text:
Super Bowl LV Betting Trends and Stats to Study
By Hank Blaine • January 28, 2021
We're less than two weeks away from Super Bowl LV and many players are already placing their bets. It's not a bad idea to get the head start with the NFL odds, but you shouldn't rush into to it too fast, no matter what the odds are at the time.
Before placing your Super Bowl picks, we'll be taking a look at the betting stats and trends to keep in mind when placing your bets for Super Bowl LV. And don't forget to check out our Super Bowl LV betting preview as well!
Super Bowl LV Game Information
When: Sunday, February 7th, 2021 | 6:30 PM ET
Where: Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Florida
TV: CBS / ESPN Deportes (Spanish)
Radio: Westwood One Sports
Live Stream: NFL Game Pass
Super Bowl LV Odds: Chiefs -3 / -164 / O/U line: 54
READ MORE: Super Bowl LV MVP Odds, Picks and Prediction
Super Bowl Betting History
One of the things to take into consideration is that the point-spread doesn't come into play that much. In the vast history of Super Bowl betting, the favorite has won straight up, but couldn't cover the spread a total of six times to date. Let's take a closer look at the scores that couldn't cover the spread.
Super Bowl XLIII (2009) / Pittsburgh (-7) 29 vs. Arizona 23
Super Bowl XXXIX (2005) / New England (-7) 24 vs. Philadelphia 21
Super Bowl XXXVIII(2004) / New England (-7) 32 vs. Carolina 29
Super Bowl XXX(1996) / Dallas (-13.5) 27 vs. Pittsburgh 17
Super Bowl XXIII (1989) / San Francisco (-7) 20 vs. Cincinnati 16
Super Bowl X (1976) / Pittsburgh (-7) 29 vs. Dallas 17
In recent Super Bowl betting history, Super Bowl XLIX had the line as Pick'em between the Patriots and the Seahawks, which is odd since it rarely or never happens.
Performance on the Road
If we look at the big picture of what Super Bowl is, it's basically a road game. There have been occasions where one of the teams that make it to Super Bowl plays in their home regions instead of stadiums. Such is the case for the 49ers winning Super Bowl XIX in Stanford Stadium, rather than Candlestick Park. The other team is the LA Rams, who played at Super Bowl XIV at the Rose Bowl, rather than the Los Angeles Coliseum. For the 2020 NFL season, it will be the first time a team will play at their home stadium for a Super Bowl. This case being the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Looking closer at the performance of both teams this season, the Buccaneers have a 9-2 record on the road. This is including their recent playoff wins as well. The two losses they have were by a small margin of points. So, we can definitely say the Bucs have what it takes on the road. They were able to cover the spread four out of those eight games on the road. In the post season, they were only able to cover the spread against the Saints.
For the Chiefs, their performance on the road is basically the same as the Bucs. Of the eight games on the road, they were able to cover the spread four times. Both teams have had a similar pathway on the road this season. But experience has its advantage and Brady has plenty of that.
The Rule of the Favorite
Looking at recent Super Bowl stats, the favorites usually take the win in the NFL odds. But, of course, it's not a guarantee. The statistics indicate the favorite has a 36-17 SU record, and is 29-20-2 Against the Spread. Even though these stats aren't going to define the final result, it does give an idea on how the NFL odds are usually balanced out before game time.
Postseason Performance
One thing is to perform during the regular season, but the pressure of the playoffs lurks on some players from time to time. Even more so for Quarterbacks. And we'll having a battle of the old versus new.
When looking a Tom Brady's performance during the postseason, the regular season is usually pretty good. But his playoff performances in the past increase a lot. This is his 10th Super Bowl, winning 6 of those in the process. We definitely won't see Brady having difficulties in making the plays, as long as the teams keeps him well covered.
For Patrick Mahomes, this is his second Super Bowl appearance and has a 6-1 postseason. He also is leads with the highest passer rating in NFL history with 109.8. And of course, age will become a huge factor for him as well. The Chiefs almost took a big scare, when Mahomes was injured against the Brown and wasn't even sure he would be in the AFC Championship game. But fate was on his side and was able to take team once again to defend the Lombardi Trophy. There's so much pressure on Mahomes right now and if he's able to beat Brady, he will cement his legacy for years to come.
Final Super Bowl LV Predictions
The current stats and trends have both teams pretty much on the same level of performance, although the Bucs have had a tougher road along the way. And both team stories are just perfect to watch the game.
There have been teams winning the title two years in a row and I see that happening for the Chiefs. I won't say that it would crazy to see Brady win another ring with a different team, but will the team be able to stand up like they did during the season? We'll found out on February 7th.
Check out our Football betting guides and sports betting news sections for more previews and insights.
Remember to always have fun with all the action. Feel free to visit our online BTC Sportsbook with all the latest NFL odds.


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New watch launch to support Help for Heroes
<< View more grooms' news
Dartmouth Brands, the parent company of AVI-8 watches, Spinnaker watches and RGMT watches is pleased to announce its collaboration with Help for Heroes. As a group, Dartmouth Brands will donate a minimum of £25,000 from a series of watch launches across the 3 brands. The AVI-8 Flyboy Engineer Automatic is the first of the Help for Heroes collaboration watches to launch, with another AVI-8, a Spinnaker and a RGMT launching in January 2021.
Launched on November 11th, this limited edition timepiece will help raise money for this remarkable British charity.With just 300 pieces available of the Flyboy Engineer Automatic Help for Heroes Limited Edition, each watch sold contributes directly to the foundation's vital role in providing emotional, social, and financial support to those with injuries and illnesses attributable to their service in the British Armed Forces.
AVI-8 are proud to announce Help for Heroes Veteran, Matt Neve, as the first brand ambassador of the Help for Heroes campaign. Help for Heroes was founded to provide lifetime support to those wounded in the service of their country.
This timepiece showcases powerful yet subtle design cues to pay tribute to those who have sacrificed their lives for their nation over the years, and today.
At 42mm, this classic pilot's watch is the ideal size. Forged out of solid stainless steel, the brushed case is topped with a domed sapphire lens for maximum durability. A moulded roundel inspired by the markings on British WW2 fighters sits on the edge of an ergonomically shaped conical crown; the dial design, flieger hand shape and size deliver perfectly.
A clear balance of each element on the dial has been complemented by pops of colour inspired by the Help for Heroes logo. The three colours (navy blue, red and light blue) represent the charity's support for those who served in the British Armed Forces – the Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Air Force.
From the charity's tri-colour details applied at the 12 o'clock of the dial and stitched onto the extra leather strap, to the tip of the seconds hand with a custom carved roundel, details saluting the work of Help for Heroes have been subtly yet purposefully executed throughout the watch. Tounderline our collaboration, a textured fumé dial is framed by a raised chapter ring featuring the words "In Support Of Help For Heroes" at the 6 o'clock position.
Powering the Help for Heroes limited edition is an ever-dependable Japanese NH35 automatic movement. A carefully articulated solid steel 5-link engineer style bracelet attaches the watch to the wearer's wrist. For added versatility, the timepiece also comes with an extra hand-stitched genuine leather strap. AVI-8's timepiece produced in conjunction with Help for Heroes comes packed in a striking tri-colour canvas wrapped gift box. Each watch is uniquely numbered as partof a limited edition of 300 pieces.
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Why is MFA being required for NCEdCloud?
MFA is being added as additional security to protect employee and student data files. Employees with LEA Administrator and LEA Data Auditor roles have access to these files.
Read more about Why is MFA being required for NCEdCloud?
How do I select my preferred email address?
A: Users who have more than one valid email address (e.g. they are active in multiple schools within an LEA or in multiple LEAs and have a unique email in each), may now see all valid emails in the IAM service. Those users will have the ability to choose a preferred email address from within the Profiles tab in my.ncedcloud.org. The preferred email address will be the one used by the IAM Service when populating "email address" for integrated Target Applications.
Read more about How do I select my preferred email address?
How Do I Login to the IAM Service?
The quickest way to access the IAM Service is to type my.ncedcloud.org into your browser window and go there directly. If you want to bookmark the IAM Service, see the FAQ on "How Do I Bookmark the IAM Service?"
Read more about How Do I Login to the IAM Service?
How Do I BOOKMARK the IAM Service in my Browser?
If you want to BOOKMARK the IAM Service Rapid Identity Portal, DO NOT bookmark the Login Screen where you enter your username and password, but once you get to the Rapid Identity Portal (where your Application icons show up) you can bookmark THAT page. Then whenever you want to go to the IAM Service you can click on that bookmark.
Read more about How Do I BOOKMARK the IAM Service in my Browser?
What settings in Chrome (running on Windows or Linux) can affect logins?
Read more about What settings in Chrome (running on Windows or Linux) can affect logins?
What are the criteria for setting up the Challenge Questions?
In addition, the answers are not case-sensitive.
Read more about What are the criteria for setting up the Challenge Questions?
Are answers to challenge/response questions case-sensitive?
No, the response to a challenge question is not case-sensitive.
Read more about Are answers to challenge/response questions case-sensitive?
What's different in primary vs. secondary student account setup?
Read more about What's different in primary vs. secondary student account setup?
Can users edit their profile to add or correct their email address?
Read more about Can users edit their profile to add or correct their email address?
How will the Home Base / IAM integration affect parent logins to PowerSchool?
Parent/Guardian login will not be affected.
Read more about How will the Home Base / IAM integration affect parent logins to PowerSchool?


Give us a call at 1 (855) 790-8472 with any questions or concerns you have. Please leave a message, and we will call you back as soon as we can.
You can reach us by email at create@ethertear.com for any questions or concerns.


Heart are returning to the road this summer for their first North American outing in three years. The "Love Alive Tour", named after Heart's 1977 Little Queen track, will also feature an all-star lineup of guest openers in Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, 2019 Grammys star Brandi Carlile, Sheryl Crow, Elle King, and Lucie Silvas.
The tour launches July 9th in St. Louis and runs all the way until September 9th, when it wraps up in Hollywood. The massive itinerary includes stops in Chicago, Toronto, Montreal, Cincinnati, Syracuse, Camden, Cleveland, and Detroit. Heart's Ann and Nancy Wilson are also headed to Nashville, Charlotte, Tampa, Atlanta, Dallas, Salt Lake City, and Los Angeles.
The name is also apt given that this tour also marks Heart's first since major family drama nearly tore the band apart. In 2016, Ann's husband was arrested on charges that he assaulted Nancy's children. Although Heart refrained from officially breaking up, the Wilson sisters worked and toured separately for years after the incident.
Tickets for the tour go on sale to the public beginning February 15th at 10 a.m. local time. You can also later purchase them on StubHub.
You can revisit Heart's "Love Alive" below. Purchase Little Queen and other Heart releases on vinyl by heading over to ReverbLP.


That's a good question on the tax filing day in the United States! The initial opening lead on this deal would not tax anyone in one respect, but would tax almost everyone in another.
First, what should West lead against four spades? How should the defense proceed after that?
South jumped to game partly on the basis of the double fit in the pointed suits. He hoped to buy the contract because he knew his opponents also had a double fit. Note that it takes an unlikely low-club lead and low-diamond return to defeat five hearts by two tricks.
Last week, we looked at leading ace from ace-king-third or longer at trick one and king from ace-king after trick one. Here is another example of when you should lead king from ace-king-third or longer: at trick one in a suit both the leader and his partner bid. It does not matter if the leader bid first and partner raised, or vice versa. This is a position when you might well lead an unsupported ace.
Here, West leads the heart king. East, holding the queen, encourages with the eight. Then West shifts to his singleton diamond.
Declarer wins in his hand and leads a sneaky spade jack. However, West will not be deflected. He wins with his ace, plays a low heart to his partner's queen and gains the lethal diamond ruff. Brilliant!


The need for Aadhaar card is not just in the form of an ID proof but it is useful to open an account in the bank, to travel in the railway or to avail the benefits of government schemes. The benefit of any government scheme is given only after the verification of the base. If your Aadhar card is lost then you have to face a lot of difficulties. Now, if you lose your card then there will be no need to be disturbed, it will also be done as the UIDAI has announced a new facility for it.
For this, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has launched the mAdhaar Mobile App. You must download this app in your mobile phone. After that your base will be in your mobile. But it is necessary to use the mAdhaar app to register the registered mobile number with the basis.
If you do not have a registered mobile number, you will need to go to the base center and update the new number. This app also features QR Cord and E-KYC. It can be used anywhere on the basis of Aadhar card.
To use mAadhaar, go to the Play Store and download it. Protect the app with a password. Opening the app will put the base number and other information will be filled. OTP will come in the registered number. After inserting OTP, this app will be fully validated and you will be able to lock and unlock biometric data.


In March 2018, a three judge panel of the U.S. Appeals Court for the 11th Circuit affirmed the lower court's granting of summary judgment to Compass Lexecon's client, Delta Air Lines, in an antitrust suit involving allegations that Delta colluded with Air Tran in instituting a first checked bag fee in 2008. The full Appeals Court in June 2018 refused Plaintiffs' request for a hearing, leaving in place the panel's ruling. Compass Lexecon Senior Consultant Professor Dennis Carlton testified on behalf of Delta at the lower court hearing, opining that industry conditions in 2008 would have pushed Delta toward adopting a first bag fee and that Delta had economically valid business justifications for adopting a first bag fee. In granting summary judgement for Delta and Air Tran, Judge Timothy Batten of the Northern District of Georgia found, in part, that Delta's competitors were already moving toward the use of bag fees at the time Delta instituted its fee and that Delta had valid reasons for adopting the fee, thus contradicting Plaintiff's allegation that Delta's fee was the result of a conspiracy with Air Tran.
At trial, Delta Air Lines was represented by Randall L. Allen and Samuel R. Rutherford from Alston & Bird LLP, and James P. Denvir III, Scott E. Gant and Michael S. Mitchell from Boies, Schiller & Flexner LLP. Professor Carlton was supported by a team in Compass Lexecon's Washington, DC office led by Theresa Sullivan.


Take a look at these awesome facts all about space!
If you've always wanted to go to space, Capture the Flag is in cinemas right now. Click here to find out more!
Mike Goldwing is 12 years old. Like any 12-year-old boy, he loves surfing at the beach and hanging out with his friends. But there's something about Mike that's a bit different to everyone else, though. His grandfather Frank was once a really famous astronaut. But Frank missed his chance to go to the moon with Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong, who were the first astronauts on the moon on the Apollo XI mission.
Mike jumps into action when a billionaire threatens to take the moon's helium 3, a renewable energy source and destroy the flag on the moon put there by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the Apollo XI mission.
Capture the Flag is in cinemas now!
To get you ready for blast off to see the film, here are some top 10 cool facts about our solar system!
1. The sun is HUGE! In fact, it's so big that you could fit 1 million planet Earths into it!
If you drove a car around the sun, you'd need to drive 2,713,406 miles. That's a long, hot, car journey of about 5.2 years non-stop!
2. If you could drive your car vertically into the sky, it would only take about an hour to reach space!
Space officially begins at a marker called the Karman Line, just 100km above Earth.
3. The word astronaut comes from the Greek word "Astron" which means star and "nautes" which means sailor.
The first astronaut was Alan. B. Shepard, who went to space in 1961.
4. The moon is 4.53 billion years old!
The Earth is a bit older than the moon at 4.54 billion years old. Astronomers think the moon was made after another planet smashed into ours not long after the Earth formed.
5. The surface of the moon is about the same size as Africa!
That's 14.6 million square miles! WOW!
6. The moon orbits Earth at an average speed of 2,288 miles per hour, pretty speedy!
If you've ever wondered why the tide goes in and out again at the seaside, well it's because of the moon. The moon's gravity pulls the sea towards it, making the tide go out as it orbits the Earth!
7. NASA plans to return astronauts to the moon to set up a permanent space station.
We may once again walk on the moon in 2019, if all goes according to plan!
8. In the next 20-40 million years Mars will have rings like Saturn!
It's largest moon, Phobos, will be torn apart by gravitational forces leading to the creation of a ring that could last up to 100 million years.
9. The planet Saturn has over 150 moons compared to Earth's 1!
They're much colder than ours, though! Saturn is 934 million miles away from the sun, and it's rings are made up of ice.
10. There is a huge storm on Jupiter called The Great Red Spot and it's raged for at least 350 years. It is so large that three Earths could fit inside it!
And the winds there travel up to 384 miles per hour! That's a storm you wouldn't want to be caught up in!


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text:
package com.intellij.ide.favoritesTreeView;

import com.intellij.ide.projectView.ProjectViewNode;
import com.intellij.ide.projectView.ViewSettings;
import com.intellij.ide.util.treeView.AbstractTreeNode;
import com.intellij.openapi.project.Project;
import javax.annotation.Nonnull;

import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.Collection;
import java.util.List;

/**
 * Created with IntelliJ IDEA.
 * User: Irina.Chernushina
 * Date: 6/7/12
 * Time: 12:41 PM
 */
public abstract class ProjectViewNodeWithChildrenList<T> extends ProjectViewNode<T> {
  protected final List<AbstractTreeNode> myChildren;

  protected ProjectViewNodeWithChildrenList(Project project, T t, ViewSettings viewSettings) {
    super(project, t, viewSettings);
    myChildren = new ArrayList<AbstractTreeNode>();
  }

  @Nonnull
  @Override
  public Collection<? extends AbstractTreeNode> getChildren() {
    return myChildren;
  }

  public void addChild(final AbstractTreeNode node) {
    myChildren.add(node);
    node.setParent(this);
  }

  public void addChildBefore(final AbstractTreeNode newNode, final AbstractTreeNode existingNode) {
    int idx = -1;
    for (int i = 0; i < myChildren.size(); i++) {
      AbstractTreeNode node = myChildren.get(i);
      // exactly the same node!
      if (node == existingNode) {
        idx = i;
        break;
      }
    }
    if (idx == -1) {
      addChild(newNode);
    }
    else {
      myChildren.add(idx, newNode);
    }
  }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Kidney disease often results in no symptoms and voices no warnings.
We are your voice. We are here to help.
We partner with primary care doctors and specialists to provide a coordinated and personal care to patients affected by kidney diseases, hypertension and related complications. Need help with your kidneys? Just give us a call or send us a message.
Looking for a good read about health or healthy living or just living in general? Here are some of my favorites.
Banner Image Credit: Dr. Fred Hossler, Dept of Anatomy & Cell Biology, East Tennessee State University College of Medicine.


text:
Dolls in distress
The astoundingly beautiful and powerful Enchanted Dolls made by Russian artist Marina Bychkova come up again and again in this blog as a source of inspiration. Part of it is the fact that the photography keeps improving, and the rest of it is that I can now make slideshows out of dozens and dozens of photos and don't have to try to squeeze them into and around the text (though as usual, I'll insert at least a few images here and there to break up the monotony of blocks of text).
I actually appreciate the visceral discomfort these dolls can stir up, invoking as they do the childhood fairy tales which always turn out to be much darker and more violent than we remembered. It seems pretentious to say the dolls display non-verbal messages about power, control, sexuality, gender - all that stuff that we still fight over. But they do just that, and more. There is a mute masochism about some of them, such as this newest doll called Lady Amalthea, the main character in a story called The Last Unicorn.
Eyes swimming with unshed tears, lips unnaturally shiny and pouty, these creatures sometimes remind us of abused children, a connotation we don't want to see. We want to look away, we even think we should look away, but we can't - or, at least, we don't. Their costumes are gorgeous prisons, often with heavy, elaborate headgear made up of gleaming metal and thousands of tiny and individually hand-sewn crystals, flowers and pearls. Some dolls are heavily tattooed, and most have realistic genitalia which has caused a ridiculous amount of controversy at exhibits. Pictures of Bychkova at work evoke fairy tale heroines under enchantment, forced to work at some endlessly repetitive task until their fingers are worn to the bone.
Here is her description of her latest masterpiece, Lady Amalthea:
"I've worked on this piece for over three years, dismantling and reassembling it multiple times as the image of the Unicorn slowly shaped itself. The 24k gold-plated bronze head piece was inspired by Hans Holbein's 1539 portrait of Anne of Cleves, who was the 4th wife of King Henry the 8th. It is very light for its size, weighing only 82.3g (2.9oz). The costume is constructed with gold appliqué embroidery on fine tulle, 2,435 gold-lined glass beads (24k), 1,880 seed beads, 635 Swarovski crystals, 148 Mother of Pearl flowers, 46 fresh water Pearls and 21 Amethyst gemstones."
I found the following comments on a doll forum, and it's plain Bychkova's eerie humaniform/bodyworks of art still have the power to awe, inspire, and creep people right out. As usually happens on the internet, differing opinions or emotional responses are quickly judged as inadequate, unenlightened or just plain wrong. In the meantime, if I could be a witch (or, in my case, a "which"), I'd want to be the glam old person below.
These are absolutely slaying me. They look so real that it is triggering my stupid empathy and my brain just can't handle it. I just start tearing up. Damn she's good
I don't even like dolls, but I would proudly display these in my home. That's insane.
Utterly stunning - the beauty of design and the soul of each doll is beyond amazing. I'm not a doll collector, but these would add magic to my home.
The fact that these dolls made all these people feel all these things prove that it is actual art.
Hideous. A selection of abused little girls. Maybe I'm a weirdo but I don't think a child (or adult for that matter) naked and crying is beautiful.
i wouldnt call yourself a weirdo. but id say you do have a problem with knowing a difference between fantasy and reality. probably one of those bland people with no imagination whos mind is too small to understand the reason behind art. when people like you see art that depicts the truth of your very own society you get offended. mostly because you choose to ignore the sadness of the world and pretend that everything is ok.
My gut instinct was not 'wow these are beautiful' but 'wow these look so realistically scared and how amazingly detailed is that girl's pubic region.' Are they more attractive to you because they're crying? I have enough imagination to know how these characters would feel and can see the sadness of the world reflected in it. I get it. Beautiful is not the adjective I'd use to describe it though. I'd like to see the artist make a strong woman. But I bet that wouldn't sell as well.
You're projecting the age, since the intended age of the dolls is not actually listed in the article....I assumed them to be in their 20's, some look perhaps in their 30's, and yea...a few look to be teenagers, but they all look like older teens in my eyes at that.
There's nothing wrong with nudity...so being naked while crying isn't inherently a problem. A person depicting a beautiful human being in a vulnerable state shouldn't be offensive or disturbing, but apparently it is to you and while that isn't "wrong"...you really do seem to be projecting your personal angst onto others.
The artist probably does not suffer from the same mental anguishes you do, they have their own, so calling this hideous for the reasons you are is not only callous....it also shows you don't really understand the intention behind art in general.
Also, some of these show nothing other than emotion. Some of them are simply still poses that are unsmiling. Not nearly all of them are "sad", not nearly all of them are crying, being naked is not weakness because vulnerability does not equate to weakness (which you don't seem to understand, hence your reaction), being made out of porcelain does not inherently make something weak either...the way you personally interpret symbols is not necessarily the way the artist intended for them to be interpreted. It's not that you're "wrong", but you are definitely projecting and making it seem as though your personal judgment of these dolls is finite.
You're making it sound like everyone is literally crazy for thinking these are beautiful because of your personal issues....without stopping to realize just how those issues make YOU sound to others who don't have them.
I honestly don't think the implied age is a projection. The whole concept of a doll is capturing a youthful appearance. The large eyes, slim frame, and barley developed 'bodies' all appeal to the vulnerability of youth. Let's not pretend that wasn't the intent. And let's not pretend that something can't be beautiful and disturbing at the same time. These dolls are beautiful, but it's also okay to not be comfortable with the tearful sexualization of young bodies. And that's not to say what the artist did was wrong-- it's just an acknowledgement.
I don't find them all too appealing to be honest. The dolls could be pretty without sexualizing little girls. You may not find what the artist did "wrong" per say, but I definatly don't think anyone is incorrect to find "the tearful sexualization of young bodies" totally creepy. Especially the girl put on the bed.
Understanding what a human body looks like at different ages does not mean that you're projecting, it means you understand what you're looking at. These dolls are indeed modeled after very young girls. No one that looks at a baby doll is being accused of "projecting ages" onto a doll modeled to look like an infant. Humans have very distinct growth phases, and the phase they are modeling here is very much adolescence, from breast position, pelvic structure, and face shape. It's adolescence. Just because you never took basic anatomy and physiology, or any human reproductive biology classes and don't understand how that works, doesn't mean it's wrong.
I agree that it's creepy. All of those features together are identifying traits of a 11-15 year old girl, and if you don't find that creepy, then that's your issue. You can say that it's fine that they're naked and crying, but I find it less so being that they chose to make dolls that look like girls going through puberty, then make them look like they're crying, and then photograph them nude. On top of that, pose them on a bed while crying. It's creepy. It's creepy to sexualize the form of young girls, it's even creepier to sexualize the image of young girls crying. But hey, that's just me. Maybe you're a ok with people making virtual child porn too, because you think it's "just a projection of age".
I guess the big question to ask yourself, here, is this: Why do you find depictions of female nudity to be inherently sexual? These aren't sexualized poses or situations.
So you don't think that the doll made to look like a girl between 11-15 laying on the bed crying in a very reveling outfit is sexual at all? You don't find it sexualized one bit? Remember, that doll doesn't have any agency what so ever. An adult person made the choice to construct dolls to resemble all traits characteristic with adolescent girls going through puberty into one doll. Spend hours painting their genitals, and then photograph them nude. This adult chose to then make it so that they were crying. Chose to put these dolls that they intentionally modeled to look like little girls physically, who they chose to depict crying, and looking afraid, onto a bed.
Yeah... I don't think they're projecting. I think that's pretty straight forward in creepiness. This reminds me of all those creepy 3D renditions of virtual child porn that people always get busted for. Except this isn't 3D renderings of naked kids, they're dolls. But hey, "art".
Labels: art dolls, ball-jointed dolls, Enchanted Doll, fairy tales, Marina Bychkova


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The future belongs to our children and their workplace is at school. A sound learning environment has been shown to enhance learning. This can be seen in our long track record of school projects, some of which are developed in public-private partnerships, PPP.
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Georgia Institute of Technology, The Kendeda Building for Sustainable Design, United States
Skanska is building this 38,000-SF fully certified Living Building Challenge v3.1 project on the Georgia Institute of Technology campus. This project will be a sustainability-focused facility...
Science & Technology Magnet High School, United States
Skanska provided construction management services for the new 70,000 square-foot, three-story, state-of-the-art high school. Science and technology are the focus curriculum of the school, which is...
Patricia Louise Frost Music Studios, United States
Skanska provided preconstruction and construction management services for the new $19.8 million, 41,000-SF Patricia Louise Frost Music Studios, which includes percussion and jazz rehearsal rooms,...
Florida Polytechnic University, United States
The new Florida Polytechnic University project consists of multiple buildings situated on a 171-acre site. The signature architectural piece for the University is the iconic Innovation Science and...
Northeastern University, United States
Over the last three years, Skanska has partnered with Northeastern University on preconstruction and construction management special projects. The Northeastern University projects range from a $1.3...
Boston College New Recreation Center, United States
Skanska is providing preconstruction and construction management services for Boston College's new recreation center. The project is located on the site of Edmonds Hall, which was demolished prior ...
Hilton C. Buley Library, United States
Skanska provided construction management at risk services for the Hilton C. Buley Library renovation project at Southern Connecticut State University. This was the Phase 2 renovation project of an...
Woodland High School, United States
$44.7 million, 150,000-SF new replacement Woodland High School. This two phase project began in late winter 2013 and was completed fall of 2015. Classrooms are supported by areas for administration...
FIU College of Public Health Academic Health Center 5, United States
Skanska provided preconstruction and construction management services for the new 121,465-SF, $32 million Academic Health Center 5 at Florida International University, which houses multiple academi...
District of Columbia Department of General Services, Lafayette Elementary School, United States
Skanska was the design-builder on this fast-track, modernization and expansion project in a tight, urban location. Lafayette Elementary School was built in 1931 and included a significant addition...
Virginia Polytechnic Institute, Human and Agricultural Biosciences Building I, United States
The 93,860-SF Human and Agricultural Biosciences Building I includes research laboratory space for two departments within the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Virginia Tech, biological...
University of Central Florida Student Health Center, United States
The project included the construction of a new 48,725-SF, three-story health center that functions as the basic medical service provider for students, faculty, and staff at the University of Centra...
Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Brock Environmental Center, United States
Skanska provided program management services for the state-of-the-art, 10,000-SF Environmental Education Center on Pleasure House Point in Virginia Beach, Virginia. The center houses office space f...
School and Sports Complex in Solec Kujawski, Poland
Within the contractin Solec Kujawski we realized modern school and sports complex together with internal roads, walkways and over 80 parking lots. The school is now equipped with state-of-the-art...
Three Rivers Community College, United States
Skanska is providing construction management services for the consolidation of the Mohegan and Thames Valley campuses at the latter's New London Turnpike location for Three Rivers Community College...
University of New Hampshire Hamilton Smith Hall Expansion and Renovation, United States
Skanska is providing preconstruction and construction management services for the expansion and renovation of Hamilton Smith Hall on the campus of the University of New Hampshire. This academic...
Vashon Island School District, Vashon Island High School, United States
Skanska provided preconstruction and construction services for this new stand-alone 78,000-SF high school classroom building with a minor renovation and reconfiguration of the existing gymnasium an...
University of Washington, Life Sciences Building, United States
The Life Sciences Building was designed to foster team-oriented science. The complex includes seven floors (two down/five up), a 191,000-SF research and teaching facility and a 15,000-SF research...
Blumel Hall Remodel, United States
$6.5 million, 205,000-SF renovation and upgrade to a residence hall and attached parking structure located on an active downtown college campus. Work included replacement of roof, boilers, domestic...
Broward County Public Schools, Cooper City High School, United States
Skanska provided construction management services for this 115,082-SF three-story administration/classroom building and 3,225-SF one-story custodial receiving building with related spaces. The...
Colonial High School, United States
This $29.7 million, 320,000 SF project is part of Orange County's Comprehensive Needs program. The project included the demolition of most of the existing school structures for the construction of...
Pasco-Hernando State College Porter Campus, United States
The PHSC Porter Campus consists of multiple new buildings in east Pasco County. The campus features four stories built above the parking deck, equipped with an elevator to the indoor areas. The...
University of Kentucky, Gatton College of Business and Economics Building Renovation and Expansion, United States
Skanska provided preconstruction and construction management services for the renovation and expansion of the University of Kentucky's Gatton Building, which included renovating approximately...
Houston Independent School District (HISD), United States
In November 2012 Houston voters overwhelmingly approved a $1.9 billion bond issue to allow the Houston Independent School District to build 40 new education facilities. HISD has organized for this...
Ridgeview High School, United States
$63 million, 276,000-SF new high school facility includes 32 classrooms, 17 labs, student collaboration areas, and complete theatrical and athletic facilities. The new facility, which accommodates...
University of Connecticut, Oak Hall, United States
Skanska provided construction management at risk services for a new four story, 132,000-SF educational facility in the center of the Storrs Campus. The building houses five disciplines of Social...
Edmonds School District, Alderwood Middle School, United States
The new middle school is approximately 128,000-SF on the north half of a site shared with the existing Martha Lake Elementary, which remained occupied during the entire construction period. A...
Somerset Berkley Regional High School, United States
Skanska provided Owners Project Management Services for the construction of the 222,800-SF Somerset Berkley Regional High School, a project which was designed in accordance with the Massachusetts...
University of Connecticut, Innovation Partnership Building, United States
The Innovation Partnership Building will serve as the cornerstone project in the University of Connecticut's new Technology Park, located directly to the North of the Storrs campus. The building wi...
Lealman Innovation Academy, United States
Lealman Innovation Academy services students in 5th through 9th grade and is associated with Pinellas County's Dropout Prevention Services. The scope of the project included 37,500-SF of interior...
Bath Spa University, United Kingdom
Constructing a world-class teaching facility We developed the £20 million 'Commons' academic building at Bath Spa University's Newton Park Campus. The construction of this world-class teaching...
Foreign Language Centre and The Main Library for the Jan Kochanowski University in Kielce, Poland
In the years 2010 - 2012 Skanska realized an investment for the Jan Kochanowski University in Kielce. Scope of works realized by our company covered construction of two free-standing buildings:...
Construction of Regional Informatics Centre at the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Poland
Regional Informatics Centre at the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn is situated at the drive way to Olsztyn from Warsaw direction. The complex features total area of c.a. 8 000 square...
City University of New York (CUNY) Advanced Science and Research Center, United States
Skanska provided construction management services for two new LEED silver, life sciences research buildings for the City University of New York (CUNY) on campus at the City College of New York...
Construction of sports and rehabilitation infrastructure in Special Purpose School and Education Cen, Poland
Special Purpose School and Education Center for Blind Children in Wrocław at ul. Kamiennogórska is the only such place in the whole region where blind and visually impaired children can find...
Wrocław University Library, Poland
The realized building has the total area of more than 46 000 square meters as well as seven overground floors and one underground floor. Library resources shall be kept in storage rooms situated on...
The Sibelius Academy, Finland
Skanska renovated the old National Board of Antiquities building owned by Helsingin yliopistokiinteistöt Oy and located in Etu-Töölo in Helsinki for the use of the University of the Arts, the...
Charles H. Barrows STEM Academy, United States
A new 85,000-SF Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Academy that accommodates 600 students ranging from Full Day Pre-Kindergarten through Grade 8. The goals for the project were...
Beaverton School District, New Middle School, United States
Skanska performed preconstruction and construction management services for the new Beaverton Middle School, a 166,000-SF school built to house up to 1,100 students. The two-story school has a...
Portland Public Schools, Franklin High School Renovation, United States
Skanska provided construction management services for this 287,000-SF renovation project with historical components. Approximately 144,000-SF of new construction is included in the project with a n...
University of Portland, Beauchamp Recreation Center, United States
Skanska constructed the 72,270-SF new student recreation center for the University of Portland. To serve their mission of educating the whole person, the University of Portland provided this modern...
UF Clinical Translational Research Building for the Institute on Aging, United States
The CTRB (Clinical Translation Research Building) project, built on a 2.5 acre site, is located on the University of Florida main campus. The scope of work required our team to demolish the existin...
Williams College, Stetson Sawyer Library Renovations and Addition, United States
Skanska provided program management services for the 177,200-SF Stetson Sawyer Addition and Renovation (45,500-GSF existing, and 131,700-GSF addition), which consists of the adaptive reuse of a...
Crestline Elementary School Replacement, United States
$15 million, 61,000-SF new elementary school to replace the former elementary school that was destroyed in a fire and displaced 500 students. The new school is 10,000-SF larger, which is used to...
Donna Independent School District, New Donna North High School, United States
Skanska provided construction management services for the new 300,000-SF, two-story, Georgian-style high school building that serves 2,000 students. This project was one of the largest construction...
James Madison University, CISAT Bioscience Building, United States
Skanska provided construction management at risk services for the 90,000-SF state-of-the-art academic/research facility that houses teaching, research and technology resource space for biotechnolog...
Horace Mann Elementary School, United States
Skanska is the design-builder on this fast-track project in a tight, urban location. This multi-phased, modernization and expansion of an existing Pre-K through 5 elementary school will alleviate...
Brookland Middle School, United States
Skanska is the design-builder responsible for the construction of the new Brookland Middle School. This fast-track, design-build, project was divided into two phases. The first phase included...
Regional Centre of Borderland Cultures in Krosno, Poland
The investment included modernization of the existing building of the Community Centre in Krosno and construction of a new wing which resulted in creating a spectacular building object with...
American University East Campus, United States
East Campus, American University's signature project, will be comprised of five buildings—three residence halls and two buildings devoted primarily to academic and administrative purposes. Located...
University of Florida - Joseph Hernandez Hall, United States
Joseph Hernandez Hall on the main campus of the University of Florida is 111,000-SF of classroom, auditorium, teaching and research laboratories, and ancillary spaces. The University's new home for...
Town of Andover, Bancroft Elementary School, United States
Skanska provide construction management services for the new 106,486-SF, phased elementary school built adjacent to the existing school, which will support a student population of 680 students. Pha...
University of Connecticut, Laurel Hall, United States
Skanska provided construction management at risk services for Laurel Hall, a new 68,000-SF Classroom Building in the Center Core of the Storrs Campus. Laurel Hall includes 17 classrooms which consi...
Wake County Public School System, Lincoln Heights Elementary School Renovation and Addition, United States
Skanska-Holt Brothers, a joint venture, provided construction management at-risk services to the Wake County Public School System for Lincoln Heights Elementary School. The project was constructed ...
Montgomery County Public Schools, Blacksburg and Riner, Virginia, United States
Skanska oversaw the construction of three projects on two different campuses for Montgomery County Public Schools. In Blacksburg, Virginia, a new 281,000-SF high school was constructed that houses...
University of Central Florida, Baseball Stadium Expansion, United States
The University of Central Florida and the team of Skanska/DLR Group collaborated and fast-tracked the design to complete and submit it for permit in only 23 days. The construction followed suit wit...
FAMU - College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences Phase II, United States
The College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences Phase II is a five-story addition to the existing FAMU College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences and includes 40 lab and research modules...


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MTA Railroads
NYC Transit Forums
MTA LIRR Opens Upgraded LIRR Stations at Farmingdale and Wantagh
By Union Tpke, October 30, 2018 in MTA Railroads
Union Tpke 2,804
Location: Near a stop in Central Queens
http://www.mta.info/press-release/lirr/mta-lirr-opens-upgraded-lirr-stations-farmingdale-and-wantagh
Renovations, Amenities Added to These Stations Bring Variety of Customer-Focused Improvements
Metropolitan Transportation Authority and Long Island Rail Road officials today announced the opening of two newly renovated railroad stations – at Farmingdale and Wantagh – bringing customer-focused improvements to thousands of riders.
The doors to Farmingdale's upgraded station building were opened today, while recently, the LIRR also finished a $27 million renovation project at Wantagh Station, which included platform replacements and newly installed elevator, among many other added amenities.
These projects are one piece of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo's unprecedented $6.6 billion Modernization Program investment into the LIRR, with an achievable goal underway that's set to bring the railroad into a new era of modernization and unparalleled customer experience.
"Some LIRR stations can be more than 160 years old. While we always want to celebrate and preserve our history, it's about time we bring LIRR stations into the 21st century," MTA Chief Development Officer Janno Lieber said. "We're proving that the MTA can deliver projects faster and at lower cost than in the past."
"The Long Island Rail Road's focus continues to be on how we can improve on the many ways customers experience our system. Along with improving train service and reliability, we want to make sure when they're at our stations, they have the comforts and amenities they're used to having at other world-class transportation outlets," LIRR President Phillip Eng said. "The attention to detail in these station renovations recognizes the important relationship between LIRR stations and the communities that surround them. LIRR stations are an ongoing part of the history and landscape of each community they serve."
The work at Farmingdale station, which is still ongoing, is part of an $84 million, eight-station renovation package, awarded earlier this year. The work at Wantagh Station was funded through the current MTA Capital Program.
Artwork was commissioned for Wantagh Station that references the surrounding community and enhances the architecture and beauty. Details on the artist and the artwork can be found below.


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L.S.
Early one evening in the autumn of '64, a pale girl stood singing Methodist hymns at the summit of Bush Street hill. She was attired, Spanish fashion, in a loose overcoat and slippers. Suddenly she broke off her song, a dark-browed young soldier from the Presidio cautiously approac...

Early one evening in the autumn of '64, a pale girl stood singing Methodist hymns at the summit of Bush Street hill. She was attired, Spanish fashion, in a loose overcoat and slippers. Suddenly she broke off her song, a dark-browed young soldier from the Presidio cautiously approached, and seizing her fondly in his arms, snatched away the overcoat, retreating with it to an auction-house on Pacific Street, where it may still be seen by the benighted traveller, just a-going for two-and-half-and never gone!

The poor maiden after this misfortune felt a bitter resentment swelling in her heart, and scorning to remain among her kind in that costume, took her way to the Cliff House, where she arrived, worn and weary, about breakfast-time.

The landlord received her kindly, and offered her a pair of his best trousers; but she was of noble blood, and having been reared in luxury, respectfully declined to receive charity from a low-born stranger. All efforts to induce her to eat were equally unavailing. She would stand for hours on the rocks where the road descends to the beach, and gaze at the playful seals in the surf below, who seemed rather flattered by her attention, and would swim about, singing their sweetest songs to her alone. Passers-by were equally curious as to her, but a broken lyre gives forth no music, and her heart responded not with any more long metre hymns.

After a few weeks of this solitary life she was suddenly missed. At the same time a strange seal was noted among the rest. She was remarkable for being always clad in an overcoat, which she had doubtless fished up from the wreck of the French galleon Brignardello, which went ashore there some years afterward.

One tempestuous night, an old hag who had long done business as a hermitess on Helmet Rock came into the bar-room at the Cliff House, and there, amidst the crushing thunders and lightnings spilling all over the horizon, she related that she had seen a young seal in a comfortable overcoat, sitting pensively upon the pinnacle of Seal Rock, and had distinctly heard the familiar words of a Methodist hymn. Upon inquiry the tale was discovered to be founded upon fact. The identity of this seal could no longer be denied without downright blasphemy, and in all the old chronicles of that period not a doubt is even implied.

One day a handsome, dark, young lieutenant of infantry, Don Edmundo...


The figures of boatpeople recently discovered in captivity in Thailand reveal the extent of human trafficking between the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea.
In the space of three days, Thai authorities in Takuapa district discovered more than 130 suspected victims of human trafficking; on October 11th, 53 men were discovered on a rubber plantation. Two days later, a group of 79 men was discovered in a jungle clearing. This is in addition to the 636 people discovered in January and a further 37 found in September.
The two groups found in October were composed of Bangladeshis and Rohingya kidnapped in Bangladesh. There they were forcibly loaded into the hold of a fishing vessel and transported from Cox's Bazaar on the south coast to Takuapa district on Thailand's Andaman coast. In Thailand the victims were off-loaded, divided into groups and held in captivity in secret jungle camps. The boat on which they arrived was said to have carried at least 200 people, including women and children.


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Sports Parents Are Ruining Childhood
I weep for humanity sometimes.
Recently, spectators at a baseball game near Denver, Colorado started a bleacher-clearing brawl after some of them were unhappy with one of the umpire's calls.
The game in question was a children's baseball game. The players in question were 7 years old. The umpire in question was 13. And the dunderheaded goons who started the fight?
They were the parents.
According to CNN and an embarrassing number of other sources, it started after the umpire, Josh Cordova, Jr., issued a warning to both sides about foul language, after the parents of both teams had previously been arguing. One of the coaches disagreed with the call and got in the boy's face.
You know, the children's baseball coach. Who was teaching 7-year-old children about sportsmanship, teamwork, and discipline.
Other parents started shouting because Cordova hadn't kicked out the potty-mouthed parents, which led to the argument that led to the fight. Either that, or one of them challenged the others to a "Who Can Be The Bigger Jackass?" contest.
Between 15 and 20 men and women stormed the field, and began punching and kicking each other in order to teach their kids that it's uncouth and vulgar to swear in public.
Worried about the message the brawl would send their children, someone used their mobile phone in the manner it should be used: to videotape the entire fight and upload it to the Internet.
The video also showed one man sucker-punching people like a coward when they were looking the other way.
Additionally, two employees for the City of Denver were suspended from their jobs pending an investigation into their involvement in the big fight.
You know, the big fight among parents at the baseball game being played by a bunch of 7-year-olds.
I don't know what's wrong with sports parents. Kids only want their parents to be supportive and proud, not a bunch of knuckle-dragging mouth breathers who don't understand what youth sports is supposed to be teaching.
Too many parents have spent years sucking the fun out of youth sports. They dream that their own kids will turn pro one day, so they push and push and push, year after year, trying to relive their own big-league fantasies through their children.
For most youth sport kids, it starts in a regular league, which leads to travel teams and summer camps. There are travel team tournaments and games every weekend, which means parents are driving to different cities and states just for a couple days, spending a few hundred dollars on hotels, meals, and other nonsense. And while the kids play, the parents just sit and watch their lives pass them by.
All the dreams they had — the art they were going to create, the books they were going to write, the trips they were going to take — they're all put on hold while they shuttle their kids from practice to game to tournament and back home, only to do it all again next week.
And that's just for the 8-year-olds. As the kids get older and keep progressing, the tournaments get bigger, the practices are harder, and the competition is fiercer.
The system keeps feeding the parents' ego: If your kid wants to make the high school team in a few years — which is the only path to a college scholarship — the kids have to play on the travel teams or the coach won't even consider them.
I've known parents who fell for this garbage, putting their kids on all kinds of teams when they were 10 and 12, just in the hopes that their kid might be good enough to play in high school.
All this does is suck the fun out of the game for the kids. When I was growing up in Muncie, Indiana, I played in the city's youth soccer league. We practiced once a week, we played once a week, and that was it. We had fun because our parents didn't have World Cup dreams, and our coaches didn't fancy themselves as coaching's next great geniuses.
I also played baseball with friends each summer. We would throw together impromptu games with whoever was available. No one had to organize it, we didn't need coaches, and we didn't want parents getting involved because we were more than capable of doing it ourselves.
Word of the game would spread through that magical way kids know when something fun is about to happen. We would just show up at the right time, with bats, gloves, and balls. And we would play until it was time to go home again.
There wasn't anyone to yell at us, we did our own umpiring, and there certainly weren't any parents to start brawling if they weren't happy about a call. If two kids got mad, we yelled about it, fought it out, and then we kept playing.
Sport parents have ruined the fun of playing for hundreds of thousands of kids all over the country, passing out orange slices and participation trophies after every game.
The kids just want to have fun, and it's the parents who are ruining it for everyone else. Parents, stay home, let your kids have fun by themselves, and let them be kids for a while longer. If you want to yell at someone, organize your own games, and yell at each other. At least you'll be better armed when another fight breaks out.
Photo credit: Andrea Hamilton (Pixabay, Creative Commons 0)
My new humor novel, Mackinac Island Nation, is finished and available on Amazon. You can get the Kindle version here or the paperback version here.
baseball fights stupid people
Location: Orlando, FL, USA
Understanding 7 Different Types of Humor
One of my pet peeves is when people say they have a "dry" sense of humor, without actually understanding what it actually means.
"Dry" humor is not just any old type of humor. It's not violent, not off-color, not macabre or dark.
Basically, dry humor is that deadpan style of humor. It's the not-very-funny joke your uncle the cost analysis accountant tells. It's Bob Newhart, Steven Wright, or Jason Bateman in Arrested Development.
It is not, for the love of GOD, people, the Black Knight scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. I swear, if anyone says Monty Python is "dry humor" is going to get a smack.
Here are some other types of comedy you may have heard and are just tossing around, willy-nilly.
Farce: Exaggerated comedy. Characters in a farce get themselves in an unlikely or improbable situation that takes a lot of footwork and fast talking to get out of. The play "The Foreigner" is an example of a farce, as are many of the Jeeves &…
An Open Letter to the Well Actually Guy
Dear Well Actually Guy,
"Well, actually, women do it too."
See, you're already doing it. I can't even say four words without you opening your mouth and well-actuallying all over everything.
What is wrong with you, Well Actually Guy? How did you become that one annoying guy on Facebook who responds to every opinion with "Well, actually. . ."
"Well, actually" you'll explain the punchlines of jokes.
"Well, actually," you'll argue about a single statistic in a news article for hours.
Well Actually Guy likes to point out when things are technically correct, even though those details are not important to the discussion. In fact, Well Actually Guy likes to throw in these minor technical corrections as a way to derail a story, or call an entire philosophical argument into question.
We should call it "wagging," or use the hashtag #WAG. As in, "Did you just #WAG me?"
"Well, actually, I don't start my arguments w…
As a professional writer, I pay close attention to grammar and punctuation. I'm not rude about it. I don't correct people on Facebook or in person, unless it's my own kids — that's just the benefit of being a father — but I have been known to correct a sign or two when someone uses an apostrophe to pluralize a word. (Seriously, "credit card's" does not mean more than one credit card.)
But other than correcting signs with a red pen I carry for just such an occasion, I tend to leave people alone about their grammar mistakes.
The people I like to correct are the grammar fussbudgets who get their bowels in an uproar over the rules we learned in 7th grade. They'll publicly shame people over their mistakes, not realizing they're using grammar rules that are either outdated or should never have been rules in the first place.
(A quick note: Please don't call grammar enthusiasts Grammar Nazis. Nazis in World War II killed more than 11 million people, neo…


text:
Q: RODBC changing limit for group_concat I am using RODBC to connect R to a MySQL database. I have to use a group_concat in the select of my SQL query and I would like to change the default size limitation of the group_concat function.
test = sqlQuery(connect, "SET SESSION group_concat_max_len = 1000000; select group_concat(name) from country")

But I get the following error message:
[RODBC] ERROR: Could not SQLExecDirect 'SET SESSION group_concat_max_len = 1000000; select group_concat(name) from country'

A: You're trying to put two SQL queries into one call to RODBC's sqlQuery() method. You Can't Do That (tm).  Call sqlQuery() for the SET query and again for the SELECT query.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Waiakea water was started by a 22-year-old named Ryan Emmons. He had a keen interest in the beverage market. He realised that a majority of beverages were lacking a socially conscious component; that is where he saw his big break. He was able to create a product that was environmentally friendly, and he was also able to use his product to connect to communities around the world.
The beverage industry has a long history. The majority of beverage industry leaders are over the age of 50, and the majority of the young beverage leaders stuck together because the older leaders did not want much to do with them. These long-time leaders would not take the young entrepreneurs seriously. Now things have changed for Emmons and Waiakea water. Waiakea is a company that has made huge leaps because Waiakea has become insanely popular. They had a 170% increase in just a few years, and the company sells about 122,000 cases a year. This amount went up from 2,300 only three and a half years ago. Waiakea water now sells to big-name health food companies such as Whole Foods.
Waiakea Hawaii volcanic water is the only water of this type. It is the first bottled water that is sustainable, charitable, and healthy. Waiakea water ph has an alkaline level of about 8.8. It is a water that is certified CarbonNeutral, and it is a water that has the mission to give access to clean volcanic water to people all around the world. Because Waiakea has a commitment to people, health, and sustainability, Waiakea water has won multiple awards. The following are some of the awards that Waiakea has won: The National Restaurant Association-Food and Beverage Innovation Award, Good Morning America-Top 10 Most Innovative Companies Out There, and Best in this Award – Most Socially or Environmentally Responsible Company of the Year. Waiakea is a bottled water company that has been able to win many awards in the United States. It is a water that is found at hundreds of retail stores around the world, and it also is found in multiple fitness locations in United States.
Recently, Charmcitybeverage.com did an article about Waiakea Hawaiian water. This is water that has an amazing taste because it is completely pure. Waiakea receives its filtration through volcanic rock. 1,400 feet of this volcanic rock is what filters the water to the base of an Hawaii volcano. Waiakea water is unique; waiakea water ph makes it naturally alkaline; other waters artificially change their water's ph in order to make it alkaline. Apart from that, Waiakea water has high amounts of electrolytes and minerals. The founder of Waiakea is an individual who insists on ethical practices. All Waiakea bottles are BPA free, and they are used with 100% recycled plastic. Waiakea donates 650 litres of water to countries in need for every litre that is purchased.
Waiakea water comes from the purest source possible: The earth. Waiakea water comes from melted snow rain and from the snowcapped peek of a Hawaiian mountain. After passing through volcanic rock, the water receives huge amounts of minerals. These minerals include calcium, potassium and magnesium. All of these minerals help a person to feel and look their best; that is why clients prefer Waiakea water over other brands.


Valentine's Day is a good excuse to make cute little things and eat chocolate, yes? This year, I wanted to sew something out of wool felt. Something shaped like a heart. Hmmm... Then I thought of it! A soaring heart! (Similar concept as shooting star bean bags I have seen around before.) I chose felt and fabric that reminded me of each kid. Elsa's is on the left, then Elijah's, then Fiona's. I think they'll like tossing them around.
I kind of love these. They are so cute and a sweet way to tell your kids that they make your heart soar. Which mine most definitely do.
I wish I had thought of it earlier, because I could have made a couple extra to put in my (very bare) Etsy Shop in time for Valentine's Day. Maybe I'll put together a tutorial? I think they make such a sweet gift for little loved ones.
It's nice to keep the holiday handmade rather than going too commercial with it. Have you been doing any Valentine's Day crafting?


HERE'S a great story to start off your week, even though it's still a holiday today.
Btw, folks, let me assure that while the house doesn't look like much from the outside, Foster City is widely known as one of the most affluent areas in California. It is where the rich folk of San Mateo County reside. Last I heard about this property was in July 2008, and that time, the house was undergoing renovation, and a small living area for the property owner's julalays was being constructed.
(UPDATE 6:18 pm) According to Rep. Arroyo, excuse my dust! he can afford to buy this house in San Mateo. Oo nga naman, di ba all his films made money?
Watch out, we have another national artist in the making here.


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Home > Article > He's a Big Reason Why Audiences Exit Laughing
He's a Big Reason Why Audiences Exit Laughing
By BRIAN SCOTT LIPTON
Monday, May 20, 2019 •
Mon May 20, 2019 •
Musicals • 2 comments Share This
"What I had to find for myself here was the fine line of being big but not too big."
Veteran character actor David Schramm talks about his showstopping role in Enter Laughing: The Musical
When The York Theatre Company decided to revive one of its most popular productions, Enter Laughing: The Musical, for its 50th anniversary, the first call made was to director Stuart Ross. After all, he was the one who reworked Joseph Stein and Stan Daniels' 1976 Broadway flop So Long, 174th Street into Enter Laughing: The Musical over a decade ago for the York, where it enjoyed two successful limited runs in 2008 and 2009.
But Ross wasn't sure lighting would strike thrice. "I was nervous about doing it again," he confesses. "The bar was set pretty high from the first time. And I wondered if, 10 years later, the show would feel too old-fashioned, or if people wouldn't want to see it in the #MeToo era because of some of its attitudes toward women."
Indeed, Enter Laughing: The Musical, based on Carl Reiner's 1930s-set semiautobiographical novel of the same name, is a throwback to an era when a young Jewish teen simultaneously pursuing fame and females seemed hilarious and harmless. Thankfully, with a few carefully considered tweaks (a number called "You Touched Her" was cut; "Undressing Girls With My Eyes" is now "Romancing Girls With My Eyes," etc.), the musical once again has audiences rolling in the aisles, not rolling their eyes.
Ross' other main concern about reviving the show was finding performers who could do justice to the old-school, vaudevillian humor. Casting the central role of David Kolowitz, so memorably played by Josh Grisetti a decade ago, was key. (Relative newcomer Chris Dwan won that plum part.) But for the role of David's pompous, alcoholic, but well-meaning acting teacher, Marlowe, Ross had an ace in the hole: 72-year-old character actor David Schramm, a Juilliard graduate and founding member of the lauded classical theatre troupe The Acting Company who also knows his way around lowbrow comedy.
"I've known David for decades," says Ross, though interestingly the stage veterans met out in L.A. while working on TV sitcoms: Ross as a director for Frasier and Schramm as curmudgeonly airline owner Roy Biggins on Wings. "Ever since then, I've always wanted to work with him. I knew he would understand this role inside and out. Better yet, as a director, I don't need to BS him, because instinctually, he always knows just what to do!"
Raji Ahsan, Farah Alvin, Chris Dwan and David Schramm in 'Enter Laughing: The Musical'
The late, great George S. Irving originated the role of Marlowe on Broadway and did the first York run. But Schramm is thankful he never saw the Tony winner in the role. "I am happiest when I don't have to repeat something somebody else has done," he admits. "What I had to find for myself here was the fine line of being big but not too big so as to overwhelm the production, because when you step over it, everything goes out of proportion. Because of my physical size, I'm used to playing 'big' parts, but I seem to have a sensitivity detector that allows me to make sure the character comes off as a real person. My only concern now, because they insist that I use a microphone in that tiny space, is that people can hear me out on the street!"
That amplification is actually necessary during Schramm's hilarious solo "The Butler's Song." Framed as one of David's daydreams, the number finds Marlowe acting as his pupil's manservant, whose primary duty seems to be setting up liaisons with an array of Golden Age of Hollywood beauties. "He can't call you back at 5:30, at 5:30 he humps Alice Faye. Then Jean Harlow at 7, Mae West at 11 and somewhere between them Fay Wray." Yes, it's ribald, but it routinely brings down the house.
"I know there are performers my age who would be afraid of having to memorize something like that, but somehow, I always get there," Schramm says. "The bigger issue for me is that, unlike with a long Shakespearean monologue, you can't take a breath and stop to think; the music keeps on going, so no matter what, I have to keep right on going."
In addition to that showstopper, two other factors attracted Schramm to the role. "There have been a handful of Marlowes in my life," he admits. "I don't mean broken-down, drunken hams, but there have been many people who took me under their wing to help me achieve my dream of being an actor, from Ewell Cornett, who was the founder of Actors, Inc. in Louisville [now known as the Actors Theatre of Louisville], to John Houseman, who was my teacher at Juilliard and my mentor for 15 years. In a way, it's nice to honor them."
Schramm also sees his younger self in the character of David, whose overbearing parents aren't too keen on his showbiz aspirations. "My mother was supportive of me being an actor, but my dad was very reticent -- until I got a scholarship to Juilliard and then he did everything but personally pack my suitcase," Schramm recalls. "The funniest thing, though, is I had an uncle who owned a series of pharmacies and his kids had no interest in the business. So he and my father got in cahoots and bugged me to become a druggist -- just like David's parents do in the show! I am so grateful I got to say, 'Thanks, but you can keep your penicillin.'"
TDF MEMBERS: At press time, discount tickets were available for Enter Laughing: The Musical. Go here to browse our current offers.
Brian Scott Lipton has been covering theatre and the performing arts for 30 years. Follow him on Twitter at @bsl1436. Follow TDF at @TDFNYC.
Top image: David Schramm in Enter Laughing: The Musical. Photos by Carol Rosegg.
SHELDON WOLLER said:
The Play That Goes Wrong was one of the funniest shows I had seen in a very long time.
a.garro said:
Laughed for two hours...Carl Reiner all over this show. Loved it without exception.
Posted on 5/25/2019 at 1:11 PM


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TfL ordered by Mayor of London to investigate tram drivers' claims amid questions over operator
Apr 26, 2017 Shaking Hands 0 comments
This post was first published by Croydon Advertiser on 25/04/2017.
Transport for London has been "ordered" by the city's mayor to investigate claims of tram drivers falling asleep at the controls amid calls to consider whether the operator is fit to run the network.Four tram drivers admitted they had fallen asleep while operating trams in Croydon and some trams have still been found speeding on the network since the crash last November which killed seven people, according to a BBC investigation.
The drivers also claimed the "dead man's handle" had failed to correctly activate and stop their trams when they had fallen asleep and let go of the controls.
An interim report by the Rail Accident Investigation Branch into last year's tram crash found the tram was speeding and that the driver "lost awareness".
In response, Tram Operations Limited (TOL), which operates the trams and employs the drivers, said controls in the cabs are built to "industry safety standards" and both it and Transport for London (TfL) were "satisfied" they are fully functional.
It added that procedures were in place for driver support and welfare including monitoring for potential fatigue.
A spokesman added: "We emphasise to employees that no-one should drive if they are unfit to do so."
One driver told the BBC how drivers were afraid tell management about safety device failures because they feared being sacked over falling asleep.
Caroline Pidgeon, a London Assembly member and chair of the transport committee at City Hall, has questioned whether TOL should operate the 30-year contract for the trams.
She said: "These are incredibly serious revelations, especially if any breaches of speeding have occurred since the horrific tram crash last November.
"Already the RAIB reports have confirmed that the Croydon tram crash involved a tram far exceeding the speed limit for that part of the track.
"It is now time to consider whether the current company [TOL] are fit to run this important contract given these serious safety issues."
She also questioned earlier this month whether new window safety standards would have to be rolled out across TfL's 9,000 buses, following concerns being raised over tram window safety.
Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, has "ordered" TfL to investigate all the claims in the BBC report.
A spokesman for the mayor said: "TfL respond to any complaint that is raised and actively encourage customers and staff to report any concerns they may have directly to them.
"Any allegations of safety breaches must be taken extremely seriously and the mayor has ordered TfL to urgently investigate all the claims made in [yesterday's] report."
Dane Chinnery, Philip Logan, Dorota Rynkiewicz, Mark Smith, Philip Seary, Donald Collett and Robert Huxley died in the Croydon tram crash on November 9.TfL said it is in "constant contact" with FirstGroup, of which TOL is a subsidiary company, and has asked it to give "further assurance" it is doing "everything possible" to manage fatigue.
A spokeswoman added: "Following the tragic derailment at Sandilands in November, we have acted to strengthen safety and will take all further steps necessary in the light of the investigations currently under way."
A spokesman for TOL said it investigates and takes disciplinary action where appropriate when incidents, for speeding for anything else, are reported.
He added: "If there are any reports of issues with the performance of the trams these are investigated as a priority."
The Advertiser revealed earlier this year how TOL was not signed up to a UK-based confidential reporting hotline which had been rolled out across other parts of the TfL network last year.
TOL said it has a different confidential reporting hotline, which has its head office in America.
It said employees can call the hotline if they have any concerns.
TfL said customers can also raise any concerns they have at any time by calling TfL 24 hours a day on 0343 222 1234.
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Wanted to thank everyone on the forum as I've learned quite a bit here over the last couple of months. I was recently able to "skip the line" almost everywhere in the world and had a friend buy me a Nox 800 in another country and bring to me in a Latin American country. I went to 3 different sites this past week, all with substantial colonial Spanish history as well as history into the late 1800s. Although I watched a lot of videos and perused this forum, I felt a bit overwhelmed with all of the options and settings that first day. I wasn't convinced that any of the generic Park 1/2 or Field 1/2 settings would suffice for the environment I was working in (I.e., high rusty iron concentration, sometimes mineralized soil, deep cobs and relics, etc.). To make it more challenging is that the thick jungle foliage doesn't work well with larger coils like the 11" Nox standard and all 3 of my spots have been pounded over the years by dozens of other detectorists (including myself a few times). All that said, I learned a lot over the 3 days of detecting and I had some success.
I frequently experimented with all of the Park and Field settings to try to determine which would work best the first 2 days. By the 3rd day, however, I pretty much settled on Field 2 with the following modifications: I ground balanced manually often, sensitivity to 22, recovery speed down to 5, and iron bias up to 6. That seemed to work the best for me.
Anyway, my best finds were a couple of Spanish real cobs, a 1/2 real and another cut cob that had probably been a 2 real before the cut. The 1/2 real rang up as a solid 12 while the cut cob rang up as an 15.
My other find was this Nueva Granada army brass button that rang up a solid 18. Photos below.
Gear Used: Compass Coin Magnum, Etrac, CTX3030, XP Deus, Predator tools shovel, Lesche, Garrett Carrot.
How about a general view of the area, if it won't give too much away.
Thanks for posting the finds, they are truly amazing. Being able to hunt 16th century Spanish Colonial sites must seem like a dream come true.
This is awesome! Can you say what country you're in at least? Great finds!!
Hi Gary, this is me at one of the sites from last week which should give you an idea of the terrain. I should say this is a small clearing within the search area. Some of it is impassable.


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Maasdijk may refer to:

People
 Jacob "Koos" Arnold Maasdijk (born 1968), former rower from the Netherlands

Places
Maasdijk, Hoeksche Waard, a hamlet  in the Dutch province of South Holland, part of the municipality of Hoeksche Waard
Maasdijk, Westland, a village in the Dutch province of South Holland, part of the municipality of Westland

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Chas is the only (and lonely) cheetah at the city zoo. Although he has lots of animal friends, Chas misses his family, especially his mother. Early one morning he escapes from the zoo, and gets lost wandering around the city. He finds a stuffed cheetah toy that a child had dropped, and believes he has found "his brother".
Meanwhile, Chas manages to dodge the zookeeper who is looking for him. While hiding in the park he thinks he's found his mother when he sees a lady wearing a cheetah print coat, and he follows her home. She helps him hide from the zookeeper in her luxury penthouse apartment. Chas is pampered with three gourmet meals a day, and his new human "mom" takes him to special events such as the theatre, operas and fancy dinner parties. Despite the fun (and food) Chas realizes that the only place where he really belongs, is back home in Africa, with all of his cheetah relatives. But going back home means having to say goodbye to things… and people he loves.


Sonya Renee Donaldson, 33, of 410 Tryon St., Burlington, was charged March 24 with simple assault. Burlington police said in warrants that Donaldson pushed Michael Donaldson and threw an umbrella at him. No bond was set pending a hearing with a District Court judge.


1143 Bindl Dr, Reedsburg, WI 53959 (#1847465) :: Nicole Charles & Associates, Inc.
Great condo in a super location! Perfect size and layout for a variety of families. Master bedroom with walk in closet and private bath. Two additional bedrooms with a full bath provide plenty of space for all. Large kitchen/dining/great room make entertaining and family time comfortable and easy. Quiet dead end street and nice sized backyard make this an ideal home! Seller added storage space above the garage and encapsulated the crawl space for increased energy efficiency! 24 hr notice required. Duplex converted to a condo. No condo fee, no reserves etc. Owners maintain their own units-inside and out.