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Archive for the 'Vaping' Category
Save Lives by Slapping Down the FDA's War on Vaping
Posted in Cost-Benefit Analysis, Regulation, Vaping, tagged Cost-Benefit Analysis, Regulation, Vape, Vaping on July 16, 2022| 1 Comment »
There are many reasons to have disdain for the Food and Drug Administration (pandemic failures, baby formula shortage, delayed drug approval, human cruelty, etc) and this video gives you another.
If you don't want have time to watch the video, all you really need to know is that there is a lot of scientific evidence showing that vaping is far safer than smoking.
And "far safer" is an understatement.
So if the goal is reducing risk and helping people live longer, giving smokers the option of switching to e-cigarettes and other vaping products should be a no-brainer.
But an absence of brains seems to be a major qualification for some bureaucrats. The FDA is actually trying to criminalize vaping.
I'm not joking. In a column for Reason, Veronique de Rugy bluntly explains the horrific consequences.
There's something terrifying about a government so powerful that it can shut down your business overnight without even bothering to offer substantive arguments. Yet that's what U.S. Food and Drug Administration bureaucrats just did to the e-cigarette company Juul. …Most of the…victims will be cigarette smokers. …the FDA has ordered all Juul e-cigarette products off the market even though its own decision features this remarkable admission: "…the FDA has not received clinical information to suggest an immediate hazard associated with the use of the JUUL device or JUULpods." In other words, neither Juul's effectiveness in turning smokers away from more dangerous products nor its success at getting some smokers to quit altogether is, for the FDA, sufficient evidence of the product's benefit to public health. …the FDA all but guarantees that smokers will smoke more cigarettes, turn to less-established products or even go to the black market to get their nicotine fixes. …The FDA's war…will…likely claim hundreds of thousands of adults who continue to inhale tar from cigarettes thanks to the agency's refusal to allow safer, but also appealing, alternatives.
There is a sliver of good news. A court has temporarily blocked the FDA's deadly decision.
But it is unclear whether that will lead to a permanent victory for better policy.
So what's the bottom line?
Proponents of a ban fixate on the risk that vaping can be a gateway to nicotine use. And maybe even a gateway for smoking. And they are especially concerned about teenagers getting hooked.
These are legitimate concerns. But cost-benefit analysis shows that those risks are outweighed by the risks of people consuming cigarettes when vaping is not an option.
Many years ago, I wrote at article for the Journal of Regulation and Social Cost to explain how many government policies are indirectly deadly. With its war against vaping, the government is being more direct.
Defend Vaping, Save Lives
Posted in Cost-Benefit Analysis, Regulation, Vaping, tagged Cost-Benefit Analysis, Regulation, Vaping on September 30, 2021| 1 Comment »
Competent and honest people in the world of public policy understand that decisions have costs and benefits.
Simply stated, there is no such thing as a free lunch, though politicians like to pretend otherwise (to cite an especially absurd example, the Biden Administration is actually claiming that a multi-trillion dollar expansion of the welfare state has "zero cost").
One of the more perverse examples of free-lunch thinking is the campaign in Washington against the use of electronic cigarettes (usually referred to as vaping).
Rational and sensible people understand that vaping has big benefits (regular cigarettes are a far more dangerous way of enjoying nicotine), while also recognizing potential costs (some people who would not become smokers might choose to vape).
Sadly, both politicians and bureaucrats myopically fixate on the potential costs while paying little or no attention to the tangible benefits.
Regarding politicians, Alan Viard of the American Enterprise Institute criticizes Democrats in the House of Representatives for pushing a tax on vaping.
The proposal would apply the federal tobacco tax to e-cigarettes for the first time. (The tobacco tax rate would also be doubled). Under the proposal, e-cigarettes would be taxed based on their nicotine content. Linking the tax to nicotine is misplaced… As Satel has commented, "The virtue of vaping is that it uncouples deadly smoke from nicotine, which, contrary to common impression, has no appreciable role in causing cancer." …e-cigarettes offer a life-saving alternative to cigarettes, enabling smokers to more easily quit their deadly habit. …two academic research studies…found that e-cigarette taxes have increased cigarette smoking. Another recent study, which was funded by the National Institutes of Health, similarly found that "higher e-cigarette tax rates increase traditional cigarette use." …Taxes should reduce smoking, not increase it. E-cigarette taxes pose a threat to public health.
Regarding bureaucrats, Jacob Sullum explains for Reason that the notoriously incompetent Food and Drug Administration is strangling the e-cigarette industry with red tape.
Electronic cigarettes, which deliver nicotine without tobacco or combustion, are the most important harm-reducing alternative to smoking ever developed, one that could prevent millions of premature deaths in the United States alone. Yet bureaucrats and politicians seem determined to negate that historic opportunity through regulations and taxes that threaten to cripple the industry. …the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)…says…every vaping device and nicotine liquid sold in the U.S. is "marketed unlawfully" and "subject to enforcement action at the FDA's discretion." …it is not enough for a manufacturer to show its products are far less hazardous than conventional cigarettes. Nor is it enough to show that nontobacco flavors are enormously popular among former smokers, because the FDA might still conclude, however implausibly, that the risk of underage consumption outweighs the welfare of smokers interested in making the potentially lifesaving switch to vaping. …The folly of the obsession with preventing underage vaping was apparent in San Francisco, where a ban on flavored ENDS seems to have boosted smoking by teenagers and young adults.
By the way, this is a global issue.
As you might predict, the notoriously incompetent World Health Organization is on the wrong side.
In a column for CapX, Mark Oates explains how that bureaucracy needs to be slapped down.
The World Health Organisation has once again defied scientific advice by baldly stating that 'E-cigarettes are not proven cessation aids'. The WHO's stance flies in the face of all the available evidence. …with around 7 million people dying every year due to smoking-related illnesses, getting policy right in this area could have a huge impact. …we appear to be fighting a losing battle against an international consensus to over-regulate or even ban vaping products which are proven to be the most successful and popular quitting aids available.
And some nations are imposing anti-science policies.
In a column for the Sydney Morning Herald, Alex Wodak and Colin Mendelsohn explain that Australia is about to make a big mistake.
Every year, 21,000 Australians die prematurely from smoking cigarettes. That is more deaths than from alcohol, plus prescription drugs, plus illicit drugs, plus road crash deaths, plus HIV, plus suicide. Governments have moral and health obligations to reduce smoking-related deaths by adopting policies that minimise the harm caused by the inhalation of tobacco smoke. …Currently Australians can import nicotine liquid for vaping from overseas or purchase it from a small number of participating pharmacies… From October 1, importation of nicotine liquid will be closely monitored by the Australian Border Force. …the problem is that in Australia, nicotine for vaping is treated as a medicine regulated by the Therapeutic Goods Administration, or TGA. The TGA includes nicotine liquid for vaping in the Poisons Standard while explicitly excluding cigarettes. The net effect is that a much less dangerous way of consuming nicotine is highly restricted while cigarettes, responsible for the deaths of up to two of every three long-term smokers, are readily available from 20,000 outlets.
I'll close by reiterating that vaping should be defended because it saves lives.
From a cost-benefit perspective, people who want nicotine definitely should vape rather than smoke.
But I also can't resist making a liberty argument.
Even if vaping was dangerous, it should still be legal. Adults should be free to make choices about the risks they incur.
That means they should be allowed to engage in all sorts of risky behaviors, such as parachuting, eating unhealthy food, hang gliding, smoking, and scuba diving.
And they also should be free to engage in not-so-risky behaviors, such as vaping.
P.S. The vaping tax is a blatant violation of Biden's promise not to impose taxes on people making less than $400,000 per year, though I imagine nobody is surprised that he was lying (a bipartisan problem in Washington).
The Bizarre Attack on Vaping
Posted in Cost-Benefit Analysis, Government intervention, nanny state, Regulation, Vaping, tagged Cost-Benefit Analysis, FDA, Food and Drug Administration, Government intervention, nanny state, Regulation, Vaping on May 11, 2020| 11 Comments »
Since I've never smoked or vaped, I have no personal interest in the the regulatory battle over vaping and e-cigarettes.
That being said, I started writing about this issue back in 2016 because it involves several important principles.
The libertarian argument that people should be free to do what they want with their own bodies
Whether the "administrative state" should be able to unilaterally grab more regulatory power.
The degree to which "harm reduction" or "zero tolerance" should guide government policies.
From a public health perspective, the third point is most important.
It's a fight between those who want the Food and Drug Administration to use its self-anointed regulatory authority to ban e-cigarettes (because vaping is worse than not vaping) and those who explain that e-cigarettes are helpful (because vaping is far less risky than smoking).
This fight has a September 9 deadline. The Food and Drug Administration decided several years ago that its power to regulate tobacco somehow meant it also has the power to regulate vaping. The bureaucrats then created a system requiring future approval for marketing and sale of e-cigarettes and related products (originally to be unveiled in 2022 but a federal judge has ordered an earlier deadline).
The FDA has basically given itself the power to prohibit these products, and if you're interested in that aspect of the battle, here are two short articles (pro and con) about that effort.
I want to focus today on whether it makes sense to impose prohibition, and it's a simple matter of cost-benefit analysis. Some people want to enjoy nicotine, so is it better for them to vape or to smoke?
Writing for the American Enterprise Institute, Roger Bate points out that smoking is far worse.
…there is an increasing amount of evidence to support it over smoking. As Michael Siegel — a public health Professor at Boston University — says "there is overwhelming evidence that smoking is more hazardous than vaping. One of the most compelling lines of evidence is a series of studies showing that when smokers switch to e-cigarettes, they experience immediate and dramatic improvement in both their respiratory and cardiovascular health, measured both subjectively and objectively." Cancer rates are at an all-time low partially due to the introduction of vaping and subsequent reduction in smoking.
And if people can't vape, that leads to more smoking.
Six scholars, in a new study for the National Bureau of Economic Research, found that higher taxes on vaping led to more cigarette consumption.
We explore the effect of e-cigarette taxes enacted in eight states and two large counties on e-cigarette prices, e-cigarette sales, and sales of other tobacco products. …We then calculate an e-cigarette own-price elasticity of -1.5 and a positive cross-price elasticity of demand between e-cigarettes and traditional cigarettes of 0.9, suggesting that e-cigarettes and traditional cigarettes are economic substitutes. We simulate that for every one standard e-cigarette pod (a device that contains liquid nicotine) of 0.7 ml no longer purchased as a result of an e-cigarette tax, the same tax increases traditional cigarettes purchased by 6.4 extra packs.
If you don't want to read an academic study, a press release from Georgia State University (home to one of the scholars) summarizes the key findings.
Increasing taxes on e-cigarettes in an attempt to cut vaping may cause people to purchase more traditional cigarettes according to a new study funded by the National Institutes of Health. For every 10 percent increase in e-cigarette prices, e-cigarette sales drop 26 percent while traditional cigarette sales jump by 11 percent. …"Vaping-related illnesses are a public health concern. However, cigarettes continue to kill nearly 480,000 Americans each year, and several research reviews support the conclusion that e-cigarettes contain fewer toxicants and are safer for non-pregnant adults," said co-author Erik Nesson of Ball State University. …Michael F. Pesko from Georgia State University. "We estimate that for every 1 e-cigarette pod no longer purchased as a result of an e-cigarette tax, 6.2 extra packs of cigarettes are purchased instead," he said. "The public health impact of e-cigarette taxes in this case is likely negative."
Needless to say, if higher taxes on vaping lead to more smoking, one can only imagine how much additional cigarettes will be consumed if vaping is outlawed.
And that means more cancer, more heart disease, and other illnesses.
The folks who support anti-vaping policies respond by arguing that vaping enables nicotine consumption by some young people and may even be a gateway to smoking.
That's probably true, but it's also true that some of those young people would opt for smoking if they didn't have the option to vape.
From a utilitarian perspective, the bottom line is that vaping saves lives.
The anti-vaping crowd might even admit that's true, but they presumably would then argue in favor of banning cigarettes.
But why stop there? Obesity also is a major threat to health, so why not ban cakes, pies, pasta, and french fries? And big gulps (oh, wait, that's already happening)?
And mandate broccoli consumption as well, along with a government-required five-mile jog on days that end in "y".
At the risk of understatement, the right solution is to let adults make their own decisions. The FDA should quit its harassment campaign against vaping.
P.S. If FDA bureaucrats actually want to save lives, they should focus on their onerous rules and silly regulations that have hampered the private economy's ability to respond to the coronavirus.
Vaping Restrictions Are a Deadly Policy…Literally
Posted in Cost-Benefit Analysis, Government intervention, nanny state, Regulation, Vaping, tagged Cost-Benefit Analysis, Government intervention, nanny state, Regulation, Vaping on January 5, 2020| 6 Comments »
When I want to explain that excessive government shortens lifespans, I'm going to have a new and powerful argument thanks to the Trump Administration's misguided efforts to restrict vaping.
The issue is very simple.
Some people want nicotine. If vaping products are not available, they will opt for cigarettes, which are vastly more dangerous.
The Wall Street Journal recently opined on the issue, echoing the point I made about how the Trump policy will open the door for higher-risk black-market products.
The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday announced a ban on flavored e-cigarettes…don't think this will…make teens stop vaping. …it's not clear how much good the FDA ban will do. It is already illegal for teens under age 18 to buy e-cigarettes, but that hasn't stopped them. …One risk of the FDA's flavor ban is more teens might buy e-cigarettes on the black market that are less safe. Illegal products are the main culprits in the recent cases of vaping-related lung illness.
Here's some of what Jacob Sullum wrote on this topic.
In a wake-up call for people who claim to be concerned about smoking-related disease and death, five prominent public health scholars warn that the "tremendous" harm-reducing potential of e-cigarettes could be nullified by panicky political responses to underage consumption and vaping-related lung injuries. …"There is solid scientific evidence that vaping nicotine is much safer than smoking," the authors note, while "evidence from multiple strong observational studies and randomized trials suggests that vaping nicotine is more appealing and more effective than [nicotine replacement therapy, such as patches and gum,] at displacing smoking." …that displacement is not limited to adults. Fairchild and her co-authors point out that "population youth smoking rates dropped much faster in the years vaping surged the most (2013–2019) than in prior years, reaching record lows during that same period, which suggests that nicotine vape use may be replacing smoking more than promoting it." E-cigarette prohibitionists may think they are acting "out of an abundance of caution," but the policies they advocate look downright reckless when you consider the ongoing death toll from cigarette smoking.
In the interview, I mentioned that the United Kingdom has a far more sensible approach.
Matt Ridley wrote a piece for the Wall Street Journal about his country's policy.
Nicotine itself is far less harmful to smokers than the other chemicals created during combustion. Heavyweight studies confirm that there are much lower levels of dangerous chemicals in e-cigarette vapor than in smoke and fewer biomarkers of harm in the bodies of vapers than smokers. …In both the U.K. and the U.S. the rapid growth in vaping has coincided with rapid reductions in smoking rates, especially among young people. Yet there is a stark contrast between the two countries in how vaping has been treated by public health authorities… Many British smokers have switched entirely to vaping, encouraged by the government, whose official position is that vaping is 95% safer than smoking, an assertion now backed by early studies of disease incidence. The organizations that have signed a statement saying that vaping is significantly less harmful than smoking include Public Health England, the Association of Directors of Public Health, the Royal College of Physicians and the Royal Society for Public Health. …The argument for harm reduction is not one that comes easily to some public-health advocates, because it means promoting behaviors that may still be harmful, just less so than the alternative. Vaping doesn't have to prove entirely safe for it to save lives, given that it mostly replaces smoking.
Brad Polumbo adds some details in a column for the Washington Examiner.
America's war on vaping is in full swing. But when you consider the positive approach taken in the United Kingdom, the foolishness of this new conflict is laid bare. …Vaping is much healthier than smoking traditional cigarettes. E-cigarettes do contain nicotine, but nicotine was never really the problem with traditional cigarettes in the first place — it's essentially similar to caffeine. Rather, the enormous public health problem posed by cigarettes is due to the cancer-causing chemicals they contain, such as tar, for example. Vaping products do not contain similar chemicals, making them much, much less likely to cause cancer. …If the government is to do anything to address vaping, it should be to promote it as an alternative to smoking. This is what the U.K.'s government has done, to massive success. …A sober analysis reveals that we are doing exactly the opposite of everything we should be doing. We are putting up more barriers and restrictions on vaping, and instead, we should embrace the U.K.'s approach.
Let's shift from international policy to state policy.
In another column for Reason, Jacob Sullum explains that awful politicians in Massachusetts want to combine two bad policies – vape bans and asset forfeiture.
Massachusetts has "the worst civil forfeiture laws in the country." It looks like state legislators are about to outdo themselves. The Massachusetts House of Representatives…approved a bill that would ban flavored e-cigarettes, impose a 75 percent excise tax on "electronic nicotine delivery systems" (including e-liquids as well as devices), and authorize forfeiture of cars driven by vapers caught with "untaxed" products. …The bill also says a police officer who "discovers an untaxed electronic nicotine delivery system in the possession of a person who is not a licensed or commissioner-authorized electronic nicotine delivery system distributor" may seize both the product and the "receptacle" in which it is found, "including, but not limited to, a motor vehicle, boat or airplane in which the electronic nicotine delivery systems are contained or transported." …Massachusetts is poised to deprive vapers of the harm-reducing products they used to quit smoking, then steal their cars if they dare to defy that unjust and irrational edict.
Needless to say, two negatives don't make a positive.
Let's close with this chart, which (in a logical world) should put an end to the debate.
Yes, it would be nice if nobody used any sort of dangerous product. But in the real world, where we face tradeoffs, I'd much prefer that people get nicotine from vaping.
P.S. And people should have the freedom to make choices that involve risk. Libertarianism is about treating people like adults.
The Deadly Campaign Against Vaping and E-Cigarettes
Posted in Cost-Benefit Analysis, nanny state, Regulation, Tobacco, Vaping, tagged Cost-Benefit Analysis, nanny state, Regulation, Tobacco, Vaping on September 26, 2019| 8 Comments »
Moral panics in Washington are not a recipe for good policy.
That's why the current attack on vaping (the use of e-cigarettes) is so misguided.
Policy makers want to ban and/or restrict e-cigarettes (especially flavored varieties) for two reasons.
Consuming e-cigarettes may cause harm to users.
Vaping may lure some young people into using nicotine.
Both of these concerns are reasonable, at least from a utilitarian perspective.
But if we're taking that approach, policy makers also should be looking at the other side of the cost-benefit equation (the Food and Drug Administration sadly does a lousy job of comparing costs and benefits).
And the under-appreciated benefit of e-cigarettes is that they reduce tobacco consumption, which is far more risky.
The Wall Street Journal opined recently on this issue.
A campaign against vaping products is moving at land speed records, with the Trump Administration announcing this week it will pull flavored e-cigarettes from the market. This is becoming a political pile on, and regulators risk foreclosing one of the best opportunities in public health, which is to reduce cigarette smoking. …Vaping devices include an array of products from pens to tanks. …The point is to offer the buzz of a cigarette without the combustion of tobacco that releases carcinogens and makes smoking so dangerous. …agencies like Public Health England have said such e-cigs are 95% safer than smokes. …No one wants kids addicted to nicotine, and the question is how to balance these competing equities. It is hardly obvious that banning flavors will keep teens from vaping. …A Juul executive told Congress this summer that a result of exiting convenience stores has been other actors exploiting the vacuum by selling illegal flavor pods. Expect more such unintended consequences. And if the flavor ban doesn't reduce the number of teen vapers, then what? The next step looks like an even broader ban, which won't be a net positive to public health. …The question is not whether vaping is healthy—it isn't—but whether the frenzy against e-cigarettes is moving faster than the evidence. …forgotten in the rush are the 480,000 Americans who die each year from smoking.
In addition to his attacks on the twin scourges of salt and large-sized drinks, Michael Bloomberg is a leading advocate of vaping restrictions.
Jacob Sullum of Reason explains why, if successful, his efforts will cause more death.
Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire busybody who can be counted on to oppose individual freedom in almost every area of life, is launching a prohibition crusade against flavored e-cigarettes. …The premise of Bloomberg's $160 million campaign, which aims to persuade "at least 20 cities and states" to "pass laws banning all flavored tobacco and e-cigarettes," is that flavored e-liquids are obviously designed to entice "children," because only children like them. That is demonstrably false. ..Last year, Vaping360, a site aimed at former smokers who have switched to vaping and current smokers who are thinking about it, surveyed readers about their favorite Juul pod flavors. It got more than 38,000 responses, and the top pick by far was Mango (46 percent), followed by Cool Mint (29 percent), Crème Brulée (11 percent), and Fruit Medley (8 percent). …Surveys of former smokers find that flavor variety plays an important role in the process of switching to vaping. The Food and Drug Administration has acknowledged "the role that flavors…may play in helping some smokers switch to potentially less harmful forms of nicotine delivery." …Bloomberg has "committed nearly $1 billion to aid anti-tobacco efforts." Now he is committing $160 million to pro-tobacco efforts, lobbying for laws that will drastically reduce the alternatives to conventional cigarettes, resulting in more smoking-related disease and death.
Robert Verbruggen also explains cost-benefit analysis in his column for National Review.
The Trump administration's Food and Drug Administration is gearing up to ban e-cigarette flavorings besides the ones that taste like tobacco. It's unclear if this would have any benefits for public health. …Upstart products such as e-cigarettes, which deliver nicotine without all the tar and other nasty chemicals that cigarettes contain, and are estimated to be 95 percent safer as a result. …even for minors it's far better to vape than to puff Camels, and it's not as if no adult enjoys, say, strawberry flavoring. Better taste is one reason to vape instead of smoke for pretty much anyone who has to decide between the two, and if e-cigs are limited to tobacco flavoring, this rule could push some people back toward traditional cigarettes. And if real cigarettes are 20 times as dangerous as e-cigs, it doesn't take much switching to cancel out the benefit of a reduction in vaping.
But I also like his article because he points out that this is another example of the "administrative state" in action.
…this is not a decision that Congress ever should have left in the executive branch's hands. …in 2009 Congress, in its infinite wisdom, gave the FDA the authority to regulate tobacco products — except for all the products that were already on the market. This meant that the agency would have authority over upstart products competing with cigarettes, but the rules would not apply to cigarettes themselves. ……Congress should write laws, especially laws that ban entire product categories, not turn that power over to unelected busybodies who will opt for regulation over personal freedom every single time they encounter a choice between the two.
Best of all, he makes the libertarian argument that people should enjoy liberty.
What is clear is that it will be a disaster for personal freedom… Smoking cigarettes is one of those things that we allow adults to do even though it's obviously bad for them, causing numerous cancers and other health problems. …It's a free country. …One does not need to be a dyed-in-the-wool libertarian to be disgusted at this affront to personal freedom and responsibility. …Adults should be free to do what they want, so long as they take responsibility for the consequences of their actions. That includes smoking. And it definitely includes the far safer alternative of vaping fruit-flavored e-juice.
I think the utilitarian argument for vaping is strong. As this visual from an anti-cancer group in the U.K. notes, it passes a cost-benefit test for savings lives.
But utilitarianism isn't everything.
I can't resist also unleashing my inner libertarian as we conclude today's column.
The bottom line is that people should be allowed to take risks. They should even be allowed to make dumb choices.
That includes drug use, sugary drinks, gambling, over-eating, smoking, voting for socialists, hang gliding, alcohol usage, and standing between a politician and a TV camera.
It's called freedom.


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Summer Set
By: THE EDITORS
Discover the bright ideas, items, and places at the top of our wish lists this season.
Pretty Special
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1950's nostalgia is having a Miami moment, and local food and design lovers can't get enough. Joining the list of restaurants with a distinctly retro vibe, The Collins Room at the members-only club Bath House draws from the spirit of the jet-set era of the 1950s and 1960s, when Frank Sinatra and Art Deco ruled supreme and glitz and glamour were par for the course. The swanky setting is the perfect canvas for a tableside shaken martini served in vintage stemware and continental cuisine that features a seafood platter with a side of Kaluga caviar or Peking-style chicken. Top off the evening with a digestif at Governor's Loggia while enjoying live music for an experience Sinatra would approve.
This July, PARAISO Miami Beach, the official platform of Swim Week, kicks off the festivities with a stellar lineup of brands like Beach Bunny, Luli Fama, Monday Swimwear, and Chromat. "Since its inception, PARAISO Miami Beach has always been a connective platform that promotes creative lifestyle experimentation," said Natalija Dedic Stojanovic, co-founder of PARAISO, "and this season we'll keep it fresh with new designers, new programming, and amazing brand partners who enable
us to showcase fashion in an experiential and immersive way." This year, swimwear enthusiasts will see the return of Australia's Natasha Oakley and Devin Brugman, the founders of Monday Swimwear. The four-day event will be presented at PARAISO Collins Park Tent along with several satellite locations spread throughout Miami Beach.
Be sure to check out the Happy Go Lucky Exhibit on your next visit to Aventura Mall. Conceived by Sunnyhues Entertainment, this immersive art happening is a multimedia experience, combining lighting, fabrication, sculpture, sound design, and optical illusions to transform ordinary spaces into unique sensory delights. Located on the third level of the center, this very Instagrammable and family-friendly event is running through the end of June.
Brainchild of Seema Bansal Chadha, a busy entrepreneur with a brilliant idea that landed her on Forbes' prestigious "30 Under 30" list, Venus ET Fleur, a revolutionary product of roses that last one year in perfect condition, has disrupted the floral industry and won some major celeb fanfare in the process. Since first going viral, Seema has launched an exclusive collection with Paris Hilton and worked with Olivia Culpo, Sophie Turner, Jason Derulo, Travis Barker, and, of course, the Kardashians. With a passion for design, she has integrated today's top trends into pristine arrangements, making them current yet still classic. Now, perfectly timed for your summer needs, Venus ET Fleur has launched L'alphabet Collection, a dainty and chic offer made with Venus's legendary *Eternity® Roses that is bound to be a crowd favorite. These petite lettered arrangements are set in Venus's Hat Box, consist of 6-11 super petit roses per letter, and come in 18 colors. Spelling has never looked, nor smelled, this gorgeous.
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Transform, our junior/senior high student ministry which meets on Sunday evenings from 5-7pm, will wrap up our spring series calendar with Out of This World(April 8-April 22nd), a look at how to navigate our faith and culture simultaneously, and Forward Motion(April 29-May 6th) which will provide our students with tools to incrementally progress in their faith journey.
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A number of the photographers that I assist in private one-on-one Adobe Photoshop Lightroom technical support sessions have been reporting a similar error message lately. Each of these clients reports receiving an error message that says that their Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Catalog "cannot be opened because it is too new to be used by this version of Lightroom." Usually this error message appears a few day after installing a Photoshop Lightroom update or upgrading from an older version of the Lightroom application.
Fortunately, there is a quick and easy solution to this problem. If you encounter this error message on startup then all that you need to do is to tell your computer to open this Lightroom Catalog (your .lrcat file) using the most recently installed version of the Lightroom Application.
In the Mac world, this is best done by right-clicking on your .lrcat file and using the Open With command. Windows users will find the same command with a right-click although so far I have mostly seen this error on computer's running the Mac operating system. See the video tutorial above for more assistance resolving this issue.
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Mr. Penwarden was the owner and operator of the Tundra Inn located in Churchill, Manitoba from 1977 to 2009. He was a member of the Fort Churchill Military Hospital board of directors between 1968 and 2009, serving as Chair of the Board for approximately two thirds of that time. Mr. Penwarden has also actively been involved in the Churchill Chamber of Commerce, the Churchill Northern Study Centre and the Thompson Region Local Management Board.
Mr. Bettens is CEO of the award winning digital agency, Unite Interactive Corporation. Unite Interactive provides services in the areas of digital and brand strategy, web design and development, mobile and responsive design, content management, digital marketing and partner services. Clients include organizations in the consulting, banking and financial services, government, aerospace, manufacturing, health, education, social service, non-profit/charitable, Aboriginal and other industries. Mike has served on many boards and community advisory committees including 4 terms as a board of director for the Aboriginal Chamber of Commerce and the United Way Aboriginal Relations Council.
Mr. McCormick is the President and Founder of Manitobah Mukluks, a Profit-500 company and Canada's fastest-growing footwear brand. Cited in Canadian Business as a highly successful entrepreneur who has "laid the groundwork for a global operation," Sean has been instrumental in guiding Manitobah from its early roots to its current global success - from startup to $15M+ in annual sales.
Equally community-minded, Sean has developed successful community outreach programs & takes pride in following in his mother's footsteps as a community activist and constantly seeks new ways to share his Métis heritage across the entire Manitobah ecosystem.
Prior to negotiating the successful sale of the company in 2016 Wayne was the president and CEO of Procurity Inc. I leading supplier of retail, pharmaceutical and financial services to independent pharmacy in Western Canada. Operating distribution facilities In Saskatchewan, Alberta and head office in Manitoba and with annual revenues excess of $200 million ,Procurity grew to be a significant and profitable participant in one of the most highly regulated and competitive industries.
In 2016 Wayne founded the Two Rivers Consulting Group Inc., providing a variety of general management services to clients in the pharmaceutical sector.
Born in Winnipeg and a graduate of the University of Winnipeg, Wayne is married to wife Cheryl and together they have two adult daughters.
Mr. Coutris graduated from the University of Manitoba, Faculty of Management receiving a Bachelor of Commerce Honours degree specializing in Finance. As Chief Executive Officer of the Metis Economic Development Fund, John is responsible for all business activities, promotion, and execution of the fund. In addition, he is accountable for the financial management of the fund and investments through a comprehensive and disciplined disclosure process.
Mr. Coutris also represents MEDF as a Director on each of the investee investments assisting to steer the organization towards a sustainable future by adopting sound and ethical governance and financial management policies. Prior to the joining the Fund, John spent many years in the financial services industry advising retail & commercial clients as part of the leadership team. As past Vice President and Treasurer of non-profit organizations, his engaging approach to leadership, strategic development, and corporate execution have assisted to create strategically focused, sustainable, and thriving organizations.
Ms. Souque started with the Metis Economic Development Fund in February 2012, she brings over eleven years of financial service industry experience to MEDF, specializing in credit adjudication and assisting customers in reaching their financial goals. As the Business Development Manager, Ms. Souque assists the CEO in developing annual market plans and ensures that key activities, deliverables and milestones are achieved. Ms. Souque also assists the CEO in the due diligence activities and adjudicating credit requests. Ms. Souque is dedicated to making the MEDF a success and to facilitate and promote the Metis business community.
With more than a decade of experience working in the Metis community, Ms. McDonald brings a vast knowledge of the culture and entrepreneurial spirit of the Metis people to MEDF. As the Office Manager, Ms. McDonald assists the MEDF team with the development of the annual marketing plan, the management of the Funds financials, as well as ensuring the Fund is kept current with the ongoing growth of its digital marketing and social media platforms. Her outstanding training, leadership and communication skills will ensure exceptional proficiency in the continued success of MEDF and the sustainability of thriving Metis communities.
Metis Economic Development Fund (MEDF Inc.) is pleased to announce that we have successfully completed our investment into HUB Computer Solutions.
HUB Computer Solutions was first started as a part-time venture back in 1989. As the company grew over the years, it fostered a company culture of smart, caring people who share their same passion for building long lasting relationships with clients, understanding their objectives, and improving their business with high-quality, meaningful IT solutions and services.


text:
The Tohoku ILC Promotion Council meets with the national government to urge them to make a speedy decision on the ILC
Translated by Amanda Wayama
The original article was published in the Iwate Nippo (June 13th edition). Read the original here.
On June 12th, the Tohoku ILC Promotion Council, the Hokkaido/Tohoku Governors' Association, the Hokkaido/Tohoku Prefectural Assembly Chairpersons' Association, and the Tohoku Mayors' Association visited with the Liberal Democratic Party (Japan's ruling political party) to urge them to make their intentions known on the ILC as quickly as possible.
The group included Hiroaki Takahashi (honorary chairman of the Tohoku Economic Federation), Takuya Tasso (Governor of Iwate), Junichi Sasaki (Chair of the Iwate Prefectural Assembly), Hiroaki Tanifuji (Mayor of Morioka), Kunihisa Yamura (Chair of the Iwate ILC Promotion Council), Atsuto Suzuki (president of Iwate Prefectural University), and others. They visited the Prime Minister's Office, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism (MLIT), and the Reconstruction Agency. There they met with Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga and others to petition for their support. They also handed over their petition to the Hon. Takeo Kawamura, chair of the Federation of Diet Members for the ILC, which was holding a general meeting in a Tokyo hotel.
According to those in attendance, Hon. Suga said, "I'd like to firmly accept your request." Hon. Kawamura said, "I have accepted this letter as the consensus of all of Tohoku; I'd like to do my best to work towards the realization of the ILC."
Following their petition, Governor Tasso said, "Within the government ministries, there are more and more who are looking favorably at this petition being made on behalf of the whole Tohoku region. I feel like this is the year where the decision will be made." Mayor Tanifuji said, "I felt that we are now seeing results from all of the efforts being done from the national government and related ministries." Mr. Hiroaki said, "I hope for the national government to clearly voice its intentions as quickly as possible."
Posted to News. Other recent news...
07.16.19 The Ichinoseki Mayor makes suggestion to FDMILC Chief about using the old NEC location for ILC purposes
07.10.19 Students at Ichinoseki Higashi Middle School gain a deeper interest in particle physics – A physicist from KEK comes for a talk
07.09.19 The Iwate Future-Design Organization holds a discussion about the ILC in Morioka


signs we must observe: …and why don't agents like to get calls from buyers directly? Can a low offer be considered 'offensive'?
…and why don't agents like to get calls from buyers directly? Can a low offer be considered 'offensive'?
2) Christelle in San Diego, California asked about closing costs for REO and Foreclosed properties. If the home is already at a price that is getting multiple offers, should I ask for closing costs?
Now we are having a little fun with this, but you really want to have a strategy when formulating your offer. The details can help you, or unknowingly hurt you. Just be sure to ask a lot of questions about how each detail works to your advantage – or against you. Just this month my clients in north Nashville were told about how much easier their offer was to accept; this wasn't due to more money, it was less than anticipated actually, but it was us being more intentional with our details than the next guy. Give yourself the best chance that you can.
3) Jeremy asks "Can a low offer be considered 'offensive'?
This almost entirely based on the absorption rate (whether anybody involved knows it or not). Good market or bad, we all want to know if the house is going to sell. As home buyers, we want to know what we can reasonably offer and still get a deal; protect our investment. As home sellers, we want the most money that anyone would pay; getting the best return on our investment. How can we predict that though? Well, we can take an educated guess based on the number of home available divided by the number of homes selling each month (general area, surrounding community, specific trends for your home). It's basically your gut feel - something to turn up to HIGH when home shopping or home selling – but with very real data.


Currently Head of Marketing at The New World Trading Company, Steph is a dedicated and highly ambitious digital marketer with a genuine passion for the online industry, proven by a successful and measurable track record. The New World Trading Company (NWTC) sits in the top 20 of the Sunday Times Fast Track 100 companies, operating some of the country's most exciting brands in the pub and bar market.
Steph joined the DMA North Council in 2015.


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In 1975, Schmaltz's Sandwich Shop opened right here in Waco, Texas. Today, there are now two stores for Wacoans to enjoy — one on Valley Mills Drive in Townwest Center and the other in Downtown Waco on 5th Street. Schmaltz's has enjoyed a long history with Waco and its many customers. Many second- and even third- generation customers continue to support this Waco tradition. In addition to its great variety of sandwiches made on Schmaltz's own freshly baked artisanal breads, the two shops also offer delicious soups and salads. The owner, Nelson Rue, invites all his loyal customers, as well as new friends to come by for lunch or dinner. Downtown Schmaltz's is open Monday through Friday 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Townwest Schmaltz's is open Monday through Friday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
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Since Hired's founding, we have set out to do things differently. Back in 2012, we noticed the traditional model of hiring and recruitment wasn't very effective, efficient or fast. Everybody was focusing on employers, whereby we ultimately believed that talent needed a more painless, transparent, and efficient job search experience that didn't involve submitting resumes into a blackhole against job ads that might be outdated (or merely used to build a "pipeline" for possible future needs).
Fast forward to the present, we're still on a mission to get everyone a job they love. And the results are exciting! We've helped introduce tens of thousands of people to hiring managers at a myriad of companies ranging from Amazon to Zillow.
We've gone from exclusively serving Software Engineers in San Francisco to helping professionals with tech, marketing, and sales backgrounds connect with employers not just in SF, but across the world including Australia, Singapore, London and Paris where we now have offices. Furthermore, we've launched support for contractors and freelancers on Hired, even further widening our reach.
By now, most companies realize that there are significant business advantages to diversity in the workplace. Yet, even the most open-minded and well-meaning individuals unwittingly allow unconscious feelings to guide their decision making. It's an innate human characteristic. But this is a problem for employers and hiring managers that we can't ignore. And it's one that I'm particularly passionate about and recently penned a piece about for Inc.
In order to enable this feature on your Hired account, please click on your name in the top-right hand corner and navigate to the "My Account" page. You'll find the checkbox at the bottom of the screen.
Hired is a proud supporter of gender and race equality, committed to driving change in the companies we work with while providing employees with diverse working environments. We hope more companies across industries follow suit – sharing information, raising awareness and taking action to counteract unconscious biases.


text:
Banyan Cay crafts deal to bring in luxury hotel partner – News – The Palm Beach Post
by Solutionist | Nov 24, 2019 | Financial | 0 comments
The West Palm Beach resort hotel remains unbuilt, but the project's developer says he has a plan to start construction.
Banyan Cay Resort & Golf, the partly built resort in the heart of West Palm Beach, has brought in a Miami-based investment partner to help complete construction and turn the project into a more upscale hotel than originally planned.
Gencom of Miami has taken a major stake in Banyan Cay, creating a 50-50 partnership in the venture, according to Banyan Cay developer Domenic Gatto, Jr.
Banyan Cay is the biggest redevelopment project in West Palm Beach since Rosemary Square, formerly called CityPlace. The $100 million Banyan Cay complex is just east of Interstate 95, off of Congress Avenue and north of Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard.
EXCLUSIVE: West Palm resort projects gets new hotel partner
Four years ago, Gatto's Banyan Cay Dev LLC paid $26 million for the 250-acre property, which used to be the site of the President Country Club.
Gatto sketched out a vision that led to Banyan Cay, featuring a golf course redone by golf great Jack Nicklaus and a hotel managed by boutique Noble House Hotels & Resorts. A lushly landscaped enclave featuring a fitness center, pool, cabanas, tennis center, tiki hut and spa, plus meeting space, was also envisioned.
Gatto finished the golf course and the clubhouse. But construction of the hotel stopped in April, and Banyan Cay and Noble House have parted ways.
The hotel, just a shell building without windows, has been an eyesore and a source of concern for residents in the adjacent Lands of the President community, as well as home buyers in the SobelCo. housing development being built next to the resort.
>>Work stops at $100M Banyan Cay resort: A pause or a problem?
Gatto has cited various reasons for the work stoppage.
They include his inexperience as a hotel developer and his decision to halt construction so the hotel would not open during the slow summer months of 2020. He also promised work would start up again in the summer, and then more recently, by this month.
Gatto has denied he has money problems.
In addition to the more than than $40 million poured into the project by Gatto and his investors, Banyan Cay obtained a $62 million loan from Calmwater Capital last year.
>>RELATED: Jack Nicklaus, Noble House kicking off West Palm Beach club redo
Nonetheless, there's no question Gencom is a deep-pocketed partner who can finish the job, said Randall Greene, an Orlando hotel developer who used to live in the Lands of the President community.
"Gencom is a very well-known player in the hotel industry, especially among the larger hotels around the country," Greene said. "They have a substantial amount of capital and are the angel investor (Domenic) needed."
Indeed, with Gencom now on board, Gatto said the hotel's construction will start up again, but not until January.
Plans are afoot to tweak Banyan Cay's interiors to create more luxury touches, including adding a club level at the hotel, a feature included in many Ritz-Carlton hotels, Gatto said.
Gencom owns numerous luxury hotel properties, including the Ritz Carlton on Key Biscayne.
In addition, plans are to build 22 one-story villas when the hotel restarts construction. Prices for the 1,800-square-foot villas will start at a whopping $1 million.
These villas will be part of the hotel's inventory, bringing the total hotel "keys" to 172 from 150, Gatto said.
The project tweaks, plus the looming holiday season, are the reasons why construction will have to wait until January, with the hotel's completion now set for early 2021 instead of fall 2020.
Gatto said the delay will be worth it.
Gencom's involvement takes Banyan Cay to the "next level," he said. That's because Gencom is skilled in building and managing luxury resorts.
In fact, Gatto said he has worked for months to bring in a luxury developer to help him craft a more upscale resort. "We have worked to achieve the highest product we can," Gatto said. "This is the partnership I was looking for."
Gencom officials could not be reached for comment. But in a statement, Gencom founder Karim Alibhai said the partnership revives Banyan Cay and will bring it to completion.
Gatto said Gencom had been looking to acquire a hotel property in Palm Beach County and was particularly attracted to Banyan Cay's for-sale villas. Gencom has experience managing Ritz Carlton hotels that feature residences.
The planned villas are not intended for full-time residency. Instead, they will be marketed to people who visit Palm Beach County for a few weeks or months a year, Gatto said.
When owners are not using their villas, they can put them in the hotel's reservation rental pool, allowing owners to earn income on their investment.
Target investors include snowbirds, as well as baseball players who participate in spring training at the FitTeam Ballpark of the Palm Beaches, Gatto said.
Meanwhile, SobelCo., a Boca Raton-based home builder, continues to build 94 single-family homes, with the Banyan Cay resort as a lure.
Homes come with a three-year social membership in the resort. Prices range from $535,000 to more than $700,000 for the three- and four-bedroom homes.
H. Adams Weaver, a partner at the Jones Foster law firm, is one buyer who was attracted to the amenities and free membership of the Banyan Cay Resort.
Weaver and his wife, Bonnie, closed on the purchase of a home at the Residences at Banyan Cay in July. While they enjoy the club house, the hotel remains an unrealized perk.
On Wednesday, Weaver said he sees Gencom's involvement in the deal as good news.
But other nearby homeowners privately say they'll believe it when they see it. "We all feel that way," one homeowner said.
Weaver was disappointed to learn the resort would not be ready next fall as promised, but instead would open in early 2021.
"That's a long time," Weaver said. "But what am I going to do? I can't move so I'm stuck."
Gatto said he understands the frustration, which is why he's worked to bring in a credible partner.
A Gencom affiliate, Benchmark Hospitality, will manage the golf operations and eventually, the hotel.
In October, Gatto said talks were underway to turn Banyan Cay into a Hyatt/Destination Resorts property, a boutique luxury hotel brand.
But on Wednesday, Gatto said a brand had yet to be determined.


text:
package GUIPlugins.ComplexFunctionPlugins;

import GUIPlugins.DisplayPlugins.DisplayPlugin;
import GrammarSimulator.*;
import Main.Storable;
import Print.Printer;
import javafx.geometry.HPos;
import javafx.geometry.VPos;
import javafx.scene.Node;
import javafx.scene.control.*;
import javafx.scene.layout.FlowPane;

import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.Collections;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.stream.Collectors;

import static java.util.stream.Collectors.joining;

/**
 * interactive path of grammar
 * @author fabian
 * @since 19.06.16
 */

public class InteractivePathGrammar extends ComplexFunctionPlugin {
    Button newstart;
    FlowPane pane;
    List<Configuration> path;
    Grammar g;

    @Override
    public Class getInputType() {
        return Grammar.class;
    }

    @Override
    public Node getFxNode(Storable object, DisplayPlugin GUI) {

        ScrollPane scrollPane = new ScrollPane();
        scrollPane.setFitToHeight(true);
        scrollPane.setFitToWidth(true);

        pane = new FlowPane();
        pane.setVgap(8);
        pane.setHgap(4);
        pane.setColumnHalignment(HPos.LEFT); // align labels on left
        pane.setRowValignment(VPos.CENTER);
        newstart = new Button("new");
        pane.getChildren().add(newstart);
        path = new ArrayList<>();
        g = (Grammar) object;
        if(g != null) {
            Configuration start = new Configuration(Collections.singletonList(g.getStartSymbol()),null,g);
            path.add(start);
            updatePane();
            newstart.setOnAction(event -> {
                path.clear();
                path.add(start);
                updatePane();
            });
        }

        return pane;
    }
    private List<Label> configurationAsLabelList(Configuration config, boolean last) {
        List<ContextMenu> oldMenus = new ArrayList<>();
        List<Label> res = new ArrayList<>();
        for(int i=0;i<config.getConfig().size();i++) {
            Symbol symbol = config.getConfig().get(i);
            if(symbol instanceof Terminal) {
                res.add(new Label(symbol.getDisplayName()));
            } else {
                Label label = new Label(symbol.getDisplayName());
                int finalI = i;

                label.setOnMouseClicked(event -> {
                    oldMenus.forEach(ContextMenu::hide);
                    if(last) {

                        ContextMenu menu = getContextMenu(config.getGrammar(), (Nonterminal) symbol, config, finalI);
                        menu.show(pane, event.getScreenX(), event.getScreenY());
                        oldMenus.add(menu);
                    }
                });
                res.add(label);
            }
        }

        return res;

    }
    private ContextMenu getContextMenu(Grammar g, Nonterminal nt, Configuration configuration, int index) {
        ContextMenu menu = new ContextMenu();
        g.getRules().stream().filter(rule -> rule.getComingFrom().equals(nt))
                .map(rule -> {
                    MenuItem menuItem = new MenuItem(rule.getRightSide().stream().map(Symbol::getDisplayName).collect(joining()));
                    menuItem.setOnAction(event -> {
                        menu.hide();
                        Configuration derivation = getDerivation(configuration,index,rule);
                        path.add(derivation);
                        updatePane();
                    });
                    return menuItem;
                }).forEach(menuItem -> menu.getItems().add(menuItem));
        return menu;
    }

    private Configuration getDerivation(Configuration config, int index, Rule rule) {
        if(config.getConfig().get(index).equals(rule.getComingFrom())) {
            List<Symbol> list = new ArrayList<>();
            for(int i=0;i<config.getConfig().size();i++) {
                if(i != index) {
                    list.add(config.getConfig().get(i));
                } else {

                    list.addAll(rule.getRightSide().stream().filter(sym -> !sym.equals(Terminal.NULLSYMBOL)).collect(Collectors.toList()));

                }
            }
            if(list.size()==0) {
                list.add(Terminal.NULLSYMBOL);
            }
            return new Configuration(list,config);
        } else {
            return config;
        }
    }

    private void updatePane() {
        pane.getChildren().clear();
        pane.getChildren().add(newstart);
        for(int i=0;i<path.size();i++) {
            Configuration configuration = path.get(i);
            if(i>0) {
                Label delimiter = new Label(" \u22A2 ");
                delimiter.setStyle("-fx-font-weight: bold");
                pane.getChildren().add(delimiter);

            }
            configurationAsLabelList(configuration,i==path.size()-1).forEach(l -> pane.getChildren().addAll(l));
            if(configuration.getConfig().stream().allMatch(sym -> sym instanceof Terminal)) {

                Alert alert = new Alert(Alert.AlertType.INFORMATION);
                alert.setTitle("Success");
                alert.initOwner(gui.getPrimaryStage());
                String word =  configuration.getConfig().stream().map(Symbol::getDisplayName).collect(joining(""));
                alert.setHeaderText("You found a path for the word "+word);
                alert.setContentText(configuration.getPath("\u22A2 ",""));
                alert.showAndWait();
                Printer.printWithTitle("Path for "+word,g);
                Printer.print("\n \\begin{align*}\n"+configuration.getPath(" &\\vdash  ","\\\\")+"\n \\end{align*}\n");
            }
        }
    }

    @Override
    public String getName() {
        return "Interactive Path";
    }

    @Override
    public Class displayPluginType() {
        return Grammar.class;
    }

    @Override
    public boolean createsOutput() {
        return true;
    }

    @Override
    public String tooltip() {
        return null;
    }

}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


© 2017, Iran University of Science and Technology. This paper studies the structural behavior of the Ermenek arch dam, the second highest dam in Turkey. The investigated period covers the stage of the last-quarter part of first filling (1 and 1/2 year) and the begging of its operational lifetime (1 year). Displacement responses of the dam to temperature load and water load are assessed in detail based on both geodetic and pendulum monitoring records. In addition, the present study explores the possibility and advantage of integrating pendulum-measured signals with geodetic-measured signals for the dam deformation monitoring. The analysis results reveal that pendulum-derived displacements at four gallery levels, along the vertical cross section of the dam, which exhibit periodicity and linear trend with different slope due to seasonal temperature oscillation and linearly increased reservoir level, respectively. Comparative evaluation of the results shows that there is very good agreement between geodetic-derived displacement in radial direction at the middle of the crest and corresponding pendulum-derived displacement.
Alcay, S. and Yigit, C.O. and Inal, C. and Ceylan, A. 2018. Analysis of Displacement Response of the Ermenek Dam Monitored by an Integrated Geodetic and Pendulum System. International Journal of Civil Engineering. 16 (10): pp. 1279-1291.


text:
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From Here to Workers' Power: The Road Ahead
by Julius November 26, 2020 November 26, 2020
The following speech was presented by Julius Arscott, leading member of Socialist Action at the recent Revolution or Ruin conference held online on November 21, 2020 following the panel 'What We Need' in the session titled 'How to Get It'. WATCH CONFERENCE HERE: https://youtu.be/nuLDI5rZ_xE
By Gary Porter, Julius Arscott and Barry Weisleder
The first panel today described the multiple and deepening crises of the capitalist system. Capitalism, as Marx described, must constantly expand. Capitalists must make profit or perish. This is not driven by human need. It is driven by the imperatives of a system that now blocks the path to human progress, to the very survival of humanity. Capitalism has nothing positive to contribute.
The tendency of the rate of profit to decline, as global corporations adapt to every initiative of their competitors, propels several processes:
1. Speed up of production, as we see at Amazon. This predatory behemoth manages order pickers and delivery drivers with continual remote time measurement and slave driver oversight.
2. Automation, leading to unemployment of many, instead of delivering benefits to all.
3. Export of jobs to foreign shores and the abuse of super-exploited labour.
4. Racism, which increases profit.
5. Sexism, which increases profit.
6. Overshadowing all of these are deadly pandemics.
7. Austerity and concessions bargaining.
8. Endless war, and
9. Climate catastrophe.
Capitalism can solve none of these problems. Not a single one.
The revolutionary overthrow of capitalism by the assertion of workers' power, the destruction of the entire capitalist property system and state structure, are the only practical and reasonable answers. Liberals, Stalinists and social democrats say we revolutionaries are extremists, and unreasonable people. It is not us but the ravages of capitalism that are extreme, threatening survival of humanity and many other species. Their modest reforms solve nothing. In fact, over the past 50 years, neoliberal austerity has wiped out many reforms won earlier. Under reformist leadership, the workers' movement has been driven backwards.
The working class is the only force with its hands on the great economic levers of society. Only the workers can bring the capitalist system of exploitation to a grinding halt. Only workers can start up the economy again, under their own democratic control, no longer driven by profit but by human needs. The bosses are completely unnecessary.
What compels the working class to revolt? What ushers in a pre-revolutionary situation? It is not the brilliant pamphlets or sparkling oratory of revolutionary socialists, though brilliant and sparkling they may well be. It is the relentless, increasing attack by capitalism on workers' standard of living, on workers' rights, on Black workers, women workers, and LGBTQI workers. A workers' revolt occurs when conditions become impossible and workers see no other way out.
When that time comes, when a revolutionary opportunity appears, whether the revolution succeeds or fails will very much depend on whether there is a Leninist party sufficiently developed and with enough influence in the workers' movement to be able to emerge as the leadership.
The Russian Revolution of October 1917 demonstrated conclusively the victory of the Leninist concept of the revolutionary vanguard party and the defeat of the Menshevik notion of the broad "Marxist" party. The Mensheviks held that the working class "spontaneously" develops towards revolutionary consciousness and that therefore the task of Marxists is to organize a party that would reflect this expectation.
By relying on spontaneous militancy for the development of revolutionary consciousness, the Mensheviks relegated the historical tasks of the revolutionary vanguard to a spontaneous historical process. Inevitably, they built a mass party of uneducated workers, led by a layer of careerists, parliamentarians and intellectuals for whom workers' power was remote and surreal. Such parties eventually and inevitably betrayed the socialist revolution. The Mensheviks supported Kerensky and the fleeting bourgeois government, the Duma, or parliament. Today the NDP leadership, sitting atop a party founded by the merger of the Canadian Labour Congress and the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation, is absolutely committed to Canadian imperialism. It is an implacable enemy of socialist revolution and the revolutionary party. This is what Menshevism has produced. This is what we must defeat in Canada to emerge as the leaders of the working class. We in Socialist Action fight the labour lieutenants of capital in tandem with like minded activists and socialists in the NDP Socialist Caucus and in the Workers' Action Movement. There is no way to avoid that fight and there's no easy way to win it. Those who do not understand the primacy of the working class, or who do not have the patience and grit for such a fight against social democratic treachery, will not make it as Leninist revolutionaries.
Lenin held that revolutionary consciousness did not develop "spontaneously" but had to be constantly fought for. He set out to build a disciplined vanguard party capable of fighting for the Marxist program and transforming the revolutionary potential of spontaneous militancy into revolutionary consciousness and revolutionary action. On a smaller scale, those who have organized workers prior to a collective agreement ratification vote know about the effort involved in educating and agitating to effectively fight the boss. None of this organization occurs 'spontaneously'.
Why is it that workers do not arrive at revolutionary class consciousness spontaneously? It's no mystery. Workers are educated in bourgeois schools which falsely teach the superiority of capitalism – that insist that striving for personal profit is natural and normal. Workers work long hours to feed their families, pay rents, and to pay down mortgages and credit card debt. They read or watch bourgeois media which calls those who struggle against exploitation and oppression troublemakers, terrorists, or often racist names. Police violence is always just behind the curtain, or it is blatant and omnipresent for racial, gender and sexual minorities. And most workers are fragmented, lacking union representation. Unionized workers are seldom mobilized by the privileged, pro-capitalist bureaucrats who dominate the unions and who run them autocratically.
The working class develops toward political class consciousness through mass action in the class struggle AND through the resulting clash of rival leaderships, political parties, and programs. Revolutionary consciousness can develop only by means of the dialectic between theory and practice, formulated in a program and developed consistently only by a revolutionary party. The task of the revolutionary party is to win the majority of the working class to the revolutionary banner by means of the fight for a program of transitional and democratic demands. Our job is to transform the revolutionary potential of spontaneous militancy into revolutionary communist consciousness and to defeat all middle-class contenders active in the workers' movement. How important is this work?
Trotsky summed up the centrality of the revolutionary party in a famous expression: "The historical crisis of mankind is reduced to the crisis of revolutionary leadership".
The gathering multifaceted crisis of world capitalism is forcing the working class, one layer after another, onto the streets in opposition, beginning with super exploited and specially oppressed people, blacks and other racialized minorities, women, and workers from underdeveloped countries.
With the passage of time, the reformists' desperate efforts to hold back the wheel of history will demonstrate more clearly to the masses that the crisis of proletarian leadership, having become the crisis of humanity, can be resolved only by a revolutionary socialist leadership.
The bourgeoisie intervenes purposely in this process. The bourgeoisie creates a labour aristocracy and promotes the growth of a parasitic labour bureaucracy within the workers' movement. This alien intrusion into the working class creates the main obstacle to the development of class consciousness and the principal enemy of communism. The reformist bureaucracy fosters reformist illusions on the working class, and maintains reformism in the workers' movement by means of opposition to militant action and by relentless war on the communists. We who participate in the Workers' Action Movement have experienced first hand the paranoia and reactionary behaviour of the misleaders of our unions as a result of our relentless agitational, educational and organizational work. WAM candidates received massive support, 36% and 34% of the votes of delegates at the November 2019 convention of the Ontario Federation of Labour – which the OFL brass refused to acknowledge.
The program and practice of the labour bureaucracy limit the forward movement of the masses. Development towards class consciousness can occur only as the result of political struggle between the tendencies active in the workers' movement.
The working class in general, and the advanced workers in particular, mature through political conflict. The development of the working class towards class consciousness can only take the form of the political struggle of tendencies and parties. A key mechanism to move the workers' movement forward, and to clarify the political differences between the various tendencies in the workers' movement, is the United Front tactic. We call for all forces who can agree with limited, specific democratic and transitional demands to form a united front to advance those specific demands, for the benefit of all workers. To be effective, a united front must be non-exclusionary. It must operate democratically and it must allow all tendencies to promote their own programs, and to speak freely. We pursue this tactic in all the political work we do. It is evident, most recently, in the Toronto May Day Committee, in our Venezuela, Cuba and Palestine Solidarity work, in our Peel Against Racism rally, in the international campaign to Free Mumia Abu Jamal, and in our current proposal for united socialist campaigns in the next municipal elections, to name just a few examples.
The Revolutionary Party is not an intellectuals' parlour game. It is a workers' organisation. It is the product of a series of sharp, conscious struggles, not only against the ruling class, but against reformism and ultra-leftism inside the working class. We move from tendency and faction fights in the ranks of the revolutionary organization, to mergers with other parties that are moving in a revolutionary direction, and splits with those moving in the opposite direction. The development of the revolutionary party is a highly conscious process. It is the exact opposite of spontaneous. And, it is the only way to save the human race from misery and the threat of extinction. As we say, the work is its own reward, and this way forward is indispensable.Join Socialist Action. Together we will win, and the sooner the better.
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text:
Microsoft's Supply Chain Platform Goes Live, Joining a Competitive Market of Solutions Seeking to Tackle Supply Chain Fragmentation
By Ryan Wiggin | 4Q 2022 | IN-6757
Microsoft's Supply Chain Platform adds a big name to the supply chain control tower market, offering a low-code, adaptable solution to end users. Regulation and deeper analytics will be key drivers to the platform's adoption, but vendors of such solutions need to ensure they are accessible and scalable to individual company requirements.
Driven by a Strong Partner Ecosystem
On Monday, November 21st, Microsoft announced their Supply Chain Platform, an offering that looks to harmonize data and organizations from across the supply chain into a single control tower application. The platform combines the use of Microsoft Azure, Dynamics 365, the Power Platform, and Microsoft Teams, leveraging the Microsoft Cloud to create one place for customers to manage their supply chain. As part of this announcement, the company have also previewed the Microsoft Supply Chain Center, defined as a single 'command center' that helps connect data from existing Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and third-party supply chain management solutions, such as Oracle and SAP. Existing customers of the Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management solution will gain automatic access to the Center as part of their current arrangements.
Underpinning the platform, a network of Microsoft partners including Accenture, Avanade, EY, KPMG, PwC, and TCS are acting as advisors and implementors, and to help customers find the right applications for their needs, the platform connects seamlessly into solutions from the likes of Blue Yonder, Experlogix, InVia Robotics, K3, SAS, and Sonata Software. With launch partners including C.H. Robinson, FedEx, FourKites, and Overhaul as well as successful early-stage rollouts to preview customers including Kraft-Heinz, iFit, and Daimler Trucks, the platform is well positioned to hit the ground running in the competitive market.
Growing Supply Chain Control Tower Market
Upon adoption of the new Supply Chain Center, customers will have access to both pre-built modules and partner modules, synchronized together with the use of the Dataverse to keep data across applications consistent. The four flagship features of the platform have been outlined as follows:
Supply and Demand Insights Module: Taking both an up and downstream view of the supply chain with Azure Artificial Intelligence (AI) models to predict supply constraints and anticipate demand changes, companies can perform simulations to aid operational decision making and get ahead of potential stock issues.
Order Management Module: Using a rule-based fulfilment orchestration with real time inventory and AI capabilities, users can optimize their order fulfilment processes and help overcome disruptions.
Built-in Teams Integration: Allows instant communication with suppliers, customers, and third-party logistics (3PL) providers to troubleshoot issues and communicate changes effectively.
Partner Modules: Users can integrate other solutions of their choice into the Supply Chain Center, such as freight visibility from Overhaul, allowing users to tailor the platform to their specific needs.
In a bid to connect disconnected and complex supply chains, simplicity appears to be a key goal for the platform. Rather than overload users with modules and functions that won't be necessary for most operations, Microsoft have focused on adaptability, operating a low-code environment where users can develop their own custom workflows.
While Microsoft's offering is nothing new, it does add a big name into the control tower market. The platform joins the likes of IBM's Supply Chain Intelligence Suite and Palantir's Supply Chain Control Tower, offering similar AI-driven orchestration tools attempting to provide highly sought-after cohesion and visibility to global stock flows.
The demand for such solutions is not just driven by private companies seeking optimization as governments are also weighing in to help modernize their approach and drive regulatory compliance. On 25th of October, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced an expansion to its work with Palantir through the 21 FORWARD Initiative, a blueprint that seeks to bring together data from multiple government agencies to proactively monitor food supply chain disruption and enhance food safety. Palantir's service was selected to act as the central operating platform for the initiative in a contract worth US$22 million.
Accessibility and Scalability Needed to Standout
The disconnect between stakeholders along the supply chain is a continued challenge and Microsoft's new platform has joined a competitive market of providers seeking to offer companies a way to harmonize and coordinate their systems and stakeholders. Offering supply chain platforms is a challenging venture for software vendors given the variability of end users. What a small, single product manufacturer may be looking for in a management tool will be very different to a large end retailer, for example, with both seeking visibility and control but in different areas and with different partners. Offering generalized platforms with a myriad of pre-built services and limited scalability can be alienating to end users and potentially hinder future growth. Microsoft doesn't appear to have followed this route, marketing fewer pre-built applications and focusing more on the ability to integrate solutions selected by the user.
As regulatory pressure grows particularly for end-to-end visibility, take FSMA (Food Safety Modernization Act) Rule 204 in the USA as a key example, companies will be looking to supply chain control towers as a tool to encapsulate their siloed data and simplify the reporting process to authorities. It is therefore imperative for vendors to monitor growing regulation requirements and position their offerings accordingly to ensure platforms are accessible for companies seeking tools for regulatory compliance.
On top of this, users will be looking to set up alerts to develop their reaction speed to supply and demand shocks, as well as leverage the data they have consolidated for advanced analytics. With these additional capabilities, companies will then be positioned to incorporate deeper forecasting tools and prescriptive solutions, automating supply responses to demand changes and avoid communication errors. Companies will adopt and follow this solution development at very different rates, making it imperative for vendors to facilitate a scalable approach.
For end users, it is important to consider that harnessing control tower capabilities is not just about visibility and control, but also a way to increase competitiveness, particularly in unstable environments. The impact of sudden changes in the supply chain can cause a ripple effect, adjusting where stock is purchased from and how it is transported. Companies that can pinpoint issues and respond faster will have much more choice in the market and often secure lower costs, ultimately securing stronger availability for consumers and maintaining final price points.
In trying to simplify complex supply chains, the growing number of control tower platforms to choose from may be confusing companies even more. Standout providers will be positioning themselves as accessible tools to meet growing regulatory pressure, offer simplified integration processes with existing systems, and facilitate a scalable strategy with integration into key solutions providers.
Accenture Ltd
Azure Dynamics
IBM Corp


text:
Restoring Our Constitutional Morality
By George W. Carey|2019-07-30T15:57:13-06:00August 31st, 2016|Categories: Bruce Frohnen, Constitution, Featured, George W. Carey, Quotation|
Our cultural unwritten constitution has been damaged by decades of conflict and abuse. It will not be restored through adoption of one or even several reforms. Nor will our operational constitution be "fixed" through even fundamental changes in formal law. Lacking an appropriate constitutional morality, those who govern will continue to do so through quasi-law, with all the consequences attendant thereto.
What is required, then, is the renewal of culture and renewed recognition among those in and out of government alike of the duties of officeholders. Such renewal is, of course, the work of decades. What is more, it entails changes in conduct before changes in form can take hold. As we noted in our introduction, renewal would entail specific actions responding to changing circumstances in a fashion designed not to maintain the current, failing system but rather to bring a transition back to a smaller, better organized federal government capable of ruling under law.
Rather than a specific formal reform then Americans need to develop a consistent opposition to further centralization of power, regardless of how beneficial or even necessary a particular program may seem. Rather than "open up" the federal government to participation by non-governmental associations (be they political, economic, ethnic, or religious in form), we must close off the means of access for outside actors to affect government conduct outside the political process, even as we cut off administrators' ability to shape the character of civil associations through the use of discretionary power….
It may be the case that radical reforms become necessary to reconstitute proper political authority and the rule of law in the United States. It may be that no nation of over 300 million people can be governed so as to maintain ordered liberty. If this is true, then the "nation" must become some form of loose confederation eschewing attempts to regularize, let alone standardize, incomes or ways of life, or it must split into several nations, or lose its freedom. But such decisions can be made wisely only after renewing our understanding of what government is, what law is, and what each can accomplish within a political community that recognizes the priority of social over political life. —from Constitutional Morality and the Rise of Quasi-Law.
The Imaginative Conservative applies the principle of appreciation to the discussion of culture and politics—we approach dialogue with magnanimity rather than with mere civility. Will you help us remain a refreshing oasis in the increasingly contentious arena of modern discourse? Please consider donating now.
All comments are moderated and must be civil, concise, and constructive to the conversation. Comments that are critical of an essay may be approved, but comments containing ad hominem criticism of the author will not be published. Also, comments containing web links or block quotations are unlikely to be approved. Keep in mind that essays represent the opinions of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Imaginative Conservative or its editor or publisher.
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About the Author: George W. Carey
George W. Carey (1933-2013) was Professor of Government at Georgetown University and a Senior Contributor to The Imaginative Conservative. He was the author of In Defense of the Constitution and The Federalist: Design for a Constitutional Republic. He was co-author, with Willmoore Kendall, of The Basic Symbols of the American Political Tradition. He was also co-editor of numerous books including The Federalist Papers: The Gideon Edition, The Most Dangerous Branch: The Judicial Assault on American Culture and Community and Tradition.
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September 18th, 2019 | 1 Comment
Kevin Mack Aug 31, 2016 at 7:22 pm - Reply
Judging by the brief portion here, yet another book on my must read list. I have thought much of late that this geographic region needs to revert to something more akin to the Articles and tear down the imperial state. D.C. as a mere museum appeals to me somehow.
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The .NET Framework defines several good symmetric encryption algorithms: DES, Rijndael, and so on. For 'block work' (encrypting a file, the contents of a text box and the like), these algorithms are excellent. However when manipulating streams of unknown length, such as a TCP socket, they have a major drawback: they require data in multibyte blocks. If you require 8 bytes and you have only received 6 so far, you can't provide any information to the data consumer at all.
For such a stream based environment, an algorithm which takes each byte by itself and produces an encoded/decoded byte is useful. Because there is less linkage between bytes, such a method is cryptographically weaker (so I don't recommend running your online bank this way!), but for amateur use all that is really required is that a simple look at the transferred data reveals nothing.
Like all symmetric algorithms, the security is completely lost if the key is not kept secure. You should always transmit keys for important secure channels in a secure way, either by both parties knowing the key through offline sources or by a public key encrypted exchange process. In the new version of my Sockets library which uses this encryption method (link pending), the key exchange uses RSA, which is easy to do in .NET.
Note that there is no inbuilt checking; if you attempt to decrypt bad data, or decrypt with the wrong key, you will generate nonsense results. I recommend that you insert some form of checksum or identifying bytes into your input so you can detect when decryption is going wrong.
Using the cipher-byte produces a better dispersion of keys than just using the plain byte, but the plain byte must be included for this multiplication to have any security value as the cipher byte is (obviously) available to a cracker. The key vector wraps once the end is reached. An initial key byte is generated as the sum (mod 256) of the key vector, thus changing any byte of the key, even if it's not used at all in the encryption, produces a completely different byte stream.
Because the encryption depends on earlier characters, this algorithm is not suitable for use when some of the data may be lost or out of sequence. That is, the value of encrypt(plaintext) will be different depending on what has been passed to encrypt in the past.
Since the code is so small (3 KB), here it is in easily C&P'able form. Please remember to credit me and link back to this article if you use it!
// as long as you leave a credit to me :).
Why not just use the .NET CryptoStream class?
That stream cover is really nice. But I'm pretty sure it just wraps the existing algorithms so it still waits for a full block of data before it sends anything, so you don't get the 'one byte in, one byte received' thing.
There are a variety of methods for converting a block cipher to a stream cipher. Many of them require initializing a stream by sending an 'initialization vector' equal in size to the encryption data block, but that is not generally a problem.
Encryption schemes where the prefix property holds at the byte level [i.e., if 'a' is a collection of bytes and 'b' is a single byte, encrypt(a+b) will be encrypt(a) plus one byte] are apt to be very susceptible to known plaintext attacks. They may protect data from adversaries who don't really want it, but they would yield quickly to any serious attack.
I would suggest reading http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Block_cipher_modes_of_operation[^] for more information, looking especially at cipher-feedback mode or output-feedback mode.
Well to be fair I do state that in the introduction . This is something that you can use when you want one byte in, one byte out behaviour and therefore don't want a block-based encryptor (since that will wait for a full block before sending).
But you can always use the stream classes provided in the .net for sending ciphered data through the network. For example, you can use the Triple DES and send it using the NetworkStream and CryptoStream classes.


text:
Q: What influences offline coin generation? It's clear there is some sort of influence on what the game considers a "day's worth of gold" since the package in the store always contains more coin the next time I look at it.
What influences the increase in generation of coins while I'm away from the game?

A: After playing the game for so long and being familiar with it very well now i know that its mostly about the total fiends damage the more damage they have the more the 1day worth of gold will be

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
The Akaflieg Stuttgart fs24, nicknamed Phönix (German: "Phoenix"), was a glider designed and built in West Germany from 1951.

Design and development
The fs24 was the first glider to use fibreglass in its construction. The development of modern aerofoil sections for gliders required very accurate reproduction with smooth surfaces, using tolerances that were extremely difficult to achieve using conventional wood or metal construction, but could be achieved by using composite materials laid up in a mould.

The design of the fs24 was started at Akaflieg Stuttgart, (Akademische Fliegergruppe - academic flying group), by Richard Eppler and Hermann Nägele in 1951. Originally it was constructed of balsa wood with a strengthened outer layer of paper and glue layers, which proved unsatisfactory. The project was abandoned until a grant for further research was received from the state of Baden-Württemberg. By then glass fibre reinforced polyester resin was available and so it was redesigned using a balsa wood/glass fibre sandwich, with the load-bearing points and the edge of the cockpit canopy strengthened with plywood.

The first flight was made on 27 November 1957, and good performance and excellent handling were demonstrated, especially in weak thermal conditions. The prototype had a conventional tail unit and a bumper instead of a conventional undercarriage. Airbrakes were fitted on the underside of the wing trailing edges.

Bölkow built eight fs24s, designated Phönix T, differing in the use of a T-tail and retractable undercarriage.

Variants
fs24 Phönix
16m sailplane certified in January 1959 and manufactured by Akademische Fliegergruppe Stuttgart
fs24 Phönix TO
16m sailplane with a T-tail certified in May 1960 and manufactured by Apparatebau Nabern.
fs24 Phönix T
16m sailplane certified in April 1961 and manufactured by Apparatebau Nabern.

Surviving aircraft
The prototype fs24 Phönix is on display at the Deutsches Museum in Munich, Germany.

D-8353 is part of the collection of the Deutsches Segelflugmuseum at Wasserkuppe, Germany.

Specifications

See also

References

Notes

Bibliography

External links

Akaflieg Stuttgart website

1950s German sailplanes
Mid-wing aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 1957
Glider aircraft
Akaflieg Stuttgart aircraft

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Solves the most vexing challenge in consumer VOIP today being when you enter a Ph# you have to enter a ViSA #.
This patent pending reverse IP switching advances the VOIP industry and is a world 1st.
frisB is the only voice and WebRTC platform in the world that interconnects to the PSTN without billing the consumer.
frisB is also one of the worlds 1st Google WebRTC initiatives.


Truman Library: Joseph M. Jones to Walter Lippmann, May 7, 1947. J. M. Jones Papers, Subject File. Dean Acheson's speech before Delta Council.
Joseph M. Jones to Walter Lippmann, May 7, 1947. J. M. Jones Papers, Subject File. Dean Acheson's speech before Delta Council.