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7 USC 615: Refunds of tax; exemptions from tax; compensating tax; compensating tax on foreign goods; covering into Treasury Text contains those laws in effect on July 15, 2019
From Title 7-AGRICULTURECHAPTER 26-AGRICULTURAL ADJUSTMENTSUBCHAPTER III-COMMODITY BENEFITS
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§615. Refunds of tax; exemptions from tax; compensating tax; compensating tax on foreign goods; covering into Treasury
(a) If at any time the Secretary of Agriculture finds, upon investigation and after due notice and opportunity for hearing to interested parties, that any class of products of any commodity is of such low value, considering the quantity of the commodity used for their manufacture, that the imposition of the processing tax would prevent in whole or in large part the use of the commodity in the manufacture of such products and thereby substantially reduce consumption and increase the surplus of the commodity, then the Secretary of Agriculture shall so certify to the Secretary of the Treasury, specifying whether such results will in his judgment most effectively be prevented by a suspension of the imposition of the processing tax or a refund of the tax paid, with respect to such amount of the commodity or any product thereof as is used in the manufacture of such products, and thereafter, as shall be specified in such certification, (1) the imposition of the processing tax shall be suspended with respect to such amount of the commodity as is used in the manufacture of such products, and thereafter, as shall be specified in such certification, (2) the imposition of the processing tax shall be suspended with respect to such amount of the commodity as is used in the manufacture of such products until such time as the Secretary of Agriculture, after further investigation and due notice and opportunity for hearing to interested parties, revokes his certification to the Secretary of the Treasury, or (3) the Secretary of the Treasury shall refund (in accordance with the provisions of, to such persons and in such manner as shall be specified in, such certification) the amount of any tax paid (prior to the date of any revocation by the Secretary of Agriculture of his certification to the Secretary of the Treasury, upon further investigation and after due notice and opportunity for hearing to interested parties) under this chapter with respect to such amount of the commodity or any product thereof as is used after the date of such certification in the manufacture of such products, or shall credit against any tax due and payable under this chapter the amount of tax which would be refundable. During the period in which any certificate under this section is effective, the provisions of subsection (e) of this section shall be suspended with respect to all imported articles of the kind described in such certificate; and notwithstanding the provisions of section 623 of this title, any compensating taxes, which have heretofore, during the period in which any certificate under this section has been effective, become due and payable upon imported articles of the kind described in such certificate, shall be refunded by the Secretary of the Treasury if the same have been paid, or, if the same have not been paid the amount thereof shall be abated. Notwithstanding the provisions of section 623 of this title, the Secretary of the Treasury shall refund or credit any processing tax paid on or before June 12, 1934, with respect to such amount of cotton as was used in the manufacture of large cotton bags (as defined in the Certificate of the Secretary of Agriculture, dated June 12, 1934) between June 13, and July 7, 1934, both inclusive.
(b) No tax shall be required to be paid on the processing of any commodity by or for the producer thereof for consumption by his own family, employees, or household; and the Secretary of Agriculture is authorized, by regulations, to exempt from the payment of the processing tax the processing of commodities by or for the producer thereof for sale by him where, in the judgment of the Secretary, the imposition of a processing tax with respect thereto is unnecessary to effectuate the declared policy.
(b–1) The Secretary of Agriculture is authorized and directed to issue tax-payment warrants, with respect to rough rice produced in 1933 and 1934 (provided the processing of such rice is not exempt from the tax, and provided no tax payment warrant has been previously issued with respect thereto or previously applied for by application then pending, sufficient to cover the tax with respect to the processing thereof at the rate in effect at the time of such issuance, to any processor with respect to any such rice which he had in his possession on March 31, 1935, and to, or at the direction of any other person with respect to any such rice which, on or after April 1, 1935, he delivers for processing or sells to a processor: Provided, That in case any such processor or other person is the producer of such rice (or has received such rice by gift, bequest, or descent from the producer thereof) that such processor or other person is, if eligible, a cooperating producer: And provided further, That in case such processor or other person is not the producer thereof (nor a person who has received such rice by gift, bequest, or descent from the producer thereof), (a) that, if the title to such rice was transferred from the producer thereof, whether by operation of law or otherwise, prior to April 1, 1935, such producer received the price prescribed in any marketing agreement, license, regulation, or administrative ruling, pursuant to this chapter, applicable to the sale of such rice by the producer, and (b) that, if the title to such rice was transferred from the producer thereof, whether by operation of law or otherwise, on or after April 1, 1935, such producer received at least the full market price therefor plus an amount equal to 99 per centum of the face value of tax-payment warrants sufficient to cover the tax on the processing of such rice at rate in effect at the time title was so transferred, and was, if eligible, a cooperating producer.
(b–2) The warrants authorized and directed to be issued by subsection (b–1) of this section-
(1) shall be issued by the Secretary of Agriculture or his duly authorized agent in such manner, at such time or times, at such place or places, in such form, and subject to such terms and conditions with reference to the transfer thereof or the voiding of warrants fraudulently obtained and/or erroneously issued, as the Secretary of Agriculture may prescribe, and the Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to discontinue the further issuance of tax-payment warrants at any time or times and in any region or regions when he shall determine that the rice in any such region or regions can no longer be identified adequately as rice grown in 1933 or 1934; and
(2) shall be accepted by the Collector of Internal Revenue and the Secretary of the Treasury at the face value thereof in payment of any processing tax on rice.
(b–3)(1) Any person who deals or traffics in, or purchases any such tax-payment warrant or the right of any person thereto at less than 99 per centum of its face value shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be fined not more than $1,000 or imprisoned for not more than one year or both.
(2) Any person who, with intent to defraud, secures or attempts to secure, or aids or assists in or procures, counsels, or advises, the securing or attempting to secure any tax-payment warrant with respect to rice as to which any tax-payment warrant has been theretofore issued shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be fined not more than $1,000 or imprisoned for not more than one year, or both.
(3) Any person who with intent to defraud forges, makes, alters, or counterfeits any tax-payment warrant or any stamp, tag, or other means of identification provided for by this chapter or any regulation issued pursuant thereto, or makes any false entry upon such warrant or any false statement in any application for the issuance of such warrant, or who uses, sells, lends, or has in his possession any such altered, forged, or counterfeited warrant or stamp, tag, or other means of identification, or who makes, uses, sells, or has in his possession any material in imitation of the material used in the manufacture of such warrants or stamps, tags, or other means of identification, shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished by a fine not exceeding $5,000 or by imprisonment not exceeding five years, or both.
(4) All producers, warehousemen, processors, and common carriers, having information with respect to rice produced in the years 1933 or 1934, may be required to furnish to the Secretary of Agriculture such information as he shall, by order, prescribe as necessary to safeguard the issuance, transfer, and/or use of tax-payment warrants.
(5) The Secretary of Agriculture may make regulations protecting the interests of producers (including share-tenants and share-croppers) and others, in the issuance, holding, use, and/or transfer of such tax-payment warrants.
(c) Any person, including any State or Federal organization or institution, delivering any product to any organization for charitable distribution or use, including any State or Federal welfare organization, for its own use, whether the product is delivered as merchandise, or as a container for merchandise, or otherwise, shall, if such product or the commodity from which processed is under this chapter subject to tax, be entitled to a refund of the amount of any tax due and paid under this chapter with respect to such product so delivered, or to a credit against any tax due and payable under this chapter of the amount of tax which would be refundable under this section with respect to such product so delivered: Provided, however, That no tax shall be refunded or credited under this section, unless the person claiming the refund or credit establishes, in accordance with regulations prescribed by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury (1) that he has not included the tax in the price of the product so delivered or collected the amount of the tax from the said organization, or (2) that he has repaid, or has agreed in writing to repay, the amount of the tax to the said organization. The word "State" as used in this section shall include a State and any political subdivision thereof.
(d) The Secretary of Agriculture shall ascertain from time to time whether the payment of the processing tax upon any basic agricultural commodity is causing or will cause to the processors or producers thereof disadvantages in competition from competing commodities by reason of excessive shifts in consumption between such commodities or products thereof. If the Secretary of Agriculture finds, after investigation and due notice and opportunity for hearing to interested parties, that such disadvantages in competition exist, or will exist, he shall proclaim such finding. The Secretary shall specify in this proclamation the competing commodity and the compensating rate of tax on the processing thereof necessary to prevent such disadvantages in competition. Thereafter there shall be levied, assessed, and collected upon the first domestic processing of such competing commodity a tax, to be paid by the processor, at the rate specified, until such rate is altered pursuant to a further finding under this section, or the tax or rate thereof on the basic agricultural commodity is altered or terminated. In no case shall the tax imposed upon such competing commodity exceed that imposed per equivalent unit, as determined by the Secretary, upon the basic agricultural commodity.
(e) During any period for which a processing tax is in effect with respect to any commodity there shall be levied, assessed, collected, and paid upon any article processed or manufactured wholly or partly from such commodity and imported into the United States or any possession thereof to which this chapter applies, from any foreign country or from any possession of the United States to which this chapter does not apply, whether imported as merchandise, or as a container of merchandise, or otherwise, a compensating tax equal to the amount of the processing tax in effect with respect to domestic processing of such commodity into such an article at the time of importation: Provided, (1) That in the event any of the provisions of this chapter have been or are hereafter made applicable to any possession of the United States in the case of any particular commodity or commodities, but not generally, this chapter, for the purposes of this subsection, shall be deemed applicable to such possession with respect to such commodity or commodities but shall not be deemed applicable to such possession with respect to other commodities; and (2) That all taxes collected under this subsection upon articles coming from the possessions of the United States to which this chapter does not apply shall not be covered into the general fund of the Treasury of the United States but shall be held as a separate fund and paid into the Treasury of the said possessions, respectively, to be used and expended by the governments thereof for the benefit of agriculture. Such tax shall be paid prior to the release of the article from customs custody or control.
(f) The President, in his discretion, is authorized by proclamation to decree that all or part of the taxes collected from the processing of sugar beets or sugarcane in Puerto Rico, the Territory of Hawaii, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, the Canal Zone, and/or the island of Guam (if the provisions of this chapter are made applicable thereto), and/or upon the processing in continental United States of sugar produced in, or coming from, said areas, shall not be covered into the general fund of the Treasury of the United States but shall be held as a separate fund, in the name of the respective area to which related, to be used and expended for the benefit of agriculture and/or paid as rental or benefit payments in connection with the reduction in the acreage, or reduction in the production for market, or both, of sugar beets and/or sugarcane, and/or used and expended for expansion of markets and for removal of surplus agricultural products in such areas, respectively, as the Secretary of Agriculture, with the approval of the President, shall direct.
(May 12, 1933, ch. 25, title I, §15, 48 Stat. 39 ; May 9, 1934, ch. 263, §§8, 11, 48 Stat. 675 , 676; June 16, 1934, ch. 551, 48 Stat. 973 ; June 26, 1934, ch. 759, §1, 48 Stat. 1241 ; Mar. 18, 1935, ch. 32, §§8, 9, 49 Stat. 47 , 48; Aug. 24, 1935, ch. 641, §§21–24, 49 Stat. 768 ; June 22, 1936, ch. 690, §601(a), 49 Stat. 1739 ; Proc. No. 2695, eff. July 4, 1946, 11 F.R. 7871, 60 Stat. 1352.)
For definition of Canal Zone, referred to in subsec. (f), see section 3602(b) of Title 22, Foreign Relations and Intercourse.
Reference to the Philippine Islands in subsec. (f) was omitted as obsolete in view of the independence proclaimed by the President of the United States by Proc. No. 2695, which is set out as a note under section 1394 of Title 22, Foreign Relations and Intercourse.
Constitutionality
Unconstitutionality of processing and floor stock taxes, see note set out under section 616 of this title.
1936-Subsecs. (a), (c). Act June 22, 1936, reenacted subsecs. (a) and (c) only for the purpose of allowing refunds in cases where the delivery for charitable distribution or use, or the exportation, or the manufacture of large cotton bags, or the decrease in the rate of the processing tax, took place prior to Jan. 6, 1936.
1935-Subsec. (a). Act Aug. 24, 1935, §21, inserted "or shall credit against any tax due and payable under this chapter the amount of tax which would be refundable. During the period in which any certificate under this section is effective, the provisions of subsection (e) of this section shall be suspended with respect to all imported articles of the kind described in such certificate; and notwithstanding the provisions of section 623 of this title, any compensating taxes, which have heretofore, during the period in which any certificate under this section has been effective, become due and payable upon imported articles of the kind described in such certificate, shall be refunded by the Secretary of the Treasury if the same have been paid, or, if the same have not been paid the amount thereof shall be abated. Notwithstanding the provisions of section 623 of this title, the Secretary of the Treasury shall refund or credit any processing tax paid on or before June 12, 1934, with respect to such amount of cotton as was used in the manufacture of large cotton bags (as defined in the Certificate of the Secretary of Agriculture, dated June 12, 1934) between June 13, and July 7, 1934, both inclusive".
Subsecs. (b–1) to (b–3). Act Mar. 18, 1935, §8, added subsecs. (b–1) to (b–3).
Subsec. (e). Act Aug. 24, 1935, §24, inserted "into such an article" after "with respect to domestic processing of such commodity".
Subsec. (e). Act Mar. 18, 1935, §9, among other changes, inserted "(1) That in the event any of the provisions of this chapter have been or are hereafter made applicable to any possession of the United States in the case of any particular commodity or commodities, but not generally, this chapter, for the purposes of this subsection, shall be deemed applicable to such possession with respect to such commodity or commodities but shall not be deemed applicable to such possession with respect to other commodities; and (2)" at beginning of proviso.
1934-Subsec. (a). Act June 26, 1934, among other changes, inserted "and thereafter, as shall be specified in such certification, (1) the imposition of the processing tax shall be suspended with respect to such amount of the commodity as is used in the manufacture of such products".
Subsec. (c). Act June 16, 1934, among other changes, inserted proviso.
Subsec. (e). Act May 9, 1934, §11, substituted "partly" for "in chief value", inserted "whether imported as merchandise, or as a container of merchandise, or otherwise," after "apply", and inserted "of such commodity" after "processing".
Subsec. (f). Act May 9, 1934, §8, added subsec. (f).
Separability
Validity of remainder of this chapter as not affected should any of the provisions of this chapter be declared unconstitutional, see section 614 of this title.
Abolition of Offices and Transfer of Functions
The office of Internal Revenue Collector was abolished by 1952 Reorg. Plan No. 1, §1, eff. Mar. 14, 1952, 17 F.R. 2243, 66 Stat. 823, set out in the Appendix to Title 5, Government Organization and Employees, and by section 2 thereof a new office of district commissioner of internal revenue was established. Section 4 of the Plan transferred all functions, that had been vested by statute in any officer or employee of the Bureau of Internal Revenue since the effective date of 1950 Reorg. Plan No. 26, §§1, 2, 15 F.R. 4935, 64 Stat. 1280, 1281, to the Secretary of the Treasury.
All functions of all officers of the Department of the Treasury, and all functions of all agencies and employees of such Department, were transferred, with certain exceptions, to the Secretary of the Treasury, with power vested in him to authorize their performance or the performance of any of his functions, by any of those officers, agencies, and employees, by 1950 Reorg. Plan No. 26, §§1, 2, eff. July 31, 1950, 15 F.R. 4935, 64 Stat. 1280, set out in the Appendix to Title 5. The Collector and Commissioner of Internal Revenue, referred to in this section, are officers of the Treasury Department.
Admission of Hawaii to Statehood
Hawaii was admitted into the Union on Aug. 21, 1959, on issuance of Proc. No. 3309, Aug. 25, 1959, 24 F.R. 6868, 73 Stat. c74. For Hawaii statehood law, see Pub. L. 86–3, Mar. 18, 1959, 73 Stat. 4 , set out as a note preceding section 491 of Title 48, Territories and Insular Possessions.
Appropriations for refunds, etc., see note under section 610 of this title.


Home Spirituality and Faith Personal Growth Who Are You?
There are people who are very thoughtful and introspective and they want to know all about themselves. They want to know how they "tic" psychologically and why they act and react the way they do. This type of person is really looking for growth. They aren't superficial people. They want self-awareness. The problem is that they have been misled by a culture that gets them too focused on themselves and not on Hashem.
The soul is a part of Hashem and so it's infinite. There is no end to the soul. I could have spent my whole life chasing after more and more knowledge about myself and only ended up with a drop of knowledge about "who" I really am, because just like you and everybody else, I'm infinite!
My real "I" is my soul which is a cheilek eloka mimaal, a "piece of Hashem". Why is the soul called "a piece of Hashem"?
Think about this: If Hashem is everywhere, how are you able to be sitting or standing where you are right now? Hashem causes each person to have this question at some point: How can it be that I and Hashem can be at once in the same place? The point of this questioning is so that a person will realize the truth: Since Hashem is here where I stand; it must be that "I" am not really here!
Such a conclusion is a fact that cannot be comprehended. But it is supposed to make a person think about the need to stop thinking too much about his "I".
It is written (Devorim 32: 39), "For I am who I am, and there is no G-d with me". The true "I" is Hashem. The sage Hillel once said, "If I am here, everyone is here", and this is explained to mean that he was referring to Hashem, who is called "I".
The soul is called a piece of Hashem, and this means that just as Hashem is called "I", so can a person feel his "I" as part of Hashem. Since our soul is a piece of Hashem, and Hashem is considered the only true "I", our soul is able to feel this "I" as well. Our mission is to reveal and recognize who the true "I" is and stay away from outside influences that take us away from who we really are.
When we are in touch with our real selves we are simultaneously connected with Hashem. Our relationship with Hashem, our Creator, is the only relationship that can fully satisfy all of our needs. Our most loving and cherished relationships in this world – the love of parents – the love between spouses – are given to us by Hashem to prepare us to give up ownership of a private place in our hearts so that He will dwell within us forever.


'Lilly' is a Crenshaw melon that is best harvested at the stage known as forced-slip.
'Lilly' is much earlier than most Crenshaw varieties. Melon expert Steve Bellavia, of Johnny's R&D, demonstrates the easy way to tell your 'Lilly' is ready for plucking, to ensure its juicy, light-orange flesh is enjoyed at the peak of its distinctive, sweet-spicy flavor.


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An-Nuayman ibn Amr: The Companion Who Made the Prophet Laugh
by Imam | posted in: Sahabah & Salaf, The Faith	| 0
The Prophet had a good laugh and so did his companions.
In spite of the fact that he fought in the battles of Badr, Uhud, Khandaq and other major encounters, An-Nuayman ibn Amr remained a light-hearted person who was quick at wordplay and who loved to play practical jokes on others.
He belonged to the Banu an-Najjar of Madinah and he was among the early Muslims of the city. He was one of those who pledged allegiance to the Prophet (peace be upon him) at the Second Pledge of Aqabah.
He established links with the Quraish when he married the sister of Abdur-Rahman ibn Awf and later Umm Kulthum the daughter of Uqbah ibn Abi Muayt. She had obtained a divorce from her husband Az-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam on account of his harshness and severity.
Once An-Nuayman went to the market and saw some food being sold which appeared to be tasty and delightful. He ordered some and sent it to the Prophet as if it were a gift from him.
The Prophet was delighted with the food and he and his family ate of it. The vendor of the food then came to An-Nuayman to collect the price of it and An-Nuayman said to him: "Go to the Messenger of God it was for him. He and his family ate it." The vendor went to the Prophet who in turn asked An-Nuayman: "Didn't you give it to me?" "Yes," said An-Nuayman. "I thought you would like it and I wanted you to eat some of it so I had it presented to you. But I don't have any money to pay the vendor for it. So, pay, O Messenger of God!" The Prophet had a good laugh and so did his companions. The laugh was at his expense, literally, for he had to pay the price of the unsolicited gift. An-Nuayman felt that two benefits came out of the incident: the Prophet and his family ate food that they enjoyed and the Muslims had a good laugh.
Once Abu Bakr and some companions went on a trading expedition to Busra. Various people on the trip were given fixed duties. Suwaybit ibn Harmalah was made responsible for food and provisions. An-Nuayman was among the group and on the way he became hungry and asked Suwaybit for some food. Suwaybit refused and an-Nuayman said to him:
"Do you know what I would yet do with you?" and went on to warn and threaten him but still Suwaybit refused. An-Nuayman then went to a group of Arabs in the market and said to them: "Would you like to have a strong and sturdy slave whom I can sell to you." They said "of Course and An-Nuayman went on: "He has a swift tongue and is very articulate. He will resist you and say: 'I am free.' But don't listen to him"
The men paid the price of the slave – ten pieces of gold and An-Nuayman accepted it and appeared to complete the transaction with business-like efficiency. The buyers accompanied him to fetch theft purchase.
Pointing to Suwaybit, he said: "This is the slave whom I sold to you." The men took hold of Suwaybit and he shouted for dear life and freedom. "I am free". I am Suwaybit ibn Harmalah…" But they paid no attention to him and dragged him off by the neck in shackles as they would have done with any slave.
All the while, an-Nuayman did not laugh or batter an eyelid. He remained completely calm and serious while Suwaybit continued to protest bitterly. Suwaybit's fellow travelers, realizing what was happening, rushed to fetch Abu Bakr, the leader of the caravan, who came running as fast as he could. He explained to the purchasers what had happened and so they released Suwaybit and had their money returned. Abu Bakr then laughed heartily and so did Suwaybit and an-Nuayman. Back in Madinah, when the episode was recounted to the Prophet and his companions, they all laughed even more.
A man once came to the Prophet on a delegation and tied his camel at the door of the Mosque. The Companions noticed that the camel had a large fat hump and their appetite for succulent tasty meat was stimulated. They turned to An-Nuayman and asked: "Would you deal with this camel?" An-Nuayman understood what they meant. He got up and slaughtered the camel. The nomad Arab came out and realized what had happened when he saw people grilling, sharing out and eating meat. He shouted in distress: "Oh my camel, what have you done!" The Prophet heard the commotion and came out. He learnt from the Sahabah what had happened and began searching for An-Nuayman but did not find him. Afraid of being blamed and punished, an-Nuayman had fled. The Prophet then followed his footprints. These led to a garden belonging to Danbaah the daughter of az-Zubayr, a cousin of the Prophet. He asked the companions where an-Nuayman was. Pointing to a nearby ditch, they said loudly so as not to alert an-Nuayman: "We haven't found him, O Messenger of God." An-Nuayman was found in the ditch covered with palm branches and leaves and emerged with dirt on his head, beard and face. He stood in the presence of the Prophet who took him by the head and dusted the dirt from his face while he chuckled with laughter. The companions joined in the mirth. The Prophet paid the price of the camel to its owner and they all joined in the feast.
The Prophet obviously regarded an-Nuayman's pranks for what they were; light-hearted jokes that were meant to create some relief and laughter. The religion of Islam does not require people to disdain seemly laughter and levity and remain perpetually gloomy. An appropriate sense of humor is often a saving grace. An-Nuayman lived on after the Prophet and continued to enjoy the affection of Muslims. But did he put an end to his laughter?
During the caliphate of Uthman, a group of Companions were sitting in the Masjid. They saw Makhramah ibn Nawfal, an old man who was about one hundred and fifteen years old and obviously rather senile. He was related to the sister of Abdur-Rahman ibn Awf, who was a wife of an-Nuayman. Makhramah was blind. He was so weak that he could hardly move from his place in the Mosque. He got up to urinate and might have done so in the Mosque. But the companions shouted at him to prevent him from doing so.
An-Nuayman got up and went to take him to another place, as he was instructed. What is this other place that an-Nuayman took him to? In fact he took him only a short distance away from where he was sitting at first and sat him down. The place was still in the Mosque! People shouted at Makhramah and made him get up again all in a frenzy. The poor old man was distressed and said: "Who has done this?" "An-Nuayman ibn Amr," he was told.
The old man swore and announced that he would bash An-Nuayman on the head with his stick if he should meet him. An-Nuayman left and returned. He was up to some prank of his again. He saw Uthman ibn Affan, the Commander of the Faithful, praying in the Mosque. Uthman was never distracted when he stood for Prayer. An-Nuayman also saw Makhramah. He went up to him and in a changed voice said: "Do you want to get at an-Nuayman?" The old man remembered what an-Nuayman had done. He remembered his vow and shouted: "Yes, where is he?" An-Nuayman took him by the hand and led him to the place where the Caliph Uthman stood and said to him: "Here he is!" The old man raised his staff and bashed the head of Uthman and the people shouted: "That's the Commander of the Faithful!" They dragged Makhramah away and some people set out to get an-Nuayman but Uthman restrained them and asked them to leave him alone. In spite of the blows he had suffered, he was still able to laugh at the deeds of An-Nuayman. An-Nuayman lived up to the time of Muawiyah when a trial between the believers saddened him and discord filled him with anguish. He lost his humor and laughed no more.
An-Nuayman ibn Amr: The Companion Who Made the Prophet Laugh, entertainment in Isalm, FEATURED, fun in Islam, laughter in Islam
Very nice Dua's
Holy Quran Tafseer AlNamal
Diseases Sickness And Illness Al Namal
SURAH MULK WITH ENGLISH TRANSLATION
Ayat E Shafa
Al-Baqarah ( The Cow ) - البقرة
Cappadocia Turkey Al Namal

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Q: How can I change the priority of a resource request in SimPy after yielding the request? I'm modeling a manufacturing system where machines can fail randomly and request a technician for repair with a specified priority. However, while a machine is waiting for a technician to become available, its priority could change. Is this something I can model in SimPy? The relevant part of my code is below:
with technician.request(priority=self.get_priority()) as req:
    yield req
    yield self.env.timeout(self.time_to_repair)

A: I came across an answer to this while trying to solve another problem that uses a request's cancel() method, as described in detail in Section 2 of Advanced Features of the SimPy Language.
In my specific example, I have a Machine class that runs several processes. Within an instance of Machine, the request is first yielded within an environment process:
self.req = technician.request(priority=self.get_priority())
yield self.req

Another environment process can cancel the request later and generate a new one:
self.req.cancel()
self.req = technician.request(priority=self.get_priority())
yield self.req

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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BCO at 2019 Okotoks Trade & Lifestyle Show (April 12-13, 2019)
Excited to share with the Okotoks community what we've been up to and BCO's plans for the future.
#charity #okotoks #growtogether
BCO Team at Tradeshow
2018 A Year to Remember!
What a year it's been!
Over 11,000 pounds of clothing donations made their way to our partners Calgary Drop-In & Rehab Centre - The DI, The Mustard Seed, and Streets Alive.
Our board of directors grew by two--we now have eight amazing souls that will support BCO in taking great strides in 2019!
We were nominees in the 2018 Okotoks Business Excellence Awards for the Social Profit Award among some amazing organizations!
Over 1000 essentials bags were made, which included soaps, shampoos, lip balm and lotions, much of which was made by hand. The bags were filled with generous donations from so many gracious donors. Thank you to our partners at Windy Point Soap Making Supplies Inc. for teaching us all the craft of soap making!
We became members of Okotoks & District Chambers of Commerce.
Our fall fundraiser left us speechless, the support within the community, Town of Okotoks and from the Okotoks and District Chamber of Commerce was immeasurable and it allowed BCO to create a new level of awareness of those in need in our communities and how we are all connected, including the importance of seeing each other.
Our Christmas Feast fed 128 people, including 56 children, within 27 families. Every child had a present under the tree. So many supporters this season made this event the biggest act of kindness to date! Huge thanks go out to Okotoks Sobeys, Hallmark Does Hair, Pure Envy Salon, We Wash Windows, Pet Valu Okotoks, Okotoks Culture & Heritage, RBC, Excel Benefits Inc, iDental, The Eagle 100.9, Okotoks Western Wheel Newspaper, Linda (our Christmas angel for making stockings), our Calgary angel who made delicious treats, everyone who nominated a family in need (it's so important to look out for our neighbours during the holiday season), and all of our amazing volunteers who helped bring it all together and deliver the Christmas Feasts to each of our families.
We had an article in Okotoks Living magazine, creating more awareness for our local community of how we offer a hand up and our future aspirations for those in need.
We received an early Christmas present and got our official status as a Registered Charity!
And none of this could have happened without all the support we received from all of you, our volunteers and from our communities throughout Alberta! Thank you.
We have amazing plans for 2019, and we would love to have you join us!
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Yesterday morning Minnie made it out of the house with the green rope toy in her mouth. It is one of the toys that we would prefer she leave indoors, to keep it from getting nasty. I did not have time to play keep-away with her. And my back is still stiff from straining it carrying her cage out after she soiled it overnight 10 days ago.
But it was a nice day, and I thought the rope toy would not get too nasty if it was outside for only a few hours. So I let her hang onto it, and made a note in my reminders app to bring it inside later in the day when she tired of it.
All of this probably sounds crazy to people who don't have dogs.
we always teach the command "drop it." Have had to tell Artemis to drop many things on her way out the door.
Bad doggie daddy! You have to stay firm! Puck has some big chewies that he loves to carry around. I never let him take them outside. Brian did once and now we have to fight about it every time. It's like the one time you let your kids stay up past bedtime to watch a TV show – you argue over bedtime for years to come.
Maybe have a small treat handy to give her for a 'drop'?


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text:
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Governmental entities are entitled to special protections from liability if they performed their duties in a reasonable manner. The Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1968 requires nationwide bridge inspection standards for all highway bridges. Federal law requires federal agencies to inspect bridges on public roads under their jurisdictions and report the figures to the Federal Highway Administration's National Bridge Inventory. Each respective governmental agency within the state has the responsibility to regularly inspect, maintain and repair bridges to ensure that they are safe and comply with federal government standards. When a governmental entity knew about a defect in a bridge, yet failed to repair it in a reasonable time, that entity may be held legally responsible if the defect contributed to the bridge to collapse. However, typically it must be proven that the government agency had prior notice of any defects, unsafe or dangerous conditions.
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Q: Does ExoPlayer create a windowIndex for each media source in ConcatenatingMediaSource? I'm working on an app that streams a list of mp3 files, to do this I've used ExoPlayer with a ConcatenatingMediaSource as this:
private fun createMediaSource(
        tracks: List<Track>
    ): MediaSource = ConcatenatingMediaSource(true).apply {
        tracks.forEach { track ->
            val mediaSource = ProgressiveMediaSource
                .Factory(DefaultDataSourceFactory(context))
                .createMediaSource(MediaItem.fromUri(track.getFullUri()))
            addMediaSource(mediaSource)
        }
    }

This works great, the files play as list with no errors at all, however what's required from me is to play all these streams as a single stream, where I show the total length of all streams on the seek bar, and the user would seek seamlessly between them.
Of course I'm not using the VideoPlayer provided by ExoPlayer because I need the seekbar to span all media sources, which apparently this is not possible to do with ExoPlayerUi.
So this is the logic I've used when the user tries to seek:
             exoPlayer.apply {
                var previousTracksLength = 0L
                var windowIndex = 0
                var currentItemLength = 0L

                run loop@{
                    tracksList.forEachIndexed { index, track ->
                        currentItemLength = track.getLengthMillis()
                        previousTracksLength += currentItemLength
                        if (newPositionMillis < previousTracksLength) {
                            windowIndex = index
                            return@loop
                        }
                    }
                }

                val positionForCurrentTrack = (newPositionMillis - (previousTracksLength - currentItemLength))

                pause()
                if (windowIndex == currentWindowIndex) {
                    seekTo(positionForCurrentTrack)
                } else {
                    seekTo(windowIndex, positionForCurrentTrack)
                }
                play()
            }

This works amazingly well when the ConcatenatingMediaSource has only 3 or less media sources, but if it's bigger than that, weird behavior starts showing up, I might just want to seek 10 seconds forward the player would move more than 2 minutes instead.
After debugging it was obvious for me that when I call: seekTo(windowIndex, positionForCurrentTrack) exoPlayer is seeking to a window that's not mapped with a specific media source in the ConcatenatingMediaSource !
And here comes my questions:
Does ExoPlayer create a single window for each mediaSource in the ConcatenatingMediaSource or not ?
and If not is there a way to force it to do that ?

A: This is not really an answer but the explanation to why when I called seekTo(windowIndex, position) the player seemed like it was ignoring the windowIndex and actually seek to a completely unexpected position is because the media type was mp3 !
Apparently many devs have suffered the same issue where the player seek position is out of sync with the real position of the media that's being played when it's an mp3.
More details for anyone having weird issues when playing mp3 using ExoPlayer
https://github.com/google/ExoPlayer/issues/6787#issuecomment-568180969


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Tag Archives: Benefits
Why is America so much more prosperous than other nations?
It occurred to me that young people are being taught in government-run schools that central planning of the economy by the federal government works better than allowing states to decide policy for themselves. Naturally, the students – lacking life experience and at the mercy of the unionized teacher's grading pen – have no choice except to be indoctrinated. But what are the facts?
The genius of America is that the Founding Fathers allowed the federal government to only have power in certain areas of life. Other areas of policy were delegated to the states. This allows states to try different policies to see what works best, or even just what works best for them. Then the other states have the option to emulate that success, or continue doing what doesn't work. States that do what works will see more success, with more businesses and people migrating to their states. States that persist in doing what doesn't work will see business and taxpayers flee. That is the genius of America's design.
Federalism encourages states to operate according to the "principle of subsidiarity", which is an economic principle that states that problems are best solved at the lowest level possible (individual -> family -> church – > business -> community -> local government -> state government -> federal government). This is because the people at the lowest level have the most KNOWLEDGE about how to solve the problem.
Case study: right-to-work laws
Let's look at an example – unions and right to work laws. Starting after world war 2, some states decided to pass right to work laws. These laws allowed workers to decide for themselves whether to join a union or not. Since workers had the choice about whether to join the union, the union had to care about the workers and advocate for them, instead of enriching themselves at the expense of the workers via corruption and thuggery.
Here is how different states adopted right to work laws at different times:
Map of states showing adoption of right-to-work laws
What happened in these states? Well job creating businesses started to move from forced-union-membership states to right-to-work states. Why? Because unions were stopping them from innovating. Companies would figure out new ways to improve productivity, such as using machines and computers. But the unions would step in and insist that the old ways were best. The unions wanted their union members to just be able to do the same job, e.g. – pulling a lever over and over, for the entire 35 years of their career. And the unions wanted their members to be paid like a software engineer or a doctor for pulling a lever over and over. The unions also wanted to make sure that underperforming workers could never be fired, or replaced. And so on. Companies realized that they couldn't compete in a global market like this, so they got up and left for right-to-work states.
Here's what happened next:
Rates of employment in forced union states vs right to work states
States with right-to-work laws never said that there couldn't be unions, only that workers wouldn't have to join a union to work. And in right-to-work states, not only did workers not join unions, they voted not to unionize at all. This resulted in a massive decline in private sector unions in America:
Decline in private sector union membership
As a result of job creating businesses not being hampered by union corruption and thuggery, American businesses quickly outpaced their rivals in forced union membership states in productivity, as measured by GDP. They also outpaced the productivity per worker in other economically illiterate countries. Why? Because allowing companies to innovate meant that workers were using more machinery and computers to do their jobs. They learned new skills. Underperforming workers could be replaced with workers who were willing to grow and adapt. Non-union workers higher productivity allowed them to find other jobs if they were laid off.
Right to work states innovate, creating more skilled workers
The job security of the American worker comes from his improved worker productivity – not from the union. Not only did unemployment go down in right to work states (more jobs!) but salaries and benefits also increases, as companies had to compete with each other for workers. However, companies were ok with paying more for workers, because they would rather pay ONLY the workers who deserved it, rather than pay one rate for all union workers, regardless of performance.
This article from the far-left New York Times explains how slaries and benefits rise when job creators move to right-to-work states: Income Rises When Right-to-Work Laws Are Passed because job creators must offer workers a lot in order to get them to sign. Not just salaries and benefits, but realistic development plans to grow the workers skills, making them even more resistant to layoffs and economic downturns.
While some persons may favor right-to-work laws largely on philosophical grounds (people should have the freedom to decide whether they want to belong to a union or not), the major reason I support such laws is that they seem to promote prosperity — specifically, higher incomes. Real personal income in the right-to-work states rose nearly twice as much as in other states from 1970 and 2013.
To be sure, most of that reflected higher population growth in right-to-work states — there was massive in-migration to these states from the states denying workers the right to not join a union. Yet even after correcting for population growth, income per person on average rose somewhat more in the right to work jurisdictions. Capital moves to right-to-work states with a more stable labor environment, and that increases labor demand and, ultimately, income and wages.
Although unions mostly died out in the private sector, the ones that remained actually functioned well as unions – focusing on their workers instead of enriching union bosses. They had to, because if they didn't, then the workers would just opt out of them. The only places where unions still survive is in the public sector, i.e. – government. This is because government is (by law) a monopoly, where consumers have no choice except to accept the garbage that they are offered. They can't go anywhere else for a lower price, or a better product, or a better service. Public sector unions are immune to innovation, because they lobby the government to prevent any improvement or accountability.
Here is an example of a public sector union's effort to "help the customer":
Political contributions by the American Federation of Teachers union
And here's what those efforts to "help the customer" produced for the customer:
Education spending has tripled since 1970
They aren't really helping the customer, are they? What they do is collect dues, enrich their union leaders, intimidate their opponents with threats and force, and then give money to secular left politicians to prevent their customers from opting out of a system that doesn't produce higher quality and lower prices for the customer. The secular left politicians pass laws that prevent the customers (parents) from being able to get a better product (education for their children) for a lower price. We should abolish public sector unions in order to get the benefits for the customer that we see in the private sector.
AccountabilityBasic EconomicsBenefitsEconomic GrowthEconomic IlliteracyEconomicsEducationForced UnionForced Union StatesLaborLabor UnionLabourLabour UnionLibertyPerformancePrivate SectorPublic SchoolPublic SectorRight to WorkRight to Work StatesSalarySchool ChoiceSocialismUnionVouchers
Wage gap: are women paid less than men because of discrimination?
Far-left social media giant Google pays men less than women
Liberal feminist Hanna Rosin takes a look at this question in the far-left Slate, of all places.
The official Bureau of Labor Department statistics show that the median earnings of full-time female workers is 77 percent of the median earnings of full-time male workers. But that is very different than "77 cents on the dollar for doing the same work as men." The latter gives the impression that a man and a woman standing next to each other doing the same job for the same number of hours get paid different salaries. That's not at all the case. "Full time" officially means 35 hours, but men work more hours than women. That's the first problem: We could be comparing men working 40 hours to women working 35.
How to get a more accurate measure? First, instead of comparing annual wages, start by comparing average weekly wages. This is considered a slightly more accurate measure because it eliminates variables like time off during the year or annual bonuses (and yes, men get higher bonuses, but let's shelve that for a moment in our quest for a pure wage gap number). By this measure, women earn 81 percent of what men earn, although it varies widely by race. African-American women, for example, earn 94 percent of what African-American men earn in a typical week. Then, when you restrict the comparison to men and women working 40 hours a week, the gap narrows to 87 percent.
But we're still not close to measuring women "doing the same work as men." For that, we'd have to adjust for many other factors that go into determining salary. Economists Francine Blau and Lawrence Kahn did that in a recent paper, "The Gender Pay Gap."."They first accounted for education and experience. That didn't shift the gap very much, because women generally have at least as much and usually more education than men, and since the 1980s they have been gaining the experience. The fact that men are more likely to be in unions and have their salaries protected accounts for about 4 percent of the gap. The big differences are in occupation and industry. Women congregate in different professions than men do, and the largely male professions tend to be higher-paying. If you account for those differences, and then compare a woman and a man doing the same job, the pay gap narrows to 91 percent. So, you could accurately say in that Obama ad that, "women get paid 91 cents on the dollar for doing the same work as men."
I believe that the remainder of the gap can be accounted for by looking at other voluntary factors that differentiate men and women.
The Heritage Foundation says that a recent study puts the number at 95 cents per dollar.
Women are more likely than men to work in industries with more flexible schedules. Women are also more likely to spend time outside the labor force to care for children. These choices have benefits, but they also reduce pay—for both men and women. When economists control for such factors, they find the gender gap largely disappears.
A 2009 study commissioned by the Department of Labor found that after controlling for occupation, experience, and other choices, women earn 95 percent as much as men do. In 2005, June O'Neil, the former director of the Congressional Budget Office, found that "There is no gender gap in wages among men and women with similar family roles." Different choices—not discrimination—account for different employment and wage outcomes.
A popular article by Carrie Lukas in the Wall Street Journal agrees.
The Department of Labor's Time Use survey shows that full-time working women spend an average of 8.01 hours per day on the job, compared to 8.75 hours for full-time working men. One would expect that someone who works 9% more would also earn more. This one fact alone accounts for more than a third of the wage gap.
[…]Recent studies have shown that the wage gap shrinks—or even reverses—when relevant factors are taken into account and comparisons are made between men and women in similar circumstances. In a 2010 study of single, childless urban workers between the ages of 22 and 30, the research firm Reach Advisors found that women earned an average of 8% more than their male counterparts. Given that women are outpacing men in educational attainment, and that our economy is increasingly geared toward knowledge-based jobs, it makes sense that women's earnings are going up compared to men's.
When women make different choices about education and labor that are more like what men choose, they earn just as much or more than men.
BenefitsChildrenDegreeDiscriminationEarnerEconomicsEmploymentEqualityEquity FeminismFeminismFieldsGender FeminismGovernmentHillary ClintonHusbandJobJobsLaborLabor ForceLibertarianLibertyMarriageMenOccupationPay GapPolicyRecessionSalarySectorUnemploymentVictimVictim MentalityVictimhoodWage GapWagesWar on WomenWifeWomenYears
UK judge sentences radical Islamist imam who lived on welfare to 20 years in prison
09/07/2016 Wintery Knight	Leave a comment
Democrats think that the real threat to America is not radical Islamic terrorism
This story is from the UK Telegraph.
A senior judge has challenged Islamist extremists who live on benefits while claiming to "despise" Western democracy, as he sentenced hate preacher Anjem Choudary to five-and-half years in prison.
Choudary has lived on benefits in the UK for the past 20 years, during which time it is understood he has claimed up to £500,000 from the state.
While living off the state – dubbing his benefits 'Jihadiseekers' Allowance' – Choudary became one of the country's most notorious radical preachers – professing hatred against the West.
But he managed to avoid a criminal conviction until he was charged last year with drumming up support for a terrorist organisation by pledging allegiance to Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (Isil).
On Tuesday he was sentenced alongside fellow radical Islamist Mohammed Mizanur Rahman after both being convicted of inviting support for the terrorist group.
[…]The judge said Choudary had invited support for Isil while it was "engaged in appalling acts of terrorism".
He said: "At no point did either of you say anything to condemn the violent means by which [Isil] claimed to have established a caliphate."
The UK had Labour Party rule for well over a decade, and they opened up their immigration policy to import many, many unskilled immigrants from countries with a significant presence of radical Islam. The idea of the secular leftists was that they would be able to buy the votes of unskilled workers with welfare money paid by the people who actually had jobs. And it worked. Well, there are some problems: they have gangs of Muslims raping and sex-trafficking children, but the strategy of importing anti-conservative voters worked.
I think that a lot of Western countries with welfare states and open-borders immigration policies often have problems like the UK does. And in especially leftist countries that have weakened marriage by redefining it, you get even more welfare fraud.
In Canada, polygamous Muslims can already collect multiple welfare checks for their multiple wives.
Hundreds of [Greater Toronto Area] Muslim men in polygamous marriages — some with a harem of wives — are receiving welfare and social benefits for each of their spouses, thanks to the city and province, Muslim leaders say.
Mumtaz Ali, president of the Canadian Society of Muslims, said wives in polygamous marriages are recognized as spouses under the Ontario Family Law Act, providing they were legally married under Muslim laws abroad.
"Polygamy is a regular part of life for many Muslims," Ali said yesterday. "Ontario recognizes religious marriages for Muslims and others."
He estimates "several hundred" GTA husbands in polygamous marriages are receiving benefits. Under Islamic law, a Muslim man is permitted to have up to four spouses.
However, city and provincial officials said legally a welfare applicant can claim only one spouse. Other adults living in the same household can apply for welfare independently.
The average recipient with a child can receive about $1,500 monthly, city officials said.
Note that expanding the welfare state and increasing unskilled immigration from countries with anti-Western populations is a central plank in leftist political parties such as our own Democrat Party. The Democrat Party itself is very much in favor of expanding welfare (Obama repealed the 1996 welfare reform policy) and are also in favor of weakening border security.
More details emerged today in the Wall Street Journal about the payments that Obama sent to Iran: (H/T Ari)
The Obama administration followed up a planeload of $400 million in cash sent to Iran in January with two more such shipments in the next 19 days, totaling another $1.3 billion, according to congressional officials briefed by the U.S. State, Treasury and Justice departments.
The cash payments—made in Swiss francs, euros and other currencies—settled a decades-old dispute over a failed arms deal dating back to 1979. U.S. officials have acknowledged the payment of the first $400 million coincided with Iran's release of American prisoners and was used as leverage to ensure they were flown out of Tehran's Mehrabad on the morning of Jan. 17.
[…]The Obama administration briefed lawmakers on Tuesday, telling them that two further portions of the $1.3 billion were transferred though Europe on Jan. 22 and Feb. 5. The payment "flowed in the same manner" as the original $400 million that an Iranian cargo plane picked up in Geneva, Switzerland, according to a congressional aide who took part in the briefing.
The $400 million was converted into non-U.S. currencies by the Swiss and Dutch central banks, according to U.S. and European officials.
The Treasury Department confirmed late Tuesday that the subsequent payments were also made in cash.
Do you ever wonder where your taxpayer money is going? Obama is using it to prop up dangerous Islamic regimes who sponsor terrorism and kill our troops on the battlefield in Iraq. That's what every Democrat voter voted for, as well. They are responsible, whether they intended these consequences or not.
BenefitsDemocrat PartyImmigrationIslamMuslimPolygamyRadical IslamReligion of PeaceSocialismWelfare
Hillary Clinton thinks that women are not paid fairly compared to men: is it true?
Now back to Hillary Clinton. How much does she pay the women on her staff?
During her time as senator of New York, Hillary Rodham Clinton paid her female staffers 72 cents for every dollar she paid men, according to a new Washington Free Beacon report.
From 2002 to 2008, the median annual salary for Mrs. Clinton's female staffers was $15,708.38 less than what was paid to men, the report said. Women earned a slightly higher median salary than men in 2005, coming in at $1.04. But in 2006, they earned 65 cents for each dollar men earned, and in 2008, they earned only 63 cents on the dollar, The Free Beacon reported.
[…]Mrs. Clinton has spoken against wage inequality in the past. In April, she ironically tweeted that "20 years ago, women made 72 cents on the dollar to men. Today it's still just 77 cents. More work to do. #EqualPay #NoCeilings."
Think of this next time Hillary Clinton talks about "the wage gap". She is talking about the women on her staff, and no one else.
As senator, Hillary Clinton paid women 72 cents for every dollar she paid men
Hillary Clinton and Planned Parenthood
I already knew that Hillary Clinton was pro-gay-marriage, and radically pro-abortion, but it turns out that she is a hypocrite on women's issues, as well.
Meanwhile, she is making "equal pay for women" her top priority.
CBS News reports:
Hillary Clinton lamented the number of women in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math at a Silicon Valley women's conference on Tuesday, and called for more action to close the wage gap.
[…]In advocating for closing the pay gap, Clinton also endorsed the impassioned plea for wage equality made by Patricia Arquette in her Oscars acceptance speech for Best Supporting Actress.
"Up and down the ladder many women are paid less for the same work, which is why we all cheered at Patricia Arquette's speech at the Oscars — because she's right, it's time to have wage equality once and for all," Clinton said.
All right, let's take a look at the facts on the so-called "pay gap" between men and women.
This article is from the very left-wing Slate, of all places.
2016BenefitsChildrenDegreeDiscriminationEarnerEconomicsEmploymentEqualityEquity FeminismFeminismFieldsGender FeminismGovernmentHillary ClintonHusbandJobJobsLaborLabor ForceLibertarianLibertyMancessionMarriageMenOccupationPay GapPolicyRecessionSalarySectorUnemploymentWage GapWagesWar on WomenWifeWomenYears


text:
Das Land ihrer Träume ist ein historischer Roman des Schweizer Autors Werner J. Egli, der 1988 veröffentlicht wurde.

Handlung

Zwei deutschsprachige Emigranten wandern um 1850 gemeinsam von Bremerhaven in die USA aus. Beiden, dem schwäbischen Büchsenmacher Heinrich Mansfeld, und dem Schweizer Bierbrauerereigesellen Konrad Obermatt scheint dank finanzieller Hilfe durch Konrads Onkel Johann Biland in New York eine sichere Zukunft als Betreiber eines Eisenwarengeschäfts beschieden zu sein. Doch die unterschiedlichen Charaktere entzweien die  Protagonisten und führt sie auf unterschiedliche Wege.

Erst Jahre später begegnen sich beide ehemaligen Freunde als Feinde im Sezessionskrieg wieder; Heinrich auf der Seite der Union, Konrad auf derjenigen der Konföderation.

Hintergrund

Nachdem Egli zu Anfang des Buches die widrigen Umstände der Überfahrt, die Erkrankungen der Mitreisenden hervorrufen oder verschlimmern, wie z. B. Tuberkulose, schildert, stehen im weiteren Verlauf die Anlaufprobleme der fremden Neubürger in der Neuen Welt, die Beschreibung der deutschen  Schichten in New York und im späteren Verlauf in St. Louis im Vordergrund, die ebenfalls im 19. Jahrhundert einer der Hauptanlaufpunkte deutscher Siedler war. Schließlich nimmt die Skizzierung des Abolitionismus, die sich abzeichnende Sezession und der eigentliche Bürgerkrieg stärkeren Raum in der Erzählung ein.

Ausgaben
 Werner J. Egli: Das Land ihrer Träume. Der Roman deutscher Auswanderer zur Zeit des amerikanischen Bürgerkriegs. Scherz Verlag, München 1988, ISBN 3-502-11175-8
 Werner J. Egli: Das Land ihrer Träume. Rowohlt,  Reinbek bei Hamburg 1990, ISBN 3-499-12760-1

Einzelnachweise

Literarisches Werk
Historischer Roman
Literatur (20. Jahrhundert)
Literatur (Deutsch)
Literatur (Schweiz)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
package org.test.testclasses.uimap.helper;

import org.test.testclasses.uimap.ConstructingUIMap;

public class InvalidUIMapUser {

    private ConstructingUIMap uiMap;

}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Start Trial | Login
For Property Management
For Business & Corporations
The University of Southern California traded their manual mailroom system in favor of Notifii Track automated package tracking software to provide a better, faster experience for students and staff.
University of Southern California struggled with inbound package delivery management and keeping the barrage of incoming deliveries for students under control. As one of the world's leading private research universities, USC needed to get ahead of the problem to ensure the best experience for their students and staff. The university needed to be rid of its antiquated, manual system, which was unreliable, and streamline their package logging and management process.
Industry: Higher Education Customer since: 2013 Size: 44,000 Students Average monthly packages: 18,000
Notifii Track's package delivery system was installed in all ten of the USC housing customer service centers. University housing personnel installed the software and necessary hardware, such as label printers and scanners, without any additional help needed from IT.
Leo Boese, Special Project Manager at University of Southern California said, "The Notifii Track system was extremely easy for our student workers and staff to learn. It's very efficient and students love it. FedEx, UPS and our logistic center delivery personnel love it, too."
The system made it possible for the university to put into place an automated and reliable package delivery system that yielded near immediate results. The Notifii Track inbound package logging software reduced the amount of space needed to store packages by more than 85%.
"The system combines ease-of-use and maximum efficiency while still providing our customer service centers with the flexibility needed to meet the needs of individual students and each specific service center. The ease of operation has permitted our staff and student workers to become proficient using the system in a very short period of time. This made the transition to, and the acceptance of the new system an overwhelming success," said Boese.
"The ease and speed that packages are both logged in and delivered to the resident is phenomenal. USC housing can now boast a unique service that offers unparalleled performance to our residents." Leo Boese
Special Project Manager, USC
Since installing Notifii Track package logging software, USC has logged over one million packages! Approximately 70% of these packages were picked up the same day they were logged in. Over 85% were picked up within 3 days of being logged in.
"The ease and speed that packages are both logged in and delivered to the resident is phenomenal. USC housing can now boast a unique service that offers unparalleled performance to our residents," stated Boese. "Not only do we thank Notifii for their excellent product, software, and support, we most wholeheartedly endorse this product to other universities, colleges and all organizations which handle large amounts of mail for distribution."
Time consuming manual system
Unreliable process
No automation
Key wins
Accountability & automation
Maximum efficiently & ease-of-use
Over 1 million packages logged
85% of packages picked up within 3 days
Work Email: *
© 2020 Notifii. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions


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module.exports = VERB;


text:
Oosterzee-Buren () is a village in Lemsterland in the province of Friesland, the Netherlands. It had a population of around 350 in 2004.

Populated places in Friesland

nl:Oosterzee-Buren


text:
← Patience
Priceless →
The mis-labelling of pit bulls
DNA results show that shelter workers are often mistaken when they label a dog as a pit bull, with potentially devastating consequences for the dogs, a new University of Florida study has found.
Dr. Julie Levy holds a dog currently up for adoption at the Alachua County Animal Services facility in Gainesville, Florida
"Animal shelter staff and veterinarians are frequently expected to guess the breed of dogs based on appearance alone," said Julie Levy, D.V.M., Ph.D., a professor of shelter medicine at the UF College of Veterinary Medicine and the lead author of a study published recently in The Veterinary Journal.
"Unlike many other things people can't quite define but 'know when they see it,' identification of dogs as pit bulls can trigger an array of negative consequences, from the loss of housing, to being seized by animal control, to the taking of the dog's life," she said. "In the high-stakes world of animal shelters, a dog's life might depend on a potential adopter's momentary glimpse and assumptions about its suitability as a pet. If the shelter staff has labeled the dog as a pit bull, its chances for adoption automatically go down in many shelters."
The past few decades have brought an increase in ownership restrictions on breeds including pit bulls and dogs that resemble them. The restrictions are based on assumptions that certain breeds are inherently dangerous, that such dogs can be reliably identified and that the restrictions will improve public safety, the study states.
The study focused on how accurately shelter staff identified dogs believed to be pit bulls. 'Pit bull' is not a recognized breed, but a term applied to dogs derived from the heritage breeds American Staffordshire terrier or Staffordshire bull terrier. The purebred American pit bull terrier is also derived from these breeds and is often included in the loose definition of 'pit bull.'
The research team evaluated breed assessments of 120 dogs made by 16 shelter staff members, including four veterinarians, at four shelters. These staff members all had at least three years of experience working in a shelter environment. The researchers then took blood samples from the dogs, developed DNA profiles for each animal and compared the DNA findings against the staff's initial assessments.
"We found that different shelter staffers who evaluated the same dogs at the same time had only a moderate level of agreement among themselves," Levy said. Results of the study also showed that while limitations in available DNA profiles make absolute breed identification problematic, when visual identification was compared with DNA test results, the assessors in the study fared even worse.
Dogs with pit bull heritage breed DNA were identified only 33 to 75 percent of the time, depending on which of the staff members was judging them. Conversely, dogs lacking any genetic evidence of relevant breeds were labeled as pit bull-type dogs from 0 to 48 percent of the time, the researchers reported.
"Essentially we found that the marked lack of agreement observed among shelter staff members in categorizing the breeds of shelter dogs illustrates that reliable inclusion or exclusion of dogs as 'pit bulls' is not possible, even by experts," Levy said. "These results raise difficult questions because shelter workers and veterinarians are expected to determine the breeds of dogs in their facilities on a daily basis.
Additionally, they are often called on as experts as to whether a dog's breed will trigger confiscation or regulatory action. The stakes for these dogs and their owners are in many cases very high."
Dog breeds contain many genetic traits and variants, and the behavior of any individual dog is impossible to predict based on possible combinations.
"A dog's physical appearance cannot tell observers anything about its behavior. Even dogs of similar appearance and the same breed often have diverse behavioral traits in the same way that human siblings often have very different personalities,"Levy said.
Even though most pet dogs are of unknown mixed breeds, there is a natural inclination among pet owners to speculate on what their dog's breed heritage might be, the authors said.
"This has fueled an entire industry of pet dog DNA analysis," Levy said. "These tests are fun, but they won't help predict behavior or health traits. Shelters and veterinary clinics are better off entering 'mixed breed' or 'unknown' in their records unless the actual pedigrees are available."
As for legal restrictions on dogs based on their appearance, Levy said public safety would be better served by reducing risk factors for dog bites, such as supervising children, recognizing canine body language, avoiding an unfamiliar dog in its territory, neutering dogs and raising puppies to be social companions.
Source: University of Florida media release
See also my 2013 post on Visual identification of breed – one reason why BSL doesn't work
This entry was posted in research and tagged breed specific legislation, dangerous dogs, DNA, Pit Bull, pit bulls, shelter, University of Florida. Bookmark the permalink.


A root canal treatment may be required when the nerve of your tooth becomes infected. A root canal treatment allows you to retain the tooth rather than having it removed. Retaining the tooth instead of removing it prevents other teeth from moving or drifiing out of line, in addition to not requiring replacement with an artificial tooth.
Root canal treatment may be suggested when it is determined that a tooth will not heal itself from infection. The root canal treatment process involves removing the infected or dead pulp from your tooth. The area inside of each tooth is named the root canal system, and is filled with soft dental pulp made up of nerves and blood vessels. If an infected tooth is left untreated, it can spread through the tooth and bone, and ultimately result in the loss of the natural tooth.
A tooth becomes infected when bacteria enter your tooth through cavities, cracks, and flawed fillings, resulting in an abcess. An abcessed tooth may cause pain or swelling, and if pulp becomes infected, it will need removal.
At Empire Dental, root canal treatment or extraction of the affected tooth can be performed by our resident endodontist (a specialist concerned with the treatment of dental pulp and nerves of teeth). Local anesthetic is used during the treatment procedure in order to mitigate any pain that the patient may experience.
Following a root canal treatment, a tooth will require restoration to appear and function and a natural tooth. A dental crown or filling may be used to restore the tooth. The chosen method of restoration depends on the strength and location of the remaining tooth. A root canal treatment can be completed in one or two appointments, and following treatment you may experience soreness for the initial two weeks. It is important to contact your dentist or endodontist if you experience any significant pain or swelling following the procedure.


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Steelers Report Card for Week 4 Road Victory over the Ravens
Posted on October 3, 2017 by Tony Defeo Standard
Taken from the gradebook of a teacher who was very satisifed with his student's performance, here is the Pittsburgh Steelers Report Card for the 2017 road win over the Baltimore Ravens.
Le'Veon Bell steam rolls ahead as Tony Jefferson can only look on. Photo credit: NFL Spin Zone
It seems as if Ben Roethlisberger hasn't been at his best so far this season, but he did look a little better on Sunday, completing 18 of 30 passes for 216 yards, one touchdown and an interception that was entirely out of his control. There was the failure to see a wide-open Antonio Brown on a play in the first half that would have been an easy touchdown (the blame for this has been disputed). And there was the hurried throw to a wide-open Martavis Bryant in the fourth quarter that would have led to a 60-yard score. But Roethlisberger also made the throws he needed to make. The word being thrown around by the local sports media regarding Roethlisberger's performance is "game-manager," something not heard since his rookie year. Grade: B-
What more can you say about the performance of Le'Veon Bell? Thirty-five carries for 144 yards and two touchdowns. Bell looked like the All-Pro running back everyone was used to, and the Steelers offense looked much like it did during its nine-game winning-streak a year ago. As for rookie James Conner, he had just four carries for 26 yards, but he provided a spark on the offense's first drive, when he rattled off a 23-yard run on second and 18, one play after Roethlisberger suffered his only sack of the day. Fellow youngster Terrell Watson only carried one time for one yard, but it came on third and one, as he did the job in his apparent new role as a short-yardage specialist. Grade: A+
Jesse James turned in a Jesse James-like performance, catching three passes for 40 yards. As for the newly-acquired Vance McDonald, he dropped the only pass thrown his way, a pass that would have gone for a fairly-large gain and would have perhaps lessened the worry about his quarterback's performance. Unfortunately, it didn't lessen McDonald's reputation for dropping passes. However, he did a pretty decent job blocking, and given the effectiveness of the ground-game, that cannot be discounted. Grade: C-
The Ravens effectively took Brown out of the game, limiting him to just four catches for 34 yards. As for Bryant, for the second week in a row, he could have been the deep threat consequence to the opposition putting too much focus on Brown, but for the second week in a row, he wasn't and contributed just 48 yards. However, rookie receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster, getting the start in the slot for the healthy-scratched Eli Rogers, had himself a bit of a day, pulling in three passes for 47 yards and an 11-yard touchdown late in the first half that broke the game open. Grade: C-
The line finally seemed to develop the kind of chemistry needed to mesh with Bell's unique running-style. As for the pass-protection, Roethlisberger was only sacked once and was only hurried a few times. However, the Ravens front-seven was a bit decimated due to injuries, and there was the matter of those six penalties that stalled more than one promising drive. Grade: B-
Man, what a day for this crew, specifically defensive end Cam Heyward, who registered two sacks, along with a forced fumble and a recovery of said fumble. Again, Heyward looked like a man among boys, and it sure helped that Stephon Tuitt played his first full game of the season, after injuring his biceps in Week 1. Javon Hargrave did his job clogging up the running lanes, which helped limit the Ravens to just 82 yards on the ground. Seventy-three of those yards came on two runs, which is either extremely impressive (only allowing nine yards on the other 13 rushes) or a bit worrisome (will teams like the Jaguars and Chiefs be able to exploit the Steelers ground-game much better than the offensively-challenged Ravens)? Finally, a shout-out to L.T. Walton, who pressured Joe Flacco on a fourth quarter pass that was intercepted by Ryan Shazier. Grade: A
Shazier was the proverbial beast at inside linebacker, recording 11 tackles (10 solo), the aforementioned interception and a tipped pass that led to a second pick. Bud Dupree looked explosive at outside linebacker and was credited with half a sack. And if you're going to give the defensive line credit for containing the run much better than the previous week, you must also credit the linebackers. Rookie T.J. Watt, back in the lineup after missing Week 3, was in on four tackles and did a really good job of setting the edge on running plays, something Anthony Chickillo was criticized for not doing at Chicago. Grade: B+
After struggling a bit over the first three weeks, safety Sean Davis had his best game of the season, posting five tackles and a pass defensed. As for J.J. Wilcox, filling in for an injured Mike Mitchell, he was steady. Same could be said at cornerback for both Joe Haden and Artie Burns, who were barely noticeable, as Mike Wallace led the Ravens in receiving yards, with 55. And what more can you say about Mike Hilton, who has become the slot corner from Mississippi that Senquez Golson never was?
In addition to registering a sack early in the second half, Hilton also had a pass defensed and a game-clinching interception late in the fourth quarter. Grade: A
Brown was reinserted as the punt returner, but only tallied 15 yards on two returns. Chris Boswell missed a 44-yard field goal. As for the kick-return coverage, it was spotty, allowing 96 yards on four returns, but it certainly wasn't a detriment to success. Grade: C+
Given the backdrop of the anthem drama as well as having to travel to a place in M&T Bank Stadium, where he hadn't won since 2012, Mike Tomlin had his team focused and prepared. The team players were business-like and methodical in their approach to the game and really didn't let emotion become a factor.
Todd Haley's game-plan was undoubtedly to feature Bell against Baltimore's injury-riddled defense, and the offense didn't deviate from that plan very much. There has been some criticism in the team's apparent decision to take the air out of the ball in the second half, but given the Ravens offensive woes, the only way they were going to get back in the game was with turnovers.
On defense, not much you can say about Keith Butler's unit that isn't glowing. The defense was fast, relentless and very disciplined, given that it was only called for one penalty on the day. Grade: A
Fullback Roosevelt Nix. If there's ever an unsung hero, it's a back who doesn't register one carry in a game in-which his team rushes for 173 yards. But Nix is there to block, and it's kind of hard to argue with the results.
This entry was posted in Steelers 2017 season and tagged Anthony Chickillo, Antonio Brown, Artie Burns, Ben Roethlisberger, Bud Dupree, Cameron Heyward, Chris Boswell, Eli Rogers, J.J. Wilcox, Javon Hargrave, Jesse James, Joe Haden, JuJu Smith-Schuster, L.T. Walton, Martavis Bryant, Mike Hilton, Pittsburgh Steelers, Ryan Shazier, Sean Davis, Steelers report card, Steelers vs. Ravens, Stephon Tuitt, T.J. Watt, Vance McDonald. Bookmark the permalink.
Steelers Dominate Ravens 26-9 in Critical AFC North Road Victory
Ben Roethlisberger Throws 5 Interceptions as Jaguars Maul Steelers at Heinz Field, 30-9