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Backpage 'seized': FBI raids founder's home just as classified listing site shutdown
Megan Cassidy and Richard Ruelas
The Republic | azcentral.com
PHOENIX — The controversial classified-ad website Backpage.com was no longer operating Friday — just hours after FBI officials raided the home of the website's co-founder.
FBI officials here confirmed "law-enforcement activity" Friday morning at the Sedona-area home of Michael Lacey, a co-founder of Backpage.com.
Then, hours later, a message was posted to the website, apparently from the federal Justice Department, that notified users the federal government was shutting it down.
"Backpage.com and affiliated websites have been seized," the headline of the notice read on the Canadian version of Backpage.
The notice said the seizure was "part of an enforcement action by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division, with analytical assistance from the Joint Regional Intelligence Center."
► Jan. 9:Backpage.com shuts adult services section following Senate panel report
► Aug. 1:Senators: Alter Internet laws to hold Backpage liable for sex trafficking
Phoenix FBI spokesman Glenn Milnor referred all other questions to the Justice Department. A Justice official told The Arizona Republic that the department would release more information shortly.
As of 1 p.m. MST, the notice was no longer present on the United States version of Backpage.com though an error message appeared after clicking into any one of the site's various categories.
The message remained on the Canadian version of the website.
Backpage started as the literal back page of the New Times, filled with classified ads.
Lacey and Jim Larkin, former New Times executives who sold off the newspaper chain in 2012, retained the lucrative financial interest in the Backpage website.
The site became dominated with adult-oriented advertising that police, prosecutors and advocates said were thinly veiled solicitations for prostitution. The adult ads were among the few the website charged users to post.
A Senate report released in January 2017 contained internal emails from the company that showed its operators edited ads and created a list of disallowed terms that seemed indicative of prostitution. The Senate report concluded that such actions showed Backpage knew its website was used to facilitate prostitution.
Backpage shuttered its adult section the day the report was released, just as Lacey and Larkin appeared under subpoena to testify before the Senate committee. Both men refused to answer questions.
Advocates and prosecutors have alleged that Backpage was used to sell underage girls and that women sold through the ads were coerced into prostitution, elevating the crime from prostitution to the federal crime of sex trafficking.
Follow Megan Cassidy and Ruchard Ruelas on Twitter: @meganrcassidy and @ruelaswritings


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Want to buy historic Randy's Record Shop? Put in a bid at the auction.
Jen Todd
The owners of the Randy's Record Shop building have decided to sell the property in an absolute auction, meaning no minimum bid amount.
"This is going to make everything work better," said Shannon Rogers, who has helped spearhead a community effort to save the building. "This project is going to run a lot smoother if this is under ownership in Gallatin."
Rogers said owner Charles Smith and his family have decided to take the highest amount for the property of 321-331 W. Main St.
The auction will be held at 10 a.m. Nov. 15 at the site. Individuals interested in bidding can register at the event and must show a driver's license.
Tim Brewer of Crye-Leike Realtors, managing broker for the property, said he will also announce the City of Gallatin's demands for the building at the auction, since it has been deemed dangerous. The highest bidder must close on the property by Dec. 17.
Building declared dangerous, group hopes to restore shop
The Gallatin City Council declared the building dangerous after several weeks under an "imminently dangerous" status. The site once housed the largest mail-order record shop in the world.
The roof has fallen and the interior will need to be gutted to restore the building, which is what the recently-formed Historic Randy's Record Shop Foundation hopes to do.
Smith and his family have worked with the group interested in saving the building to take measures such as bracing the walls and having a fence put around the site to bring the "imminently dangerous" status down to simply "dangerous."
Rogers hopes the new owner of the building will work with the foundation to restore the shop and turn it into an interactive museum, record shop and park. Rogers said the foundation has heard from some interested buyers, especially now that the price will be discounted.
"This is going to be a good thing, I think, for the foundation," he said.
For more information about the auction, visit www.timbrewer.com.
Reach Sumner County reporter Jen Todd at 615-575-7143, jtodd1@tennessean.com or on Twitter @jentoddwrites.
More:What Historic Randy's Record Shop property in Gallatin could look like if saved
More:Can Randy's Record Shop be saved? Many obstacles face historic Gallatin building
More:Randy's Records is 'imminent danger,' Gallatin official says, but fight not over

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Tag Archives: war on women
YES, Mittens' Mormonism MATTERS (and other heretical thoughts on this Easter Sunday)
Ah, Easter Sunday.
No better day (except Christmas, perhaps) to discuss religion.
The Los Angeles Times' website had two interesting headlines this past week. The first, posted Thursday, was "Sen. Hatch Predicts Obama Campaign to 'Throw Mormon Church' at Romney." It begins:
In a prediction of underhanded campaign tactics to come, [Mormon U.S.] Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) told GOP delegates Tuesday that he foresees that President [Barack] Obama's campaign will try to use Mitt Romney's Mormon faith against him.
"You watch, they're going to throw the Mormon church at him like you can't believe it," Hatch said.
He later reiterated his point on Wednesday in Draper, Utah.
"For them to say they aren't going to smear Mitt Romney is bologna. It's way out of bounds, but that's what is going to happen."
Hatch, also a Mormon, and seeking re-election in a state with more than 60 percent of the population following the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints [the Mormon cult], specifically pointed his finger toward Obama's campaign adviser David Axelrod and White House aide David Plouffe.
"Let me tell you something. The Obama people have some of the best political consultants in the country and they don't get there because they're always wonderful people. They're very tough," Hatch said. "I've met with Axelrod, he's the best there is in the business. Plouffe, you've got to say he's one of the best. And there is nothing they won't do." …
Yesterday, the L.A. Times ran another story, authored by someone else, with the headline "Obama Praised – and Pummeled – on Matters of Faith."
Indeed, as the story points out:
… Few presidents have spoken about their religious faith as often, as deeply or as eloquently as Obama. "We worship an awesome God in the blue states," he declared at the 2004 Democratic convention, and he has sought since then to rebuild ties between the Democratic Party and the world of faith.
Yet no president has faced such sustained hostility over issues of faith, including Republican charges that he is waging a "war on religion," widespread suspicion about the sincerity of his Christian faith, and the persistent legend that he is a practicing Muslim. … [Emphasis mine.]
Indeed, Barack Obama's having tossed some bones to the believers in God as A Super-Duper Wish-Granting and Punishment-Doling Big Santa Claus in the Sky on Crack — He's making a list and checking it twice; he's going to find out who's naughty and nice! He knows if you've been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake! — always has unsettled me, someone whose views on religion decidedly do not follow those of the pack of wolves in sheep's clothing.
However, I've lived with Obama's occasional God crap because (1) I've pretty much had no choice, and (2) I've never had the sense that he would govern the nation theocratically — and certainly not as a Muslim!
The problem that the "Christo"fascists have with Obama is not that he has waged an actual "war on religion." He has not. He has not ordered that any churches or any church publications be burned or banned, that any religious leaders be burned at the stake or crucified or even just exiled.
Shit, the Obama administration allows "Christo"fascist organizations to, as I understand it, blatantly violate their tax-exempt status by openly participating in politics and in political campaigns, such as in the "Christo"fascists' jihad against women, non-heterosexuals, non-whites, non-"Christo"fascists, et. al.
(Disclosure: I never will forgive the Mormon and Catholic cults for their hateful, mean-spirited, anti-Christian support of the incredibly hateful, mean-spirited, anti-Christian Proposition 8, which wrote the hatred of and the discrimination against an historically oppressed minority group into the state's constitution here in California.)
It has been business as usual for the "Christo"fascist churches under President Obama*, and any drop-off in church membership can be attributed to the fact that the backasswards, anti-science and anti-reality "Christo"fascism, which picks certain groups out for continued persecution and subjugation, in direct violation of the actual teachings of Jesus Christ — I need only point to the "Christo"fascists' ongoing war on women, in which both Catholic Prick Santorum and Mormon Mittens Romney are active, bomb-lobbing enemy combatants — doesn't fucking work in 2012, if it ever worked at all (it did not).
But the right-wing fascists love to blame everything, even their own miserable failings — perhaps especially their own miserable failings — on the nation's first black president.
The problem that the "Christo"fascists have with Obama is not that he is waging some "war on religion," but that he is not giving favored status to the stupid white men — like the cabals of stupid, old, evil white men who lead the Mormon cult and the Catholic cult, who would love to get their hands on the White House via Mormon Mittens Romney or Catholic Prick Santorum — stupid, evil white men who use the names of God and Jesus to try to advance their own personal lust for power and money.
Historically there have been two broad visions of Christianity.** The historically dominant one is the one supported by the likes of Prick Santorum and Mittens Romney, the one in which certain power-grubbing men have all of the power and the only way to God and Jesus and "salvation" is through these men — which is awfully convenient for these men, but not so great for the rest of us. They have the monopoly on God and Jesus and "salvation," you see, and they will defend this monopoly because no one with a ridiculous amount of power and money will part with it without a fight.
The other vision of Christianity is a minority vision. It views spirituality as a personal matter that the individual must cultivate within herself or himself. Indeed, under this vision some gargantuan "Christian" institution cannot somehow magically "save" the individual merely by the individual's identification with or membership of the institution. The individual has to do the work of "salvation." No one else can do it for her or him.
Indeed, Jesus himself is recorded to have said, "And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you." (Matthew 6:5 and 6:6)
I see no other way to interpret that than that Jesus was saying that prayer is an intensely personal, not a public, matter, yet the "Christo"fascists are all about prayer in public, even in our public schools, although Jesus himself clearly called such practitioners and advocates "hypocrites."
Jesus also had choice words about rich people, such as "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." (Matthew 19:24)
Hmmm. Is multi-millionaire Mittens Romney going to heaven?
If his millions have bought him a method of shrinking himself so that he can squeeze through the eye of a needle, then sure.
But seriously, here is "Christo"fascist Mormon tool Orrin Hatch insinuating that all discussion of Mittens Romney's Mormonism should be off limits, yet it's been wide open fucking season on Barack Obama's religious beliefs since before he took office. How conveniently convenient it is for the Mormon cult that we should be able to discuss Barack Obama's religious beliefs (or supposed lack thereof) ad nauseam, but that to discuss Mittens' religious beliefs is, according to Mormon cult spokesnake Sen. Orrin Hatch, "way out of bounds."
This is the rank hypocrisy that Hatch and his "Christo"fascist ilk have been so steeped in for so long now that they apparently can't even see it; they take it for granted like a fish takes water for granted.
Whatever Barack Obama does or does not actually believe about God and/or Jesus, I don't much care, as long as he doesn't try to govern the nation theocratically. In a nation of diverse believers and non-believers, to govern theocratically is to govern only for some and not for all. The only way to govern for all is to govern secularly.
I, for one American, don't want theocracy. I want secular democracy. I have good reason to believe that Mittens Romney would take marching orders from the cabal of stupid, old, evil white men in Salt Lake City. Every Mormon is expected to obey and to answer to the cabal in Salt Lake City, which is to have the supreme authority in Mormons' lives. Mormons ultimately don't answer to their country. They answer to the cabal in Salt Lake City. I lived among Mormons in Arizona. I know.
Nor do I want Pope Palapatine's puppet, Prick Santorum, in the Oval Office. I don't have to worry about him being elected president, since he has a snowball's chance in hell of that ever happening, but I'm not OK with him being vice president any more than I was OK with Sarah Palin being a heartbeat away from the highest political office in the land.
On this Easter Sunday, I want to tell the "Christo"fascists of the world: Fuck you. For centuries you have been calling the shots and persecuting your detractors in the names of God and Jesus Christ, using rank hypocrisy as your main weapon of choice. Your anti-Christian reign is ending. You know it, which is why you are in your death throes — and better, the rest of us who for centuries have been your victims know it.
*Indeed, as the L.A. Times notes:
Obama gets generally high marks from faith organizations for maintaining, and in some ways strengthening, the Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships begun by [former "President"] George W. Bush. Obama faced pressure from secular liberals to scuttle the office, which was seen as blurring the line between church and state. Instead, he used it to reach out to faith groups across a broad spectrum of theology and politics.
"The president was very bold in deciding not just to drop something that a lot of people who supported him thought was not a great idea," said Stanley Carlson-Thies, who served under Bush in what was then called the Office of Faith-based and Community Initiatives.
Under Joshua Dubois, a Pentecostal minister Obama appointed to head the office, it has expanded its focus from primarily funneling government contracts to faith-based groups to also engaging religious organizations as volunteers. It has, for instance, trained churches and other religious organizations in disaster preparedness and response. It also enlisted more than 1,000 churches in a Job Clubs program to help the unemployed.
A rather different message has emerged from the Republican presidential contest. "This president is attacking religion, and is putting in place a secular agenda that our forefounders would not recognize," his likely Republican challenger, Mitt Romney, has said. …
**For more on this, see the writings of Elaine Pagels, perhaps especially her seminal The Gnostic Gospels.
She begins her conclusion of that work with this paragraph:
It is the winners who write history — their way. No wonder, then, that the viewpoint of the successful majority has dominated all traditional accounts of the origin of Christianity. Ecclesiastical Christians first defined the terms (naming themselves "orthodox" and their opponents "heretics"); then they proceed to demonstrate — at least to their own satisfaction — that their triumph was historically inevitable, or, in religious terms, "guided by the Holy Spirit."
In her work, Pagels chronicles how Christianity, quite early on, was hijacked by power-hungry, ruthless men who wished to mangle the message of Jesus Christ into something that no longer freed people, all people, as it was intended to do, but into something that instead enslaved people and that served these power-mad men and their own selfish, ultimately petty interests.
This bastardization of the teachings of Jesus Christ began as early as with Bishop Irenaeus, who within the two centuries after the death of the historical Jesus determined which early Christian gospels (there were many of them, not just four of them) would become official and "true" and which would be deemed apocryphal and "heretical." Irenaeus advocated for a rigid, all-male hierarchy that decided all matters, against the early gnostic Christians' belief that spirituality is an individual practice, not an institutional or hierarchal practice, and that this is what Jesus Christ taught.
Once the early patriarchal/hierarchal "Christian" church gained the military strength of the Roman empire under Roman Emperor Constantine about a century after Irenaeus, this bastardized vision of Christianity as a rigid patriarchy that could persecute — even slaughter — others in the names of God and Jesus became the dominant form of "Christianity" that we know today.
The early gnostic Christians — the true Christians, in my book — who by definition opposed hierarchy and militarism, were no match against the unholy alliance between the early patriarchal/hierarchal "Christians" and the militaristic Roman empire. They were, in essence, crucified, and their teachings, including the gnostic gospels, deemed "heretical" by the early patriarchal/hierarchal "Christian" church, were lost. (Many of the gnostic gospels later were discovered, however, especially the find in Egypt in 1945, as Pagels chronicles in her books on the topic.)
Bringing this true Christianity back would be, symbolically, the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and that, in my book, is the real message of Easter today.
Tagged as "Christo"fascism, "Christo"fascists, "war on religion", belief, Catholicism, Catholics, Christ, Christianity, Christmas, early Christianity, Easter, Elaine Pagels, Emperor Constantine, gnosticism, gnostics, God, Irenaeus, Islam, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Joshua Dubois, misogynists, Misogyny, Mitt Romney, Mittens Romney, Mormon cult, Mormonism, Mormons, Muslims, Office of Faith-based and Community Initiatives, Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships, Orrin Hatch, Patriarchy, Pope Palpatine, Prick Santorum, Proposition 8, religion, resurrection of Jesus Christ, Rick Santorum, Romney, Salt Lake City, Santorum, secularism, Stanley Carlson-Thies, theocracy, theocrats, Utah, war on women
Only Prick Santorum thinks that he should continue his quest
No, wait — his wife (pictured with him above in Wisconsin on Friday) also thinks that he should keep going because it would be so cool to be first lady! So that's two people.
Repugnican Tea Party presidential wannabe Prick Santorum won't stop wailing and whining that it's a great fucking idea for him to continue his impossible quest for his party's 2012 presidential nomination, even all the way to the party's convention in August.
In Wisconsin, where Prick will lose to Mittens Romney tomorrow, Prick proclaimed today: "I think it would be a fascinating display of open democracy, and I think it would be an energizing thing for our party to have a candidate emerge who's a — who isn't the blessed candidate of the Republican establishment. I think that's a good thing; it's a good narrative for us. It makes this election a short election; the shorter this election in the fall, the better off we are, not the worse."
I'm not sure exactly what Prick means by "the shorter this election in the fall, the better off we are." Does he mean that if Mittens is declared the party's 2012 candidate sooner rather than later, all of the additional time and attention focused exclusively upon Mittens will induce Mittens to lose in November? Does Prick even mean that the least amount of time and attention focused exclusively upon him, the better?
In any event, the Repugnican Tea Party candidate, whoever it is (but who very most likely will be Mittens), most likely will lose to incumbent Barack Obama anyway. While I suppose that it's not absolutely impossible for the wooden, milquetoast multi-millionaire Mittens to somehow pull off a victory in November, I certainly can't see Americans chosing Prick Santorum over Barack Obama.
(Indeed, recent nationwide polls* have shown Obama with a 2 percent to even an 11 percent lead over Mittens in a hypothetical matchup, but with a 5 percent to 14 percent lead over Prick.)
It was Prick Santorum's having led the charge against women's access not only to abortion (a right guaranteed to them in 1973 by the U.S. Supreme Court Roe vs. Wade), but also to birth control, for fuck's sake, that no doubt has decimated women's support of the Repugnican Tea Party presidential ticket in the crucial swing states.
Reports Yahoo! News today:
Female voters in battleground states are rallying around President [Barack] Obama in droves, according to a new USA Today/Gallup poll released [today], suggesting a gender gap could pose one of the Republicans' biggest challenges in this fall's general election race.
Obama led Mitt Romney by 18 percentage points among female registered voters in the nation's top 12 swing states. The gender gap between Obama and Rick Santorum was 15 points. USA Today reports that this is the "first significant lead" the president has held in these key voting states.
Those leads represent big gains for the president, compared to previous swing state polls conducted by USA Today/Gallup, according to USA Today:
The biggest change came among women under 50. In mid-February, just under half of those voters supported Obama. Now more than six in 10 do while Romney's support among them has dropped by 14 points, to 30 percent. The president leads him 2-1 in this group.
Recent Quinnipiac University polls conducted in Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania bore out similar results. Female voters supported the president over Romney or Santorum by 6 to 19 percentage points in these three states.
Democrats are likely to use these poll numbers to fuel their argument that the Republicans are alienating female voters this cycle by focusing on women's issues, something which is also likely to shape Democratic voter outreach efforts.
Democrats have branded congressional Republicans' coordinated opposition to free birth control this year as well as Romney's stated pledge to end Planned Parenthood as key actions in the Republican party's "war on women." (The party also lumps in conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh's verbal attacks on Georgetown law student Sandra Fluke.) …
Attacking women's right to use contraception was a huge fucking blunder that the incredibly fucktarded Prick Santorum primarily pushed. Mittens, who probably never would have broached the topic of contraception on his own, apparently didn't want to be out-wingnutted by Prick and so he jumped onto the anti-birth-control bandwagon, and then when Grand Dragon Rush Limbaugh called Sandra Fluke a "slut" and a "prostitute" for having promoted women's right to access to birth control, the branding of the Repugnican Tea Party as the party against women's right to access to birth control, for fuck's sake, became cemented.
Prick Santorum, with his backasswards, "Christo"fascist, papal proclamations — with his far-right-wing worldview in which only staunchly conservative, white, (presumedly) heterosexual, "Christian" males have any rights and have the lion's share of all of the power — already has damaged his party for the November 2012 presidential election, probably irrevocably so, yet Prick argues that the best thing for his party is for him to remain in the race for as long as possible.
Prick-friendly or potentially Prick-friendly states (Indiana, North Carolina and West Virginia) aren't on the primary election calendar until next month, however, while Mittens should win Wisconsin tomorrow and five Northeastern states (including New York) plus the District of Columbia tomorrow and later this month, and if Prick loses his home state of Pennsylvania to Mittens on April 24, I don't expect Prick to fight on even into next month.
There's all of that and the fact that according to the latest Gallup daily tracking poll, Mittens now leads Prick 43 percent to 25 percent among the members of their party nationwide. That 43 percent is Mittens' highest showing ever in the daily tracking poll in this election cycle, and Prick peaked in the daily tracking poll way back in mid-February, when the highest that he polled was 36 percent.
Prick has said that he'd be happy to be Mittens' running mate — indeed, after having lost his last election (his 2006 re-election bid to the U.S. Senate for Pennsylvania) by a whopping 18 percentage points, being even vice president would be a big step up for Prick — but after the damage that Prick has caused Mittens, not only with the women's vote but with his "Etch-A-Sketch" bullshit, I don't expect Mittens to pick Prick, who pretty much is the male Sarah Palin. (I expect Mittens to try to appeal to the Latino vote and to the youth vote by picking the obnoxious Marco Rubio, U.S. Senator for Florida, who, like many if not most of his fellow Cuban Americans, has sold out to right-wing whites.)
The chance of an incredibly stupid, "Christo"fascist, Pope-Palpatine-ass-licker like Prick Santorum being only a heartbeat away from the presidency, however, probably would be enough to induce me to hold my nose and to give President Hopey-Changey some money and maybe even my vote.
*By "recent" I refer to the five nationwide polls posted on pollingreport.com that were taken between March 10 and March 26. Anything older than this, in my book, isn't recent. The average of these five polls shows Obama 6.2 percent ahead of Mittens and 10.4 percent ahead of Prick. November is, at least today, looking pretty good for Obama.
Tagged as "Christo"fascism, "Christo"fascists, abortion, birth control, contraception, family planning, fascism, fascists, feminism, feminists, Latino vote, Marco Rubio, Misogyny, Mitt Romney, Mittens Romney, Planned Parenthood, Politics, Pope Palpatine, Prick Santorum, reproductive rights, Republican Party, Republican Tea Party, Rick Santorum, Romney, Rush Limbaugh, Sandra Fluke, Santorum, theofascism, theofascists, war on women, wingnut, wingnuts, Wisconsin, women's health, women's rights, women's vote, youth vote


512-471-3434 www.utexas.edu Founded in 1883, the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) is the largest component of The University of Texas System – a conglomerate of 15 academic and health institutions – and the largest institution of higher education in the Austin area. With more than 51,000 students (including 11,000 graduate students), and over 24,000 faculty and staff members, UT is one of the largest public universities in the U.S.
512-674-2000 www.apple.com Personal computer giant Apple, Inc. employs more than 3,000 at its Austin location, with employees who work in sales, marketing, and customer service. The company has also recently announced plans for further expansion of its northwest Austin location.
512-870-2528 www.att.com Headquartered in San Antonio, the AT&T/SBC merger in 2005 created one of the largest telecommunications companies in the world. It is the largest provider of fixed and mobile telephones in the United States, with more than 210 million total customers.
10. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) 7171 Southwest Parkway Austin, 78735 512-602-2292 www.amd.com Advanced Micro Devices develops computer processors and related technologies for commercial and consumer markets. Its main products include microprocessors, mother-board chipsets, embedded processors and graphics processors for servers, workstations and personal computers, and processor technologies for handheld devices, digital television, automobiles, game consoles, and other embedded systems applications.
512-272-1000 www.appliedmaterials.com Applied Materials is a capital equipment producer serving the semiconductor, TFT LCD display, Glass, WEB and solar (crystalline and thin film) manufacturing industries. It creates and commercializes nanomanufacturing technology used in the production of semiconductor (integrated circuit) chips for electronic gear, flat panel displays for computers and television, glass coatings for homes and buildings, web (flexible substrate) coatings for industry and photovoltaic solar cells and modules using both thin film and crystalline (aka wafer or bulk) photovoltaic technology.
512-425-4100 www.flextronics.com Flextronics is an electronics manufacturing services provider that offers services to original equipment manufacturers (OEM). It also provides supporting supply chain services, including packaging and transportation throughout the world, as well as design and after-sales.
512-895-2000 www.freescale.com Once a division of Motorola, Freescale Semiconductor began in 1949 as one of the first semiconductor companies in the world and has made automotive and networking its main leadership areas. It is now the largest semiconductor supplier to the automotive industry.


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Home > Vol 60, No 10 (2021) >	Sharma
Synthesis and characterization of some binuclear alkylene dithiophosphate complexes of bis(acetylacetonato)aluminium(III)-di-(μ-isopropoxo)di-isopropoxoaluminium(III) and sol-gel synthesis of nanosized θ-alumina
Sharma, Vinita ; Sanwaria, Anita Raj; Sharma, Nikita
Reactions of bis(acetylacetonato)aluminum(III)-di-(μ–isopropoxo)-di-isopropoxoaluminum(III) (A) with a variety of alkylenedithiophosphoric acids in different molar ratio yield products of the type [(CH3COCHCOCH3)2Al(μ-OPri)2Al{S(S)P(O-G-O)n(OPri)2-n] (1-9) {where G = C(CH3)2C(CH3)2, n=1[1], n=2[2]; -CH2CH(C2H5), n=1[3], n=2[4]; CH2CH(CH3), n=1[5], n=2[6];C(CH3)2CH2CH(CH3), n=1[7]; CH(CH3)CH(CH3) n=1[8], n=2[9]}. Progress of the reactions was monitored by estimating liberated 2-propanol in benzene-2-propanol azeotrope by oxidimetric method. All pale coloured viscous products were soluble in common organic solvents and were characterized by elemental analyses, FT-IR and NMR (1H and 13C{1H} NMR) spectral studies. Molecular weight measurements in refluxing anhydrous benzene indicated binuclear nature of the complexes. 27Al NMR spectra of two of the derivatives, (1) and (2), suggested the presence of aluminium(III) atoms in different coordination states. 31P NMR spectra of the representative derivatives (1) and (2) exhibited only a single peak at 95.71 and 90.59 ppm, respectively suggesting tetra-coordination around phosphorus atom and a bidentate mode of chelation of the dithio ligand. Sol-gel transformation of Al(OPri)3 and [(CH3COCHCOCH3)2Al(μ-OPri)2Al(OPri)2] (A) followed by sintering at ~850°C yield alumina (a) and (b), respectively. The powder X-ray diffraction patterns, SEM images and FT-IR spectral studies of (a) and (b) indicated formation of nano-crystallites of θ -Al2O3 [PDF # 110517] in both the cases. The energy band gaps of 4.78 eV and 5.01 eV for (a) and (b), respectively were obtained from the absorption spectra.
Bis(acetylacetonato)aluminum(III))-di-(μ–isopropoxo)-di-isopropoxoaluminum(III), alkylenedithiophosphoric acid, sol-gel transformation, nano-sized θ -Al2O3 .
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Cool astronomy photos
We are the Borg.
Location: Yokohama/Tokyo, Japan
Re: Cool astronomy photos
Post by Anaxagoras » Tue Jan 28, 2020 7:14 am
Wow, has it been 7 years already?
Still going strong I see, if a little dirtier.
A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool.
Post by Witness » Tue Jan 28, 2020 9:20 pm
Can magnetic fields help tell us how spiral galaxies form and evolve? To find out, the HAWC+ instrument on NASA's airborne (747) SOFIA observatory observed nearby spiral galaxy M77. HAWC+ maps magnetism by observing polarized infrared light emitted by elongated dust grains rotating in alignment with the local magnetic field. The HAWC+ image shows that magnetic fields do appear to trace the spiral arms in the inner regions of M77, arms that likely highlight density waves in the inflowing gas, dust and stars caused by the gravity of the galaxy's oval shape. The featured picture superposes the HAWC+ image over diffuse X-ray emission mapped by NASA's NuSTAR satellite and visible light images taken by Hubble and the SDSS. M77 is located about 47 million light years away toward the constellation of the Sea Monster (Cetus).
Title: Bruce of all Bruces
Post by Bruce » Wed Jan 29, 2020 1:47 am
Magnetic fields boggle my mind on the molecular level. To see magnetic fields extend in loops over the surface of the sun that can fit several Jupiters is beyond what I can comprehend. And now to see magnetic field patterns extending across an entire galaxy.....
Such potential!
Title: Pretty much dead already
Post by robinson » Wed Jan 29, 2020 3:03 am
Electric Universe shit right there
still working on Sophrosyne, but I will no doubt end up with Hubris
Post by Witness » Fri Jan 31, 2020 4:19 am
Newest solar telescope produces first images
Preeminent telescope to play critical role in better understanding sun, space weather
The National Science Foundation's Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope has released its first images. They reveal unprecedented detail of the sun's surface and preview the world-class products to come from this preeminent 4-meter solar telescope.
Details: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2 ... 131449.htm
Post by Witness » Fri Jan 31, 2020 11:52 pm
Two comets (green, left: C/2017 O1; white, center: C2015 ER61) and the Pleiades:
Photo Damian Peach/Insight Astronomy Photographer of the Year: https://www.sciencealert.com/we-are-com ... f-the-year
Post by Anaxagoras » Sat Feb 01, 2020 12:28 am
That is very cool. We're seeing the Milky Way there in the background too, if I'm not mistaken.
A green comet is cool. Anything green can't be a star. Stars come in red, orange, yellow, white and blue. But not green.
Post by Witness » Tue Feb 04, 2020 12:55 am
Post by Anaxagoras » Wed Feb 05, 2020 3:51 am
Photos are too big to embed here, so link to tweet:
Link: https://twitter.com/Astro_Jessica/status/1221564081229979650
The one on the right appears to be a reflection on a solar panel.
Post by Witness » Sat Feb 08, 2020 1:03 am
Very high resolution moon picture (color enhanced): https://i.redd.it/8v2xpu7hgif41.jpg
Source: https://old.reddit.com/r/Astronomy/comm ... esolution/
Post by Witness » Sun Feb 09, 2020 3:51 am
In other astro news:
NASA brings Voyager 2 fully back online, 11.5 billion miles from Earth
In an incredible feat of remote engineering, NASA has fixed one of the most intrepid explorers in human history. Voyager 2, currently some 11.5 billion miles from Earth, is back online and resuming its mission to collect scientific data on the solar system and the interstellar space beyond.
On Wednesday, February 5 at 10:00 p.m. Eastern, NASA's Voyager Twitter account gave out the good news: Voyager 2 is not only stable, but is back at its critical science mission.
"My twin is back to taking science data, and the team at @NASAJPL is evaluating the health of the instruments after their brief shutoff," the account tweeted.
Voyager 2 is sister craft to Voyager 1. Both have been traveling through the solar system — and now beyond it — for the last four decades. Together, they have transformed our understanding of our stellar neighborhood and are already revealing unprecedented information about the interstellar space beyond the Sun's sphere of influence.
https://www.inverse.com/science/nasa-br ... from-earth for the rest.
Post by Witness » Sun Feb 09, 2020 9:21 pm
The barred spiral NGC1365 + 209 named galaxies in this field:
Full-size image to zoom in: https://i.redd.it/539efusrure41.jpg
Technical details: https://old.reddit.com/r/Astronomy/comm ... night_sky/
Post by Witness » Mon Feb 10, 2020 11:18 pm
Patagonia.
Big image: https://i.redd.it/679rloudf0g41.jpg
Post by robinson » Tue Feb 11, 2020 8:39 pm
https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/spaceimages/im ... _hires.jpg
https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/spaceimages/de ... d=PIA04213
Post by Witness » Wed Feb 12, 2020 4:13 am
NGC 7331 Close Up
Big, beautiful spiral galaxy NGC 7331 is often touted as an analog to our own Milky Way. About 50 million light-years distant in the northern constellation Pegasus, NGC 7331 was recognized early on as a spiral nebula and is actually one of the brighter galaxies not included in Charles Messier's famous 18th century catalog. Since the galaxy's disk is inclined to our line-of-sight, long telescopic exposures often result in an image that evokes a strong sense of depth. This Hubble Space Telescope close-up spans some 40,000 light-years. The galaxy's magnificent spiral arms feature dark obscuring dust lanes, bright bluish clusters of massive young stars, and the telltale reddish glow of active star forming regions. The bright yellowish central regions harbor populations of older, cooler stars. Like the Milky Way, a supermassive black hole lies at the core of spiral galaxy NGC 7331.
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200207.html (full size picture)
Post by Anaxagoras » Fri Feb 14, 2020 8:00 am
The Kuiper belt object Arrokoth is a pristine remnant of planet formation in action
Scientists say they have "decisively" overturned the prevailing theory for how planets in our Solar System formed.
The established view is that material violently crashed together to form ever larger clumps until they became worlds.
New results suggest the process was less catastrophic - with matter gently clumping together instead.
The study appears in Science journal and has been presented at the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in Seattle.
The study's lead researcher, Dr Alan Stern, said that the discovery was of "stupendous magnitude".
"There was the prevailing theory from the late 1960s of violent collisions and a more recent emerging theory of gentle accumulation. One is dust and the other is the only one standing. This rarely happens in planetary science, but today we have settled the matter," he told BBC News.
The claim arises from detailed study of an object in the outer reaches of the Solar System. Named Arrokoth, the object is more than six billion km from the Sun in a region called the Kuiper belt. It is a pristine remnant of planet formation in action as the Solar System formed 4.6 billion years ago, with two bodies combining to form a larger one.
Scientists obtained high-resolution pictures of Arrokoth when Nasa's New Horizons spacecraft flew close to it just over a year ago. It gave scientists their first opportunity to test which of the two competing theories was correct: did its components crash together or was there gentle contact?
The analysis by Dr Stern and his team could find no evidence of violent impact. The researchers found no stress fractures, nor was there any flattening, indicating that the objects were squashed together gently.
"This is completely decisive," said Dr Stern. "In one fell swoop, the flyby of Arrokoth was able to decide between the two theories."
Well, they do seem to be generalizing from a sample of one.
Title: Collective Messiah
Post by Doctor X » Fri Feb 14, 2020 8:14 am
Honk!
– J.D.
Mob of the Mean: Free beanie, cattle-prod and Charley Fan Club!
"Doctor X is just treating you the way he treats everyone--as subhuman crap too dumb to breathe in after you breathe out." – Don
DocX: FTW. – sparks
"Doctor X wins again." – Pyrrho
"Never sorry to make a racist Fucktard cry." – His Humble MagNIfIcence
"It was the criticisms of Doc X, actually, that let me see more clearly how far the hypocrisy had gone." – clarsct
"I'd leave it up to Doctor X who has been a benevolent tyrant so far." – Grammatron
"Indeed you are a river to your people.
Shit. That's going to end up in your sig." – Pyrrho
"Try a twelve step program and accept Doctor X as your High Power." – asthmatic camel
"just like Doc X said." – gnome
WS CHAMPIONS X4!!!! NBA CHAMPIONS!! Stanley Cup! SB CHAMPIONS X6!!!!!!
Post by Witness » Sat Feb 15, 2020 12:45 am
Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity, published over 100 years ago, predicted the phenomenon of gravitational lensing. And that's what gives these distant galaxies such a whimsical appearance, seen through the looking glass of X-ray and optical image data from the Chandra and Hubble space telescopes. Nicknamed the Cheshire Cat galaxy group, the group's two large elliptical galaxies are suggestively framed by arcs. The arcs are optical images of distant background galaxies lensed by the foreground group's total distribution of gravitational mass. Of course, that gravitational mass is dominated by dark matter. The two large elliptical "eye" galaxies represent the brightest members of their own galaxy groups which are merging. Their relative collisional speed of nearly 1,350 kilometers/second heats gas to millions of degrees producing the X-ray glow shown in purple hues. Curiouser about galaxy group mergers? The Cheshire Cat group grins in the constellation Ursa Major, some 4.6 billion light-years away.
Post by Bruce » Mon Feb 17, 2020 12:04 am
Starting to wonder if I should change my entry in the Deadpool to Betelgeuse.
https://astronomy.com/news/2020/02/dimm ... mages-show
This has been in NASA news for the past year. Betelgeuse has been dimming, which is normal for a variable star, but it's been dimmer for a longer period since its variable phenomenon was first recorded. As of a few days ago, it started changing shape.
I would honestly like to see it go supernova. That would be super cool. It would almost be worth the Second Coming and other woo nonsense that would surely follow.
Post by Witness » Mon Feb 17, 2020 12:56 am
This orange blob shows the star Betelgeuse, as seen by the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). This is the first time that ALMA has ever observed the surface of a star and this first attempt has resulted in the highest-resolution image of Betelgeuse available.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betelgeuse
Post by Bruce » Mon Feb 17, 2020 1:47 pm
https://www.nasa.gov/planetarydefense/dart
The binary near-Earth asteroid (65803) Didymos is the target for the DART demonstration. While the Didymos primary body is approximately 780 meters across, its secondary body (or "moonlet") is about 160-meters in size, which is more typical of the size of asteroids that could pose the most likely significant threat to Earth. The Didymos binary is being intensely observed using telescopes on Earth to precisely measure its properties before DART arrives.
The DART spacecraft will achieve the kinetic impact deflection by deliberately crashing itself into the moonlet at a speed of approximately 6.6 km/s, with the aid of an onboard camera (named DRACO) and sophisticated autonomous navigation software. The collision will change the speed of the moonlet in its orbit around the main body by a fraction of one percent, but this will change the orbital period of the moonlet by several minutes - enough to be observed and measured using telescopes on Earth.
Unless....by some sick twist of fate that typically only exists in movies....the impact redirects the space rock directly toward earth.
Better start training those oil rig operators how to be astronauts right now, eh?
Post by Doctor X » Tue Feb 18, 2020 7:24 am
Liv Tyler could use the work.
Location: Friar McWallclocks Bar -- Where time stands still while you lean over!
Post by sparks » Tue Feb 18, 2020 7:11 pm
Listy can help her with that.
You can lead them to knowledge, but you can't make them think.
No pictures (yet):
Astronomers to sweep entire sky for signs of extraterrestrial life
Project is collaboration between privately-funded institute and New Mexico observatory
Astronomers will sweep the entire sky for signs of extraterrestrial life for the first time, using 28 giant radio telescopes in an unprecedented hunt for alien civilisations.
The project is a collaboration between the privately-funded Seti Institute and the Very Large Array observatory in New Mexico, one of the world's most powerful radio observatories. Gaining real-time access to all the data gathered by VLA is considered a major coup for scientists hunting extraterrestrial lifeforms and an indication that the field has "gone mainstream".
Normal astronomy operations will continue at the VLA, which was featured in the 1997 film Contact, but under the new arrangement all data will be duplicated and fed through a dedicated supercomputer that will search for beeps, squawks or other signatures of distant technology.
"The VLA is being used for an all-sky survey and we kind of go along for the ride," said Andrew Siemion, director of the Berkeley Seti centre. "It allows us to in parallel conduct a Seti survey.
"Determining whether we are alone in the universe as technologically capable life is among the most compelling questions in science, and [our] telescopes can play a major role in answering it," said Tony Beasley, director of The National Radio Astronomy Observatory, which runs the VLA.
https://www.theguardian.com/science/202 ... trial-life
Post by Bruce » Wed Feb 26, 2020 3:37 am
Bruce wrote: ↑Mon Feb 17, 2020 12:04 am Starting to wonder if I should change my entry in the Deadpool to Betelgeuse.
Nope. False alarm.
https://www.universetoday.com/145114/be ... ing-again/
The latest observations of Betelgeuse show that the star is now beginning to slowly brighten. No supernova today! Nothing to see, better luck next time.
Despite some of the hype, this behavior is exactly what astronomers expected.
Post by Witness » Mon Mar 02, 2020 11:00 pm
A 2.5 Hour Exposure of the Rho Ophiuchi Region From a Dark Sky Site
https://old.reddit.com/r/space/comments ... hi_region/ for technical details.
Post by Witness » Tue Mar 03, 2020 8:57 pm
China's Rover Finds Layers of Surprise Under Moon's Far Side
The Chang'e-4 mission, the first to land on the lunar far side, is demonstrating the promise and peril of using ground-penetrating radar in planetary science. ["peril"?]
China's Yutu-2 rover on the moon's surface. Ground-penetrating radar on the rover examined soil on the moon at depths of more than 100 feet.
China's robotic Chang'e-4 spacecraft did something last year that had never been done before: It landed on the moon's far side, and Yutu-2, a small rover it was carrying, began trundling through a crater there. One of the rover's instruments, a ground-penetrating radar, is now revealing what lies beneath.
In a paper published Wednesday in the journal Science Advances, a team of Chinese and Italian researchers showed that the top layer of the lunar soil on that part of the moon is considerably thicker than some expected — about 130 feet of what scientists call regolith.
"It's a fine, dusty, sandy environment," said Elena Pettinelli, a professor of mathematics and physics at Rome Tre University who was one of the authors of the paper.
Based on what NASA astronauts observed during the Apollo moon landings, other scientists said they would have expected one-quarter as much soil.
Arrows at lower right show the Chang'e 4 landing site in Von Karman crater on the moon.
Although Von Karman crater lies within what is known as the South Pole-Aitken basin, an ancient 1,100-mile-wide impact crater, it is too far north for there to be ice in the soil.
The radar waves passed through the top 40 feet or so almost effortlessly, indicating a porous granular material. Below that, there were boulders, perhaps a couple of feet to a couple of yards in size. A third slice of soil, even lower, appeared to consist of alternating layers of fine and coarse particles but without boulders.
One surprise was that the researchers saw no signs of the radar bouncing off basalt — solidified lava — that would have pooled at the bottom of a crater as the rocks melted by a meteor impact cooled. Yutu-2's radar signals would have bounced off that rock if the rover had visited Von Karman crater soon after it formed.
But several billion years later, the basalt surface has been buried by regolith that was subsequently tossed up by later impacts. The top layer of fine particles may have also once contained boulders, but those may have been broken apart in eons of subsequent cosmic pummeling.
The Chang'e-4 lander, photographed by the Yutu-2 rover.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/26/scie ... -side.html
Post by Witness » Wed Mar 04, 2020 10:20 pm
Saturn: Shadows of a Seasonal Sundial
Saturn's rings form one of the larger sundials known. This sundial, however, determines only the season of Saturn, not the time of day. In 2009, during Saturn's last equinox, Saturn's thin rings threw almost no shadows onto Saturn, since the ring plane pointed directly toward the Sun. As Saturn continued in its orbit around the Sun, however, the ring shadows become increasingly wider and cast further south. These shadows are not easily visible from the Earth because from our vantage point near the Sun, the rings always block the shadows. The above image was taken in August by the robotic Cassini spacecraft currently orbiting Saturn. The rings themselves appear as a vertical bar on the image right. The Sun, far to the upper right, shines through the rings and casts captivatingly complex shadows on south Saturn, on the image left. Cassini has been exploring Saturn, its rings, and its moons since 2004, and is expected to continue until at least the maximum elongation of Saturn's shadows occurs in 2017. [2011 October 12]
http://teacherlink.ed.usu.edu/tlnasa/re ... 11012.html
Post by Witness » Thu Mar 05, 2020 7:09 pm
No picture, but an interesting result:
Hunting aurorae: Astronomers find an exoplanet using a new approach
If confirmed, the discovery points to how radio telescopes could help astronomers discover and study exoplanets by searching for their aurorae.
Astronomers have discovered a terrestrial-mass exoplanet orbiting a tiny red dwarf star less than 30 light-years from Earth. And although finding yet another exoplanet is nothing new, what's unique is exactly how the researchers discovered the exotic world: They hunted for radio waves emitted by glowing aurorae.
The new observations — made with the Low Frequency Array radio telescope (LOFAR) in the Netherlands — indicate a planet less than about five times the mass of the Earth is in a quick orbit around a petite red dwarf named GJ 1151. And thanks to the stars' magnetic field interacting with the close-in planet's atmosphere, the researchers were able to detect the telltale radio signatures of aurorae.
In the case of the newfound world around GJ 1151, the researchers paint a picture of a planet magnetically connected to its star, producing aurorae as the two interact. According to Joseph Callingham, a Veni Fellow at Leiden Observatory at Leiden University, these exoplanetary aurorae are expected to look brighter and more intense than anything seen on Earth, sporting purple and yellow hues that only appear in Earth's strongest light shows.
This sort of magnetic activity produces radio emissions, which radio astronomers have long hoped to use to find and study exoplanets. In 2018, for instance, astronomers discovered the impressive auroral activity of a rogue exoplanet called SIMP J01365663+0933473 (or simply SIMP). This marked the first detection of aurorae on a planet-sized object outside our own solar system. If confirmed, the recent observations of GJ 1151 will go on to serve as the first detection of star-exoplanet interaction at radio frequencies.
"All previous methods of detecting exoplanets around main-sequence stars use optical telescopes," says Benjamin Pope, a NASA Sagan Fellow at New York University who was involved with the research. "By opening the radio window, we don't necessarily know what we will find!"
And because most red dwarf stars — which are thought to account for roughly 75 percent of the stars in the universe — have exceptionally strong magnetic fields, this new method of detecting exoplanets based on their auroral activity could be particularly revealing.
https://astronomy.com/news/2020/03/hunt ... w-approach
Post by Anaxagoras » Fri Mar 06, 2020 7:27 am
We're sending another rover to Mars soon:
America's next Mars rover will be called Perseverance
More about the mission:
Nasa 2020 robot rover to target Jezero 'lake' crater
Basically it's like the Curiosity Rover, but with some upgraded kit. The platform is the same, so they didn't try to reinvent the wheel by designing a whole new rover from scratch.
Post by Witness » Fri Mar 06, 2020 10:14 pm
Technical details: ISS Transit of the Sun in Hα.
Post by Witness » Sun Mar 08, 2020 8:58 pm
Jupiter's moon Io in true colors:
Post by Witness » Mon Mar 09, 2020 7:19 pm
Lunar south pole:
Source & details: https://prabhuastrophotography.com/upda ... south-pole
LUVOIR Large UV/Optical/IR Surveyor
LUVOIR (Large UV Optical Infrared telescope) is a concept for a large multi-wavelength, serviceable observatory following the heritage of the Hubble Space Telescope. In scope with its ambitious planned design, its science goals would enable transformative advances across a broad range of astrophysics. With a proposed launch date in mid 2030s, this observatory includes upgradeable state-of-the-art instruments and would reside at Earth-Sun L2 point. LUVOIR's broad range of capabilities, including its wide UV-NIR wavelength range, will allow it to study yet-to-be-discovered phenomena and answer yet-to-be dreamed of questions we do not yet know to ask. A large fraction of LUVOIR's schedule would be open to the community through a general observing program. The LUVOIR study team is considering two architectures, one with a 15-m mirror (Architecture A), and another with an 8-m mirror (Architecture B). Architecture A is designed for launch on NASA's planned Space Launch System (SLS), while Architecture B is being designed to launch on a heavy-lift vehicle with a 5-m diameter fairing, similar to those in use today.
LUVOIR Architecture A (LUVOIR-A) features a 15-m diameter primary telescope aperture and four serviceable instruments, while Architecture B (LUVOIR-B) has an 8-m telescope aperture and 3 instruments. The primary mirror for LUVOIR-A is an on-axis three-mirror anastigmat system (TMA). The advantages of this system include high optical quality across a wide field-of-view. LUVOIR-B is an off-axis TMA, chosen to improve perfomance for high-contrast observations of exoplanets. Both designs include a fine steering mirror located at the real exit pupil of the optical telescope element, to achieve ultra-fine pointing stability for all of the instruments.
Just a concept. Even LUVOIR-B would be too expensive for NASA. Details: https://asd.gsfc.nasa.gov/luvoir/
But holy crap, the things we could see with a 15 m telescope in orbit. Tax the cockroaches!
Post by sparks » Tue Mar 10, 2020 5:03 pm
If it will elevate our knowledge of the Cosmos in which we find ourselves, then count on it: It won't get funded.
Sky Daddy and all that shit you see.
Post by Anaxagoras » Wed Mar 11, 2020 3:52 am
Maybe if the James Webb telescope actually works, but it's been so plagued with delays and cost overruns, that I think they might be shy about starting to build another space telescope in the near future.
Post by Witness » Wed Mar 11, 2020 3:20 pm
Anaxagoras wrote: ↑Wed Mar 11, 2020 3:52 am Maybe if the James Webb telescope actually works, but it's been so plagued with delays and cost overruns, that I think they might be shy about starting to build another space telescope in the near future.
Indeed. And it's a pity.
"Now estimated to cost $9.7 billion, the project's costs have increased by 95 percent and its launch date has been delayed by over 6.5 years since its cost and schedule baselines were established in 2009."
– GAO Report: James Webb Space Telescope
From this article on the subject: https://www.universetoday.com/144804/it ... july-2021/
Post by Witness » Sun Mar 15, 2020 10:19 pm
Signals that baffled astronomers for 17 years traced to observatory's microwave oven
For 17 years, astronomers at a well-known Australian radio telescope known as "The Dish" had not been able to figure out the source of a strange, vexing interference.
Simon Johnston, head of astrophysics at the CSIRO, the national science agency, told the Guardian that a couple of times a year signals known as perytons were detected "within five kilometers" of the Parkes Observatory in New South Wales. The first theory was that the perytons were caused by local lightning strikes.
On New Year's Day, the observatory installed a new receiver to monitor the interference, and it detected strong signals at 2.4 GHz.
Two point four gigahertz is the signature of a microwave oven.
When scientists tested the facility's lunchroom microwave, no perytons were found — at least not at first.
But when the door of the microwave was opened while food was heating — as one might do to check on a reheated dish — bingo! Perytons spilled out like microwaved popcorn.
Complicating matters was that the Dish only registered the perytons when it was pointed at the microwave.
Astronomers generally operate the telescope remotely, but several maintenance workers are on the site during daytime hours. Little did they know that reheating their coffee created an enigma that would remain unsolved for almost two decades.
https://www.sfgate.com/science/article/ ... 249454.php
Sorry, no picture of the offending kitchen appliance.
Post by sparks » Mon Mar 16, 2020 1:58 am
Fucking idiots.
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Boss Kean's Ditch


Schema Therapy is most effective in the treatment of personality disorders, anxiety disorders, depression, relationship difficulties; and is used when people fail to respond or relapse after having been through other therapies.
Schema therapy was developed in an attempt to help those who had not seen any benefits with Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), and aims to change negative patterns or beliefs that people have lived with for a long time – also known as 'schemas'. These schemas typically begin early in our life, though sometimes, they can form later on in adulthood, and can be reinforced by certain behaviours, patterns of thinking and the mind's coping strategies. Therefore, schema therapy helps you to break these ways of thinking, feeling and behaving, and replacing them with healthier alternatives.
Schema therapy's main focus is to identify core schemas and how they might have contributed to negative patterns that are present in your life and which prevent you from having a meaningful life and meaningful relationships. Some of the core schemas that this therapy focuses on are ones of abandonment, defectiveness, emotional deprivation, mistrust and social isolation.
Duration of Schema therapy varies, but generally is considered to be a long-term therapy – lasting as long as you need it to (6 months – 2 years).
Your therapist will begin by getting to know you and getting to understand what your schemas are/look like, how they originated and how they affect you. Different strategies are used in this process, including the process of you filling out various questionnaires.
You and your therapist will develop a shared understanding of your difficulties, and role-playing and imagery work will often be used in order to help you overcome your schemas.
Towards the end of therapy, changes in behaviour and breaking patterns will be the main focus, until you feel confident enough in your newly learned abilities.
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At My Online Therapy, we have several highly qualified psychologists who are experienced in delivering Schema Therapy. They can also bring this therapy to you within the comfort of your own home or office through our online platform that has been developed exclusively for the delivery of psychological therapy in a convenient and accessible way.


text:
Najaah Malonne
dancer. performer. artist
Najaah Malonne is a young dancer and performing artist. Najaah's parents enrolled her in a summer dance class at age 3 to help her "come out of her shell", as she was a very shy child. At 4 years old, she performed in her very first dance recital at Dance Academy West. Her parents were pleasantly surprised at curtain call, when she waved, winked and blew kisses to the audience. It was evident that she was most comfortable when performing!
Najaah continued to dance at the studio and joined the studio's competition team, "The Dazzlers" at age 9. Immediately, she exhibited natural talent and a passion for the art of dance. At age 10 she began performing solos to hone both her technique and stage presence. She quickly became an award winning dancer, collecting top honors, special judges awards and scholarships. In efforts to become an even better dancer, Najaah began attending summer intensives. She has studied as a Jr Ballet Trainee at The Joffrey School of Ballet, Joffrey West Summer Jazz Intensive in Los Angeles, Debbie Allen Dance Academy Intensive in Atlanta and Alvin Ailey Summer Dance Intensive in New York.
She also expanded her work with one of her solo choreographers, Mitchell Kelly from Season 8 of Fox's "So You Think You Can Dance". Mitchell provided aggressive development and performance opportunities through his youth foundation, MK Life Parts. He also provided her with a scholarship to her very first dance convention. ASH (Artist Simply Human) which proved to be a life changing experience for her. After that experience, Najaah knew she wanted to become a professional dancer and decided to shift her focus from competing, to developing her technique to prepare her for the life and rigors of the professional dance world. Upon her departure from competition dance, she began dancing with several pre-professional dance companies in Atlanta, Georgia and guest starred and apprenticed with professional dance companies as well. She also continues to seek out any and every opportunity to dance! She studies at multiple studios, takes master classes and works with many teachers, instructors and choreographers.
Najaah is an artist and loves performing! Although dance is her passion, she has begun to explore other facets of the performing arts as well. Opportunities to sing and act with some of the best in the industry have sparked new interest. Through participation in the performing arts, Najaah has learned self-expression, hard work, dedication and focus. Najaah is also an accomplished honor student in all advanced classes. As an adult, Najaah dreams of becoming a professional on the small and big screen and the Broadway stage, and study at institutions such as Julliard or Fordham Universities!


text:
Caltrans Honors Fallen Workers
Marianne Russ
Every year there's a special service at the State Capitol to honor fallen Caltrans workers – but this year there's something to celebrate, too: no fatalities for twelve months.
By Marianne Russ
166 orange cones were arranged on the Capitol's west steps. Each bore the name of a Caltrans worker killed on the job since 1924. One of them was 32-year old Sean Merriman, who was hit by a truck last year. His mother Jackie was among the hundreds who attended the service:
"It would be my wish that no other person – that my son would be the last for Caltrans - for at least the rest of my life if not the lifetime of California."
Caltrans Director Will Kempton says 12 months with no fatalities bucks the national trend.
"In virtually every other state in the country, the deaths – and fatalities for maintenance workers is on the upswing. In California, they're down. That tells me our slow for the cone zone is working."
Kempton warns drivers there will be a lot more Caltrans workers out there in the near future. That's because of the 20 billion dollar transportation bond voters approved.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007 4:00 PM
Wednesday, April 18, 2007 3:00 AM


text:
Mew And the Glass Handed Kites
(Sony) Buy it from Insound Allmusic.com lists My Bloody Valentine and the Pet Shop Boys among Mew's influences. Yeah, you read that right. And guess what? On their new album, and first widely available release, those influences can be clearly heard, and not surprisingly, the results are unique and unexpected. And the Glass Handed Kites successfully blends a raw, cavernous guitar attack with dreamy synth and vocal performances, and while the product of this marriage is much more Loveless than it is Actually, the vulnerability of the latter is very much in evidence. The sweet tunes and soaring vocals on songs like The Zookeeper's Boy and The Seething Rain Weeps for You (Uda Pruda) belie an eagerness to please resonant of the purest pop music, even if they are buried under an avalanche of intergalactic shoe-gaze. By which I mean there is a directness of expression here and a willingness to engage the listener that is not a standard by-product of most "space rock" or "dream pop" or whatever you want to call it.
Allmusic.com lists My Bloody Valentine and the Pet Shop Boys among Mew's influences. Yeah, you read that right. And guess what? On their new album, and first widely available release, those influences can be clearly heard, and not surprisingly, the results are unique and unexpected. And the Glass Handed Kites successfully blends a raw, cavernous guitar attack with dreamy synth and vocal performances, and while the product of this marriage is much more Loveless than it is Actually, the vulnerability of the latter is very much in evidence. The sweet tunes and soaring vocals on songs like The Zookeeper's Boy and The Seething Rain Weeps for You (Uda Pruda) belie an eagerness to please resonant of the purest pop music, even if they are buried under an avalanche of intergalactic shoe-gaze. By which I mean there is a directness of expression here and a willingness to engage the listener that is not a standard by-product of most "space rock" or "dream pop" or whatever you want to call it.
And thank Yahweh for that. Finally, a shoe-gaze album you can actually like and which doesn't mind, nay, actively desires, being liked. These sound like dudes with (please forgive me for the following cheesy, clichéd and utterly inane statement, except that I can't think of anything better) their heads in the clouds and their feet on the ground. You may even enjoy sharing a Carlsberg with them, which is more than you can say for the usual assortment of introverted brats making noises like these. So you'll see that some critics recommend this album to people who liked OK Computer, for instance, which makes no sense in musical terms since the two sound nothing alike, but makes perfect sense if we consider them both as genre examples of "accessible space rock", or whatever. Make up your own description if you think you can do better; I'm tired.
Along with the aforementioned influences, Mew's sound also incorporates the angular, aggressive guitar techniques and odd time signatures of the dance punk revival, fast wearing out its welcome. But it works, because Mew recontextualizes the style by making it work against a more languid foundation. Chinaberry Tree, the first proper song after the introduction of Circuitry of the Wolf, perfectly blends all the elements in one neat package. The vocals ring out, the synths envelop and the guitar and drums chug along against the current. Sometimes the aggressive approach takes over, as in Apocalypso, which may or may not be the theme song to the upcoming Mel Gibson movie. This works, and serves to extend the band's range, which is not limited to upbeat, spaced-out tunes.
You can tell a lot about a band by the way they choose to end their albums. On this one, the vocalist sings alone, "stay with me, don't want to be alone". This is probably the exact opposite of what you'd expect from a typical shoe-gaze band and perfectly encapsulates their esthetic. Mew is playing for you, not their shoe.
13 September, 2006 - 23:00 — Alan Shulman
Related Music Reviews
Mew - No More Stories...


The Chevy Styleline four door sedan was an affordable family car. It was a beautiful curvy vehicle with chrome bumpers and classic bench seats. Usually painted with red oxide, once the original paint has worked away you are left with rusty ghosts. These once abundant vehicles litter farm yards and back alleys across north america. Left behind from a time when gas was cheap, and people had big dreams and big families.
"I am influenced greatly by colourful fabrics and textures, and my paintings are expressive, bright and bold. Painting has come naturally to me, though I am trained as a graphic designer." Viviana Pacheco is a Calgary-based artist. She was born in Guatemala, but has been in Canada for 36 years.


Microsoft is cracking down on adware next year. In a post on its TechNet blog, the company said that it is banning ad injection software that uses 'man-in-the-middle' techniques, such as network layer manipulation, injection by proxy, and changing DNS settings without express consent.
"All of these techniques intercept communications between the internet and the PC to inject advertisements and promotions into webpages from outside, without the control of the browser. Our intent is to keep the user in control of their browsing experience and these methods reduce that control," Microsoft said in the post.
Microsoft's new policy, which comes into effect on March 31, states that any programs that show ads on the browser can only install, disable or execute programs through the browser itself. Meaning any ad software that wants to download or install something without notifying you via your browser will be blocked off and marked as adware.
"Programs that create advertisements in browsers must only use the browsers' supported extensibility model for installation, execution, disabling, and removal," Microsoft said. "The choice and control belong to the users, and we are determined to protect that."
The move comes in the wake of Lenovo's Superfish controversy that was exposed earlier this year. The company was found to have pre-installed the adware on many of its consumer laptops. Not only did the software hijack a web browser to inject ads into webpages, but it also generated its own root certificate so it could intercept traffic from secure sites and overlay its own ads on the page.
Lenovo eventually agreed to stop pre-loading its computers with Superfish, acknowledged that it was a security risk, and released an automatic removal tool. Hopefully, Microsoft's new policy will prevent a repeat of a similar Superfish scandal; it's just surprising that the company has taken so long to implement it.


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Home Jackery How To Charge Iphone With Jackery Portable Charger – The Ultimate Review
How To Charge Iphone With Jackery Portable Charger – The Ultimate Review
How To Charge Iphone With Jackery Portable Charger – Is it For You
Whether you are in the marketplace for a new power supply or you just require a little increase to your present one, the Jackery Traveler 1000 could be the best choice for you. How To Charge Iphone With Jackery Portable Charger
This design has a great deal of attributes, including an amazing 1000W of constant power and also 2000W of surge power. It additionally has a 46.4 Ah lithium battery ability as well as two pure sine wave air conditioner electrical outlets.
In spite of its small 22 pound weight, the Jackery Traveler 1000 packs a 1000W of juice. If you get on a spending plan, this is an excellent selection. The Jackery product is also well fit for outdoor activities. The best component is it will power most of your smaller home appliances. You can likewise use it to charge your vehicle battery if you're so likely.
The Explorer 1000 includes a 2,000 W surge inverter. This is more than enough to power the contemporary kitchen area device. Nevertheless, if you're searching for a true powerhouse, you'll need to step up to the Jackery juggernaut. The business has a couple of models that fit the expense.
The Jackery 2000 and also the Jackery 1500 have a little bit extra oomph. They each have a 1045 watt-hour battery and are a little on the heavier side. The best component is, you can use both of them for optimum power. How To Charge Iphone With Jackery Portable Charger
It's seldom that you obtain your hands on a Traveler 1000, so you could also make the most of your time while you go to it. The power station's slick orange finish is a welcome sight for the eyes. The company's site also boasts a free 12-month warranty, which is more than most rivals. The item is likewise a strong ol' fashioned splurge.
The Jackery gadget may be a little excessive for your average home, but you'll be pleasantly shocked by its portability. With the best batteries and also power adapters, you'll be able to delight in the advantages of a complete giant, minus the mass. The Jackery gizmo can power your tiny appliances while you're on the roadway or in the yard. The small, yet mighty Jackery juggernaut can do everything.
Whether you're taking pictures of wild animals, outdoor camping, or simply enjoying the outdoors, the Jackery Traveler 1000 Portable Power Station is a wonderful method to have power any place you go. This handy generator supplies lots of power for illumination, computer systems, as well as other electronics.
It's light, portable, and also has a great simplify look. The orange color pattern is specialist looking. It likewise comes with a digital screen to help you see precisely how much battery life you have actually left. It's a great tool for professional photographers, but it's not an essential for every single shoot.
The Jackery Explorer 1000 Portable Power plant works with photovoltaic panels for additional charge. It has a solid feeling, is lightweight, as well as comes with an inverter. Relying on the version you choose, you can charge up to 50 video cameras.
This power plant has a big, lithium-ion battery. The battery is built to last as well as store power for as much as 1002Wh of power. The lithium-ion battery is known for its high power thickness and also lengthy life. It additionally powers the 12-volt power port and USB ports. It can be reenergized by an air conditioner wall electrical outlet, vehicle charger, or by compatible photovoltaic panel. How To Charge Iphone With Jackery Portable Charger
There are 4 temperature core detectors inside the battery, which benefits defense. It additionally has a battery monitoring system to make sure that the battery doesn't overheat. It can be charged in as low as 2 hours by air conditioning power or 2.5 to 7.5 hours with solar Legend panels.
Unlike various other comparable products, the battery capability of the Traveler is measured in Watt-hours. This is a much more accurate dimension of just how much power you have in your battery.
The Explorer has a little LCD display that shows the amount of power moving into and out of the battery. It's simple to see just how much power is fed back into the billing ports, and also the LCD present can be backlit.
While it's a fantastic means to have power on the move, the Traveler 1000 does not provide a real "entire home" solution. You can't connect in lights or appliances for longer periods of time, as well as it's a little bit loud.
Can power approximately eight laptop computer charges
Powered by a mighty lithium battery, Jackery Traveler 1000 is a power bank that is portable and also can power as much as eight laptop fees. The battery itself is ranked to accept 2,000 W of peak power, and also it stores electricity for up to 1002Wh. The battery can be recharged through a DC input port or Anderson Powerpole jack.
The Traveler 1000 has a good inverter, as well as it has two USB-A ports, an AC port, and a USB C port. It also features a built-in flashlight. Its screen reveals the portion of the battery and also the watts the device is putting out. The very best part is that it has a great charge controller.
It's likewise got a good LCD display, and also the screen shows the battery's ability, in addition to the input and outcome information. It's not extremely bright, though. The Jackery Traveler 1000 is a quite cool little device, but it could be better.
It also has a good inverter and also a battery management system, and also it makes use of Tier 1 LG battery cells. The lithium battery is known for its long life as well as high energy density. The lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide battery can be discovered in most electrical autos.
The one drawback of the Explorer 1000 is that it does not have real pass-through charging. It can power both sides of the battery at the same time, but it can not do it in full. The Jackery business does offer a padded carrying situation for it. The battery as well as battery charger can be charged using solar energy, however. The Jackery Power Outdoors website declares that they are the very first company to develop a portable power station using lithium battery technology.
The Jackery business was founded by a previous senior Apple battery engineer, Z. Sunlight, that has over twenty years of experience in the field of lithium ion battery innovation. His items are geared in the direction of outside adventures, as well as he has a proven track record in the style as well as manufacture of environmentally friendly mobile power stations.
In other words, the Jackery Traveler 1000 is a solid, cost-effective, all-in-one portable power station that need to fit lots of people's requirements. The battery is large, the charger is strong, as well as the take care of is a nice touch. It has a few minor faults, but it's an outstanding power bank for the price. How To Charge Iphone With Jackery Portable Charger
Whether you're trying to find a reliable source of power for your house or to carry hand for camping, Jackery Explorer 1000 is a mobile, eco-friendly solution. With a rechargeable battery as well as photovoltaic panels, you can obtain a great fee, also in low sunlight. This is wonderful for utilizing your cell phone as well as Bluetooth audio speakers, in addition to your laptop.
Unlike a traditional generator, Jackery Traveler 1000 makes use of a pure sine wave inverter to supply a consistent stream of power. This indicates no noise or exhaust. It can additionally run most devices concurrently. You'll get a good stream of tidy power, as well as the batteries can last for days.
This generator is light-weight as well as compact, making it very easy to bring with you. It has a user friendly user interface as well as a cushioned carrying situation. You'll require a power block and also an AC adapter to operate the device, yet the charger will offer you an eight-hour recharge.
Throughout the day, the Explorer 1000 has enough power to power a 50-watt laptop for about 20 hours. The device can be billed via a vehicle's accessory port, a house wall electrical outlet, or with solar panels. It has a multi-function LCD show, so you'll know how much power is left in the battery. It can manage power rises up to 2000W. You can likewise charge your CPAP machine with the system.
The charging system on the Explorer 1000 is quick, enabling you to charge in three hours from practically vacant. It's made to operate silently, so you can utilize it in the wild, without creating any disruptions.
The Traveler 1000 has a sturdy carry deal with, but it can not be folded. This is a layout defect for any person that prepares to load it. It likewise makes it tough to position items ahead. If you're seeking a cushioned situation, consider various other versions.
Overall, the Jackery Traveler 1000 is an extremely durable as well as quiet power station, best for professional photographers on assignment or those that take pleasure in the outdoors. It's not an economical unit, yet it does have a lot of features. You can likewise buy a set of 100-watt solar panels, which will enable you to obtain more out of your power source. How To Charge Iphone With Jackery Portable Charger
How To Charge Iphone With Jackery Portable Charger How To Charge Iphone With Jackery Portable Charger


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Q: validate a where clause query in c# I was asked this question in an interview.
Write a c# program which will print out all the errors in a statement.
(a + b == 3 and x == y or b / c == d)

Allowed keywords are and/or, braces are allowed and have to match. The statement has to be logically correct. Print out all the errors.
Something like a compiler or sql analyzer.
Any idea how to go about syntax checking?

A: You're being asked to build a parser.
The computer science theory behind compilers is extensive and complex.  To keep it simple, I recommend reading Jack Crenshaw's compiler tutorial.  It will show you in the first few chapters how to do exactly this by building a top-down recursive descent parser.  His example is almost exactly what you're trying to do.  It's in Pascal, but it's still easy enough to follow and the concept still applies.
Google for "jack crenshaw let's build a compiler", or browse to:
http://compilers.iecc.com/crenshaw/

A: That's actually pretty complicated if you want to get it 100% right. The direction to research would have to do with the keywords "finite state automata", "regular expressions" (not to be confused with Regex) and "context-free grammars". Also there's an approach called "recursive descent parser" but you'll need to understand the above concepts first.

A: Matching brackets and parenthesis is easy.
string expression = "(a + b + (c + d) )";

int brackets = 0;
int parenthesis = 0;
foreach(char c in expression)
{
  if(c == '(') ) parenthesis++;
  if(c == ')') ) parenthesis--;

  if(parenthesis < 0) { // ERROR!!! }
  // Same logic with brackets

}
if (parenthesis != 0) { ERROR!!! }

Also, I would use a similar approach with "statements mergers" ( +, -, *, / ) and "statements comparators" ( ==, !=, <, <=, ... )
For each word in your expression, only a few valid keywords can follow.
As it was mentionned before, writing parsers is a difficult task, planning every exception case right away is hardly possible. This should be the general idea instead of a definitive solution.
On a final note, it is perfectly ok to have multiple passes to scan for different things. First pass is brackts/parenthesis only, then check for something else in another loop.

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The  Balboa Bay Resort is a  160-room resort hotel in Newport Beach, California, United States on . The facility was founded in 1948 as the Balboa Bay Club, a private yacht club. The Balboa Bay Club includes a 130-slip marina, private beach, waterfront pools, private restaurant, a spa and fitness center, and 145 apartments on the Newport Beach Harbor waterfront on the Pacific Coast Highway.

Facilities
Originally called The Balboa Bay Club and Resort, the facility opened in May 2003  as a waterfront hotel, resort, and separate private members yacht club. Over its history the club has seen many changes and additions to its structures. The club today features a hotel, as well as short and long term apartments, located on the oceanfront.

A restaurant, "The First Cabin", a bar, "Duke's Place", and a library/lounge were revised in 2014 and renamed "Waterline" & "A&O Kitchen + Bar" respectively within the Resort/BBR. The Resort underwent renovations that were completed in 2016. The Resort provides 11 meeting and board rooms. The Resort and Club each have their own pools. A 17,000-square-foot spa and fitness center is located in the members' clubhouse. The Residences also has a pool located in its complex.

In May 2012, the new owners announced that plans to again renovate the club were under development and it went on the state that public meetings would be held to allow for input from the public.

The Balboa Bay Club at one time had tennis courts onsite and also had an off-site tennis club, named the Balboa Bay Racquet Club located in the nearby Newport Center. The Balboa Bay Racquet Club is now The Tennis Club at the Newport Beach Country Club.

History

The original, private Balboa Bay Club was owned by Jack Wrather from 1960 until 1971, when he sold it to William Ray. In 1988, William Ray was inducted into the International Hall of Fame for his conservation efforts.

Ray died in 1991, and his widow, Beverly Ray Parkhurst owned the club until 2012. The 160-room hotel opened to the public on May 14, 2003. In 2011 the club was sold to Winston Chung, a Hongkongese businessman. It was later reported that the sale to Chung fell out of escrow as Chung was having difficulty moving funds out of China to pay for the purchase.

In June 2012, the BBC was sold to Richard H. Pickup and his family members, Eagle Four Partners and Pacific Hospitality Group, LLC  The Resort & Club is now fully independent and owned by Eagle Four Partners, making up the entity of International Bay Clubs.

In 2013, the Balboa Bay Club and Resort was renamed as two separate entities and opened its renovated resort 'Balboa Bay Resort' to the public. The club continues to be open for members only.

The club has been host to many notable people over the years, including: presidents, politicians, business leaders and actors, including John Wayne, Humphrey Bogart, Robert Wagner, Lauren Bacall, Natalie Wood, John Travolta, Jerry Seinfeld, Jim Carrey, Russell Simmons, Barry Goldwater. For many years it had a public board of directors and many Newport Beach residents served on the board.

Tennis tournaments were held at the resort, beginning in 1958.

Marina

The Balboa Bay Resort can accommodate up to 150 boats of all sizes in its waterfront marina.

Over the years the club has hosted such well known vessels as the Primadonna, the Mojo — owner Frank Muller, the sailing yacht Sirius II, and the Viking Princess — owners Reed and Rita Sprinkle. In 1996 the club was visited by the America's Cup J-class racing yacht Endeavour, under charter to the Sprinkles.

The Balboa Bay Club is well known as a prime viewing location for the annual Newport Beach Christmas boat parade, hailed as "one of the top ten holiday happenings in the nation" by the New York Times. In 2011 the Balboa Bay Club honoured the winners of the 102nd annual Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade and Ring of Lights at a public awards dinner and auction. Also a key viewing area for the Beer Can Races, a summer weekly event among sailors in the Newport Beach harbor for decades.

In the 1970s the club's main beach area rented small sailboats and offered sailing instruction during the summer. A small boat dry storage area provided a crane service for launching that was removed during the 2003 renovation when the area was converted to a private members only pool and outdoor bar. The club now provides access to rental of small electric boats, as well as paddle boards and kayaks.  The club's B dock now hosts the rental fleet.

Today the club and resort's marina facilities primarily accommodates power boats and large motor yachts. The club provides a Guest Dock for visiting yachtsmen and the guest dock also serves as home to the Dock Masters office. Visiting yachtsmen are asked to contact the club's dockmaster to arrange for accommodation.

References

External links
Official Balboa Bay Club and Resort website
L.A. Times.com: "Balboa Bay Club 40th Anniversary" (1988)

1948 establishments in California
Apartment buildings in California
Buildings and structures in Newport Beach, California
Hotels in California
Marinas in California

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Home » Global » A look inside the European Union vote
A look inside the European Union vote
By John Catalinotto posted on June 7, 2014
Elections to the European Union Parliament held May 25 reflected the growing mass revulsion against the centrist parties that have directed most Western European governments and the EU itself — especially given the EU's management of the severe capitalist crisis that struck in 2008 and has remained in force ever since. Only 43 percent of EU eligible voters actually voted.
The center-right or conservative parties, on the one hand, and the social democratic or nominally socialist center-left parties, on the other, have alternated managing the imperialist Western European governments since 1945. Since 2008, both center-left and center-right parties have collaborated to impose austerity on the working class in Europe.
The European ruling class — especially the big financial capitalists — have imposed unpopular austerity programs on indebted individual countries to assure debt repayment. They have done this using the EU's bureaucratic financial institutions, known as the "Troika" — the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank.
Essentially, the EU is the European ruling class' instrument to take more and more of what the workers produce and transfer it to the rich. It has reduced workers' wages, pensions and unemployment benefits and cut health care and education.
Coupled with the absence in most European countries of a credible and effective left electoral alternative, the revulsion with the centrist parties and the EU led to gains in many countries by ultra-right nationalist parties that are publicly anti-EU and that usually have anti-immigrant, xenophobic and even racist programs. The rightist gains were especially large in two major imperialist powers — Britain and France — and in Netherlands and Denmark.
The working class and its organizations must, of course, fight these rightist and especially the racist parties, in the streets as well as in elections. There is no need, however, to exaggerate the threat from rightist or neofascist parties or its imminence.
The EU Parliament is only a talk shop, not an executive power. The EU doesn't actually administer a state apparatus or a national army, like Washington does. What power the EU has lies in its bureaucratic institutions like the Troika, not in Parliament.
Progressive parties made gains in hardest hit countries
The vote played out differently in different countries. Consider those European countries where the capitalist crisis has struck the hardest. To use one crisis indicator, unemployment rates are higher than 25 percent in Spain and Greece, 18 percent in Portugal and 14 percent in Ireland. The Troika and the local ruling classes have imposed horrific cuts to guarantee payments to the big banks in all of them.
The votes in these countries increased the number of seats of parties with a more progressive or pro-working-class program. Only in Greece did a far-right party also make gains.
The vote in Spain sent both the "socialists" (PSOE) and the rightist Popular Party to a crashing defeat, signaling a change to come. A new party of the "Indignant" movement managed to attract 8 percent of the votes, and the United Left also gained.
More important than the electoral result in the Spanish state were subsequent events. For four days, youths protesting a raid on a squatters' building fought with local police in Barcelona.
On June 2, the Spanish king, a very unpopular symbol of the continuation of the fascist Franco regime, abdicated. Working-class organizations immediately called demonstrations to demand a referendum on establishing a republic.
In Portugal, the communists and in Ireland the Sinn Fein party made stronger showings in the elections, polling in the teens. Rightist parties lost ground.
In Greece, the Communist Party got 6 percent of the vote, while the new left social-democratic party Syriza came in first with 27 percent. Syriza gained nearly all the votes lost by the traditional social democrats, who were compromised by their support for austerity. The fascist Golden Dawn gained, getting 11 percent.
In Italy, Silvio Berlusconi's rightist party lost heavily, and a 20 percent protest vote went to the unorthodox 5 Star Movement, an anti-austerity grouping headed by a comedian named Beppe Grillo. The center-left Democratic Party that governs Italy came in first.
In Germany, whose ruling class dominates Europe, the traditional parties maintained their leading roles. No leftist or rightist parties gained. Unemployment is still reasonably low in Germany, though workers' wages and benefits have eroded steadily over the past 20 years.
In Britain, both the Labor and the ruling Conservative parties showed poorly, with most of the protest vote going to the relatively undefined but clearly anti-EU Independence Party (UKIP). This party — which is different from the openly racist British National Party — came in first with 27.5 percent of the vote, even though it has never won a seat in the British Parliament.
The worst result was in France, where the racist National Front came in first with 25 percent. No leftist party gained. The Socialist Party, which is closely identified with EU austerity and has betrayed every vestige of solidarity with working-class interests, was trashed.
European Union Parliament
Feminism & Marxism