text:
William Lee Chiongbian was a Filipino politician and businessman. He represented Misamis Oriental's at-large congressional district in the House of Representatives. He is also the founder of the Cebu-based shipping company, William Lines and a patron of football in the Philippines.

Early life
William Chiongbian was born in 1915 or 1916 in Misamis (now Misamis Occidental) to Victoriano Chiongbian of Jimenez and Rosario Lee (born Lee Chay Hong) who resided in Oroquieta. The elder Chiongbian was a politician who was elected as a councilor of Plaridel in 1925 and became first municipal mayor of Don Mariano Marcos which was later renamed after him in 1986.

Political career
Chiongbian was first elected as representative of Misamis Oriental's at-large district in the House of Representatives in 1953. He was re-elected four times in 1957, 1961, 1965, 1969 serving until 1972. However Guillermo Sambo successfully filed an electoral protest against Chiongbian for his election in 1961. Sambo, who was ruled the winner of the 1961 elections by the Supreme Court served from 1962 until 1965.

Business career
Chiongbian established the William Lines shipping company on December 13, 1945, making Cebu as its hub. He named a ship M/V Victoriano after his father which had its maiden voyage serving the locales of Cebu to Tagbilaran, Bohol and Siquijor, then to Plaridel and Ozamiz, Misamic Occidental.

From 1946 to 1949, his citizenship was subject to dispute by the Bureau of Customs, which meant that Chiongian could lose his ships since non-Filipino citizens cannot operate and own vessels of Philippine registry at that time. In 1949, the Supreme Court ruled that Chiongbian is a Filipino citizenship explaining that the election of Chiongbian's father into political office had the legal effect of making him a Filipino citizen, which extended to the younger Chiongbian who was a minor at that time.

William Lines' fleet grew to 15 ships and Chiongbian himself was named Shipping Man of the Year by the Business Writers Association of the Philippines. Chiongbian ceded William Lines to his son, Victor in 1966.

Involvement in football
Chongbian was involved in football as a patron. A former football player in college, he formed the William Lines Football Team. The football team initially played matches within Cebu against local collegiate teams, seminarians, and visiting teams and later played outside Cebu such as in Dumaguete, Bacolod and Iloilo which are considered as football strongholds in the country. His team was also among the first Filipino club to employ a foreign coach, when Chiongbian brought in Scottish coach Tom Sneddon, who led Hong Kong to a third-place finish in the 1956 AFC Asian Cup, to coach William Lines

Chongbian served from 1955 to 1957 as football committee chair of the Philippine Amateur Athletic Federation. He also contributed to the Philippines national team providing  for the side's preparation for the 1958 Asian Games. The team was able to hold training in Spain prior to the games. The Philippines finished as quarterfinalist for that edition of the Asian Games, causing a 1–0 upset against Japan in the group stage in the process.

Chongbian also encouraged the formation of other football teams such as the Casino Español, Hap Hing Hardware and United Hardware.

The William Lines team eventually went to Manila to take part in competitions in the capital. However, due to issues in his shipping business forces Chongbian to disband the team.

Death
Chiongbian died on August 17, 2002, due to a heart attack. He was rushed to the Cebu Doctors Hospital in Cebu City but was declared dead on arrival. He was aged 87.

Personal life
Chiongbian was married to Virginia Sy of the SyCip family and had six children.

References

2002 deaths
Filipino sports executives and administrators
Members of the House of Representatives of the Philippines from Misamis Occidental
People from Cebu City
Filipino people of Chinese descent
20th-century Filipino businesspeople
Businesspeople in shipping
Filipino football chairmen and investors
1910s births

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Financing and the Post-2015 Agenda: Making the Case for HIV
The Post-2015 Scenario
In September 2015, the UN General Assembly will be adapting a new set of development goals, with 2030 as its end-goal timeline. The proposed goals, currently referred to as Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), are envisaged to define the UN Member States' development priorities and financing in the next 15 years. Unlike the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) which included a specific goal for AIDS (Goal 6), the present articulation of the proposed SDGs, as agreed upon in the Open Working Group's (OWG) final Outcome Document [1], include AIDS as one of the nine targets under the Health Goal. Overall, there are 17 proposed goals and 169 targets in the Outcome Document, which will be the main basis for the intergovernmental negotiation process at the 69th session of the UN General Assembly in September 2015. [2] The AIDS target statement reads:
3.3 by 2030 end the epidemics of AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, and neglected tropical diseases and combat hepatitis, water-borne diseases, and other communicable diseases.
This iteration manifests a double-edged reality: progress has been achieved in many parts of the world in stemming the tide of new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths; paradoxically, the global 'de-prioritization' of HIV in the development agenda could potentially undermine the future of the HIV response, threatening its sustainability and initial successes.
By the end of 2013, UNAIDS reported that 35 million people were living with HIV worldwide and new HIV infections were estimated at 2.1 million.[3] These figures show a significant reduction in new infections, as well as AIDS-related deaths, primarily due to increased access to treatment by people living with HIV in the last decade. As of June 2014, around 13.6 million people were receiving anti-retroviral therapy, indicating strongly that the 15-million-people-on-treatment-target will be met by 2015.
With the HIV situation improving or plateauing in many countries, it has become a concern that there is less compulsion for governments to make it a priority issue. This presents serious implications with regards to resource allocation and programming, especially for prevention programmes for key populations and civil society organizations engaged in the HIV response.
HIV Financing: Is there money for HIV?
The prospect of sustained financing for HIV is dim. Resource tracking from UNAIDS notes that recipient governments of bilateral or multilateral HIV funding cannot expect donor governments, particularly from OECD countries, to continue or increase their contributions in the coming years. Funding commitments in 2013 fell to US$8.07 billion, a 3% drop from 2012, which was largely due to the United States, the largest donor country in the world, decreasing its annual commitments.[4] In addition, HIV assistance from the U.K., France, Germany, and the Netherlands in 2013, which are historically the four largest donors after the U.S., were all either at or below levels reached in previous years.[5]
Recent financing trends reveal that donor countries are shifting from bilateral to multilateral funding. An example of this is the increased contributions to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Global Fund). However, with the New Funding Model (NFM) of the Global Fund, low and middle-income countries will become ineligible for funding and this will have serious implications on countries, which do not have a high national HIV burden, but have concentrated epidemics among key populations. It also means that the money will be apportioned for the three diseases, which could result to less allocation for HIV.
In Asia and the Pacific region, only twenty-four per cent of the total funding for HIV and AIDS from 2009-2012 was used for prevention, and of this, only 35% was spent on programmes for key populations.[6] The biggest share of the resources was spent on treatment and care (47%), with programme management and administration coming in third with 18%. Spending on treatment is necessary to curb AIDS-related deaths, however, a disproportionate allocation that deprioritizes prevention, especially among key populations, may well lead to increases in new HIV infections, overturning the initial gains in the HIV response.
In many countries in the world, prevention is funded largely by external sources, while treatment and care is now increasingly being sourced from domestic resources. The emphasis on domestic financing is underscored by the inclusion of 'Closing the Resource Gap' as one of the ten targets emanating from the 2011 Political Declaration on HIV and AIDS. In the last five years, considerable efforts were undertaken by UNAIDS to track countries' HIV expenditures, investments and assistance, with the view that without increased investment, the HIV prevention and treatment targets will not be met.
The push for domestic spending sends a message to governments to not abdicate on their duty to fulfill the health needs of their citizens, particularly key populations who are often marginalized and unable to access health services and information. However, while evidence suggests that community-led HIV programmes and services are most effective in ensuring that hard-to-reach populations are able to have access to these services, community-based networks and organizations running these services do not necessarily have access to government funding. In many instances, prevention programmes are largely externally-resourced, with the Global Fund as one of the main donors. In Asia and the Pacific, 95% of funding for MSM and 94% of funding for sex workers are externally sourced. Thus, the threat of reduced funding from international donors could have a chilling effect on the sustainability of community-led programmes. There is also less optimism that governments will pick the tab for community-led programmes, given the often testy relationship between government and civil society.
Currently, there are discussions around various schemes and approaches to sustain HIV financing, which are envisaged to respond to the funding threats. These include "transition funding", integration into national health financing systems, such as through social health insurance, or in sexual and reproductive health (SRH) programming, and inclusion in universal health coverage, among others. The concerns raised against HIV exceptionalism have also propelled the discussion towards integration, as having stand-alone, siloed HIV responses are deemed as unsustainable in the long term.
While the modalities of transition funding are still being discussed, there is considerable apprehension that civil society and community networks, especially among key populations, would bear the consequences of reduced resources the most. Apart from this, funding to address critical enablers such as reduction of stigma and discrimination, promotion of human rights, inclusion of gender and sexuality in the response and engagement of civil society and communities, would be the first to get cut off. UNAIDS notes that funding for human rights accounts for less than 1% of the US $18.9 billion spent on the overall HIV response in 2012.
The inclusion of HIV in UHC has been championed by the World Bank and the WHO, as a means to ensure that the HIV response is 'mainstreamed' and integrated into national health systems. The WHO defines UHC as "ensuring that all people obtain the health services they need, of good quality, without suffering financial hardship when paying for them."[7] Voices concerned and critical of UHC note that there is a risk that countries will seek to advance progress towards UHC by focusing on easier to reach populations, while excluding more marginalized populations including people living with and those most affected by HIV, such as men who have sex with men, sex workers, people who use drugs and transgender people.[8] Thus, a parallel approach of addressing inequities and elimination of stigma and discrimination needs to be undertaken in order for UHC to work.
New Targets for 2030
With the post-2015 process already rolling, UNAIDS has proactively gone ahead to develop its new round of treatment targets. Targets are essential in measuring achievements, as well as gaps and failures in the HIV response. In light of changing political and economic realities, scientific advancements in bio-medical research and heightened community engagement in the HIV response, governments need to ensure that they are able to take these contexts into account, as they move towards a future that requires considerable investment from their end. Ending AIDS in 2030 is now deemed as achievable, but the means of implementation have not yet been spelled out concretely in terms of global and national strategies and indicators.
The first group of targets to be developed for treatment, also known as 90-90-90 are as follows: [9]
By 2020, 90% of all people living with HIV will know their HIV status.
By 2020, 90% of all people with diagnosed HIV infection will receive sustained antiretroviral therapy.
By 2020, 90% of all people receiving antiretroviral therapy will have viral suppression.
These targets, along with WHO's recently launched treatment guidelines, i.e., initiation of treatment at 500 CD4 count or upon diagnosis if coming from a key population and practicing riskier behavior, are meant to scale up treatment and stem the tide of new infections. Discussions are ongoing on how these guidelines will be rolled out, with due consideration of current resource limitations and potential HIV funding glut. It also brings to light the challenges brought about by intellectual property barriers, which makes life-saving ARV drugs unaffordable in many countries. There are also persistent concerns about governments being able to ensure that they adhere to rights-based principles and approaches and that no violation of rights or coercion occurs throughout the entire cycle of HIV programming, in the desire to meet the targets.
Fast-Tracking the end of AIDS by 2030
On occasion of the 2014 World AIDS Day, UNAIDS has launched a report on 'fast-tracking the end of the AIDS'. The report lays out resource requirements of countries to enable them to meet the goal of ending AIDS. Low-income countries will require US$ 9.7 billion in HIV funding, lower-middle-income countries will need US$ 8.7 billion, and upper-middle -income countries will require
US$ 17.2 billion in 2020.[10] The emphasis on investment for AIDS is underpinned on the premise that if the resources are reduced, there would be severe cost implications for HIV programming beyond 2020.
Despite the wealth of information on what is needed to overturn the HIV epidemic, global commitments and actions remain uneven. While civil society and communities strive to engage meaningfully in the response, without secure HIV financing from domestic and external sources, fast-tracking or ending the AIDS epidemic will be stalled. This entails that governments are able to mobilize resources through their budget allocations and have the fiscal space to do so. However, national budgeting is a highly political process that entails multiple levels of negotiations and trade-offs involving legislative and executive branches of government. This then requires vigilance on the part of civil society and communities to understand the budget process, in order to intervene effectively. It also entails monitoring government expenditures, in order to track whether the budget allocations are efficiently and properly spent.
The case for addressing HIV and AIDS has long been established. Not only will it lead to positive health outcomes, but will also contribute to fulfillment of human rights, achievement of gender equality and justice and tackling of social and economic barriers. Sustained investment in HIV programming, as a stand-alone response or integrated into existing health systems, from domestic or external sources, for treatment, prevention and enabling environment, will be requisite in enabling the end of AIDS.
[1] http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/68/970&Lang=E
[2] http://www.un.org/en/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/68/309
[3] UNAIDS, Fast-Track: Ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030, 2014
[4] UNAIDS and Henry J Kaiser Foundation, Financing the Response to HIV in Low and Middle-Income Countries: International assistance from Donor Governments In 2012, July 2014
[5] Ibid. p 6.
[6] UNAIDS Asia-Pacific Data Hub HIV Expenditure http://www.slideboom.com/presentations/856026/HIV-expenditure
[7] World Health Organization, What is Universal health Coverage?, October 2012. (http://www.who.int/features/qa/universal_health_coverage/en/index.html
[8] http://www.aidsalliance.org/assets/000/000/819/Health__in_the_post-2015_Development_Framework_original.pdf?1407230086
[9] UNAIDS, 90-90-90 An Ambitious Treatment Target to Help End the AIDS Epidemic, 2014
[10] UNAIDS, Fast-track: Ending the AIDS Epidemic by 2030, 2014
Categories Articles

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


At the rate I am going…I may never stop publishing photos of California. It's so cool to see so many people enjoying these images. It's really a wonderful thing when you can make connections with people through a visual medium, such as a photograph. Have a great weekend everyone!
those who are…HAUNTED… by MEMORIES.
Thank you too, I'm indebted to you – being able to see real world!
I was only overexcited and I still am getting – thinking of what more can be there to your spectacular photography skillslll so I went on cluttering your blog with comments. Of course, you are amazing at everything you do, but photography really is my love.
I agree! 🙂 When I was a young child, I lived in New York for a few years. I do not like the idea of returning to a place that has snow and freezing cold weather in the winter.
What beautiful pics of SoCal!
Thanks Jen! You have a really nice blog!
These are beautiful! Thank you for sharing with us!
I live in California. It's nice to see images of my home state.
It is a beautiful state! I have lived here for two years, and love it. What area of Cali is your favorite?
Northern California…. Yosemite, Foothills, Lake Tahoe, Napa Valley, Frisco.


I keep harping on how position is the key to performing a mechanically-sound golf swing without compensations or manipulations.
If you think about it, the ball is not in motion, and if you are swinging from a fixed point on the ground, then there is really only position from which you can swing to make pure contact without having to engage some or a lot of hand-eye coordination and lateral/vertical motion.
Just think of the Iron Byron, as a matter of fact – you know what the motion is that the I.B. is going to perform, so take that out of the equation and what are you left with other than the position of the Iron Byron in relation to the ball?
That's all that's left if you don't position the machine properly with relation to the ball, then it won't be able to create the ball flight your desire, providing it even makes contact with the ball!
So when you have a swing model giving you the proper mechanics in order to perform a repeatable swing motion, then you usually only have the position to look at when you make a bad swing, unless you know right away that you made an actual bad motion.
You'll notice the exact same things Jack did in setting up to the ball as the MCS Golf Swing model calls for, right down to his hands – where are the hands supposed to be in the MCS setup, and where are his?
So, it's more than just the basic guidelines of having, say, the right-biased spine, which is a good start – there are other factors in play when setting up to the ball such as where you position your ball with the different clubs (again, look at the ball positions and compare with the MCS positions).
The more "standard" you can make your stance and mechanics, meaning you have the same setup and motion for all clubs, the easier it is to make repeatable swings and play golf.
And the next time you're tempted to say, "Well, the mechanics are one thing, but position and stance aren't that important," ask yourself how well the Iron Byron would hit balls if you didn't care what the positioning was when setting it up to swing.
If your response is to say, "Well duh, of course you have to set the machine up properly to the ball to get it hit proper shots," ask yourself if you're better than a machine if you're not taking your setup seriously!
This entry was posted in Address Procedure, Jack Nicklaus, Leverage, MCS Golf Swing, Pivot and tagged Address Procedure, DJ Watts, Jack Nicklaus, Leverage, MCS Golf Swing, Pivot, WAX Golf on September 21, 2018 by D Watts.


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Franz Marc "Ställe" 1913. (1)
Expressionism – United for the Revolution
The 20th century begins with several sensations. Sigmund Freud discovers the subconscious, the Lumière brothers invent filmmaking and the Wright brothers conquer the skies. Life in the modern world has become more difficult to fathom, full of pictures and – most of all – faster. In Germany, artists react with a revolution. They want to free colors and forms from their representational prisons. It is not how things appear that is important, but how they are felt. And because a revolution can only be successful when undertaken together, the artists team up to form collectives. In Dresden, Die Brücke is formed, and in Munich it's Der Blaue Reiter. Their joint solution is called "Expressionism". And their goal is "Abstraction".
The influence of Der Blaue Reiter on painting in the 20th century can hardly be overestimated. However, the group within itself is much less stable and harmonious than it appears from the outside. Tensions about their artistic direction and the looming war lead to estrangement between the members. They will disband in the summer of 1914. Too soon for the aspiring artist Heinrich Campendonk, only 25 years old at the time, who hardly benefited from Der Blaue Reiter nimbus at all.
At first, Expressionism is a German phenomenon. While Cubism in France was breaking apart seeing in perspective and Futurism in Italy celebrating progress, the German avant-garde were working on the liberation of forms and colors. Expressionism is thus by definition a countermovement of Early Impressionism. It is no longer important how we see things, but how the artists express themselves in them. A change of perspective: instead of from the outside in, things are now thought through from the inside out. The artist collective Der Blaue Reiter is at the heart of this revolutions. Forms and colors are no longer bound by representationalism, but now only serve to convey artistic expression.
In June 2017, Wolfgang Beltracchi paints the group portrait of Der Blaue Reiter in front of The Münter House in Murnau. He had already prepared studies for the work in his studio.
From Idea to Painting
Heinrich Campendonk, born in 1889 and the youngest member of Der Blaue Reiter, owed almost everything artistically speaking to the group. His stylistic development, at first influenced by French Cubism, then by Franz Marc, and later increasingly by Kandinsky, reached its peak in 1914, the year Der Blaue Reiter was disbanded. Campendonk must have found the signs of disintegration within the group particularly tragic. Just when he had found his own style, the friends scattered in all directions. As a premonition of this development, Campendonk could have painted the group portrait in the summer of 1914 as a last reminiscence of happier times. Wolfgang Beltracchi designed the group portrait with the dimensions 190 x 275 cm. The format is an allusion to the turbulent birth of Der Blaue Reiter. In 1911, Kandinksy submitted an abstract painting with exactly these dimensions to the Neue Künstlervereinigung München. As Kandinsky had anticipated, the jury rejected the painting. This cleared the way for Kandinsky, Marc and Münter, among others, to found the new artist collective. The photo gallery shows how the painting was created.
A first sketch for the group portrait of Der Blaue Reiter, which Beltracchi will paint using the artistic voice of Heinrich Campendonk. The depiction of the six different personalities and their painting styles pose an enormous challenge for composition of the picture. How can it do justice to all Der Blaue Reiter painters?
Wolfgang Beltracchi works on the underdrawing in his Swiss studio. This is among other things essential for orientation on the 190 x 275 cm canvas.
The underdrawings on the faces of the six artists depicted are fixated, so that the contours still partially shine through even after being painted over.
Wolfgang Beltracchi paints The Münter House on site in Murnau. He paints standing at the exact location where all Der Blaue Reiter painters in his work would actually have been. Beltracchi doesn't just paint Kandinsky, Marc and all the others using the artistic voice of Heinrich Campendonk; he also paints various paintings on the artists' easels using their respective artistic voices, portraying how they could each have painted The Münter House.
The size and complexity of the motif require quiet and concentration, so Beltracchi moves the canvas to the studio at ZOTT Artspace Munich to complete his work. Weeks pass until the painting is finally ready for him to sign.
The finished painting. From right to left: Wassily Kandinsky, Gabriele Münter, Franz Marc, August Macke, Marianne von Werefkin and Alexej von Jawlensky. Marc's canvas is not visible to the viewer, but two of his cats are playing under his easel. The group portrait combines seven artistic voices into one composition.
Five Facts About Expressionism
Der Blaue Reiter and Die Brücke are considered to be the two most influential artist collectives of German Expressionism. Their influence on painting in the 20th century was enormous, although both groups were only short-lived. Die Brücke existed for eight years, Der Blaue Reiter only three.
1. FROM THE INSIDE OUT
There was a 180-degree turn from Impressionism to Expressionism. Impressionism is regarded as a movement that wanted to reproduce the world as it appeared to the artist from within. Expressionism (from Latin expressio "expression") reverses this direction. From now on, what is inside the artist is to be expressed in the things depicted. Colors and forms are thus no longer bound to objects, but are oriented towards artistic expression.
2. GERMAN-RUSSIAN CONNECTION
Three of Der Blaue Reiter members – Kandinsky, Werefkin and Jawlensky – came from Russia. However, the First World War abruptly broke up this German-Russian cooperation. Kandinsky, Werefkin and Jawlensky have to flee Germany. Marc and Macke fall on the battlefields in France.
3. ART IN PRACTICE AND IN THEORY
Der Blaue Reiter artists are not only productive with the brush, but also with the pen. Kandinsky and Marc especially compose numerous written works, which are meant to be an art theoretical accompaniment to the Expressionist Revolution. This reflection on their own works and artistic paths calls into question the sovereignty of critic's opinions. At the beginning of the 20th century, that is also avant-garde.
4. MORE THAN JUST PAINTING
The Expressionist Revolution extends beyond painting. The liberation of forms and colors corresponds in music with the liberation of harmonies from tonality, and in poetry with the liberation of sound from meaning. Painting, music, poetry: this trio of arts is also reflected in the artists' lives. Franz Marc is close friends with the expressionist poet Else Lasker-Schüler. And a self-portrait by Arnold Schönberg, composer and occasional painter, is shown in Der Blaue Reiter's first exhibition.
5. A FATAL MISTAKE
Many artists in Germany believe the war that is breaking out over Europe to be a force of nature and a purifying force. Franz Marc is convinced that the war is a "healing, albeit cruel, passage". The general mood is permeated with a desire for departure and change. But Marc and his comrades-in-arms confuse the aesthetic revolution with the real horror of war. True understanding only comes on the battlefield: "The war is of a nameless cruelty. You're gone before you know it," writes Macke from the front. Macke, Marc and many other artists of the time pay for the error in judgement with their lives.
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner "Eisenbahnüberführung Löbtauer Straße in Dresden", 1910. (2)
Marianne von Werefkin "Kalkofen", 1912. (3)
Wassily Kandinsky, "Little Painting with Yellow (Improvisation)", 1914 (4)
A JOURNEY THROUGH THE HISTORY OF ART
Image copyrights:
1: Franz Marc "Ställe" 1913. © bpk / The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation / Art Resource, NY
2: Ernst Ludwig Kirchner "Eisenbahnüberführung Löbtauer Straße in Dresden", 1910. © bpk | Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden | Hans-Peter Klut
3: Marianne von Werefkin "Kalkofen", 1912. © bpk | Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen
4: Wassily Kandinsky, "Little Painting with Yellow (Improvisation)", 1914. © bpk / Philadelphia Museum of Art / Art Resource, NY
c: Gustav Klimt "Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I" 1907. © John Baran / Alamy Stock Foto.
d: Detail from "The oldest known icon of Christ, 6-7th C" © www.BibleLandPictures.com/Alamy Stock Foto


We are experienced in compliance and integration consultancy services in Switzerland.
Having ourselves lived in many countries and been confronted with permit, tax, accommodation and many other questions, we now offer this information as part of our services.
With contract and customer relations management experience in Europe and Switzerland, combined with human resources management and contractor management in Switzerland, we are well qualified to help you and your staff relocate and integrate to the city or town of your or their choice in Switzerland.
In addition, we are well versed in the provision of compliance audits for companies, to ensure that their external or freelance employees are working in full accordance with the appropriate Swiss employment regulations and laws.


Owl Eyes: Elegantly Dark, Gracefully Nocturnal | MELODYKICK.
➷ Brooke Addamo, better known by her moniker Owl Eyes, is a diamond underneath a display case of costume jewelry. Over the last few decades, multitudes of female artists have risen to fame through the wide spectrum of modern pop music, but the genre has quickly become saturated with singers who suffer from the same debilitating disease: lack of originality. However, through a homogeneous injection of pure, innovative artistry, and refreshing musical inventiveness, Miss Addamo seems to have found a cure for this common cold. Owl Eyes initially came to fruition through a triad of consecutive EPs. In 2013, she released her first full-length album, Nightswim, which captured a darker ambiance to Addamo's multi-faceted talents. Although the general vibe of her music has matured since her debut, most of her songs are written from a nostalgic, 80's synth-pop perspective, while focusing heavily on fluid production value. What sets Owl Eyes apart from other singers is the unique utilization of her voice. Rather than layering lyrics over a track, Addamo knits herself into the songs themselves, allowing her voice to amalgamate beautifully with the other instruments. The sound is superb from the ground up, and all one can ask for is more of the same.


text:
Q: CakePHP - Klarna API - Installing & running an external app PHP API I think this question relates to most PHP API's you download and run in your application. I want to integrate the Klarna API with my  CakePHP application. Now, I am not a very seasoned CakePHP programmer so my questions might be very rudimentary. But I haven't figured this out conceptually, how it works with external non-CakePHP software in a CakePHP app. Basically how do I set it up and use it.

*

*In which folder do I put the Klarna files in my CakePHP app? Webroot?

*To initialise and configure the Klarna API for use, do I simply put the Klarna code in the controller without messing about with any of the CakePHP component / plugin load procedures?

*Do I then run the API code in the controller as well?

*I don't need to be using cURL to talk to Klarna in this case right? The Klarna API will make the call to Klarna's servers itself?

A: Provided you have received testing login credentials from Klarna, this is a working example:

*

*Download the PHP API from Klarna. The files should be placed in the "/Vendors" folder as per
Loading Vendor Files in CakePHP 2.0
& App Class, I put them in a folder named "klarna" for the sake
of organising things. Klarna API consists of quite a few files so
can be a good idea.

*You'll initialise and setup the API in the relevant
controller, or I did at least. To load the vendor files do:
App::import('Vendors, 'klarna/klarna');. Given CakePHP's folder structure, I had to modify a couple of lines from the .getAddresses file example. One was previously '/transport/xmlrpc-3.0.0.beta/lib/xmlrpc.inc', became '/vendors/klarna/transport/xmlrpc-3.0.0.beta/lib/xmlrpc.inc'. Similar for the one two lines below. Remember to set the test-accounts "Shared secret" and "merchant ID" as well as having the right test-server configured. Then you can test the API against one of Klarna's test persons.

*Yes, the configuration and execution of the Klarna API both happens
in the controller as per examples. It's just normal PHP code though.

*We don't need to be using cURL for this API. The API takes care of the calls itself.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


im coming to Seoul on the 30.6 and would love to climb!
i have some gear, find me on facebook as "itay bondy"
I just got into Seoul a week ago and I am dying to climb! I'm here on exchange at Yonsei until December. Can't help much with any gear since I only have shoes and a harness, but let me know if you wanna try indoor too!


Got fidgety on the train, and just wanted to write code, on the way down to Portland for ML4ALL so I wrote up some decision tree code on determining what IDE's I want opened up. Ya know, if you do something more than twice it needs automated, so I've started the process of automating all startup and shutdown tasks for a day's coding. Simplistic geeky train geek code fun code is fun geeky train code. Cheers!
return "\n\nCome on, you know better. You get at best two out of three.\n\n"
return "No IDE for you."
This entry was posted in golang, Ml4all, Unknown Code Ramblings and tagged geektrain, ide, Ml4all, portland, train on May 27, 2018 by Adron.
April 12th-14th is the epic .NET Fringe Conference. For those coming from Seattle for the conference, there's going to be a geek train, there however one major decision that needs to be made. What departure should we board to get to Portland. This is where I'll need your help to decide. There will be a mini-hack, wifi, food, and likely we'll actually get the entire car to ourselves with enough of a crew. So sign up, vote, vote often and frequently for your preferred departure time! I'll see you on the train!
Along with the departure, the trip, events for the trip and more information will be posted on the .NET Fringe site soon, along with additional ideas here.
This entry was posted in .NET Bits, Community, Conferences and tagged .NET, alt.net, amtrak, amtrak cascades, asp.net, conference, portland, seattle, train on March 4, 2015 by Adron.
Docker Portland, Docker Hack Day & Portland Docker Logo -> Represent!
I threw together a Portland Docker logo user group banner today.
Why did I create a Portland docker logo? Because tomorrow is the Portland docker user group meet up. RSVP the group and check it out. I won't be able to make this meet up but I will be attending and participating regularly. It's at New Relic, so easy to find, great views and epic tech to discuss. Let me know how it goes.
On December 3rd, which I hope to be able to attend, it's Docker Global Hack Day! Check out more by following the @dockerhackday and log into IRC and join #docker. Happy hacking, cheers!
This entry was posted in Community, Containers and tagged docker, docker global hack day, docker portland, hack day, portland on November 19, 2013 by Adron.


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Andrew Mayne is a Wall Street Journal bestselling novelist, inventor and magician. He is a two-time Thriller Award finalist and an Edgar finalist for his novel Black Fall. In 2019 he swam alongside great white sharks using an underwater stealth suit in the Discovery Channel Shark Week special Andrew Mayne: Ghost Diver. Having written and produced over fifty books, DVDs, and manuscripts on magic, he was described in 2010 as one of the most prolific magic creators of the 2000s.
He is also the publisher of iTricks.com and the host of the Weird Things podcast, one of the top 25 Natural Science podcasts on iTunes. Known for his off-beat magic that mixes science and mystery, his illusions include shrinking his body to two feet tall and drinking liquid nitrogen.
Andrew Mayne has published over sixteen novels. His novel The Naturalist spent eight weeks at the top of the Amazon best sellers list.
The Grendel's Shadow (2011)
Public Enemy Zero (2011)
Hollywood Pharaohs (2012)
Knight School (2013)
How to write a Novella in 24 Hours (2015)
Andrew Mayne started his professional performing career as a teenager working a summer in a circus. By the time he was nineteen he was performing in resorts and cruise ships including Norwegian Cruise Line, Majesty Cruise Lines and Carnival Cruise Lines. At the time he was the youngest magician performing internationally with an illusion show.
As a magic consultant he has worked for Penn & Teller. Among his more popular creations is a modernized version of the arm through body illusion first performed by Horace Goldin. Mayne's version, Gut Buster shows the hand penetrating the skin and can be performed in an impromptu manner.
Black Coral : A Thriller (Underwater Investigation Unit…
Andrew Mayne Apr 3, 2021 0


text:
COVID likely 3rd leading cause of death in US for 2020
Heart disease and cancer typically top the list
Young man, 19, with no known health issues dies from COVID-19
By CNN staff | January 5, 2021 at 1:28 PM CST - Updated January 5 at 1:28 PM
(CNN) – More than 350,000 people died from COVID-19 in the United States last year, making it likely the third leading cause of death for 2020.
Only heart disease and cancer are suspected of killing more people last year.
The Centers for Disease and Prevention is compiling the data and looking at all the figures to determine the exact numbers.
But based on the totals from 2019, the agency thinks COVID deaths will rank in the top 3.
Heart disease and cancer typically top the list.
The Latest on President Donald Trump's impeachment and the fallout from the Jan. 6 attack of the Capitol by pro-Trump loyalists.
Rusk County Sheriff's Deputy put on leave following allegations of assault


Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) is characterized by multiple fluid-filled cysts resulting from increased proliferation and alterations in the fluid transport properties of the renal epithelium. The renal Na,K-ATPase is critical for the vectorial movement of salt and water, but its role in the pathophysiology of ADPKD is not understood. The cardiotonic steroid ouabain blocks the activity and transport properties of the Na,K-ATPase. In addition, ouabain stimulates proliferation in some cell types. We found that nanomolar concentrations of ouabain induced proliferation of kidney cells from patients with ADPKD, but had no effect on normal human kidney cells (NHK). The effect of ouabain was dependent on activation of Src and the EGFR. Inhibition of MEK blocked ouabain-induced cell proliferation, suggesting that the mitogenic effect of ouabain was mediated through the MEK-ERK pathway. In addition, ouabain increased apoptosis in ADPKD cells. However, proliferation is favored over apoptosis. Dose response curves for the interaction of ouabain with Na,K-ATPase activity showed that unlike NHK cells, the enzyme in ADPKD cells exhibits a higher affinity for ouabain. The aberrant ouabain affinity of ADPKD cells was not due to altered expression of Na,K-ATPase isoforms, because like NHK cells, ADPKD cells only possess the α1β1 isozyme. These results show that ouabain causes changes in the number of cells in the ADPKD epithelium, stimulating its growth. Because ouabain is an endogenous hormone present in blood, it may play a role in formation and progression of cysts in ADPKD. Supported by NIH grant HD043044 and the PKD Foundation.


text:
Printable Form 1024 Saint Paul Minnesota 2018-2023
Printable Form 1024 Saint Paul Minnesota: What You Should Know
Paul, MN) is open Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (St. Paul, MN) is open Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. 30 May 2023 — The Minnesota Department of Revenue (DOOR) and the Minnesota Board of Accountancy are launching a tax consultation service to provide individuals with IRS Form 1099 and Minnesota schedules with all their information. What are the penalties for not paying the taxes on my return? The penalties for failure to pay the tax on any federal return are in The penalties for failure to pay the tax on any federal return are in Section 6332(i) of the Internal Revenue Code of the United States. Filing a false return is a felony in the second degree under section 6402. 6302 (2), 6302 (3), and 6302 (9) of the Internal Code of the United States There are penalties for not filing any return in any other penalties for failing to file a return. 6302 (10) of the Internal Revenue Code of the United States If there is an overpayment or a deficiency, that is a matter of federal law.
Online methods assist you to arrange your doc management and supercharge the productiveness within your workflow. Go along with the short guideline to be able to complete Printable Form 1024 Saint Paul Minnesota, keep away from glitches and furnish it inside a timely method:
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Joseph Mayton
Eating less meat is more Islamic
By: Joseph Mayton
The Qu'ran reminds us animals and birds are 'communities like you'. So why do so many Muslims break their fast with meat?
For most of the billion-plus Muslims who sit down each evening to break their Ramadan fast, meat will be on the menu. Lots of it. But how Islamic is eating meat?
Not very, according to Sheikh Hamza Yusuf, who argues that historically Muslims ate so little meat they were almost vegetarian. "Meat is not a necessity in sharia, and in the old days most Muslims used to eat meat – if they were wealthy, like middle class – once a week on Friday. If they were poor – on the Eids."
In today's world, meat-eating has taken on a new fervour, with many Muslims demanding animal flesh as part of their daily diet. Just the other day, an Egyptian journalist was relating to me how he attended a dinner at a local organisation here in Cairo. When people arrived, questions began to fly across the hall: "Where is the meat? We aren't going to have enough for everyone."
According to a recent study by the Egyptian cabinet's Information and Decision Support Centre, 89% of Egyptians eat more than 2kg of meat monthly. This figure rises along with social class. The study revealed that wealthy Egyptians often consume more than 8kg of meat each month.
The prophet Muhammad was not an advocate of daily meat-eating. Instead, the Islamic Concern website says, he warned his followers against constant meat consumption as it could become "addictive". It seems that 1,500 years later his concerns are not being heeded.
Early Islamic leaders and scholars repeatedly emphasised that animals were to be cherished and treated in a humane manner, but many Muslims nowadays view animals as the dominion of people. A sheikh at the Egyptian ministry of religious endowments told me: "Animals are slaves for human purposes. They were put here for us to eat, so talk of vegetarianism is un-Islamic."
This statement by the ministry official goes against everything the prophet stood for, in the opinion of Gamal al-Banna, a prominent Islamic scholar who has come under attack in recent years for his "liberal" stance. Al-Banna told me that being a vegetarian and Muslim does not break any tradition and is in no way un-Islamic.
"When someone becomes vegetarian they do so for a number of reasons: compassion, environment and health reasons," he began. "As a Muslim, I believe that the prophet would want the followers to be healthy, compassionate and not destroy our environment. If someone believes not eating meat is that way, it is not like they are going to go to hell for it. It may be the right thing to do."
Al-Banna continued, when I asked him about the Eid al-Adha sacrifice (which many argue is obligatory), that any Muslim who believes in being vegetarian does not have to slaughter a sheep. "In today's modern world, ideas and religion change and Islam is no different. We must not remain rigid in our understanding of faith to mean the blind acceptance of anything, killing living beings included. There is no obligation to kill."
Others disagree, arguing that meat-eating is part of the Islamic tradition and, thus, vegetarianism is a foreign notion for the Middle East. Muslims who eat meat at every iftar (fast-breaking evening meal) this month undoubtedly believe they are doing the right thing. On the other hand, the idea that animals are merely slaves to humans is not only abhorrent to animal-rights advocates, but seems to be at odds with the prophet's teaching.
Some would argue that the prayer said before halal slaughtering is part of Islam's humanity when animals are killed for food. This may have been true historically, but in today's "halal" slaughterhouses, a pre-recorded prayer often blares nonstop as the animals are lined up and killed. That is a cop-out from what Islam teaches about "humane" slaughter.
Ultimately, the argument is simple. The Qur'an reveals that all living animals are sentient beings, just as human beings are.
"There is not an animal on earth, nor a bird that flies on its wings – but they are communities like you." (Qur'an, 6:38)
Joseph Mayton is an American journalist based in Cairo, Egypt. He is currently working on a book about the Muslim Brotherhood and is founder/editor of Bikya Masr website.
This article was originally published in The Guardian on August 26, 2010.
Photo Credit: ugod
Tagged: Gamal al-Banna, Joseph Mayton, meat-eating, vegetarianism


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Q: Display labels with "selected" indicator I work in durandal project, and have html page with 3 label.
I want the label to behave like radio-buttons: When one is selected- other not selected.
I want that the labels will be gray, and the selected label (user select by click) will become black.
Of course, I can do it by jquery, like:
html:

java-script:
 var selectedId = "large"; //global variable
 function change(e, s){
   $('#'+selectedId).css('color', 'Gray'); // change previous-selection to gray
   $('#'+sender.currentTarget.id).css('color', 'Black');// change current-selection to gray
   selectedId = sender.currentTarget.id;
 }

But, Is there any better way to do it?

A: Give them a common class such as ".labels" and wrap them, the html becomes :

    large
    medium
    small

In your css define 2 classes, one with the active state (black):
.labels{
color:#ededed;
}

.active{
color:#000;
}

And your javascript/jquery:
$(document).on('click', '.labels', function(){
  $(this).addClass('active').siblings().removeClass('active');
});

And you're done. Fiddle
For a pure css solution refer to @gulty's answer.

A: With pure css and hidden radio buttons:
http://jsfiddle.net/GFC2G/2/
input[type="radio"]{display:none}
input[type="radio"]+label{
    color:red;
   -webkit-transition:0.2s all linear;
   -moz-transition:0.2s all linear;
   -o-transition:0.2s all linear;
   transition:0.2s all linear;
}
input[type="radio"]:checked+label{
    color:black;
}

HTML:
<input id="radio1" type="radio" name="rad">Radio 1
<input id="radio2" type="radio" name="rad">Radio 2

A: working code is below,this will work 100%
http://jsfiddle.net/bqLbu/1/

hi22
 hi 2342
 hi424


text:
USA: October Is GLBTQ History Month
In the USA, October is celebrated as Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer (GLBTQ) History Month. This observance is a time when many educators use the opportunity to share highlights with their students of personalities and events throughout history, both contemporary and from the past, that involved or were affected by members of our community. In some instances, the lives of some of the persons featured are historic simply because of their accomplishments and achievements. This observance helps to eradicate the myth that our community is simply a modern phenomenon.
Most of us don't need to be instructed as to why GLBTQ History is necessary. Until recent times, little, if any, of it was known except for what was the current gossip about who might be gay, lesbian or bisexual. A scarce few even gave a fleeting thought as to what should or should not be preserved for future generations.
Thankfully, all of that is now in the past and there now exists growing documentation of our vibrant and extraordinary story. Not only from antiquity but also including the present. GLBTQ History Month, no matter where we live or when it is observed, is an important opportunity for us to familiarize ourselves with our heritage, our legacy and to make others aware that we were there, along with everyone else, through each of humanity's stage of development and progress.
GLBTQ History Month In The USA:
In 1994, Rodney Wilson, a secondary school history teacher from the state of Missouri, believed a month should be dedicated to the celebrating and educating of others about GLBTQ history. He gathered together other teachers and community leaders and they selected October because public schools were in session and National Coming Out Day (October 11) was already observed during this month.
The first gay and lesbian history month was held during October, 1994, and was endorsed by The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF), the National Education Association (NEA), and other national organizations. In 2006, Equality Forum assumed responsibility for providing content, promotion and resources for GLBTQ History Month.
The GLBTQ community is the only community worldwide that is not taught its history at home, in public schools or in religious institutions. GLBTQ History Month provides role models, builds community and makes the civil rights statement about our extraordinary national and international historic presence.
GLBTQ History Month In The UK:
A nationwide GBBTQ History Month first occurred in the United Kingdom in February, 2005. It was initiated by Sue Sanders, Elly Barnes and sponsored by Schools OUT UK. February was selected as the month of celebration as that was the month that Section 28 of the penal code was abolished in 2003. Another factor is that traditionally February is one of the least eventful months in British education.
In Brazil:
This South American country celebrates its GLBTQ History Month during the Sao Paulo Gay Pride Parade. Since 1999, the events have been organized by APOGLBT – Associacao da Parada do Orgulho de Gays, Lesbicas, Bissexuais e Travestis e Transexuais. This event id observed during the months of either May or June, annually.
In October, 2016, Minus 18 organized the first Australian GLBTQ History Month celebration in partnership with the Australian Lesbian and Gay Archives and the Safe Schools Coalition Victoria.
Author's Note: The background on the above national GLBTQ History Month programs accessed through Wikipedia.com. I regret the limited availability of additional information.
2018 GLBTQ History Month Honorees:
Each year, 31 honorees are selected by the Equality Forum to be featured that year during GLBTQ History month. This process permits each honoree to have their own special day of focus. Below are listed the 2018 honorees and their date of honor. Please note that the honorees are listed in alphabetical order by their surname. The number before each name is their date featured.
Gilbert Baker, Rainbow flag designer
Lance Bass, Pop singer
James Beard, Internationally renown chef
Elizabeth Birch, Human Rights Campaign Executive Director
Melvin Boozer, Gay pioneer
Sandro Botticelli, Renaissance painter
Richard Burns, Movement leader
Jonathan Capehart, Pulitzer Award jounalist
Francesco Cartagena, Puerto Rican activist
Debra Chasnoff, Documentary filmmaker
Chi Chai-Wei, Taiwanese gay pioneer
Meg Christian, Feminist singer-songwriter
Ani DeFranco, Grammy Award singer
Gavin Grimm, Teen transgender activist
Sean Hayes, Actor
Joyce Hunter, Gay pioneer
Tab Hunter, Actor & singer
Dale Jennings, Gay pioneer
Roberta Kaplan, Marriage Equality attorney
Steve Letsike, South African activist
Saul Levin, CEO of APO
Rachel Levine, Transgender Secretary of Health
Tarell Alvin McCraney, Oscar Award screenwriter
Ann Northrop, AIDS activist & journalist
Adam Rippon, Olympic figure skater
Danica Roem, Transgender State legislator (Virginia)
Michelangelo Signorile, Journalist/radio host
Ethel Smyth, Composer & suffragette
Leo Varadkar, Prime Minister of Ireland
Perry Watkins, Pioneering military activist
Chely Wright, Country music singer
Congratulations to all the above honorees and a posthumous salute and gratitude to those who have died. On behalf of everyone reading and/or visiting ReNude Pride, I sincerely appreciate all of your efforts on behalf of our GLBTQ global community.
ReNude Pride Celebrates Bare GLBTQ History Month:
In keeping with my custom from last year, every Friday during the month of October, 2018, I will post a feature of images depicting bare men from "back-in-the-day" (vintage pictures). There aren't volumes of bare history documented aside from a few questionable legends such as Lady Godiva. Someone has got to initiate this trend somewhere, so it might as well be yours truly.
The first of this year's Bare GLBTQ History Month series posts here on ReNude Pride publishes this upcoming Friday, October 5.
For additional information on GLBTQ History Month in the USA, and for daily features on each of the above named honorees, visit the Equality Forum maintained website by clicking on the link below:
GLBTQ History Month
Their website also contains listings of previous years honorees and downloadable information sheets on all of the current honorees including biographical data and an image of each. The website also explains the vetting process for selecting a new set of honorees for next year.
Happy GLBTQ History Month!
Roger/ReNude Pride
Posted on October 1, 2018 September 27, 2018 Author renudeprideCategories equality, gay, history, nude encouragement, nudecentric, nudity, personal experience, pride, resources, UncategorizedTags celebration, education, glbtq history month, information, social justice, spirit
4 thoughts on "USA: October Is GLBTQ History Month"
Naturist Fab (natfabart) says:
Very insightful Roger and glad to know that there was a movement to hand a dedicated month for the GLBTQ community. Thank you and Naked Hugs! Fabien xx
The same back to you and thanks, Fabien!
mcpersonalspace54 says:
Thanks for the detailed post. I learned some new things!
I'm glad that you liked it and expanded your horizons! Naked hugs!
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UK electronics retailer Maplin has opened a 'drone academy' to train its staff to become experts in flying the remote control copters.
The retailer is training a team of novice 'droners' to fly the DJI Phantom 3 Advanced Quadcopter Drone.
The first droners, who are based in Rotherham at Maplin's head office, have been receiving specialist training from the retailer's drone expert Russell Stephens.
Stephens has been teaching the group how to capture video footage and to fly drones safely, within the CAA guidelines.
Last year, Maplin sold more than 10,000 drones and says the product was a "must-have Christmas gift".
Henry Swift, Brand Communications Director from Maplin said: "Since we've started selling drones they've been flying off the shelves.
"We believe that Maplineers should be experts in their field, so we've literally taken them out of the store and onto the field.
Maplin is now stocking the Parrot Bebop Drone with Skycontroller (£699.99) and the Blade Chroma Quadcopter Drone (£1099.99). They are designed to be simple to use and able to capture aerial videos and photos.
With the emergence of UK drone racing, the devices are certainly looking like they're becoming more popular.
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FOR SALE OR TRADE 1992 chevy 1500 4x4 truck with awesome built engine. Has brodix angle plug heads brodix aluminum intake manifold aluminum brodix valve covers 750 cfm holley carb turbo. 350 transmission with 3500 stall converter posi rears with 355 gears dual exhaust with flowmaster mufflers. Like new super swampers with nice aluminum wheels ready for the road or the mud or sand good truck that is very strong running. Show me what you have for trade i like old cars or trucks.


text:
ABA endorsement suggests Merrick Garland may be 'the perfect human being.' Republicans raise doubts.
President Obama and Vice President Biden walk out of the Oval Office with Judge Merrick B. Garland. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
By Greg Jaffe
Greg Jaffe
National security reporter
The American Bar Association gave its highest possible rating to Judge Merrick Garland, President Obama's nominee for the Supreme Court, at a moment when the campaign to give him a hearing and a vote in the U.S. Senate seems to have stalled.
The White House touted the ABA's nod of approval as proof of Garland's "record of judicial excellence." Republicans countered that the ABA's earlier endorsement of Justice Samuel Alito's nomination by former president George W. Bush did not sway Obama or Vice President Biden, both of whom joined 25 other Senate Democrats in a filibuster to block him before he was eventually confirmed.
[For Merrick Garland, a methodical life of ambition]
To describe the ABA's endorsement as glowing would be an understatement.
"He may be the perfect human being," one anonymous legal professional told the ABA in evaluating Garland's integrity.
"He will fit in so perfectly on the Supreme Court," another evaluation raved. In keeping with the "perfect" theme, other lawyers praised his "perfect temperament" and described him as a "perfectionist in his written work." The ABA's endorsement was based on confidential interviews of private practice lawyers, law professors, and state and federal judges.
There is little indication that the ABA's backing will make much of a difference with skeptical Republican lawmakers who view him as less than perfect. A flurry of meetings with senators on Capitol Hill seems to have given way to stasis over the past several weeks.
Garland has met "with just about every single Democratic senator in the United States Senate" and "a number of Republican senators," White House press secretary Josh Earnest said Monday. "So this is the situation that we find ourselves in right now."
Most Read Politics
Analysis Trump and the GOP are sneaking a Trojan horse into the 2020 dialogue


text:
Tamron 18-270mm f/3.5-6.3 DI-II (IF) LD VC Macro Aspherical Review
By Jon Tarrant January 1, 2010 12:00 am GMT
Tamron 18-270mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II VC LD Aspherical (IF) Macro lens review
2. Pros and Cons
4. Sample images
Useful Vibration Compensation
MTF at loong focal lengths
Review Price: £450
It may only offer 20mm more of maximum focal length, but Tamron's 18-270mm zoom is much more capable than its 18-250mm sibling. The biggest difference is, in fact, the addition of a Vibration Compensation system that vastly improves usability.
The 18-270mm lens is longer, wider, heavier, more expensive and features more elements. These are not, however, necessarily bad things: the wider barrel is easier to grip and its greater length means the zoom ring has almost the same wideness as the zoom and focus rings combined on the older lens. The zoom action has a slight hesitation around 70-100mm, but this is minor and does not detract from its overall smoothness.
The Vibration Compensation system, which takes a moment to activate, does an excellent job of steadying the viewfinder image and is probably the best reason to prefer this lens over the 250mm version. Sadly, the higher-technology lens is available in Canon and Nikon fits only, whereas its ancestor is also available in Pentax and Sony mounts.
As was the case for the 250mm version, the MTF curves again show a distinct separation between the longer and shorter focal lengths. The differences are not quite as acute due to both some improvement at the longer focal-lengths and a little mid-range degradation. That said, there is a significant improvement in wide-aperture performance generally and the minimum focal-length MTF curve is much better than before. Nevertheless, there is no escaping the fact that Tamron still has some work to do in respect of the longer focal lengths' MTF figures.
Chromatic aberration was seen, especially at the maximum focal length, in both the technical images and also demanding real-world pictures, such as along the edges of the distant blocks of flats in the standard test scene. Ironically, it was probably the greater sharpness provided by the activated vibration compensation system that allowed the fringes to be seen in all their glory.
Pedigrees don't get much better than the Tamron 18-270mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II VC LD Aspherical (IF) Macro lens. This 18-270mm's immediate ancestor was named EISA Consumer Lens of the Year Award 2007-8 and its more-modest predecessor won TIPA's Best Consumer Lens of the Year Award in 2005.All of this excitement is understandable given that Tamron's design boasts the kind of zoom range that is normally offered only by compact-camera lenses. The latest version has a full 15x zoom range and also features Vibration Control (VC) technology as well as the usual range of special-dispersion glasses and aspheric profiles. All with a list price of £600 but available from some WDC advertisers for around £475.The Tamron 18-270mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II VC LD Aspherical (IF) Macro lens has a sleek cylindrical profile with a generous zoom ring and a rather narrow manual-focusing ring, which rotates in AF mode despite the presence of an internal focusing system. Zooming is slightly stiff at mid-range focal lengths (around 150mm) and the total extension almost doubles the length of the barrel but the lens is easy to use and its balance remains good throughout.Inevitably, given its compact dimensions, the maximum aperture is somewhat limited. This limits creative picture-taking, in terms of restricting depth-of-field, but at least the VC system allows longer exposures to be used, thereby increasing usability in a different direction.Technical testing reveals a split personality: at shorter focal lengths this is a well-behaved lens that would give many more-modest zooms a run for their money, whereas at longer focal lengths its resolution becomes much less impressive due to high-magnification softness and some chromatic aberration. Barrel distortion is visible at the 18mm setting but this quickly disappears and there is only slight pincushion distortion from about 35mm right out to 270mm.Despite these clinical findings, real-world pictures taken at what ought to be 'weak' focal length settings exhibit no obvious flaws, which is very encouraging. As in so many modern lenses, the 'macro' label is cheeky although this lens does have the noteworthy ability to cover an object-field area of just under 50x70mm.Overall this is an impressive lens. Other lenses may be better honed for specific situations but I can well imagine being very satisfied with Tamron's superzoom if it were the sole lens taken on a speculative outing or away on holiday.
By Jon Tarrant
Jon Tarrant contributed camera lens reviews to Trusted Reviews between 2008 and 2014. …