text:
Weekly San Diego Sports Preview
By Becki Schildhouse • Published May 7, 2017
Here's a look at what is going on in San Diego sports for the week of May 8th-14th.
PADRES: The Friars are going to get to know the AL this week. Monday and Tuesday the Texas Rangers come to Petco Park, Tuesday is Taco Tuesday, both teams head to Arlington for a two-game series Wednesday and Thursday. Friday-Sunday the Padres are on the Southside of Chicago to face the White Sox.
GULLS: The Gulls head back to the nest for the second round of the Calder Cup Playoffs. Wednesday, Friday and Saturday they host the San Jose Barracuda. Puck drops 7 p.m. all three nights at the Valley View Casino Center.
U.S. OPEN CUP SOCCER: Wednesday the Albion Pros SC host Chula Vista FC in round one of the U.S. Open Cup 7 p.m. at Mission Bay High School.
POINT LOMA NAZARENE UNIVERSITY SEA LIONS:
-BASEBALL: Monday and Tuesday double headers at Fresno Pacific at noon and 3 p.m. both days.
SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY AZTECS:
-WOMEN'S TRACK: Wednesday-Saturday at the Mountain West Outdoor Championships in Logan, Utah.
-SOFTBALL: Thursday and Friday at Nevada 4 p.m. and Saturday at Nevada 12 p.m.
-BASEBALL: Friday at Air Force 2 p.m., Saturday 1 p.m. and Sunday 12 p.m.
-WOMEN'S ROWING: Saturday at the American Athletic Conference Championships in Sarasota, Florida.
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO TRITONS:
-MEN'S TENNIS: Tuesday-Friday at the NCAA Championships in Altamonte Springs, Florida.
-BASEBALL: Wednesday-Saturday at the CCAA Championships in Stockton.
-SOFTBALL: Thursday-Saturday at the NCAA Regionals TBA.
-WOMEN' WATER POLO: Friday-Sunday at the NCAA Championships in Indianapolis, Indiana.
-TRACK & FIELD: Saturday at the All On the Line Qualifier in Santa Barbara.
-WOMEN'S ROWING: Friday and Saturday at the Dad Vail Regatta in Philadelphia.
- MEN'S ROWING: Saturday at the Western Sprints Championships in Rancho Cordova.
UNIVERSITY OF SAN DIEGO TOREROS:
-BASEBALL: Tuesday at UC Irvine 6:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday vs. Sacramento State 6 p.m. at Fowler Park and Sunday vs. Sacramento State 1 p.m. also at Fowler Park.
-SOFTBALL: Friday at Loyola Marymount 2 p.m., Saturday at Loyola Marymount 12 p.m. and 2 p.m.
-WOMEN'S ROWING: Saturday at the WCC Championships in Gold River, California.
-MEN'S CREW: Saturday at Western Sprints in Rancho Cordova.


text:
Azerbaijan, Caucasus
Azerbaijani minority activists strive to keep their languages alive
They face obstacles, though, including globalization and an education system that gives little time to minority languages.
Heydar Isayev Dec 7, 2022
The village and the language of Gryz are dying. (Shutterstock)
Israfil Hummatov, a 71-year-old member of Azerbaijan's Gryz ethnic minority, grew up speaking Gryz, a Caucasian language unrelated to the Turkic Azerbaijani. But as he looks at the younger generations of his people, he sees fewer fluent speakers. He's not optimistic that the language can survive.
"To preserve a language, it, first and foremost, must be spoken," he told Eurasianet in an interview at his home in the northeastern Azerbaijani city of Khachmaz. "When the next generation comes up, the Gryz language will find its place among the dead languages, as it's not spoken often."
It is a process visible even in Hummatov's own home: He speaks Gryz with his wife, but when he wants more tea, he asks one of his grandchildren – in Azerbaijani – to bring it to him.
Khachmaz, and neighboring Guba, are the centers of the Gryz people, also known as the Kyrts. The people trace their history back to the ancient kingdom of Albania, which existed on the territory of today's Azerbaijan, but now number between just 10 and 15 thousand, Hummatov estimates. Even fewer speak the language.
Hummatov was born in a nearby village – also named Gryz – which today is the only ethnic Gryz village in Azerbaijan with a school. He visited and found that there are now under 20 students and most of their mothers are non-Gryz. "I asked the kids simple questions, like, 'Whose grandkids are you?' in Gryz. They couldn't reply," he said.
Hummatov, a retired history teacher, is trying to do his part: Along with a scholar from Germany he co-wrote the first Gryz dictionary – with translations into Azerbaijani and English – in 2020. The dictionary also establishes the first writing system, based on the Latin alphabet, for Gryz, and contains 4,000 words. "It was not an easy task. You need to have a wide vocabulary. There are words that are forgotten, not used anymore," Hummatov told Eurasianet.
And Gryz is not alone, but one of several small languages in Azerbaijan that are facing the same fate. Tat, Tsakhur and Lezgin also are on the verge of extinction, like many small languages around the world.
Gryz communities traditionally did not marry their daughters to non-Gryz people, Hummatov recalls, so as to keep their language and culture intact. "But from the 1970s and '80s on, with the advent of the information era and expansion of relations among communities, the Gryz gradually moved away," he said. "For example, in my village there used to be nearly 700 houses, while now there are only 30 houses. Young Gryz people leave for better job markets."
Hummatov (photo by Heydar Isayev)
Meanwhile, the education system for the Gryz and other minorities who do remain in their communities discourages mastery of the language.
Schools in minority areas are conducted in the state language, Azerbaijani, with only an hour per week of classes in the minority language.
"In addition, if the parents and students in those classes wish, an hour of class time normally allocated to extracurricular activities can be included in the lesson schedule and given to the teaching of their mother tongue," the press service of the Ministry of Education and Science told Eurasianet in a written response to questions. In most minority communities, minority language instruction ends after the fourth grade, though in Lezgin schools it continues through the 10th grade.
But the school in the Gryz village doesn't even get that one hour in Gryz that the law allows them.
The reason: no textbooks in Gryz, Hummatov said. He has tried to work with teachers in the Gryz school to develop a textbook, but it hasn't gone anywhere yet, he said. "Teachers and educators in the community need to come up with draft schoolbooks and submit them to the Education Ministry for approval," Hummatov said. "The state is ready to support, funding-wise or by other means, but the community has to show enthusiasm."
Others, though, put more of the onus on the authorities. The Public Council of Azerbaijani Talysh – an organization aimed at protecting the rights of the Talysh minority – issued a lengthy statement in 2020 detailing the situation of the Talysh language. It criticized the "relevant authorities" for the fact that the most recent textbooks in Talysh were published in 2006, and that there have been no replacements since then.
The ministry said that a new line of textbooks in minority languages have been prepared. "It is planned to bring those textbooks to public discussion, to take into account the comments and suggestions that the ministry receives, and to print and deliver the textbook sets to schools," it said.
A lack of teachers, the result of a lack of university programs aimed at producing minority-language teachers, also are obstacles for minority groups.
In the case of Talysh schools, the teachers often are recruited from other subjects, mostly primary school teachers, said Hilal Mammadov, the editor-in-chief of the Talysh newspaper Tolishi Sado and a co-founder of the Public Council. "It happens that even they are not native speakers of Talysh, and often they will engage students in extracurricular activities during the Talysh lessons," he told Eurasianet.
Azerbaijan ratified the Council of Europe's Framework Agreement on the Protection of National Minorities in 2000, which obligates Baku to take a number of steps toward protecting and promoting minority languages. But Mammadov said that the regular reports that the government files to the Council are "formalities" and that in fact various obligations are not fulfilled. As an example, he noted that the convention commits Azerbaijan to "promote a diverse media space with broadcasting in minority languages and support to minority media." But when Mammadov tried to get a 15-minute weekly slot on public television for Talysh-language programming, he was denied, he said.
The authorities, meanwhile, have blamed lack of public interest for the lack of Talysh teacher training. While there used to be a Talysh education program at Lankaran State University, located in the southeastern part of Azerbaijan where the Talysh people are concentrated, it was terminated.
"Because the citizens did not want the teaching of this subject," the university rector, Natig Ibrahimov, told local education news website Azedu.az. "To my knowledge, parents are not in favor of burdening their children with the teaching of the Talysh language. They noted that it is more acceptable for their children to learn this language at home. That is why the teaching of this language has been suspended," he argued.
Mammadov disputed that interpretation: "If tomorrow the majority of Azerbaijanis agree to suspend Azerbaijani language class or any other subject, should the state go along with that?" In any case, he argued, it didn't accurately represent the wishes of the Talysh people.
He noted that young people, in particular, were devoted to maintaining the language. "The Talysh youth are really interested to learn about their roots and culture," he said. "Even though their parents might have encouraged their kids to learn the state or foreign languages when they are young, it's interesting: After a certain age, the young people become eager to learn their native language."
Heydar Isayev is a journalist from Baku.
Baku's big talk on renewables light on specifics

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
O Glaciar Sarpo Laggo é um glaciar da região de Sinquião, na República Popular da China, na cordilheira Caracórum. Fica a norte da cordilheira Baltoro Muztagh e é acessível a partir do glaciar Baltoro do lado do Paquistão pelo passo de montanha Velho Muztagh a nordeste das Torres Trango.

Sarpo Laggo
Caracórum

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Guyana: Colonialism With Chinese Characteristics?
While the relationship between China and Guyana was initially established in order to foster mutual cooperation and development, the past decade has witnessed a surge of Chinese interest in Guyana's natural resources, leading many Guyanese citizens to question the value of this supposedly equal and beneficial partnership.
Kevin Edmonds 6/26/2013
The relationship between China and Guyana goes back over 40 years. During the height of the Cold War, and in contrast to the policy of most of the hemisphere which was under the influence of the United States at the time, Guyana and China established relations on June 27, 1972. While the relationship was initially established in order to foster mutual cooperation and development, the past decade has witnessed a surge of Chinese interest in Guyana's natural resources, leading many Guyanese citizens to question the value of this supposedly equal and beneficial partnership.
"Photo Credit: Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs"
An important case in point comes from the controversial Bai Shan Lin investment plans for Guyana. The Bai Shan Lin company was granted a forestry concession which consists of nearly one million hectares of rainforest, from which it will harvest logs and ship them out of Guyana. In addition to the acquisition of significant land holdings, the company has announced the creation of a very large "Guyana-China Timber Industry Economic & Trading Cooperation Park" and a 400-acre "Bai Shan Lin Real Estate Development Project."
While the investment is indeed large, it is more likely that the benefit to the people of Guyana will be quite small outside of political circles given the nature of Chinese companies to import their own labor to staff operations in Guyana. While many Guyanese people are underemployed or in need of work, Chinese laborers were brought into Guyana for the construction of the new Marriott Hotel in the capital of Georgetown earlier this year. With the growing amount of criticism over the surge of recent Chinese investment in Guyana's growing forestry and mining sectors, the political opposition has called for investment agreements between the Guyanese government and Bai Shan Lin to be made public—but so far little headway has been made. However, the details which have emerged paint a troubling picture for any attempt for Guyana to establish a model of sustainable and equitable development.
Some of these investment policy "advantages" of doing business in Guyana were highlighted in a PowerPoint presentation created by Bai Shan Lin. The presentation reveals that Guyanese trade agreements with China allows for "machinery, equipment, raw material, transportation means and office supplies for production use are exempted from import duty and excise tax." Furthermore, under the agreement, new enterprises benefit from tax exemptions, custom duties on exports, and have no regulations on the foreign transfer of their profits.
A recent article in the Guyana Chronicle stated that "Guyana is open for business" when perhaps a more appropriate slogan would be that the Guyanese politicians are instead selling the country out to business. Guyana's President Donald Ramotar sought to defend China's growing presence in Guyana against the rising criticism, stating that "History will show you that China has not exploited and colonised any country. In fact, the record of China… it has been helping to build societies in Africa and other parts of the world, and we must stand up and make the voice of the majority heard because there seems to be people financed from somewhere, dedicating themselves to slander and attack."
Assuming that models of economic development or trade are static is unrealistic and of little value when trying to understand what is really happening on the ground. The term "Capitalism with Chinese Characteristics" was adopted as an easy way to describe and distinguish the uniquely regulated nature of the Chinese economy. It seems that a similar term could be adopted for China's resource based foreign investment policy.
While the Guyanese government is a willing partner in these new investment agreements, it is important to realize that it is an incredibly unbalanced relationship that maintains the essence of colonialism—the exportation of raw materials and the increasing dependence on Chinese manufactured goods, capital, technology, and knowledge. While it is true that China has not followed the European or North American model of instituting a formal model of colonialism via violent invasion and occupation, it does not mean that China is not engaging in a modern form of colonialism with Chinese characteristics.
While countries all over the world are scrambling for investment, it should be done in a manner that will protect the long-term interests of the recipient nation's population and environment. To jumpstart an economy dependent on short-term resource extraction without ensuring that necessary regulations in place is a recipe for disaster. The strong interest of China in Guyana provides a real opportunity for the government to establish policies which will generate value and public benefits from their responsible and regulated extraction of their natural resources.
According to the most recent World Bank statistics, an estimated 43% of the Guyanese population falls below the poverty line, with 29% living in what is categorized as extreme poverty. In order to address the longstanding roots of poverty and inequality in Guyana, revenue from resource extraction to fund state investments in healthcare, education, and social services is needed. However, China and Guyana both share a similar feature—on paper they are both committed to socialism and serving the people. Yet, with a government selling off incredible quantities of land to Chinese companies, without any real change it is hard to imagine that the current acceptance of "colonialism with Chinese Characteristics" as the status quo will bring any tangible or visible return for the people of Guyana.


text:
Hippotoos – król Arkadii, syn Kerkyona,
 Hippotoos – syn Ajgyptosa,
 Hippotoos – syn króla Troi Priama
 Hippotoos – syn Letosa
 Hippotoos – zalotnik Hippodamei.

Przypisy

Bibliografia


text:
Multiple Teams · Feb 12 North Dallas puts win streak on line vs. Hillcrest
ND Coach Brett Cole and the Bulldogs are on a three-game winning streak heading into Friday's game against Hillcrest.
The North Dallas basketball team is riding a three-game winning heading into Friday's game against Hillcrest, which is on a two-game winning streak. The teams square off at 8 p.m. at Loos Field House.
With two games to go, the Bulldogs need to continuing winning for a shot at the playoffs. North Dallas (10-13) is 6-6 and in fifth place in District 11-5A while Hillcrest (10-12) is in fourth place at 8-4. The Bulldogs close the regular season next Tuesday against second-place Woodrow, while Hillcrest ends the season against third-place Carrollton Creekview.
After the win over Conrad, ND coach Brett Cole said there's a sense of urgency if the Bulldogs hope to make the playoffs.
"They understand there's no tomorrow," he said. "We have to win out."
Senior Kobe Wrice has been a big force in the Bulldogs' playoff drive. He scored 36 against Newman Smith, then 45 against Bryan Adams, 27 against Conrad and 27 against TJ.
The Bulldogs need him to have another big game.
By Gary Pina on Feb 12, 2016


text:
Q: Home to skip shipping address step during checkout in Magento 2? In case of virtual products, we do not need a shipping step so customer directly goes for payment step during checkout.
I have a simple product and a custom field delivery_type in quote table. delivery_type field's value is updated on the cart page by selecting what is the delivery type (home/store).
If the value of delivery_type is store shipping step is not required and the customer should see only payment step similar to virtual products at checkout. Can anyone guide me on how I should go about customizing it?
I tried changing the value of field is_virtual to 1 in quote and quote_item table manually but it does not make any difference. I have logged window.checkoutConfig.quoteData.is_virtual which still shows 0.

A: Please have a look at this class
Magento\Quote\Model\Quote
in this class you have this method  isVirtual() [image attached]
if the return result is true, Magento will skip the Shipping Step.
You can override this method or create a "after plugin" (recommended) to change the return value as you want
https://devdocs.magento.com/guides/v2.0/extension-dev-guide/plugins.html

A: Found generic way to skip shipping, not just for virtual products, in my case I have table driven shipping rate according to zip code (distance), and shipping screen is redundant. The idea is waiting for the shipping screen to load and then approve and continue automatically.

*

*Create requirejs-config.js file in
app/code/[Vendor]/[Modulename]/view/
folder and add below code see why.

var config = {
   paths: {
      'Magento_Checkout/js/view/shipping': '[Vendor]_[Modulename]/js/view/shipping'
   }
};

*Copy Shipping.js from magento source folder:
vendor/magento/module-checkout/view/frontend/web/js/view to your module in the following folder:
app/code/[Vendor]/[Modulename]/view/frontend/web/js/view

*Revising the Shipping.js to include the following code:
define([
    'jquery',
    'underscore',
    'Magento_Ui/js/form/form',
    'ko',
    'Magento_Customer/js/model/customer',
    'Magento_Customer/js/model/address-list',
    'Magento_Checkout/js/model/address-converter',
    'Magento_Checkout/js/model/quote',
    'Magento_Checkout/js/action/create-shipping-address',
    'Magento_Checkout/js/action/select-shipping-address',
    'Magento_Checkout/js/model/shipping-rates-validator',
    'Magento_Checkout/js/model/shipping-address/form-popup-state',
    'Magento_Checkout/js/model/shipping-service',
    'Magento_Checkout/js/action/select-shipping-method',
    'Magento_Checkout/js/model/shipping-rate-registry',
    'Magento_Checkout/js/action/set-shipping-information',
    'Magento_Checkout/js/model/step-navigator',
    'Magento_Ui/js/modal/modal',
    'Magento_Checkout/js/model/checkout-data-resolver',
    'Magento_Checkout/js/checkout-data',
    'uiRegistry',
    'mage/translate',
    'Magento_Checkout/js/model/shipping-rate-service'
], function (
    $,
    _,
    Component,
    ko,
    customer,
    addressList,
    addressConverter,
    quote,
    createShippingAddress,
    selectShippingAddress,
    shippingRatesValidator,
    formPopUpState,
    shippingService,
    selectShippingMethodAction,
    rateRegistry,
    setShippingInformationAction,
    stepNavigator,
    modal,
    checkoutDataResolver,
    checkoutData,
    registry,
    $t
) {
    'use strict';

    var popUp = null;

    // ### 1st revision start
    var timer = setInterval(function() {
        // Wait until all page was loaded, using Next button div id
        var nextVar = $( "#shipping-method-buttons-container");
        if (nextVar.length > 0) {
            clearInterval(timer);
            // Make sure 'Next' button is visible
            var nextBtn = $("button", nextVar);
            if (nextBtn.is(":visible")) {
                __self.setShippingInformation();
            }

        }
    }, 100);

    // ### 1st revision end

    return Component.extend({
        defaults: {
            template: 'Magento_Checkout/shipping',
            shippingFormTemplate: 'Magento_Checkout/shipping-address/form',
            shippingMethodListTemplate: 'Magento_Checkout/shipping-address/shipping-method-list',
            shippingMethodItemTemplate: 'Magento_Checkout/shipping-address/shipping-method-item'
        },
        visible: ko.observable(!quote.isVirtual()),
        errorValidationMessage: ko.observable(false),
        isCustomerLoggedIn: customer.isLoggedIn,
        isFormPopUpVisible: formPopUpState.isVisible,
        isFormInline: addressList().length === 0,
        isNewAddressAdded: ko.observable(false),
        saveInAddressBook: 1,
        quoteIsVirtual: quote.isVirtual(),

        /**
         * @return {exports}
         */
        initialize: function () {
            var self = this,
                hasNewAddress,
                fieldsetName = 'checkout.steps.shipping-step.shippingAddress.shipping-address-fieldset';

            // ### last revision start
            __self = self;
            // ### last revision end

            this._super();
            ...

Using setInterval is not best practice, but couldn't find a way to trigger setShippingInformation() after the shipping screen fully loaded. Tried $(document).ready as well as $(window).on("load", function) but the document wasn't fully loaded even then, making the call to setShippingInformation() to be ignored.
Hope this helps anyone.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
IndiaBJP says, "Rahul Gandhi failed and Priyanka is like a crutch for him"
BJP says, "Rahul Gandhi failed and Priyanka is like a crutch for him"
by Banani Sarkar January 23, 2019
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's active entry into politics is a sign that her brother the Congress Chief Rahul Gandhi had failed and Congress is desperate, on Wednesday said the ruling BJP. A spokesman of BJP, Sambit Patra said that "as the Congress is not being accepted as part of mahagathbandhan in states, a crutch is being searched in the family. Priyanka, who is from his (Rahul's) family, is like a crutch for him."
Mr. Patra continued, "The Congress has basically publicly announced that Rahul Gandhi has failed and needs crutches from within the family."
He also said that Congress could not look beyond the Gandhi family, and their views, which had been demonstrated once again.
"Party is the family for the BJP whereas family is the party for Congress. All selections are done in only one family. Somewhere Rahul has failed… Who will be the next after Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, and Rahul Gandhi? Only one family. The new India is asking this question," added Mr. Patra.
The Congress Chief Rahul Gandhi has appointed sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra as Congress General Secretary in-charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh. Priyanka will take charges in the first week of February.
The Congress has replaced Ashok Gehlot as AICC General Secretary with KC Venugopal. Jyotiraditya Scindia will also be party's General Secretary along with Priyanka Gandhi but in-charge of western Uttar Pradesh.
The opposition leader in the Rajya Sabha, Ghulam Nabi Azad has been appointed as the General Secretary in-charge of Haryana, said the party.
Four New Judges To Join The Supreme Court Giving...
BJP jibes at Rahul Gandhi, termed his frequent Temple...
Chennai-based actor claims sexual harassment by Journalist, video on...
Supreme Court re-opens 1998 Road Rage case against Navjot...
Terrorist shot dead in an encounter in Pulwama district...
IKEA unveiled new effective plans to eliminate pollution
Google Doodle celebrates 72nd Independence Day of India
Big trouble now for likes of Vijay Mallya, Nirav...


As 2015 comes to an end, we decided to look back at all of the best footwear that came out this past year. Our list is compiled of a variety of footwear from boots to sneakers. We did not rank them, because each shoe is so different from one another. Here is our list of 15 shoes that were our favorites that came out in 2015.
Adidas definitely dominated 2015 as you can see by our list. The designer collaborations and the addition of Kanye West definitely helped Adidas have one of its best years in footwear. As you can see from the picture below, Adidas dominated the social media world, and it wasn't even close.
There was a lot of great footwear that came out of 2015, so it was hard to create a list of just 15. Do you agree with our list? If you see a shoe missing be sure to comment below.
Have a great New Years eve everyone, I hope you ring in 2016 with fire jawns and good times.


House 7030 in the town of Zambratija, Umag - Istria has accommodation units of type Apartment (1) and is 20 m away from the sea. The nearest beach to this accommodation is a rocks beach. The house contains no other apartments, meaning you will be the only guests. The owners will not be in residence during your holiday in this house. The house owner is under no obligation to accept additional persons and pets that were not stated in the reservation request and it is necessary to report them in advance.


text:
package com.tmyjoe.akka.support

import spray.json.DefaultJsonProtocol

trait Protocol extends DefaultJsonProtocol {
//  implicit val usersFormat = jsonFormat3(UserEntity)
//  implicit val tokenFormat = jsonFormat3(TokenEntity)
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Prioritise nourishing food, plenty of water, movement (ideally outside), rest and connection.
There will be times when we run on empty in order to find a Yes to our children. If you intentionally meet your own needs every day then you become adept at learning how to ebb and flow in the ever-changing world of raising children.
Finding a Yes to your own needs can also be understood as prioritising self care. Aside from your own needs, a really important reason to do this is to model it to your children.
Many of us push ourselves to the bottom of the pile because no one has ever modeled self care to us and we're still waiting for permission.
It's an amazing gift to give to your children, to show them the importance of self care. And as you raise them this way you empower them to be able to prioritise their own self care.
When we don't meet our needs it will show up in our behaviour and our emotions. Just like it does for our kids.


TopParken Recreatiepark Het Esmeer in Aalst - the best offers!
This price applies to 4-person holiday house ***, with the arrival as 20 May 2019, 2 Nights.
This price applies to 4-person holiday house ****, with the arrival as 6 May 2019, 2 Nights.
This price applies to 5-person holiday house *****, with the arrival as 6 May 2019, 2 Nights.
This price applies to 4-person holiday house *****, with the arrival as 6 May 2019, 2 Nights.
The park requires a deposit of €350 per accommodation.


text:
Swindon railway station
Borough of Swindon
SU149851
Number of platforms
DfT category
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
3.350 million
– Interchange
Original company
Pre-grouping
Post-grouping
Opened as "Swindon Junction"
Renamed "Swindon"
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Swindon from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
Swindon railway station is on the Great Western Main Line in South West England, serving the town of Swindon, Wiltshire. It is 77 miles 23 chains (124.4 km) down the line from London Paddington and is situated between Didcot Parkway and Chippenham on the main line. It is managed by Great Western Railway, which also operates all the trains.
It is an important junction, where the former Great Western Railway line to Gloucester and Cheltenham Spa, the main line to Bristol Temple Meads, and the South Wales Main Line via Bristol Parkway diverge.
It is approximately 220 yards (200 m) from the central bus station and the town centre. It is served by GWR services from Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads, Cardiff Central, Cheltenham Spa via Gloucester, Swansea and the rest of South Wales, and to Westbury.
1.1 Awards
3 Panel box
See also: History of Swindon, Swindon Works, and Great Western Railway
The National Rail logo above the station can be seen from a distance and helps travellers locate it
The main line of the Great Western Railway (GWR) was built and opened in stages. Construction began in late 1835, and by the end of August 1840 the line was open between Paddington and Faringdon Road (later known as Challow), also between Bristol and Bath.[1] The section from Faringdon Road to a temporary terminus at Hay Lane (near Wootton Bassett} was opened on 17 December 1840; this passed to the north of the market town of Swindon (now known as Old Swindon); but the only intermediate station opened at that time was at Shrivenham.[2] Meanwhile, the Cheltenham and Great Western Union Railway had in 1836 been authorised to link the GWR with Gloucester and Cheltenham, and for this line, a junction at Swindon had been decided upon.[3] The GWR line was planned by Isambard Kingdom Brunel to rise from both London and Bristol to a summit near Swindon, and to have easy gradients east of that summit, and steeper gradients to the west. Brunel, and his colleague Daniel Gooch, decided in October 1840 that one locomotive would not be able to manage the whole distance without taking on fuel; and it would be necessary to change locomotives part-way. Reading was chosen as one place to change engines, being both a major station and, at just under 36 miles, approximately one-third of the 118-mile distance from Paddington to Bristol. They also felt that it would be convenient to change locomotives at Swindon; not only was this almost two-thirds of the way (just over 77 miles) and the site of the junction for the Cheltenham line, it was also the summit of the line; and a train from London could have its fast locomotive replaced by a slower but more powerful locomotive for the journey on to Bristol. Accordingly, it was necessary to provide locomotive maintenance facilities at Swindon. The proximity of the North Wilts Canal was also a factor, since it would enable coke for the locomotives and coal for the workshops to be supplied from the Somerset Coalfield at a reasonable price.[4] A station was then planned around the junction, and opened at the same time as the first portion of the Cheltenham line (from Swindon to Kemble and Cirencester); the GWR main line was extended from Hay Lane to Chippenham on the same day, 31 May 1841.[5] The GWR had engaged the Westminster firm of Messrs. J. & C. Rigby to build several stations, including all those between Steventon and Corsham; this firm was also given the construction contracts for all of the buildings at Swindon, including the station and its refreshment rooms, the locomotive repair shops, 300 houses and other buildings needed for the workers. The GWR was short of money, and in late 1841 the contractors, instead of asking for payment, agreed to give Swindon station and its refreshment rooms to the GWR free of charge, and to lease back the refreshment rooms for 99 years at one (old) penny per year. Part of the deal was that
All trains carrying passengers, not being Goods trains or trains to be sent express or for special purposes, and except trains not under the control of the Great Western Railway Company, which shall pass the Swindon Station either up or down, shall, save in case of emergency or unusual delay arising from accidents, stop there for refreshment of passengers for a reasonable period of about ten minutes.
In this "reasonable period", not only could the passengers be refreshed but the locomotive would also be changed. Messrs. Rigby would then be able to use the profits from the refreshment rooms to recover their financial outlay.[6] Not long after the contract was finalised, Rigby then sublet the rights to S. Y. Griffiths of Cheltenham for seven years, for which Griffiths paid Rigby £6,000 up front and then £1,100 per year. Before this expired, Rigby sold the lease to J. R. Phillips for £20,000 in August 1848.[7]
With the railway passing through the town in early 1841, the Goddard Arms public house in Old Swindon was used as a railway booking office in lieu of a station. Tickets purchased included the fare for a horse-drawn carriage to the line at the bottom of the hill.[8]
Swindon railway station opened in 1842 with construction of the GWR's engineering works continuing. Until 1895, every train stopped here for at least 10 minutes to change locomotives. Swindon station hosted the first recorded railway refreshment rooms, divided according to class. Swindonians, for a time, were eminently proud that even the current King and Queen of the time had partaken of refreshments there.[8] The station in 1842 was built of three storeys, with the refreshment rooms on the ground floor, the upper floors comprising the station hotel and lounge. Until 1961, when Swindon Town station closed, the station was known as Swindon Junction.
The original building was demolished in 1972, with today's modern station and office block erected on the site.[8]
The Travel Centre (booking office) at Swindon was APTIS-equipped by the end of October 1986, making it one of the very first stations with the ticketing system which was eventually found across the UK at all staffed British Rail stations by the end of the 1980s.[citation needed]
On 2 June 2003 Platform 4 opened.[9] Prior to this all westbound trains had used Platform 3 and eastbound services Platform 1. Services terminating or starting here on the lines to Westbury via Chippenham and Gloucester use platform 2, a west-facing inset bay.
Awards[edit]
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2004 – Station Excellence of the Year Award won. The year-old Platform 4 had saved hundreds of minutes of passenger time, as it removed a bottleneck at the station.
2005 – Staff at the station received an internal award, First for Service, for their outstanding customer treatment.
Services[edit]
A 1906 Railway Clearing House map of railways in the vicinity of Swindon
Railway lines in Swindon
GWML to London
Highworth branch line
Stratton Park Halt
Stratton St Margaret Works
M&SWJR to Cheltenham
M&SWJR to Southampton
Hayes Knoll
Chiseldon Camp Halt
Blunsdon
Chiseldon
Moredon Halt
Moredon Power Station
Rushey Platt
Purton
Golden Valley line
SWML to Swansea
GWML to Bristol
Preceding station
Following station
Terminus Great Western Railway
Cheltenham Spa – Swindon Kemble
Didcot Parkway Great Western Railway
London – Cardiff/Swansea Bristol Parkway
London – Bristol Chippenham
London – Cheltenham Spa Kemble
Swindon-Westbury/Southampton (Limited service) Chippenham
Historical railways
Line open, station closed Great Western Railway
Cheltenham and Great Western Union Railway Terminus
Main Line Wootton Bassett
Line open, station closed
Disused railways
Line and station closed Great Western Railway
Highworth Branch Line Terminus
Panel box[edit]
The railway in the vicinity of Swindon station and for a distance of about 20–30 miles in each direction towards Didcot, Bristol, South Wales and Gloucester was controlled from a signal box situated behind platform number 4. The panel box is a Western Region Integra design built by Henry Williams (Darlington) and opened in March 1968. The box was decommissioned in February 2016[10] and the panel was moved for preservation to Didcot Railway Centre.[11]
Plans[edit]
It was announced in December 2005 that stations in the Thames Valley region were to be upgraded.[12]
In August 2014, Network Rail completed the redoubling of the track between Swindon and Kemble in order to improve rail services between London and Cheltenham/Gloucester, and to allow for maintenance work in the Severn Tunnel when Swansea services are diverted via Gloucester. When originally laid in 1842 the line was double-track throughout, however some 12 1⁄4 miles (19.7 km) of the second track were removed in 1968/69.[13] As of July 2008[update], the Office of Rail Regulation was receiving submissions to restore this project (previously omitted) to Network Rail's plans for 2009–2014.[14] The project cost was estimated at £50.2 million and received backing from the South West Development Agency and others[15] but stalled when it was left out of the new Coalition Government's Spending Review in October 2010.[16] Work commenced in January 2013[17] and was completed in August 2014.[18]
On 1 March 2011, Secretary of State for Transport Philip Hammond announced that plans for electrifying the Great Western main line west from Didcot through Swindon to Bristol and Cardiff had resumed at a planned cost of £704 million.[19] The electrification project had first been announced by the previous Government's Transport Secretary Andrew Adonis, on 23 July 2009.[20]
^ MacDermot, E.T. (1927). History of the Great Western Railway, vol. I: 1833-1863. Paddington: Great Western Railway. pp. 38, 103, 114.
^ MacDermot 1927, p. 119
^ MacDermot 1927, pp. 119–121, 124
^ MacDermot 1927, pp. 125, 170
^ MacDermot 1927, pp. 151–3, 643
^ a b c Mark Child (2002). Swindon : An Illustrated History. United Kingdom: Breedon Books Publishing. ISBN 1-85983-322-5.
^ "It's Official: Swindon Platform 4 is Now Open". DfT. Archived from the original on 6 February 2007. Retrieved 1 April 2008.
^ "Swindon Signal Panel - The Signal Box Forum"Signalbox.org; Retrieved 29 September 2016
^ http://www.swindonpanel.org.uk
^ Plans for stations improvements bbc.co.uk 13 December 2005
^ Allen, G. Freeman (1979). The Western since 1948. Ian Allan. pp. 27–29, 153, 157–8. ISBN 0-7110-0883-3.
^ A recent Parliamentary debate on the Swindon-Kemble line
^ 'This is Gloucestershire' reporting on doubling the Swindon – Kemble line[permanent dead link]
^ 'This is Gloucestershire' Swindon – Kemble redoubling project[permanent dead link]
^ m Swindon to Kemble rail upgrade begins BBC News 11 January 2013
^ Swindon to Kemble rail line redoubling work complete BBC News 25 August 2014
^ Cabinet Office
^ Adonis, Andrew (23 July 2009). "How to get Britains railways back on track". The Times. London.
Media related to Swindon railway station at Wikimedia Commons
Railway stations in Wiltshire
Bristol to London Paddington:
Taunton to London Paddington:
Bedwyn
Exeter to London Waterloo:
Tisbury
Cardiff to Portsmouth:
Avoncliff
Bristol to Weymouth:
Heart of Wessex Line
Swindon to Westbury:
Heritage railway stations
Swindon Crickalde Railway:
Cricklade (Proposed)
Taw Valley Halt
Mouldon Hill (Proposed)
Swindon West (Proposed)
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Swindon_railway_station&oldid=896629955"
DfT Category C1 stations
Buildings and structures in Swindon
Transport in Swindon
Former Great Western Railway stations
Railway stations opened in 1842
Great Western Main Line
South Wales Main Line
Railway stations served by Great Western Railway
Articles with dead external links from April 2019
Use British English from November 2017
Articles containing potentially dated statements from July 2008
All articles containing potentially dated statements


RINCON, PR: Roll out your mat with me once a month for a Community Yoga Practice. These monthly meet-ups are intended to help build, grow and bridge the local + visiting yoga communities, as well as to help raise awareness and donations for local organizations and people doing positive things in the community. Donations are not mandatory, and everyone is welcome to join the practice.
This quarter's classes (February-April) are dedicated to the Fundacion Surfrider Rincon. The Surfrider Foundation is a non-profit, grassroots, environmental organization dedicated to the protection and preservation of our world's oceans, waves and beaches. The Rincon Chapter conducts a weekly water testing program as well as beach cleanings and marine debris removal projects. For ways to donate and get involved, check out their website here.


← The No-Pants Dance Party Was A Success!
Coming Up…The Sixth Ever DDP!
Location: Meeting at Yaletown Roundhouse Skytrain Station, then off to wherever the Party needs to be!!
But, like it or not, they are coming.
And there's never been a better time to Party!
Nonpartisan by design, only Partying has the potential to unite both the lovers and the haters, bringing everyone together in a wild+wacky celebration that will be completely free of controversy, regulation or corporate branding!
A "demonstration" of sorts, intended to demonstrate to the world that with no financial backing, extreme security measures or official organization, We The People have the power to create an event that is more fun and entertaining than the Olympics itself!
Together, we can show the world that Partying is the greatest sport known to Man!
And that Canada does it better than anyone else!
Visit our OFFICIAL EVENT INVITE for more info, or READ ON…..
Any sport that was ever featured in the Olympics (both Summer and Winter) or should have been! So, any sport, or combination of sports that you can imagine!
We want trampoliners, hockey players, pole vaulters, footballers, skiers, skateboarders, snowboarders, ballerinas, ROLLERBLADERS, shot putters, bobsledders, weightlifters, bowlers, tug-of-war-ers, cyclists, whatever! Amateur or professional, young or old, all are invited!
But please dress only in Red+White!
Bring along as many balls, bats, birdies, pucks, rackets, nets, mallets and sports-related projectiles/catchers as you can! We will combine all sports into the craziest, funniest, unruliest Party Games the world has ever seen!
Tom+Gary have engineered a portable Decentralized Sound System- an FM transmitter in a backpack that broadcasts Nonstop Dance Music and Jock Jams out to a huge crowd of people carrying boomboxes, which are all tuned into our station, thereby creating a powerful+portable synchronized sound system!
The effect is truly amazing!
Check out these videos to see just how fun Decentralized Dance Parties really are!
But unlike past Decentralized Dance Parties, this one is actually sanctioned, as we've been invited to lead a giant roaming Decentralized Dance Party through downtown Vancouver as part of the Made In Vancouver Festival!
The Made In Vancouver Festival is a huge outdoor arts festival organized by "I Heart Van Art" (www.iheartvanart.com) featuring the audiovisual offerings of hundreds of local Vancouver artists throughout the Olympics.
Our job is to attract as many random people as possible to our Party and then lead everyone together in a huge group as we roam through the city and Party Hearty all the way through the Made In Vancouver Fest and beyond!
This action will last many hours and is guaranteed to be the best show in town!
YOU are an essential component!
-Share this invite with everyone you know to maximize our collective Party Potential!
-Dress in RED AND WHITE ONLY!
-Do your best to acquire a boombox to tune in to our Party Broadcast (and paint it red and white if you're feeling inspired) Tom+Gary will provide at least 50 boomboxes of our own, but the more the merrier!
-If it's raining, just bring an umbrella and bag your boombox.. The Party WILL NOT BE CANCELLED!
-The Party will take place on February 13th, late afternoon or early evening.
-Check back here for final instructions on meeting times and locations!
-More Decentralized Dance Parties will soon follow, including one on a Secret Mountain and a Grand Finale Blowout Party on the night of the closing ceremonies!
We're also selling a limited-edition run of stylin' t-shirts featuring the two logos pictured below as part of a joint fundraising effort between Tom+Gary's Dynamic Dance Party Delivery Service and I Heart Van Art.
With three Red+White-themed events fast approaching, they're a well-advised wardrobe choice… Retailing for just $20 apiece, you can't afford not to!
Message us before Friday, February 5th if you want one!
This entry was posted in Decentralized Dance Party, The 6th Ever. Bookmark the permalink.
2 Responses to Coming Up…The Sixth Ever DDP!


The Pros and Cons of Engaging in Online Couponing and Offer Deals!
These posts contain affiliate links which are a means for this site to earn money!
In the course of buying things, most of us have engaged in online couponing. Digital coupons are the online cousins of the long age tried and tested discount stamps. Both work the same way. But instead of scissors to cut them out, couponers just use the copy-paste function. Nowadays it's all about coupon codes. When buying something online, you will certainly come across a field at checkout where to type in a promotional code. This way, you will save the fixed amount in dollars or percent that is promised with the coupon code. The discount is the buying incentive and the coupon is that shortcode which you can input in a specific field in a checkout or cart page to receive a discount from the merchant. Engaging in Online Couponing save your money.
• Couponing enables couponers to get many items for free or at least half the price that you would have paid for them. Saving money is the major reason for engaging in online couponing and offer deals.
• Couponing enables couponers to try a lot of new products for super cheap prices. Merchants are in the habit of using discounts to penetrate the market especially when new products are involved. This offers the couponers the opportunity of trying myriads of new products for cheap prices.
• Couponing ensures that you compare price leading to cheaper purchases. Couponers are more price-conscious, aware of what they are spending which lends itself to even more savings for them. Comparing prices is a good habit to be in as it gives room for cheaper prices for the items.
• Because the couponers are conscious of prices and will always compare prices before purchases, they generally make fewer impulse-purchases than their non-couponing counterparts.
• Through couponing, you can stock up on many things when they are free/super cheap and don't have to buy those items for a long time. It's sweet to have a stockpile of items required in the house.
• Couponing is time-consuming. The process of collecting, sorting and planning coupon shopping is time-consuming. But: Not as time-consuming as it used to be if you master the process.
• For effectiveness and efficiency, you really need to organize your coupons and remember to have them with you whenever you shop. These days, smartphones help a lot with this. Many places take coupons digitally.
• You really have to watch out. So many people are engaged in "extreme couponing" in your area. You might get your shopping trip well planned and end up at the store only to discover that other shoppers have cleaned off the shelves all of the items you planned on getting. That is a huge bummer. But, some stores will still give you the deal when they get their next shipment.
• If couponing is handled incorrectly, you will actually spend more money using a coupon than you would have spent just waiting for a sale or buying generic. You need to know what you're doing and know coupon policies for the stores you shop at.
Also, Read How to Save Money – Best Money Saving Tricks.


text:
A new study reveals that artificial intelligence (AI) assistance improves the sensitivity and specificity of radiology readers searching for skeletal fractures.
Researchers at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM; MA, USA), Stony Brook University (SBU; NY, USA), and other institutions conducted a study of the Gleamer (Paris, France) AI BoneView algorithm, which can detect fractures of the limbs, pelvis, torso, lumbar spine, and rib cage. Six types of readers (radiologists, orthopedic surgeons, emergency physicians, physician assistants, rheumatologists, and family physicians) examined set 480 data sets, both with and without AI BoneView.
The results revealed that using AI assistance helped reduce missed fractures by 29% and increased readers' sensitivity by 16% for a single fracture, and by 30% for exams with more than one fracture, while improving specificity by 5%. The improvement in sensitivity was significant in all locations, but especially in the shoulder, clavicle, and thoracolumbar spine. AI assistance also shortened X-ray reading time by an average of 6.3 seconds per patient. The study was published on December 21, 2021, in Radiology.
"Our AI algorithm can quickly and automatically detect x-rays that are positive for fractures and flag those studies in the system so that radiologists can prioritize reading x-rays with positive fractures," said corresponding author Professor Ali Guermazi, MD, PhD, of BUSM. "The system also highlights regions of interest with bounding boxes around areas where fractures are suspected. This can potentially contribute to less waiting time at the hospital or clinic before patients can get a positive diagnosis of fracture."
Missed fractures on radiographs are one of the most common causes of diagnostic discrepancies between initial interpretations by non-radiologists or residents and the final read by board-certified radiologists, leading to preventable harm or delay in care to the patient. In addition, inconsistencies in radiographic diagnosis of fractures are more common during the evening and overnight hours, likely related to non-expert reading and fatigue. In patients with multiple traumas, the proportion of missed injuries, including fractures, can be high on the forearm and hands (6.6%) and feet (6.5%).
AI in Banking – How Artificial Intelligence is Used in Banks
SOURCE: APPINVENTIV.COM


Whether a contract for manufacture, supply and installation of lifts in a building is a "contract for sale of goods" or a "works contract"?
The question arose before the Supreme Court as to whether a contract for manufacture, supply and installation of lifts in a building is a "contract for sale of goods" or a "works contract"?
The Court by 4:1 majority overruled the 2005 judgment namely State of A.P. v. Kone Elevators (India) Ltd. (2005) 3 SCC 389) by ruling that the installation requires considerable skill and experience and thus the labour and service element is obvious; a preparatory work has to be done taking into consideration as to how the lift is going to be attached to the building. The nature of the contracts clearly shows that they are contracts for supply and installation of the lift where labour and service element is involved. Individually manufactured goods such as lift car, motors, ropes, rails, etc. are the components of the lift which are eventually installed at the site for the lift to operate in the building. In constitutional terms, it is transfer either in goods or some other form. In fact, after the goods are assembled and installed with skill and labour at the site, it becomes a permanent fixture of the building.
It was stated to be a composite contract which requires the contractor to install a lift in a building. If there are two contracts, namely, purchase of the components of the lift from a dealer, it would be a contract for sale and similarly, if separate contract is entered into for installation, that would be a contract for labour and service. As held, a pregnant one, once there is a composite contract for supply and installation, it has to be treated as a works contract, for it is not a sale of goods/chattel simpliciter. It is not chattel sold as chattel or, for that matter, a chattel being attached to another chattel. Therefore, it would not be a contract for sale on the bedrock that the components are brought to the site, i.e., building, and prepared for delivery.
M/S. Kone Elevator India Pvt. Ltd. vs. State of Tamil Nadu and Ors.


text:
Marco Antonio García Robledo (17 de enero de 2000; Gustavo A. Madero, Ciudad de México, México) es un futbolista Mexicano. Juega como volante ofensivo o extremo y su actual equipo es el Club Universidad Nacional de la Liga MX.

Clubes

Estadísticas

Referencias

Enlaces externos
 Ficha en Liga MX
 Ficha en transfermarkt

Futbolistas del Club Universidad Nacional en los años 2020


December 1st is 'Eat a Red Apple Day', according to quite a number of web sites, though nobody seems to know where the celebration originated. There's also the saying 'an apple a day keeps the doctor away,' which would seem to imply that eating an apple just once a year simply isn't sufficient. Still, we encourage you to eat a red apple today, and while you're doing so why not visit a few really big red apples?
The main contender for title of World's Largest Apple is found in Colborne, Ontario. The 11m (36') tall The Big Apple is found just off the 401 highway east of Toronto and is part of a family roadside attraction featuring an orchard and bakery famous for its digital counters showing how many hundreds of thousands of pies have been baked to date.
The town of Cornelia, Georgia, is home to a more modestly-sized apple which was built in 1925 to honour the main agricultural crop of the region. A Big Red Apple Festival is held in October to celebrate the harvest.
Finally, the world's largest apple basket full of pretty big apples is found at an orchard in Frazeysburg, OH.


text:
Azeglio Vicini (Cesena, 1933. március 20. – 2018. január 30.) olasz labdarúgó, fedezet, edző.

Pályafutása

Játékosként
1953 és 1956 között a Vicenza, 1956 és 1963 között a Sampdoria, 1963 és 1966 között a Brescia labdarúgója volt. A Vicenzával és a Bresciával egy-egy bajnoki címet nyert a másodosztályban.

Edzőként
1967–68-ban utolsó csapatánál a Bresciánál lett vezetőedző. 1976 és 1991 között az olasz válogatottnál dolgozott. 1975–76-ban az U23-as, 1977 és 1986 között az U21-es válogatott szakmai munkáját irányította. Az 1986-os U21-es Európa-bajnokságon ezüstérmet szerzett a csapattal. Ezt követően lett az olasz válogatott szövetségi kapitánya. Az 1988-as NSZK-beli Európa-bajnokságon elődöntős, az 1990-es hazai rendezésű világbajnokságon bronzérmes lett a csapattal. Az 1992-es Európa-bajnokság selejtezőin nem sikerült kiharcolnia a csapatnak a részvételt és emiatt távozni kényszerült. Utódja Arrigo Sacchi lett. 1992–93-ban a Cesena, 1993–94-ben az Udinese vezetőedzője volt.

Sikerei, díjai

Játékosként
 Vicenza
 Olasz bajnokság – másodosztály (Serie B)
 bajnok: 1954–55
 Brescia
 Olasz bajnokság – másodosztály (Serie B)
 bajnok: 1964–65

Edzőként
 Olaszország U21
 U21-es Európa-bajnokság
 ezüstérmes: 1986
 Olaszország
 Európa-bajnokság
 bronzérmes: 1988, NSZK
 Világbajnokság
 bronzérmes: 1990, Olaszország

Jegyzetek

Források

1933-ban született személyek
2018-ban elhunyt személyek
Olasz labdarúgók
Labdarúgó-középpályások
A Vicenza Calcio labdarúgói
A Sampdoria labdarúgói
A Brescia Calcio labdarúgói
Olasz labdarúgóedzők


After everyone heard it was all over, even the radios were saying so too, was when everything turned to metal.
Ma's smile - metal. Bong Chan's small ankles, the ones the soldiers loved and tried to cut off to keep for themselves - metal. The loudspeaker and the announcing voices - metal. The lands around the camp - metal. The waters of Tonle Sap - metal. My fingers - metal. The food Ma tells me to eat - metal.
Sitting on the bench, twenty per side, and ten wide at either end, across a table soaked in oil and lard, though we haven't much of either for as long as I can remember, and all the women are trying hard to eat the way we we used to eat, bit by bit, one hand in our laps while the other gracefully darting from rice bowl, to soup bowl, to partly open mouth. We are all pretending that we weren't starving the hour before the radios told us all that everything was over.
A girl with no teeth - I called her Bong too, because I don't think she has sisters anymore - holds up her hands in front of her face, pretending to read. Two Yeiys next to her practice their French - Excusez-moi, Comment allez-vous? S'il vous plaît, Merci, De rien, Tres bien - while Bong Chan presses her bare toes against the hard, flat ground. She is whispering, through the long curtain of her hair - ici ou la, ici ou la, ici ou la -  I used to eat French, just like she did, when we were in school but that was before the war and now the loudspeakers are telling us that either today or tomorrow, we'll receive the news where we're going, either here or there.
I lean onto Ma, who is feeding the last of her rice to Bong Bopha and I tell her, There, I want to go there. When she smiles, though it is metal, I feel warm from the bottom of my feet - on top of Bong Chan's to keep her warm - all the way to my head - now coated with a thick dust no water can wash off.
A boy who used to deliver the newspapers on our block but now limps from place to place - the soldiers took away his right leg because he laughed too loud once - smiles at me from the men's side. He still has bright eyes, so bright, I thought they, too, have turned to metal.
He says, Le petit chinois but I can't be sure that is what he means because everything is so loud from all the pretending and quickly darting eyes. Over a lunch of week old rice, soup made from onions and bitter melon and the loudspeakers repeating again and again, either today or tomorrow, we sit, bowed.
Someone is murmuring to Lord Buddha. Lord Buddha, thank you, thank you.
I can hear the tanks rumbling down the city streets that once belonged to me and I do not think Lord Buddha knows about the war, or the fires at night.
The boy without a right leg continues to nudge with his eyes for me to look at the sky and above, I see a metal bird but it doesn't empty its stomach onto us. The ground stays still and Ma smiles again and I take that warmth, nestle it in the space underneath my ribs.
I cannot sleep. On the cot next to me, Bong Bopha and Chan are holding each other to keep the near monsoon wind at bay. Their dreams are little, I see bits of it dancing over their eyes. Bong Bo dreams of a red umbrella that Ba gave her two years before the war started. Bong Chan dreams of mangoes and she reaches for them with both hands.
I look up and Ma dreams of a tall man who stands over us, hands that smell like fish and a long mustache that tickles me every time he holds his face next to mine and in Ma's dream, he calls her lovely one, Oun Samlanh.
His words are red with a curl of yellow - like the time we saw the sun peeking from our half-collapsed ceiling - I can almost reach up and hold them in my hands. But Ma would have nothing and I cannot think of a worse thing I can do to her. So instead, I sit and listen to the man- tall and smells like fish all over his fingers and in-between them too - call Ma beautiful and young and it is only when the whole camp wakes up again, and the loudspeakers turn on to announce today's date and weather, and Bong Chan shakes the floor when she gets up and puts on her shoes, and Ma wakes up from her dreams like a flower uncurling that I say his name. Ba, Ba, come back.
Not today, Ma says and she helps me up, fixes my pants and straightens my shoulders. She is looking at me with her metal eyes but when she is smiling, I can see how she used to look, before the war and before me even.
I say, Oun Samlanh but Ma is already up now, the flower fully bloomed, and she is gathering her daughters to her and the woman who was asleep and curled words like jewels all over her neck is gone, faded away into the corner of the cot.
Outside, the sun burns hot streaks into the sky. A crowd of metal birds zoom back and forth and there are no clouds. When I lick my lips, the monsoon taste close, so close by. The boy with no right leg is sitting across from our barracks and in his lap is an old sarong - must be his Ma who is not lucky or smart like my Ma - and if I squint my eyes, it looks like he is holding onto a cloud, pale blue, the only cloud that managed to survive the long, long night.
And the loudspeaker rages on to say, either today or tomorrow, we'll receive the news where we're going, either here or there.
Ma says, not today, not today, I know it. She says it like it is an answer.
We don't have to ask the question and over by the latrines, the old ladies start lamenting again, loud and long and they cry out, It's just a lie, it's just a lie.
America, but wherever Ma is thinking, she pushing it aside to tell us to eat, eat and be strong.
When the sun is at its hottest is when the camp tells us to finish our chores. I take Bong Chan's hand - we never walk alone, never ever, even before the war came and in Bong Chan's waist, tucked away in the fold of her shirt, a knife like the kind that American soldiers used on our people - and we walk two miles up to the station where the Red Cross parks its water trucks.
The plastic bucket hits against my ankles and then swings to hit the back of Bong Chan's. Us two like birds pecking up the dusty road, singing like Ros Serey Soethea did before they all took her away and stole her voice, and when it comes to the part where the song says, what is love? bitter?, sweet?, sour?, Bong Chan waves her fingers back and forth over her quickly, smiling mouth.
She says, you are lucky.
The soldiers who watch us crowd too close and she quickly holds my hand tighter.
She says again, you don't know it yet.
A metal bird flies closer to the city we used to know and empties its belly. All around, dropping bits and pieces of paper and Bong Chan reads it to me, loud and slow.
THESE ARE BASIC KITS PROVIDED BY THE RED CROSS TO YOU AND YOUR LOVED ONES. PLEASE TAKE AS MANY AS NEEDED.
A second metal bird disposes its belly on us and from the sky drops bags of food. We gather as many as we can in our held out sarongs and I feel the luck Bong Chan talked about flooding my nose and the tips of my feet too.
Ici ou la, ici ou la, ici ou la, ici ou la.
I know that you are watching me, the way that Ma does. You are the youngest and we all decided that you will be the one that we pin our hopes on.
You are so skinny. You won't eat the food we heap onto your plate. You are trembling as you walk down the airplane aisle, shoes bouncing hard against the carpeted floor. You are so little against the cavern of space, filled with luggage and bags and rows and rows of watching people. I want to hold you to stop the shaking.
You have eyes the way I imagined the moon is like before the metal birds come. You have eyes the way the stars looked before the city burned itself dirty.
You watch me, your fingers dancing across the smooth canvas of your neck. I called you a bird when you were younger, the way you pecked the ground, bobbing back and forth from the ground to the sky and back.
When I asked you what you were thinking about, you said, I want to go there. You pointed to the sky. You said, it smells like mangoes.
As we sit, three of us in one row, Ma across from us, we hold one long breath together. You sit on the inside, away from the open aisle and you lean against the plane's wall. When you blink, the tears you hide there form patches of fog against the window pane.
You are the youngest and I want to tell you that where we are going will be better than here, but with your eyes peering at me from a body that hasn't had enough to eat for three years, and your hands, too gnarled from furrowing the fields, and your teeth, rotted through from biting and gnawing hard earth, I can only hope that this will become just a memory of a memory for you.
Bong Bo reaches over my lap and takes your other hand. She, the oldest, has always been our rock, unmovable, steady in the midst of all this roaring wind and pounding, streaming light.
When she smiles, I swear, you and her look just alike.
Across the aisle, Ma hums a song of monsoons and the sun over the river. Of water buffalo plowing wet earth and the city's fireworks for New Years.
The plane takes off and the engines roaring tells us that we will spend our whole lives trying to forget.
Three girls and a woman who already looks too old are sitting, holding hands across the aisle. The oldest has hair that you have only dreamed of having, all midnight silk and the middle one has the ankles of a dancer accustomed to dancing round and round every corner of the room. But the youngest is quiet and takes her fist to jam it into her mouth. The woman, their mother, has begun practicing English. Thank you, she says, thank you.
The words are marbles in her throat.
They are the lucky ones, everyone says. They just don't know it yet.
Kimarlee Nguyen was born and raised in Revere, Massachusetts, and received her BA in English from Vassar College. A full-time English teacher at the Brooklyn Latin School, she recently received her MFA in creative writing from Long Island University Brooklyn. She was a participant in the 2014 Cullman Center Institute for Teachers and is a 2017 recipient of the Teacher and Librarian Scholarship to the Key West Literary Seminar. Her fiction has previously appeared in Drunken Boat, Hyphen, Cha: An Asian Literary Journal, the Adroit Journal, Day One, PANK, Kartika Review and is forthcoming in the Opiate, the Matador Review and an anthology published by Third Woman Press.


Our 20" USS Constitution model ship is the perfect complement to your traditional nautical decor!
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text:
Jay and Silent Bob strike back (again): Kevin Smith plans to 'reboot' cinematic stoners
Jay and Silent Bob Reboot will lampoon Hollywood's reliance on franchises, sequels, and remakes
By Matt Kamen
Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith - the real life Jay and Silent Bob
Don Arnold / Getty Images
Cult film director Kevin Smith is bringing back two of his most beloved characters - slacker drug dealers Jay and Silent Bob.
The pair debuted in Smith's 1994 debut Clerks, and appeared in many of Smith's films since. A duo of low-key drug dealers and stoners once described as "hetero life mates", Jay is a loud-mouthed, hyper-profane idiot and Silent Bob is his (nearly, but not quite) mute companion.
Played by Jason Mewes and Smith himself, Jay and Silent Bob have been the common thread through Smith's 'View Askewniverse' productions - low-key indie comedies based mostly around New Jersey. Together, they've inspired comic book superheroes, given relationship advice, and even met God herself.
With the exception of 2013's animated Jay and Silent Bob's Super Groovy Cartoon Movie, they've not been seen on screen since 2006's Clerks II. This is about to change. Smith made the announcement of the duo's return in a Facebook post, where he revealed he had begun work on a script for Jay & Silent Bob Reboot.
The Morbius trailer drops a big hint about the MCU's future
Kevin Smith, via Facebook
"All last month, I had the time of my life laughing while writing Jay and Silent Bob Reboot - a fun flick in which the Jersey boys have to go back to Hollywood to stop a brand new reboot of the old Bluntman & Chronic movie they hated so much," Smith wrote. "It's a tongue-in-cheek, silly-ass satire that pokes fun at the movie business's recent re-do obsession, featuring an all-star cast of cameos and familiar faces!"
The movie sounds like it'll be a direct sequel to 2001's Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back, a road trip-meets-heist comedy flooded with cameos from Smith's cadre of regular actors and guest stars including the late Carrie Fisher and George Carlin. That film saw the hapless duo travelling to Hollywood to stop Miramax - the real film's distributor - from making a film based on an in-universe comic, first referenced in 1997's Chasing Amy.
An avowed comic and pop culture fan, Smith has in recent years been working on episodes of The Flash and Supergirl, while developing his horror-comedy True North Trilogy for cinemas. He's no stranger to the movie industry's reliance on rebooting older properties, and the idea of some desperate studio exec planning another Bluntman and Chronic film is pretty on the nose.
Smith also updated fans with the latest on his other projects, including a third Clerks movie and a sequel to 1995's Mallrats. "Sadly, Clerks III can't happen (one of our four leads opted out of the flick)," Smith wrote. "So I worked on a Mallrats movie instead... which also didn't happen because it turned into a Mallrats series."
Smith had announced a Mallrats sequel in 2015, and gathered the original cast to return for the film. With a working title of MallBrats, filming was meant to start in 2015, until the real-life mall Smith planned to shoot in was demolished. After re-negotiating with Universal Pictures, which owned the Mallrats rights, plans emerged in June 2016 to reimagine MallBrats as a 10-episode TV series. However, there's not been much movement. Smith added on Facebook: "I've pitched said sequel series to six different networks only to find no takers thus far."
There's no word on release date for Jay and Silent Bob Reboot yet, but Smith said: "I already met with the good folks at Miramax and they're into it, so I'm hoping we'll be shooting in the summer!"
Powdered food is back again to take on sandwiches and cereal
Twitter needs to start exposing the UK's murky online propaganda
By Laurie Clarke
A no deal Brexit will mean the return of EU roaming charges
YouTube's ditching vloggers, old-school celebs are back again
By Chris Stokel-Walker


text:
"""Python sample for connecting to Google Cloud IoT Core via MQTT, using JWT.

This example connects to Google Cloud IoT Core via MQTT, using a JWT for device
authentication. After connecting, by default the device publishes 100 messages
to the device's MQTT topic at a rate of one per second, and then exits.

Before you run the sample, you must register your device as described in the
README in the parent folder.

After registering the device, download Google's CA root certificates with

    wget https://pki.google.com/roots.pem

and run this script with the corresponding algorithm flag, for example:

    python cloudiot_mqtt_example.py --project_id=my-project-id \
                                    --registry_id=my-registry-id \
                                    --device_id=my-device-id \
                                    --private_key_file=rsa_private.pem \
                                    --algorithm=RS256
"""

import argparse
import datetime
import time

import jwt
import paho.mqtt.client as mqtt

def create_jwt(project_id, private_key_file, algorithm):
    """Creates a JWT (https://jwt.io) to establish an MQTT connection.

    Args:
     project_id: The cloud project ID this device belongs to

     private_key_file: A path to a file containing either an RSA256 or ES256
         private key.

     algorithm: The encryption algorithm to use. Either 'RS256' or 'ES256'

    Returns:
      An MQTT generated from the given project_id and private key, which
      expires in 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, your client will be
      disconnected, and a new JWT will have to be generated.

    Raises:
      ValueError: If the private_key_file does not contain a known key.
    """

    token = {
        # The time that the token was issued at
        'iat': datetime.datetime.utcnow(),
        # When this token expires. The device will be disconnected after the
        # token expires, and will have to reconnect.
        'exp': datetime.datetime.utcnow() + datetime.timedelta(minutes=60),
        # The audience field should always be set to the GCP project id.
        'aud': project_id
    }

    # Read the private key file.
    with open(private_key_file, 'r') as f:
        private_key = f.read()

    print(
            'Creating JWT using {} from private key file {}'.format(
                    algorithm, private_key_file))

    return jwt.encode(token, private_key, algorithm=algorithm)

def error_str(rc):
    """Convert a Paho error to a human readable string."""
    return '{}: {}'.format(rc, mqtt.error_string(rc))

def on_connect(unused_client, unused_userdata, unused_flags, rc):
    """Callback for when a device connects."""
    print('on_connect', error_str(rc))

def on_disconnect(unused_client, unused_userdata, rc):
    """Paho callback for when a device disconnects."""
    print('on_disconnect', error_str(rc))

def on_publish(unused_client, unused_userdata, unused_mid):
    """Paho callback when a message is sent to the broker."""
    print('on_publish')

def parse_command_line_args():
    """Parse command line arguments."""
    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(
        description=(
                'Example Google Cloud IoT Core MQTT device connection code.'))
    parser.add_argument(
            '--project_id',
            required=True,
            help='GCP cloud project name')
    parser.add_argument(
            '--registry_id',
            required=True,
            help='Cloud IoT Core registry id')
    parser.add_argument(
            '--device_id',
            required=True,
            help='Cloud IoT Core device id')
    parser.add_argument(
            '--private_key_file',
            required=True,
            help='Path to private key file.')
    parser.add_argument(
            '--algorithm',
            choices=('RS256', 'ES256'),
            required=True,
            help='Which encryption algorithm to use to generate the JWT.')
    parser.add_argument(
            '--cloud_region', default='us-central1', help='GCP cloud region')
    parser.add_argument(
            '--ca_certs',
            default='roots.pem',
            help=('CA root certificate from https://pki.google.com/roots.pem'))
    parser.add_argument(
            '--num_messages',
            type=int,
            default=100,
            help='Number of messages to publish.')
    parser.add_argument(
            '--mqtt_bridge_hostname',
            default='mqtt.googleapis.com',
            help='MQTT bridge hostname.')
    parser.add_argument(
            '--mqtt_bridge_port', default=8883, help='MQTT bridge port.')

    return parser.parse_args()

def main():
    args = parse_command_line_args()

    # Create our MQTT client. The client_id is a unique string that identifies
    # this device. For Google Cloud IoT Core, it must be in the format below.
    client = mqtt.Client(
            client_id=(
                    'projects/{}/locations/{}/registries/{}/devices/{}'
                    .format(
                            args.project_id, args.cloud_region,
                            args.registry_id, args.device_id)))

    # With Google Cloud IoT Core, the username field is ignored, and the
    # password field is used to transmit a JWT to authorize the device.
    client.username_pw_set(
            username='unused',
            password=create_jwt(
                    args.project_id, args.private_key_file, args.algorithm))

    # Enable SSL/TLS support.
    client.tls_set(ca_certs=args.ca_certs)

    # Register message callbacks. https://eclipse.org/paho/clients/python/docs/
    # describes additional callbacks that Paho supports. In this example, the
    # callbacks just print to standard out.
    client.on_connect = on_connect
    client.on_publish = on_publish
    client.on_disconnect = on_disconnect

    # Connect to the Google MQTT bridge.
    client.connect(args.mqtt_bridge_hostname, args.mqtt_bridge_port)

    # Start the network loop.
    client.loop_start()

    mqtt_topic = '/devices/{}/events'.format(args.device_id)

    # Publish num_messages mesages to the MQTT bridge once per second.
    for i in range(1, args.num_messages + 1):
        payload = '{}/{}-payload-{}'.format(
                args.registry_id, args.device_id, i)
        print(
                'Publishing message {}/{}: \'{}\''.format(
                        i, args.num_messages, payload))
        # Publish "payload" to the MQTT topic. qos=1 means at least once
        # delivery. Cloud IoT Core also supports qos=0 for at most once
        # delivery.
        client.publish(mqtt_topic, payload, qos=1)
        time.sleep(1)

    # End the network loop and finish.
    client.loop_stop()
    print('Finished.')

if __name__ == '__main__':
    main()


Church Road - MM 106.0. The Reading & Northern's famous "Four-and-a-Quarter" hustles toward the rural crossing at Church Road in the tiny hamlet of Quakake, PA, under a threatening sky.
What a difference 24 hrs makes. Just one day ago, the air was frigid, there was snow on the ground and there was snow in the air. The passage of a warm front, accompanied by strong southerly winds and heavy downpours have all but done away with the snow, as our express charter makes its way south toward the 425's home in Port Clinton, PA.


Gibraltar enjoys a very simple and business-friendly tax system.
A flat 10% Corporate Tax rate came into effect on January 1, 2011 for all companies (energy and utility providers are subject to 20% tax). Companies are taxed on profits accrued in or derived from Gibraltar (i.e. territorial basis of taxation).
Gaming Tax: 1% of relevant income (gaming yield for remote casinos and bets placed from on-line bookmakers) capped at $698,729 with a minimum payable of $139,745.
Tax payers can opt to be taxed under an Allowance Based System or under a Gross Income Based System.
Only the first $131,457.60 (2010/11 - $131,457.60) of assessable income is taxable subject to a minimum tax payable of $36,150.84 (2012/11 - $36,150.84) and a maximum of approximately $49,296.60 (2010/11 - $49,296.60).
Conditions on residential accommodation and previous residence/activities in Gibraltar apply. Category 2 individuals cannot, in general, engage in trade, business and employment in Gibraltar.
The tax payable by a HEPSS is limited to the first $1,971,864 of earned income. The relevant skills must be deemed to be of exceptional economic value to Gibraltar.
HEPSS are taxed under the Gross Income Based System. Conditions on residential accommodation and previous non-residency apply.


In this profession you come across all sorts of fanboys (and for that matter fangirls ... let's not be sexist here, but for the sake of brevity I'll use the term "fanboy" in a gender-neutral way). But the age of the fanboy is drawing to a close.
There are the obvious fanboy camps, such as Mac, and Linux, but fanboys and fanboyism exists all across the board. I've come across cellphone fanboys, web hosting fanboys, even CD/DVD disc maker fanboys. These people hold a vehement, unwavering belief that their particular choice in life (usually some sort of purchase, but not always) is without a shadow of a doubt the best possible choice anyone could make, and anyone making a different choice is some sort of sad loser. Usually this rabid zealotry comes down to a need to justify spending money on something, or committing to something, and at its root is usually a whole lotta insecurity. After all, why care what someone else spends their money on or choose to do?
While I'm more than happy to offer someone advice on a potential purchase, and have my own wants, beds, desires and biases (yes, biases) my level of overall passion about the issue is low. Why? I have better things in life to worry about. And anyway, at least when it comes to tech, sometimes if it wasn't for rabid fanboys early adopters, we'd never see some products mature to the point where they become useful to the masses.
Fanboys also make the job interesting, and highly entertaining. I'm not sure if all my colleagues feel like I do, but for me, it's a perk of the job. Sometimes I'm genuinely not sure if some of them are real fanboys or making fun of fanboy attitudes. Then there are those who are clearly deranged. They're the best. It's comedy gold. I might not agree with a single word they've typed, but I defend their right to be able to hold their view and freedom to say it, no matter how bonecrushingly dense and stupid it might be.
But the era of the fanboy is coming to an end.
It's coming to an end because the walls between platforms and technologies are crumbling, and the boundaries between products and services has blurred to the point of almost being transparent. We think nothing of shopping for a PC at Amazon on a Mac, using the Firefox browser and then having the confirmation email sent to a Gmail account, while talking on Skype and chatting on Windows Live Messenger. Brand loyalty across platforms and services is not a consumer strong point any more. If it were, there'd be one outright dominant car in a particular class, one type of pizza, and the Coke vs. Pepsi war would have been sorted out years ago.
My blogging buddy Jason Perlow is right when he says that the exclusive Apple "club" that fanboys have been able to claim membership of purely on the basis of being able to buy something is coming to an end (at least membership to the Linux fanboy club required members to have a certain - usually quite a high level - of knowledge and expertise). You can't sell millions of iPods, iPhones and iPads, not to mention millions of Mac every quarter to first-time without diluting, and then terminally polluting, the whole fanboy fanbase. Only the most blinkered person can maintain the illusion of exclusivity in the face of millions of people walking around with the same product. But for Apple fanboys there's the double-whammy of not only realizing that that the club is over, but in also discovering that Apple sold them out by shifting focus away from Mac OS and it's war with Microsoft and moved on to iOS and the far more lucrative cellphone and consumer electronics market. Apple is now mass market, and while that's a good thing (for Apple), it also has its drawbacks. Take a look for example through Apple's iPhone 4 discussion forum and you'll see battles raging between those who have bought an iPhone 4 and see it as an inferior product made by a company that's capable of making mistakes, and those who see it as a holy artefact straight from the mind of a deity - and the consumers who just see it as a product are winning the battles.
But this isn't just something that affects Apple fanboys. Take Linux. That special feeling of being part of something different must have taken a nosedive once the OS was on sale at outlets such as Dell. Once again, consumerism lowers the hurdle to adoption to a point where a mass market can step over it. The ultimate apotheosis to fanboyism is the mainstream market.
I'm not suggesting for on moment that fanboys will disappear either overnight or completely (even smallpox, which has been eradicated from the wild, still exist in labs). Heck, I wouldn't want that to happen because if nothing else I'd miss out on the laughs. But their era of influence, at least in areas where they've existed before, is coming to an end. In an era where anyone with a web connection can have a say, the old fanboy favorite of drowning out the opposition no longer works. Everyone has equal say, and all opinions carry the same weight.
The fanboys have been disarmed.


text:
The Quds Force, an elite unit of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, spearheads Iran's global terrorist campaign.
The Quds Force, an elite unit of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, spearheads Iran's global terrorist campaign. The terrorist attack in Bulgaria was, in our assessment, part of the campaign Read more...
Documents captured by the United States army in an Al-Qaeda safe house in Pakistan expose the ambivalent relations between Al-Qaeda and Iran.
Documents captured by the United States army in an Al-Qaeda safe house in Pakistan expose the ambivalent relations between Al-Qaeda and Iran. However, to further its own interests, Iran permits Al-Qaeda to use its territory to transfer operatives, funds and weapons to focal terrorist arenas in the Middle East and beyond. Read more...
A document captured by the United States army at Bin Laden's hideout in Pakistan
A document captured by the United States army at Bin Laden's hideout in Pakistan reveals connections between the Al-Qaeda leadership and the Army of Islam, a Salafi-jihadist organization based in the Gaza Strip Read more...
Latin America as a Terrorist, Subversive, Criminal Arena for Iran and Hezbollah *
Since Ahmadinejad was elected president in August 2005, Iran has extended and solidified its relations with several Latin American countries, especially Venezuela and Bolivia, and increased its efforts to obtain a political foothold in the others. Read more...