Roc Raida for many years and last interviewed him about two years ago. I will try to find that interview to transcribe for a future Amoeblog. R.I.P. Roc Raida.


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Home » Business » Real Estate
Good home deals now and long-term prospects upbeat
By Cao Qian | January 12, 2009, Monday | Print Edition
INDUSTRY experts still remain upbeat about the long-term prospects for Shanghai's real estate market and said the current slowdown could offer buyers opportunities for bargain deals.
Yin Kunhua, a retired professor from Shanghai University of Finance and Economy and an industry researcher, said at a property seminar on Saturday that the recent initiatives introduced by the central and local governments, including a tax cut and favorable loan policies, are expected to help the market recover. But he said more should be done.
"In my opinion, the government should consider more forceful policies such as a rebate of individual income tax, which was previously done in the city, to help people afford better homes," Yin told a seminar in Shanghai. "Meanwhile, investment (rather than speculative) demand from people should also be encouraged."
Meanwhile, Cai Weimin, an industry veteran from Taiwan, said he expected the local real estate market to hit its bottom by the end of the year's first half.
His previous industry experience in Taipei told him that home buying sentiment in major metropolitan cities such as Shanghai would likely pick up during an economic slowdown as real estate, rather than stocks, futures or other financial tools, might appear to be comparatively safer investments.
Both experts believed high-quality properties in prime locations are always among the top choices for bargain seekers under the current market correction.
Shanghai's second-hand housing index, which tracks prices of used apartments across the city, fell for a fifth consecutive month last month but the drop was the smallest.
A real estate fair held over the weekend in the city also indicated a similar positive sign. The fair, mainly targeting affluent Chinese from overseas and the Yangtze River Delta region, received more than 2,000 visitors who viewed 23 projects on display, according to Shanghai Transit Real Estate Co, a major organizer of the event. It said an ad hoc survey found more than 500 deals may be secured.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Explosion at Texas chemical plant blows out windows, 3 injured
An explosion rocked a chemical plant early Wednesday in Texas, causing extensive damage across the small city of Port Neches and leaving at least three employees injured.
A chemical fire continues to burn at the site, and a mandatory evacuation order has been issued within a half mile of the TPC Group plant, about 90 miles east of Houston, the Nederland Volunteer Fire Department said.
"There's extensive damage throughout the City," Port Neches Police Department said in a statement. "Please stay off the roads anywhere near the refineries. Obey all the barricades that are in place. We are doing everything we can to keep everyone safe and informed."
Personnel have been evacuated from the plant, which makes products for chemical and petroleum companies, said TPC Group, which runs the Port Neches Operations site. About 13,000 people live in Port Neches, and some said their home windows were blown out by the blast.
The fire is burning a chemical called butadiene, police said. A colorless gas, butadiene is considered a health hazard, according to the US National Library of Medicine. It is made from processing petroleum and is used to make synthetic rubber and plastics.
"Our focus is on protecting the safety of responders and the public, and minimizing any impact to the environment," TPC Group said.
The injured employees are undergoing treatment, the company said.
'Then I noticed an orange glow'
Tyler Shawn Dunlap was sleeping when the explosion rocked his house.
"I heard and felt my house shake. I first thought people were coming to break in 'cause of our intense security," he told CNN. "I went to Dad's room, and he thought our generator blew up, so we checked that, then I noticed an orange glow from the clouds."
Trent Lee said the explosion sounded like a nuke and shook everything in Port Neches. The blast was also captured on Mia Hubert's doorbell camera and left the area covered in a fiery orange hue.
An unrelated fire was quickly extinguished early Wednesday at the Lanxess chemical facility in Charleston, South Carolina. The company has six production plants at the site and manufactures phosphorus chloride and flame-retardant additives.


text:
Don Diablo release 'Future' Album on Hexagon Label With 16 Massive Tracks
Future Album
Panos Mavraganis·
· February 11, 2018 ·2 min read
We're going to go out on a limb and say Don Diablo is in a really good mood. How else can you explain the shining beacon of joy and positivity that is his 16-track "Future Album" on his music imprint Hexagon. Even the title is a reminder of great things to come, and it's an upward motion designed to make you dance and smile right from the opening track.
It's a deeply personal project for the producer. He's been chiseling it out of the ether for the last few years, giving life to a myriad of this emotions through trials and triumphs alike.
"These last few years have been quite a journey for me on all levels," Don Diablo says in a press release. "I had to fight many demons on a personal level, and rediscovered myself as an artist in the process. I never thought I would end up where I am today, but on my journey I have learned and experienced many things that I have (subconsciously) used while working on this album.
Each track tells its own story, and represents a different milestone in Diablo's life and career. It starts with synth-laden happiness on "Back to Us" with Mike Waters, even as it tackles subjects of loss and heartbreak, and it really drives the good feels deep on "Everybody's Somebody" with BullySongs.
It gets soulful and house-y, bright and poppy, funky and futuristic as ever with some killer vocal work from Nina Nesbitt, Calum Scott, Betty Who, James Newman, Miles Graham, Holly Winter, Dave Thomas Junior, Paije, and a killer feature from A R I Z O N A.
"I wanted this to be a motivational record that sonically showcases new ideas on a production level, ranging from future house to future pop and everything in between," he says. "I feel blessed to have worked with some of the most incredible new voices out there… To me they represent the FUTURE, and their talent is a very important part of this album."
Don Diablo also sang on three of these tunes himself; a big statement in itself about his newfound confidence and how deeply these songs reflect his personal journey. "After releasing many singles and remixes these last few years, it feels amazing to finally be able to present a real body of work to my fans," he says. "Having said that, I am as inspired as I have ever been, so the next album will definitely not take another six to 10 years."
All PostsFree TracksOtherReleases
FIVE – Bloodborn (Original Mix) [Free Download]
Simply put, Don Diablo's Future album radiates good vibes. It's a beautiful album with which to welcome the summer, and if you need a little sunshine in your life, this LP should do the trick. Listen to it in full below, out everywhere now on Don Diablo's own HEXAGON records.
BEYOND excited! My album FUTURE is finally out today! Put so much love into these songs: https://t.co/LleO39zQiG ❤ What's your fav track!? pic.twitter.com/VrdmwJ0iSP
— Don Diablo (@DonDiablo) February 9, 2018
Tags: Don Diablo, Ansel Elgort, A R I Z O N A, James Newman, Calum Scott, Hexagon, Bullysongs
A R I Z O N AAnsel ElgortBullysongsCalum ScottDon DiabloHexagonJames Newman
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Panos Mavraganis
In my case the "bug" of journalism overcame "DJing". However, the search for new electronic dance music remains... an addiction. I work as an editor on nationwide daily newspapers and other various media positions in Athens, where's my permanent residence. I retain the following Blog, which is updated daily. My hobby is conducting interviews with Greek and foreign producers/DJs.
Mark Zowie delivers 'An American Warehouse In London' taken from LP 'Outside the Circle'


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Alfonso Cerón Núñez (Alhama de Murcia, 4 de julio de 1928 - Mataró, 20 de octubre de 2015) fue un historietista español.

Biografía
Alfonso Cerón estudió periodismo, y dirigió las revistas infantiles "Paseo Infantil" (1956) y Cadete-K.D.T. (1959).

Aparte de algunas breves colaboraciones con Bruguera, trabajó fundamentalmente para la prensa generalista durante los años sesenta: "La Prensa" (1962), "Diario de Barcelona (1966).

Entre 1970 y 1978, volvió a Bruguera para ilustrar las adaptaciones de Joyas Literarias Juveniles.

Obra

Colección Cerón del Archivo Histórico de la Ciudad de Barcelona
El Archivo Histórico de la Ciudad de Barcelona custodia más de 7.700 dibujos originales, obra de diversos autores, que fueron publicados a lo largo de los años en el Diario de Barcelona. 2.986 de estos dibujos llevan la firma de Cerón. Con sus historietas diarias él, como otros muchos autores, han ilustrado los acontecimientos más importantes de un amplio periodo de nuestra historia reciente: el franquismo, la transición y la democracia.

Cerón realizó dibujos de humor de carácter político para el Diario de Barcelona entre 1964 y 1980, la gran mayoría para la sección titulada "Cerón lo ha visto así", con sátira de ámbito internacional, pero también nacional y local.

La colección de dibujos originales para el Diario de Barcelona, junto con el archivo y la hemeroteca del diario, fueron adquiridos por el Ayuntamiento de Barcelona en 1984.

Referencias

Bibliografía

Historietistas de España

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Laptop does not power on or have a battery. No hard drive, caddy or screws. Please offer accordingly.
***Sold as parts and repair. What this means is that we have not extensively tested the item and it may not work as expected over time. All accessories, if any will be included in the pictures. If you choose to return the item you will be responsible for shipping/handling. Thank you.
Any item sold by the Seattle Goodwill is eligible for local pick up at our warehouse.Please note that weare unable to accept cash or credit cards at our location.Your item(s) will be available the day after payment is submitted though PayPal.We are open for pickup from 9 am to 6 pm, Monday through Friday, and 9 am to 3:30 pm on Saturday and Sunday.
Local pick up items must be claimed within14 days or the item may be refunded / relisted.


text:
Somali Wild Ass Foals Born at San Diego Zoo
By Live Science Staff 13 July 2011
(Image: © Tammy Spratt, San Diego Zoo Safari Park)
A Somali wild ass and her foal run through their exhibit on Tuesday at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. The foal is one of three born to this critically endangered species at the Park in July 2011, which brings the size of the herd to seven. The Park has celebrated 42 successful births since it started breeding the Somali wild ass in 1985.
The herd sire is named Freedom and is the father of all three foals. The first foal, born on July 4, is a female named Uhura, which is Somali for "freedom." The second foal, born on July 10, is also a female and named Kira after a river in Africa. The third foal, which was born late in the day on July 11, is a male and has yet to be named. Visitors to the Safari Park can see the colt and fillies on the Africa Tram Safari.
The Somali wild ass is native to northeastern Africa in the countries of Somalia, Ethiopia and Eritrea. The species is often found living alone due to the lack of food in the deserts where it is found. Small herds do exist, though usually comprised of adult females and their offspring . Somali wild asses are most active at dawn, dusk and nighttime, when it is cool, in order to conserve energy and water. During the heat of the day they prefer to rest in the shade.
Baby Gorilla Born at San Diego Zoo
In Images: World's Cutest Baby Wild Animals
Four New Arrivals in Meerkat Mob


text:
Boston declares snow emergency for Tuesday; schools closed, parking ban in effect
By Justin Dougherty
BOSTON (WHDH) - Schools will be closed Tuesday in the City of Boston due to a nor'easter that could dump more than a foot of snow. A snow emergency will go into effect Monday night.
RELATED: Blizzard warning issued as third March nor'easter approaches
"It feels like we haven't seen this type of storm since 2015," Mayor Marty Walsh said. "It seems like this one is going to be a big one."
Snow is expected to start late Monday night and persist through Tuesday afternoon. The forecast currently calls for 10-15 inches of snow in Boston.
"We won't see much melting this week, so expect the snow to be on the roads for about a week," Walsh said.
A parking ban went into effect at 7 p.m. A 48-hour space saver policy is also in effect. Walsh said there will be an increased police and fire presence in the city.
"We're asking people to stay off the roads," Walsh said. "If you have to travel, please take public transportation."
RELATED: Storm closings and delays
Walsh said only emergency personnel will be reporting to work in Boston and that 700 pieces of equipment will be out at the height of the storm.
The MBTA will be running on a modified schedule during the storm. American Airlines has canceled all flights in and out of Logan Airport.
MBTA officials say they will run empty trains on the tracks overnight to keep them clear.
View Walsh's full press conference on storm preparations below:


We use our extensive panel of lenders to find the best loan deal for you. We will share your details with these lenders and they may carry out a soft search on you, but this will not affect your credit rating.
We just want to let you know because you're not a homeowner the maximum loan term we can offer you is 7 years.
Click 'Continue' to confirm you are happy to proceed with this term of 7 years.
To see whether you're eligible for your chosen loan fill out the details below. This check will not affect your credit ratings at all, and our site is 100% secure so all your details are safe.
Providing us with the most accurate information here will help us better understand your needs.
Providing us with the most accurate information here will result in the best possible match.
Your details are 100% secure using our 256-bit encryption.
Where shall we send your quote?
For us to provide the most accurate eligibility result, we'll need to take a few personal contact details.
Please provide your contact details so we can make sure we have the correct information to contact you. You will never receive spam emails or phone calls.
We will share these contact details with our trusted partner, who will need to call and discuss your quote with you.


REPLACE DELIMITER "::" WITH "@"
Note: we cannot use "::" delimiter as it would take extra column .
information are included in this data set.
There would be problem while inserting the csv data. Hive does,nt provide an option to have quoted values. There could be possibility of a movie which would have "," inside select * from latest_movies where genre like "%19%"
SerDe is short for Serializer/Deserializer. Hive uses the SerDe interface for IO. The interface handles both serialization and deserialization and also interpreting the results of serialization as individual fields for processing.
A SerDe allows Hive to read in data from a table, and write it back out to HDFS in any custom format. Anyone can write their own SerDe for their own data formats.


Drake & Morgan, the highly-regarded, bar-restaurant operator, has confirmed that its seventh site, The Fable, will open next February at Sixty London in Holborn, and said that it has 'many more exciting openings in the pipeline'.
The group, which is led by Jillian McLean, currently has a pipeline of 10 sites for the next four to five years, including its first regional trials, and also has plans for brand extensions.
Open from 7.30am, The Fable will offer an all-day menu with a choice of seasonal dishes from breakfast, brunch and lunch right through to afternoon tea, dinner and Sunday roasts.
The deli will offer fresh breads, cured hams, continental cheeses and condiments from Borough Market producers as well as gifts and homeware. By night the space will become an area for masterclasses such as butchery, flambé and mixology.
The florist features a roll-top bath filled with flowers whilst the wine room includes a bottle wall and tasting tables with wine available to take home.
A large alfresco area seats 80 and will feature contemporary furniture, extensive planting, outdoor heaters and giant umbrellas to provide a versatile space in winter and summer.
The company, which is backed by Bowmark Capital, recently finished a review of its brand proposition, and has almost completed a round of senior recruits and promotions to strengthen its management team, including the appointment of former Novus COO Jason Thorndycraft as operations director.
The buyout provided the group with £10m of capital for the its expansion plans, with the group believing there is potential for it to open up to 70 sites across the UK, including up to 15 sites in the capital.


text:
Capitol Police chief resigning amid criticism over pro-Trump mob
by admin69 January 8, 2021, 10:52 am 701 Views
U.S. Capitol Police Steven Sund is resigning amid criticism of the department's response to rioters who stormed the Capitol in protest of President Donald Trump's election loss.
Sund's resignation will go into effect on Jan. 16, just a few days shy of President-Elect Joe Biden's inauguration, a police spokeswoman said Thursday. The announcement comes shortly after the head of the department's union called for a "change at the top."
Officers are "frustrated and demoralized" with how a lack of leadership undermined the response to the mob, according to a statement from Gus Papathanasiou, the union chairman. Papathanasiou laid the blame on a failure and planning while praising officers for their work.
"We prioritized lives over property, leading people to safety," the statement said. "Not one Member of Congress or their staff was injured. Our officers did their jobs. Our leadership did not. Our Law Enforcement partners that assisted us were remarkable."
The statement fell just short of calling for the force's chief, Steven Sund, to resign. Sund commended officers earlier Thursday, calling their actions "heroic" and slammed the chaos that erupted as "criminal riotous behavior."
Capitol police response has been criticized for its inability to keep the rioters out of the building. Biden earlier Thursday criticized what he described as a double standard between how police reacted to the pro-Trump mob versus how they treat supporters of Black Lives Matter over the summer.
"No one can tell me that if it had been a group of Black Lives Matter protesting yesterday, they wouldn't have been treated very, very differently from the mob of thugs that stormed the Capitol," he said. "We all know that's true. And it's unacceptable. Totally unacceptable."
In an interview with NBC's "Today" show, former U.S. Capitol Police Chief Terrance Gainer characterized the police response as "failure" and added that it "raises a lot of questions."
"Clearly there's failures," he said. "There has to be a lot of questions asked and answers given. What is very clear is the police underestimated the violent crowd and the size of it, and they overestimated their ability to control it."
Rioters were able to force their way into the Capitol on Wednesday in the first major breach since the war of 1812, when British soldiers burned the legislature. Trump had spoken to his supporters earlier in the day and encouraged them to head to the Capitol to protest Congress' count of the Electoral College vote.
Authorities were eventually able to clear the building of the mob and allow lawmakers to return to what was previously considered a ceremonial process. Members of the House and Senate worked overnight to certify ballots from all 50 states, confirming Biden's win.
The National Guard has been placed on a 30-day mobilization, which means the Guardsmen will be on the ground through Biden's inauguration on January 20, two defense officials told NBC News.
Doha Madani
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Movie trivia app TimePlay will no longer be available in theatres, Cineplex says
In striking shift, Trump reverses positions on election loss, rioters and Covid


The Berliner Elektronenspeicherring-Gesellschaft für Synchrotronstrahlung (BESSY) operates the only German 3rd generation synchrotron radiation facility. The storage ring BESSY II provides ultrabright photon beams from the long wavelength Terahertz region to hard X-rays with complete control of the polarization of the radiation and energy range. 46 beamlines offer a multi-faceted mixture of experimental opportunities at undulator, wiggler and dipole sources with excellent energy resolutions.
In order to add a new beamline for this synchrotron you must have a registered account as Facility Data Manager for BESSY.


text:
Across Partisan Lines: Redistricting in Morocco
Posted in Dismal Economics, Flash News, Intikhabates-Elections, Moroccan Politics & Economics, Morocco, Read & Heard by Zouhair ABH on November 18, 2012
I apologise in advance to the excessive level of abstract models used in this post, but there is only so much I can take in the current, mainstream political science discourse in Morocco. I mean, I am a great fan of Wijhat Nadar (the review) and writings of heavyweights like Abdellah Laroui, but it would be fun to explore other alternatives, possibly using teachings from game theory. Plus this is High School-level math, so no harm done.
A quick look at a relatively unearthed matter in Moroccan politics can always tell when a consensus crosses party lines, and in this case, it is about the number of seats allocated to each district. Traditionally each and every party vent their respective grievances as to the incumbent districting: smaller parties vehemently oppose high thresholds (PSU found an eloquent advocate against it back in 2007 in one of its prominent leaders, Mohamed Sassi) and larger parties tend to believe their strongholds are undervalued: back then it was USFP in Rabat or Casablanca, nowadays it is PJD in Tangier, Casablanca or Salé. Every election is the same, parties complain to the media, but cannot agree on anything.
In fairness, districting is always a zero-sum game, even if the number of seats in parliament is expanded: a large district benefits some type of parties, and harms others. Better still, some parties have contradicting interests on similar constituencies; for instance, the 2011 general elections pitted Istiqlal and USFP (in Fez), PJD and UC (Marrakesh) RNI and Istiqlal (Southern seats) among others. A slight change in the number of seats, or inter-province districting can tip the balance one way or the other. Political parties in Morocco do look (and act) disorganised and utterly incompetent, but this belies their inner rationality as to their political survival.
Consider a simple model to capture the perverse effect that compels political parties to defer to a benevolent actor e.g. the Interior Ministry. It is the rational course of action for every political party in Morocco: abdicate the possibility of a contentious (but ultimately more democratic) battle over the optimal number of allocated seats per district, for a more peaceful, consensual redistricting under the auspices of a mechanism-designer with endogenous preferences, ultimately the perpetual weakening of that very same political spectrum.
Consider a number of n political parties competing for a fixed (but undefined) number of seats. Each party i derives some utility from contesting elections and having members of parliament elected; three layers of benefits can be listed: first, merely electing a member of parliament, second, electing a caucus with at least 6% of nationwide popular votes, and finally, a benefit from coming on top, or very close. The utility function is thus:
As each party prepares to contest elections, they face a certain fixed cost (typically the deposit required from each and every party candidate/list) but on the other hand, there are benefits attached to large caucuses, either in form of increased monetary compensation, or some utility derived from participating in a government. A simple differentiation pinpoints exactly the conflict of interest:
As one can see, the benefit from one additional seat for a particular party stems from the performance of other parties (a primary evidence of the zero-sum aspect of game elections) and most importantly, is negatively linked to this term . In this particular setting, it refers to a 'premium' put on the seat(s) won by that particular party. As it shall be proven later, each and every party has a particular incentive at keeping that parameter exogenous – in this case, defer to a higher authority.
Suppose the premium is set by the final outcome, i.e. suppose the present electoral result decides the next performance and the size of the district. This means:
Now, there are a couple of cases where the last term might differ from the first case to the second. And there comes the Interior Ministry (the shiny knight cloaked in white, one might say) in providing an arbitrage that benefits individual parties, but ultimately harm their collective chances in getting large, stable government coalitions. In this setting, individual parties are better off when the premium is low, in fact when it is lower than the fixed, exogenous term , that is:
Because of the higher competition (captured by a competitive districting) between parties mean the overall benefit from seats won by a particular party is diminished, and coming on top is not worth much.
As the same reasoning is applied to the entire caucus carried by party i, we get:
and there is your proof: on average, a caucus is better off when the districting is exogenous: this is possible because each district is treated the same; the intuition behind it is, preferential treatment for one district cannot be achieved because every other district will have to be treated similarly, and that takes us back to square one. The best response for each political party is thus to support uniform treatment, and as a result their respective caucuses are weakly better of with an exogenous districting.
Suppose we also look at the dispersion of caucuses as well: a larger expectation in caucus size does not mean both cases exhibit equal dispersion around it; in fact, since denotes dispersion around the mean, and since: then
This is an important result, because individual party interest trumps the collective likelihood of having a strong parliamentary majority (due to competitive districting) and the benevolent designer can only minimise the volatility – if it is indeed in their interest.
A candid observer cannot but wonder how Makhzen and Nihilist parties seem to agree on a status-quo that harms representative democracy: true, smaller parties (including PSU) are most likely to be wiped out of the political map if they do not merge or join larger parties, but on the other hand, larger parties also seem to know they are next in line, because the bulk of their seats can be lost if a competitive system were to be introduced, be it an alternative ballot system, or an unfavourable (but impartial) districting.
Authorities on the other hand seem to have some incentive in keeping volatility high enough, so as to deny any potentially rebellious party the possibility of commanding an absolute majority, and hence forming an independent-minded government. It seems political rationality in this setting trumps every possible narrative about ideology, or political history.
Tagged with: Ballot System, District, Elections, Game Theory, Government, Interior Ministry, Makhzen, Morocco, Political Parties, Political party
Who's Who in The Dark Blue Suit: Winners and Losers
Posted in Morocco by Zouhair ABH on January 8, 2012
[There's a heated debate going on about women representativeness in the new government. Tough call: I wonder if feminism in Morocco translated into some concrete policies to improve gender equality, ever. Some gender equality-oriented legislation perhaps? I doesn't matter how many female ministers are up there; what matters is how influential women of power can be to further the cause of gender equality.]
Morocco's brand new 27th government is finally out, although Mr Benkirane looked like he was wrestling with security before the line-up for the picture. Some smiling faces, some grinning through: That picture is heavy with symbolism, with unexpected winners, unlikely losers and some that should -in account of their service to political life- be associated to the business of running government.
'Upwards & Onwards':
Ramid, Pyrrhus? (MAP)
Mustapha Ramid: the maverick attorney is finally in place as the country's (second) most important lawmaker (and enforcement) official. His appointment wasn't a walk in the park, according to Abdellah Baha, Benkirane's right-hand man; in fact, his appointment might be a pyrrhic victory, carried at the expense of other prominent PJD members. Still and all, Mr Ramid can boast to manage a large department, even more so because of PJD's credo in fighting corruption and injustice.
Reform of justice is a crucial, if not vital bet to PJD's chances of re-election in 2016. This is particularly true for Mr Ramid, given his credentials as a 'troublemaker' both within and outside parliament. If he does manage to pull this one off, his leadership claim could grow stronger, especially if other departments, or even the Head Of Government, do not deliver.
Saad-Edine Othmani: the mild-mannered, soft-talking former PJD Premier was allocated a tailor-fit department -though burdened perhaps with a minder like many other political ministers- he could have made a very good Head Of Government – one with a much more moderate discourse for the same actions.
The trouble with Mr Othmani is his lack of experience with foreign policy: parliament in Morocco isn't usually at the vanguard of diplomatic talks, and elected officials usually deferred to the Palace in such matters. Same story goes for him: if he manages to produce a good record when other PJD ministers failed, he can challenge incumbent PJD leader as well -though his record might not be as appealing as Mr Ramid's-
Mohand Laenser: for someone who has made their entire career as a public administrator, and even with former Police chief Charki Draiss as a minder at his side to make sure the right decision is always made, this is the ultimate achievement – quite a story indeed, given his status as a former protégé of Driss Basri. Not since the 1970s has a partisan official been appointed to the position of "Premier Flic" as G. Clémenceau once referred to the office of Interior minister.
In a sense, Mr Laenser confirms his leadership as Mouvement Populaire Premier: the switch from the defunct A8 alliance could have cost him a lot; now that he and some of his allies have been given relatively important portfolios (Interior, Youth & Sports, Tourism and a liaison office to HoG for public sector reforms) he can therefore provide other lucrative postings to supporters and dissenters as well. Trouble is, can he provide the Interior Ministry with new and fresh ideas? I would suggest that given his curriculum at the French Ecole Nationale d'Administration, where innovation is hardly a tactic to win favour with one's superiors, this is very unlikely to ever happen.
Lahcen Daoudi: The third man from the PJD troïka (Othmani & Ramid) has a near-mission impossible task to reform the Higher Education in Morocco. Contrary to diplomacy or justice, the metrics to evaluate a minister's job with education are difficult to grasp, and policy effects tend to take years to show up.
Abdellah Baha: though in his case it is a bit of a mixed bag; rumour has it Benkirane wanted originally to create him Vice-Head Of Government, a formal n°2 to his side, but the Palace is said to have objected for. Still, he retains a senior position that could enable him to influence other ministers, as a spokesman for Benkirane.
Nabil Benabdellah: his last term of office as Communications and Government spokesman ranks definitely lower than his new job at Urban development. The other portfolios allocated to PPS also maintain his leadership with the party, and I foresee very little dissent because he is now able to distribute favours and perks to allies and dissenters alike.
Nizar Baraka: his promotion from the junior position of liaison minister (to the Prime Minister -his Father-in-Law– with the outgoing government) to the second most powerful ministry -second only to the Interior Ministry- is a wonderful gift to his Istiqlal party and a sad omen for the much-needed reforms in fiscal policy and public finances.
Though Mr Baraka is a former high official with the said ministry, his failure to reform the compensation fund -fund allocation swelled from a MAD 30Bn-odd budget to 48Bn- sheds a great deal of doubts over his capabilities on taking on fiscal niches and privileges that bloat public finances. The only hope to hang on to is to expect RNI/PAM-led opposition to make as much trouble as possible every time the budget bill is due for a vote in Parliament House.
'Downwards & Outwards':
He is not happy - and for good reason.
Mohamed Najib Boulif: Sad news for the PJD-led government, great news for the opposition, and bad news for me; his outstanding record as a returning representative for Tangiers with the Finances committee. I was already picturing him at the Finances Ministry, working his way up with the directors, confronting the lobbyists to make sure public finances and the treasury are well provided for. Not that I hang all my hopes on a Boulif tenure at the treasury, but he at least has the political skiils to deal with the opposition in residence; Mr Nizar Baraka, on the other hand, for all the technical skills he can bring to this job, is no political match to a machine he knows only too well.
He ended up instead with a relatively junior position, as a liaison minister to the Head Of Government to general affairs and governance. That's a bit demeaning to a senior member of the PJD caucus. in regular democracies, prominent members of a parliamentary caucus usually get upgraded to significant portfolio once voted into office. I don't know much about the backdrops of Boulif's demotion – he struck me as a bland technocrat with no particular ideological stances on the economy or public policies- but it surely has something to do with the fuss the press made about a possible rejection of Mustapha Ramid as Justice minister. I am, quite simply, saddened our Barbarossa did not get the job.
If indeed that was to be true, I guess designate Head Of Government Benkirane might have had to sacrifice a few of his allies and friends to retain what could turn out to be the ticket for re-election in 2016: the reform of justice as a radical policy to weed out structural corruption.
Bassima Hakaoui: strangely enough, I would consider her appointment to the Families and Social Affairs department to be a demotion of sorts. After all, that department has been always staffed with a female politician ever since its creation in 1998- posting the only woman in this government to such a junior department -missions and budget alike- is not only a stagnation in women's representativeness in government bodies, but it also confirms what politicians from all political persuasion think of what fits a female politician: social and gender issues, nothing of hard substance politics, at interior or even finances, for instance.
The Stalwarts:
Abdellatif Loudiyi: the one department that remains firmly secretive and non-partisan did not upgrade itself to a full portfolio; the incumbent, A. Loudiyi was maintained in office, and whether it should be a tale-telling sign of the sensitiveness of his department, the official news agency MAP did not put online his biography.A. Loudiyi was Secretary to the Finance Minister, and is credited with the good management of the public debt -up to 2009 anyway- following his predecessor's death, Abderahmane Sbai, he was appointed to serve as what might be the nearest thing to a Defence minister. Defence is usually a mined territory, and politicians from all parties are only too happy not to risk one of theirs to gain it back. The administration of defence -let alone the actual policy of defence- remain squarely within the Royal purview.
Ahmed Taoufik: still out there. The Habous and Islamic Affairs department was not in PJD's sights, let alone any of the governmental coalition members. The department is the King's alone, just like Defence.
Aziz Akhzennouch: what a turnout! the RNI representative for Tiznit needs to resign his seat (Article 61 of the 2011 Constitution says so) because he has switched, or rather left his surrogate party RNI to keep his job as Agriculture Minister. I guess Plan Maroc Vert will be carried out after all. I can foresee very little changes in the much-needed agrarian reform, or even worse, no change at all in the quasi-permanent moratorium on the Agri-Tax.
What to make out of this government?
Dull men (and a dull Woman, too) in dark suits with very mainstream curricula are very unlikely to shake-up government policy: of all 31 ministers and junior ministers, nearly all of them hold a postgraduate degree, and many of them are public service insiders. I don't expect earth-shattering fiscal reforms, either, including an end to the unjust fiscal moratorium or a radical plan to deal with the mounting public debt. On education and health, the incumbents are members of parties associated with government work for at least 14 years.
A dull government indeed.
Tagged with: Government, Interior Ministry, Morocco, Ramid
Moroccan Elections for the Clueless Vol.18
Posted in Intikhabates-Elections, Moroccan Politics & Economics, Moroccanology, Morocco, Read & Heard by Zouhair ABH on November 18, 2011
And the Campaign is off! Candidates are competing, parties are trying to lure the voters with not so much clever videos; but nonetheless the campaign has started cahin-caha.
Brought to You by the Interior Ministry
The Interior Ministry released figures on competing parties and their candidates; it is quite astonishing to discover that among those 7102 candidates seeking public office, some odd political parties joining in – CNI (with 300 candidates) a fellow Left Alliance member with PSU and PADS- and smaller, more obscure organizations (among others, Choura & Istiqlal party are endorsing 58 candidates) trying to make their way through a highly competitive, time and resources-consuming campaign.
The good news is, we shall have at least 80% of the next batch of Representatives (on local ballot) with a decent education degree: only 200 of these have no education, and realistically, only 23 to 50 can get into parliament. So on education requirement, the next parliament might well be more prepared to deal with the difficult task of representing the public. 90% of head ballot candidates have at least a High School degree – all 1,422 of them.
Though there is a national ballot list, women are campaigning for local ballots as well, though it is worth pointing out only 5% of those are Women-led. Diversity with 'young' candidates (it is a bit of stretch to consider all those 35-yo when the median age among adult population is closer to 30, and overall median age is 20-24) and Women -who are way under-represented with respect to their relative share in total population, i.e. 50.8% of total population, 48.7% of adult population. Perhaps local lists are diverse enough to try to attract gender and demographic votes, but the ballot system is such only n°1 and n°2 are guaranteed a seat if their win is large enough, the others have a much lower chance to make it to Parliament house.
7102 candidates - 395 seats. And the crowd goes wild - if only.
How many of these will manage to get a seat? Well, it depends on only too many things. in any case, there still is a definite strong emphasis on rural constituencies to the expenses of urban districts: following HCP figures, there should be 13Mln Urban adult eligible voters vs 8.5Mln rural potential voters.
Now we don't have much information about the break-down per registered voters, but all indicators seem to point out that rural constituencies are allocated a lot more seats, in terms of total and adult population that is. Aousserd (pop. 73,000) retains two seats, while My Rachid district (pop. 207,000) retains 3 seats even though total population is 3 times higher. There are indeed some regional balances to be insured, but the fact of the matter is, even with the modest increases of seats in the Casablanca metropolitan area and in other cities (Tangiers and Temara-Skhirat for instance) there still is a sizeable advantage to rural seats, and some parties (PJD) may not, after all, benefit from the changes amid the increase of number of seats from 325 to 395.
The figures are out there, selected candidates denote of some effort put in presentational details, and the public shall see for themselves who is fit for office.
Tagged with: Election, Interior Ministry, Koutla, Member of parliament, Morocco, postaday2011, Seats
Posted in Flash News, Intikhabates-Elections, Moroccanology, Morocco, Read & Heard by Zouhair ABH on November 6, 2011
There are going to be 13,626,357 registered voters going (or not) to the polls; since the last parliamentary 2007 elections, some 1,836,005 voters have vanished away from the then 15,462,362 registered voters. This post will try to find out what happened.
How can a Moroccan citizen lose the right to vote? Short of dying or serving a prison sentence, there are very few ways a Moroccan citizen would be denied registration. In fact, those cases where registered voters have to undergo some administrative changes have been listed in a communiqué from the Interior Ministry:
أما بخصوص التشطيبات التي باشرتها اللجان المذكورة، تنفيذا لأحكام القانون المنظم لعملية تجديد اللوائح الانتخابية العامة، فقد بلغت في المجموع 694.594 شطبا، منها 284.360 تهم حالات نقل التسجيل، و136.718 تهم الأشخاص الذين تأكد للجنة المختصة أنهم لا يستوفون شرط الإقامة الفعلية بتراب الجماعة أو المقاطعة، و95.704 تتعلق بعدم إثبات الأشخاص المعنيين بالأمر لهويتهم استنادا إلى بطائقهم الوطنية للتعريف، و63.740 تهم حالات الوفيات، و60.578 تتعلق بحالات فقدان الأهلية الانتخابية، و53.374 تتعلق بالتسجيلات المتكررة، إضافة إلى 120 حالة شطب استنادا إلى أحكام قضائية.
Those changes that actually reduce the number of registered voters are those unable to produce compelling ID documents (95,000) those who passed away (63,000) and those ex-voters who lost the right to vote (60,000). The other cases only re-arrange the total electoral corps. These changes, incidentally, are relative to the last time Electoral lists have been updated, and that was on May and June 2011, prior to the July Constitutional Referendum.
18-35 make up the bulk of total voters. But where are the first-time voters?
The communiqué boasts an additional 1,214,003 new registered voters, but one needs to take into account those crossed off the electoral list, which means that the actual new batch of fresh registered voters is only 519,409 and the sad news is, that's roughly the number of voters PJD candidates got in 2007. More saddening is the fact that out of 21,586,000 adults (according to HCP computations) only 13 Million will be allowed to vote: more than a third of eligible Moroccans will not vote, and that alone says it all: our fellow citizens are not interested in national politics. While it might be true that 56% of those voters are less than 35years-old, it does not provide enough insight of how many of those first-time voters (specifically the 18-25 bandwidth) make up; more specifically, how many of the 4,453,000 young, first-time voters Moroccans are registered in these 7Mln?
With these figures at hand, I have to admit all those computations and speculations about the Youth vote, the Turnout and related indicators have been built out of thin air, and therefore lose all meaningful purpose, just like the next elections; this is the defeat of political activism on behalf of all political blocs before political apathy: Feb20 activists failed to enlist Moroccans in their struggle for democracy and their challenge to the regime; Officials failed to convince Moroccans to register en masse and thus buttress the claim these elections will have granite-solid legitimacy, and finally, political parties who did not seem interested in widening their popular base, and instead went for knifing each others – like in this unfortunate video where a petulant Benkirane blows off unnecessarily:
(video circulated by RNI-ADI activists)
This still does not explain how 1.8Mln voters vanished away from the registrars' books, but it rather points out the way to explain it: fewer young voters are making up for the elderly -necessarily registered- who pass away. It is a known fact older people have higher registration rates; as reported by the RDH50 Report. While this does not show political apathy per se, it does however stress the lack of confidence partisan politicians enjoy among that population, one that makes up for 1/3 of total population.
The same HCP projections show that adult population aged less than 60 increased 1.4Mln between 2007 and 2011. The elderly population (60 and above) on the other hand, increases some 282,000, and among those aged 65 and above only 100,000. In other terms, the population that expericenced high levels of registration (a 60years-old Moroccan would have been a registered voter in 1972 with a much higher proportion back then) is giving way to one wtih much lower registration rates; indeed, while the elderly scored a 11% increase, the number of first-time voters (the 18-25 interval) managed only a third of this growth rate; so the replacement ratio, so to speak, does not apply; even under the most optimistic projections, only one out of three old voters is replaced at the other end of the age spectrum; When the mortality rate (around 120 per 1,000 adult) is computed on the elderly population (around 300,000) we can account for 1.2Mln out of the missing 1.8Mln. The rest being mainly split across population deprived from civil rights (with a prison population standing around 63,000 according to reports) and the migration effects.
But one can be sure of it: the decline in the electoral corps is due to the non-replacement of old voters by the new generation; While it is true those born after 1975 make up half of total voters, those born in the 1980-1990s did not register in commensurate proportions to make up for demographic decline, and they certainly did not register in large numbers enough to match the adult population.
Tagged with: Activism, Election, Interior Ministry, Morocco, Politics, postaday2011, Voting
Moroccan Elections for the Clueless Vol.3
Posted in Flash News, Moroccan 'Current' News, Moroccan Politics & Economics, Morocco, Read & Heard, The Wanderer, Tiny bit of Politics by Zouhair ABH on September 29, 2011
The Boycott Option:
A clueless strategy since 1962
Has the boycott been of some significant over general elections since 1963? Beforehand, I have been admonished for my use of official data on the last 50 years or so. And I agree: half a century of ballot-stuffing, gerrymandering, administrative parties mushrooming whose sole aim is to prevent opposition from reaching power through regular electoral processes. Driss Basri, Interior Minister since 1983 (and Secretary of State since 1993) has performed wonders in shaping majorities, weakening parties, elevating others, and systematically delivering high turnout and Soviet-style results in constitutional referendums. And so, why study past results, since all figures have been twisted? Indirectly, this has been -and still is, to this day- one of the main pro-boycott set of arguments: if authorities can temper with supposedly free and fair elections, why bother to vote? (incidentally, this is also a good argument for not caring about past elections…)
The Boycott Party has had a rather strong showing since 1963: of 4.7 Million registered voters, 1.2Million cast blank or invalidated votes, and some 1.3 Million did not bother to turnout to vote at all. The "Boycott Party" (if indeed it was a boycott) had carried a similar number of votes to that of pro-regime FDIC. When non-cast ballots are accrued, it turns out only one elector out of two bothered to express an interest in UNFP, or Istiqlal or FDIC candidates.
If non-voting electors represented a sizeable population, that was taken care of with the next 1977 elections, where turnout climbed as high as 82.36%, which means some 1.1 Million voters did not go to polling stations, and 541,000 others had their votes annulled. 1977 elections observed high turnouts in, say Casablanca (88.75%) and Rabat (83.46%) but equally, their annulled ballots percentage was higher than nationwide mean, respectively 16.93% and 9.49%. An explanation one might venture would be that since ballots in urban areas are easier to check and staff -from opposition parties' point of view- any perceived risk of ballot-stuffing or tampering with election results in these boroughs is significantly reduced, and even when the mistake is in good faith, chances are it will not be registered properly.
Then again, urban areas have had historically high boycott and blank ballot rates throughout: the 1977 and 1963 elections have been retained as specific examples to prove the existence of a strong sense of civics, albeit a particularly deviant one. The talks of referendum or elections these last couple of months are not particularly new: there has always been a significant population that does not trust ballot results, either because it does not trust the political field, or the process itself, or has great doubts over the actual impact on their everyday lives.
In any case, this population, theoretically a large one ever since 2007 (by some 9.7 Million disaffected voters, in addition to 1 Million blank votes) is indeed our very own "Silent Majority", albeit a heterogeneous one: it gathers the academic sick and tired of partisan politics and more concerned with their standards of living, the high-school or college graduate youth with no clue about the whole she bang, but also the human rights and charity activist disappointed by the political process and convinced other means are more effective into bettering Morocco;
This silent majority of about half of the potential electorate embodies a blatant reproach to the failure of political parties to take charge of their constitutional duty. Not that they did not always want to, but because they have failed, up to date, in their large majority, to devise strategies to circumvent the ordinary obstacles to reach out for these voters. Taking to the street might be one, but the risk is to alienate many of those in the process…
The "Silent Majority" concept was coined by Richard M. Nixon as a generic word to designate voters fed up with and confused by the deep changes the United States were undergoing at the time (Vietnam War, civil rights, city riots, Hippies, students' protests…) and adjunct to the sense that somehow, the society was falling apart.
Tagged with: Boycott, Driss Basri, Election, Gerrymandering, Interior Ministry, Morocco, November 25th, postaday2011, postaweek2011


The Queensland government has released another large expanse of land for gas exploration.
The Minister for Natural Resources, Mines and Energy Dr Anthony Lynham announced on 2 November that more than 6,600 km2 of land in the state had been opened up for exploration, with more than 900 km2 reserved for Australian supply only.
The state government has release nearly 18,000 km2 for gas exploration since February 2017, with more than a third of that designated for the domestic market only.
Dr Lynham said new exploration would create jobs and help alleviate any gas supply shortages.
"A secure domestic gas supply is on everyone's lips right now, and Queensland continues to do the heavy lifting, releasing more land for exploration and putting the right policy levers in place to encourage investment," he said.
Successful tenderers will be subject to environmental, native title and land access requirements before commencing on-ground exploration.
Tenders open today and close on 28 February 2019.


Yes, Trunk Shows contininue again on Sunday.
Well, I was out the door before 9 am, heading over to The Artsmiths of Pittsburgh to finish setting up for my Trunk Show that started when the place opened at 10 am. And I sure do want to thank everyone who did venture out to Artsmiths today! All the 'Smiths Shop artists, and especially those of us holding Trunk Shows downstairs, really, really do appreciate your support.
Four of us have decided that we will go back again on Sunday, in case folks whose schedules were mangled by this weather would appreciate a second chance. We're already all set up, so why not?! Several of the others who were there today already had different plans for Sunday and have already left, but Paula Nettleship, Samantha Bower, Larissa Graudins, and I will all be there. Since Sunday wasn't actually advertized as a Trunk Show day, if people don't come down to see us, we may decide to leave a little early. Artsmiths is open from 12 Noon to 5 pm on Sunday, though some or all of us might start packing up a bit early. So, if you'd like to come find us, I'd suggest you try to make it to Artsmiths betwen 12 Noon and 3 pm. If you want to come later (i.e., after 3 pm, until about 4:45 … to allow at least a little time for shopping until 5), then please just contact one or more of us (or Artsmiths itself) to let us know you're coming. Any or all of us will be happy to stay as late as the upstairs is open, as long as we know you'll be coming to join us!
For now, I include one very quick photo of one of the last pieces I finished up last night, a super-simple design but in my usual make-reversible-designs approach, what looks like the top of a lock from this side, actually shows as a heart on the other! It's still out at Artsmiths so you could hold it in your very own hands tomorrow…and maybe give it as a gift to someone you hold dear in your heart later in the week?
Yes, we have a whole month left! The title of this post contains a bad pun … but I'm hoping you'll wrap up some of my creations as gifts, or receive one wrapped up for you!
I'm not promising to be back in my studio all day the following weekend (Dec 10-11) but I'm likely to be there for a few hours at some point. If that's the only time you can make it, please let me know so we can agree on a time to meet there!
I hope to see you, or to at least have you see my work, at one or another of those events. If I don't see you in person, there or somewhere, please know how much I appreciate your interest and support, and that I'm wishing you all the best!
Several years ago, I made a fine silver piece that I intended to use with a copper disk that I had enameled. Individually, I thought they were fine, if just a bit plain, but when I put them together, I just didn't like how they looked in combination.
So I set them both aside, figuring that one day a reasonable alternative would come to me.
Well, the lovely enamel disk is still sitting there, waiting to inspire some other components. But the silver piece has undergone a gradual evolution.
First, it acquired a fine silver bezel cup, and then a small stone. Better, but not quite enough.
Late last week, while waiting for some earring components to finish up in the tumbler, I picked up some pieces of copper and bronze wire and added those. At last, the pendant had the impact I'd been seeking!
While the other side is fully finished, the overall piece is unusual for me because it isn't truly reversible. Although my to-do list is already overflowing, I probably should include more wire wrapping, in both design and practice, until I figure out how to both create and execute more reversible designs. Except … that's one of the things I just love about metal clay: making reversible pieces with it is easier than with just about any other medium I've ever tried! And I love that two-for-one feeling of accomplishment.
For now, however, I am much happier with how this particular piece has ended up. My original plan of backing it with an enamel disk would have made it more of a front-and-back pendant as well, and this iteration simply allows it to remain that way! As my friend Alice says, sometimes you just have to let the piece tell you what it wants to be.
It has 2″ of fine silver wire (22 gauge), 6″ of copper (20 gauge), and 10″ of bronze wire (24 gauge) wrapped around its 6 mm green aventurine cabochon and a fine silver rod that crosses the disk.
Now, all it needs is a good home. Let me know if you'd like to give it one!


Cover is used. It is hard to find part new or used. New cover not available.
1'' AVB COVER ASSEMBLY SHUT OFF FITS 709 / 2709PR Lawn Sprinkler Backflow Part # 147501-H 1"
3/4'' AVB COVER ASSEMBLY SHUT OFF FITS 706 / 2706PR Lawn Sprinkler Backflow Part # 147501-H 3/4"
Rainbird 100 1" PVB Vent float kit Conbraco 405 3/4" - 1" PVB series or Watts 800 PVB 1" Backflow Part # 0886025 Watts RK 800V 1/2" - 1"
Rainbird JT/AS-075 Jar Top Anti-Siphon Valve 3/4"
Watts 0886037 PVB Bottom Check Backflow part fits Watts 800M2 Backflows 1/2" - 1" RK800M2CK1/2-1"
Wilkins 136N o-ring fits 3/4" - 1" check cover for the 975xl or 950xl also fits bottom check seat on the Wilkins 975XL or Wilkins 950xl 11/4" - 2"
Wilkins 721-33 Spring fits 720a backflows 3/4" - 1"
Wilkins 974-18 Relief Valve Seat with o-ring 029N Backflow part fits Wilkins 975XL Reduced Backflow 11/4" -2"
Wilkins 975xl 11/2" - 2" check seat and check seat o-ring backflow p/n 954-18s and 136n also fits 950Xl 11/4" - 2"
Wilkins 975xl 3/4" - 1" check seat and check seat o-ring back flow p/n 952-18s and 125n also fits 950Xl 3/4" - 1"
Wilkins Rubber repair Kit fits 11/4" - 2" RPZ includes both rubber washers for the first and second check , relief diaphragm, brass nut o-ring, relief washer, and relief valve o-ring.
Wilkins Rubber repair Kit fits 3/4" - 1" RPZ includes both rubber washers for the first and second check , relief diaphragm, brass nut o-ring, relief washer, and relief valve o-ring.


Has CURO Housing's unelected 15 member board authorised the use of its HQ for disseminating this pseudo-scientific/religious ego-building management mumbo-jumbo?
Inspire will introduce you to Emergenetics a cutting edge profiling tool that uses brain-based research.
EP technical data include inter-item reliabilities between .71 and .83; ten-year test-retest reliabilities between .68 and .77; constructs validated with the Neo-FFI; and, 3rd party observer content validity correlations between .46 and .67. Most data were statistically significant at the p<.01 level.
Emergenetics International is based at 2 Inverness Drive East, #189 Centennial Denver CO 80112-5508, USA.


text:
All Film Festivals have been cancelled due to the current restrictions. However, a number of very clever and super savvy peeps have been able to present festivals online. Good News, some are free and others are at a cost. Please consider our struggling artists who are at the moment without an income, some festivals will ask for a donation.
/festivals
ACMI has closed until later in 2020 whilst major renovations are made. In the meantime they will be screening films in the RMIT Capitol and Treasury Theatres.
The fifth annual Stowe Jewish Film Festival has been re-imagined in the wake of the Covid-19 crisis as a virtual and free experience. It will take place over three weeks and features three films we believe are the most exciting selections yet. Under a unifying theme of Crossing Boundaries, each of these films deals with subjects of unusual, unexpected intra- or inter-cultural collaboration, individual quests across divides, or situations that result in surprising transformations and understanding of "others." The festival commences on May 24 to June 9, again viewers are required to register and logon info will be emailed.
Brooklyn Film Festival (BFF), non-profit organization, is an International, competitive festival. BFF mission is to provide a public forum in Brooklyn in order to advance public interest in films and the independent production of films. To draw worldwide attention to Brooklyn as a center for cinema. To encourage the rights of all Brooklyn residents to access and experience the power of independent filmmaking, and to promote artistic excellence and the creative freedom of artists without censure.
Viewers must register and then they will have free access to the large library of independent films for the duration of the festival.
Enjoy !!
/SCINEMA International Science Film Festival
Australia's Science Channel is Australia's first free and open publishing platform for science stories.
On Australia's Science Channel you'll find compelling videos, articles, podcasts, news and events from our publishing partners and Australia's Science Channel's contributing editors.
We work with leading minds, universities from around Australia, organisations and institutions to provide compelling science stories for everyone to watch, read, listen and share thoughts on what's happening in science.
Who is Australia's Science Channel?
Australia's Science Channel is operated and developed by The Royal Institution of Australia Inc., an independent charity and unique national science hub promoting public awareness and understanding of science. The Royal Institution of Australia was founded in 2009 and is the sister organisation of the prestigious Royal Institution of Great Britain.
The best way to achieve the mission of The Royal Institution of Australia was to build Australia's Science Channel.
looks incredibly interesting and informative.
/ st kilda film festival
We're excited to announce that the 2020 St Kilda Film Festival will take place virtually, with a packed program including Australia's Top 100 Short Films coming to a couch near you 12-20 June.
From dramas to documentaries, animations to thrillers, Australia's Top 100 Short Films are neatly packaged up into sessions we know you'll love. The 2020 Festival also features a range of special programming including 'Gary Foley: Basically Black', 'Indomie Presents: International Animation Explosion', 'Forming Jane Campion' and much more... there is bound to be something to suit every taste!
festivals mentioned are free and online


Last post 03-26-2019 3:11 AM by Xriss. 0 replies.
I have a Thule ThruRide 565 roof rack for my mountain bike. Will there be any issue with mounting the 2019 S5 Disc on that roof rack? Thule mentions in their manual that the roof rack is not suitable for forks with carbon dropouts. The image shows a QR axle with open dropouts. This makes somehow sense as carbon dropouts might be more slippery than metal ones, which isn't an issue with Thru Axles. What do you guys think?


PETTECH Solutions works closely with industry leaders to provide world-class Educational events. For a number of years PET/CT has been available for the diagnosis and treatment follow-up of cancer patients. Today there is an increasing trend to use PET/CT in Radiation Oncology for treatment planning and patient work-ups. Our video archive keeps the latest information at your fingertips.


text:
<?php
/**
 * Maze.core
 *
 * @license http://opensource.org/licenses/MIT MIT
 */

/**
 * Core_Model_Node_Commands
 *
 * @license http://opensource.org/licenses/MIT MIT
 */
class Core_Model_Node_Commands
{

    /**
     * @var string
     */
    protected $_nodeId;

    /**
     * constructer sets node id if given
     *
     * @param string $nodeId
     */
    public function __construct($nodeId = null)
    {
        if($nodeId) {
            $this->setNodeId($nodeId);
        };
    }

    /**
     * gets current node
     *
     * @return Core_Model_ValueObject_Node|null
     */
    protected function _getNode()
    {
        if(!$this->getNodeId()) {
            return null;
        }

        return Core_Model_DiFactory::getNodeManager()->getNode($this->getNodeId());
    }

    /**
     * resolves context array into a simple array struct
     *
     * @param array $commands
     * @return array
     */
    protected function _resolveContext(array $commands)
    {
        $resolvedContext = array();
        foreach($commands as $command) {
            if(!is_array($command)) {
                continue;
            }

            foreach($command as $subCommand) {
                array_push($resolvedContext, $subCommand);
            }
        }

        return $resolvedContext;
    }

    /**
     * adds new commands to a certain service
     *
     * @param string $service
     * @param array|string $commands one as string and multiple commands as array
     * @return boolean
     */
    public function addCommands($service, $commands)
    {
        if(!($node = $this->_getNode())) {
            return false;
        }

        if(!is_string($commands) && !is_array($commands)) {
            return false;
        } elseif (is_string($commands)) {
            $commands[] = $commands;
        }

        if(($olderCommands = $this->getNormalCommands($service))) {
            $commands = array_merge($olderCommands, $commands);
        }

        $data = array(
            "services/${service}/commands" => $commands
        );

        $node->setData($data);

        return true;
    }

    /**
     * adds new context commands identified by key to a certain service
     *
     * @param string $service
     * @param string $key
     * @param array|string $commands one as string and multiple commands as array
     * @return boolean
     */
    public function addContextCommands($service, $key, $commands)
    {
        if(!($node = $this->_getNode())) {
            return false;
        }

        if(!is_string($commands) && !is_array($commands)) {
            return false;
        } elseif (is_string($commands)) {
            $commands[] = $commands;
        }

        $md5Key = md5($key);
        $node->unsetProperty("services/${service}/contextCommands/{$md5Key}");

        $data = array(
            "services/${service}/contextCommands/{$md5Key}" => $commands
        );

        $node->setData($data);

        return true;
    }

    /**
     * clears commands entry of a certain service
     *
     * @param string $service
     * @return boolean
     */
    public function removeCommands($service)
    {
        if(!($node = $this->_getNode())) {
            return false;
        }

        $node->unsetProperty("services/${service}/commands");
        $node->unsetProperty("services/${service}/contextCommands");

        return true;
    }

    /**
     * clears commands entry of a certain service
     *
     * @param string $service
     * @return boolean
     */
    public function removeContextCommand($service, $key)
    {
        if(!($node = $this->_getNode())) {
            return false;
        }

        $node->unsetProperty("services/${service}/contextCommands");

        return true;
    }

    /**
     * gets commands of a certain service
     *
     * returns normal and context commands
     *
     * @param string $service
     * @return array
     */
    public function getCommands($service)
    {
        $commands = $this->getNormalCommands($service);

        foreach($this->getContextCommands($service, true) as $contextCommand) {
            array_push($commands, $contextCommand);
        }

        return $commands;
    }

    /**
     * gets context commands of a certain service
     *
     * only commands from services/service/contextCommands property
     *
     * @param string $service
     * @param boolean $resolveContext returns only simple array without context keys
     * @return array
     */
    public function getContextCommands($service, $resolveContext = false)
    {
        if(!($node = $this->_getNode())) {
            return array();
        }

        if(!($commands = $node->getData("services/${service}/contextCommands")) ||
                !is_array($commands)) {
            return array();
        }

        if($resolveContext) {
            return $this->_resolveContext($commands);
        }

        return $commands;
    }

    /**
     * gets current node id
     *
     * @return string|null
     */
    public function getNodeId()
    {
        return $this->_nodeId;
    }

    /**
     * gets commands of a certain service
     *
     * only commands from services/service/commands property
     *
     * @param string $service
     * @return array
     */
    public function getNormalCommands($service)
    {
        if(!($node = $this->_getNode())) {
            return array();
        }

        if(!($commands = $node->getData("services/${service}/commands")) ||
                !is_array($commands)) {
            return array();
        }

        return $commands;
    }

    /**
     * overwrites current commands of a certain service
     *
     * @param string $service
     * @param array $commands
     * @return boolean
     */
    public function setCommands($service, array $commands)
    {
        if(!($node = $this->_getNode())) {
            return false;
        }

        $data = array(
            "services/${service}/commands" => $commands
        );

        $node->setData($data);

        return true;
    }

    /**
     * saves changes in node
     *
     * @return boolean
     */
    public function save()
    {
        if(!($node = $this->_getNode())) {
            return false;
        }

        return $node->save();
    }

    /**
     * sets given node id for command options
     *
     * @param string $nodeId
     * @return self
     */
    public function setNodeId($nodeId = null)
    {
        $this->_nodeId = $nodeId;
    }

}


text:
#ifndef CRIMILD_RENDERING_VERTEX_LAYOUT_
#define CRIMILD_RENDERING_VERTEX_LAYOUT_

#include "Rendering/VertexAttribute.hpp"
#include "Foundation/Containers/Array.hpp"
#include "Foundation/Containers/Map.hpp"

namespace crimild {

    class VertexLayout {
	public:
		static const VertexLayout P3;
        static const VertexLayout P3_C3;
		static const VertexLayout P3_N3;
		static const VertexLayout P3_TC2;
		static const VertexLayout P3_N3_TC2;

	public:
		VertexLayout( void ) noexcept;
		VertexLayout( std::initializer_list< VertexAttribute > attribs ) noexcept;
		VertexLayout( const Array< VertexAttribute > &attribs ) noexcept;
		~VertexLayout( void ) = default;

		crimild::Bool operator==( const VertexLayout &other ) const noexcept;

		crimild::UInt32 getSize( void ) const noexcept { return m_size; }

        inline Bool hasAttribute( VertexAttribute::Name name ) const noexcept
        {
            return m_attributes.contains( name );
        }

		inline crimild::UInt32 getAttributeOffset( VertexAttribute::Name name ) const noexcept
		{
			return m_attributes[ name ].offset;
		}

		inline Format getAttributeFormat( VertexAttribute::Name attrib ) const noexcept
		{
			return m_attributes[ attrib ].format;
		}

		inline crimild::Size getAttributeSize( VertexAttribute::Name attrib ) const noexcept
		{
			return utils::getFormatSize( m_attributes[ attrib ].format );
		}

        template< typename Fn >
        void eachAttribute( Fn fn ) const
        {
            m_sorted.each(
                [&]( const auto &name ) {
                    fn( m_attributes[ name ] );
                }
            );
        }

		/**
		   \brief Append a new attribute

		   Allows construction of vertex descriptors like:
		   auto vertex = VertexLayout()
		       .withAttribute< Vector3f >( "position" )
			   .withAttribute< Vector3f >( "normal" )
			   .withAttribute< Vector2f >( "texCoord" );
		 */
		template< typename AttributeType >
		VertexLayout &withAttribute( VertexAttribute::Name attrib ) noexcept
		{
			auto format = utils::getFormat< AttributeType >();
			m_attributes[ attrib ] = {
                .name = attrib,
				.format = format,
				.offset = m_size,
			};

            m_sorted.add( attrib );

			// What if there is already another attrib with the same name?
			// This will increase the final vector size, which is wrong.
			// But recalculating the vector size every time might be too
			// expensive.
			m_size += utils::getFormatSize( format );

			// Return this pointer so we can keep adding attribs
			return *this;
		}

	private:
		crimild::UInt32 m_size = 0;
		Map< VertexAttribute::Name, VertexAttribute > m_attributes;
        Array< VertexAttribute::Name > m_sorted;
	};

}

#endif


text:
WWII Veteran Elected Mayor of New Jersey Town at 93
Staying Competitive
Mayor-Elect: 'I Don't Think of 93 as Being Old'
Video shows the World War II veteran getting to work
by Brandon Gobel, AARP, November 10, 2017 | Comments: 0
Upset about the way his town was being run, Vito Perillo decided to run for mayor at age 93 and won — beating out the 63-year-old incumbent.
A World War II Navy veteran and resident of Tinton Falls, N.J., Perillo said he decided to run after two recent lawsuits involving the borough's police department cost the town a reported $1.1 million. He fought hard on the campaign trail and said that he wore out two pairs of shoes by going door-to-door campaigning, according to the Asbury Park Press.
"I've been a fighter all my life. At 13, I was fighting for my family's next meal, shining shoes on street corners in the Bronx. By 17, I was fighting in the ring as an amateur boxer, with a dream of making it to prime time. That dream was cut short at 19 when I was fighting for my country in the South Pacific. I have always fought for what I believe in, and now I want to fight for the citizens of Tinton Falls as mayor," he said.
And he's already getting to work. In a video from the Associated Press, Perillo is heard working the phones, introducing himself as the mayor-elect. He went on to say, "I don't think of 93 as being old."
Vito Perillo/Facebook
Mayor-elect Vito Perillo will soon represent a New Jersey town with a population of about 18,000.
Just before the polls opened on Tuesday, he posted on Facebook: "Win or Lose today, I feel so thankful for the tremendous support I have received and the life-long connections I have made on the campaign trail with other residents of our town."
Following his Tuesday victory — achieved by winning 53 percent of the vote — he posted on Facebook: "We took the first step in creating a new and inclusive form of government in Tinton Falls." He went on to say, "Tonight transparency, accountability and community empowerment won out, and I can't wait to get started working as hard as I can for all of the great residents of this town!"
Perillo was elected to a four-year term, meaning he'll be 97 when he'll have to decide whether to run again, or return to retirement.
Veterans treated to stirring rendition of 'God Bless America'


text:
Women's Center Charter, circa 1971, page 2
Download: Transcript
Pages: 1 2 View All
III. GOVERNANCE
Serving the College at large, the Women's Center is directly respon-
sible to Barnard's President and Board of Trustees. It is governed by an Ex-
ecutive_Committee which is its policy—making body. Representing the four
major constituencies of the Center, the Comittee is composed of three stu-
dents, three faculty members, three alumnae, and three administrative staff
members. The Director of the Center is an ex officio member of the Committee;
she does not vote except to break a tie. The student members of the Committee
are elected according to procedures determined by the Undergraduate Association
in consultation with the Director. Other members of the Committee are nominated
by the Executive Committee of the Center in consultation with appropriate officers
of the College: in the case of alumnae members, the President of the Alumnae
Association; in the case of faculty members, the Dean of the Faculty; in the case
of administrative staff members, the President of Barnard College. Upon the nomi-
nation of the Executive Comittee, the President appoints the members for two
year terms. Members may serve two consecutive terms. A member who has served on
the Committee for four consecutive years may be reappointed only after a lapse of
two years. The meetings of the.Committee are always open and the minutes are
available to the public. '
The President of Barnard College appoints the Director, subject to
Trustee approval, upon the recomendation of a five—person Search Committee of
which at least two are members currently serving on the Executive Comittee.
The President, in consultation with the Executive Committee, will invite members
to serve on the Search Committee. The Director's general functions are to initi-
ate programs and projects with the approval of the Executive Committee and to
implement the decisions taken by that body. She personally maintains liaison
with the Columbia community. She also contributes to good public relations with
other institutions and organizations. She and the Executive Committee, jointly
or separately, are empowered to form subcommittees which deal with matters of
concern to any or all parts of the Center's constituency. These subcommittees
report their findings and recommendations to the Director and Executive Committee.
The Director is responsible for seeing that these subcommittees include as mem~
bers representatives from groups whose interest is at stake. She has the re-
sponsibility and duty of preparing and administering budgets, implementing per-
sonnel policies, preparing reports, participating in meetings, and cooperating
with other administrators in developing and carrying out programs for the good
of the College.
. Amendments to this charter require a two-thirds majority vote of the
Executive Committee and the approval of the Faculty, President, and Trustees of
Barnard College.


With Santa Barbara County now in the midst of its first legalized cannabis harvest, the number of enforcement actions against illegal growing operations continues to mount and litigation has challenged the fairness of the lengthy process by which the City of Santa Barbara selected its three retail operators. That legal challenge was filed by the Arizona-based SGSB, who scored the second highest number of points in the city's application competition held early this year, but was excluded from consideration because its proposed site on the 900 block of State Street was located within 1,000 feet of the top-ranked applicant Coastal Partners.
The lawsuit named both the City of Santa Barbara and Coastal Partners, accusing the latter of lying in its written application to City Hall. SGSB claimed Coastal Partners falsified real estate documents to make it appear they owned a property on the 1000 block of Chapala Street when in fact it was only in escrow. In past interviews, city officials have confirmed that was the case, but stated the deadline for all finalists had been extended a month; by that time, they stated, the property proposed by Coastal had, in fact, cleared escrow.
SGSB also claimed that the 1,000-foot distance between dispensaries was arbitrary, capricious, and legally indefensible. SGSB principals had no idea at the time they submitted their proposal where other prospective dispensaries might be located. Cannabis consumers and city residents will suffer, the lawsuit argued, because a less qualified provider would be allowed to operate. During the first phase of evaluations, SGSB posted the highest scores. In the second wave, it was edged out by Coastal by three points out of a possible total of 1,000. Calls to the City Attorney's office and to Coastal for comment were not returned by deadline.
Given the high stakes involved — estimated millions in annual revenues per dispensary — such conflict is not surprising. The lawsuit was filed after earlier efforts by SGSB to get a reconsideration had been rebuffed by City Administrator Paul Casey, whose word on such matters has been decreed the last. To date, none of the three chosen dispensaries selected early this summer have opened for business. The soonest that's expected will be early next year.
Countywide, eradication efforts targeting illegal cannabis grows have picked up steam, with teams of officers lead by the Sheriff's Office now having hit eight locations in the past four weeks. To date, 17,113 plants have been chopped down and buried. The work is hard and time consuming, stated Lt. Brian Olmstead, involving machetes, chainsaws, and backhoes. That number does not count the 101,752 plants found growing illegally in Los Padres National Forest throughout the summer.
The most recent raid took place in Cebada Canyon, located outside Lompoc and reputedly a hot bed of cultivation both legal and otherwise. This week's action destroyed 1,432 plants; many more had recently been harvested. Olmstead said the growers had obtained temporary state permits, but those expired at the end of August. In addition, he said, the amount of cannabis under cultivation greatly exceeded what the permits allowed.
"They were permitted for one hoop house's worth," said Olmstead. "There were 12 hoop houses." Olmstead said his investigators had communicated with the landowner, which he added is not always easy to determine. In many instances, he said, the land in question is owned by limited partnerships, which in turn, lease it to other limited partnerships. Knowing who is actually calling the shots has proven more challenging and time consuming than anticipated, he added. To date, there have been raids in Cuyama, Santa Ynez, Lompoc, and Tepesquet Canyon. Some operations in Carpinteria are under scrutiny. To date no arrests have been made, no charges filed. Cultivation is not a violent crime, Olmstead noted, and once plants have been uprooted, the crime is over.
Santa Barbara County has 96 licensed growers, making it the most heavily permitted county in the state for recreational cultivation. If all permits were cultivated to their maximum potential, Santa Barbara would have 338 acres of weed getting ready for fall harvest. Dennis Bozanich, the county's de facto cannabis czar, said he believes 244 acres are currently under cultivation. The bigger grows, he said, typically need 20-30 workers during harvest time. About one third of the county's permitted grows, he said, qualify as bigger operations.
Since October 1, county tax collectors have been accepting payments from growers. The deadline was this week. Private security guards were hired for the occasion. Next Monday, the county supervisors will be holding a special session to discuss nothing but the county's nascent cannabis industry. That meeting starts at 9 am.


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