The game is an electronic jumble in which words or phrases must be plucked out by connecting letters in a variety of patterns. Like a newspaper jumble, or even a crossword puzzle, answers can be arranged vertically, horizontally, diagonally, or even in serpentine patterns. A hint is provided for each new puzzle and if you get really stuck, you can purchase additional hints using credits you accrue through game play or by purchasing them with a credit card.
While the words and phrases I was seeking became more complex and difficult as I leveled up, the game play itself didn't change at all. As a result, there was no impetus for me to adjust my strategy to become more successful and after a week of off-and-on play I was pretty much done. Like other puzzle games I've reviewed here, there's nothing particularly wrong with Word Whizzle, just don't expect to play it for a sustained period of time.


The age of AI driven automation is well and truly upon us. Pizza Hut is experimenting with robots called Pepper and virtual assistants like Siri and Alexa are a reality now.
According to Pizza Hut the experiment with Pepper will not only make the customer service faster and more efficient but will also make it easier for people to customize their orders. The company expects a reduction in customers' wait time for orders and far superior and personalized user experience. This does indeed represent a threat to the first line of marketing personnel.
Although it is equally true, that Pepper has not been so successful outside Japan, where it is sometimes available at hotel lobbies as a virtual concierge and was actually fired from a Scottish grocery for less than satisfactory performance! But this can be seen as a step in the learning curve for AI controlled robotics and as we all know that this learning curve is indeed quite sharp.
Marketeers are confused as to how to react to the implications of AI and are yet to clearly understand its impact it on their jobs because AI has the potential of creating big winners across the marketing segments as well as create big losers at the same time.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai had some time back called AI, "more important to humanity than electricity or fire." Marketing is seeing a shift from mobile-first age to the AI powered age, but most marketeers are still not certain about the implications of AI on their domain.
Will AI take away marketing jobs?
Along with this comes the dreaded question - Will the rise of AI have an adverse impact on marketing jobs?
Yes, indeed some low-level marketing jobs will be lost to robotics and automation. Companies may not have a choice but to automate and use AI for much of mid-level marketing functions if they want to survive.
But marketing as a whole will not only survive but thrive in the age of AI and automation provided it changes, adapts and evolves to fit in an artificially intelligent future.
According to Outsourced CMO founder Vineet Arya, marketeers who have the ability to use Big data solutions and other AI techniques to indulge in a smarter search to quickly and more efficiently analyse customers, their tastes, preference, buying patterns etc stand to gain by the advances in AI.
The use of AI will give marketers the tool to make more relevant and better targeted advertisements that can be pushed to different categories of customers.
Already, the large amount of data churned out by artificial intelligence marketing solutions gives a marketeer valuable insights into an ever-increasing number of relevant metrics. This allows them to gauge important trends and customer behavior pattern that facilitates the creation of personalized marketing campaigns and strategies.
Customer-facing activities including marketing automation, support, and service in addition to IT and supply chain management are predicted to be the most affected areas by AI in the next five years.
I have tried using artificial intelligence in business and I am happy to see the results. Who could have guessed that I can multiply my income manifold times simply by getting acquainted with machine learning?
That is definitely real Jack nonetheless will almost certainly switch exactly how marketers deliver the results & in all probability wipe out novice promotion job opportunities here more Redirect Http to Https.
It was an awesome information.. keep sharing.. I adore your websites way of raising the awareness on your readers.


Art advocacy is important to me because of the variety of skills art allows children to practice and the increased amounts of cuts happening around Wisconsin to art programs in schools. The art classroom is the place where a child gets to practice thinking in a different way. The ability to develop creative solutions is so important for children. They need this skill to be successful in life. I am an advocate for art education because I want the youth of Wisconsin to have the opportunity to think outside the box and question the status quo!
In order to be an advocate for art education programs, I try to create connections with other art educators and artists locally and at the state level. I think it is important to create connections myself in order to create new opportunities for learning and awareness about art education.
Aside from my work as a Student Representative for WAEA, I am the Co-President of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee NAEA Student Chapter. We are currently organizing an event for new art teachers in Milwaukee Public Schools. Creating events to bring teachers together is a great way to make connections, share ideas, and get out new teacher jitters!
One success I experienced in my advocacy for art education was giving a presentation on using iPads in the art classroom at a WAEA Conference. While working toward my BFA in Painting at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design, I spent a lot of time creating observational "paintings" on my iPad. I used this experience to share possible apps, lessons, and artists teachers could use in the art room with iPads and other tablets. I was so nervous to talk to experienced teachers, since I am so new to teaching, but most of the teachers had tablets in their own classrooms and were excited to hear about new ways to use them! I think this experience really proves that simply sharing our ideas and experiences is one of the best ways to be an advocate for our programs.


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Survivor: Island of the Idols
Player of the Week (Episode 5)
By Martin Holmes
Photo: CBS
Each week here on Inside Survivor we will be running a fan poll to determine the Player of the Week. Readers can vote for the player that impressed them the most with their strategic gameplay, social skills, and overall performance. The poll will close on the following Wednesday.
In the fifth episode of Survivor: Island of the Idols, we saw the elimination of Tom Laidlaw, the 60-year-old retired NHL player from Greenwich, CT. Vote now for your Player of the Week. Last week's winner was Missy with 396 Votes (33.31%)—that is her second win in a row.
Week 1: Elaine
Week 2: Lauren
Week 3: Missy
Who is your player of the week?
481 Votes (40.25%)
Karishma
61 Votes (5.10%)
7 Votes (0.59%)
Survivor Island of the Idols
Season 39 Player of the Week
Martin is a freelance writer from England. He's represented by Berlin Associates for comedy writing and writes about TV and entertainment, currently for TV Insider and Vulture, previously Digital Spy, ET Canada, and Yahoo. A finalist for the Shortlist Sitcom Search in 2012 for "Siblings," Martin received his BA in English with Creative Writing from The University of Hull. Martin is the owner and editor-in-chief of Insider Survivor.
6 responses to "Player of the Week (Episode 5)"
SoupForSluts says:
Martin, can you please post the running results for the winners of PlayerOTW in each of these threads? Week 1= ?, Week 3 = Missy, Week 4 = Missy, etc. Thanks!
Inside Survivor says:
I certainly can! Thanks for reminding me!
yeltra says:
The MVP this episode was definitely Applebees.
Ravel says:
Where is the list of all weeks?
Thanks for reminding me!
Survivor: Island of the Idols Player of the Week (Episode 6) : Inside Survivor says:
[…] In the sixth episode of Survivor: Island of the Idols, we saw the elimination of Jason Linden, the 32-year-old Personal Injury Lawyer from New York, NY. Vote now for your Player of the Week. Last week's winner was Kellee with 481 Votes (40.25%). […]
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« Episode 5 Stats
Episode 5 Edgic »

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


This time John has a little help from his bear friends, because this de-cluttering is becoming unbearable. We will continue to apply John's Japanese management techniques and find a simple bear solution. This should be interesting because we will use a quality improvement approach called Bear Kaizen. We have deliberately picked a very small issue to see if John can learn to do it the bear way.
John says there are too many toilet rolls cluttering up bathrooms and toilets. Although we bears think that you can have a lot of fun with excess toilet rolls.
In the main bathroom there is 1 toilet roll on the toilet roll holder, which, in a bear's simple mind, should be the only place for toilet rolls, but there is also a bag of 7 more, half hidden under towels.
In the second bathroom there is 1 roll properly on the toilet roll holder, but also 3 on a pole for surplus rolls, 1 on a toilet brush and 3 more in a basket. Even bears can't use 8 toilet rolls at once, so we should be able to bear de-clutter 7.
In the downstairs loo — there is 1 on the holder and 3 more on another decorative pole display. Bears are not totally convinced toilet rolls are decorative, maybe we should take up Origami classes and learn to fold toilet paper into flowers.
Mo buys toilet rolls in bulk "BOGOFF offers" because they are cheaper that way. But they need to be bought 12 at a time, which means there are always a lot more than bears need.
When John occasionally buys them, he always buys the wrong type so they become surplus, that's where some of the clutter comes from. So it's his fault really!
Bears never want to run out of toilet rolls. Some of us bears remember those ripped up bits of newspaper in the outside loo on ice cold winter days! They were not very comfortable on your bear bum!
Excess toilet rolls means we end up with extra baskets and decorative displays of surplus toilet rolls bearly leaving enough space in the bathrooms and loo. But at least bears can have fun playing with them.
On the good side, John gets a blog from the bog.
There needs to be a bear operating procedure (BOP) to ensure all the toilet rolls are always full in each bathroom and toilet. Excess toilet rolls will no longer be necessary in every location.
Almost-finished rolls should be removed to the second bathroom and stored out of sight in the specifically designated basket for emergency toilet rolls, until they can be used in an emergency.
John will not eat prunes any more !
In case John forgets, it may be necessary to frame it and put it on the wall in each bathroom and loo. Although we are not sure MO will like this idea!
Bear suggestion:- wee should put John in charge of bog roll re-supply since he seems to know all about toilet rolls.
Bear success measures are — "Will it be easier, safer, faster and fun?".
Easier — YES Less frequent shopping while excess rolls are used up.
Safer — YES 17 less clutter rolls for bears to fall over.
Faster — YES Only if bears don't get the runs.
This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged Bears, Clutter. Bookmark the permalink.
Very funny blog John. Made me giggle.
I think I like this new idea of yours to put the Bears in charge of de cluttering – especially so since, for the first time in our 42 years together, you are going to start cleaning toilets. Now that's something I never thought I'd ever see!
I am not sure how to respond to this 'Blog', and I cannot remember George or Walt, mentioning such matters, All the '—Ucets' come to mind, and the the final 'tucket' and that smile when one leaves the 'nettie', having achieved, that one daily pleasure, of total and utter enjoyment..
That smile, or grimace, on ones ,fizzog' or ones sunday face!!!
Bare essentials as you comment. Memories of the paper qualities "IZOL" -now please wash your hands! That gloss toughen glass paper, with which ones fingers were safe, from touching the 'brown matter'. I note you have not mentioned a luxury of a fashioned " swans neck"???
Enough of this earthy matter, and weighty considerations?
It is good to see and read 'Teddies' exploits.
How ever how observant has one been??? Spring is here 21 march, has one tied the daffodils back (Not cut them)-Alas with the crocus's have now gone past their best, and the primula's and primroses are in full bloom, and as I look out of my sitting room window, I have the utmost pleasure in admiring the apple blossom, and the flowering cherry trees. By the way it is time to end this de-clutter, listen to Teddies, and having had the winter to think about how and why to de-clutter, you must take the bull by the horns and do a total "spring clean": One has had the winter to think one must now act, as a gentleman, and do the 'task" in hand.
By the way have you committed your self to the first 'cut" of the lawn, overhauling and oiling and sharpening the mower bits and pieces.
It is time to start the new year, with fresh eyes, and new vigor and energy, and do not forget tat enthusiasm for life!! with zest!!


Is there a complete cut list floating around for all the M8 rod for the complete frame?
I have been back and forth over the wiki and github page and cant seem to see one!
I thought that the number in brackets was a running total at first but as i continued through it appears that it is only an either/or quantity depending on how you are building that particular piece!
It doesn't matter that its an old machine design!
Its a very stable frame design, components are simple and print well even on a less than perfect machine.
I chose this design over the newer ones because this will eventually live in my workshop and be used for prototyping parts, it will inevitably get an occasional knock and will most likely get moved from pillar to post.
I needed a particularly robust frame design because of this, i really didn't want something that needs to be re-calibrated every time you sneeze near it like a lot of the newer designs.
We still have a lot of machining equipment from close to the turn of the century at work!
This seems like a sound approach to me. When we were running a RepRap farm with many machines, almost all of them were Mendels. We did fit them with 32-bit Duet electronics, though.
Will 1 roll of filament cover printing all the parts around 20% infill?
I think so. I haven't measured it, but a roll of filament sometimes goes farther than I expect.
Hi Adrian. First of all thanks for the amazing work! I have had a Mendel for year now and printing incredibly well. But just recently the y axis steps about 5 mm for no reason. Speed is low, distance between y axis bars is equal, belt is properly tensioned.
I've been looking on here and github, but can't find it.
I know it deviates from the idea of as replicabale as possible, but I want to experiment a bit.
I appreciate your reply. Would it be safe to say 2meters would be long enough of a belt? Also, I was wondering about making my own extruder. Would it be more cost efficient this way or would it be about even as buying one off the internet?
I am new to the 3D printing scene and am in the process of gathering all the parts I need to put one together. I can't seem to find out what size toothed belt I need for the RepRapPro. I have found both T2.5 and T5. I am thinking it is T2.5 but do not want to buy the wrong part. Is there a website that has a list of all the parts and precisely what dimensions these parts are?? I am also trying to find how long of a length I need to buy of this toothed belt so I do not buy too short.
We use T2.5 for this design. We are in the process of moving to T2. Basically we go for the finest belt for which we can easily and reliably print toothed pulleys using our finest nozzles.
Would you consider doing a kit for everything minus the printed parts, frame, x, y and z axis?
The rods, nuts, etc are easy to source locally, and printed parts are easy if you have, or know someone with a printer. I'm also guessing that you have little markup on these parts. But all the other bits, the motors, heated bed, hot end, electronics, are harder to source, and would be better from a reputed source.
It would be a smaller kit and cheaper to ship. Also, more importantly for me, there would be no nasty 15% tax surprise for shipping over $300US of goods.into NZ.
Sorry, but no. If anyone else wants to they are free to do so, of course. We do full kits, and kits minus the printed parts for those who want to print their own. But we simply can't have too many variants. It would make our sourcing and packing operation uneconomic.
I love my RRP Mendel, it really prints nice! The only upgrade I would like to have are linear bearings in the Z-Axis. There are some for Prusa Mendel, but they dont have the right distance between the X smooth rods.
único que puedo hacer es agradecer su generosidad y talento .
También quiero compra una Mendel a ReprapPro me gusta todo el concepto maquina y piezas fabricadas . Mil gracias a mi amigo Adrian-Bowyer .
Hi - I would love one of these - does anyone have the complete instructions on how to put one of these together along with a complete material list, and maybe an idea of the costs for the materials for a newbie like me? I did find some kindle books on amazon about constructing a cnc printer, and also a variant 3d printer, but so far, nothing for one of these. I'm thinking the construction is pretty similar for all with a moving bed. Any help is appreciated.
Hi - the first link above takes you to full instructions, the second to all the design files, and the third to a source for a complete kit.
The kit prices on the left of the page you are taken to on that link are the prices for the kits that include the printed parts.
The big advantage is that the diameter matches that of the motors' shafts, so a good and very low-cost flexible coupling is easy to achieve with plastic tube and printed U clamps.
This is such a nice printer design! I had a few questions: What do you plan to use the extra nuts for on the top of the printer on the rods connecting the two triangles? Is it related to filament spool holding? I see that you have a stabilizing cross beam on the botton of the printer. Does that do as good of a job as when I see people put the stabilizer up higher since it is the X-motion that causes frame flexing? I see a lot of people getting excited about the Mendel Max because of the frame stability. Do you have an idea of how this design would compare to the stiffness of the Max? Finally, your triple extruder design is amazing. Do you plan to sell electronics separately for those with prusa mendels who might want to upgrade?
The extra nuts are to mount multiple extruder drives (up to 5). They may well not be needed - we could design U clamps. But it's such a pain to put them on after the machine is finished that I put them on now anyway.
know how the stiffness would compare with a M'max, though I suspect this would still be slightly less stiff. X-shake is less of a problem with bowden designs like this of course; the X carriage's mass is so low.
he current plan is to drive the extra heads with a partially-populated Sanguinololu board.
Though why the heat shield? Is it down to the X carriage being printed in PLA!
The heatshield may be slightly over-engineered, but it's only cardboard and foil, so I thought - why not?
if I removed the shield.
Thanks! We'll do our best to make it a top-notch design.
How can it be limited if the parts are here?
What is "pro"(-fessional) about it?
Ltd because we run a limited company registered at Companies House in the UK. And professional because the employees hold a combination of science and engineering degrees and some have chartered engineer status under the rules of the Privy Council. Both ideas are in common usage, I think.
Colour? Could you mix two, or tree, colours to get a new one?
SWEET! Looks awesome. I love how you utilized the printers capabilities to shave off some plastic on the vertex feet. Hope there will be a 3mm version, the new x-carrage is beautiful. The thin plastic on the lone LM8UU looks kinda scary, but I am still waiting for my machine to finish printing to have the thing in my hands. Great work. I'm a huge fan of all you do. Overall a very sleek design.
e gods to punish his hubris...).
RepRapPro probably won't do a 3mm filament version - we're too addicted to the lovely characteristics of 1.75mm. Plus - as the machine can accommodate three heads - 3mm would get very unwieldy. But there's nothing to stop anyone else doing one, of course.
RepRapPro Mendel by adrian-bowyer is licensed under the GNU - GPL license.


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Land Use: Houston's Stripper and SOB Regulations Cut the Mustard
Local governments with police powers can regulate land use in nearly any way they want. If that land use regulation forces a change in its current use, well, they "amortize" the change over a few months or years, as in they delay the effective date of the new zoning. If the new zoning regulation reduces the fair market value of the land itself, the city must pay the landowner for that reduced value. That's a "taking." But government can still totally regulate land use.
Think about this for a moment. If, for example, your business owns the land on which it sits and operates, and the governing authority, a city perhaps, decides they want to have something else there instead, then they can change the zoning of the land and force your business to move or just shut down. This can cost some serious money that cannot be recovered. Do you sell the real property to a developer so they can build to the new specs, or do you do it yourself? Do you just shut down the business, or do you buy or rent another tract of land and relocate? Decisions, decisions, and none of them particularly good choices. Talk about getting stripped down.
Standing in the way of such extreme power is the First Amendment "freedom of speech." If you can fit your land use into freedom of speech, or perhaps freedom of religion, then you have a chance to overcome the massive governmental zoning power. Sexually Oriented Businesses (SOBs) support free speech, in fact the more the….well, less. The lesson of this case is that if the government can do it to an SOB, you can be relatively sure they can do it to any other type of business. At the end of this article I have some practical suggestions for how to deal with land use regulation disputes and negotiations.
Houston first began its attempts to regulate SOBs in 1977 with city ordinances. Now, keep in mind that Houston does not have a full blown, formal zoning code. Cities are required by state law to follow a specific procedure to draft and enact "zoning regulations". While these '97 SOB regulations have the effect of a zoning ordinance, they're not part of a comprehensive land use plan. This is a mere city ordinance that governs SOBs, and no more.
Why do I mention this? Because the SOBs argued that these '97 regs were "zoning ordinances", and as such were illegal because Houston didn't follow the right process in writing and enacting them. The Court just said, in effect, "the regs may look like a duck, walk like a duck, and talk like a duck, but that doesn't mean they're a duck." It's the least persuasive part of the whole opinion. But then all of us professionals get stumped when we have to deal with "land use" in the city of Houston.
Well, twenty years after its first regulations, Houston was still at it. These '97 Houston SOB regulations amendments:
1. Increased the minimum distance from 750 feet to 1,500 feet between an SOB and a protected land use (e.g school, church);
2. Added public parks to the list of protected land uses;
3. Added amortization provisions (forced change in land use within a certain period of time)
4. Added requirements regarding interior lighting, design and layout; and
5. Required the licensing (and conspicuous display of same) of entertainers and managers.
As you might guess, the clubs, their owners, the managers and entertainers all saw these new regulations as decreasing the amount of money there was to make in this highly lucrative industry, and forcing them to incur costs to comply with these new rules. Plus, for the entertainers, where in the world are they supposed to wear their license? "Houston, we have a problem."
But for the existence of the First Amendment, all of these new regulations are perfectly legal and enforceable. So if you own a piece of real estate, the government can make you do all of these things with your land, including requiring you (or your tenants) to operate in particular ways at particular locations.
Now, here at the outset, let's look at some of the creative names these SOB joints use. I mean, this is just too much fun to pass up. There's "Dee & Dee Enterprises, Inc.", for the well endowed (if it was a cattle brand, we'd call it the "Double D"–see how this works?), there's "BJ's 24 Hour Newsstand", with more stimulation and stamina than Viagra, "The Trophy Club" for sportsmen, or perhaps the place where former trophy wives perform, "Studz News", lest we think women are the only ones working, "Dong Kyong Modeling Studio", enough said, and finally, making this list by international reputation alone, it's "Trumps, Inc., d/b/a/ Rick's Cabaret." Ever wonder what suit is trumps? Maybe it's the lack of a suit in this instance.
Let's start with the most controversial part of this, the so-called amortization provision. Houston generously gave the businesses affected by the new distance regulations a whopping 180 days following the adoption of these new regs, to move to a new location that was in compliance. Six months, that was all. And the Fifth Circuit said "we don't see a problem there, especially considering this litigation has given them a longer time period anyway" and didn't really discuss it in more detail. Now THAT's power.
More substantively, the legal test for these sort of "free speech" restrictions has three parts:
1. Is the ordinance a time, place and manner regulation?
2. Is the ordinance aimed at (A) the content of sexually-oriented speech (content based) or (B) the "speech's" secondary effects on the community (content neutral)?
3. Is the ordinance designed to serve a substantial governmental interest, leaving open reasonable alternative avenues of communication?
In this case the answers were "yes", "B" and "yes," resulting in "Houston, you're good to go."
These new regulations affect the time, place and/or manner of the regulated acts. BUT they are not censorship. They don't restrict what the entertainers and managers can, and cannot, do. This is a critical conclusion, because if the regulations were "content based," they would be subjected to much greater court scrutiny.
What are the "secondary effects" of SOBs, you ask? Well, this is the key that opened the Pandora's box of success for all of the modern era SOB regulation. It started with a 1995 U.S. Supremes case that came out of Los Angeles, no less. There, the city conducted formal studies of all sorts of factors, most importantly including crime rates and property values in different areas of the city. LA was able to "show," through cold statistics, the hot influence of strip joints and other SOBs. Crime rates were higher in the areas around them, and they caused property values to decrease.
Both of these are "bad", and government has a legitimate reason to reduce crime and protect its citizens' property values, and so SOB regulations designed to do that are A-O-K. Cities don't even have to show that the regs actually work as thought, just that they really think they will work. Cities are even allowed to experiment, and to change the rules in the course of experiments until something does work. Imagine owning a business being the subject of an experiment. Apply a constantly changing set of rules, with all the costs the changes impose, and you can see that SOBs may have a legitimate gripe on this particular point.
And so LA forced SOBs to disperse throughout the city. After that decision allowing LA's SOB regs to stand, other cities followed LA's example, including Houston. In fact the Houston ordinance also asserts that SOBs "can exert dehumanizing influences on churches, schools and day care centers…", and they added auto theft, opportunities for prostitution, transmission of sexually transmitted diseases, and neighborhood blight, as additional causes for legitimate city concerns.
Next, we come to the "substantial governmental interest" and "alternative avenues of communication" test. This where things get a bit interesting. As for alternative avenues, the SOBs claimed that these new regs were designed to put them out of business because "there's just no place to move." But Houston countered with some statistics of its own. It could show that when the '97 ordinances were enacted, there were 128 SOBs in Houston, and under the '97 ordinances, there were at least 1,362 actual conforming SOB sites. 'Nuff said.
Now for "governmental interest," and here is where it gets really interesting. Houston's new rules required entrances to "entertainment rooms" to be free from obstacles or obscurities, including doors. How in the world could there be a governmental interest in keeping sight lines good in a strip joint? The SOBs were legitimately upset about this because doors are needed to maintain a "different musical ambience in each of the rooms….The purpose of the door is thus to minimize ambient noise." But said the Court:
the First Amendment protects topless dancing from clothing, not musical accompaniment from ambient noise.
And finally, of course, the SOBs objected to having their entertainers and managers wear their licenses. Houston won on this too, because the Court bought the argument that Vice Cops need to be able to determine quickly, from a distance, and without being intrusive, whether entertainers or managers had licenses or not, and who (if any) was engaging in or permitting any illegal behavior.
If the occurrence of illegal behavior in SOBs is more of a revelation for you, consider the testimony of some of Houston's finest Vice Cops in support of these regs. Apparently, dancers ask patrons (including Vice Cops, it turns out) to give them money to tip the staff in the area of the club, so the staff/management will literally look the other way while they do their table or lap dance. That way, they can get a little more carried away with their "performance" than the law allows. Doors and other obstructions aid their desire for privacy.
And a couple of Vice Cops got dang near assaulted in these joints. One testified that 2 dancers had a conversation right in front of him about whether the manager was "cool" with their moves, and it was settled by the manager himself, who assured them all of his hipness. Then, the 2 dancers "were willing to perform sex acts on me at the club"–right then and there. "They wanted to go through with it. I had to get out of it and did not want to go through with it." That was his exact testimony.
Yet another Vice Cop said he watched as a couple of dancers "along with another dancer engaged in sex with one another as well as [indicating they were] willing to engage in sex with [individuals] who they thought were my business partners, but were other police officers."
You just gotta feel for the lack of luck on the part of these entertainers, don't you? In any event, this sort of bad behavior also supports the "no doors, obstructions or obscurities" policy as well. And so, now there are just no secrets inside a Houston SOB anymore. Everything's out in the open. Literally.
And Houston Vice can now walk in, quickly check the licenses without obstruction, catch the 9:30 show, and be out by………midnight. All in a hard day's work. And that's the naked truth about a very lengthy 64 page court opinion. If the government can do it to SOBs, they can do it to your business.
How do you counteract this power? Well, I've been there and done that (with mainstream businesses, not strip clubs). I've testified before planning commissions, P&Z boards, and city councils. There are three rules. First rule: pay attention to politics. Not just local networking, but understanding the goals of the political bodies and persons with whom you have to deal. Get to know the city's agenda for land use and development. Develop and emphasize the positives of your operation, like its creation of employment and payment of wages. Show the positive impact your business will have on their tax base, just to name a couple of specific examples.
Rule No. 2. If you are not a seasoned veteran at this, hire one.
And Rule No. 3: on the front end, before you buy or lease property, check the zoning to make sure the land use will be compatible with current regulations. Every major Texas city other than Houston has a master plan for land use. Many of them are available online. Get it and review it. Condition purchases and leases on obtaining appropriate zoning to allow you to do what you want how you want (or use a feasibility period to figure this out).
Bottom line, zoning regulations are negotiable–their drafting, figuring out how they apply, and in the enforcement. It's all negotiable. And while zoning power is almost absolute, there are limits to the exercise of that power, both procedural and substantive, and there are times when you may be entitled to compensation for the government's actions.
Land use is one of the hottest, most rapidly growing areas of the law. It will continue to be, as cities and suburbs try to fight urban blight and suburban and exurban sprawl. And anytime you get involved in a land use dispute, remember Rule No. 2.
N.W. Enterprises, Inc., et al. v. City of Houston, Case No. 98-20255, U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, November 25, 2003.
Takings
May 28 Advanced Zoning: Cleaning up the SOB'S in Dallas
For many, many years the City of Dallas waged war against the "sexually oriented business" industry (commonly known as "SOBs"). Or ...
May 28 Public Taking: Quarries, Nuisances, and One Mean City
Vulcan Materials Company faced off with the City of Tehuacana in beautiful Limestone County, Texas, over its rights to mine ...
May 28 Inverse Condemnation: Altering Existing Right of Way
Inverse Condemnation Defined We all know what condemnation is; when the government shows up to "take" your land and use it for ...


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Bolitoglossa helmrichi е вид земноводно от семейство Plethodontidae. Видът е почти застрашен от изчезване.

Разпространение
Разпространен е в Гватемала.

Източници

Bolitoglossa

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Sephora Triple Action Cleansing Water $20 - Whenever I go abroad I always ask what I should buy from Sephora however once I'm there, I'm totally overwhelmed (and underpaid) and can never choose what I should purchase. Before my last trip to Barcelona back in January I watched one of Fleur De Force's Youtube videos where she mentioned this cleansing water and how easy it was to use. I *think* she hailed it as better than Bioderma (although don't quote me on that) and it went straight to the top of my list. I actually wandered around one of Barcelona's three Sephoras before being able to find this and convinced James that of course I needed the larger one as who knows when we'll be in a country with a Sephora again?! He promptly wandered off to another shop and left me to rummage but once I found it, I never wanted to let it go! I was going to wait until I got home to use it but I just couldn't contain myself and opening it straight away. Boy, was Fleur right, it removes even waterproof makeup with ease, the pump on the top means that there's no awkward pouring out and loosing product everywhere and it leaves my skin feeling clean and refreshed. I actually only really use this in the morning now (as a cleanser) and feel like it does enough. The only thing I will say is make sure that your cotton pad is pressed firmly over all of the pump else you will lose some product from either side that seeps out. Although I think I'll run out of this long before I'm anywhere near another Sephora (why oh why isn't there one in the UK?!), I will actually keep the bottle and dispense any other micellar or cleansing waters I have into it as it saves me no end of time and faff in the mornings. It's 100% worth the money (although not worth the expensive shipping) and I wholly recommend you pick at least the smaller size up when you're next in a Sephora blessed country.


Heacox, Hartman, Koshmrl, Cosgriff, Johnson, Lane & Feenstra, P.A. was formed by its principals out of a shared vision to create a law firm of uncompromising commitment to excellence and client service. In keeping with this vision, our firm provides high-quality, cost-effective, aggressive litigation services to a diverse, well-established clientele of businesses, self-insured corporations and the insurance industry. The firm specializes in providing its clients defense and counsel primarily in the areas of workers' compensation and derivative personal injury litigation.
Simply put, the goal of Heacox Hartman is to be the preeminent law firm in Minnesota practicing in the areas of workers' compensation defense and general litigation support services. It is our unabashed ambition to be the very best at what we do.
We promise our unwavering commitment to provide the very best representation and litigation services in the defense of workers' compensation cases and derivative personal injury litigation available in Minnesota.
We are committed to being the very best at the legal services we provide. We ask our clients to expect nothing less.


Israel-Firster David Horowitz's Freedom Foundation put an Israeli propaganda ad in the Zioncon-owned New York Times (April 24, 2012), which invoked Holocaust against the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS).
Racists and bigot Zionist Jews like David Horowitz – have never interested me. However, what got me interested into this Jew-vs-Jew debate was the summary of past Zionist history in the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network's response to the ad. It says that the March 1933 call by US Jewish groups for the boycott of German goods failed thanks to the Zionist Jewish collaboration with Nazi Germany.
"One reason the boycott failed was the well-documented sabotage by Zionist parties (those that founded the State of Israel and today continue to organize political and economic support). The Zionist Federation of Germany together with the Jewish Agency in Palestine chose to collaborate with the Nazis by signing an agreement for the promotion of German exports in exchange for allowing wealthy German Jews to transfer some of their wealth to Palestine. We recall this history with sadness".
The FAIR magazine selected David Horowitz among the top 12 Islamophobes in 2008. He runs the FrontPage Magazine and regularly writes for the Ziocon media outlets, such as, Washington Times, the Weekly Standard and appears on the Fox News Channel.
David Horowitz is known for his hatred towards Muslims, Arabs and Afro-Americans. Based on his Jewish Talmudic racism – earlier in one of speeches, he had said that Blacks should be grateful for their slavery.
Horowitz had called professors Edward Said, Noam Chomsky and Norman Finkelstein "terrorist". Dr. Finkelstein has called Horowitz "a political whore". Last year, Horowitz called Rep. Ron Paul a "crackpot and vicious anti-Semite" for suggesting that $3 billion US annual military aid to Israel should be stopped. Both David Horowitz and Alan Dershowitz ran a vicious smear campaign against their fellow Jewish professor Finkelstein and eventually Finkelstein was denied tenure at DePaul University in 2007.
Last month, 1200 rabbis sent a letter to Methodist Christian groups, warning them not to join BDS movement against Israeli companies. On May 1, 2012 – the Tampa Bay Times published Nobel Prize laureate South African Bishop Desmond Tutu's response to these pro-Israel rabbis.
"A quarter-century ago I barnstormed around the United States encouraging Americans, particularly students, to press for divestment from South Africa. Today, regrettably, the time has come for similar action to force an end to Israel's long-standing occupation of Palestinian territory and refusal to extend equal rights to Palestinian citizens who suffer from some 35 discriminatory laws," wrote Tutu.
"My voice will always be raised in support of Christian-Jewish ties and against the anti-Semitism that all sensible people fear and detest. But this cannot be an excuse for doing nothing and for standing aside as successive Israeli governments colonize the West Bank and advance racist laws," added Tutu.
"Many black South Africans have traveled to the occupied West Bank and have been appalled by Israeli roads built for Jewish settlers that West Bank Palestinians are denied access to, and by Jewish-only colonies built on Palestinian land in violation of international law," says Tutu.
"Such action (BDS) made an enormous difference in apartheid South Africa. It can make an enormous difference in creating a future of justice and equality for Palestinians and Jews in the Holy Land," concluded Bishop Tutu.
Late last month, Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros al-Rahi, during a pastrol visit to Mexico had claimed that the Arab-Israeli struggle has been the main conflict in the Middle East.


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UNESCO marks International Day for Universal Access to Information in Lahore
September 26, 2019 PPI News AgencyLeave a Comment on UNESCO marks International Day for Universal Access to Information in Lahore
LAHORE:Under its Multi-donor program on Freedom of Expression and Safety of Journalists, UNESCO Islamabad, commemorated the International Day for the Universal Access to Information (IDUAI) 2019 at Punjab University on Thursday, September 26, 2019. The event was organized in partnership with the European Union, Embassy of the Kingdom of Netherlands, Embassy of Sweden in Pakistan, United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and civil society partner Digital Rights Foundation (DRF).
2019 is the fourth year of UNESCO marking the "International Day for Universal Access to Information" (IDUAI). On 17 November, 2015, UNESCO adopted a resolution (38 C/70) declaring 28 September of every year as International Day for Universal Access to Information (IDUAI). IDUAI has particular relevance with the national development agenda as well as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and in particular with target 16.10 which calls for ensuring public access to information and protection of fundamental freedoms.
The Ambassador of Sweden, H.E. Ms. Ingrid Johansson and the Ambassador of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, H.E. Mr. Wouter Plomp gave opening remarks and emphasized the need for recognizing the importance of access to information for strengthening democracy. Deputy Head of mission at European Union Delegation to Pakistan, Ms. Anne Marchal also attended the event. The speakers included key officials and civil society actors including Mr. Zahid Abdullah, the Federal Information Commissioner; Mr. Mahboob Qadir Shah, the Punjab Information Commissioner; Anoosha Shaigan from Courting the Law; Mr. Nabeel Qadeer and Usama Khilji from Bolo Bhi. The event provided students an opportunity to engage with practitioners and discuss the right to information in the context of marginalized communities and equality in accessibility.
UNESCO Representative Pakistan, Ms. Vibeke Jensen gave closing remarks and reiterated that inclusivity was the key to achieving sustainable development goals and ensuring access to information for all is an integral part of the process.
Fortem Technologies Wins "Innovative Security Product of the Year" From Future Security Awards 2019
World Maritime Day observed
Protesting against enforced disappearances is not a crime: HRCP
Sport: (Quaid-e-Azam Trophy final to be played from Dec 27)
November 23, 2019 PPI News Agency
Punjab University awards PhD degrees to five scholars
September 9, 2021 September 10, 2021 PPI News Agency


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Q: Multiple column Union Query without duplicates I'm trying to write a Union Query with multiple columns from two different talbes (duh), but for some reason the second column of the second Select statement isn't showing up in the output.  I don't know if that painted the picture properly but here is my code:
Select empno, job
From EMP
Where job = 'MANAGER'
Union
  Select empno, empstate
  From EMPADDRESS
  Where empstate = 'NY'
  Order By empno

The output looks like:
EMPNO   JOB
4600    NY
5300    MANAGER
5300    NY
7566    MANAGER
7698    MANAGER
7782    MANAGER
7782    NY
7934    NY
9873    NY

Instead of 5300 and 7782 appearing twice, I thought empstate would appear next to job in the output.  For all other empno's I thought the values in the fields would be (null).  Am I not understanding Unions correctly, or is this how they are supposed to work?
Thanks for any help in advance.

A: If you want the data in a separate column you will want a JOIN not a UNION:
Select e.empno, e.job, a.empstate
From EMP e
left join EMPADDRESS a
    on e.empno = a.empno
Where job = 'MANAGER'
    AND empstate = 'NY'
Order By e.empno

A UNION combines the two results into a single set but the data is listed in the same columns. So basically they are placed on top of one another:
select col1, col2, 'table1' as src
from table1
union all
select col1, col2, 'table2' as src
from table2

Will result in:
col1 | col2 | src
t1   | t1   | table1
t2   | t2   | table2

If you want to have the data in a separate column which is sounds like you do then you will use a join of the tables.

A: Bluefeet has the correct answer.
Think of joins as combining tables horizontally - you're adding more columns to the original query with each table you join.
Think of unions as stacking record sets vertically - you're adding extra rows to the same set of columns.

A: You need a JOIN for this..
Select e.empno, e.job, ea.empstate
From EMP e LEFT OUTER JOIN EMPADDRESS ea ON e.empno = ea.empno
Where e.job = 'MANAGER'
And ea.empstate = 'NY'
Order By e.empno

UNION is for taking 2 result sets with the same column names and merging them into one. In your example, its lumping column 2 (job and empstate) together, and taking the name from the first select.

A: i think you meant to write is as a join instead?
ie if you wanted empstate to be null for those employee's not in NY.
select empno, job, empstate
from emp e
     left outer join empaddress a
                  on a.empno = e.empno
                 and e.empstate = 'NY'
where e.job = 'MANAGER';

A: this one works in oracle..by using union ..here inner query will fetch out the all the columns after that grouping with empno and rest of the columns is string concatenated
  select EMPNO
        ,wm_concat(job) job
        ,wm_concat(EMPSTATE) EMPSTATE
  from
  ( select EMPNO,job,'' as EMPSTATE  from EMP Where job ='MANAGER'
    union  select EMPNO,'' as job, EMPSTATE from EMPADDRESS Where empstate ='NY'
  )
 group by EMPNO order by 1

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Smok's (SMOKTECH) has recently introduced a box shaped pod vape, the SMOK MICO, into the market which is designed to compete with Smoking Vapor's Mi-Pod. Many folks have gone as far as to call the device a clone of the Mi-Pod.
While the devices bear a very striking resemblance, we are going to take a look under the hood to find the differences between the two devices.
The design of both the SMOK MICO and SV Mi-Pod look similar when you take a look at the pictures online, but picking up the devices clue you into the subtleties of the size differences.
The MICO is slightly wider, while the Mi-Pod is substantially (relative to the dimensions) taller. Since the measurements are in millimeters, most people shouldn't be too concerned.
Each device fits in your pocket or purse easily and falls into the ultra-portable class of vape devices. Where you may give the edge to the Mi-Pod is in the finish of the body.
There are a number of finish options for the Mi-Pod ranging from smooth metal to suede, while the MICO only brandishes a resin finish currently.
The battery life of the Mi-Pod seems to edge out the SMOK pod vape with a 950 mAh battery size vs. the 700 mAh battery size of the MICO.
Both battery sizes offer enough life for those longer vaping sessions where you may be away from a charger for a good amount of time, however, you should see a longer life from the Mi-Pod.
These different options, particularly the mesh option, is the key attraction to the MICO. Despite the 2ml capacity of the Mi-Pod (the MICO holds 1.7ml), we have to pick the MICO pods for the versatility.
As with any of these types of comparisons, it's fair to say that vapers should choose the device that suits their needs best.
For folks looking for longer battery life or more color and style options, the Mi-Pod is the right device for them. The bigger battery and 1.3ohm pod combination has given most people enough battery life for those long journeys (e.g. a road trip) without the need for a recharge.
For vapers who like more options or desire a specific type of vaping experience, the SMOK MICO provides a number of coil options. Vapers are able to test the different coils to see which one produces the best results (which can often times be influenced by the juice you are using).
The MVG team has ran a Mi-Pod vape in our rotation for a long time, and enjoy the device. The MICO vape gives us a new device to play and so far, so good.
Which Suorin Vape is the best?


I've been sneaking a few Truck #2 posts in here lately. Soon that truck will have its own Blog. For now they will show up here.
I met this week with the folks over at the City of Boston business development office. They are doing a ton to help us with the new truck. Not least of which is providing us with a loan. That's right, the City of Boston is loaning us money to grow, $25,000. Of course we're excited to pay it back with interest, but just as excited to report new jobs we'll be creating, and most importantly, the number of Bostonians we'll be feeding.
We suspect a few Boston residents have snuck over Cambridge side to eat with us, but soon Clover will be in Boston proper. We can't wait. There's still a ton to get ready (truck, staff, site location), but we're working hard on it and things are moving forward.


Dutch is spoken by 23 million people, mainly in the Netherlands and Belgium, and is an official EU language. For English speakers, written Dutch can be fairly straightforward to pick up, although the pronunciation can be more of a challenge.
This simple guidebook and audio CD covers Dutch grammar, pronunciation and everyday phrases, making this vibrant language more accessible to English speakers – whether you're just visiting or planning to stay on a long-term basis. Dutch For Dummies is the essential guide for everyone from students and holidaymakers, to those wanting to speak Dutch for business purposes.
From numbers and vocabulary to greetings, popular expressions and proper etiquette, this clear, easy-to-follow guide will have you speaking Dutch like a native in no time.


Cassel Salpeter & Co., LLC ("Cassel Salpeter") has developed a Business Continuity Plan ("BCP") on how our firm will respond to events that significantly disrupt our business.
If a business disruption affects only our firm or a specific building within our firm, we will transfer our operations to a local worksite. In a disruption affecting our business district, city, or region, we will transfer our operations to an alternate worksite outside of the affected area. In either situation, we plan to continue conducting business and notify our clients how to contact us through a voice message reached via our main phone number. In order to accommodate our recovery time objective, telephone service will continue at the alternate worksite and normal work processes will resume at the alternate worksite. Recovery times may vary depending on the nature and severity of the disruption; however, our recovery time objective for mission critical operations is 0-72 hours. If the significant business disruption is so severe that it prevents us from conducting business, we will update our voice message.
At a minimum, the Cassel Salpeter business continuity plan is reviewed and updated on an annual basis. Additionally, our primary internal and external application providers periodically conduct testing of their own back-up capabilities to ensure that, in the event of an emergency or significant business disruption, they will be able to provide us with the critical information and applications we need to continue or promptly resume our business. Our businesscontinuity plan is designed to allow us to continue to provide the quality service you have come to expect from Cassel Salpeter.
Cassel Salpeter recognizes how important it is for you to feel confident in the knowledge that your personal financial information is secure. We are committed to protecting and safeguarding the personal and financial information that you have entrusted to us. In the course of doing business with clients, Cassel Salpeter may collect confidential information about clients. "Confidential personal information" is financial and any other information about our clients that is non-public and personally identifiable such as name, address, date of birth, or social security numbers. Such information may also include the amount of your investments, representations about your assets and income you made and representations of sources of your funds.
To service providers that perform services for Cassel Salpeter, such as our external auditors, outside counsels, and service providers that process or service Cassel Salpeter transactions (including custodians, broker-dealers, prime brokers, third party administrators and banks).
Even if a client no longer has an account with Cassel Salpeter, we will adhere to the privacy policies and practices described in this notice.


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Open Arms Fellowship feeds the hungry
Jean Ann Miller
jeanann.miller@lincolncourier.com
Members of Open Arms Christian Fellowship, 813 Woodlawn Rd, Lincoln, were busy Sunday in helping the community fight hunger.
Lead Pastor Larry Crawford said the idea came from a church leader .
"The schools are feeding kids during the week, but someone said we need to do it on Sunday's. I loved the idea and so we went to work," said Crawford.
The group partnered with local restaurants to help support the community. Sunday marked the 10th week of the program and over that time they have served on average 900 meals.
Volunteers range from school children to the elderly.
"It's a great way to teach our children how to give back," said Crawford.
The church known for its Family Funday event that was postponed this year due to COVID-19 will happen.
"People keep asking me about that and it will happen whenever it is safe to do so. I anticipate late summer or early fall."
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© 2021 www.lincolncourier.com. All rights reserved.


He/She or their parents or paternal grand-father was a citizen of India by virtue of the Indian Constitution.
Yes. Reserve Bank has granted permission for sale of such property. However, where the property is purchased by another foreign citizen of Indian origin, funds towards the purchase consideration should either be remitted to India or paid out of balances in NRE/FCNR accounts..
In respect of residential properties purchased on or after 26th May, 1993, Reserve Bank considers applications for repatriation of sale proceeds up to the consideration amount remitted in foreign exchange for the acquisition of the property for two such properties. The balance amount of sale proceeds if any or sale proceeds in respect of properties purchased prior to 26th May, 1993, will have to be credited to the ordinary non-resident rupee account of the owner of the property.
Reserve Bank has granted permission to certain financial institutions providing housing finance e.g. HDFC, LIC Housing Finance Ltd, etc to grant housing loans to non-resident Indian nationals for acquisition of houses/flats for self-occupation subject to certain conditions.
One will need a guarantor for a loan mainly for collateral security. The guarantor will have to demonstrate appropriate net worth to cover for the loan. Usually one can have a guarantor in any city where the loan issuer has a branch. Talk to loan issuers they will work something out for NRIs and foreign banks.


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Porsche Carrera Cup NA
IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge
Sports Car Championship Canada
Mazda RT24-P
Ford Mustang GT4
Multimatic takes Mazda Motorsport's title challenge to Mid-Ohio
Multimatic Motorsports rolls into the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course this week ready to continue the battle for the 2020 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. It is tight at the top of the DPi points standings with Harry Tincknell and Jonathan Bomarito holding fourth place, but only six points shy of the leader, in the #55 Mazda RT24-P. In fifth place, only three points behind their team mates, Oliver Jarvis and Tristan Nunez are ready to vindicate the unlucky set-back they suffered at Road Atlanta in the extremely competitive Idemitsu-branded #77 Mazda.
Fresh from his stunning LM GTE Pro victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Harry Tincknell is hoping to ride the crest of the wave all the way to the podium at Mid-Ohio. Despite this being his third season racing the Mazda DPi car, Tincknell has never raced at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course as the event traditionally clashed with the FIA World Endurance Championship race at Spa so his Ford GT duties kept him away. Typically, Tincknell doesn't expect this lack of experience to slow him down.
"I may have never raced at Mid-Ohio in the real world but I finished fifth there in the IMSA iRacing Championship after doing a week's worth of testing on my home sim beforehand. I'm now heading to the Multimatic simulator in Detroit so by the time I arrive at Mid-Ohio I should feel quite at home there.
"It's a track that seems to really suit the Mazda as the team has had podiums there in the last two years but the elusive top spot hasn't quite materialized. Hopefully we can do something about that this time around. We're coming off the back of a good result in Atlanta where we scored good points and I'm on Cloud Nine from my Le Mans win so I can really feel a lot of positive momentum as we head into this event. The Balance of Performance was spot on in Atlanta and I see it's the same for this event so I think we can expect some more amazing racing. A good result at Mid-Ohio will really set us up for the final three races and the run for the championship so it's an important weekend."
Multimatic Motorsports takes aerodynamic development to the next level
Sep 1, 2022
Breakthrough victory comes at the "Le Mans rehearsal"
May 10, 2022
Multimatic delivers the perfect swansong for Mazda's DPi programme with outright victory at Petit Le Mans!
Nov 15, 2021
Ford GT Mk II
© Multimatic Motorsports. All rights reserved.


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Al Qaeda sharia officials address Caucasus defectors in joint statement
by The Long War Journal | Jan 30, 2015 | Monitor |
Ibrahim al Rubaish (left) and Harith bin Ghazi al Nadhari (right) are both AQAP ideologues. Along with eight other jihadists, including two from the Al Nusrah Front, they issued a statement addressing the Caucasus jihadists who have defected to the Islamic State. This image is taken from an AQAP video that was posted online last July.
When a senior Islamic Caucasus Emirate (ICE) commander in Dagestan and others swore allegiance to the Islamic State in mid-December, it caused an uproar among jihadists in the Caucasus. The emir of ICE, Ali Abu Muhammad al Dagestani, issued a stinging rebuke, saying the defections were a "treacherous act" and "caused a split among the mujahideen."
More than one month after the defections, the controversy is still an issue for al Qaeda and its allies.
On Jan. 28, a statement from ten veteran jihadist ideologues was posted on the web site for Vilayat Dagestan, which is one of ICE's so-called "provinces." The jihadists denounce the defections and argue that the Islamic State's self-proclaimed "caliphate" is illegitimate because it was not established according to sharia law.
Their statement was first obtained and translated by the SITE Intelligence Group.
Two of the signatories are Harith al Nadhari and Ibrahim Rubaish, both of whom are senior ideologues in al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). Nadhari, one of AQAP's most senior sharia officials, has become a fierce critic of the Islamic State. Rubaish, an ex-Guantanamo detainee, provides the ideological justifications for AQAP's attacks and plays a key role in collecting donations for the group.
Two others who signed it are Sami al Uraydi, the senior sharia official for the Al Nusrah Front in Syria, and Abu Mariya al Qahtani, another Al Nusrah sharia official. Qahtani was once one of Nusrah's highest ranking sharia officials, but he was reportedly replaced in that capacity. Qahtani has been highly critical of al Qaeda's response to the Islamic State's rise, but is apparently still in Al Nusrah.
The participation of sharia officials from both AQAP and Al Nusrah demonstrates a degree of coordination across al Qaeda's branches. And this is not the first time officials from two al Qaeda branches have coordinated their messaging with respect to the Islamic State. In mid-September, al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and AQAP published a joint statement encouraging jihadist unity in the face of American-led airstrikes in Syria. Both AQIM and AQAP have rejected the Islamic State's "caliphate" in Iraq and Syria, but wanted the jihadists to unite against their common enemies. The gambit failed as the Islamic State remains opposed to all other groups in Syria.
Other well-known jihadist ideologues who signed the statement include Abdallah Muhammad al Muhaysini, an al Qaeda-linked cleric who works closely with Al Nusrah, and Hani Sibai, a longtime ally of Ayman al Zawahiri dating back to the days when they were both in the Egyptian Islamic Jihad (EIJ). Four others signed the statement as well.
The ten signatories say that they "have received the recent news" out of the Caucasus "about the arrival of the sedition of the [Islamic] State and the splitting" of the jihadists' ranks, and they "fear that the rifle will be turned away from the enemy that assails the religion and honor, to be turned against the chests of your mujahideen brothers," SITE's translation reads.
The "declaration by the [Islamic] State of a Caliphate is invalid" according to sharia law, they argue, because Abu Bakr al Baghdadi's organization did not build a proper consensus within the Ummah (community of worldwide Muslims) before making its announcement.
They contend that the Islamic State did not consult with "the honest scholars of the Ummah and their sincere local leaders and their ilk" before declaring Baghdadi to be "Caliph Ibrahim." The Islamic State's jihadist critics have consistently made this same argument against the group.
The authors repeat a common al Qaeda argument: Declaring the establishment of an Islamic emirate (or state) is foolish as long as the US remains a global power. They say that Osama bin Laden, Ayman al Zawahiri ("the mujahid sheikh"), and Attiyah Abd al Rahman (a deceased al Qaeda leader) all held this view. It is, therefore, "vanity" to establish emirates "under the shadow of the global system of disbelief led by America," because this system does not "stop interfering in the lands of the Muslims."
The ideologues go on to cite an anti-Islamic State booklet by another al Qaeda ideologue, Abu Qatada, as well as an AQAP-produced lecture series starring Nadhari to further buttress their arguments.
The statement's signatories also discuss the ICE jihadists' pledge of allegiance to the emir of the group, Ali Abu Muhammad al Dagestani. The Caucasus jihadists who swore allegiance to the Islamic State broke their oaths to Dagestani, but the authors do not want this to lead to more jihadist infighting. They argue that "breaking the pledge" to Dagestani "does not give permission for sacred blood to be shed," according to SITE. In other words, the authors do not want the infighting that has hampered the jihadists' efforts in Syria to spread to the Caucasus.
Still, Dagestani is lauded in the statement, which describes his appointment as the emir of ICE as a "blessing." The authors say that Dagestani "is following the steps of the previous trustworthy ones," including Ibn Khattab, Shamil Basayev, Abu al Walid, and Doku Umarov. All of those named as Dagestani's predecessors are deceased al Qaeda-linked jihadi leaders who served in the Caucasus. Umarov was Dagestani's immediate predecessor as the head of ICE.
Given that Dagestani is an appropriate leader for ICE, the ideologues argue, the Caucasus jihadists' "loyalty" to him is "required by sharia" and "it is forbidden to break it."
It is unclear what, if any, effect the joint statement will have on tensions in the Caucasus.
The Vilayat Dagestan web site is currently trumpeting additional statements from the same al Qaeda ideologues who jointly authored the message.


text:
Coronavirus outbreak threatens Israeli tourism
"There is drastic decline in bookings for East Asia, and that's understandable – but bookings in general have come to a standstill, even for Passover flights to Verona or Cyprus."
By AARON REICH
Published: FEBRUARY 16, 2020 11:51
Ben Gurion International Airport - Terminal 3
(photo credit: DEROR AVI)
The deadly coronavirus outbreak has seen serious declines in tourism to Israel, Globes has reported.
Since first surfacing during December in Wuhan, in China's Hubei province, the coronavirus has spread across much of the world and infected over 67,000 people at the time of writing. As such, the tourism industry has taken a huge hit, especially regarding tourists going to and from East Asia.
However, according to Israel Incoming Tour Operators Association director-general Yossi Fattal, tourism to and from Israel is facing a drop of 50% to 60%.
Some of these seem to be cancellations from groups that had already booked trips to the Jewish state – including from Europe. Currently, these cancellations are only a marginal 10%, but as Fattal explained, this reflects a global trend.
"We're immediately holding emergency discussions, in which we'll talk about how to deal with the possibility of mass cancellations," he said. "The market is in shock. We're getting dozens of calls from groups in Europe and the US. We're worried about the cancellations, and also worried about the financial health of suppliers in Israel, given the cancellations of services that our partners abroad [tourism wholesalers] bought for the groups. It's 10% cancellations now, but it's obvious that this will increase."
Travel agents are in shock, too.
"Travelers who purchased a vacation in Warsaw are calling me, and they are worried," one agent told Globes. "The market in Israel is affected by the panic shown by the Health Ministry.
"There is a drastic decline in bookings for East Asia, and that's understandable – but bookings in general have come to a standstill, even for Passover flights to Verona or Cyprus."
Naturally, these cancellations will hit travel to and from East Asia the hardest. The timing is especially poor for Japan, as direct El Al flights between Tel Aviv and Tokyo are set to begin in March. However, due to "the warnings by the Health Ministry... the public is panicking, and not taking risks on East Asian countries."
This comes as 15 Israelis are stuck quarantined on a cruise ship off the coast of Japan, which has been barred from entry into the country due to the cases of coronavirus detected on board. Currently, 285 cases have been confirmed on the ship, the second-largest concentration of coronavirus cases outside of China. On Sunday, it was announced that three Israelis have been confirmed to be infected.
What's also notable is that many of these cancellations happen at the last minute. This, an agent explained, is because travelers know that they won't be able to get refunds for their flights, so they prefer to wait until the last moment.
A new record for tourism to Israel was broken in 2019 with 4.55 million tourists visiting the country. This reflected a continued increase in tourism year after year, and this trend was forecast to continue into 2020. However, even though not a single case of the coronavirus has been reported in Israel, the outbreak may ruin any plans of breaking the record once again.
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Giaan Leigh Rooney ( * November 15, 1982 in Brisbane ) is a former Australian swimmer who specializes in the back and freestyle tracks.
She lives in Melbourne, where she trained, among others, Matt Welsh, and Michael Klim. After the Commonwealth Games 2006, she retired from active swimming, in order to concentrate on her career on TV. There, she now works as a presenter for sports and health magazines. She also competed at the Australian Varaiante of Stars in part on ice.