Now that Intrade has been banned by the CFTC, I've seen a lot of post-mortems about why we should have allowed Intrade to continue. Now, I think that the libertarians are probably right that the burden should be on proving why we should ban Intrade, not on why we shouldn't.
That point aside, a lot of commentators have cited various benefits from having Intrade around: Neil Irwin, argues that Intrade could help keep political pundits accountable, some economists have argued that Intrade provides us with better forecasts by aggregating decentralized sources of data, and others have argued that Intrade provides fertile data for research about betting markets, people's understandings of probabilities, and other behaviors. But for the CFTC to consider any of these factors in their decision would be highly unethical. That's because the alleged benefits of Intrade all acrue to those who aren't incurring any of the risk from trading on Intrade itself. Economists get better research data. Businesses get better forecast data. Newspaper readers get better punditry. But these aren't the groups who have money on the line in bets in Intrade. They get all the benefits but none of the risk.
Many economists live in a bubble with pre-Nuremburg era ethical standards. In a post-Nuremburg world, it is no longer sufficient to claim that an activity is ethical just because people voluntarily agreed to participate in it. There are power-imbalances, comprehension problems, compulsive disorders, and a host of other factors that lead people to volunteer for activities that make them worse off.
Let me put it this way. If there is a clear harm to users of Intrade, but significant benefits to society, then allowing Intrade to exist is every bit as unethical as a medical researcher injecting people with HIV just to see what happens--it does not matter one bit whether those people volunteered to participate, or whether the research benefits society as a whole. The participants must either share in the benefit, or not be exposed to the risk. That was the judgment at Nuremburg, and we should stick to it.
Do the potential harms to users of Intrade outweigh the benefits to users of Intrade?
Is there more than minimal risk to society?
If the answer is "yes" to either question, then allowing Intrade to operate would not be ethical, all other considerations not withstanding.


text:
Algodon Wine Estates' Malbec Rated A "90" By Wine Expert Anthony Dias Blue
By: Where To Go Next
Algodon Wine Estates' 2004 Malbec scored 90 points out of 100 in a recent tasting conducted by Anthony Dias Blue, one of the most influential wine personalities in the United States.
The ranking is featured in the July issue of The Tasting Panel, a leading monthly industry publication of which Dias Blue is Editor in Chief. Each month, Dias Blue tastes over 500 wines and features his top picks in the magazine.
"Mr. Dias Blue's high ranking is an honor and great achievement, serving as testament to our hard work and commitment to produce the utmost in quality," says Algodon winemaker Mauro Nosenzo. Algodon Wines are produced under the direction of Camilo Aldao, a member of one of Argentina's oldest winemaking families, and also with the recommendation of Wine Master Anthony Foster and accomplished wine connoisseur Lee Lacy.
"We are thrilled with this rating and believe it is only the beginning. In addition to this great Malbec, we are also producing wonderful Bonarda and Chardonnay," says Scott Mathis, Chairman of DPEC Partners and InvestProperty Group (IPG), the venture capital firm backing Algodon Wine Estates. "In December 2008 our Cabernet Sauvignon won the "Best Buy" distinction in a tasting conducted by Wines of Argentina, and we are confident there will be many more such accolades."
For more information, visit: www.algodonwineesates.com.
About Anthony Dias Blue:
A James Beard Foundation Award-winner, Anthony Dias Blue is one of the most influential wine, food and lifestyle personalities in the United States. He can be found in print and web periodicals, on television and radio and in bookstores, with his cumulative reach exceeding 30,000,000 global consumers each month. He is also the Executive Director of the San Francisco International Wine Competition, the largest and most influential wine judging event in the United States, and the founding director of its sister event, the San Francisco World Spirits Competition.
About Algodon Wine Estates:
Located in San Rafael, Mendoza, a region often referred to as the Napa Valley of Argentina, Algodon Wine Estates (AWE) offers luxury accommodations for travelers, as well as the opportunity to actually own a piece of the estate's vineyard and a custom wine label. The future home of Argentina's tennis elite, AWE has partnered with Argentine tennis champion Jose Luis Clerc to develop a professional tennis academy which will feature 10 championship tennis courts and one grand stadium. AWE's 2,050-acre grounds already boast two guest lodges and an 18-hole golf course, and there are additional plans to open a high-end hotel, more than 300 private home sites, a polo field, an equestrian center and a luxury spa & fitness center. For more information, visit: www.algodonwineestates.com.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
"And Neither Have I Wings to Fly" at Scripps Ranch Theatre
Sarah Jane Nash (top) and Kate Rose Reynolds in "And Neither Have I Wings to Fly." Photo by Ken Jacques
Metaphor alert! Metaphor alert! Whenever the title of a play, or any narrative work for that matter, includes the word "fly" it's a safe bet that the ensuing story will have something to do with a person at the outset tethered by fate or circumstances being uplifted. In playwright Ann Noble's "And Neither Have I Wings To Fly," that person is Eveline Donnelly, a young Irish woman living a dutiful but mostly joyless life tending to her widowed father and her younger, impetuous sister, Kathleen. What will it take to get Eveline's dreams off the ground? Why a ghost, of course.
But Noble's 1995 play isn't flighty at all. On the contrary, it's grimly serious on the subjects of death and duty. Without complaint and with nary a smile, Eveline does what she believes she must do in a depressing, dysfunctional household – until the spirit of her mother appears (only to her), causing her to doubt everything, including her own sanity.
"And Neither Have I Wings To Fly" is, then, a plum opportunity for a talented actress, and Scripps Ranch Theatre's production has one in Kate Rose Reynolds. Her Eveline's subtle transformation is accomplished with an aching, yearning grace. Reynolds previously appeared in SRT's "Move Over, Mrs. Markham" and "Communicating Doors."
The play's buttressing subplot involves sister Kathleen (Katee Drysdale, brimming with youthful impulsiveness), her engagement to earnest but bland Leo Doyle (Hayden Emmerson), her infatuation with a swaggering actor (Zackary Bonin) and her deep-seated issues with her and Eveline's father, Peter (Walter Ruskin). Throw in Leo's "bad boy" brother Charlie (Paul Eddy) falling immediately for Eveline and you have an extended Irish family drama at its juiciest.
While the affected Irish accents are thick and the emotions turned up high most of the time, the staging under the direction of Jacquelyn Ritz retains enough introspection and humbled awareness of life's temporality that its dignity and messages are not undone. The title of the play, incidentally, is taken from a Scottish folk song, one heard more than once, and chillingly, during the production. (Review originally published in San Diego CityBeat on 11/13/19.)


text:
Real Food Markets
Organise Your Kitchen
News News Insecticide firms in secret bid to stop ban that could save bees
Insecticide firms in secret bid to stop ban that could save bees
Last-ditch lobbying to sway vote in Brussels to halt use of killer nerve agents
Europe is on the brink of a landmark ban on the world's most widely used insecticides, which have increasingly been linked to serious declines in bee numbers. Despite intense secret lobbying by British ministers and chemical companies against the ban, revealed in documents obtained by the Observer, a vote in Brussels on Monday is expected to lead to the suspension of the nerve agents.
Bees and other insects are vital for global food production as they pollinate three-quarters of all crops. The plummeting numbers of pollinators in recent years has been blamed on disease, loss of habitat and, increasingly, the near ubiquitous use of neonicotinoid pesticides.
The prospect of a ban has prompted a fierce behind-the-scenes campaign. In a letter released to the Observer under freedom of information rules, the environment secretary, Owen Paterson, told the chemicals company Syngenta last week that he was "extremely disappointed" by the European commission's proposed ban. He said that "the UK has been very active" in opposing it and "our efforts will continue and intensify in the coming days".
Publicly, ministers have expressed concern for bees, with David Cameron saying: "If we do not look after our bee populations, very serious consequences will follow."
The chemical companies, which make billions from the products, have also lobbied hard, with Syngenta even threatening to sue individual European Union officials involved in publishing a report that found the pesticides posed an unacceptable risk to bees, according to documents seen by the Observer. The report, from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), led the commission to propose a two-year ban on three neonicotinoids. "EFSA has provided a strong, substantive and scientific case for the suspension," a commission spokesman said.
A series of high-profile scientific studies has linked neonicotinoids to huge losses in the number of queens produced and big increases in "disappeared" bees – those that fail to return from foraging trips. Pesticide manufacturers and UK ministers have argued that the science is inconclusive and that a ban would harm food production, but conservationists say harm stemming from dying pollinators is even greater.
"It's a landmark vote," said Joan Walley MP, chairwoman of parliament's green watchdog, the environmental audit committee, whose recent report on pollinators condemned the government's "extraordinary complacency". Walley said: "You have to have scientific evidence, but you also have to have the precautionary principle – that's the heart of this debate."
A ban has been supported by petitions signed by millions of people and Paterson has received 80,000 emails, an influx that he described as a "cyber-attack". "The impact of neonicotinoids on the massive demise of our bees is clear, yet Paterson seems unable to escape the haze of sloppy science and lobbying by powerful pesticide giants," said Iain Keith of the campaign group Avaaz. "Seventy per cent of British people want these poisons banned. Paterson must reconsider or send the bees to chemical Armageddon." Andrew Pendleton of Friends of the Earth said a ban would be "a historic moment in the fight to save our bees".
A spokeswoman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: "As the proposal currently stands we could not support an outright ban. We have always been clear that a healthy bee population is our top priority, that's why decisions need to be taken using the best possible scientific evidence and we want to work with the commission to achieve this. Any action taken must be proportionate and not have any unforeseen knock-on effects."
"This plan is motivated by a quite understandable desire to save the beleaguered bee and concern about a serious decline in other important pollinator species," said the government's chief scientific adviser, Sir Mark Walport, "but it is based on a misreading of the currently available evidence." He said the EC plan was a serious "mistake".
Julian Little, a spokesman for Bayer Cropscience, said: "Call me an optimist, but I still believe the commission will see sense. There is so much field evidence to demonstrate safe use [and] an increasing number of member states who reject the apparent drive towards museum agriculture in the European Union." However, Bulgaria is the only nation known to have changed its voting intention and it will reverse its opposition.
The chemical industry has mounted an increasingly desperate lobbying effort against a ban on neonicotinoids, which have been in use for more than a decade. In March the top producers, Syngenta and Bayer, proposed a plan to support bee health, including planting more flowering margins around fields and monitoring for neonicotinoids.
However, the private lobbying began much earlier with a series of letters, obtained by Corporate Europe Observatory and given to the Observer, which were sent to commissioners in the summer of 2012, after France had proposed a unilateral ban. One Syngenta executive, mentioning in passing his recent lunch with Barack Obama, claimed that "a small group of activists and hobby bee-keepers" were behind that campaign for a ban. Another letter claims, without citing evidence, that the production of key crops would fall by "up to 40%".
At that time, the European Crop Protection Association – of which Syngenta and Bayer are members – welcomed the continuing EFSA evaluation. But in January, as the EFSA prepared to issue the damning verdict of its experts, the industry immediately turned on it. Syngenta's lawyers demanded last-minute changes to a press release to prevent "serious damage to the integrity of our product and reputation" and threatened legal action.
The EFSA stood its ground, prompting Syngenta to demand all documents, including handwritten ones, relating to the EFSA's decision and the names of individuals involved. A month later, it told EFSA officials it was considering the "identity of specific defendants" for possible court action. On a more conciliatory note, Syngenta told the EFSA it was considering "large-scale" bee-monitoring studies to "close data gaps", despite previous claims its product had been introduced only after "the most stringent regulatory work". Critics have condemned companies for keeping trial data secret.
A spokesman for Syngenta said: "No evidence from the field has ever been presented that these pesticides actually damage bee health, with the case against them resting on a few studies which identify some highly theoretical risks. Regardless of the outcome, we will continue our work with anyone who shares our goal of improving bee health, which is vital for sustainable agriculture as well as the future of our business."
In the first commission vote in March, 13 countries supported a ban, nine opposed it and five, including the UK and Germany, abstained, which meant there was not a sufficient majority for or against under voting rules, which give larger nations more votes. The result is likely to be repeated on Monday, meaning that the commission would step in and it is determined to see a ban in place.The chemical industry has warned that a ban on neonicotinoids would lead to the return of older, more harmful pesticides and crop losses. But campaigners point out that this has not happened during temporary suspensions in France, Italy and Germany and that the use of natural pest predators and crop rotation can tackle problems.
Professor David Goulson, a bee expert at the University of Sussex whose research has found harmful effects from neonicotinoids, said: "There is now a very substantial body of scientific evidence suggesting that this class of insecticides is impacting on health of wild bees, and perhaps other wildlife too. It is time for the EU's politicians to take a responsible position and support this ban."
The Guardian 28th April 2013
© Real Food Festival
Website by Symphony Online


text:
Indecisive Kangana Ranaut believes 'Fickle is fun' in a new ad for Lavie Bags
The Bollywood actress has been roped in as the brand ambassador by Lavie
Amit Bapna
Updated: September 29, 2016, 10:01 IST
A screenshot for the campaign
The fact that most Indian women own more than two-three handbags each, makes Sandeep Goenka, COO of Bagzone Lifestyle, happy and confident about the potential for his five-year-old brand Lavie. Lavie is owned by Bagzone Lifestyle.
To catch the festival season, the handbags and accessory brand has announced Kangana Ranaut as its brand ambassador. The new brand campaign featuring the Bollywood celebrity has been conceptualised by Mumbai-based agency Makani Creatives and shows Ranaut as a fickle and indecisive shopper, keeping in mind the brand's tagline 'fickle is fun', Goenka shares in an exclusive chat with BE. Aimed at the young professional woman who wants to make a fashion statement, Lavie launched in 2011, started off as a handbag brand and has branched out into other categories that include belts, shoes and backpacks since.
The TVC depicts Kangana surrounded by a plethora of bags and footwear, and saying confidently, "My choice is clear", before she spots another bag she likes and shouts, "Cut cut". She keeps posing with various bags saying, "My choice is clear", keeps changing her mind and finally after 55 retakes, the furious director shouts, "Pack up!"
Watch the ad here:
The previous Lavie campaign which had starred Kareena Kapoor was conceptualized by TBWA. The brand believs it worked well for the brand and had given it recognition and consumer connect. In the last couple of years, the brand took the non-celebrity route in their campaigns created by Cheil Worldwide.
On getting a celebrity back on board, Goenka says, "We realized that celebrities do work in India and more so, for a brand like ours." Thus we looked around for a celebrity who could bring out the brand-essence of being stylish and vibrant and Kangana seemed to be the natural fit, he says. The brand has lined up a marketing budget of over Rs. 20 crores for the campaign that will have a digital and outdoor leg as well.
Sandeep Goenka
brand ambasasador
BE exclusives
Advertising /	28 mins ago
Advertising /	4 hrs ago
Advertising /	20 hrs ago


text:
package logging;

//import org.apache.logging.log4j.core.Logger;

import org.apache.logging.log4j.LogManager;
import org.apache.logging.log4j.Logger;

// https://logging.apache.org/log4j/2.x/manual/migration.html
// https://logging.apache.org/log4j/2.0/manual/api.html
// https://logging.apache.org/log4j/2.0/manual/configuration.html
public class Log4j {
    //final static Logger logger = Logger.getLogger(String.valueOf(Log4j.class));
    private static final Logger logger = LogManager.getLogger(Log4j.class);

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        logger.info("sdf");
        logger.error("error");
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


The Macao SAR Government has been consistently attaching great importance to sport development, and the implementation of "dual development policy" of both competitive sports and sport for all. The objectives are to encourage the public to take part in sport events actively, to foster cultural literacy in sports, to increase the standard of competitive sports and people's physical fitness, as well as to launch sport activities enthusiastically for the public to participate.
In 2016, the 31st Summer Olympics will be held at Rio de Janeiro of Brazil, which will provoke the upsurge of global attention to the Games.
Macao Post will issue the stamp theme "Games 2016" on 29th July, 2016. This issue includes a set of four stamps, each stamp symbolizing the different nation of athletes with dynamic styling, the four stamps together to form a globe, symbolizing the family that all people belong, despite the differences that distinguish them.
The stamp designer of this issue is Mr. Stephen Chung Kui Sing, and the text of the information brochure is written by the Sports Bureau of Macao Special Administrative Region Government.
This is the ninth theme in 2016. The previous issued stamps are "Lunar Year of the Monkey" on 22/01/2016, the label stamp "Lunar Year of the Monkey" on 22/02/2016, "Scenery of the Imperial Palace in Beijing" on 01/03/2016, "325th Anniversary of the Establishment of the Public Security Police Force" on 14/03/2016, "Chinese Classical Poetry – Ballad of Mulan" on 08/04/2016, "Macao Seen by Chan Chi Vai" on 28/04/2016, "Museums and their Collections V – Maritime Museum" on 18/05/2016, "FIVB Volleyball World Grand PrixTM – Macao 2016" on 17/06/2016, and "Mountains and Rivers of the Motherland – Yangtze River" on 11/07/2016.
Technical Data of Stamp "GAMES 2016"


DAVIS, FLETCHER (1874–1964). Fletcher Davis, editor and publisher, was born at Taska, a cotton farm near Mount Pleasant, in Marshall County, Mississippi, on February 1, 1874, one of thirteen children of Francis Marion and Mary (Lockhart) Davis II. Davis received a Mississippi teacher's certificate when he was quite young. His fragile health constrained him to go to Texas; he arrived in San Antonio, stayed for a brief time in 1895, and then moved on to Castroville in the spring of 1896. After receiving a Texas teacher's certificate, he taught for several years in the nearby schools.
When the Castroville Anvil, a weekly newspaper that had begun publishing in May 1886, was put up for sale in the spring of 1900, Davis-without any previous newspaper experience-bought it for $275. Meantime, the Hondo Herald, published in the new county seat, was also offered for sale. Davis bought it as well and combined the two papers, naming the new paper the Anvil Herald. He moved all operations to Hondo. The first issue came out on October 17, 1903, as a weekly; the paper has been published without interruption since that time. Davis sold the paper to William E. Berger in 1946, but continued to write a column for it for years afterward. The Centennial Edition of the Hondo Anvil Herald was published on December 25, 1986. Davis also owned and published the D'Hanis Star from 1914 to 1923.
From 1915 to 1921 he lectured at farmers' institutes for the Texas Department of Agriculture. Later, he traveled over South Texas speaking to various farm groups about the beneficial applications of science to agriculture. He became editor of the monthly Market Journal for statewide mailings to farmers; and in 1921 he became editor of the Monthly News Bulletin, another publication devoted to agriculture. Davis returned to full-time editorship of the Anvil Herald in late 1921 or early 1922. From 1915 to 1921 Davis's wife, Roberta, was in effect both editor and publisher of the Anvil Herald. She made sure the paper reached its readers each week, edited and wrote copy, managed the bookkeeping and stock room, sold advertising, and oversaw the printing, while taking care of her home and four children.
In 1922 Davis started his Fletcher's States' Rights Farming, a monthly farm journal. It was discontinued in 1944 because of shortages attendant upon World War II. Davis was a confirmed states' rightser and Democrat. He was also a strong believer in the power of the ballot; he emphasized in his papers that voting was not only a privilege but a duty. He spent his adult life working and writing for the conservation of natural resources, the preservation of the area's unique history, for a good educational system, and for the promotion of the wellbeing and progress of his hometown and county.
He was recognized by the South Texas Press Association in 1952 for his fifty years' service in the publishing industry. In 1953 the Hondo Chamber of Commerce named him Man of the Year for outstanding service since 1903. The board of trustees of Hondo schools honored him and a group of other former board members with a certificate and a banquet in 1954. The Masons presented him with the Fifty Year Pin in 1956. He was awarded a commendation by the Texas Election Bureau for his long years of tabulating and reporting the county's election returns. He was also cited as one of the 1909 charter members of the Hondo Volunteer Fire Department and for his years of service to it. On August 7, 1900, he and Roberta Octavia Hopp were married. Mrs. Davis was a Catholic. She died on March 28, 1956. Fletcher Davis was a Methodist and a Mason. He died on May 8, 1964. They both died in Hondo and are buried in Oakwood Cemetery there.
Castro Colonies Heritage Association, The History of Medina County, Texas (Dallas: National Share Graphics, 1983). Hondo Anvil Herald, July 5, 1946, May 15, 1964, December 25, 1986. Charles E. Van Doren, ed., Webster's American Biographies (Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam, 1975).
Handbook of Texas Online, Martin O. Noonan, "DAVIS, FLETCHER," accessed April 25, 2019, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fdauv.


UP based trader, Manoj Kumar Gupta had ordered a consignment of compost worth Rs.10 lakhs on 10 Nov '14. The goods train consisted of 21 wagons and it had to traverse a distance of about 1,300 kms from Visakhapatnam to Basti. While 20 wagons reached him on time, the 21st wagon was lost in transit and consequently, the trader put up a recovery claim on the Indian railways.
(a) The consignee never bothered to keep track of the goods.
(b) The wagon was lying unattended in the yard, itself, at Vizag.
(c) The wagon was possibly detached from the train as it was declared sick(Unfit to ferry).
(d) Due to the apathy of the officials, the wagon was left unreported.
Now, what does one say about an organisation's apathy?
I'd got a call, last night from the caretaker, inquiring as to whether he, along with his wife and son could visit us today and I'd given him the nod. The maid, who wasn't supposed to come today, was told about the sudden requirement and she'd agreed to come in, early in the morning and finish up the work within an hour. Accordingly, she'd fetched up and helped Lekha in the kitchen.
The three of them had left my dad's place by 4, in the morning. I'd called up around 8 o'clock to ascertain as to where they were. They were passing through Edakochi, they said. I knew that the youngster was driving on the GPS and accordingly, turned off westward from Aroor, which I wouldn't do. I didn't want to confuse him any further as he seemed to be comfortable driving on the instructions.
Earlier, I'd told him to take the Alwaye route on the NH544 as the highway was comparatively free of damages. It would have ensured an easy drive but that was not to be. They'd got on to the NH66 that had many deviations because of the huge potholes on the road, that confused them all through the transit.
They'd, consequently, fetched up around a half past 12. I'd homed them on to 'The Quarterdeck' which ensured that further time wasn't lost after reaching the outskirts of Guruvayur. Visanth, had retired from the IN and has now got a job at the Bangalore International Airport Limited, commensurate with his professional experience. He's reporting on 06 Aug and had wanted to seek my blessings(?) before leaving for Bangalore on the 4th.
After lunch and by a half past 2, they were limbering up to do the return stretch. We'd asked them to take rest after the meal, visit the temple and then proceed homeward. They would hear nothing of it and the caretaker had quipped, "Sir, for us meeting up with you is like seeing Guruvayurappan".
I was left fumbling for words! Had rerouted them via Thrissur. They were thrilled with the hassle free drive and wished they'd used it on their onward trip, too. They were, eventually, back at their place by a half past 10.
It was nice of them to drop by.
Shared by Advait Verma, Army Public School, Ambala Cantt.
Mine started at 4 till 9 and some nights included.
You had your convocation ceremony.
I was ordered to join my paltan with two stars pipped on my shoulders.
I celebrated with my comrades in bunkers.
My way of life ended.


text:
GeoTrax Packs
Discovering GeoTrax and Trio toys
Shop for GeoTrax
GeoTrax Packs Account
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GeoTrax Starter Sets
GeoTrax Expansion Sets
Trio Building Sets
Best Train Sets
Set Identification
Fisher Price Trio Building Blocks for Your Kids
What Are Trio Building Sets?
Note: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.
Yes, I know this isn't about GeoTrax, but Trio building blocks (or bricks, if you prefer) are just as much fun for the same age groups (youngsters...and adults) as the trains.
Back in 2009, Fisher Price developed a line of building toys - not really blocks in the traditional sense - that they dubbed Trio. They seem to have given them that name because almost every set includes 3 types of building pieces - bricks, sticks, and panels.
The line of Trio toys didn't last very long - only until about 2012 - but they developed a dedicated following among parents and grandparents who (like me) thought they were pretty interesting building sets...for their children and grandchildren, that is.
Scroll down to see my themed list of Trio sets.
P6838 Building Set
One of the earliest general sets came in its own bin. The lid of the bin was itself a building piece! You could use it as a base plate (much like those found in LEGO sets) on which you could start constructing your creations.
Note: If you click the link below, don't be turned off from Trio by the unreasonably high price tag. There are other sets (see further below) that are much more reasonably priced.
Check the price and availability of the P6838 Trio Building Set at Amazon.
As mentioned above, most sets include bricks, which are the "blocks" that many people think of, that have holes in most or all of their faces.
Into these holes you can plug the sticks and panels that make up the other two main types of pieces. The bricks themselves are either single cubes or multiples that make rectangular prisms and that snap together vertically.
Pieces found in the bin
As you can see in the picture above, a set often includes more than just bricks, sticks, and panels though.
This particular set has a car, a person, a tree, a propeller, and the upper part of a building. You can also see that the bricks and sticks come in various shapes and sizes. What's more difficult to tell is that the panels are often double-sided with a different picture on the reverse.
What Types of Trio Building Sets Are There?
There are several themes you can find throughout the Trio line. The three most common are Batman (and related Justice League or Super Friends characters), a medieval (castles, knights, and dragons) theme, and Hot Wheels race cars.
Other themes include animals, the farm, construction, rescue, transportation, undersea, Western, and general purpose.
You can find a page dedicated to each theme in a list below.
Each set originally came with an instruction booklet (much like a LEGO set) that gives step-by-step guidance for putting the pieces together "correctly". There are no text instructions - only pictures and arrows - so a youngster who can't read yet should be able to follow them with minimal help.
That said, a very young child may need an adult's help to snap the pieces together. Sometimes it takes a fair amount of strength to put a stick into a brick and make it stay. To a point, that's okay because it encourages parents (and grandparents) to play with their children (and grandchildren).
The recommended age for the majority of Trio sets in 4 to 9 years. A few sets go as low as 3 years.
In addition, there are a handful of sets called "Junior" which are intended for children as young as 1 year. These have larger pieces and vehicles.
What Trio Sets Are in Each Theme?
I have somewhat arbitrarily divided the Trio sets into themes as you can see in the list below. It's arbitrary, but it makes total sense.
Since there are less than 10 sets per theme (with the exception of Batman), I'll be giving you just one link to each themed page, as opposed to one link for each set. Sorry, you'll just have to scroll a little to get to each set once you get there - but you'd probably do that anyway, right?
DC Super Friends (Flash, Green Lantern, Superman)
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text:
"""
Classes for communication with backend H2O servers.

:class:`H2OConnection`
    Connect to an existing H2O server and send requests to it.

:class:`H2OLocalServer`
    Start an H2O server on your local machine.

:class:`H2OCluster`
    Handle to the remote H2O cluster -- used mainly to retrieve information about it.

The :mod:`h2o` module has convenience functions for accessing these classes, and those are the ones that are
recommended for everyday use. The following are the common use cases:

(1) Connect to an existing remote H2O server::

        h2o.connect(url="...")

(2) Connect to a local server, or if there isn't one start it and then connect::

        h2o.init()

(3) Start multiple H2O servers locally (forming a cluster), and then connect to one of them::

        from h2o.backend import H2OLocalServer
        for _ in range(5):
            hs = H2OLocalServer.start()
        h2o.connect(server=hs)

Functions :func:`h2o.connect` and :func:`h2o.init` take many parameters that allow you to fine-tune the connection
settings. When used, they will create a new :class:`H2OConnection` object and store it in a global variable -- this
connection will be used by all subsequent calls to ``h2o.`` functions. At this moment there is no effective way to
have multiple connections to separate H2O servers open at the same time. Such facility may be added in the future.
"""
from __future__ import absolute_import, division, print_function, unicode_literals

from .cluster import H2OCluster
from .server import H2OLocalServer
from .connection import H2OConnection
from .connection import H2OConnectionConf

import colorama
from distutils.version import StrictVersion
import sys

if not hasattr(colorama, '__version__'):
    print("[WARNING] H2O requires colorama module of version 0.3.8 or newer. You have older version .\n"
          "You can upgrade to the newest version of the module running from the command line\n"
          "    $ pip%s install --upgrade colorama" % (sys.version_info[0]))
    sys.exit(1)
elif StrictVersion(colorama.__version__) < StrictVersion("0.3.8"):
    print("[WARNING] H2O requires colorama module of version 0.3.8 or newer. You have version %s.\n"
          "You can upgrade to the newest version of the module running from the command line\n"
          "    $ pip%s install --upgrade colorama" % (colorama.__version__, sys.version_info[0]))
    sys.exit(1)

__all__ = ("H2OCluster", "H2OConnection", "H2OLocalServer", "H2OConnectionConf")


text:
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Anxiety, hope as church schools wait to reopen in Sri Lanka
In this Sunday, May 12, 2019, photo, Sri Lankan soldiers stand guard at the entrance to Good Shepherd convent and the St. Benedict's college in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Catholic officials and parents in Sri Lanka are hopeful that church-run schools will begin to reopen soon for the first time since April's devastating Easter Sunday attacks on churches and hotels. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
Krishan Francis
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Catholic officials and parents in Sri Lanka are hopeful that church-run schools will begin to reopen soon for the first time since last month's devastating Easter Sunday attacks on churches and hotels.
All of the island nation's schools were set to reopen the day after the bombings following a two-week break, but they remained closed after the attacks, which killed more than 250 people and injured hundreds more. Government schools reopened last week, but many children stayed home, fearing another attack.
Catholic schools, however, have stayed shut out worried that other Catholic properties could be targeted in further attacks.
RELATED: Easter Sunday blasts kill at least 207 in Sri Lanka
In a memo to Catholic institutions earlier this month, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, the archbishop of Colombo, said he had information from a trusted foreign source that a famous church and a lay institution were to be attacked. The church confirmed that the memo, which first appeared on social media, was authentic.
On Sunday, the Catholic Church held the first regular Sunday Mass since the April 21 coordinated suicide bombings, amid tight security. Sunday services had been canceled the two previous weekends apprehensive of more attacks, leaving the faithful to hear Mass via live TV transmission from Ranjith's residence.
Later Sunday, Ranjith gave Sri Lanka's Catholic school administrators permission to reopen on an individual basis in coordination with local security officials.
Rangika Perera, a teacher in a Catholic school where her daughter also studies, said reopening the schools and churches was the best way to demonstrate that Sri Lanka's Catholics hadn't been defeated by terrorism.
"They want to deprive us in every way and we should not help them succeed by our fear," she said.
The Rev. Ivan Perera, the priest in charge of Sri Lanka's Catholic schools, said that Catholic school administrators have sent study packs to children by email with exercises on a variety of subjects, but that the toll has been more than academic.
Priests and nuns working as counselors said Catholic school students "are very traumatized and are very disturbed, a lot of fear in them," according to the Rev. Perera.
"It will take quite a bit of time for them to get back to normal attitudes. It's very unfortunate that at this age children should be so traumatized and be full of fear," he said, adding that when schools reopen, administrators will offer students psychological and spiritual help.
RELATED: Sunday Mass canceled across Sri Lanka a week after bombings
The Easter attacks — which were carried out by radicalized local Muslims and claimed by the Islamic State group — targeted three churches: Sri Lanka's famous St. Anthony's Shrine in Colombo, the capital; St. Sebastian's Church in the seaside, majority-Catholic town of Negombo, outside Colombo; and the protestant Zion Church on Sri Lanka's east coast. Three luxury hotels in Colombo — the Shangri-La, Cinnamon Grand and Kingsbury — were also attacked.
There are currently about 40 schools run by Sri Lanka's Catholic Church, which owned hundreds of schools by the time the Buddhist-majority island gained independence from Britain in 1948. In the 1960s, the state nationalized hundreds of Catholic schools amid a post-independence wave of Sinhala Buddhist revivalism.
According to the Rev. Perera, an estimated 10 to 15 Catholic school students died in the blasts, including eight girls from the same convent school in Negombo. The United Nations children's fund said 45 children were killed in the six near-simultaneous suicide attacks, including tourists.
Though Sri Lankan adults lived through at least part of the brutal, decades-long civil war that ended in 2009, in which rebels from Sri Lanka's ethnic Tamil minority violently clashed with government forces, younger generations had never experienced bomb attacks or armed soldiers standing guard on street corners.
"For the past 10 years, there weren't any of these things," said Anushka Wijeyeratne, a mother whose two children, ages 5 and 9, attend Catholic school. "Everything is new to them — the checkpoints and other things are absolutely new to them. As parents we have to go back to basics and rethink, we will have to worry about security."
RELATED: Who are Sri Lanka's Christians?
According to conservative U.N. estimates, some 100,000 people were killed in Sri Lanka's civil war. Minority Catholics were not spared from the violence, but they were not targeted for their religious beliefs. Since the war ended, Sri Lanka experienced only a handful of small-scale incidents of communal violence before the Easter attacks.
Cardinal Ranjith has been an outspoken critic of the government for failing to act upon near-specific intelligence from Sri Lanka's neighbor India that provided details of the plot and the militants who were to be involved.
Parents say they trust the church's leadership more than the government's when it comes to the safety of their children.
"The government has failed and we don't have confidence in the government in that aspect," said Wijeyeratne.
But, she added, "How long are we going to sustain this sense of fear?"
TagsSri Lanka Sri Lanka attack Sri Lanka Catholic
As Emanuel AME documentary screens, survivors, families mull grief and guns
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text:
Home Academics Professional Development & Continuing Education The Castleton Center for Schools Continuing Education & Graduate Courses Spanish Conversation. Pre-Columbian Civilizations:…
Spanish Conversation. Pre-Columbian Civilizations: Mayas, Aztecs, and Incas, Alfaro-Alexander, Spring 2023
Ana María Alfaro-Alexander
Monday through Thursday: February 20-23, 2023 9:00 am to 10:00 am and Friday, February 24, 2023 from 9:00am - Noon
Credits: 3 Graduate Credits
Tuition: $1,195
This Spanish conversation class will be conducted entirely in Spanish. All the readings are in Spanish. The emphasis of the class will be the Pre-Columbian civilizations. The focus of our conversations will be the daily lives of the Inca, Aztec, and Maya Civilizations. We will read, learn, and discuss aspects such as hunting rituals, market practices, daily wardrobe, concepts of beauty, trading practices, taxing systems, sacred books, counting schemes, ancient myths, agriculture practices, transportation methods, feasts, coming of age rituals, games, medical treatments, wedding, and death rituals.
Students will be encouraged to express their own interpretation of the texts and present convincing arguments in support of their conclusions in both oral and written commentary. All texts will be supplied by the instructor.
Course Goals & Objectives
In this course all students will have the opportunity to perfect their ability to read, speak and write in academic contexts. They will expand their knowledge of the Inca, Aztec, and Maya civilizations. Students will also gain a better understanding of the themes and their interconnections. Students will interpret, analyze, and contextualize the works as they compare the different genres.
The course will be of special interest to educators because in addition to language practice, the readings, movies, and topics supply engaging cultural and historical content to use in their own classes. Students will keep a journal that will provide material for daily compositions and grammar review lessons.
For additional course information
Ana Alfaro-Alexander
For additional registration information
Center for Schools Team


text:
@implementation KAThread

- (void)main {
    NSAutoreleasePool *pool = [[NSAutoreleasePool alloc] init];

    // インプットソースがひとつも無いとランループは即時終了するので
    // ダミーのインプットソースを追加しておく。
    [[[[KANullInputSource alloc] init] addToCurrentRunLoop] release];

    CFRunLoopRun();

    [pool drain];
}

- (void)stopRunLoop {
    CFRunLoopStop(CFRunLoopGetCurrent());
}

@end


text:
Q: How to discard values in a concurrent filtering pipeline with Go? I would like to know and understand how to perform a filtering concurrent pipeline with go
in a producer/consumer scheme.
I've managed to write a version that checks on a value and if it is ok, sends it to one channel
and if not, the value is sent to another channel.
After are values are read and processed, two goroutines are in charge of reading the processed values
and write them to a file. This version works ok. But...

*

*Suppose that I don't want the invalid values. Is there a way to change the select statement (or the consumer goroutine) so that only
the correct values are outputted (ie using only one output channel). I tried removing that invalidValues channel but
I did not succeed.

*I tried putting the select statement in the if valid?; with one branch with the complete statement as in this version and in the false branch
with just the waiting for the done channel. In this way I could discard invalid values and use one channel but I did not succeed as well with this approach.
Any ideas on how to fix this?

*Moreover, in this scheme I would like to know why if I omit the goroutine that removes the values from the invalidValues channel the program
does not finish? Is it that the channel needs to be emptied otherwise remains blocked? Is there a more elegant way to do that that to do a range over
the values?

Thanks!!
//Consumers
var wg sync.WaitGroup
wg.Add(Workers)
for i := 0; i < Workers; i++ {
    // Deploy #Workers to read from the inputStream perform validation and output the valid results to one channel and the invalid to another
    go func() {
        for value := range inputStream {
            var c *chan string
            dataToWrite := value
            if valid := checkValue(value); valid {
                dataToWrite = value
                c = &outputStream
            } else {
                c = &invalidValues
            }
            select {
            case *c <- dataToWrite:
            case <-done:
                return
            }
            time.Sleep(time.Duration(5) * time.Second)
        }
        wg.Done()
    }()
}

Here is the complete version of the code
done := make(chan struct{})
defer close(done)
inputStream := make(chan string)
outputStream := make(chan string)
invalidValues := make(chan string)

//Producer reads a file with values and stores them in a channel
go func() {
    count := 0
    scanner := bufio.NewScanner(file)
    for scanner.Scan() {
        inputStream <- strings.TrimSpace(scanner.Text())
        count = count + 1
    }
    close(inputStream)
}()

//Consumers
var wg sync.WaitGroup
wg.Add(Workers)
for i := 0; i < Workers; i++ {
    // Deploy #Workers to read from the inputStream perform validation and output the valid results to one channel and the invalid to another
    go func() {
        for value := range inputStream {
            var c *chan string
            dataToWrite := value
            if valid := checkValue(value); valid {
                dataToWrite = value
                c = &outputStream
            } else {
                c = &invalidValues
            }
            select {
            case *c <- dataToWrite:
            case <-done:
                return
            }
            time.Sleep(time.Duration(5) * time.Second)
        }
        wg.Done()
    }()
}

go func() {
    wg.Wait()
    close(outputStream)
    close(invalidValues)
}()

//Write outputStream file
resultFile, err := os.Create("outputStream.txt")
if err != nil {
    log.Fatal(err)
}

//Error file
errorFile, err := os.Create("errors.txt")
if err != nil {
    log.Fatal(err)
}

//Create two goruotines for writing the outputStream file
var wg2 sync.WaitGroup
wg2.Add(2)
go func() {
    //Write outputStream and error to files
    for r := range outputStream {
        _, err := resultFile.WriteString(r + "\n")
        if err != nil {
            log.Fatal(err)
        }
    }
    resultFile.Close()
    wg2.Done()
}()

go func() {
    for r := range invalidValues {
        _, err := errorFile.WriteString(r + "\n")
        if err != nil {
            log.Fatal(err)
        }
    }
    errorFile.Close()
    wg2.Done()
}()
wg2.Wait()

A: To remove the invalid channel:
 for value := range inputStream {
      var c *chan string
      if valid := checkValue(value); valid {
            select {
            case outputStream <- value
            case <-done:
                return
            }
        }
 }

If you remove the invalid value reader goroutine, you have to change the waitgroup to:
wg2.Add(1)

so you don't end up waiting indefinitely.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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