I've not really done much the last couple of days. Today I woke up, ate a little bit and kind of messed around until opening a music program and messing around seeing what I could do with odd time signatures. This lead me to Googling to see what others have done and then Youtube.
I then remembered hearing the same phrase "God is in the Rain" in an electro-industrial song and found it, Suicide Commando's God is in the Rain. I'm sure the song has other origins but I didn't bother to look it up.
I'm kinda weird and so I out loud responded to the song using audio taken from a movie saying "godless" in the beginning with "But I got Satan". Soon my head started putting to the melody when there wasn't vocals with my own thoughts "Satan's in me, isn't that a god?" and some variations there of. I know, kinda weird, since the song is about god not existing, but hey.
This prompted me to pull back up my DAW (music program) and start writing a melody that fitted with this inspired by theirs… of course my rhythm and pitches being my own with some half time 4 on the floor.
I decided it would go well with something I've been working on complete with the lyrics I came up with. Then after that I went back to listening to more music. This is actually something I do a lot, penning down ideas that come to me in between songs or putting my own thoughts to melodies. Almost always this is something very religious or spiritual to me.
However today it kept bothering me… the lyrics, something I had read in the comments. I just had to kind of maul over it a bit more and introspect on it. I wasn't happy to keep doing my normal routine when it comes to this habit. I had to stop and really dig into what it was.
The rare Intelligent Youtube comment!
Now, this comes back to my own little thing I worked on earlier. I really do relate to what Suicide Commando's lyrics. I just don't really agree so much. Yes, religion is often used to oppress people not just by "the state" as the commenter put it, but by society in general.
Right now Christians are relentlessly using their religion to oppress people in my own backyard (another source here) by using slurs during the city council (funny the newspapers left that out) or even straight up lying.
So I get the anger, I was there years ago, and maybe a part of me still is, but I never became "godless". As she said… "God is in the Rain". God is everywhere. God can be used to oppress or to liberate. I just happened to understand God as Satan, as it is that which opposes oppressive forms of Christianity and Islam and acts as a Promethean, empowering force.
Of course, later I discovered Hinduism but by then I was already pretty learned on the Left Hand Path and couldn't get off of it, even though I tried exploring orthodox Hindu religions for a while. If I like it or not, Satanism is where I belong. And I don't think it's just to oppose Christianity and Islam, but that is an element.
In a society where neither of those two religions are used to oppress people… Satanism to me wouldn't be about liberation anymore, but about maintaining liberty through acting as a vanguard against evil, more in line with the ancient Hebrew understanding. A force for good, to keep away "sin", and to encourage perseverance in steadfastness and dedication.
So, maybe not to Suicide Commando there isn't God in the rain… but there is to me, it's just that that God is Satan (and Shiva, Kali ect). I think what I know of that scene, she saw it too, in herself. The commenter pointed out that she became "her own god" described curiously as a "gnosis" which I found pretty insightful given the mystical implications.
I kind of feel like both the songs really touch on this subject. One rejects it, seeing the bad of religion, and one accepts the good.
I don't think we need to buy into lies or supernaturalism to have God. But it will defy a typical western, monotheistic understanding to do that. Trika itself accepts this God in us, in everything view. We are God, as well as God being all around us. It's nondual pantheism taken to an extreme. When one truly realizes that, all falsehoods and illusions melt away and you see reality for what it really is.
The first song is, to me, saying there is a painlessness that accompanies realizing that God "Is in the rain". It's a kind of communion with nature, and the realization at least in some small part of non-duality. At least to me. Traditionally in Hinduism a lack of suffering is said to accompany Moksha (liberation), so that's the lense I see it through.
Is that reality godless? Yes and no, as I said, it defies any sense most of us living in "the west" would understand it, and in Hinduism opinions differ. In my view it's little more than semantics. It is what it is, and gods are used to get there even if they themselves are not real.
So when I hear those songs, I feel God, even in the form of Satan in both of them. The latter I feel the negative but turn it into something positive. I personally don't have any value in being totally godless. If I did, I would probably be a Buddhist instead of Hindu.
Well that's about it really. I didn't actually expect that to get as deep as it did. Either way if you got a different view or have any questions or remarks feel free to leave a comment. How do you feel about it… do you feel God in the rain?


text:
You are here: Home > What's On > Doki Doki Manchester Japanese Festival
Doki Doki Manchester Japanese Festival
Type:Festival
Sugden Sports Centre
114 Grosvenor Street
M1 7HR
Nearest Tram Stop
Doki Doki - The Manchester Japanese Festival celebrates both traditional and modern Japanese culture. The festival includes talks, demonstrations, parades and other events showcasing Japanese culture, language, fashion, cosplay, games, music, dance, manga, anime, martial arts and other arts from Japan's past and present, as well as retail stalls, artist stands, a film screening and games area. Hot and cold Japanese food from a number of local retailers will also be available to festival goers. This year the festival is part of the Japanese Embassy Season of Culture UK
Dates and Opening Times
Sorry, this event has passed
Tram Stops
Lots of amazing sights from the natural world and different cultures.
An internationally-acclaimed venue delivering an eclectic programme of music and opera.
Whitworth Hall
The neo-Gothic Whitworth Building is a real Manchester treasure.
Black dog Ballroom - Dog Bowl
Expect ball dispensers inspired by the brand's own black dog, Bruce the Patterdale…
A popular calling point for touring productions and concerts, including big-name West End…
Contact Theatre
Manchester's cutting-edge arts centre.
A purpose-built centre for international contemporary art, theatre, film and books.
Out and proud bars, restaurants, cafés and clubs offer warm welcomes throughout the day…
The oriental centre of the city.
Manchester Central
Manchester Central is an award winning, globally renowned venue in the heart of one of…
Bridgewater Hall
Enjoy concerts ranging from classical and jazz through to world and popular music.
Clue HQ
Clue HQ – Manchester is a live "escape the room" game. You find yourself in a room with…
The Whitworth
Manchester's gallery in the park
Elizabeth Gaskell's House
Visit Elizabeth Gaskell's House to find out about Elizabeth and William's work, explore…
Manchester Art Gallery
Showcasing internationally renowned and Designated collections of fine art, decorative…
All Star Lanes
Located in Manchester's Historic Great Northern warehouse, All Star Lanes Manchester is…

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Nov 15, 2015 This video will present the technologies used to refine gold. produced by the IPMI as part of the exhibit, "Worth Its Weight - Gold from the Gr Teach process gold refining 99.99%. tips refine gold scrap fine gold recovery.
Oct 23, 2017 Explains every aspects of the Gold Refining Process with its step by step methods, practices and various techniques.
Apr 24, 2017 Used to refine gold on an industrial scale, the Miller Process, invented by Francis Bowyer Miller, is capable of refining gold to 99.95% purity.
Aug 7, 2013 Borax does more than clean clothes; it can also "clean" gold ore to It also plays an important role during the gold refining process as a flux.
A considerable degree of re- fining was found, comparable with that yielded by the medieval process of cementation with salt, and with a negligible loss of gold.
Answers to frequently asked questions regarding refining gold and silver precious We can accept and process gold, silver, platinum, palladium and rhodium.


text:
Hiker injured on Sugarloaf Mountain
Wilderness Rescue: On March 9 at 4:38 p.m., DEC's Central Dispatch received a call reporting a 73-year-old female hiker from West Park with a head and leg injury while hiking on the trail between Twin and Sugarloaf mountains. A group of five hikers from the 3500 Club began their hike at approximately 9 a.m. at Mink Hollow and proceeded to the plateau summit; four hikers then continued on Devil's Path over Sugarloaf Mountain. On the eastern descent near Pecoy Notch, the woman slipped on ice and fell. While two people hiked out to call for help, the woman and her husband continued down the Pecoy Notch trail. Forest Ranger Rob Dawson proceeded in at the Roaring Kill trailhead with rescue gear and located the woman at 6:30 p.m., approximately 1.3 miles from the trailhead. Ranger Dawson provided medical care and determined the woman had a stable right leg injury and right shoulder pain. While the woman was assisted further down the trail, Forest Rangers Jason Seeley, Katie Fox, Stephen Ellis, and Christine Nelson proceeded in with a Stokes litter. The woman continued walking out until approximately 0.75 miles from the trailhead and could not continue from there. She was packaged into the litter and a wheel was attached. Rangers Steven Jackson and John Gullen arrived to assist with the carryout and wheeled the woman out to Roaring Kill Road at 9:30 p.m. She declined further treatment, saying she would follow up with a doctor the next day.


Is cancer self aware?.Does it have consciousness? Is it aware of itself and of the environment it is living in? Is it aware of itself? Is there any intelligence there? Can it play tactically?
Does it think? Does it plan? Can it strategise?
Mine is gone at the moment – Hopefully for a long time but it was gone for a long time before and eventually came back in the same guise. To a different section of my lymphatic system but obviously with the same intention. Easily seem off by an incredible Oncologist and her battery of treatments.
Does it go away at all or just hide waiting for an opportunity to re-emerge, and if it re-emerges will it do so under changed conditions, genetically or otherwise.
Seems to me all games or rounds to date have ended in stalemate. Three rounds – three stalemates.
Is it useful for me to think in these terms, Waiting fir the next game or encounter.
How much easier life could be if one could accept that it is a drama. We are playing 'parts', parents, workers, learners, teachers, tourists, canoeists, cancer patients ….. Everything we do is a role. We are those roles only while we are playing them but the roles are not who we are. Better not to get too 'caught up' in the role. we should play each part at the appropriate time and play each part to the best of ones' ability but know that it is all about playing the role. All roles are important, they are ALL part of the 'play' of life. Experience each role!. Enjoy each role!. One person will never always be the hero or always the villian. Life is about variety and should be accepted as such. Stop briefly between each role, all the better to rehearse for the next part. Hero or Villian, Pleasure or Pain, Good or Bad, Rapids or Calm, they are all transitory.
A few short weeks ago I wrote about being on the rapids and having a really tough time. It felt as though I was in for a long tough ride. I was prepared for a long haul. Imagine my surprise when the Rapids went still – Literally still in a flash – I found myself on a calm stretch, a lake almost. The frantic energy of the Rapids just abated. My oncologist called (unexpectedly I must admit) and told me my scans were clear. The most unexpected news. Very welcome. Another valuable lesson – Don't anticipate!, Don't expect!. I just hope I can carry that lesson with me if and when the waters start speeding up again. But for now, Summer has broken out and meditation is boosting my supply of Satvic energy. I can loosen my grip and relax. I might even have more time to blog as I had originally intended. Hope so!!
I wrote a blog on emotional rapids almost two years. I really didn't think it would would take so long to have a re-look at that aspect of the canoe trip. In the previous blog the talk was about the sudden appearance of sadness and fear out of absolutely nowhere and the 'raw-ness' of these emotions. They are almost pure and are always powerful and somewhat overwhelming.
Going down a violently moving series of rapids (which is the only way I can describe my chemotherapy experiences to date) is bound to bring up emotions and this latest episode is probably just what should be expected. If I had to give any advice to fellow canoeists (and am addressing myself here also) or their close ones it would be … Expect nothing, anticipate nothing but be prepared, Don't get caught in it. If the emotions arise let them – They cannot be stopped, They must be acknowledged, They are valid and They will abate. They are transitory.


Watch Arctic Monkeys perform 'The Ultracheese' live for the first time.
Arctic Monkeys performed 'The Ultracheese' (from their new album, 'Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino') live for the very first time ever tonight in Nashville, while on their current tour of North America.
MusicMust-watch: Chvrches covering Arctic Monkeys' 'Do I Wanna Know?'.
MusicThere's no new Arctic Monkeys single. Just a 28-second ad.
MusicArctic Monkeys - listen to new song, 'Stop The World I Wanna Get Off With You'.
MusicWatch: Arctic Monkeys live at the BBC.
MusicArctic Monkeys - 'R U Mine?' & 'Snap Out Of It' live on Jools Holland.
MusicArctic Monkeys - 'R U Mine' and 'Do I Wanna Know?' live on Jimmy Kimmel.
MusicArctic Monkeys covering The Beatles' 'Come Together' for the 2012 Olympics Opening Ceremony.


text:
LoL Wild Rift Top Worst Characters you should Avoid from Play
by Dexa
League of Legends Wild Rift has taken its path into more depth, and they have already gained massive success on their rankings to players. Now this game has become a most popularized and achievable game in the industry, and so far it has not gained any downs compare to the success.
LoL wild rift has already made its place to become the most picking game on professional gamers, and it has already become so much enhanced with every feature they added.
Although League of Legends Wild Rift has the best champions and the best skills to attract players, it has some weak points. There is only a few luck on these characters, and they are more likely to be abandoned. Most of the times, these weak characters has not gained a good meta from their time, and overall their playing skills are also in a bad situation.
So here is a list of worst champions you will meet in the gameplay of wild rift.
Ivan is a character designed to go for the jungle. He has some unique type of skills with him and got power in dealing with forest monsters. But Ivern's ability is not associated with killing forest monsters. Those powers are only made to gain gold and also the experience as well. As a player, you are even free to share benefits like blue and red with your teammates. But overall, this hero will not be a one to deal with success always.
The support related with the Buff-equipped is not in a massive rank in Ivern. And it has already been reduced so any player will not use this champion. But most importantly this buff equipped support is not the only reason to make him abandoned. Even if that is stronger, ivern will not be a perfect choice for players because he will not battle like other heroes.
Ivern is too weaken than the other champions, and he has not to gain more vital skills as others. Although this game launched several years ago, ivern is a champion that has already forgotten by the players and the league of legends.
Aurelion Sol was launched in March 2016. This champion was created to the death of Ao Shin by the game creators. Aurelion Sol had powers to create lighthearted, storylines, and perform the unique type of skill sets once. So he was a principal character on will rift in some periods. But after the meta changes happen, this Aurelion Sol has disappeared from the summoner's rift in the wild rift.
At some specific points on the game wild rift, this Aurelion Sol was the general who is engaging with the wild rift's professional arena. He once took the arena by playing a vast road over with a rank roam, challenging to overcome. But in later Aurelion's powers and the glory had almost faded with time.
His fame becomes disappeared when the riot games identified this character as an uncomfortable one with the Aure's sleepy play. This was noticed by the professional game players as well. So Aurelion Sol has faded away with his early fame.
Once Aurelion's Sol most full strength is known to be as the roaming ability. That power has responsible for organizing the ganks and. That happens due to the capacity on terrain cross and accelerate by the comet of legend. Aurelion's skills were combined with Q star surge.
So he can create giant spheres in the middle of the map, and it was stunned in the larger scales of the map. But these types of skills were not much use for the gameplay of League of Legends wild rift. Star Forger is not something helps greater for players. So the LoL developers may have got into a decision making a strong buff as Aurelion is not capable of creating such a powerful buff to the gameplay.
Kled is presenting as a forward lizard in LoL. Kled's skill set is associates with the lizard, and it has already given extra virtual blood to him. So Kled was so good at being mutant for any fighting to happen in the League of Legends. Kled was super powerful to perform the combats in the game and reverse a whole kind of situation. He can do that on unexpected times with enough courage with himself.
As there are other commanders in League of Legends, Kled was not powerful enough like them. He did not excel as the usual commanders. The frequency rate of using the hero kled has become less in the professional arena of the league of legends. Kled is not going to be used any more due to his out of Meta features.
Illaoi was released on November 2015. In the beginning, this champion had more notable types of abilities on passive skills. And also this champion was capable f creating tentacles which are growing on the wall. Those tentacles have done massive damage to the enemies, and literally, illaoi was moving with an ultimate healing power with herself as well.
But overall Ilaoi was a weak character due to her less controlling effects. It is not counted as a problem on how many moves you get with her. Still, she has no powers on the controlling. The only controlling power she got with herself was E-Test of Spirit.
Lack of controlling effect is not the only thing for Illaoi to worsen at the game league of legends wild rift. This champion is too weal on counters and quickly becomes vulnerable with counters. And also she does not makes it speed with her moving. Ilari's moving speed is slow.
Without having an enough controlling effect, you cannot ever make short the opponents' distance and rush towards for the. So that weak point has made this champion o worst at the gameplay, and she is an easy target for enemies. As this champion holds a low speed with herself, she becomes more exposed to the enemies, making so much worse states to the entire gameplay in a league of legends.
At last, we will take Fizz. Fizz is still in the league of legends wild rift champion list, and he is a champion that becomes more annoying towards the going against. Although fizz has high mobility and severe damaging skill, he becomes more trouble on targeting. As fizz is making playful abilities, he is nor a one that we can get into a specific target so that you are vulnerable to have more damage from your enemies in the gameplay of league of legends wild rift.
League of Legends Wild Rift is something like a mixture of good and bad regarding their champions. Sometimes these champions have great stats with them, but they are hard to manage. Sometimes these are not even capable of working correctly. Although some of these champions have ample powers with them, less is their less control ability.
Here we have already described some of the worst champions available within LoL wild rift and choosing the right well-balanced one is your responsibility. That is the only way to make your path on LoL to success and be a champion at its best.
Read More Articles Here
Dexa
Researcher | Web Developer | Gamer |


As stated previously, I'm trying to get into DirectX 11. For a change I'm not using Visual Studio, but Sublime Text and Scons, with the MSVC compiler because of the DX11 header incompatibility with MinGW.
Sure. But by default, Scons uses the MSVC version matching your system: 64-bit for me. The solution is to add TARGET_ARCH='x86' in the Environment constructor call. Adding it afterwards by using Append doesn't work.


text:
/*

Package gocdk_pub_sub is for Azure Service Bus and RabbitMQ.

The referenced "gocloud.dev/pubsub" library is too big when compiled.
So this is only compiled in "make full_install".

*/
package gocdk_pub_sub

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
HomeVideosCovid is a Global Propaganda Operation
Covid is a Global Propaganda Operation
Asia Pacific Today - August 4, 2021
Host Mike Ryan and his guest Dr Piers Robinson
Dr Piers Robinson is an expert on communication, media and world politics, focusing on conflict and war and especially the role of propaganda
He is presently Co-Director of the Organisation for Propaganda Studies, Convenor of the Working Group on Syria, Propaganda and Media and Associated Researcher with the Working Group on Propaganda and the 9/11 'War on Terror'
From 2016 – 2019, he was Professor and Chair in Politics, Society and Political Journalism at the University of Sheffield.
Dr Robinson has served on the boards of several academic journals. He has lectured at the NATO Defense College in Rome and briefed senior UK military commanders and diplomats.
His Research interests focus on Organised Persuasive Communication and Contemporary Propaganda and his current projects include Propaganda and the Syrian conflict; Propaganda and the 9/11 Global War on Terror and Covid19.
Dr Robinson's books include the Routledge Handbook of Media, Conflict and Security (2016), Pockets of Resistance: British news media, war and theory in the 2003 invasion of Iraq, (2010) and The CNN Effect: the myth of news, foreign policy and intervention.(2002).
[Follow Asia Pacific Today channel on RUMBLE => https://rumble.com/c/ASIAPACIFICTODAY]
Asia Pacific Today Covid Covid -19 Vaccines Dr Piers Robinson Health Mike Ryan PROPAGANDA Videos


text:
/**
 *
 * @author greg (at) myrobotlab.org
 *
 * This file is part of MyRobotLab (http://myrobotlab.org).
 *
 * MyRobotLab is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
 * it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
 * the Free Software Foundation, either version 2 of the License, or
 * (at your option) any later version (subject to the "Classpath" exception
 * as provided in the LICENSE.txt file that accompanied this code).
 *
 * MyRobotLab is distributed in the hope that it will be useful or fun,
 * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
 * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
 * GNU General Public License for more details.
 *
 * All libraries in thirdParty bundle are subject to their own license
 * requirements - please refer to http://myrobotlab.org/libraries for
 * details.
 *
 * Enjoy !
 *
 * */

package org.myrobotlab.service;

import java.io.ByteArrayOutputStream;
import java.io.File;
import java.io.FileOutputStream;
import java.io.InputStream;
import java.net.URI;
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.HashMap;
import java.util.List;

import org.apache.commons.codec.digest.DigestUtils;
import org.apache.http.HttpHost;
import org.apache.http.HttpResponse;
import org.apache.http.client.methods.HttpGet;
import org.apache.http.conn.params.ConnRoutePNames;
import org.apache.http.impl.client.DefaultHttpClient;
import org.myrobotlab.framework.Peers;
import org.myrobotlab.framework.Service;
import org.myrobotlab.framework.Status;
import org.myrobotlab.logging.Level;
import org.myrobotlab.logging.LoggerFactory;
import org.myrobotlab.logging.Logging;
import org.myrobotlab.logging.LoggingFactory;
import org.myrobotlab.service.interfaces.ServiceInterface;
import org.myrobotlab.service.interfaces.TextListener;
import org.slf4j.Logger;

import com.sun.speech.freetts.Voice;
import com.sun.speech.freetts.VoiceManager;
import java.net.URLEncoder;

public class Speech extends Service implements TextListener {

	/*
	 * Speech supports 2 different text to speech systems One is FreeTTS and the
	 * other is a remote/cloud access of ATTs online implementation. The FreeTTS
	 * is a complete voice system and can be loaded with different
	 * external/thirdParty voices.
	 *
	 * The ATT is probably on the edge of licensing. An online system at ATT is
	 * available to use. This service will send the text to that online service,
	 * download the file and play it. Once it is downloaded, it will use the
	 * same file each time the text phrase is requested.
	 *
	 * There is a front-end set of functions and a back-end set of functions.
	 * The front-end concerns how the calling process and request will be
	 * handled. There are 4 types of speaking. speakNormal - when this function
	 * is utilized, it means any simultaneous requests for speech will be
	 * dropped. This most closely approximates human speech. You may have a
	 * bazillion thoughts going on in your head but you only have 1 mouth.
	 * speakQueued - this function queues up all of the requests for speech and
	 * will speak each one until done. This can have the behavior of being very
	 * out of context, as speaking takes considerable time relative to many
	 * other processes. speakBlocking - This blocks the calling thread until the
	 * speak function is finished. I can see very little meaningful use for
	 * this. speakMulti - This will create threads for each requests possibly
	 * allowing every speech thread to complete in the same time. (very Cybil)
	 * The back-end are just types of speech engines (ATT, FREETTS)
	 *
	 * References : Excellent reference -
	 * http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/435434/Text-to-Speech-tts-for-the-Web
	 * http://www.text2speech.org/ - another possible back-end
	 */

	// FIXME - Speech doesn't need HTTPClient - could just use
	// org.myrobotlab.net.HTTPRequest - and benefit from
	// 1 less dependency & proxy info

	public static enum BackendType {
		ATT, FREETTS, GOOGLE
	}

	public static enum FrontendType {
		NORMAL, QUEUED, BLOCKING, MULTI
	}

	private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;

	public final static Logger log = LoggerFactory.getLogger(Speech.class
			.getCanonicalName());

	// en_us en_gb en_au en_sa en_nz
	// String language = "en";
	// By using google's ".co.uk" translate site's GET request, you can generate
	// British English.
	// http://translate.google.co.uk/translate_tts?q=Your+soundcard+works+perfectly&tl=en
	// routing
	// http://translate.google.com.mx/translate_tts?tl=en&q=hello+this+is+google
	// http://translate.google.com/translate_tts?tl=zh_CN&q=%E4%BD%A0%E5%A5%BD%E3%80%82%E6%82%A8%E4%B9%9F%E5%8F%AF%E4%BB%A5%E8%AE%B2%E4%B8%AD%E6%96%87%E3%80%82
	String language = "en_gb";

	// TODO - seperate all of the var into appropriate parts - ie Global ATT
	// Google FreeTTS

	//private String googleURI = "http://translate.google.com/translate_tts?tl=%s&q=";
	private String googleURI = "http://translate.google.com/translate_tts?ie=UTF-8&tl=%s&q=";

	static String filter = "[\\\\/:\\*\\?\"<>\\|]";
	transient private Voice myVoice = null;
	private boolean initialized = false;

	public AudioFile audioFile = null;;

	transient private DefaultHttpClient client = new DefaultHttpClient();;

	public String voiceName = "audrey"; // both voice systems have a list of
	// available voice names

	public FrontendType frontendType = FrontendType.NORMAL;
	public BackendType backendType = BackendType.GOOGLE;

	boolean fileCacheInitialized = false;

	private boolean isSpeaking = false;
	private String isSaying;

	final public static HashMap<String, String> googleLanguageMap = new HashMap<String, String>();

	public String googleProxyHost = null;
	public int googleProxyPort = 8080;
	public int afterSpeechPause = 600;

	public final static String BACKEND_TYPE_ATT = "ATT";

	public final static String BACKEND_TYPE_FREETTS = "FREETTS";

	public final static String BACKEND_TYPE_GOOGLE = "GOOGLE";

	public static Peers getPeers(String name) {
		Peers peers = new Peers(name);
		peers.put("audioFile", "AudioFile", "plays tts files");
		return peers;
	}

	// codes - http://code.google.com/apis/language/translate/v2/using_rest.html
	public static void main(String[] args) {
		LoggingFactory.getInstance().configure();
		LoggingFactory.getInstance().setLevel(Level.DEBUG);
		try {
			Speech mouth = (Speech) Runtime.start("mouth", "Speech");
			// mouth.setVolume(0.1F);

			mouth.test();

			String test = " hello this is a test \\dev\\blah / blah : * ? \" blah \" blah > < <> bla | zod | zod2 "
					.replaceAll(filter, " ");

			log.info(test);
			Speech speech = new Speech("speech");
			speech.startService();

			speech.speakFreeTTS("hello");

			speech.setBackendType(BACKEND_TYPE_FREETTS);

			speech.speak("blah blah system check completed sir");
			speech.speak("dood this is awesome");

			speech.setGenderMale();

			//speech.setBackendType(BACKEND_TYPE_GOOGLE);
		    //speech.setLanguage("fr");

			speech.speakBlocking("this should work");
			speech.speakBlocking("bork bork bork bork again more more");
			speech.speak("did you say start clock");
			speech.speak("hello it is a pleasure to meet you I am speaking.  I do love to speak. What should we talk about. I love to talk I love to talk");
			speech.speak("goodby this is an attempt to generate inflection did it work");
			speech.speak("blah there. this is a long and detailed message");
			speech.speak("1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10, i know how to count");
			speech.speak("the time is 12:30");
			speech.speak("oink oink att is good but not so good");
			speech.speak("num, num, num, num, num");
			speech.speak("charging");
			speech.speak("thank you");
			speech.speak("good bye");
			speech.speak("I believe I have bumped into something");
			speech.speak("Ah, I have found a way out of this situation");
			speech.speak("aaaaaaaaah, long vowels sound");

			speech.setGoogleURI("http://tts-api.com/tts.mp3?q=");

		} catch (Exception e) {
			Logging.logError(e);
		}

	}

	public Speech(String n) {
		super(n);
		log.info("Using voice: " + voiceName);

		googleLanguageMap.put("english", "en");
		googleLanguageMap.put("danish", "da");
		googleLanguageMap.put("dutch", "nl");
		googleLanguageMap.put("german", "de");
		googleLanguageMap.put("french", "fr");
		googleLanguageMap.put("japanese", "ja");
		googleLanguageMap.put("portuguese", "pt");

		audioFile = (AudioFile) createPeer("audioFile");
	}

	private String cleanFilename(String toSpeak) {
		// Strip all chars that are not valid to use in a filename
		// windows list
		// A filename cannot contain any of the following characters:
		// \ / : * ? " < > |
		// ; is forbidden on unix.. not sure what else we need
		// get rid of parens also maybe?
		// TODO: find a nice clean list / library to do this
		String cleanSpeak = toSpeak.replaceAll(
				"^[.\\\\/:;*?\"<>|]?[\\\\/:*?\"<>|\\(\\)]*", " ");
		// cr/lf are not good in file names.
		cleanSpeak = cleanSpeak.replaceAll("\r", " ");
		cleanSpeak = cleanSpeak.replaceAll("\n", " ");
		cleanSpeak = cleanSpeak.replaceAll("  ", " ");
		return cleanSpeak.trim().toLowerCase();
		// return cleanSpeak.trim();
	}

	public byte[] getByteArrayFromResponse(HttpResponse response) {
		try {
			InputStream is = response.getEntity().getContent();
			ByteArrayOutputStream buffer = new ByteArrayOutputStream();

			int nRead;
			byte[] data = new byte[16384];

			while ((nRead = is.read(data, 0, data.length)) != -1) {
				buffer.write(data, 0, nRead);
			}

			buffer.flush();

			return buffer.toByteArray();
		} catch (Exception e) {
			Logging.logError(e);
		}

		return null;

	}

	@Override
	public String[] getCategories() {
		return new String[] { "speech", "sound" };
	}

	@Override
	public String getDescription() {
		return "speech synthesis service";
	}

	public synchronized Boolean isSpeaking(Boolean b) {
		log.info("isSpeaking " + b);
		isSpeaking = b;
		return isSpeaking;
	}

	// get list of voices from back-end
	public ArrayList<String> listAllVoices() {
		log.info("All voices available:");
		ArrayList<String> voiceList = new ArrayList<String>();
		if (backendType == BackendType.FREETTS) {
			VoiceManager voiceManager = VoiceManager.getInstance();
			Voice[] voices = voiceManager.getVoices();
			for (int i = 0; i < voices.length; i++) {
				log.info("    " + voices[i].getName() + " ("
						+ voices[i].getDomain() + " domain)");
				voiceList.add(voices[i].getName());
			}
		} else if (backendType == BackendType.ATT) {
			// TODO get list of att voices
			// could do it dynamically... not yet
			voiceList.add("crystal");
			voiceList.add("mike");
			voiceList.add("rich");
			voiceList.add("lauren");

			voiceList.add("audrey");

		} else {
			log.error("voice backendType " + backendType + " not supported");
		}

		return voiceList;
	}

	@Override
	public void onText(String text) {
		speak(text);
	}

	// FIXME - WTF ARE YOU DOING THIS ????
	public void queueSetLanguage(String l) {
		fileCacheInitialized = false;
		language = l;
	}

	/**
	 * request confirmation of recognized text this typically comes from a
	 * speech recognition service and is a verbal query - asking if they heard
	 * the correct phrase
	 *
	 * @param text
	 */
	public void requestConfirmation(String text) {
		speak(String.format("did you say. %s", text));
	}

	public synchronized String saying(String t) {
		isSaying = t;
		return isSaying;
	}

	public void setBackendType(String t) {
		if (BACKEND_TYPE_ATT.equals(t)) {
			backendType = BackendType.ATT;
		} else if (BACKEND_TYPE_FREETTS.equals(t)) {
			backendType = BackendType.FREETTS;
		} else if (BACKEND_TYPE_GOOGLE.equals(t)) {
			backendType = BackendType.GOOGLE;
		} else {
			log.error("type " + t + " not supported");
		}
	}

	public void setFrontendType(String t) {
		if ("NORMAL".equals(t)) {
			frontendType = FrontendType.NORMAL;
		} else if ("QUEUED".equals(t)) {
			frontendType = FrontendType.QUEUED;
		} else if ("BLOCKING".equals(t)) {
			frontendType = FrontendType.BLOCKING;
		} else if ("MULTI".equals(t)) {
			frontendType = FrontendType.MULTI;
		} else {
			log.error("type " + t + " not supported");
		}
	}

	public void setGenderFemale() {
		voiceName = "audrey";
		googleProxyHost = null;
	}

	public void setGenderMale() {
		voiceName = "jarvis";

		googleProxyHost = "94.23.0.183";
		googleProxyPort = 80;

		googleProxyHost = "91.236.255.195";
		googleProxyPort = 3128;

		googleProxyHost = "94.23.29.189";
		googleProxyPort = 8080;

		googleProxyHost = "91.121.11.120";
		googleProxyPort = 8080;

	}

	public void setGoogleProxy(String voiceName, String host, int port) {
		this.voiceName = voiceName;
		this.googleProxyHost = host;
		this.googleProxyPort = port;
	}

	public void setGoogleURI(String uri) {
		googleURI = uri;
	}

	public void setLanguage(String l) {
		in(createMessage(getName(), "queueSetLanguage", l));
	}

	// front-end functions

	public boolean speak(String toSpeak) {
		// TODO: smart chunk the speech ..

		System.err.println("to Speak " + toSpeak);
		boolean result = false;
		boolean remainingText = true;
		String buff = toSpeak;

		while (remainingText) {
			// find the first chunk
			int maxUtterance = 100;
			if (buff.length() < 100) {
				// System.err.println(buff);
				result = speakInternal(buff);
				break;
			}

			int lastSpace = buff.substring(0, maxUtterance).lastIndexOf(" ");
			if (lastSpace == -1) {
				// that's it.
				// System.err.println(buff);
				result = speakInternal(buff);
				break;
			}
			String currBuff = buff.substring(0, lastSpace);
			// System.err.println(currBuff);
			result = speakInternal(currBuff);
			if (!result) {
				break;
			}
			buff = buff.substring(lastSpace);
		}
		return result;
	}

	public boolean speakInternal(String toSpeak) {
		toSpeak = toSpeak.replaceAll(filter, " ");
		if (toSpeak == null || toSpeak.length() == 0) {
			return false;
		}
		if (frontendType == FrontendType.NORMAL) {
			return speakNormal(toSpeak);
		} else if (frontendType == FrontendType.QUEUED) {
			// speakQueued
		}
		return false;
	}

	public boolean speakBlocking(String toSpeak) {
		return speakBlocking(toSpeak, (Object[]) null);
	}

	/**
	 * main speak blocking function
	 *
	 * @param speak
	 * @param fdata
	 * @return
	 */
	public boolean speakBlocking(String speak, Object... fdata) {
		if (speak == null || speak.length() == 0) {
			return false;
		}

		String toSpeak = String.format(speak, fdata).replaceAll(filter, " ");

		if (backendType == BackendType.FREETTS) { // festival tts
			speakFreeTTS(toSpeak);
		} else if (backendType == BackendType.GOOGLE) { // google tts
			speakGoogle(toSpeak);
		} else {
			log.error("back-end speech backendType " + backendType
					+ " not supported ");
			return false;
		}
		return true;
	}

	public void speakErrors(boolean b) {
		// register for Runtime registered (new services)

		// get all current services
		// register for their errors
		List<ServiceInterface> services = Runtime.getServices();
		if (b) {
			for (int i = 0; i < services.size(); ++i) {
				ServiceInterface sw = services.get(i);
				subscribe(sw.getName(), "publishError", "speak");
				// this.addListener(outMethod, namedInstance, inMethod);
			}
		} else {
			for (int i = 0; i < services.size(); ++i) {
				ServiceInterface sw = services.get(i);
				unsubscribe(sw.getName(), "publishError", "speak");
				// this.addListener(outMethod, namedInstance, inMethod);
			}
		}
	}

	public void speakFreeTTS(String toSpeak) {
		if (myVoice == null) {
			// The VoiceManager manages all the voices for FreeTTS.
			VoiceManager voiceManager = VoiceManager.getInstance();
			Voice[] possibleVoices = voiceManager.getVoices();

			log.info("possible voices");
			for (int i = 0; i < possibleVoices.length; ++i) {
				log.info(possibleVoices[i].getName());
			}
			voiceName = "kevin16";
			myVoice = voiceManager.getVoice(voiceName);

			if (myVoice == null) {
				error("Cannot find a voice named " + voiceName
						+ ".  Please specify a different voice.");
				return;
			} else {
				initialized = true;
			}
		}

		try {
			// TODO - do pre-speak not here if (!myVoice.isLoaded())
			myVoice.allocate();
			log.info("voice allocated");
		} catch (Exception e) {
			Logging.logError(e);
		}

		if (initialized) {
			invoke("isSpeaking", true);
			invoke("saying", toSpeak);
			myVoice.speak(toSpeak);
			invoke("isSpeaking", false);
		} else {
			log.error("can not speak - uninitialized");
		}

	}

	public void speakGoogle(String toSpeak) {

		if (!fileCacheInitialized) {
			boolean success = (new File("audioFile/google/" + language + "/"
					+ voiceName)).mkdirs();
			if (!success) {
				log.debug("could not create directory: audioFile/google/"
						+ language + "/" + voiceName);
			} else {
				fileCacheInitialized = true;
			}
		}

		// Sanitize the filename so it can be properly cached.
		String cashFilename = toSpeak;
		cashFilename = cleanFilename(cashFilename);
		String utteranceHash = hashFilename(cashFilename);
		addToUtteranceMapping(cashFilename, utteranceHash);

		String audioFileName = "audioFile/google/" + language + "/" + voiceName
				+ "/" + utteranceHash + ".mp3";
		File f = new File(audioFileName);
		log.info(f + (f.exists() ? " is found " : " is missing "));

		if (!f.exists()) {
			try {
				// if the mp3 file does not exist fetch it from google
				/*
				 * HashMap<String, String> params = new HashMap<String,
				 * String>(); params.put("voice", voiceName); params.put("txt",
				 * toSpeak); params.put("speakButton", "SPEAK");
				 */
				// rel="noreferrer"
				// http://translate.google.com/translate_tts?tl=en&q=text
				// http://translate.google.com/translate_tts?tl=fr&q=Bonjour
				// http://translate.google.com/translate_tts?tl=en&q=hello%20there%20my%20good%20friend

				client = new DefaultHttpClient();

				if (googleProxyHost != null) {
					HttpHost proxy = new HttpHost(googleProxyHost,
							googleProxyPort);
					client.getParams().setParameter(
							ConnRoutePNames.DEFAULT_PROXY, proxy);
				}

				String baseURI = String.format(googleURI, language);
				//URI uri = new URI("http", null, "translate.google.com", 80,
				//"/translate_tts", "tl=" + language + "&q=" + toSpeak, null);

				log.info(baseURI + URLEncoder.encode(toSpeak,"UTF-8"));
				URI uri = new URI(baseURI + URLEncoder.encode(toSpeak,"UTF-8"));
				//log.info(baseURI + URLEncoder.encode(toSpeak,"ISO8859-15"));
				//URI uri = new URI(baseURI + URLEncoder.encode(toSpeak,"ISO8859-15"));
				//log.info(baseURI + toSpeak.replaceAll(" ", "%20"));
				//URI uri = new URI(baseURI + toSpeak.replaceAll(" ", "%20"));

				log.info(uri.toASCIIString());
				// HTTPClient.HTTPData data =
				// HTTPClient.get(uri.toASCIIString());

				HttpGet request = new HttpGet(uri.toASCIIString());
				HttpResponse response = client.execute(request);

				byte[] data = getByteArrayFromResponse(response);

				FileOutputStream fos = new FileOutputStream(audioFileName);
				fos.write(data);
				fos.close();

			} catch (Exception e) {
				Logging.logError(e);
			}

		}

		invoke("isSpeaking", true);
		invoke("saying", toSpeak);
		audioFile.playFile(audioFileName, true);
		sleep(afterSpeechPause);// important pause after speech
		invoke("isSpeaking", false);
	}

	private void addToUtteranceMapping(String toSpeak, String utteranceHash) {
		// TODO : persist this somewhere other than the log file...
		log.info("Utterance Map: {} = \"{}\"", utteranceHash, toSpeak);
	}

	private String hashFilename(String toSpeak) {
		// TODO Auto-generated method stub
		String digest = DigestUtils.md5Hex(toSpeak);
		return digest;
	}

	public boolean speakNormal(String toSpeak) {
		// idealy in "normal" speech our ideas are queued
		// until we have time to actually say them

		if (backendType == BackendType.ATT) {
			// in(createMessage(name, "speakATT", toSpeak));
			log.error("no longer supported as per the deathstar's liscense agreement");
		} else if (backendType == BackendType.FREETTS) { // festival tts
			// speakFreeTTS(toSpeak);
			in(createMessage(getName(), "speakFreeTTS", toSpeak));
		} else if (backendType == BackendType.GOOGLE) { // festival tts
			in(createMessage(getName(), "speakGoogle", toSpeak));
		} else {
			log.error("back-end speech backendType " + backendType
					+ " not supported ");
			return false;
		}

		return true;

	}

	@Override
	public void startService() {
		super.startService();
		startPeer("audioFile");
	}

	@Override
	public void stopService() {
		if (myVoice != null && myVoice.isLoaded()) {
			myVoice.deallocate();
		}
		if (audioFile != null) {
			audioFile.stopService();
			audioFile = null;
		}
		super.stopService();
	}

	@Override
	public Status test() {
		Status status = Status
				.info("starting %s %s test", getName(), getType());
		Speech mouth = (Speech) Runtime.start(getName(), "Speech");
		// mouth.speak("Light scattering is a form of scattering in which light is the form of propagating energy which is scattered. Light scattering can be thought of as the deflection of a ray from a straight path, for example by irregularities in the propagation medium, particles, or in the interface between two media. Deviations from the law of reflection due to irregularities on a surface are also usually considered to be a form of scattering. When these irregularities are considered to be random and dense enough that their individual effects average out, this kind of scattered reflection is commonly referred to as diffuse reflection.");
		// mouth.speak("hello");
		mouth.speak("I don't use appostrophes, or other punctuation, do you?");
		mouth.speak("I'm done with this test");
		mouth.speak("I'm done with this test again");
		// Swedish
		mouth.setLanguage("sv");
		mouth.speak("Testar Svenska. Häst, åsna, föl, gås");
		// French
		mouth.setLanguage("fr");
		mouth.speak("Teste le français. Joyeux Noël.");
		// Japanese
		mouth.setLanguage("ja");
		mouth.speak("私は日本語を話します");
		// Hindi
		mouth.setLanguage("hi");
		mouth.speak("मैं हिंदी बोलते हैं");
		// TODO non-blocking - blocking google freetts
		status.addInfo("done with test");
		return status;
	}

	// speak errors

	public void setVolume(float volume) {
		// track the current volume,
		// also realtime update the volume of the audio file.
		if (audioFile != null) {
			audioFile.setVolume(volume);
		}
	}

	public float getVolume() {
		if (audioFile != null) {
			return audioFile.getVolume();
		} else {
			return 1.0F;
		}
	}
}


text:
Pattison has... A Deep & Rich History We've been around for a very long time, and have been
a constant source of jobs, and economic stability in the community Our most valuable asset is Our People They've been with us through thick and thin, and have helped
make us what we are today. They've made our history rich.
Innovation is at the heart of everything that we do
KYLE PATTISON
Founder and managing principal
Our company history
1870s - THE HISTORY OF THE SAND MINE PRIOR TO PATTISON
The sand mine, now owned and operated by Pattison, was opened in the 1870s as an open pit mine, and operated by various companies. In 1945, mining operations were expanded underground. Martin Marietta operated the underground mine for the 17 years leading up to Pattison's acquisition in 1983
1969 - PATTISON BUILDS GRAIN TERMINAL
In 1969 Bernard Pattison found a piece of land on the river and built an innovative grain terminal transforming the local agriculture from livestock to grain farming and helping to feed the world through exports. Pattison held a 50% market share with over 100,000,000 bushels shipped per year.
2004 - PATTISON CONSIDERS RE-OPENING THE MINE
In the fall of 2004, Pattison was approached by geologists who worked for the mine's prior owner to consider re-opening its Clayton silica sand mine. After extensive research into the subject, the Pattison management team conducted a year of extensive and detailed planning, and in 2005, commenced development work to prepare the mine for operations.
2014 - CONVERTED PLANTS TO NATURAL GAS
Converted the sand drying plants to compressed natural gas, decreasing our carbon footprint significantly by partnering with a local company for our fuel source.
2016 - PATTISON BUILDS AGGREGATE PLANT
In 2016, Pattison sand company constructed a state-of-the-art aggregate crushing plant that produces certified aggregates. Our aggregates are high quality Ordovician Age dolomitic limestone that lies both above and below the St. Peter Sandstone which we mine for our oil & gas frac sand business.
1950 - PATTISON STARTS AG BUSINESS
In 1950, farming existed without the ability to add nitrogen to the soil. Bernard Pattison offered to apply a nitrogen product to area crops for no cost, in exchange for 1/2 of the increased yield. At the time of harvest, farmers saw the improved yield, and were excited to adopt the use of nitrogen.
1983 - PATTISON PURCHASES THE MINE PROPERTY
In l983, Pattison purchased the mine and started to store fertilizer and other bulk commodities in the vast underground acreage of the existing mine. Pattison created a 12Million bushel federally license underground grain storage facility, the second one in the U.S. It provided a total capacity of 60 acres of underground storage area.
2007 - PATTISON BEGINS MINING OPERATIONS
In 2007, Pattison sold the grain business to a long time strategic partner, and commenced mining operations having completed the installation of all required processing and loading equipment, and prepping the mine for safety and operations, Pattison, and their highly trained and certified crew of over 50 people, commenced mining operations.
2015 - PATTISON UNIT TRAIN EXPANSION
In conjunction with our growing industrial sand business, it became necessary to expand our unit train rail loading and storage capacity on Canadian Pacific from 140 cars to 500+ cars. As a result, Pattison has embarked on a very ambitious project that will connect our current loading facility to new unit train holding tracks on the other side of the bluff. This project required excavation of nearly 10 million tons of aggregate material which must be removed in order to place an additional 27,450 feet of track to store cars.
2018 - PATTISON COMMISSIONS FEEDER TUNNEL
Pattison Company commissioned a $2,200,000 tunnel feeder plant to enhance aggregate production. It features a 500 ton per hour conveying system that allows the direct loading of dolomitic limestone into rail cars without requiring additional material handling, manpower and equipment


text:
Category archive: 1940s
November 12th, 2019 at 01:35am
1949: The death of Anne, his handicapped daughter, left Charles de Gaulle with one son and one daughter. On 10 September, de Gaulle wrote to his daughter, Élisabeth, "for no particular reason, simply to say that I love you greatly" ("Pour . . . aucune raison particulière. Simplement celle de vous dire que je vous aime beaucoup . . .").
Source: Charles de Gaulle, Lettres, Notes et Carnets: Mai 1945–Juin 1951 (1984), pp. 374–5
Electoral Anomaly
1948: The Nationalist triumph in South Africa's general election was an anomaly. General Smuts's United Party and allies won 50.9 per cent of the total vote; D.F. Malan's Herenigde Nasionale Party and allies managed only 41.2 per cent. The United Party, however, squandered too many votes on thumping majorities in urban constituencies, while the Nationalists performed strongly in rural seats whose smaller electorates required fewer votes to secure victory. When parliament reconvened, Smuts controlled 71 seats, but Malan controlled 79, sufficient for the Nationalists to usher in their policy of apartheid.
Source: Kenneth A. Heard, General Elections in South Africa 1943–1970 (1974), chap. 3
November 8th, 2019 at 01:01am
Not Welcome
1947: Canada's Chinese Immigration Act of 1923 effectively barred Chinese immigrants. Between 1924 and 1947, when the law was repealed, Canada admitted only 44 ethnic Chinese.
Source: S.W. Kung, Chinese in American Life: Some Aspects of Their History, Status, Problems, and Contributions (1962), p. 294
Casual Killing
1946: Proof – if proof were needed – that anti-Semitism survived the demise of the Third Reich came on 4 July at Kielce in Poland. From morning until evening, the town was the scene of Europe's largest peacetime pogrom of the 20th century.
Dangerous Bedding
1945: "All of a sudden," in the early hours of 25 April, "there was a fierce air raid; the flak started raging." Too weary to go down to the basement, the author of A Woman in Berlin snuggled beneath the bedclothes. The sheets and blankets provided "an idiotic sense of security", as if they were made of iron. "They say bedding is extremely dangerous." A doctor who treated a woman who had been hit in bed found that "bits of feather had lodged so deeply in her wounds he could barely remove them".
Source: Anonymous, A Woman in Berlin (2009), p. 49
How To Stay Slim
1944: Dietary advice from Aunt Alicia in Colette's Gigi: "Don't eat too many almonds; they add weight to the breasts." ("Ne mange pas trop d'amandes, ça alourdit les seins.")
Source: Colette, Gigi (1945), p. 57
Unequal Sacrifice
1943: Hugh Dalton, president of the Board of Trade, deplored the amount of fabric used in turn-ups on men's trousers. Turn-ups were an extravagance, Dalton said, and in wartime, civilians should make do without them.
"There can be no equality of sacrifice in this war. Some must lose lives and limbs; others only the turn-ups on their trousers."
Source: Hugh Dalton, The Fateful Years: Memoirs 1931–1945 (1957), p. 410
October 4th, 2019 at 01:17am
Lines Of Defence
1942: British troops in Southeast Asia needed to guard their positions against Japanese night attacks. An obvious defence was to rig up perimeter wires that would light signal lamps when breached by enemy soldiers. Less obvious was the correct thickness of the wires. Too thin and they would break accidentally; too thick and they would be spotted by the enemy.
October 3rd, 2019 at 01:41am
Exit From Crete
1941: In less than a fortnight, a German airborne assault on Crete overcame the numerically superior British, Commonwealth and Greek defenders. Allied losses were heavy; thousands were killed, more than 10,000 captured and nine warships sunk. The only thing the Allies didn't lose was their sense of humour. A story went round that a special medal would be awarded to those who had been bundled off the island, inscribed "EX CRETA".
Source: Antony Beevor, Crete: The Battle and the Resistance (2005), p. 227
October 2nd, 2019 at 01:04am
Royal Intimacy
1940: The bombing of Buckingham Palace by a lone German aircraft on the morning of 13 September interrupted a moment of royal intimacy: the queen removing an eyelash from the king's eye.
Source: William Shawcross, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother: The Official Biography (2009), pp. 522–3
May 30th, 2019 at 06:46pm
Refreshingly Frank
Igor Stravinsky conducting an orchestra in Warsaw in 1965
1949: The composer Igor Stravinsky and the novelist Christopher Isherwood hit if off right from the start. Stravinsky found Isherwood's casual manner refreshing. While many reverentially addressed Stravinsky as "Maestro", Isherwood simply called him "Igor". Isherwood didn't know much about music, didn't particularly like it and didn't pretend to. On his first visit to Stravinsky's Los Angeles home, Isherwood fell asleep while listening to a recording of the composer's music. Stravinsky later observed: "My affection for him began with that incident."
Source: Peter Parker, Isherwood: A Life (2004), p.588
May 29th, 2019 at 01:01am
Sand shark, photographed by Richard Ling
1948: When Stewart Springer, who worked for a Florida shark fishing company, reached inside the oviduct of a heavily pregnant sand shark, he was bitten on the hand. (Serves him right, you might say, for putting his hand there in the first place.) He had been nibbled by "an exceedingly active embryo which dashed about open mouthed inside the oviduct". Springer had discovered one of the less endearing qualities of the sand shark – intrauterine cannibalism – in which the dominant embryo devours the other embryos until it is the only one left in the womb.
Source: Copeia, 1948
Enthusiastic Party
Henry "Chips" Channon, photographed in 1930
1947: Henry "Chips" Channon was delighted with the dinner he hosted at his London home on 25 November. The house in Belgrave Square "looked very grand and glittering, lit up and full of yellow chrysanthemums"; the queens of Spain and Romania attended; and William Somerset Maugham complimented him, "This is the apogee of your career." The drinks contributed to the success of the evening. "I 'laced' the cocktails with Benzedrine," Channon revealed in his diary, "which I find always makes a party go."
Source: Sir Henry Channon, Chips: The Diaries of Sir Henry Channon, ed. Robert Rhodes James (1967), p. 419
"Gryte Blytheness"
1946: William Lorimer embarked on a translation of the New Testament into Scots. The stories are familiar and the language mostly recognizable. In the Nativity, for example, Mary "wis fund tae be wi bairn bi the Halie Spirit". Jesus was born in a stable, "sin there wis nae room for them intil the inn". Angels brought "guid news o gryte blytheness" to nearby shepherds, who "hied owre tae Bethlehem" to see the newborn child. "Spaemen frae the Aist" followed a "stairn gaein on afore them, on an on," and when it "stappit abuin the houss", they went inside and fell on their knees and "wurshippit" him.
Source: The New Testament in Scots, tr. William Laughton Lorimer (2012), pp. 3, 4, 101–2
Casualty Of War
1945: One of the many victims of the Second World War was the Wake Island rail, a flightless land bird that scuttled about the remote Pacific atoll, but was found nowhere else. Japanese forces occupied Wake at the beginning of hostilities. When the garrison's supply route was cut, starving soldiers hunted the rail to extinction.
Source: Errol Fuller, Extinct Birds (2000), pp. 127–8
May 23rd, 2019 at 01:03am
Genuine Applause
Anna Akhmatova, from a 1922 portrait by Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin
1944: Stalin loved applause, as long as it was directed at him. Applause for others made him jealous and suspicious. After the entire audience at the Polytechnic Museum in Moscow had spontaneously stood up to acclaim the poet Anna Akhmatova, Stalin reputedly asked, "Who organized this standing ovation?"
Source: Nadezhda Mandelstam, Hope Abandoned: A Memoir (1974), pp. 375–6
May 22nd, 2019 at 01:01am
Alternative Sedative
1943: Unable to get hold of his peacetime sedatives, the choreographer Frederick Ashton resorted to Calm Doggie, a tranquilliser used to prevent dogs barking during air raids.
Source: Mark Amory, Lord Berners: The Last Eccentric (1998), p. 216
May 21st, 2019 at 01:01am
"A Decent Business"
1942: Victor Klemperer couldn't help thinking that, compared with the present conflict, "The last war was such a decent business."
Source: Victor Klemperer, To the Bitter End: The Diaries of Victor Klemperer 1942–1945, ed. Martin Chalmers (1999), p. 47
Mark Of Identity
1941: Like all adult German Jews, Victor Klemperer was forced, from the middle of September, to identify himself in public by wearing the distinctive Judenstern, or Jewish star, for which he was obliged to pay 10 pfennigs.
Source: Victor Klemperer, I Shall Bear Witness: The Diaries of Victor Klemperer 1933–41, ed. Martin Chalmers (1998), p. 414
Castro Offers Deal
1940: "I am twelve years old. I am a boy but I think very much."
Writing to his "good friend Roosvelt", the young Cuban student offered a deal: "If you want iron to make your sheaps ships I will show to you the bigest (minas) of iron of the land"; in return, he requested that the American president enclose "a ten dollars bill green american, in the letter, because never, I have not seen a ten dollars bill green american and I would like to have one".
At the end of his short letter the boy who thought very much signed off with an elaborate signature: Fidel Castro.
Source: www.lettersofnote.com/2009/
09/my-good-friend-roosvelt.html
January 10th, 2019 at 12:23am
Sumthing Liek Dhis
1949: In March, Mont Follick introduced a bill into the British parliament to rationalise the spelling of English. George Bernard Shaw, the Simplified Spelling Society and others had long advocated a simple, logical and consistent spelling system. Follick proposed the adoption of reformed spelling first in schools and then in government publications and later in general use. Despite considerable parliamentary support, Follick's measure was opposed by the government and at the end of the debate it was rejected by a slender margin – 87 votes to 84.
Which iz hou dhe tekst ov dhis blog kaem widhin a whisker ov being spelt sumthing liek dhis.
Source: M. Follick, The Case for Spelling Reform (1965), chap. XXII
January 9th, 2019 at 12:10am
"A Slogan Is Forever"
1948: A diamond engagement ring is an emblem of the enduring emotional bond between a man and a woman, an expression of their love, a shining symbol of their commitment to each other. If you believe all that claptrap, blame Frances Gerety: she was the Philadelphia advertising copywriter who dreamt up the slogan, "A diamond is forever."
Source: Cele C. Otnes and Elizabeth H. Pleck, Cinderella Dreams: The Allure of the Lavish Wedding (2003), pp. 63–7
1947: For 15 years, man-eating lions terrorized the Njombe district of southern Tanganyika. They dragged villagers from their huts and ambushed travellers on roads; on one occasion they snatched a herd boy off the back of a cow without harming the cow.
Not until 1946 was a determined effort made to end the menace. It took Game Ranger George Rushby and his African game scouts more than a year to track down and shoot the beasts. Only after 15 had been killed was Rushby satisfied that the reign of terror was over. "There is no doubt that the Njombe lions were the worst man-eating lions ever recorded in African history," Rushby wrote. He estimated that between 1932 and 1947 they had killed and eaten over 1,500 people.
Source: G.G. Rushby, No More the Tusker (1965), chaps. 20–2
Slap Down
1946: During the first half of the 20th century, travelling from Britain to India entailed a lengthy, rather monotonous journey by sea. Radclyffe Sidebottom, who served in the Bengal Pilot Service from 1929 until 1946, remembered one voyage where a female passenger – a governor's daughter, in fact – grew tired of the stuffed shirts in first class and took a liking to a handsome young steward in second class. At the fancy-dress ball, the high point of the voyage out, they danced together all night. Next morning, though, when he approached her with a little too much familiarity, she informed him: "In the circle in which I move, sleeping with a woman does not constitute an introduction."
Source: Charles Allen, Plain Tales from the Raj: Images of British India in the Twentieth Century (1977), p. 49
1945: Sir Alan "Tommy" Lascelles, George VI's private secretary, lunched on 18 April with Quintin Hogg, the newly appointed undersecretary of air. "Hogg said that [Baron] Faringdon, a notorious pansy, had recently thrown the House of Lords into consternation by addressing their Lordships as 'My Dears'."
Source: Sir Alan Lascelles, King's Counsellor: Abdication and War: The Diaries of Sir Alan Lascelles, ed. Duff Hart-Davis (2007), p. 316
"It was my good fortune to be deported to Auschwitz only in 1944, that is, after the German Government had decided, owing to the growing scarcity of labour, to lengthen the average lifespan of the prisoners destined for elimination . . ."
PRIMO LEVI, IF THIS IS A MAN, AUTHOR'S PREFACE
January 2nd, 2019 at 12:15am
Intoxicated Octopus
1943: "Just then the air-raid siren went off," Joan Wyndham recorded in her diary on 5 July. "We hailed a taxi . . . . As soon as I'd sunk into my seat Dylan [Thomas] smothered me in wet beery kisses, his blubbery tongue forcing my lips apart. It was rather like being embraced by an intoxicated octopus. I tried to tell myself that I was being kissed by a great poet but it was a relief when the taxi finally stopped."
Source: Joan Wyndham, Love Is Blue: A Wartime Diary (1986), p. 120
December 21st, 2018 at 12:50am
Ban On Flowers
1942: "Now a ban on Jews buying flowers has come out," an exasperated Victor Klemperer wrote on 16 March. "Not a day without a new decree against Jews."
December 20th, 2018 at 12:34am
Ban On Smoking
1941: For Victor Klemperer, a Jewish resident of Dresden, life grew steadily more difficult. "A new calamity:" he wrote in his diary on 10 August, "Ban on smoking for Jews."
Dunkirk Spirit
1940: In Britain's hour of need, "heroes in jerseys and sweaters and old rubber boots" stepped forward to man an armada of "fishing boats, steamships, barges and pleasure steamers" that crossed the Channel, braving shellfire and Stuka attacks, to pluck the British Expeditionary Force off the beaches of Dunkirk. That's the way British propaganda portrayed it, but it wasn't all like that. The Royal Navy had to requisition small craft in Devon whose owners declined to volunteer and the fishing fleet of Rye in Sussex collectively refused to go.
Source: Angus Calder, The Myth of the Blitz (1991), pp. 96–8
On Second Thoughts
Tipsy From Trondheim
"Famine In Utopia"
Tidying Things Up
Legal Niceties
© 2014 Semantic by Verve Themes.


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LAPD Recruit Graduation
WHAT: Los Angeles Police Department Recruit Officer Graduation Ceremony for Class 5-15
WHEN: October 30, 2015 8 a.m.
WHERE: LAPD Administration Building Plaza 100 W. First Street Los Angeles 90012
WHO: LAPD Chief Charlie Beck Representatives from the LAPD Board of Commissioners Representatives from the Mayor's Office LAPD Command Staff and Special Guests
DETAILS: The Los Angeles Police Academy will graduate 47 officers. Out of the 47 graduates, 43 will be sworn for the LAPD, three will be sworn for Los Angeles World Airports and one will be sworn for the Port of Los Angeles. Of the 43 LAPD graduates, there are 36 males and seven females with the following ethnic breakdowns: 12 Caucasian, 19 Hispanic, six African Americans, five Asians (non-Korean) and one Filipino. Graduating officers have completed 920 hours of training over the course of 24 weeks.
NOTE: Event parking will not be provided. Use of public transportation is encouraged whenever possible. For those who need parking, recommended paid parking lots are as follows:
– 233 S. Main Street – 246 S. Spring Street – 220 S. Spring Street
CONTACT: For further information, contact the LAPD Media Relations Section at 213-486-5910.


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AAP welcomes Madras HC judgment curtailing Lt. Guv Kiran Bedi's powers
April 30, 2019 by neha
New Delhi (India): The ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Tuesday hailed the Madras High Court judgment ruling that Puducherry Lieutenant Governor (LG) Kiran Bedi does not have the power to interfere in the day-to-day activities of the Union Territory.
AAP chief spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj said that the Lieutenant Governor has not been entrusted with any independent decision making power and has to either act on the "aid and advice" of Council of Ministers or he is bound to implement the decision taken by the President on a reference being made by him.
Bharadwaj cited that Madras High Court verdict is a reiteration of the July 4, 2018 landmark judgment by the five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court on the elected Delhi government's powers.
The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Tuesday struck down the Union Home Ministry's clarification order giving Bedi administrative power. The High Court said the Lt. Governor has no power to interfere in the day-to-day activities of the government.
"Elected governments in Delhi and Puducherry, though governed by separate laws, have been subjected to severe injustice by the Narendra Modi government at the Centre under the garb that since these are not full-fledged states, therefore the ultimate control is of the Central government," said Bharadwaj.
"Both Delhi and Puducherry governments had to repeatedly knock on the doors of the courts of law to seek justice against the high-handedness of the Modi government through its politically appointed nominees, the Lieutenant Governors," he added.
Categories Delhi, News Tags AAP, Kiran Bedi Post navigation
Scientists in Chile find 15,000-year-old footprint
WB: EC approves mark of inedible ink on voter's left middle finger


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Gothenburg's top chefs create experiences together
A team of Gothenburg chefs from the six star-restaurants in the city.
World class restaurants, first class ingredients with seafood as fresh as you can get without wetting your feet – Gothenburg has it all. But there is also a group of talented chefs ready to cooperate whenever Gothenburg hosts a large event. Stefan Karlsson explains how they succeed.
You have probably heard the expression "Too many cooks spoil the broth". It is not true when it comes to Gothenburg's gourmet scene. The city boasts six Michelin-starred restaurants, and several with high ambitions to cook and serve mouth-watering culinary experiences. An extraordinary achievement for a relatively small city.
The key to success is a tradition of close collaboration between the chefs. They are competitors, but also friends and colleagues. Stefan Karlsson currently runs three restaurants in Gothenburg of which SK Mat & Människor (Food & People) received a Michelin-star in 2015, less than a year after it opened.
Stefan Karlsson
Bild: Jäger Arén
– When I started some 30 years ago, we were a bunch of young, eager chefs that learned from the old ones and from each other. Over the years, we've shared ideas and developed a collegiality that you don't often see elsewhere, says Stefan Karlsson.
One catalyst has been the development as an events and meetings city that Gothenburg has undergone since the 1990's. Whenever a large championship, a political summit or a convention with thousands of delegates takes place, the chefs plays an important role.
– Preparing a dinner for a banquet with a great number of guests is a challenge in many ways. At these occasions chefs from different restaurants work together, which creates a great team spirit.
The collaboration was taken a step further when Gothenburg Restaurant Association "Taste of Gothenburg" was founded in 1999. Taste of Gothenburg has a mission to strengthen and profile Gothenburg as a culinary destination, the relationship with local producers and suppliers as well as working together to ensure a high level of quality.
One upcoming task for Gothenburg's chefs is to create the menu for the Congress Dinner and awards ceremony at Associations World Congress 7 – 10 April. Stefan Karlsson plans and coordinates the work.
– We want to give guests a taste of all six restaurants, with flavours based on Swedish traditions and culture, but with a delicious twist from the participating chefs that reflects their special focus, concludes Stefan Karlsson.
Published by Stefan Gadd 2019-02-13 in Destination, Meetings.


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Charges Against Mark Driscoll and Mars Hill Church Executive Elders 'Non-Disqualifying,' Says Advisory Board
CP Current Page: Church & Ministries | Thursday, March 27, 2014
By Alex Murashko, CP Contributor | Thursday, March 27, 2014
Nearly a year after a now former elder filed charges of mistreatment against Pastor Mark Driscoll and other leaders at Mars Hill Church, a board of advisors and accountability for the church said the charges were determined to be non-disqualifying. At the same time, the church has taken the charges seriously and "corrective actions" have been taken.
In a letter to church elders and leaders sent late Wednesday, Michael Van Skaik, who is chairman of the Board of Advisors and Accountability for Mars Hill, wrote that the Board made an effort to substantiate the charges made by former elder Dave Kraft (although his name was not mentioned in the letter) and at least seven unnamed witnesses.
"In an effort to substantiate the validity of the anonymous charges, we immediately sent out over one hundred letters to former elders and staff at Mars Hill Church from the previous two years, inviting their feedback and perspectives regarding their time on staff at the church, particularly their interactions with Pastor Mark and the Executive Elders," Skaik stated in the letter (full letter below).
"… After a thorough review, the charges were determined to be non-disqualifying. However, the Executive Elders were individually and corporately given corrective direction by the Board. Those corrective actions have been followed and have been bearing fruit over the last seven months. We have been very encouraged to see the Executive Elders learn, grow, and repent where needed."
Mars Hill Church Communications Director Justin Dean told The Christian Post that he hopes the letter helps clarify other reports about the controversy surrounding Driscoll and the church from media and bloggers "who have not been reporting full truths."
Patheos columnist Warren Throckmorton, who has been regularly commenting on various issues revolving around Driscoll and the church's executive board through his blog, responded to the board's letter, saying it did not seem to specifically address a recent request made by 20 former Mars Hill pastors "to enter into a process of mediation designed to lead to mutual repentance and reconciliation."
The pastors, including Kraft, were seeking to involve specialists in conflict resolution.
"As far as I can determine, the BOAA has not responded to the March 17 letter from the 20 former pastors," Throckmorton wrote.
Throckmorton published a statement from Kraft released on March 21, in which the former elder who was considered a leadership pastor, chronicled his formal charges and resignation.
In his statement, Kraft writes:
On September 19, 2013, I resigned my membership and Eldership, because I have serious questions about the ministry and leadership philosophy/practices of the Executive Elders of MHC, no longer trust them and, therefore, cannot submit to their authority.
Mark Driscoll's sin(s) (for many of us who know him and have worked with him) are about clear violations of I Timothy 3, Titus 1 and I Peter 5.
1. Not being self-controlled and disciplined
2. Being domineering
3. Being verbally violent
4. Being arrogant
5. Being quick-tempered
Now, no leader is perfect. All of us understand and agree with that and we are not demanding or expecting Mark Driscoll to be flawless. In the biblical passages cited above, a single instance might not be a disqualifier from eldership; but an established pattern of such behavior, supported and substantiated by eyewitnesses, would be. Such is the case with Mark. I believe (and so do many other former staff and elders) he has a long-standing pattern of consistently violating these leadership qualities and has done so with dozens of individuals with few, if any, signs of genuine repentance.
In the church advisory board's response released Wednesday, Skaik said church leaders are "hungry for reconciliation and are continually grieved that many offenses and hurts are still unresolved."
"We want to seek out and hear the hurts in a biblical manner," Skaik wrote. "A Board-approved reconciliation process is currently underway and is being overseen by Dr. Paul Tripp who flew to Seattle and recently spent a day with the Executive Elders. … Additionally, each of the Executive Elders has taken the initiative to reach out to people with whom they may need to reconcile. Our prayer is that as a church we can learn from this experience as we continue to grow in love and grace."
Throckmorton stated Wednesday that he knows "numerous people who believe Driscoll should step down or go on sabbatical but at the same time have the best wishes and intentions for the church. They believe Driscoll's removal or sabbatical would be best for both the church and Driscoll."
"In any case, with this post, Kraft has pulled back the curtain a little more on the upheaval that has been roiling Mars Hill for months, if not years," he wrote.
Skaik, meanwhile, stated in his letter that he and the other Board members "have witnessed the Holy Spirit's work in Pastors Mark, Dave and Sutton as they've grieved deeply over the hurts and sorrows that they've been the source of."
"By God's grace, the reconciliation process will continue to move forward one person at a time."
Below is the letter from Skaik published in full with permission from Mars Hill Church:
Mars Hill Leaders,
I wanted to take the opportunity to update you, the current leaders of Mars Hill Church, as to the status of some of what we've been working on as a board over the course of the past year. Thank you for all that you do. We know it is extra difficult right now, but good fruit is coming out of these trials!
On May 10, 2013, a now former elder filed formal charges against Pastor Mark Driscoll and other leaders at Mars Hill. While stating that he had not personally been sinned against by Pastor Mark, he had at least seven unnamed witnesses who would testify to the offenses and hurts he claimed, which if found to be substantiated, could result in disqualification. We requested the names of the witnesses to exercise Matthew 5:23-25, but he refused to disclose them. While the issues cited as evidence from these charges came from anonymous sources, the issues all revolved around the theme of mistreatment of fellow leaders and staff. As the governing body responsible for the accountability of Mars Hill's senior leaders, the Board took these charges extremely seriously.
In an effort to substantiate the validity of the anonymous charges, we immediately sent out over one hundred letters to former elders and staff at Mars Hill Church from the previous two years, inviting their feedback and perspectives regarding their time on staff at the church, particularly their interactions with Pastor Mark and the Executive Elders. We received eighteen responses. While some were very positive, every response was read and reread, looking for anything that would disqualify Pastor Mark and any other Mars Hill leaders from serving, or that would require further investigation. Additionally, the Board looked for repetitive patterns that may also lead to potential disqualification. After a thorough review, the charges were determined to be non-disqualifying. However, the Executive Elders were individually and corporately given corrective direction by the Board. Those corrective actions have been followed and have been bearing fruit over the last seven months. We have been very encouraged to see the Executive Elders learn, grow, and repent where needed.
However, we are hungry for reconciliation and are continually grieved that many offenses and hurts are still unresolved. We want to seek out and hear the hurts in a biblical manner. A Board-approved reconciliation process is currently underway and is being overseen by Dr. Paul Tripp who flew to Seattle and recently spent a day with the Executive Elders. He has also been in conversation with a person who is very capable of facilitating these reconciliations. Additionally, each of the Executive Elders has taken the initiative to reach out to people with whom they may need to reconcile. Our prayer is that as a church we can learn from this experience as we continue to grow in love and grace.
You need to know that I and the other Board members have witnessed the Holy Spirit's work in Pastors Mark, Dave and Sutton as they've grieved deeply over the hurts and sorrows that they've been the source of. Their hearts yearn for repentance and reconciliation with those that have been hurt and offended. By God's grace, the reconciliation process will continue to move forward one person at a time.
Michael Van Skaik
Chairman, Board of Advisors and Accountability
Mark Driscoll Fires Up His Detractors, Social Media-Minded Christians With 'Going to Hell' Tweet
Mark Driscoll Takes Apologetic Tone During Sermon; Mars Hill Church Board Addresses Latest Controversy
Mark Driscoll Apologizes to Mars Hill Church Followers for Using Wrong Book Marketing Strategy; Radio Show Host Blasts His Letter as 'Mushy Church Talk'
More In Church & Ministries
This week in Christian history: Pope warns against 'Americanism', Robert Boyle, Bible translator dies
Pastor of 5,000-member church plant identifies key ministry trends leading millennials to Christ


Making the move from suburbs to ranchland didn't come without serious game-changing perks. It was apparent from the moment we set eyes on this property that bridge-ward shack came with endless potential! With this kind of space, the idea of creating a Chef's fantasy factor has never been so real and with a lot of elbow grease and collaborating—we're making headway.
Starting with days of hauling out old junk, clearing debris, and cleaning like you wouldn't believe, the blank canvas was all there and the first step was to get ORGANIZED! Partnering with the Container Store made what could have been an ordeal as pain-free as possible. There's not a Chef out there that doesn't dream of having a place for each and everything tool and for a store where keeping organized is a lifestyle, that's no problem!
Considering the quantity and weight of the items I needed housing for, choosing sturdy shelves that were easy to assemble, keep clean well, and transport with ease was essential.
Big fan of the InterMetro line of shelving. SUPER STURDY, heavier than I was expecting. and solid as a rock. I was able to get them up and usable in the no time and that's something we can all appreciate. They're definitely strong enough to carry my cast irons, cutting boards, and many culinary oddest of ends—total SCORE! Getting organized is one of my many loves, second to get get a good deal! Loving that the Container Store is doing 25% OFF on all InterMetro products through April 8th, which included all of these shelves.
Back to the assembly, I began lineing the shack with the InterMetro baking racks so I could start spacing out my tools and honing down on a proper place for everything. I definitely have a kitchen tool for just about every occasion you can think of and I can only imagine that my collection will grow…so great to have shelves that are always available to add additional as need be. These racks are going to be filled with plate ware, pot and pans, spices, dried goods, and anything else I'll need for a proper day of shack cooking.
These magnetic knife strips were also a great find for keeping my knives organized and easily accessible. I can slice, dice, and not skip a beat between switching up dishes. Also, these help me keep a bead on the quality of my knives since they're always out in the open instead of being stuffed in a drawer….just be careful of where you end up hanging them since the blades are exposed.
And just like in my home kitchen, clear airtight containers make food storage a no-brainer! Everything keeps fresh and you don't have to waste any time searching when its all right in front of your eyes and just a click away from being user ready. These will be perfect for dried spices, baking goods, and anything else I'd like to keep super sealed for a longer shelf life…funny enough, they're really good containers for ice cream!
Even though these handy dandy hanging hooks didn't come from the Container Store they kept up with the overall idea of keeping things in place and organized.. You can hang just about anything you could fit on the hook since they're very sturdy and they have a really nice rough finish on the metal so nothing slips off easily. Again, the key was to keep everything visible and easily accessible.
ITS ACTUALLY STARTING TO LOOK LIKE A KITCHEN UP IN HERE! I want to thank Container Store for all the "mise en place" for "THE SHACK!" This project is still a work in progress, so I'll make sure yo update you on new recipes and additions as it all unfolds! I like to think of this new space as a kitchen workshop / recipe lab for new and inventive ways of cooking. Creativity always begats creativity!
I can't get over my rolling butchers/chefs cart! Probably one of my favs from the collection.
This was just the tip of the iceberg with the clean-up btw….there's more to come with this…maybe even a few coats of fresh paint too. Can't wait to share more if this process with y'all so stay tuned!
I cook, therefore I am.


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Home > News > FISU celebrates 70th anniversary with a new identity
FISU celebrates 70th anniversary with a new identity
Following the Elections of International University Sports Federation leadership, Mr Oleg Matytsin, President and Eric Saintrond, CEO, Secretary General were reassured in their positions for another 4-year term.
New FISU logo
The FISU Executive Committee got down to business with allocating the next two FISU World University Championships: 2022 Budapest, Hungary and 2024 Kampala, Uganda.
The organization celebrates 70 years of existence this year and for the occasion, completely renewed its identity, consisting of a new FISU Logo and a new naming system for all FISU assets. The organization changed its multi-sport event's name from UNIVERSIADE to FISU WORLD UNIVERSITY GAMES.
The International University Sports Federation was officially founded in 1949 in Zurich, where it first announced it's mission:
"To promote the cultural aspect of the student body from all countries, to exchange the experiences of university sport, to organise international university meetings and to spread the moral values of sport."
Weightlifting was taken into the FISU program in 2008, when the first WUC was held in Komotini, Greece. Aniko Németh-Móra (HUN) was elected and acted with utmost devotion ever since as FUSU Technical Committee Chair in charge of weightlifting.
Ms Aniko Nemeth-Mora (second left), 2017, Taipei Universiade
Weightlifting World University Championships have been organized in even years ever since according to FISU rules and enjoy a high rank and great popularity within the IWF Events program, as well.
In addition to that, as an optional sport, weightlifting featured in the program of 3 Summer Universiades: 2011 in Shenzen, Hongkong; 2013 in Kazan, Kazan, Russia and 2017 in Taipei city, Taiwan.
You can read more about university weightlifting here.


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TAIFA DT-SACCO Society Ltd started in 1974 as a banking section of the former Nyeri District Co-operatives Union to offer banking services to the farmers in the former Nyeri District who were the members of the primary Co-operative Societies in the Union. The demand for the services by the approximately 9,000 founder members grew tremendously hence necessitating creation of a Savings and Credit Co-operative Society.
In 1998, the Union Banking Section transitioned into a Savings and Credit Co-operative Society and was registered in 1998 as Nyeri Farmers' Credit and Savings Co-operative Society Ltd (Nyeri Farmers Sacco). At that time the membership had grown ten fold to about 90,000 members.
The demand for Savings and Credit Services continued to grow even among members who were not necessarily farmers and who lived and carried out their economic activities outside the former Nyeri District. As a result, Nyeri Farmers' SACCO re-engineered it's products and services and also rebranded to Taifa Sacco in 2005 in order to accommodate the diverse and growing membership. Since then Taifa DT-Sacco has continued to grow in leaps and bounds to what it is today: a Sacco for all Seasons!
CO-OPERATIVE PRINCIPLES
Taifa DT-Sacco observes the universal Co-operative principles namely;
Voluntary and open membership
Democratic member control
Economic participation by members
Education, training and information
Co-operation among cooperatives, and
Concern for the community in general.
Efficient Mobilization of Savings and Provision of Credit Services to Members
To be a Sustainable Financial Services' Provider
Taifa Sacco subscribes to PRECIOUS culture
P – Professionalism
To perform all duties to the highest standards of expertise
R – Reliability
Consistently addresses the interests and expectations of all stakeholders
E – Excellence
Commitment to the highest levels of effectiveness and efficiency
C – Customer Focus
Continuosly seeks to understand and meet the diverse and changing needs of members in the provision of services
To act morally and ethically and consistently demonstrate a high degree of straight forwardness, honesty and sincerity in all dealings with stakeholders
O – Openness
Upholds transparency and encourages open communication in conduct of affairs
U – Unity
Carries out the mandate with impartialiaty at all levels
S – Social Responsibility
Caring for the community and the environment
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFthtH3Pemo
MOBILE BANKING SERVICES
GET INSURED
GET CARD
BORROW-MONEY
TAIFA SACCO Society Ltd was started in January 1974 as a banking section of the Nyeri district cooperative union to offer banking services to the rural farmers in Nyeri district who were members of cooperative societies.
Dll Herunterladen
interractial dating


We are a comprehensive epilepsy center offering all aspects of epilepsy care. We specialize in individual care, emphasizing an individual approach to every patient, carefully considering ALL aspects of the patients' lives. Our motto is Seizure Free, Side Effect Free, Improved Quality of Life, which is our goal for each and every patient.
Dr. Rodgers-Neame is originally from North Carolina. She has now made Temple Terrace, Florida her home. She is a Diplomate of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (Board Certified - ABPN) and has a specializtion in Epliepsy. She is on the faculty of the Department of Neurology and also the Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology at the University of South Florida College of Medicine (courtesy). She has extensive training and experience in the treatment of epilepsy and seizure disorders.
Prior to coming to Tampa, she spent three years on the Faculty of the University of Oklahoma School of Medicine in the Department of Neurology where she was a member of the Comprehensive Oklahoma Program for Epilepsy.
We take most PPO insurance, with the exception of Humana's Medicare PPO plan, although you should check with your insurance company to see if Dr. Rodgers-Neame is "out of network". Some insurance plans only permit members to see a limited number of doctors. We have stopped accepting new patients for Aetna as they will not pay for tests required for advanced epilepsy treament.
We are not providers for Medicaid.
Please call our Office Manager, Peter Neame if you have a question about our status with any company. For those patients who are private pay, we accept Visa, MasterCard and personal checks.


text:
Avnish Anand
About Avnish
Sports Quiz – 22/10/14
Have been doing some sports quizzing with a bunch of my batch mates from college. Sharing some. of the questions. Go test your sports quotient. And please don't google. Answers are there in comments
Question 1) Who is the only Muslim cricketer to have taken the wicket of Donald Bradman?. He played for India and then became a selector in Pakistan after partition. His brother also player cricket for India.He played in India's first test match
Question 2) Has Sachin Tendulkar played against two generations of the same family? If yes, who are the players?
Question 3) Apart from being sisters, what is common to Iqbal Bano, Shaukat and Naima?
Question 4) Question on football. This player was an Oriundi – An Argentinian who qualified to play for Italy because of his ancestry. He played for Juventus and his transfer fee was a world record at the time. River Plate used the transfer money to build a stand in his name at La Monumental. He won the Ballon d'Or once. Played for both Italy and Argentina.
Question 5) South American footballer who was nicknamed El Principe (The Prince). He played at Marseille and was an early role model for a young Zinedine Zidane. Zidane even named one his sons after him. He didn't play for any of the top clubs in his country.
Question 6) India's first Olympic men's hockey team ended up having two captains. Name them both.
Question 7) This German footballer was signed by Real Madrid to counter the signing of Johan Cryuff by FC Barcelona. Two times German player of the year. Won the World Cup and European Cup with
Question 8) Which club fired the great Alex Ferguson?
Question 9) Which cricketer and coach was the only person who witnessed Lara's 501 as well as Hanif Mohammed's 499?
Q 10) Which father son pair is the only one to have played in the same international football match?
Credit to Souvik M, Unmesh Y, Swapnil, Anirban Paul, Vatsal, PDG, Sid Mukh and Ranjan
Tagged Brian Lara, Cricket, Football, Hanif Mohammed, Hockey, Quiz, Sachin Tendulkar, Zinedine Zidane
One comment on "Sports Quiz – 22/10/14"
The answers are
1) Syed Nazir Ali. His brother was Syed Wazir Ali
2) Yes. He played against Geoff and Shaun Marsh
3) They are all mothers of cricketers who have captained Pakistan. Their sons are Majid Khan, Imran Khan and Javed Burki.
4) Omar Sivori
5) Enzo Francescoli of Uruguay. Never played for Nacional or Penarol. Spent most of his time at Marseille and River Plate. Zidane's son is called is Enzo.
6) Jaipal Singh Munda and Eric Pinninger
7) Gunter Netzer
8) St' Mirren
9) Bob Woolmer. He was a coach on the ground when Lara got his runs and was present in Pakistan to see Hanif as his dad was posted there.
10) Eidur Gjudjohnsen and his father Arnor
Ramanathan Krishnan and his mother's jewellery
Henry Rebello - The Olympic hero we almost had and nobody knows about
Book Review - The Best Of Indian Sports Writing – Sundeep Misra
The amazing story of Ahsan-ul-Haq
What-if Monica Seles had not been stabbed by Gunter Parche?
When Johan Cryuff came down from the stands to coach the team
When Rosser Reeves made an advertising pitch for a beggar
Book Review – Wounded Tiger: A History of Cricket in Pakistan – Peter Oborne
Using the principles of hedonic adaptation to increase happiness in your life
The wish list of an Indian sports fan
© Avnish Anand


Robert De Niro's ultraluxury new Greenwich Hotel opened not with a bang but a whimper Tuesday.
The inn at 377 Greenwich St. offers rooms with saunas, 30-foot skylights and chef's kitchens - but not to riffraff like you and me.
The "stealth wealth" statement is designed for the casual super-rich who want to party like it's 1999 - and watch the recession hit from a "large duplex rooftop garden with a private hot tub and wonderful views of the city and Hudson River."
It was invited guests only at the soft launch Tuesday, but regular season suites will start at $1,350. Penthouse rates, expected to be several thousand a night, are not yet available.


- Adopt flat earbuds design, carved metal cover, it is moving and powerful.
- 24k gold plated plug, good compatibility.
- Wired remote, built-in microphone, adjust music and have a call easily.
- Cool appearance, you look good after wearing it into your ears.


I am so sorry so many people have forgotten how precious you are, but as I have always promised, I will never forget you. You are with me in my heart every day of my life.
We will do a wonderful job of celebrating you today, I promise. We will have decorations, cake, and fun things we know you would enjoy.
As I have pondered how we have come this far since the day you came silently into our lives, my heart breaks for all the wonderful memories we have missed with you. I know you are so beautiful and happy and perfect in your heavenly home. When I see other people say their living children are angels, I just want to tell them they have no idea what a real angel is. I held one in my arms and kissed her beautiful face and will love her for the rest of my life until I can hold her again.
When I try to imagine what you would be like at four, I am lost. I know you would be beautiful and sweet and fun as you grow into a little lady. You would be learning so many knew things as you begin to prepare to start school. You may know your ABC's and how to count and write your name and may even be learning to read. You would probably be able to dress yourself and would probably have a unique style all your own. With four brothers, I wonder if you would like sports and playing ball or if you would be mommy's girly princess who insisted on dressing up all the time and playing with your dolls. Mommy would love that!
Mommy just wants you to know that you will always be loved. She has a really hard time sharing about you because it is hard to talk about without crying and because most people just don't seem to appreciate you. I just want the world to know how special you are, my little angel. I hope that you are having the best birthday party ever in heaven and that you will enjoy watching our celebration here too.
With all my heart, happy birthday beautiful girl! I love you!
Thinking about you and lifting you all up in prayer today. I won't forget your precious angel Sherry. There are some of us who still remember her and grieve her loss in your life. Sending you so much love today, friend.
I know I'm a few days late, but Happy Birthday Mattie! It's obvious even to someone who just knows your mommy through this that you were/are one very special lady! And your mommy is one strong woman!
We're Gonna Party Like It's 2017!


text:
Bailey Andison (Smiths Falls, 13 de noviembre de 1997) es una deportista canadiense que compite en natación. Ganó una medalla de oro en el Campeonato Mundial de Natación en Piscina Corta de 2021, en la prueba de 4 × 100 m libre.

Palmarés internacional

Referencias

Nadadores de Canadá
Nadadores de Canadá en los Juegos Olímpicos de Tokio 2020

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


NetworkManager is available in openSuSE from version 11 onward, with front end applications for KDE and Gnome.
Left-click the NetworkManager gui from the panel.
NetworkManager should automatically detect the Hautspot network's SSID. Look for something similar to the local venue's name, or ask an attendant if unsure. If more than one network is detected, be sure to click on the appropriate SSID.