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NYS Department of Labor Launches New Streamlined Application for New Yorkers to Apply for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance without Having to First Apply for Unemployment Insurance
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Cumbersome federal policy that slowed New York from distributing benefits lifted
In conjunction with this morning's rollout of improved application, over 3,100 DOL representatives solely dedicated to answering unemployment benefit needs in improved process
Since the COVID-19 crisis began, DOL has paid $2.2 billion in Unemployment benefits to 1.1 million New Yorkers
Application call backlog prior to 4/8 reduced to 4,305 from 275,000
The New York State Department of Labor today announced the launch of a new application for New Yorkers to apply for traditional Unemployment Insurance or the new COVID-19 Pandemic Unemployment Assistance. This one-stop-shop for unemployment benefits will connect New Yorkers with the benefits they deserve faster, without requiring them to call the Department of Labor.
Prior to today, due to cumbersome federal guidelines, New Yorkers were required to apply for regular Unemployment Insurance and be rejected before applying for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance. With this new application, which aligns with updated federal policy, New Yorkers will be able to simply fill out one form to get the correct benefits.
In conjunction with this morning's rollout of the improved application, DOL has been deploying over 3,100 representatives solely dedicated to answering unemployment benefit needs seven days a week. This is up from 400 who previously manned the DOL call center prior to the pandemic.
Since the COVID-19 crisis began, DOL has paid approximately $2.2 billion in Unemployment Insurance benefits to 1.1 million New Yorkers. The application call backlog prior to April 8 has been reduced to 4,305 from 275,000.
"I have been unemployed before myself, and I understand the pain, fear and anxiety New Yorkers are facing. The DOL's mission is to help our neighbors through some of their toughest days, and in the last week we have made great strides in updating our systems," NYS Department of Labor Commissioner Roberta Reardon said. "While it appears the coronavirus pandemic is beginning to stabilize - at least from the public health perspective - we know that many New Yorkers are still facing an uncertain economic future, and the Department of Labor will continue to dedicate every resource available to helping New Yorkers weather this storm."
The updated unemployment benefits application system, available here, will determine which unemployment program - unemployment insurance or Pandemic Unemployment Assistance - New Yorkers should apply for and then prompt them to answer a specific set of questions. The application builds on the new online system the department rolled out on Friday, April 10th, in partnership with the State Office of Information Technology Services and Google Cloud, to help manage the exponential and unprecedented increase in new claims resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program, which was included in the Federal CARES Act, provides unemployment benefits for individuals who are ineligible for traditional unemployment insurance. Examples of those covered by PUA include:
Self-employed New Yorkers;
Independent contractors;
New Yorkers who worked for an app-based company (i.e. "gig workers")
Farmers;
Those diagnosed with COVID-19 or who have COVD-19 symptoms and are seeking a diagnosis;
Those living with a household member who has been diagnosed with COVID-19;
Those providing care for a family or household member diagnosed with COVID-19;
A primary caregiver for a child unable to attend school or another facility due to COVID-19;
Those unable to reach their place of employment due to an imposed quarantine or because they have been advised by a medical provider to self-quarantine due to COVID-19;
Those scheduled to commence new employment that cannot reach their workplace as a direct result of COVID-19;
Those who became a major breadwinner because the head of their household died from COVID-19;
Those who quit their job as a direct result of COVID-19;
Those whose place of employment closed as a direct result of COVID-19;
Those with insufficient work history and affected by COVID-19; and
New Yorkers otherwise not qualified for regular or extended UI benefits and affected by COVID-19
In addition, New Yorkers concerned about food insecurity are reminded that resources are available across the state. Anyone looking for assistance can find a local food bank, including those supported by New York State, by visiting Feeding America's website here.
The New York State Department of Labor is dedicated to ensuring that every New Yorker who is entitled to unemployment insurance benefits will receive all benefits due. New Yorkers seeking to file an unemployment insurance claim should visit labor.ny.gov or call the Telephone Claim Center at (888) 209-8124. Below are some resources that will assist New Yorkers in filing their claims:
Fact sheet on Pandemic Unemployment Assistance
Contact NYS Department of Labor Press Office
Press Inquiries 518-457-5519
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Home»Local News»Atlanta Hawks players assist nonprofit in providing free eye exams, glasses to DeKalb students
Atlanta Hawks players assist nonprofit in providing free eye exams, glasses to DeKalb students
By On Common Ground News on December 12, 2018 Local News, Education, DeKalb
Atlanta Hawks player Vince Carter assists girl with putting on eyeglasses. Photo provided
More than 60 students at Toney Elementary School received new glasses and got to try them out in a unique way – shooting hoops with Atlanta Hawks players, Kent Bazemore, Vince Carter and Tyler Dorsey.
The event celebrated a partnership between the Atlanta Hawks Foundation and nonprofit provider Vision To Learn, now in its second year providing free eye exams and glasses to students in Metro Atlanta.
An estimated 55,000 children in metro Atlanta go to school every day without the glasses they need to see the board, read a book or participate in the classroom. The primary hurdle is a lack of access to vision services for students in low-income communities. To solve this problem, Vision To Learn brings vision services to students at school using mobile clinic vans.
"Vision To Learn provides kids with the glasses they need to succeed in school, and in life," said Ann Hollister, founder and chair of Vision To Learn. "Support from the Atlanta Hawks Foundation helps us serve many more kids and, just as important, makes getting glasses fun and exciting for students."
A multi-year partnership with the Atlanta Hawks Foundation has helped fund the program. At the Dec. 10 event, more than 60 students tried on their new glasses for the first time, assisted by the Hawks players, Harry the Hawk, and the Hawks ATL Dancers. Then, the students walked to the gym, where they were treated to a surprise basketball clinic, demonstrating how better vision helps students succeed in school and in athletics.
"The Atlanta Hawks Foundation is proud to support Vision To Learn in Atlanta," said Andrea Carter, Hawks vice president of Corporate Social Responsibility and Inclusion. "This program has made an immediate impact in the lives of thousands of Atlanta students. With the help from a pair of glasses, kids can achieve their highest and best in the classroom, on the court and in the community."
Vision To Learn serves several school districts in Atlanta including the DeKalb County School District, Atlanta Public Schools, and Clayton County Public Schools.
"DeKalb County School District is delighted to have the support of Vision To Learn and the Atlanta Hawks Foundation. Students do better when they come to school prepared to learn, and a pair of glasses is a critical tool for those with vision issues," said Superintendent R. Stephen Green.
Prior to the start of the 2018-19 season, the Hawks committed to making an impact on 50,000 lives through 50 community events in honor of their 50th year in Atlanta

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Dispute Resolution & Debt Recovery
Dispute Resolution for Individuals
Bristol Office
Winterbourne Office
Time of the Essence in Overturning Agreements Made Under Duress
We have often stressed the importance of obtaining high-quality legal advice in any dispute and starting any necessary legal action as soon as possible, and a recent divorce dispute illustrates why.
It involved a couple who were divorced in 2015. The financial settlement was made by way of a consent order and, as a result, the ex-wife received a cash settlement in excess of £1.7 million and financial support from her ex-husband for herself and their children.
In 2018 she went back to court, claiming that the original settlement had been obtained under duress and by 'undue influence', that her ex-husband had committed fraudulent non-disclosure of his true means and that she had not had legal advice on the terms of the agreement. Among specific allegations made were that he had transferred $5 million to his mother and had retained or 'squirrelled away' various assets without disclosing them.
She wished the original consent order to be set aside. Before it was made, she had instructed a firm of commercial solicitors that did not have a family law department to act for her. This was, she claimed, done at her ex-husband's behest. That firm instructed another firm to provide her with family law advice. Her ex-husband had instructed the commercial firm on other matters and his ex-wife alleged that the arrangement had been made so that he could control the advice she was given, which she asserted was scant.
As happens in almost all such cases, there was voluminous and contradictory evidence. However, an important consideration was that the woman was aware of most of the matters about which she was complaining when the original consent order was made. Secondly, when she eventually went to a different firm of solicitors for advice, she failed to take action for nearly a year, a delay which undermined her claim as it lacked the necessary promptness. The judge commented that 'on the hypothesis that she was constrained from bringing her application for a period because of the husband's undue influence or duress, the onus was on her to make her application as soon as she could reasonably do so once she became free from that influence or duress. In practice, that means within weeks, not months.'
Her application was rejected.
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Coronavirus in Florida: State announces 8 new cases
The Palm Beach Post
The Florida Department of Health announced late Tuesday eight new positive cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Florida. None are in the panhandle of Florida.
RELATED: From Mar-a-Lago to Walmart: Rep. Gaetz's coronavirus saga
RELATED: COVID-19: The story in graphics
RELATED - CORONAVIRUS: Crestview woman recovers from coronavirus, returns home
That brings the total number of state residents diagnosed with COVID-19 to 21.
The new cases announced late Tuesday include these counties: Nassau County (Jacksonville area), Collier County (Naples area), Pinellas County (St. Petersburg, Clearwater), Pasco County (New Port Richey, just north of Tampa) and a 68-year-old Georgia patient who is currently in Alachua County (Gainesville area).
As reported previously, two Florida residents have died from the virus: a 77-year-old Lee County woman and a 71-year-old Santa Rosa County man.
Authorities have said people over 60 are most at-risk of becoming severely ill. Of the eight new cases reported late Tuesday, all but one are 64 or older. The only one under is a a 46-year old male in Pasco County.
SANTA ROSA COUNTY DISTRICT SCHOOLS >>>>
OKALOOSA COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT INFO >>>>
WALTON COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT INFO >>>>>
BAY DISTRICT SCHOOLS >>>>
The new cases are, according to the state health department:
A 68-year old male in Nassau County has been identified as positive. This person is isolated and will continue to remain isolated until cleared by public health officials. This is a travel-related case.
A 68-year old female Georgia resident who is currently in Alachua County, Florida, has been identified as positive. This person is isolated and will continue to remain isolated until cleared by public health officials. The Georgia Department of Public Health is leading the epidemiological investigation for this individual.
A 73-year old male in Collier County has been identified as positive. This person is isolated and will continue to remain isolated until cleared by public health officials. This is a travel-related case.
A 68-year old female in Collier County has been identified as positive. This person is isolated and will continue to remain isolated until cleared by public health officials. This is a travel-related case.
A 67-year old male in Pinellas County has been identified as positive. This person is isolated and will continue to remain isolated until cleared by public health officials. This is a travel-related case.
A 46-year old male in Pasco County has been identified as positive. This person is isolated and will continue to remain isolated until cleared by public health officials. This is a travel-related case.
While no cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Palm Beach County, a Pennsylvania man who attended a Palm Beach County Convention Center conference Feb. 28 tested positive for the virus and is being cared for out of state.
VIDEO: Coronavirus vs the flu
>>HOW TO PROPERLY WASH YOUR HANDS: To fight off the virus, read this


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Q: Linux Python 2.7 odbc Connection to Progress Open Edge DB I can get pyodbc to connect to Progress DB from Windows using a DSN without any problems.
However I need to get it to work from Linux (Centos 6) and although I've downloaded and attempted to install the driver from progress.com, I cannot figure out how to configure the Linux system using the docs from progress.com.  I'm no Linux sysadmin, but not completely lost.
revised 4/22: how do you configure odbc.ini in Centos 6 and will freetds talk to databases other than Sybase and MSSQL that they list in their docs?
I apologize if my initial post was inappropriate, I think my frustration was showing thru.
Thanks,
Fred.

A: Check out this site, I used this documentation to get python3 on a Debian 9 machine connected by ODBC to a remote 10.1c DB. I used the python turbodbc library to manage the connection in python. This should work in python 2.7 as long as it is 64 bit.
Progress Note: This documentation recommends you install "libstdc++5" BEFORE you install the ODBC software. Also make sure that $DLC is set properly.
turbodbc Note: i had to install "libboost-all-dev" and "unixodbc-dev" for turbodbc to install.
good luck

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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Stepparent & Relative Adoptions
Husband of television actress seeking alimony
On behalf of Law Office of Amanda Salcido | Mar 16, 2018 | alimony |
When a Florida couple decides to file for divorce, financial decisions are usually some of the most contentious topics. If spousal support, also known as alimony, comes into play, the discussions between the former couple may tend to become slightly more heated. This would be true for most couples, regardless of their jobs or financial status. It is certainly the case for one celebrity couple in another state.
Julie Bowen, one of the stars of the ABC comedy, Modern Family, had filed for divorce from her husband, Scott Phillips, in Feb. 2018. Recently, Phillips, a real estate developer, has asked for spousal support from Bowen. Court documents show that Phillips has also requested joint physical and legal custody of the couple's children. They have three sons together, one 10-year-old and twins who are 8 years old.
The couple, who got married in Sept. 2004, were last seen together with their sons at an event in Feb. 2017. Bowen recently filed a subpoena to receive copies of Phillips' financial transactions since. She was listed as the sixth-highest-paid television actress in 2017 in a Forbes article, reportedly earning $12 million that year.
A couple may be dealing with questions about alimony, even if they don't have high-profile jobs on television or multi-million dollar salaries. A knowledgeable Florida attorney can provide valuable assistance to any individual going through a divorce. Whether a person hopes to receive spousal support or will be the one paying it, a trusted lawyer will act in the clients' best interests. A dedicated legal team will help clients navigate through the complexities of the legal process and work toward achieving the best outcome possible in the divorce.
Source: people.com, "Julie Bowen's Estranged Husband Asking for Spousal Support Amid Divorce", Karen Mizoguchi, March 13, 2018
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Discuss Your Case With An Experienced Family Law Attorney Today.
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Buy Leadpages Discounted
They're a reasonably mobile-friendly approach and they supply a basic service for including CTAs to pages that might not otherwise create leads. When again, Leadpages makes these incredibly simple to establish and you won't need to handle any code or plugins to use Alert Bars. Combined with exit-intent popups, these can make a real difference to your landing page conversion rates.
Unfortunately, Leadpages rapidly loses out if you in fact start utilizing other landing page home builders. There are a number of reasons for this. Buy Leadpages Discounted. Unbounce is more pricey than Leadpages however you get endless A/B testing on every variation of its platform and you also get a substantial variety of optimisation functions.
Unbounce's page contractor is remarkable too, really making it fast and easy to construct and personalize landing pages. This is one location where Leadpages really annoys and it's tough to forgive this in a landing page platform. Something else that eliminated Leadpages for us was its restricted type options.
We can't do this with Leadpages. Instapage also gives you unrestricted A/B testing on its fundamental "Core" strategy and its landing page builder is most likely the best I've used up until now. Among Instapage's standout features is its heatmapping tool. This is a vital optimisation tool for landing pages and you'll require to incorporate Leadpages or Unbounce with a third-party platform for this, such as Hotjar. You can check out our Hotjar evaluation here. Leadpages intends to offer a landing page contractor for smaller companies and its prices policy looks quite suitable at a glance.
If it makes A/B screening completely available on every variation of its platform, then the inexpensive rates of its Requirement plan end up being an authentic asset. At this moment, you generally need to pay up for its Pro version and this puts you close to Instapage costs – Buy Leadpages Discounted. The other two problems I have is the absence of customisation options on Leadpages' templates, that makes it hard to match the branding and style on existing websites.
Now, the engine of any landing page tool is the builder (likewise called an editor). This is where you transform a generic design template into your personalized landing page. Regrettably, we had major challenges and frustrations with this element of Leadpages. It is a shame due to the fact that they do have some great other features.
Something to note is that Leadpages (the company) is quite in transition as we speak. They released their brand-new drag and drop editor in March. This is a major paradigm shift for them. In July, Leadpages obtained Drip, a light-weight SMB marketing automation tool (Buy Leadpages Discounted). Weeks later on, Leadpages laid off 12% of its staff (due to reorganization not monetary problems).
So we can cut them some slack, but all of this is irrelevant to what tool you purchase. It's tough to feel bad for Leadpages. They are the largest SaaS landing page tool. Over 43,000 customers utilize the tool. They received $27 million in funding last year. Leadpages isn't going anywhere.
There are many landing page contractors out now. Numerous are a portion of Leadpages rates. Leadpages is in a competitive field without an outstanding offering. But being # 1 in size does not indicate having the very best item. Leadpages owes a lot to their great marketing. You ought to have a look at their interesting podcast, totally free marketing courses, and several other resources.
While we understand Leadpages Drag and Drop Editor remains in 'early gain access to', we think the tool will be far behind rivals for a long time. As discussed, beyond the 2 editors we like some Leadpages features like Leadlinks. However these are secondary. Most are much better off with other services, even those with little to no technical-savvyLeadpages scored a 7.25 out of 10 ranking them # 12 versus other landing page home builders.
You can discover the breakdown of this score below to see precisely how we came to this number. Showing up in this Leadpages evaluation we will cover Leadpages rates, features, integrations and a lot more (Buy Leadpages Discounted).
Please log in again. The login page will open in a new tab. After logging in you can close it and go back to this page. As you'll discover in this Leadpages evaluation, the web-based platform guarantees to give you the tools you'll require to release high-converting landing pages for your lead-generation campaigns. Leadpages is the best option for people with the cash to spend on a tool that will let them create gorgeous and high-converting landing pages and opt-in boxes.
Through these landing pages, users will be able to prompt users to provide their e-mail or other relevant details. At the heart of Leadpages is the, a user friendly tool that makes it possible for users to work with templates and modify the details as needed. You will see later how the editor works.
Honestly, there's a lot to like about Leadpages. However the tool is far from best. Let's break down the pros and cons (Buy Leadpages Discounted). For the typical user, Leadpages will be ample to satisfy your lead generation objectives. At the end of the day, all you need is a presentable landing page that will wow your audience.
It really does not need any prior coding or style experience. The sheer number of offered templates would be more than enough to get you started on the right track. There's a design template for essentially every scenario. Options range from webinar pages, thank you pages, item launch pages, checkout pages, and even 404 pages.
You can use Leadpages no matter what CMS you're using. It can support WordPress, Joomla, Squarespace, and more. The bulk of this Leadpages review was focused on the landing page builder however let's not forget that subscribers also get access to Leadboxes. There's no denying the reality that pop-up boxes work and can result in conversions that would otherwise be missed out on if not for Leadboxes.
People who are very particular about their landing page styles can deal with the tool's interface. The tool can likewise decrease every now and then which can be frustrating particularly for individuals who are on a tight deadline. Leadpages themselves encourage users not use their standard design templates. There's barely any personalization choices.


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Volunteers, sponsors and entertainers needed for Pride in Ely 2018
Volunteers, sponsors, entertainers, stall-holders and prizes are needed ahead of the first ever Pride in Ely event. PHOTO: Claire Giannandrea.
Volunteers, sponsors, entertainers, stall-holders and prizes are needed ahead of the first ever Pride in Ely event.
With "overwhelming interest and support", planning is well underway for its debut on August 11.
The day event at Jubilee Gardens and the after party at Riverside Bar and Kitchen (RBK) are both free to attend.
Organiser Claire Giannandrea said: "This is a fully inclusive community event; we hope that everyone will want to be involved in our celebration of Pride – not just for LGBT+ but for the pride of everyone in Ely.
"Pride is a celebration of the cultures of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and related identities.
"At a time where we have experienced increasing levels of reported hate crimes we expect that the first Pride in Ely will help raise the profile of LGBT+ people and also act to demonstrate support from our community."
The next Pride in Ely fundraiser events are on June 29 and July 27 at Riverside Bar & Kitchen from 7.30pm.
Email hello@prideinely.co.uk if you'd like to help or for more information.
Keep up to date with Pride in Ely events at www.prideinely.co.uk or search Pride Ely on Twitter and Facebook.


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About the prison
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You are here : Home > News > Sodexo Commits to...
Sodexo Commits to Social Targets with Public Service Pledge
Sodexo has published its second Public Service Pledge, a strategic and ethical set of commitments to its customers, employees and communities.
The pledge identifies key public service areas and initiatives which the facilities management provider promises to measure and report on annually which demonstrates its commitment to social value and a public service ethos.
Calling for an independent industry regulator, increasing its SME spend to 32% of its total spend and increasing female representation in management to 40% by 2025, are some of the targets outlined in the manifesto. The company has also pledged to employ 40 ex-offenders and 200 ex-services personnell this year.
Through the 17-point pledge, Sodexo will ensure it is driving ethical values across all services throughout the business - in both the private and public sector - and is making a positive long-term impact.
As a strategic government supplier, with contracts in healthcare, education, justice, defence and government services, Sodexo has pledged to improve contract processes and to provide information to government on its public sector contracts on a regular basis.
Sean Haley, Chairman of Sodexo UK & Ireland, said, "As a business involved in running public services we sign a social contract, as well as a commercial one, so must commit to a public service ethos. Our Public Service Pledge is a tangible reference point for us, our clients, partners, suppliers, customers and the wider public to ensure we keep this public service ethos at the heart of our operations. We are eager to prove the benefits of public-private partnership and how it can bring lasting positive impact to wider society."
The Public Service Pledge covers the following areas.
Transparency, business integrity and loyalty. Sodexo pledges to:
develop services for our clients that measure outcomes
ensure robust contract management to drive agreed client objectives
ensure all public sector contracts undergo an independent client satisfaction survey
encourage the Government to introduce an independent regulator to provide oversight of contract management
Sustainability and community. Sodexo pledges to:
deliver on its Better Tomorrow 2025 targets with nine measurable commitments
prioritise partnering with staff mutuals, small- to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and voluntary and community sector organisations in the delivery of public services
increase SME spend to £200m – 32% of total spend - by 2025
double the number of employees volunteering in the coming year
abide by a code of ethical practice and, through our Business Integrity Code, it will not tolerate any practice that is not born of honesty, integrity and fairness, anywhere in the world where it does business
People, skills and equal opportunity. Sodexo pledges to:
increase the representation of women in its top 1,200 positions globally and, in the UK and Ireland, its aspiration is to increase representation from 33% to 36% by 2020 and to 40% by 2025
become a Disability Confident Leader as part of the Government's Disability Confident Scheme
undertake regular pay audits in the UK and Ireland and to publish the results
implement the living wage where possible
constantly drive engagement of people whilst working towards the best practice framework of Investors in People
engage 800 employees on apprentice programmes by the end of 2018
employ 200 ex-services personnel by the end of 2018
employ 40 ex-offenders per year
To view the full Public Service Pledge, visit https://uk.sodexo.com/pledge.html
Global Data Protection Policy


A walk along the ridge of Buachaille Etive Mor taking in both munro summits. This all day walk along the iconic ridge has stunning mountain scenery to be viewed in all directions, and fantastic wildlife to discover. Grade D+ Walk.
Buachaille Etive Mor guided walks can also be booked on request (subject to availability). For 1-2 customers at £120 in total, or for more than 2 customers at £45 per person (up to 6 people).


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Литаго () — муниципалитет в Испании, входит в провинцию Сарагоса, в составе автономного сообщества Арагон. Муниципалитет находится в составе района (комарки) Тарасона-и-эль-Монкайо. Занимает площадь 15,41 км². Население — 183 человека (на 2010 год).

Население

Примечания

Муниципалитеты Сарагосы

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Taiwan 6 full days itinerary. - MisTan IzZy | Travel & Lifestyle.
DAY 1 - Arrived Taoyuan Int' Airport around 630am, we took a cab to Taipei city as I am travelling with my parents, it's more convenient to take a cab. It cost about TWD1200 to our hostel in Ximending district. You can check out for bus services to Taipei Main Station.
They have two branches in Ximending, it was call TW1 and TW2. The 2nd one is a bit further but I personally prefer that one because it has elevator! It really does matter a lot when you have big suitcase T.T The first one only has staircase and I was staying in 3rd floor.. Imagine that!
I wanted to stay in Mingsu initially, but the problem with Mingsu is that they don't have a reception and luggage storage, but we were so early and they only allow checking in after 3pm. This hostel is very good with the reception open at 8.30am until 12am, and you can keep your luggage on the last day if your departure is slighter later in the evening or late night.
As we arrived too early at 8am, we had our breakfast right opposite TW1. It's the famous breakfast in Taiwan, you can see a lot of working adults order and take away before heading to work. I really love having soya milk and youtiao as my breakfast :)) So after checking in to get our room key access, we leave our suitcases there as the room only available after 3pm.
Next, start with our day 1 routine. First we went to famous historical Long Shan temple, you may skip this if you're not interested with buddhist culture. The best time to visit Longshan are around 6am,8am and 5pm, when the crowds of worshippers gather and engage in hypnotic chanting. Or try Guanyin's birthday on Lunar 19 February, or the weeks before and during Chinese New Year.
Getting to Long Shan temple : Take blue line Mrt to Longshan temple station. The temple is located just north of the station plaza.
Moving on, next station is Chiang Kai-Shek memorial, is a famous monument, landmark and tourist attraction erected in memory of Chiang Kai-Shek, who is the former president of republic of China. The monument is surrounded by a park, stands at the east end of memorial hall square. Well, if you're not a fan of history, you might not know who he is, just like me LOL. I heard of the name before, but I don't know about the story. If you like all those historical memorial, you may move on to Sun Yat-sen memorial hall.
Getting to these 2 places are really easy, as the mrt station name is exactly the same name, Chiang Kai-shek memorial hall station and Sun yat-sen memorial hall station.
Our next station is Yangmingshan, is a national park that located in between taipei city and new taipei city and it's famous with cherry blossoms, hot springs, sulfur deposits, fumaroles, venomous snakes, and hiking trails, including Taiwan's tallest dormant volcano, Seven stars mountain. As the day we arrived was the day that typhoon hitting Taiwan at night, so the weather is really uncontrollable. They have a say that if the rain keeps going on and off it shows the sign of typhoon. So we didn't really have any sightseeing in Yangmingshan, only go round by the shuttle bus wasting time and money LOL.
Getting to Yangmingshan : take 260 bus from Zhengzhou road outside of taipei main station exit 2, OR R5 bus from Jiantain or Shihlin mrt station to Yangmingshan bus station.
And then, from yangmingshan bus station, there will be a internal shuttle bus 108 that brings you around that mountain. Cost will be TWD60 for unlimited ride, and TWD15 for a single ride.
PS : Not to forget this papaya milk, it is a m-u-s-t try! =D Sold out in 7-11 most of time.
After Yangmingshan national park, it is a normal routine to go down to Beitou as I guess it was on the way? =D Xinbeitou is famous with the hot spring, you can book for a private hot spring room or the public open air share hot spring. Normally for private hot spring, you will need to go naked before entering, but for public open air share hot spring, you need to wear swimsuit and the price is cheap, but I can't recall.
Getting to Beitou/Xinbeitou from yangmingshan : from Yangmingshan bus station, take 230 or S9 bus to beitou station and from there take the mrt to xinbeitou.
Since we're in beitou now, so we just proceed to the last station ofthe red line mrt which is tamsui station. I love tamsui so much for its relaxing surrounding, and the tamsui old street has a lot of taiwan snacks and you can do a little shopping here too.
A hint if you want to shop in tamsui old district, during weekend normally there will be a lot of promotion. We wanted to go fisherman's wharf and lover bridge in the first place, but again, due to typhoon the whole wharf and lover bridge was closed down. But, I manage to visit it on my last day, and it was an awesome sunset!
Getting to Tamsui : Mrt tamsui station, walk to the old street for food and shop.
Getting to Tamsui Fisherman's Wharf : either by boat or by bus, I personally think that it's not worth to take the boat ride as the price is quite high, but if you like, you can find the boat service in tamsui old street. For the bus, exit tamsui station and search for R26 bus slot, disembark at the very last station.
After all the breezy walk, it's time for dinner now. Let's head to the famous night market Shilin! You can find a lot of delicious food here, fried chicken steak, fried buns, peanut candy, oyster omelet, tempura, lemon aiyu jelly, pearl milk tea and stinky tofu.
Getting to Shilin market : mrt station Jiantan, don't disembark at shilin station, it's nearer from Jiantan station.
If you feel too tired, you can skip shilin market and go back straight to Ximending. Well, Ximending is more likely to alive at night, just like another shibuya of Tokyo :) Or taking away food to have it in the hostel room.
DAY 2 - Taipei to Taichung by TRA is about 2hours. TRA is half price cheaper than the express bullet train. And an extra information for senior citizen above 65years old, you can enjoy half price on express bullet train but not with TRA.
Stay in Taichung : Moon Lake Hotel, cost TWD1600 for a 4person room.
From Taipei City Hostel, take the mrt to Taipei Main Station. As we're facing typhoon yesterday night, the weather reporter said typhoon will totally be gone from Taiwan in the afternoon 3-4pm, so all the Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA) were stopped,only the high speed rail is going on, but it was so expensive, double the price of TRA, so we waited at taipei main station until 12pm because by that time only they will announce whether the TRA is operating or not. Taipei main station is very huge, so we had a walk-a-round and took our brunch here.
Tik-tok-tik-tok time pass to 12pm, the anxious moment has come. We were so fortunate that TRA is operating yay! Purchasing of TRA ticket is very easy with auto machine beside the counter, but it could be a little confuse because it has a lot of train number that going different destination. To avoid making mistake, we queue up at the counter line. Done ticket purchasing, look out for TRA sign board and proceed to wait at the platform. Prices are vary, but TRA to taichung will cost less than TWD350.
For your information, upon arriving in Taichung, station for High speed train and TRA is a different station and they are quite far apart.
I book a hotel nearby Taichung main station as tomorrow our bus to chingjing will pick us up from there. Walking to our hotel not to say very far, its around 200m, but the map they provide is little complicated, so I have to look out for the street name, I don't know if you can't read, it could be tricky.
We didn't sight-see much in Taichung because it was just a passby station for us, but if you have time, you may stay here for 2 nights, Taichung is a beautiful city too.
So after checking in our hotel, we walk around nearby our hotel. Dawncake Miyahara is just nearby taichung main station, is a very unique,vintage and historical building selling biscuit, cake these kind of thing, you can have a hi-tea here as well.
And then we walk back to our hotel, there is a park nearby, it's taichung park. Seriously we have no idea what to do as it was public holiday caused by typhoon, every shop was close, even the famous night market. Not too bad, we had a nice walk in that park LOL.
Walking pass through the park to the other side, we found this small hot pot steamboat shop which looks quite interesting and the prices are not expensive, so we just dine in to have something hot after rainy rainy day :) so that's it, end of our day in Taichung, such a waste right errrgh.. I hate typhoon!
DAY 3 - Taichung to Cingjing by E-go bus, about 90mins journey uphill. Cost TWD500 one way, you can make a booking online for only one way going up and then on that day itself, ask the driver for the return to Taichung if you plan to go back Taichung.
Stay in Cingjing : Euro County Villa, cost TWD2840 it's a 2person room, add one bed for 3rd person as the room for 4 is fully booked. There are a lot of villa for you to choose, they are overall almost the same with pretty view and interior design.
As Moon Lake hotel provide breakfast, after having our breakfast then we leave for our bus to Cingjing. Our bus depart 1100am, waiting point is in front of Plaza Hotel which is just beside taichung main station. If you manage to book a room in this hotel, it will be more convenient for you, but unfortunately it's fully booked that time.
In the first place, I thought that we won't be able to enjoy anything here which typhoon has caused a big mess to this hillside. The first day we arrive, famous green green grassland was closed, however we managed to walk up until there and what worth it is that it was free of charge to enter that day LOL. Of course all the sheep show, horse show won't be showing when it's close.
We didn't enter the small swiss garden which cost TWD120 as we think that nothing to see inside, but you still can enter to see colourful flowers, bald-cypresses, red maples, and LED artificial sunflowers. Many couples love taking pre-wedding photos here due to the chill weather and beautiful garden.
People often come here for sunrise in the early morning in hehuanshan, so we ask from the tourist centre, they have an offer to hehuanshan early morning at 3am and cost TWD500, but my father was a little annoyed with the super early departure, and think of they're going to Alishan later on too, so we didn't book from them.
After much consideration, I decided to go because I am not following them to Alishan and it was a waste to come all the way here without seeing sunrise, so I ask from our villa reception, they have a tour cost TWD450 which depart same time as well, without hesitating, I book for 3 of us hehehe.
Waking up early is really annoying, but for this one definitely you need to go! So let's have an early dinner and sleep early to wake up early, E-A-R-L-Y.
Look at this breath-taking scenery! Definitely you'll forget about your sleepiness while waiting for this precious moment.
Okay, I was a little bit crazy to have wear short pant, please don't follow me! I was just trying to show a superwoman image LOL. Nahhh It was because I forget to bring along a long pant =D If you don't have winter jacket is okay, the driver will provide it like the one I'm wearing as the weather drop to 7 degree celsius in the morning during summer time in July, imagine if is winter time? Could be full of snow, perhaps.
DAY 4 - Cingjing to Hualien by a private car, cost TWD5000 for one car, whole journey will takes 8 hours. The driver will pick you up from Cingjing hotel and bring you to tour on a few hot spots before dropping you to your hotel in Hualien.
Stay in Hualien : @home B&B mingsu, room for 4 cost TWD3600.
After arrived in our villa around 7-730am from sunrise trip, we had our breakfast and took the shuttle up to grass grass greenland from our villa.
Remember to book for shuttle the day before, it could be full and standing is not allowed. Then from uphill there, just follow the trail walk back to our villa. Remember not to miss out the horse show, it was astounding, unbelievable, incredible show by people from Mongolia, they really risk their live playing this show!
We have no choice but to book a bus down to Taichung with E-go bus at 1100am, same cost TWD500 per person, staying the same hotel Moon Lake.
One small tip of booking a hotel, we asked the reception if this day any room available for rent, they told us room for 4 is full, only room for 2 available and cost TWD1700 which obviously TWD100 more expensive than our room for 4, so I decide not to book with them. When I search online through booking.com trying to book other hotel, it shows that Moon Lake Hotel room for 4 still available at TWD1600, so immediately I make a booking!
Finally, another night in Taichung. Today, we manage to catch a cab to famous FengJia night market. I personally think that this night market is far better and bigger than Shilin night market, and has more things to see, eat and shop. Can't recall the price of cab, should be less than TWD200.
After dinner, we took a cab back to hotel and end of our day. Again, if you are keen to sight-see more, you can do so, but taichung transport is a little more inconvenient as there's no subway but only public bus, you can ask for more details from hotel reception.
DAY 5 - Hualien to Taipei by TRA, takes less than 2 hours I suppose :D Timing is up to you, as the day before has already tour about Hualien, so my plan is to go back Taipei earlier and spend some time in Taipei before going back.
We reach Taichung Main Station around 11am, it was so packed with peoples. I queue up at TRA counter, but when it's my turn, she told me it has only standing ticket. I didn't buy as I don't wana stand in a train for 2 hours! So I decided to try on bus, which just beside the station, is GuoKuang bus.
The same thing here, only standby ticket, cost less than TWD300 with 4 hours journey, but at least I get a seat. Standby is not that bad, as bus to taipei depart almost every 30mins, so the standby queue clear really fast.
And then I head to Tamsui for fisherman's wharf and the lover's bridge which we missed out on the first day. I've no regret to have seen this outstanding sunset! Although typhoon mess up a lot of our trip, but it gives us back something, a astounding sunrise and outstanding sunset!
DAY 6 - Taipei to Taoyuan Int' Airport. I decide to take a bus from Taipei Main City because I am alone now and its cheaper.
Getting to Kuo Kuang Bus : It is located at west bus station terminal A of Taipei Main station, exit from mrt and follow the signs "Shinkong Mitsukoshi / Zhongxiao W. Rd" until you see "taipei west bus station", through the underground shopping area and search for exit Z3, there is another exit which is nearer with escalator, if I'm not wrong it was exit N13.
Bus cost one way TWD125, there is no need to pre-buy ticket, there are many schedule bus out from there to Taoyuan Int' Airport, and the journey is about 1-1.30 hours.
Before you go, not to forget to try this Hokkaido ice-cream in 7-11 =) cheers! Hope you enjoy my post.
This will be good itinerary for me as I will be in Taiwan in October.


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Events, History articles
Assassination of William Gates
William Raymond Gates, the 39th President of the United States, was assassinated on August 11, 1982 in Chicago Illinois. Gates was shot once in the heart by ex-soldier Oscar Troy in the lobby of the Plaza Hotel. Troy was detained for a week, but on his way to a court hearing, trying to escape and was subsequently shot to death by U.S. Capitol policeman Milo Van Hauer. An investigation concluded that Troy had acted alone and there was no conspiracy to kill Gates. Gates was succeeded by his Vice President, Henry Thomas Baxter, who was sworn in an hour and a half after the President's death.
On August 11, 1982, President Gates arrived at the Plaza Hotel in downtown Chicago Illinois to make an appearance at a charity fundraiser. Gates' wife, First Lady Audrey Gates, did not accompany him as she was ill with a chest infection. It was later revealed that it was Troy's intention to kill both Gates and his wife.
While Gates was en route to the hotel in the Presidential Limousin, Oscar Troy arrived at the hotel and stole a uniform from the employee's cloack room, concealing a Gyrojet pistol in his sleeve. He wrapped a bandage around his wrist and hand to keep the gun hidden. He then joined the crowds who were eagerly anticipating the President's arrival.
Gates arrived at the hotel ten minutes later and was cheered by the crowds as he got out of the limo. Gates waved to the crowds and laughed heartily at the warm reception. Gates was shadowed by Secret Service agents and his close friend Barney Wallace, but Gates told the agents to relax and give him some breathing space. This opened up a greater area between the President and his guards.
Gates entered the hotel through the front door and was welcomed by the crowd standing inside. Troy began to push through the crowd to get closer to the President, but still stood with the peope, as the moment was not right. Gates lifted his hand to start waving again, giving Troy the opportunity he needed. Troy stepped forward, sliding the gun into his hand while doing so. He raised the weapon and aimed it at the President. Gates turned towards Troy and faced him for a brief moment but Troy fired the gun once. The bullet struck Gates in the chest and pierced his heart. Gates stumbled back and then fell to the floor, but was caught by Wallace, who held the President close to him. Wallace started to cry and could be heard whispering to Gates, but there are conflicting reports on what he said. Gates reportedly told Wallace not to worry and that everything would be fine, and then succumbed to his wound and died, staring past Wallace at the ceiling.
The security detail quickly converged on Troy, tackling him to the floor and wrestling the gun away from him. Troy was then dragged across the floor and into the hotel kitchen so as to keep him away from the crowd. Wallace remained with the President until medical personnel arrived and Gates was rushed to Northwestern Memorial Hospital. However, Gates was confirmed dead en route with Wallace by his side.
Wallace decided that the person to be informed should be Audrey. A Secret Service agent offered to phone her, but Wallace shot the suggestion down, wanting to tell her in person. As he made his way to the hotel where the Gates' were staying, the Secret Service tried to contact Vice President Henry Baxter, but were unable to reach him as he was not in his lake house, where he saw staying for the weekend. Baxter had gone down to the local convenience store to buy some aspirin for his migraine.
In the meantime, television reporter David Petersen, who had witnessed the shooting, informed his station, WLS, of the event. The news was broken in a special news bulletin by Rick Sanders, which was seen on a television set by Baxter in the convenience store. He stared in awe at the screen for a brief moment before sprinting out of the store and running back to the lake house, where he called Dan Sawyer, the Head of the Secret Service, who confirmed that Gates had indeed been shot, but at the time neither of the men knew that Gates was dead.
Wallace arrived at the hotel seventeen minutes after the shooting. He knocked on the door with a sense of urgency, and had to wait for Audrey to get out of bed to answer. She opened the door to find that Wallace still had her husband's blood on her hand. Seeing his horrified facial expression and the blood, she knew something was badly wrong and asked Wallace what had happened. He managed to tell her "Bill's been shot" before he started sobbing and broke down, falling to his knees. Other residents came out into the corridor to see what the commotion was. They were met by the sight of Audrey, now also on her knees, hugging Wallace tightly and sobbing into his arms.
While Baxter was on the phone to the White House, he received another call from Sawyer, who told him that Gates was dead and Baxter was now the President. Baxter was picked up by some Secret Service agents and taken to a private plane, to be flown to Chicago. Baxter refused to accept the office until he knew that Gates was dead. Seeing he was clearly shaken, the agents agreed and allowed the plane to take off.
After arriving in Chicago, Baxter was rushed to the Northwestern Memorial Hospital. He and Audrey were brought to the morgue, were the President's body lay. They stood behind a two way screen was the sheet was pulled down to reveal Gates' corpse. Baxter reportedly swallowed hard and then said "OK, I'm ready now."
An hour and half after the shooting, Baxter was officially sworn in as the President of the United States, becoming the 40th person to do so.
Death of Oscar Troy
Troy was held in a Chicago police station and jail house for a week after the killing. On August 18, he was to be escorted from the jail to a nearby court house for a trial hearing. A crowd of onlookers gathered to watch the assassin being removed from the prison. Among the crowd was Milo Van Hauer, a U.S. Capitol policeman who came to Chicago after the shooting. Van Hauer was carrying a Glock 9mm pistol in his pocket.
When Troy was brought in front of the crowd, he did not look up or make eye contact with anybody. Unexpectedly, he elbowed his guard Karl Myers in the face, breaking his nose, and then shoved the second guard, Alvin Murphy, back into the crowd. Troy immediately tried to make an escape, but Van Hauer stepped forward and shot Troy in the leg, wounding him. Screaming in pain, Troy fell to the floor as Murphy tried to get his bearings. Myers remained on the floor, blood gushing from his nose. However, Van Hauer then raised his firearm and fired three more shots into Troy's chest, killing him instantly. Murphy then got back up and pulled the gun from Van Hauer's hand.
Van Hauer's killing of Troy sparked much controversy because he had already subdued Troy and it was not considered necessary for him to shoot Troy again. Van Hauer was eventually granted a pardon by President Baxter, and then became extremely introverted. He died in a car accident in 2005.
The first time to events were portrayed on screen was in the 1990 TV film Ms Gates, which mainly focuses on First Lady Audrey Gates as the events unfold around her. The story was retold by Johnathan Demme in his critically acclaimed 1992 film Gates which revolves around three different viewpoints; those of Gates, Baxter and Troy, played by Christopher Reeve, Sam Neill and Robert Patrick respectively. Another film, Plaza Hotel, which starred Hayden Christensen as Gates, was released in 2007 and flirts with the idea that Gates was killed as a result of a conspiracy.
Retrieved from "https://fanon.fandom.com/wiki/Assassination_of_William_Gates?oldid=127338"


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Q: "Unused argument: (oob = squish)" I'm trying to replicate a relatively simple visualization from the NYT on COVID deaths. I'm using a jitter plot, with each point representing a death on a given day. It's almost perfect, except that R doesn't seem to want to squish the points that go past my date limit.
The NYT U.S. COVID data contains cumulative cases and deaths per day from Jan 21 2020 to Jan 26 2021, and can be found here: https://github.com/nytimes/covid-19-data
library(tidyverse)
library(scales)

us <- read_csv("NYT Data/us.csv")

#uncounting data so that each new death is one observation
us_covid_deaths <- us %>%
  mutate(new_deaths = c(0, diff(deaths))) %>%
  filter(new_deaths > 0) %>%
  mutate(type = "death") %>%
  select(-c("cases", "deaths")) %>%
  uncount(new_deaths)

horizontal_plot <- ggplot(us_covid_deaths, aes(x = date, y = type, stroke = 0)) + geom_jitter(shape = ".", width = 3) +
  scale_x_date(limits = as.Date(c("2020-02-20", "2021-01-26"))) +
  theme(axis.title = element_blank(), axis.text = element_blank(), axis.ticks = element_blank(),
        legend.position = "none", panel.grid = element_blank())

horizontal_plot

I get the following error message and R excludes from the plot about 3000 data points that have been "jittered" beyond my x limit.
"Error in scale_x_date(limits = as.Date(c("2020-02-20", "2021-01-26")),  : unused argument (oob = squish)"
How can I get R to squish in all of my data?
Original NYT visualization


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Polypropylene (PP) is one of the thermoplastic resins Midwest Resins offers. PP plastic is the largest volume commodity thermoplastics used around the world. The first commercial application for this versatile polymer was the thin clear films used to wrap bread, and cigarette boxes. The flexible properties of PP plastic allow this polymer to be used as a plastic or a fiber, this permitted a variety of industries to rapidly adopt this material.
Currently, the global demand for this product continues to grow. This thermoplastic polymer is used to fabricate the end products of companies specialized in packaging, equipment manufacturing, automotive, construction materials and household appliances.
The properties that make PP plastic a great polymer to work with are its elasticity, strength, chemical resistance, and transparent or translucid applications.


The Pension Freedom Act comes into force on the 6 April 2015 and brings with it the ability for anyone over the age of 55 to gain access to their pension. However, it also creates a new wave of fraudsters eager to relieve unsuspecting people of their pensions.
The fraud occurs through various scams and follows a typical pattern where con artists promise they can offer very attractive interest rates on savings. All the investor has to do is withdraw their savings and place them in the investment account. Once they do so, they are promised generous returns and enough money to retire on. Unfortunately, the reality is that their money is not being invested and instead has been stolen, leaving them without a retirement fund or security as they approach their twilight years.
Scammers use a range of techniques to gain the trust of their victims. According to the Guardian, companies contact people via unsolicited phone calls or text messages, offering a "free review". Others specifically target those on publicly available insolvency lists, while some approach people via official-looking 'financial advisers'.
In the past these techniques have been used to persuade victims to sign up for elaborate schemes to gain access to their pensions. The scammer then disappears with the cash and the victim is left with a large tax bill and investigation by HMRC.
Those approaching the age of 55 are a primary target for the crime as, post 6 April, The Pension Freedom Act will allow them to access all their pension funds with withdrawals exceeding 25% of the total pension pot subject to taxation. Research from investment firm, Fidelity indicates that the threat is substantial and indicated around one in eight people aged 50 or over have been approached by fraudsters, promising to release more than the 25% tax-free lump sum, or to gain access to pension savings before than the minimum age of 55.
Over 10% of those approached by these so-called 'pensions liberation firms' trusted the advice given to them, said Fidelity which has partly been driven by a significant lack of understanding around the new pension rules as two thirds of the over-50s don't understand them, according to the report.
This poses a huge problem for the government and pension regulators; as the legislation comes into effect, the government is forced to combat the fraudsters while also having to give adequate advice to those looking to release their pensions to ensure they have been treated fairly.
Beverley Budsworth, managing director of The Debt Advisor has recently reviewed one of the firm's cases for a couple with an IVA and was horrified to find that they had lost almost all their pension savings.
In 2011, Mr B entered into a pension release scheme with Sustainable Wealth Investments (UK). At the time, he was told that he would not need to inform The Debt Advisor as their pensions were excluded from their IVA.
Mr B confirmed that he received circa £25,000.00 from his pensions through the scheme. Whilst Mr B had received a portion of his pension, the rest had been put towards investing in the company. However, it soon became clear that, through investments made by Sustainable Wealth Investments (UK), the remaining funds in Mr Bs pensions had disappeared and the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) launched an investigation into the parent company, Sustainable AgroEnergy,. In March 2012, the companies entered into administration and subsequently liquidation a year later.
Even more damaging was the fact that as Mr B was so impressed with the plan to liberate his pension and invest in eco / green schemes, that he told many of his friends, a number of whom have met a similar fate.
This only came to light when Mr B received a self-assessment tax bill for his pensions and as a result of funds released through the scheme. Mr B owed £16,052.04 including interest on tax on the withdrawn amount which Mr B will be paying for the next decade. HMRC had based its liability on the total amount of Mr B's pensions, of which he only received a percentage. His friends that joined the scheme face similar misery.
Being encouraged to speed up transfer of money to a new scheme.
The Serious Fraud Office (2014) has released a set of rules to avoid being hit by a pension scam.
Check the facts before an irreversible decision is made. A lifetime's savings can be lost in a moment.
Review promotional material for the scheme being offered and ask for a statement showing how your pension will be paid at retirement. Question who will look after your money until then?
Refer to the pension scams booklet available at www.pension-scams.com.
If you think you have been a victim of this or another form of fraud, contact Action Fraud in the first instance on 0300 123 2040, or at Action Fraud.
Nearly all Britons will be free to withdraw all of their pension savings in cash once they reach 55, regardless of employment.
The first 25% of pension cash is tax-free. The rest will be taxed at the individual's marginal rate – so many people could still be faced with a 40% charge. There will be no obligation to buy an annuity. Pensioners are free to draw down the money as they feel fit, but will want to withdraw at a rate that keeps them inside the 20% tax band.
If the beneficiary is in a final-salary-style scheme that allows for a regular income at retirement, in most circumstances this remains a better option. However you will be free to switch it to a defined contribution 'DC' scheme and then cash it in (subject to your marginal rate of tax).
There are different rules for public sector workers. Anyone in an 'unfunded' scheme, such as nurses, doctors and firefighters, will not be able to access the cash. But if the scheme is 'funded' – such as local authority workers and the universities scheme – it can be transferred into a DC scheme and the money made accessible.
If you have recently retired and bought an annuity or specialist drawdown scheme, you will not be permitted to amend it.
Anyone under the age of 55 will still, in most circumstances, face hefty charges for withdrawing funds early from their pension pot. The age limit of 55 is set to be increased to 57 in 2028.
If you are struggling with debt issues, whether these are business or personal debts, The Debt Advisor Ltd which incorporates The Business Debt Advisor can help. There are a range of solutions available which include both formal and informal solutions such as Debt Management Plans (DMP), Individual Voluntary Arrangements (IVA), Bankruptcy as well as solutions for Businesses. All debt solutions should be carefully considered. Call us today on 0800 0851 825 to speak with one of our advisors. If you're calling from a mobile you can reach us on 0333 9999 600.
All debt solutions should be very carefully considered. Fees will be charged if a solution is taken in order for us to set up a plan and maintain it – all fees will be outlined during the consultation. Retained payment may place you further into arrears. It is likely that your ability to obtain further credit in the short term will be affected and this may also be the case over the medium to long term. Calls to our free phone number from mobile phones and other networks may be charged.
The Debt Advisor is regulated by The Financial Conduct Authority Reg: 606669 and is also a member of the DRF and we adhere to their codes and standards.


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HomeWorldMiddle EastWhy John McCain Should Learn To Keep His Mouth Shut…For His Own Good
Why John McCain Should Learn To Keep His Mouth Shut…For His Own Good
July 21, 2017 JoshuaPundit Middle East, National Security, Politics, World 6
Senator John McCain of Arizona was recently taken ill with a fairly serious form of brain cancer, glioblastoma. There's only a ten percent chance of surviving more than a few years. Ordinarily, as much as I disagree with his politics and dislike his record in office, my normal policy would be to simply wish him luck on his recovery and leave it at that. Those sentiments still apply, but really, John McCain should learn to keep his mouth shut. For his own good.
Senator McCain has always been a sucker for press attention and apparently the 80-year-old wasn't too ill to cooperate with the drive by media by hitting out at President Trump. It's particularly pernicious since he was personally involved in the matter at hand, albeit in a ludicrous way.
Today, President Trump formally ended a CIA program started by President Barack Hussein Obama in 2013. It was a covert operation that by passed Congress to arm, train and support supposed moderate Syrian rebels in what was then called the Free Syrian Army against Syrian dictator Basher Assad.
John McCain went nuts over this. After calling out the president in terms the usual suspects in the media just ate up, McCain said "If these reports are true, the administration is playing right into the hands of Vladimir Putin."
He also claimed that President Trump 'has no strategy in Syria.'
That 'right into the hands' bit is particularly funny coming from McCain, but first a little background.
The Free Syrian Army were never 'moderate.' The movement was filled with Salafists, Islamists and jihadis of the most radical persuasion. One of the main components was al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusrah, an officially designated terrorist group. Other elements were part of the the Muslim Brotherhood.
The CIA operation also involved collusion with Qatar and President Obama's BFF, Turkey's Tayyip Erdoğan. There was a documentary made by PBS ( hardly a right wing, anti-Obama platform) entitled " Syria: Arming the Rebels" that actually showed jihadis training, holding up U.S. weapons and supplies and describe their journey from the Syrian battlefield to meet with their American handlers in Turkey and then being shipped to Qatar. Once there, they're instructed in sophisticated combat techniques, including one course on "how to finish off soldiers still alive after an ambush."
READ Jeffrey Epstein and the war on sex crime in Trump's America
As PBS noted "it appears the Obama administration is allowing select groups of rebels to receive US-made anti-tank missiles."
Those 'select groups' became ISIS, and the Obama Administration spent $287 million equipping and training them before congress found out, after which Obama's Secretary of State John Kerry asked Congress for an additional half a billion dollars to essentially fund what became ISIS. Now you know how ISIS got so strong so fast. You see, ISIS started in Syria, not Iraq, with the Free Syrian Army.Their attack on Iraq and the influx of Iraqi former Sunni military joining ISIS came later.
One of the Senators trying to push increased funding for them was none other than John McCain. In one unintentionally hilarious episode McCain met with some of the leaders of those 'moderate rebels.'
Let's see, left to right we have Abu Mosa, al-Qaeda operative and later ISIS press officer; Peeking over Mosa's shoulder in ISIS Calipha Abu Baker al-Baghdadi; McCain; 'General' Salim Idris, who headed up a small window dressing organization called the Syrian Military Council that had nothing to do with the Free Syrian Army or any real military action; Mohammed Noor, a member of al-Nusrah and ISIS officer who kidnapped three hostages who were later beheaded in ISIS videos,;and Malik Massouwi, another al-Nusrah member and ISIS commander. So yes, the Obama Administration helped create and fund ISIS.
McCain went to Turkey and slipped just over the border to the Syrian border town of Bab-al-Salam to press the flesh with his pals.
Later on, having built up one terrorist army and seen it go out of control and become ISIS, President Obama found another group of 'moderates' to support along with Qatar and Turkey, Jaish-al-Fatah, the Army of Conquest.
So, who are these guys in Jaish-al-Fatah, the new moderates in Syria? Why, the two main components are Ahrar ash-Sham, an officially designated terrorist group and our old friends the al-Qaeda offshoot al-Nusrah, of course. These are the guys Obama (and yes, Senator McCain) screamed bloody murder about Putin targeting with air strikes.
READ Virtue signaling in Minnesota should stay local
Considering that they were hunkered down right next to Lebanon's border in large chunks of Idlib province including the provincial capitol, Putin targeting them certainly made sense strategically.
Trump finally pulling the plug on these jihadis also certainly made sense. And you can't call it aiding and abetting terrorism, a federal crime some other people I could mention could plausibly be charged with.
One group of real moderates Trump has been backing lately with great success is the Kurds. Under Obama's reign, the Kurds got just enough support to keep them going, but President Trump has increased support for the Kurds and their heroic Persh Mergah quite a bit. And as WAPO columnist David Ignatius had to sorrowfully admit, the Kurds cheer wildly whenever our president's name is mentioned. They know they finally have a real friend in the White House. And Ignatius also had a few things to say about our president's decisiveness. So much for Senator McCain's nonsense about 'no ISIS strategy:
So Senator John McCain, for obvious reasons ought to learn for once to keep his mouth shut.
I wish him a full recovery and a nice retirement from public life. Maybe there's a savings and loan he can do commercials for on TV, just so he could enjoy a nice buzz from being on camera. in Spanish. I'm certain he could work out something with Univision, his chief donor.
Rob Miller writes for Joshuapundit. His articles have appeared in The Jerusalem Post, The Washington Examiner, American Thinker, The Los Angeles Times, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The San Francisco Chronicle, Real Clear Politics, The Times Of Israel, Breitbart.Com and other publications.
Follow him on Twitter here and on Facebook here.
dumb as a rock
Obama helped create ISIS
Ch-Ch-Ch Changes…Sean Spicer is Out, Anthony Scaramucci Is In
Justine Damond: Social Justice
National Review cruise — Hillary's America, the military, and abortion
November 21, 2016 Puma ByDesign Hillary Clinton, Politics Comments Off on National Review cruise — Hillary's America, the military, and abortion
On behalf of Bookworm, I'm reposting her account of an NRO Cruise she's embarked on . Enjoy! November 18, 2016 That title is correct: I'll give you a brief rundown of Dinesh D'Souza's Hillary's America, an abortion panel, and a military panel. Things happen quickly on a National Review [Read More]
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September 28, 2016 William of Ockham Donald Trump, Elections, Hillary Clinton, Obama, Politics 1
I think it's worth remembering something Ronald Reagan said at the last debate against the incumbent Jimmy Carter a week before the 1980 election. Here's what then candidate Reagan said: Next Tuesday is Election Day. Next Tuesday all of you will go to the polls, will stand there in the [Read More]
Justice is Done! Trump Pardons Sheriff Arpaio
August 27, 2017 JoshuaPundit Donald Trump, Politics, Social Issues Comments Off on Justice is Done! Trump Pardons Sheriff Arpaio
President Trump pardoned Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio, the Arizona lawman facing six months imprisonment and a fine. Sheriff Arpaio's 'crime' was apparently not complying with a court order by U. S. District Judge Susan Bolton, a Clinton appointee also responsible for blocking much of Arizona's SB1070 from being enacted in [Read More]
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John McCain Shafts The GOP Again To Kill Repeal Of ObamaCare - Watcher of Weasels


For example, in the U.S. states of California, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, barratry is a misdemeanor, while in Texas, it is a felony.
In criminal and civil law, barratry is the act or practice of bringing repeated legal actions solely to harass.
It is not the same as barratry, which is active encouragement of lawsuits.


Over the last several days, officials from the Central Bank of Costa Rica (BCCR) have been listening to representatives of local financial institutions and their concerns about stalled credit and minimum reserve requirements. Nevertheless, the Bank is standing pat in its approach to dealing with the current economic crisis.
Last week at Casa Presidencial, BCCR President Francisco de Paula met with representatives from state banks, the Union of Private-Sector Chambers and Associations (UCCAEP), as well as President Oscar Arias to discuss measures to reactivate credit in the market to improve economic productivity.
The discussion was productive, de Paula said, but no concrete measures were generated during the three-hour-long meeting.
De Paula also explained that current market conditions make it difficult to lower interest rates, as the private sector is requesting.
In order to drop rates, de Paula said, inflation needs to be reduced, although he added that he believes the inflation rate will gradually drop throughout the year.
A drop in interest rates would improve access to loans, said Manuel Rodríguez, president of UCCAEP, while Banco de Costa Rica President Carlos Delgado, who was at the meeting on behalf of the public banks, called on Costa Ricans to visit their banks and request loans in order to reactivate credit.
Another issue bankers hoped to discuss was the possibility of lowering the legal minimum reserve rate, which now sits at 15 percent. However, de Paula said this issue wasn't going to be on the table, as the BCCR had determined that the banks had enough resources on hand at this time to give credit.
On March 11, BCCR decided to postpone, for a 60-day period, the implementation of new methodology to determine the legal minimum reserve required in state banks.
In a written statement, Jorge Monge, BCCR's general secretary, said the bank had decided to postpone the implementation of the new methodology due to concerns raised by financial institutions.
The current methodology requires banks to keep 90 percent of their daily deposits intact, whereas the new formula would oblige banks to keep 100 percent of their deposits on hand.
Eric Vargas, strategy director at Aldesa, a financial advising firm, said on Monday his group supports the new methodology, not yet in force, as an appropriate measure during the current economic slowdown.
Anabella Ortega, executive director of the Chamber of Costa Rican Banks and Financial Institutions, said the proposed methodology needs to be discussed further.
The chamber has been actively communicating with BCCR representatives, letting them know its concerns regarding the lack of liquidity in the market as well as the new reserve methodology.
Concerning the 60-day delay, Ortega said it is not an extensive period but added she is keen on continuing to meet with the BCCR management to discuss changes in the upcoming methodology.
On March 6, Ortega met with representatives from BCCR in an effort to negotiate this and other issues affecting the various financial institutions.
In February, the chamber sent out a fivepage letter to all of the heads of financial institutions including de Paula.
The chamber, which represents public and private banks, as well as other financial institutions regulated by the Superintendence of Financial Entities (SUGEF), requested a concrete plan to gradually reduce the legal minimum reserve to 10 percent in order to avoid a liquidity crisis, the letter stated.


text:
The Absolute Sound
Thread: The Absolute Sound
emaidel
Aging Smartass
Rather than post this under my "Dirty Little Secrets" thread, which is now a "Melvin Walker Against the Free World" thread, I thought I'd start a new one.
I have a particular dislike for The Absolute Sound (TAS) due to a particularly unpleasant experience with them in 1993 while working as the VP of Sales and Marketing for Stanton. The Stanton Collector's Series CS-100 had been well reviewed in Europe, and was selling fairly well there, but was doing poorly in the U.S., as were all Stanton "hi-fi," or "consumer" cartrdiges. It was the DJ business that was carrying the company, and no matter how well the CS-100 was liked by those of us working there, our efforts had to be concentrated elsewhere.
A couple of retailers in the U.S. were selling the CS-100 sporadically, and thought it was an outstanding product. They also often requested that I contact TAS for a review. I didn't have to do that, because TAS contacted me, and therein lies my tale.
I was contacted by a young man at TAS who said that many of their readers had both phoned them, and sent them letters (don't forget: this was pre-email days!) stating that the CS-100 was such a good cartridge, that TAS was "doing its readers a disservice" by not reviewing it. TAS had previously given a fine review to the Stanton 881-SMKII, on which the CS-100 was based. Naturally, I sent them a "sample." Before going further, the terms "sample," "manufacturer's loan," and "freebie" all amount to the same thing when it comes to sending TAS cartridges. ALL Pickering and Stanton cartridges sent to them over the years were NEVER returned.
A few weeks later, this same person contacted me again to say that Harry Pearson had heard about the CS-100 and was "so excited" about it, that he too requested a sample for his personal evalutation. This was practically verbatim compared to a call I received from TAS back in 1977 when I was a National Sales Manager for Pickering, after I had sent them a Pickering XSV-3000 for evaluation, and they gave that cartrdige a fairly good review at the time. And so, off went another sample/manufacturer's loan/freebie.
Then, many months passed with nothing, which is pretty much par for the course. I would occasionally contact them to see how the reviewing process was going, but nobody seemed to know much.
Then, one day, this young man called me with an entirely different tone to his voice. He began apologizing profusely for having somehow mistaken the Stanton Collector's Series CS-100 with what he now thought "was probably a Goldring," and didn't want to "be held accountable" for me, or anyone at Stanton, believing otherwise. He was so clearly lying through his teeth it wasn't funny. I then said, "I guess you're telling me we're getting a bad review, no?" His response was that he didn't know, but didn't want to "mislead" me to thinking that any and all of his previous statements had anything to do with Stanton, but did with another manufacturer.
Then the review arrived in the mail, as is customary, for "manufacturer's comments." The review was horrible. For whatever reason, TAS chose another young man to review the CS-100 who was an avowed "Stanton-hater," and who bitterly disagreed with the publication's fine review of the 881-S. This person, aside from criticizing the sound as "clinical," and "steely" (amongst other such adjectives), went on to make some truly ridiculous claims: first, he stated that the manner in which the stylus was held in place ("by friction") was somehow inadequate, and responsible for the cartridge producing something he termed "vibrational torque." He also claimed the stereo image collapsed as the level of the recording increased (which would imply that channel separation was somehow affected by level, which is most decidedly is NOT), and also claimed that all Stantons "were susceptible to acoustic feedback."
The company's engineers and I jointly wrote a response back to TAS, and did our best to keep our tempers in check. First, we asked just what "vibrational torque" was, and how it could be tested. Not surprisngly, there was no response to that. Second, I pointed out that the manner in which all Stanton and PIckering cartridge stylus assemblies were held in place had worked flawlessly for the company for over 36 years. Again, no response. Then, I pointed out that if Stanton cartridges were somehow "prone to acoustic feedback" that they could never have become the world's best-selling DJ cartridge, since the acoustic environment in which DJ's operate is one with all but deafening levels and highly exaggerated bass. I pointed out that, aside from a considerably stiffer stylus suspension, Stanton DJ cartridges didn't differ that much in overall design from their "consumer" counterparts. His response was, "Whatever a DJ does with a cartridge has no place on the pages of The Absolute Sound." There was also no comment regarding our claim that we were never able to duplicate his observed phenomenon of the stereo image collapsing as the recorded level increased.
This reviewer actually did provide a brief bit of lip service from the individual who had originally given the 881-SMKII such a good review. That person's comments were very flattering, but completely ignored, and the reviewer simply went on and on about how "awful" the CS-100 was.
Not surprisingly, the already mediocre U.S. sales of the CS-100 came to a complete and abrupt end.
I never quite understood the rationale behind using a "Stanton-hater" to review a Stanton cartridge, nor why such a reviewer openly disagreed with the magazine's previous laudatory reviews on Stanton/PIckering products. It was almost as if they were saying, "we gave you a good review before, but now it's time to give you a bad one."
If the review were simply on merits related to sound, and the reviewer's opinion of that, we we would have been disappointed, but would have (as we did anyway) simply accepted our fate. But this guy just went too far, making ridiculous and false claims, and then placed himself (and the magazine) on a pedestal above all else when taken to task to "prove" his claims.
I don't think TAS has any idea how they effectively killed all future sales of the CS-100 (European sales plummeted too), nor that they even cared. In the end, they did indeed "do their readers a disservice."
Just thought I'd add this: I suspect I wouldn't have minded TAS's lousy review so much if I didn't personally like the Collector's Series CS-100 as much as I did then, and still do. I don't work for Stanton any longer, and have no reason to try to uphold the company's (or, more specifically, the original company's) reputation. I just think that the CS-100 is a wonderful cartridge that holds its own, being a "lowly" MM design, against far costlier MC designs.
Aside from extra careful attention to detail when being manufactured, and running individual frequency response curves (in addition to the standard "Calibration" report), the CS-100 also had a narrow, tapered beryllium cantilever which was sapphire coated. Affixed to its end was a "nude" Stereohedron stylus. And channel separation typically measured 35db midband, and rarely ever less than 22db at extreme high frequencies.
Mag reviews in general
Originally Posted by emaidel
I try not to ever base any action or statement of mine on a single review from a single magazine, (online source or whatever). There is simply too much variability, though if several sources concur, then carries some weight. Even then, some products end up more highly rated than they deserve, for example, the much acclaimed NAD C270. I owned a copy and was underwhelmed by its performance -- of course that's just my subjective opinion.
Let's face it: subjectivity and personal bias is a big factor in reviews. This is the case regardless of the good intentions and sincerity of the reviewer. People really do believe their ears, despite common sense and evidence to the contrary. There a several Audio Asylum members who steadfastly believe that the likes of Brilliant Pebbles, Little Clocks, Intelligent Chips, and TeleTweaks really do work. Amazingly they take offense when people express skepticism.
Do you mean that those magic pebbles don't work?
I haven't tried them. However if I did, I might not give them a fair review on account of my bias ... which is that they cannot work. Certainly that's what the likes of Wellfed would say
Ajani
Originally Posted by Feanor
I had a very similar experience with a NAD C352 Integrated Amp.... It was the first 'decent' amp I bought... and I pretty much purchased it because of the overwhelming good reviews it received.... Though, it was a good amp, I was never really impressed by it....
Since then I've learned to trust my ears and use reviews to get an idea of products I should check out... but NEVER buy anything just based on reviews... especially one glowing review....
Oh, and emaidel - Good thread....
filecat13
I tend to use reviews as a means to help me not spend time on a product that receives a number of unflattering reviews. There's just too much out there.
However, I must be candid and report that I used to put much more stock in reviews from authoritative publishers and their professional reviewers. Perhaps twenty years ago I began to discern that there was far more subjectivism and market positioning going on than anything else at these reputed publications, and I stopped reading them altogether.
At the time of the TAS article in the 1990s, I was already completely jaded with it and virtually everyone else, but had I read the article in the 80s I probably would have heeded it as gospel and never given the Stanton a chance.
Such is the power of unchallenged authority in the face of ignorance.
Originally Posted by filecat13
had I read the article in the 80s I probably would have heeded it as gospel and never given the Stanton a chance.
Regrettably, many others did precisely that, as evidenced by the complete cessation of sales of the cartridge. The dealers who had asked about getting a review on the CS-100 because they liked it as much as they did just shook their heads in disbelief.


text:
NGC 6922 (другие обозначения — PGC 64814, UGC 11574, MCG 0-52-18, ZWG 373.17, IRAS20272-0221) — спиральная галактика (Sc) в созвездии Орёл.

Этот объект входит в число перечисленных в оригинальной редакции «Нового общего каталога».

В галактике вспыхнула сверхновая  типа Ib/c, её пиковая видимая звездная величина составила 16,4.

Примечания

6922
Орёл (созвездие)


text:
"Sexual assault" is a term used to refer to any type of sexual activity that lacks consent. Legal definitions of sexual assault crimes vary by state, but sexual assault may include non-consensual intercourse or rape, attempted rape, unwanted sexual touching, and sexual harassment.
Sexual Assault Laws in Washington State:
In Washington State, there are three different degrees of rape crimes, involving non-consensual sexual intercourse. Additionally, there is a law called "Indecent Liberties" prohibiting sexual conduct that is anything other than sexual intercourse, without the victim's consent. (link to separate Indecent Liberties page)
Rape in the first degree (class A felony): RCW 9A.44.040: Forced sexual intercourse without the victim's consent, where the perpetrator:
uses or threatens to use a deadly weapon
kidnaps the victim; or
inflicts serious physical injury
enters into the building or vehicle where the victim is located
Rape in the second degree (class A felony): RCW 9A.44.050: Forced sexual intercourse without the victim's consent, where:
the perpetrator uses forcible compulsion (physical force or threat), or
the victim is incapable of consent because he/she is physically helpless, mentally incapacitated, or developmentally disabled.
Rape in the third degree (class C felony): RCW 9A.44.060: Forced sexual intercourse without the victim's consent, where:
circumstances do not constitute first or second degree rape
victim's lack of consent was expressed by words or conduct, or
there is threat of substantial harm to victim's property rights
There are additional laws and statutes covering child molestation crimes, custodial misconduct, incest, child rape, and sexual misconduct with minors. Please see Chapter 9a.44 RCW for details. (& link to separate content page)
Understanding Consent:
Consent means "giving permission for something to happen". In terms of sexual contact, consent means willingly choosing to participate. The University of Washington webpage aptly describes what consent looks like:
Consent is not the absence of a no, it's the presence of a yes
The best way to know if you have consent is to ask
Consent can always be withdrawn
Consent isn't something given just once; it's ongoing active process
Nothing makes consent automatic or unnecessary
In some situations, full, informed and free consent cannot truly be given (incapacitated by alcohol, drugs, emotional distress or coercion)
Penalties & Legal Representation:
Rape in the first degree and Rape in the second degree are Class A felonies, carrying fines of up to $50,000, imprisonment for up to a life term, or both. Rape in the third degree is a Class C felony, carrying fines of up to $10,000, imprisonment for up to 5 years, or both.
These are very serious crimes, involving very serious consequences. It goes without saying that these penalties will alter every aspect of your life. If you are accused of a crime like this, you need to enlist serious, knowledgeable representation from a criminal defense attorney as quickly as possible.
Please contact us so we may begin promptly working on your case. We are dedicated to ensuring your rights are fully protected and will work to achieve the best possible outcome in your case.


text:
Q: How to clean up a Hibernate Session properly I am using Hibernate in my app, and noticed that whenever a Hibernate error is thrown, the application eventually crashes with DB-related errors. From what I've read, the issue is that the Hibernate session is in some sort of unusable state, and therefore needs to be discarded. However, it is being returned to the pool and being re-used on the next call, instead of being discarded.
What is the correct way to ensure, at the start of each function, that the session is usable, and if not, to make sure it is discarded properly and a new session started?
My Hibernate config file includes the following:
<property name="connection.provider_class">org.hibernate.connection.C3P0ConnectionProvider</property>
<property name="hibernate.c3p0.min_size">5</property>
<property name="hibernate.c3p0.max_size">10</property>
<property name="hibernate.c3p0.timeout">60</property>
<property name="hibernate.c3p0.idle_test_period">45</property>
<property name="hibernate.c3p0.max_statements">50</property>
<property name="hibernate.c3p0.preferredTestQuery">SELECT 1;</property>
<property name="hibernate.c3p0.testConnectionOnCheckout">true</property>
<property name="hibernate.c3p0.acquireRetryAttempts">3</property>

and my code that has this error (complete function calls) is:
public static ReturnCodes newUser(Long id, String username, String country) {

    Session session = HibernateUtil.getSessionFactory().getCurrentSession();
    Transaction transaction = null;
    try {
        transaction = session.beginTransaction();

        //check for duplicate user
        User checkUser = getUserByExternalID(id, true);
        if (checkUser != null && checkUser.getId().intValue() == id.intValue()) {
            transaction.commit();
            return ReturnCodes.DUPLICATE;
        }

        User newUser = new User();
        newUser.setUsername(username);
        newUser.setExternalID(id);
        newUser.setCountry(country);

        session.save(newUser);
        transaction.commit();
        return ReturnCodes.SUCCESS;
    } catch (ConstraintViolationException e) {
        log.info("The user must already exists, so cleanup and return DUPLICATE.");
        return ReturnCodes.DUPLICATE;
    } catch (Exception e) {
        log.info("An unknown error occurred, so cleanup and return GENERAL FAILURE.");
        return ReturnCodes.GENERAL_FAILURE;
    }
}
public static User getUserByExternalID(Long userid, boolean leaveTransaction) {
    Session session = HibernateUtil.getSessionFactory().getCurrentSession();
    User user = null;
    try {
        session.beginTransaction();
        Criteria c = session.createCriteria(User.class);
        c.add(Restrictions.eq("externalID", userid));
        user = (User)c.uniqueResult();
        if (!leaveTransaction)
            session.getTransaction().commit();
    } catch (Exception e) {
        log.error("Could not retrieve user with External ID " + userid, e);
    }
    return user;
}

A: Session and transaction management is a bit complex.
Spring has implemented it, by annotating methods with @Transactional.
If you want to handle that manually, read this. You can use a Filter to start a session, or some proxy and a ThreadLocal. Most commonly a session is created per-request.

A: The most common approach is to manage your transactions and Hibernate sessions in the services, a layer above DAO. In that case you can perform several database operations in the same transaction. For example, in your case you can explicitly check whether user with the given username already exists before trying to create a new one. So, you can let Hibernate handle all SQLExceptions and to convert them to a runtime exception.
This is usually done by injecting transaction management code via a dependency injection library. The most popular DI library is Spring.

A: What I ended up doing is to add the following line to every catch block:
session.clear();

which, according to the documentation,

Completely clear the session. Evict all loaded instances and cancel all pending saves, updates and deletions. Do not close open iterators or instances of ScrollableResults.

The result of this is that the session is returned to a usable state, and future uses of the same session will not be impacted by the earlier error.
This does not, of course, solve any issues surrounding proper demarcation of transactional scope, which Olaf and Bozho correctly explain is best handled outside the scope of any particular DAO.


text:
The Princess Bride (1987)
Buy, Rent or Skip The Princess Bride?
Author Topic: The Princess Bride (1987) (Read 248 times)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njZBYfNpWoE
What is there not to love about The Princess Bride? It's a great movie with great characters with a great story and legendary quotes that have stood the test of time. Can you think of any other movie with as many memorable quotes like this one has? "As you wish", "Inconceivable", "Have fun stormin' the Castle" and the best if the bunch, "Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die". All the actors in this were well cast. I still remember seeing this in the theater and the reason why I went in the first place was because I was a HUGE fan of the WWF and I wanted to see what Andre The Giant would bring to his role. It was no surprise for me at all when he basically stole the movie. He just OWNED it then....and still does to this day. RIP big guy!!
I highly recommend this as a Buy. I think everyone should have their own copy. It's a fantastic family film, although I wouldn't show kids under the age of 8 due to the R.O.U.S.'s which is Rodents of Unusual Size which could in fact scar a kid at such a young age. Anyway, definitely pick this one up.
Re: The Princess Bride (1987)
The Princess Bride Blu-ray Screencaps
« Last Edit: September 01, 2012, 09:41:08 pm by Chiprocks1 »
Looooove Princess Bride. A entertaining movie that can be watched anytime.
The problem now is that so many fairy tales want to BE "The Princess Bride" (see "Tangled") and they never reach the same lofty heights.
A couple years ago I visited my dad and my step-brother John had this flick on his DVR so I turned it on. My dad had never seen it, so we watched the whole thing and I kept checking my dad's expression and, outside of recognizing all the British actors like Mel Smith and so on, didn't really react. Then the movie ended and he turned to me and just said "that was great." His wife came in a minute or so later and he made us watch it again, and this dude never watches ANYTHING twice. He really did love it.
Okay, a couple years ago The Rock was in this movie called "The Tooth Fairy" and the ONE watchable scene (outside of Seth McFarlane's odd cameo as a black market fairy dust pusher) as Billy Crystal, and give him credit, they clearly wanted him to be Miracle Max but he did it differently, he was sort of the "Q" character and he spoke a mile a minute and it's just a chucklefest for a few minutes. At least for me.
Awesome story about your Dad.
'The Princess Bride' Cast Celebrate 25 Years
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QN--1Tw8ag
That was pretty cool.
Too bad Andre The Giant isn't around to enjoy this.
I don't know how old this is, but I just saw it and had to post it: Mandy Patinkin Talks Inigo Montoya And The Princess Bride
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=bDBPv3_NDYk
Looks to be fairly new as he is in his 'Homeland' look.
I feel like he's been rocking that beard since "Dead Like Me" ended. Also, I really need to revisit "Dead Like Me."
I really need to pickup the Blu-Ray
I can't WAIT until I have money so I can get back to blu-rays in a big way.
Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story (1987)
Started by Chiprocks1 Free Movies
North Shore (1987)
Some Kind of Wonderful (1987)
88 Views October 08, 2012, 10:04:25 pm
A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987)