Review – Sicario: Day of the Soldado is a big, cumbersome, western-influenced action flick.
Entertaining? Yes. As nuanced and thought-provoking as the first film? Nope.
It's been damn near impossible to consume any form of media in the United States without finding some political message about the US's 2,000 mile-long border with Mexico. One side (which included former first ladies and other Republicans) was decrying the federal policy of separating migrant families after they crossed from the southern border and the other side saying, "Illegal actions have and must have consequences. No more free passes. No more get out of jail free cards."
Alas, the popular shouting matches did not allow for much in the way of nuance in the debate. Such was also the case with the latest fictional flick about the border, Taylor Sheridan's sequel to 2015's massively-successful thriller which operated as gritty, modern retake of the western, Sicario : Sicario: Day of the Soldado.
"Sicario" as a term has a history that viewers and fans of both films would find interesting. The most direct translation to English is "hitman" but the term actually comes from the Latin "sicarii" or "dagger men".
The sicarii were a group of Jewish zealots who violently opposed the rule of the Romans after Judea was absorbed into the Empire circa 63 BCE. The preferred method of the sicarii was public assassination – they often would move through crowds at Roman civic and religious gatherings using small daggers kept in their cloaks to go for the jugular on prominent Romans, then melding back into the crowds. It is because of the political action of the sicarii that many historians of the ancient world consider them the first terrorist group in human history.
Getting into the films, where Sicario was a scalpel in terms of how it used violence and tension in the story, Soldado was a broad sword – more cumbersome, awkward, and testosterone-fueled. That said, it wasn't a bad movie... it just wasn't as intelligently handled as the first Sicario.
While some reviewers decried Soldado as being this way out of racism and xenophobia toward Latinos – decrying audience members who allegedly clapped when Mexican federales were "murdered" by Benicio del Toro's Alejandro and Josh Brolin's otherwise sadistic USA federal government charge Matt Graver (both men resurrect their characters in fine fashion), this is an out and out lie by omission on the part of the reviewer. The only part they could possibly be talking about in the film is when elite units of the Mexican Federal Police who were escorting Alejandro and Graver through the Mexican desert turn their machine guns to the convoy the two men are traveling in and a gunfight ensues – this was not "murder" in the film, to call it such willfully misrepresents the scene and lies to you the reader by a reckless use of hyperbole to describe a scene which is clearly self defense. Corruption among the Federal Police has also been a long-standing problem that Mexico is still struggling every year to fight – with many sources saying the problem is worsening.
Many of these same reviewers were essentially saying that the film was nothing but a violent fantasy for Trump voters. Yes, it was violent. But the second part of that assumes a political agenda on the part of the film – when, in fact, the film's advertising during the height of the border family separation crisis under Trump proves there was none. The film neither removed nor ramped-up the advertising they ran during the height of the crisis, much of which could have been taken to advocate a particular position, if you look at it out of the film's context.
No, Soldado was cumbersome and free of nuance for a whole other reason entirely: the absence of Emily Blunt's character Kate Macer from the first film. Macer largely acted as the conscience-driven foil to the volatile Graver and mercurial Alejandro. What exactly do these reviewers expect when you in essence remove the character who acted as the brake pedal from the vehicle that is the Sicario saga?
Soldado gets in to a hypothetical scenario where cartels and the human trafficking coyotes in their employ forge a relationship with jihadists to smuggle them over the border to raise hell in the United States. After a suicide bombing in a Kansas City grocery store, Graver is tasked with creating a war between the rival cartels and narcotraficantes in Mexico to try and bring them down, which he enlists Alejandro to help him with.
This being a movie, the ideas here are really untenable, but that doesn't distract from the fact that Taylor Sheridan, as always, has a gift for creating tension in what he writes. The only problem is, again, the tension in Soldado comes off as big, bulky, unwieldy and uncontrolled. It's entertaining sure but it doesn't make you think in the way the first film's use of tension did – particularly in the penultimate revenge scene of Alejandro on the cartel leader's family which ended the first film.
The second reason for the unwieldy tension in Soldado after the absence of the Macer character is undoubtedly the new director Stefano Sollima, who's more bull in a china shop approach to the on-going saga of Alejandro and Graver really couldn't stand in greater opposition to the razor walk, slow burn of Denis Villeneuve's approach in the first film.
Is Sollima's approach inferior to Villeneuve's? Not necessarily. Just if your tastes tend to run to a movie that uses tension, violence and action to make you think while also keeping you entertained (the way mine do), you will enjoy the first Sicario more than Soldado. There in again, this also gets back to Macer's absence and the nature of Soldado's story being more geared to Sollima's bombastic approach. The tag-line after all is, "no rules this time."
Final verdict on Soldado? Is it worth a watch? Yes, but don't expect a think piece or in depth psychoanalytical character study served up with your action and gun fights this time. Also, don't be fooled by any self-righteous political hand-wringing you may read about the film. Soldado is blunt, straight-up, big and cumbersome action that certainly entertains but doesn't really make any statements, political or otherwise – but, then again, it really doesn't have to.


text:
Search Results: 1 - 10 of 2921 matches for " Hideo Aoki "
Unconventional superconductivity originating from disconnected Fermi surfaces in the iron-based compound
Hideo Aoki
Physics , 2008, DOI: 10.1016/j.physb.2008.11.194
Abstract: The iron-based LaFeAsO$_{1-x}$F$_x$ recently discovered by Hosono's group is a fresh theoretical challenge as a new class of high-temperature superconductors. Here we describe the electronic structure of the material and the mechanism of superconductivity. We start with constructing a tight-binding model in terms of the maximally localized Wannier orbitals from a first-principles electronic structure calculation, which has turned out to involve all the five Fe 3d bands. This is used to calculate the spin and charge susceptibilities with the random phase approximation. The spin susceptibility has peaks around ${\Vec k} = (\pi, 0), (0, \pi)$ arising from a nesting across disconnected Fermi surface pockets. We have then plugged the susceptibilities into the linearised Eliashberg equation. For the doping concentration $x = 0.1$, we obtain an unconventional s-wave pairing, which is roughly an extended s in that the gap changes sign between the Fermi pockets, but the gap function is actually a 5$\times$5 matrix. Its experimental implications are also discussed.
Design of electron correlation effects in interfaces and nanostructures
Physics , 2003, DOI: 10.1016/j.apsusc.2004.07.026
Abstract: We propose that one of the best grounds for the materials design from the viewpoint of {\it electron correlation} such as ferromagnetism, superconductivity is the atomically controlled nanostructures and heterointerfaces, as theoretically demonstrated here from three examples with first-principles calculations: (i) Band ferromagnetism in a purely organic polymer of five-membered rings, where the flat-band ferromagnetism due to the electron-electron repulsion is proposed. (ii) Metal-induced gap states (MIGS) of about one atomic monolayer thick at insulator/metal heterointerfaces, recently detected experimentally, for which an exciton-mechanism superconductivity is considered. (iii) Alkali-metal doped zeolite, a class of nanostructured host-guest systems, where ferromagnetism has been experimentally discovered, for which a picture of the "supercrystal" composed of "superatoms" is proposed and Mott-insulator properties are considered. These indicate that design of electron correlation is indeed a promising avenue for nanostructures and heterointerfaces.
Interaction and dimensionality in the quantum Hall physics
Physics , 2003, DOI: 10.1016/j.physe.2003.09.032
Abstract: While the composite fermion picture is so effective as to describe the excitation spectra including the spin wave for Laughlin's quantum liquid, ``how heavy and how strongly-interacting" remains a formidable question for the composite fermions, to which this article first addresses. The effective mass (purely interaction originated) defined from the excitation spectrum and obtained for various even- as well as odd-fractions exhibits a curious, step-like filling dependence basically determined by the number of flux quanta attached to each fermion, where the non-monotonic behaviour indicates a strong effect of gauge-field fluctuations. The excitation spectrum fits a Fermi liquid, but again a large effect of inter-composite fermion interaction appears as anomalous Landau's parameters. We have then moved on to see how the introduction of three-dimensionality (where the shape of the Fermi surface becomes relevant) affects the interacting electron system, and propose the magnetic-field induced SDW in three-dimensional systems. This should be a good candidate, in entirely realistic magnetic fields, for the integer QHE recently predicted by Koshino et al to occur in 3D on the fractal energy spectrum similar to Hofstadter's. The mechanism for the field-induced phase is an effect of interaction in Landau's quantisation on incompletely-nested (i.e., multiply-connected) Fermi surfaces, so the interplay of many-body physics and the magnetic quantisation on various Fermi surfaces may provide an interesting future avenue for 3D systems.
Superconductivity from the repulsive electron interaction -- from 1D to 3D
Physics , 2003, DOI: 10.1007/978-3-540-45202-7_16
Abstract: An overview is given on how superconductivity with anisotropic pairing can be realised from repulsive electron-electron interaction. (i) We start from the physics in one dimension, where the Tomonaga-Luttinger theory predicts that, while there is no superconducting phase for the repulsive case for a single chain, the phase does exists in ladders with the number of legs equal to or greater than two, as shown both by analytically (renormalisation) and numerically (quantum Monte Carlo). (ii) We then show how this pairing has a natural extension to the two-dimensional case, where anisotropic (usually d) pairing superconductivity arises mediated by spin fluctuations (usually antiferromagnetic), as shown both by analytically (renormalisation) and numerically (quantum Monte Carlo). (iii) We finally discuss how the superconductivity from the electron repulsion can be "optimised" (i.e., how $T_C$ can be raised) in 2D and 3D, where we propose that the anisotropic pairing is much favoured in systems having {\it disconnected Fermi surfaces} where $T_C$ can be almost an order of magnitude higher.
A perspective of superconductivity as multiband phenomena: Cuprate, iron and aromatic systems
Physics , 2012,
Abstract: A theoretical overview of the classes of superconductors encompassing (a) high-Tc cuprate, (b) iron-based and (c) aromatic superconductors is given. Emphasis is put on the multiband natures of all the three classes, where the differences in the multiorbits and their manifestations in the electronic structures and pairing are clarified. From these, future directions and prospects are discussed.
Photovoltaic Berry curvature in the honeycomb lattice
Takashi Oka,Hideo Aoki
Physics , 2009, DOI: 10.1088/1742-6596/200/6/062017
Abstract: Photovoltaic Hall effect -- the Hall effect induced by intense, circularly-polarized light in the absence of static magnetic fields -- has been proposed in Phys. Rev. B 79, 081406R (2009) for graphene where a massless Dirac dispersion is realized. The photovoltaic Berry curvature (a nonequilibrium extension of the standard Berry curvature) is the key quantity to understand this effect, which appears in the Kubo formula extended to Hall transport in the presence of strong AC field backgrounds. Here we elaborate the properties of the photovoltaic curvature such as the frequency and field strength dependence in the honeycomb lattice.
Nonequilibrium magnetic and superconducting phases in the two-dimensional Hubbard model coupled to electrodes
Physics , 2009, DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.82.064516
Abstract: A theory is presented for a nonequilibrium phase transition in the two-dimensional Hubbard model coupled to electrodes. Nonequilibrium magnetic and superconducting phase diagram is determined by the Keldysh method, where the electron correlation is treated in the fluctuation exchange approximation. The nonequilibrium distribution function in the presence of electron correlation is evoked to capture a general feature in the phase diagram.
Unconventional pairing originating from disconnected Fermi surfaces in the iron-based superconductor
Kazuhiko Kuroki,Hideo Aoki
Physics , 2009, DOI: 10.1088/1367-2630/11/2/025017
Abstract: For the iron-based high $T_c$ superconductor LaFeAsO$_{1-x}$F$_x$, we construct a minimal model, where all of the five Fe $d$ bands turn out to be involved. We then investigate the origin of superconductivity with a five-band random-phase approximation by solving the Eliashberg equation. We conclude that the spin fluctuation modes arising from the nesting between the disconnected Fermi pockets realise, basically, an extended s-wave pairing, where the gap changes sign across the nesting vector.
Photo-induced Tomonaga-Luttinger-like liquid in a Mott insulator
Abstract: Photo-induced metallic states in a Mott insulator are studied for the half-filled, one-dimensional Hubbard model with the time-dependent density matrix renormalization group. An irradiation of strong AC field is found to create a linear dispersion in the optical spectrum (current-current correlation) in the nonequilibrium steady state reminiscent of the Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid for the doped Mott insulator in equilibrium. The spin spectrum in nonequilibrium retains the des Cloizeaux-Pearson mode with the spin velocity differing from the charge velocity. The mechanism of the photocarrier-doping, along with the renormalization in the charge velocity, is analyzed in terms of an effective Dirac model.
Quantum Monte Carlo evidence for superconductivity in the three-band Hubbard model in two dimensions
Physics , 1995, DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.76.4400
Abstract: A possibility of the electronic origin of the high-temperature superconductivity in cuprates is probed with the quantum Monte Carlo method by revisiting the three-band Hubbard model comprising Cu$3d_{x^2-y^2}$ and O$2p_\sigma$ orbitals. The $d_{x^2-y^2}$ pairing correlation is found to turn into an increasing function of the repulsion $U_d$ within the $d$ orbitals or the $d$-$p$ level off-set $\Delta \varepsilon$, where the correlation grows with the system size. % and is long-ranged as also seen from a real-space analysis. We have detected this in both the charge-transfer and Mott-Hubbard regimes upon entering the strong-correlation region ($U_d$ or $\Delta \varepsilon >$ bare band width).

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


The Miche Sarah Petite Shell's fashion-forward giraffe print lets you take a little bit of Africa with you wherever you go. The red faux leather accents add a classy twist to the Shell's animal theme. Sarah is bold without being over the top and the look is neutral enough to match virtually any outfit.
*Base bag and handle not included.
C'mon: you know you have a wild side! The fun, hard to find Sarah Shell for Miche Petite Bags is the perfect small handbag for any occasion.


text:
Artificial Detective
HomeIs the Winograd Schema Challenge a good test?
Is the Winograd Schema Challenge a good test?
31 December 2015 14 December 2020 Don Patrick artificial intelligence, language processing, Winograd Schema Challengecommon sense, commonsense, reasoning, test, Turing Test
The Winograd Schema Challenge, a $25000 contest sponsored by the aptly named company Nuance Communications, has been put forth as a better test of intelligence than Turing Tests*. Although the scientific paper tiptoes around its claims, the organisers describe the contest as requiring "common sense reasoning". This introductory article explores the test's strengths and weaknesses in that regard.
Example of a Winograd Schema
I used a tissue to clean the key, and then I put it in the drawer.
I used a tissue to clean the key, and then I put it in the trash.
A Winograd Schema is a sentence with an ambiguous pronoun ("it"), that, depending on one variable word ("trash/drawer"), refers to either the first or the second noun of the sentence ("tissue/key"). The Challenge is to program a computer to figure out which of the two is being referred to, when this isn't apparent from the syntax. So what did I put in the trash? The tissue or the key? To a computer that has never cleaned anything, it could be either. A little common sense would sure come in handy, and the contest organisers suggest that this takes intelligent reasoning.
Common sense, not Google sense
The hare beat the tortoise because it was faster.
The hare beat the tortoise because it was too slow.
Contrary to this example, good Winograd Schemas are supposed to be Google-proof: In this case Googling "fast hare" would return 20x more search results than "fast tortoise", so the hare is statistically 20x more likely to be the one who "was faster". Although statistical probability is certainly useful, this would make the contest won simply by the company with the largest set of statistics. It takes no reasoning to count how many times word A happens to coincide with word B in a large volume of text. Therefore this example would preferably be written with neutral nouns like "John beat Jack", subjects of whom we have no pre-existing knowledge, but can still figure out which was faster.
Having said that, some example schemas involving "crop dusters" and "bassinets" still suggest that a broad range of knowledge will be required. Although one could consult online dictionaries and databases, the contest will have restrictions on internet access to rule out remote control. So failure can also be due to insufficient knowledge rather than a lack of intelligence, but I suppose that is part of the problem to solve.
Early indications
If a bed doesn't fit in a room because it's too big, what is too big?
If Alex lent money to Joe because they were broke, who needed the money?
With the above two questions the 2015 Loebner Prize Turing Test* gave a tiny glimpse of Winograd Schemas in practice, and the answers suggested that chatbots – the majority of participants – are not cut out to handle them. Only 2 of 15 programs even answered what was asked. One was my personal A.I. Arckon*, the other was the chatbot Lisa, who answered with "If a bed was big." and "Because he was broke Alex lent money to Joe". Chatbot systems are of course designed for chat, not logic puzzles, and typically rely on their creators to anticipate the exact words that a question will contain. The problem there is that the understanding of Winograd Schemas isn't found in which words are used, but in the implicit relations between them. Or so we presume.
The mermaid swam toward Sue and waved her tail. (Googleable)
The mermaid swam toward Sue and made her gasp. (More than a single change)
A more noteworthy experiment was done by the University of Texas, tested on Winograd Schemas composed by students. To solve the schemas they used a mixed bag of methods based on human logic, such as memorising sequences of events (i.e. verb A -> verb B), common knowledge, sentiment analysis, and the aforementioned Googling. All of this data was cleverly extracted from text by A.I. software, or retrieved from online databases. However, many of the schemas did not accord with the official guidelines, and though they usefully solved 73% in total, only 65% was solved without the use of Google.
According to the same paper, the industry standard "Stanford Coreference Resolver" only correctly solved 55% of the same Winograd Schemas. The Stanford Resolver restricts the possible answers by syntax, gender("he/she") and amount("it/they"), but does not examine them through knowledge or reasoning. The reason for that is that this level of ambiguity is rare. In my experience with the same methods however, it is still a considerable problem that causes 1/10th of text-extracted knowledge to be mistaken, with the pronoun "it" being the worst offender. So it appears (see what I mean?) that any addition of common sense would already advance the state of the art.
How to hack Winograd Schemas
Guesswork: Since the answers are a simple choice of two nouns, a machine could of course randomly guess its way to a score of 50% or more. So I did the math: With 60 schemas to solve, pure guesswork has a 5% chance to score over 60%, and a 0.5% chance to score over 65%. With the odds growing exponentially unlikely, this is not a winning tactic.
That said, the participating A.I. still have to make a guess or default choice at those schemas that they fail to solve otherwise. If an A.I. can solve 30% of the schemas and guesses half of the rest right, its total score amounts to 65%, equaling Texas' score. It wouldn't be until it can solve around 80% of all schemas genuinely that it could reach the winning 90% score by guessing the final stretch. That's a steep slope.
Reverse psychology: Since Winograd Schemas are deliberately made to not match Google search results, it seems that one can apply reverse psychology and deliberately choose the opposite. While I did notice such a tendency in Winograd Schemas composed by professors, others have noticed that Winograd Schemas composed by students simply did match Google search results. So the success of using reverse psychology heavily depends on the cleverness of the composers. A countermeasure would be to use only neutral names for answers, but this may also cut off some areas of genuine reasoning. Alternatively one could include an equal amount of schemas that match and mismatch Google search results, so that neither method offers an advantage.
Pairing: One cheat that could double one's success lies in the fact that Winograd Schemas come in pairs, where the answer to the second version is always the alternate noun. So if the A.I. can solve the first version but not the second, it suffices to choose the remaining alternate answer. Vice versa if it can solve the second version but not the first. This rather undermines the reason for having pairs: To ascertain that the first answer wasn't just a lucky guess. Although this hack only increases the success of guesswork by a few percent, it could certainly be used to make a weak contestant into a strong contender undeservedly.
I call these hacks because not only are they against intent, they are also entirely useless in real life application. No serious researcher should use them or they will end up with an inept product.
How you can't hack Winograd Schemas
No nonsense: The judgement of the answers is clear and objective. There is only one correct answer to each schema. The A.I. are not allowed to dodge the question, make further inquiries or give interpretable answers: It's either answer A or B.
No humans: Erratic human performance of the judges and control subjects does not influence the results. The schemas and answers have been carefully predetermined, and schemas with debatable answers simply do not make the cut.
No invisible goal: While the Turing Test is strictly a win-or-lose game with the goalposts at fields unknown, the WSC can reward gradual increase of the number of schemas answered correctly. Partial progress in one area of common sense like spatial reasoning can already show improved results, and some areas are already proving feasible. This encourages and rewards short-term efforts.
I must admit that the organisers could still decide to move the goalposts out of reach every year by omitting particular areas of common sense once solved. I think this is even likely to happen, but at the same time I expect the solutions to cover such a broad range that it will become hard to still find new problems after 6 contests.
Overall, the WSC trims many subjective variables from the Turing Test, making for a controlled test with clear results.
The Winograd Schema Challenge beats the Turing Test
From personal experience, Turing Tests that I participated in* have at best forced me to polish my A.I.'s output to sound less robotic. That is because in Turing Tests, appearance is a first priority if one does not want to be outed immediately at the first question, regardless how intelligent the answer is. Since keeping up appearances is an enormous task in itself, one barely gets around to programming intelligence. I've had to develop spell correction algorithms, gibberish detection, letter-counting game mechanics, and a fictional background story, before encountering the first intelligent question in a Turing Test. It stalls progress with unintelligent aspects and is discouragingly unrewarding.
Solving Winograd Schemas on the other hand forced me to program common sense axioms, which can do more than just figure out what our pronouns refer to. Indirect objects and locations commonly suffer from even worse ambiguity that can be solved by the same means, and common sense can be used to distinguish figurative speech and improve problem-solving. But I'll leave that as a story for next time.
We should be careful to draw conclusions from yet another behavioural test, but whatever the Winograd Schema Challenge is supposed to prove, it offers a practical test of understanding language with a focus on common sense. As this has always been a major obstacle for computers, the resulting solutions are bound to be useful regardless how "intelligent" they may be found.
Read more in my report on the first Winograd Schema Challenge held in 2016.
Let your friends in on this:
← The A.I. dictionary
How to teach a computer common sense →
One thought on "Is the Winograd Schema Challenge a good test?"
Thomas e VanBuskirk says:
i really like this site
What A.I. learned from the internet
Loebner Prize 2019: Results
Introducing Arckon, conversational A.I.
The Terminator is not a documentary
Turing Test 2018: Results
How to build a robot head
How to summarize the internet
The most sensational A.I. news ever!
An A.I.'s oddest replies
Winograd Schema Challenge 2016: Results
How to teach a computer common sense
The A.I. dictionary
"Computers can't…": Understand sarcasm
The Myth of the Turing Test
People in the A.I. community
Arckon (12)
language processing (15)
Loebner Prize (7)
Winograd Schema Challenge (4)
Follow Artificial Detective on WordPress.com
Get email notifications of new posts


Yoshitaka Yamaya and Tomohito Takatsuka's first variety DVD is going to be released next month.
After being pre-released at this year's Comiket (held on 10/08/2018), Yoshitaka Yamaya and Tomohito Takatsuka's first variety DVD "Café Glass Slipper e yokoso 〜 Ryouri ni chousen-hen 〜" is going to be released to the general public on 28/09/2018.
For this DVD, the duo showed their cooking skills through a variety of challenges.
"Café Glass Slipper e yokoso 〜 Ryouri ni chousen-hen 〜" is available for pre-order at CDJAPAN.


I am an author, reader and teacher. My memoir Things Nobody Knows But Me about being parented by a Bi Polar mother from a Non-English Speaking Background will be published by Transit Lounge in 2019. Read more about it here. Memoir extracts have been published in anthologies Meet Me at the Intersection and Rebellious Daughters.
I am co-editor of the anthology Coming of Age: Growing up Muslim in Australia that was shortlisted for the 2015 Children's Book Council of Australia Eve Pownall Award for Information Books and was selected by the Grattan Institute for the 2015 Summer Reading List for Prime Minister.
I am the author of a novel for children Amir: Friend on Loan, and of award winning young adult novel The Good Daughter. I was born and raised in Melbourne's Western Suburbs where I work as a high school teacher. I am completing a PhD in Creative Writing at La Trobe University.
If you subscribe to my mailing list you will receive a free Ebook-an extract of my upcoming memoir Things Nobody Knows But Me to be published by Transit Lounge. View previous newsletters here.


Here is a little information about our Mainland Surf Tours.
The sub-continent of India has 7,000 kilometers [4,349 miles] of coastline. The greater portion of that is still unexplored in terms of locating surf spots. But with that much exposure to the Arabian Sea, the Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal and with nothing off the southern tip of India for thousands and thousands of kilometers except Antarctica- with that much ocean out there, you know there are going to be some great waves when the conditions are favorable.
There are waves in India all year round averaging 3 to 5 feet but the season for scoring some good waves is from May to October. This is the pre-monsoon, monsoon & post-monsoon seasons. At this time the surf will range from 6 to 12 feet and bigger — often blown out and messy depending on where you are and what the condition is but we at India Surf Tours have enough knowledge of many surf breaks which are super glassy with offshore winds, at times comparable to many world class breaks!
Generally, the west-coast swell direction is usually best when coming from the south or west, although an occasional north swell does get good. On the east coast, the swell is almost always from the south or slight southeast direction.
Mainland Tours are organized and led by India Surf Tour for only magazines, film-makers and surf brands. We at India Surf Tours can guide our clients to already known popular surf spots along the west and east coast of India or offer custom tours depending on surf season. We can also organize cultural sightseeing and other kinds of tours for our clients who are looking to capture the essence of the sub-continent.


This year's RSAW conference will consider the way the delivery of design has changed over recent years and how the established models of architectural practice are unravelling and re-making themselves.
• As the recession continues to bite, how are emerging architects finding new approaches to winning and carrying out their work?
• How are the established players reacting to the new challenges?
• Are the old models for building architectural practices out of date?
• Do we need to be looking at new, more flexible ways of making design happen?
• Is collaboration the answer?
• RIBA Stephen Lawrence Prize 2011 winner Phil Coffey (Coffey Architects) will talk about surviving and winning in the current financial climate.
• Young Architect of the Year David Kohn (David Kohn Architects) will touch on incompleteness, coincidence and how that determines the future.
Inspiration Hour by Deborah Saunt (DSDHA). Through her experience as an award-winning practitioner; her role on a range of juries (current chair RIBA awards, Olympic Delivery Authority 2008, American Institute of Architects Awards 2007; RIBA Gold Medal 2006; RIBA Presidents Medals 2006), her TV and radio broadcasts and widely published writing on architecture, Deborah is well placed to comment on how the delivery of design is changing.
This event is the only dedicated conference and exhibition for the architectural profession in Wales and attracts around 150 decision-makers and practitioners. The RSAW Conference provides a unique networking forum that shares and compares best practice, expertise and experience.


text:
Why "Europe" is Failing
James Joyner · Saturday, June 18, 2005 · 1 comment
The eminent British historian Paul Johnson hits the nail on the head with his OpinionJournal piece on the collapse of the EU project:
[…] The fundamental weaknesses of the EU that must be remedied if it is to survive are threefold. First, it has tried to do too much, too quickly and in too much detail. Jean Monnet, architect of the Coal-Steel Pool, the original blueprint for the EU, always said: "Avoid bureaucracy. Guide, do not dictate. Minimal rules." He had been brought up in, and learned to loathe, the Europe of totalitarianism, in which communism, fascism and Nazism competed to impose regulations on every aspect of human existence. He recognized that the totalitarian instinct lies deep in European philosophy and mentality–in Rousseau and Hegel as well as Marx and Nietzsche–and must be fought against with all the strength of liberalism, which he felt was rooted in Anglo-Saxon individualism.
The EU's economic philosophy, insofar as it has one, is epitomized by one word: "convergence." The aim is to make all national economies identical with the perfect model. This, as it turns out, is actually the perfect formula for stagnation. What makes the capitalist system work, what keeps economies dynamic, is precisely nonconformity, the new, the unusual, the eccentric, the egregious, the innovative, springing from the inexhaustible inventiveness of human nature. Capitalism thrives on the absence of rules or the ability to circumvent them.
Hence it is not surprising that Europe, which grew rapidly in the 1960s and 1970s, before the EU got going, has slowly lost pace since Brussels took over its direction and imposed convergence. It is now stagnant. Growth rates of over 2% are rare, except in Britain, which was Thatcherized in the 1980s and has since followed the American model of free markets. Slow or nil growth, aggravated by the power of the unions, fits well with the Brussels system and imposes further restraints on economic dynamism: Short working hours and huge social security costs that have produced high unemployment, over 10% in France and higher in Germany than at any time since the Great Depression which brought Hitler to power.
Quite so.
This, too, is a good point:
The rise of anti-Americanism, a form of irrationalism deliberately whipped up by Messrs. Schröder and Chirac, who believe it wins votes, is particularly tragic, for the early stages of the EU had their roots in admiration of the American way of doing things and gratitude for the manner in which the U.S. had saved Europe first from Nazism, then (under President Harry Truman) from the Soviet Empire–by the Marshall Plan in 1947 and the creation of NATO in 1949.
Europe's founding fathers–Monnet himself, Robert Schumann in France, Alcide de Gasperi in Italy and Konrad Adenauer in Germany–were all fervently pro-American and anxious to make it possible for European populations to enjoy U.S.-style living standards. Adenauer in particular, assisted by his brilliant economics minister Ludwig Erhardt, rebuilt Germany's industry and services, following the freest possible model. This was the origin of the German "economic miracle," in which U.S. ideas played a determining part. The German people flourished as never before in their history, and unemployment was at record low levels. The decline of German growth and the present stagnation date from the point at which her leaders turned away from America and followed the French "social market" model.
I continue to have hope that the Germans will reverse course. I fear that the French, who have been in this rut for generations now, will not.
About James Joyner
James Joyner is Professor and Department Head of Security Studies at Marine Corps University's Command and Staff College and a nonresident senior fellow at the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security at the Atlantic Council. He's a former Army officer and Desert Storm vet. Views expressed here are his own. Follow James on Twitter @DrJJoyner.
Saturday, 18 June 2005 at 14:59
I would be amazed if europe were able to tear apart centuries of national identity to come up with this confederated bureaucratic nightmare. The U.S. succeeded because there wasn't any "there" there before the colonies got together. As it's grown, the states have been basically ex nihilo creations, with the exception of Texas and Hawaii (possibly a couple others).
That is quite the opposite of europe's history. I mean, geez, they can't even get the Brits and the Irish to play nice, and they're in the same country.
Mayberry and White America II
Mayberry and White America
The Big Lie is Working


text:
The Theotokos as the Living Table
Saint Blaise of Amorion (+ 909/12)
Saint Akakios the Confessor, Bishop of Melitene
Holy Hieromartyr Abdas of Persia and Those Martyre...
Is the Burning Bush Still Burning?
The Ladder of Ascent to Spiritual Rebirth (St. Sym...
Saint John Climacus and his Heavenly Ladder (Fr. G...
Synaxarion of Saint John of the Well
Holy Martyr Victor of Thessaloniki and the Eleven ...
The Teachings of Diadochos of Photiki (Fr. George ...
Holy Martyrs Jonah, Barachisios and the Nine With ...
Synaxarion of Saint Eustathios the Confessor, Bish...
Holy Hieromartyrs Mark the Bishop of Arethusa, Cyr...
Saint Diadochos of Photiki Resource Page
My Teacher Fr. John Romanides and my Spiritual Fat...
Saint Dionysios the Merciful, Metropolitan of Lari...
Holy Apostle Herodion of the Seventy
Saint Hilarion the New, Abbot of Pelekete (+ 754)
The Dialogue of the Church with the Left and the R...
Holy Prophet Hanani
Holy Martyrs Philetos, Lydia, Makedonos, Theoprepi...
Holy Martyr Matrona of Thessaloniki
The Fourth Sunday of Great Lent Before the Thirtee...
Holy Hieromartyr Montanus and Maxima his Wife
Holy Martyr Eutychios the Subdeacon of Alexandria ...
Homily on the Fourth Sunday of Lent by St. Gregory...
Documentary: "March 25 - Greek Independence Day"
The Conception of Christ Through the Ear of the Vi...
The Analaogy of Eve and the Theotokos (St. Irenaeu...
The Secret Mysteries of the Annunciation
Life and Sayings of our Holy Fathers Karion and Za...
Saint Zachariah the Faster of the Kiev Caves
Holy Hieromartyr Artemon, Presbyter of Laodicea in...
Saint Artemon, Bishop of Seleucia in Pisidia
The Discovery of the Relics of Saints Serapion the...
Holy Hieromartyr Nikon and the 199 Monks With Him
Saint Nikon the Abbot of the Kiev Caves (+ 1088)
Emperor and Patriarch on the Sunday of the Holy Cr...
Holy Hieromartyr Basil, Presbyter of Ancyra
Life and Sayings of Holy Abba Serapion the Sindoni...
Saint James the Confessor and Bishop
Saint Thomas I, Patriarch of Constantinople (+ 610...
Synaxarion of our Holy Father Niketas the Confesso...
Holy Martyrs Alexandria, Claudia, Euphrasia, Matro...
The Third Sunday of Great Lent Before the Seventh ...
Homily on the Third Sunday of Lent by St. Gregory ...
A Greek Orthodox View of Ecumenism (2 of 2)
The Theotokos as the Rectification of Humanity
Synaxarion of our Holy Father Cyril, Archbishop of...
Holy Ten Thousand Martyrs of Nicomedia
Saint Cyril of Jerusalem Resource Page
The Skull of Saint Alexios the Man of God
Saint Patrick Resource Page
The Confession of Saint Patrick
The Holy Synod of the Church of Crete Addresses th...
Saint Alexander I, Pope of Rome (+ c. 115)
Saint Christodoulos of Patmos Resource Page
Does Canon 15 of the First-Second Synod of 861 All...
Holy Martyrs Agapios, Plesios, Timolaos, Romulus, ...
Synaxarion of the Holy Apostle Aristobulus of the ...
The Veneration of Saint Gregory Palamas in Kastori...
Synaxarion of the Holy Martyr Alexander of Pydna
Life and Miracles of Saint Benedict of Nursia (A.D...
Documentary: "Athos – The Last Monastic Republic" ...
The Second Sunday of Great Lent Before the Fourtee...
Holy Hieromartyr Publius, Bishop of Athens
Synaxarion of the Translation of the Relic of Sain...
Saint Gregory the Dialogist Resource Page
Homily on the Second Sunday of Lent by St. Gregory...
The Marvelous Life of Patriarch Sophronius I: His ...
The Theotokos as a Harbor
The Forty Day Fast of Saint Paisios the Athonite f...
The Chapel of the Holy Forty Martyrs in the Church...
The Annual Miracle of the Mushroom at Xeropotamou ...
Holy Forty Martyrs Church in Veliko Tarnovo of Bul...
On the Intercessions of the Forty Martyrs of Sebas...
The Saints of Each Generation Form a Kind of Golde...
Saint Paul the Confessor, Bishop of Prusia
Holy Apostle Hermas of the Seventy
The Main Representatives of Byzantine and Post-Byz...
The House of Saint Ephraim of Nea Makri in Trikala...
Turks Rebuilding the House of Saint Nektarios in S...
The House of Saint Philothei Opens as a Museum in ...
Asceticism, the Mother of Sanctification
Holy Forty-Two Martyrs of Ammoria in Phrygia (+ 84...
Holy New Hieromartyr Parthenios Partheniades (+ 18...
Homily on the Sunday of Orthodoxy (St. Nikolai Vel...
The Relationship Between St. Gerasimos of Jordan a...
Saint Gerasimos of Jordan and the Lion Jordanes
The Meaning of Memorial Services in the Orthodox C...
Saint Gerasimos of Jordan Resource Page
Saturday of Souls Resource Page
Synaxarion of the Holy Hieromartyr Theodoret of An...
Holy Amma Piamun the Virgin of Egypt
Saint Euthalia as a Model for our Lives
The Man Responsible for the Canonization of Saint ...
Life of Saint Nicholas Planas (1851-1932)
Saint Nicholas Planas Resource Page
Holy Martyr Eudokia the Samaritan of Heliopolis
The Dialogue of the Church with the Left and the Right
By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou
Recently there was a discussion in the ecclesiastical and broader area concerning the dialogue between the Church and the Left. I did not attend the Conference from up close, but only read some papers and related publications. Some of my thoughts are recorded here for wider discussion and clarification.
1. The Church is a place open to everyone, but with a certain purpose. It is a particular society which acquires theological significance as a Body, the Body of Christ, as a spiritual family, a spiritual hospital. The Church does not function as an ideology, but as a spiritual mother who gives birth and raises her children, regardless of color, class, gender and nationality. Whoever sees the Church as an ideology fails to see her deeper purpose, to see the capacity of her heart and how she delivers blood to all her members, even the most humble and despised.
2. The terms "right" and "left" were created opportunistically from the position that it was seized by the members of the Constituent Assembly of revolutionary France in 1789, where they discussed on the one hand how the regime would work in a constitutional monarchy, and secondly what would be the authority of the king. Those who sat on the left were more radical-progressive, while those who sat to the right were more conservative. Since then these terms have become loaded with strong sociological content, and have acquired an ideological direction.
In modern language the concept of the Right is associated with conservative and traditional thinking, expressed by maintaining the hereditary religion, capitalism, neo-liberalism, the free market. Conversely, the concept of the Left is associated with modern and radical thought, both in traditions and certainly in religion, as well as in the social space, as expressed with the principles of equality, multiculturalism and internationalism.
Between these two were inserted the Centrists and Social Democrats, who are trying to operate on a Hegelian dialectic of thesis, antithesis and synthesis, in order to express the middle ground. These models are complex because between right, left and center moves the center-left, the center-right, social democrats, and beyond these the far right and the far left.
Certainly, the factions are not to be interpreted as waterproof patterns, since on the rightist faction there are people of the so-called lower classes, which Marxism sees as an unnatural situation and interprets it through the lack of "class consciousness", but also through the effect of propaganda. The fact, however, is that it is not possible sociologically for these patterns to be waterproof and cannot be interpreted through these ideological and social patterns.
This means that in the Church, which is an open space, there can be accommodated those seeking the truth beyond sociological patterns, which will deteriorate with time and the feasibility of mankind. For example, a conservative does not mean that they are certainly a true Christian, even if they live within the space of the Church, and a radical and revolutionary does not mean that they are necessarily atheistic and godless and considered not to be part of the ecclesiastical space.
Besides, all the preaching of the Church and the whole of theology is revolutionary against all establishments, all hypocrisy and compromise, any corruption whether it be theological, social or political. Whoever restricts the Church into parties, factions, ideologies and biases, alters her universal character and her transformative mission. In the Church there exists open and hidden disciples, and God knows the hearts of people. There are fools for Christ truer than the rationalists of the world, and there are people living on the margins of social life who are seeking the God of love, which is not done by hypocritical moralists, who are compatible with all situations.
3. The Church is in dialogue with all people, is not afraid of dialogue, because it has a life that overcomes death. The teaching that the Church is the divinely-human Body of Christ shows in that just as the body so also she accepts all, is in dialogue with everyone, but there remains in her the relevant elements and waste is eliminated. Compared to the world the Church is neither an ideology nor is it possessed with fear of the world, but neither is she led towards secularization. However, Christians can convert Christianity into an ideology and be distinguished by fear of the world and secularization. Thus, the dialogue of the Church, as shown by its history, is the permanent objective and causes fertilization and transformations in humans.
The Church only does not make dialogue with the devil. This is a dark spirit, a creepy being, a bearer of evil who cannot benefit by the life she gives, because he cannot repent. Today, demonic forces in the social space are expressed in dictatorial ideas, fascist attitudes, aspirations to oppress people, with forces of violence, war, plundering the freedom of people. The Church can still operate amid tyrannies, by experiencing her freedom even in the catacombs and in periods of persecution, but she cannot support such schemes and cooperate with them by serving its harsh and inhumane goals.
4. The debate on the relationship between the Church and the Right and Left took place in the western world, because there was great need. When I speak of need I do not mean the needs of the Church, but the needs of western theology, because Christianity in the West was involved in aspirations and motivations of the right faction and ideology. Let me remind you of the identification of Protestant groups with capitalism, such as Max Weber analyzed, and with efforts to become independent Christians from the capitalist mentality, thus developed so-called "political theology" and the "theology of liberation", as seen in Latin America. Let me remind you also even of the development of "dialectical theology" in the West, or the "theology of crisis", mainly in German Protestantism, because some Protestant groups became allied with the martial attitudes of German leaders. Some Protestant theologians in the West opposed the alliance of Western Christians who consented with fascism and nazism. Thus appeared so-called "Neo-Orthodoxy", or the "theology of crisis", whose main slogan was "no consensus with the world," as analyzed by Professor Marios Begzos.
Thus, the relationship or identity of Protestant and Catholic/Papal Christianity with the culture of the world and western political parties constitutes a fall of the Christian faith. This means that in the West you can speak of a Christian Democratic party that opposes socialism, which is why dialogue with the Left is needed in order to disengage Christianity from the mentality of right-wing political ideologies.
Consequently, the dialogue of the Church with the Left in Greece is important, since in our country the identification between the Church and the Right is not extensively observed. If this was done with some Christians and Clergy it would not be accepted by the Church, which distances herself from all those patterns. The Orthodox Church did not identify with fascism, nazism, ethnophyletism and tyrannies. She can tolerate them, because we could do no different, but was not totally identified with them.
5. No one refuses a dialogue of theologians and clergy with the Left, because in the past few excesses were observed. Sometimes the Right appropriated the ecclesiastical space, sometimes some Christians opposed the Left, or some leftists uncritically questioned the Church, without understanding that the Orthodox Church is one thing, as expressed by the Fathers of the Church, and Western Christianity is another with its various expressions. There can be also be a dialogue between theologians and the Right to explore various mainly practical issues. However, this dialogue, in order for us to be better acquainted, must touch upon the heart of the matter and not some external, social consequences. I think that such a dialogue is to be on four bases.
The first is Metaphysics. It should be investigated what metaphysics is, what are its attributes, and what is the attitude of the Left with the Orthodox on the issue of metaphysics. It is known that Marxists and the Fathers of the Church oppose metaphysics. Also, metaphysics is associated with Western Christianity, which is associated with German Idealism.
The second is the Enlightenment. It should be clarified why the Left brought enlightenment principles to Greece, and expresses itself according to the enlightenment, since the Western Enlightenment birthed liberalism or it was born from it, and fueled capitalism. It is not enough for the leftists to accept the enlightenment, because some enlighteners were agnostics or atheists or deists who rejected neoliberal views.
The third is the difference between religion and the Church. Marx opposed religion, which he expressed as metaphysical, magical and the opiate of the people. The Church, however, is clearly different from religion and its aspirations, and is free of religious ideologies, which are operated by the tyrannical regimes.
The fourth is the teaching - theoretically and practically - both of the Left and of the Church regarding property, wealth and economic assets. Then we shall be given the opportunity to identify the social teaching of the Fathers of the Church, derived from the theology of the Church, and show that the theology of the Orthodox Church for material goods is radical and exceeds all modern sociological theories.
In conclusion, the Church is open to any dialogue, it suffices to take place without considerations, but with sincerity and attention. Dialogue will clear up some additional external components, and there will be an acquaintance, or knowledge of the other side. At least in terms of the Church those who approach the dialogue must have the features of the Fathers of the fourth century, namely Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, Gregory of Nyssa and others who had empirical theology, intellectual capacity, high qualities, and proficiency in the contemporary reality. Only then the dialogue can produce results, otherwise it will remain on the margin of ecclesial and social life, and it will be exploited and eventually deteriorate.
Source: Ekklesiastiki Paremvasi, "Διάλογος τής Εκκλησίας μέ τήν Δεξιά καί τήν Αριστερά", February 2013. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
Labels: Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos, Politics


text:
See All Speakers
Glen Sarvady
154 Advisors
Founder, 154 Advisors
Glen Sarvady is a 20+ year veteran of the payments and FinTech industries. His firm, 154 Advisors, provides data-driven analysis and strategy formulation to help FIs navigate the rapidly evolving payments landscape, with specific expertise in digital wallets, consumer/small business behavior and customer segmentation. He is a frequent industry speaker and author, and a founding director of the Technology Association of Georgia's FinTech Society.
Prior to founding 154 Advisors in 2015, Glen co-led McKinsey's payments-focused Global Concepts unit and managed Deluxe's Financial Services check and payments programs. He also held various senior operating and financial roles at CheckFree, spanning most of the online bill payment pioneer's life as a public company. Glen is a former Federal Reserve Bank examiner and part of the startup team that launched the University of Pennsylvania Student Federal Credit Union.
Glen has a BA in Economics/Mathematical Methods from Northwestern University and an MBA from the Wharton School. You can find him on Twitter @154Advisors or as a co-host of the BIGCast at big-fintech.com.
Where to see Glen:
Consumers' Role in the Payments Transformation
Feb 6, 20199:45 am
Glen SarvadyClaire Greene
https://www.linkedin.com/in/glensarvady/
Copyright © 2019 Deluxe Enterprise Operations, Inc. All rights reserved. Terms & Conditions Privacy Policy


A superb opportunity to purchase this beautifully presented 2 bedroom detached coach house ideally located in this quiet location of Great Denham. Internally the property offers an entrance hall, landing, a spacious open planned lounge/kitchen/dining room, 2 double bedrooms with an en suite to the master and a family bathroom. The property also boasts its own garden, with a car port providing off road parking.
UPVC DG window to front aspect, radiator, TV point, telephone point, power plug, wooden flooring.
Beautifully presented kitchen comprising a stainless steel inset sink with drainer & mixer tap. Integrated cooker with gas hob and fitted extractor hood over, integrated fridge freezer, integrated dish washer, integrated washer dryer, wall mounted gas boiler, range of fitted bas & eye level units, DG skylight window to rear aspect, spotlights to ceiling.
Fitted to comprise low level W/C, pedestal hand wash basin with mixer tap, tiled splash backs, shower cubicle with electric shower, part tiled walls, heated towel rail, extractor fan, DG skylight window to rear aspect, shaver point.
UPVC DG window to front aspect, radiator, power points, built in storage cupboard.
White suite comprising a panelled bath with mixer taps & mains shower attachment above, fitted shower screen, low level W/C, pedestal hand wash basin with mixer tap, tiled splash backs, part tiled walls, radiator, extractor fan, DG skylight to rear aspect.
Car port with paved driveway providing parking for numerous vehicles.


text:
Dangerous overgrown hedges
We want to plant some trees here.
14:59, 16 Nov 2020, last updated 28 days ago
A very big pothole in the path/drive area to all houses
15:13, 14 Oct 2020 (sent to both)
Hedges/shrubs blocking path
17:23, 7 Oct 2020, last updated 14:07, 19 Nov 2020
Vegetation covering the street light
Simpsons estate agent sign attached to wickes close street sign
14:19, 16 Jul 2020, last updated 17:43, 3 Dec 2020 (sent to Vale of White Horse District Council)
Streetlight no 32 not working
Light at end of bucklars bury rd not working-between Covent close and pytenry close
20:41, 5 May 2020, last updated 10:05, 6 May 2020
13:59, 29 Apr 2020, last updated 02:12, 28 May 2020
Light number 5 not working
The path has been built up between my drop down and my drive which now prevents me accessing my drive without catching the bottom of the car.
01:19, 1 Mar 2020, last updated 01:43, 30 Mar 2020
Lamppost not working.
21:51, 26 Feb 2020, last updated 09:21, 3 Mar 2020
Street Light on footpath opposite 47 Elizabeth Ave
Street light not working in Lyford Way
Large tree needs cutting back
12:30, 1 Aug 2019, last updated 14:09, 11 Sep 2019
Graffiti and weeds
03:02, 23 Jul 2019 (sent to Vale of White Horse District Council)
Abandoned van
22:14, 4 May 2019 (sent to Vale of White Horse District Council)
Tree branches need cutting back
09:25, 9 Apr 2019, last updated 15:20, 13 May 2019
Simpsons estate agent sign
20:00, 9 Mar 2019 (sent to Vale of White Horse District Council)
Chopped down branches and twigs all over the footpath
08:16, 26 Feb 2019 (sent to Vale of White Horse District Council)
Disgusting dog owners
16:08, 10 Feb 2019, last updated 21:16, 10 Feb 2019 (sent to Vale of White Horse District Council)
Lamppost vandalised and not working
14:55, 11 Dec 2018, last updated 09:23, 8 Jan 2019
Peachcroft Play Area bark degraded.
07:50, 20 Nov 2018, last updated 08:26, 22 Nov 2018 (sent to Vale of White Horse District Council)
Light erratic for past 12 months
Roads are not clean
Footpath blocked by overgrown council shrubbery
09:35, 8 Oct 2018, last updated 14:44, 19 Feb 2019
Lamp Number 16 on footpath outside Croft Bar and Christian Centre on Peachcroft not working
23:42, 29 Sep 2018, last updated 08:49, 11 Jun 2019
Rubbish alongside the A34
Damaged street light
Cars parking opposite double driveway
11:42, 15 Dec 2016 (sent to Vale of White Horse District Council)
Abandoned vehicle.
18:08, 17 Jun 2016, last updated 15:44, 17 Jul 2016 (sent to Vale of White Horse District Council)
Council not maintaining public areas
12:16, 16 Jun 2016, last updated 15:00, 4 Aug 2016 (sent to Vale of White Horse District Council)
Trees in need of cutting back
09:16, 29 Sep 2015, last updated 12:55, 30 Sep 2015 (sent to Vale of White Horse District Council)
Overflowing dog poo bin
20:37, 23 Jun 2015 (sent to Vale of White Horse District Council)
Trees overhanging footpath
12:57, 26 Mar 2015, last updated 12:28, 27 Mar 2015 (sent to Vale of White Horse District Council)
12:28, 5 Dec 2014, last updated 17:39, 30 Jan 2015 (sent to Vale of White Horse District Council)
Overhanging tree
08:37, 6 Mar 2014, last updated 15:18, 14 Mar 2014 (sent to Vale of White Horse District Council)
Broken down van
Persistent dog fouling
Recycling trucks ruining grass
16:41, 20 Apr 2010, last updated 22:35, 13 Jul 2010 (sent to Vale of White Horse District Council)
Street light not working.
Fallen tree
17:01, 11 Mar 2019, 0.5km, last updated 19:20, 11 Apr 2019
Complete darkness on The Cinder Track
11:47, 18 Mar 2019, 0.5km
Street lamp 31
20:01, 17 Feb 2020, 0.6km, last updated 11:13, 18 Feb 2020
Light not working following damage about two weeks ago that I previously reported
09:37, 28 Oct 2019, 0.6km, last updated 13:47, 17 Mar 2020
Street lights not working behind 60 Mattock way
Street light not working, outside no.14
21:17, 2 Apr 2018, 0.6km, last updated 22:54, 23 May 2018
Footpath significant trip hazrd now outside 163/161 Oxford road abingdon,elderly occupants.
15:52, 21 Jan 2019, 0.6km, last updated 08:33, 8 Feb 2019
Street light out and another obstructed by tree
15:36, 10 Feb 2020, 0.6km
Blocked path
11:28, 18 Aug 2018, 0.6km, last updated 12:00, 1 Dec 2018
No 13 Garford Close, street light not working
23:20, 23 Mar 2020, 0.6km, last updated 11:53, 24 Mar 2020
3 street lights out around Oxford Road, Abingdon
13:21, 4 Dec 2018, 0.6km, last updated 13:59, 1 Jan 2019
22:10, 16 Nov 2020, 0.7km, last updated 22:10, 16 Nov 2020 (sent to both)


WANT TO PURCHASE GOLD or SILVER?
David Morgan has a BS in Engineering and a Masters in Business (finance and international business). David has been a private economist and precious metals analyst for over twenty years. He adheres to the Austrian School of Economics, although his degree is not from the Mises Institute.
David has written numerous articles, some of which may be viewed at Gold-Eagle . Mr. Morgan also writes Silver-Investor.com Newsletter. This e-mail newsletter is issued on a monthly basis and includes economic news, overall financial health of the global economy, currency problems ahead. Mr. Morgan pours over nearly every metals, economic, and financial newsletter and business publication and digests it to save his readers valuable time and money! Reviews current trends, long term fundamentals, and specific information required for any investor, especially the serious silver or precious metal investor.
MOVING ON GOLD. As the economic indicators get uglier and uglier, gold is looking like an ever more golden investment. Predictions abound of $400-500 per ounce.
The Worst is Yet to Come. Excellent economic analysis by CBS Market Watch and Thom Calandra.
THE GATHERING STORM A Global Economic Crash is Imminent. Published on July 8, Just Before the Plug Was Pulled on the Markets: Corporate Corruption, The Plunge Protection Team's Secret Intervention, Collapsing Pensions Funds, Billions Taken from the Treasury, Social Security and Federal Pensions; Gold Prices Manipulated; Foreign Capital Fleeing the U.S.; Chilling Statements from George Soros.
A look at Mike Ruppert's essay on his trip to Moscow last March reveals the devastation of Russia as the US was preparing for the WTC attacks. In light of what had happened over the decade of the 1990s it is easy to understand why Vladimir has been so unwilling and unable to resist US war plans.
The Hidden Economic Bomb FTW Reported Two Days Before The Attacks.


text:
package com.arvernistudio.wolfenginetest.finder;

import com.arvernistudio.wolfengine.component.Component;
import com.arvernistudio.wolfengine.finder.Family;
import com.arvernistudio.wolfengine.finder.FamilyBuilder;
import com.arvernistudio.wolfengine.finder.GameObjectFinder;
import com.arvernistudio.wolfengine.gameobject.GameObject;
import com.arvernistudio.wolfengine.mapper.ComponentMapper;
import com.arvernistudio.wolfengine.mapper.ObjectMapComponentMapper;
import com.arvernistudio.wolfengine.services.ServiceLocator;
import com.arvernistudio.wolfengine.utils.ImmutableArray;
import com.badlogic.gdx.Application;
import com.badlogic.gdx.Gdx;
import com.badlogic.gdx.utils.ObjectSet;
import org.junit.Before;
import org.junit.Test;
import org.mockito.Mockito;

import static org.junit.Assert.*;

public class GameObjectFinderTest {

    private class FooComponent extends Component {}

    private class BarComponent extends Component{}

    private class BazComponent extends Component{}

    private ObjectSet<GameObject> _gameObjects;

    private static final int FOO_BAR_FAMILY_COUNT = 7;
    private static final int BAR_BAZ_FAMILY_COUNT = 5;
    private static final int FOO_BAR_BAZ_FAMILY_COUNT = 2;
    private static final int BAR_FAMILY_COUNT = 3;

    @Before
    public void setUp(){
        //Avoid NullPointerException when Gdx.app.log is called in the tested methods
        Gdx.app = Mockito.mock(Application.class);

        //Reset the component mapper for the tests set
        ComponentMapper mapper = new ObjectMapComponentMapper();
        mapper.getComponentIndex(FooComponent.class);
        mapper.getComponentIndex(BarComponent.class);
        mapper.getComponentIndex(BazComponent.class);
        ServiceLocator.injectComponentMapper(mapper);

        // Reset the family builder for the tests set
        FamilyBuilder builder = new FamilyBuilder();
        ServiceLocator.injectFamilyBuilder(builder);

        _gameObjects = setUpObjectSet();
    }

    private ObjectSet<GameObject> setUpObjectSet(){
        ObjectSet<GameObject> objectSet = new ObjectSet<>();

        // Initialize a family of game objects composed of the two components
        // FooComponent and BarComponent
        for(int i = 0; i < GameObjectFinderTest.FOO_BAR_FAMILY_COUNT; i++){
            GameObject gameObject = new GameObject();
            gameObject.addComponent(new FooComponent())
                    .addComponent(new BarComponent());
            objectSet.add(gameObject);
        }

        for(int i = 0; i < GameObjectFinderTest.BAR_BAZ_FAMILY_COUNT; i++){
            GameObject gameObject = new GameObject()
                    .addComponent(new BarComponent())
                    .addComponent(new BazComponent());
            objectSet.add(gameObject);
        }

        for(int i = 0; i < GameObjectFinderTest.FOO_BAR_BAZ_FAMILY_COUNT; i++){
            GameObject gameObject = new GameObject()
                    .addComponent(new FooComponent())
                    .addComponent(new BarComponent())
                    .addComponent(new BazComponent());
            objectSet.add(gameObject);
        }

        for(int i = 0; i < GameObjectFinderTest.BAR_FAMILY_COUNT; i++){
            GameObject gameObject = new GameObject()
                    .addComponent(new BarComponent());

            objectSet.add(gameObject);
        }

        return objectSet;
    }

    @Test
    public void getGameObjectsForTest(){
        GameObjectFinder finder = new GameObjectFinder(_gameObjects);
        FamilyBuilder builder = ServiceLocator.getFamilyBuilder();
        Family allFooBarFamily = builder.all(FooComponent.class, BarComponent.class).get();

        ImmutableArray<GameObject> fooBarFamilyGameObjects =
                finder.getGameObjectsFor(allFooBarFamily);

        assertEquals(GameObjectFinderTest.FOO_BAR_FAMILY_COUNT
                + GameObjectFinderTest.FOO_BAR_BAZ_FAMILY_COUNT, fooBarFamilyGameObjects.size());

        int loopCount = GameObjectFinderTest.FOO_BAR_FAMILY_COUNT
                + GameObjectFinderTest.FOO_BAR_BAZ_FAMILY_COUNT;

        int FooComponentIndex =
                ServiceLocator.getComponentTypeMapper().getComponentIndex(FooComponent.class);
        int BarComponentIndex =
                ServiceLocator.getComponentTypeMapper().getComponentIndex(BarComponent.class);

        for(int i = 0; i < loopCount; i++){
            assertNotNull(
                    fooBarFamilyGameObjects.get(i).getComponent(FooComponentIndex)
            );
            assertNotNull(
                    fooBarFamilyGameObjects.get(i).getComponent(BarComponentIndex)
            );
        }
    }

    @Test
    public void addFamilyMembershipForTest(){
        GameObjectFinder finder = new GameObjectFinder(_gameObjects);
        FamilyBuilder builder = ServiceLocator.getFamilyBuilder();
        Family oneBarFamily = builder.one(BarComponent.class).get();
        Family allFooBarBazFamily =
                builder.all(FooComponent.class, BarComponent.class, BazComponent.class)
                        .get();

        ImmutableArray<GameObject> oneBarGameObjectsFamily =
                finder.getGameObjectsFor(oneBarFamily);
        ImmutableArray<GameObject> allFooBarBazGameObjectsFamily =
                finder.getGameObjectsFor(allFooBarBazFamily);

        assertEquals(GameObjectFinderTest.FOO_BAR_FAMILY_COUNT
                + GameObjectFinderTest.BAR_FAMILY_COUNT
                + GameObjectFinderTest.BAR_BAZ_FAMILY_COUNT
                + GameObjectFinderTest.FOO_BAR_BAZ_FAMILY_COUNT,
                oneBarGameObjectsFamily.size()
        );

        assertEquals(GameObjectFinderTest.FOO_BAR_BAZ_FAMILY_COUNT,
                allFooBarBazGameObjectsFamily.size());

        GameObject gameObject = new GameObject()
                .addComponent(new BarComponent());

        finder.addFamilyMembershipFor(gameObject);

        oneBarGameObjectsFamily =
                finder.getGameObjectsFor(oneBarFamily);
        allFooBarBazGameObjectsFamily =
                finder.getGameObjectsFor(allFooBarBazFamily);

        assertEquals(GameObjectFinderTest.FOO_BAR_FAMILY_COUNT
                        + GameObjectFinderTest.BAR_FAMILY_COUNT
                        + GameObjectFinderTest.BAR_BAZ_FAMILY_COUNT
                        + GameObjectFinderTest.FOO_BAR_BAZ_FAMILY_COUNT
                        + 1,
                oneBarGameObjectsFamily.size()
        );

        assertEquals(GameObjectFinderTest.FOO_BAR_BAZ_FAMILY_COUNT,
                allFooBarBazGameObjectsFamily.size());
    }

    @Test
    public void eraseFamilyMembershipForTest(){
        GameObjectFinder finder = new GameObjectFinder(_gameObjects);
        FamilyBuilder builder = ServiceLocator.getFamilyBuilder();

        Family allBarBazFamily = builder.all(BarComponent.class, BazComponent.class).get();

        ImmutableArray<GameObject> allBarBazFamilyGameObjects =
                finder.getGameObjectsFor(allBarBazFamily);

        assertEquals(GameObjectFinderTest.FOO_BAR_BAZ_FAMILY_COUNT
        + GameObjectFinderTest.BAR_BAZ_FAMILY_COUNT,
                allBarBazFamilyGameObjects.size());

        GameObject firstGameObject = allBarBazFamilyGameObjects.get(0);
        finder.eraseFamilyMembershipFor(firstGameObject);
        allBarBazFamilyGameObjects = finder.getGameObjectsFor(allBarBazFamily);

        assertEquals(GameObjectFinderTest.FOO_BAR_BAZ_FAMILY_COUNT
                + GameObjectFinderTest.BAR_BAZ_FAMILY_COUNT
                - 1,
                allBarBazFamilyGameObjects.size());

        finder.addFamilyMembershipFor(firstGameObject);
        allBarBazFamilyGameObjects = finder.getGameObjectsFor(allBarBazFamily);

        assertEquals(GameObjectFinderTest.FOO_BAR_BAZ_FAMILY_COUNT
                        + GameObjectFinderTest.BAR_BAZ_FAMILY_COUNT,
                allBarBazFamilyGameObjects.size());
    }

    @Test(expected = IllegalArgumentException.class)
    public void nullObjectsSetAtInstantiationTest(){
        GameObjectFinder gameObjectFinder = new GameObjectFinder(null);
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
#September exports-poll
Exports expected to rise 15 pct in Sept. on chips, autos: poll
All News 08:56 September 28, 2021
By Kang Yoon-seung
SEOUL, Sept. 28 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's exports are anticipated to rise 15 percent on-year in September on the back of robust demand for chips and automobiles, although the overall growth might slow due to fewer working days in the month, a poll showed Tuesday.
Exports are expected to reach US$55.1 billion this month, according to the survey of seven brokerage houses by Yonhap Infomax, the financial news arm of Yonhap News Agency.
This file photo, taken Sept. 9, 2021, shows stacks of containers at a port in Incheon, 40 kilometers west of Seoul. (Yonhap)
Imports are estimated to have gone up 26.5 percent on-year in September to $49.8 billion, resulting in a trade surplus of $5.3 billion.
South Korea will release its official trade data Friday.
In August, South Korea's exports have extended their gains to 10 months by rising 35 percent on-year.
Experts attributed the decelerated growth in September to the fewer number of working days due to the Chuseok holiday, the Korean equivalent of Thanksgiving.
The country's exports have jumped 22.9 percent on-year during the first 20 days of September.
colin@yna.co.kr


text:
Pigeon Builds A Nest After Stealing Poppies From An Unknown Soldier's Grave
In early October, an unusual occurrence has been found by the workers of the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. For a while, one by one, the poppies from the grave of an unknown soldier have vanished. The guilty party which turned out to be a pigeon. The bird took the flowers from the grave to create a beautiful, vibrant nest at the war memorial by a stained glass window. The beautiful nest lead-up to Remembrance Day commemorations that are held on November 11th.
The Australian War Memorial workers noticed a pigeon that made a nest of poppies taken from a soldier's grave.
Image credits: The Australian War Memorial
The war memorial told Sydney Morning Herald that the stained glass window mistakenly found by the bird commemorates the wounded soldier, which symbolizes the "endurance" value, and the nearby poppy nest is "a reminder of the powerful bond between man and beast on the battlefield."
Image credits: Travis
Pigeons may be called very unpleasant birds these days, but they were valuable allies in war throughout history.
Image credits: denisbin
Throughout World War II, 32 pigeons were given the PDSA Dickin Award to any individual showing conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty.
Image credits: Mike
"Particularly in the early wars, communication is really difficult. Wireless is in its absolute infancy in the First World War and telephone wires get broken apart in the shellfire on the Western Front. So pigeons are particularly of use in warfare when you've got a couple of men trying to get a message from where they are back to the backline; a pigeon can get that through sometimes when nothing else can, " historian Dr. Meleah Hampton said.
Image credits: Edward Dalmulder
One of the most memorable cases of a service pigeon is the one named ' White Vision ' which was given the medal for "delivering a message under exceptionally difficult conditions and so contributing to the rescue of an aircrew while serving with the RAF in October 1943".
Previous article30 Pictures Of Amazon Boxes Transformed Into Intricate Sculptures By A Japanese Woman
Next articleThis Squirrel Rescued From Hurricane Isaac Can't Sleep Without Her Teddy Bear And People Can't Handle The Cuteness
imalka
Grumpy Turtles Starts Home Fire On Christmas Day
19-Year-Old Guy With Down Syndrome Went Viral After His Graduation Reaction
Mind Blowing Optical Illusion Paintings By Rob Gonsalves
Powerful Habits Of Truly Polite People
Mom Thought That The Black Widow Spider Bite Was Just A...


Tidy 2 bedroom bungalow located in Long Pond, CBS. This cozy home offers a spacious living room with 2 additional good size bedrooms. Large kitchen with spacious eating area. 12x16 shed. All measurements and information is approximate and to be verified by Purchaser or Purchaser`s realtor. MLS#191847 Re/Max United Inc.


text:
Halcon Construction News & Insights Why is there no industry-wide certification for telecom engineers?
Why is there no industry-wide certification for telecom engineers?
An industry-leading set of industry certifications and credentials have been set aside to protect and promote the technology and innovation needed to build the next generation of communications networks.
The Global Telecommunications Industry Association (GTIA) has identified 12 technical competencies that have been developed to help engineers identify, identify, and assess the most important areas for network infrastructure, applications, and network technologies.
The GTIA's certification program was created in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001.
The certification program is currently being reviewed by a panel of experts to help determine if the certifications should continue to be required.
The industry-led GTIA was founded in the early 2000s by industry experts and the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD).
The certification process is focused on ensuring that industry is making the right choices, while also being proactive about improving its processes and tools.
"The GTIA is committed to advancing the critical infrastructure security, resilience, and resiliency goals of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)," GTIA spokesperson Chris Bales told CBC News in an email.
"We work to ensure that companies are using the highest standards of engineering and certifications.
It's a long process that can be challenging to navigate and difficult to understand, but we know we are in a very tight spot as we move forward."
The GTIAs certification programs include: Technical competencies: Communications engineering (CEE)
When the FCC is asked to investigate ISPs for blocking websites, telecom engineering graduates are not the ones to come to its rescueWhen the FCC is asked to investigate ISPs for blocking websites, telecom engineering graduates are not the ones to come to its rescue
As a former tech worker who worked on a broadband deployment in the United States, I have seen firsthand the ...
How to get your telecoms engineering job without going into tech schoolHow to get your telecoms engineering job without going into tech school
It's hard to imagine any industry where a technology degree is the best option for aspiring engineers.In the tech industry, ...


Kang G, Márzquez C, Barat A, Byrne AT, Prehn JHM, Sorribes J, et al.. Colorectal tumour simulation using agent based modelling and high performance computing. Future Generation Computer Systems. 2016.
Acevedo C, Hernández P, Espinosa A, Méndez V. A Data-aware multi workflow cluster scheduler. In International conference on complex information systems. Roma; 2016.
Navarro J, Vera G, Ramos-Onsins S, Hernández P. Improving Bioinformatics Analysis of Large Sequence Datasets Parallelizing Tools for Population Genomics. In PBio 2016 - 4th International Workshop on Parallelism in Bioinformatics. 2016.
Lenis J, Senar MA. Optimized Execution Strategies for Sequence Aligners on NUMA Architectures. In PBio 2016 - 4th International Workshop on Parallelism in Bioinformatics. 2016.
Sanjuan G, Brun C, Margalef T, Cortés A. Determining map partitioning to minimize wind field uncertainty in forest fire propagation prediction. Journal of Computational Science. 2016. pp. 28-37.
Applying domain decomposition to wind field calculation. Parallel Computing. 2016. pp. 185-196.
Carrillo C, Artés T, Cortés A, Margalef T. Error Impact in Dynamic Data-Driven Framework Applied to Forest Fire Spread Prediction. International Conference on Computational Science. 2016. pp. 418-427.
Artés T, Cortés A, Margalef T. Large Forest Fire Spread Prediction: Data and Computational Science. International Conference on Computational Science. 2016. pp. 909 - 918.
Farguell A, Moré J, Cortés A, Miró JR, Margalef T, Altava V. Reducing Data Uncertainty in Surface Meteorology using Data Assimilation: A Comparison Study. International Conference on Computational Science. 2016. pp. 1846 - 1855.


The datatypes project contains the code necessary to parse, packetize, depacketize, decode, render and format various datatypes which can be streamed and played within the Helix DNA Server and Client. In addition, datatype modules in conjuction with filesystem modules, can also act as intrefaces to external data providers such as CD/DVD players, video capture cards, format SDKs, other media engines or buffer resident media data. While datatype components plug into Helix DNA Client and into Helix DNA Server to provide datatype specific functionality, this project also hosts its own framework (DtDriver) which provides standalone SDK that enables datatype and filesystem modules to be leveraged in a number of ways including universal meta-data and media-data extraction, decoding, transcoding, decryption, transcryption and transformatting at faster than real-time speeds.