Today, we could do with a John Kerry to ask the same question about the war in Afghanistan.
Just what is being achieved by Czech soldiers on fighting patrols 5,000 kilometres from home is not explained by any of the authorities responsible for their deployment — and thus for placing them in jeopardy of their lives — but the usual nauseating platitudes were promptly mouthed by some of them.
The Czech prime minister, Andrej Babis, declared that the dead soldiers were "heroes who fought against terrorism so far from home." Well, he should know about operating far from home. Forbes lists him as being worth four billion dollars and owning "a Michelin-starred restaurant, La Paloma, in the French Riviera" which is no doubt some consolation to the relatives and friends of the men who were killed. Babis, of course, sent his "deepest condolences to their families," as did the ever-ready General John Nicholson, the sixteenth commander in Washington's seventeen years of war, who, never at a loss for futile banality, babbled that "Their sacrifice will endure in both our hearts and history and further strengthen our resolve." What utter garbage.
The "sacrifice" of these Czech soldiers won't be felt by any hearts other than those of their grieving families, and it is insulting to claim that it will. And their deaths won't get even the tiniest footnote in history. As to "strengthening our resolve" — resolve to do what? — to carry on mouthing phoney inanities about the utter chaos in Afghanistan?
The talented intellectuals of The Economist think that the deaths of a dozen American soldiers every year in the unwinnable Afghan War indicate that the policies of Trump and the Pentagon can be maintained indefinitely. What's a dozen lives, after all?
Well, listen to me, you clever little intellectuals and you swaggering military strategists, because I'm going to tell you a few home truths.
The soldiers who have died — and those who are going to die —have relatives who love them. They have parents, brothers, sisters, wives, partners, children, all of whom suffer when the lives of their nearest and dearest are sacrificed by a bunch of no-hopers as part of a "modest" cost in a supposedly "sustainable strategy" in a country that is ungovernable.
The Costs of War Project at Brown University estimates that more than 100,000 people have died in the war in Afghanistan. They weren't all soldiers, of course, because in conflicts like this, the civilian population always suffers from action by both militants and the armed forces involved. In July, the UN reported that 1,692 Afghan civilians were killed, and 3,430 injured in the first six months of 2018, which is the record for that period in the seventeen years of this catastrophe.
But let's get back to the soldiers who are dying.
On August 9 it was finally acknowledged by the Kabul government that over twenty Afghan soldiers had been killed in an insurgent attack on August 3 in Uruzgan province. There were no US-NATO troops involved, so there has been little reporting of the disaster by the western media, and no mention of it whatever by NATO headquarters, but it is the most serious setback suffered by the Afghan Army for several months.
Consider what happens to the dependant families of dead Afghan soldiers: the widows are entitled to pensions, of course — but Afghanistan is the third most corrupt country in the world. Do you imagine for a moment that these anguished women receive a fraction of the tiny amount to which they are entitled? Of course they don't. Usually, they don't get a bean, because the money is stolen by crooked and heartless government officials. What have you to say to that, General Nicholson? Does it strengthen your resolve to do anything?
They were Staff Sergeant Martin Marcin, 36, and Corporals Kamil Benes, 28, and Patrik Stepanek, 25, about whose deaths the Czech Defence Minister Lubomir Metnar declared that "We have witnessed a tragedy that can hardly be prevented when you serve in the army." I would really like to be able to put that grubby politician on a patrol in Afghanistan, along with the intellectuals of The Economist and all the other smart-assed commentators to whom soldiers' lives and grieving widows mean nothing.
At least, she'll probably be paid her pension, unlike so many widows of Afghan Army soldiers who also died for... What?
In all the years of useless conflict in Afghanistan the western media has never listed the names of Afghan Army soldiers killed in action, because these soldiers don't matter in the greater scheme of things — the "sustainable strategy" — in which they are but inconsequential pawns, as are all the civilians who are killed by bombing, whether on the ground by the Taliban, or from the sky by Afghan-US-NATO airstrikes.
The BBC reports that "Since President Trump announced his Afghanistan strategy . . . the number of bombs dropped by the US Air Force has surged dramatically. New rules of engagement have made it easier for US forces to carry out strikes against the Taliban" and this surge in aerial blitzing has certainly had an effect.
While Afghan and foreign air forces blitz the country, and the Taliban and other militants wreak havoc with their constant attacks, all that happens politically is that corruption thrives and the murderously criminal vice-president, Abdurrashid Dostum, returns from self-imposed exile to create further chaos. The place is ungovernable, and the foreigners should get out, now.


text:
Mon, 28 March 2011
Episode #52: Topsy-Turvy/All Good Things
Paul and Heather review the Criterion edition of Mike Leigh's Gilbert & Sullivan Mikadopic TOPSY-TURVY, and Andrew Jarecki's true-crime thriller ALL GOOD THINGS. Also: we (vaguely) remember the life of Elizabeth Taylor, Heather contributes a mini-review of Akira Kurosawa's newly relevant drama I LIVE IN FEAR, and Paul goes gooey for Margot Kidder in his mini-review of the Brian De Palma thriller SISTERS. Plus: our lists of the week's other most noteworthy new DVD and Blu-Ray releases.
0:00-12:32: Intro/Elizabeth Taylor, RIP/I LIVE IN FEAR/SISTERS
12:32-13:32: The Bagdads, "Livin' in Fear"
13:32-28:47: TOPSY-TURVY
28:47-29:50: Gilbert O'Sullivan, "I Don't Love You But I Think I Like You"
29:50-41:42: ALL GOOD THINGS
41:42-42:44: Frank Williams and the Rocketeers, "Good Things (Pt. 1)"
42:44-1:03:26: Other noteworthy new DVDs/Outro
Direct download: Episode_52__Topsy-Turvy_All_Good_Things.mp3
Category:TV and Film -- posted at: 12:00am EST

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
October 13, 2020: New Supplement: Illuminati 2020
We didn't announce this one. We just DID it. And it's shipping now. Direct sales only, and we just printed 1,000, so get it while you can.
If you think that while I was writing this set I was angry, frightened, and sarcastic . . . then you understand 2020. Even the Illuminati are having a bad year.
26 new cards for Illuminati Second Edition. Two of them are special two-sided 2020 cards for the spread of COVID-19, opening up, and closing down. And all the other things we've seen, including three new New World Order cards. Cards include Statue Smashers, Defund the Police, Mask Designers, and, of course, the one that changes everything: #BLACKLIVESMATTER.
Here's the Warehouse 23 link.
-- Steve Jackson
Permalink • Archive • Illuminated Site of the Week
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Copyright © 2022 by Steve Jackson Games. All Rights Reserved.


text:
Last Night Playback Saved My Life…
Tonight I have realised a lot of things. Things I have known for a long time. But it has become clearer over the last few months why I am why I am. To give you some context I need to tell you I am in the midst of a 'transition'. I think that's what it is, well that's what people keep saying it is. I can tell you it's not a pleasant experience, but it is revelatory. I don't think I've known myself for a long time. That's a big thing to admit, to think you don't know yourself, to realise you've maybe been on the wrong path.
How do I square that circle?
That's not easy to answer, but I'll try. I think I square it with the life I've led. I think I square it with the experiences I've had, with the beauty I've felt but also with the harshest parts.
Tonight I had an epiphany. I've had it before, it's like a recurring dream. I had it on Monday (today is Friday)... that's the where this title of this piece comes from. Most Monday's I rehearse and practice Playback Theatre with ThreadBear Theatre, this Monday I did. I've felt awful for months, probably years, but on Mondays I feel safe and held. This is a common feeling for us at ThreadBear, everyone of us have shared this same feeling at some point in our sessions… usually multiple times. So I want to think about why that is.
Well, Playback Theatre is a therapeutic form of performance, for the audience but also for the performers. I am living proof of this. ThreadBear is the only solid thing in my life- I think. Don't get me wrong, my kids are solid and I love them without question, the same with my family and friends. But there is something different about the experience, in the midst of my messy mind. To be clear, I am clinically anxious. I feel it on a daily basis. It dibilitates me. It sucks my energy and destroys my positivity. I am a clown, but for so long I have been living a version of Smokey Robinson & the Miracles (2013), but with the sound off.
So last Monday, Playback saved my life, again. But tonight football saved my life. It does that a lot too. Just rocking up to football coaching my eldest sons team has saved my sanity on multiple occasions. My epiphany tonight was that they are both the same thing. It's the interaction with other humans, it's the process of helping others move forward. This all helps me move forward.
So, you're probably thinking: "What the heck Duncan, why is this in your performingmonkies.com blog? Isn't that for your research and business?". And you would be absolutely right. It has everything to do with my research and business. Rather than chasing an impossible goal that I started over 20 years ago as a way of making a living I should be chasing what I really love, which by the way still includes performing. But what kind of performing? Well, improvised performing. Tomorrow (Saturday) I have a gig for a Tribute Show. it's got me fully knotted up and anxious, but I need the money… I have three kids, I haven't the money to say no. It's a 38 page script, none of which has to be scripted (I used to do this a decade ago with another company- but we improvised it all). 38 pages!! Are you freaking kidding me? I'm getting £90 for the gig. I'll say this again: ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME??
All this has added to the epiphany. None of this gig is really helping me, none of it is really helping anyone else, the anxiety is making it deeply unpleasant. So I've made a decision. I need to not do this anymore. But what should I do? Well I should do what I love, but use it to help others. As I said earlier I've had this epiphany before but now I know where I'm heading, maybe for the first time in a long time, and my research shows why it's a good place. And I blame Tim Robbins.
Well, maybe not blame Tim Robbins. Perhaps it's more of a nod to him, I'll explain more later. I want to run workshops for people who could do with some of what ThreadBear gives me. I want to empower them through teaching them improvisation. Now bear with me when I say that I think everyone should learn improvisation. I know that not everyone in the world is a performer, nor have aspirations to become one. Neither have I anymore. But there are elements of improvisational training that everyone should experience. That, for me is the joy of play. We are all obsessed with being serious adults, or we are programmed from an early age to become so. I see it with my children's education, I see the fun sucked out of their education as they rise through to secondary school. This adds to my anxiety, and has horrified me as a lecturer at colleges in Further and then Higher Education. There is an obsession with success and failure, especially the failure. Don't even get me started.
Anyway, Tim Robbins. So he has started running workshop programmes using improvisation through Commedia Dell'Arte in California prisons (The Actors Gang, 2018). The programme has reduced recidivism (re-offending) by over 50% (NYMag, 2016) and it has been made clear by Robbins himself that it is not about making the prisoners actors because that line of work is not a good prospect for a good lifestyle, there's a distinct lack of employment. "It's about changing behavior." (NYMag, Citing Robbins, 2016). But it's more than that, it is about empowering people, it is about spreading goodness and support in our communities. Learning to perform has put me on the path to this but it didn't actually help me achieve this in my life. I've had to work at this, find my own way and really find what my path is. I knew years ago that my path was not as an actor. I also knew my path was not that of an acting teacher, especially in a full time post in a school, or an institution. But by doing both I've learnt more than I could have imagined.
My path is to bring improvisation to people who struggle with their mental health. It has helped me, it has saved my life, it has clawed me back from the brink on a daily basis, it has made me laugh, it has made me cry, it has laid bare my failings, it has showed me my inner strength. I am not the only human who has this as an issue, and I won't be the last. A lot of folk may scoff at this, my "Anxious Hug Monster" (BBC, 2017) and my brutal Inner Critic might well try to tell me I'm fooling myself. But to be honest they can Fuck-Off! I might have quite a good actors CV (Spotlight, 2018) but being an actor is a bit mince.
"It's a nightmare really, a self-obsessed nightmare of survival… and here was an opportunity to throw all that away and figure out how to help this dude and if you can get through to this guy. What an amazing feeling to be able to see someone change… Rather than chase Shawshank Redemption, which is not going to happen again, what else is there in life that you can achieve to create something new in, find some idea of achievement in?" (Bissell, citing Robbins, 2016).
I am not an actor, I am an improviser. An improviser who does more than improvise.
Addiction Helper. 2017. [Online]. [Accessed on: 26 January 2018]. Available from: https://www.addictionhelper.com/questions-and-answers/how-much-does-rehab-cost/
BBC. 2017. [Online]. [Accessed on: 26 January 2018]. Available from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-42265920/my-anxiety-is-called-the-anxious-hug-monster
Bissell, K. 2016. [Online]. [Accessed on: 26 January 2018]. Available from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-35786775
Indeep - Last Night A DJ Saved My Life (Official Music Video). 2010. [Online]. [Accessed on: 26 January 2018]. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtfZbj4J71A
NF - Let You Down (Audio). 2017. [Online]. [Accessed on: 26 January 2018]. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0501BTnbrxg
NYMag. 2016. [Online]. [Accessed on: 26 January 2018]. Available from: http://nymag.com/vindicated/2016/11/tim-robbins-proves-acting-classes-for-inmates-work.html
Spotlight. 2018. [Online]. [Accessed on: 26 January 2018]. Available from: https://www.spotlight.com/interactive/cv/9652-6724-3828
'Tears of a Clown' - Smokey Robinson & The Miracles (info). 2013. [Online]. [Accessed on: 26 January 2018]. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t52YcxbVpOQ
The Actors Gang. 2018. [Online]. [Accessed on: 26 January 2018]. Available from: http://theactorsgang.com/prison-project/


text:
Q: Using susy in Rails I am using Rails 4.2.5. And I want to use susy.
I've installed some gems required,
gem 'susy'
gem 'compass-rails', '~> 2.0.0'
gem 'compass-susy-plugin'
gem 'sass-rails', '~> 5.0.0'

And in config/application.rb, I've added
require 'susy'

In application.scss
@import "susy";

But I failed to import susy in my scss file. When I give the command sass --watch application.scss:application.css, it shows error application.scss (Line 1: File to import not found or unreadable: susy.).

A: I may found the answer myself.
Actually, there's no need to convert scss file to css file since the gems we've installed will do that job for us.
By the way, upgrading the compass-rails gem to master may avoid some problem. See this issue.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


The MINI aerodynamic package comprises a striking front apron (including brake air ducts on the Cooper S), side skirts and a rear apron. It gives your MINI an even sportier appearance.
Aerodynamics package, primed (for painting), consisting of cladding for front and rear bumpers and side skirts. For MINI Clubman from 03/12.


text:
He will not be missed and whoever scouted him needs a rocket up their arse.
£63 Million quids worth of fuck all.
Genuinely happy for Winks if he's turned his fortune's around. Again, proof of Conte's quality. Knowing the commitment is there from a player then having the ability to turn a players confidence around simply by tweaking the way he's been programmed to play. In fairness under JM and NES you could say that about most of the squad.
Reactions: NiceOneCyril
Apparently Gil to Barcelona is "gaining momentum"
If that turns out to be true, it'll be a real shame because I think the kid has bags of talent. But then we've got previous for signing talented youngsters and not giving them a chance I suppose.
wonder if a Coutinho deal with Barca is on the table ?
Good point. If we could get him with Gil and some money going the other way then I'd take that.
Please, let's not sell him. I honestly think he is going to be a superstar for us, it's just going to take some time.
Meh.....
Coutinho can't hold down a place in a team who are 7th in LaLiga.. In fact he was an unused sub in the last 2 games. There's got to be a reason...
I'm suspicious....I'm always suspicious.
He wouldn't have a place in our starting XI either, IMO.
Taken from football London…
football.london understands that in his first transfer meeting ahead of the winter window with the club's hierarchy, when he asked to have another month to evaluate his players, Conte was told that money would be tighter in January following the summer's deals for five new signings and what comes next with some of them.
The club spent around £60m combined on Bryan Gil and later Emerson Royal and Pape Matar Sarr during the summer window and have an option to buy the on-loan Cristian Romero for £42.5m, a move that is expected by both Spurs and Atalanta to go through with a five-year deal already provisionally agreed with the Argentine from next summer.
There is also an option to make Gollini's move permanent for £13m. If both Romero and Gollini are signed from Atalanta then Spurs' total spending for their summer recruits will lie around the £115m mark, with only nominal fees coming the other way for their departing players.
With that in mind and the club's £150m in lost revenue during the pandemic, it was expected to be a quieter January window and Espirito Santo is believed to have been told that before his departure.
However, Conte clearly needs new faces to fit his system after the club spent the summer signing players who instead fit his predecessor's.
That's why hiring a manager and sacking him after just four months is a costly mistake to make in the first place and one that Paratici is going to have rectify somehow.
If Tottenham do not find more money from somewhere to spend in this transfer window then all of the heat from the fanbase for any disappointments in the months ahead will likely come down squarely on the shoulders of Levy, a chairman who faced his first real vocal protests from fans last season.
That's not even taking into account how Conte will react. The Italian is not a man who keeps his displeasure at situations to himself.
Can't be bothered to find that gif of Michael Jackson eating popcorn but seems apropos
There's talk of possibly Emerson being moved on in January as he was signed for Nuno and Conte wants someone better, but then I saw this tweet earlier on which gives it a bit of perspective I suppose.
I'm not a fan 5 years after his peak... there's gotta be better out there. We have to stop buying budget has beens or never was's.
He gets payed £3.25m a year so Lee McQueen can shove that bullshit in a dark, damp place. Perspective my left nut. He isn't a kid in a fucking apprenticeship, he's a professional fucking footballer, who is a playacting dickhead - if he didn't spend so much time pretending to be fouled then I might have a bit more sympathy, Nah, fuck him.
Sanchez!
I forgot about Rodon till I saw this. Surely he's out the door.
Good player I'd like to see progress... shame it clearly won't be with us.
Yeah, he a beast at Swansea, and ditto for Wales in a back three. Hard to say that he's gotten a fair crack of the whip this season, but wtf do I know.
I'll kick the hornets nest and say how about Eriksen.
That is a man on a new mission to shine. I reckon he would bring a commitment like never seen before!
Reactions: The Cryptkeeper and Style And Glory
Reactions: Glenjamin
Marcos Llorente
This lad is 13,500 coins of fifa 22 so I reckon that's good... I don't actually play fifa so this is a complete made up guess.
Honestly never seen him play or even knew of his existence until I googled best AM's in the world... and he was 4th. Watched some YT videos and he looks like every other player on there and didn't do anything that made me think "oooh, he looks good".
We've wasted 70 million of N'fatbelé so let's wast another 60 or 100 million on this cunt as another gamble.
I agree with that bold part. He wants to play at the World Cup.
If he's physically able & gets clearance to play, & given his new lease on life, I'd be inclined to give him a shot.
Wouldn't cost much in terms of money & as @Glenjamin says, knowing Eriksen, he'd be the most committed.
Even if Eriksen had half a heart, he'd give more than Ndombele.
Style And Glory said:
Agree with all of this, but I'd be terrified watching him play.
They're "Ole'ing"....
I'm out.
Goodnight lads.
When you haven't got your glasses on and think Nnombelly is out the door...
Nlundulu joins Cheltenham on loan
January won't fix a 'need to work harder' or lack of quality problem. We will have to wait for the summer for that. I appreciate that some teams have better players than us, with a winning mentality, but Southampton don't and they were better than us until they had someone sent off, Chelsea just looked like they wanted to win more than we did, so guess what they did......really fucking easily. We were lucky it was 2-0.
We are apparently in negotiations for Traore for 20 mil. I dunno, I just don't see him adding too much end product to us. Conte thinking of using him as a left wing back? Could be BS but it sounds serious. Happy to make a signing, but this one seems odd.
BrooklynYid said:
20 mil wasted imo...
He is a fucking show pony with zero end product. Baby oiled up, speed mercahnt who thinks he is better than he is.
Reactions: Chavhater01
I agree with this and unfortunately he only has one trick - speed. He was mostly a substitute for Wolves last season as well, are we seriously paying £20m for a sub??
It's a brilliant example of Levy buying another less than average player and thinking that constitutes a 'signing' we keep throwing good money after bad. SIGN PROVEN QUALITY in the Summer, difficult to do anything properly in January. if we'd conducted our transfer business properly rather than signing or loaning the likes of NDombele, Bergwijn, Sessegnon, Gedson Fernandes, Doherty, Aurier, Gil, Lo Celso etc etc. we would now still have Poch at the helm and have Bruno Fernandes in midfield and Ruben Dias in the centre of defence. Fuck Levy and Hitchen, wankers.
A lot of the articles about Traore are all claiming that it's Conte who thinks he can convert him into a RWB after deciding he can't do that with Emerson.
Look, while 20 million is considered a snip in the bonkers world of football... it fucking isn't, and his wages will also be a factor.
He has had one brief spell where he looked like could be a prospect. He created some good chances, even scoring a few goals himself... and that was it.
This season has been more about the baby oil than any other...
For me I'd take a punt on that young fullback who pulled Arsenal's pants down in the FA Cup... Spence I think... he was mustard going forwards and backwards. 20 million probably buys him and pays his wages for the next 3 years. You also get to mould him into the player you want/need and the "Levy" sell on factor is baked in with him being just a pup.


text:
Epson sets sights on growing sensor market
Epson will begin external sales of new sensing technologies that combine semiconductor and optical technologies that Epson has nurtured and advanced over many years.
The company will also launch a new business that will use motion-sensing analysis technology developed for Epson's M-Tracer golf swing analysis system to provide data about the actions and movements of people and objects in everyday life.
Epson has long been using its sensing technologies to provide value to users. For example, the company's semiconductor and optical technologies are used in healthcare to monitor an individual's vital signs and provide visual data about a person's daily activity.
Position-fix information measurements are used in the running market to support runners by measuring distance and exercise intensity.
While developing these technologies, Epson says it has received many requests from customers to utilise Epson's unique sensing technology and analysis algorithms.
Factors such as the spread of COVID-19 and the arrival of a super-ageing society have contributed to a general sense of unease.
At the same time, expectations are rising for safer and more secure communities in the future as social infrastructure such as transportation and lifelines are increasingly being connected to the internet of things (IoT).
In response to societal demands such as these, Epson has decided to begin successively selling its sensing technologies to external customers in order to capitalise on the technologies in a broader range of applications.
A large number of its sensing devices apply Epson-original core sensing technologies.
For many years, the company has used sensors to analyse big data and has accumulated a vast amount of data and many algorithms.
Epson will broaden the world of smart sensing and accelerate the creation of new applications by building partnerships with collaborating companies and engaging in open innovation projects that focus on Epson's sensing device product families and on algorithm platforms that create new value obtained through the analysis of sensing data.
In addition, Epson will continue to develop efficient, compact and precision technologies and create new markets in a diverse and expanding range of applications and in AI and IoT, where new needs are emerging.
Products and services Epson will begin selling
Sensing devices and modules such as global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) and vital sign sensors
Software libraries that optimise sensors for applications in areas such as sports and healthcare
Information sharing service on the results of motion analyses based on Epson's big data
One of the basic policies of the business plan is to accelerate growth by taking maximum advantage of assets and through collaboration and open innovation.
Epson will contribute to sustainability by pursuing synergies with in-house resources through collaboration and partnerships and by developing businesses and markets that expand the range of applications.
PwC helps businesses innovate for the digital future
Innovation can be challenging - the right people need to be in the right roles, and they must all be working towards a common goal.>>
CrowdStrike ranks #1 for modern endpoint security for second year running
"Endpoint security is mission critical in today's complex landscape, and CrowdStrike has proven time and again that our technology has transformed the approach that modern organisations take to tackle threats.">>
Schneider Electric launches comprehensive sustainability framework for data centre operators
"Our intention with this framework is to improve benchmarking and progress toward environmental sustainability to protect natural resources for future generations.">>
Infinidium reveals world-first power generator data cooling system>>


text:
MLB free-agent signings from December 17-20
Mitch Moreland agreed to a two-year deal to remain with the Red Sox. Image Source: Flickr | Keith Allison
Taking a look at the MLB free agents who agreed to new deals December 17-20.
by Ken Kluska
December 21, 2017 at 7:41 AM December 21, 2017 at 7:41 AM
As free agency continues, a few of the better free agent first basemen that came off the market in recent days. Eric Hosmer, largely seen as the best first baseman available, still remains in play though.
Here are the players who agreed to new deals on December 17-20. Those who agreed to minor league deals are not included.
To see Free Agents signed from December 15-16, click here.
To see free agents signed from December 8-10, click here.
To see free agents signed from December 4-7, click here.
Yonder Alonso - Cleveland Indians
Alonso will join the Indians in 2018 on a two-year deal worth $16 million. Playing with the Oakland Athletics and Seattle Mariners last season, he appeared in 142 games. In 521 plate appearances, he hit .266 with 28 home runs, 22 doubles, 67 RBIs, and 72 runs.
Alonso turns 31 on April 8. The left-handed first baseman has played eight years in the majors with the Cincinnati Reds, Padres, Athletics, and Mariners. In 806 career games and 2,864 plate appearances, he owns a career .268 average with 67 home runs, 149 doubles, 22 stolen basss, 306 RBIs, and 293 runs.
Matt Adams - Washington Nationals
Adams is heading to the nation's capital to play for the Nationals on a one-year deal that is expected to be worth $4 million.
The 29-year old first baseman appeared in 131 games for the St. Louis Cardinals and Atlanta Braves last season and had 367 plate appearances. He finished the season batting .274 with 20 home runs, 22 doubles, 65 RBIs, and 46 runs.
The left-handed hitter has now played six seasons with the Cardinals and Braves. In 586 career games and 1,853 plate appearances, Adams has a .271 average with 75 homers, 103 doubles, 275 RBIs, and 206 runs.
Jhoulys Chacin - Milwaukee Brewers
Chacin has agreed to a two-year deal to join the Brewers for $15 million. In 2017 with the Padres, the right-hander started 32 games and went 13-10 with a 3.89 ERA. In 180.1 innings, he finished with 153 strikeouts and a 1.27 WHIP.
Chacin, who turns 30 on January 7, has played nine seasons with the Colorado Rockies, Arizona Diamondbacks, Braves, Los Angeles Angels, and Padres.
In 195 career games (167 starts), he has gone 59-67 with a 3.93 ERA. He has pitched 1,023 innings, owns a 1.34 WHIP, and has struck out 807 hitters.
Nick Hundley - San Francisco Giants
Hundley agreed to a one-year, $2.5 million deal to remain with the Giants. The 34-year-old right-handed catcher appeared in 101 games for San Francisco in 2017. In 303 plate appearances, he finished with a .244 average and nine home runs, 23 doubles, 35 RBIs, and 27 runs.
Hundley has played 10 seasons in the majors as a member of the Padres, Rockies, Baltimore Orioles, and Giants. In 847 career games and 2,995 plate appearances, he has a .249 average with 81 home runs, 153 doubles, 17 triples, 13 stolen bases, 340 RBIs, and 280 runs.
Mitch Moreland - Boston Red Sox
The 32-year-old Moreland remains with the Red Sox after agreeing to a two-year pact worth $13 million. The left-handed first baseman appeared in 149 games for Boston in 2017. In 576 plate appearances, he batted .246 with 22 home runs, 34 doubles, 79 RBIs, and 73 runs.
Moreland has spent eight years in the majors with the first seven coming with the Texas Rangers and last season with the Red Sox. In 922 games and 3,338 plate appearances, he owns a .252 batting average with 132 homers, 159 doubles, 433 RBIs, and 372 runs.
Jordan Lyles - San Diego Padres
Lyles will return to the Padres after agreeing to a one-year, $1 million deal. He made five starts for the team after signing with them in August following his release from the Rockies.
With the two teams, the right-hander appeared in 38 games (five starts) and went 1-5 with a 7.75 ERA. He had 55 strikeouts and a 1.69 WHIP in 69.2 innings.
The 27-year-old Lyles has played seven years with the Houston Astros, Rockies, and Padres. He has pitched in 182 career games (107 starts) going 28-48 with a 5.43 ERA, 1.48 WHIP, and 466 strikeouts in 681 innings.
'Gold Rush' star Rick Ness still absent from gold mining show
Ken Kluska
Kenny has been writing sports articles online for a few years now and has also done a sports podcast in the past. His favorite topics to write about are the NBA, MLB, and NFL, although he is not limited to just those three.
Read more on the same topic from Ken Kluska:
Six week 9 fantasy stars who were mostly unowned, including Jordan Howard Six week 8 fantasy stars who were mostly unowned, including Jimmy Garoppolo Week 7 fantasy stars who were mostly unowned including Mac Jones
Jessica Jennings
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Blasting News recommends Mike Tyson wants Tom Brady to return to the Bucs next season Ex-teammate Kyle Van Noy shows love for Tom Brady, calls him the 'best ever' Rob Gronkowski weighs in on Brady's future: TB12 will pick Bucs over Raiders Daddy duty for Tom Brady as he spends quality time with daughter Vivian Dean Ambrose will be out of action due to injury Patriots' key defensive player avoids season-ending injury


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Brutalizing women political prisoners in the Philippines: A glimpse of the Marcos-Duterte spectacle of horrors
in Human Rights — by E San Juan Jr — 20/09/2022
In his classic "The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte," Karl Marx amends Hegel's quip on history repeating itself, first as tragedy and then as farce (1986 97). With the former Philippine dictator Marcos's son in office, will farcical acts be the spectacle for the next six years?. Imagine the sons of Somoza, Trujillo or Batista returning to their banana republics—that would indeed be "the tradition of all the dead generations" acting as toxic "nightmare on the brain of the living."
The oldest U.S. neocolony, the Philippines, was plundered and ruined by Ferdinand Marcos from 1966 to 1986. Biding their time in Hawaii, a refuge offered by the colonizers, the Marcos dynasty staged a comeback with their wealth and retinue of factotums intact. They consolidated power in their localities (Ilocos, Leyte) and began a program of selective retrieval. Aided by consumerist amnesia and a new generation bereft of historical knowledge, they inched their way to governorship and congressional seats. Amid widespread vote-buying and fixing of the Smartmatic computerized machines in the May 2022 elections, Marcos Jr., known as "Bongbong," was installed as president (CENPEG 2022). They struck a bargain with strongman Duterte by allowing the daughter Sara to run as vice-president to safeguard the father from any criminal investigation after his tenure.
Despite some citizen-groups' protests and media demands to review the election results by the Duterte-controlled Commission on Elections, nothing was done to block Bongbong's proclamation. The corrupted State ideological apparatuses to pacify class conflicts (legislature, courts, police, military bureaucracy) had already been eviscerated. The farce seems to be the consensus of the oligarchic clans—Arroyo, Estrada, Duterte, Marcos, billionaire Chinoy networks—with huge funding by corporate interests, religious, and military blocs that have so far benefited from their rule.
Estranging Affinities
The Marcos dynasty has so far successfully defied all court verdicts since their return from Hawaii in 1992. Bongbong himself refused to pay back-taxes while his mother, Imelda Marcos, sentenced to jail a while ago, remains free to flaunt her wealth—not her fabled thousand shoes, but the dynasty's "past glory" reconfirmed by Marcos' burial in the cemetery of heroes by Duterte. The elaborate State funeral was the ritual designed to repair the frayed social cohesion that is somehow ascribed to the Aquino clan represented by the "pink party" of the Liberal Party (Roxas clan) and the defeated candidate Leni Robredo. A compromise was reached with the Duterte bloc, compensating for Bongbong's frustrated vice-presidential ambition in 2016.
Meanwile, Bongbong's sister Senator Imee Marcos devised another farcical stragegy. To reinforce the Cambridge Analytica/Google handling of the Marcos "brand" in social media, She financed a film entitled "Maid in Malacanang" to revise the spectacle of the family's 1968 panicked escape from the palace as the infurtiated masses smashed the gates and soon occupied the dictator's sanctuary. It was a desperate attempt to alter the media discourse on the impact of the people's anger and repudiation of the patriarch's martial law (1972-1986) and its horrors. Somehow, the tragic show needs comedic retouching.
Paradoxical Inversions
For many reviewers, Imee's propaganda ploy was an abject failure. Rappler, the news outfit headed by Maria Ressa, recent Nobel Prize winner, fact-checked the film's truthfulness by comparing it with the book by Arturo Aruiza, Marcos's military aide. Rappler testified to the film's disingenous erasure of Marcos' failure to squelch the Ramos-Enrile mutiny which sparked the EDSA "People Power" insurrection (Tequero 2022). Instead of showing the mayhem overtaking the household, the film depicts Imee fully in charge of what was going on. She was jefe con cojones.
The film depicted Imee displacing the regular staff and projecting herself as her father's trusted manager—the real heir to his prestige, authority, intelligence. Affinities eclipsed alienating divisions. Deconstruction of conventional gender-role and class-subordination, however, produced the opposite: glamorizing the new androgynous Imee as unifying official/managerial elite, marginalizing Bongbong and vindicating the patron-client reciprocity—the supreme Filipino value, as mainstream academics assure us.
Imee's cinematic role ("pinakamahusay na katulong") with Marcos' blessing—:"my darling genius of a girl"—seeks to salvage the eroded dignity/power of the dictator. Marcos was emasculated with physical disabiities that constrained patriarchal hubris. In its absence, Imee shed off whatever feminine mystique she had and took over the refurbishment of the damaged Marcos "brand" by role-switching and re-identifying her lot with the loyal subaltern-proletarian cohort. It's difficult, however, to insinuate the EDSA crowd into the film, given its association with the Aquinos as persecutors.
We can not yet fully assess the impact of this farcical episode.The latest news is that embassies abroad have been ordered to propagate the film. While Imee's concoction opened to much fanfare, another film entitled KATIPS about anti-Marcos activists and rebellious youth who fought the dictatorship attracted more attention and sympathy. We predict more farcical offerings to cement the widening fissures of the neocolonial structure established by more than a century of U.S. military, economic and cultural domination since the Filipino-American War (1899-1913; see San Juan 2021)..
The Gossip-Master Intervenes
Historian Ambeth Ocampo noted the film's "twisted retelling of history," but was more vexed by the director's "artistic license," as illustrated by the attempt to smear Cory Aquino by depicting her as "playing mahjong with Carmelite nuns when the fate of the nation hung in a balance. " Ocampo adds that "the suppressed Marcos narrative provided by Imee Marcos is that the Marcoses were driven from Malacanang by fair weather friends who looked down on them for their provincial and nonelitist origins" (2022).
In short, "Maid in Malcanang" is a gambit to cast the Marcos dynasty as victims deserving empathy, and in fact becoming the uncanny exemplars of the nationalist movement. Contrary to the view that Imee's vanity film hopes to exude a humanist appeal, its drawing-power are the female stars who supposedly can seduce thousands of fans and devotees on behalf of the oligarchs.
Again, the irony traps Imee/dynasty's effort to recapture the aura of the pre-Marcos image: Malacanang cannot be recast into a slumdweller or peasant-farmer's residence. Nor can the fashionably-attired Imee mimick the harried servant-maid obsequisly following orders. Just about the same time the film grabbed headlines, the capture of a much-abused pollitical activist, Adora Faye de Vera, was announced by the metropolitan police.
Spoiling the Malacanang Opera
De Vera, 68 years old, was arrested last August 26 for alleged involvement in "multiple murder, with the use of exposives and antipersonnel mine." She was first arrested for pasting anti-government posters in October 1976 and sexually abused and tortured by the military until June 1977. Parts of her body were burned, toenails and fingers crushed, remaining naked for some time; and she was repeatedly raped. The responsible culprits—eleven soldiers and three civilians—were members of the Military Intelligence Group, Constabulary Security Unit, and 231 PC Company of Quezon Province (Martial Law Files 2012). After repeated sexual assaults, De Vera got pregnant and had to induce an abortion. Her husband Manuel disappeared 22 years ago and has remained a desaparecido to this day.
It is publicly know that Filipino military officers since then—from Marcos to Duterte's regime—have been notorious for relentless rapacity and barbarism. This seems to be their claim for manly honor and distinction ever since the U.S. established the Philippine Scouts to assist their bloody suppression of Filipinos refusing McKinley's "Benevolent Assimilation." The PC (now the PNP/Philippine National Police) was then headed by the late General Fidel Ramos. Together with De Vera were Rolando Moralles and Flora Coronacion who were raped by 14 men numerous times; after their torture, they performed the official roles of "desaparecidos" in the State's theater of predatory entertainment.
Just like Duterte's death-squad, none of the torturers had been charged (Melencio 1998). All in all, twenty security men were involved in this documented outrage against De Vera, Morales, and Coronacion..
De Vera's second arrest occurred in October 23, 1983 during a military encirclement in Bicol province. She was then 30 years old, married with two children. She was shot in the leg. Since her imprisonment in 1976 up to now, De Vera has been suffering from her traumatic encounter with the police and officers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (Varona 2022). Arrested in Metro Manila, she has been flown to a jail in Iloilo City, where more farcical events are sure to be witnessed.
Cry of the Multitude
De Vera is only one of the thousands of political prisoners who suffered the vicious depravity of the Marcos martial-law regime. Amnesty International and other human-rights observers have documented 3,275 killed, 35,000 tortured, and 70,000 incarcerated persons during the Marcos dictatorship….Some 2,520 Filipinos were 'salvaged'—that is, tortured, mutilated and dumped on a roadside for public display" (McCoy 2001) KARAPATAN and the Major Religious Superiors of the Philippines have preserved records of the human-rights abuses of the Marcos years.
For lack of space, I can only cite here the case of Maria Cristina Rodriguez, one of the thousands of victims of the Marcos "conjugal dictatorship." Rodriguez is now the executive director of Bantayog ng mga Bayani (Monument to Heroes), a museum for martial-law victims. In a public testimony dated September 8, 2016, as requested by the Supreme Court concerning the Duterte regime's plan to bury Marcos in the nations cemetery for heroes, Rodriguez recounted her ordeal. Here is an excerpt:
Yes, Marcos soldiers tortured and abused me. I saw others as well, a boy screaming from zaps of electric torture, a friend with polio beaten black and blue, a man with both feet bandaged because a military officer had pressed them with red-hot iron during interrogation…My godmother was killed by intelligence agents inside a hospital room. I've talked with mothers whose son or daughter was shot pointblank by men in uniform. I've myself documented hundreds of cases of Filipinos who underwent varying levels of inhuman treatment from the Marcos dictatorship—farmers executed, pregnant women raped, children massacred" (quoted in Beltran 2022).
The return of the Marcos dynasty to power—surely not as maid-servants glamorized by Imee Marcos—signals a revanchist move to revamp the narrative of the February 1986 debacle. For the Marcos loyalists, history may just be "tsimis" or gossip. But they take it seriously. One sign is the attempt to abolish the Presidential Committee on Good Government (PCGG) tasked to recover Marcos' stolen wealth amounting to billions of dollars. Another is the move to sustain Duterte's withdrawal of the country from the sway of the International Criminal Court which has been pursuing cases filed by many victims of Duterte's drug-war since he assumed office as mayor of Davao City (1988-98).
Duterte admitted complicity with deathsquads in 2015. He boasted wanting to kill 100,000 people before the end of his presidency. Over 30,000 victims of extrajudicial killlings under Duterte's watch have been recorded, though only about 1,400 have been reported by the national police. Exhumations of the hundreds of slain "drug suspects" and autopsies are being processed to determine the authenticity of police records.
Political Prisoners Galore
The rampant practice of stigmatizing anyone critical of government policies as "terrorists" began with Cory Aquino and worsened with Duterte's red-tagging policy.
Any dissenter is tagged as a "terrorist" supporter of the Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People's Army. This originated with Sec. Colin Powell's declaration in 2001 of the two groups as "terrorist" organizations. Under Duterte's rule, the number of political prisoners ballooned to 592. Compare the number of detainees under President Arroyo (343) and under Benigno Aquino Jr. (306). This was before "Bloody Sunday, March 7, 2021, when Duterte's police killed nine union workers and arrested six—all justified by his "shoot-to-kill" style of eradicating those he had already judged guilty (Bolledo 2022; ABS-CBN 2015).
With continued imposition of arbitrary arrests, rabid witch-hunting of branded "reds," and subservience of the courts and legislature to the diktat of Marcos-Duterte, the already congested prisons—ghettoes of poor farmers, workers, and unemployed—promise more misery and deaths of hundreds of innocent citizens who thought they had the Bill of Rights and other constitutionally-mandated liberties.
As of June 22, 2022, the total number of political prisoners—critics of the regime arrested with guns and grenades planted on them—was 803. Among the most deprived and penalized are women, dating back to the time of De Vera and Rodriguez. In 2010, I discussed the plight of fifteen political prisoners who count among the most dehumanized (San Juan 2010) and campaigned for their release.
According to KARAPATAN, the most trusted human-rights monitor in the Philippines, there were 126 woman prisoners in March 2021, the majority of whom are charged for being associated with dissidents labeled "terrorists." Many are human rights defenders, activists involved in helping workers, urban squatters, indigenous communities. Because they work for the deprived sectors, they are accused of being supporters of the terrorist insurgents to justify their illegal arrest and continuing detention in horrible quarters. They are presumed innocent until proven guilty—a principle rejected by the "justice" system in the Philippines. They are punished for trumped-up charges; some have been released after a long expensive appeal.
We appeal to the global community to demand the immediate release of the following political detainees who have already borne the brunt of State terrorism and cruelty:
Amanda Socorro Lacaba Echanis, a peasant organizer of Amihan National Federation of Woman. She just gave birth to her baby Randall Emmanuel when she was arrested on Decenmber 2, 2020. At 5AM, soldiers broke into the farmer's house she was staying in, pointed guns at her and her 2-month old infant; the soldiers could not produce any search warrant, harassed and tormented her and later claimed they found firearms and explosives.
Raina Mae Nasino, organizer for KADAMAY, Manila. Nasino was arrested with two other activists on November 5, 2019. She gave birth to Baby River on July 1, 2020. After two months, jail authorities separated mother and child. Her baby died on October 9, 2020, only three months old. The distraught Nasino was granted furlough for only 6 hours to attend her baby's wake and internment, while suffering from COVID-19 symptoms for which no medical help was provided by prison authorities.
Karina Mae dela Cerna,NNARA-Youth's Nationall Deputy Secretary-General. Dela Cerna was arrested with 51 other persons in Bacolod City in the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan Office. Trumped-up charges were filed due to the discovery of firearms and explosives in the surrounding area.
Myles Cantal Albasin, fomer chair of Anakbayan, Cebu. Albasin was arrested wth five other youth from Negros Oriental where she was participating in community immersion with the farmers. Soldiers alleged that she engaged with them in a firefight, a claim disputed by residents of the area.
Renalyn Gomez Tejero, paralegal aid for KARAPATAN, Caraga. She was arrested on trumped-up charges of murder in Butuan City, Agusan del Norte, on March 21, 2021. KARAPATAN has been in the government list of "communist fronts."
Alma Moran, member of the secretariat of Manila Workers Union. Moran was arrested together with Reina Mae Nasino and Ram Carlo Bautista in a BAYAN office in Tondo, Manila. in November 5, 2019. After a second search of the office, the police claimed to have found firearms and explosives—the usual modus operandi.
Frenchie Mae Cumpio, journalist for Eastern Vista. Cumpio was arrested in Tacloban City on February 8, 2020. Police claimed to have found a pistol and grenade inside the room where she and a companion were staying. With the money confiscated upon their arrest, Cumpio and lay worker Mariel Domequil also face trumped-up charges of terrorist financing—still unproven to this day.
Rowena Rosales, former member of Confederation for Unity, Recognition and Advancement of Government Employees (COURAGE). Rosales was arrested wih her husband Oliver after a day at their thrift store in Bulacan on August 11, 2018. Police claimed to have confiscated a bag of firearms and explosives in their premises without any testimony from other than the police department.
Gloria Campos Tumalon, member of MAPASU, Surigao del Sur. Tumalon is accused of being a member of the NPA and arrested in March 29, 2020, based on a warrant related to an incident when the NPA took soldiers as prisoners on war in December 2018/ She is one of 468 persons accused on the same warrant.
Nenita Calamba de Castro, member of GABRIELA, Butuan. De Castro was arrested in May 32, 2038, with charges unknown. GABRIELA has been targeted as a terrorist front, an example of libelous defamation.
Romana Raselle Shamina Astudillo, deputy secretary general of KMU (Kilusang Mayo Uno, Metro Manila. Astudillo was arrested in December 10, 2020, Human Rights Day. and accused of illegal possession of firearms and explosives. The militant KMU has been targetted by the police/military for being a communist front.
Ge-ann Perez, arrested in March 24, 2019, by virtue of association with Francisco Fernanex, a peace consulted for the National Democratic Front, and his wife Cleofre Lagtapon. All face charges of illegal possession of firearms and explosives—the recurrent alibi of governmen security henchmen.
Virginia Bohol Villamor was arrested past midnight on November 8, 2018. She was accompanied by her husband, Alberto, and Vicente Ladlad, peace consultant of the National Democratic Front, Philippines. Although Villamor suffered agonizing pain from a pelvic fracture, she was forced to drop to the floor, while soldiers pointed their rifles at her and companions. They were later charged with illegal possession of firearms and explosives.
A Warning to Military-Police Agencies
With the September 17, 2022 passage of the Philippine Human Rights Act (H.R. 8313) in the U.S. Congress, some constraint on the Phiippine National Police and Armed Forces of the Phiippines in inflicting warrantless arrests, harassment, torture and other human-rights violations might spare future victims. If those practices continue, the Bill seeks to suspend assistance to the police and military amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars in logistics, weapons, training, etc. During his rule, Marcos Sr. received billions of U.S. military aid much of which he stole and transferred to secret bank accounts in Switzerland, Panama, and elsewhere, now utilized by his son and minions.
Bill 8313 is based on the U.S. State Department's annual reports of "arbirtrary or unlawful killings" committed during Duterte's drug wars. It mentions the case of Senator Leila de Lima who has been detained for two years as "a staunch critic of the drug war killings," as well as labor leaders and legislators killed or held as political prisoners (exemplified by the prisoners tallied above), Not to be neglected is mention of the government's infamous "vilification of dissent…being institutionalized and normalized" based on the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020. This Act enables the billion-pesos-funded NTF-ELCAC (National Task Force To End Local Communist Armed Conflict) to stifle dissent from civil society. It functions to void the Philippine Constitution's Bill of Rights and resuscitate the authoritarian, fascist method of social harmony imposed by Bongbong's father nearly forty years ago—a tragedy now being revived as excruciating farce.
ABS-CBN. 2015. :"Duterte admits links to Davao Death Squads." News. (May 25)
Beltran, Michael. 2022. "Haunted by our continuing pain: Martial law survivors react to Marcos restoration." The News Lens (June 8). <international.thenewslens.com>
Bolledo, Jairo. 2022. "In Numbers: Political Prisoners in the Philippines Since 2001. Rappler (August 21).
CENPEG. 2022. "The May 2022 Elections and the Marcos Restoration: Looking Back and Beyond." Monthly Political Analysis No. 15. Quezon City: Center for People Empowerment in Governance.
Martial Law Files. 2012. "Adora Faye de Vera." Martial Law Files. (Dec. 4, 2012). <www.wordpress.com/2012/12/03/adora-faye-de-vera-2/floc>
Marx, Karl & Frederick Engels. 1968. ""The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte." In Selected Works. New York: International Publishers.
McCoy, Alfred. 2001. "Dark Legacy: Human Rights Under the Marcos Regime." In Memory, Truth Telling and the Pursuit of Justice: A Conference on the Legacy of the Marcos Dictatorship. Quezon City: Office of Research and Publications, Ateneo de Manila University.
Melencio, Gloria Esquerra. 1998. Report for Martial Law Files Website, Sponsored by the Commission on Human Rights, UN Devepment Program for Claimants 1081.
Ocampo, Ambeth. 2022. "Maid n Malacanang: A biased review." Philippine Daily Inquirer (August 5). <https://www.inquirer.dotnet/>
San Juan, E. 2013. "U.S. Imperial Humanitarian BlessingL Torture of Women Political Prisoners in the Philippines." International Marxist Humanist Organization. (27 August).
<https://imhojournal.org/articles/iperial-humanitarianism-u.s.- neocolony-torture-war-women-prisoners-philippines-e-san-juan>
——. 2021. Maelstrom over the Killing Fields: Interventions in the Project of National-Democratic Liberation. Quezon City: Pantax Press.
Toquero, Loreben. 2002. "A made-up Marcos name: False misleading claims abound in 'Maid in Malacanang." Rappler (August 11, 2022).
United States Congress. 2022. "H.R. 3884. Philippine Human Rights Act. " Congressional Records. Washington DC: United States Congress. <https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-Congress/house-bill/3884>
Varona, Inday Espino. 2022. "Arrested rebel a symbol of Marcos atrocities against women dissidents." Rappler (August 26).
E SAN JUAN, Jr. was recently visiting professor of English and Comparative Literature, University of the Philippines; and a former fellow of the W.B. Du Bois Institute, Harvard University. His recent books are U.S. Imperialism and Revolution in the Philippines (Palgrave Macmillan) and Peirce's Pragmaticism: A Radical Perspective (Lexington Books).
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Tags: Human Rights, Philippines
Author: E San Juan Jr


Most four wheel drivers understand the importance of running the correct Tire pressures for different situations and or load variances. This is why it's so important to carry an accurate air pressure gauge and Tire inflation equipment in your vehicle, especially when driving off-road. The ARB digital Tire inflator makes checking and adjusting your vehicle's Tire pressures a fast and simple operation thanks to its large easy to read digital blue backlight display, big thumb operated inflator button and easy access deflator bleed button.


We are having a Class 14-62 Reunion in Pensacola in April of 08.
Or anybody else that may have passed through our class.
Please contact me, Bob Martinez, at robertmartinez1@cox.net or by phone at (602) 795.6177.
We have even contacted and received commitments to attend from our former NavCad classmates.
We're in contact with our good buddies Dave Walker and Pat Donnelly.
They are planning to come to the reunion, which is just OUTSTANDING!
All I need now to get "100 over 100" target coverage is to locate Bill Chambers and Tex Carroll.


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The Atrium Apartment Building and Hotel Hospits Betel
Erik Bryggman
Photo: Gustaf Welin / MFA
Completion 1927, 1929
PeriodConstructing the identity of a newly independent nation
In Erik Bryggman's time Turku became the centre of Modernist architecture in Finland. As the long-standing chairman of the city's facade board, Bryggman followed and influenced the renewal of the cityscape.
The two buildings designed by Bryggman in the 1920s along Yliopistokatu at the point where Kristiinankatu terminates, the Atrium apartment building and Hotel Hospits Betel, together with the intermediate piazza and steps ascending the rocky slope, constitute a significant architectural totality, and probably the most important Italianate urban space in Finland. The architecture of the apartment building and the hotel built a few years later shows a notable simplification in style, one associated with the gradual breakthrough of Functionalism.
The founding meeting of the Atrium housing company was held in the spring of 1925, when Bryggman presented to the future shareholders a perspective drawing of the five-storey building rising up on the rocky hillside. The apartment block received its current form after numerous draft design versions.
With their plaster reliefs, the facades of the hipped-roofed complex have a strongly classicistic appearance. The reliefs portray, for instance, an ancient temple frontage with the inscription 'Atrium' and the flame emblem of the 1920s literary group the Flame Bearers. On the Yliopistonkatu side the reliefs are placed in rows between the first-floor windows. Highlighted on the facade are two entrances with projecting classicistic porticos.
The doors to the stairwells and the decorative wrought-iron railings were made in accordance with special drawings by Bryggman, and he also designed decorative murals for the stairway lobbies. The original lift in the stairs of A-block still exists, while in the stairs of B- and C-blocks glass-walled lifts designed by Schauman Architects were built in 2011.
The floor plans of the apartments followed the old tradition of urban living, that is, with the halls and salons on the street side and the kitchen facilities on the courtyard side. The commercial premises in Atrium are located at street level along Yliopistokatu. A particular novelty in the building was a Roman-style spa with vaulted halls, hot and cold pools and tiled saunas, which reiterated the classicistic motifs. The public sauna was closed in the 1990s.
The Turku Lutheran Mission, which owned the Betel church on Puolanmäki hill, had wanted to expand its operations and in 1926 organized an architecture competition for a hotel and church bell tower. Bryggman's proposal repeated in part themes of the Atrium apartment block. He developed his winning proposal and acquired new ideas from his travels to Italy, Austria and Germany. Following his trips, the plans and facades gained more clarity and the classicistic decorative motifs disappeared. They were instead replaced by clear Functionalist forms. The main entrance to the hotel, overlooking the piazza, received a concrete column-less "Functionalist awning" and box-like balconies.
What catches the eye is the graceful Italianate bell tower rising above the piazza – albeit the slenderness of the tower was lost when in 1990 it was coated with thermal render. Leading up to the tower adjacent to the hotel is a series of steps that repeats the steps motif of the Atrium apartment block on the opposite side of the piazza. Bryggman furnished the hotel restaurant with fashionable Viennese Thonet chairs and Danish Poul Henningsen lamps. Nowadays, in place of the restaurant, is the hotel's lecture room. The main staircase receives light via a large metal-framed multi-paned window on the courtyard side. The corridor on each floor of the hotel ends in a balcony.
Byggman's daughter, interior designer Carin Bryggman, renewed the hotel interior in 1974-1980. The next major renovation was completed in 2000 under the direction of architect Matti Uksila, with Björn Sahlqvist as the interior designer, who partly returned Bryggman's original ideas.
Helena Soiri-Snellman
Nikula, Riitta (2003). "Bryggman Erik, arkkitehti, professori". Suomen Kansallisbiografia 2. Helsinki: SKS.
Soiri-Snellman, Helena (2010). Atrium. Erik Bryggman ja Turun arkkitehtuuri. Helsinki: As Oy Atrium.
Stigell, Anna-Lisa (1965). Erik Bryggman. Ekenäs: Ekenäs Tryckeri Aktiebolag, 22.
Projects by same architect
Åbo Akademi University Book Tower
1920s–40s
Erik Bryggman's Villas
Resurrection Chapel


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Q: select specific columns from eloquent query I am attempting to select the specific columns in the bottom select portion but cannot get the syntax correct nor can i find any post of a similar style of problem. If this were straight sql with table aliases it would be no problem. I'm obviously missing a concept here somewhere?
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        ->with('task.siteTaskVisit.siteTask.quoteTask.totalPrice')
        ->with('task.siteTaskVisit')
        ->with('contractSite.site')
        ->with('contractSite.contract.quote.owner')
        ->with('contractSite.contract.quote.salesRegion')
        ->with('contractSite.contract.quote.client')
        ->with('contractSite.contract.quote.type')
        ->with('contractSite.contract.quote.productGroup')
        ->select([
            'contractSite.contract.quote.salesRegion.name as Region',
            'contractSite.contract.quote.owner.name as Rep',
            'contractSite.contract.quote.type.name as Type',
            'created_at as Created',
            'task.siteTaskVisit.at as Pledged',
            'internal_reference as Job',
            'contractSite.contract.quote.productGroup.summary as ProductGroup',
            'task.siteTaskVisit.siteTask.quoteTask.totalPrice as Balance',
            'task.site_task_visit.site_task.quote_task.task.task_group.code as TaskCodes'
        ])
        ->get();


NASA's massive 'Curiosity' rover is almost ready to begin the first leg of its long trek to the surface of the Red Planet. Engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California are nearly finished with assembling and testing all the components of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission (see photos above and below).
The MSL team plans to ship Curiosity as well as the cruise stage, descent stage and back shell to the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in May and June. After arriving at KSC, all the pieces will be integrated together and tested during final assembly in a clean room. The rover will then be installed inside a 5 meter diameter nose cone, shipped the short distance to Cape Canaveral and then bolted atop an Atlas V rocket (photo below).
Top of Mars Rover Curiosity's Remote Sensing Mast.
The launch window for Curiosity extends from Nov. 25 to Dec. 18, 2011. The first stage of the powerful Atlas V rocket will be augmented with four solid rocket boosters. The Atlas V has previously launched two planetary missions; the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) and the New Horizons mission to Pluto.
Take a long gander at the 3 meter long rover because its appearance is now very much how it will look while it's roving along intriguing martian landscapes for at least two earth years after landing in August 2012.
NASA Mars Rover Curiosity at JPL, View from Front Left Corner.
The mini-Cooper sized Curiosity rover is equipped with 10 science instruments to investigate Martian soil and rock samples in far greater detail than ever before. Curiosity's science payload weighs ten times more than any prior Mars rover mission.
The goal is to search for clues to environmental conditions favorable for microbial life and for preserving evidence about whether Martian life ever existed in the past or today. NASA is scrutinizing a list of four potential landing sites for the best chance of finding a habitable zone.
Arm and Mast of Curiosity Mars Rover.
Atlas V rocket at pad 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
What an exciting mix of instruments! Good to see Atlas V's track record, too.
Too bad we couldn't build two like this!


text:
Baby Range Open sub menu
Mild and Gentle
Soft and Smooth
Mama's Nest
#CBM6
A. Baby of the Year Competition
PZ CUSSONS Nigeria Plc. herein after referred to as the company with RC No. 693 whose registered office is at 45/47 Town Planning Way, Ilupeju, Lagos promotes the Cussons Baby Moments Competition.
The Company is the manufacturer and marketer of the Cussons Baby ('CB') product range.
The Cussons Baby Moments Competition (the "Competition") is intended to be conducted in the Federal Republic of Nigeria only and shall be construed and evaluated according to applicable Nigerian laws. . Entry in this competition constitutes acceptance of these competition rules (the "competition rules").
1. ELIGIBILITY:
1.1. To be eligible for this Competition, an individual must: be a legal resident of Nigeria and the age of maturity in the province of Nigeria – 18 years and above; and must be a parent, related guardian or sibling to the competing baby.
1.2. All competing babies must be between the ages of 0 and 24 months.
1.3. A valid Birth Certificate for the Child will be requested for, anytime during the competition or at the Grand finale.
1.4. Consent Letter from Parent{s} to allow the child who emerges the winner participates in the winnings of the Competition.
1.5. The individual will be the sole owner of all rights, title and interest submitted in connection with the Competition.
1.6. By entering the Competition, the Entrants hereby warrant that all information submitted is true, current and complete and they have full rights to the images and details / data that is uploaded and that the use of the said material shall not constitute a breach of any third party's copyright or other intellectual property rights.
1.7. Employees of the Company, associated company, (collectively, the "Company"), their respective affiliates, subsidiaries, related companies, advertising and promotional agencies, and the household members of any of the above, are not eligible to participate in the Competition.
1.8. The Company shall have the right at any time to require proof of identity and/or eligibility to participate in the Competition. Failure to provide such proof may result in disqualification. All personal and other information requested by and supplied to the Company for the purpose of the Competition must be truthful, complete, accurate and in no way misleading. The Company reserve the right, in their sole discretion, to disqualify any entrant should such an entrant at any stage supply untruthful, incomplete, inaccurate or misleading personal details and/or information.
2. COMPETITION PERIOD.
2.1. The Competition begins at 6:00 a.m. Greenwich Meridian Time ("GMT") on Wednesday, January 3rd, 2018 and ends at Midnight Greenwich Meridian Time ("GMT") on Saturday, April 28th, 2018 (the "Competition Period"). To be eligible for the Competition, entries must be received between the competition period/timeline from January 3rd, 2018 to February 23rd, 2018 (the end of the "Competition Entry Period") after which time the Competition Entry Period will be closed and no further entries will be accepted.
3. HOW TO ENTER
3.1. A purchase necessary to enter the Competition.
3.2. To enter the competition participant must purchase any Cussons Baby product from any supermarket, retail outlet or open market.
3.3. Entrants are required to register and upload a picture of the baby with any Cussons Baby product and submit the picture on the Photo Uploader App. Entrants are advised to familiarize themselves with the terms and conditions of this Competition available on the website entry page. Entrants are wholly bound by the terms and conditions of this Competition upon submission of entries.
3.4. Entrants are required to provide all information required in the form for the entry to be valid. Any misrepresentation or false information will render the entry invalid.
3.5. Entrant's upload should be made within the specific duration of the competition (January3rd, 2018 to February 23rd, 2018) to ensure validity.
3.6. All entries made after the stated deadline date will be void.
3.7. The Company reserves the right at any time to verify the validity of claims and Entrants (including but not limited to Entrant's identity and place of residence) and to disqualify all entries that are not in accordance with the Terms and Conditions or that tampers with the claims process. If the Company fails to implement any of its rights at any stage, this does not constitute a waiver of these rights.
3.8. The Company hereby states that it will only accept picture / video entries that will not violate intellectual property, privacy or any other rights of any third party, and will not contain anything, which is libellous, defamatory, obscene, indecent, harassing or threatening.
3.9. All entries or documentation at any stage of this competition will be required to be sent at the stipulated time and the company reserves the right to disqualify ANY entrant on the basis of late submission at ANY stage of the competition
3.10. By participating in this competition, the Entrant grants permission to the Company to use the images or details/data in any and all media for promotional /marketing purposes with no payment consideration to the Entrant.
3.11. All Entrants must ensure that they have a valid national identification.
4.1. Determination of the final winner will be done via a 6-stage process. This process will involve Online Voting for the favourite baby on the Photo Up loader App and shortlisting and selection of the top voted babies from the Up loader App by an independent panel of judges.
4.2. Judges decision will be based on defined criteria and will be final
4.3. Winners shall be selected as follows:
4.3.1. Stage 1: This is an online voting phase to determine the top 500 babies with highest likes on Photo Uploaded App.
4.3.2. Stage 2: The Top 500 Babies are re-introduced for online Voting. The Company will present the top 500 babies from Stage 1 for another round of voting on Photo Up loader App to determine the top 100 babies with highest likes.
4.3.3. Stage 3: This is a judging phase. The Company will present the top 100 babies to an independent panel of judges for selection based on defined criteria. The judges will select the top 50 babies from the top 100 babies in Stage 2.
4.3.4. Stage 4: The Top 50 Babies are re-introduced for online Voting. The Company will present the top 50 babies from Stage 3 for another round of voting on Photo Up loader App to determine the top 20 babies with highest likes.
4.3.4.1. At this stage a category called CBM Family Special will be introduced for the top 50 Babies.
4.3.4.2. Parents are to take a family picture with their children and and write a short story on their journey and what makes their family special which will be sent bto Cussons Baby.
4.3.4.3. The Judges will select the family with the most inspiring story as winner
4.3.5. Stage 5: The Company presents the top 20 babies from Stage 3 to an independent panel of judges to determine the final 10. The selection will be based on defined criteria.
4.3.6. Stage 6: The Company presents the top 10 babies at the grand finale from Stage 4 to an independent panel of judges to determine the final winner. The selection will be based on defined criteria.
4.3.7. Judges decision will be final.
4.3.8. Dates for Stages 2 to 4 will be communicated after Stage 1 on the Website.
4.3.9. Before being declared the Prize Winner, the selected entrant shall be required to correctly have met the necessary requirements to comply with the Competition Rules.
4.3.10. EACH SELECTED ENTRANT WILL BE NOTIFIED BY TELEPHONE / EMAIL NO LATER THAN 24hours to the Grand Finale.
4.3.11. Family, friends and fans of the entrants can vote for their favourite baby by clicking on the vote (like) button by the baby's picture. Entrants are also eligible to vote for themselves.
4.3.12. Voters can only vote once for a baby per voting stage.
4.3.13. An independent panel of judges will determine the final winner only during the grand finale (the 5th Stage).
4.3.14. If needed, the Company reserves the right, but not the obligation, to screen, filter and/or monitor information provided by entrants and removes the same.
4.3.15. Upon notification, the selected entrant must respond by Email to the contact Admin / Email provided in the notification, and the Company must receive the selected entrant's response within two (2) business days of such notification. If the selected entrant does not respond in accordance with the Competition Rules, he/she will be disqualified and will not receive a Prize and another entrant may be selected in the Company' sole discretion. The Company are not responsible for the failure for any reason whatsoever of a selected entrant to receive notification or for the Company to receive a selected entrant's response.
4.4. Without prejudice to the above process, all winners of the Family Challenge will be selected based on participation in the Mall activation Family Challenge ONLY without any influence whatsoever on the CBM Baby of the Year competition.
5. PRIZES.
5.1. CBM 5 BOY Grand Prize
5.1.1. Final winners will be awarded at the Grand Finale in front of a live audience, panel of Judges and the media.
5.1.2. Winner will receive a cash Prize of N1, 000, 000.00 and a year supply of CB products
5.1.3. Prizes are non–transferable.
5.1.4. The decision of the panel of Judges is FINAL and no correspondence will be entered into.
5.1.5. The Company reserves the right to select an alternative winner on the grounds that the selected winner declines the prize offer based on personal issues. No prize will be deferred to a later date than the stipulated reward duration.
5.1.6. Any further winner will be selected on the same criteria as the original winner and will be subject to these rules.
5.1.7. Any prize not collected for any reason 90 days after being officially notified will be forfeited and no correspondence will be entered into. For avoidance of doubt "official notification" is defined here as email and telephone correspondence sent to the contact details provided by the recipient.
5.1.8. The use of the prizes awarded to winners is at the risk and expense of the winners. Winners cannot hold the Company liable for the use of prizes.
5.1.9. In the event that the prize is not available despite the reasonable endeavors to secure it, the Company has the right to substitute prizes of equal value.
5.1.10. Entrant's participation in this competition is considered as acceptance of and abidance by the Terms and Conditions of the competition and the Competition Entries.
5.1.11. Only Top 10 nominees and winners in the Special Categories as stipulated herein will be considered for any prize.
5.1.12. All prizes will be processed within a period of 30 working days
5.2. Other Prizes Drawing:
5.2.1. 1st Runner Up
5.2.1.1. Cash Prize of N750, 000.00 and a year supply of CB products
5.2.2. 2nd Runner Up
5.2.2.1. Cash Prize of N350, 000.00 and a year supply of CB products.
5.2.3. 7 Winners each of N50, 000:00 Shopping Voucher Prize + 6 Months product supply {
5.3. Special Category Winnings
5.3.1. Best Creative Video will win N150, 000 + 3 months CB product supply
5.3.2. Baby Gat Swag will win N50, 000 + 3months CB product supply
5.3.3. Baby Trendy will win N50, 000 + 3 months CB product supply
5.3.4. Best costume will win N50, 000 + 3 months CB product supply
5.3.5. Toothy Smile will win N50, 000 + 3 months CB product supply
5.3.6. Family Special Winner will receive N200, 000 + 3 months CB product supply
5.3.7. 3 Regional winners of the Family Challenge to receive N50, 000 each + 3 months CB product supply each
5.3.8. 1 National winner of the Family Challenge to receive N150, 000 + 3 months CB product supply
i. The Company will not accept responsibility for any problems or technical malfunction of any telephone network or lines, computer on-line systems, servers, or providers, computer equipment or software, failure of any email or entry to be received on account of technical problems or traffic congestion on the Internet, telephone lines to related to or resulting from participation in the Competition.
ii. The Company shall not be held liable for any copyrighted material, which has been uploaded by an entrant during the competition. All entrants must upload pictures or videos of which they either own the copyright to or have obtained permission from the original copyright owner.
iii. The Company has the right to modify or terminate the competition without notice. In the event of such change or termination, by participating in the competition, Entrants have agreed to relinquish their rights in respect to the competition and acknowledge that they will have no recourse against the Company.
iv. The Company has the right to use footages and pictures from the competition's activations including the images and personal details provided by the Entrant on any of its adverting materials (during and after the competition) without prior notice or consent of the Entrant and without payment of any modelling fee.
v. Entrant's participation in this competition is considered as acceptance and abidance to the Terms and Conditions of the competition.
vi. The Company will add the personal information provided by the Entrants to its database and provide personal data to the third parties it engages for promotion and activation projects.
vii. Any attempt to use multiple e-mail or Facebook accounts or other tactics to enter or vote more than the stated limit may result in disqualification and all associated entries and/or votes will be void. Any entrant found to be buying or soliciting votes with an enticement shall be automatically disqualified.
viii. Entries or votes generated by script, macro, commercial competition subscription, entering service sites or any other automated means and entries or votes by any means that sabotage the entry or voting process or do not conform to the terms or spirit of these competition rules, will void the entry or votes and may disqualify the entrant.
ix. The Company has the right to delete any information uploaded by an Entrant, which is believed to be illegal, obscene, offensive or defamatory, or is otherwise inappropriate for a competition that is meant to portray the amazing and amusing things about babies.
x. The Company has the right to use the images taken of the winner for publicity purposes in any manner it deems fit, without further remuneration being made payable to the winner.
xi. Top Entrants from the online voting stage may be required to reconfirm their full names, valid identification and contact details before or during the Grand Finale. Recognized personal identification shall be Driver's license, International Passport or National Identity card, other forms of identification will not be accepted.
xii. The Company, its associated companies, directors and employees, shall not be liable for any loss or damage, whether direct, indirect, consequential or otherwise arising from any cause whatsoever, which may be suffered by the Entrant.
xiii. The decision of the panel of Judges during the pre-selection and grand finale phase is FINAL and no correspondence will be entered into.
7. INDEMNIFICATION BY ENTRANT.
i. By entering the Competition, entrant releases the organizers from any and all liability for any injuries, loss or damage of any kind to the entrant or any other person, including personal injury, death, or property damage, resulting in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, from acceptance, possession, use or misuse of any Prize, participation in the Competition, any breach of the Competition Rules, or in any Prize-related activity. The entrant agrees to fully indemnify Releases from any and all claims by third parties relating to the Competition, without limitation.
8. RIGHTS CLEARANCE.
i. By providing the entries to the Company in connection with the Competition, each entrant shall retain all right, title and interest (including copyright) in and to the entries, and shall grant to the Company a worldwide, gratuitous, irrevocable, and exclusive license to copy, use, modify, reproduce, display, adapt and transmit the entries for use in all media now known or hereafter devised in perpetuity beginning on the date of entry, including, but not limited to, in connection with the administration, promotion and exploitation of the Competition.
i. The Company assume no responsibility or liability for lost, late, unintelligible/illegible, falsified, damaged, misdirected or incomplete entries, notifications, responses, replies or any Release, or for any computer, online, software, telephone, hardware or technical malfunctions that may occur, including but not limited to malfunctions that may affect the transmission or non-transmission of an entry.
ii. The Company are not responsible for any incorrect or inaccurate information, whether caused by any telecoms company or website users or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the Competition or by any technical or human error which may occur in the administration of the Competition.
iii. The Company assume no responsibility for any error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission, communications line failure, theft or destruction or unauthorized access to, or alteration of, entries.
iv. The Company are not responsible for any problems, failures or technical malfunction of any telephone network or lines, computer online systems, servers, providers, computer equipment, software, e-mail, players, or browsers, on account of technical problems or traffic congestion on the Internet, at any website, or on account of any combination of the foregoing or otherwise.
v. The Company are not responsible for any injury or damage to entrant or to any phones /computer related to or resulting from participating or downloading materials in this Competition.
vi. Entrant assumes liability for injuries caused or claimed to be caused by participating in the Competition, or by the acceptance, possession, use of, or failure to receive any Prize.
10. CONDUCT.
i. By participating in the Competition, each entrant agrees to be bound by the Competition Rules, which will be posted at the Cussons Baby Website / Facebook page and made available throughout the Competition Period.
ii. Entrant further agrees to be bound by the decisions of the Company, which shall be final and binding in all respects. The Company reserve the right, in their sole discretion, to disqualify any entrant found to be:
a. Violating the Competition Rules;
b. Tampering or attempting to tamper with the entry process or the operation of the Competition and/or the Competition SMS Short code;
c. Violating the terms of service, conditions of use and/or general rules or guidelines, property or service; and/or
d. Acting in an unsportsmanlike or disruptive manner, or with intent to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass any other person.
CAUTION: ANY ATTEMPT TO DELIBERATELY DAMAGE THE COMPETITION SHORT CODE /FACEBOOK /WEBSITE OR ANY RELATED WEBSITE OR UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THE COMPETITION MAY BE A VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAWS. SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE, THE COMPANY RESERVES THE RIGHT TO SEEK REMEDIES AND DAMAGES TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO CRIMINAL PROSECUTION. [If applicable, i.e. Concerts, tapings: Winner [if applicable: and Guest] must at all times behave appropriately when taking part in the Competition and observe the Competition Rules and any other rules or regulations in force at the GRAND FINALE draws and/or locations. The Company reserves the right to remove from the Competition, any Winner who breaks such rules and/or fails to behave appropriately and to disqualify such Winner
11. PRIVACY / USE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION.
i. By participating in the Competition, entrant:
a. Grants to the Company the right to use his/her name, mailing address, telephone number, and e-mail address ("Personal Information") for the purpose of administering the Competition, including but not limited to contacting and announcing the Winners;
b. Grants to the Company the right to use his/her Personal Information for publicity and promotional purposes relating to the Competition, in any and all media now known or hereafter devised, without further compensation unless prohibited by law; and
c. Acknowledges that the Company may disclose his/her Personal Information to third-party agents and service providers of any of the Company in connection with any of the activities listed in (a) and (b) above.
12. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY.
i. All intellectual property, including but not limited to trade-marks, trade names, logos, designs, promotional materials, web pages, source code, drawings, illustrations, slogans and representations are owned by the Company and/or its affiliates. All rights are reserved. Unauthorized copying or use of any copyrighted material or intellectual property without the express written consent of its owner is strictly prohibited.
13. TERMINATION.
i. Company reserve the right, in their sole discretion, to terminate the Competition, in whole or in part, and/or modify, amend or suspend the Competition, and/or the Competition Rules in any way, at any time, for any reason without prior notice.
14. GOVERNING LAW.
The Competition is subject to the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
i. The Competition Rules are subject to change without notice in order to comply with any applicable laws. All issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of the Competition Rules or the rights and obligations as between the entrant and the Company in connection with the Competition shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
i. In the event of an unlikely dispute as a result of these Competition Rules, the parties involved shall use their best endeavours to settle any dispute or difference of opinion between them, arising from or in connection with this Competition Rules amicably through mutual discussion. In the event that the parties are unable to settle any dispute or differences by mutual discussion, the matter shall be referred to Arbitration in accordance with the Arbitration Rules of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act Cap A18, Laws of Federation of Nigeria, 2004, by sole arbitrator to be appointed by the Chartered Institute of Arbitration UK (Nigerian Branch) and the place of the Arbitration shall be Lagos State, Nigeria. The arbitral award shall be final and binding between the Parties except where there is misconduct on the part of the arbitrator or error on the face of the award.
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text:
Либенбергский дворец () — поместье на севере земли Бранденбург, расположенное в районе   коммуны Лёвенбергер-Ланд. Подробное описание дворца в своих путевых очерках «Странствия по марке Бранденбург» дал писатель Теодор Фонтане.

История
Либенберг в XVI веке являлся поместьем дворянского рода Бредов. С 1652 года при клевском дворянском роде фон унд цу Гертефельд начался период процветания Либенберга. Либенбергский дворец появился в 1875—1906 годах в результате перестройки в эклектическом стиле усадьбы, построенной не позднее 1743 года. Некогда барочный сад в XIX веке был оформлен в пейзажный парк по проектам Петера Йозефа Ленне. В 1908 году на территории поместья был построен озёрный домик.

Самым известным хозяином Либенбергского дворца являлся князь Филипп цу Эйленбург и Гертефельд, дипломат и доверенное лицо императора Вильгельма II, который часто приезжал в гости поохотиться в богатых на дичь либенбергских лесах. Конец близким отношениям между императором и дипломатом положил противник монархии, журналист Максимилиан Гарден, разоблачивший пороки так называемого «либенбергского кружка».

При национал-социалистах охотиться в Либенберг приезжал Герман Геринг. В 1936 году в дворцовой церкви Либенберга состоялось венчание Либертас, внучки Филиппа цу Эйленбурга, с Харро Шульце-Бойзеном. Супруги участвовали в группе Сопротивления «Красная капелла».

По окончании Второй мировой войны Либенберг оказался в советской зоне оккупации Германии. Дворец и всё имущество были национализированы и переданы в распоряжение Социалистической единой партии Германии. Во дворце были размещены квартиры, общежития, офисы, склады, парикмахерский салон, медицинский кабинет и детский сад. Часовня дворца использовалась для проведения праздничных мероприятий. Озёрный домик был превращён в хорошо охраняемый дом отдыха для членов ЦК СЕПГ, где останавливались Вильгельм Пик, Отто Гротеволь, Вальтер Ульбрихт, посол СССР и другие государственные гости. Либенбергский лес в 1964 году был объявлен государственным охотничьим хозяйством. При Эрихе Хонеккере с 1971 года в озёрном домике отдыхали исключительно высокопоставленные и бывшие члены ЦК СЕПГ.

После объединения Германии поместье было выставлено на торги в 1996 году. Жители Либенберга получили право приобрести в собственность жилплощадь, на которой они проживали. Оставшееся имущество было передано на рубеже веков банку Deutsche Kreditbank. Дворец был переоборудован под отель, а озёрный домик — под конференц-центр. На территории поместья появились галерея, музей и магазин. Земли были переданы в аренду. Либенбергский дворец находится под охраной государства.

Литература
 Jahrbuch 2008/2009 der DKB Stiftung für gesellschaftliches Engagement
 Stefan Locke: Leben ohne Fürst und Bonzen

Примечания

Ссылки
 Официальный сайт Либенбергского дворца

Замки Бранденбурга

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
UAE: Sharjah to create more opportunities for learning French
UAE Education
Alliance Française was established in the emirate as a language and cultural bridge
Published: January 13, 2023 20:23 Gulf News Report
Sheikha Hoor Al Qasimi (centre) led the first meeting of the board of directors of Alliance Française at the House of Wisdom Image Credit: Supplied
Sharjah: The board of directors of Sharjah's 'Alliance Française' recently held its first meeting at the House of Wisdom (HoW) to discuss strategic and executive plan for 2023 and create more opportunities for learning the French language in Sharjah, as well as serving as a hub for future exchanges between French and Emirati cultures.
The meeting took place in the presence of Sheikha Hoor Al Qasimi, chairwoman of the Alliance Française of Sharjah; Sheikh Fahim Al Qasimi, vice chair of the Alliance Française of Sharjah; Hugo Henry Ceylan, cultural counsellor and president of Institut Français in the UAE, who represented the French Embassy; Emery Kalema, assistant professor of History at the Africa Institute; and Audrey Leseigneur, director of the Alliance Française of Sharjah.
Alliance Française is the official centre for French language in the UAE and offers activities for students to help them with homework assigned by French schools. Partnership agreement
Leseigneur opened the meeting with a presentation on existing and future projects of Sharjah's Alliance Française, including the partnership agreement signed between the French embassy and Alliance Française's branches of Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah, at the headquarters of the Department of Government Relations (DGR).
Alliance Française has a new home in Sharjah
She also discussed memorandums of understanding to be signed in the future; collaborations with Sharjah Art Foundation; as well as partnerships with Sharjah's schools and universities.
Ceylan said: "Alliance Française serves as a French hub in Sharjah, and alongside Lycée Français International Georges Pompidou, an educational institution for teaching French in UAE public and private schools, they will represent France at our major cultural events such as book fairs, Sharjah Biennial and many other important occasions."
Vibrant culture
Alliance Française was established in Sharjah in September 2022, adding to the UAE's vibrant Alliance Française network. The expansion of the alliance falls in line with the agreement signed between the DGR and the French embassy to advance expertise and knowledge exchange, enable French schools and cultural institutions in the UAE to benefit from the leadership of the alliance, and aid students achieve mastery of French language.
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