text:
Rajavi Insults Shajarian's Memory – Iran Interlink Weekly Digest – Oct 16, 2020
Iran Interlink, October 16 2020:… MEK on overdrive to claim Shajarian was working with MEK Later, they even photoshopped his picture with Maryam Rajavi, using the troll farm in Albania to spread it as far as possible. This prompted Shajarian's son to decisively announce that his father had no political affiliation. Many others broadcasted an interview by the Centre of Documentation of Iran with Massoud Khodabandeh in which he explains how MEK tried to recruit Shajarian and how he rejected their demands, and on one occasion had Mehdi Abrishamchi thrown out of his hotel lobby. Rajavi Insults Shajarian Memory
Ali Safavi, commander of Saddam's Private Army, Mojahein Khalq NCRI Now writting as Dr. Safavi!!
Rajavi Insults Shajarian Memory – Iran Interlink Weekly Digest – Oct 16, 2020
Shajarian And Marzieh
++ Iran's venerated singer Mohammad Reza Shajarian died in hospital after a long battle with cancer. He was taken to Mashhad site of Firdousi's tomb and buried alongside the poet Mehdi Akhavan Sales. There was an outpouring of respects and condolences. In this scenario, suddenly Maryam Rajavi popped up, jumping on the bandwagon, issuing her condolences and saying all manner of things about him and the regime. Shajarian was famous for having photos taken by anyone he met and talked with. Two of these people were Hamid Reza Taherzadeh, who plays Tar, and Mohammad Shams, a songwriter, both working on the fringe of the MEK. Publishing these old photos with Shajarian.
MEK went into overdrive to claim he was working with MEK and that any time he went to Paris he stayed with Maryam Rajavi etc. Later, they even photoshopped his picture with Maryam Rajavi, using the troll farm in Albania to spread it as far as possible. This prompted Shajarian's son to speak out and decisively announce that his father had no political affiliation with any group and asking them to stop misusing his name (ISNA report). Many other outlets reacted by broadcasting an interview by the Centre of Documentation of Iran with Massoud Khodabandeh in which he explains how MEK tried to recruit Shajarian and how he rejected their demands, and on one occasion had Mehdi Abrishamchi thrown out of his hotel lobby.
شخصا شهادت میدهم که حداقل سه بار سراغش رفتند. هر بار رد کرد (آن هم با واسطه چون مستقیم راه نمیداد و مهدی ابریشمچی را که به هتل آمده بود جلوی همه با ناراحتی رد کرده بود). آخرین بار گفت "این صوت مال من نیست که معامله کنم. مردم است".
بعد از آن رجوی حتی پخش صدایش را هم ممنوع کرد. https://t.co/60dqIDVGKB
— Massoud khodabandeh (@ma_khodabandeh) October 12, 2020
In their last attempt to recruit him – for which they sent Taherzadeh and Shams, mentioned above – Shajarian didn't know they were with MEK and greeted them as fellow musicians. On discovering their real intent, he told them, 'This voice of mine is not mine to trade with you, it belongs to the people of Iran, go and get their permission'.
سواستفاده از اعتبار درگذشتگان کار همیشگی فرقه رجوی
++ Adel Azami, a poet and painter and a survivor of MEK now living in the UK, wrote an article about his memories of Shajarian and the famous singer Marzieh from his time in the MEK. He explains, "When I was in MEK we used to listen to Shajarian. But suddenly his cassettes were taken away and his voice was banned in Camp Ashraf. Later, in an open meeting, Massoud Rajavi swore at him and said a lot of bad things about him. Since then, I was always thinking that simply rejecting working with MEK could not be the reason for this anger because before that his voice was on the TV and radio in Iran and Rajavi had nothing against that. I realised it must have been something he said to Massoud Rajavi's representatives that burned Rajavi so much that he didn't even want his followers to listen to him. Up to the point that I could escape MEK after the fall of Saddam, his voice was banned and as far as I know, it still is. Who knows if they'll listen to him now that he's dead and Maryam Rajavi is laying claim to him!"
عادل اعظمی: از مرضیه تا شجریان
Azami then explains his memories of Iran's popular singer Marzieh: "After she left Iran and was deceived into joining MEK, she came to Iraq. I saw her walking around among the members but was never able to approach her because she was always accompanied by four or five vicious female minders. But what I remember about her is once she looked at our faces and spontaneously sang a few lines of one of her songs. That song reflected our situation – isolated and alone without seeing our friends and families for years – and I saw there were tears in her eyes. Later I found out that she regretted joining MEK but by then she was in house arrest in Paris until she died and couldn't run away."
The journalist Dr Alireza Nourizadeh related in one of his programmes that he had had a call from Marzieh a few months before she died, asking him for help. But when he tried the number again it was clear the MEK had taken the phone from her and they never allowed her to contact him again. After her death Maryam Rajavi exploited Marzieh for her own political use.
Azami concludes in his article that, "For me, both these were musical artists, cherished singers with wonderful voices. Anyone rejecting Shajarian as Massoud Rajavi did just because he would not work for him or rejecting Marzieh for a mistake she made and later regretted but had no opportunity to put right are both wrong. Both singers are part of the history and heritage of Iran and should be treasured and loved for their voices and their art."
++ With the exception of Albanian Olsi Jazexhi, who continues to interview and give a public voice to the families of MEK members and perhaps Mehdi Hassan who, in his interview with John Bolton, queried why he thought it acceptable to take money from a listed terrorist group, almost all the writing about MEK in English is by Iranians, from IRNA, Tasnim News, Habillian Association, Nejat Society, Mehrdad Torabi in Medium and Yeganeh Torbati (with Paul Sonne) in the Washington Post. The themes are familiar: Judge Barrett soiled by support for MEK in her past; families denouncing Maryam Rajavi's human rights abuses; MEK most hated among Iranians; MEK's terrorist history. Does this tell us anything about the MEK's perceived relevance to Iranian affairs among non-Iranian reporters and commentators.
++ Mazda Parsi for Nejat Society, writes about the MEK's treatment of POWs from the Iran Iraq war as covered by BBC Farsi in a programme titled 'Prison in Prison' by Jiar Gol. Parsi unpicks the interviews and reporting to expose how cultic abuse works inside the MEK. The most revealing trait of cult membership for Parsi is the lack of humour.
POW's and Mujahedin-e Khalq From Iraq to Albania
According Edvard Termado an ex-POW who was in the MEK for twelve years, "In Iraqi prison, we went through all pressures, restrictions and violence with jokes and laughter but in the MEK, laughter was totally forbidden, you were never allowed to laugh. If two people talked to each other, they would be told, "you have Mahfel". (Mahfel is a Persian word referring to a group of people gathering together). Parsi says that under authoritarian rule citizens still have the mental freedom to joke about their oppression. Rajavi tries to suppress even this freedom. But, Parsi concludes,
"The leaders of the Mujahedin Khalq need to prohibit anything that causes hilarity among members in order to keep them in the cult-like structure of the group. These mind-manipulated individuals, with demolished creativity simply obey the absolute power of Massoud and Maryam Rajavi. Under the rule of the leaders they may deny every human feeling and emotion in their inner selves. They may even show up in front of the cameras of the MEK's TV channel to deny their love for their family but what is really going on in the covert layers of human relations in the group (ie in the Mahfels) is more important. Mind of a human being is the freest place in the whole world."
Iran Interlink
http://www.iran-interlink.org/files/info/Sep05/interview_elahe.htm
Elahe – Grand Dame of Iranian Singers
By Anne Khodabandeh (Singleton), September 2005
Elahe is one of the most important singers in Iran's history. She has sung and made famous many of Iran's traditional (asil), pop, jazz, and standard hits. Her voice was so liked by Davood Pirnia, the original creator and director of Radio Iran's "Golha" program, that he employed Elahe to manage it for a while. Her voice is on more "Golha" shows than any other singer.
Anne Khodabandeh Interviews Elahe
Would you please briefly describe your singing career for us.
I trained for two years in the classical Iranian singing style. At that time, Davood Pirnia, introduced this style to radio listeners with the popular Golha programme. The orchestra and the singers of this program established this form of classical music in Iran. I was the leading singer for fifteen years that the programme was broadcast. Of course, after the revolution it was no longer possible for women's singing voices to be heard and we were silenced.
With this background please tell us how you became involved with the Mojahedin organisation.
Elahe with Bozorg Lashgari
For a long time I was unable to sing for the people in Iran. One of the ways I could have continued with my singing career was to join with the exiles on the American west coast. But there was so much infighting between them and petty behaviour that I didn't want to join with any of the factions.
Then, in 1994, I was approached by some people who said they were from an Iranian intellectual group in Europe which wanted to stage a concert as a gesture of defiance toward the mullahs' regime and to show solidarity with the people inside the country in their struggles for freedom and democracy. They told me they were supporters of the Mojahedin. Of course I had heard of the Mojahedin but I knew little about them. The way these young people described them was as freedom fighters.
They invited me to sing in the concert. I have always felt that my voice, because it was made famous by the listeners of the Golha programme, my voice belongs to the people of Iran and that I should return it to them somehow. So, the Mojahedin became the way to do this. Of course, I wasn't alone and there were several other popular singers who also agreed to sing in the concert.
Can you describe how they approached people and how they behaved toward you in persuading you to take part in their concert.
I told them that although I was sympathetic to the Mojahedin's stance against the regime, I would not be involved in anything political, so there should only be Iranian flags at the concert, and I would sing some classical songs and nothing else. Now, in all my singing career, I have never had a written contract. My word was always enough. But they insisted on having a contract. I believed they were just amateurs and so I agreed. The contract was for six evening concerts with a forfeit of several thousand dollars if I didn't show up. Since this had never been a problem for me in the past, I agreed. Then they went away and I didn't hear from them again. A month before the concert I still had no news, so I tried to contact them without success. Then a week before the concert it was announced everywhere as a Mojahedin concert in support of Maryam Rajavi!
After the concert, Iranian radio stations started swearing at me because I had sung for the Mojahedin. The Mojahedin themselves paid me only half the money we had agreed and then no more. Radio USA said that I should go on air and apologise to Iranians everywhere. All that happened was that all the rest of the opposition groups, instead of helping me, only pushed me further toward the Mojahedin with the pressure of their criticisms and these uncompromising attacks on me. I didn't have a sympathetic refuge anywhere.
Then the Mojahedin themselves started a campaign of showing great affection and kindness toward me. They pretended to really care for me and that they were concerned about me. In this phase, they couldn't do enough for me. I know now that this the usual method used by cults to recruit people. At that time, even though I knew it was all lies, there was something seductive and intriguing about their behaviour so I ended up curious to find out more about them.
Could you describe your perception of how the Mojahedin operates as a cult.
Elahe
I was invited to join them as a singer, and I had thought they were freedom fighters, but it soon became apparent that they are a cult – an extremely narrow and strict cult.
After the people burned themselves when Maryam was arrested I told them not to contact me anymore.
They are like Hassan Sabbah. No, worse. Sabbah protected his men from their sexual urges by castrating them, but he never asked them to burn themselves for him. Rajavi has no mercy. He places himself above everyone. The Rajavis have their own luxury lifestyle with the best homes, clothes and food while everyone else has to suffer degradation.
No friendships exist inside the Mojahedin, they are extremely harsh with even their supporters. The commanders order them about this way and that on nonsensical work. They have two faces, one is the good public face they show to the outside world, the other is all swearing and harshness and anger.
Most of all I hated what they did in Iraq with Saddam. I hate what Iraq did to my country in that war. I discovered in that relationship that Rajavi has no limits – he really doesn't care who he allies himself with, friend or foe. I asked Maryam once about their work with Saddam. She told me: 'if Saddam hadn't lost the war and had captured Iran. When we had taken over in Iran we would have rewarded Saddam and given him Khuzestan'!
One thing that was very interesting to observe from close up is that both of the Rajavis are obsessed with power. I remember one of the NCRI members was talking to Massoud Rajavi about what the Mojahedin would do once they arrived back in Tehran. Rajavi, with a glint in his eye, told him: 'When we go to Iran it will take a few days before we reach Tehran. On the way we will kill one million Bassij forces and one million Pasdaran and…, then we'll just see what happens.'
There are some interesting dynamics between the leaders. It is obvious that Maryam wants power and is prepared to push Massoud aside to achieve this. Also, her ex-husband Mehdi Abrishamchi wants her to replace Massoud. Why not? When Maryam came to Europe in 1993 her husband had an affair with her second in command, Fahimeh Arvani back in Iraq. Everyone knew about that, poor woman.
If the USA supports them now and pushes them into Iran, they will be worse in Iran than Saddam was for the US in Iraq. They performed intelligence work against their own country in a time of war. I met an Iranian nurse recently and she wept as she told me about the war. She said the Azmayesh factory constructed metal sheets to use in the war to shelter from attack. 30,000 Iranian soldiers were there. But the Mojahedin gave the intelligence to the Iraqis, who then bombarded them. Between 70-80,000 men lost their lives because of the Mojahedin. That's why I know they are more ruthless than anyone can believe.
Devil Lives In Tirana . Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK or Rajavi Cult)
Did you know the Mojahedin before you met them.
I had heard of them, everyone had. But I didn't know them as I do now. I thought they were freedom fighters. We hadn't heard about the crimes they committed with Saddam. And especially we hadn't heard anything about how they behave inside the organisation.
Nowadays I have seen more than enough with my own eyes, and if I say nothing else, it is to warn others not to go near them. They are criminals and traitors. When I call them criminals I'm not exaggerating. I was once visiting them in Paris. Of course, they go all out to be hospitable and look after us. But there was a young woman there who was working alongside us that I remember well and with good reason!
One evening I was really tired but felt too anxious to sleep, so when I went to my room I took a sleeping pill and settled down to rest. After a while I heard a noise in the room and, half-awake I lifted my head to look. I saw the young woman standing with her hand in my handbag. I was so drowsy I didn't know if I was dreaming or not and drifted back to sleep.
When I woke in the morning I discovered she had stolen my passport, my Green Card and around one thousand US dollars from my bag. Yet there she was in front of me. When I confronted her about it, one of the women commanders stepped in and sent her away. But they never returned my things.
Another time I was persuaded to visit them in their camp in Iraq. It happened that back home my shoes had been giving me some discomfort, so I had put a piece of paper in one of them to ease the pain. While I was having dinner in the garrison, I slipped my shoes off to be more comfortable and the paper must have been visible. Without warning the woman sitting next to me grabbed my shoe, took the paper out and ran away. For a moment I was amazed and perplexed. What …? Then I realised what had gone on. They suspected that someone in the camp had passed me a secret message to take out of the camp. In that moment I knew everything I ever needed to know about them. I knew that people inside were desperate to leave. I knew that they would do anything in their power to prevent that happening, and I knew that all the stories I had heard about their prisons and torture of their own people were all true. It was truly disturbing.
I have seen more than I needed to. I have seen that they do many illegal things. But you know, the thing they do worse than all this, which isn't even illegal is to play with people's minds and hearts.
I joined with them because of the people of Iran and all the time I tried hard to change them and to inform them about the realities both of the world and about themselves. It was as though they could not see anything but their own lies. I even tried to get Maryam Rajavi to change those hideous clothes she wears. When I first met her she was wearing a military uniform. It was completely inappropriate for what she wanted to do. Then, after I suggested she dress more attractively, she spend thousands of dollars on outrageous pink or yellow clothes, handmade from upholstery fabric! She doesn't have a clue and no one around her dares to criticise or even suggest she does things differently. It was only me who got her out of that uniform.
All the time I was with them singing in their concerts, they told me, don't talk about Iran only talk about Maryam. But I had no interest in her. I didn't work with the Mojahedin, I was an opposition voice, a thorn in their flesh. I sang because I wanted to return my voice to Iranians.
MEK Base In Albania – They Gave Us a Tour
How did the Mojahedin behave toward you when you wanted to dissociate yourself from them?
It is true that once anyone gets into the claws of the Mojahedin they get trapped there, like in a cat's paw, and every time they try to escape the paw comes down on them again, sometimes with claws extended, sometimes with softness. But nevertheless it's a real trial to get away. One of the ways they used to trap people like me was through debt. They never paid us fully for our work even though we had agreements. They were always promising to pay next week, next month, next time.
One of the veteran NCRI members spoke to me in confidence some time ago, he said, 'Elahe, why don't you get out of here. People like me can't leave because we are totally dependent on the Rajavis for all our needs. We don't have a penny, but at least you have a home and independence, and family. Leave now while you have the chance.' I was really saddened by this.
I visited Maryam in Paris one day and I told her: 'Look, the cage you have put me in is not even golden, it's wooden. I can't see the people and they can't see me'. All she could do was just stare at me. I asked them to pay me the money they owed me for all the concerts I had performed for them which I had not yet received.
Whenever I asked for the money which they owed me, which I have to say was a considerable amount, they kept telling me they can't pay. A short time after the start of the war in Iraq I saw Mohammad Mohaddessin and he told me: 'Look our people in Iraq are stuck and we have no money'. Then four days later, the French police raided Maryam Rajavi's home in Paris and along with all her garments and computers, they found eight million dollars in cash. Imagine. The next time I saw Mohaddessin he blushed with embarrassment. But I still didn't get my money.
Last year, I decided that I had had enough. I wrote a formal letter of resignation and faxed it directly to Maryam. But for a year they haven't announced my decision and it appears they don't want to accept it. They kept phoning me, saying OK, come and get your money. Once they said I should go to see Maryam in Paris to get my money. When I got there, they had laid on an extravagant dinner party apparently in my honour. They invited many of their French neighbours in Auvers-sur-Oise and even Danielle Mitterand came to dinner. All the time, Maryam kept trying to sit next to me so she could get some photographs or film me with her. But I knew what she was doing so I evaded her. Again, I left without my money.
In fact I was afraid too. I know that even now they use intelligence surveillance against people that they suspect are against them. They use phones in that way. They ring someone up and pretend to be someone else so they can get information from that person and record what they have to say. They don't just do it with Iranians, they do it with westerners too, with human rights workers and government places. It's not just Iranians. I also discovered that they have plans for 'accidents' for people. Right now I am worried. They are capable of anything. They have a widespread network in European countries and they could easily and quite discreetly harm me or my children. I am still afraid of what they could do to me or to my children.
MEK Terrorist Cult Members In Albania Who Mustn't Think About Sex
Do you think being linked with the Mojahedin has changed how people view you?
I believe that history will be the judge. We have all made mistakes in our lives, we all have our ups and downs, especially now because Iran's recent history has been of change and upheaval for many people and we have all had to do our best to cope with this. What I am certain of is that my legacy is my voice and that for years to come people will enjoy my voice and my songs. These belong to Iran and to the world of music. The Mojahedin will also take their place in history regardless of my involvement. I believe history will judge them to be the despicable liars and traitors that I and others know them to be.
Finally, how would you describe the MKO's appreciation of art?
Art for the Mojahedin is like anything else. If they can exploit it they will do so. It has no other meaning. They use anything and everything for their own aims whether that is people or art. Just as they use and destroy people, they use and destroy art. And, I should add, the artists too.
The MEK and Children – Hanif Bali
Nejat Society, October 02 2020:… Hanif arraived in Sweden when he was three years old and moved between eight different families until he turned 18. He spoke of his several moms, "When I was told "your mom", I had to ask "Which mom?" because I had several moms. ". Hanif is a successful Swedish citizen now because he is one… Rajavi Insults Shajarian Memory – Iran Interlink Weekly Digest – Oct 16, 2020
MEK Members Families Plea Albanian Government For Help
Nejat Society, September 24 2020:… The announcement of the passing away of MEK members in recent months without announcing the cause of death, especially in the context of the outbreak of coronavirus, has left the families intensely concerned. Reports from the medical staff at Mother Teresa Hospital in Albania indicate that at least three Iranian nationals have been hospitalized and… Rajavi Insults Shajarian Memory – Iran Interlink Weekly Digest – Oct 16, 2020
Olsi Jazexhi responds to Maryam Rajavi & Gholamali Narimi's offer to abandon Mullahs for Skanderbeg
Olsi Jazexhi, Tirana, Albania, September 18 2020:… However, the appeal against jihad and terrorism is considered a psychological torture by the MEK command which does not want its soldier to abandon war and return back home. For this reason they attack Dr. Olsi Jazexhi and make him a collaborator with the Mullahs (Priests of Islam) who rule Iran. Olsi responds… Rajavi Insults Shajarian Memory – Iran Interlink Weekly Digest – Oct 16, 2020
MEK commanders treat members like serfs: Albanian journalist
BY Tehran Times ON 2020/09/17
Reza Moshfegh interviewing Gjergji Thanasi, Tehran Times, September 17 2020:… An Albanian journalist reveals that MEK commanders treat their members as "serfs and as robots". Pointing to the brutal behavior of MEK ringleaders with their members in their camp, Gjergji Thanasi tells the Tehran Times this fact is enough to predict how brutally MEK will treat the Iranian people if… Rajavi Insults Shajarian Memory – Iran Interlink Weekly Digest – Oct 16, 2020
Fake Journalist, Fake freedom and fake humanitarian aid of the MEK
Mazda Parsi, Nejat Society, September 15 2020:… Another fake persona under the name of "Amir Basiri" who publishes articles on behalf of the Mujahedin Khalq Organization (the MKO/ MEK/ the Cult of Rajavi) was recently revealed by the American Conservative Magazine. The first one had been exposed by Murtaza Hussain of the Intercept, last year. He revealed that "Heshmat Alavi" is… Rajavi Insults Shajarian Memory – Iran Interlink Weekly Digest – Oct 16, 2020
Death of MEK members due to corona-virus
Nejat Society, September 14 2020:… News received from Albania indicates that at least three Iranians were admitted to Mother Teresa Hospital in the Corona ward, who are certainly members of the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK, MKO, Rajavi Cult). According to the latest information, at least one of them has died, and the doctors have been prevented from commenting on the… Rajavi Insults Shajarian Memory – Iran Interlink Weekly Digest – Oct 16, 2020
Iran Interlink Weekly Digest – Sep 11, 2020
Iran Interlink, September 11 2020:… MEK are on overdrive to fetch up anyone who can string a sentence together to attack Olsi Jazexhi, Gjergji Thanasi and other journalists. As usual, these MEK members are people who are not accessible, who are confined to the camp. MEK knows that anyone outside the camp – lobbyists and others who still have a… Rajavi Insults Shajarian Memory – Iran Interlink Weekly Digest – Oct 16, 2020
Olsi Jazexhi : MEK Imposed On Albania
Reza Moshfegh interviewing Dt. Olsi Jazexhi, September 07 2020:… "MEK was imposed on Albania in 2016 when the Obama administration demanded the Edi Rama regime to host 3000 foreign fighters in Albania," Jazexhi tells the Tehran Times. Albanians have protested and demanded that MEK should not be located in our country. However, the Americans and the regime they support did… Rajavi Insults Shajarian Memory – Iran Interlink Weekly Digest – Oct 16, 2020
Lucrative MEK Fake Accounts Interfering In American Politics
BY The American Conservative ON 2020/09/03
Paul Brian and Arthur Bloom, The American Conservative, September 03 2020:… "Amir Basiri and Heshmat Alavi are two fake accounts," Hassan Heyrani, an MEK defector told TAC. "At Camp Liberty, near the BIAP airport in Iraq, I was in the political unit of the organization with some of the persons who grew up in America and Canada. We worked as a… Rajavi Insults Shajarian Memory – Iran Interlink Weekly Digest – Oct 16, 2020
Olsi Jazexhi Challenges Rajavi To Open Debate
BY Press TV ON 2020/09/02
Press TV, September 02 20202:… Jezexhi expressed surprise that the ringleader had chosen to target him in this fashion this time around after three years of "attacking me from behind" by pressuring him through the Albanian government and his employer. "I'm very happy that you have come out with the face of your commanders to attack me," he said, adding… Rajavi Insults Shajarian Memory – Iran Interlink Weekly Digest – Oct 16, 2020
After Being Deported From EU, Maryam Rajavi Threatens Albanians
D. Olsi Jazexhi, Tiranan, Albania, September 01 2020:… The ex-terrorist Mujaheden el-Halk organization has attacked Olsi Jazexhi and Gjergji Thanasi two Albanian journalists who investigate the illegal and terrorist activities of MEK from Albania. They level a number of accusations against Olsi. He responds to all these accusations and invites the Mojahedin military command and their supreme jihadi leader Maryam… Rajavi Insults Shajarian Memory – Iran Interlink Weekly Digest – Oct 16, 2020
Dr. Olsi Jazexhi and Parvin Zamany (IranPatak), August 30 2020:… However MEK is using the Albanian government to prevent MEK soldiers from abandoning the jihad and being kept as radicals. Maryam Rajavi prevents its soldiers from watching movies, holding smart phones, communicating with their families, marrying, falling in love, having sex, having families etc. The process of indoctrination of MEK… Rajavi Insults Shajarian Memory – Iran Interlink Weekly Digest – Oct 16, 2020
| ali safavi alireza jafarzadeh sona samsami MEK Terrorists, American terrorism APAC, Anne khodabandeh (singleton), Anne Singleton, elahe interview, Iran Interlink Weekly Digest, Iran Interlink Weekly Digest Anne Khodabandeh Singleton, Iran Interlink Weekly Digest Anne Singleton, marzieh singer, mohammad reza shajarian, Mojahedin Khalq mercenaries Massoud Rajavi Maryam Rajavi, Mojahedin Khaq MKO MEK NCRI PMOI Rajavi cult Terrorism Iraq Saddam, Mujahedeen-e-Khalq MEK MKO PMOI NCRI, Mujahedin Khalq Organization MKO MEK PMOI NCRI Rajavi cult, Mujahedin-e Khalq Armed Agents, Mujahedin-e Khalq Maryam Rajavi cult MEK MKO NCRI, Mujahedin-e-Khalq MEK terrorists, national council of resistance NCRI MEK MKO Rajavi cult terrorism, Rajavi Insults Shajarian Memory, Saddam's private army Anne Khodabandeh (Singleton), Shajarian And Marzieh, the death of massoud rajavi, Tirana Albania Mojahedin Khalq MKO MEK Massoud Rajavi Maryam Rajavi NCRI, US Harboring Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) Terrorists, US UNAMI Terrorists Saddam Albania


Art has all the time been a mirrored image of the emotions, private struggle, and the path breaking events of a up to date society. Twentieth Century Structure 6. London: Twentieth Century Society. In Safety of Historic Buildings: PROHITECH 09: Proceedings of the International Convention on Safety of Historic Buildings, PROHITECH 09, Rome, Italy, 21-24 June 2009, edited by Federico M. Mazzolani, 3-6.
The UIA—a world professional network of architects—maintains a searchable on-line index of structure that exemplifies twentieth-century architectural history. Younger and defenseless: The plight of recent buildings in a modern world. St John and St Mary Magdalene, Goldthorpe: The conservation of an early concrete constructing.
In Twentieth-Century Constructing Materials: History and Conservation, edited by Thomas C. Jester, 200-05. In Glass and Ceramics Conservation 2010: Interim Meeting of the ICOM-CC Working Group, October three-6 2010 Corning, New York, U.S.A., edited by Hannelore Roemich, 194-201.
Western individuals often ask, "Is not all Asian dwelling decor about the same?" The shortest answer is solely, "Absolutely not!" The traditional school of thought in Japanese residence ornament has been influenced by its personal distinctive tradition. In Architettura e materiali del Novecento: Conservazione, restauro, manutenzione: Atti del Convegno di studi, Bressanone 13-sixteen luglio 2004, edited by Guido Biscontin and Guido Driussi, 349-fifty seven. Fashionable Architectures in History. Farmington Hills, MI; Rosemont, IL: American Concrete Institute; International Concrete Repair Institute.
Materiali del Novecento: Conservazione, restauro, manutenzione: Atti del Convegno di studi, Bressanone thirteen-sixteen luglio 2004, edited by Guido Biscontin and Guido Driussi, 901-10. In Architettura e materiali del Novecento: Conservazione, restauro, manuten- zione: Atti del Convegno di studi, Bressanone 13-sixteen luglio 2004, edited by Guido Biscontin and Guido Driussi, 17-26.
Western people often ask, "Is not all Asian home decor about the same?" The shortest answer is solely, "Completely not!" The normal college of thought in Japanese home ornament has been influenced by its personal distinctive culture. Conserving our wartime heritage: A bolstered concrete air raid shelter in East Lothian, Scotland. Metals in America's Historic Buildings: Makes use of and Preservation Therapies. In Structural Studies, Repairs and Maintenance of Heritage Structure X, edited by C. A. Brebbia, 363-seventy one.
The telephone on the eighteenth-century desk: How Brazilian modern architects conceived the preservation of historic metropolis centers. Proper up to date: Unloved and unromantic they could be, however more moderen buildings earn a spot in our heritage. Safety of Historic Buildings: PROHITECH 09: Proceedings of the International Conference on Safety of Historic Buildings, PROHITECH 09, Rome, Italy, 21-24 June 2009, edited by Federico M. Mazzolani, 501-06.
Aberdeen Metropolis and Aberdeenshire is a area overflowing with artwork and tradition. New York: Museum of Modern Artwork. Springfield, Illinois: Affiliation for Preservation Expertise International. In Architettura e materiali del Novecento: Conservazione, restauro, manutenzione: Atti del Convegno di studi, Bressanone thirteen-16 luglio 2004, edited by Guido Biscontin and Guido Driussi, 881-89.
Journal = Bauinstandsetzen und Baudenkmalpflege: Eine internationale Zeitschrift 17 (6): 347-56. The Use of and Need for Preservation Requirements in Architectural Conservation. Issues of historicity in the conservation of the pioneering rein- pressured concrete buildings in Taiwan.
The examine of artwork historical past is targeted primarily on the "tremendous arts" of portray, sculpting, structure, and associated fields. Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians sixty five (1): ninety two-111. The Historical and Technical Development of Gloss Housepaints, with Reference to Their Use by Twentieth-Century Artists." PhD thesis, Royal College of Artwork, Great Britain.
Western people often ask, "Is not all Asian dwelling decor about the same?" The shortest reply is simply, "Completely not!" The normal college of thought in Japanese home ornament has been influenced by its personal unique tradition. It is Not Ugly, It is the Recent Previous: Dealing with Aesthetic Challenges of Fashionable Architecture within Historic Preservation." MHP thesis, College of Maryland. The Ferro-Concrete Fashion: Reinforced Concrete in Modern Architecture: With 4 Hundred Illustrations of European and American Ferro- Concrete Design.
In Architettura e materiali del Novecento: Conservazione, restauro, manutenzione: Atti del Convegno di studi, Bressanone thirteen-sixteen luglio 2004, edited by Guido Biscontin and Guido Driussi, 919-28. Journal of Architectural Conservation 7 (2): 27-30. Transactions (Association for Studies in the Conservation of Historic Buildings) 32: 40-50.
Renaissance is a cultural motion that started in Europe throughout the early 14th to 17th century or a interval between the Classical and Trendy era. In Alvar Aalto Vyborg Library: Expertise of Sensations: Know-how Workshop and Seminar on Case Research: Proceedings of the Seventh Worldwide DOCOMOMO Expertise Seminar, 18-nineteenth September 2003, edited by Ola Wedebrunn, Maija Kairamo, Tapani Mustonen and Tatyana Svetelnikova, forty four-53.
In Twentieth-Century Constructing Materials: History and Conservation, edited by Thomas C. Jester, 200-05. In Glass and Ceramics Conservation 2010: Interim Assembly of the ICOM-CC Working Group, October 3-6 2010 Corning, New York, U.S.A., edited by Hannelore Roemich, 194-201.
The committee informs and supports ICOMOS's actions involving twentieth-century heritage, in addition to working with other organizations internationally. Objects Specialty Group Postprints (American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Inventive Works. Great Glass Buildings: 50 Trendy Classics.
Art has always been a mirrored image of the emotions, private battle, and the trail breaking events of a up to date society. Restauro ed adeguamenti di edifici novencente- schi di significato architettonico del secondo dopoguerra: Il caso dell'istituto Gregorio Mendel" a Roma (1953-2004) Restoration and changes to twentieth-century buildings of architectural significance constructed after the Second World War: The case of the Gregorio Mendel" Institute in Rome (1953-2004).
Whether students have an interest within the arts, trend, accounting & finance, journalism, business administration, healthcare, actual estate, or expertise the IAB is the right place to explore profession paths and be taught the easiest way to showcase their skills.
Western folks typically ask, "Isn't all Asian house decor about the same?" The shortest reply is just, "Absolutely not!" The normal college of thought in Japanese residence decoration has been influenced by its personal distinctive culture. Preservation Know-how Dossier 8. New York, NY: DOCOMOMO US. Architectural Tiles: Conservation and Restoration: From the Medieval Interval to the Twentieth Century. Journal of Architectural Conservation sixteen (2): forty five-63. In eleventh Worldwide Congress on Deterioration and Conservation of Stone, 15-20 September 2008, Torun, Poland: Proceedings.
New York: Museum of Trendy Art. Springfield, Illinois: Association for Preservation Technology Worldwide. In Architettura e materiali del Novecento: Conservazione, restauro, manutenzione: Atti del Convegno di studi, Bressanone 13-sixteen luglio 2004, edited by Guido Biscontin and Guido Driussi, 881-89.
Renaissance is a cultural motion that began in Europe in the course of the early 14th to 17th century or a period between the Classical and Fashionable period. Journal = Bauinstandsetzen und Baudenkmalpflege: Eine internationale Zeitschrift 17 (6): 347-fifty six. The Use of and Need for Preservation Standards in Architectural Conservation. Issues of historicity within the conservation of the pioneering rein- compelled concrete buildings in Taiwan.
In Steel'98: Proceedings of the Worldwide Conference on Metals Conservation, Draguignan, Figanieres, France, 27-29 Might 1998, edited by William Mourey and Luc Robbiola, 286-90. Stainless Metal for Architectural Use: A Symposium Introduced on the Seventy-First Annual Meeting, American Society for Testing and Materials, San Francisco, Calif., 23-28 June 1968.
Art has all the time been a reflection of the feelings, personal battle, and the trail breaking occasions of a contemporary society. In Twentieth-Century Building Supplies: History and Conservation, edited by Thomas C. Jester, fifty eight-sixty three. Journal of Architectural Conservation 18 (3): 27-51. Emerging as a definite discipline within the humanities within the late nineteenth century, the study of art history entails strategies for understanding style by comparing works of various intervals and noting their differences.
Docomomo International: Modernity as heritage. The United States chapter of DOCOMOMO maintains the DOCOMOMO US register, an internet database of contemporary movement websites and buildings that parallels the goal of the International Register. Non-harmful surveying techniques for the analysis of historic buildings.


text:
package com.facebook.buck.android.toolchain;

import com.facebook.buck.core.toolchain.ComparableToolchain;
import com.facebook.buck.core.util.immutables.BuckStyleValue;
import java.nio.file.Path;

/** Part of Android toolchain that provides access to Android SDK */
@BuckStyleValue
public interface AndroidSdkLocation extends ComparableToolchain {
  String DEFAULT_NAME = "android-sdk-location";

  Path getSdkRootPath();

  @Override
  default String getName() {
    return DEFAULT_NAME;
  }

  static AndroidSdkLocation of(Path sdkRootPath) {
    return ImmutableAndroidSdkLocation.of(sdkRootPath);
  }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Q: Saving svn changes for use in another computer? or backup uncommitted svn changes Say I've made changes to some files but I don't want to check them in. I want to save the changes in a batch file or some archive and then email them to another dev/myself/etc.. so that they can take a look at my changes and apply them to their working copy. Is it possible to do this?
Simpler scenario
Can you backup uncommitted svn changes?

A: If you want to just show them the changes that they can apply, you could create a patch.
svn diff > patchfile
If you've already committed, you can create a patch between different revisions.
For example, to create a patch of changes from 341 to the last revision:
svn diff -r 341:HEAD http://svn.example.com/repos/calc/trunk > patchfile

A: Sure, use svn diff to grab a copy:
svn diff >modifications.patch

This creates a "patch" file that you can later move to another computer and apply there:
patch -p1 <modifications.patch

Note that if the remote computer has a working copy for a different revision of the Subversion repository, you may have conflicts when applying the patch. The patch program has a different process for resolving conflicts than Subversion itself.

A: If you are not confident in committing to the trunk, you can create a branch and commit there, and tell the other developers to check out that branch to review your changes.
When everything is ok you can then merge it to the trunk.

A: I've used a product called Code Collaborator that might take a manual step out of your process. It's a code review tool that integrates with SVN as well as other version control systems. You create a review, add your uncommitted changed files to it, invite others to the review, and they see a diff between your version and what's in the repository. Mind you, it's an expensive tool, but in my experience it's been well worth it. A thirty-day demo is available if you're up to trying it.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Our product range includes a wide range of taper lock pulley, timing pulley, v belt pulley, step pulley and industrial taper lock pulley.
With our vast industrial experience in this field, we are engaged in offering a wide range of Taper Lock Pulley. The pulley that has Taper bush is normally known as Taper lock pulley and can eliminate re boring and keywaying problems. One can change the diameter of shaft and position of pulley by changing Taper lock bush. Moreover, we offer this product from single groove to multiple grooves in various sections like a, b, c, d, e or custom designs.
Being pioneers of the industry, we are engaged in offering a wide range of Timing Pulley. The product we offer to the patrons is widely used in various equipments where timing of both the drive is precious and display ratio is important. Our offered product is suitable for eliminating slippage and to maintain Constant Angular velocity. Besides these, the offered product is manufactured at our vendor's end as per ANSI/BS standard with Carbon Steel/Alloy Steel/Aluminium with Hardened teeth to provide long life.
To satisfy the growing needs of customers, we are engaged in offering an extensive range of V Belt Pulley. The product of our company is also known in the market by the name of V-Groove Pulley or Light weight Pulley. The product we offer to the patrons find usage to transmit power for low weight. Our offered product is normally used where rotation is less and moving part connected to output shaft is very light. Besides these, the offered product is made from normally cast iron at our vendor's end.
We are counted amongst trusted companies for offering a wide range of Industrial Taper Lock Pulley. This product is the changeable part in Taper Lock Pulley. In other pulleys, over a period of time shaft damages center part of Pulley and whole pulley needs to be replaced but this pulley can be reused. Moreover, one can reutilizes the taper lock pulley by just simply changing taper bush of the pulley and thus saving the cost of entire pulley.


text:
Quitter's Club: Don't be ashamed to quit the game.
By Tanukitsune, September 3, 2012 in Video Gaming
Trip Hazard
Zombie Thumb
Before reading these last few posts, I had the urge to give S&S a try tonight (I pirated it, with the intention to buy if I liked it).
I...like it? The backgrounds look great, the writing isn't bad at all, and the impact of attacks is really tangible. But, I can't beat the Sodden Knight. Like, just can't do it. Tried throwing on my heavy armour and blocking with my kite shield, no good. Tried taking all my gear off and two handing my sword for max damage and mobility, no good. After I'm out of my "flask" item, the boss is usually down to about a fifth of its HP, but then I just can't land any hits at all without getting soundly punished.
What am I doing wrong, guys? Seems like this boss pulls the classic Dark Souls BS trick of having a weapon whose hit box is bigger than it appears to be :/
Edit: I realised now that I didn't try spamming throwing knives or bombs at him. Seems cheap but I bet it'd work a treat.
For the record, I like it as well, just ran out of steam part way through.
The only tips I can give are to go in with an elemental charge on your weapon if you can find an item to do that, and to roll through him? I almost never bothered to block through the first half of the game.
twmac
Changed, finally
I tried Tron Evolution for free and after playing the initial tutorial, I just started getting flashbacks of the awful Remember Me and the okay but dull Aeon Flux games.
If I run out of everything else to play on my console I might go back, but I am not sure I can face it.
eot
The lack of a world map definitely hurts it, they adhered to strongly to the Souls design in that respect, and their world design didn't really facilitate the kind of map learning that the Souls games do.
I'm not sure if I would have enjoyed it as much solo, I only messed around solo for an hour or so. But in co-op, I felt it really shined.
Haven't played it myself. but I think a complex 2D map is harder to memorize than a 3D one. Maybe because you only see a small part of it at once and don't have the kind of sightlines you get in 3D. In Super Metroid I know how to go from one area to another, but I don't actually have that good a sense of the world.
In 2d a lot of the areas can use repeated assets, making one screen look much like another unless it's a special area such as a boss arena. Some games are able to work around that by using a lot of different tile sets, but Salt & Sanctuary looks fairly same-y so far, exacerbating that issue. Comparing it to Dark Souls is especially a disservice, since that game lets you see other zones, either past of future, off in the distance to further help orient yourself even over other 3d action/adventure games. It is one of very few non-linear games out there that I understand how everything connects without needing a map. Dragon's Dogma, Tomb Raider, Grand Theft Auto, none of those worlds make any sense to me without at least having a basic map to refer to.
anarchobama
After 11 hours I decided I was done with Morrowind. When I reached the ten hour mark I was like, "I've been playing this game for a bit and I still do not know if I like it or not but I'll keep trying." And then the next night I played an hour doing some small side quests, neglected to save, died wandering into somewhere I shouldn't of wandered into, and I was like "okay I think that's enough of this." It's not the game's fault I forgot to save but after that I felt like there wasn't much that made me want to make up that lost progress, even knowing the game is open enough that I could have made it up with completely different quests. I don't know, I've heard a lot about great the game's side quests are but I just wasn't seeing it. All the ones I did were just a lot of traveling to do one quick task and then traveling all the way back to tell the person I did it with little story pay off. Sure each quest built out the world a little bit more but never enough that it made walking forever at the slowest damn speed worth it. I've played enough of it to be believe the people who say there is something really special about this game but I've run out of the patience to find it for myself. It was worth trying, it's definitely the most I enjoyed an Elder Scrolls game and it was neat to get a little look what it did different from modern games (ie written directions instead of quest markers. Which is neat and rewarding in a way but not really like...fun). Hell maybe I'll give it another shot someday but for now it's time to find something a little (or a lot lmao) faster paced.
Great Axe of Social Justice +1
Even though I've really loved it, I think I might quit on Cave Story+. After having owned it for years, I finally gave it a go over the last few days and have found it to be charming, delightful, thoughtful and often elegantly designed.
Aaaaand, then the final section arrives and it's just a whoooooole bunch of old school bullshit brickwalls. Navigating spike filled paths with finicky jet pack. Endless waves of enemies while trying to do platforming. Miniboss with no save after the bullshit spikey path. Insta-kill traps AFTER the miniboss. Finally hit a save, and lo and behold a boss, another boss, and then the second phase of that boss with no saves in between those. If I wanted to throw myself at those bosses for a few more hours, I could probably beat them, but I'm really just not all that sure I'm interested. Each shot I take at these bosses feels like it's ruining what has otherwise been an exceptionally good game.
SuperBiasedMan
Supernaturally Biased Man
Location: Baile Átha Cliath
I had the exact same experience Bjorn, minus getting to that save before the multiple bosses. I'm glad I didn't keep going then, I didn't play that game for extreme hardness so I enjoyed what I did play before that.
I watched some YouTube videos of beating the bosses, and then the secret real final level and secret real final boss, and I'm definitely not going to finish this game.
The final level ramps up the difficulty even more with more jetpack spike navigation, shit falling from the ceiling and new enemy types that show up by the dozens and fire projectiles while you hit timed doors you have to wait to open while fighting off hordes of enemies, and then the final boss has not one, not two, not three, but four forms.
I don't get why you would want to take the final act of this game and increase the difficulty by multiple times when the rest of the game wasn't that way, and didn't do anything to teach the player how to deal with these kinds of levels.
Eternal Backlog Battler
I started playing Yakuza 5 and... does anybody know if the taxi stuff is optional? I hate driving and the taxi job seems super annoying. The reason I like Yakuza games is because you don't have guns or cars. :\
I think to enjoy a game like Morrowind you have to get sucked into the world and I think that was easier 15 years ago when a fully explorable 3D world like this was a mindblowing thing. It's a pretty big step up from just playing with your own imagination. Playing it today though there are so many impediments to getting immersed. I don't think it's hyperbole to say that Morrowind has some of the worst combat in any (otherwise decent) game ever and it has a leveling system that encourages you to spam jump until you get carpal tunnel.
I spent the evening playing Starward Rogue last night, which I was pretty excited when it showed up in the Humble Monthly, and I imagine that will be the only time I play it. This is the kind of game I play, and think, "This is a great game for someone, just not me." It's a combination of rougelike with a bullet hell shooter. I usually find bullet hell games to be more stress than they are worth. This has multiple difficulties though, so it's fairly tailorable to the challenge level you want.
The biggest downside, and I think the thing that will keep me from coming back, is that it just didn't feel like it had any personality. It opens with a cute, almost Portal-esque tutorial with a snarky AI walking you through a level. But from then on, there's just no personality, at all. It's mechanically really good and it seems like there's a good diversity to equipment and upgrades to customize builds around for different experiences. But it all feels very sterile. Oh, it's a grey room with lazers. Oh, it's a greyish red room with lazers and robots. The art direction is a bit more varied than that, but not by much. It's like the opposite problem that Our Darker Purpose had, which absolutely oozed personality and character and the world from every corner, but suffered from not being mechanically well tuned enough to keep playing.
There's something else that bugged me too, which is it has the Devil Rooms from BoI, where you trade health for higher grade power ups...but it doesn't make any sense. Why is this here, who is making the trade, what are the doing with it? In the quasi-religious fever dream of BoI, a mechanic like that feels like it fits. But in a a sterile, sci-fi environment, it feels really out of place, just that Arcen really wanted that mechanic in there and didn't worry about finding a way to make it mechanically fit.
apextwin
I really want to quit Witcher 3: Blood and Wine. Right now it just has none of the magic that the base game or first expansion had. Just did the spoon-man quest. Maybe I'm not in the right frame of mind. Anyone else feel this way?
I remember loving morrowind when I was about 13. Such an immersive, marshy world. Did the atmosphere hold up so many years later?
What you're describing about fetch quests is the problem with all elder scrolls games, even Skyrim. I rarely felt like what I was doing mattered, so eventually in Oblivion and Skyrim I just would skip through all the text in a quest and focus purely on the mechanics, leveling and aspects of the game outside of story or immersion.
The atmosphere does hold up today....kind of. Like I really liked putting on my high quality headphones I have for my transcribing job, consuming some illicit substances, and just kind of getting lost in that weird little world. I found the setting to be fascinating and really wanted to learn more about but the process of learning about the world really kicks you out of the immersion. Even the most special of worlds lose what makes them so special when most of the time you spend of them is walking at a slow crawl with so little pay off. I started playing Planescape: Torment a few days ago and I can't help but compare the two despite being pretty different. While the combat is similarly mindless and horrible, the world of Torment drew me in instantly while with Morrowind most of my experience was like "this world seems like it could be really neat" rather than feeling neat.
cflow
I recently had to give up on Bravely Default. I really enjoyed it for a while thanks to the battle system rewarding (punishing) (mis)calculated risks, level of difficulty, class variety and world building. However, as a parent and graduate student I found I didn't have time to wade through a thousand random encounters to power up my party enough to progress through the story.
Additionally, I find taking time away from a story due to other responsibilities makes it far less compelling. Even Hyper Light Drifter, which I adore, has lost some of its appeal not because I care any less for what Alx and friends have created, but because the fixed cost of recalling where I've explored or what parts of the language I've deciphered when stopping and starting up again occupies a significant fraction of my available play time. As I age, I'm finding myself more and more thankful for shorter experiences with easy pick-up-and-drop-at-any-time systems.
Griddlelol
The thing about Bravely Default, is that random encounters are the best in any JRPG ever. You can literally turn them off. So there's no need to do them if you don't want to. Also, you can set essentially an automated attack pattern, bump up the random encounters to +100% and grind while practically ignoring the game.
I'm not saying you shouldn't quit, but that your reason for quitting can be overcome if you want to continue. There are plenty of other problems with that game, I also quit!
So I decided to give this another shot, and I think I was tired the first night I was playing it. I've finished two runs now, and I'm quite digging it. I do think that my initial impression that it lacks character or personality is correct, that hasn't changed. But the mechanics and skill level are really good. Once you've finished a run once, it unlocks a new feature. Shops now have shopkeepers, who when killed it changes the inventory of the shop. The new inventory are made up of items that can radically change playstyles, mostly by adding in heavy risk/reward stuff (like limiting health for more damage).
I think I'm done with No Man's Sky. It's just kinda boring. There's nothing to do and once you've seen 5 procedurally generated planets, you've seen them all.
The exploration is pointless. You just find the same shit. Same buildings. Same everything.
ariskany_evan
Trading in a few games today for some quick cash: No Man's Sky, Fallout 4, NBA2k16.
No Man's - Fell off of this one so hard. The crafting is beyond clunky and the worlds got dull real fast.
Fallout 4 - Completed the main mission, but was left with an empty feeling. None of the DLC sparked any interest.
NBA2k16 - After Nick's tale of how silly the career mode is, I had to give it a shot. It's pretty unbearable in a fun way. The pacing, editing, and scenes that they chose to include were all very off. Nice to see that even bringing in someone with a cinematic eye can't make cutscenes any better. Overt storytelling doesn't work for me in this medium. Got to my second season and tried out a few games and practices and my motivation fell off. Very complicated game!
I bet the abyss will blink first
Location: Sydney, a land of contrasts
The problem with SUPERHOT is that the game's plot keeps telling me to quit and play something else, and my fear of missing out keeps telling me I should quit and play something else. I've played enough of SUPERHOT to know how it plays, and it's fine, but when the game is being so insistent I'm very much inclined to let it have its way.
It's trying to set up a forbidden fruit, I have to know what's in the box but as someone who falls for that every time, they're not even close. The game's told me everything that matters about superhot.exe; at most, all you will do is shoot ruby dudes or be menaced by a computer.
I give up on Mana Khemia, I liked the story and characters and I even liked it's weird alchemy upgrade system, where you must synthesize certain items to unlock upgrade slots, but that meant you can't really grind and when I encountered a boss that fell in the category of "I think I can do this, but I don't want to", the battle was long and annoying... So I just watched the ending on YouTube. *shrugs*
miffy495
Rhythm game star/loser
The last level of SUPERHOT actually does some interesting things with the formula. It's very short, so I would consider giving it another shot.
I think I'm quitting Axiom Verge at the last area. Generally I loved this game. The atmosphere, the movement, all the interesting power-ups all clicked with me so well but eventually I felt that I just lost my patience for this game and was no longer having fun. Totally worth my time and money, but not enough to push through bits where I wasn't having fun just to see the end.
I am quitting Tap Tycoon today. (clicker game for mobile devices)
It gave me purpose through a strange period of change in my life, as every minute that passed by earned me money in the game.
It has nice undertones pointing to the military-industrial complex. Click to make money so that you can make even more money. Every time you reinvest (prestige) you "send troops to war". You're competing in a "war" with all the players in your country against all of the other countries playing the game. The US always won in the three weeks I played, which gives all of the US players a bonus, which helps them to make even more money, which makes it even harder for the other countries to compete.
Like most clickers, there's timers and exponential math. The game loop is tiny and inconsequential and lovely.
I no longer need the hole filled, so I'm happily moving on.
Go To Topic Listing Video Gaming

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Joellen Riley Munton
Professor of Law, University of Technology Sydney
Profile Articles Activity
Dr Joellen Riley Munton is a Professor of Law at the University of Technology Law Faculty. She holds degrees in law from the Universities of Sydney and Oxford, and has been teaching and researching in the field of employment and labour law since 1998. She studied law after a number of years as a financial journalist, and spent some time in commercial legal practice before joining the academy.
Her academic career includes some years on the staff of the Law Faculty of the University of New South Wales, where she taught principally in corporate and commercial law. Before joining UTS she was Professor of Labour Law at the Sydney Law School, where she also served a term as Dean (from 2013 till 2018). Joellen is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law, and the Commercial Law Association, and an active supporter of the Australian Institute of Employment Rights.
* Employment contract law
* Labour law
* Intersections of commercial, corporate and intellectual property law with employment and labour law
* Equity and Trusts (her main teaching subject at UTS).
Dean and Professor of Labour Law, University of Sydney
Article Feed


text:
Report: Mobile Devs Not Interested in Universal Windows
By David Ramel
An informal survey of mobile developers conducted by the Thomson Reuters news agency found little interest in Microsoft's plan to ease the modification of iOS and Android apps so they'll run on the upcoming Universal Windows Platform (UWP).
"Interviews with more than a dozen developers found just one planning to move an app from Apple or Android to Microsoft," Reuters reported this week.
Microsoft last month announced the plan to provide tools that will "bridge" iOS and Android apps, which far outnumber available Windows Phone apps. With a tiny market share in smartphone OSes, Microsoft is seeking to attract more developers to UWP, which will run on a gamut of Windows-centric devices including smartphones. Getting developers to place their wares on the Windows store with just slight modifications would help that effort.
But there's a problem, Reuters said: "Some of the software developers the company needs to woo just aren't interested."
The news agency found just one developer, King.com, planning to port an app to Windows, in this case the wildly popular Candy Crush Saga game, which reportedly required only a few modifications to its iOS source code.
"Eight developers said they aren't planning to develop for Windows 10 at all," Reuters said. "Four who already have Windows apps said they would continue to do so."
Reuters said some developers were concerned about how easy it would be to bridge the apps. But, as only a few have the preview tools available for the unlaunched Windows platform, few are certain exactly how hard it will be.
Michael Domingo at sister publication Visual Studio Magazine attended the Build conference at which Microsoft announced the bridges and explained some of the details about how they'll work.
"Project Astoria is the Android runtime bridge, which can be used from the Android Studio IDE to refactor Android app code for the Windows 10 platform," Domingo said. "It will include a Windows emulator, and is supposed to allow for debugging and testing of apps from either the Android IDE or Visual Studio IDE."
Other bridges will be provided for iOS apps written in Objective-C, traditional .NET and Win32 Windows apps and even Web sites.
The bridges are expected to become available this summer, after which the effectiveness of Microsoft's plan will be determined.
"Failure to attract the apps would not be fatal for Microsoft, which is growing more reliant on its Office, server software and cloud computing services, but it would be a sign that Microsoft is losing its hold on personal computing, in a world where phones are expected to outsell PCs by more than six to one by 2017," Reuters said.
David Ramel is the editor of Visual Studio Magazine.


The last thing that should be on your mind when racing a motorcycle around a track is whether or not your suit will protect you if you fall. The Dainese Racing P. Lady track leather suit is the perfect partner for allowing you to stay focused on the race line and perfecting apexes, as it does its job seamlessly–and that's not always easy.
It's one thing to provide impact protection and abrasion resistance, and quite another to package that into something comfortable enough for yoga-style body positions. Dainese does both, and it does it with a characteristic Italian flair with the Racing P. Lady professional one-piece suit (MSRP: $930).
Constructed from cowhide leather, the ergonomically designed Dainese P. Lady riding suit includes generous elasticized panels. A full-length section runs along the backside of the legs, then transitions inside and over the groin. Accordion stretch inserts run across the top of the knees, as well as along the lower back and side waist, allowing easy bending of your body into that tight racer crouch.
Though the Dainese P. Lady has an elasticized section along the back of the collar, stretch across the front would also be welcome as I find one-piece suits, by their very nature, pull a bit at the neck when I'm tucked close to the tank.
Yes, snuggling yourself into a one-piece suit is still a bit of a gymnastics performance, but zippers along the calves assist in getting your lower half inside. Shrugging into the shoulders without a friend to tug it up and over is quite doable with the P. Lady, and once you've gotten your limbs inside, zip down the lower sleeves and tidy up the Velcro tabs at your wrists and collar. You're locked in, snug as a bug, and ready to hit the track–figuratively speaking, of course, though the Dainese Racing P. Lady is a designed to keep you safe should you literally land on the tarmac.
The professional Dainese women's suit has the technical features you would expect — shoulder and elbow armor, knee sliders, hip padding sewn into the lining, and an aerodynamic hump. The shoulder and elbow armor is a two-layer construction — the plastic outer shell disperses energy upon impact, while the Pro Shape inner foam layer provides cushioning and adapts to the rider's body shape.
With the Daniese Racing P. Lady suit, the shoulder, elbow, and knee protection is EN 1621.1-certified, which is a European standard based on the amount of energy absorbed and disbursed during impact. Bottom line: the suit has the benchmark protection for track riding. The shoulder armor is removable, as are the knee sliders. A separate spine protection can be worn inside the suit.
Racing suits are meant to be form fitting, and the Dainese P. Lady is no exception. The body-snug fit is reassuringly secure; you don't want the pads, pucks or armor to pull against your skin should you find yourself sliding down the tarmac. The byproduct of the body-hugging fit is a flattering profile.
In early springtime temps at Thunderhill Raceway Park in Willows, Calif., I paired a base layer with the P. Lady for a little extra warmth. Once I slid a leg over the Yamaha YZF-R3 and took my first lap around the track, I forgot about the suit. The strategic stretch panels enable you to move comfortably with the bike, shifting across the seat, leaning into turns, tucking low over the tank. The Dainese Racing P. Lady moves with you, not against you, so you're not fighting friction.
The P. Lady also comes in a perforated summer version, which would have been a bit more comfortable in the mid-90-degree temperatures at Buttonwillow Raceway Park in Central California when I was enjoying track time on a Yamaha YZF-R6 at Ultimate MotorCycling's mid-September 2015 track day with Jett Tuning.
I wore three-quarter length running tights and a short sleeve compression top under the P. Lady, which is lined with a bacteriostatic yarn. According to Dainese, this appears to mean you won't smell on hot days and the non-removable liner will hold up better to washing. Presumably this means via sponge bath.
While riding in one's favorite worn out jeans would be more comfortable than a one-piece leather suit, I'd never feel secure enough to ride at speed. The Dainese Racing P. Lady suit has all the technical features you would expect, as well as the form fit you need to take on track days with full confidence.


183141U (Jacket only) Fitted style!
Fashionable biker jacket with studs and floral appliques detail. Very stylish! Great to wear with pant 082, 43017 006 camisole 010, 054, 030. Clean with damp cloth only, 100% polyurethane. Fully lined and approx. 22 inches long, 24 inch sleeves. Floral print on front/back and sleeves. Sized S-XXL. MSF.


text:
Briefing|Brexit, France, Hong Kong: Your Monday Briefing
https://nyti.ms/2riPcVC
Brexit, France, Hong Kong: Your Monday Briefing
By Mike Ives
(Want to get this briefing by email? Here's the sign-up.)
We're covering the mood in pre-election Britain, a fight over France's safety net and a love story in Auschwitz.
Houses in Shirebrook, England, that were built for mineworkers. Many are now inhabited by Eastern Europeans working at the clothes warehouse that replaced the mine.Credit...Laetitia Vancon for The New York Times
Surveying a splintered Britain
As Britain gears up for a general election on Thursday, the only thing uniting the traumatized nation may be its disunity.
Our reporter recently took a 900-mile journey, from London to Glasgow, in an attempt to make sense of a nation grappling with the impacts of nationalism, austerity and economic alienation. He looked closely at how postindustrial transformations had changed local economics, and why the Brexit debate was scrambling political allegiances and causing so much frustration.
Youth vote: As many young people register to vote for the first time, the left-wing opposition Labour Party is hoping for a major boost. But some young voters may instead support the Liberal Democrats, a more centrist party.
Dubious claims: Commentators derided Prime Minister Boris Johnson's claim that "cupid's darts will fly once we get Brexit done," leading to a baby boom.
Hugh, actually: The actor Hugh Grant, who famously played a prime minister going door to door in the film "Love Actually," is campaigning hard for Britain to remain in the European Union.
The fight over France's social safety net
As France braces for a fifth day of nationwide strikes, much of its train network is at a standstill. The national railway company has warned travelers to stay away from train stations today to prevent overcrowding on platforms.
The workers driving the strikes fear that President Emmanuel Macron will strip away the generous pension benefits that were enshrined in France after World War II, and which still allow some workers to retire in their 50s. At stake, our correspondent writes, "is nothing less than the future of the country's vaunted social safety net."
What's next: Unions are calling for another nationwide demonstration on Tuesday, a day before the government is scheduled to unveil fresh details of a pension overhaul. Mr. Macron has called the country's tangled retirement system outdated, unfair and unsustainable.
Profile: Our Paris bureau chief interviewed Ladj Ly, whose film about life in the immigrant suburbs of Paris is up for an Oscar.
Unrelated: Yubo, a video chat app based in France that is popular with teenagers, is among the online platforms that sexual predators have used to target young people.
Remembering Auschwitz in an age of intolerance
Jan. 27 will mark 75 years since Soviet soldiers liberated the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp. And as anti-Semitism and right-wing extremism strain societies across Europe, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany's visit to Auschwitz on Friday carried extra symbolism.
Ms. Merkel made her visit as chancellor to the camp in southern Poland — where more than a million people, mostly Jews, were murdered — less than two months after a man armed with a gun and spouting anti-Semitic tropes attacked a German synagogue. She warned of "alarming" levels of racism and hate crimes, and called on political leaders to remain committed to the "very vulnerable and fragile" principles of democracy, human dignity and civil liberties.
Related: We have an article about an improbable love affair between Jewish inmates at Auschwitz in 1943. When they finally reunited, after 72 years apart, he asked her a crucial question.
Trump plans another attack on the W.T.O.
In the latest battle of President Trump's widening trade war, his administration is planning a bureaucratic attack that would cripple the World Trade Organization's ability to resolve international trade disputes. It's a body blow for an organization that Phil Hogan, the European trade commissioner, says is "facing its deepest crisis since its creation," in 1995.
Specifically, Washington plans to allow the terms of two of the three remaining members of a W.T.O. panel — which hears appeals in trade disputes — to lapse on Tuesday. The panel can have only seven members and needs a minimum of three to function. Shutting it down entirely, our trade reporter writes, could result in "an outbreak of tit-for-tat tariff wars."
Background: Mr. Trump's trade officials have spent two years blocking the W.T.O. from appointing new members to the panel, saying its decisions amounted to judicial activism — a view that was shared by officials in the Obama administration.
Lighter fare: In a rollicking dispatch from southern Italy, our reporter explains why some people see a crackdown on contraband pasta as another distressing sign of globalization.
If you have five minutes, this is worth it
A forensic clue in plain sight
After Chris Long had a bone marrow transplant to treat his leukemia, he found that DNA from his German donor had traveled to unexpected parts of his body — including his semen.
The U.S. police department where Mr. Long works is now studying his case to see whether DNA could eventually help investigators track hypothetical cases where people commit crimes after having transplants. And they're using Mr. Long as a human guinea pig.
Here's what else is happening
Ukraine: The country's president, Volodymyr Zelensky, will meet President Vladimir Putin of Russia in Paris today for talks aimed at ending the war along Ukraine's eastern border that has killed at least 13,000 people. The meeting comes two days after the International Monetary Fund conditionally agreed to lend the country $5.5 billion over three years.
Hong Kong: Hundreds of thousands of pro-democracy protesters marched on Sunday, one of the largest demonstrations in weeks — and a reminder to China's leader, Xi Jinping, that the monthslong antigovernment movement still has widespread support.
U.S. attack: Investigators are trying to determine the motive of a Saudi gunman who fatally shot three American sailors at a Florida naval base on Friday.
Liberia: A British judge ruled that Agnes Reeves Taylor, the ex-wife of former President Charles Taylor, could not be tried in London over accusations of atrocity in her country's civil war. The case had been seen as an important test for those seeking to see torture in other countries punished in British courts.
London: The British capital's fire chief, who had been heavily criticized for her agency's response to the fatal Grenfell Tower fire in 2017, said on Friday that she would resign at the end of the year. The fire killed 72 people and was the worst in modern British history.
Olympics: Today in Switzerland, the World Anti-Doping Agency will consider a recommendation from one of its committees to bar Russian athletes and teams from global sports for four years. Here's a primer on what's at stake.
NATO: A planned conference in Copenhagen to celebrate NATO's 70th anniversary was canceled on Sunday after the U.S. ambassador to Denmark vetoed the participation of an American expert who is critical of President Trump.
Italian soccer: One of Italy's main sports newspapers faced widespread condemnation for running a headline that said "BLACK FRIDAY" — a reference to two black players whose clubs were squaring off. But the newspaper, Corriere dello Sport, insisted it had done nothing wrong.
Snapshot: A $120,000 duct-taped banana, above, on display last week at Art Basel Miami Beach. The work, by the Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, had to be taken down on Sunday because of the Mona Lisa-like attention it was getting. (Our critic explains why it is more than just an overpriced piece of fruit.)
Serbia: A man born without testicles received one transplanted from his identical twin brother in an operation performed last week in Belgrade. It was only the third known transplant of its kind.
North Pole: Two explorers who had trekked hundreds of miles through the Arctic winter — and were running out of food — finally reached safety.
Georgia: An acclaimed film that shows gay romance in the country is missing from the lineup of the Tbilisi Film Festival, after protests at screenings turned violent.
What we're listening to: This episode of "The Europeans" podcast, about Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission's new president. A host said the episode aimed to "explain how the E.U. actually works without boring you to death."
Now, a break from the news
Cook: Lemony turmeric tea cake should be called "house cake" — to keep in your house at all times for a zingy lift.
Go: "An American in Paris" and "Funny Girl" are both English-language musicals playing in Paris this month.
Smarter Living: Our Social Q's column offers advice to a woman wondering whether she should hide her husband's job loss from her parents.
And now for the Back Story on …
Who awards the Golden Globes
The Golden Globes nominees will be announced today, part of the entertainment awards season that culminates with the Oscars.
This year, our Styles writer Caity Weaver took a close look at the somewhat opaque nonprofit that awards the Globes: the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.
It "was born of the chaos of global warfare in 1943," she wrote, "when eight foreign-born journalists living in California banded together to, apparently, gossip privately about celebrities. (The H.F.P.A.'s website is vague: 'At first, the members held informal gatherings in private homes.')"
The organization says it has "about 90 members," who are not named, and the requirements to belong are something less than rigorous, Caity found.
Members must live in the greater Southern California area, have received a paycheck for publishing something in a non-American publication four times, submit two letters of recommendation from current members and pay a $500 initiation fee.
Perhaps that looseness explains what Variety calls the organization's "penchant for surprise."
That's it for this briefing. See you next time.
To Mark Josephson and Eleanor Stanford for the break from the news. You can reach the team at briefing@nytimes.com.
• We're listening to "The Daily." Our latest episode includes an interview with the U.S. presidential candidate Bernie Sanders.
• Here's today's Mini Crossword puzzle, and a clue: Lacking pizazz (four letters). You can find all our puzzles here.
• The Times has 21 reporters covering the 2020 U.S. presidential election. Get to know them here.


These photos taken at a championship show this year show equines either being 'worked in' before competing, or in the ring.
Their expressions and way of going clearly showed discomfort.
Hopefully, the Saddle Research Trust conference, Horse, rider, saddlery interactions: Welfare and performance sponsored by Wow Saddles and World Horse Welfare will raise awareness on the damage and pain that is caused if a saddle does not fit the rider, if the weight is too far back, and if a rider is too big for the animal. The safety of the small rider who gets on after this working in period is compromised when the horse or pony is in discomfort.


text:
Water Damage RestorationRestoration Training/Education
Water Tech Training: The Value of Flood Houses
By Michelle Blevins
Photos courtesy of SERVPRO
With the advent of the internet and online learning, hands-on training seems less necessary when a quick online course can provide people the same information. But is it really the same? I'm sure most of the restorers reading this are thinking nope, it's not the same! You can read all the manuals you want, but until you physically dry a structure yourself, you don't fully understand the work required. It's the difference between being book smart and street smart – and in the restoration industry, we should want to be both.
Flood houses offer great hands-on learning experiences for contractors across the U.S. A quick Google search revealed, at least for me, a surprising number of flood houses across the country – most of which are owned and operated by restoration companies, both franchise and independent. On the same token, there are full-blown academies like Reets that offer training for beginners and experts. With the fast-paced industry we're in, it can be difficult to imagine sending key team members off for a few days for training – but in the long run, training will pay dividends. According to Caron Business Solutions, hands-on training accelerates learning, provides links between theory and practice (so they know what the S500 says, but do they know how to apply it?), increases engagement, and provides a safe learning environment so mistakes can be made while learning and practicing, rather than in the field.
SERVPRO® has had its own flood house in Tennessee for more than a decade. On average, their flood house experiences a water loss about twice a month. The house meets all IICRC requirements for flood houses so it can be utilized for their Applied Structural Drying (ASD) course. SERVPRO® chooses to also utilize the house for their Water Restoration Technician (WRT) course and other technical training courses.
Finding a Balance
Robert Bowles is the production training manager for Servpro Industries, Inc. and an approved IICRC instructor. He's been with SERVPRO® for 17 years, and is actively involved in running face-to-face training sessions, as well as developing online training resources that complement hands-on training opportunities. While he sees the value in both methods of learning, he is a big proponent of the hands-on training element.
"For most people in the restoration industry, WRT is one of the first technical classes attended. While the IICRC does not have a hands-on requirement for WRT, it's a lot more valuable for people attending the classroom portion to receive hands-on training," Bowles said. "Decades of study in adult learning has proven that people engage better when they're able to 'do', and retention is better when there is action around what they are learning."
Bowles is aware that more and more companies in all industries are looking for quicker, more cost-effective ways to train their employees. That trend means more people are being trained online and in classrooms, but with decreasing attention spans, hands-on training may be a better route.
"It's all about quick and easy training, and I think we have to cater to that," Bowles explained. "Restoration contractors need online, self-paced learning opportunities that fit into their schedule. That needs to be augmented by good on-the-job training in the field. The live training courses, whether classroom or hands-on, simply allow for a more structured and guided learning experience." The flood house helps create a controlled on-the-job training experience for attendees.
The Flood House
SERVPRO® actually has two training houses at their corporate headquarters; one for water damage restoration, the second for fire restoration and mold remediation training. The flood house includes 1,200 square feet of living space; three bedrooms, two baths, a partial and full basement.
Trainers pump about 1,000 gallons of water into the house, according to IICRC guidelines, and give it enough time to soak in. There are a number of structural materials in the house such as drywall, wood framing, insulation, hardwood floors, carpet, laminate, tile, and cabinetry; as well as contents.
Students get a lot of hands-on experience with a variety of drying tools and techniques throughout the process. That includes thermal cameras, moisture meters, extraction equipment and tools, dehumidifiers, air movers, cavity drying systems, hardwood mat systems, heating equipment, and pretty much any other tool needed to inspect or dry a water damaged structure. "It's not just about equipment; it's understanding the proper usage of the equipment and the situations where it's appropriate – we're really striving for solid decision making."
Due to the climate in Tennessee, dry time for the house differs throughout the year. In the middle of winter, Bowles says it can dry quickly – in four to five days. But during the hot, humid summer, it could take six or seven.
"These dry times are most dependent on the drying progress of the hardwood flooring, tile floor assembly, and in-place drying of carpet, pad, and subfloor." Bowles added, "It's not just about drying a structure and its contents with a group of people; these classes are about making decisions, challenging those decisions, and learning together."
Bowles really drove home the point that industry certifications carry a lot of weight. People are looking for WRT and ASD-type certifications as a kind of gauge of a restoration contractor's knowledge. So, people who attend the classes and earn the credentials are able to further prove they know what they're doing to insurance clients and customers alike. Plus, the certifications belong to the individual – not the company they work for – meaning a 19-year-old straight out of high school can really jump start a career in restoration with the right hands-on training opportunities from the start. When those technicians bring that hands-on knowledge back to their company, the training investment pays off tenfold.
"Yes, hands-on training seems like a hassle, but our biggest return on investment in training comes when people can see it and do it. The odds are much better it's going to stick with them," he said. "The only thing that will make it stick even more is when they teach the skills to others. Set them up to succeed from the start, then help them become trainers in their company."
KEYWORDS: flood damage restoration hands-on training innovations in restoration moisture meters structural drying
Michelle Blevins is the former Editor-in-Chief of Restoration & Remediation. From April 2015 through July 2021, Michelle oversaw all of the editorial content and focused on multimedia efforts for the brand.
Expanding the Use of Flood Houses for Restoration and Remediation Training
Learning Beyond the Classroom: The Opportunity Within Flood Houses
Flood Houses: Why They're Important
Water Restoration Technician (WRT) | Applied Structural Drying (ASD) COMBO - In Person: Destry Ransdell
Take back to your company the basic and advanced knowledge and skills of drying, monitoring, and documenting water losses. Learn the latest and most effective techniques, tools, and inspiration to dry using innovative approaches, and ideas on how to improve the effectiveness and efficiency in rendering water restoration services.