text:
Daily Topics "Anything Goes Friday" Feb 5 2010
Feb. 5, 2010 8:43 am
You can NOW! Watch Thom on the Dish Network channel 9415 at 2pm ET – Talk TV
So long as we have enough people in this country willing to fight for their rights, we'll be called a democracy. -- Roger Nash Baldwin (1884-1981 -founder, ACLU)
"Anything Goes Friday"
"Brunch With Bernie" US Senator Bernie Sanders www.sanders.senate.gov
Mark K (not verified) • 9 years 50 weeks ago
Frankly, I find it tiresome listening to what teabaggers are against; now, let's hear about what they are for. Nothing positive will come out of this "tea party" in Nashville if it is just one big whine fest; if that is all it is, then its effect can only be seen as negative for getting anything accomplished in Washington. Up to this point, if you press an "independent" teabagger, you might get an unenlightening criticism of bank bailouts, the budget deficit and the policy stalemate in Washington (who doesn't?); but when you ask them what they want done alternatively, they can't get any more specific than maybe tax cuts—revealing themselves to be nothing more than the indolent followers of right-wing propaganda, or the unwitting pawns of corporations and Wall Street they claim to be independent of. Or maybe they are just purposefully uninformed and confused.
Instead of gathering together in Nashville to engage in self-indulgence, they should come out and say what they want lawmakers to do, and I don't mean tedious generalities. Do they want health care reform, and what kind? Do they want a jobs bill? Do they support a green energy policy? Are they prepared to accept the steps necessary to bring such policies to fruition? Republicans don't want any of these things and (most) Democrats claim to, so it ought to be obvious who needs to be moved. But if they just want to blame everyone equally, and in fact leave this convention without any firm and clear statements of action they want Washington to take to tackle present and future challenges, then where does that leave the country? To have right-wing politicians to give these people a level of power and influence that is more media creation than real, and claiming that this is a "mandate" for tax cuts and nothing else—and leave left-wing politicians hand-cuffed, groveling to please a constituency that can't be pleased, and doesn't even know what it wants?
rewinn (not verified) • 9 years 50 weeks ago
Congress has refused to give an up-or-down vote on numerous executive branch officers, most notably the head of the Transportation Safety Administration.
In his capacity as Commander-in-Chief, Obama should find this failure to be a grave dereliction of Congress's Constitutional duty; whether Congress votes up or down is not an issue, but refusing to vote at all is hampering our national security.
Fortunately, our Constitution provides a remedy. Obama should put Congress on notice that the next time they recess, he will give a recess appointment to certain candidate for which Congress has refused to vote. His predecessor did recess appointments for Bolton, so I don't want to hear any partisan wailing; if Congress won't act, Obama must.
And then Reid should recess Congress for a weekend.
harry ashburn (not verified) • 9 years 50 weeks ago
The "con" in "neo-con" does not stand for "constitution". I E-mailed Susan Collins yesterday excoriating her for her paranoid rant against "enemy combatants". She sez the Dems can't see terrorism when its right in front of them. I told her she can't see the Bill of Rights when they're right in front of her.
"No, I'm NOT illiterate!...my parents were married when I was born!."
- harry ashburn
I mean when "it's" right in front of her. I told you I'm not illiterate.
Zero G. (not verified) • 9 years 50 weeks ago
Coming to the screening tomorrow of Rethink Afghanistan! Thanks Thom and Robert Greenwald. Let's rethink the entire military budget in light of budgetary constraints. Fund human needs, cut the military!
Nels (not verified) • 9 years 50 weeks ago
Just like the republicans I'm in favor of going back to the way things were too...
Lets go back to the rules and regulations put in place by FDR's admin.
@Zero G: and today at 4pm PST is thom's appearance on Discovery Channel. Does anybody know if you can only watch it on TV or will it be eventually on Discovery web-site?
"Sarah Palin?...well...she's no Dan Quayle!" -harry ashburn
Quark (not verified) • 9 years 50 weeks ago
2 DEGREES OF SEPARATION BETWEEN MUSSOLINI'S ITALY AND US
http://rfkin2008.wordpress.com/2008/05/11/rfk-jr-on-the-border-the-media...
"While 60 Minutes included extensive biographical information on JUSTICE (ANTONIN) SCALIA and his family, they identify his father as "a professor of romance languages at Brooklyn College" and failed to disclose that he was a member of the American-Italian Fascist Party during Mussolini's regime in the 1930s.
This backdrop may reveal something about Justice Scalia's apparent comfort with enlarging corporate and government power, including the use of torture – so long as it's not punishment.
According to Alan Dershowitz who knew Scalia's father at Brooklyn College, Scalia got his doctorate at Casa Italiano at Columbia at a time when in order to get your doctorate you had to swear an oath to Mussolini."
@Harry Ashburn-
My TV committed suicide since I refused to get a converter box or pay for cable...
Quark: Dershowitz on Torture: http://edition.cnn.com/2003/LAW/03/03/cnna.Dershowitz/
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Following the capture of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the question has become whether the senior al Qaeda leader will reveal key information about the terrorist network. If he doesn't, should he be tortured to make him tell what he knows?
CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer posed this question to noted author and Harvard University law professor Alan Dershowitz and Ken Roth, the executive director of Human Rights Watch.
BLITZER: Alan Dershowitz, a lot of our viewers will be surprised to hear that you think there are right times for torture. Is this one of those moments?
DERSHOWITZ: I don't think so. This is not the ticking-bomb terrorist case, at least so far as we know. Of course, the difficult question is the chicken-egg question: We won't know if he is a ticking-bomb terrorist unless he provides us information, and he's not likely to provide information unless we use certain extreme measures.
My basic point, though, is we should never under any circumstances allow low-level people to administer torture. If torture is going to be administered as a last resort in the ticking-bomb case, to save enormous numbers of lives, it ought to be done openly, with accountability, with approval by the president of the United States or by a Supreme Court justice. I don't think we're in that situation in this case.
BLITZER: Well, how do you know ...
DERSHOWITZ: So we might be close.
BLITZER: Alan, how do you know he doesn't have that kind of ticking-bomb information right now, that there's some plot against New York or Washington that he was involved in and there's a time sensitivity? If you knew that, if you suspected that, you would say [to] get the president to authorize torture.
DERSHOWITZ: Well, we don't know, and that's why [we could use] a torture warrant, which puts a heavy burden on the government to demonstrate by factual evidence the necessity to administer this horrible, horrible technique of torture. I would talk about nonlethal torture, say, a sterilized needle underneath the nail, which would violate the Geneva Accords, but you know, countries all over the world violate the Geneva Accords. They do it secretly and hypothetically, the way the French did it in Algeria. If we ever came close to doing it, and we don't know whether this is such a case, I think we would want to do it with accountability and openly and not adopt the way of the hypocrite.
@Zero G: I dig. When they went digital, I bought the converter but was still unable to get the one weak signal I had been receiving. So I no longer have TV at all. It seems my IQ has increased several points since then.
"Be Alert! the world needs more lerts!" -my favorite graffitum (anon)
A six foot rabbit? A pooka?
Tom Palmer (not verified) • 9 years 50 weeks ago
Politicians that take "contributions" from corporations, should not get a salary and health care that is provided by the tax payers.
mathboy (not verified) • 9 years 50 weeks ago
I've been thinking that the Senate should change their rules to simply require one more vote for cloture than it takes to pass the measure. So it would normally take 52 votes with a full Senate.
Charles (not verified) • 9 years 50 weeks ago
@rewinn - Until yesterday, Dems sort of had 60 votes. I do not lay the blame of holding up Obama's nominees on the Repubs. They have proven since the Gingrich revolution they will stand together regardless of the outcome. The TSA vote was held up because the Dems could not come together as an unified body. One Dem or psuedo-Dem stepping out of line causes gridlock.
Re: replacing Justices: It's not just the Supreme Court, its the whole Judiciary. Few cases actually make it to the Supreme Court. So, having a Democratic President is even more vital.
Brad Johnson (not verified) • 9 years 50 weeks ago
Perhaps a bit stale of a subject, but I've been ruminating on Senator Jim DeMint's prediction about Healthcare Reform being Obama's Waterloo. I hope that's true, but truly hope that Obama comes out of the process as Arthur Wellesley, the First Duke of Wellington, who, with Prussian commander Gebhard von Blücher, kicked Boney's derriere, just like I want Obama to kick the Republicans' bloated bottoms.
Dave in CA (not verified) • 9 years 50 weeks ago
I have a couple of questions about what is being discussed. Number 1, why doesn't Thom and Bernie, along ihe progressive Democrats proclaim what a boost to jobs it would be to have universal single payer health care or at least a system where everyone is covered. 50 million new patients equals more jobs.
Second, why do Bernie Sanders and other progressive just come out and state what a blatantly corrupt political system we have? It is just like the Mafia with huge financial payoffs, inside operatives and fear of significant damage to politicians, if not physical then political and financial. Why don't we all just admit it? Loudly and constantly.
John Yoo Renews Claim That President's Authority to Torture Depends on What Is "Necessary"
http://www.truthout.org/john-yoo-renews-claim-that-presidents-authority-...
If this president does not prosecute torturers, I would be a "f'n retard" to vote to re-elect him, Supreme Court not withstanding. I would remind Thom and others that 22 Democratic senators voted to confirm John Roberts. Voting democratic does not lead to ending war, or ending torture, or a decent court.
And Raw Story reports that the drug war budget is expanding under Obama's new budget. Change? Whisky Tango Foxtrot.
RustyCannon (not verified) • 9 years 50 weeks ago
In his opening speech to the Tea Party convention today, Tom Tancredo said "...that Obama was elected because "we do not have a civics literacy test before people can vote in this country."
First of all, the words "civics literacy" are over the heads of most Tea Partiers. Secondly, Mr Tancredo should understand that such a test would exclude the votes of the civics illiterates which happen to be over-represented in the Tea Party movement which is the Know-Nothing branch of the No-To-Everything party.
Keeping to one footnote per post, here is the link to the drug war story:
Obama grows the drug war, with enforcement a clear priority
By Stephen C. Webster
Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010 -- 9:10 pm
http://rawstory.com/2010/02/obama-grows-the-drug-war/
Changing the filibuster rule is not the answer. Harry Reid needs to enforce the rules of the filibuster. Reid's claim that he cannot get enough votes to overturn the filibuster is defeatist. He pulls legislation on the grounds that there is important work that needs to be done. Because of this, he gives Repubs all the amunition they need to portray Dems as ineffective. They don't even have to prepare for one.
Reid must to take away their toys. If healthcare, banking reform and fair trade policy are what is needed to turn the economy around, as I suspect most people agree, then Reid must make them stand before the people.
There is power in the filibuster for both sides of the aisle.
chuckle8 (not verified) • 9 years 50 weeks ago
What I would like as an addition to filibuster rule is cloture based on population represented by the senators. That is, if senators whose state populations represent 67% of the want cloture it should happen. That is, it would take 33% of the population to block voting (currently, the level is 10.6% with a certain set of states).
More problems with voting for the democrats and expecting change:
Power Over the People
Intrusion Alert—It's the Government
By James Ridgeway Tuesday, Jul 29 2003
Political observers often have wondered why Democrats, especially liberals, didn't put up more of a fight against the Patriot Act, which passed the Senate with only one dissenting vote. Many thought it was because Dems didn't have the guts to stand up, and were afraid both to look unpatriotic and to risk defeat at the hands of the mighty Bush. But there may be another reason: The Patriot Act enhances major incursions into civil liberties that were sponsored by Bill Clinton in 1994 and 1996, including the setting up of secret courts and the launch of mass deportations.
The 1996 Antiterrorism Act gave the secretary of state the authority to decide which organizations are terrorist. Anyone supporting such an organization for humanitarian reasons is liable to criminal prosecution. And, of course, under Clinton the FBI was allowed to continue building files on people and organizations based not on the likelihood of their committing a crime, but on grounds that an FBI agent thought they should be investigated. This act, directed at international terrorism, was pushed through Congress in the aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing, which the government had no reason to believe was caused by foreign terrorists. These measures were opposed not by rank-and-file Democrats, but by the ACLU, per usual, and conservatives who feared they might be the targets of the next investigation.
more: http://www.villagevoice.com/2003-07-29/news/power-over-the-people/1
Hey, I voted for Obama, and I won't be fooled again.
@Charles - so you're saying the 40 Republicans who are sticking together to block any action are less to blame than the 1 or 3 Democrats who are all mavericky?
I'm sorry but your position is incoherent.
topcat (not verified) • 9 years 50 weeks ago
It's time for up-or-down vote
By Bill Frist
All 100 members of the U.S. Senate will soon decide a basic question of fairness. Will we permit a fair, up-or-down vote on every judicial nominee? Or, will we create an unprecedented 60-vote requirement for the confirmation of President Bush's judges? I sincerely hope that it is the former.
Our Constitution grants the Senate the power to confirm or reject the president's judicial nominees. In exercising this duty, the Senate has always followed a careful and deliberate process of examining the nominees through hearings, discussing their merits in committee, debating them in the full Senate and then coming to an up-or-down vote on the Senate floor. We investigate, we debate, and then we decide.......
It's time for Harry Reid to send a letter to the editor; it's time for an "up or down" vote!
No other major nation has an working 2-house legislature. The Senate serves no purpose and in the long run needs to just go away. Every other major nation does just fine with a parliament that functions basically like our House.
loretta (not verified) • 9 years 50 weeks ago
Thom, you are more of an export on corporate personhood than so very many people in Washington. Couldn't you go and speak to congress? Often citizens do. Could you request to give a speech to congress?
@Zero G.
You do realize you are reacting just as the republicans are trying to make you react.
As an antidote you should visit, politifact.com that points out 111 accomplishments of the Obama administration.
Democracy and liberty are hard work. Please do as Thom suggests and infiltrate the democratic party and change it.
@rewinn - "mavericky"?. Yes, I do blame the mavericky Dems. We are talking about a cloture vote that will allow for an up or down vote. These mavericky Dems are just as much obstructionist as the 40 Repubs.
Foodfascist (not verified) • 9 years 50 weeks ago
RE Frank Luntz and Willy Brown debate as fund raiser for Mayor Kevin Johnson-
I will keep what ever information I can find about this including links to the The Daily Beast and SAC BEE and fund raiser information on my blog. (Click Foodfascist hyperlink).
Luntz did mumble something about having spent time in Sausalito, CA and some more reading...on global warming.
I had a copy of his own quotes from the Daily Beast in my hand, which suggests that as 64% of Americans believe its 'definitely' or 'probably' caused at least in part by humans.
I was sitting close enough to the stage and so he saw that I had something prepared. I was generous and simply asked, The Daily Beast had reported he had changed his position on global warming. There were a lot of Republicans in the room and there were some silence and a groan or two.
Former SF Mayor Brown warned Luntz that this would be up on You Tube- but who knows. I cannot find it. However, It has not been even 24 hours.
chuckle8,
Been there, done that, have the t-shirt. My first summer job was with the NY State Democratic Party. I heard Gene McCarthy speak live in '67. I'm now in my fifties. And unemployed.
Also, been to Afghanistan with an NGO, for a month.
111 accomplishments? I'd trade all of them for one torture prosecution, they are so miniscule. Ledbetter act? If 22 Democrats hadn't voted to support Bush Justices we wouldn't have needed it.
Check out Jeremy Scahill today: The Expanding US War in Pakistan
by Jeremy Scahill
Do you call keeping Robert Gates change? Spare me.
DDay (not verified) • 9 years 50 weeks ago
@chuckle8
Amen! The shortest distance between two points is a straight line. Join the party, (Dems) and get in and clean out the barn. There are no shortcuts. Raise hell!
Rick in Canadia (not verified) • 9 years 50 weeks ago
@ Rewinn,
In Canada we do have the House of Commons and the Senate.
Not that it is working well; the Senators are appointed and that has just been abused by our own little Neo-Con, Steven Harper, who campaigned on the idea of an elected Senate then when he was in danger of being turfed out, and again during 'prorogue' of Parliament, he stuffed the Senate with conservatives to avoid what we call the 'Sober Second Thought..
Unfortunately we both seem to be governed by Conservative Minority Governments.
Feh!
passed 25 tax cuts last year aimed at the middle class and small business...with no votes from the party of no.
And maybe you forget how quickly the Dems folded on stolen elections. Or how about impeachment being off the table, in spite cleair violations of International Law. Or single payer activists being arrested for trying to get a seat at the table.
Change Iraqis can believe in?
Iraq Policy: D
by Bonnie Bricker and Adil E. Shamoo
Recent suicide bombings in the heart of Baghdad have sent a message to Washington: Maintaining the Iraq policy of the past administration does not inspire hope.
Iraqi insurgents linked to al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for the bombing, which hit hotels frequented by Western journalists. The attacks followed the government's banning of 511 parliamentary candidates for the upcoming election this March. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's government banned a large number of independents, nationalists, secularists and current opponents of the government, including Sunni and Baathist politicians.
Obama campaigned for the presidency as if he understood the damage done to Iraq by the U.S. invasion. Both the progressives who supported Obama, as well as the Iraqis who embraced the promise of a free and fair Iraq, sought a foreign policy grounded in moral values of fairness and respect for other nations. To Iraqis, current American policy is a mere variant of Bush's policies. Bush was planning to pull all U.S. troops from Iraq as long as a compliant government in Baghdad met our needs (not Iraq's). Under the Obama administration, current Iraqi Vice President Abdul Mehdi was compelled to come to Washington recently to urge the president and policymakers to give Iraq more respect as a sovereign nation. Whether our current policy is perceived as Bush or merely Bush-Lite, Iraqis cannot yet see fair governance in their future.
more: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/02/05-7
I am watching a Tea Party press conference. I don't see a single person of color or any other ethnicity but that of Northern European heredity.
@Charles - you go ahead and tell us the GOP is blameless. Who cares?
Sure, the Dems have faults, starting with Joe Liebermann who, you will notice, is NOT A DEMOCRAT ANYMORE!
@DDay: Check the kitchen.
"When you come to a fork in the road...take it!" -yogi berra
I just sent this to Jenny Beth Martin on Facebook who is one of the organizers of the Tea Party Patriots.
I joined the Patriots because I agree that we need to return to the Constitution and I think that in the current class war the 99% of us need to unite against the top 1%.
What I don't understand is the insistence of "free" trade and limited government when the rubble of that failure is all around us. "Free" trade is free for the big corporations while We the People (from the Constitution) pay the bills for their welfare entitlements.
The big corporations have taken over the "representative" government and run it for their own profit, at our expense. So the big corporations and government are the same thing.
Oh Harry, Harry, Harry...I;m not clear about the kitchen comment. Must be slow on the up-take again.
Deja vu' all over again. -yogi berra
@rewinn - I did not say the GOP is blameless. I implied we should expect nothing different from them. The mavericky Dems have given them strength they should not have. A vote of 60 Dems would have overturned the efforts of Jim DeMint to hold up the TSA nominee.
My comments are in reference to nominees not policy. The argument has been posed that one GOP Senator held up the confirmation process. I argue that one Dem Senator prevented an up or down vote.
@DDay: It's just that persons of color are often found in the kitchens of white people, cooking and cleaning-up.
How about change that the South Americans can believe in?
Why Washington Cares About Countries Like Haiti and Honduras
US interference in the politics of Haiti and Honduras is only the latest example of its long-term manipulations in Latin America
by Mark Weisbrot
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/02/03
I'm all ears, now.
@ Harry
Duh....got it. We use Mong around these parts. Love that satay. :-)
@Chuckle8: It's been so ever since the "Monroe Doctrine", which said that the whole hemisphere belongs to us.
"Caveat empty" - our consumer protection motto ever since Ronald Reagan
@DDay: "mong?" What's that?
dustynator (not verified) • 9 years 50 weeks ago
Going back to our weekly brunch,
Voting for a Republican to work in the government is like sending an undertaker to work in the hospital. The undertaker has a vested interest in making sure the best efforts of the hospital doesn't save that many sick people.
It's hard to take in. Most of us want the common person in this country to do well, and for the country as a whole to thrive.
@dustynator - well said
Voting for a Republican to work in the government is like sending an undertaker to work in the hospital. The undertaker has a vested interest in making sure the best efforts of the hospital doesn't save that many sick people.
Can I make this my Facebook status?
It's how Norwegians spell Hmong.
At Mondragon
At Mondragon - both the mountain and the cooperative city - in Spain (written about in "Threshold" book)
Thom & Louise in Denmark
(wrote about in "Threshold" book)
Dad, Thom, Stan, Steve, John, Mom
"In Cracking the Code, Thom Hartmann, America's most popular, informed, and articulate progressive talk show host and political analyst, tells us what makes humans vulnerable to unscrupulous propagandists and what we can do about it. It is essential reading for all Americans who are fed up with right-wing extremists manipulating our minds and politics to promote agendas contrary to our core values and interests."
—David C. Korten, author of The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community and When Corporations Rule the World and board chair of YES! magazine
—to understand how to respond when they're talking about public issues with coworkers, neighbors, and friends. This book explores some of the key perspectives behind his approach, teaching us not just how to find the facts, but to talk about what they mean in a way that people will hear."
"Thom Hartmann is a creative thinker and committed small-d democrat. He has dealt with a wide range of topics throughout his life, and this book provides an excellent cross section. The Thom Hartmann Reader will make people both angry and motivated to act."
—Dean Baker, economist and author of Plunder and Blunder, False Profits, and Taking Economics Seriously


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This page was last edited on 20 August 2017, at 13:49.


A successful fight to save Levenshulme baths in East Manchester has given campaigners across the city confidence.
Many of those protesting are angry that Labour in Manchester is preparing to make the cuts for the Tories. People demanded that they refuse to make cuts.
Protesters were to lobby the full council meeting on Wednesday of this week.
Meanwhile, campaigners in Dudley and Nottingham disrupted their council meetings on Monday of this week.
In Dudley people chanted from the public gallery forcing its suspension for a time. Protesters in Nottingham did the same, forcing the meeting to be suspended for around an hour.


Lime Court Care Home trialled a pilot scheme involving overnight care staff wearing their pyjamas instead of the usual uniform, in an effort to help disorientated residents who struggle to recognise whether it is night or day.
This trial would differentiate night staff from day staff at the Excelcare site, acting as a cue to remind residents that it was night.
The trial was successful, with psychological and physical benefits observed in residents. This included improved sleep at night and reduced restlessness and pacing in residents.
Staff also reported that residents' daytime routine was improved; with increased energy, fluid and food intake and reduced mood swings.
• To ensure the health, safety and well-being of residents and staff.
• To ensure that staff wear clothing in line with the objective of this case study.
• To enable staff to maintain a positive professional image.
• To enable easy identification and recognition of role and profession.
• To ensure that infection control and health and safety issues are addressed.
Recognising whether it is night or day can be confusing for care home residents with dementia, particularly when care staff in the home wear the same clothes at all hours. This can cause disruptions to daily routines, with sleep deprivation, pacing at night and restlessness in residents. To enhance residents' well-being and improve their night-time routines, night staff at Lime Court have been wearing their pyjamas to work instead of the usual uniforms.
The residents' initial reaction to staff in their pyjamas was positive, with smiles and chatting about their outfits. Residents felt comfortable and relaxed about the walk to their bedroom or wheelchairs to be taken to bed. Residents seemed to associate the staff being in their pyjamas with going to bed, and were a lot more forthcoming and willing to go to bed than when staff wore their usual attire.
For the more restless residents, the uniform change had a positive effect in promoting sleep at night, reducing sleep deprivation, disorientation and pacing. These were a regular occurrence for some residents previously, which resulted in lack of energy, irritability and mood swings. This would then affect their food and fluid intake the next day, due to residents feeling exhausted from lack of sleep. Lime Court staff have reported a remarkable improvement in these areas since introducing the night-time pyjama uniform. There has also been a significant decrease in night time falls, as residents are less likely to be up at night.
Overall there is a more relaxed atmosphere, with residents happy and settled with their hot drinks before bed. Importantly, residents now recognise night staff as soon as they come in to work, and begin their night time routines. Residents and staff have said that there is as feeling of "being comfortable and at home" and that it has improved staff/resident relationships.
The removal of uniforms does not change cultures of care, but it represents an important symbol of making the care home a "home" and improving residents' wellbeing.


The insulation performance of Insulated Concrete Formwork (ICF) greatly reduces the running costs by over 70% of any completed building, saving energy. The construction process reduces waste and significantly reduces the duration of time required to complete a project. See first hand in the Naked House, how this material can be used to best effect.


text:
"How They Brought the Good News from Ghent to Aix" is a poem by Robert Browning published in Dramatic Romances and Lyrics, 1845. The poem, one of the volume's "dramatic romances", is a first-person narrative told, in breathless galloping meter, by one of three riders; the midnight errand is urgent—"the news which alone could save Aix from her fate"—although the nature of that good news is never revealed. Two of the riders' horses collapse en route; the narrator alone makes it to Aix with the news, and rewards his horse with a drink of wine.

In the words of William Rose Benet, it is "noted for its onomatopoetic effects". Browning himself remarked in a letter, "There is no historical incident whatever commemorated in the poem ... a merely general impression of the characteristic warfare and besieging which abound in the annals of Flanders". (Undaunted, an editor of Browning suggested the historical event of the Pacification of Ghent in 1576.)

Analysis
The towns through which the riders pass are characterized only by the associated time of night, dawn, and day, also a feature of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's later poem of urgent nightlong news-bearing, "Paul Revere's Ride". Although the incident is fictional, the sequence of towns (several of which are referred to by their French names) is rational:
Ghent
Lokeren
Boom
Düffeld
Mecheln
Aershot
Hasselt
Looz
Tongres
Dalhem
Aix-la-Chapelle

Legacy
W. C. Sellar and R. J. Yeatman parodied Browning's poem in their book Horse Nonsense as "How I Brought the Good News from Aix to Ghent (or Vice Versa)".

In 1889 Browning attempted to recite the poem into a phonograph at a public gathering, but forgot the words; this is the only known recording of Browning's voice.

References

Poetry by Robert Browning
1845 poems
Ghent in fiction
Aachen
Belgium in fiction
Germany in fiction

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Q: Loading function files in Scilab I am new to Scilab, but I do have MatLab and Octave experience. I'm just starting to write custom functions and when I try to load them into Scilab, I get the following error.
!--error 10000
listvarinfile: Wrong variable type (1.686D+08) found in '<pathname>\test.sci'. File may be wrong or corrupted.
at line      50 of function listvarFunction called by :
at line      29 of function listvarinfile called by :
at line     949 of function %_sodload called by :
<pathname>\test.sci'

In this case the test file was pretty simple:
function [x]=test(y)

x = y*y;

endfunction

saved with the .sci extension.
The function was loaded from the IDE by right clicking on the file and choosing the Load into Scilab option.
I had more complex examples but decided to write this since they were not loading either.
Thanks for your help.

A: Unlike in Matlab,  in scilab you need run the function.
Just run the function first and then call it in the console .
test(4)
ans  =
16.

A: Just as user2240469 said, but you can do this in the console. See also the documentation of exec.
 // Use -1 as mode to prevent printing everything in the console
 -->exec('test.sci',-1)

 -->test(4)

 ans =

 16.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


If you are having trouble formating your USB Flash drive or pendrive, often encountering "Windows was unable to complete the format error" each time while trying to format your usb pen drive then you don't need to worry anymore because here I have listed some of the best fixes that will surely fix your formatting issue irrespective of which usb pen drive or flash drive you are using. Generally it is seen that formatting is a not a big deal which can be easily done anytime anywhere with the help of computer or laptop but there are situations when formatting becomes a nightmare where windows fails to format your usb pen drive because of some unknown reasons and under these situations you need to take help from different forums or tech experts over Internet but usually it has been observed that most of the users efforts to resolve the error goes in vain therefore to help you out here below are some fixes that you may apply on your system to get rid of Windows was Unable to Complete the Format error forever.
Note – Please follow the fixes in the same order as mentioned below as they are based on priority basis.
Though this step is not going to deal technically but still you can give it a shot. Just try to change the File system format from FAT32 to NTFS or vice versa and Uncheck the Quick Format Option and then try formating the usb pen drive and check if this solves your problem or not. If your problem is not solved then proceed with the following given dedicated fixes for Windows was unable to complete the format USB Pendrive or USB Flash drive.
Windows disk management is a single windows utility service that can help you solve all your attached storage devices issues whether it be your internal hard drive or external USB Flash drive. Just follow the below given steps to fix Windows Was Unable to Complete the Format USB Pendrive.
Right Click on My Computer -> Select Manage -> Go to Disk Management -> Right Click on your USB drive and select Format as shown below.
Here Select the file type to NTFS and Uncheck the Quick format option and then proceed with formating.
Again Right Click on My Computer -> Select Manage -> Go to Disk Management -> Right Click on your USB drive and select Change Drive Letter and Paths..
Change the previously assigned letter and assign a new drive letter that has been not assigned earlier.
Again Right Click on the USB Pendrive in Disk management and select New simple volume which will open a new wizard and here just select the FAT32 Format file system and then proceed with formating.
HP USB Disk storage format tool is an amazing Windows-based Format Utility for HP Drive Key or DiskOnKey USB Device that is used to create bootable disks, clean Flash drives and more. You don't need to be an expert to use this tool you just need to simply install it on your system and then select the USB Drive that you want to format and select the file system type and then try formating the drive and this will surely help you to get rid of Windows Was Unable to Complete the Format error.
Command Prompt is also a good option for formating your usb pendrive, hard drive or micro sd card while facing Windows Was Unable to Complete the Format error.
Note – Here G: is the drive letter assigned to the USB pen drive so please check your usb drive letter and assign accordingly.
Wait for few minutes and your pendrive will be formatted soon.


text:
<html>
    <body>
        <button class="mute">Mute</button>
        <canvas class="canvas"></canvas>
        <script src="../js/bundle.js"></script>
    </body>
</html>

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Descours & Cabaud • Descours & Cabaud chooses priint:suite to improve their publishing processes.
Descours & Cabaud chooses priint:suite to improve their publishing processes.
Descours & Cabaud improves their publishing processes and production of catalogs with priint:suite.
Descours & Cabaud exists since 1782 and he is the leading supplier in technical solutions for industry and business.
Descours & Cabaud operates in 9 European countries and in North America and counts about more than 1 million of product references. All these data are managed into the SAP hybris PIM Solution.
In addition, they are using our priint:suite Solution to improve their catalogs production and manage all the related processes.
The implementation of the all project has been realized by our prefered partner concept2publish.


This method exports a single workout from the Polar Flow software as a single .tcx file, which you can then drag-and-drop import to WKO+ or upload to your TrainingPeaks.com online account by dragging and dropping it onto the calendar.
This method exports a single workout from the Polar Software as a single .hrm file, which you can then drag-and-drop import to WKO+ or upload to your TrainingPeaks.com online account.
First, download your Polar device to either the Polar Pro Trainer 5 or Polar Precision Performance software program. Then, find the .hrm file that the Polar software produces for each workout downloaded to it. If you have troubles locating your .hrm files, please contact Polar for further help with their software. Once you have the .hrm file, you can then upload it to TrainingPeaks.com, or import it to WKO+.
If you are exporting files from PolarPersonalTrainer.com as .xml files they must be single workouts and will only upload to the current day.


In the file containing the talking points sent down by the indicted "publishers" who set up the manipulation factory in Bulgaria there are four sustainable false theses used against the sworn enemy of the Bulgarian oligarchs, lawmaker and publisher of Telegraph Media Delyan Peevski. Some impute to him the non-existent ties with Bulgartabac refuted so many times in all kinds of Bulagaria's registers and disproved by multiple other facts. Others tug his name to any official appointment in this country. Again without any grounds and touch with reality. And, when these two talking points are exhausted, the CorpBank theme takes their place.
Thus, after in the last week of March the media of the Fake News Factory of the Capital circle and its satellite media outlets, Frognews, Bivol and other editions with dubious financing tugged the name of Peevski to any official appointment in Bulgaria (expectedly, Peevski will soon be involved in the personnel policy even when it comes to the appointment of janitors in public administration) they started this week with the warmed-up CorpBank talking point. At that, dated 1 April, the emblematic All Fools Day.
All jokes aside, the Bulgarian section of Radio Free Europe could hardly find a more opportune day than the All Fools Day to join in the propaganda choir censuring Peevski and release an article titled The "invisible" CorpBank loan for the media of Peevski (See here). The so-called "article" is actually a digest of all fakes published within the recent years in a bid to impute to Peevski and his media the CorpBank collapse. This is a talking point which expires sooner than a punctured balloon because of several simple facts. Peevski has never sat on any managing or supervisory boards of the Bank, has never brought any lawsuits concerning the CorpBank assets and his family has duly paid off all loans taken from CorpBank which is confirmed by documents. And these documents have been made public not once or twice. To say nothing of the fact that the MP himself is among the movers of the amendments to the Bank Insolvency Act which forestalled the secondary looting of CorpBank and enabled the bankruptcy administrators to restore the already plundered money and replenish the insolvency mass of the Bank. However, it is exactly these amendments that became one of the major reasons why Peevski is the key target of the media financed by Tsvetan Vassilev, indicted for syphoning off CorpBank and his henchmen, indicted "publishers" Ivo Prokopiev and Ognyan Donev, as well as the natural gas lord Sasho Donchev.
So, after on 1 April the Bulgarian section of Radio Free Europe, whose personnel pool has been selected among the employees of the media outlets connected with Prokopiev and Donev, launched a new panoply of CorpBank fakes against Peevski, this talking point was copy-pasted by other Fake News Factory outlets within several days. First, by Mediapool sustained by Stoyana Georgieva, ex-spokesperson of Ivan Kostov, and the next day by Frognews of Ognyan Stefanov, the State Security Agent Academician who was exposed by the key witness for the prosecution on CorpBank case Biser Lazarov as a private battering ram of Tsvetan Vassilev (See here). And, to draw a line under this chain of fake news, on Wednesday, not anyone else but Vassilev himself joined in the choir with an interview given to his favourite "court journalist" TV anchor Lyuba Kulezich (See here).
Bulgaria's Chief Prosecutor Sotir Tsatsarov ordered to the Supreme Prosecutor's Office of Cassation (SPOC) to launch a probe after publications in the media concerning real property purchased by Plamen Georgiev, chairman of the Anti-Corruption and Illegal Assets Forfeiture Commission (ACCIAF), son of Borislav Sarafov, Director of the National Enforcement Investigation Agency (NEIA) and wife of Supreme Court of Cassation chairman Lozan Panov, the State Prosecutor's Office reported (See here).
Bulgarian President Rumen Radev Thursday met with his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who is making an official two-day visit to Bulgaria. Speaking at a joint news conference after the meeting, Radev said the two had discussed the prospects for a strategic German investment in Bulgaria (See here).


text:
Microsoft Office for iPad
Do Microsoft Office apps support iOS 9 multitasking on the iPad?
Microsoft updated all its Office apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook) with iOS 9 multitasking support in September. The apps now support Slide Over and Split View so you can now perform tasks such as writing a note in OneNote while checking your email, or referring to your notes while using PowerPoint. You can see a list of new Office iOS 9 and WatchOS 2 features here and watch a demo below.
Read more about Do Microsoft Office apps support iOS 9 multitasking on the iPad?
Do Microsoft Office apps support Apple Pencil?
Yes, Microsoft Office apps support the Apple Pencil and iOS 9 multitasking features. Microsoft's Kirk Konigsbauer actually demoed how the Office apps will work with the Apple Pencil at Apple's September 2015 keynote. You can watch the video below.
Microsoft even added a new feature to its Office apps called "Inking," for use with Apple Pencil. You can see a list of new iOS 9 and iPad Pro features here.
Read more about Do Microsoft Office apps support Apple Pencil?
First Month of Office 365 Now Free on the iPad and iPhone
Microsoft is now offering the first month of Office 365 for free. The free month is available for both Office 365 Personal and Home subscriptions.
An Office 365 Personal subscription allows you to use any Microsoft Office products on one Mac or Windows PC, one tablet and one phone for $6.99 a month. A Home account allows you to use up to five computers, tablets and phones for $9.99 a month. Each subscription also includes up to 1TB of OneDrive online storage (1TB per user for up to 5 users for Home) and 60 world minutes of Skype calling per month.
Read more about First Month of Office 365 Now Free on the iPad and iPhone
Microsoft Now Accepting Monthly Payments for iPad Office Apps
Microsoft has really been listening to Microsoft Office users when it comes to their suite of iPad apps. The company has been adding user requested features, such as printing support, since the apps first landed on the Apple App Store back in March. Now Microsoft has announced that users can buy a monthly Office 365 subscriptions instead of having to pay for it yearly.
An Office 365 subscription is required to access all the features of Word, Excel and PowerPoint on the iPad. An Office 365 Personal is $6.99 a month and an Office 365 Home account is now $9.99 a month. A Personal account allows for one PC or Mac, and one tablet to be connected to the service, and a Home account allows for up to five computers and tablets to be connected.
Read more about Microsoft Now Accepting Monthly Payments for iPad Office Apps
Office for iPad Updated with Top-Requested Features: Presenter View, Export to PDF and More
Submitted by Penelope Wang on Thu, 07/31/2014 - 18:39
Four months after its official release, the ultra popular productivity suite, Microsoft Office for iPad, has added some of the most sought after features in its latest update.
Powerpoint for iPad now includes "Presenter View," a very useful tool that allows the presenter to see more information on his iPad screen than what is being projected to the audience. For example, the presenter will be able to see notes and what's coming next and more. Additionally, integrating video and audio recordings into presentations has become easier. They now play directly from Powerpoint for iPad and you can insert them directly from your Camera Roll. There is also a new pen and eraser setting that allows you to make annotations during presentations more easily. You can now edit hypertext links from within the app as well.
Read more about Office for iPad Updated with Top-Requested Features: Presenter View, Export to PDF and More
Microsoft's Office for iPad Passes 27 Million Downloads
Submitted by Penelope Wang on Tue, 05/13/2014 - 19:52
It has been just six weeks since Microsoft's Office for iPad launched, and the company claims that there have been over 27 million downloads so far. This is good news for Apple, mixed news for Microsoft.
The popular productivity suite which includes Excel, Word and PowerPoint has been available in the iOS App Store since late March. According to Business Insider, Microsoft general manager of the Office Division, Julia White, announced at the company's TechEd customer conference on Monday that Office
Read more about Microsoft's Office for iPad Passes 27 Million Downloads
Microsoft Adds Free Printing Support, SmartGuides and AutoFit to Office iPad Suite
Submitted by Jennifer Nguyen on Tue, 04/29/2014 - 18:38
Microsoft's Office iPad suite has received its first major update after being released almost a month ago. All three apps, Word, Excel and PowerPoint, now feature AirPrint support. Excel users can now adjust multiple rows or columns at the same time using the new AutoFit feature on both the iPad and desktop versions. PowerPoint has received a new SmartGuides feature that helps users align objects as they move them around their slides. All three apps have also received bug fixes and stability improvements.
The AirPrint feature does not require an Office 365 subscription, but a subscription is required to create and edit documents on all three apps. An Office 365 Personal subscription is now available for $69.99 a year, or $6.99 a month through Microsoft's Online Store. A Personal subscription can be used with one tablet and one additional computer.
Read more about Microsoft Adds Free Printing Support, SmartGuides and AutoFit to Office iPad Suite
How much is a Microsoft Office Subscription for the iPad?
UPDATE: The first month of Office 365 is now free.
Microsoft released Word, PowerPoint and Excel as individual iOS apps to the Apple App Store on Mar 27, 2014. The apps are free to download, but the free versions only allow users to view Office documents on their iPad. You will need a Microsoft Office subscription to edit and create documents using any of the apps.
Read more about How much is a Microsoft Office Subscription for the iPad?
Office 365 Personal Only $6.99/Month for the iPad
Microsoft today announced that Office 365 Personal is now available for $69.99 a year, or $6.99 a month through the Microsoft Online Store and through its retail partners. A subscription to the service gives iPad users the ability to edit and create documents using Microsoft's Word, PowerPoint and Excel iOS apps. An Office 365 Personal account can also be used on one additional computer, and it is cheaper than a $99.99/year subscription to Office 365 Home.
As of right now, Office 365 Home is the only subscription being offered as an in-app purchase. An Office Home subscription allows for up to five computers and five tablets to be connected to the service. Office 365 Home is also available for purchase through MicrosoftStore.com.
Read more about Office 365 Personal Only $6.99/Month for the iPad
How to Print from Microsoft Office for iPad
Ever since the launch of Microsoft's suite of Office apps for iPad, users have noticed the lack of one key function: the ability to print. While Microsoft has insisted that future versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint for iPad will add printing capabilities, no timeline has been announced.
Luckily, there are workarounds that make it possible to print from the mobile version of your favorite Office application. While the world waits for Microsoft to update Office 365 and its iPad apps to accommodate hard copies, users can start printing now thanks to third-party software. ThinPrint Cloud Printer from Cortado does the trick, and can be found on the iOS App Store free of charge.
Read more about How to Print from Microsoft Office for iPad

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


In his January 1964 article published in the New York Amsterdam News, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote that the "civil rights legislation now before Congress" was "born in the streets of Birmingham amid snarling dogs and the battering of fire hoses. It was fashioned in the jail cells of the South and by the marching feet in the North. It became the order of the day at the great March On Washington last summer" (King). In this characteristically poetic way, Dr. King traced the long, arduous, and tragically costly path that eventually led to the signing of the Civil Rights Act on July 2nd, 1964.
Fifty years later, it is our obligation to remember the great perseverance, sacrifice, and unbreakable faith of the many individuals whose united efforts culminated in the passage of this landmark legislation. It is also our responsibility to examine the progress made toward equal opportunity in the last half-decade and, most importantly, to reaffirm our commitment to continued endeavors for social justice.
Last Wednesday, the Department of the Interior (DOI) did just that at its 2014 Multi-Cultural Day at the Denver Federal Center. The event was centered on the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Civil Rights Act and featured speakers, artists, and nonprofits who promote social justice and civil rights. The ACLU of Colorado was invited to participate in the Exhibit Booth Show, which was an excellent opportunity to share the work we do in defense of Coloradoans' civil rights with Federal Center employees. The vast majority of employees we spoke to were familiar with the ACLU, and many thanked us for our work. It was humbling and inspiring to receive the gratitude of people who regulate our national parks, lead energy commissions, and work for the Department of Education.
During a lull in booth activity, I attended a portion of the panel discussion on the Civil Rights Act and its impact. The panel consisted of professors and Department of Education employees who are involved in the study and remedy of contemporary civil rights issues. The moderator's first question to the four panelists was: "In your opinion, what are the three most pressing civil rights issues of today?" There were several issues that multiple panelists agreed were the most critical; these included voting rights, mass incarceration and prisoners' rights, the school-to-prison pipeline, inequities in education, and immigration reform. Unsurprisingly, these issues align with the ACLU's current priorities. As Judith Browne Dianis elucidates in her article "Under Fire" in the Winter 2014 edition of Stand magazine, the ACLU has been at the forefront of many of the most significant civil rights victories since 1964 (Browne Dianis, 28-33). Fifty years since the passage of the Civil Rights Act, the ACLU remains fervently dedicated to the protection and extension of individuals' civil rights, and is committed to ameliorating the most pressing civil rights issues of today.
I left the DOI Multi-Cultural Day with a profound gratitude for the people (both past and present) who have tirelessly worked to empower, emancipate, and lift the lives of others. It is a great honor to work beside such dedicated guardians of others' civil rights. And it is a true privilege to live in a country that passed the Civil Rights Act 50 years ago. As one panelist pointed out, progress toward social justice is never inevitable and rarely linear. But it is possible with the dedication, faith, and compassion of people like those who helped get the civil rights legislation into and through Congress. As we look toward the future, let us remember that we too are capable of producing such progress and that it is our responsibility to lift, rather than restrict, the lives of others.
Browne Dianis, Judith. "Under Fire." Stand Winter 2014: 28-33. Print.
King, Dr. Martin Luther, Jr. "A Look to 1964." New York Amsterdam News [New York] 1 Jan. 1964: The King Center. Web. 17 July 2014. <http://www.thekingcenter.org/archive/document/look-1964>.


Alistair Brown has been singing the old songs, and new songs written by people who like the old songs, since he was fifteen years old. He began his career helping out in the folk clubs of his native Scotland during the folk revival of the 60s, selling tickets & opening concerts for many of the great names in folk music.
For many years, he lived in Canada, where he was active in many aspects of folk song and dance, as a recording artist, radio broadcaster, reviewer, columnist, festival director, dance teacher, university lecturer, and program director at folk music and dance camps. With several visits each year, he continues to make regular appearances in North American folk clubs and festivals, performing solo, or with the Friends of Fiddler's Green, a band which celebrated its forty-fifth anniversary in 2016, without maturing in the slightest.
Now he lives in Cornwall, on England's Mediterranean coast, where he calls dances with the Newlyn Reelers and Tinners, and performs regularly in folk clubs, festivals, pub sessions and several ancient seasonal rituals that require the presence of accordions. When he's not performing solo, he sings and plays with Peter Wray. He is also a member of the Golowan Band, which leads the processions for the Mazey Day festivities in Penzance, and numerous other Cornish festivals. He joins Bagas Porthia several times a year to take part in St Eia Day celebrations in St Ives, and to lead the guisers around at midwinter.
Audiences at concerts and festivals across North America, Australia, New Zealand and the UK have responded enthusiastically to his performances, covering the field from big ballads, comic ditties, songs of struggles (usually unsuccessful) against temptation, odes to conviviality and songs of unashamed sentimentality, to outrageously funny stories from a master of the art - all this accompanied by anglo concertinas and button accordion.
He has entertained groups of elementary and secondary school pupils from 20 to 300 with songs and stories, been MC at many festivals and concerts, including hosting a symphony concert for an audience of 5000. He has been guest soloist for three different symphony orchestras, and appeared on numerous radio and television programmes. He has called dances and has played in several dance bands. He has run folk music courses at university, and has for several years, been artistic director for summer residential music programmes and of a major folk festival. He was producer/ host of A Sign of the Times, heard on radio station CIXX fm London, Canada for 25 years. For five years he also hosted Off She Goes, syndicated nationally in the USA on National Public Radio.
Alistair has performed in Australia, New Zealand, the US and Canada, as well as in clubs and festivals in the UK.
February/March 2020 Australia and New Zealand tour now booked. Details soon.


text:
#include "server.h"
#include "bio.h"
#include "atomicvar.h"
#include "cluster.h"

static size_t lazyfree_objects = 0;
pthread_mutex_t lazyfree_objects_mutex = PTHREAD_MUTEX_INITIALIZER;

/* Return the number of currently pending objects to free. */
size_t lazyfreeGetPendingObjectsCount(void) {
    size_t aux;
    atomicGet(lazyfree_objects,aux);
    return aux;
}

/* Return the amount of work needed in order to free an object.
 * The return value is not always the actual number of allocations the
 * object is compoesd of, but a number proportional to it.
 *
 * For strings the function always returns 1.
 *
 * For aggregated objects represented by hash tables or other data structures
 * the function just returns the number of elements the object is composed of.
 *
 * Objects composed of single allocations are always reported as having a
 * single item even if they are actually logical composed of multiple
 * elements.
 *
 * For lists the function returns the number of elements in the quicklist
 * representing the list. */
size_t lazyfreeGetFreeEffort(robj *obj) {
    if (obj->type == OBJ_LIST) {
        quicklist *ql = obj->ptr;
        return ql->len;
    } else if (obj->type == OBJ_SET && obj->encoding == OBJ_ENCODING_HT) {
        dict *ht = obj->ptr;
        return dictSize(ht);
    } else if (obj->type == OBJ_ZSET && obj->encoding == OBJ_ENCODING_SKIPLIST){
        zset *zs = obj->ptr;
        return zs->zsl->length;
    } else if (obj->type == OBJ_HASH && obj->encoding == OBJ_ENCODING_HT) {
        dict *ht = obj->ptr;
        return dictSize(ht);
    } else {
        return 1; /* Everything else is a single allocation. */
    }
}

/* Delete a key, value, and associated expiration entry if any, from the DB.
 * If there are enough allocations to free the value object may be put into
 * a lazy free list instead of being freed synchronously. The lazy free list
 * will be reclaimed in a different bio.c thread. */
#define LAZYFREE_THRESHOLD 64
int dbAsyncDelete(redisDb *db, robj *key) {
    /* Deleting an entry from the expires dict will not free the sds of
     * the key, because it is shared with the main dictionary. */
    if (dictSize(db->expires) > 0) dictDelete(db->expires,key->ptr);

    /* If the value is composed of a few allocations, to free in a lazy way
     * is actually just slower... So under a certain limit we just free
     * the object synchronously. */
    dictEntry *de = dictUnlink(db->dict,key->ptr);
    if (de) {
        robj *val = dictGetVal(de);
        size_t free_effort = lazyfreeGetFreeEffort(val);

        /* If releasing the object is too much work, do it in the background
         * by adding the object to the lazy free list.
         * Note that if the object is shared, to reclaim it now it is not
         * possible. This rarely happens, however sometimes the implementation
         * of parts of the Redis core may call incrRefCount() to protect
         * objects, and then call dbDelete(). In this case we'll fall
         * through and reach the dictFreeUnlinkedEntry() call, that will be
         * equivalent to just calling decrRefCount(). */
        if (free_effort > LAZYFREE_THRESHOLD && val->refcount == 1) {
            atomicIncr(lazyfree_objects,1);
            bioCreateBackgroundJob(BIO_LAZY_FREE,val,NULL,NULL);
            dictSetVal(db->dict,de,NULL);
        }
    }

    /* Release the key-val pair, or just the key if we set the val
     * field to NULL in order to lazy free it later. */
    if (de) {
        dictFreeUnlinkedEntry(db->dict,de);
        if (server.cluster_enabled) slotToKeyDel(key->ptr);
        return 1;
    } else {
        return 0;
    }
}

/* Free an object, if the object is huge enough, free it in async way. */
void freeObjAsync(robj *o) {
    size_t free_effort = lazyfreeGetFreeEffort(o);
    if (free_effort > LAZYFREE_THRESHOLD && o->refcount == 1) {
        atomicIncr(lazyfree_objects,1);
        bioCreateBackgroundJob(BIO_LAZY_FREE,o,NULL,NULL);
    } else {
        decrRefCount(o);
    }
}

/* Empty a Redis DB asynchronously. What the function does actually is to
 * create a new empty set of hash tables and scheduling the old ones for
 * lazy freeing. */
void emptyDbAsync(redisDb *db) {
    dict *oldht1 = db->dict, *oldht2 = db->expires;
    db->dict = dictCreate(&dbDictType,NULL);
    db->expires = dictCreate(&keyptrDictType,NULL);
    atomicIncr(lazyfree_objects,dictSize(oldht1));
    bioCreateBackgroundJob(BIO_LAZY_FREE,NULL,oldht1,oldht2);
}

/* Empty the slots-keys map of Redis CLuster by creating a new empty one
 * and scheduiling the old for lazy freeing. */
void slotToKeyFlushAsync(void) {
    rax *old = server.cluster->slots_to_keys;

    server.cluster->slots_to_keys = raxNew();
    memset(server.cluster->slots_keys_count,0,
           sizeof(server.cluster->slots_keys_count));
    atomicIncr(lazyfree_objects,old->numele);
    bioCreateBackgroundJob(BIO_LAZY_FREE,NULL,NULL,old);
}

/* Release objects from the lazyfree thread. It's just decrRefCount()
 * updating the count of objects to release. */
void lazyfreeFreeObjectFromBioThread(robj *o) {
    decrRefCount(o);
    atomicDecr(lazyfree_objects,1);
}

/* Release a database from the lazyfree thread. The 'db' pointer is the
 * database which was substitutied with a fresh one in the main thread
 * when the database was logically deleted. 'sl' is a skiplist used by
 * Redis Cluster in order to take the hash slots -> keys mapping. This
 * may be NULL if Redis Cluster is disabled. */
void lazyfreeFreeDatabaseFromBioThread(dict *ht1, dict *ht2) {
    size_t numkeys = dictSize(ht1);
    dictRelease(ht1);
    dictRelease(ht2);
    atomicDecr(lazyfree_objects,numkeys);
}

/* Release the skiplist mapping Redis Cluster keys to slots in the
 * lazyfree thread. */
void lazyfreeFreeSlotsMapFromBioThread(rax *rt) {
    size_t len = rt->numele;
    raxFree(rt);
    atomicDecr(lazyfree_objects,len);
}


CED Member and Mentor Partner IDEA Fund Partners, a venture capital firm providing seed and early stage financing to technology companies throughout the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic regions, today announced an investment in GradSave, an innovative online college savings registry.
Investing alongside angel investors, the funds will enable the company to accelerate product development and expand marketing efforts.
Based in Miami, Florida, GradSave is a safe, secure and easy to use college savings registry that has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, U.S. News & World Report, Inc., Fox Business and others. GradSave helps parents, family and friends save for a child's future education by providing a platform to track and receive contributions that can be linked to any 529 college savings account. More than 4,000 families have already signed up for GradSave to help them save for their children's future education, according to a statement released by the company.
IDEA Fund Partners is based in Durham, NC.


text:
Taking stock of millimeter wave activity ahead of FCC auction
FCC has already allocated 12.55 gigahertz of millimeter wave spectrum
Millimeter wave spectrum is key to delivering on the ultra-high throughput speeds associated with 5G. In the U.S., the Federal Communications Commission is gearing up auction 28 GHz and 24 GHz licenses on Nov. 14, and domestic operators AT&T and Verizon are launching their first 5G services using the 39 GHz and 28 GHz bands respectively. This momentum, coupled with other regulator-led activity in key global markets, highlights the fundamental role of millimeter wave in 5G.
In Europe, U.K. officials plan to allocate 26.5 GHz to 27.5 GHz in the 2020 timeframe as do their counterparts in Spain, Austria, Finland and France. Earlier this year Italian officials auctioned off licenses for that same band. Sweden, Russia and Germany plan to move on 26 GHz next year, while Switzerland is looking toward 2022.
Qualcomm SVP of Spectrum Strategy and Technology Policy Dean Brenner said China is little further out on millimeter wave spectrum. In 2017 the government solicited public opinion for candidate bands 24.75 GHz to 27.5 GHz and 37 GHz to 42.5 GHz.
In Korea, operators are moving toward commercial 5G launches in early 2019. In June of this year, regulators auctioned sub-6 GHz frequencies as well as spectrum in the 26.5 GHz to 28.9 GHz range. Japanese officials plan to allocate millimeter wave spectrum next year.
"We're going to use every conceivable kind of spectrum there is for 5G," Brenner said during a recent event in Hong Kong. Noting 5G's projected economic impact of $12 trillion in goods and services by 2035, Brenner said, "When regulators, government officials, set policy for spectrum, they understand this kind of impact is just gigantic. There may be no single sector of the global economy that can have a bigger impact on life in general than mobile."
Back in the U.S., major players Verizon, T-Mobile US and AT&T, along with numerous other bidders, will take part in Auction 101 later this month, which covers frequencies from 27.5 GHz to 28.35 GHz. That will be immediately followed by Auction 102, which covers frequencies from 24.25 GHz to 24.45 GHz and 24.75 GHz to 25.25 GHz.
According to the FCC, the 28 GHz licenses will be offered in two 425 megahertz blocks allocated by county; the 24 GHz licenses will be offered in seven 100 megahertz blocks based on generic blocks in each Partial Economic Area.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has also said he's planning to push for a second millimeter wave spectrum auction covering the 37 GHz, 39 GHz and 47 GHz bands in the second half of 2019.
The post Taking stock of millimeter wave activity ahead of FCC auction appeared first on RCR Wireless News.


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MONROVIA – The 4th of March is the start of the registration of the 9th edition of the Orange Social Venture Prize in Africa and the Middle East. Until May 30, 2019, candidates have the opportunity to propose their project in the category "Orange Social Venture Prize" here
This prize, awarded by Orange, rewards innovative projects based on Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) which improve the living conditions of people in Africa and the Middle East in fields such as education, healthcare, farming, mobile payments or sustainable development.
The competition will start with a national phase, during which each of the 18 participating Orange subsidiaries will assess the projects submitted in its country and select 3 winners. In addition to the global prize money, Orange Liberia will provide additional prizes for applicants from Liberia. The Liberian based first prize finalist will receive US$3,000, second prize finalist will receive US$2,000 and the third finalist will receive US$1,500. A fourth prize of US$500 will be provided to the Liberian entry which wins the online popular vote. All Liberian finalists will receive their prize money by Orange Money.
This will be followed by an international phase, during which all 54 national winners will compete for an international jury which will present the Orange Social Venture Prize grand prize to the three final winners at the AfricaCom in Cape Town, South Africa in November.
Like our three winners of the 2018 edition: OKO (Mali), ISAHIT (Côte d'Ivoire) and AnemiApp (Democratic Republic of Congo); the three international winners will receive, in addition to the national prizes, respectively € 25,000, € 15,000 and € 10,000.
1304 files were received in 2018 and of these, 10 benefited from personalized support by Orange and its partner, the start-up incubator Bond'Innov. In 2019, 10 other international finalists will also have the opportunity to have support from professionals in the creation and financing of young companies.
The Orange Social Venture Prize is open to all students, employees and entrepreneurs over age 21 whose initiative is under three years old and serves Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Guinea Bissau, Guinea Conakry, Jordan, Liberia, Madagascar, Mali, Morocco, Niger, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of Sierra Leone, Senegal, Tunisia. Since 2011, the Orange Social Venture Prize is part of a logic of detection of young talents, at the heart of Orange's strategy.
Telecoms EN News update Telecoms and ICT in Africa - Issue no 967 – 15 March 2019
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