and, as already mentioned, how to felt wool sweaters.
Because these are not any old covers, but felted wool pillow covers with a zipped closure and an appliqued leaf design! If you have old sweaters that you don't need anymore, all you need to do is buy the zipper and a pillow insert, and you have a cool and inexpensive eco-friendly item for decorating your home or for giving away as gifts!
It's hard to believe, but these simple materials can be quickly turned into these cool accent pillows! Let's get started!
1. Cut out two 15 x 15″ (37.5 cm) squares from the sweater, one from the front and one from the back. Because even the largest mens' wool sweater becomes pretty small once it's been machine felted, you can only make a smallish throw pillow cover from it. If you'd like to make a larger pillow, or if you don't have any felted sweaters that are large enough, you could always sew together pieces of felted wool to get to the size you need.
The pillow cover will be easier to sew together if you use felted wool that isn't excessively thick.
2. Download my leaf and stem template from my free download page and print it without scaling, otherwise make your own appliqué template in whatever shape you prefer.
3. Cut out the appliqué pieces using the template and pin them on to the squares. The decoration should stay at least 1″ (2.5 cm) from the edges of your squares.
Normally, when you appliqué, it's best to use an iron-on adhesive to keep the pieces in place (as described here). That's not necessary with felted wool because the rough surface keeps the pieces from moving around. In any case, the adhesive has a hard time sticking to rough fabric.
4. Test out some different appliqué stitches on scraps of the felted wool that you've used to decide which stitch, stitch length and stitch width you prefer. Write down your preferences on a piece of paper, staple it to the wool scraps, and put this sample piece aside for future reference. Use the 90/14 needle for sewing the appliqué.
Here you can see what appliqued felted wool with a zig zag stitch (top leaves), a blanket stitch (stem) and a straight stitch (bottom leaves) looks like. (More on appliqueing with these stitches here.) You can use a straight stitch because felted wool doesn't fray.
5. Sew the appliqué pieces onto both wool squares. I made two pillows, so I had a total of four squares. I used classic appliqué for squares A, B and C and reverse appliqué for square D. I also sewed some vine-like swirls onto the background of square C, which is a nice effect, even though it gets lost on the textured wool background. If you decide to do that, make sure to use a plain wool without cables or ribbing.
To do the reverse appliquè, I pinned two squares of felted wool together, traced the leaf shapes onto the top layer, sewed along the lines, and cut out the top layer inside the stitching, thereby exposing the bottom layer. I then trimmed off the excess fabric from the bottom layer to reduce bulk (and to use for other appliquéd shapes). I love reverse appliqué and you can see other examples of it here, here, here and here.
Great! Your squares are all ready for being assembled into pillow covers! I've already described the process in the tutorial for a simple zipper pouch, but I want to give you some extra tips to deal with sewing the bulky boiled wool.
1. Place one wool square right side up with the side you want to sew the zipper to on top. I wanted the zipper on the side of the pillow, not the top where it would be more visible, so I turned the square with its left side on top. Line up the edge of the zipper tape with the square edge, wrong side up. (I used the zipper from my mini-tutorial on how to shorten a zipper.) Pin and sew with a zipper foot as described here.
2. Place the other wool square right side up with the side for the zipper on top. If you are sewing a side zipper, as I did, remember that you need to sew the zipper to the other side of the square. I sewed it to the left side of my first square, so the right side of my second square. Position the other side of the zipper tape, wrong side up, along the square edge, pin and sew. You will know that you have lined the pieces up with the zipper properly if the squares are exactly one on top of the other, right sides facing.
Do NOT topstitch! I always topstitch when installing zippers to keep the seam allowances from getting caught in the zipper teeth, but the felted wool is very thick so it's not easy to do this with a zipper foot. In any case, the zipper will not be continually opened and closed and the pillow form fills out the zipper area so that it looks nice.
3. Pin down the two sides, then stick your hand inside and unzip the zipper about 2/3 of the way. Then pin the third side and sew all around with a 110/18 needle. I like to use a walking foot for this part because the layers of boiled wool are very thick, especially in the areas with the zipper tape. I suggest passing back over these areas multiple times to strengthen it. This is the hardest part of this project, so don't get discouraged if it doesn't go smoothly. Like I already mentioned, it will be much easier to sew if using a thinner felted wool as opposed to a very bulky one.
Clip the two bottom corners (more on clipping and notching here) and trim the seam allowance in the zipper area (as seen in picture #3) to reduce bulk.
4. Turn the pillow cover right side out through the unzipped zipper, poke out the corners and zip it up without catching the seam allowances, and you're done!
…and the front and back of the second pillow, which I prefer.
The zipper makes for it easy to remove the pillow cover for washing, and the zipper area looks great even without topstitching.
A perfect touch of home decor for the autumn or winter, a lovely decoration for a cozy covered porch or a great gift! And you also have the peace of mind knowing that you've helped the environment by reusing something that would've been otherwise discarded!
This tutorial on how to sew a felted wool pillow with leaf appliqué is part of the syllabus of Cucicucicoo's beginner's sewing course! Don't forget to share pictures of your pouches (and what you put in them!) on the Cucicucicoo Creations Flickr Group or the Cucicucicoo Facebook page!
Question of the day: My timing is decidedly off with this project, at least for the Northern Hemisphere that just had its first day of summer yesterday! Believe it or not, I actually meant to publish this tutorial months ago, but it kept getting put off for one reason or another. Are there any specific summer-related projects you'd like for me to create a tutorial for?
I do have a bunch of great summer projects done and photographed, so I just need to find the time to edit the photos and write up the tutorials. I have some clothing tutorials for both girls and women, and some refreshing summer food tutorials, too! What are you more interested in reading about first?
Grazie mille del bellissimo tutorial!
Complimenti! I cuscini sono bellissimi! Purtroppo al momento non ho niente da infeltrire, aspetterò. Con un avanzi di lana infeltrita ho fatto dei quadratini e li uso per mettere il tonico per il viso. Vanno molto bene e poi basta lavarli e si possono riutilizzare. Grazie per i tuoi splendidi tutorial, sei veramente bravissima.
Grazie, Rosy! è un'ottima idea usare quadratini di lana infeltrita per il viso! (Io ho fatto qualche cerchietto di spugna da usare così.) Sicuramente prima o poi ti capiterà qualche maglione da usare, altrimenti c'è sempre il mercato dell'usato!
I've felted plenty of woollen jumpers over the years. Still have some of them. Your cushions are beautiful, Lisa. I've featured them today.
Thank you, Pam! Yes, I have a huge collection of felted wool sweaters… some done on purpose and others not! They're so much fun to cut into and sew up!
A great project – I've been meaning to try felting for a long time, so this is going on my to-make list. I also had to say how delighted I was to see that little wicker chair – I have the exact same one, from my own childhood, in my house! My kids love sitting in it and it's so amazing to see another one!!
That is so funny, Cheryl! That chair was a hand-me-down from a friend, so I really have no idea how old it is or where it came from, but my kids loved it!
Anyway, you should try felting. It's so much fun and a lot of fun to cut into those felted sweaters!
Oh these are absolutely beautiful!! I love recycle projects with old clothes and these pillows are just wonderful! Thank you for the detailed tutorial! I just published your post!
Love these pillows. SO creative and thank you so much for sharing them with us!


Prepare the goat cheese dredging. Combine the pistachios, bread crumbs, and thyme.
Use dental floss to slice the goat cheese into medallions. If time is available, allows the goat cheese to chill in the fridge.
Dip a chilled goat cheese round into 1 tablespoon of olive oil, then dip into the bread crumb pistachio mixture.
In a large bowl, toss the salad greens with the dressing. Distribute onto 6 serving plates.
Heat a small skillet over medium heat for 1 minute. Spray the skillet with non-stick spray and place 4 medallions into the pan. Cover and allow to cook for 15 seconds. Flip quickly and allow to soften on the opposite side for 15 more seconds. Transfer the warmed cheese on top of the salad greens. Repeat for remaining medallions.
Heat the goat cheese medallions in batches. The cheese will melt rather than soften if warmed too long in an uncovered skillet.


However, I could not find any similar Z offset setting.
Trying to implement something like that with a Custom Gcode is possible but cumbersome.
I am building a fully customized HW, so I guess Z Offset for each extruder might be some abnormal feature that was simply never required.
Doesn't your printer firmware allow you to set the Z offset for each tool?
I am building my custom HW using Marlin on a standard Ramps.
Anyhow, what I finally did is to skip the "layer_change" invocation from the Gcode.pl when the current tool is the relevant one.
I had to add custom toolchange gcode for handling the transition.


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The Newsstand – July 14, 2006
Agency works on emergency alert system City rejects wireless network EFJ acquires 3e Technologies for $36M Md. rolls out new mobile police station Mineral takes first step in establishing high-speed, wireless Internet Officials study countywide wireless Parkway, turnpike to get updated communications system Visions for a wireless valley
Agency works on emergency alert system
The U.S. government is developing a new digital system that will transmit emergency alerts to cell phones throughout the country to warn citizens of a natural or nuclear disasters…
City rejects wireless network
The Des Moines (Iowa) Register
Urbandale, Iowa, officials have decided against a wireless network for the community, opting to rely on commercial service providers instead…
EFJ acquires 3e Technologies for $36M
EFJ, parent company of EFJohnson and Transcrypt International, bought 3e Technologies, a company that offers security products for wireless platforms and sells wireless infrastructure products…
Md. rolls out new mobile police station
The Baltimore Examiner
The Maryland State Police welcomed a new, 56-foot long, $1.5 million dollar mobile police station equipped with radio, satellite, telephones and wireless Internet…
Mineral takes first step in establishing high-speed, wireless Internet
The Cumberland (Md.) Times-News
Mineral County will soon bring high-speed wireless Internet services to the county's residents, businesses, schools and industry…
Officials study countywide wireless
Gwinnett (Ga.) Daily Post
Gwinett officials are gathering information and developing a business plan that would justify the deployment of a countywide Wi-Fi or WiMAX system.
Parkway, turnpike to get updated communications system
The Asbury Park (N.J.) Press
The New Jersey Turnpike Authority will spend $9 million to replace a statewide radio system.
Visions for a wireless valley
The San Jose (Calif.) Mercury News
Seven companies are competing for a contract to blanket Silicon Valley with wireless Internet access…

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


The ancestors of the Internet were kind enough to give us a communication standard which is free, transparent, and standardized. It would be a shame to see the tech communication landscape move further and further into the world of locked gardens and proprietary schemas.
New from GMail: send email back in time. "Gmail utilizes an e-flux capacitor to resolve issues of causality." In all seriousness though, remember when GMail launched on April 1st, 2004 and everyone that it was a joke?
A cautionary tale that explains just why the password anti-pattern needs to die. Coding horror indeed: in this case, 1,777 GMail accounts were compromised.
How to set up iChat to use your Gmail address for a Jabber account (useful for Twitter). I set this up a while back but recently a few people have been asking about this.


Hidden behind beautiful privacy wall at the end of a secluded drive, this exquisite updated 100 year old adobe sits in Historic Guadalupe area. A short stroll to the Plaza and Railyard. Quintessential Santa Fe details abound, with high ceilings, vigas, beams, Saltillo tile & hardwood flooring.
Santa Fe, New Mexico · Član od srpanj 2017.
Cecilia je Superhost · Superhostovi su iskusni domaćini s izvrsnim ocjenama koji se iznimno trude gostima osigurati savršen boravak.


text:
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor full trailer and release date confirmed
09/12/2022 09/12/2022 Matt Yeo 810 Views 0 Comments BD-1, Cal Kestis, Electronic Arts, LEGO, LEGO Star Wars, Minifigures, PC, PlayStation 5, Scout Trooper, Star Wars, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, Stormtrooper, the empire, The Game Awards, The LEGO Group, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X 2 min read
A first full trailer and confirmed release date for the upcoming Star Wars Jedi: Survivor were revealed at The Game
LEGO Icons 10306 Atari 2600 perfectly compliments new video game
27/11/2022 27/11/2022 Matt Yeo 731 Views 0 Comments 10306 Atari 2600, Asteroids, Atari, Atari 2600, Centipede, Icons, LEGO, LEGO Atari, LEGO Icons, LEGO Stores, LEGO.com, Nintendo Switch, PC, Playstation 4, PlayStation 5, Video game, Xbox One, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X 1 min read
A recent new retro video game collection release proves to be the perfect companion piece to LEGO Icons 10306 Atari
The five rarest bonus minifigures included with LEGO video games
06/11/2022 06/11/2022 Matt Yeo 1334 Views 0 Comments 30168 Gun mounting system, 30625 Luke Skywalker with Blue Milk, 5000202 Elrond, 5002946 Silver Centurion, 71340 Supergirl, DLC, DLC packs, eBay, EMEA, Iron Patriot, James Rhodes, LEGO, LEGO Dimensions, LEGO Marvel, LEGO Marvel Super Heroes, LEGO Marvel's Avengers, lego polybag, LEGO Star Wars, LEGO Star Wars Summer Vacation, LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga Deluxe Edition, LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga Galactic Edition, LEGO The Lord of the Rings, LEGO The Lord of the Rings: The Video Game, LEGO video game, LEGO Video Games, Luke Skywalker, Marvel, Marvel Super Heroes, Minifigure, Minifigures, Nintendo Switch, PC, Playstation 4, PlayStation 5, Polybag, Polybags, Red Lantern, Silver Centurion, Star Wars, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Supergirl, The Clone Wars, The Lord of the Rings, The Skywalker Saga, TT Games, Xbox One, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X 5 min read
LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga Galactic Edition isn't the only TT Games title that's included a rare bonus minifigure.
Updated LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga unavailable from some stores
24/10/2022 24/10/2022 Matt Yeo 1194 Views 0 Comments Amazon, Andor, DLC, DLC packs, GAME, LEGO, LEGO Star Wars, LEGO Star Wars Summer Vacation, LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga Galactic Edition, Minifigure, Nintendo Switch, Obi-Wan Kenobi, PC, Playstation 4, PlayStation 5, Rebels, Star Wars, Star Wars: Andor, Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi, Star Wars: Rebels, Star Wars: The Book of Boba Fett, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, The Book of Boba Fett, The Clone Wars, The LEGO Group, The Skywalker Saga, TT Games, Warner Bros. Games, Xbox One, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X 2 min read
Despite being set for release next week, LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga Galactic Edition is still unavailable for pre-order
We need this spooky Halloween LEGO gaming PC now
23/10/2022 23/10/2022 Jack Yates 1302 Views 0 Comments Gaming, LEGO, LEGO Brawls, PC, Video Games 1 min read
A surprise one-off build has appeared across the LEGO Group's social media channels, revealing a specialised haunted house gaming PC.
LEGO Brawls adds Brick-or-Treat update in time for Halloween
03/10/2022 03/10/2022 Matt Yeo 1596 Views 0 Comments Andor, Apple Arcade, Disney+, Halloween, LEGO, LEGO Brawls, LEGO Star Wars, LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga Galactic Edition, LEGO video game, LEGO Video Games, Minifigures, Nintendo Switch, Obi-Wan Kenobi, PC, Playstation 4, PlayStation 5, Star Wars, Star Wars: Andor, Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, The Clone Wars, The Skywalker Saga, Xbox One, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X 1 min read
The LEGO Brawls video game has received its first seasonal update, with spooky new content added to the multiplayer scrapper.
Physical version of updated LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga set for EMEA
11/09/2022 12/09/2022 Matt Yeo 4162 Views 0 Comments 30625 Luke Skywalker with Blue Milk, Ahsoka, D23, D23 2022, D23 Expo, D23 Expo 2022, Disney, Disney+, DLC, EMEA, LEGO, LEGO Disney, LEGO Marvel, LEGO Star Wars, LEGO Star Wars Summer Vacation, LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga Deluxe Edition, LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga Galactic Edition, LEGO video game, LEGO Video Games, Luke Skywalker, Marvel, Nintendo Switch, Obi-Wan Kenobi, PC, Playstation 4, PlayStation 5, Polybag, Rebels, Skeleton Crew, Star Wars, Star Wars: Ahsoka, Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi, Star Wars: Rebels, Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi, Star Wars: The Book of Boba Fett, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars: The Mandalorian, Tales of the Jedi, The Book of Boba Fett, The Clone Wars, The Mandalorian, The Mandalorian Season 3, The Skywalker Saga, TT Games, Video game, Video Games, Xbox One, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X 2 min read
It's been confirmed that only EMEA territories will be receiving a physical version of the updated LEGO Star Wars: The
Updated LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga adds Classic Obi-Wan
10/09/2022 10/09/2022 Matt Yeo 2413 Views 0 Comments Andor, D23, D23 2022, D23 Expo, D23 Expo 2022, DLC, LEGO, LEGO Star Wars, LEGO Star Wars Summer Vacation, LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga Galactic Edition, Nintendo Switch, Obi-Wan Kenobi, PC, Playstation 4, PlayStation 5, Rebels, Star Wars, Star Wars: Andor, Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi, Star Wars: Rebels, Star Wars: The Book of Boba Fett, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, The Book of Boba Fett, The Clone Wars, The Skywalker Saga, TT Games, Xbox One, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X 1 min read
The upcoming LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga Galactic Edition will also include the previous Classic Obi-Wan Kenobi pre-order DLC.
LEGO Brawls video game receives wide release later this week
29/08/2022 30/08/2022 Matt Yeo 1639 Views 0 Comments alien conquest, Apple, Apple Arcade, Classic Space, Hidden Side, iOS, Jurassic World, LEGO, LEGO Brawls, LEGO Classic Space, LEGO Hidden Side, LEGO Jurassic World, LEGO Monkie Kid, LEGO NINJAGO, LEGO video game, LEGO Video Games, Minifigure, Minifigures, Monkie Kid, Ninjago, Nintendo, Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation, Playstation 4, PlayStation 5, RED Games, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Switch, XBOX, Xbox One, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X 1 min read
The previously Apple Arcade-exclusive LEGO Brawls video game will be receiving a much-anticipated wider platform release later this week. Those


Captain of Team Planet X Belgium sent us a link this morning of photos of the team at the BIG ISLAND. CHECK THEM OUT. The team have qualified an increible 5 members for the World Ironman Champs including pro athlete Loic Helin. Expect a HUGE race update from them after the weekend! It's a guaranteed way of getting our numbers up in the Slowtwitch bike count anyway!


Vinyl siding is a cheap alternative to other home exterior materials with a number of benefits. First, vinyl siding is durable and can last decades without any damage. Second, it does not have to be painted (it already comes in the color). Thirdly, the color on the vinyl siding fades very slowly, making your home look brand new long after your neighbor's paint has begun to crack and chip. Despite all these benefits, it is still possible for vinyl siding to crack. If a crack does occur, all you need to do is replace the damaged pieces and insert new ones.
Remove the cracked vinyl siding with a zip tool. The zip tool is a prying tool specifically made for vinyl siding that will reduce any damage to the home and the siding during the removal process.
Measure the cracked siding with a tape measure.
Cut a new piece of siding with a table saw to the measurement specifications of the cracked vinyl siding piece.
Take the new piece of vinyl siding you just cut with the table saw and place it where the cracked siding was removed. Vinyl sidings have clipboards on the top and bottom that hold overlapping pieces in place. You can use these clipboards by sliding the new piece of siding under the top piece. Once it is in secured at the top, simply push the bottom of the siding in until it is overlapped by the bottom piece. This should secure the bottom clipboard. Use the zip tool to wedge the siding in if necessary.
The blade on the table saw should be installed backwards so the teeth on the blade are facing the opposite direction they usually face. This will make for a slower but much cleaner cut to the vinyl siding.


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Posted on April 28, 2010 April 28, 2010 by dnwrites
Alice in Maoland
Chairman Mao wore lavender socks.
Of course, they may not have started out lavender. If they were washed as many times as one of his bathrobes was patched (73, to make it last 20 years), they could have faded considerably.
That Chairman Mao was notoriously — and commendably! — frugal is just one of his many virtues enshrined at the Museum of Comrade Mao in Shaoshan, the town in rural Hunan where he was born. Shaoshan is quite the tourist attraction, though the well-appointed buses that pass through town are filled with Chinese. Few Westerners go there, as indeed few pass through this part of Hunan. In my afternoon there I saw only one Western couple, who looked either American or Canadian.
Being based in Xiangtan, only 20 miles or so away, I thought it would be negligent not to go – and it's not as if Xiangtan were overflowing with weekend cultural opportunities. Stevie Nicks, my assistant in the postgrad class, had warned me that it would take four buses to get to Shaoshan from campus; Pam suggested taking a car. The other foreign teachers had either been to Shaoshan or were busy that weekend, so on Sunday morning I went down to the end of my street and, improbably, hailed a cab on the first try. "Shaoshan," I told the driver, then pointed out the words on a computer printout to be sure he understood. "Shaoshan?" He needed a moment to take it in. He held up two fingers, which I interpreted as meaning 200 yuan (about $30) – the off-meter fare he was asking for the long trip. "OK," I said, and took the front passenger seat. Down the main road, he briefly picked up two students, one of whom could speak a little English, to make sure I was clear about the price. "He says it costs 200 yuan," one explained, and again I said a cheerful "Yes!" The students went on their way.
I could see why the driver was charging what, to the Chinese, seems an exorbitant amount to spend on a day trip. (As a point of comparison, 200 yuan was the amount of a coveted runner-up prize in a speech competition I helped judge.) Off the highway, the road to Shaoshan, mostly through farm country, is long, dusty and incredibly bumpy, and could have done serious damage to his cab. At one spot all the paving had been torn up for half a kilometer. The 40 to 50 minutes I had been told to expect stretched to more than an hour before we saw big brown "Tourist Center" signs overhead and, with a confident "Deng yi xia!" I told the driver to stop. The building to which the sign pointed was no tourist center, though it may have ambitions of being one someday, and it took some exploring on foot, a roadside map and finally a 5-yuan ride offered by two young women in a car to carry me a few more miles to the museum.
The Relics Hall, built in 1967, is filled with, basically, Mao's stuff – more than 800 pieces of it, including his hair-grooming case (he liked to relax by having someone comb his hair), his uniforms, underwear, the formal fur-trimmed black coat he wore to the Soviet Union, chocolate tins, even his used chopsticks. His bright red Speedo-equivalents are enormous, even folded in half; Mao was a big man, 6 foot 2 in a country where I'm tall. On display upstairs is his extensive record and tape collection, which takes up several rooms, as well as two temporary exhibitions: porcelain he used in his later years, decades after the metal flasks of the Long March, and 1,291 army watches, collected from veterans nationwide to celebrate Mao's 116th birthday. Also on that floor is the most tasteful gift shop in the vicinity.
The running theme of the wall labels, as rendered in English, is blatant hagiography: Mao as secular saint. (The museum was built at the height of the Cultural Revolution.) Mao worked ceaselessly and tirelessly to create a "harmonious socialist society," so much so that he often forgot to eat or sleep. From an early age, he loved manual labor (does anybody?) and laborers. He loved his family, friends and staff members, even helping them out of financial jams, but warned them not to expect preferential treatment. The message reminded me of the annual promotion ceremony in the Lutheran Sunday school of my childhood: one of the questions was "Did Baby Jesus ever cry?" The correct answer was a chorus of "No-o-o-o-o!" Judging from the Relics Hall, Baby Zedong never did, either.
I heard "Ex-cuse me!" only once in my hour or so in the museum, from a young man who said — I think — he was a theological student. "What is your feeling here?" he asked. I wasn't sure what he meant, so I explained why I had come. "I'm old enough to remember when Chairman Mao was alive, and he was always in the news," I said. "So I wanted to see the museum and learn more about him." He seemed satisfied, and after a few brief exchanges I lost him in the crowd.
That was too bad, because I had little to no idea how I was going to get back to Xiangtan. Outside the museum, I found no indication where to go next. No buses or taxis seemed to be stopping outside the gate. But a path parallel to the road looked promising, and I followed it to the wide-open Memorial Park, where a large statue of Chairman Mao stands amid wreaths of yellow flowers against a mountain backdrop. I walked for a bit past the Memorial Hall (a giant white statue of Mao resting in an armchair – think Lincoln Memorial); the Mao family's Ancestral Hall (closed) and Ancestral Temple (also closed). I couldn't find the birthplace, and the one woman who spoke a little English in the Tourist Services building, a k a gift shop, could tell me only vaguely how to get a bus to Xiangtan. I was contemplating my next move when, behind me, I heard those familiar words: "Ex-cuse me!"
Oh, no.
"Are you a teacher at the Hunan University of Science and Technology?"
"We've seen you around. We are students there – English majors. Do you know Pam? She's our foreign teacher."
Jenny, Meg and Catherine were my new best friends. Yes, they were going back by bus, and yes, I could ride with them. They had just come from Mao's birthplace and pointed in its direction. "But it will take you a long time. There's a long queue." They wanted to take pictures with the statues, and I wanted at least a peek at the birthplace, so we agreed to meet at the park entrance in 45 minutes.
The 10-minute walk to the Mao family manse followed a pleasant closed-off drive, past a field of irises in full bloom. The girls were right: the queue at the entrance was too long for me, so I settled for a stroll around the grounds. Mao's birthplace is no peasant hut but a substantial building with several wings, the roof partly thatched and partly tiled; his father was, after all, a merchant who could afford a university education for his son. The green landscape surrounding it, where the future Chairman would have played and learned to love manual labor, didn't look so very different from the fields of my Pennsylvania childhood, except that some of them were rice paddies. I inspected a long corridor of kiosks selling souvenirs, foolishly passing up a Thermos-like container made of bamboo (if I see another one, I'll buy it) and, maybe not so foolishly, a small khaki messenger bag with a portrait of Mao smiling and a red star. It might have made a nice gift, except that the likely recipient may have issues with, say, the Cultural Revolution.
Which, by the way, none of the students here seem to have heard of. (Nor have they heard the news from Tienanmen Square in 1989, just about the time they were busy being born.) Jenny, Meg and Catherine apparently haven't; on the bus back to Xiangtan, they proudly showed me the gold statuettes of Chairman Mao they had bought, the kind that almost every car here displays on its dashboard like a St. Christopher. Meg became violently carsick, and the homeopathic spray that works for me didn't seem to help. At the Western bus station in Xiangtan, I insisted on treating us all to a cab back to campus instead of taking two buses, thinking it would be faster and help Meg feel better. It didn't. "I'm a crazy driver!" the cabbie declared, and he wasn't exaggerating. He was delighted to hear we'd just come from Shaoshan: "That's my home!" If only he'd been the one to pick me at the beginning of the day.
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Economist Intelligence Unit U.S. Manufacturing Challenge
Visualize the Future of U.S. Manufacturing
Despite appearances, manufacturing still constitutes an important sector of the U.S. economy and has been the target of much government stimulus spending. Last year, however, China usurped the United States' 110-year reign as the world's largest manufacturing country (by output). So is manufacturing declining into obsolescence, or ripe for potential growth and renewal?
To answer this question, the Economist Intelligence Unit surveyed 360 senior executives from manufacturing firms across the U.S. The responses provide an expert perspective on the current state of manufacturing, the future outlook of major firms, and the factors that will drive growth.
Visualizing.org and the Economist Intelligence Unit challenge you to visualize the dynamics of U.S. manufacturing. There is an abundance of government data about the manufacturing sector available. Building on an outcome or insight from the EIU survey, find a compelling story in the data and follow it through the past, present, and future of U.S. manufacturing.
Made in the U.S.: Manufacturing Survey
The "Made in the U.S." survey, sponsored by GE, was conducted in August 2011 by the Economist Intelligence unit. Gathering responses from 360 senior executives of manufacturing firms across a range of industries, the survey assesses attitudes towards the future of manufacturing in the U.S.
Manufacturing Data on Visualizing.org
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
There is a great deal of U.S. economic data out there. Here are a few places to get started:
BEA Interactive data and charts
U.S. Census Bureau's Business Dynamics Statistics
BDS Charts
U.S. Census Bureau's Manufacturing Surveys
National Science Foundation: Science and Engineering Indicators
NSF Science and Engineering Indicator Tables
The Economist On Manufacturing
Making it in America
Lending a hand: Policymakers can help create jobs, up to a point
Manufacturing, A Political Imperative
US Manufacturing Jobs: Song Two
National Science Foundation on R&D; and innovation
U.S. Businesses Report 2008: R&D; Expenses
Statistics on Business Innovation (2010)
Representatives from EIU, GE and Visualizing.org.
The winning visualization will be featured on The Economist's web site.
The winner will receive a $2000 prize courtesy of GE.
An Honorable Mention recipient will receive a $500 prize courtesy of GE.
The winning visualization: The Future of U.S. Manufacturing by A. DuekA. Duek and M. de Franceschi of VisualAssement.net.
Read the recap.
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text:
Civil Law (Wrongs) Amendment Act 2003 (No 2)
A2003-35
Repealed by Legislation Act 2001, s 89 (1).
The repeal of an amending or repealing law does not affect the continuing operation of the amendments or revive the repealed law (see Legislation Act 2001, s 86).
Act as notified
8 September 2003 9 September 2003 - 9 March 2004 View online iconHTMLDownload iconPDFDownload iconWord
Bill and Explanatory statement
The bill and explanatory statement for this Act are accessed from Civil Law (Wrongs) Amendment Bill 2003.
Enter a date to find a version from 9 September 2003 onwards:
9 September 2003 - 9 March 2004 View online iconHTMLDownload iconPDFDownload iconWord As notified 8 September 2003
The Civil Law (Wrongs) Amendment Act 2003 (No 2) has been passed by the Legislative Assembly and is notified under the Legislation Act 2001.
Notified: 8 September 2003 (Parliamentary Counsel)
s 1, s 2 8 September 2003 LA s 75 (1)
s 13, s 23 8 March 2004 s 2 and LA s 79
remainder 9 September 2003 s 2 (1)


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Training your golf game properly is vital to improving. At many beginner tournaments together with U.S. highschool and school play, gamers are required to stroll and to carry their very own luggage, however at the professional and prime newbie level, in addition to at excessive-degree non-public clubs, gamers may be accompanied by caddies , who carry and handle the gamers' equipment and who're allowed by the rules to give recommendation on the play of the course.
A maximum of 14 clubs is allowed in a participant's bag at one time throughout a stipulated round. The opposite types of play in the recreation of golf are bogey competition, skins, 9-points, stableford, group play, and unofficial workforce variations. Calculating a handicap is usually difficult, the general purpose being that golf programs are usually not uniformly challenging from course to course or between ability ranges.


During the summer of 2014 I had an internship at New York International in NYC, a web-based media and technology venture dedicated to helping international businesses "make it in New York." This is a newspaper that I created for an international conference, The Transatlantic Entrepreneur Partnership conference. The conference aims to facilitate international collaboration and business development between Berlin and New York.
Having trouble viewing the issue? You can view it here.


We have two use cases for ATSs but we will be focusing on only one of them in this post. We source and evaluate candiates for our clients who are employers. The candidates we present to the employers should be easily accessible from the employer's ATS system. Given the wide range of ATS systems out there and their different implementations, we knew we needed a way to abstract away some of the implementation details.
We were heavily influenced by the incredible work Shopify did on ActiveMerchant. We wanted to do something similar and leverage an abstration layer that unifies third-party api calls with a transactional model.
Transaction (Model) The parent class of all ats transactions. Common methods for creating a transaction live here.
[ATS]Transction (Model) A transaction class that inherits from the Transaction model that's tailored to specific ATS.
ATS This class makes all the API calls for a specific ATS implementation.
[ATS]Authorization (Model) The implementation of an authorization for a particular ATS.
JobReqMapping This model stores mapping configurations between the job requisitions on our system and the employer's ATS.
We begin by creating a transaction model that collects the candidates we wish to send off to the ATS. Once we know which ats we're using, we simply type-cast it into a specific ATS transaction and get access to all of its methods.
Each ATS has a class with methods that access specific endpoints on that particular ATS. The ATS class is as dumb as possible. It only does 2 things, create a session with the ATS and expose methods to push candidates into the ats. Here we're using HTTParty for our web requests.
We found that for each method that makes a web request we're duplicating code for setting up the request, checking to see if the request was successful and storing any error response on the ATS isntance. So we built a general endpoint method for our Taleo Ats class. Using this method we can make any number of API calls just by invoking end_point with the proper resource route.
After calling candidate_insert, we can then ask ats.success? and ats.error to know if the request went through properly.
Authorizations for each ATS varies. The ATS Transaction model tracks which authorization to look up and then authorizes the user for an ATS instance. Authorizations do persist so future sessions can look up an previous authorizations for that user.
The most interesting part of the authorization model is the get_ats method, it creates an instance of that ats, performs the login (if the session has timed out) and returns an ats instance.
To put it all together, we first create an ats_trasaction. Once we know which ats we're working with, we type-cast the transaction to a subclass of ats_transaction (ex. TaleoTransaction). This initializes a Taleo instance and if it has the credentials, creates an active session on that Taleo. Then any number of methods can then be invoked on the TaleoTransaction to interact with the ATS.


text:
using System;
using System.ComponentModel.DataAnnotations;

namespace P01_BillsPaymentSystem.Data.Models.Attributes
{
    [AttributeUsage(AttributeTargets.Property)]
    public class NonUnicodeAttribute : ValidationAttribute
    {
        protected override ValidationResult IsValid(object value, ValidationContext validationContext)
        {
            if (value == null)
            {
                return new ValidationResult("Value cannot be null");
            }

            string text = (string)value;

            for (int i = 0; i < text.Length; i++)
            {
                if (text[i] > 255)
                {
                    return new ValidationResult("Value cannot contains unicode characters.");
                }
            }

            return ValidationResult.Success;
        }
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
claytoonz
Nationally Syndicated Editorial Cartoonist
Claytoonz Merch
Commissioned Cartoons
Tales From The Trumpster Fire
What Editors Are Saying
Who's That Man?
Bigly Crowds
Donald Trump has an obsession with crowd sizes, probably because there's so much to him that's tiny. So very tiny.
His press secretary's very first assignment was to boast about Donald Trump having the largest attended and most viewed inauguration in the history of American inaugurations. Of course it wasn't true, but it illustrates Trump's obsession. It makes him feel important and that maybe something about him is truly huge because there's so much about him that's tiny. So very tiny.
I attended a Trump rally during the 2016 presidential campaign. And sure, there was a large crowd but it wasn't as large as Trump claims. He often cites numbers that are greater than the venue can seat. He yells about standing room only and that there were people lined up outside who couldn't get in. He might believe that because his coordinators make sure to have people lined up outside. That's probably so when Trump pulls up to the venue, he can feel all juicy that there are so many people wanting to hear him bark racist chants, that they can't all get inside.
At his Fredericksburg rally in 2016, the room was half empty when he started to speak. Maybe it would have been full if they hadn't left about a thousand people in line outside the venue. Why were these people still in line? When I went through security to get in, it only took about five seconds. Trump's team doesn't respect his supporters by forcing them to stand outside for hours in order to feed Trump's ego. They probably don't mind making that sacrifice because they're in the cult.
It's like the guy Trump fat-shamed at his latest rally. In New Hampshire, Trump started yelling at a protester, hurling several insults about the man's weight. The man was escorted out of the building. As it turns out, he wasn't a protester but a supporter. His response to being fat-shamed by the president, who later called him but didn't apologize? He said Trump was the best thing that's ever happened to America. Along with ethics and principles, Trump supporters have shed all dignity.
Trump tweeted about his New Hampshire hate rally's crowd size at least three times. He tweeted, "Placed was maxed out, totally packed, with thousands coming to the arena floor at start." He then tweeted out a photo and with, "Look at the tremendous overflow at packed arena in New Hampshire last night." Twenty-five minutes later, he tweeted, "Biggest crowd EVER, according to Arena people. Thousands outside trying to get in. Place was packed!"
As it turns out, it wasn't packed (surprised), but there was an actual important detail about the crowd that attended a recent Trump hate rally in Pennsylvania.
There was a rally at a Shell plant in Pennsylvania that wasn't supposed to be a rally. It was an official presidential event, which means we paid for it, but it turned into a campaign event. Part of the explanation for the attendance is that employees of Shell were forced to attend by their company, and were ordered not to protest or do "anything viewed as resistance" during the event.
According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, union members were told, "No yelling, shouting, protesting, or anything viewed as resistance will be tolerated at the event, An underlying theme of the event is to promote good will from the unions. Your building trades leaders and jobs stewards have agreed to this." Later, it was revealed that several union leaders had not agreed to it or had even been consulted.
Workers were told their attendance wasn't mandatory, but if they didn't attend then they wouldn't receive payment for the day.
The Post-Gazette reported, "The choice for thousands of union workers at Royal Dutch Shell's petrochemical plant in Beaver County was clear Tuesday: Either stand in a giant hall waiting for President Donald Trump to speak or take the day off with no pay.
'Your attendance is not mandatory,' said the rules that one contractor relayed to employees, summarizing points from a memo that Shell sent to union leaders a day ahead of the visit to the $6 billion construction site. But only those who showed up at 7 am, scanned their ID cards, and prepared to stand for hours—through lunch but without lunch—would be paid.
'NO SCAN, NO PAY,' a supervisor for that contractor wrote."
I'll bet a golden nickel Donald Trump didn't skip lunch.
This isn't new for Trump. He paid actors to pretend to be supporters at his campaign announcement. Was that ever reported as a campaign expense?
Since the Pennsylvania rally wasn't an "official" campaign event, the payment to their employees to attend was not a campaign expense for Royal Dutch Shell, but it should be. We should also be informed of how often this occurs for Trump hate rallies. Maybe it should be mandated that each time Trump boasts about crowd size, that there be an asterisk noting how many were forced or/and paid to attend. But then again, Trump lies about his crowd sizes anyway.
Forcing people to attend a rally to give the impression there's more support than actually exists and to soothe a leader's ego isn't the practice of a Democracy. It's the kind of thing Fidel Castro would have done and did. It's a dictator's move which suits a man who dreams of being a fascist.
From now on, when Trump brags about crowd sizes, reporters should ask how many were paid or forced to attend. If nothing else, it'll give something else for Trump to lie about.
Support the cartoonist.
As I noted in a previous cartoon, these are perilous times for political cartoonists. But you can help me continue to create cartoons, blogs, and videos by making a contribution. All support, large and small, is greatly appreciated. You can also support me by purchasing a signed print (8 1/2×11) for $40, or a signed poster (18×24) for $100 by clicking the PayPal button (just include a note if you're purchasing a print). If you want to support but don't want to use PayPal, you can send a contribution through the mail (address is on the contact page. Again, include a note for a print).I don't plan on going anywhere and your support will help guarantee that. Whether you support, can't. or just choose not to, please know that I am truly thankful that you visit my site and read my work.
You can purchase a signed print of this cartoon.
Watch me draw.
Posted in Uncategorized and tagged Cartoons, Clay Jones, claytoonz, Editorial cartoons, Empty Seat MAGA Tour, Political Cartoons, Trump, Trump Rally on August 19, 2019 by clayjonz. 3 Comments
← Trolling Trump
Meanwhile, On Obama Avenue →
randumbthoughts2017 says:
"Along with ethics and principles, Trump supporters have shed all dignity."
Wrong, Clay, they haven't shed anything.
They never had any of that stuff to begin with.
Boxerpaws says:
garbage like this is exactly why it's going to be a landslide in 2020.
Duron says:
Not likely at all.
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There is one number, however, that stands out among Jews as being especially powerful. That number is 18. While we (thankfully) don't drink 18 cups of wine at the seder, and exhausted brides don't have to circle their grooms that many times at a wedding, that number is universally recognized by Jews as being deeply meaningful.
The number 18 is the essence of life. When you add up the numerical value of the two letters that make up the hebrew word for life, chai, you get 18. What could be more powerful, more beautiful than life itself? The number 18 symbolizes the joy and awe of our religion. It is why Jews of all observancy levels will sport a chain bearing the chet and yud. It is why we donate to charities in multiples of 18. We hope to infuse the power of that number onto every endeavor we undertake.
The number 18 is also the number that defines my youngest. Long before he came into this world, my husband and I agreed one of his Hebrew names would be Chaim, after my paternal grandfather. The name must have resonated with the growing baby inside of me, because he chose the 18th day of the month of April to make his whirlwind debut into the world. His speedy, emergency home-birth entrance left him fighting for the very thing his birth date would come to symbolize. He reaffirmed my faith in prayer, G-d and plain old good luck. He reminded me life was something to be valued and could be lost in mere minutes.
Though I may often need the reminder, my son seems to have been born with a deep appreciation for his presence in the world. Family, friends and strangers all comment about on is overall happiness. They exclaim how they have never seen such a pleasant child. To this I respond, "He is just so grateful to be alive." He is the baby, who if born on a different day and time, may not have survived the ambulance ride to the hospital. He is the one, with the help of tremendous doctors, and, I believe, the power of prayer and divine intervention, went from barely breathing to a thriving newborn. He is the one, whose strength leaves amazed to believe he spent his first days covered in wires and under the care of the NICU nurses. He is the one, who, when old enough to understand his birth, will hopefully never lose sight of all he went through just to be here on Earth.
He is my lucky number. He is my Chaim. My life.
Amazing. Our children are such blessings.
Definitely. I try to remind myself of that, even on the hard days.
As a Jewish person, born and raised in Israel, this resonates with me deeply. I love the story about your son and the introduction. As with anything that you observe from too close some of characteristics of Judaism are lost on me. I know about "chai" but I've never thought about Jewish life constructing itself around numbers. That's such a great observation. Great post!


text:
On 8th December, we march for justice and dignity!
A message of solidarity and support to the families of French student protesters abused by the police in December 2018.
Police force students in Mantes-la-Jolie to their knees during a protest on 6th December 2018.
On the 6th December 2018, 151 lycéen(e)s (secondary school students) were detained by police during a protest in Mantes-la-Jolie. The demonstration was a part of the wider Gilets jaunes movement which swept across France that winter, initially in opposition to a proposed rise in fuel tax, but which quickly became a movement of wider opposition to Emmanuel Macron's government. The protesting students in Mantes-la-Jolie were forced to their knees by police officers, and made to remain in stress positions outside in the cold for several hours. The following is a statement of support and solidarity from various French trade unions, political parties and organisations, in response to the march of the students' families scheduled to take place on the 8th December.
We recall those terrible images of 6 December 2018, of 151 children forced onto their knees by the forces of order in Mantes-la-Jolie, and the sight of one of the policemen saying, 'Voilà une classe qui se tient sage' ('This is a nice quiet class').
We were at the height of the school students' movement, when the Gilets jaunes uprising was taking off. It was an incredible moment which opened a new cycle of struggle, in which we still find ourselves today: at the very same time, the forgotten from all quarters – high-school students in working-class neighbourhoods on the one side (not only in Mantes!), and on the other, the Gilets jaunes, workers and the precarious, without representation by any political or trade union group. Those in power knew it was a turning point, and it took their revenge. This was what led to the appalling treatment inflicted on the children – traumatic for many – and which served as a dismal symbol of the excesses to come, of the systematic mutilation of protestors who still continued to demonstrate, Saturday after Saturday.
We, trade unions, associations, parties, political organisations, we are responding to the call of families of the high school students of Mantes-la-Jolie to march by their sides, beginning in Barbès (Paris) on 8 December.
Because, we understand all too well that behind the humiliation, the degradation, the agony – not to speak of the injustice – which daily strikes at the working-class neighbourhoods, and is the sign of a ceaseless and growing authoritarian drift, is the continued need to fight back.
We, who are dedicated to trade union struggle, to the climate struggle, to the feminist struggle, we who are against neoliberalism and finance, we see everyday democracy recede, the right to protest questioned, the imprisoning of militants and protestors made banal. Opposing this authoritarian escalation begins with joining with its victims, and with those who hold the state to account.
We will march on 8 December, beginning in Barbès , against authoritarianism and racism, and for democracy and dignity.
A list of supporters of the demonstration can be found here.


Richard Nixon offers a comprehensive strategy for the West—a vital plan of action that will help ensure peace, prosperity, and freedom in the next century. From glasnost and summitry to arms control and Star Wars, from Nicaragua and China to Europe and Japan, he gives seasoned, no-nonsense advice on all tough foreign policy issues.
The former President draws on a lifetime of experience in international affairs to examine the crucial challenges facing the United States and the West and how best to go forward in the 21st century.


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Lately I was toying a lot with videos, as this seems to be the next step online. While it's nice once done, many times you have to dabble with different video formats and other stuff you need to edit. Enter Extensoft Video Converter, this little freeware is, in fact, one of the best free video converter tools I've found – it's simple, works great and is very functional. And it implements the M$ Office Ribbon, which makes this one of the few applications I've seen out there to do so.
It lets you to convert, split, merge and edit your video files. It has support for a wide variety of video formats, from AVI to FLV and Hi-def videos (MTS) captured with new HD cameras. I use it and it seems it's gonna stay on my PC for the long run. I still have to check finer details, but if you want a one-stop no fuss Freeware video editor/converter, this is the one to go.
* Opens and converts from the following file formats: AVI, FLV, MOV, MP4, MPG, MPEG, MTS, RM, RMVB, QT, WMV, and others recognized by your computer (Direct Show).
* Converts to the following output format: AVI, MP4, MPEG1, MPEG2, QuickTime (QT), WMV.
* Easy and simple user interface including the movie preview area, timeline and editing area, and video clip management area.
* Supports splitting or merging multiple videos by selecting movie sections to be merged or split.
* Supports the new high-definition high-quality format H.264, including multi-pass conversion for even higher quality. This allows creating best quality movies at minimum size.
* Provides predefined conversion settings for instant conversion to movie formats supported by YouTube, iPod, iPhone, HDTV, and Web pages (Flash).
* Supports saving custom conversion settings.
* Supports movie scaling (resizing), deinterlacing, and changing frames-per-second.
* Supports batch mode to quickly convert multiple movies or selections to a single or separate output files.
* Supports saving and loading movie conversion projects.
* Creates HTML pages that play converted videos as Flash movies (FLV) for easy publishing to the Web.
* Absolutely free – nothing to buy!
Posted in	Video. Tagged with	avi deinterlace freeware, avi deinterlace video editor freeware, Batch Mode, best freeware video converter, Conversion Settings, Converter Features, Custom Conversion, deinterlace avi, deinterlace avi freeware, deinterlace freeware, Deinterlacing, extensoft free video converter, extensoft video converter, Flv, Format Avi, Free Video Converter, free video converter by extensoft editing, Freeware, freeware program, freeware video converter, freeware video converter/editor, freeware video converters, freeware video editor, freewaretips, freewaretips.info, H 264, how to use free video editor by extensoft, iphone, M Office, Management Area, Mpeg1 Mpeg2, Mpg Mpeg, multi video converter freeware, Pages Flash, Preview Area, Quality Format, Rmvb, Video Editor, Video Formats, web.


text:
Denver Nuggets signs Jeff Green on a two-year deal
The Nuggets will be the 11th NBA employer of the 35-year-old since the Boston Celtics drafted him fifth overall in 2007.
13 August, 2021 07:25 IST
File Photo: Jeff Green averaged 11.0 points, 3.9 rebounds and 27.0 minutes in 68 games for the Brooklyn Nets in 2020-21. - AP
The Denver Nuggets officially announced the signing of free agent forward Jeff Green on Thursday.
Previous reports said Green, who turns 35 later this month, agreed to terms on a two-year, $10 million deal.
The Nuggets will be Green's 11th NBA employer since the Boston Celtics drafted him fifth overall in 2007.
"We are very excited to welcome Jeff and his family to Denver," president of basketball operations Tim Connelly said in a news release.
"He brings a wealth of experience to our team; his impact will be felt both on the court and in the locker room."
ALSO READ | Doncic signs $207 million extension as Mavs turn focus to titles
Green averaged 11.0 points, 3.9 rebounds and 27.0 minutes in 68 games (38 starts) in 2020-21 for the Brooklyn Nets. He shot a career-high 41.2 percent from 3-point distance.
The 14-year NBA veteran has appeared in 976 games (583 starts) with Seattle/Oklahoma City, Boston, Memphis, the Los Angeles Clippers, Orlando, Cleveland, Washington, Utah, Houston and Brooklyn.
He has career averages of 12.8 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.6 assists.
Read more stories on Basketball.
PKL 8 schedule of remaining matches announced
Aaradhya Yadav replaces Vasu Vats in India U-19 World Cup squad
PKL 8
Ludovic Blas
Vasu Vats
U-19 WC: All-round Australia trumps Pakistan, reaches semis
Blas scores twice as Nantes reaches French Cup quarterfinals


text:
Global Strategic Research Institute
Global Business Advisers
Government - Academia Advisers
Global Research Team
The Impact of Culture on Training Global Leaders
By Cameron Bilger PH.D.
Is there a "best" way to teach future global business leaders? The answer is not clear even though information on cultural differences is widely available. Culture is taught in business schools and is an essential component of corporate training programs. Data on the effect of culture on learning styles is also accessible. What seems to be missing is the discussion of whether or not there is a "best" way to train global business leaders.
The impact of culture on business organizations has been well researched since the groundbreaking study by Dutch researcher Geert Hofstede in the late 1960's. Over a six year period, Hofstede surveyed 100,000 IBM employees in over 70 countries to rate their responses to questions in four categories he called Power Distance, Individualism, Uncertainty Avoidance, and Masculinity. The results are still being taught in business schools (despite the known limitations of the survey format and the restricted sample base of IBM employees). The survey has since been updated to expand the survey population and include the Long Term Orientation and Indulgence vs. Restraints categories.(1)
Understanding culture is critical to all types of businesses. Miscommunication stemming from cultural differences is costly. As a result of globalization and widespread Internet access, even the smallest companies are becoming multinational and must now learn to deal with international customers, foreign partners and in many cases multi-cultural workforces. Cross-cultural education has become a good business opportunity. Resources for cultural training abound: from free governmental sources to a wide price range for private training. Governments publish information and links on freely accessible websites. For example, on its website http://www.state.gov/m/fsi/tc/79756.htm the Department of State lists 25 training and consulting companies including Cultural Savvy in San Francisco and the Eaton Consulting Group in Boston and Copenhagen. In addition, there are literally thousands of management consultants including Angel Rampy, the Founder of Success for Learning whose business focuses on helping foreign born executives adapt to American business culture. Sophia Liu, former Director of HYSTA, the Chinese professional organization in Silicon Valley, and Founder of Ivy Business Institute, uses her expertise on Chinese and American cultural differences to help her clients as a business and life coach. The list goes on.
The impact of culture on learning styles has been well documented. Studies abound highlighting the major differences between Eastern and Western learning approaches. Now the question becomes is one teaching methodology more effective for training global business leaders than another?
Current trends in student applications indicate yes: a business education focusing on creative thinking and innovation is actively sought by future leaders. The previous blog focused on the trend of rapidly increasing numbers of Chinese students studying in the United States. As over 70% of these students plan to return to China, it can be deduced that these skills are also highly valued by employers in China.
The increased demand for an education focusing on innovation can be partially explained by historical context. Education in China has been primarily impacted by two philosophies: Confucianism and Communism. As a result of the focus on hierarchy and tradition, Confucian philosophy set the stage for creating a passive learning environment in which students are most comfortable listening, not questioning, and engaging as a group, not individual participation. (2)
The preference for a passive learning style continued during the Communist revolution, but now instead of thoughtful reflection, politics encouraged rote memorization. With an over 80% rate of illiteracy, the Communists saw an opportunity to expand their population base. (3) The idea was to educate the peasants (including women) to "read and study conscientiously and have a good grasp of Marxism" (4) The purpose of literacy was to support the revolution, not for personal gain. After the Revolution, literacy became a government priority to grow the economy. Vocational programs were added and additional measures were taken by the government to increase literacy by mandating Mandarin as the national language, creating Pinyin and simplifying the Chinese characters. (5) The Cultural Revolution was a major setback to education. "Sweep and clean out all capitalists! Destroy Confucianism!" (6)
After Mao's death, Deng Xiao Ping redefined education in China. The focus became economic growth. "The key to the door for modern industrialism is Technology. To develop Technology skills is education." Continuing education programs in Beijing now included required courses in engineering and technology. (7)
Western education however can trace its roots to Socrates who encouraged his followers to think for themselves. "Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel." (8) From the Socratic method and focus on individual thought, two teaching approaches have developed in American educational circles: the Malcolm Knowles model and the Wiggins and McTighe approach to education. Knowles created a model of informal adult education and self-direction. His goal has been to refocus professors from "educating people" to "helping them learn." (9) Knowles proposed a more informal and friendly flexible environment with interaction among students. (10)
In contrast, Wiggins and McTighe introduced a structured approach to education. Their "Backward" Design model focuses on helping students better understand the material, not just memorize information. "In teaching students for understanding, we must grasp the key idea that we are coaches of their ability to play the 'game' of performing with understanding, not tellers of our understanding to them on the sidelines." (11). The focus is on a younger target market than the Knowles model. Despite the differences, both approaches encourage and reward individual critical thinking. (12)
The lesson for business is that culture continues to have an impact on how people learn and communicate. With globalization, the East/West differences so clearly stated in the original Hofstede report are blurring. Although passive learning is still the norm in China, the system is showing distinct signs of change. The Beijing educational system recently introduced the Wiggins and McTighe approach to a group of educators as part of the government's commitment to modernize its educational system and workforce.(13)
So is there a "best " methodology to train future leaders? The jury is still out. From practice I found that a combination of learning styles is most effective when teaching business classes. What has worked for my students whether they are in China, Eastern Europe, Russia, or the Bay Area, is an interactive and hands on approach to learning, i.e. instructing the students on actual techniques they can use at work the next day while reinforcing these lessons with role plays and case studies to encourage out of the box thinking. My colleague Dr. Gary Wishniewsky , Director, International Programs and Academic Director, Moscow MBA Program at Cal State East Bay and former Director of the Singapore Program at Golden Gate University, agrees that his methodology is similarly interactive to encourage creativity and critical thinking. However, Dr. Wishniewsky does adapt his classroom management style for each location. In contrast, George Hamma, Senior Technical Staff at Spectral Dynamics, changes his teaching methodology depending on location. Mr. Hamma trains technical professionals around the world on how to use his company's products. He adjusts the level of interactivity and hands on participation depending on the local culture.
This topic warrants further discussion, and we welcome your response on what instructional techniques you think are the most effective for training future global business leaders.
1) http://geert-hofstede.com/national-culture.html In 1991 as a response to the results of a study by Michael Bond working with Chinese counterparts, Hofstede included a fifth category: Long Term Orientation. In addition, the survey base was expanded to include employees from a wide variety of industries as well as students. Three years ago Hofstede added Indulgence vs. Restraint as a category in response to Michael Minkov's World Values Survey data analysis
2) http://factsanddetails.com/china.php?itemid=88 According to teachings of K'ung-fu-tzu (Confucius 551-479 BCE) as written in the Analects, knowledge came from the thoughtful study of a subject not from intuition. To become educated, students were expected to find a good teacher, respect his position in the hierarchical society, and mimic his words and acts. "Good" was defined as a man well versed in history, tradition and ritual. Confucius considered women inferior and thought it best for society that they remain illiterate. Society and social order were the priority. Individual thought and action were not encouraged.
3) http://ignca.nic.in/ks_41036.htm
4) http://www.marxists.org/subject/china/peking-review/1974/PR1974-05j.htm
"As for education for cadres whether at work or in schools for cadres, a policy should be established of focusing such education on the study of the practical problems of the Chinese revolution and using the basic principles of Marxism-Leninism as the guide, and the method of studying Marxism-Leninism statically and in isolation should be discarded." "Reform Our Study" (May 1941), Selected Works, Vol. III, p. 24. http://art-bin.com/art/omao16.html
5) http://www.r4e.org/education/China/history_of_education_in_china.htm This was not the case in "unstable" areas (Tibet) where educational opportunities were restricted as a way to control the population.
6) http://historyday.crf-usa.org/2703/new_page_3.htm All schools were closed by the fall of 1966 and some not reopened for up to 5 years. Political slogans were used to incite the Red Guard to attack teachers and intellectuals:
7) http://www.umsl.edu/~henschkej/henschke/adult_education_in_china.pdf
8) http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/69267-education-is-the-kindling-of-a-flame-not-the-filling Socrates (469-399BCE). Socrates refused to think of himself as a teacher. Instead he encouraged his followers to think for themselves by asking them questions, a methodology now known as the Socratic method.
9) http://infed.org/mobi/malcolm-knowles-informal-adult-education-self-direction-and-andragogy/
10) http://infed.org/mobi/malcolm-knowles-informal-adult-education-self-direction-and-andragogy/ Knowles believed that adult learning was fundamentally different from childhood learning and popularized the concept of andragogy. According to Knowles, andragogy was based on originally 4 assumptions: Self Concept, Experience, Readiness to Learn, Orientation to learning and a more recently added fifth: Motivation to Learn.
11) http://www.ubdexchange.org/resources/backwards.html
12) http://www.authenticeducation.org/index.lasso According to this model, the teacher is responsible for the 3 stages of Backward Design: Identify Desired Results; Determine acceptable evidence; Plan learning experiences and instruction. The approach focuses on deciding what is to be learned first before deciding how to teach the information. The learning activities are decided in terms of which are the most efficient methods to get the information across.
13) http://www.authenticeducation.org/ubd/china.lasso The Beijing educational system recently hired Understanding By Design, the trademarked program based on the writings of Wiggins and McTighe, to teach 300 Chinese educators as part of the government's commitment to modernize its educational system and workforce.
Cameron Bilger is a Vice President of the Global Strategic Research Institute.
Global Discipline
Secrets To Sucess In Silicon Valley
Sf Examiner


Tune up your marketing automation.
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text:
Săvinești este un sat în comuna Poiana Teiului din județul Neamț, Moldova, România.

Săvinești, Poiana Teiului

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Q: JPA2 + Hibernate + Guice-persist: Version Behavior I using Hibernate 3.6 Final, Guice-persist and JPA2.
So good, I have everything configured, and my bean has a @Version private Long version;, with getter and setter.
I have implemented equals and hashcode with all the fields.
My dao save method is :
@Transactional
public void save(Product p){ em.persist(p); }

But, if I do something like:
Product p = new Product("name"); //id=null, version=null
dao.save(p); //works, id!=null, version=0
Product p2 = new Produto(10, 0, "other name"); //id, version, name
dao.save(p2); //works, but the version isnt updated, so my version still 0

Then, if I change the name and try to save again, I got a "StaleObjectstateException row was updated or deleted by ..."...
I like to know what am I have to do to make entity manager update the version when save the object... and why persist didn't do this.
Thanks in advance.

A: (Ignoring that the code says new Produto and not new Product)
For p2, you are setting the id and version at object instatiation, then persisting it.
After persisting the state of the object p2 is unchanged from the last known persisted state -> no need to update the version.
(
Do something like p2.setName("yet another name"), then do p2.getVersion() ... to see the effect.
p otho didn't have any version, neither directly set by "you" via code or via the PresistenceContext. Once you persisted p, it got managed in a persistence context and hence got a version number - in this case it got version 0 (newly created).

A: I solve this problem this way:
@Transactional
public void persist(B bean) {
    em.persist(bean);
}

@Transactional
public B update(B bean) {
    bean = em.merge(bean);
    em.flush();
    return bean;
}

Then I just call the save method and this method know what it have to do:
@Transactional
public B save(B bean) {
    if (bean == null || bean.getId() == null) {
        persist(bean);
    } else {
        bean = update(bean);
    }
    return bean;
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


An important part of tree health sometimes includes tree cutting. It is a job that needs to be done with precision, skill and use the safest techniques possible and that is why it is never recommended that a customer try to do this themselves. With Port Orange Tree Service's competitive and fair pricing you should never even have to consider doing this type of work yourself anyway. We will be happy to come out to your home or business and provide you with a free estimate for any tree cutting service that needs to be done on your property.
Port Orange Tree Service has the expertise, knowledge and equipment to handle even the most demanding tree cutting situations. We know how to bring even the largest trees down in a manner that is safe and will not damage the surrounding property. Not to mention, we are fully insured just in case the unusually rare mishap should occur so that you will assume no liability for anything that should happen during the entire tree cutting process.
The health of the tree, is it dead or alive? These things give us an idea of how difficult the cutting process will be.
Where is the tree, limb or large branch going to fall? Safety always has to be a primary focus when tree cutting.
What is the proper angle for the cut so the tree lands where it is supposed to?
Is there a clear and open escape route in case of a mishap when cutting the tree? Most amateurs never consider this factor but it is a very important thing.
Has a backup fall area been established in case of a last second problem?
The tree has grown too large for your property and the root structure is threatening to do severe damage to sidewalks, driveways and other necessary things around your home and business.
The tree roots are impacting your home or building structure, such as your foundation or septic system piping.
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text:
JCAT Online Exhibition
July 1 –July 31, 2021
Jakurin
In Nature II
Japanese paper washi, sumi ink
2018 ed. 1
(without frame)
13.31 x 9.77 inches
7.09 x 1.5 inches
$200 (with frame)
Love II
love.red
Jakurin was born in a small town, surrounded by the sea and mountains in Fukui, where the rich presence of nature influenced her life and artistic talent. She has enjoyed writing calligraphy since she was little, often doing original designs and experiments. Her calligraphy is usually written in a dynamic style with sumi ink on oversized washi. Strong strokes, precision, and clarity of her characters are her trademarks.
At the request of an acquaintance, she once performed a one-shot calligraphy display at a party. The crowd loved her as she drew the Chinese characters with sumi ink on a 2m square washi paper with the performance of Japanese drums. Her powerful performance impressed the audience, and some people were even moved to tears. From this experience, she came to believe that calligraphy can create a warmer society. She performed calligraphy displays in various Japanese shrines, temples, and beaches, as well as overseas in Hawaii and Paris. Jakurin hopes to share hope and excitement with people, as well as build a peaceful world through her art.
< Back to Solo Exhibitions


We are located between Ft. Lauderdale and Miami International Airports. Minutes from the dog track, horse racing, casino, night clubs, golf, tennis, fishing, jet skiing, snorkeling and scuba diving are all nearby!
We are excited to announce that we are under new management and have gone through each and every room to ensure your comfort.
Just sit back by the courtyard and enjoy the live music on the boardwalk or take a 20 foot stroll to the Margaritaville Lone Palm Tiki Bar.
The hotel is currently undergoing a renovation to add mobility accessible features, but the project is not yet complete. Currently, the hotel lacks accessibility features for persons with mobility and visual impairments. The hotel has placed signs in accessible locations listing a telephone number that an individual with a mobility impairment can call in order to obtain assistance from hotel staff at any time if required while the renovation project is underway. Additionally, because of the age, location, and configuration of the structure where the hotel office is Iocated, persons with mobility impairments that rely on mobility assistance devices may find it difficult to access the hotel office to check in and check out of the hotel. The hotel has placed signs in an accessible area containing a phone number where a patron can call, and a staff member will provide an alternative check in / check out procedure. Patrons with mobility impairments can also call hotel staff in advance, at 954-925-0527, and request to check in or check out directly from their room.
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text:
Q: Multitask gestures not working with alert After UIViewAlert has become visible, multitask gestures cannot be used. How can I fix it? Is it a normal behavior?
EDIT:
Looks like creating custom view is a good idea. I just wanted to know, if it can be done nice and easily.

A: When UIAlertView appears, its freeze whole screen. You can't get the touch on screen thats why your gesture is not working. First dismiss the alert view then your gesture will work.

A: This is normal behaviour, UIAlerts are designed to occupy the whole focus of the device. If you want to allow gestures, try creating your own UIView that overlays on top of your running application.


text:
Lion Links: 6/9/20
Robin Jansson staying focused, the new normal for stadiums, the USSF's kneeling ban, and more.
By Ben_Miller Jun 9, 2020, 7:30am EDT
Share All sharing options for: Lion Links: 6/9/20
Happy Tuesday, everybody. The recent stretch of storms that Central Florida has seen has made the quarantine life a bit more difficult lately, but having Bundesliga games to entertain me over the weekend definitely helped.
Before we get to the news of today, let's all wish Orlando City rookie midfielder Joey DeZart a happy 22nd birthday.
There's lots to talk about today so let's get going.
Lions Keep Focused
Robin Jansson spoke about a variety of things yesterday and specifically touched on the challenges of staying focused during the league's long layoff. He said it's been easier now that the team is back at the facility and able to train but that match sharpness will only truly return after real matches are happening again. He emphasized the need for the team to stay together, focus, and push each other to make things as close to game speed as possible, while also saying that as a defender it was a plus to be able to be back and build up chemistry with the team's goalkeepers again.
Staying focused and staying together. pic.twitter.com/fY4gwD2fsg
— Orlando City SC (@OrlandoCitySC) June 8, 2020
New Normal for Stadiums
With Florida and much of the U.S. beginning to lift quarantine restrictions, one of the questions for sports fans is what events will look like once fans are allowed to return to stadiums. The Orlando Sentinel spoke to Len Moser, who's had a 30-year career in the business of constructing sports facilities to try to get a better idea of what things might look like. Several ideas that have been floated to help make things safe for fans have been thermal cameras to detect elevated body temperatures, high filtration HVAC systems, changing seating, and making paperless ticketing and cashless purchases mandatory.
U.S. Soccer Reconsidering Kneeling Ban
The United States Soccer Federation is reportedly considering the repeal of its current policy requiring players to stand during the national anthem. The board is said to be meeting today to discuss the policy at the urging of USSF President Cindy Parlow Cone, with a formal vote on the matter likely to occur on Friday. Passed at U.S. Soccer's annual general meeting in 2017, Policy 604-1 reads "All persons representing a Federation national team shall stand respectfully during the playing of national anthems at any event in which the Federation is represented." and was passed as a result of Megan Rapinoe kneeling before a match against Thailand in 2016. Perhaps not coincidentally, USWNT players are demanding that the federation both reverse Policy 604-1 and apologize to the team's black players.
Fabian Johnson to Become Free Agent
Borussia Monchengladbach announced that Fabian Johnson will become a free agent once the current Bundesliga season comes to an end. Once the defender/midfielder's contract expires he is free to sign with whatever team he pleases and the 32-year-old will join his first new team since 2014. Johnson currently has 140 appearances for the club and has featured in Champions League and Europa League games. Since Johnson is a USMNT player, were he to come to Major League Soccer he would need to go through the allocation order, where LAFC currently holds the top spot and Orlando City is fifth.
The Orlando Pride's kit reveal will take place today after being pushed back from its original date.
Tomorrow. It drops. pic.twitter.com/70FoysjPZr
— Orlando Pride (@ORLPride) June 8, 2020
Have a look at some scenes from Pride training yesterday.
Matches on the horizon. Each session we get better.
Training Cam x @DrinkBODYARMOR pic.twitter.com/3mtuoviVzN
Orlando City grabbed another win in the FIFA 20 simulated season and is now second in the Eastern Conference on 25 points.
Several notable games took place this week in OCSC history.
The English Lion took the time to speak with Dennis Chin about his time with Orlando City.
Amazon bought the rights to a movie about Tim Howard's life.
The Columbus Crew started construction on a new training facility.
That'll be it for me today, y'all stay safe out there.


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In order to understand the process of Medicaid qualification, you first need to know how Medicaid treats your assets.
Basically, Medicaid breaks your assets down into two separate categories. The first are those assets which are "exempt" and the second are those assets which are "non-exempt" or countable.
The home, with an equity value up to $750,000. The home must be the principle place of residence. The nursing home resident may be required to show some "intent to return home", even if this never actually takes place.
Prepaid funeral plans and burial plots.
Cash value of life insurance policies, as long as the face value of all policies added together does not exceed $1,500. If it does exceed $1,500 in total face amount, then the cash value in these policies is countable. Also, term life insurance is exempt.
Cash (e.g. a small checking or savings account) not to exceed $2,000 in Massachusetts.
These are basically the assets which Medicaid will ignore, at least for now. Keep in mind, however, that the estate recovery unit may come back to recoup payments made to Medicaid recipient after the death of the recipient and the recipient's spouse if they are married.
All other assets which are not exempt (i.e. the ones not listed earlier) are countable. This includes checking accounts, savings accounts, certificates of deposit, money market accounts, stocks, mutual funds, bonds, IRA's, pensions, second cars and so on. While there are some minor exceptions to these rules, for the most part, all money and property, as well as any item that can valued an turned into cash is a countable asset, unless it is one of those listed earlier as exempt.
While the Medicaid rules themselves are complicated and somewhat tricky, for a single person it's safe to say that you will qualify for Medicaid so long as you have only exempt assets plus a small amount of cash.
For a married couple, the community spouse (i.e. the one not needing nursing home care) can generally keep one-half of the assets up to a maximum of just about $113,640. Of course, this does not mean there are not things which can be done to protect assets beyond these levels. Instead, this information is designed to review the basics in a way which a caseworker would do so.


text:
Lifestyle / Travel / WEEKEND DRIVE: Discover history, street food, and friendly people at 'Little Vigan' in Gapan
WEEKEND DRIVE: Discover history, street food, and friendly people at 'Little Vigan' in Gapan
Published February 26, 2021, 6:24 PM
by Johannes Chua
Even as travel restrictions ease up in various parts of the country, it is not yet the best time to visit the popular tourist sites. This time, however, may be the best opportunity to discover the lesser known destinations, which you and your family can visit safely on board your car, and would take you only a few hours of driving on smooth roads.
One of the emerging popular weekend drive destinations is Gapan in Nueva Ecija. The drive to go there is an easy three-hour trip via the NLEX, Plaridel Bypass Road, and the Pan-Philippine Highway. If you depart early in Metro Manila, you can have your lunch in Gapan, go around the area and visit the nearby sites, or wait until the evening when the ancestral houses in Lumang Gapan light up, giving you a nostalgic vibe reminiscent of the ambience emanated by Calle Crisologo in Vigan, Ilocos Sur.
Lumang Gapan is popularly known as 'Little Vigan.' (All photos by Richard Tinio)
This is the reason why netizens have dubbed Lumang Gapan as the "Little Vigan" as aside from the ancestral houses, visitors can walk on cobblestone streets, have their selfies with ornate street lamps, and enjoy the sights and sounds of a community-driven tourism landmark.
The Lumang Gapan tourism project, led by its mayor Emerson "Emeng" Pascual, has revived interest in the city, and it has paid off with the influx of tourists from all over the country. Though the LGU has tried its best to enforce health protocols, the throngs of tourists who visited especially during the holiday season forced Mayor Pascual to temporarily close the plaza, night market, and the Lumang Gapan area. But with more stringent rules in place, Gapan is once again open to tourists, who can now visit the plaza, which is interconnected with the Lumang Gapan area by a tunnel of lights.
After a walk to see the facade of ancestral houses of personalities such as Nida Blanca, Eula Valdez, Jay Taruc, etc. tourists can drop by the night market (beside the plaza) which offers local delicacies and delicious street food.
Speaking of delicious street food, one of the most popular is AyySauce, owned by Richard Tinio, a true local of Gapan City who was born in Pambuan. AyySauce started in 2018 in Gapan City Night Market and now, he has four branches (two in Gapan City Night Market, one at Pambuan, and the newest branch at Lumang Gapan).
Basing on AyySauce's social media posts, its pritong kanin (fried rice) is an ultimate bestseller, with patrons enjoying it with sisig, pork adobo, fried siomai, etc. Their shakes are popular as well, with flavors such as banana caramel, coffee, and mocha. Richard attributes the success of AyySauce not only because of its affordable menu, but also due to his hands-on management style as he treats his team like his own family. He is also grateful with the support of the local government, especially during the pandemic.
The AyySauce team, led by owner Richard Tinio (standing, center).
"I was encouraged to open a branch in Lumang Gapan because I believe in the vision of our mayor. I saw how he successfully transformed this area to become a popular tourist attraction, so I know that he will not abandon us," Richard says. "We saw how his plans were implemented carefully and it paid off with the arrival of tourists from all over the Philippines to our small town."
AyySauce's popular pritong kanin meals
According to Richard, Lumang Gapan is now popularly known as "Little Vigan" and they didn't waste time to promote the city as such, starting with a Christmas Festival last December. Part of the local government's initiative was a parol-making contest. There was also a giant Christmas tree po and a Ferris wheel, which is the sixth largest in the country.
The pandemic did inevitably affect business and tourism in Gapan as there were lockdowns, curfews, and limitations in movement. But the local government ensured that businesses were still able to do deliveries and take outs. This has allowed AyySauce to survive. And as travel restrictions ease, Richard is once again excited to invite tourists to visit not only his hometown, but also to try the treats at AyySauce.
"I wish that Gapan would become more known in the country. I want more people to discover how beautiful our place is… that you can learn history and have fun at the same time. While you have your IG and selfies here, you can also enjoy good budget-friendly food in the company of very friendly people."
AyySauce
Emeng Pascual
Gapan
Lumang Gapan
Nueva Ecija
Richard Tinio
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Fil-Am designer Rhuigi Villaseñor appointed as Bally's new creative director


text:
Is Abortion Safe? Iterating the Obvious and Not So Obvious
Some pro-choice advocates suggest that abortion should be "safe, rare, and legal." But what if it's not safe at all?
Well, the abortion-choice advocate can point out that maternal deaths have gone down significantly in the history of abortion. Medically "safe" practices have expanded to give more options and methods to reduce undue risks. That said, it is naive to suggest that abortion is a safe, neutral or even a good option.
Death isn't safe.
The child always dies in an abortion, and that's hardly safe. And in those rare cases of botched abortions where the baby survives, there are still abortion-rights advocates who think that infanticide is permissible.
Intrinsic Risks
Because of intrinsic risks in abortion procedures, the sheer number of injuries and deaths has risen, in spite of advances in medical technology and safety practices. Legalized abortion has fostered a much higher abortion rate than anyone in the early 1970's could have imagined. What was thought to be in the order of 10,000 or so abortions ballooned up to over 1,000,000+ per year, a 10-fold growth. Even with relatively "safe" practices, there is always some incidence of malpractice and accidents so that injuries and death occur. The percentages have lowered for botched abortions, maternal injury, and maternal death, but because of the swollen numbers abortions, the sheer amount of injuries and death have gone up.
Moral Harms
Morally, it's not safe to one's conscience to conduct willful killing of human life. The human conscience is a malleable thing, and it's risky to stretch and tear at it with such morally questionable practices like abortion. Such practices invariably involves playing God, determining death for another innocent human being.
Cultural Corruption
Culturally, the abortion industry has been a major step towards a "culture of death." We compromise our moral character as a culture when we treat willful convenience killing like its justified and good. Similarly, sympathies have grown for active euthanasia and physician assisted suicide, and the "sanctity of life" view has waned as the "quality of life" view has grown.
Economic Damage
Economically, it's not safe to link killing and profits. The abortion industry is literally in the business of death-profiteering. Sure it's normally okay to make lots of money through legal measures, but, in the long-run it's a self-defeating venture to make money off of killing millions of future employees, future tax payers, and future family members. Who will take care of the present baby booming generation? With 1-2 children to each household there are fewer family options to turn to. More often than not, that role has to be farmed out to nursing homes. That's expensive. And of course, it's immoral to put a profit incentive on baby-killing. If the argument against monetizing death ever worked regarding "war for oil" accusations, the abortion industry has amped it up ten fold (in the order of 58 million abortions).
Social Risks
Socially, an "abortion climate" continues to ease and affirm sex outside of marriage–which is unsafe to society. How is it unsafe to society? The sex industry has skyrocketed ever since the "free-love" sixties raising divorce rates, raising the rates of sex slavery, raising the profitability and lowering the inhibitions about pornography, raising the incidence and varieties of VD's, not to mention causing a whole lot of naive young ladies heartbreak when they've "put out" only to find that the boy lost interest in them after using them for sex.
Legal Dangers
Legally speaking, abortion is a rapists best friend. Rapists and sex traffickers don't have any need for babies. Pregnant victims carry around DNA evidence (the baby) for at least 9 months and get into conversations about the father. But sex offenders want silent victims and no evidence–abortion serves both purposes. One would think that abortion clinics would anticipate this potential problem and never let it happen. But unfortunately Clinics have been known to comply with those crimes.
Medical Dangers
Medically speaking, and with some disputation, its not even safe for the mother. Maternal mortality has declined in the 20th and 21st centuries, but given the heightened incidence of infertility, and suicide rates among abortive mothers suggest it's not safe for them either. Psychologically, with abortion, the chances of depression and post-traumatic stress disorder skyrocket for women who've had an abortion. Likewise increased are such social problems as abuse and divorce. We can't say that the social factors are "caused" by abortion, but they seem to be found together suggesting something like, "Women who have abortions are more likely the people who get in abusive relationships and who get divorced, whether or not the abortion causes those things." Many studies have sought to mitigate other studies claiming that abortion generates mental health problems. This facet of the "safety" issue is not settled but there do remain current, vindicating, sources pointing towards the widely admitted fact that having an abortion is traumatic. By self-report, women are known to turn to drug and drink, and escalate prior mental health issues, all correlating with their abortion.
Given these facts one cannot honestly say that abortion is safe. The best case one can make, while being honest about the facts, is that it is a necessary evil in regards to some really tough cases.
Posted in Apologetics, Culture, Ethics, Politics & EconomicsTagged abortion, ethics, freedom, liberty, life, pro-choice, pro-life, safe, safetyBy intelligentchristianfaith9 Comments
9 thoughts on "Is Abortion Safe? Iterating the Obvious and Not So Obvious"
42oolon says:
Abortion is safer to the woman than childbirth.
intelligentchristianfaith says:
And safer to the unborn child too? Only in that case can abortion be called "safe".
I never said abortion was safe.
I might have mistaken your comment for someone elses. Sorry about that.
Pingback: Is Abortion Safe? | Abortion History Museum
byarbrough8845 says:
Are you suggesting women be forced to raise the children of men who raped them just so the child can be used as a piece of evidence in court?
No. I'm not. Adoption is an alternative. What I am suggesting is that it's wrong to kill a human being for the crimes of someone else. Abortion does nothing to help catch rapists, stop further rape, or prosecute rapists. If anything abortion helps, at least a little bit, to make it harder to prosecute rapists and those makes it easier for the rapist to "get away with it" and rape again. Victimizing the child does nothing to un-victimize the mother. Meanwhile, the mother is encouraged to give the child up for adoption if she simply cannot bear it.
Is that all you got out of the article?
Not at all, that just happened to be the only argument in this article I'd never heard before so I wanted to address it. We could easily spend hours on each point but I like addressing arguments I've never heard before.
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